ContentPM MODI'S VISION

4 Salient points of PM Modi's speech in Rajya Sabha on the

'motion of thanks' to President's Address

4 Salient points of PM Modi’s address at the National

Conference of Women Legislators

4 Salient Points of PM Modi’s address at Centenary Year

Convocation of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

POLITICAL THOUGHT

4 Marx & Deendayal—the Two Approaches D.B. Thengdi

SPECIAL ARTICLE

4 The 2016-17Budget: A Positive step in India’s Transformation

Process Mukul Asher

4 Budget Reflections – Transforming Social Sector Spending

Praful Shankar

4 India-Qatar Gas Agreement: Win-Win Deal for Both

Ambassador R. Dayakar

POLICY ANALYSIS

4 Highlights of Budget 2016-17

4 Highlights of Railway Budget 2016-17

NATIONAL AGENDA

4 Better Late than Never: Slow, but steady will win the “Road”

race. Rahul Mehta

4 Indian Railways – The Growth Engine Aseervatham Achary

POLITICAL COMMENTARIES

4 nfyrksa&fiNM+ksa dk Hkktik ls cM+k fgrS"kh dkSu\ f'kokuUn f}osnh4 dyefx) dE;fuLVksa dh gdhdr 'kSysUæ dqekj 'kqDyk4 Lessons at JNU: Justifying Terror in the Name of Freedom?

Dr. Prakash Shah

INDIA@POSITIVE

4 PSLV-C32 successfully launches India’s Sixth Navigation

Satellite IRNSS-1F

BOOK REVIEW

4 India-Myanmar Relations: Changing Contours

Siddharth Singh

EVENT@SPMRF

4 Discussion on 3rd March 2016 on "Dimensions of India-UK

Relationship in the Current Global Scenario"

PARTY PRESIDENT

4 Jh vfer 'kkg }kjk eFkqjk esa vk;ksftr Hkkjrh; turk ;qok ekspkZ dsvfèkos'ku esa fn, x, lacksèku ds eq[; va'k

Editorial Advisors :

Shakti Sinha, IAS (Rtd)

Former Power & Finance

Secretary Govt. of Delhi

Dr. Anirban Ganguly

Director, SPMRF

Dr. Shiv Shakti Bakshi

Executive Editor, Kamal Sandesh

Dr. Vijay Chauthaiwale

In-Charge BJP Foreign Affairs Department

& Convener, Overseas Friends of BJP

Dr. Dhananjay Singh

(Assistant Professor),

Jawaharlal Nehru University

Professor Santishree D.Pandit

Professor

Savitribai Phule Pune University

&

Vice- President- Indian Political Science Association

Dr. Amit Singh

Assistant Professor ARSD College,

Delhi University

Amit Malviya

National In-charge, IT & Social

Media Vibhag, BJP

Research Team :

l Siddharth Singh l Shubhendu Anand

l Ajit Jha l Pradip Bhandari

l Shailendra Kumar Shukla

Layout :

Vikas Saini

Published by :

Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee

Research Foundation,

9, Ashoka Road New Delhi- 110001

E-mail : office@spmrf.org,

Telephone : 011-48005850

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The fig-leaf of dissent has been used for years,especially by the Communist parties in India as a

cover for propagating an ideology that essentially andalways tried to hack away at India and at her unityand integrity. In the name of dissent the Communistparties have always preached and pushed for anagenda that is essentially a retrograde and violentone meant to create disturbances in the country, toinject in some young minds anti-national and anti-India tendencies and then to justify these as freedomof expression and of speech.

A veteran communist historian has who haspushed the Marxist agenda throughout her life hasin fact justified the JNU programme of 9th Februaryheld to observe the death "anniversary" of a terroristand to call for the vivisection of the Indian state, as aprogramme that aimed at discussing the issue of"capital punishment." In an article in an establishedweekly she justified the gathering, sought to blanketover the slogans raised arguing that "slogans tookover in a confused fashion, as happens in suchsituations, and the serious issue of capital punishmentwas lost."

The classic communist habit of diversionarytactics is evident in such false statements when onekeeps in mind that as per the organisers own publicityposters and pamphlets the agenda of the programmewas to support secessionism in Kashmir, to supportthose who call for Kashmir's secession from India andfor all those who "struggle" for "self-determination"from the Indian Union and to celebrate the actionsand life of a convicted terrorist who had played arole in attacking the Indian Parliament in 2001. Theorganisers had also declared that they were "ashamed"that the terrorist's killers continued to live - therebyinciting violence against the various wings of the

Editorial

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Editorial

Indian state and its officers and holders of constitutional positions who hadcarried out their constitutional duties in the trial of the terrorist. A discussionon "capital punishment" as stated by this "confused" veteran communistshistorian was nowhere remotely seen to be the topic of the evening's gathering.In typical communist and ultra-leftist manner a lie is propagated until it startsappearing to be the truth, at least to some.

Such has been the agenda of Maoism, Naxalism and Jihadism in India. Thesloganeers in JNU have become pawns - conscious pawns - in this game oftrying to dissolve the civilisational idea of India. The manner in which thecommon citizens came out in condemnation of these sloganeers was somethingthat was reassuring. A vast multitude of ordinary Indians responded to thecall for a march for unity and came out in large numbers to reiterate their faithin the true idea of India - nurtured and shaped over millennia. A large numberof academics from leading institutions openly called for safeguarding ouruniversities from forces that wish to destroy India while trying to turn oureducational institutions into battlefields for their nefarious political objectives.

But what was most ironical the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi'sopen support to such secessionists and to those who were calling for India'sbreaking apart. The Congress vice-president justified this support in the nameof freedom of expression. It is in fact such irresponsible political behaviour,inspired by cheap and shallow opportunism that gives winds to the sails ofthose who wish to create disruption and instability in the country. Havingbeen in power for so long, the Congress leadership should have shown maturity- but perhaps that is too much to expect. India's unity, integrity, her securityand well-being is non-negotiable and that has been made amply clear by BJPPresident Amit Shah in his presidential address at the just concluded NationalExecutive meet in Delhi. While the communist parties do not believe innationalism and nation and the Congress works to continuously try and dilutethe larger vision and faith in nationalism, the Narendra Modi led governmentcontinues to strive to strengthen the forces of unity and inspire affirmativeaction to put India on track towards a great power status.

Those who refuse to strive for India's emergence, to celebrate her potential,or work to position her in the comity of nations belongs to the anti-India tribe,whose sole objective is self-glorification. In an India that aspires to evolve to anew dimension of energy and growth, in an India that aspires for prosperity,equity and justice for all, anti-Indianness and glorification of India's enemieshave no place as have no place all those who advocate or support that line.

— Dr. Anirban Ganguly,

Director, SPMRF

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Salient points of PM Modi's speechin Rajya Sabha on the 'motion of

thanks' to President's Address

PM MODI'S VISION

8 lnL;ksa ds lokyksa ds tokc nsus ds fy,eaf=;ksa dks nsj jkr rd rS;kfj;ka djuhiM+ jgh gSaA executives dks fglkc nsusds fy, ltx jguk iM+k jgk gS vkSj ;ghyksdra= dh rkdr gSA

8 ,d ckr t:j gS e`R;q dks ,d ojnku gSvkSj e`R;q dks ,slk ojnku gS e`R;q dHkhcnuke ugha gksrkA dHkh e`R;q ij vkjksiugha yxrsA dksbZ ejs rks ;s dSalj ls ejk gS]vkjksi dSalj ij tkrk gSA dksbZ ejs rks ;svdLekdr ejk gS rks vdLekr ij vkjksi

tkrk gS e`R;q ij ugha tkrk gSA cM+h vk;qesa ejs rks os mez ds dkj.k ejs gSa] e`R;q dksdHkh nks"k ugha vkrkA e`R;q dHkh cnukeugha gksrhA dHkh&dHkh ,slk yxrk gS fddkaxzsl dks ,slk ojnku gS--- ojnku blvFkZ esa gS fd vxj ge dkaxzsl dh vkykspukdjsa rks vkius ehfM;k esa ns[kk gksxk fdfoi{k ij geyk] foi{k ij vkjksi] dHkh ;sugha vkrk gS fd dkaxzsl ij geyk] dkaxzslij vkjksi ge vxj 'kjn th ds f[kykQdqN dgsa] ek;korh th ds f[kykQ dqN

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dgsa rks v[kckj esa vk,xk] Vhoh esa vk,xkfd ch,lih ij geyk] tsMh;w ij geyk]'kjn th ij geyk] ek;korh th ij geykysfdu dkaxzsl ,d ,slh gS tc Hkh geykgks rks foi{k ij geykA dHkh dkaxzsl dkscnukeh ugha feyrh vkSj ;s vius vki esacM+k xtc dk foKku gSA

8 ns'k gekjs dbZ fcy ikfjr gks] bldk bartkjdj jgk gSA th,lVh dh ppkZ gks jgh gSckdh fcy dh ppkZ eSa ugha dj jgk gwaAcgqr cM+h ek=k esa vc tks tuçfrfufèk pqudjds vk, gSa mUgksaus rks bldks Loh dkjdj fy;k gSA ysfdu jkT;ksaks ds tks çfrfufèkgSa ogkaA vc ;s txg ,slh gS tks vijgkÅl gekjk] ,d chamber of ideasgSA ;gka ns'k dks ekxZn'kZu feysxk] fn'kkfeysxh vkSj blfy, nksuksa lnuksa ds chprkyesy gksuk cgqr t:jh gSA nksuksa lnuoLrqr% mlh structure ds Hkkx gSa vkSjlg;ksx ,ao lkeatL; dh Hkkouk dh fdlhHkh deh ls dfBukb;ka c<+sxh vkSj gekjslafoèkku ds mfpr :i ls dk;Z djus esackèkk [kM+h gksxhA ;s fpark ia0 tokgj ykyusg: th us trkbZ FkhA eSa vk'kk djrk gwafd ge iafMr th dh bl fpark dks egRosnsaA

8 gesa incremental improvement lsgVdj ds ,d quantum jump dh vksjtkuk cgqr t:jh gS vkSj blfy, 'kfäHkh tjk T;knk yxkuh iM+rh gS vkSj 'kfätksM+uh Hkh iM+rh gSA rks mldh fn'kk esage ç;kl dj jgs gSaA

8 geu s ,d cy fn;k g S good

governance ij] vkSj tc eSa good

governance dh ckr djrk gwa] lq'kkludh ckr djrk gwa rks mldh igyh 'krZgksrh gS transparency. fiNys fnuksa pkgs

dks;ys dh ppkZ gks] LisDVªSe dh ppkZ gks]u&tkus D;k&D;k ckrsa mBh] vc rks ekeyslkjs dksVZ esa Hkh iM+s gq, gSaA ysfdu geustransparency ij cy fn;k gSA mldkifj.kke ;g gS - dks;yk auction esa gex, 3-33 yk[k djksM+] Lis DVªee esa x, 1yk[k djksM+] ge ,Q,e jsfM;ks esa x,AvHkh&vHkh py jgk gSA 'kk;n vki yksxksadks Kku gksxk 6 vU; minerals dk vkSjvHkh&vHkh auction esa tks 18 gtkj djksM+#i;k cross dj x;kA

8 nwljk igyw gS good governance dkaccountability. gesa ;g ekudj pysfd dqy feykdj ds tks deterioration

vk;k gS mlesa ge [kcjksa dh speed lspyrs pys tk jgs gSa] ihNs dh phtsa NwVrhpyh tk jgh gSaA [kcjsa vkrh gSa tkrh gSa]?kVuk,a vkrh gSa tkrh gSa] accountability

dk fo"k; NwV tkrk gSA geus dksf'k'k dhgS fd accountability ij cy fn;ktk,A eSa yxkrkj bu fnuksa Infrastructure

ds review dj jgk gwaA bl lnu ds lHkhekuuh; lnL;ksa dks vk'pks;Z gksxk 10&10]20&20 lky ls gekjs cM+s&cM+s çkstsDVyVds iM+s gq, gSaA ;k rks environment

okyksa us jksd fn;k gksxk] dksVZ&dpgjh usjksd fn;k gksxk] ;k LFkkuh; dksbZ body

gksxh NksVh] uxjikfydk oks jksddj ds cSBxbZ gksxhA #dk gqvk gS] D;ksa #dk gqvk gS]dksbZ ns[krk ugha] iwNrk ugha] blh dkj.k]dHkh financial dkj.k Hkh jgs gksaxs ysfdu10&10] 20&20 lky ls #ds gq, çkstsDVlAeSaus fiNys fnuksa djhc 300 çkstsDV dk[kqn review fd;k vkSj mldh worth gSdjhc 15 yk[k djksM+ #i;kA eSa bl lnudks uezrkiwoZd dgrk gwa fd oks lkjsNksVs&NksVs ladVksa esa Qals gq,] ;s 15&15]20 lky iqjkus stalled projects vkt

PM MODI'S VISION

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pkyw gks x, gS] xfr c<+ jgh gSA

8 Good governance dk rhljk igywgksrk gS - decentralization. bruk cM+kns'k ge centralized mechanism lsugha pyk ldrsA ftruh cM+h ek=k esadecentralize djsaxs vkSj blfy, ljdkjus uhfrxr :i ls decentralize djusdh fn'kk esa uhfrxr dne mBk, gSa tSlsenvironment. ge environment dhgj permission dks fnYyh ys vk,A

8 Good governance dh ,d egRo-iw.kZckr gksrh gS effective delivery.

8 orZeku ljdkj ds dk;Zdky esa 2014 esageus skill development ,d vyxministry cukbZA skill development

scheme ds fy, common norms

r; fd,A skill initiatives, consistent

quality gkfly djus ij cy fn;k x;kANSDC ds rgr geus Ms<+ lky esa <kbZxquk mlesa c<+ksrjh dhA Industrial

training institutions ¼ITI½ geus Ms<+lky ds Hkhrj&Hkhrj 20 izfr'kr mlesabtkQk fd;kA fiNys nks o"kZ esa {kerk 15yk[k 23 gtkj lhVksa ls c<+dj ds 18 lakh65 thousand dj nh xbZ] 20 izfr'kr geusc<+ksrjh dhA 1 yk[k 70 gtkj çfro"kZ tksr; gksrs Fks mlesa geus 53 thousand

vkSj tksM+ fn,A 10th vkSj 12th mlesavocational education djhc ckjg lkSrsjg lkS Ldwy esa pyrk FkkA vkt geusmldks ,dne ls quantum jump yxkdjds rhu gtkj igqapk fn;kA Ms<+ yk[kvfrfjä Nk=ksa dk ykHk mlds fy, gqvkAInternational mobility] ,d ckrekudj ds pysa fd 2030 oks le; vk,xk]tc nqfu;k dh utj fgUnqLrk u dsworkforce ij jgus okyh gSA geus vHkh

ls global standard dk workforce

rS;kj djus dh fn'kk esa gesa dke djukpkfg,A International mobility ij gesacy nsuk pkfg, vkSj mlds fy, v‚LVªsfy;kvkSj UK ds tks standards gS mldksmatch gksrs gq,] dkeksa dks geus 'kq:fd;k gS vkSj Hkh requirements ds vuqlkjml standard dks ysus dh fn'kk esa gedke djuk pkgrs gSaA

8 igys gekjs ;gka target gksrk Fkk & fdruscPpksa dks rS;kj fd;kA mlh dks iwjk djusdh fn'kk esa ç;kl FkkA geus market esarequirement D;k gS] fdl çdkj dssyllabus dh t:jr gS] fdl çdkj dhtraining dh t:jr gS] mldk losZ fd;kvkSj according to that geus skill

develop fd;k rkfd job ds lkFk mldksconnect fd;k tk, vkSj mldks mldkdke fey tk, vkSj ml fn'kk esa geusç;kl fd;k gSA

8 geus jkstxkjh dks c<+kok nsus ds fy, tksmicro and small industry gS mldksgeus Tax ds vanj lqfoèkk,a nh gSaA Start

Up dks cy fn;k gSA rhu lky ds fy,VSDl esa geus fj;k;r nh gS rkfd ukStokuksadks Start Up ds fy, ekSdk feysA eqæk cSadds }kjk djksM+ksa&djksM+ksa yksxksa dks geus èkufn;k gS] tks iqjkus Fks mUgksaus expansion

fd;k gSA expansion ds dkj.k mldks,d&nks yksxksa dks vkSj jkstxkj nsus dk mldksvolj feyk gS vkSj blesa Hkh T;ksnk SC,

ST vkSj women gSaA eqæk ds ykHkkFkhZ lclsT;knk SC, ST, OBC and women gSA

8 gekjs ns'k esa cM+s&cM+s e‚y gks] oks rks lkrfnu py ldrs gSa] ysfdu xkao ds vanj,d NksVk nqdkunkj gks] oks lkr fnu [kqyhugha j[k ldrk gSA geus ctV esa bl ckj

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?kksf"kr fd;k gS fd NksVs nqdkunkj Hkh lkrfnu pyk lrs gSa] nsj jkr pyk ldrs gSaAbldk ifj.kke ;g vkus okyk gS fd gjNksVk nqdkunkj Hkh ,d u ,d dke djusokys dks j[ksxk] ,d&,d nqdku ij ,du, O;kfä ds jkstxkj dh laHkkouk gksusokyh gSA ml fn'kk esa egRo iw.kZ dke eSale>rk gwa vkus okys fnuksa esa jkstxkj dhfn'kk esa gksus okyk gSA

8 tc geus dgk fd D;ksa u ns'k ftlesafdlku gks] progressive fdlku gks] jkT;ljdkjsa gks] dsUæ ljdkjsa gks] ge lcfeydj ds] geus cgqr ftEesnkjh ds lkFkbu 'kCnksaa dk ç;ksx fd;k gqvk gSA lcfeydj ds ;s y{; D;ksa u r; djs fd2022 esa fdlku dh income double

gksA vxj ge lgh fn'kk esa ç;kl djs rksifj.kke vk,xkA eSa ,d gekjs ns'k esa blfo"k; ds tkudkj gS] Jheku ,e- ,l-LokehukFku] mudk ,d latest article

dk quote eSa dguk pkgrk gwa Þseeds

have been sown for agricultural

transformation and for attracting

and retaining youth in farming.

The dawn of a new era in farming

is in sight."

8 vc fdlku dh vk; nksxquk gks ldrh gSfd ugha gks ldrh gSA fdlku eryc]vxj tks ge soil health card ds dkedks ysdj ds pys gS] mldks ge lQyrkls ykxw djs vkSj fdlku soil health

card ds advices ds vqulkj viuhtehu dk mi;ksx djuk 'kq: djsAproductivity c<+ ldrh gS] input cost

de gks ldrh gSA

8 gesa value addition dh fn'kk esa ç;kldjuk gksxk vkSj blfy, vxj vkyw fdlku

csprk gS rks de dekbZ gksrh gS ysfduwafer cukdj ds csprk gS rks T;k nkdekbZ gksrh gSA gjh fepZ csprk gS rks dedekbZ gksrh gS ysfdu yky fepZ dk ikmMjcukdj ds csprk gS rks T;knk dher feyrhgSA ge yksxksa us value addition ij cynsuk 'kq: fd;k gS ftlds dkj.k gekjsfdlku dh income esa c<+ksrjh gksuk iwjhrjg ykfteh gSA mlh çdkj ls blue

economy] gekjs tks lkxj] tks gekjsfisheries esa gekjs fisherman yxs gSaAgekjs leqæh rV ij seaweed dh [ksrh]i wj h l a H k kouk g S vkt n q fu;k e s apharmaceuticals ds manufacturing

esa base material ds fy, seaweed

cgqr cM+h rkdr cudj mHkjk gSA gekjsfisherman ds ifjokj leqæh rV ijvkjke ls seaweed dh [ksrh dj ldrsgS vkSj oks seaweed dh marketing

vkSj gekjs pharmaceuticals ls getie up djs] gekjs fisherman dhincome Hkh ge c<+k ldrs gSaA dgus dkrkRi;Z ;g gS fdge tks lksprs gSa fdagriculture sector esa ge fdlkuksa dhvk; c<+k ugha ldrs] ;s fujk'kk dk dksbZdkj.k ugha gSA vxj ge oSKkfud rjhdsls] mlh çdkj ls National Agriculture

Market] vkt National Agriculture

Market ds }kjk] e-platform ds }kjk]fdlku vius xkao esa cSBdj ds ;g r;dj ldrk gS fdvxj egkjk"Vª ds vanjmldh iSnkokj dh dher T;knk gS] ogkacsp ldrk gSA 14 vçSy ckck lkgscvkEcsMdj dh tUet;arh ij ;g ljdkjbldks launch djus tk jgh gSA fdlkuviuh tgka T;knk dher feysxh] ogkamarket esa tkus ds fy, mldks lqfoèkkfeyus okyh gSA l l l l l

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R ole of Rules and Laws inachieving Sustainable

Development:

The role of rules and laws inachieving sustainable developmentgoals is going to be very important inthe days to come. However, rules shouldbe such that they facilitate theachievement of these goals.Unfortunately, some times, the concernfor environment is defined narrowly.We all have to realize that if there isconflict, no one's purpose will be served.

The problems of environment arelargely the effect of our consumptivelifestyles. If we want to make ameaningful impact, we all need to lookwithin; before we read the books of law.

Salient points of PM Modi's address duringthe International Conference on Rule of Law

for supporting 2030 Development Agenda

Indian way of looking at SustainableDevelopment:

I have always felt that anythingwhich is not sustainable cannot becalled development. In our culture,development means ^cgqtu fgrk;] cgqtulq[kk;*] ^losZ HkoUrq lqf[kuks* and ^yksdk% leLrk%lqf[kuks HkoUrq. This cannot happen unlessthe development process is inclusiveand sustainable. Anything whichcompromises on the ability of futuregenerations to meet theirrequirements cannot be calleddevelopment. We in India havealways believed in sustainability. Forus, the law of nature holds great value.If we all observe it, then many man-made laws will not be required. Only

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the practice of lg thou and lg vfLrRowill be enough to help us. In modernterminology, there is a word calledstakeholder. A path becomessustainable, if all stakeholders arebenefitted. However, I must add aword of caution here. The stake shouldbe natural. It should be inherent. Itcannot be stretched to include thosewho may be working with ulteriormotives. Nature is pure. Hence, onlypure intentions can keep it intact.

Nature is an integral part of Indianculture:

We, in India, have a strongtradition of living in harmony withnature. We worship nature. Weworship the sun, the moon, rivers,land, trees, animals, rain, air and fire.These elements of Nature have beengiven the stature of Gods in ourculture. Moreover, in Indianmythology, most of the Gods andGoddesses are associated with ananimal and a tree. Thus, respect forNature is an integral part of ourculture, and has been passed acrossgenerations. Protection ofenvironment comes naturally to us.This strong tradition has been aguiding principle for all of us.

We always pray for welfare, peace,fulfillment and sustainability of all; atall places and for all times.

The ideas of YAM, NIYAM,PRATYAHAR teach us discipline,austerity and control.

Collective efforts are required andconflict of interest should beavoided:

The problems we face in Indiatoday are not unique. Othercivilizations have also faced similarproblems and were able to overcomethem. I believe that through ourcollective efforts we will succeed aswell. While doing so, we must ensurethat we avoid contradictions betweenour need to develop and developsustainably. Our culture teaches usUnion between the O;fDr and leLrh- Ifwe become one with the universalorder, there are no conflicts ofinterest.

Why we need Climate Justice:

The rule of law dictates that no onecan be punished for another'smisdeed. We need to recognize thatthere are many people who are leastresponsible for the problem of climatechange. They are also the people whostill wait for access to modernamenities. They face the adverseimpact of climate change more thananyone else. This includes cyclones,droughts, floods, heat waves, andrising sea levels. The poor, vulnerableand marginalized groups have fewerresources to cope with climatedisasters. Unfortunately, their presentand future generations are alsoburdened by laws and agreements onenvironment. That is why I talk aboutClimate Justice. Moreover, the rules,laws, practices and principles of onecountry cannot be applied to anotheruniformly. Every country has its ownchallenges and its own ways ofdealing with them. If we apply thesame set of rules for all countries andfor all people; it will not work. l l l l l

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8 l'kfädj.k mudk gksrk gS] ftudkl'kfädj.k ugha gS ysfdu tks l'kägS] mudk l'kfädj.k dkSu djsxkvkSj ;s ckr esjs xys ugha mrjrh fdiq#"k gksrs dkSu gSa tks l'kä djsaxsysfdu vko';d ;s gS fd ge Loa;dks igpkusaA

8 ge viuh 'kfä;ksa dks rc rd ughaigpkurs gSa] tc rd gesa pqukSfr;ksals tw>us dk volj ugha vkrk gSA

8 tgka&tgka efgyk dks volj feykgS] mldk lQyrk dk Lrj cgqrÅapk gSA

8 eSa ugha tkurk gwa fd fdlh us losZ

fd;k gS fd ugha fd;k gS ysfduvxj losZ djs rks 'kk;n iq#"kksa dksfeys gq, volj] mudk success

ratio and efgyk dks feyk volj]mudk success ratio] eSa fo'oklls dgrk gwa efgykvksa dk Åij x;kgksxkA bldk eryc ;s gS fd lkeFkZ~;gSA gekjs ns'k esa ;s igyh ljdkj,slh gS ftlesa bruh cM+h ek=k esaefgyk eaf=;ksa dk çfrfufèkRo gS D;ksafdesjk conviction gS fd mudks vxjvolj feys rks oks cgqr mÙke ifj.kkens ldrs gSa vkSj vkt ge vuqHko Hkhdj jgs gSa fd ifj.kke nsrs gSaA

Salient points of PM Modi’saddress at the National Conference

of Women Legislators

PM MODI'S VISION

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8 jk"Vª dk tu&tu jk"Vª dks l'käcukrk gSA mldks vxj lkeFkZ~;okucukrk gS] mldks vxj pfj=okucukrk gS rks eka cukrh gS] mlls cM+kjk"Vª dk fuekZ.k dksbZ ugha dj ldrkgSA mlls cM+k l'kfädj.k dksbZugha dj ldrk] tks lfn;ksa lsekrk,a&cgusa djrh vkbZ gSaA

8 ge ;s r; djsa] gekjs gj ,d dsdk;Z{ks= esa] ,d&frgkbZ efgyk,a usrRodj jgh gSaA dksbZ xkao dk usr`Ro djjgh gSa] dksbZ uxj dk usr`Ro dj jghgSa] dksbZ 'kgj dk dj jgh gSa] dksbZcM+s 'kgj] ,d frgkbZ D;ksafd one-

third chairmanship fdlh ufdlh efgyk ds gkFk esa gSA ;s,d&frgkbZ çfrfufèk] ckdh NksMf?,];s ,d&frgkbZ çfrfufèk oks vkidhlksp] vkids fopkj dks] tks vkidsunder esa dke djrs gSa] vkidsdk;Z{ks= esa gSaA vxj vki foèkk;dgSa vkSj 100 xkao gSa] vxj ml 100xkao ds vanj ls 30&35 efgyk,a gSa]çèkku efgyk,a gSa D;k vkius mudksempower fd;k gS] D;k vkiusmudk l'kfädj.k fd;k gS] D;k

vkius dHkh ,d fnu muds lkFkfcrk;k gSA

8 eSa vkils vkxzg d:axk fd vkidksvius vkidks çHkkoh Hkh cukuk iM+sxkvkSj vxj vki vius vki dks çHkkohcus jgus ds fy, tks ç;kl djuspkfg, vxj mldks vki ugha djsaxsrks flQZ O;oLFkkvksa cnyus ls ifj.kkeugha vkrk gSA Structure es abèkj&mèkj cnyko gksrk jgsxk]le;&le; ij gksrk Hkh jgrk gSAvko';drk gS mlesa çk.koku dSlscuk,a ge viuh rkdr dks dSlstksM+saA

8 leadership establishment djusds fy, vkids ikl mEnk O;fäRot:jr ugha gS] vkids ikl fo"k;ksadh tkudkjh gksuk t:jh gSA

8 oks fnu nwj ugha gksxk fd tcwomen empowerment rks gksrkgh gksrk pyk tk,xk ysfdu ns'k esawomen development ls vkxsc< +dj d s women led

development dh fn'kk esa vkxsc<+sxkA lllll

PM MODI'S VISION

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Salient Points of PM Modi’s address atCentenary Year Convocation of Banaras

Hindu University, Varanasi

Hkkjr jRus egkeuk th ds pj.kksa esa oanu

djrk gwa fd 100 o"kZ iwoZ ftl cht mUgksaus cks;k Fkk oks vkt bruk cM+k fojkV] Kku dk]foKku dk] çsj.kk dk ,d o`{k cu x;kA 100lky igys egkeuk th ds bl dk;Z dks ns[ksa rksirk pyrk gS fd nh?kZ-"Vkk fdls dgrs gSa]visionary fdls dgrs gSaA xqykeh ds ml dky[kaMesa jk"Vª?k ds Hkkoh liuksa dks ân;LFk] djuk vkSjflQZ ;g ns'k dSlk gks] vktkn fganqLrk u dk:i&jax D;k gks] ;g flQZ lius ugha gS ysfdumu liuksa dks iwjk djus ds fy, lcls çkFkfedvko';udrk D;ko gks ldrh gS\ vkSj oks gS muliuksa dks lkdkj djs] ,sls tSls ekuo leqnk;dks rS;kj djuk gSA ,sls lkeFkZ~; oku] ,sls lefiZrekuoksa dh Ja[kyk] f'k{kk vkSj laLdkj ds ekfè;els gh gks ldrh gS vkSj ml ckr dh iwfrZ dksdjus ds fy, egkeuk th us ;g fo'o[kfo|ky;dk liuk ns[kkA egkeuk th mu egkiq#"kksa dks

rS;kj djuk pkgrs Fks fd os Hkkjr dh egkuijaijkvksa dks latks, gq,] jk"Vªr ds fuekZ.k esaHkkjr dh vktknh ds fy, ;ksX;k] lkeFkZ~;i dslkFk [kM+s jgs vkSj Kku ds vfèk"Bk~u ij [kM+sjgsaA laLdk jksa dh lfjrk dks ysdj ds vkxs c<+s];g liuk egkeuk th us ns[kk FkkA

Convocation ceremony is not the

end of study but starting of a new

phase in life:

;g nh{kkar lekjksg gS] ge ;g dHkh Hkh euesa u yk,a fd ;g f'k{kkar lekjksg gSA dHkh&dHkhrks eq>s yxrk gS nh{kkar lekjksg lgh vFkZ esaf'k{kk ds vkjaHk dk lekjksg gksuk pkfg,A ;gf'k{kk ds var dk lekjksg ugha gS vkSj ;gh nh{kkarlekjksg dk lcls cM+k lans'k gksrk gS fd gesavxj ftUnksxh esa lQyrk ikuh gS] gesa vxjftUnkxh esa cnyrs ;qx ds lkFk vius vki dksled{k cuk, j[kuk gS rks mldh igyh 'krZ

eSa

PM MODI'S VISION

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gksrh gS - gekjs Hkhrj dk tks fo|kFkhZ gS oks dHkheqj>k ugha tkuk pkfg,] oks dHkh ejuk ughapkfg,A nqfu;k esa oks gh bl fo'kky txr dks]bl fo'kky O;]oLFkk dks vufxur vk;keksa dksik ldrk gS] dqN ek=k esa ik ldrk gS tks thouds var dky rd fo|kFkhZ jgus dh dksf'k'k djrkgS] mlds Hkhrj dk fo|kFkhZ ftUnkd jgrk gSAvki lc dks irk gksxk fd gekjs ns'k esa f'k{kk dsckn nh{kk] ;g ijaijk gtkjksa lky iqjkuh gS vkSjlcls igys rSr`d mifu"kn esa bldk mYysh[k gS]ftlesa nh{kkar dk igyk volj js[kkafdr fd;kx;k gSA rc ls Hkkjr esa ;g nh{kkar dh ijaijkpy jgh gS vkSj vkt Hkh ;g nh{kkar lekjksg ,dubZ çsj.kk dk volj cu tkrk gSA

The Student in yourself should

never die, always focus on

innovation:

thou esa vki cgqr dqN dj ik,axs] cgqrdqN djsaxs] ysfdu tSlk eSaus dgk] vkids Hkhrjdk fo|kFkhZ dHkh ejuk ugha pkfg,] eqj>kuk ughapkfg,A ftKklk] oks fodkl dh tM+ksa dks etcwrdjrh gSA vxj ftKklk [kRe, gks tkrh gS rksthou esa Bgjko vk tkrk gSA mez fdruh gh D;ksau gks] cq<+kik fuf'pksr fy[k yhft, oks gks tkrkgS vkSj blfy, gj iy] fuR; ] uwru thou dSlkgks] gj iy Hkhrj ubZ psruk dSls çdV gks] gjiy u;k djus dk meax oSlk gh gks tSlk 20lky igys dksbZ ubZ pht djus ds le; gqvkFkkA rc tkdj ds nsf[k, ftUnxh thus dk etkdqN vkSj gksrk gSA ladVksa ds lkeus Hkh mldks>syus dk lkeFkZ~; vkuk pkfg, vkSj tks bls ipkysrk gS u] oks vius thou esa dHkh foQy ughatkrk gSA ysfdu rRdkkfyd phtksa ls tks fgytkrk gS] vaèksjk Nk tkrk gSA ml le; ;g Kkudk çdk'k gh gesa jkLrky fn[kkrk gS vkSj blfy,;s BHU dh èkjrh ls tks Kku çkIru fd;k gS oksthou ds gj ladV ds le; gesa jkg fn[kkus dk]çdk'k&iFk fn[kkus dk ,d volj nsrk gSA

Innovate new technologies to help

farmers of this country:

gekjk mÙkej çns'k] xUuk fdlku ijs'kkujgrk gS ysfdu xUus ds jkLrs bFku‚y cuk,]petroleum product ds vanj mldks tksM+ nsrks environment dks Qk;nk gksrk gS] esjs xUuk~fdlku dks Hkh Qk;nk gks ldrk gSA esjs BHU esa;g [kkst gks ldrh gS fd ge maximum

bFku‚y dk mi;ksx dSls djs] ge fdl çdkj lsdjs rkfd esjs mÙkj çns'k ds xUus fdlku dk HkhHkyk gks] esjs ns'k ds i;kZoj.k vkSj ekuork dsdY;k.k dk dke gks vkSj esjk tks vehicle pykusokyk O;fä gks] mldks Hkh dqN egaxkbZ esa lLrkfey tk,A ;g phtsa gSa ftlds innovation dht:jr gSA ge Solar energy ij vc dke djjgs gSaA vkt tks Solar energy ds equipment

gSa] mldh dqN lhek,a gSaA D;k ge u, vkfo"dkjds }kjk mlesa vkSj vfèkd Qy feys] vkSj vfèkdÅtkZ feys ,sls u, vkfo"dkj dj ldrs gSa D;ka\eSa ukStoku lkfFk;ksa dks vkt ;s pqukSfr;ka nsus vk;kgwa vkSj eSa bl BHU dh èkjrh ls fgUnqLrku dsvkSj fo'o ds ;qodksa dks vkºoku djrk gwaA

The way forward:

vkb,] vkus okyh 'krkCnhj esa ekuo tkfr ftuladVksa ls tw>us okyh gS] mlds lekèkku ds jkLrsy[kkstus dk] innovation ds fy, vkt ge [kitk,A nksLrksa ] lius cgqr cM+s ns[kus pkfg,A viusfy, rks cgqr thrs gSa] liuksa ds fy, ejus okys cgqrde gksrs gSa vkSj tks vius fy, ugha] liuksa ds fy,thrs gSa ogh rks nqfu;k esa dqN dj fn[kkrs gSaA tksukStoku vkt lekt thou dh viuh ftEesokfj;ksads dne j[krs gSaA cgqr cM+h ftEesokfj;ksa dh vksjtk jgs gSaA nhokjksa ls NwVdj ds iwjs vkleku ds uhps]iwjs fo'o ds ikl tc igqap jgs gS rc] ;gka ls tksfeyk gS] tks vPNkb;ka gS] tks vkids vanj lkeFkZ~;txkrh gS] mldks ges'kk psru eu j[krs gq,] ftUnxhds gj dne ij vki lQyrk çkIr djs] ;gh esjhvki lc dks 'kqHkdkeuk,a gSaA lllll

PM MODI'S VISION

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Marx & Deendayal—the Two Approaches

@ D.B. Thengdi

III MARXIAN GOALS

According to Marx, “The

goal for man is to realize his

humanity, his human nature,

and this carries the categorical

imperative to overthrow all

the relations in which man is

debased, enslaved, helpless,

contemptible creature”. He

sought to put an end to

dehumanization and self-

alienation which is

characteristic of capitalist system. He

was sorry to find out “man exists in this

world as ‘Unmensch’ (Unman)”. For

him, communism was “the actual phase

necessary for the next stage of historical

development in the process of human

emancipation and recovery”. Again,

“Communism is for us not a stable state

which is to be established, an ideal to

which reality will have to adjust itself.

We call communism the real movement

which abolishes the present state of

things.” The fundamental principle of

a higher type of society, Marx thinks, is

“the full development of every

individual.” The accumulation of wealth

at one pole of society involves a

simultaneous accumulation of poverty,

labour, torment, slavery, brutalization

and moral degradation at the opposite

pole. Money is the alienated essence of

man’s work and his being. The end and

aim of capitalist

production is an

endeavour to promote to

the utmost the self-

expansion of capital,

meaning thereby the

production of the largest

possible amount of

surplus value and,

therefore, the maximum

possible exploitation of

labour-power by the

capitalist. He wanted man to be liberated

from the bondage of economics, to leave

behind the ‘realm of necessity’, and to

enter ‘the realm of freedom’. Under

ideal conditions, “the productive

labour”, says Engels, “instead of being

a means to the subjection of man, will

become a means to their emancipation

by giving each individual the opportunity

to develop and exercise all his faculties,

physical and mental, in all directions”,

Marx observes; “The main principle

which must guide us in the selection of

a vocation is the welfare of humanity

and our own perfection”.

For this, it is necessary to change

the current capitalist value-system,

which debases both—the exploiter and

the exploited, demolish the structure of

capitalism under which a worker no

longer feels himself to be anything but

an animal; and enable him to separate

(Continued from February 2016 issue)

POLITICAL THOUGHT

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finally from the animal world, to leave

the conditions of animal existence behind

him, and enter conditions which are

really human. Being liberated from the

bondage of material needs, man will

cherish the vision of the ‘realm of

freedom’ beyond which “begins that

development of human power which is

its own end.” Mr. H.S. Sinha has ably

shown in his ‘Communism and the

Gita’, that the inspiration of Marx was

in ethics, and he used economics as his

instrument. But in his zeal to change

the world instead of merely interpreting

it, he allowed himself, as far as the

solutions were concerned, to be

completely pre-occupied with the then

current maladies of the industrialised

west dominated by the inhuman

capitalists and the anachronistic Church,

and tried to generalize his conclusions

which were partly valid in the immediate

context. Hence his error of judgement

regarding the efficacy of the Western

parliamentary democratic system, trade

unionism and cooperative movement;

capacity of capitalism to adjust itself with

the change level of mass consciousness;

role of proletariat; the potentialities of

the peasantry; and the inherent strength

of social organism, such as, nation and

family. But for such lopsided

preoccupations, Marx was certainly

capable of giving a comprehensive

thought to the problems of the entire

humanity and working out solutions

which could have been more universal

in nature.

IV INTEGRALISM

Deendayal ji did not suffer from any

such inhibitions. As a leader of a national

political party he was called upon to

offer solutions to immediate national

problems; and he did it in a

commendable way. But this role did not

overshadow his thinking process in his

evolution of the theory of Integral

Humanism. Only a mind that attains

universality can conceive of remedies

that are universal in character. In fact,

his comprehension was not confined to

the human species. He expected human

consciousness—without suffering from

homocentricism. He had a vision of the

world-state enriched by the growth and

contribution of different national

cultures, and of Manava Dharma

enriched by the perfection of all

religions, including Marxism. He had

realized that the identification of an

individual with different organisms,

ranging from family to the universe, was

only an outward manifestation of the

evolution of his consciousness,

The more developed the

consciousness, the larger and higher

would be the organism with which one

is identified. But this being a process of

subjective evolution, the higher level of

consciousness does not preclude the

previous lower levels. It is inclusive, not

exclusive, in character. One can be

equally and simultaneously attached to

all the organisms without doing injustice

to anyone of them. This is an integral

view of things. Every human being must

be considered in an integrated way; the

body, mind intelligence and soul of a

person must not be thought of as

separate entities.

Integralism is the special

characteristic of Panditji’s Humanism.

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While he appreciated the utility of

appropriate socio-economic order in any

scheme for human happiness, he laid

greater stress on the moulding and

development of human consciousness,

in absence of which no social ordeal,

howsoever meritorious, can yield its

desired results. According to Marx, life

is not determined by consciousness, but

consciousness is determined by life. It

is not the consciousness of men that

determines their being, but on the

contrary, their social being that

determines their consciousness. Pandit

ji, on the other hand, believed that while

life or social being and consciousness

act and react upon each other,it is

consciousness that is more decisive.

Integralism and consequent stress on

development of consciousness

distinguish his approach from that of

Marx.

For example, both—Marx and

Pandit ji considered statelessness as

an ideal condition of any society. Marx

also considered the State as an

expression of man’s self alienation.

But because he considered mind as

only a superstructure on matter, he

conceived of the ‘dictatorship of the

proletariat’ as the transitional phase.

For Deendayal ji, the effective

instrument was Dharma

consciousness. The ideals of the nation

constitute ‘Chiti’, which is analogous

to the soul of an individual. The laws

that help manifest and maintain Chiti

of a nation are termed as Dharma of

that nation implying that every social

organism has its own Dharma.

V THE TWO APPROACHES

Both of them were against

exploitation and the system that gives

rise to it, Pandit ji said:

“But one thing is clear, that many

institutions will yield place to new ones.

This will adversely affect those who

have vested interests in the old

institutions. Some others who are by

nature averse to change will also suffer

by nature averse to change will also

suffer by efforts of reconstruction. But

diseases must be treated with

medicine—therefore, we shall have to

discard the status quo mentality and

usher in a new era. Indeed our effort at

reconstruction need not be clouded by

prejudice against, or disregard for, all

that is inherited from our past. On the

other hand, there is no need to cling to

past institutions and traditions which

have outlived their utility,

Marx advocated bloody revolution

for destroying not only the

superstructure but also the foundations

of the existing social order; Pandit ji

stood for mass awakening, mass

education and mass mobilization

through appropriate sanskaras with a

view to alter the superstructure, leaving

intact the eternal foundation of Dharma.1

Both these thinkers visualized full

development of all the faculties of every

individual. But while Deendayal ji

considered man in an integrated way,

Marx, under the influence of the then

prevailing objective conditions, treated

man as an economic being. In fact, Marx

was against the power of money, against

the sense of possession. He wanted man

POLITICAL THOUGHT

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to be liberated from the lust for wealth

and the bondage of economic factors.

But, in practice, he emphasized mainly

the economic aspect of human existence.

This has caused lopsidedness in his

theory.

Deendayal ji was a bitter critic of

corruption and perversion in the field

of religion. But he did not throw away

the baby along with the bathwater. The

Western tradition of anti-religious

intellectuals and the nauseating picture

of the Christian Church turned Marx

against religion and he declared crusade

against all religions about some of which

he had no intimate knowledge.2

Integral Humanism believes in the

plurality in the midst of a single mankind

in the form of different national

personalities. It simultaneously believes

that internationalism is the outward

manifestation of the development of

human consciousness from the earlier

stage of nationalism. Marxism is the

embodiment of national nihilism. ‘The

proletariat has no fatherland’. According

to Lenin, “Socialism’s aim is not only

to abolish the fragmentation of humanity

into small states and to end all

distinctions between nations, not only

to bring the nations closer together but

to bring about fusion”. This is based

upon the ignorance of the inherent

strength of the nation-concept. Let it be

remembered that nationalism has always

been strong even in countries under

communist governments. It has been the

case even during periods of actual

communist revolution.3

It is a shallow view of Russian

history which sees Bolshevism as an

alien excrescence grafted on the Russian

body politic by a handful of power-

lusting conspirators without roots in the

past. The triumph of the Bolshevik

Revolution was in no sense inevitable;

but Bolshevism as a movement was an

indigenous, authoritarian response to the

environment of Tsarist absolutism which

nurtured it.” “Chinese Communism”

Malcolm D. Kennedy observe “is a child

of Chinese Nationalism, which means a

determination to shake off foreign

domination.”4 This also holds good for

Communism in Vietnam and other

developing countries.

On this point Marx was thoroughly

wrong. Consider, for example, the

resurgence of nationalism in all

communist countries; patriotic uprisings

in Eastern Europe; demand for complete

internal autonomy by communist parties

of the western Europe conscious efforts

in all countries, including India, to

reconcile Marxism with national

heritage; war between Vietnam and

Cambodia, and tussle between USSR

and China prompted by the instinct of

national self-interest.

Marxism proclaims the

disappearance of the ‘Bourgeois family’.

Engels5 expounds in details the Marxist

views on the development of family,

which is one of the super-structures

erected on the economic base. In an

ideal society, the management of the

individual household would be turned

in to a branch of social work. The family

will lose all its social functions. It will

die out. Being purged of its social

POLITICAL THOUGHT

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content, the family will wither away.

Marxism does not view marriage

with favour.6 Though Marx said, “we

shall interfere in the private relations

between men and women only insofar

as they disrupt our social structure,” what

disrupts social structure is to be decided

finally by the Communist State only.

Academic discussion on this point seems

to be superfluous. Even under

communist regimes, family has come to

stay, and “official and open wife-sharing

instead of hypocritical and concealed

wife-sharing” could not yet acquire any

measure of respectability.

Though Marxism ultimately pleads

for the full development of every

individual, it negates, in the immediate

context, the individuality of men, In

practice, equality is turned into

equivalence. Individual citizens are

components of the state-apparatus.

Individual relations between husbands

and wives and between parents and

children are to be destroyed. Children

need not know their parents, and should

be brought up by the state. The

individual, family, marriage and the

familial rearing of children should not

exist.

Such a negation of individuality is

bound to result in the destruction of

Man. As lgor Shafarevich puts it, the

basic problem is really that “the

establishment of a social order fully

emboding the principles of socialism

will lead to a complete alteration in

man’s relation to life and to a radical

break in the structure of human

individuality.”

VI ‘ISM’ LESSNESS

The ideology of Deendayal ji as well

as of Marx is essentially humanistic. But

unfortunately, the traditional prejudices

of European intelligentsia, coupled with

pressing requirements of the immediate

and lack of adequate knowledge of the

Hindu Darshana, contributed largely to

the imbalance and compartmentalization

in Marxian thought-system. Both of them

were wise enough not to found any

‘ism’, Deendayalji’s use of the term

‘ism’ was a practical concession to the

common man’s level of understanding

which could not comprehend the grand

‘ism’-lessness of Sanatana Dharma;

and Marx is reported to have once

remarked, “Thank God! I am not a

Marxist.” Both of them were, again,

mature enough not to present any

elaborate blueprint, though they

certainly provided the guidelines. Neither

of them offered any precise description

of the ideal socio-politico-economic

institutions and their mutual

relationships. This is as it should be. A

clear-cut blueprint is necessarily evolved

by pragmatic system-builders in course

of time on the basis of practical

experience and continuous appraisal of

the situation. The maxim ‘from each

according to his ability; to each

according to his needs’ is quite consistent

with the spirit of Integral Humanism.

Both thought-systems consider freedom

from want and production or action for

the sake of self-fulfilment, as an ideal

condition. The final stage of communism

consisting of ‘socialised humanity’ that

is “a classless, stateless, and generally a

structureless collectivity of complete

POLITICAL THOUGHT

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individuals who live in harmony with

themselves and with each other’ is

broadly compatible with the ultimate

goal of Integral Humanism.

But Marx was at a disadvantage in

that he had no heritage to fall back upon,

which would-readily offer suitable

instruments for achieving the end. How

to raise complete individual? What

precisely would constitute the sustaining

force for the ideal society?

VII THE DESTINATION

The Hindu culture conceives of

progress of man as simultaneous

progress of the body, mind, intellect and

soul. It places before us the ideal of the

fourfold responsibilities of catering to the

needs of body, mind, intellect and soul

with a view to achieving the integrated

progress of man. The fourfold

‘Purushartha’, i. e., Dharma, Artha,

Kama and Moksha, in an integrated

way, constitute the ultimate goal of

individual life. In this scheme of

Purusharathas, the Artha and the Kama

are sandwiched between the Dharma

and the Moksha. The material is happily,

and in a balanced way, integrated with

the spiritual. And among these the

Dharma is basic, and supreme. It

sustains society in its ideal condition.

Dharma renders validity and stability to

an ideal socio-economic structure and

the various institutions functioning

within its framework.

Thus, the Hindu heritage furnishes

us with the tools of reconstruction at

different levels. This is the destination

envisaged by Integral Humanism. It

would be superfluous to inquire about

comparative merit of different thought-

systems. Each system is great it its own

way. The problem is how to make them

mutually complementary. For us, it

should not be an insoluble problem. An

aptitude for synthesis, as manifested

brilliantly by Vyas and Sankara, has been

one of the unique features of our

national genius.

REFERENCES

1. It is also noteworthy that in the

west there prevailed nothing

equivalent to Dharma which

comprises eternal, unchanging

Universal Laws and socio-

economic orders changing from

time to time in the light of the

former.

2. Paradoxically enough, freedom of

religion has been incorporated now

in the latest constitution of USSR

and China, and religion is raising

its head even in Albania which is

“the world’s first atheist state”.

3. Fainsod in his How Russia is

Ruled.

4. A Short History of Communism is

Asia.

5. The Origin of the Family, Private

Property and the State.

6. The Communist Manifesto devotes

some space to wife-sharing. l

(This paper is being reproduced

from journal of Deendayal Research

Institute, Manthan, Vol.3, No.4 March

1981. The author was a veteran thinker

and a leading social-philosopher, who

largely shaped the Swadeshi narrative

in post independent India)

POLITICAL THOUGHT

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India’s Railways andUnion GovernmentBudgets (hence forth theBudget) for 2016-17 shouldbe assessed as part of acontinuing process oftransforming India ratherthan as a stand-alone event(albeit the most importantevent of the year).

Any budget is constrained by pastpolicies and developments, and it willhave impacts which transcend thefiscal year. Broader domestic andglobal developments, and perceptions

The 2016-17Budget: A Positive stepin India’s Transformation Process

@ Mukul Asher

Abstract: This paper analyses Union Government of India’s 2016-17 Budget,comprising the Railway Budget as well as the main Budget components. It isargued that this Budget should be viewed as a part of the process oftransforming India towards meeting challenges of growth and competitivenessin a manner which eases the ordinary life of the citizens, and which encouragesaspirations for a better quality of life. The paper discusses several seeminglysmall initiatives with disproportionately positive impact on outcomes, animportant feature of competence in governance. The assessment criteria fortransforming India include consistency with growth diagnostics, fairness, andpreparing the country to rapidly progress towards an upper -middle -incomecategory of nations. It provides examples of how in some cases, better efficiencyin resource use and improved fairness can be achieved simultaneously. Thepaper concludes, that, on balance, India’s 2016-17 Budget does improve India’spublic financial management, and advance the process of transforming Indiain the right direction.

(Key Words: India, Public Financial Management, growth diagnostics,fairness, cooperative federalism, quality of living and of life, FiscalConsolidation)

and expectations of thestakeholders are alsorelevant in formulating aBudget.

The current externalenvironment of subduedglobal growth and globaltrade, low or negativenominal interest rates,and a pervasive sense of

fragility globally are factors whichformed a part of the broader contextin which the 2016-17 Budget wasformulated. The domestic economicenvironment has also been

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challenging shaped by two continuousyears of drought and a reduction inthe resources available to the Centralgovernment in line with therecommendations of the 14th FinanceCommission.

Given the above, the trade-offs areamong different objectives (such asfiscal consolidation, sectoral priorities,giving impetus to “animal spirits”,and assigning proper roles to the state-market and public-private-socialenterprise sectors complementarities,were exceptionally difficult to managein this Budget.

The Budget projects nominal GDPgrowth of 11 percent in 2016-17.Assessing the Budget including theimplicit or explicit trade-offs,therefore requires nuanced judgmentsand understanding of how and overwhat period the governmentmeasures may translate into desiredoutcomes. The judgments ofpolicymakers about politicalfeasibility and readiness of thestakeholders to accept proposedinitiatives are also relevant in thebudget assessment.

As the Prime Minister NarendraModi led government’s overall aim isto Transform India, the extent towhich the 2016-17 Budget constitutesa positive step in transforming Indiais arguably a sound basis for itsassessment.

There are three aspects of theTransforming India aim which arerelevant for assessing the 2016-17Budgets.

First, does the budget meet growthdiagnostics tests which are relevantfor the Indian context?

Second, does the budget improvefairness by delivering public servicesand amenities to help improve qualityof living (facilitating day to dayactivities through easier and wideraccessibility and affordability), andquality of life (taking steps to addressaspirations of the people for betterquality of life)?

Third, does the Budget helpprepare India’s economy, polity, andsociety for progression from the lower-middle-income to upper-middle-income category of nation?

When assessed on the above threeaspects, the Budget, on balance, doesindeed advance the TransformingIndia objective and facilitates India’sprogress towards moving up theincome category as explained below.The Budget therefore deserves to bewelcomed by all stakeholders whodesire India to emerge as an importantpower globally.

Growth Diagnostics Tests

The analogy here is with medicinewhere few vital signs are examined toassess health. In growth diagnostics,these signs are fiscal consolidation asan important element of fiscal andmacroeconomic sustainability,investments, both direct, and thosethat crowd-in private and otherinvestments as a result of publicinvestments; use of knowledge,including when it is embodies intechnology; encouraging formation of

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human skills and generation oflivelihoods; and progressing towardscooperative federalism.

In all these aspects, it is essentialthat large imbalances betweendemand side and supply side forcesshould not be permitted to arise, butif they do, then they are effectivelyaddressed. In India, too often thedemand-side forces have beenincreased significantly (in some casesthrough giving statutory power tocertain rights), but supply sideelements, whether in health,education, power, transport, andother areas have lagged considerably.This has led to significant distortionsnot just in economy, but also in society,which the current government hasbeen attempting to address. The fiscalconsolidation and perceived fiscalprudence are especially important inthe current global environment.

The budget meets this objectivefairly well. This is indicated by thereduction in fiscal deficit (3.5 percentas compared to 3.9 percent of GDP in2015-16), revenue deficit (2-3 percentas compared to 2-5 percent), and totaloutstanding liabilities (47.1 percent ascompared to 47.6 percent, andprojected to decline to 44.4 percent in2018-19).

These are to be achieved withprojected constant tax revenue to GDPratio of 10.8 percent; (with welcomeprovisions to reduce compliance costsand burden imposed on the rest of theeconomy in generating the revenue)and reasonable assumptions of 11percent growth in nominal GDP (real

plus inflation) for 2016-17; 12 percentin 2017-18, and 13 percent in 2018-19.The total government expenditurein 2016-17 is projected to be INR 19.8trillion.

The budget continues to focus onobtaining fiscal revenue from not justthe current year’s income,consumption, and production flows,but also from using state assets moreproductively.

This is indicated by the plan togenerate INR one Lakh crore fromspectrum sales. The change in thename of Department of Disinvestmentto Investment and Public AssetManagement also reflects the newmind-set in generating revenue andimproving the accountability of stateassets. The Union government isamong the largest owner of assets,including land. They also can createproperty rights (such as spectrum, air-space rights, airline landing allocationrights etc.) to generate revenue. Butthis requires a good asset registry, andreforms in accounting, budgetmanagement system, competency inauctioning in the transparent andaccountable manner, and re-skilling ofrelevant staff. Initiatives by thegovernment to track and rewardperformance of the officials and ofoffice holders should therefore bewelcomed.

The Budget has taken a welcomestep to discontinue the practice ofclassifying expenditure into Plan andNon-Plan expenditure from 2017-18.The States should be encouraged tofollow this practice as well.

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The Budget, particularly theRailway Component, has focused onobtaining better outcomes frombudgetary outlays, widening thesources of revenue; including usingassets of the railways moreproductively (a neglected area so far);and more competent use of the Public-Private- Partnerships (PPPs),including Indian Railways partneringwith the State governments to makerailway assets more productive, andthereby crowd-in additionalinvestments by other parties.

The Budget’s investment proposalsare designed to improve productivityin the use of capital, and to crowd-inprivate investments from bothdomestic and global investors.

This suggests that merely focusingon the level of budgetary capitalexpenditure and increase (INR 2.18trillion, growth of 4 percent), as someanalyst have done, misses the mainthrust of the Budget concerninginvestments.

Plan to award 10,000 km ofhighway contracts in 2016-17; highertripling of allocation to INR 270billion, for Gram Sadak Yojna withpotential for large multiplier effects;connectivity with the northeast, andinvestment in urban transportsystems, with long-neglected inMumbai receiving priority in capitalexpenditure of the Railways; andinvestments in coastal shipping, withhuge savings in logistics and transporttime and costs; investment in DigitalDepository of academic transcripts;investments to provide urban-type

facilities in rural areas under theRurban clusters, are only some of theexamples of the growth diagnosticsconsistent design of investmentproposals in the 2016-17 Budget.

The importance of other growthdiagnostics signs is also evident fromthe Budget. Thus, Start-up India,Mudra (Micro Units Developmentand Refinance Agency) Bank, DigitalIndia, and combination of Aadhar –Jan Dhan Yojna (involving opening ofbank accounts, overdraft, andaccident insurance coverage, underwhich 212.2 million accounts and INR342 billion have been deposited bymembers); and use of mobile paymentand other technology to directlytransfer amount to the bank accountsof the beneficiaries; near tripling ofissuing of E-tourist visas on arrivalabout 120,000 per month, all requiresignificant and skill-mix processimprovements, as well as the use oftechnology.

The cooperative Federalisminitiatives of the Budget areexemplified by meeting thecommitment to increase devolution tostakes by 55 percent as recommendedby the 14th Finance Commission;involving States in recognizingcentrally sponsored schemes; and theUDAY (Ujjwal Discom AssuranceYojna) scheme to revive powerdistribution companies in the States.The Real Estate (Regulation andDevelopment) Bill passed on March10, 2016 will also positively impactStates.

The above brief overview of the

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Budget concerning growthdiagnostics strongly suggests thefollowing.

First the Budget incorporatesinsights from modern growth theoryand experiences by aiming togenerate many growth nodes for thecountry, to help diversify theeconomy, and increase its resilience.

Second, the proposals recognizethat a combination of use of ideas andknowledge, process improvements,and reconfiguration of skill-mix (butwith requisite certification forsignaling) is essential for goodquality broad-based growth.

Third, it is encouraging India’sentrepreneurship and businessinstincts, facilitating it by betteraccessibility, affordability, andreliability of basic public amenities,particularly physical and digitalconnectivity.

Improving Fairness

It is widely acknowledged thatcorruption at the higher levels of theUnion Government that waspreviously ubiquitous with theCongress-led government’s tenurehas been nearly eliminated, if notcompletely. As with inflation,corruption hurts the bottom–half ofthe population particularly hard. Thisfactor has improved the fairness offiscal operations and enhanced stockof social capital or trust significantly.This aspect has not been sufficientlyacknowledged by the commentators.

The 2016-17 Budget also continuesthe focus of the current government

to improve fairness by making basicpublic amenities more accessible,affordable, while improving theirreliability. These in turn will positivelyimpact on the quality of living ofIndia’s households, facilitating theirdaily lives.

Illustrative examples from theRailway component of the budgetinclude:

88888 A Centrally managed “RailwayDisplay Network” to provideinformation

88888 Addition to seats in general classon busy travel nodes

88888 Measures to improve cleanlinessand hygiene facilities on stationsand in trains

88888 Railways Research centers tocontinue to improve services.

An example from the Power sectorincludes the Deendayal UpadhyayaGram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY) underwhich 35 percent of 18, 452 currentlyun-electrified Villages have alreadybeen electrified. This in turn will notonly improve quality of living, but alsowiden livelihood opportunities for thevillagers, facilitating inclusivebroader-based growth.

The transparent nature of thispower initiative is exemplified by thecontinuous updating of the progressin electrification of villages by visitinghttp://garv.gov.in/dashboard . Theuse of dashboard as a technique,usually used by effective managers,reflects focus in outcomes of policyinitiatives, rather than on governmentexpenditure, which constitute only

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financial (not even physical) inputs.

The Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh(PAHAL) scheme under whichsubsidies for cooking gas aretransferred directly to thebeneficiaries, and the accompanyingfor citizens to voluntarily not avail ofthe subsidy (6.5 million citizens havealready voluntarily given up thesubsidy), whose savings are channeledto giving new gas connections for lowincome families, improves bothfairness and growth prospects whilereducing leakages, thus improvingexpenditure management. The use ofcleaner energy sources would alsopotentially improve maternal andchild health.

The focus on outcomes enhances thefairness of the initiatives, a point missedby many analysts who only comparefinancial inputs, without understandingthe processes by which such inputs areto be turned into outputs and then intooutcomes focusing on improvinghousehold welfare.

The Budget also provides formeeting the pension benefits,including arrears, to the militarypersonnel who, for the first time, werepromised “One-Rank-One-Pension”by the current government. This is anissue of fairness as the earliergovernments implemented sucharrangements only for the civilian, butnot for the military personnel.

The Budget and related measuresalso contain initiatives to addressnatural and other risks faced byhouseholds by specific risk-mitigationand management Programs. These

include, the Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojna (PMFBY) to provideinsurance cover and stabilize farmincomes in the event of naturalcalamities, pests, and diseases (http:// p i b . n i c . i n / n e w s i t e /PrintRelease.aspx?relid=134432 , adedicated long term irrigation fund,program to make ground-waterresources more sustainable;reconfiguring MGNREGA (MahatmaGandhi National rural employmentguarantee act ) scheme to helpgenerate such productive assets asponds, wells, and compost pits toreduce farm risks and new healthinsurance scheme.

There are also initiatives toimprove quality of life by meetingaspirations of the citizens tosignificantly improve their economicprospects and social position. Some ofthe initiatives such as Start-Up India,Mudra Bank have been mentioned.

Proposal to double farm incomes by2022, an achievable goal, wouldpotentially improve quality of livingand of life. Empowering powersthrough greater economic freedomand access to technology will assist inthis goal.

Perhaps bolder measures to reformeducation and research institutions,with much more accountability foroutcomes, could have served thisobjective to even greater extent.

Preparing India to Progress towardsUpper-Middle-Income Category

The analysis under growthdiagnostics and fairness above,attempting to channel energies of the

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stakeholders into nation building, andefforts being made to shift politicalaccountability based on improvingcitizen’s quality of living and of lifesuggest that the Government ispreparing the country towardschallenges of moving up the incomecategory. This is however rarely alinear process. The Budget howeverdoes lay solid groundwork formanaging India’s future.

Some Measures Needed GreaterPreparation

There are some proposals in thebudget for which better backgroundwork were needed. An exampleincludes the method (but not theintent) of encouraging wideningaccess to retirement income securityby levying tax on EPF (Employee’sProvident Fund) accumulations.

Pension economics is subtle, hastyranny of small numbers whereseemingly small changes can havedisproportionate impact; and requireslong-term policy stability andcredibility. A systematic rather thana scheme-based ad-hoc approach toachieve the Budget’s intent is needed.

There is an urgency to developinternational financial services inIndia. To achieve this, greater clarity ontheir tax and other regulatory aspects,and for such products as “MasalaBonds”, INR denominated bonds listedabroad, in which exchange rate risk isborne by the lender not the Indianborrower, could have beenforthcoming in the budget. Perhaps aswith banking sector reforms, andbankruptcy law reform, these will be

undertaken outside the Budget.

There is a need for greater urgencyin passing the ConstitutionalAmendment Bill for GST (Goods andServices Tax). Insistence by theopposition Congress party that therate of GST be made as part of the Billshould be rejected outright as inimicalto the spirit of any tax Bill. The so-called “origin” states must bepersuaded to drop their insistence onlevying 1 percent additional GST rateon inter-state sales. Such sales shouldnot attract any tax to realize fullbenefits from GST. States will not loserevenue as the Union government hasagreed to reimburse to the States anyshortfall in sales tax revenue for fiveyears.

Concluding Remarks

The 2016-17 Budget must beviewed as a part of the process oftransforming India towards meetingchallenges of growth andcompetitiveness in a manner whicheases the ordinary life of the citizens,and which encouraging aspirationsand hope for better quality of life. Asargued above, the 2016-17 Budgetdoes advance the process oftransforming India in the rightdirection.

l

The writer isProfessorial Fellow

Lee Kuan Yew School of PublicPolicy,

National University of Singapore,Fellow, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee

Research Foundation, New Delhisppasher@nus.edu.sg

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The NDAgovernment which

came to power in thesummer of 2014 andinherited one of the mosttroubled Indianeconomies in recenttimes. The UPA decade –filled withindiscriminate publicspending and politicallybacked crony capitalism– had left theIndian economy facing the lethalcombination of low growth and highinflation.

Looking retrospectively at thethree budgets presented by the NDAgovernment, it is evident that theprimary objectives of the first twowere to stop the bleeding and lay thegroundwork for future economicgrowth which was more fiscallysecure and self-sustaining.

In this respect, the FinanceMinister’s latest Union Budget hastaken a marked departure from hispreceding ones in that, havingsufficiently addressed some of themore serious gaps that had emergedduring the UPA years, theGovernment has decided to put thePrime Minister’s plan of ‘Sabka Saath,Sabka Vikaas’ into full action.

Over the past 20 months, the

Budget Reflections – TransformingSocial Sector Spending

@@@@@ Praful Shankar

political opposition to thePrime Minister has nevertired from hurlingaccusations built around thealleged ‘pro-rich’ tilt of theNDA government. Thecomplete absence of attacksalong these lines post theFinance Minister’s speech isa testament to the extent towhich the Budget of 2016

has succeeded in demonstrating theModi government’s deepcommitment to providingcomprehensive and systemic solutionsto various challenges that havegripped India’s social sectors over thepast few years.

A deeper look at some of theGovernment’s key initiatives in thesocial sector is presented below.

Agriculture and Rural India

If there has been one item ofunanimous agreement across allcommentaries on the Union Budget, itis that there has been a definitive ruraland agricultural tilt in this Budget.

Both the Prime Minister and theFinance Minister have shown thatthey are tuned in to the fact that ruralIndia is facing an acute crisis due twosuccessive years of bad monsoons andalmost half a decade of low wagegrowth. Their reaction to this problem

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has been both pragmatic and far-sighted.

The most prominent of measures,lavishly covered by the press, has beenthe huge increase in outlay towardsthe agriculture sector –more thandoubling of the total expenditure fromRs 16,000 crores to Rs 36,000 crores.But the jump in public spending isonly the tip of the iceberg.

The modes of expenditure outlinedby the Finance Minister in his budgetspeech signify the ‘Narendra Modi’approach to poverty reduction. Theschemes and initiatives of the NDAare a marked departure from thehandout culture that had taken rootunder the previous administration,with the Modi government preferringto address rural and agriculturalissues at a more systemic level.

The Prime Minister’s new cropinsurance scheme, the PradhanMantri Fasal Bima Yojana, receivedan outlay of Rs 5,500 crores in thebudget.The scheme aims to de-riskfarmer incomes by giving them riskcoverage at low premiums. Ifimplemented successfully, thisscheme is a surefire game-changerfor the agriculture sector. Apartfrom the increased levels of availablefunding, the scheme also seeks toaddress some of the majordeficiencies of previous cropinsurance initiatives – one suchexample being the removal of theexisting artificial caps on the suminsured. Such alterations in the termsof insurance should help increasethe scheme’s effectiveness and allow

the Indian farmer to increase hisincome security considerably,thereby decreasing the need fordesperate borrowing from hawkishmoneylenders and consequently,reducing the spate of farmer suicideswhich tend to grip the countrysidewhenever there is a bad monsoon.

The other major push in theagricultural sector has come inirrigation. The government hasproposed to spend Rs 86,500 crore onirrigation projects over the next 5years. A total of Rs 5,300 crores hasbeen allocated to micro-irrigationprojects, watershed developmentprograms and the Pradhan MantriKrishi Sinchai (Irrigation) Yojana.The latter scheme will beimplemented in ‘mission mode’with the aim to bring 28 lakhhectares of land under the farmirrigation plan.

An additional Rs 6,000 crores hasbeen allocated to programs aimed atrecharging groundwater along withan allocation of Rs 17,000 crore to theAccelerated Irrigation ProgrammeBenefit (AIPB) for the coming year.The government has also said that itplans to leverage MNREGA to create5 lakh farm ponds and dig wells inrain fed areas.

Also, by announcing the creationof a Long Term Irrigation fund underthe National Bank for Agricultureand Rural Development (NABARD)with an initial corpus of Rs 20,000crores, the Finance Minister hassignaled that Governmentunderstands that sustainable

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irrigation is a solution which isachievable only over the long termand that the Government has decidedthat it’s in it for the long haul.

This sharp focus on irrigation isvery much in tandem with PrimeMinister’s successful Gujarat modeland is built on his belief that the keyto long term agricultural health lies inincreasing the farmer’s access to waterfor irrigating his lands.

The government has also signaledits plan to push State governmentstowards modifying the AgriculturalProduce Market Committee Act, withthe goal of creating a NationalAgricultural Market. The platform isexpected to be active by April 2016and, if the states buy in, it could serveas a great liberator of the commonfarmer from the mercy of his localtraders and middlemen.

The agricultural and rural focus ofthe Budget extends into non-agricultural initiatives of theGovernment also – with thegovernment looking to rationalizewelfare expenditure by redirectingsome of its welfare programs towardsthe agricultural sector.

The leveraging of MNREGA fundstowards creating infrastructure fordrought-proofing farms throughponds and wells follows the Gujaratmodel of utilizing welfare schemes tocreate productive assets.

The ambitious Rural ElectrificationProgram – one of the runawaysuccesses of the Modi Government –along with the Prime Minister’s rural

roads scheme addresses critical areasof India’s rural infrastructure whichhave been crying out for reform fordecades. These schemes can give therural populace access to technology,information and markets – keyenablers towards building a thrivingand empowered rural economy.

The Budget has also signaled theGovernment’s intent – again along thelines of one of the pet themes of thePrime Minister – to move the Indianagriculture industry towards a moremodern and technology-drivenpractices. The ‘Soil Health Card’ and‘More Crop per Drop’ initiatives areexamples of the Government’scommitment to this approach. Witha further Rs 800 crores beingearmarked for agricultural researchand education, we can expect moreprograms of this nature to be launchedin the not-so-distant future.

Women and Child Development

Women and Child development(WCD) has been another favoritetheme of the Prime Minister Modisince his days as Gujarat CM. The BetiBachao Beti Padao (BBBP)Yojana hasbeen one of the flagship and mostpopular schemes of the ModiGovernment.

The scheme was launched inJanuary 2015, by the Prime Ministerhimself, from the Panipat district inHaryana – no doubt a strategicallychosen location considering the state’sgrim Child Sex Ratio. Since then, thePrime Minister has investedtremendous political capital in theproject. Early signs are that the effects

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are being felt on the ground withHaryana’s sex ratio touching 903 inDecember 2015, showingimprovement for the first time in adecade. A report of the WCDministry, released in the samemonth, noted that more than 50% ofthe districts covered under thescheme were showing signs ofcredible improvement.

In fact, prior to the Budget, theMinister for Women and ChildDevelopment, Maneka Gandhi, hadalready announced that the schemewas going to be expanded to 61 moredistricts from the initial hundred. TheUnion Budget listed these districts tobe split across 11 states – Haryana,Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,Gujarat, Delhi, Maharashtra, Jammu-Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthanand Punjab.

Apart from BBBP Yojana, themajor focus areas of the Budget in thissphere have been the NationalNutrition Mission, the creation ofOne-Stop Crisis Centers for Womenand the promotion of womenentrepreneurs.

The National Nutrition Missionhas received an outlay of Rs 360crores, almost 6 times the allocationfrom last year’s budget, with anadded emphasis on establishing labsfor testing the food given under thescheme.

The Budget has also takenconcrete steps in providingsignificant investment to improve thesafety and security of women acrossthe country.

In addition to mooting anincrease in the number of One-StopCenters for providing safety towomen affected by violence toaround 150 in the current financialyear, the Government has alsoallocated Rs.500 crores to theNirbhaya Fund - out of which Rs 324crores will be spent on establishingspecial investigative units to dealwith crimes against women acrossall states. The Nirbhaya fund will alsobankroll the creation of a CentralVictim Compensation Fund, thesetting up of a special investigativeagency to look into cases of womenand child trafficking and the openingof special units for the support andprotection of women in the North-East.

The budget has also attempted topush the envelope on womenempowerment - Rs.2000 crore hasbeen allocated for liquefiedpetroleum gas connections in thename of women in rural householdsalong with the inclusion of womenunder the Stand Up India umbrella,aimed at enabling the creation ofwomen entrepreneurs around thecountry.

Scheduled Castes and ScheduledTribes

One of the more major – and lessdiscussed- projects of Prime MinisterModi has been his efforts to bringDalits and other backward sectionsinto the economic mainstream andmake them a part of the India growthstory. To this end, the Prime Ministerhas relentlessly used the iconography

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of Dr. Ambedkar – this year being his150 birth anniversary – to disseminatehis message of empowerment throughentrepreneurship across the Dalitcommunity.

The budget outlays for schemesaimed at the Dalits and Adivasis bearthe imprint of this vision.

The Finance Minister, in hisbudget speech, said that 2016 shouldbe remembered as the year ofeconomic empowerment of theDalits.Stand Up India - thegovernment’s flagship schemeaimed at promotingentrepreneurship amongst SCs, STsand women has received funds to thetune of Rs 500 crores. The scheme isestimated to benefit at least 2.5 lakhentrepreneurs, with the long termgoal of turning Dalits from jobseekers into job givers. This is inaddition to an earlier initiative of theModi government to provide SC andST entrepreneurs with access tocapital for investment through theMudra Bank.

The Finance Minister has alsoproposed to establish a NationalScheduled Castes and ScheduledTribes Hub,in partnership withindustry associations and the DalitIndian Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (DICCI), in order to createan ecosystem which will connectDalit businessmen with theGovernment. The primary goal of theHub is expected to be the smoothimplementation of the Government’sprocurement policy under which 4 percent of the overall order by all

Government and public sectorundertakings is expected to be sourcedfrom SC and ST entrepreneurs.

Human Resource Development

In his budget speech, the FinanceMinister spelt out the focus of theGovernment in the education sector tobe towards increasing the quality ofeducation and skill levels of the Indianworkforce.

He said that the Government willstrive to make 10 private and 10public institutions in India worldclass. The drive to concentrate focuson selected institutions with thepurpose of increasing quality andinternational recognition is a welcomedeviation from the strategies ofprevious Governments which weremore aimed at increasing volumes.Considering the civilization history ofIndia as a hub of knowledge, theinitiative that the Government isdemonstrating by trying to returnIndia’s educational institutions to astanding of global eminence is morethan overdue.

The budget has also allocated Rs1000 crores for the creation of aHigher Education Funding Agency(HEFA) which will be a Not ForProfit organization working to bringin market capital to financeinfrastructure improvements in thecountry’s leading institutions – abold move which may serve to infusesome of the energy associated withprivate enterprise into a lethargicsystem.

The other major investment in the

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education sector has been towards theSkill India initiative, for which Rs 1700crores has been allocated to develop1500 multi-skill centers across thecountry.The Government has set itselfan ambitious target to skill one croreyouth across the country in the nextthree years.

The success of Skill India is crucialfor the Prime Minister’s ambitiousMake in India program. The Make inIndia initiative (along with theInfrastructure drive) is –quite simplyput- the NDA government’s big ticketidea to generate large scaleemployment for the ever growingIndian workforce, and its success willbe heavily dependent on levels ofemployability that Skill India is ableto achieve.

Additionally, in tune with thePrime Minister’s bent towardstechnology and digitization, thegovernment has also announced twomajor schemes which seek to addressage old problems through the use ofnew technology.

The first is the Digital literacyscheme which aims at usingtechnology to impart education to sixcrore rural households across thecountry. The second is theGovernment’s plan to create aDigital repository of academicrecords for each citizen – a simpleyet highly effective move, aimedtowards increasing the ease ofaccess and storage of educationalrecords while also reducing thechances of forgery of educationalcredentials.

Health

Most of the media and expertanalysis of the Budget has beencentered on the rural andinfrastructure push of theGovernment. Consequently, theefforts of the Government to bringhealth onto the center-stage of itsagenda largely missed the public eye.

If channeled in the right direction,the Indian health sector has thepotential to become one of the majordrivers of the economy – every rupeeinvested in the health sector results in4 rupees worth of economic activityfor ancillary sectors. However, thehealth sector has been facing anacute shortage in infrastructure overthe past years and if the Budgetannouncements are anything to goby, the Modi government has takencognizance of the situation.

The government has announcedits plans for a new Universal HealthInsurance scheme which willprovide an insurance cover of up toRs 1 lakh for each family, with theoption of adding an extra Rs 30,000for senior citizens. The consequentincrease in healthcare affordability isexpected to ramp up demand –especially in rural areas - which in-turn should serve to incentivizeinvestments in healthcareinfrastructure.

Additionally, the FinanceMinister also announced theexpansion of the Jan AushadhiYojana to 3,000 more drug storeswhich are expected to work towardsproviding generic medicines to the

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public at affordable prices, alongwith the plan to leverage the PPPmodel to create a National DialysisServices Programme under theNational Health Mission.

Over and above this, the mass toiletconstruction and reduction in opendefecation resulting from the PrimeMinister’s Swachch Bharat program isexpected to have a long lasting effectin increasing the prevention levels ofdiseases amongst the poor in both ruraland urban sectors. If successful, thiscould lead to a drastic rationalizationof healthcare expenditure across theboard – allowing both theGovernment and the healthcareindustry to concentrate their efforts onmore serious needs.

Post the Budget presentation, mostexperts and analysts opined that thekey takeaway from the budget was theradical departure of the NDAgovernment from its supposedposition of being ideologicallyopposed to social spending, especiallyin rural areas. This may seem to be alegitimate conclusion to casualobservers of the Prime Minister’spolitical career. But those engaged ina slightly deeper level of observationwould not have failed to notice thatthe narrative of the budget runs verymuch in tune with the PrimeMinister’s unique approach toeconomic management and welfarespending.

Both the Prime Minister and theFinance Minister have made it a pointto shun the usual route of populismthat most previous Governments have

taken towards welfare programs intheir annual Budgets.

During his campaign for theGeneral Election, Prime MinisterModi placed a variety of ideas beforethe people. Chief among those washis belief that poverty alleviationschemes – the hallmark of the UPA’seconomic strategy – do not workwhen structured as simple handoutsto the poor. Post his election as PrimeMinister, even when faced with twoconsecutive years of drought and achallenging global economy, he hasstuck to his beliefs – preferring toinvest in schemes which are tuned tobring about systemic changes ratherthan the usual quick fixes that thepolitical classes are known to dishout year after year.

The common thread runningacross almost all of the Government’sinitiatives has been the effort toreduce the dependency ofunderprivileged sections on constantstate patronage and to createmechanisms which will enabletoday’s marginalized sections to takeconcrete steps towards leading livesof strength and self-dependence.

This approach may be one whichis a marked departure from howwelfare politics has been conducted inIndia over large periods of its modernhistory. However, it is also one whichthe country sorely needs.

l

(The author is an IT StrategyConsultant, a columnist with interest inanalyzing national politics)

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Among non-traditional security

imperatives of nation-states, energy is nowrecognized as a top-rungconcern. Assured energysupply constitutes a sinequo non for any country inachieving prosperity andsocial stability so much sothat quest for energyimpacts significantly the country’sforeign and domestic policies.Energy, in both have and have-notcountries, has come to play the roleof a key determinant in shapingforeign policy’s focus andorientation and geo-politicalidentity. With a projected annualgrowth rate of about 8 %, the avowedobjective of raising share of themanufacturing sector in its economyfrom the present 17% to 25 % by 2025and an obligation to meet thegrowing demands of its 1.25 billionpeople whose per-capita energyconsumption is one of the lowest inthe world, India faces enormouschallenges in coping up with theenergy needs.

India is the third largestconsumer of energy after China andUSA with the conventional sourceslike coal, oil, and natural gas

India-Qatar Gas Agreement:Win-Win Deal for Both

@@@@@ Ambassador R. Dayakar

accounting for much of itsconsumption. Nuclear,solar and wind energyaccount for the rest. Itscurrent energy mixbroadly consists of coal(53%), oil (29%), naturalgas (9.8%), renewable (6%)and nuclear (1%). Coalhas the dominant share,followed by oil and gas.

With limited energy resourcescoupled with several policyconstraints, the country has to lookabroad willy-nilly for its energyneeds. In practical terms, call for self-sufficiency in energy is not aconceivable goal for India much lessan achievable prospect and is likelyto remain no better than anaspiration. However energyindependence based on sufficiencywhich in turn is based on guaranteedand dependable supplies unaffectedby political vagaries is an imperativeand achievable objective throughoverseas supply tie-ups andproduction investments. Thegovernment has prioritised energy asa focal point of its economicdiplomacy. Close attention, paid byIndia in recent summit meetingsparticularly those with Japanese PMShinzo Abe in New Delhi and theRussian President Putin in Moscow,

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to nuclear power and hydro-carbons,bears this out.

India’s needs for petroleum andnatural gas are humongous. Ofvarious sources of energy, naturalgas is a preferred choice for being theleast polluting hydro carbon, globallyabundant reserves, relative safety inhandling and comparatively easyportability. It is principally used inIndia in power generation, fertilizerproduction, transportation and asdomestic fuel. Natural gas hasalways been cheaper than oil onthermal equivalent criterion and thedifference in monetary valuebetween gas and oil varied fromtime to time, given the volatility inoil price. However in comparison tooil logistics, infrastructure requiredfor gas liquefaction and shipmentinvolves a higher financial outlay.Also its storage as a strategic reserveis not a feasible proposition. But onthe whole, economic andenvironmental considerationsfavour gas over oil as a source ofenergy. Global quest for clean energywill make natural gas a prizedcommodity. India’s current naturalgas reserves account for only 0.6 %of the world’s total proven gasreserves and are projected to last 26years at the current level ofexploitation. It is therefore inevitablethat India sources its gas needs fromabroad.

Qatar is the first country withwhich India has entered into a long-term agreement for supply of gas. Itfulfils the four basic criteria to play

a role in India’s energy securitynamely abundance, availability,accessibility and affordability of itsgas supplies. The gas is found inQatar in abundance with thereserves rated as the third largest inthe world and its less than a quartermillion of natives do not pose anyconflict from domestic demand thatcould cause fluctuations in supply.The historically cordial relationsbetween the two countries providea politically conducive setting to bea long term supply arrangement.The geographical proximity,availability of a fleet of LiquifiedNatural Gas (LNG) tankers and thegas terminals at both the endsensure easy accessibility. Finally thebusiness-like attitude of Qatar, theprofessionalism of the twoprincipals and the price agreedmake the gas affordable.

Petronet India Ltd, the country’sbiggest gas importer, signed anagreement in 1999 with RasGas, thestate-owned offshore drillingcompany of Qatar for supply of LNGfor 25 years for deliveries beginningfrom 2004 and the first shipmentarrived in Dahej in Gujarat in end2004. Subsequently, Petronet’s LNGterminal at Kochi in Kerala beganreceiving Qatar’s LNG supplies from2008 onwards. The originalagreement between Petronet andRasGas had specified the price andthe duration of the sale and purchaseagreement, the quantities of LNG tobe lifted by India annually andpenalties for any shortfall by either

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side for failure to deliver or to lift thecontracted quantities. India iscommitted to buy annually 7.5million tonnes of LNG from RasGasunder the long term contract.However , in fixing the price for the25- years term, both the sides seemedto have not adequately factored inthe cyclical nature of supply anddemand of energy that tend to movein parallel with the economic cyclesand the original contract omitted tomake allowance in price structurefor possible cyclical characterinherent in commodity markets.

Hydrocarbon carbon prices aremarket- sensitive. The drastic fall inoil price over the last 2 years from apeak of $115 to $30 has made gas lessattractive as a fuel. The peakdifference in oil and gas price inthermal equivalent terms has comedown from $80 to $15. When theglobal gas prices fell steadily in thelast two years, Petronet made thecommercial decision to go for thespot purchases for its needs atmarket based prices rather than buyfrom RasGas at economicallyunviable rates. In other words, forPetronet, the 1999 agreement neededto be renegotiated to reflect themarket trends. But such a proposalfaced heavy odds. RasGas had noready incentive or compulsion torenegotiate the contract because asPetronet was legally bound to liftthe agreed quantities at a calculatedprice of $12 - 13 per mm BTU or paysubstantial penalty to RasGas in caseof default.

A breakthrough became possiblefollowing the discussions betweenPrime Minister Modi and Qatar’sRuler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in March last year in NewDelhi during the State visit. Soon aseries of meetings ensued, reportedly51 in all, between Petronet andRasGas, culminating in a revisedAgreement. The dented gas demand,sober studies and projections of gasmarket dynamics in the short andmedium term by energy think tanks,growing competition (e.g China hastied up with Russia for $400 billionlong term gas supply), India shiningbright in the near-stagnant worldeconomy with a huge marketpotential and Qatar’s own sense ofrealism paved the way in drivinghome the summit breakthrough.Petroleum Minister DharmendraPradhan’s activism, energy andpragmatism ensured that Indiacounted and the proposedarrangement accepted.The newagreement with its better costingformula makes an allowance forprice fluctuations and provides fora reasonably calculated marketdriven price throughout thecontract period. In the revisedformula, the gas price is fixed on thebasis of 3-month average of thebenchmark Brent crude oil price asagainst the earlier provision of 5 yearaverage of the crude import basketof Japan. The entire exercise makesa good case study in successfuleconomic and energy diplomacy.

The key features of the revised

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agreement, renegotiated and finallysigned on 30, December 2015 are thatthe contract period remains the sameas in the original agreement that endsin 2028. The revised price is $ 6-7 permmBTU, almost half of the previousprice, and becomes effectiveimmediately from January 1, 2016.There are multiple benefits for Indiain the revised agreement. Halving ofthe price saves Petronet Rs.4000crore per year. Waiver of the penaltyfor the past shortfalls in the purchaseof the contracted quantities savesanother Rs 12,000 cr. The previousshortfall will now be lifted byPetronet at the revised price.Petronet’s savings, apart fromsupporting its balance sheet,cascades to a host of beneficiaries inIndia who are the major end users ofgas like the public sectorundertakings IOC, GAIL, BPCL andGSPC. A number of fertilizercompanies also stand to benefit. Infact , upto one-third of the annualimport of 7.5 million metric tonnesof gas goes to the fertilizer sector,giving it a overall saving of Rs 4700crores per annum and benefittingultimately the farmers with theresultant lower prices for urea andammonia. Also, the long term gascontract, now resuscitated, hasgiven, in its own way, an impetusfor the Make in India campaign.India will soon be manufacturingLNG tankers with South Koreancollaboration.

By agreeing to the revisedformula, both the sides have

displayed maturity, prudence and along- term business outlook and afirm belief in the naturalcomplementarity between theworld’s third largest gas-richcountry and the third largest energyconsumer. It spared both the sides acostly and unproductive litigationand a negative political fallout andprevented a major diplomaticirritant in the historically cordialbilateral relations. The newagreement helped Qatar preserveits global market share. It alsostrengthens Qatar’s reputation as adependable supplier. As theMinister for Petroleum and NaturalGas, Dharmendra Pradhan,summed –up the whole outcomesaying that “the new deal haselevated the relationship betweenthe two countries from one ofbuyer-seller to a truly long-termpartnership.” A spirit of give andtake informed the negotiations andthe resultant agreement. Thebilateral relations successfullywithstood a serious challenge. It istoo good to be not noticed andcopied by other countries. Thisagreement becomes a majorachievement for Prime MinisterModi’s redefined diplomaticapproach – especially in the field ofenergy security.

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(The author is a veteran diplomat,former Ambassador to Iraq, Norway,Sweden and was also Secretary GulfDivision in the MEA)

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Government’s agenda for theupcoming financial year is to

‘Transform India’. Budget proposalsare, therefore, built on thetransformative agenda with ninedistinct pillars. These include:

(i) Agriculture and Farmers’Welfare: with focus on doublingfarmers’ income in five years;

(ii) Rural Sector: with emphasis onrural employment andinfrastructure;

(iii) Social Sector includingHealthcare: to cover all underwelfare and health services;

(iv) Education, Skills and JobCreation: to make India aknowledge based andproductive society;

(v) Infrastructure and Investment:to enhance efficiency andquality of life;

(vi) Financial Sector Reforms: tobring transparency andstability;

(vii) Governance and Ease of DoingBusiness: to enable the people torealise their full potential;

(viii) Fiscal Discipline: prudentmanagement of Governmentfinances and delivery ofbenefits to the needy; and

(ix) Tax Reforms: to reducecompliance burden with faithin the citizenry.

Highlights of Budget 2016-17

Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare

88888 Government will reorient itsinterventions in the farm andnon-farm sectors to double theincome of the farmers by 2022.Govt’s total allocation forAgriculture and Farmers’welfare is 35,984 crore.

88888 Government has tried toaddress issues of optimalutilisation of our waterresources; create newinfrastructure for irrigation;conserve soil fertility withbalanced use of fertilizer; andprovide value addition andconnectivity from farm tomarkets.

88888 The ‘Pradhan Mantri KrishiSinchai Yojana’ has beenstrengthened and will beimplemented in mission mode.28.5 lakh hectares will bebrought under irrigation underthis Scheme.

88888 Implementation of 89 irrigationprojects will be fast tracked.This will help to irrigate 80.6lakh hectares. These projectsrequire 17,000 crore next yearand 86,500 crore in the next fiveyears.

88888 A dedicated Long TermIrrigation Fund will be createdin NABARD with an initialcorpus of about 20,000 crore. To

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achieve all these, a totalprovision of 12,517 crore hasbeen made through budgetarysupport and market borrowingsin 2016-17.

88888 A major programme forsustainable management ofground water resources hasbeen prepared with anestimated cost of 6,000 croreand proposed for multilateralfunding.

88888 At least 5 lakh farm ponds and

dug wells in rain fed areas and10 lakh compost pits forproduction of organic manurewill be taken up by makingproductive use of theallocations under MGNREGA.

88888 The Soil Health Card Scheme isnow being implemented withgreater vigour. Through this,farmers get information aboutnutrient level of the soil and canmake judicious use of fertilizers.The target is to cover all 14 crore

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farm holdings by March 2017.368 crore has been provided forNational Project on Soil Healthand Fertility. Besides, 2,000model retail outlets of Fertilizercompanies will be providedwith soil and seed testingfacilities during the next threeyears.

88888 A total provision of 412 crorehas been made for the‘Parmparagat Krishi VikasYojana’ which will bring 5 lakhacres under organic farmingover a three year period and avalue chain based organicfarming scheme called“Organic Value ChainDevelopment in North EastRegion”.

88888 Incentives are being given forenhancement of pulsesproduction. 500 crores underNational Food Security Missionhas been assigned to pulses. Thenumber of districts covered hasbeen increased to 622.

88888 The Unified AgriculturalMarketing E Platform will bededicated to the Nation on thebirthday of Dr. Baba SahebAmbedkar on 14th April thisyear.

88888 Government is implementingthe Pradhan Mantri GramSadak Yojana (PMGSY) asnever before. This Scheme hadsuffered in the past because ofunderfunding. The allocationsin 2012-13 and 2013-14 wereonly 8,885 crore and 9,805 crore

respectively. Government havesubstantially increased theallocation in the last two yearsand have now allocated 19,000crore in coming financial year2016-17. The aim of thegovernment is to advance thecompletion target of theprogramme from 2021 to 2019and connect the remaining65,000 eligible habitations byconstructing 2.23 lakh kms ofroads.

88888 Special focus has been given toensure adequate and timelyflow of credit to the farmers.Against the target of 8.5 lakhcrore in 2015-16, the target foragricultural credit in 2016-17will be an all-time high of 9 lakhcrore. To reduce the burden ofloan repayment on farmers, aprovision of 15,000 crore hasbeen made in the BE 2016-17towards interest subvention.

88888 Government has approved thepath breaking Crop InsuranceScheme, namely, PrimeMinister Fasal Bima Yojana. Foreffective implementation ofthis Scheme, Government hasprovided a sum of 5,500 crorein the Budget 2016-17.

88888 An online Procurement Systemwill be undertaken through theFood Corporation of India. Thiswill usher in transparency andconvenience to the farmersthrough prior registration andmonitoring of actualprocurement.

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88888 Farmers also take up otherallied activities to supplementtheir family income. To makedairying more remunerative tothe farmers, four new projectswill be taken up by thegovernment: first, the‘Pashudhan Sanjivani’, ananimal wellness programmeand provision of Animal HealthCards (‘Nakul SwasthyaPatra’); second, an Advancedbreeding technology; third,

Creation of ‘E-PashudhanHaat’, an e market portal forconnecting breeders andfarmers; and fourth, a NationalGenomic Centre for indigenousbreeds. These projects will beimplemented at a cost of 850crores over the next few years.

Rural Sector

88888 A sum of 2.87 lakh crore will begiven as Grant in Aid to GramPanchayats and Municipalitiesas per the recommendations of

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the 14th Finance Commission.This is a quantum jump of228% compared to the previousfive year period. The funds nowallocated, translate to anaverage assistance of over 80lakh per Gram Panchayat andover ‘21 crore per Urban LocalBody. These enhancedallocations are capable oftransforming villages andsmall towns.

88888 A sum of 38,500 crore has beenallocated for MGNREGS in2016-17.

88888 300 Rurban Clusters will bedeveloped under the ShyamaPrasad Mukherjee RurbanMission.

88888 8,500 crore has been providedfor Deendayal UpadhayayaGram Jyoti Yojna andIntegrated Power DevelopmentSchemes.

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88888 Government plans to launch anew Digital Literacy MissionScheme for rural India to coveraround 6 crore additionalhouseholds within the next 3years.

88888 Modernisation of land recordsis critical for dispute free titles.The National Land RecordModernisation Programme hasbeen revamped under theDigital India Initiative and willbe implemented as a Centralsector scheme with effect from1st April, 2016. The revampedProgramme will build anintegrated land informationmanagement system. 150 crorehas been provided for thispurpose.

88888 Government has proposed tolaunch a new restructuredscheme to develop governancecapabilities, namely, RashtriyaGram Swaraj Abhiyan, forwhich 655 crore is being setapart in 2016-17.

88888 For rural development as awhole, I have allocated 87,765crore in the Budget for 2016-17.

Social Sector including Health Care

88888 Allocation for social sectorincluding education and healthcare –1,51,581 crore.

88888 Government has decided toembark upon on a massivemission to provide LPGconnection in the name ofwomen members of poorhouseholds. Government has

set aside a sum of 2,000 crore inthis year’s Budget to meet theinitial cost of providing theseLPG connections. This willbenefit about 1 crore 50 lakhhouseholds below the povertyline in 2016-17. The Schemewill be continued for at leasttwo more years to cover a totalof 5 crore BPL households. Thiswill ensure universal coverageof cooking gas in the country.This measure will empowerwomen and protect theirhealth. It will reduce drudgeryand the time spent on cooking.It will also provideemployment for rural youth inthe supply chain of cooking gas.

88888 Government will launch a newhealth protection schemewhich will provide health coverup to Rs.One lakh per family.For senior citizens of age 60years and above belonging tothis category, an additional top-up package up to 30,000 will beprovided.

88888 Government will reinvigoratethe supply of generic drugs.3,000 Stores under PrimeMinister’s Jan Aushadhi Yojanawill be opened during 2016-17.

88888 ‘National Dialysis ServicesProgramme’ to be started underNational Health Missionthrough PPP mode

88888 National Scheduled Caste andScheduled Tribe Hub to be setup in partnership with industryassociations

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Skill Development

88888 Government has decided to setup 1500 Multi Skill TrainingInstitutes across the country.Government has set aside anamount of 1,700 crore for theseinitiatives.

88888 Further scaling up of PradhanMantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna toskill one crore youth over thenext three years.

88888 Entrepreneurship Education

and Training will be providedin 2200 colleges, 300 schools,500 Government ITIs and 50Vocational Training Centresthrough Massive Open OnlineCourses.

Women & Child Development

88888 A total of Rs 17408 cr has beenallocated to WCD Ministry inthe budget 2016-17.

88888 The Economic Survey for 2016-17 states that investment in

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maternal and child nutrition isa must for the country tocapitalize on the ‘demographicdividend’. Taking this forward,the Budget for 2016-17 hasprovided enhanced budgetarysupport for critical areas whereschemes of the Ministry ofWomen and ChildDevelopment are operationalparticularly for providingsupplementary nutrition as wellas protection for women andchildren.

88888 As per the ExpenditureStatement, the total budgetallocation for 2016-17 stands atRs. 17,408 crores. A totalamount of Rs. 15,860 crores hasbeen provided for thedevelopment of children whichincludes additional funds to thetune of Rs. 415 crores and Rs.300 crores respectively underthe World Bank assistedstrengthening programme forICDS and the NationalNutrition Mission. Additionalfunds have also been providedfor setting up of the Food andNutrition laboratories. Boththese will ultimately providesupport to the Ministry’s effortto fight child malnutrition inthe country.

88888 The Beti Bachao Beti Padhaobudget has been enhanced fromRs. 75 crores (RE) to Rs. 100crores in 2016-17.

88888 Allocation for establishment ofshelter homes for women has

been increased from Rs. 52crores in 2015-16 to Rs. 100crores in 2016-17

88888 The allocation for establishmentof One Stop Centres has beenincreased by almost 500%, fromRs 13 crores to Rs 75 crores.

88888 Budget 2016-17 has alsoallocated an amount of Rs. 500crores to be transferred into theNirbhaya Fund for meetingrequirements for additionalschemes for women’s safety.

HRD Ministry

88888 62 new Navodaya Vidyalayaswill be opened in the remaininguncovered districts over thenext two years.

88888 An enabling regulatoryarchitecture will be provided toten public and ten privateinstitutions to emerge as world-class Teaching and ResearchInstitutions.

88888 Government has decided to setup a Higher EducationFinancing Agency (HEFA) withan initial capital base of 1,000crores. The HEFA will be a not-for-profit organisation that willleverage funds from the marketand supplement them withdonations and CSR funds.

88888 Digital Depository for SchoolLeaving Certificates, CollegeDegrees, Academic Awardsand Mark sheets to be set-up.

88888 120 Crore has been allocated toEducation Scheme forMadrasas modernisationa and

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Minorities education

88888 General Education: In keepingwith priority of theGovernment for social sectorprogrammes, an allocation of40000 crore has been providedfor Department of SchoolEducation & Literacy. Anestimated receipt of 20272.65crore by way of proceeds fromEducation Cess will be creditedto Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh .

The funds under thePrarambhik Shiksha Kosh willbe utilized for Sarva ShikshaAbhiyan (SSA) and Mid DayMeal Scheme (MDM).

88888 National Education Mission:Towards achieving the goal ofproviding education to all, theschemes of SSA and RMSAhave been encompassed inNational Education Mission.

88888 Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA):

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An outlay of 22200.00 crore hasbeen provided for SSAincluding 2200.00 croreearmarked for North EasternRegion.

88888 Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Anoutlay of 9700 crore has beenprovided for this scheme,which is inclusive of 942.00crore for North East Region(NER) and Sikkim.

88888 Secondary Education: Anallocation of 6633.50 crore hasbeen made for SecondaryEducation, which is inclusiveof 653.00 crore for NER &Sikkim. This includesallocation, inter-alia, of1900.00 crore (including190.00 crore for North EasternRegion) for NavodayaVidyalaya Samiti and 1100.00crore (including 110.00 crorefor North Eastern Region) forKendriya VidyalayaSangathan. In view of thesuccess of SSA and largenumber of students completingupper primary level, to meetthe growth in demand forsecondary education, as amajor policy initiative,Rashtriya Madhyamik ShikshaAbhiyan (RMSA) scheme hasbeen approved with aprovision of 3600.00 crore(including 350.00 crore forNorth Eastern Region).

88888 Adult Education: Anallocation of 430.00 crore hasbeen made for Adult

Education, inclusive of 43.00crore for NER and Sikkim. Thisallocation, inter-alia, includesallocation of 100.00 crore(including 10.00 crore forNorth Eastern Region) forSupport to NGOs/Institutions/SRCs for AdultEducation & SkillDevelopment.

88888 Higher Education: TheDepartment of HigherEducation has been providedan allocation of 16,500.00crore. This amount alsoincludes provision for varioushigher and technicalinstitutions. The UniversityGrants Commission has beenprovided an allocation of2050.00 crore. The allocationfor Central Universities andDeemed Universities is1925.00 crore. For the“Rashtriya Uchchatar ShikshaAbhiyan (RUSA)”, a provisionof 1300.00 crore (including140.00 crore for NER) has beenmade. For the “NationalMission in Education throughICT”, a provision of 200.00crore (including 20.00 crore forNER) has been made. TheIndira Gandhi National OpenUniversity (IGNOU) which hasbeen in the forefront ofdistance education, has beenprovided an allocation of100.00 crore (including 15.00crore for NER). There is aprovision of 2625.00 crore

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(including 200.00 crore forNER) for Indian Institutes ofTechnology. 190.00 crore hasbeen earmarked for “Settingup of New IITs”. For NationalInstitutes of Technology aprovision of 1444.90 crore hasbeen made. The IndianInstitutes of Science Educationand Research (includingIndian Institute of Science,Bangalore) has been provided800.00 crore. A provision of695.00 crore has been made forIndian Institute ofManagement and “Setting upof new IIMs”. The provisionfor Unnat Bharat Abhiyan,Uchhatar Avishkar Abhiyan,Implementation of ImprintResearch Initiative, NationalDigital Library, NationalInstitutional RankingFramework and GlobalInitiative for AcademicNetwork has been kept at165.00 Crore.

Welfare of Scheduled Castes

88888 An allocation of 6500.00 crorehas been made for Schemes/Programmes of the Departmentof Social Justice &Empowerment. There is aprovision of 2791.00 crore forPost-Matric Scholarship forScheduled Castes and 800.00crore for Schemes of SpecialCentre Assistance to ScheduledCaste.

88888 Government’s “Stand Up IndiaScheme” is to promote

entrepreneurship among SC/ST and women. 500 crore hasbeen provided for this purpose.The Scheme will facilitate atleast two such projects per bankbranch, one for each category (1SC & 1 ST) of entrepreneur. Thiswill benefit at least 2.5 lakh SC/ST entrepreneurs.

Tribal Affairs

88888 A new strategic process,Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana (VKY)has been adopted by convergingof resources of all schemes ofthe Ministry for identifiedoutcomes. Focus on evidencebased planning and re-engineering of interventions iskey to this. Special focus onemployable skills and valueadded livelihood projectssupported. Improving HumanDevelopment Indices and thirdparty evaluation are part of thisprocess.

88888 The allocation of 4800.00 croreincludes provision for, SpecialCentral Assistance to TribalArea Sub Plan (1250.00 crore),Scheme under provision toArticle 275 (1) of theconstitution (1400.00 crore),Tribal Institutions (140.00crore), Umbrella Scheme forDevelopment of STs;Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana(504.78 crore) and UmbrellaScheme for Development ofSTs; Tribal Education (1505.22crore).

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88888 There is no hike in passengerfare in this year’s RailwayBudget.

88888 In order to make travel onIndian Railways morecomfortable, the IndianRailways proposes to give morefacilities to passengers. 65,000additional berths will beprovided in the trains and 2500water vending machines will beinstalled.

88888 Indian Railways will provide17,000 bio-toilets in trains andadditional toilets at 475 stationsbefore the close of this financialyear.

88888 With the purpose of improvingpunctuality of trains operationsaudit will be launched on a trialbasis from Ghaziabad toMughalsarai.

· The Indian Railways proposes tointroduce 1,780 AutomaticTicket Vending Machines allover the country with mobileapps and GoIndia smartcard forcashless purchase of UTS andPRS tickets.

88888 The capacity of e-ticketingsystem has been enhanced from2,000 tickets per minute to 7,200tickets per minute to support1,20,000 concurrent users asagainst 40,000 earlier.

Highlights of Railway Budget 2016-17

88888 Railway budget has proposed tocommission Wi-Fi services at100 stations this year and at 400more stations in the next 2years. Indian Railways ispartnering with Google in thisendeavour.

88888 As a part of social initiatives,online booking of wheelchairsand Braille enabled new coacheswill be introduced for theDivyang.

88888 An increased quota of lowerberths for senior citizens andwomen has been proposed.

88888 Passengers’ security will beenhanced through morehelplines and CCTVs.

88888 To reduce accidents at levelcrossings, the rail budgetproposes to eliminate 1000unmanned level crossings andclosures of 350 manned levelcrossings.

88888 820 Rail Over Bridges (ROB)/Rail Under Bridges (RUB) willbe completed during thecurrent financial year and workis in progress on additional 1350of them.

88888 Rs.24,000 crore worth contractshas been awarded sinceNovember 2014 as against Rs.13,000 crore contracts awardedduring the last six years.

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88888 Railway budget has proposed totake up North-South, East-Westand East Coast freight corridorsthrough innovative financingincluding PPP.

88888 All procurement includingprocurement of works will bemoved to e-platform.

88888 Introduction of AC and non ACdouble decker trains on busyroutes with the potential toincrease carrying capacity byalmost 40%.

88888 Sale of tickets through handheld terminals;

88888 E-Ticketing facility to foreigndebit/credit cards;

88888 Bar coded tickets,

88888 Expansion of Vikalp – train ondemand to provide choice ofaccommodation in specifictrains to wait-listed passengers.

88888 E-booking of tickets facility onthe concessional passesavailable to journalists;

88888 Facility of cancellation throughthe 139 helpline postverification using ‘One TimePassword’ sent on registeredphone number,

88888 CCTV cameras on Tatkalwindows

88888 Periodic audit of PRS websitewill also be introduced.

88888 Rail budget has proposed toconvert all operational haltsinto commercial halts for thebenefit of common man.

88888 Konkan Railway will beexpanding to help the old anddisabled passenger. The existingservices for enabling passengersto book battery operated cars,porter services, etc. on a paidbasis in addition to the existingpick up and drop, and wheelchair services will bestrengthened. Sarathi Seva wasintroduced in Konkan Railwayto help the old and disabledpassengers requiring assistanceat stations. This service will beexpanded at many morestations.

88888 All stations underredevelopment will beaccessible for Divyang. Therewill be at least one Divyangfriendly toilet at each platformin A1 class stations during thenext financial year andavailability of wheelchairs insufficient numbers at thesestations will be ensured.

88888 Children’s menu items, babyfoods, hot milk and hot waterwould be made available underJanani Sewa.

88888 SMART (Specially ModifiedAesthetic Refreshing Travel)Coaches will be introduced toensure higher carrying capacityand provision of new amenitiesincluding automatic doors, bar-code readers, bio-vacuumtoilets, water-level indicators,accessible dustbins, ergonomicseating, improved aesthetics,

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vending machines,entertainment screens, LED litboards for advertising, PAsystem.

88888 It is also proposed to integrateall facilities into two mobileapps dealing with ticketingissues and for receipt andredressal of complaints andsuggestions.

88888 With a view to improvecustomer interface informationboards in trains enumeratingthe on-board services and GPSbased digital displays will beinstalled inside coaches toprovide real time informationregarding upcoming halts.

88888 Work is underway for theinstallation of a high-techcentralized network of 20,000screens across 2000 stations forenabling real time flow ofinformation to passengers andalso to unlock huge advertisingpotential. All A1 class stationswill be manned with dulyempowered Station Directorssupported by cross functionalteams, to make one personaccountable for all facilities ontrains.

88888 Railway budget has proposed totake up on priority the provisionof passenger amenities andbeautification on stations atpilgrimage centres includingAjmer, Amritsar, Bihar Sharif,Chengannur, Dwarka, Gaya,Haridwar, Mathura,

Nagapattinam, Nanded, Nasik,Pali, Parasnath, Puri, Tirupati,Vailankanni, Varanasi andVasco.

88888 Aastha circuit trains will beintroduced to connectimportant pilgrim centres.

88888 Optional travel insurance forrail journeys at the time ofbooking and “clean my coach”through sms will also beintroduced in due course.

88888 High speed passenger corridorfrom Ahmedabad to Mumbaiwill be developed with thefinancial assistance fromGovernment of Japan.

88888 FM Radio Stations will beinvited to provide train borneentertainment,

88888 Rail Bandhu Mazagine will beprovided in all reserved coachesin all regional languages.

88888 74 more trains have been addedunder On-board HousekeepingService and another 400 are tobe covered soon, leading to atotal number of almost 1000trains under the scheme.

88888 E-catering services will beextended to 408 A1 and A classstations. 10 more IRCTCoperated, mechanized,sophisticated base kitchens willbe added to ensure fresh andhygienic supply of food ontrains.

88888 Railway budget has alsoproposed to ensure reservation

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in catering units to SC, ST, OBC,Women, and persons withdisabilities. To build localownership and empowermentbudget has proposed a processof giving weightage to districtdomicile holders forcommercial licenses at stations.

88888 In pursuance of the objectives ofAccessible India CampaignIndian Railway will ensure thatall stations underredevelopment are madedisabled friendly.

88888 North East: BG Lumding-Silchar section in Assam openedthus connecting Barak Valleywith rest of the country;Agartala brought on to the BGnetwork. States of Mizoram andManipur shortly to come on BGmap of the country withcommissioning of the Kathakal-Bhairabi and Arunachal-Jiribam Gauge Conversionprojects.

88888 Jammu and Kashmir: Work onKatra-Banihal section ofU d h a m p u r - S r i n a g a r -Baramulla Rail Link Projectprogressing satisfactorily- 35kms of tunnelling out of total of95 kms completed;Decongestion work onJalandhar - Jammu line in fullswing and doubling of twobridges to be commissioned byMarch 2016, while the other

two bridges will be completedby 2016-17.

88888 Improving quality of travel

For the unreserved passenger–

Antyodaya Expressunreserved, superfast service.

Deen Dayalu coaches –unreserved coaches withpotable water and highernumber of mobile chargingpoints.

For the reserved passenger –

Humsafar - fully air-conditioned third AC servicewith an optional service formeals

Tejas - will showcase the futureof train travel in India. Willoperate at speeds of 130 kmphand above and will offeronboard services such asentertainment, local cuisine,Wi-Fi, etc. through one serviceprovider for ensuringaccountability and improvedcustomer satisfaction

Humsafar and Tejas to ensurecost recovery through tariff andnon-tariff measures

UDAY - overnight double-decker, Utkrisht Double-DeckerAir-conditioned Yatri Expresson the busiest routes, has thepotential to increase carryingcapacity by almost 40%.

l

POLICY ANALYSIS

The

Nationalist 55

NATIONAL AGENDA

The Grand Trunk Road was constructed

by Sher Shah Suri in 1545 and rebuilt

by the British in 1860. But since

independence little work was carried out

in strengthening our road infrastructure

which is the backbone of any country’s

holistic development. Most of our roads

are unpaved, full of craters and potholed

and badly in need of upgradation and repair.

The first proactive step in this direction

was taken by the NDA government led by

Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee through the

highly ambitious golden quadrilateral

project launched in 2001. The UPA

government admitted in July 2013 before

the Indian Supreme Court that the NDA1

regime in five years constructed nearly

half of the total highway network laid out

in the country during the last 32 years.

However, in the last decade confusion,

corruption and depression prevailed

amongst the lender, developer and

authorities over highway projects. This was

primarily due to lack of clarity, shortage

of funds, skewed risk allocation and

inappropriate financing models.

In 2014, when NDA returned to power

with a thumping public mandate, the whole

infrastructure sector was in shambles. The

misdoings of the earlier regime could not

be righted overnight and the Government

decided to carefully analyze and develop a

solution which maximized public funds

deployment and reduced the quantum of risk

for all stakeholders (The Authority, Lender

and Developer). In the view of Prime

Minister Modi’s commitment to

Better Late than Never: Slow, butsteady will win the “Road” race.

@@@@@ Rahul Mehta

development and “Sabka Saath,Sabka

Vikaas”, the NHAI was asked to draft a

model of financing for implementing road

projects which lowered the pressure on the

exchequer and increased private participation

in the form of PPP projects. Accordingly,

an MCA (Model Concession Agreement)

was drafted in April 2015 and has recently

been given approval by the Cabinet

Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on

January 27th, 2016 clearing the way for

stranded projects worth Rs. 25,000 Crores.

The National Highways Authority of

India (NHAI) is the nodal agency

responsible for building, upgrading and

maintaining most of the national highways

network. It operates under the Ministry of

Road Transport and Highways.

The National Highways Development

Project (NHDP) is a major effort to

expand and upgrade the network of

highways. NHAI often uses a public-

private partnership model for highway

development, maintenance and toll-

collection.

There were three primary modes of

awarding road projects which were in

practice earlier.

1. BOT (Toll) – Developer bears

construction , maintenance and

revenue collection risks

2. BOT (Annuity) - Developer builds a

highway, operates it for a specified

duration and transfers it back to the

government, which then pays the

developer annuity over the period of

concession

The

Nationalist 56

3. EPC - (Engineering, Construction &

Procurement) – Developer bears only

construction risks and executes the

project on behalf of the Government. This

is challenging as Government is short of

funds to allocate for road projects.

The MCA proposes a new Hybrid

Annuity Model (HAM) which is based on

DBOT (Design, Build, Operate, Transfer).

This will pave the way for NHAI to breathe

new life into projects stuck for lack of

funding. Under HAM, the Government will

provide 40% of the project costs to the

developer to start work.

HAM or Design, Build, Operate &

Transfer (DBOT)

88888 Only certain percentage of project cost

to be financed by private investor

88888 Recovered through annuity payments

made by the Government commencing

from the date of commissioning (10

years in 20 equal installments)

88888 Balance percentage provided by the

Government during construction

88888 Clauses like traffic determination,

projection and grant or viability gap

funding to make the project viable

would not be there in MCA

Benefits

88888 Allocation of risks between PPP

partners (Govt 40%; Private Partner

60%)

88888 Private partner continues to bear the

construction & maintenance risks

88888 Only partly bears the financing risks

88888 Does not bear revenue and inflation

risks

88888 Gets more leverage from the banks

because of assured repayments

88888 Lowers the upfront costs for the

developer

88888 Cash Flow pressure on NHAI gets

reduced

88888 Speedy completion of projects

88888 Model involves lower equity outlay

upfront and substantially higher

revenue certainty

88888 Will encourage select Indian

contractors to come back into road

construction business where they were

struggling to deploy capital in toll

based road projects

Future projects planned under HAM

88888 2014-15: 3 projects; 576 Kms

88888 2015-16: 12 projects; INR 15905

Crores; 1300 Kms (Delhi, UP,

Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand,

Maharashtra)

88888 2016-17: 15 projects; INR 12185

Crores; 1105 Kms

The rate of new highway construction

across India accelerated after 1999, but had

slowed in recent years. Policy delays and

regulatory blocks reduced the rate of

highway construction awards to just 500

kilometers of new road projects in 2013.

India had a road network of 47 Lac

Kilometers in 2013, the second largest in

the world. Still, India has less than 3.8

kilometres of roads per 1000 people,

including all its paved and unpaved roads. In

terms of quality, all season, 4 or more lane

highways, India has less than 0.07 kilometres

of highways per 1000 people, as of 2010.

These are some of the lowest road and

highway densities in the world. With the

introduction of HAM we expect to see these

figures change rapidly, infusing a boost to

the infrastructure sector and PPP model. l

(The author is an expert on

infrastructure issues, an entrepreneur

& social worker)

NATIONAL AGENDA

The

Nationalist 57

In the morning of 19th February, theHowrah – Tiruchirapalli Super Fast

Express left Vishakhapatnam Station forits next Station Vijayawada. When thetrain was approaching Anekapalli at 7.00a.m., the water in one of the coaches hadcompletely dried up leaving thepassengers in utter shock and disbelief.Being the morning hour, passengerswere in the mode of doing their morningchores. They tried to move to the nextcoach with the hope that there may bewater there, but could not find waterthere also. All hell broke whenpassengers got agitated because of lackof water in the train.

At the same time, one of thepassengers, a Tamil settled inVisakhapatnam, immediately messagedon Facebook to one of the members of thePassengers Amenities Committee of theIndian Railways explaining their plight inthe train and sought help in getting water.The Passenger Amenities Committee’smember approached on social mediaimmediately alerted the Ministry ofRailways through its twitter handle@RailMinIndia by Achary. The RailwayMinistry in turn alerted DivisionalRailway Manager of Vijayawada forproviding water immediately. At 9.30a.m. sharp, at the Rajamundry Station,coaches were filled with water, giving abig relief to all the passengers. The saidpassenger sent back a thank you message.This is level of micro-response mechanism

Indian Railways –The Growth Engine

@@@@@ Aseervatham Achary

and framework that the Railway Ministryhas succeeded in evolving in the last twoyears.

This is not onetime incident. Dailythousands of passengers engage withSocial Media of Indian Railways,especially with its Twitter handle@RailMinIndia. The Railway Ministry,under the leadership of Suresh Prabhu,strives to provide passengers all thecomfort and safety in order to make theirjourney a memorable experience.Revenue from passengers have broughtin of Rs. 1,03,100.15 crores last year.Dynamic interaction of Railway officialsthrough Social Media has neverhappened before. It is a newphenomenon after tech-savvy NarendraModi took over the reigns of governance20 months back. The rail passengersnow feel comfortable, safe, and have gotsense of pride when they travel on IndianRailways due to a process of continuousredressal of public grievance usingeffective social media tools.

s

On 25th of February, Suresh Prabhurose to present his Railway Budget for theFY 2016-17 amidst hope of bringingrobust energy to the already energizedIndian Railways through his earlierbudget. He outlined three priorities ofhis proposals namely, (1) to reorganize,(2) to restructure, and (3) to rejuvenate

NATIONAL AGENDA

The

Nationalist 58

the world’s third largest railway network,next only to the United States and China.In order to achieve these priority areashe focused on three strategies viz.,mobilization of new source of revenue(Nav Arjan), optimizing outgo on eachand every activity of the biggest transportprovider of the country (Nav Manak) andrevisiting all processes, rules andstructures (Nav Sanrachna) of IndianRailways. He gave a new orientationtowards the restructuring of the RailwayBoard on business lines, which has, so far,been based on functional lines. This newpush in reform of railway administrationwill enable the formation of cross-sectional directorates to ensure that anorganization employing 13,26,400employees, next only to defence, enjoysan organizational structure based onmodern management technics.

The Railway Budget, 2016-17 haspegged a Plan Expenditure of Rs. 1.21lakh crore, 21% higher than the PlanExpenditure of FY 2015-16. This hugemoney will be used in the renewal of1500 km of line, in the electrification of2000 km of line, converting 800 km ofMeter Gauge line into Broad Gauge,laying of 400 km of new lines, 1600 km,of doubling and manufacture of 747additional locos. This is a mammothPlan Outlay indeed, but fullyexecutable thanks to lakhs of railwayemployees working round the clockwithout giving any sort of room forimperfection. Suresh Prabhu alsoannounced three new DedicatedFreight Corridors on the same patternof two under-construction DedicatedFreight Corridors. These new corridorswill ensure connectivity between Delhiand Chennai (North - South Corridor),

Kharagpur and Mumbai (East – WestCorridor) and the third, betweenKharagpur and Vijayawada (East –Coast Corridor). The construction workof ongoing two corridors (Mumbai –Dadri line of 1502 km and Ludhiana –Dankuni line of 1840 km) has showngood progress in construction withcumulative expenditure of Rs. 6,130.24crore so far.

The Indian Railways carries 8,224million number of passengers daily onthe entire network spanning fromBaramulla in the north to KanyaKumari in the south; and Ledo in theeast to Vayor in the west. The IndianRailway’s motto is “Passengers are theGods” because they make IndianRailways a strong and vibrant networkand the Railway Minister has givenspecial attention to their amenities andservices. He has introduced a newAntyodaya Express, a long distance,fully unreserved, superfast trainservice to be operated on dense routes.He has proposed to add two to fourDeen Dayalu coaches in some longdistance trains for unreserved travelwith facility for potable drinking waterand a higher number of mobilecharging points.

Cancellation of railway tickets hasbeen an arduous task for railwaypassengers, especially those who havebooked their tickets through RailwayTicket Counters. Travelling again to theRailway Stations, sometimes rushing atthe last moment for cancellation, willbecome a habit of past. He has proposedintroduction of a new helpline number“139” which can be used for cancellationof journey ticket. The helpline numberwill generate a “One Time Password”

NATIONAL AGENDA

The

Nationalist 59

which is safe and secure so thatmiscreants do not misuse the facility.The modalities of this cancellationsystem are being worked out and thefacility will be launched soon across thecountry. One of the major concerns ofpassengers is enjoying good mealsduring the long and tiresome journeyrunning into several hours andsometimes a few days. The RailwayMinister has proposed to bring in achangeover in the existing cateringservice and entrust this importantservice into the hands of theexperienced IRCTC, the catering wing ofIndian Railways. Besides, the stationswill have stalls that can provide multipleproducts including milk products andOTC medicine, which will be a boon tomothers for nourishing their childrenand elders/sick for getting theirmedicine.

This Budget offers something or theother for every railway employee. Therailway employees will benefit from thepay hike on account of theimplementation of therecommendations of 7th Central PayCommission; the porters will have a newand respectable designation “Sahayak”;railway employees will get treatment onIndian Systems of Medicine in 5 RailwayHospitals; introduction of “Rakshak”, adevice which will intimate the gangmanabout the approaching train on his trackof duty; the Loco Pilots, who are non-stoppable work horses, getting thecomfort of driving the locomotives in anair-conditioned cab with attachedwashrooms; a first time dedicatedrailway university in Vadodara; and, forpromoting the railway staff’s skill, apartnership programme with Ministry ofSkill Development.

s

For making one’s journey amemorable one and to move 1095.26million tonnes of freight from everynook and corner of the country, theRailways require large resources. Theproposals to raise this magnitude ofresources have been explained in theBudget proposals. LIC of India, India’spublic sector life insurance company, haspledged Rs. 1.5 lakh crores over fiveyears; setting up a Fund withmultilateral assistance for financingrailway projects; station developmentthrough commercial exploitation ofvacant land and space rights over stationbuildings; monetizing land along 66,030km. of railway tracks; and monetizingsoft assets such as data software andsome of the free services such as PNRenquiry, e-commerce activities on IRCTCwebsite are the target areas forgenerating a whopping 1,84,820 croresof rupees in the ensuing FY 2016-17.

The next one year is going to seeintroduction of a Humsafar (fully air-conditioned 3AC service with optionalmeal service), Tejas (a train with a speedof up to 130 kmph), and UDAY (adouble-decker air-conditionedovernight train service) for the enjoyablerail journey of common passengers forwhom the Indian Railways has been apart and parcel of their daily life.

l

(The author was formerly with theIndian Railways; presently he is Member ofthe Passengers Amenities Committee of theIndian Railways and a Research Fellow at

SPMRF.)

NATIONAL AGENDA

The

Nationalist 60

The Bill that has now been passedby Parliament actually seeks to

regulate the real estate sector, bring intransparency and help protectconsumer interests. It is a majorreform measure to regulate the vastreal estate sector and bring order init. This bill isa much-needed relieffor home-b u y e r sbecause itseeks toregulate asector thatlacks clarityand is riddledw i t hc o n s u m e rdisputes.

PM Modi,after passage of the Bill, said that"Effective regulatory mechanism willlead to orderly growth of the realestate sector and will give a strongimpetus to our vision of Housing forAll".

Salient features of the Bill are asfollows:

8 The Real Estate (Regulation andDevelopment) Bill regulatestransactions between buyers andpromoters of real estate projects andsets up state-level regulatory

Highlights of Real Estate (Regulation &Development) Bill passed by Parliament

" @@@@@ Rashtriya Prahari

authorities to oversee the sector.

8 The Bill regulates bothcommercial and residential real estateprojects. It seeks to set up Real EstateRegulatory Authority (RERA) instates and union territories to overseereal estate transactions.

8 It makes registration of realestate projects and real estate agentswith the authority mandatory. Itmandates that builders shoulddisclose details of all registeredprojects, including those about thepromoter, project, layout plan, landstatus, approvals, agreements alongwith details of real estate agents,contractors, architect, structuralengineer etc. All these details shouldbe uploaded on the website of theRERAs. Real estate agents also need toregister with the RERAs.

NATIONAL AGENDA

The

Nationalist 61

8 The Bill makes it mandatory forthe builders to park 70% of theamount collected from buyers for aproject in a separate bank account.This must only be used forconstruction of that project. However,The state government can alter thisamount to less than 70%.

8 It seeks to establish fast trackdispute resolution mechanisms forsettlement of disputes throughadjudicating officers and AppellateTribunal. The Bill bars civil courts fromtaking up matters defined in it.However, consumer courts areallowed to hear real estate matters.There are 644 consumer courts in thecountry. The more avenues forgrievance redressal would meanlower litigation costs for the buyers.Promoters are barred from changing

plans and design without consent ofconsumers.

8 If the promoter does notregister his property, he will have topay up to 10 percent of the project costas penalty. If he dodges order issuedby the RERA, he faces imprisonmentfor up to three years, and/or anadditional fine of 10% of the estimatedcost of the project. In case the builderviolates any other provision of the act,he will have to pay up to 5 percent ofthe estimate cost of the project.Meanwhile, the fine for the agents isRs 10,000 per day during the periodof violation of provisions.

8 The Bill is expected to boostconsumer confidence as it is expectedto bring in transparency in the sector.

l

NATIONAL AGENDA

The

Nationalist 62

The Rajya Sabha recently passed theNational Waterways Bill 2015

unopposed. This Bill can potentiallyprovide an alternative form oftransporting goods, which at presentis dominated by road and rail, andopen up economic opportunities tonew regions. The Bill which wasintroduced by Nitin Gadkari wasapproved by the Lok Sabha last year.Most of the MPs in Rajya Sabha whoparticipated in the discussioncomplimented the minister for such aradical plan to makeover thetransport matrix.

The Bill is aimed at unleashing thenavigation potential of India’s largerriver ways resources. As part of thisBill, under entry 24 of the Union Listof the Seventh Schedule of theConstitution, the Union governmentcan make laws on shipping and

Highlights of National Inland Waterways

Bill passed by Parliament@@@@@ Rastriya Prahari

navigation on inland waterways thatare classified as national waterways.The Bill identifies an additional 101waterways as national waterways.The Bill also specifies the extent ofdevelopment to be undertaken oneach waterway.

Allaying fears of the stategovernments that the new law willinfringe upon their rights, RoadTransport, Highways and ShippingMinister Nitin Gadkari said thepassage of the much-awaited Bill willin fact boost the maritime trade of thestates and augment their economy.

The declaration of NationalWaterways does not restrict the rightsof state governments in any way. Itonly facilitates Government of Indiain developing the waterway forshipping and navigation. It will notinfringe upon their rights on minerals

NATIONAL AGENDA

The

Nationalist 63

and water etc. Waterways had takena backseat in India, with only 3.5% oftrade being done through this mode inIndia. While countries such as China,Europe and Korea channelize over40% of their passenger and freighttraffic, in India the proportion wasonly 3.5%; and this despite it being themost fuel-efficient, cost-effective andeco-friendly form of transport.

Inland Water Transport is anenvironment-friendly and cost-effective mode of transportation,which on development will have thepotential to establish an optimalmodal mix and reduce logistic cost

According to the ShippingMinistry, transportation bywaterways would cost 25 paisa perkm, while by railways and road it’sRs.1.50 and Rs.2.50, respectively. Interms of fuel efficiency, too,waterways compare favourably: onehorse power can ferry four tonnes ofcargo by waterways, while theequivalent is 150kg and 500kg by roadand rail, respectively. The inlandwaterway projects will be developedthrough public private partnershipand infusion of foreign directinvestment (FDI). The NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA) has beeneyeing the constitutional mandate todevelop these inland waterways sinceit took charge. Surface TransportMinister Nitin Gadkari has beenadvocating the development ofwaterways, arguing that it wouldreduce logistic costs substantially.

The Inland Waterways Authority ofIndia (IWAI), responsible for

developing inland waterways, in astudy done during 1998 had set a targetof 9,286 km of national waterways,state waterways and feeder routes by2020 in its “IWT Vision 2020”. Atpresent Inland waterways comprisingrivers, lakes, canals, creeks andbackwaters extend to about 14,500 kmsacross the country.

The legislation provides conversionof 15 rivers in West Bengal, 14 each inAssam and Maharashtra, 11 inKarnataka, 12 in Uttar Pradesh, 9 inTamil Nadu and 6 each in Bihar andGoa and 5 each in Gujarat, Meghalaya,Odisha and Telangana, among others.

The proposal also includes plan toconvert the Yamuna in Delhi andHaryana into a waterway. Five of theriver-stretches, which have beendeclared as National Waterways,include Allahabad-Haldia on Ganga(1,620 km), Brahmaputra’s Dhubri-Sadiya (891 km), West Coast CanalKottapuram-Kollam (205 km),Kakinada-Puducherry canals (1,078km) and East Coast Canal integratedwith Brahmani river and Mahanadidelta rivers (588 km).

The government aims to garner Rs1 lakh crore to fund projects for low-cost river transportation and seeks todevelop national waterways to cutlogistics cost, make Indian industrycompetitive and help developing smarttownships along the rivers. Indiacurrently has five inland waterways asnational waterways. These includewaterways on Ganga from Haldia toAllahabad and on Brahmaputra fromDhubri to Sadiya and others. l

NATIONAL AGENDA

The

Nationalist 64

The Modi Government recentlyapproved Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala

Yojana which is a Scheme forProviding Free LPG connections toWomen from BPL Households. Underthe scheme, Rs 8000 crore has beenearmarked for providing five croreLPG connections to BPL households.The Scheme provides a financialsupport of Rs1600 for each LPGconnection to theBPL households.The identificationof eligible BPLfamilies will bemade inconsultation withthe StateGovernments and the UnionTerritories. This Scheme would beimplemented over three years,namely, the FY 2016-17, 2017-18 and2018-19.

This is the first time in the historyof the country that the Ministry ofPetroleum and Natural Gas shallimplement a welfare schemebenefitting crores of women belongingto the poorest households.

In India, the poor have limitedaccess to cooking gas (LPG). Thespread of LPG cylinders has beenpredominantly in the urban and semi-urban areas with the coverage mostly

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Scheme for Providing Free LPG connections

to Women from BPL Households

in middle class and affluenthouseholds. Now this new scheme willhelp to provide LPG connections tothose living in rural areas. ProvidingLPG connections to BPL householdswill ensure universal coverage ofcooking gas in the country. Thismeasure will empower women andprotect their health. It will reduce

drudgery and the time spent oncooking. It will also provideemployment for rural youth in thesupply chain of cooking gas.

In this direction, Union FinanceMinister in his Budget speech on29.2.2016 had announced a budgetaryprovision of Rs. 2000 crore for 2016-17 to provide deposit free LPGconnections to 1.5 crore womenbelonging to the Below Poverty Line(BPL) families. Further, the Budgetannounced that the Scheme will becontinued for two more years to cover5 crore households. l

(SPMRF Desk)

NATIONAL AGENDA

The

Nationalist 65

POLITICAL COMMENTARIES

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o

The

Nationalist 66

otg ls ohih dh ljdkj xbZ u fd vkj{k.k ds eqísijA blesa dksbZ 'kd ugh fd vkj{k.k dk mís';lekftd cjkcjh ds fy, Fkk ysfdu eaMy ykxwgksrs gh ns'k ds fgUnw lekt ds vanj nks [kses cux, Fks ftuesa Hk;adj Vdjko dh laHkkouk,a cyysus yxh FkhaA vkj{k.k ykxw gksus ds ckn VwVrsfgUnw lekt dks ,dtqV djus ds fy, eafnjvkUnksyu vfuok;Z FkkA

fygktk vMok.kh us jFk;k=k dk ,syku fd;kAvxj fgUnw lekt dks ,dtqV djus ds fy, oksjFk;k=k ugh fudkyh x;h gksrh rks vkt ns'k esatkrh; foHksn vkSj dVqrk dk fgald psgjk lektesa O;kIr gks pqdk gksrkA ysfdu ml jFk;k=k dksvkt eaMy ds f[kykQ jFk;k=k ds rkSj ij nq"çpkfjrfd;k tkrk gS tcfd oks eafnj ds leFkZu esa ;k=kFkhA [kSj] bruk rks r; gS fd dkaxzsl eaMy ykxwugh dj jgh Fkh tcfd Hkktik lefFkZr ljdkj usfiNM+ksa ds fgr esa ;g dk;Z dj fn[kk;kA

le; ds lkFk&lkFk jktuhfrd fodkl dsØe esa Hkktik dh rkdr jk"Vªh; iVy ij c<rhx;h vkSj dkaxzsl dk opZLo <hyk iM+rk x;kAHkktik esa lekftd fgLlsnkjh c<+ rh x;h vkSjdkaxzsl vius nfyr vè;{k lhrkjke dsljh dksipk rd ugh ikbZA uCcs ds n'kd ds mrjkèkZ esa ghujsaæ eksnh dks egkea=h ¼laxBu½ cukdj Hkstkx;kA ujsaæ eksnh [kqn fiNM+s lekt ls vkrs gSaAcaxk: y{e.k ds :i esa nfyr usrk dk mHkkj HkhHkktik esa lÙkk ds nkSj esa gqvkA vVy fcgkjhoktis;h dh ljdkj esa lokZfèkd fiNM+s] nfyr vkSjvuqlwfpr tutkfr ds lkaln pquko thrdj vk;sAlnu esa vVy fcgkjh oktis;h us cgqer ughlkfcr gks ikus ds ckn bLrhQk ls iwoZ tks Hkk"k.kfn;k] oks vius vki bl ckr rF; dh rLnhddjrk gS fd vius mHkkj ds lkFk gh Hkktik uslkekftd fofoèkrkvksa dh O;kid fgLlsnkjh dkscy fn;kA

ml pquko esa vuqlwfpr tkfr ds dqy 77lkalnksa esa ls 29 lkaln Hkktik ls pqudj vk;s FksAtcfd fdlh Hkh vU; ny ds iaæg ls T;knk

nfyr lkaln ugh pqudj vk;s FksA vuqlwfprtutkfr;ksa ls dqy 41 lkalnksa esa ls vdsys Hkktikls 11 lkaln vk;s FksA ;s vkadM+s bl ckr dhxokgh nsrs gSa fd igyh ckj lÙkk esa vkbZ Hkktik uslHkh rcds ds yksxksa dks fdlh Hkh vU; jktuhfrdny dh rqyuk esa T;knk fgLlsnkjh nh FkhA jktuhfrdny esa vkarfjd fgLlsnkjh ds ekspsZ ij Hkh Hkktikdk xzkQ lekftd U;k; ds ekunaMksa ij lclscsgrj fn[krk gS-

reke jkT;ksa esa eq[;ea=h ds :i esa fiNM+slekt ds usrkvksa dks vkxs c<kus ds ekeys esa HkhHkktik dkaxzsl dh rqyuk esa dgha cgqr vkxs gSAlaxBu ds Lrj ij Hkh Hkktik esa gj rcds ds yksxgSaA ;g fofoèkrk fdlh Hkh vU; ny esa ugha fn[krhgSA ;g ogh Hkktik gS tks ,d fiNM+s lekt dsusrk dks çèkkuea=h ds :i esa vkxs djrh gS vkSj ,dvYila[;d leqnk; ds O;fä dks ikVhZ vè;{k cuknsrh gSA fofoèkrk dk ,slk mngkj.k fdlh vU;ny esa 'kk;n gh fn[krk gks!

vkt jksfgr oseqyk ds cgkus tks yksx tkfrxrvoèkkj.kk esa Hkktik dks fiNM+ksa&nfyrksa ds f[kykQgksus dk nq"çpkj dj jgs gSa mUgsa ,dckj viusvkarfjd jktuhfr dh rgksa dks VVksyuk pkfg,AD;k okeiaFkh nyksa ls iksfyr C;wjksa esa nfyrksafiNM+ksa vkSj efgykvksa dh fgLlsnkjh dks ysdjloky ugh iwNk tkuk pkfg,\ iksfyr C;wjks esa,dek= oank djkr dsoy bl vkèkkj ij ugh gSafd oks çdk'k djkr dh iRuh gSa! D;k ;gk¡ ifjokjokndk loky ugh curk gS\

okeiaFkh ny ¼lhihvkbZ,e½ ds iksfyr C;wjks esafdrus nfyr] fdrus fiNM+s gSa] bldk ewY;kadudc fd;k tk,xk\ ;wih esa clik vkSj lik esalekftd fgLlsnkjh dk ç'u D;ksa ugh mBrk gS\;wih esa tks ny [kqn dks lektoknh dgrk gS mlusmlh ek;korh ds lkFk nqoZ~;ogkj fd;k Fkk ftlek;korh dks Hkktik us vius leFkZu ls eq[;ea=hcuk;kA vxj Hkktik ,d nfyr usrk dks eq[;ea=hds rkSj ij leFkZu ns jgh gS rks dSls ekuk tk; fdHkktik nfyr ,oa fiNM+ksa dh fojksèkh gS\ l l l l l

POLITICAL COMMENTARIES

The

Nationalist 67

l 'kksf"kr oafpr vkSj loZgkjk lekt dh

vkokt dks cqyan djds lkE;oknh vkanksyuus nqfu;k Hkj esa viuk ikao ilkjk Fkk vkt ogvkanksyu eR;q 'kS;k ij ysVs viuk vafre fnu fxujgk gSA vkd"kZd oSpkfjd çopuksa dh çcyrk dsdkj.k ;g vkanksyu ftl xfr ls vkxs c<+k viusoSpkfjd dqdeksZ dh otg ls mruh gh rsth lsmldk iru Hkh gqvkA vkt budk vfLrRo D;wckforuke]phu vkSj Hkkjr ds dqN jkT;ksa¼dsjy] ia-caxky vkSj f=iqjk½ eas gh capk gqvk gSA D;wck esa ;gvkanksyu osafVysVj iM+s&iMs viuk vafre lkals fxujgk gS] fo;ruke dh fLFkfr lcds lkeus gS vkSjlkE;oknh phu ekvks dh jkg dks NksM+dj cgqr igysiwathokn dh jkg dks vf[r;kj dj fy;k gSA jghckr Hkkjr dh rks ;gka Hkh fLFkfr Li"V gSA Hkkjr dsftl jkT; esa dE;wfuLV 'kklu esa jgs ml jkT; dkvfgr gh gqvk gS mnkgj.k ds fy, ia- caxky dks ysfyft,A 1978 esa vkikr dky ds ckn oke 'kkluvkus ds igys caxky Hkkjr ds lcls fodflr vkSjlkèku laiUu jkT;ksa esa 'kqekj gksrk Fkk ysfdu 1978ds ckn ls ;g jkT; yxkrkj iru dh vksj vxzljgksrk x;kA 35 lky ds oke 'kklu esa iaf'pe caxkydks fojklr esa m|ksxksa dk iyk;u] voljksa dhvYirk] uDlyokn dk tgj feykA

Hkkjrh; bfrgkl eas lky 1925 vR;ar egRoiw.kZgSA ;g ogh lky gS tc MkW gsMxsokj ds usr`Ro easjk"Vªh; Lo;alsod la?k dh LFkkiuk gqbZ vkSj blhlky 6 fnlacj dks Hkkjrh; dE;wfu"V ikVhZ dh HkhLFkkiuk gqbZ FkhA;g crkus dh vko';drk ugha gSafd nksuks vkt dgka gSa!

la?k ifjokj jk"Vª ds çfr viuh fu"Bk dscnkSyr yk[kksa lefiZr dk;ZdrkZvksa dk ,d ,slklewg [kM+k dj fy;k gS ftlds ewy esa jk"Vªh;rk vkSjHkkjrh;rk gS] ftldk y{; lkaL-frd jk"Vªokn gSvkSj jk"Vª iqufuZek.kZ gSA lsok vkSj lei.kZ ds blhHkkouk ds cnkSyr la?k ifjokj nqfu;k dk lcls cM+k

dyefx) dE;fuLVksa dh gdhdr@@@@@ 'kSysUæ dqekj 'kqDyk 'kSysUæ dqekj 'kqDyk 'kSysUæ dqekj 'kqDyk 'kSysUæ dqekj 'kqDyk 'kSysUæ dqekj 'kqDyk

laxBu cudj mHkjk gSA ogha nwljh vksj xjhcoafpr vkSj 'kksf"krksa dh vkokt dks cqyan djus dhnaHk Hkjus okyh Hkkjrh; dE;wfu"V ikVhZ viuh oSpkfjdnfjærk vkSj ikf'od çofÙk ds dkj.k vius loZuk'kdks çkIr djus dh fLFkfr esa gSA

etnwj oxZ dh fgr okeiaFkh fdruk fd,]efgyk fgrksa ij fdruk dke fd,] nfyrksa dsmRFkku esa bu yksxks dk D;k ;ksxnku Fkk ;gvuqlaèkku dk fo"k; gSA la?k ifjokj dks nfyrfojksèkh crkus okys ;s okeiaFkh fdrus nfyr fiNM+svkSj efgykvksa dks çfrfufèkRo fn, bldk tokcbu yksxksa ds ikl ugha gSaA

:l dh ØkaZfr ds ckn nqfu;k Hkj esa dqdqjeqÙkksadh rjg oke ikfVZ;ksa dk mn; gqvk] lcds ewy esalokZgkjk lekt dk rFkkdfFkr fgr gh fufgr FkkAml nkSj eas blls vNwrk Hkkjr Hkh ugha jgkA Hkkjresa bl vkanksyu ds ç.ksrk jtuh ike nÙk vkSjekuosUæ ukFk tSls oke fopkjd FksA egku ns'kHkä Økafrdkjh ljnkj Hkxr flag Hkh bl vknksyuls çHkkfor gq,A 'kq#vkr esa mudk Hkh >qadko blfopkjèkkjk dh vksj gqvk ysfdu tYn gh os okeiaFkds dqdeksaZ dks le> x, vkSj [kqn dks blls vyxdj fy,A vkt Hkys okeiaFkh laxBu Hkxr flga dsuke ij Øakfr ykus dk naHkh Hkjrh gks ysfdugdhdr ;g gS fd Hkxr flag vius thrs th buikfVZvksa ls rkSck dj fy, FksA

Vxj Hkkjrh; Lora=rk esa dE;wfuLVksa ds ;ksxnkudh ckr djsa rks ;g Hkh vuqlaèkku dk fo"k; gSAbfrgkl lk{kh gS fd Hkkjrh; dE;wfuLV ges'kk lsLora=rk vkanksyu dks ,d n'kZd dh rjg ns[kkAHkkjrh; dE;wfu"V ikVhZ ds ,tsaMs eas dHkh Hkh ns'kfgr Fkk gh ugha budh fu"Bk ges'kk ls :l ds çfrgh jghA buds mn; ls ysdj vkt rd budkLFkku ifjorZu gqvk gS fu"Bk vkt Hkh ogha dh oghagSA igys mlesa jfl;k dk LFkku Fkk 1962 ds cknog LFkku phu us ys fy;kA

ft

POLITICAL COMMENTARIES

The

Nationalist 68

bfrgkl ds iUuksa dks VVksyk tk, rks bu yksxksadk pfj= vkSj Li"V gksrk gS f}rh; fo'o ;q) esa :lteZuh ds lkFk jgk rc rd ;s yksx teZuh ds Lokxresa iyds ikaoMs? fcNk, ?kwe jgs Fks vkSj fczVsu dk fojksèkdj jgs Fks ysfdu fgVyj ds vkØe.k ds ckn jkrksajkr budh fu"Bk cny x;hA ;s ogh yksx Fks ftUgksususrkth lqHkk"kpaæ cksl dks tks Hkkjr ds ckgj Hkkjrh;Lora=rk dh ykS dks teZuh vkSj tkiku dh enn lstkyk, j[ks Fks dks tkikuh lezkV rstks dk dqÙkk rddg Mkyk FkkA bu yksxksa ds Hkk"kk;h nfjærk vkSjoSpkfjd HkVdko dk ifj.kke Fkk fd ;s yksx egkRekxkaèkh dks Hkh xfj;kus ls ckt ugha vk,A

Hkkjr tc vktknh dks ngyht ij nLrd nsusokyk Fkk rc Hkh ;s yksx vius dqdeksZ ls ns'k dksrksM+us esa yxs jgs] v[kaM Hkkjr dks [kafMr djus dk[okc Hkh ijoku p<+us yxkA ;g dE;wfuLVksa dsdqdeksZ dk gh ifj.kke Fkk fd ,d vksj ns'k vktknhdh vksj dne c<+k jgk Fkk rks nwljh vksj fo?kVudh vksjA Hkkjr foHkktu ds ftruss cM+s vijkèkhftUuk uhr eqfLye yhx vkSj xkaèkh&usg: dkoSpkfjd HkVdko Fkk mrus gh cM+s vijkèkh ;s dyefx) dE;wfuLV FksA ;s ogh yksx Fks tks lksfo;rla?k dk leFkZu dj mlds varxZr vkus okys vusdns'kksa ds vfLrRo dks vLohdkj dj jfl;k dks ,djk"Vª dh ekU;rk nsrs Fks ogha nwljh vksj Hkkjr dksèkeZ ds vèkkj ij tkfr ds vkèkkj ij vkSj Hkk"kk dsvkèkkj ij foHkkftr dju esa yxs gq, FksA

nss'k dh vktknh ds ckn Hkh bu ykxksa dsLokHkko esa dksbZ ifjorZu ugha vk;k D;ksafd mudhutj esa ns'k dh vktknh dk vlyh vFkZ dqN vkSjgh Fkk] vktknh ds le; Hkh bu yksxksa dh Hkkouk,a[kqydj lkeus vk;h tks ml le; fn, x, ukjksaesa -"Vhxr gksrk gS ^^ ;g vktknh >wBh gS---** A tcns'k dk vke tuekul bu yksxksa dks udkjuk 'kq:fd rc ;s yksx eqfLye rqf"Vdj.k dks gok nsus yxsmlds ihNs bu yksxksa dk rdZ Fkk fd eqfLyefopkjèkkjk vkSj lkE;okn esa dkQh lekurk gSAblfy, ;s yksx uk rks uqok[kkyh naxksa dk fojksèkfd;k vkSj uk gh Hkkjr foHkktu ds le; gq,O;kid ujlagkj dkA

phu ds vkØe.k ds le; Hkh bu yksxksa dkjoS;k ns'k fojksèkh gh jgk] vius gj eap ls ;s yksxphu dks ikd lkQ vkSj ;q) ds fy, Hkkjr vkSjHkkjrh; lsuk dks nks"kh Bgjkrs jgsA

fo?kVudkjh vkSj i`Fkdrkoknh joS;k ds dkj.k1957 eas uacwnjhikn dh ljdkj dks c[kkZLr djfn;k x;kA rc ns'k esa fdlh fganq ân; lezkV dhljdkj ugha Fkh cfYd ?kksj èkeZfujis{k usg: uhrdkaxzsl dh ljdkj FkhA

vkt tc ts,u;w esa Hkkjr fojksèkh ukjs yx jgsgSa Hkkjr dh v[kaMrk dks rkj&rkj djus ds ealqcsikys tkrs gSa] Hkkjr fojksèkh ukjs yxk, tkrs gSa rksblesa dksbZ vk'p;Z ugha gksrk gSA D;ksafd ;g rksmuds pfj= ds ewy esa gSA fons'kh fe'kufj;ksa VqdM+sij iyus okys bu dyefx)ksa ls oQknkjh dhvis{kk rks ugh dh tk ldrh D;ksafd dqÙkk HkhjksVh nsus okys ekfyd dh vksj gh nqe fgykrk gSAvk'p;Z rc Hkh ugha gksrk tc dkaxzsl mikè;{kjkgqy xkaèkh bu jk"Vªfojksfèk;ksa ds leFkZu eas viukMsjk&MaMk ts,u;w esa fxjk ysrs gSa D;ksafd ;s lkjsns'kæksgh dkaxzsl ds dqdeksZ ds gh mit gSA nqfu;ktkurh gS fd fdl rjg ls usg: vkSj muds cknbafnjk xkaèkh us bu dye fi'kkpksa dks çJ; nsdjHkkjr ds lkaL-frd eqY;ksa dks nckus ds fy, çksRlkfgrfd;kA 6 vçSy 2010 dks cLrj ds fparyukj esatc uDlfy;ksa }kjk Ny ls 75 tokuksa dks ekjfn;k tkrk gS rc ns'k Hkj esa dsoy ts,u;w dSailgh xqytkj gksrk gS] vkSj Nk=ksa esa 'kjkc vkSjxksekal dk forj.k gksrk gSA

vkt ts,u;w dSail iwjh rjg lkaL-fr vkradokndk dsUæ cuk gqvk gS tgka dsoy vkfLru ds lkaiiy jgs gSa ftudk dke ns'k dks vfLFkj djuk gS]blfy, fnYyh iqfyl }kjk ;k Hkkjr ljdkj }kjkdh tk jgh dk;Zokgh loZFkk U;k;ksfpr gS D;ksafdvc le; dM+h fuank dk ugha jgh vc dM+hdkjZokgh dk gS---ts,u;w esa QSys oSpkfjd xanxh dkslkQ djus dk gS---ns'k vkSj ns'kokfl;ksa dh lgkuwHkwfrHkkjr ljdkj vkSj fnYyh iqfyl ds lkFk gSA lllll

¼'kSysUæ dqekj 'kqDyk] MkW ';kek çlkn eq[kthZ'kksèk vfèk"Bku esa fjlpZ ,lksfl,V gS½

POLITICAL COMMENTARIES

The

Nationalist 69

On 9 February 2016 a group of left wing

and Kashmir separatist students

organised an outdoors event at the Jawaharlal

National University (JNU) in New Delhi,

India. They shouted slogans wishing for the

tearing of India into pieces and for the war

against India to continue until the country’s

destruction. They also expressed support for

Afzal Guru, who had confessed to helping

five gunmen commit the terrorist attack

against the Indian Parliament on 13 December

2001. Afzal Guru was executed after a court

sentence and multiple judicial confirmations

that the death sentence should be carried out.

In his confession, he said that the aim of the 2001

attack, planned by Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-

e-Mohammed, was to eliminate India’s political

establishment.Fourteen people were killed

during the attack and a greater number injured.

The student demonstrators at JNU also shouted

“Pakistan Zindabad” and chanted slogans to the

effect that many more would rise up in Afzal

Guru’s place.

The year 2001 is etched in the global memory

as the year when the attacks took place on the

World Trade Centre as well as the attack on the

Pentagon. Much less is known about the terror

strike on the Indian Parliament and the many

other jihadi terrorist atrocities in India that have

escalated over the years since 2001 but have

been borne stoically by Indians so far. Unlike

the US and NATO response to the 9/11 attacks,

India took no international military action against

the planners of multiple acts of terror on its

territory. The evidence has clearly pointed to their

organisation being carried out in Pakistan and

with the help of the Pakistani state.

Lessons at JNU:Justifying Terror in the Name of Freedom?

@@@@@ Dr. Prakash Shah

The 2001 attacks on the Indian parliament

took place when a BJP government was in

power. In some ways, it is not unlike the other

currently much-discussed, terror-related case of

Ishrat Jahan who, after being shot dead with

three others in 2004, has often been referred to

as an innocent student, despite being revealed

as part of a plot to assassinate Narendra Modi

when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat.

The gathering at JNU led to the arrest of its

Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and

to charges against some twelve others for

sedition under section 124A of the Indian Penal

Code. Charges of criminal conspiracy under

section 120B have also been lodged but what

type of conspiracy is involved is not yet public.

The JNU administration had apparently revoked

permission for the event to be held as it turned

out that it had been billed, deceptively, as a

cultural event, whereas its real role was to hold

a demonstration in support of Afzal Guru. The

JNU administration has since taken action to

suspend some seven students.

POLITICAL COMMENTARIES

The

Nationalist 70

As section of the media and academic

opinion, within India and abroad, apparently

supports the demonstrating JNU students and

condemns their arrests and suspensions. One

prominent petition, by over 400 academics

mainly in the US, Canada, UK and India, with

JNU alumni, describes the arrests as illegal and

unconstitutional. To derive conclusions about

legality, these detractors must have information

to which only the JNU administration, the police

or government could be privy. Another petition

has been signed by 133 academics again mainly

based in the US, Canada, UK and India

including Noam Chomsky, Charles Taylor, Judith

Butler, Sheldon Pollock and Orhan Pamuk.

Condemning the police action and JNU’s vice-

chancellor for not speaking out, it refers to the

“authoritarian menace” generated by the present

government. It goes on to describe JNU as “the

most prominent university in the country in the

eyes of the academy all over the world”.

Signatories seem oblivious to the fact that JNU

ranks nowhere in the Times Higher Education

world university rankings and is similarly absent

from other international rankings. When present,

Indian institutions figure well behind their

counterparts elsewhere, a hint of the parlous

state of higher education in India.

Let us now try to view the JNU events in a

wider frame. Imagine that a student group

in the UK say at the prominent Oxford

University went around praising the killers

of the soldier Lee Rigby, who was murdered

in London in broad daylight by two jihadis

in 2013. The murder was condemned in the

international press and by British Muslim

leaders. Imagine that the group of Oxford

students shout slogans to the effect that, in

place of the imprisoned murderers, many

more would rise. Further, they audibly

announce Britain’s destruction into pieces.

How should the authorities and the police

respond? Quite possibly they would feel

compelled stop such a meeting and take the

leaders into custody.They could select from

among many UK laws, including those covering

public order or terrorism, to base arrests. For

example, section 12 of the UK’s Terrorism Act

2000 criminalizes a person who “arranges,

manages or assists in arranging or managing a

meeting which he knows is …to support a

proscribed organisation”.

Most likely there would be public

outrage and disgust and, surely, large

sections of the media would condemn, not

the police or government of the day, but the

demonstrators. Many would legitimately

question why university students

demonstrate in support of terrorism. It is

hard to imagine that student demonstrations

ripple out across the UK and harder still to

imagine they would be supported by

academics. One cannot imagine a group of

international scholars lending their names

to petitions criticizing the police or the

university administration. Substitute for Lee

Rigby’s murderers, those who helped the

perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks in the US; or

those who attacked the Canadian parliament in

2014; or those responsible for the November

2015 attacks in Paris. While details may vary,

the tenor of responses would likely not differ

much.

British universities are already being enlisted

for detecting radicalisation among youngsters.

A new legal duty under section 26 of the

Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015

obliges universities to have “due regard to the

need to prevent people from being drawn into

terrorism”. While there is some dissent on

grounds of academic freedom, universities have

broadly complied. There is nothing like the

tamasha we witness in India.

Those suggesting that the JNU

administration and police actions are unlawful

and unconstitutional are not waiting for judicial

proceedings to uphold or strike down the

POLITICAL COMMENTARIES

The

Nationalist 71

charges. In a further email to JNU’s vice-

chancellor, Noam Chomsky says that the police

presence on campus was “not legally required”.

In so doing, he compounds what he and other

petition signers already imply: that the legal

process in India deserves no respect and that

law enforcers are culpable for holding justifiers

of terrorism to account. This seems the very

opposite of what would be expected of any

responsible state in the world. Why is India

treated differently by its own and external

academic community?

It reflects a structure of thinking soaked in

since colonial times whereby large parts of the

intelligentsia learn and teach a view of India as a

backward, immoral and degenerate culture. The

not insignificant numbers of Indian origin

academics who enjoy higher education in the

West perform a vital role in its propagation.

Having imbibed the latest distorted versions of

India studies they are prominent among petition

signers and well represented in other petitions

about intolerance in India. Focusing their radical

aspirations on India, they tend to remain silent

about the depredations, home and abroad, of

their adopted countries, which would rapidly

constrain their career ambitions. For them a BJP

government represents all that they have been

taught to despise about India and its traditions.

Such a government is presumptively guilty and,

as the Prime Minister knows all too well, the

mud of guilt continues to be thrown well after

exoneration by the courts. The Western

framework for studying and teaching about India

performs another role too.

As Professors SN Balagangadhara and

Jakob de Roover have suggested, terrorism is

a crime distinguished by its transubstantiation into

a morally exemplary set of supererogatory

actions. Thus, although it is a crime, ideology

enables it to be presented as justifiable to one

or other moral community. Ideology is what

enables the use of theories (which can be varied

- theological or otherwise) for justification. In

the case of terrorism, an ideology performs the

role of making a crime morally justifiable. From

this standpoint, the complained of actions and

statements by the JNU students can be seen as

an exercise that makes acts of terror justifiable.

As Balagangadhara has argued further,

justification of crime as moral is rooted in the

interplay of American culture, in which organised

crime flourishes, and European culture, which

legitimates actions through political justifications.

The presence of Euro-American intellectual

voices and their Indian acolytes among petition

signers is therefore extremely worrying. The

signers need not themselves justify terrorism; it

may be enough to provide a means by which

terrorism and its supporters can be seen as

justified.

When globalised by extension beyond Euro-

American contexts, exercises of providing moral

justifications for crimes get distorted. That is why

the Indian discussion looks more like a

hyperbolic tamasha. At the same time, we

already have much of the necessary equipment

to justify the criminal actions of terrorists. We

have the Western-Orientalist inheritance

structuring the study of India and transmitted on

Indian campuses. That provides the grounds on

which an avowedly nationalist ruling party

government can be demonised and demolished.

Today, the same framework secularised grounds

charges of fascism, autocracy, authoritarianism

and intolerance. Add to that the jihadist teaching

that appeals to the intolerance of submission to

a “kafir” ruler. Thus the seeds enabling Afzal

Gurus to be lionized as shahid are already sown.

We also know who will be making a harvest of

death out of them.

l

(Prakash Shah is a Reader in Culture and

Law and Director of GLOCUL: Centre for

Culture and Law at the Department of Law,

Queen Mary, University of London)

POLITICAL COMMENTARIES

The

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INDIA@POSITIVE

In its thirty fourth flight, ISRO’sPolar Satellite Launch Vehicle,

PSLV-C32, successfully launched the1,425 kg IRNSS-1F, the sixth satellitein the Indian Regional NavigationSatellite System (IRNSS) from theSatish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR,Sriharikota. This is the thirty thirdconsecutively successful mission of

PSLV and the twelfth in its ‘XL’configuration. IRNSS-1F is the sixthof the seven satellites constitutingthe space segment of the IndianRegional Navigation SatelliteSystem. IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, ID and IE,the first five satellites of theconstellation, were successfullylaunched by PSLV on July 02, 2013,April 04, 2014, October 16, 2014,

PSLV-C32 successfully launches India’sSixth Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1F

March 28, 2015 and January 20, 2016respectively. All the five satellites arefunctioning satisfactorily from theirdesignated orbital positions. IRNSSis an independent regionalnavigation satellite system designedto provide position information inthe Indian region and 1,500 kmaround the Indian mainland. IRNSS

would provide two types of services,namely, Standard PositioningServices (SPS) - provided to all users– and Restricted Services (RS),provided to authorised users. IRNSS-1G, the remaining satellite of thisconstellation, is scheduled to belaunched by PSLV in April 2016,thereby completing the IRNSSconstellation. l

The

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INDIA@POSITIVE

The

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T he book is actually astorehouse of information

on Myanmar's policies andpolitics. There are very fewbooks by prescient Indianauthors on the developmentsin Myanmar. India's securityand development, prosperityand progress; particularly ofthe North Eastern States of theUnion, are closely tangled withthe itinerary of internaldynamics in our immediateNorth-eastern neighbour ofMyanmar and if we regardMyanmar as our gateway toASEAN and our first port ofcall in India's Look East/ActEast foreign policy orientationthen for that we need tounderstand the history,geography and politics of thatcountry because the strategiclocation of the country needsno reiteration.

The book is useful, bothfrom the point of view of facts,and points of view of ideabecause it covers long periodwhich starts from as far as possibletrace back to the history of India-Myanmar relation, far back into theantiquity, it touch into thearcheological, historical period, thenit covers the whole range of colonial

BOOK REVIEW

Book Review

India-Myanmar Relations:Changing Contours

periods during which two India andMyanmar became part of Britishemperor. The book traces the historyof Myanmar, the content of bilateralrelations and the impact of an India-

Author: Rajiv Bhatia,

Routledge Publications

The

Nationalist 75

China conundrum on not only theinternal politics of Myanmar but alsothe future orientation of India-Myanmar relations.

Two chapters of the book dealswith a historical evolution ofMyanmar, with chapter 2 touching onpolicies of various countries towardsMyanmar. Three chapters deal withthe course and content of India-Myanmar relations and one chapterrefers to the current state of bilateralinterplay. The India-Myanmar-ChinaTriangle, as the author calls it, has achapter. The last chapter offersfuture directions for India Myanmarrelations.

Author has classified Myanmar'spost-independence period under fourcategories:

8 U Nu era (1948-62),

8 Ne Win era (1962-88),

8 the transition (1988-90) and

8 the SLORC/SPDC era (1991onwards).

U Nu's regime was stronglydemocratic. The Ne Win era saw atilt towards an intolerant andauthoritarian dictatorship withMyanmar slipping intoisolationism. Ne Win's autarchicpolicies took the country into acondition where China was perhapsthe only support. The gradualopening of doors towardsdemocracy saw Myanmar slowlywelcoming back friends andinvestments. A shift towards aperfect democracy, however, iscurrently constricted by the

Constitutional imperatives of a 25per cent representation of themilitary through the electoralprocess in Parliament and somerestrictions on Presidentialcandidates. The civilisationalimprint and religious legacy ofIndia on Myanmar should havedrawn the two countries closer.Buddhism travelled from India andSri Lanka to Myanmar. Bothcountries were victims of colonialrule. However, while Indiaremained strongly democratic,Myanmar after a few years ofdemocratic existence, fell victim tomilitary dictatorship.

Author has devoted considerablethought in his book to the state ofbilateral relations between India andMyanmar. India's relations withMyanmar were somewhat cool anddistant during the 1980s with India'ssympathy on the side of thedemocratic forces. Realising thatsentiment had no place in foreignpolicy, India commenced a policy ofconstructive engagement with theGovernment of Than She inMyanmar. This led to a better balancein bilateral relations offeringconsiderable scope for greaterinteraction in the political, economicand security spheres. The author callsfor greater government-to-government, business-to-business,and people-to-people interactionbetween India and Myanmar as theway forward in the furtherdevelopment and consolidation ofbilateral relations.

BOOK REVIEW

The

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High-level visits between the twosides have gained higher traction inrecent days. During PM Modi'smeeting with President Thein Sein onthe margins of the ASEAN Dialoguemeeting, the latter said that there wasa lot of commonality between the twocountries and saw "the two countriesas brothers".

Security related interaction hasbeen significant. The reaction ofMyanmar to action of Indian securityforces against insurgent groups wasto note "coordination andcooperation" between the armedforces. The invitation to the IndianNational Security Adviser to thesigning ceremony of a ceasefirebetween the Myanmar Governmentand the armed ethnic groups was apositive development.

Bilateral economic cooperationhas significant untapped potential.While there is a need to push upcommercial interaction, economiccooperation through projects andcapacity building calls for seriousattention. The clearance by theIndian Cabinet of the financialoutlay for the Kaladan Multi-Modal transport project connectingKolkata with Sittwe port andonwards to Mizoram is welcome.The India-Myanmar-ThailandTrilateral Highway is still ongoing.Infrastructure and connectivityhave been accorded significantimportance by leadership.

The author has writtenextensively on the role and

importance of Aung San Suu Kyi inMyanmar's political future and herimpact on bilateral relations. Whileprofessing warm feelings offriendship and good feelingstowards India, Suu Kyi has alsoexpressed "sadness" and"disappointment" at the lack ofunconditional support to the forcesof democracy in Myanmar. She hascalled for "transparency" in Indianaction against insurgent groupsbased in Myanmar.

The author has devoted an entirechapter on the cause and effect ofChinese policies and presence inMyanmar. His reference to India'sholding up recognition of the PRCuntil Burma did so is a revelation.China's significant presence can beattributed to strong ethnic linksacross the Northern borders and itssingular support during Myanmar'sisolation. Its economic footprint wasomnipresent. With President TheinSein initiating a pragmatic approachtowards foreign policy, a nuancedshift from an overweeningdependence on China has beennoticed.

The author has provided a list ofbilateral Agreements and MoUs as anAnnexe. He has spent considerableeffort at including a vast array ofcross-references. And thebibliography at the end of the book isextensive. l l l l l

(Siddharth Singh is ResearchScholar in Jawaharlal Nehru

University)

BOOK REVIEW

The

Nationalist 77

EVENT@SPMRF

Foreign Affairs Department, BJP in

collaboration with Dr. Syama Prasad

Mookerjee Research Foundation

(SPMRF) invited Mr. Peter Hill Director

of Strategy Foreign &

Commonwealth Office, Govt. of

U.K.to speak on "Dimensions of

India-UK Relationship in the Current

Global Scenario" on 3rd March 2016.

Dr. Vijay Chauthaiwale chaired the

session while introductory remarks

were given by Dr. Anirban Ganguly.

Mr. Hill's responsibilities include

policy planning and the FCO's

engagement with the National

Security Council. Mr. Hill explained the

India-U.K. relationship in perspective and

how this relationship has evolved over a

period of time. He said that India and the

U.K. have a fundamental stake in each

other's success-for the sake of our values

and our many shared interests.

He also spoke at some length about

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to

UK between 12-14 November, 2015

which took the relationship between the

two countries to a new height.

He emphasized the importance and

mutual benefit of continuing to work together

in the areas of energy and climate change to

enhance the prosperity of both nations.

He also emphasized that this enduring

connection between the UK and India plays

a vital role in safeguarding and promoting

the security and prosperity of both

SPMRF Round-Table Series:

Discussion on 3rd March 2016 on"Dimensions of India-UK Relationship in

the Current Global Scenario"

peoples. India's economic development

and rise as a global power affords

opportunities to further deepen and extend

this partnership to foster economic growth

and inclusive development, update and

strengthen the rules based international

system, and counter global threats.

Mr. Peter Hill said that UK and India

remain committed to working together to

substantially increase trade and investment

opportunities. The two governments have

time and again underlined the particular

importance of information technology and

digital industries in both countries, and the

contribution that they make towards

strengthening trade ties between the UK and

India as a key driver of growth and prosperity.

The Talk was attended among others by

Vice President of BJP Dr Vinay

Sahasrabuddhe, Mr. V. Satish Jt General

Secretary BJP, Mr Bhupender Yadav,

General Secretary BJP, Mr. Arjun Ram

Meghwal Member of Parliament, Amb. R.

Dayakar, Amb. Pradeep Kapur and other

Research Scholars. l l l l l

The

Nationalist 78

'kæksgh ukjksa ds leFkZu esa [kM+s gksus dks

ysdj jkgqy xkaèkh vkSj dkaxzsl ,aM daiuhij djkjk iyVokj djrs gq, Jh 'kkg us dgk &^bu fnuksa ns'k esa ,d vthc fdLe dh cgl gksjgh gSA ns'kæksg dks vfHkO;fä dh vktknh dsdiM+s iguk, tk jgs gSaA' mUgksaus dgk fdts,u;w esa reke Hkkjr fojksèkh ukjs yxk, x,AmUgksaus dgk] dkaxzsl dks 'keZ vkuh pkfg, fdmlds mikè;{k jkgqy xkaèkh ts,u;w esa tkdjdgrs gSa fd bUgsa lquuk pkfg,] bUgsa cksyus nsukpkfg,A Hkktik vè;{k us dM+k jks"k trkrs gq,dgk fd vxj jkgqy bu jk"Vª fojksèkh ukjksa dksvktknh dh vfHkO;fä ekurs gSa rks lksfu;k xkaèkh

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ns

PARTY PRESIDENT

The

Nationalist 79

Hkkjr* vkSj ^lkaLd`frd jk"Vªokn* gSA

ns'k esa fodkl ds fy, gks jgs cnyko ijcksyrs gq, Hkktik vè;{k Jh 'kkg us dgk fdçèkkuea=h Jh ujsUæ eksnh ds usr`Ro esa dsaæljdkj xk¡o ds vafre Nksj rd fodkl dhygj igqapkus ds fy, çfrc) gSA mUgksaus dgkfd xk¡o ds vafre O;fä rd fodkl igqapukt:jh gS vkSj ljdkj us Hkh r; dj fy;k gSfd xk¡o ds gj dksus rd fodkl dj ds fn[kkukgSA mUgksaus dgk fd ;g ljdkj xk¡o] xjhc]fdlku vkSj ;qokvksa dh ljdkj gSA Jh 'kkg usdgk fd bl ckj ds ctV esa dbZ ,slh ;kstuk,agSa] ftuls xk¡o ds vafre Nksj rd fodkl gksxk]lkFk gh ljdkj us Qly chek ls fdlkuksa dsfy, le`f) ds jkLrs [kksys gSaA mUgksaus dgk fdge lrr fodkl ds iFk ij py jgs gSa vkSjblfy, dsaæ esa Hkktik ljdkj vkus ds ckn lsyxkrkj Hkkjr nqfu;k dh lcls rst xfr lsfodkl djusokyh vFkZO;oLFkk cuh gqbZ gSA Jh'kkg us dgk fd çèkkuea=h Jh ujsUæ eksnh dsusr`Ro esa dsaæ ljdkj us ;qokvksa ds Lojkstxkj]dkS'ky çf'k{k.k vkSj dY;k.k ds fy, dbZ lkjh;kstuk,a pykbZ gS pkgs og eqæk cSad ;kstuk gks;k esd bu bafM;k] pkgs og fLdYM bafM;k;kstuk gks ;k LVkVZ&vi bafM;k ;k fQjLVSaM&vi bafM;kA mUgksaus dgk & ^ge pkgrsgSa fd ;gka ds ;qok iwjh nqfu;k esa Nk tk,¡ vkSjns'k ds uofuekZ.k esa viuh egrh Hkwfedk vnkdjsaA*

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PARTY PRESIDENT