LIST OF NEWSPAPERS COVERED

BUSINESS LINE

BUSINESS STANDARD

DECCAN HERALD

ECONOMIC TIMES

HINDU

HINDUSTAN TIMES

INDIAN EXPRESS

PIONEER

STATESMAN

TELEGRAPH

TIMES OF INDIA

1

CONTENTS

BACKWARD CLASSES 3-4

CIVIL SERVICE 5-10

COMMUNICATION 11

CORRUPTION 12

EDUCATION 13-18

EMPLOYMENT 19-21

HEALTH SERVICES 22-23

HOUSING 24

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 25-27

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 28-30

JUDICIARY 31-33

LABOUR 34-36

LIBRARIES 37-38

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 39

MANAGEMENT 40-41

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT 42-47

RAILWAYS 48

TAXATION 49-52

2

BACKWARD CLASSES

ECONOMIC TIMES, APR 30, 2016Gujarat to reserve 10% jobs for economically backward

The BJP government is all set to promulgate an ordinance on Sunday to provide 10% reservation

in state government jobs and education institutions for economically backward sections. The

decision was taken at a BJP core committee meeting chaired by party national president Amit

Shah. Speaking to the media later, Gujarat BJP president Vijay Rupani said that the ordinance

will be promulgated on May 1, the foundation day of the state, and a bill will be introduced in

the state assembly later. Rupani said that the reservation will be provided to members of a family

that have an annual income ceiling of Rs 6 lakh and will not impinge on reservations provided

for other sections. The reservations will be over and above the Rs 1,000 crore Mukhyamantri

Yuva Swavalamban Yojana announced by chief minister Anandiben Patel and will be enforced

from this financial/academic year. Rupani pointed out that while the draft of the ordinance will

be made with adequate care and the state government would defend the same in both high court

and the Supreme Court if the need arises. The Congress had earlier moved a private member's

bill seeking 20% reservation for economically backward classes, besides setting up of a

fivemember panel to suggest ways to implement reservations for them without violating the 49%

statutory cap imposed by the Supreme Court. The news was not enough to pacify agitating

Patidars. The agitators body called it 'laughable'. Stating that the agitation was started with the

demand for including the Patidars in the Other Backward Category, it said that they were

sticking to it. A statement issued by Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convenor Lalit

Vasoya said that in case the government did not want to extend the limit of reservation beyond

50%, it should include the Patidars in OBC category or give special category status to Patidars if

it goes beyond 50%. Since all communities have benefitted from the Patidar movement, as the

government has been forced to first announce Mukhyamantri Yuva Swavalamban Yojana and

EBC reservations, they should all extend support to the movement, he said.

3

PIONEER, APR 27, 2016PM TO LAUNCH ‘PRADHAN MANTRI UJJWALA YOJNA’ ON MAY 1

With an eye on the Dalit vote bank, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the ‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna’ (PMUY) from politically-sensitive Ballia on May 1. There he is expected to announce giving 5 crore free LPG connections to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

Even as a Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs took the decision on March 10, eye brows have been raised as to why the PM would launch the programme from Ballia on May 1. Political pundits see the PM’s visit as an attempt of BJP to launch its polls campaign for the 2017 Assembly polls.

Last Sunday 14 cabinet ministers and senior BJP leaders had camped in various districts of UP and organised chaupals listening to the woes of people. They also listened to the PM’s ‘Man ki Baat’ programme with villagers. 

BJP spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said that the PM’s programme is of great importance as it will provide another facility to the poor of getting free LPG connection alongwith oven and pipes. He however avoided commenting on its political ramification.

“If the PM does something good for the poor people, the BJP is sure to gain from it during the Assembly elections. The NDA has been voted to power to extend help to the poor and that’s what we are doing,” Pathak said.

“In Ballia, around 1.5 crore BPL families belonging to UP and Bihar would be provided free gas connections and the PM will hand over connections to 10 BPL families to kick start the process. This shows Purvanchal is on the priority list of the NDA government,” he said.

Union Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan had visited Maldehpur village on the banks of Ganga on April 24 to inspect arrangements for the PM’s function. Several BJP MPs from the region and Union ministers are expected to participate in the function.

Under the Scheme, Rs 8000 crore has been earmarked for providing five crore LPG connections to BPL households this fiscal. The scheme provides a financial support of Rs 1600 for each LPG connection. While the connection including a LPG cyclinder and regulator would be given free, the cost of the oven and the pipe would be deducted from the subsidy given on cylinders in instalments. 

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is likely to skip the PM’s visit but would visit Ballia on May 2, where he is expected to lay foundation stone of a university and Sports College for which funds worth Rs 15 crores were allocated in the 2016-17 budget.

4

CIVIL SERVICE

ECONOMIC TIMES, APR 27, 2016Ashok Lavasa named Expenditure Secretary

NEW DELHI: Environment secretary and senior IAS officer of 1980 batch, Ashok Lavasa, has

been appointed the new secretary, department of expenditure. The special secretary at the

expenditure department, Ajay Narayan Jha, has been moved to the environment ministry as its

secretary. These were among the 14 prominent changes made at the secretary level on Tuesday

by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister. Ratan P Wattal,

incumbent expenditure secretary, is retiring on April 30. Ajay Mittal, a senior Himachal Pradesh

cadre officer of the 1982 batch currently serving as the additional chief secretary (transport) in

the state, has been appointed as the new secretary of the ministry of information and

broadcasting as the present incumbent, Sunil Arora, will be retiring in April 30. Senior IAS

officer Leena Nair, chairperson of Marine Products Exports Development Authority under the

department of commerce will be the new secretary of the ministry of women and child

development from May 30 after the present secretary V Somasundaram retires. Nair has been

appointed by the ACC as an OSD in the WCD ministry with immediate effect till May 30 in a

specially created post in the rank of a secretary. The two secretaries in charge of different

departments in the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers have swapped their places — Vijay

Shanker Pandey will now head the Department of Fertilisers while Anuj Kumar Bishnoi will be

Secretary of the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals. Snehlata Shrivastava the Special

Secretary in Department of Financial Services has been appointed as Secretary, Department of

Justice in the Ministry of Law and Justice while West Bengal cadre officer Hem Kumar Pande

will be the new Secretary of Department of Consumer Affairs. The current incumbent at that

department, Chirravuri Viswanath, has been appointed as the Secretary, Department of

Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). The DARPG Secretary, Devendra

Chaudhary has meanwhile been moved to the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and

Fisheries as its Secretary. In other changes, IAS officer Jai Priye Prakash has been appointed as

Secretary, Departmen

5

ECONOMIC TIMES, APR 27, 2016In big reshuffle, 48 IAS officers transfered in Rajasthan

JAIPUR: In a major administrative reshuffle, the Rajasthan government transfered 48 IAS

officers, including four principal secretaries and 11 district collectors, late last night. Sudarshan

Sethi, the Principal Secretary of the Social Justice and Empowerment department has been

shifted as the Principal Secretary of Rural Development and Panchayti Raj department. S K

Agrawal, Principal Secretary, Tourism, is the new Principal Secretary of the Transport

department. He will replace P K Goyal, who has been made the Principal Secretary of the

General Administration department. The transfers were described as routine. Principal Secretary

of Ayurveda department Sanjay Dixit has been transferred to the Sanskrit education department

in the same post. Eleven district collectors, including of Jaipur, have also been given new

posting. Jaipur collector Krishna Kunal would take charge as the new Commissioner of

Rajasthan Skill and Livelihoods Development Corporation. The post was previously held by

Gaurav Goyal who has been shifted as the Collector of Ajmer. Chittorgarh, Dausa,

Hanumangarh, Karauli, Tonk, Jhunjhunu, Bikaner, Sirohi and Dungarpur have also got new

district collectors.

HINDU, APR 26, 2016Govt. looking to axe 52 out of 200 allowancesPUJA MEHRA

Secret allowance, family planning allowance, desk allowance, cash handling allowance, metropolitan allowance and headquarters allowance are among 52 of the nearly 200 allowances which the government could scrap soon.

The Seventh Pay Commission found inadequate the justifications offered by the Ministries for these allowances. The government was asked to suggest rationalisation of a variety of allowances. A committee is examining the Commission’s recommendations.

The Commission found the entire system of nearly 200 allowances “haphazard”. There are 13 for travel, 14 for additional duty, 51 for risk and hardship, nine for uniform, 4 for good services, 5 sumptuary allowances, 2 for training and 3 for knowledge update. Many were meagre cash payments and lost significance, it concluded. Rejecting the demand for doubling the family planning allowance — ranging from Rs. 210 to Rs.1,000 a month depending on grade pay — for those who adopt family planning norms after one child, the Commission recommended that it be abolished as a separate allowance was no longer needed.

6

DECCAN HERALD, APR 26, 2016Naidu woos secretariat employees with 5-day week carrot

Andhra Pradesh employees at the secretariat and other directorates located in Hyderabad have agreed to shift and work from new capital Amaravati on Monday.

The decision comes after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu declared several goodies including a 5-day week.

“A 30% hike in house rent allowance for all those who will be shifting their home to Amaravati,” Naidu declared after he inaugurated office space at the interim secretariat in Velagapudi village in Amaravti during the early hours on Monday. 

“The government will be building 5000 houses for the employees within a year. 5000 more will be built in phases,” Naidu said. Reacting positively the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat Employees Association representative U Murali Krishna has said the employees will be shifting their base from here to Amaravati by June as desired by the chief minister. 

“We were not averse of shifting to Amaravati, but many employees have settled here for years. Their children are studying here, so 5-day week is a welcome offer,” he added. In March a delegation of employees who met the Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana and Chief Secretary S P Tucker had expressed shock over the tiny size of the office rooms being built at the interim secretariat.

HINDUSTAN TIMES, APR 25, 2016UPSC defers release of official notification for CSE 2016

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has deferred the release of official notification of civil services exam (CSE 2016) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) preliminary exam 2016.

A notification regarding this can now be seen on commission’s official website . The commission had earlier fixed April 23 for the official notification of the exams.

The UPSC conducts the CSE for recruitment to the various civil services in the Government of India. The most prominent of these services include the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and the Indian Revenue Service among others.

The exam is conducted in three stages: Preliminary, main and a personality test via an interview.

A general candidate gets only six attempts to clear the exam and must do so by the time they turn 32. For OBC category candidates, the age limit is 35 years and the number of attempts is nine

7

while for candidates belonging to Schedule Cast (SC) and Schedule Tribe (ST), the age limit is 37 years, while the number of attempts is unlimited.

Educational qualifications:

For appearing in an IAS exam, a degree of graduation in any stream from any university recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) is required. Candidates who have appeared in the qualifying exam and are awaiting results are also eligible to apply, provided they submit the certificate of qualification along with the mark sheet to the UPSC before the main exam.

A candidate applying for IFS exam must possess a bachelor’s degree in one of the following: Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Zoology, or a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Forestry or Engineering from a recognised university.

PIONEER, APR 26, 2016BECOMING AN AGENT OF CHANGE Pankaj K P Shreyaskar

In his address on Civil Services Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly called upon the bureaucrats to come out of their silos, work as a team with other all sections of society, and bring about positive change in the nation

The 10th Civil Services Day was celebrated with much fanfare at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The celebrations were designed in such a manner that not only does this day become customary in the lives of public service personnel but also generate interesting professional revelations about every civil service professional in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address, suggested to critically analyse this day in terms of the goals achieved in the last 10 years and resolve to move ahead with fresh determination.

In his oratory style, Modi stated that the journey of a civil servant brings in many halts, but rukawat(obstructions) and thakawat (tiredness) are the most prominent of them all. He further said that rukawatmay dishearten but is not undesirable; on the other hand, thakawat is not only undesirable but dangerous.

Modi also highlighted the motto of sewa parmo dharmah (service is the greatest religion) and stressed that he wanted an energetic team to govern the country. He advised the civil servants to

8

“reform, perform and transform”. He further said that transformation in governance will neither be visible nor will it be meaningful unless they are augmented with jan bhagidari (public participation). He called upon the civil servants to engage with the people, so that Government schemes and initiatives can be better implemented at the ground level.

He noted that the transformation in governance shall not come merely by issuing circulars, but has to be inculcated in the mindset of senior, middle and junior level officials so that the transformations reflect in the innocent smiles of a child, the faithful eyes of an old man and the vivacious exultance of a young man.

The Prime Minister’s cautionary advice on issuing circulars by various departments of the Government of India is quite relevant. Recently, the Ministry of Civil Aviation issued a circular, advising all ministries to issue necessary guidelines for permitting Government servants to travel in private airlines instead of only Air India on official tours. 

However, some of the ministries have not yet decided any policy in this regard. The move of the Union Government, to delegate authority, to relax the condition of travelling by Air India to the respective ministries, is to expedite the process, keeping in mind the jurisdiction of allocation and transaction of the business, the interregnum beyond March 31, in this case may prove to be a bottleneck for Government officials.

Similarly, the news about a circular slashing extended leave of bureaucrats while they are on official tours was widely reported in the print media. Such circulars leave the public servants in conundrum. Guidelines in this regard are issued from time to time by the Department of the Personnel & Training, and any other guideline cannot be in divergence from the one issued by DoPT.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was rather amused with the way several departments functioned in a silos, that results in many departments battling each other before the Supreme Court, even though they work for similar goals. He shared with the gathering at Vigyan Bhawan that there can be no ill motives for such a scenario except perhaps the lack of systemic provisions for team work.

The primary benefit of teamwork is that it allows an organisation to achieve something that an individual working alone cannot. This advantage arises from several factors. When people coordinate their efforts, they can divide their roles and tasks to thoroughly address an issue. For example, in hospital settings, teamwork has been found to increase patient safety more than when individual efforts are made to avoid mishaps.

Modi stressed upon the need of the concept of competitive cooperative federalism in public services in India. The idea is to enable public servants  to compete with each other to promote governance initiatives in the spirit of “co-operative, competitive federalism”. He said that exemplary models for being considered for the Prime Minister Award during the Civil Services Day should go up significantly. At present only around 74 cases are shortlisted which is high, but comprises of less than five per cent of around 650 districts in India.

9

Appreciating the great work done by officials in areas listed as priority by him, Modi also put on record his commendation for the work done by the Committees of Secretaries which had been formed at his initiative to look into key areas of governance.

He pointed out that the officers associated with these committees worked voluntarily after office hours and on holidays. He said that these teams had successfully broken silos, and presented fresh ideas and suggestions.

 

10

COMMUNICATION

HINDU, APR 26, 2016All new mobiles to have panic button from 2017

Starting next year, all mobile phones sold in India will come with a dedicated ‘panic button’ that can be used to send out a signal in case of distress.

The Panic button and Global Positioning System facility in all mobile phone handsets Rules, 2016, notified by the Department of Telecommunications on April 22, are aimed at improving the safety of women and ensuring a quick response from security agencies.

The notification says that no handset shall be sold in India from January 1, 2017, without a panic button and all handsets must also have GPS from January 1, 2018.

“Technology is solely meant to make human life better and what better than using it for the security of women. I have taken a decision that from January 1, 2017, no cell phone can be sold without a panic button and from January 1, 2018, handsets should also have GPS inbuilt,” Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Monday.

Once the panic button is pressed, a signal/call will be made to the nearest security agency. However, the details of how the system will work are yet to be finalised.

11

CORRUPTION

ECONOMIC TIMES, APR 27, 2016Over 2,400 top officials allegedly involved in corruption: CBI

NEW DELHI: Over 2,400 gazettedrank officers are suspected to be involved in corruption, CBI

has said. It said the agency takes six months to complete probe in small cases, which may even

go up to one year. In a few complex cases, the probe may take more than a year's time to

complete. The submission was made by CBI Director Anil Sinha before the Department Related

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice. "On the

query relating to officers of gazetted rank of the government of India and public sector

undertakings suspected to be indulging in corruption visavis the time taken to complete

investigation, the Director said that 2,411 such officers have been identified which is an increase

of 87 per cent over the last year," the panel said in its report tabled today in Parliament. As

regards the time taken for investigation, it ranges from six months in small cases to a year in

bigger cases, Sinha said. "There are also some very complex cases which may necessitate the

investigation to go beyond a year. Since the prosecution in the court depends on the evidence

presented, there is no scope to unduly hasten the process which could adversely affect the

investigation," the panel said in the report on 'Demands for Grants (201617) of the Ministry of

Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions'. In response to the query on the pendency of cases,

the Committee was informed that as on February 29, 2016, CBI has a total of 1,200 cases

pending under investigation. "Out of these, 31 cases are pending for more than three years.

During the interaction of the Committee with the Director, CBI, a member also pointed out that

62 foreign investigations were pending with the premier investigating agency," the report said.

12

EDUCATION

INDIAN EXPRESS, APR 27, 2016Central University of Gujarat to set up centre on security studies

The grant of Rs 1.88 crore has also been sanctioned for this centre for the academic session

2016-17 by the University Grants Commission.Written by RITU SHARMA 

After being shortlisted as one of the ten universities across the country to set up a ‘security

studies centre’, the Central University of Gujarat (CUG) will offer several courses under this

new initiative by the Central government. The ‘Centre for Security Studies’ will offer nearly 20

seats from academic session 2016-17 to both serving and retired security agencies, including

defence as well as open to public. Initially, the courses planned to be offered are internal and

terrorism security, maritime security and cyber security.

The proposal to open such a centre was submitted by the CUG which got an approval by the

government. “Since we already have a department under School of International Studies, the in

principle proposal was accepted by the government of India. As per the guidelines framed, this

centre will not be restricted to defence or police personnel but also allow candidates from non-

defence background as well,” said the CUG Vice-Chancellor Prof S A Bari.

The grant of Rs 1.88 crore has also been sanctioned for this centre for the academic session

2016-17 by the University Grants Commission.

The courses offered would be post-graduate and advanced research courses, including MPhil or

PhD.

“The three courses have been finalised taking into account their relevance in context with

geography and current need. For instance, Gujarat state having the largest coastline and maritime

security can provide both experts and expertise. Also, the cyber security is emerging as one of

the most important areas to be focussed upon,” said Prof Bari.

13

Talking about faculty members, the V-C revealed that the university is in touch with defence

studies experts in the state seeking academic support. “Out of seven sanctioned posts, CUG has

four faculty members. Talks with security studies experts are also in the process for both visiting

and regular faculty,” he said.

The Dean of School of International Studies Dr Sanjay K Jha heading this project revealed, “An

expert committee from academicians and practitioners from across the country has been formed

for chalking out the action plan. Based on its report, final framework of course structure and

faculty would be developed and submitted to the UGC. Possibilities are also being explored of

creating an active inter-phase between the university and government security agencies,

including defence, police and maritime, that could offer academic support to them.”

INDIAN EXPRESS, APR 27, 2016Review promotions made flouting regulations since July 2013, UGC tells Panjab University

Failure to review these promotions done since July 2013 could result in stoppage of grants to the

university, the directive states.

IN A recent communication sent to Panjab University by the University Grants Commission

(UGC) for implementation of promotion policy for teachers, the UGC has issued a directive

stating that all promotions made at the university in contravention of the prescribed regulations

be immediately reviewed and corrected.

Failure to review these promotions done since July 2013 could result in stoppage of grants to the

university, the directive states.

As per the new system of promotion introduced by the UGC under its Career Advancement

Scheme (CAS), after June 13, 2013, all teacher appointments were to be made on the basis of

14

Academic Performance Index (API) and capping. However, over the years, nearly 50 promotions

have been made which will now be reviewed, and over 200 teachers/staff members have been

recruited at PU under CAS.

As per the UGC directive, all teacher appointments and promotions made without

implementation of API and capping system must now be reviewed. The letter has been issued on

the basis of the observations on the implementation of the CAS at Panjab University made by the

Local Audit Department of the UT Administration. In 2015, the UT Finance Department had

also issued a notice to PU for flouting the CAS norms for appointments and promotions. The

administration also highlighted that the university had failed to review all the appointments and

promotions by October 31, 2014, which was the deadline set by the UGC for review of these

cases after the new API system was enforced.

The UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in

Universities and Colleges and Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education)

Regulations, 2013 (2nd amendment) came into effect from July 24, 2013. As per the regulations,

the overall selection procedure of candidates must be done after an analysis of merits and

credentials, which should be based on weightage given to the candidate’s performance on the

basis of his/her academic performance indicators. As per the new criteria, 30 per cent weightage

is given to research papers, 25 per cent to research publications, 20 per cent weightage for

research projects, 10 per cent for research guidance and 15 per cent weightage must be given for

training courses and conferences.

Having received the directive from the UGC, the PU authorities have stated that a special

committee has been formed to review the appointments, and the issue will also be presented

before the Syndicate in its meeting on May 1. “Now all the cases will be reviewed, and in this

context, the Dean University Instructions will soon convene a meeting of all those who were

15

promoted after June 13, 2013 without API and capping,” stated Professor Akshaya Kumar,

president of Panjab University Teachers’ Association.

Kumar maintains that PU was being singled out due to some ongoing murky politics. “What

about the other universities in the region, and other colleges in Chandigarh where the API and

capping has not been implemented? The UGC has not raised questions over appointments made

at these institutions since the enforcement of the new norms,” he said.

STATESMAN, APR 27, 2016Rap on BHU knuckles

There may be hope yet for tolerance in saffronite India with the authorities of the Indian Institute

of Technology at Benares Hindu University being rapped on the knuckles by Allahabad High

Court. The order of the Bench to reinstate a faculty member, Sandeep Pandey, comes four

months after he was dismissed for what the BHU’s saffronite lobby called “anti-national

activities on the campus”. The instance that was cited was apparently contrived to run down the

academic, the putative “offence” being that he had posted on a social website a documentary on

the December 2012 gangrape in Delhi. No less unconvincing, unsubstantiated too, was the

charge that in course of his pedagogy on “control theory and development studies” he often

lectured on issues that are “against the national interest and communal harmony”. It is quite

obvious that Prof Pandey’s subject is a branch of the social sciences, and hence open to

subjective reflection. Unwarranted, therefore, was the spin accorded by the BHU authorities with

malice aforethought -- to victimise the professor. Unmistakable is the fineprint of the court order

-- a disagreeable perception cannot be equated with dissent as was palpable during the recent

convulsions at JNU and Hyderabad Central University.  The triple episodes are both the same

and different; whereas students were victims of the establishment’s ire in the second and third

universities, it was a faculty member and Magsaysay award winner who was shown the door at

IIT (BHU). Small wonder that he has greeted the Allahabad High Court verdict with a statement

that seeks to assess the general approach to learning in a Hindutva bastion. Prof Pandey has

made a pregnant observation, specifically that the quashing of the termination is a “blow to the

plan to saffronise the IIT campus” in Varanasi, incidentally the constituency of the Prime

16

Minister. It is the attempted saffronisation of learning at BHU that ought to stir the conscience of

the academic circuit. Sad to reflect, the local IIT has not escaped the contagion. The court has

exposed  the damaging intent of the campus authorities and the fineprint of the verdict suggests

that the Bench has upheld the professor’s submission that the “Vice-Chancellor and the

complainant student dislike me because I am a practising Gandhian and they are from the RSS.

They consider me a hurdle in their way to saffronise the campus”. If the submission is any

indication, the controversy centres around the saffronite praxis at BHU rather than the content of

pedagogy, as the campus administration had alleged to facilitate Prof Pandey’s removal. As

much is clear from the court order that there are “unsaid reasons for the teacher’s removal. A

legitimate right of freedom of speech and expression, including fair criticism, is not to be

throttled”. A not dissimilar contagion threatens BJP’s Chhattisgarh no less.

TIMES OF INDIA, APR 26, 2016Gujarat govt gives universities list of topics for PhD thesesBharat Yagnik & Ashish Chauhan 

AHMEDABAD: Students enrolling for a PhD in Gujarat's universities might as well be

researchers on the ground for the state bureaucracy. In a first, the state government has dictated a

list of 82 topics for doctoral theses which include various welfare schemes and programmes of

the state and central governments.

The government has directed that each university should ensure that doctoral students opt for at

least five subjects from this list. These include Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project

'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan', and Gujarat's model schemes like Kanya Kelavani, Gunotsav and MA

Yojana. Among the topics imposed on the students are: 'Comparative study of Sardar Patel Awas

Yojna and Indira Awas Yojana'; 'Education of minorities — A critical study'; 'Gujarat: Good

governance for growth, scientific management and development — A critical study of existing

pattern and future course —A policy suggestions (sic)'; 'Mutual cooperation among states' action

plans and comparative analysis of strategies for development — A Gujarat Model'; and

'Comprehensive analysis of growth of water in seven reservoirs of Saurashtra through SAUNI

Yojana'.

17

Many educationists have sharply criticised the move, alleging that the state government wants

students to do the work of government servants who are responsible for implementation and

review of schemes.

But A U Patel, former vice-chancellor (VC) of Gujarat University (GU) and adviser to

knowledge consortium of Gujarat, which is tasked with providing ideas for achieving excellence

in education, educational management, and framing policies for education, said students

pursuing PhDs would review the existing policies of Gujarat government so that loopholes in a

particular scheme or programme could be identified.

Patel said the research would have a positive effect on these schemes and programmes. Gujarat

University VC M N Patel said there was a trend to select subjects for thesis research that were

not relevant. "With this initiative, there would be some relevant hypothesis available for PhD

theses," Patel added.

Rajesh Patel, a student pursuing his PhD, said the government cannot impose subjects for thesie

on students. "If they are so keen to get accurate research and want to save babus the labour, they

should have given this task to some agency," he said.

18

EMPLOYMENT

BUSINESS LINE, APR 27, 2016Decoding India’s jobless growthRITESH KUMAR SINGH

We often say that manufacturing should take greater responsibility of job creation as agriculture already employs over half of India’s workforce, and services can’t absorb the million youth who are joining it every month. The Centre is trying its best to push manufacturing through the Make in India initiative. But that doesn’t seem to be working, at least when it comes to job creation.

India is the fastest growing large economy, posting a growth rate of over 7 per cent, yet jobs are not growing as fast as GDP. What needs to be done to address the problem of jobless growth which, if not addressed, has the potential to turn India’s demographic dividend into demographic disaster?

Killing jobs

Many think that lowering the cost of capital increases investment and that in turn automatically creates jobs. Unfortunately that’s not how it happens. Making capital artificially cheaper promotes its sub-optimal use in a labour abundant economy like India. It may induce adoption of labour-saving production technologies especially if labour laws are not business friendly; so does raising minimum wages without commensurate rise in productivity. That kills jobs.

In fact, India’s rigid and often confusing labour laws enforced by a myriad agencies have done irreparable damage to the cause of labour by creating two classes of workers — contractual workers comprising 90 per cent who’re paid low wages and have no job security, and well-paid workers with secure jobs comprising 10 per cent of the total. Roughly half the workers in India’s corporate sector are contractual.

Nevertheless, investment remains an important determinant of job creation, but investment is influenced more by whether the investors will be able to recover their money with some profit for taking business risks. Cost of capital is thus important, but it’s only one variable. Another but more important determinant is availability or lack of sufficient demand.

In India, one-fourth of household savings goes into financial channels. Of that, less than 5 per cent flows into equity and mutual funds. Roughly 50 per cent goes into low-risk fixed deposits and small savings instruments. The balance goes into gold and real estate.

Pruning interest rates on savings either invested in FD or small savings instruments — EPF/PPF — will lead to lower purchasing power (via negative wealth effect) of working class households, and hurt business prospects from the demand side as consumption demand accounts for 60 per cent of aggregate demand. Lower interest rates will not necessarily lead to increased private investment if there’s insufficient demand — either in domestic or export markets. It will only improve business margins without increasing real investment or add new jobs.

19

The domestic market is flooded with competitively priced imports (often subsidised by countries such as China) that reduce the market size for indigenous manufacturers. This is not to argue that imports should be banned. But it certainly calls for a serious examination into why domestic businesses are not able to compete with imported products.

Contract enforcement

Some of the reasons may be internal that have to be dealt with by private sector internally. But, the government can’t escape the responsibility for external mismanagement that adversely affects manufacturing cost competitiveness. Given India’s high cost manufacturing model and ever-increasing competition from competitively priced imports, most Indian manufacturing companies, from steel to textiles, are bleeding.

Domestic businesses, especially SMEs and first-time entrepreneurs, are not able to compete with imported products because of high transaction cost arising out of inefficient logistics and India’s overall poor record on ease of doing business.

Discussion on ease of doing business has largely escaped any discussion on ease of contract enforcement (India’s rank is 178) that adds to transaction cost. It implies that bidders in a contract have to account for risks in enforcing terms of the contract in the form of higher (bid) prices that’s extra cost for procuring firms. A good example of poor contract enforcement is real estate: though not exactly related to manufacturing, it has serious implications for many manufacturing industries, such as cement and steel.

India’s ill-conceived trade pacts have resulted in inverted duties — higher import duties on raw material/components and lower duties on finished products. That discourages value addition and job creation within India.

Apparels can be imported into India duty-free while raw material — manmade fibres — attracts an import duty of 10 per cent that doesn’t make any sense but persists. Similarly, finished products such as laptops or cell phones can be imported more cheaply than all their parts (imported) separately because of duty inversion.

India’s trade pacts have failed to extract real market access for its exports as they are not able to address concerns on non-tariff barriers. There is slower or no progress on conclusion of MRAs in FTAs such as India-Japan CEPA that hurts exports. Again, exportables such as textiles and clothing are not included for duty reduction in India-Mercosur PTA.

Most of India’s merchandise exports — agriculture or manufactured — are commodities in nature and operate on thinner margins. Thus, even a small cost disadvantage either because of duty, power or logistics cost, makes export uncompetitive. That largely explains why Chinese global export share in apparel is 35 per cent compared to India’s 5 per cent even if we produce most of the raw materials while China imports them.

Advances in 3D printing and robotics will further take away India’s comparative advantage derived from possessing cheap labour.

20

The way forward

When trade negotiators from developed countries say wages are low in developing countries, they fail to recognise that productivity is also very low in developing countries. Pushing wages up without a corresponding increase in labour productivity will induce businesses to go for labour-saving production technology that will kill jobs. Their insistence on minimum labour standards is nothing but a disguised form of trade protectionism that needs to be resisted by developing countries.

More employed workers even at lower wages are a better option than less employed workers at higher wages. This is not to argue that wages shouldn’t be allowed to go up. The Government should focus on productivity-enhancing skills upgrade measures rather than fixing minimum wages. Rise in labour productivity will increase labour demand and push wages up automatically. Cross-subsidisation of corporates by savers à la China will not work in India as India is not China and the world has changed too much for the China model to work anymore.

Realistic interest rates reflecting the scarcity value of capital along with a prudent macroeconomic policy will bring in more FDI that will aid job creation if major concerns on the demand and supply sides are addressed. Unfortunately that’s not seeing much action.

The writer is a corporate economic advisor based in Mumbai. The views are personal

(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated April 27, 2016)

21

HEALTH SERVICES

HINDUSTAN TIMES, APR 29, 2016SC clears common medical entrance test NEET, approves Centre’s scheduleAgencies, New Delhi

 |  

The Supreme Court on Thursday paved the way for a common entrance test for MBBS, BDS and PG courses through the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET).

The Centre and Medical Council of India (MCI) had said the All India Pre-Medical Test for May would be treated as NEET-1 and the second phase would be treated NEET-2, which will be held on July 24. The combined result was scheduled for August 17. The SC cleared the schedule proposed by the Centre.

The NEET -- a new entrance examination -- is meant to bring all medical aspirants in the country under an umbrella test.

The decision to hold the entrance exam through NEET was earlier opposed by states including Tamil Nadu and Association of Karnataka Medical Colleges besides minority institutions like CMC Vellore saying it is illegal and unconstitutional.

On Thursday, the court was hearing a PIL filed by NGO Sankalp Charitable Trust, which has contended that as authorities were not conducting the NEET for the students across the country aspiring to join medical colleges, the private medical colleges were holding their own exams to admit the students.

Read more: Will NEET for admission to medical courses pass the fitness test?

On April 11, the apex court had recalled its controversial judgment scrapping the single common entrance test for admission to MBBS, BDS and PG courses in all medical colleges, delivered by then Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir on the day of his retirement.

In its petition, the NGO said that the Centre, MCI and CBSE were dilly-dallying in implementing the court’s order on implementing the National Eligibility Entrance Test.

22

The petitioner said that according to a research conducted by the NGO, it was found that 90 entrance examinations were being held by private and government authorities separately which resulted in shelling out lakhs of rupees in taking the examination.

23

HOUSING

BUSINESS LINE, APR 29, 2016Construction sanctions in Delhi to be issued online by May-end

The Ministry of Urban Development aims to facilitate all construction-related procedures and approvals online by May-end. A simple, integrated common application form will enable single-window clearances for ease of doing construction business.

The move is targeted to improve India’s ranking in the upcoming World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report.

According to data from World Bank in last year’s ranking, it takes 231 days to complete 28 procedures for construction approvals in Delhi. In Mumbai, it takes 147 days to complete 40 procedures. The report covers two cities — Delhi and Mumbai — while calculating the ranking for India.

30-day target

Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said: “We want to showcase Delhi and Mumbai and expect that other cities will catch up. The idea is to empower urban local bodies to sanction approvals in 30 days.”

The Minister was speaking at a ‘Workshop on Ease of Doing Business for construction permits in Delhi’ here.

The Ministry will also put in place an online system for payments for these approvals, Rajiv Gauba, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, said.

New Delhi Municipal Corporation Chairman Naresh Kumar said the body would not accept manual applications after May 15. It will also set up facilitation centres at its headquarters to help the public in filling applications online.

During a presentation on behalf of all the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi, Punit Goel, Commissioner of South MCD, said the three corporations have completed most of the integration with all other external agencies through a common application form and would be in a position to eliminate manual applications by the end of next month.

(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated April 29, 2016)

24

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

STATESMAN, APR 27, 2016The China factor in Indo-Pak relationsHarsha Kakar

The last fortnight saw India-China engagements at fairly high levels. The foreign minister interacted with her Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the Russia-India-China summit. The defence minister was in China for five days and interacted at various levels with both the military and civilian hierarchy. The NSA interacted with his counterpart in Beijing as part of the nineteenth round of the Special Representative talks. A common agenda point in all three meetings was the issue of the Chinese veto on the UN attempt to ban the JeM leader as an international terrorist. The action by China was seen as a rebuke to the growing Indo-Chinese relationship. India was compelled to retaliate by granting a visa to the World Uyghur Congress leader who China dubs a terrorist.

For China watchers, who have seen Beijing support Pakistan in every international forum, irrespective of the reason, this action was no surprise. Close bonhomie has always existed between the two. In all Indo-Pak wars, Chinese support to Islamabad has remained steadfast. The reason is obvious. It is based on an old but familiar maxim, ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’. This relationship, nurtured over the years, has prompted India to develop military capabilities to counter a possible ‘two-front war’.

China sees Pakistan as a counter-balance to India in the South Asian strategic space. Presently a larger Indian military deployment exists against Pakistan than against the Chinese, where India plans only defensive actions to deny China the ability to penetrate deep. Majority of India’s military commands are directed towards Pakistan, while only one of each service faces China. India’s main strike capabilities are deployed to counter Pakistan, where we always aim to maintain a conventional military edge. The Indian mountain strike corps, directed towards China, is still years away from being operational in the true sense. It was an ambitious project that was stalled due to financial constraints. For China this is ideal, as it continues to enjoy the strategic advantage of superior force, as Indian military concentration remains westwards. Therefore, it makes strategic sense for the Chinese to continue to arm Pakistan.

Pakistan gains its ability to continue with its anti-India policy due to diplomatic support from China. China in spite of facing insurgency in Xinjiang, an outflow from Taliban actions in Afghanistan, has never openly criticized Pakistan for its selective terrorism policy. While the Taliban continues to wreck carnage in Afghanistan, China remains quiet, never criticizing. Its recent action in vetoing the ban on the JeM chief, automatically gave Pakistan the green signal to

25

‘bash on regardless’ with its state-sponsorship-of-terrorism policy. China provided Pakistan with ballistic and nuclear technology support, which enabled it to balance India’s conventional military power. While the US provides arms to Pakistan under the anti- terrorism banner, China provides the same to enable it to strategically balance India. This unhindered supply of military hardware provides Pakistan’s military with the ability to continue its anti-India stance and stop any elected government from commencing peace dialogue with India. 

China is presently investing $46 billion on developing the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This is linked to the Chinese development of Gwadar port in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. The corridor would link Gwadar to the Chinese region of Xinjiang. This would give an economic boost to Pakistan, while opening avenues for enhancing Chinese trade. For Pakistan protection of the corridor assumes high importance, as Chinese investment is based on conditions of security. Chinese nationals working on projects in Pakistan have been specifically targeted in the past and increase in such incidents could affect Chinese investments. The CPEC provides Pakistan with an opportunity to play the anti-India card, claiming that Indian support to the Baluch movement is fuelling militant action on the corridor. China would never permit its investment to be affected or disrupted by any hostile militant actions, hence there could be pressure on India, which would only benefit Pakistan.

China also seeks to play a major role in Afghanistan’s future, thereby enhancing its hold over South Asia. Close links with Afghanistan would help it curtail the rising militancy in the Xinjiang province, as also economically open Afghanistan’s natural resources for exploitation. It therefore has to keep India away. With Pakistan being a key player and possessing leverage with the Taliban, India was pushed out. The core group for talks with the Taliban presently comprises of the US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

If recent interactions between India and China and subsequent statements are analysed, it becomes clear that while China is desirous of developing ties with India, as also resolving border issues, it would never be at the cost of its ‘all-weather friend’ Pakistan. The Chinese statement after India objected to the veto was that it acted on the facts provided. This reveals nothing, nor does it indicate any likely change in their stance.

For Pakistan, military hardware flows from both the US and China. But US-provided equipment comes with riders. Diplomatic support continues from China. Economically, the CPEC has given it more Foreign Direct Investment than the sum total of the last ten years. Development along the corridor could be a game-changer for an economically starved nation. Therefore, support from China provides Pakistan with confidence, enabling it to continue to target India.

26

For India, it is a wait and watch period. While it seeks to enhance its relations with China, it would always be wary of Chinese support to Pakistan. Terrorist strikes on the CPEC, casualties to Chinese workers or disruptions at Gwadar, could affect Pakistan-China relations. Greater economic cooperation between India and China would only bring us closer and only then could we even hope to attempt to limit their support to Pakistan. Till then, we need to continue to maintain a two-front capability.

The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army.

27

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

TELEGRAPH, APR 27, 2016A pessimistic outlook - India's export conundrum

CommentaraoS.L. Rao

Almost 60 years ago, Manmohan Singh's thesis in Oxford was on India's export pessimism. The Indian mindset has not changed. Before the British took over India's governance, India was with China a major economy in the world, and a powerful export-oriented one. British colonial rule systematically destroyed India's export capability in order to give a free rein to British manufacturers.

So the declining exports of the last many months happened to a country that was not much interested in exports. For nearly half a century, 'socialism' had made State domination of government economic policies possible through ownership of key sectors; severe restrictions on technology, production and investment; a hostile attitude to private ownership and profits; high taxation, leading to many people hiding proceeds. From over- invoiced imports and under-invoiced exports to poor quality and high costs due to government controls, India became a non-competing exporter. We were good only for commodity exports.

In recent months, there has been a sustained decline in exports from India. As percentage of GDP in 2006-10 and 2011-15, it was 41.9 per cent and 38.3 per cent.

The coming of Indira Gandhi to power in 1966 increased State dominance and control. She nationalized banks, insurance and financial institutions, and many other industries. Comprehensive industrial and import licensing and centralized control over use of private and government resources brought about a large bureaucracy that was part of a system of complex permissions, numerous demands for detailed information and stingy production capacities.

India's balance of payments deficits are due to inflexible imports of oil and gas and weak exports. Significant remittances by Indian workers overseas started only in the 1970s and relieved pressure on the balance of payments. Foreign investment, especially in the stock market, supplemented this inflow. Investment in bricks and mortar was limited.

The facile explanation for the recent export decline is that many major world economies have experienced a fall in exports. The reason given is economic decline in the major world economies. This began after the financial crisis of 2008. Soon after oil and gas prices collapsed, hitting the economies of oil exporters. China is adjusting to huge internal debts. European countries have been in economic decline (except for Germany). In Europe, the principal cause is rigid practices in remuneration and employment of labour. The United States of America suffered almost seven years of economic turbulence. Years of very low interest rates and easy lending led to the financial crisis of 2008, the collapse in the value of housing, banks, financial institutions and the automotive industry. Massive government rescue funds have taken years to revive automobile companies, banks and some others from bankruptcy. Recovery began in

28

2015. Japan is taking years to adjust to an ageing population, low immigration, the Fukushima earthquake and the tsunami.

Almost every other country has, therefore, suffered declines in exports. For many, exports were key economic drivers. Another important factor in India was the sharp decline in iron-ore exports after the Supreme Court banned them in Goa and elsewhere because of the illegalities and loss of revenues to government. Soon the key importer, China, reduced imports sharply.

Other economists have calculated that the lack of flexibility is in the rupee's real foreign exchange rates. India's foreign exchange inflows were respectable but the composition has been largely volatile. Oil and gas imports are inflexible, and only rose or fell in value not quantity as import prices went up or down. The mistaken subsidy to diesel did not help restrain its consumption. Gold imported legally and otherwise was another rigid source of foreign exchange outflows. Import-export structure kept balance of payments in deficit.

India has been largely an exporter of commodities. The industrial base is yet to recover from years of restrictions that make it uncompetitive internationally. Manufacturers of chemicals and pharmaceutical generics did begin to grow. But some pharmaceutical manufacturers damaged the trade by illegal practices, especially in the US. Inward foreign exchange flows have helped, mainly remittances by Indians working overseas and foreign institutional investments.

Government policies have only now begun to encourage some foreign direct investment. FII has been high, but volatile in relation to market prices, exchange values, and so on. It includes much non-tax paid funds that have been smuggled out of India and returns from countries like Mauritius with which India has tax agreements that give funds coming from them exemption from capital gains tax in India.

The discussion, thus far, shows that many factors are responsible for the export decline from India. But underlying them all is the fact that India is not a country that is export-oriented, one which stimulates exports and has an economic system that actively encourages exports. The reasons go back to the years till liberalization began in 1991. Socialist policies kept the State in control of the essential factors of production-natural resources and infrastructure (travel, power, telecommunications, coal, oil, gas and other fuels. It also owned most of the financial system, from short-term to long-term working capital to investment). Since the government owned, nationalized or set up many basic and key industries, the private sector had to woo government officials for funds. These were made available as loans, but only after onerous conditions on capacities, technology, numbers employed, export obligations, and so on, were met. Thus, government economic policies and ideology created a government-owned and rigidly controlled economic system.

The country needed imports and had to export for the purpose. Foreign exchange earnings through FDI or FII during the Indira Gandhi years were limited, and worker remittances had just begun.

There was, therefore, an intricate web of rules, regulations, procedures, inspections, and so on, that controlled all exports and imports. They were only extensions of even more complex rules

29

for production and investment. In addition, to enable high-cost Indian exporters to compete, there was another intricate set of cash assistances and import licenses on exports. In an import-short country, these fetched high premiums and, hence, profit. While these no longer exist, governments retain the mindset and the procedures. There is not the same passion to export that is there in some other Asian countries.

With basic industries dominated by State-owned enterprises, there was considerable inefficiency in production and indiscipline in management and labour. The limited access to technology also made for inefficiency, poor quality and high cost. It was not surprising that manufactured products played a limited role in Indian exports.

It has not helped that India's financial markets are narrow, largely State-owned, and highly oriented to debt. There is much less of the pool of funds for long-term investment that exists in the West. Since FDI has been unwelcome for long, foreign investment in new industry is also limited.

High taxation, limited foreign exchange allowances and uncertainty about the future of the Indian economy encouraged many businessmen, politicians and bureaucrats to send their earnings overseas through illegal routes. For the exporter and the importer, under invoicing and over invoicing became staples of their businesses. These practices continue despite lower taxation and economic liberalization.

The good signals have come from service exports, which show excellent growth in local and export business. There are few other such areas.

To become an export-oriented nation, we have to change the economic system from the legacy that Indira Gandhi left us and move to market orientation, no regimentation and tough independent regulation with heavy penalties for any malfeasance.

Ruling elites of every political colour are comfortable with government ownership and control. Radical change to transparency, enterprise and freedom with tough regulation will happen in response to a crisis, as did the liberalization of 1991.

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

30

JUDICIARY

HINDU, APR 28, 2016Diffusing the judicial burdenN.L. RAJAH

The Supreme Court’s request to the Central government to consider the possibility of establishing a National Court of Appeal has elicited mixed reactions from the legal community. Bodies such as the Law Commission of India have given their considered opinion, and from these a solution must emerge.

The issue relates to access to justice, that is at the core of our constitutional values, and thus problems related to the issue have to be understood in their entirety and possible solutions must be deliberated upon and discussed by all stakeholders. The problem is essentially threefold.

The Supreme Court was meant to be a Constitutional Court. However, the sheer weight of its case backlog leaves the court with little time for its primal functions. In spite of recently accelerated rates of case disposal in the Supreme Court (in 2015 it disposed of 47,424 cases compared to 45,042 in 2014 and 40,189 in 2013), the backlog was still a staggering 59,468 cases as of February 2016.

A ‘substantial question’ of constitutional law has to be heard by five or more judges. According to a study by Nick Robinson titled “A Quantitative Analysis of the Indian Supreme Court’s workload”, in the 1960s it was common for the court to decide over 100 such cases a year. He points out that in the past decade, because of the unreasonable workload borne by the court, the average is now fewer than eight constitution benches a year. In effect, therefore, the functions of the Supreme Court as a Constitutional Court have been seriously impaired.

Ease of access

Geographical proximity to the court is definitely an aspect of access to justice. The fact that the Supreme Court sits only in New Delhi limits accessibility to litigants from south India. Mr. Robinson’s study reveals that of all the cases filed in the Supreme Court, the highest numbers are from high courts in the northern States: 12 per cent from Delhi, 8.9 per cent from Punjab and Haryana, 7 per cent from Uttarakhand, 4.3 per cent from Himachal Pradesh, etc. The lowest figures are from the southern high courts: Kerala 2.5 per cent, Andhra Pradesh 2.8 per cent, Karnataka 2.2 per cent and a mere 1.1 per cent from Madras High Court. There is therefore an urgent need to find a solution to such an inequitable state of affairs.

The Supreme Court, it must be acknowledged, has played its role as sentinel qui vive of the Constitution with aplomb. This does not, naturally, go down well with the other organs of the state and while their present proclivity to abide by the orders of the Supreme Court is creditable, it is but natural that attempts may be made to curtail the constitutional powers of the court. The problem of backlog may be a convenient handle for the other organs of the state to seek drastic

31

curtailment of the court’s powers. Well-regarded leaders in stable democracies have attempted this in the past.

Franklin D. Roosevelt saw nothing amiss in using his presidential powers to attempt to ‘reorganise’ the American Supreme Court when it consistently dealt death blows to many of the legislations brought in under the rubric of the New Deal. The pendency of cases before the Supreme Court was at that time cited as the ostensible reason for the ‘reorganisation’ plans. In pursuance of the same, Senators William H. King and Warren Austin called upon Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes to appear as a witness in the Senate hearing and to outline the court’s ability to deal with its docket. Chief Justice Hughes refused, and instead sent a note which ultimately played an important role in thwarting the President’s plan to reorganise the court.

An institution which on a daily basis hauls up several other bodies for defects and deficiencies must place itself well above criticism of any nature. It is only such an unassailable stature that can add to its effective functioning.

A reasoned solution

In considering the issues posed by the Supreme Court to it, the Central government has a rich repository of information which it must refer to in order to reach a well-reasoned decision. The 229th report of the Law Commission of India delved into this problem in depth and came up with the suggestion of retaining the New Delhi bench of the Supreme Court as a Constitutional Court and the establishment of Cassation Benches of the Supreme Court in the four regions at New Delhi, Chennai/Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. The 2009 report pointed out that since Article 130 of the Constitution provides that “the Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi or such other place or places as the Chief Justice of India may with the approval of the President, from time to time, appoint”, the creation of Cassation Benches of the Supreme Court would require no constitutional amendment. It also pointed out how this basic model with appropriate variations has worked very successfully in countries such as Italy, Egypt, Ireland, the U.S. and Denmark.

In coming to its conclusions and recommendations the report had also made extensive reference to the 95th report of the Law Commission titled “Constitutional Division within the Supreme Court — A proposal for”; the 125th Law Commission report titled “The Supreme Court — A Fresh Look”; reports of the parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice as also the 120th report of the Law Commission on “Manpower planning in judiciary”.

In addition to the above, Mr. Robinson’s report referred to earlier is also available to guide the deliberations of the government.

The Supreme Court has earlier rejected suggestions to have benches of the Supreme Court in other parts of the country. Given this fact, it is imperative we look at other options to the problem and seriously debate the possibilities. The solution may not even be the National Court of Appeal

32

but a completely different idea which emerges during the course of deliberations and is found acceptable to the government, the Supreme Court and the stakeholders. It is, however, important that whatever may be the consensus, it must find a solution to the problems mentioned earlier.

As the saying goes, if we do not do something because it has never been done before, we will go nowhere. The law will stagnate while society advances, which is not good for both.

N.L. Rajah is a senior advocate of the Madras High Court.

STATESMAN, APR 25, 2016PM backs emotional CJI’s demand for more judgesCJI TS Thakur

Paying heed to Chief Justice of India TS Thakur's emotional appeal to increase the number of judges to handle the "avalanche" of litigations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday assured him of his government's resolve in finding a solution.

Addressing the inaugural session of Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts, a teary-eyed Thakur ‘lamented’ the inaction by the executive and stressed that the number of judges must be increased from the present 21,000 to 40,000.

"It is not only in the name of a litigant or people languishing in jails but also in the name of development of the country, its progress that I beseech you to rise to the occasion and realise that it is not enough to criticize,” Justice Thakur said with a lump in his throat.

“You cannot shift the entire burden on the judiciary," said the Chief Justice as he broke down much to the surprise of the audience.

He further said that since 1987, when the Law Commission had recommended increase in the number of judges from then 10 judges per 10 lakh people to 50, ‘nothing has moved’.

“Then comes inaction by the government as the increase (in the strength of judges) does not take place," he said.

He said following the Law Commission's recommendation, the Supreme Court in 2002 had also supported increasing the strength of the judiciary. A Parliamentary Department Related Standing Committee on Law then headed by Pranab Mukherjee had also recommended taking the judge to people ratio to 50 from 10. As of Sunday, the judge to people ratio stands at 15 judges to 10 lakh people which is way less than as compared to the US, Australia, the UK and Canada.

33

LABOUR

ECONOMIC TIMES, APR 30, 2016Government gives in to pressure, EPF interest rate increased to 8.8% from 8.7%

NEW DELHI: The government made yet another concession to workingclass anger on the Employees' Provident Fund by raising the interest rate payout for the financial year that's just ended to 8.8% from 8.7% that had been approved by the finance ministry earlier in the week.

The backpedalling follows the uproar sparked by the finance ministry scaling down the 8.8% recommended by the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).

"I am happy that finance ministry has agreed to 8.8% for 201516," Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said in the Capital on Friday while announcing the higher rate.

The labour ministry had backed CBT's recommendation. Afinance ministry official clarified the rollback was not under pressure but following explanation from the labour ministry that earnings for 201415 were sufficient to cover the recommended 8.8% interest rate on EPF accumulations.

The labour ministry has clarified that "the earnings in 201415 turned out to be more than the estimates and the same was used to recommend 8.8% interest rate", said the official.

"Further, it was clarified that EPFO is doing separate provisioning for possible principal and interest payouts on inoperative accounts and the same is not disbursed among active members."

." The finance ministry justified the lower rate on the grounds that the higher one raised the prospect of EPFO having to dip into its reserves.

The explanation hadn't appeased labour unions, which threatened to go on strike. The ministry had sought certain clarifications from EPFO. "They came and explained certain provisions that have been made separately," said the ministry official.

According to finance ministry calculations, EPFO had a surplus of Rs 1,604 crore in FY15. At the proposed 8.8% return, this will get depleted to Rs 674 crore, hurting EPFO's ability to deliver relatively stable returns when interest rates are falling. At 8.7%, the surplus will drop to Rs 1,000 crore.

The finance ministry had also reasoned that there would be an additional interest payment liability because of nonoperative accounts. Interest earned on 9 crore inoperative accounts holding more than Rs 35,500 crore is currently distributed among all active accountholders.

This benefit will not be available from the next year as CBT has decided to pay interest on inoperative accounts, having stopped doing so since April 1, 2011.

34

If these accountholders are to be compensated for interest denied over past few years, some surplus would have to be retained. Besides, on March 31 this year, about 3 lakh accounts were awaiting updation and in the absence of this it would be difficult to ascertain exact payout.

The latest move follows several rollbacks on EPF. Last month, the government scrapped Budget proposals to tax part of EPF withdrawals to encourage people to buy annuities. This month, it rolled back tighter withdrawal norms.

INVESTMENT IN EQUITIES

EPFO invested Rs 6,577 crore, 5% of the investible surplus, in equities through exchangetraded funds (ETFs) based on the Nifty and Sensex as of March 31 this year, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. He said the government is aware of the risks of equity investments and EPFO hasn't put money into individual stocks.

"Therefore, the Central Board of Trustees, EPF, has decided to invest only 5% of investible surplus in ETFs of Nifty and Sensexbased index," the minister said. EPFO is permitted to put 5-15% of the investible surplus in equity and related investments.

FIXATION OF INTEREST

The interest rate on EPF accumulations is administered by the ministry of labour & employment on the recommendations of CBT. The finance ministry ratifies the rate taking into account financial sustainability and to ensure stable returns to investors.

The labour ministry had sought finance ministry's ratification of the 8.8% rate for 201516. However, the finance ministry set the rate at 8.7% since there was apprehension about the use of past surplus and nonprovisioning of enough funds to meet the liabilities of inoperative accounts. The MoF's decision was based on pure arithmetic calculation and in the interest of all EPFO members, the official said.

However, during discussions on Thursday, followed by a letter on Friday, the labour ministry clarified to the finance ministry that the earnings in 201415 turned out to be more than the estimates and the same had been used to recommend the 8.8% interest rate.

Further, it was clarified that EPFO is doing separate provisioning for possible principal and interest payouts on inoperative accounts. The finance ministry thus decided to ratify labour ministry's proposal to pay 8.8% interest.

ECONOMIC TIMES, APR 26, 2016Finance Ministry approves 8.7% interest on EPF for 201516

NEW DELHI: The finance ministry has approved 8.7 per cent interest rate on provident fund

deposits for 201516, lower than that recommended by the labour ministry as well as the rate

35

offered in the preceding two financial years. The central trade unions on Monday threatened to

protest against the decision, which could spark a tussle between the two ministries, while experts

welcomed it. "The finance ministry, through a letter written to us last week, has approved 8.7 per

cent interest rate on PF deposits for 2015 16 as against the recommended 8.8 per cent," Labour

Secretary Shankar Agarwal told ET. "We have sought comments from the central provident fund

commissioner, following which we will write back to finance ministry on this," he said. The cut

in interest rate comes at a time when earnings of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation

(EPFO) in 201516 could have fetched 8.95 per cent This is seen as a step towards bringing the

rate closer to those offered by other small saving schemes. The finance ministry had last month

reduced interest rate on small saving schemes including Public Provident Fund (PPF) scheme

and Kisan Vikas Patra to 8.1 per cent and 7.8 per cent, respectively, from 8.7 per cent in 201516.

"The CBT (Central Board of Trustees, EPFO's apex decisionmaking body), at its meeting held in

February 2016, has proposed an interim rate of of interest at 8.8 per cent to be credited to the

accounts of Employees' Provident Fund subscribers for 201516. The ministry of finance has,

however, ratified an interest rate of 8.7 per cent," Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya on

Monday said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. EPFO's advisory body, Finance Audit and

Investment Committee, had recommended that 8.95 per cent rate of interest was feasible as it

would leave a surplus of Rs 91 crore. According to its estimates, providing 9 per cent rate of

interest would have resulted in a deficit of Rs 102 crore. The organisation pays interest to its

subscribers on the basis of returns it generates from its investments. The demand for 9 per cent

rate of interest for 201516 by the representatives of the employees notwithstanding, the CBT at

its meeting on February 16 decided to provide an interim interest rate of 8.8 per cent for the

fiscal. The central trade unions, including the RSSbacked Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, slammed

the finance ministry's decision. "BMS strongly condemns cut in EPF interest rate. We will hold

nationwide demonstrations at EPF offices on April 27," BMS General Secretary Vrijesh

Upadhyay said. DL Sachdeva, national secretary of the CPIbacked AITUC said, "This is undue

interference from ministry of finance when the EPFO income justifies 8.9 per cent and the board

has approved 8.8 per cent. All central trade unions will protest against this unilateral move."

However, Sonu Iyer, tax partner at professional services firm EY said, "The announcement of

8.7 per cent interest rate on EPF, in a scenario where other rates like that of FD (fixed deposits)

and PPF are falling, is a welcome step.

36

LIBRARIES

INDIAN EXPRESS, APR 27, 2016At Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, a precious gift is stolen

The theft came to light when an attendant noticed a broken glass frame in the museum Tuesday

afternoon and alerted officials, who contacted the police.Written by Alok Singh 

A dagger gifted to former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru by Saudi Arabia has been stolen from

the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. The theft came to light when an attendant noticed a

broken glass frame in the museum Tuesday afternoon and alerted officials, who contacted the

police.

The government-run museum is located at the highly secure Lutyens’ Zone at Teen Murti Marg.

The gifts gallery, where the dagger was placed, does not have any CCTV cameras, police said.

The spot is just a few steps from the bedroom where Nehru breathed his last on May 27, 1964.

His house had been turned into a museum after his death.

Police said a case of theft has been registered at Chanakyapuri police station and a hunt is on to

nab the accused.

“Since the matter was sensitive, senior police officers also arrived at the spot. A metal dagger,

around five to six inches long, was missing from the tray. The glass frame it was kept inside was

broken,” said a police officer.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Jatin Narwal confirmed the incident and said an investigation is

underway.

37

“The museum was closed on Monday and the dagger was seen till Monday evening,” N

Balakrishnan, an official on special duty at the museum, told The Indian Express. He said the

dagger had been gifted to Nehru when he was prime minister.

“There are a lot of gifts, we keep changing their places. The dagger’s place was not fixed. We

cannot estimate its cost, but it was precious,” Balakrishnan said.

According to officials, the building has no CCTV cameras and there are only 30 private security

guards meant to look after the museum, a planetarium, a library and an auditorium.

“The guards come in shifts. During the day, there are about 12 to 15 for all the buildings. Armed

personnel of the Indo Tibetan Border Police guard the outside of the buildings,” said an official.

Balakrishnan said they were in the middle of restructuring the security apparatus when the theft

took place. “We are already in the process of restructuring the security arrangements. The

proposal for CCTV cameras has been sent to the government.”

The museum was open to visitors on Tuesday, but the gift gallery section from where the dagger

was stolen remained shut.

Police sources said they are probing whether some insiders were involved. Several employees

and workers have already been questioned, sources said.

38

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

HINDU, APR 27, 2016Lottery to select Gandhinagar Mayor

Corporation election throws hung verdict with Cong., BJP winning 16 seats each

The election for the Gandhinagar municipal corporation has thrown a hung verdict with both the Congress and the BJP winning 16 seats each in the 32-seat civic body.

Voting was held on Sunday in which 52 per cent turnout was registered.

The results are seen as a setback for the Anandiben Patel government as the BJP was ruling the local body but could not retain power.

Now, according to sources, the State Urban Development department will conduct a draw to select the Mayor and other office-bearers in the civic body. “The Mayor will be selected through lottery as no party enjoys majority,” said a senior government official.

The Congress had won 18 seats in the last civic body polls in 2011 but the Mayor and several councillors defected to the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Since then, the BJP was ruling the municipal corporation of the capital city.

Last year, the BJP suffered a jolt in the panchayat polls as the Congress won 23 out of 31 district panchayats. The BJP managed to retain its hold in six municipal corporations — Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar.

“Despite the money and muscle power and blatant use of government machinery, the electorate has not given a favourable verdict to the BJP in the State capital,” said Congress leader Nishit Vyas.

State BJP president Vijay Rupani said that “compared to the last polls, the BJP won one seat more so it cannot be called a setback for the party.”

39

MANAGEMENT

INDIAN EXPRESS, APR 26, 2016PMO sought autonomy for IIMs, HRD doesn’t yield

The HRD Ministry, sources said, is not willing to dilute the clause that empowers the President

to review the work of any IIM in his capacity as the Visitor of the premier B-Schools.Written by Ritika Chopra 

The silent tussle between the HRD Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) over the IIM

Bill has shown no signs of abating as the former sent the draft law for legal vetting last week

without yielding on all the changes suggested by the PMO.

The HRD Ministry, sources said, is not willing to dilute the clause that empowers the President

to review the work of any IIM in his capacity as the Visitor of the premier B-Schools. This, the

government thinks, is needed for accountability. The PMO had suggested that the government

remove the provision for ‘review’ in the Bill.

The ministry is also learnt to have retained the provision which makes the HRD Minister the

head of the IIM Coordinating Forum on the ground that the IITs, too, are governed by a similar

clause. The PMO was not in favour of this.

HRD Ministry spokesperson Ghanshyam Goel did not respond to the questions emailed by

the The Indian Express.

On March 11, The Indian Express had reported about the disagreement between the PMO and

the HRD Ministry over the degree of autonomy to be granted to IIMs. The former had suggested

more than five changes to the IIM Bill. Officials of both departments met in March to sort out

the differences and arrive at a consensus. The ministry has yielded on most recommendations,

except for the ones mentioned above.

40

For instance, it has agreed to increase the number of alumni and female members on the Board of

Governors (BoG) of every IIM from three to five and from one to three, respectively. It tweaked

a clause to have an IIM director replace the government joint secretary-rank officer as the

member-secretary of the IIM Coordinating Forum. The ministry also diluted the provision that

made it mandatory for IIMs to inform the government of any fee hike before announcing the

decision.

The IIM Bill is meant to empower the 19 management institutes to award degrees instead of

diplomas for their two-year postgraduate programme. The draft law is modelled on the IIT Act.

The government has listed the Bill for introduction in the Budget session of Parliament after it

redrafted the law to modify clauses that the IIMs alleged would curtail their autonomy. The

ministry, for instance, modified Section 3 (k) of the Bill, which required any regulation made by

the BoG to be approved by the government. The changed provision now gives the Board the

final say.

The re-drafted Bill was circulated among different ministries for comments in December last

year. But with the PMO requesting further changes in the revised Bill and the HRD Ministry

disagreeing with some of the suggestions, the Bill’s introduction in the Budget session now

seems less likely.

41

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

TELEGRAPH, APR 29, 2016An open canvas - What if the jote were to come to power?

The Thin Edge- Ruchir Joshi

Success always has several proud parents and victory, predictably, attracts many supporters, each claiming the longest record of unwavering loyalty to the team that has won. The confluence of old enemies we are seeing in the alliance between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress has already been dubbed "great" and "historic". While the latter might prove to be true, and this could indeed one day be remembered as a crucial historical moment, it might not be for the reasons the Congress and CPI(M) hope and imagine. If the jote is decimated in the Bengal elections the fallout could be massive: it could mean that we are way past the beginning of the end of both these old parties, that we are witnessing two massive political irrelevances well on the way to the junkyard of history. If the Trinamul Congress comes back with some kind of miraculous thumping majority, the backrooms of both Opposition parties could resemble those casinos in the movies where ageing dons and their enforcers are slaughtered by their own gang members.

On the other hand, should the jote win, or even run the TMC close, (a possibility that looks less and less fantastical), then the adage above will apply in turbo mode. We will hear an endless incantation of phrases and words like 'brilliant, radical idea', 'out of the box', 'master stroke' and 'political genius'. An upset win or a neck-and-neck result on May 19 will not, however, provide a real examination of whether the Comrade-Congress sangam is a great game-changer in Indian politics. What really matters is what happens in the lead-up to the next Lok Sabha elections and what happens during those elections. So, a much more rigorous test would be if the jote parties took a massive defeat, but rolled with the punches and still stuck it out together for their larger aim of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Right Parivar. Were the Cong-Comm (along with the others in the seculargathbandhan), to stay the course and continue putting the country's interests above party compulsions then one could indeed say that this alliance in Bengal was historically a hinge moment.

Like a babu pushing away a difficult file after barely opening it, let us, however, move on to less imponderable conjectures, to more tangible intangibles. Let us shove aside all superstition, any notions of nazar (at least those of us who want a regime parivartan in Bengal) and imagine a solid victory for the jote on result day. Let us say the Comm-Cong non-alliance together wins 160 seats; not a massive, bulldozing majority, but one solid enough for Raj Bhavan to once again send an invitation to Alimuddin Street. Let us say the long identified unstable elements in the Trinamul then rush, (unobtrusively, with soft feet, through the narrowest of patli galis) to proffer their fealty to the new ruling combination; let us say the Congress part of the jote, after due consultations with their Red partners, then selectively allows some of these ship-jumpers to do ghar-wapsi, telling the ones they see as more unsavoury to stay on as moles within the Didi-hive, that they will rescue them when the time is right. Say this musical chairs swells the jote's treasury benches to 170. What then?

42

So far, the signs are not very propitious. As far as one can tell, the jote's campaign has stayed focused on the big target signs pinned to the TMC - the breakdown of law and order, the terror inflicted by the Trinamul Boys' Clubs, the threat to women's safety, massive corruption, aka Saradha and Narada, Syndicate rule and the flyover collapse. There are glancing admissions of the Left's own mistakes in the years preceding the last five, but there is no straightforward checklist telling us 'these are the mistakes we made, and this is what we will not do again, under any circumstances'. More importantly, what we are hearing precious little about is what the Comm-Cong government will actually do if it comes to power, about the shape of their vision - if they have such a thing - about West Bengal. Election exigencies may mean you are obliged to grab the maximum amount of low-hanging fruit in order to have a hope of winning, and heaven knows Mamata Banerjee's regime has been extremely generous in providing a bounty of such fruit, but what happens after your jote dream comes true and Didi goes?

It's not evident that anyone in the jote leadership has any idea what they will do if the miracle upset does come about. If Mamata Banerjee's Plan A, B and C for Bengal are all to hang on to power at any cost for as long as possible, then, likewise, the jote's Plan A through D seems to be to rip that power away from the TMC. Bengal's deep misfortune is that none of our political leaders look like they're actually thinking about Bengal; they seem not to be able to think beyond Nabanna/Writers' Buildings.

Two examples: when asked on television, one of the CPI(M)'s young turks said the first thing on the jote agenda would be to bring those guilty of corruption to book. Given the extent of the rot in Bengal that itself is a massive project that could take years; what happens alongside this delivery of justice? In his speech at Park Circus, Rahul Gandhi said, "We will build this flyover in six months!" No, dude, wrong answer, zero marks. If anything like a proper monsoon hits Bengal this year, followed by the Pujas, you have a minus 50 per cent chance of building anything contiguous to that almighty mess. In any case, the correct, far more difficult thing someone needs to say is this: That whole infernal mistake is now a safety hazard. We. Will. Take. It. Down. As quickly as is possible to do so safely.

Both points are linked to a larger understanding, or lack thereof, about what the state desperately needs. The big-money-big-leader corruption stands on a foundation of a much more widespread cultural cancer that has metastasized over the last few decades, not years. If, as someone told me the other day, 'M not equal to Mamata, M equal to Mod,Maangsho, Meye******der birokti and Motorcycle!' M equal to booze, gluttony, troubling women, and motorcycles, then replace Mamata with the CPI(M), also once simply known as the 'M', and you get a pretty close equation. This culture of the Boys' Clubs bullying neighbourhoods began in the 1980s and will have to be rapidly dismantled by the inheritors of the very party that initiated it. The Vivekananda 'Flyway', too, is linked to a long-term blindness that has brought the state into a great and dangerous environmental fragility. In Bengal's cities, we need far fewer cars and fewer flyovers to service them; in urban conurbations where a vast majority moves on foot, or by bike, bus and train, we need to reduce private motor vehicles, and polluting ones, on a war footing. We need to privilege pedestrians and cyclists, privilege public transport and CNG fuel. We need to have speed limiters on engines, with corruption-proof checks. Sure we need to invite industry back into Bengal, but we certainly don't need more car

43

factories, we don't need industries that add to the country's or our state's own grotesque pollution, we need new kinds of small to medium scale industries using alternative energy, set-ups that can work with the rural areas in which they may be placed, that don't attack the already torn agricultural fabric of this state but enhance it, that create jobs and spin-offs that make it attractive for people to stay on in their villages and small towns.

Bengal is by no means 'a land without a people', not with 90-odd million of us knocking about, and people will always have urgent daily needs from food, sanitation, health and the right to physical and environmental safety. But, having said that, Bengal today can perhaps be seen not as a blank but an 'open' canvas, an open site where so much needs to be done that you can actually be quite radical in how you approach the challenge. All that is required from a party which gets a mandate is: 1. Non-dictatorial, genuinely democratic, transparent team-leadership 2. Total and strict honesty 3. Extreme humility 4. An informed and intelligently open mind, the willingness to think out of the trap-boxes of the past, and 5. Courage. Lots and lots of courage and stamina.

STATESMAN, APR 24, 2016Still waiting for change: - The amaar lok mindset

Telling Tales - Amit Chaudhuri

It's that time again. We were here five years ago, and had a sense that things were on the brink of utter change ( paribartan). It wasn't just that the Left had been in government in West Bengal for thirty four years and had reached the end of a particular road. It had to do with a moment in which it seemed clear that the days of partisan functioning were over. Even the Left, in its final year in power, was resigned to the fact that it was on its way out. Yet they may not have predicted how badly they'd lose, or how weighted on one side the battle would be. When I spoke with Nirupam Sen, whom I interviewed for a book I was then writing, he thought the outcome would be close: 'Fifty-fifty'.

On the momentous day of voting in various parts of Calcutta - 27th April, 2011 - I went out to do two things: cast my vote, and make notes for a piece I would be writing for the London Review of Books. The previous afternoon, I'd checked out two polling stations near my neighbourhood: the Jute Technology College on Ballygunge Circular Road, and, not far from it, the David Hare College. By the time I got to David Hare College, it was early evening, and the police were making preparations for the 27th with an air of almost celebratory dignity. They didn't look like a contingent whose morale and sense of themselves had been shot to tatters - that would happen to them in the years to come. After voting on the 27th at the Jute Technology College, I went much further afield: Kamalgachi, Rajpur, and the semi-rural, once-disturbed Bantala. I recall being struck by the stringency and equanimity with which the Election Commission presided, and was allowed to preside, over queues of voters.

At Kamalgachi, a man emerged on to the EMS Bypass, having just cast his vote. I asked him who he was; he said his profession was 'hawkery'. He'd voted for Trinamul after years of

44

choosing CPI(M). Why? He told me what I heard in various versions that day, and which goes to the heart of the malaise that's been killing Bengal and its politics. "We're tired of theamaar lok culture," he said. "We don't like it any more. We want it to end."

Amaar lok - 'our lot'; 'our people'; 'our group'. It's a context that has long substituted for moral and ethical parameters in Bengal, and which is denying it of its future even more than lack of employment and industry. The hawker knew this, as do we. The Trinamul's five years in government have been a chasteningly unexpected success, if 'success' here means an absolute, strangulating extension of the amaar lok mindset in Bengal in such a way that Bengali politics has nowhere now to go, no alternative mode to imagine. There can never be real change in a political system run solely on political patronage and territoriality: all you can expect is further strangulation. The CPI(M) cadre became Trinamul workers in 2011; a month from now, or in five years, or ten, the Trinamul workers might again become CPI(M), or - who knows - BJP. This is the sole measure of political success in this state. It's a model of political functioning that's busy with digging actual and figurative graves: West Bengal, unable to evolve from a mode of patronage put in place by the Left for its self-perpetuation, is now a political graveyard, without hope of an alternative until patronage is evicted. Such a hope might seem utopian, but it's less so than thinking that a simple change in government will give Bengal a more viable future.

Patronage is, historically, how nations and political groups further their agenda of domination - whether they do this in their own backyard or in faraway locations. Patronage turns faraway locations into backyards, and the recipient of patronage will, inevitably at some point, recoil against and slay the patron. The backyard will become enemy territory. One thinks, in recent decades, of America's relationship with the mujahideen; with Saddam Hussein; with Saudi Arabia. Games of domination in remote places turned them into - what else - America's backyard; the backyard today is the US's enemy territory. One recalls the late Mrs Gandhi's experiments in destabilizing Punjab, and Sanjay Gandhi's grooming of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The consequences of these relationships have shaped the times we've lived in. I'm not comparing the hoodlums who've determined the political cartography of Bengal in the last twenty five years with the entities I've mentioned. But, though the ambitions might be smaller in scale, the pattern of the weave and the unravelling are similar: patronage; cynical nurturing; complicity between the ruler and a section of the ruled, who become mini-rulers by proxy; vendetta against the 'other'; then, the recoil against and betrayal of the patron - the CPI(M) cadre become Trinamul foot soldiers. What's happened previously to the CPI(M) is also waiting to happen, some day, soon or late, to Mamata Banerjee. That's in the natural course of such things. What's tragic is the slaying of Bengal, and Bengali politics, in the process.

What did the promised paribartan really consist of? The answer, even today, isn't clear, because policy was never at the forefront of the campaign. One could extrapolate two simple urges from the subconscious of the Bengal electorate in 2011. The first was the need to depoliticize institutions from top to bottom, bottom to top - the termination of the amaar lok approach. Since this was never going to be easy, the only other projection ofparibartan was the return of industry to Bengal. As in other parts of India, industry would be a wand: besides addressing poverty and joblessness, it would take care of politicization; of squalor; of the 'work culture'; of even the volatility of the chief minister and the unseemliness of her henchmen.

45

Industry would not only alleviate the negative impact of the new regime; it would, hopefully, make it irrelevant. We wouldn't mind living with a chief minister who saw every criticism against her as a personal affront - we wouldn't even have minded being painted entirely in white and blue - as long as there was investment again in the state. Industry would bring money; money would distract us. This is how India - and not only Bengal - views industry today: not as a blueprint or policy, but as a panacea offering often improbable wish fulfilment. Would industry have put an end to the amaar lok mindset? Probably, by finally giving jobs to party hoodlums. On the other hand, there's a case for arguing that industry can't thrive in a context of rampant patronage. To Amartya Sen's constantly unheeded reminder that capitalism seldom works without provisions for increased healthcare and education, one could add, in Bengal, the imminent necessity of tackling micro-politicization.

Who's going to do the tackling? Who's going to guard against the continuing and increasing politicization of the fruit stall, the dealer in construction material, the bureaucracy, the police force, the centres of education? It needed to be us: the police superintendent; the party worker; the dealer; the lecturer; the bureaucrat; the supplier; the buyer. Paribartan was never going to arrive with a new government, or from the outside. However, in the last five years, it fell to us - with a few honourable exceptions - to contribute again to the consolidation of amaar lok. The buddhijibi (this is a misnomer: most people defined by this tag were artists rather than intellectuals) who wanted paribartan were seen to be pro-Trinamul rather than pro- paribartan. However, second-guessing, say, Aparna Sen and the consistently reasonable and courageous Kaushik Sen (who withdrew from the buddhijibi alliance before the last elections), I'd say that these artists hoped at some point that the Trinamul would provide people with a space in which to be neutral, to be neither for nor against, and to be for or against actions and policies according to their own merit. This was clearly a misunderstanding on their part. What Ms Banerjee wanted was not artistic endorsement and partnership in change, but the unqualified admiration of a group of figures she herself admired. Mutual admiration was key to a pact in which performance was seen to be politics, and her governance to be continual televised performance. When the neutral space wasn't created, and what was left of it began to be destroyed (the final blows were rained on its vestiges recently at the Academy of Fine Arts), some of these artists spoke up as any sentient being in a democracy would, and were immediately cast as anti-Trinamul. These were the terms of the debate. Whispers of 'She's close to Didi, she's no longer close to Didi' have characterized political discourse in the last five years. We've contributed too, as if this is what a conversation on politics in Bengal should be like on a given day. The whispers will continue unless we fashion paribartan beyond the day of the elections.

DECCAN HERLAD, APR 25, 2016Central govt schemes may soon have 'PM' prefix

All central government schemes may soon have “PM” or the names of nationalist leaders prefixed to them and films highlighting the achievements of Narendra Modi dispensation shown “mandatorily” before screening of movies in every theatre.

These are among a set of recommendations by the Group of Ministers (GoM) set up to suggest ways for increased visibility of central government schemes and achievements in states and

46

districts.

The internal note circulated at a meeting of the GoM chaired by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has also recommended creating animation clips of various achievements of the government highlighting the “difference between the past and present” in a “humorous way”. 

It has suggested roping in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for execution. The GoM has suggested producing a film every two weeks to highlight the government’s achievements which will be played out before every film in every theatre “mandatorily”, for which again it has recommended taking I&B Ministry’s help.

Against the backdrop of allegations that state governments often take the credit for central schemes, the GoM has recommended that the inauguration of central schemes should be done in presence of Union ministers and MPs so the role of Centre is highlighted.

It has also recommended enhancing the authority of MPs by giving them constitutional authority to carry out checks on execution of the schemes and build in a system of penalties enforceable by central government whenever there is lack of efficiency in execution of a scheme. 

If the recommendations are implemented, the monitoring committees in districts for the schemes will be headed by MPs. Currently, these are headed by District Magistrates or Superintendents of Police. As per the note, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is amending the rules to allow MPs to head the committees.

47

RAILWAYS

BUSINESS STANDARD, APR 26, 2016Railways expands "Vikalp" scheme for wait-listed passengers to 5 new routes The scheme allows wait-listed passengers who have chosen the option to be given confirmed seats on the next available train on that routeSudheer Pal Singh 

A wait of almost two decades for the people of South Assam (Barak Valley) to have broad-gauge rail connectivity has finally come to an end as Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu today flagged off the first passenger train service on the newly conver

No additional charge on digital payments Indian Railways mulls incubators to promote start- ups IRCTC to launch semi-luxury trains on desert and heritage trips Prepaid forex cards the best way to carry money abroad

With positive feedback from passengers for its “Vikalp” initiative, the Indian Railways has

decided to launch the alternative train accommodation scheme for wait-listed passengers on five

new routes.

Under the scheme, wait-listed passengers are allowed to get confirmed accommodation in the

next alternative train if they choose that option while booking tickets online. The scheme,

launched on a pilot basis last November, was so far available on the Delhi-Lucknow and Delhi-

Jammu routes.

The five new routes are Delhi-Howrah, Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Bengaluru and

Delhi-Secunderabad.

The Vikalp scheme introduced in October 2015 will be expanded to provide choice of

accommodation in specific trains to wait-listed passengers,” Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu had

said in his speech for the 2016-17 Budget. As per the latest decision, the expanded scheme would

provide the option of alternative accommodation irrespective of whether the boarding and

destination stations of the passenger are originating and terminating stations on the route. six

months and the railway board has asked Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the rail

ministry's technincal arm, to make necessary modifications in the ticketing software.

48

TAXATIONTIMES OF INDIA, APR 28, 2016Concealed income by mistake? No I-T penaltyLUBNA KABLY 

The Mumbai bench of the Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), in a recent order, has taken a benevolent vie... Read More

MUMBAI: The Mumbai bench of the Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), in a recent order,

has taken a benevolent view and dismissed the penalty levied by income-tax officials for

'concealment of income' in the hands of a salaried employee.

A punching error committed by an online tax-return filing portal, whose services the salaried

employee (taxpayer) had enlisted, resulted in under-reporting of salary income in the taxpayer's

I-T return. Tax officials treated such under-reporting of income as an attempt to conceal income

and imposed a heavy penalty on the taxpayer.

After examining the facts of the case and the personal circumstances of the taxpayer, the ITAT

dismissed the penalty, on the ground that the taxpayer had no mala fide intent to evade tax or

claim refunds dubiously.

In the context of salaried employees, the ITAT also observed that I-T officials have full details of

the salary income of a taxpayer in their data base, as quarterly returns of TDS are filed by the

employer. The employers also issue form no 16 to employees which contains salary and TDS

details. Hence, it is not very feasible for a salaried person to evade taxes by filing inaccurate

salary particulars or by concealing salary income.

The ITAT order is taxpayer friendly, as it recognised that a taxpayer should not be penalised for

negligence committed by an online tax- return filing portal. However, this order cannot have a

blanket application on all other cases where income has been under-reported in I-T returns,

caution tax officials and tax experts.

"In this case, the taxpayer was able to demonstrate her bona fides by showing the circumstances

under which the error was committed. Her subsequent behaviour, including paying back the

49

erroneous refund she had obtained, also demonstrated that she had no mala fide intention.

Further, the income which was understated in the I-T return was salary income, on which tax had

already been deducted at source-this weighed significantly with the ITAT, in deciding to delete

the penalty," explains Gautam Nayak, tax partner, CNK & Associates.

"Taxpayers must check the contents of the online I-T return which is being filed on their behalf

by online tax-return filing portals," stresses a senior tax official.

At present, all taxpayers (including salaried employees) having an income of over Rs 5 lakh have

to file their I-T returns online. During 2015-16, 4.34 crore I-T returns were filed electronically, a

rise of nearly 27% over the previous year, according to statistics released by the ministry of

finance.

In this case, which was recently heard by the ITAT, Richa Dubey had during the financial year

2010-11, received a salary income of Rs 26,376 from Nielson Research and Rs 21.22 lakh from

Hindustan Unilever (HUL), aggregating to Rs 21.48 lakh.

She had submitted copies of Form 16, containing her salary details to the online tax-return filing

portal, Taxspanner, whose services she had availed of even in earlier years. This portal wrongly

punched her taxable salary from HUL as Rs 2.09 lakh instead of Rs 20.96 lakh, which resulted in

her salary income being under-reported in the I-T return. 

At the time of filing of the I-T return, the taxpayer was five months pregnant and was also under

immense work pressure. Paucity of time had prevented her from checking the content of the I-T

return filed. She had relied completely on the services of the portal; blindly signed the e-

acknowledgement sent to her by the portal and forwarded it to the I-T department.

When her case came up for scrutiny, the tax officer levied the maximum penalty of Rs. 13.04

lakh (or 300% of the tax sought to be evaded) for concealment of income. In addition to the

under-reporting of salary income, the tax officer also noted that Dubey had also not reported

interest of Rs. 16,803 on her savings bank account, which she claimed was an oversight and had

50

wrongly held a commission of Rs 85,270 received from a real estate broker to be a non-taxable

capital receipt.

Top Comment

Why sensitive detaiks such as salary income of the perdon disclosed along with the identity in

this news? This is priviledged private information. Reporter need not disclose either the name on

income.Veeru

The Commissioner of I-T (Appeals) also upheld the imposition of penalty for concealment of

income even as the quantum of penalty was reduced by him. Subsequently, Dubey filed an

appeal before the ITAT, which in its order dated April 20, waived off the penalty as it found that

there was no deliberate attempt on Dubey's part to conceal income.

BUSINESS STANDARD, APR 27, 2016I-T dept to pay interest on TDS refund: It will also not litigate with the deductor on this issue in the future

Taxing times for Kingfisher Airlines staff continue Investors get tax relief on investment gains Over 4 mn new assessees brought under IT net: CBDT Resolve taxpayers' rectification cases in 6 months: CBDT to I-T dept

The Income Tax (I-T) department will now add interest amount to a delayed refund made on

excess tax deducted at source (TDS) cuts and will also not litigate with the deductor on this issue

in the future, a latest directive has said.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a directive in this regard to the assessing

officers of the I-T department based on a 2014 Supreme Court order, where the apex court had

made it clear that the taxman is “bound” to pay an interest on refund made under

the TDScategory. TDS is primarily deducted by the employer from the salary paid to an

employee.

“In view of the judgment of the apex court, it is settled that if a resident deductor is entitled for

the refund of tax deposited under Section 195 (other sums) of the Act (Income Tax Act), then it

51

has to be refunded with interest under section 244A  from the date of payment of such tax,”

the CBDT   communication issued on Tuesday said.

The CBDT has further directed that “accordingly, it is advised that no appeals may henceforth be

filed on this ground by the officers of the department and appeals already filed on this issue may

not be pressed upon.”

The clarificatory note has been issued by the policy-making body (CBDT) of the I-T department

as it has been a subject matter of “controversy and litigation”.

"While the tax department duly gives interest in case an individual's refund is delayed, there was

some grey area in the TDS category. This has been settled now. This is yet another area where

the taxman is cutting don on litigation," a senior IT official said.

The basis of the latest communication is a Supreme Court order that had ruled in favour of the

deductor of a company on February 26, 2014 stating that "refund due and payable to assessee is

debt-owned and payable by the Revenue.

"The government, there being no express statutory provisions for payment of interest on the

refund of excess amount/tax collected by the Revenue cannot shrug of its apparent obligation to

reimburse the deductors lawful monies with the accrued interest for the period of undue retention

of such monies.

"The state having received the money without right and having retained and used it, is bound to

make the party good, just as an individual would be under like circumstances. The obligation to

refund money received and retained without right implies and carried with it the right to

interest," the apex court had said in the 2014 order.

52