Infrastructure development :Precursor to Rapid Growth

Like most of the developing countries, Indian economy is also a diversified and resilient in nature. Similarly, like most of the developing countries, huge sums of funds are being spent on the development of infrastructure, both in the private as well as in the public sectors. But, it is felt that the infrastructure spending is shorter than what is ideally required for achieving the required higher growth rate. As per the estimation of the Planning Commission of India, the total requirement of funds for financing the infrastructure requirements during the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) is to the tune of USD 500 billion, which is about 2.5 times of the funds provided for this purpose during the Tenth Five Year Plan.

 

Realizing that the government may not be able to fund the huge requirement for infrastructure projects required to be taken up for rapid growth of the economy, the Union government and various State governments have come up with the required Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework to facilitate the private participation in the infrastructure sector in a big way. The government has also asked the Infrastructure Investment Finance Company to earmark a corpus of over 8.15 billion US dollars for this purpose. This is in addition to $320 billion to be spent by the government for up-gradation of sea ports, railroads, highways and airports over the next about 15 years.

 

A massive 494 billion dollar investment is proposed in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-12), which would increase the share of infrastructure investment in this sector from 5 per cent of the GDP at the beginning of Eleventh Plan to 9 per cent during the Plan. This massive investment in the infrastructure sector is envisaged through huge doses of public spending through several flagship national programmes, as well as through active participation of the private sector in this gigantic effort. To facilitate PPP in infrastructure sectors, the government has not only introduced the model concession agreements but also permitted increased percentages of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in various sectors. Major expansion of infrastructure in the sub-sectors like
railways, ports, civil aviation, road, power, telecommunications and housing is planned to be achieved during the plan period. Urban infrastructure is targeted to be strengthened through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission, while the general rural infrastructure is proposed to be up-graded through implementation of national programmes like Bharat Nirman, Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana, and National Rural Health Mission etc.

 

Private Participation
Policy makers realise that the basic goal of inclusive development laid down for the Eleventh Five Year Plan may not be achieved if the basic infrastructure facilities are not available in the urban as well as rural areas of the country. In this regard, the participation of the private sector is considered to be very important. Partnership with the private sector had been continuing in the country during the past several years but there was no defined uniform policy and legal framework till recently.

 

With a view to facilitate the private and foreign investors to pump funds into Indian infrastructure projects, and to standardize the concessions to be extended to the private investors under the PPP, the government of India carried out special workshops in various parts of the country.  Main objectives of these workshops were to bring out the developmental relevance of the PPP in the current context, assist interested in the PPP to go ahead,  understand and address the concerns of the potential PPP investors, and international experience sharing from successful PPP models across the world.

 

The government of India has set up a PPP cell in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs. It is also felt that many PPP projects may not be economically viable but are essentially required to be executed. For such projects, Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme has been introduced. This is a special facility aimed at supporting such infrastructure projects which are economically and socially justifiable but are not commercially viable. Under the VGF Scheme, upfront assistance upto 20 per cent of the project cost can be sanctioned as grant for such PPP projects.

 

No facilitation is complete without making institutional arrangements for financing. The government of India has set up India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) as a wholly government-owned company to facilitate long-term funding of infrastructure projects. IIFCL provides direct financing, as well as refinancing of such projects in public, private or PPP sector.

 

The government has also paid special attention towards the capacity building at the Central and State levels. Capacity building needs include training of the key personnel, development of standard toolkits, Model Concession Agreements, development of Project Manuals, preparation of standard bidding documents, consultancy support and project preparation manuals. This effort  is also being supported by the Asian Development Bank.

 

Over the past three to four years, the government of India has worked towards creating institutional framework to facilitate it. But at the same time, the overall environment is very important before the private investors commit funds into such projects. Simplicity of government procedures, reduction in corruption level and reduction in time taken for decision making in government are some of the areas of concern that may have to be addressed before the PPP picks up in the country. Efficiency in government as well as enforcement of market-driven tariffs are two other important determinants of the enabling environment.  

 

Precursor to Rapid GrowthInfrastructure development has been identified as an effective tool for taking the economy out of the effects of global recession. There has been stiff increase in the proposed expenditure for infrastructure projects particularly in the rural areas. Hefty 31 per cent increase has been proposed in the interim Budget 2009-10 for Bharat Nirman programme, aimed at strengthening the rural infrastructure in the country. This would not only increase the economic activity in the countryside but would also provide the rural people with the required infrastructure and increased employment opportunities.

 

One of the ambitious ongoing infrastructure projects is the Golden Quadrilateral Project, which is aimed at improving the road infrastructure on the highways/expressways connecting major cities of the country. The Project, on completion, would connect the metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata with expressways. It is the largest expressway project of the country, aimed at constructing 5,846 kilometres of six/four lane express highways at a cost of Rs 60,000 crores. Its North South and East West sections are nearing completion while the work on other sections is going on.

 

Road infrastructure, world class telecommunications, availability of efficient sea ports and airports, capacity creation in electricity generation and strong rural and urban infrastructure were some of the areas identified for improvement by the policy makers. After the planning stage, it is now the implementation stage and it is expected that within next five to ten years, India would have all the world class infrastructure facilities available.

 

In addition to creation of sustainable infrastructure in the country, the government effort would also result in ensuring huge doses of investment into the economy, including the rural economy, at a time when most of the western and developed markets are reeling under the influence of worldwide recession. Investment in this sector has ensured that the economy grew at 7 per cent during the previous financial year, when the world growth rate was around one per cent. During the current fiscal also, when the world economy is likely to record zero growth rate, Indian economy may still record reasonable growth rate.

Role of Banks and Financial Institutions in Economy

Money lending in one form or the other has evolved along with the history of the mankind. Even in the ancient times there are references to the moneylenders. Shakespeare also referred to ‘Shylocks’ who made unreasonable demands in case the loans were not repaid in time along with interest. Indian history is also replete with the instances referring to indigenous money lenders, Sahukars and Zamindars involved in the business of money lending by mortgaging the landed property of the borrowers.

 

Towards the beginning of the twentieth century, with the onset of modern industry in the country, the need for government regulated banking system was felt.  The British government began to pay attention towards the need for an organised banking sector in the country and Reserve Bank of India was set up to regulate the formal banking sector in the country. But the growth of modern banking remained slow mainly due to lack of surplus capital in the Indian economic system at that point of time. Modern banking institutions came up only in big cities and industrial centres. The rural areas, representing vast majority of Indian society, remained dependent on the indigenous money lenders for their credit needs.

 

Independence of the country heralded a new era in the growth of modern banking. Many new commercial banks came up in various parts of the country. As the modern banking network grew, the government began to realise that the banking sector was catering only to the needs of the well-to-do and the capitalists. The interests of the poorer sections as well as those of the common man were being ignored.

 

In 1969, Indian government took a historic decision to nationalise 14 biggest private commercial banks. A few more were nationalised after a couple of years. This resulted in transferring the ownership of these banks to the State and the Reserve Bank of India could then issue directions to these banks to fund the national programmes, the rural sector, the plan priorities and the priority sector at differential rate of interest.  This resulted in providing fillip the banking facilities to the rural areas, to the under-privileged and the downtrodden. It also resulted in financial inclusion of all categories of people in almost all the regions of the country.

 

However, after almost two decades of bank nationalisation some new issues became contextual. The service standards of the public sector banks began to decline. Their profitability came down and the efficiency of the staff became suspect. Non-performing assets of these banks began to rise. The wheel of time had turned a full circle by early nineties and the government after the introduction of structural and economic reforms in the financial sector, allowed the setting up of new banks in the private sector.

 

The new generation private banks have now established themselves in the system and have set new standards of service and efficiency. These banks have also given tough but healthy competition to the public sector banks.

 

Modern Day Role Banking system and the Financial Institutions play very significant role in the economy. First and foremost is in the form of catering to the need of credit for all the sections of society. The modern economies in the world have developed primarily by making best use of the credit availability in their systems. An efficient banking system must cater to the needs of high end investors by making available high amounts of capital for big projects in the industrial, infrastructure and service sectors. At the same time, the medium and small ventures must also have credit available to them for new investment and expansion of the existing units. Rural sector in a country like India can grow only if cheaper credit is available to the farmers for their short and medium term needs.

 

Credit availability for infrastructure sector is also extremely important. The success of any financial system can be fathomed by finding out the availability of reliable and adequate credit for infrastructure projects. Fortunately, during the past about one decade there has been increased participation of the private sector in infrastructure projects.

 

The banks and the financial institutions also cater to another important need of the society i.e. mopping up small savings at reasonable rates with several options. The common man has the option to park his savings under a few alternatives, including the small savings schemes introduced by the government from time to time and in bank deposits in the form of savings accounts, recurring deposits and time deposits. Another option is to invest in the stocks or mutual funds.

 

In addition to the above traditional role, the banks and the financial institutions also perform certain new-age functions which could not be thought of a couple of decades ago. The facility of internet banking enables a consumer to access and operate his bank account without actually visiting the bank premises. The facility of ATMs and the credit/debit cards has revolutionised the choices available with the customers. The banks also serve as alternative gateways for making payments on account of income tax and online payment of various bills like the telephone, electricity and tax. The bank customers can also invest their funds in various stocks or mutual funds straight from their bank accounts. In the modern day economy, where people have no time to make these payments by standing in queue, the service provided by the banks is commendable.

 

While the commercial banks cater to the banking needs of the people in the cities and towns, there is another category of banks that looks after the credit and banking needs of the people living in the rural areas, particularly the farmers. Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) have been sponsored by many commercial banks in several States. These banks, along with the cooperative banks, take care of the farmer-specific needs of credit and other banking facilities.

 

FutureTill a few years ago, the government largely patro-nized the small savings schemes in which not only the interest rates were higher, but the income tax rebates and incentives were also in plenty. The bank deposits, on the other hand, did not entail such benefits. As a result, the small savings were the first choice of the investors. But for the last few years the trend has been reversed. The small savings, the bank deposits and the mutual funds have been brought at par for the purpose of incentives under the income tax. Moreover, the interest rates in the small savings schemes are no longer higher than those offered by the banks.

 

Banks today are free to determine their interest rates within the given limits prescribed by the RBI. It is now easier for the banks to open new branches. But the banking sector reforms are still not complete. A lot more is required to be done to revamp the public sector banks. Mergers and amalgamation is the next measure on the agenda of the government. The government is also preparing to disinvest some of its equity from the PSU banks. The option of allowing foreign direct investment beyond 50 per cent in the Indian banking sector has also been under consideration.

 

Banks and financial intuitions have played major role in the economic development of the country and most of the credit- related schemes of the government to uplift the poorer and the under-privileged sections have been implemented through the banking sector. The role of the banks has been important, but it is going to be even more important in the future. 

BRICS

NEVER before had a new global grouping emerged from the research of an American Investment Banking and Securities Company. But this is what happened when a 2001 Goldman Sachs paper entitled “Building Better Global Economic BRICs” signalled the forthcoming shift of global power away from the G7 led developed world to the emerging, fast-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, with the acronym BRIC.  
On June 16, 2009, the leaders of the BRIC countries held their first Summit in Yekaterinburg, and issued a declaration calling for the establishment of an equitable, democratic and multipolar world order. As it would have been imprudent to exclude the entire African continent from what is a global grouping, BRIC became BRICS with the participation of South Africa at the April 14 Sanya Summit.
China’s decision to hold the BRICS Summit at Sanya, located on the southern tip of the Hainan Island, was obviously not accidental. Beijing’s mandarins are meticulous in their planning and decision-making for such international events. The visiting delegates were no doubt thrilled by the sumptuous Chinese cuisine, the gracious hospitality of their Chinese hosts and the picturesque tourist attractions like the 108-metre high Guanyin Statue and the Buddhist Nanshan Temple.
But what precisely is the strategic symbolism of Sanya and the Hainan Island? Sanya is located close to the disputed Xisha (Paracel) and Nansha (Spratly) Islands in the South China Sea, which China has recently declared as an area of “core interest” like Tibet and Taiwan. The Hainan submarine base, where five nuclear submarines, each armed 12 nuclear tipped with ICBMs, are deployed in underground caves and will also be the home to China’s first aircraft carrier, is located adjacent to Sanya. Chinese naval power concentrated in Sanya has evoked serious concern in both ASEAN and India. Hosting the BRICS Summit in Sanya was evidently a not-too-subtle message to the world about China’s growing military muscle.
Our worthy leaders and mandarins have few equals in giving a spin to whatever emerges from Summits with China or Pakistan. Our scribes, therefore, breathlessly reported after Dr. Manmohan Singh met President Hu Jintao, that there had been a “breakthrough” with China supporting our candidature for permanent membership of the Security Council.
But alas, all that happened was that the Chinese merely said that they “understand” the “aspiration” of Brazil, India and South Africa to “play a greater role in the UN”. Much has been made of China’s decision to avoid “stapled visas” for journalists from Jammu and Kashmir accompanying the Prime Minister to Sanya. The Chinese “gesture” on stapled visas has been reciprocated by a resumption of military exchanges.
But one would caution against too much optimism on continuing peace and tranquility along the border, merely because we have a new “working mechanism” for this. The much touted “Joint Terror Mechanism” with Pakistan only resulted in terrorist attacks on our Embassy in Kabul and the 26/11 terrorist strike on Mumbai. One should realistically place greater emphasis in maintaining peace on our borders with China, not on a “working mechanism” with the Chinese, but on better communications, enhanced and well-equipped military deployments and adequate air power.
New Delhi has, however, been more realistic recently in responding to Chinese diplomatic provocations by the commencement of ministerial-level visits, together with moves for concluding a Free Trade Agreement with Taiwan and a more proactive approach to ties with Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
Just before the Sanya Summit, Zhu Xiaochuan, the Governor of China’s Central Bank, called for a “super sovereign currency” to replace the dollar. Moreover, the Chinese had earlier played a key role in the so-called “Chiang Mai initiative” as an alternative to the IMF. The initiative was intended to bail out East Asian economies facing economic downturns. China has consistently sought alternatives to the western dominated Bretton Woods financial institutions.
With reserves of three trillion dollars and its foreign aid of $100 billion exceeding the fund transfers of the World Bank, China obviously intends to flex its economic muscle globally. India, which has legitimate concerns about the lack of market-oriented transparency in the valuation of the Chinese yuan has, however, reiterated its faith in the dollar as the global reserve currency and would prefer strengthening the IMF by expansion of “Special Drawing Rights”. But there was an agreement in principle in Sanya to establish credit lines in local currencies, which will insulate recipients from exchange rate risks. It remains to be seen if BRICS can establish such credit lines for infrastructure and other joint projects. At the same time, BRICS believes that the current domination of the IMF and the World Bank by G7 members should end.
The Sanya Summit did, however, signal that despite differences, there was much the partners shared in common on issues ranging from climate change and the continuing relevance of safe nuclear energy to the transfer of financial resources and technology to developing countries. Moreover, despite Russia and Brazil being resource-rich countries, there was a shared concern about prevalent volatility in the prices of energy and food.  
The Summit also sent out a clear message that emerging powers intended to strengthen contacts on security-related issues and would coordinate their positions in forums like the Security Council. National Security Advisers of BRICS are to discuss security issues of common concern in China later this year and their Foreign Ministers are scheduled to meet annually in New York. Further, as all BRICS members are presently members of the Security Council, they have agreed to expand contacts on western intervention in Libya. While a criticism of NATO actions has been avoided, BRICS will support the African high-level initiative, which has been rejected by the Libyan opposition in Benghazi.
While there has been much talk of building a multi-polar world order, it is evident that Russia, Brazil, South Africa and India recognise that in an ultimate analysis, China really seeks a bipolar world order, which it jointly dominates together with the Americans. Moreover, there is no dearth of Americans who feel likewise. The Chinese have after all told the American military that while the US Pacific Fleet should wield power in the Eastern Pacific, it should recognise the western Pacific and Indian Ocean regions as China’s spheres of influence.   While one wonders if this is realistically possible, India is realising the importance of multiple-level engagement with all major powers. But, given Chinese global ambitions, one has to proceed with due care on engagement with the “Middle Kingdom”. BRICS has to be built patiently, brick by brick.

Endosulfan

A pesticide which is linked to deformities among children, even death, should not be used. Yet, India is the world’s largest user of endosulfan, consuming an estimated 4,500 tonnes every year, and exporting as much. The Centre is resisting a ban on the cheap pesticide, in spite of it being linked to deformities and deaths among the villagers of Kerala who were exposed to it because of aerial spraying of the cashew crop. The fact that the chemical is banned in 87 countries, including the US and the European Union, too, does not seem to have much impact on the government.

Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan’s fast for the ban on using endosulfan is timed with an important meeting of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which is being held in Geneva. The initiative seeks means to protect human health, and global environment from dangerous chemicals.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was expected to take a leadership role in sorting out this matter, but the Prime Minister’s Office has just reiterated that endosulfan use has been banned in Kerala, and maintained that imposing a nationwide prohibition would require national consensus, backed by scientific study. It is on the basis of such studies that endosulfan has been banned in most of the developed world. It is considered toxic to humans, and aquatic life, including fish. It can lead to death, disease and birth defects, among human beings and animals, just as it did in the Kasaragod district of Kerala in the 1980. How many more such cases will it take for the government to come to the conclusion that is similar to those on the basis of which other countries have barred endosulfan use? Instead of waiting for the Indian Council of Medical Research to give its report on the subject, the Centre should be proactive in banning a pesticide as the rest of the world has done

PUNJAB'S NEW MINING POLICY

Under the new policy, the mines will be clubbed together as groups and allotted after e-auctioning. Punjab will be the first state in the country to do so.
Based on the recommendations of deputy commissioners, the government will determine the maximum retail price for sand in each of the state’s 20 districts. The government’s new policy proposes to bring sand under the Essential Commodities Act. This means that any person who violates the terms of sale or exceeds the quarrying limit agreed upon at the time of bidding will be booked under this Act.
Kalia said the policy that has been formulated to ensure the supply of sand and other construction material like gravel would help check escalation in the construction cost. “Small and large sand mines will be allotted to the highest bidder for three years. Besides supplying sand at the maximum retail price, the bidder will pay a fixed amount to the government”.
The new policy had been formulated and approved by a Cabinet sub-committee headed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Secretary Industries SS Channy said. Fresh guidelines
* Cap on maximum retail price for sand
* Brought under Essential Commodities Act
* Mines to be allotted after e-auctioning
* New police cadre to enforce policy
Based on this policy, the Industries Department has asked the government to build a new cadre of policemen to be attached with the Industries Department on the pattern of the Excise department. “These personnel will be taken from the regular police for a fixed tenure”, Kalia said.
Punjab has two types of sand mines, those less than 5 hectares (165 in number) that require no environmental clearance and those larger that 5 hectares (147 in number) that require environmental clearance. The e-auctioning of the 165 mines will be done within a month, while the larger ones will require environmental clearance from the Centre before these are auctioned.
The new policy also has a share for the panchayats. Earlier, the panchayats were given Rs 10 as royalty for each truck of sand. The royalty has now been doubled to Rs 20. The new policy will also charge royalty from crushers, based on their electricity bills. Punjab receives gets Rs 78 crore annually from sand mining.
The new mining policy has come at a time when the Congress has accused the ruling SAD-BJP of running a “sand mafia” in the state, with mining contracts being given to those at the helm of affairs. Now, when the mines are auctioned in about a month, it will become clear how much more revenue the state earns.This will either confirm or belie the allegations of the Congress against the ruling SAD-BJP alliance. 

Indian Academy of Fine Arts , Amritsar

Established in 1928 by Master Gurdit Singh and his friends, Indian Academy of Fine Arts , Amritsar, acquired its present status by dedicated pursuit of S G Thakur Singh, who went all the way to Bengal to master wash technique and later became a scene painter in the nascent Bombay film industry. He retuned to Amritsar with name and fame and dedicated his life to promotion of art. It was due to the efforts of Thakur and few other like- minded artists that the government gave 4000 square feet land for the gallery in 1958, for which foundation stone was laid by Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first president of India. Kartar Singh Duggal gave Rs 17.5 lac to the gallery for the air conditioning of the gallery and the auditorium.
Since 1928, every year IAFA has been holding national art shows, barring 1947, when show could not be held due to partition. The prestigious gallery has got into an ugly controversy due to alleged unlawful constitutional amendments by a few self- proclaimed office bearers, who are neither artist not have any love for art. These office bearers, allege the artist community, are realtors and brick kiln owners, who are trying to amend the constitution to own the space which is a prime property. The artist community from the entire country is flabbergasted, as the cultural space, created with the help of the government for the purpose of art alone is being used by the office bearers of political affiliation for commercial activities. The artist community is up in arms against this blatant show of disregard by a few for artists and art in a state which is as such in dire need of more such facilities.

HARYANA AND WOMEN VOWS

The ‘honour’ of certain communities has become a very fragile commodity. It gets violated by every little action of its women. If girls from their community marry men from outside, the honour gets violated; if they marry men from their own community, the honour is infringed. It also gets breached if two women become friendly, as happened on April 18 in Ranila village of Charkhi Dadri area of Haryana when two widows were beaten to death ruthlessly before hundreds of ‘spectators’ for ‘having an affair’, as was alleged by a rapist on parole. And now, women are barred from work by a ‘fatwa’ issued by panchayats of Gadowali and Sarai villages of Haridwar district. Violators were told to pay Rs 5,100 and also face humiliation. This fatwa was issued across boundaries of caste and religion.

In a democratic country governed by a Constitution which guarantees equal rights and opportunity to work regardless of gender, caste and creed, could a panchayat’s dictate restrict women from work? The answer is, yes. While the Constitution may have empowered women with equal rights, the implementation of these rights by the administrative machinery has been dismal, giving teeth to such bodies like the khap panchayats. The fragile ‘izzat’ of the said community was ‘abused’ by one of the girls working in an industrial unit who eloped with a boy! So, the entire women force of the area had to face the wrath. Fortunately, after the district police took stern action and offered police protection to working girls, the panchayats took a u-turn by declaring the fatwa to be meant only for minor girls. This proves how an active administrative machinery can weaken these self-styled socially regressive forces.
In an India of 9 per cent growth rate and many well- meaning legislations to bring in more equality among all sections all of the society, violence against women is the fastest-growing crime, thanks to institutions like these. Every 26 minutes a woman is molested, every 34 minutes a rape takes place, and every 43 minutes a woman is kidnapped, according to the Home Ministry’s National Crime Records Bureau. There is more to these crimes than the apparent issue of honour. In the land of few opportunities and many contenders, elimination of girls paves way for the socially preferred and favoured male employment.

Mai Bhago Vidya Scheme

As announced in the Budget, the Punjab Government is all set to provide specially designed coloured bicycles to 1.2 lakh Class XI and XII girl students in government schools. The Rs 75-crore scheme named Mai Bhago Vidya Scheme will be implemented after the summer vacations this year.
.

 
The aim of the scheme is primarily to encourage girls to continue their studies, even if their schools are at some distance from their homes.
The district education officers will be the overall in charge of the scheme that will be implemented constituency-wise.
The bicycles will be in special colours to make these distinct from other ones in the market. There were an estimated 1.16 lakh girl students in Class XI and XII in various government schools last year.
Similar schemes have been implemented in other states ruled by NDA allies. Karnataka gives away bicycles worth Rs 23 crore each year while Bihar spent Rs 174.36 crore on cycles for 8,71,000 schoolgirls last year.
The West Bengal CM gave away 47,000 cycles to Class VIII girls prior to the elections last month. The Orissa government has given bicycles to 1.16 lakh girl students in Class X.

VOWS OF INDUSTRY IN PUNJAB II

Political will to promote industry, backed by an industry-friendly policy, is the only way that Punjab can market itself as ultimate investment destination. The need of the hour is to go all out and woo industry, not just by fiscal concessions, but by offering best infrastructure and reducing timelines in getting various departmental clearances for setting up new industry.
Though the political powers often blame the slow investment inflow in Punjab to tax concessions granted to neighbouring hill states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, the fact is that successive governments in Punjab have even failed to exploit its own rich agriculture and textile base to its advantage for attracting related industry. The need now is to take corrective measures and ensure that Punjab does not miss the bus, especially now when FDI is flowing in the country.
Since land availability and its high cost is the biggest impediment to industrial growth in Punjab, the state can actually create its own multi product Special Economic Zones (SEZs) on the land pool that it proposes to create at Rajpura, Ropar, Kapurthala and Bathinda. In these SEZs, the state can invite any industry, be it textile, IT, agro processing or auto components, by allotting land at reasonable price. Industrial investors (both from outside the state and local industry looking at expansion) should also be assured of regular power supply in these SEZs. Till the time the state can itself provide round-the-clock power here, these investors can be wooed with providing subsidised diesel (by reducing VAT on the fuel) for captive power generation here.
But industry will come to Punjab when the state can also offer skilled manpower. For this, there is need to upgrade the existing Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the state by having direct industry - ITI linkage. The course curriculum for these institutes should be re-designed by taking into account the present and future needs of the industry, so that skilled manpower is readily available.
The state will also have to reduce the timelines for granting change in land use to those setting up industrial units. Most industrialists, especially those setting up units in Dera Bassi- Lalru belt rue that it takes several months to get various clearances for change in land use, while in other states like Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, once an application for CLU is given, the investor gets all clearances within weeks. Also, more accountability and transparency is required in making allotment of industrial sheds in various industrial focal points under the “off the shelf allotment” policy.
The government should have a comprehensive policy for long term utilisation and development of land, clearly earmarking parcels for urban expansion, infrastructure (roads, canals, railways), and industrial use. Along with this, the legal feasibility of resuming land that remains unutilised, needs to be examined. If Punjab wants to regain its position as the highest growing state, it has no option but to promote synergy between agriculture and industry for growth in agro processing, dairying and textiles. Since the raw material for this industry is readily available in Punjab, a great opportunity lies here. The state can promote this industry under the cluster development programme.
With the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Bathinda expected to be commissioned this year, the government should create a petrochemical hub near the refinery. Industrial corridors can also be created along the dedicated rail freight corridor, and the state must work for its expansion to Wagah border, so that the Punjab industry can start exports to Pakistan via this route.
Other than attracting new investors, Punjab also needs to rejuvenate the small and medium enterprises in auto components, garments, leather and hand tools industry. For this SME sector to prosper, which comprises the backbone of industry in the state, the need is to attract a big automotive manufacturer, which can act as an anchor unit for these existing smaller units

HRYANA'S EFFORTS TO HELP ELDERS AND CHECK DECLINING SEX RATIO

The state government has announced to provide direct help to the old-aged couples or senior citizens who fail to get the help and care of their children at this stage of their life. Such beneficiaries would be getting free boarding and lodging facilities under the scheme named “Rajya Baran Poshan Aivam Kalyan Adhiniyam” implemented recently.
While the deputy commissioners has been made the head of the special tribunal to look after the work in this regard, the SDMs have been appointed as nodal officers at subdivision level to receive the applications. A parliamentary tribunal will be looking after the overall implementation of the scheme in the respective subdivisional areas.
Meanwhile, faced by severe criticism after the release of the census figures regarding skewed sex ratio , the state government has initiated measures to promote balance in the sex ratio and to serve the interests of the girl child. These include cash prizes to the districts which would be improving sex ratio and financial help to groups of women who work for the welfare of the girls and women in the rural areas.
According to an official spokesperson, the authorities at the district and subdivisional levels had been directed to ensure proper implementation of schemes like Laadli, under which the government provides various kinds of help to the girl child. Claiming that over 1.07 lakh girls had been benefited under the scheme so far, he said as many as five districts — Gurgaon, Fatehabad, Sonepat, Mahendergarh, Jhajjar and Faridabad — had been given prizes for excellent work. Jhajjar is the same district where sex ratio has been recorded one of the least in the country.
The government has announced a cash prize of `5 lakh, `3 and `2 lakh for the districts coming first, second and third, respectively.
The authorities claim that work towards empowering women has been going on smoothly as about 6,250 groups of literate women have been set up already and they have been working towards creating awareness regarding the issue and helping women in various aspects at the local level. These groups are being given `5,000 per month for their activities. The spread of literacy and awareness on certain issues concerning their interests and welfare has been the main focus of the programme.
The authorities claim that sex ratio would improve drastically in the next few years. The integrated child and women welfare scheme has got engaged about 75,000 women in the district at present and their focus is to ensure a balanced diet and nutrition for both the women and the child.

IMPLICATIONS OF MODERNIZATION OF CHINESE ARMY

While underscoring the fact that China’s armed forces are on a major modernisation drive and revamping their organisational structure to meet its perceived national security interests, the paper harps that China’s defence policy is defensive in nature. It will never seek hegemony, nor will it adopt the approach of military expansion nor or in the future, no matter how its economy develops. In a self-complimentary mode, the paper claims that strengthened coordination and cooperation with major traditional powers and emerging countries, reinforced good-neighborly friendship and practical cooperation with neighboring countries, and extended mutually benefiting cooperation with other developing countries. It further states that China will hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation and endeavor to foster, together with other countries, an international security environment of peace, stability, equality, mutual trust, cooperation.
For India, which does not feature in the part concerning regional security cooperation but gets a passing reference in sections devoted border area meets, security dialogues and military exchanges, China’s claims on peaceful co-existence and mutual trust would sound hollow. Chinese claims on Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh are provocative, border disputes remain unsolved, military incursions continue and the Sino-Pakistan strategic collusion in military and nuclear fields is a cause for concern.
As China marches ahead in its ability to project force beyond its borders to protect its interests and, in its apparent keenness to employ military might to support politico-diplomatic maneuvers and economic initiatives, it poses a huge challenge for stakeholders in the global power play arena, particularly the Asia-Pacific region. India has a mammoth task at hand on the political, diplomatic, economic and military fronts if it is to rise to the occasion and secure its interests. Though the paper is devoid of specifics about military strength and weapons and reveals little of strategic or tactical significance, its the intents and not the contents that matter. India will have to watch and analyze the Dragon’s moves very carefully. Working towards expanding its global footprint while hemming in India, there is little doubt that China will become more assertive and tougher to deal with in future.

INDIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Kazakhstan is a reminder of how high India’s stakes are in Central Asia for its foreign policy priorities. While Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev needed legitimacy for his re-election victory that has been criticised in the western capitals, for New Delhi there are real issues in that part of the world that concern its national security and economic growth. Not surprisingly, the two main areas that were given serious consideration were the civilian nuclear cooperation pact and the situation in Afghanistan. New Delhi and Astana signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement, which provides a legal framework for cooperation in this field, including fuel supply, joint mining of uranium, reactor safety mechanisms and construction and operation of nuclear power plants. Mr Nazarbayev also affirmed that his nation was on course to fulfil its commitment of supplying 2100 tonnes of uranium to India by 2014. On Afghanistan, the two sides agreed that “it was essential that renewed efforts were made to sufficiently build up the capacity of the Afghan National Security Forces”.
President Nazarbayev won his nation’s overwhelming approval in the presidential election held in early April with more than 95.5 per cent of the ballots cast, but lost the vote of confidence he sought from the world community. The 70-year-old leader, who has been President for 20 years, won another five-year term — with a voter turnout of 90 per cent — after elections held two years ahead of time to lengthen his time in office. The elections were widely considered a sham as an absence of opposition candidates and a vibrant political discourse had resulted in a non-competitive environment.
Mr Nazarbayev has ruled since 1989, when Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union and he was its party secretary. He is the country’s only directly elected official. His domination has been so complete that no serious political competition has emerged and so adroit that much of the population reveres him. Kazakhs credit him with keeping their country protected from the turmoil that has roiled other Central Asian nations such as Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Tajikistan endured a costly civil war, and Uzbekistan, where the President is as long serving but far more ruthless, has suffered civil strife.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Astana gave Mr Nazarbayev a much needed opportunity to showcase his international acceptability as the leader of a strategically vital state in Central Asia. Major powers have competed for influence in Central Asia since the 19th century and that “Great Game” seems to be back with a bang. The importance of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that has evolved into a forum for discussion on regional security and economic issues cannot be overstated in this context. It has become even more important post–September 11, 2001, because growing ethnic nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism is a major cause of concern for Russia, China and Central Asian states.
Russia and China have been successful in using the strong aversion of the United States to terrorism after September 11 for their own ends to tackle Islamic insurgency within their territories. In the post–9/11 environment, the SCO serves as a means to keep control of Central Asia and limit US influence in the region. In fact, the SCO denounced the misuse of anti-terror war to target any country and threw its weight behind the UN in an attempt to show its disagreement with the US-led war in Iraq.
India’s growing interests in Central Asia are well-recognised. There is a growing convergence between the US and Indian interests, especially their reluctance to see the region fall under the exclusive influence of Russia or China. India was worried in the 1990s when Russian influence in Central Asia weakened substantially with a commensurate rise in Chinese influence. This negatively impacted upon Indian threat perceptions which stabilised only after the growing US presence in the region since 2001.
India views itself as a stabiliser and security provider in Central Asia and with its growing economic clout, an attractive economic power for the region. India’s interest in securing reliable energy supplies and trade through Central Asia remains substantial. There is a seamless logical web from the objective of ensuring Central Asian stability and India’s voice there to the conclusion that India must also ensure reliable energy access to oil and gas sources originating in Central Asia.
The requirements of energy security also postulate a continuing positive relationship with Moscow and friendly ties with all the Central Asian states. India must create firm ties among the energy exporting states of Central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and, if possible, Turkmenistan. It should be no surprise then that India’s ties with the regional states are growing. Moreover, the imperatives of getting Afghanistan right are stronger than ever today when the situation is rapidly deteriorating.
India had opened its air base in Ayni, Tajikistan, in 2002 to guard against growing instability in the region though nothing much has happened on that front for long. India’s ties with regional states are growing and moderate Islam of the region makes it imperative for India to engage the region more substantively. Other powers, barring China, have recognised this reality and have sought to harness India towards achieving common goals. Russia, for example, supports Indian membership in the SCO and has talked about the possibility of India participating in the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
A great power competition in Central Asia will make it harder for India to pursue its interests in the region. As such, it becomes imperative for Indian diplomacy to work towards major power cooperation to bring some measure of stability to Afghanistan as well as the larger Central Asian region. The Prime Minister has made a good start by visiting Kazakhstan, but the region should not now slip off India’s radar.

PSLV@17

IN the normal course, the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on Wednesday should have been a routine affair, considering that 16 other launches before it had been successful. In fact, only the first launch before that – way back in 1993 – was a failure and since then PSLV had become the workhorse of ISRO. What made every scientist watch the launch with bated breath was the fact that the last two launches of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) last year were failures and had anything gone wrong with the PSLV as well, it would have meant a serious loss of face. However, nothing of that sort happened and the PSLV put three satellites in orbit in a copybook fashion, with Director of the Liquid Propulsions Systems of ISRO S. Ramakrishnan describing the success as a “sweet seventeen” (referring to the 17th successful launch).

This morale-booster will hopefully help ISRO headed by K. Radhakrishnan in removing the glitches in the GSLV – which can carry much heavier payloads into the orbit. In the GSLV, the top two stages of the PSLV have been replaced with a cryogenic stage and the latter’s six solid-propellant strap-ons have been replaced with four Vikas-engine based ones. What must be remembered is that the first two launches of the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) in late 1980s were also failures, but contributed considerably to the success of the PSLV which followed.
The PSLV will provide vital information about the natural resources, the state of snowcap and glaciers, changes in coastal areas and water bodies, among other inputs. It is a “global mission” indeed, considering that the remote-sensing images of the Resourcesat-2 satellite that it has put in orbit would be used by countries across the world. The PSLV is now the most reliable and cost-effective rocket in the world. Three more launches of it are scheduled this year, to be followed by a launch of the GSLV.

INDUSTRIAL VOWS IN PUNJAB

Unavailability of land, its high cost - when available - and inordinate delays in clearance for change in land use (CLU) have meant that Punjab has not attracted any large industrial investment for over two years.
Industry from outside prefers to set base in surrounding hill states, as these allow them huge tax concessions. The local industry is going to Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and even Gujarat.
In the recent past, the only large investment in the state has been in the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Bathinda.

Efforts on to create land pool: Govt Principal Secretary Industries Punjab SS Channy admitted that the high cost of land and its unavailability in the major industrial towns was a hindrance in attracting industrial investment. “We are making several efforts to solve this problem. Many small units have been allotted land in industrial focal points in the off-the-shelf scheme. We are also creating a land pool in Kapurthala (260 acres), Ropar (300 acres near IIT), Rajpura (1,400 acres) and Bathinda (1,500 acres),” he added. NOT WORKING Industry says that there are inordinate delays in clearance for change in land use Punjab government’s New Industrial Policy had promised setting up of a land bank at concessional rates to the industry. However, the scheme has failed to take off Though the state govt has a policy to allot land off-the-shelf, industrialists rue lack of transparency in the scheme

Leading industrial groups in the state like the Vardhman Group and Trident Industries have preferred to migrate to not just to the tax havens of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, but also to Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, where land is much cheaper.
So, the contribution of industry to the state’s Gross Domestic product (GSDP) has been falling. The Punjab government says that manufacturing sector contribution grew 11.99 per cent in 2009-10. However, this resulted from the low base that this secondary sector contributed in 2008-09.
The Punjab government claims that it has approved mega industrial projects entailing investment of thousands of crores over the last five years. However, a majority of these projects have failed to take off, and the state has failed to see the benefits of these (proposed) investments. There is hardly any land available to set up big industrial units.
Though Punjab government’s New Industrial Policy had promised setting up of a land bank at concessional rates to the industry, the scheme too has failed to take off.
When land is available, it is very expensive. A CII report said that the estimated cost of industrial land in Mohali was $35.42 per sq m, $17.71 per sq m in Ludhiana and $11.10 per sq m in Amritsar. Adding external development charges and licence fee, and land in Mohali costs approximately Rs 3.50 crore per acre.
“In case one finds cheap land, it will not be a part of the industrial zone. Getting a CLU is a very
long-drawn process. Land availability is the biggest problem that thwarts growth of industry in the state,” said Amarjit Goyal, CMD, Modern Steels, Mandi Gobindgarh.
Though the state government has a policy to allot land off the shelf, industrialists rue lack of transparency.
“If land is allotted in a transparent manner through this scheme, industry would get land at Rs 2700- Rs 10,000 per sq meter in different cities. In comparison, the market price of land is around Rs 15,000 per sq m, which increases the project cost and desists industrialists from making investment,” said RS Sachdeva, co chairman, Punjab committee, PHD Chamber.
Sachdeva added though he had a CFL lamp manufacturing unit in Baddi, he wanted to expand in Punjab. “Getting land allotted is a tardy process. When all other state governments like Madhya Pradesh woo industrial investment by offering land at just Rs 5- 10 lakh per acre, besides all support in getting CLU, why would one want to expand in Punjab,” he reasoned.

ARTISTS AND POLITICAL TORTURE

Parodying many clichés around the romantic figure of poet Jaromil, in 'Life is Elsewhere', Milan Kundera, narrates an anecdote where the poet is called to read poetry in a Police Academy. It is a comment on the status of artists, writers and poets in a civilised society. The artist must always seek approval of bureaucracy or aristocracy, whatever be the case. He must conform to their ideology to practice art, or remain inert. The artist can have a license to create ideas, but not ideology. If he fails to do so, his art dies for lack of support and recognition. Or, is viewed as a weapon of destruction, from which the society must be protected. Mere words or pictures acquire the status of nooks.
In March 2010, Jafar Panahi, the Iranian film director who won coveted awards at The Cannes, Venice and Berlin Film Festivals for films like The White Baloon, The Circle and Crimson Gold was arrested for being a vocal supporter of the opposition leader Mir Hussein Mousavi. He is believed to be held at an undisclosed location since then on charges not yet disclosed. Jafar was denied permission to be a jury at Berlin Film Festival. The simple, humane statements of his films are viewed as " spreading western propaganda" by the Iranian government.
Salman Rushdie, who had to go underground for a decade ( 1989 onwards) after the publication of The Satanic Verses which displeased faith of a few to the extent that it resulted in a fatwa on his head and killing of two of the translators. Rushdie has written extensively with great insight on the subject. Using the metaphor of a whale, inside whose belly a writer can sit and ignore the reality of the world outside, he writes, "…politics and literature, like sport and politics, do mix, are inextricably mixed, and that that mixture has consequences." He later adds in the same essay titled 'Outside The Whale' in Imaginary Homelands," If writers leave the business of making pictures of the world to politicians, it will be one of history's great and most abject abdications."
Back home, Safdar Hashmi, an important voice in political theatre was killed in 1989, while performing a street play, Halla Bol. His street theatre group Janam was a strong voice of cultural resistance against authoritarianism. During Ghaziabad municipal elections, at Sahibabad's Jhandapur village, (near Delhi), the troupe was attacked by political hoodlums of the ruling party for speaking out disturbing facts. Hashmi succumbed to his injuries the following day. Two days after his death, his wife Moloyshree Hashmi, went to the same spot again, with Jan Natya Manch troupe and defiantly completed the play. This triggered coming together of the artist community in India who demanded right to free speech and protection for creative expression under Sahmat foundation.
Sometimes, the roles are reversed though. When firebrand Trinamool Congree president, Mamata Banerjee picks an artistic brush to aid party fund, buyers end up losing three crore rupees for what they are made to accept as art. It is a different matter that in a state that claims to be high on art and outspokenness, cartoonists and graffiti artists are feeling throttled. "Caution translates into boring and unimaginative graffiti, " says Lahiri, the famous cartoonist from Kolkata, West Bengal. Political conformism has taken away the edge, before drawing every line, now the artists have to think, who all it may 'offend.' 

STRATEGY TO CHECK CORRUPTION

The controversy over Anna Hazare and the Jan Lokpal Bill lingers. Everybody, big and small, abhors corruption and wants it stamped out. How this is to be done and the ambit of reform required remain open questions. This is why excessive reliance on a single instrument like the Lokpal may be investing more in faith than prudence. Corruption constitutes a web and must be attacked from many sides.
The grant of genuine autonomy to the CBI and the Central Vigilance Commissioner (and their state counterparts), together with independent powers of prosecution without the crippling requirement to secure official permission to proceed against senior officials and ministers under the so-called “single directive”, would constitute a major step forward as this could keep errant bureaucrats and politicians in check. The danger of frivolous complaints and smear campaigns against upright public officials can be obviated by swift and condign punishment of those making false allegations. The Lokpal and Lok Ayuktas could oversee such a system and ensure the necessary checks and balances.
Other elements cry out for correction. Electoral funding has become a primary engine of corruption. Though many honourable politicians seek elected office in order to serve, for others political power has become the road to pelf, influence and control over the processes of governance and their use as a negotiable instrument. Corporate houses often insure by funding those who might control the levers of power. The mafia does so as an investment in future deliverables and to win the protection and patronage. Intimate links forged between politics and crime has also resulted in the criminalisation of politics and the politicisation of crime, eating away the roots of the criminal justice system.
Illustratively, the just concluded Tamil Nadu polls were marked by attempts to buy votes with cash and liquor and promises of mixers, grinders, laptops and what not. Crores of rupees were seized in suspicious circumstances. Eighteen per cent of the candidates had criminal records and 35 per cent were crorepatis. In other states, candidates’ self-declared assets have witnessed quantum jumps with little explanation for such large accretions. Several in this category do not appear to hold PAN cards. The Central Election Commission has cracked the whip and tightened the model code of conduct, causing some parties to protest “emergency rule”!
Where does the answer lie? Most are agreed on electoral reform. But this by itself will not suffice without political party reform. The Constitution, strangely, sets out the framework of elections without reference to political parties. The Representation of the People Act too only refers to parties in the context of recognising “national” and “regional” parties on the basis of their voting performance. But what is a “party”?
Surely, it is time to include a new Article 326-A in the Constitution to provide that candidates seeking to represent the people in Parliament and the state legislatures shall, to the largest extent possible, be drawn from “registered political parties”. Such a provision would provide the basis for legislation defining political parties and for their regulation with regard to maintaining a register of members, the terms and conditions of membership, internal elections, public audit of their accounts and cognate matters.
State funding of elections might only entail an addition to funds currently available from other sources, unless offered in kind for such things as printing and paper, hiring or preparation of meeting venues, petrol/diesel coupons and postage. For the rest, corporate funding should be allowed subject to an overall ceiling per company, detailed disclosure in the balance sheet and a specific ceiling in relation to the company’s turnover. No donation from any private agency, association or friends should exceed a given figure and, other than for petty amounts, must be accompanied by a copy of a certificate of payment with a PAN card number addressed to the newly established income tax expenditure cell of the CEC.
Violations should be visited with harsh penalties not excluding disqualification from holding elective office by candidates for six years for corrupt practice and a fine for defaulting donors. Stringent action could prove salutary although lawbreakers are usually one step ahead of the law.
Repeated elections at different times add to electoral expenditure and administrative disruption. Could we consider the holding of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly elections on a fixed date every five years with the proviso that each legislature will serve its full term? Should a government be defeated or resign in the interim, an alternative ministry shall be formed, if necessary under an agreed leader elected by the House.
Panchayati raj and nagar palika elections could follow a different five-year electoral cycle. One option could be that the sum total of some four million local body representatives form an electoral college indirectly to elect members of the state assemblies who then become members of an enlarged electoral college to elect members of the Lok Sabha. Election costs could come down dramatically, with a new pattern of electioneering as well. Opposition to indirect elections mainly stem from the belief that a smaller body can be bribed or manipulated more easily. Is this an insuperable problem? Perhaps not. An added advantage could be that indirect elections could enable the country to follow an indigenous system of primaries so that electoral paratroopers do not descend on unlikely constituencies with rash IOUs of prospective service. Bogus candidates would be largely eliminated.
Barring of candidates with pending criminal charges, expanded legislatures to match the growth of population, the additional members being elected on a partial list system with 25 to 33 per cent overall reservation for women, and barring defectors from holding any office in the life of the House plus one year thereafter are some among other matters that could be considered.
Police reforms, as amply debated, and a vast expansion of the judicial cadre at all levels, with nyaya panchatats and honorary magistrates at the bottom are also vitally necessary.
There is a time for debate and a time for action. This is a time for action. Let the government properly take the lead. Let 10 or 20 true and good MPs from mixed parties also draft single clause Private Member’s Bills and Resolutions and introduce them in Parliament to flag priority concerns. The nation will back them

WOMEN AND EDUCATION

The enrolment of girls in colleges and universities countrywide is low at 41 per cent and abysmally lower in professional courses at 18 per cent, according to official data. This may be partly because girls prefer arts to science and technical courses, and partly because they do not get as much financial support and encouragement from parents as boys do due to social prejudices.

They do not have equal access to engineering and management institutions, especially if these are located away from their home towns. Though some states have made education up to the college level free for girls, it is still inaccessible for various reasons, including social and financial. Since a daughter’s marriage is an expensive affair, parents with modest means tend to accord lower priority to her education.

The HRD Ministry’s figures on girls’ enrolment should not be surprising, given the inadequate government spending on education and a less-than-desirable literacy rate in general and of women in particular. Given the high incidence of crime against women, it is not considered safe in small-town and rural India to allow young women to venture out to pursue higher studies, especially when employment prospects are uncertain and the importance of education itself is not understood.
The trend, however, is changing. Defying odds, more and more girls are coming forward to pursue higher education. The female literacy rate has received a quantum jump between 2001 and 2011. According to the provisional 2011 census figures, the male-female literacy gap is at or below 10 per cent in Kerala and Chandigarh and above 20 per cent in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The regional imbalance has to be corrected if gender equality in education is to be achieved. Education not only lifts women’s economic and social status, it also increases their access to healthcare, reduces maternal mortality rates and leads to an overall development of the family, society and the country as Mao Zedong famously proclaimed, “women hold up half the sky”.

HARYANA AND NUCLEAR POWER

Haryana is betting high on nuclear power. Determined to become self-sufficient in power, the state is now vying with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to set up a second nuclear power plant at either Bhiwani or Hisar.
Officials in the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) today said they had already indicated two sites (Kitlana in Bhiwani and Balsamand in Hisar) to the NPCIL, for setting up a nuclear power plant. “A survey was conducted recently, and after getting the satellite imagery done, we have proposed two sites to the NPCIL for setting up a second nuclear power plant in the state,” said HPGCL managing director Sanjeev Kaushal.
When approved, this will be the second nuclear power plant to be set up in the state, other than the 2800 MW nuclear power plant at Fatehabad.
Talking to The Tribune, Kaushal said the Central Electricity Authority had got a study conducted for identification of sites where new thermal power plants could be constructed in Haryana. “Based on this study, we had made a proposal to the chairman of the NPCIL, for a second nuclear power plant at the above mentioned places,” he said, adding that the identified sites met all criteria for the setting up of a nuclear power plant, including availability of water, less habitation, nearness to rail head, and were not falling in the identified seismic zone.
Haryana already has the required approvals to set up four units in a nuclear power plant (700 mega watts each) at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad district. With the land acquisition on for this plant, the state is hoping that this nuclear power plant will be commissioned by 2017. “The pre project activity for this nuclear power plant (conducting all tests and getting all clearances) will be done by March 2013. The construction and commissioning will take four years, and by 2017, we hope to generate 2800 MW of power from this plant,” he said. The sanction for this nuclear plant was granted in 1984, but the process for acquisition of 1503.4 acres of land in Gorakhpur and Kajadhedi villages in Fatehabad. The state has a power generation capacity of 3230.5 MW, through its own resources. For the rest of its power requirements, it relies on bilateral power arrangements and also gets power through its equity stake in power projects outside the state.

NEW SECTION - HARYANA GS

FROM TODAY ONWARDS PUNJABUNLIMITED IS INTRODUCING A SPECIAL LABEL OF HARYANA GS. IT WILL INCLUDE THE ARTICLES VARIOUS FEATURES RELATED TO HARYANA.MAIN OBJECTIVE IS TO PROVIDE MATERIAL FOR RECENTLY ANNOUNCED HCS(J) ANF FORTHCOMING HCS EXECUTIVE NEXT MONTH.
BEST OF LUCK

Soil health cards

If Gujarat has the distinction of achieving a record 9.6 per cent growth in agriculture, Haryana has the unique feature of being the only state in the country which has issued soil health cards to its farmers and has soil fertility maps for its entire agriculture land in the state.

 

The soil fertility maps are available with the agriculture authorities up to the village level and these are global positioning system (GPS) enabled and available online on the website of the Agriculture Department, Haryana.
The department has roped in the services of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for this purpose.
The soil fertility maps reveal the fertility condition of the given agriculture land and also disclose deficiencies of minerals and micronutrients, if any.
From the soil health card of his land, a farmer can know the condition of his land and get crop specific prescription as to which and how much manure and fertilisers are needed.
“There are 15.84 lakh farming families in Haryana. Of these, the department has already taken 10 lakh soils samples and issued them soil health cards after testing these samples in the 30 laboratories functioning in the state,” said Ashok Kumar Yadav, Director-General, Agriculture Department, Haryana.
Of these 30 laboratories, 13 are equipped with facilities for testing micronutrients. Based on the soil health cards of particular areas, soil fertility maps have been prepared to provide information about the soil condition of the entire agriculture land of Haryana.
When Gujarat surprised all by recording an agriculture growth of 9.6 per cent - almost three times the national average - Haryana sent a team to study the agriculture model in that state.
“After going through the Gujarat model, we have found that our own Haryana model was much better than that state,” Yadav said and clarified that the better agriculture growth of Gujarat was because they started from almost zero, while Haryana was already a leader with Punjab in the matter of Green Revolution.
The Haryana model was now being replicated by Jharkhand, Bihar, UP and Rajasthan, he said.
Yadav said based on the village-level fertility maps available with the authorities, the state government had planned a two-pronged strategy to improve the health of the soil as well as to deter farmers from going after the “water guzzling” summer paddy, also called “saathi”.
The department had been supplying seeds of “summer moong” to farmers on a 50 per cent subsidy so that they could utilise their land for the “intermittent two months” available to them before the plantation of paddy.
“Summer moong”, being a leguminous plant, has nitrogen-fixing qualities and hence improves the soil health.
The department is also distributing seeds of “dencha”, which though is a weed, fixes nitrogen in the soil and functions as a green manure for the next crop.

Nishan-e-Sikhi

Nishan-e-Sikhi, an eight-storey multi-crore tower aimed at spreading education and enabling rural youth to compete in the fast-paced world, which was inaugurated here today, is all set to emerge as a knowledge hub in educationally backward Tarn Taran district.
Kartar Singh Thakral, a philanthropist from Singapore who has contributed immensely in the project, and Baba Sewa Singh Khadoor Sahibwale dedicated the educational complex to society at a well-attended ceremony on the occasion of Parkash Purab of Guru Angad Dev.
Spread over four acres of land and having 80,000 square feet floor area, the Nishan-e-Sikhi tower is an unique project which would boast of facilities like sports academy, institute of religious studies, institute of competitions (where students will receive coaching for competitive exams), natural environment conservation and preservation centre, a well-equipped library and an auditorium, all under one roof.
The foundation of the tower was laid on April 18, 2004, while its construction work started on January 5, 2006.
What lends huge significance to Nishan-e-Sikhi is the fact that the project has been conceptualised to cater to the educational and career advancement needs of rural youth as also those from economically backward sections. For instance, Guru Angad Dev (GAD) Institute of Religious Studies, being run by Nishan-e-Sikhi Charitable Trust, is running a five-year MA (Gurmat) course in affiliation with Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar. Every year, 20 students are admitted in the course on the basis of a test and interview, following which they are provided education, accommodation and food free of cost during the entire duration of the course.
Similarly, special coaching for competitive exams is provided to the students of science stream admitted in Plus One and Plus Two at nominal charges. GAD Institute of Competition, which facilitates coaching, selects the students purely on the basis of merit. “There is no discrimination against anybody on any ground. Our doors are open for all bright students,” said Baba Sewa Singh. The trust also owns GAD Institute of Career Courses and Guidance, which has to its credit selection of 162 students, mostly girls, in the BSF, Army, SSB, CISF, CRPF and police over the last couple of years.
The trust is also grooming budding sports talent at Baba Uttam Singh National Hockey Academy where the students are extended all amenities free of cost.
Among the projects featuring in Nishan-e-Sikhi’s future plans are coaching for competitive exams like IAS, PCS, NDA and CDS, digital library, drug therapy institute, personality development institute, besides inclusion of other games in the sports academy, which is currently focusing on hockey.
Tarn Taran district, having a population of 11 lakh, has only two government colleges. Though the district also has various private colleges for courses like engineering, nursing, management and B.Ed, their fee is out of reach for rural or poor students.

PCS MAINS EXAM DATE

THE NEWS THAT PPSC IS GOING TO CONDUT EXAMS IN THE END OF MONTH OF JULY IS AGAIN A HOAX. AS PER THE RECENT NEWS ,PPSC IS PLANNING TO CONDUT EXAM IN MID SEPTEMBER AND WANT TO WRAP UP ALL PROCESS BY NOVEMBER. IT IS JUST AN INFORMATION AND NOT FACT. WHATEVER COMES TO ME WILL BE SHARED WITH U ALL .
BEST OF LUCK  

CORRUPTION AND YOUTH

A SILENT revolution has been brewing in the hearts of the Indians for quite some time. The World Cup win was a welcome detour but the anger remained there, somewhere deep within. Finally, the septuagenarian social activist Anna Hazare has acted as the catalyst for the young and the old to vent out their angst against the system in a true Gandhian way. The incessant revelations of scams and scandals which have rocked this nation in the recent past have only added to our frustration against the system.
We do not need the rankings of organisations like Transparency International to realise how grim the situation is. A slanting glance through any newspaper's cover page or a brief view of any news channel while browsing the television is enough for a person to realise its gravity. Every day, there is a new damning revelation that floods the nation, from our homes to parliament and from the coffee table discussions to the news channel debates.

And despite all these discussions and deliberations, there is always a new scandal waiting to be revealed- telecom spectrum allocation, commonwealth games, Adarsh society, cash-for-vote, CVC appointment, black money - that it's becoming difficult to keep a count.So when India Against Corruption led by Anna made a call to the nation, the people poured out in thousands all across the nation, demanding the government strengthen the anti-corruption mechanisms, symbolised by the Lokpal Bill which has been pending for more than four decades. For a nation, which is thriving on its young population and aspires to tap this favourable demographic dividend, it becomes important to know, what the youth feel about all the scams and the unholy mess they have created. Shashaank Shekhar Singhal, 25, a Gurgaon-based entrepreneur has a candid admission to make, "Well honestly, I haven't thought through a lot about these scams." However, in case one puts a little thought in deciphering the causes behind corruption, they can be reduced to just two rhyming words - need and greed.

When an underpaid traffic constable or an office peon with a large family to support demands a bribe, one can justify their greed to some extent in the terms of their need. However, what kind of justification can we have for the greed being shown by the well-fed politicians and rich businessmen?
As Shashaank adds exasperated upon a little contemplation, "I'm surprised how people can be so greedy and unethical. At the end of the day they cannot even use that large amount of money."
The dystopian society of George Orwell's conception in his novel '1984' borrowed its stability from three basic tenets; one of these being - 'Ignorance is Strength'. It will be far-fetched to compare today's India with that society. However, the way the things are going, one tends to question oneself if it's worth getting frustrated at this sorry state of affairs? According to Ankit Sakhuja, a 26-year-old MBA student from Chandigarh, "The extent and frequency with which we get to hear about these scams makes the youth wonder that is it really worth being honest any more. A majority of them may feel that it is now a common thing and it does not matter even if they indulge in corruption as long as their own greed is satisfied." Just when, such doubts were creeping in many minds, this anti-corruption movement has come as a new beacon of light.
In the recent past the media, judiciary and certain autonomous authorities like CAG have demonstrated remarkable activism in bringing to light various scams and scandals. However, now it is the time for the civil society to take up these issues. A recently released tagline of an Indian business group reads, "There are those who accept things as they are and those who rise to change."
When it comes to change, rise is an over-rated word. The first step towards change is to just realise. It's the realisation of one's basic rights and the realisation about what's right and what's wrong. Ignorance can never be strength. To feign ignorance is to shirk responsibility.
Despite all its shortcomings, the Indian polity has been supplying certain tools to the citizens for raising their voice against corruption. Right to Information, Public Interest Litigations, Lokayuktas and social audits are just some of these mechanisms. While demanding new and stronger mechanisms as enumerated in the Jan Lokpal Bill, it is important that the civil society realise the importance of spreading awareness about the existing mechanisms among the masses too.
In this context, one can't ignore the fact that after all, it's the youth of India that forms the largest chunk of our nation's civil society.. Rajeshwari Reddy, 35, a Hyderabad-based sociologist notes that, "The way youth has responded to Anna Hazare's call not just across the country but in other parts of the world too, by being physically present at the marches and the gatherings or extending their support through social networking sites is unprecedented." We can only hope that this zeal and commitment is there to stay and will not wither away with the maneouvrings and manipulations of the politicians, inside and outside the Parliament.

CENSUS -2011 AND PUNJAB II

The provisional census data released today has come with mixed news for the state. While Punjab can pride itself for showing drastic improvement in its child sex ratio since 2001, it is still amongst the worst performers in the country on this parameter. Though the child sex ratio is low across all districts, situation in the border areas and Malwa region is alarming.
The data, released by state Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal and Director (Census) Seema Jain, shows that the rate of growth of population in Punjab has slowed down during the last decade. From 20.1 per cent in 2001 it has scaled down to 13.7 per cent.
Ludhiana has emerged as the most populous district with 34.87 lakh persons. Amritsar with a population of 24.9 lakh is the second largest districts in terms of population followed by Gurdaspur (22.99 lakh), Jalandhar (21.81 lakh) and Ferozepur (20.26 lakh). None of the other districts has a population of more than 20 lakh. Barnala has the lowest population with only 5.96 lakh people.
The overall sex ratio has increased by 17 points since 2001 and is currently at 893. It is also the highest-ever sex ratio in the state. At the same time, Bathinda district has the lowest sex ratio of 865, down by 5 points since the last census. The child sex ratio has also increased by 48 points across the state and is now at 846. Kapurthala, Jalandhar and Nawanshehar have shown the highest increase in child sex ratio.
Provisional census data has been released on only three parameters - population, gender and literacy. According to Jain, it would take at least six months to tabulate the data. The census was conducted in two phases across 58 lakh households in cities and 12,581 villages across the state.

The highest growth rate of population has been in Tarn Taran, Mohali and Patiala districts. One of the reasons of population growth in Taran Taran could migration from the neighbouring areas on account of it being a new district while Mohali and Patiala districts could have grown due to their proximity to Chandigarh. Interestingly, Tarn Taran has the third highest population growth, but lowest child sex ratio (819).
Literacy in the state has seen an upward trend. Further, gap in literacy between males and females has also reduced. In 1971, Punjab had an overall literacy rate of 34.12 per cent (42 per cent among males and 24 per cent among females). In the current census, the literacy has gone up to 76.7 per cent (81.5 per cent in males and 71.03 per cent among females). Among the districts, Hoshiarpur has the highest literacy at 85.4 per cent, followed by Mohali (84.9), Ropar (83.3), Ludhiana (82.5), Jalandhar (82.4) and Gurdaspur (81.1). Muktsar and Mansa are at the bottom with 60 and 56 per cent literacy, respectively.

The census has also focused on gender and disabilities. Some enumerators had to approach difficult areas along the 553-km border with Pakistan and others had to travel by boat to approach villages cut off by rivers and streams, Aggarwal said.
The census was conducted with the theme "everybody without omission". Special emphasis was laid on vulnerable groups like women, elderly, disabled, infants and homeless. Punjab, like the rest of the country saw a new initiative - "Census in Schools"/ The purpose of this was to make all children aware that the census was taking place and that they have a role in ensuring that the data for their own family is recorded correctly. The programme covered about 60 schools in each district in Punjab and was specifically designed for participation by students of the entire school in general and students of class VI, VII and VIII in particular.

TOBACCO: A SILENT KILLER

THE adverse effects of tobacco on people’s health, including the link between tobacco use and cancer, have always been known. Now, it has been found that smokeless tobacco contains no less than 28 carcinogens. The latest study also reveals that 30 per cent of the smokeless tobacco available in the market contains heavy metals, far in excess of the permissible limit. With the number of tobacco users in India a staggering 274.9 million, a majority of whom are daily users, the health hazards of tobacco use are to an alarming degree.

Tobacco continues to be the leading preventable cause of death and tobacco use kills one in 10 adults worldwide. India alone accounts for 86 per cent of oral cancer cases across the world. Chewing tobacco and gutka contributes to 90 per cent of oral cancer cases in the country. Besides, tobacco addiction involves other health risks like cardiovascular diseases too. Realising the perils of the fatal addiction, India banned smoking in public places and introduced pictorial warnings on cigarette packets and tobacco products. However, these measures have failed to yield the desired results. Even the Union Health Ministry admitted that pictorial warnings have been ineffective. There is now an increasing clamour for banning smokeless tobacco.
Undeniably, there is an urgent need to come down heavily upon the unregulated smokeless tobacco industry. But whether a ban is the answer or other measures can help check the harmful contents in tobacco products needs to be debated. The erroneous presumption that smokeless tobacco is less harmful than smoking needs to be dispelled through massive awareness campaigns. Sustained advocacy did lead to fall in tobacco consumption, in the West. The government must keep tabs on tobacco majors too, who continue to flout rules and indulge in surrogate advertising. Pan masala manufacturers whose so-called tobacco free pan masala have been found to contain high levels of nicotine also need to be taken to task. If India needs to avert an impending health catastrophe caused by excessive tobacco use, it must follow a holistic approach.

UNEMPLOYMENT in Punjab

UNEMPLOYMENT in Punjab, especially among the educated youth, is very high. On March 24 the problem of unemployment was debated in the Vidhan Sabha. In response to a question, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal stated that there are 9.58 lakh persons unemployed in the state.  Gurdaspur district tops the list by having 1.57 lakh unemployed youth followed by Sangrur (1.17 lakh). High unemployment is also reported in Ferozepur (92,247), Jalandhar (58,886), Hoshiarpur (54,111), Patiala (49,566), Ludhiana (46,651) and Mansa (42,648).
Earlier, a survey conducted by the Labour Bureau, Chandigarh, Ministry of Labour, revealed a high incidence of unemployment in Punjab. The survey suggested 10.5 per cent of the total workforce as unemployed in the state against the national average of 9.4 per cent.
The high incidence of unemployment is accompanied by widespread drug addiction among Punjabi youth. This deadly combination is rapidly pushing Punjabi youth to the threshold of a “lost generation”. At this critical juncture, the state should assign top priority to mitigate the problem of unemployment and in the process improve the growth profile of the state and also save youth from being an easy prey to drugs.
Employment generation has hardly been the focus of a development strategy in Punjab. Boosting agricultural production has been the primary focus of the much celebrated growth model. The implicit principle of the model is that benefits of high growth in agriculture percolate down and automatically reduce income inequality, unemployment and poverty.
This “trickle-down hypothesis” did work partially in Punjab with regard to income inequality and poverty. The model, however, was a total failure in case of employment generation. The nature of agricultural activities does not match with the skills and preferences of educated youth and hence the benefits of all job avenues of expanding agricultural activities have largely been reaped by migrant labour.
Another handicap of the growth model is its weak sectoral linkages within the state. The sectoral input-output flows suggest that only a marginal share of increased agricultural production has found its way to industry for processing within the state. A lion’s share of Punjab agricultural production has been exported to food-deficit states of India.
Thus, benefits of the agriculture sector of Punjab have been realised in the form of ago-based industries in food-deficit states. The “stunning” growth trajectory of the agriculture sector has not only resulted in “jobless growth” but also in “job-shrinking growth”. Negative employment elasticity of the agriculture sector in Punjab confirms the “job-shrinking growth” phenomenon. 
It is not just that the structure of the Punjab economy in which agriculture predominates is unfavorable to employment of the educated; the mediocre quality of education is equally responsible for unemployment. Punjab has a good network of educational institutions. Barring a few, these institutions produce substandard students having huge employability deficits.
The quality of pass-outs is no way near the skill requirements of industry. The professional and applied courses have mainly adopted the teaching pedagogy of liberal arts disciplines having emphasis on classroom teaching only. The lip-service to summer training and internship and non-involvement of potential employers in course development exercises have reduced many professional colleges to degree-printing institutions.
A survey conducted by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) indicates that employability of professional courses is around 25 per cent, which also includes top-ranking institutions like IITs having 100 per cent placements. If the top-ranking institutions are excluded the employability will come down to be abysmally low. In case of Punjab this phenomenon is more pronounced, given the large number of seats remaining vacant in professional private colleges.
The employability deficit of Punjabi youth is also evident from a recently held recruitment drive by the Punjab Police for the posts of constable. Though the eligibility for the post was +2 pass, many of the candidates having graduate and postgraduate degrees, including M.B.A., M.C.A., M.Sc., B.E./B.Tech, and L.L.B, were among the aspirants.
A paradigm shift is taking place in the philosophy of development. According to the emerging paradigm, human resources are the new drivers of growth. The predominance of young human resources in the profile of population has been described as a “demographic dividend”. In India youth comprise about 65 per cent of the population against the world average of 18 per cent. The human resource-centric model of growth is most suitable to Punjab as its production-oriented sectors — agriculture and industry — cannot be relied upon for future growth.
The Finance Minister of Punjab has made a large 52 per cent hike in the budgetary allocation for education, acknowledging the pivotal role human capital plays in growth. For reaping the benefits of human capital, the state needs to evolve an aggressive strategy for gainfully employing its educated youth. A good employment strategy will not only give a fillip to growth but also liberate youth from the clutches of deadly drugs. 
The Green Revolution is being extended to food-deficit states, which no longer depend entirely on Punjab. A huge quantity of food grains procured in Punjab gets spoiled due to FCI mismanagement. In the light of this Punjab should start processing its food grains and export only processed products. This policy shift will encourage the setting up of agro-based industries, which, being labour-intensive, will offer sizeable jobs to matriculate onward pass-outs.
For preparing 10th standard and +2 pass-outs for agro-based industries, the existing Industrial Training Institutes and Polytechnics should be upgraded to community colleges. The “community college model” has worked very successfully in Canada and has also been adopted in some south Indian states. Community colleges are run mainly by the local community, especially by local employers. The curriculum is designed as per job skills required by the local market. This model can align education with the job market.
For improving the employability of college and university students, Punjab should start a “quality drive” to cleanse its educational institutions. For weeding out substandard educational institutions, the state in consultation with the affiliating universities and boards should conduct a rigorous academic quality and employability audit of all the institutions.
The institutions which fail to qualify the audit test should be given five years to improve, failing which these should automatically cease to exist. State funding should be linked with the result of quality audit. No doubt, there are national-level accreditation agencies, the educational institutions in the state have not opted for accreditation on a larger scale in the absence of rewards and penalties associated with accreditation.
Along with undertaking a quality drive, the government should make it obligatory for universities, boards and autonomous bodies to involve all stake-holders, particularly potential employers, in curriculum development and teaching. This practice will bridge the gap between skill formation in institutions and skill requirements in industry.
The lecture-based teaching pedagogy should give way to field-based, problem-solving, case-method and hands-on methods of learning. A complete dependence on an external examination should be replaced by a proper mix of external examination and continuous evaluation. Giving adequate weightage to continuous evaluation will make the learning process a regular, stress-free phenomenon and, in the long run, help in improving employability of the pass-outs. 
Youth prefer government and corporate jobs. However, the organised sector accounts for 10 per cent employment only. For enabling youth to find gainful employment in the unorganised sector, particularly for starting self-employment ventures, two policy recommendations are suggested. First, the state should encourage educated unemployed youth to form co-operatives for self-employment. Subsidies and soft loans can motivate youth to form co-operatives.
Secondly, unemployed youth are generally averse to self-employment due to bureaucratic procedures and corrupt practices associated with government schemes, including those Centrally funded. For overcoming these malpractices, fund sanctioning job fairs on the pattern of placement fairs should be organised in technical institutes. Teams of governmental agencies and bank officials should sanction subsidies and loans on the spot by following user-friendly and transparent procedures.