Political Diary

New Delhi, 19 June 2010

Advani’s Welcome Poser

HALT INDIA’S POLL MERRY-GO-ROUND

By Poonam I Kaushish

Phew, if the heat-wave was not bad enough, elections really poop one out. Specially, in our country which is afflicted by a new disease, PES --- Perpetual Election Syndrome.  Which is wreaking havoc on our body politic --- right, left and centre. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year. A year-long merry-go-round.

Its symptoms have been around for decades. Power, more power and absolute power with a heavy dose of vote-bank politics, replete with I-me myself syndrome. Politicians of every colour, caste and creed have progressively allowed the malady to become chronic. Gravely undermining governance. Even the semblance of administration has been dispensed with. All in the vicious grip of PES with the devil taking the hindmost!

Barely has the dust settled on Mamata’s TMC euphoric win in W Bengal’s civic poll, the mara-mari for cushy Rajya Sabha seats and the ongoing tussle for power in Jharkhand, notwithstanding President’s rule, which has seen 5 Governments since its inception in 2004. That we need to brace for another ring-a-ring-polls in Bihar, W Bengal, Assam, Kearala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Amidst this nerve-racking money spewing elections vending machines, BJP Chairman LK Advani deserves kudos for spotlighting this malady and boldly suggesting a cure. He has mooted the idea that one way to fight PES is to hold simultaneous polls for Parliament and the State Assemblies. This, he reasoned, would not only save money of the Exchequer and the Parties, but enable Governments at the Centre and in States to concentrate on delivering good governance.

More important, it would facilitate the Government in taking hard decisions in public interest without having to worry about its impact on its vote banks. Experience shows that Government’s per se have avoided implementing policies in national interest, lest it upset a caste, community, religion or region. With governance becoming the first casualty of frequent elections, a fixed term for the Legislatures would stem the spreading rot. Advani avers he has Prime Minister Singh on board.

Undoubtedly, it is one way to get rid of incompetence, malfeasance and casual governance. But it is an idea that needs to be debated extensively at all levels. Its pros and cons must be weighted before arriving at a final solution. Remember, the change advocated would entail changing the basic structure of the Constitution. But before that we must ask: Can one hold simultaneous polls for Parliament and the State Legislatures? If so, would it be advisable in the best national interest.

As matters stand, the poll issues at the Centre and in the States are quite different and it would, therefore, not be advisable to mix them. Two, holding simultaneous elections could create confusion for the voters. A Party could be deserving of support at the Centre for its policies and performance at the national level. Yet, the same Party could be deserving of popular punishment and defeat for its policies and performance at the State level.

Simultaneous elections could however be held for the State Assemblies and the legislatures given a fixed term. In the event an elected State Government was to fall, the Centre would have the option of imposing President’s rule till it was time for a fresh poll. The Constitution permits the Centre to rule through the Governor for a period of six months, renewable by Parliament for a maximum of five terms.

But a fixed term for the Lok Sabha would create basic difficulties as there is no provision for President’s rule at the Centre. More so when coalition politics these days is liberally peppered with Aya Rams and Gaya Rams and Governments fall like nine pins on ego clashes even, whims. This could create more problems than solving them.

Recall the ugly nineties. When elections to the Lok Sabha were held twice within a year and a half. After 1996 the General Elections were due in 2001. But they had to be preponed to 1997, thanks to the United Front Governments of Messrs Gowda and Gujral losing the backing of their mai baap Congress and forcing a poll on the nation. Then came Vajpayee’s BJP-led coalition Government. This fared even worse. It fell after 13 months, necessitating another election in September 1999, post Kargil. A similar situation arose post the 1989 General Elections. First when V.P. Singh’s Janata Dal Government was “mandalised out” and replaced by the Chandrashekhar Government. It bowed out when the Congress withdrew its support. Forcing an election in 1991.

At that time, the then President, Venkataraman floated the concept of a national Government in an effort to save the ignominy of another election and the massive drain on the national exchequer. But it was found impractical and unfeasible. A national Government entails a national consensus by all Parties. But when elections came around, could they afford to take a contrary viewpoint? The idea was dropped.

Importantly, having a fixed term of the Lok Sabha and the State Legislature goes against the basic tenets of Parliamentary democracy. Yet the remedy is worse than the disease. A fixed term entails that if a Government enjoying the people’s mandate is voted out, it shall continue to hold office or be replaced by another Government, which may not necessarily enjoy the popular mandate. Plainly, a Government which lacks the confidence of the House would be foisted on the people, with no say in the matter. Smacking of de facto dictatorship or monarchical anarchy this idea carries with it the seeds of unrepresentative governance.

History shows that whenever a minority Government is thrust on an unwilling nation, the electorate gets the Government defeated at the first opportunity. Remember Charan Singh was dumped after he back-stabbed Morarji Desai to usurp the latter’s Prime Ministership with Indira Gandhi’s support in 1979. What is more, he is the only PM who quit without facing the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha even once. 

The situation is much worse in the Sates. Post Mandal, the plethora of regional parties care two hoots about governance. All they seek is the kursi and the power that goes with it. Friends and enemies are all rolled into one. Yesterday’s enemy may turn a friend today and become an enemy again tomorrow. In this milieu, good administration goes out of the window and there is no semblance of any honest governance. Their motto: Jiski lathi uski Bhains. Needless to say, a fixed term would not only be anti-democratic but destroy India’s polity.

Nehru had simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies for the first decade. Thereafter, he himself advocated delinking the two despite the higher cost involved. He felt that delinking would ensure fairer and more objective polls. National issues would not get confused with State and other local issues. Today, confusion has got infinitely more confounded with various States completing their five-year terms at different times. The result? Elections costs have sky rocketed. The leaders are electioneering (and collecting funds) right round the year instead of providing good governance.

Where do we go from here? The US model deserves to be considered. The President and State Governors are elected directly for a fixed four-years term. The President chooses his own team and so do the Governors. True, the President is answerable to the House of Representatives and the Senate, but he is not required to seek their confidence vote. This ensures good governance, stability and continuity enabling him to take hard decisions without fear of losing power.

In sum, Advni has done yeoman service by raising this serious issue. But this by itself is not enough. It needs to be nationally debated both within Parliament and outside. India’s democracy should not be reduced to a tu-tu mein-mein between political parties all the time. Enough of the destructive PES! ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The States

New Delhi, 17 June 2010

GoM On Bhopal Verdict

CONG GOES FOR DAMAGE CONTROL

By Insaf

Bhopal continues to dominate thinking and the newspaper headlines, not only in Madhya Pradesh but in all State capitals. Once more it has become a national issue involving top leaders not only at the Centre but also in the States. Last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up a nine-member Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to assess the options and remedies available to the Government in the light of the shocking court verdict in the gas tragedy case. It is expected to go into a range of issues including the relief and rehabilitation of victims and their families and submit its report to the Cabinet in ten days.  However, the exercise is being viewed by many as a damage control exercise and primarily to douse public anger. 

The Government has been at the receiving end since the court verdict. Other than the victims, their families and NGOs, the BJP has gone on a major offensive. Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi has questioned Congress President Sonia Gandhi over her "silence" on the verdict and asked her to explain who was the 'Maut ka saudagar' (merchant of death)? Importantly, the BJP has specifically targeted the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for allowing former Union Carbide Chief Warren Anderson to leave the country. This past week, television channels have been playing bytes of the Madhya Pradesh former Chief Minister Arjun Singh in the aftermath of the tragedy in December 1984 that Anderson was given bail since he agreed to be present in court when the charges are made. While Singh has maintained a stoic silence, the Congress, has sought to shift the entire blame on "systemic" failure and said there was “never ever any intention of Central government to allow any culprit to go scot-free." The big question is: Will the GoM be able to make amends to this systemic failure?

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Relief For Manipur

Manipur can heave a sigh of relief.  It should hopefully limp back to normalcy after over two months of economic blockade by agitating Naga groups. On Wednesday last, the Centre finally decided to move in and assured the Ibobi Singh Government that the first convoy of trucks would ply into Imphal on Saturday, with the help of paramilitary forces. The blockade of NH 39 (Imphal-Dimapur) and NH 53 (Imphal-Silchar), the life line of Manipur was started by the All Naga Students Association of Manipur (ANSAM) on April 12 to protest against the  elections to six Autonomous District Councils in the Hills which, it alleged, did little for tribal rights. It was further intensified by the Naga Students Federation (NSF) on May 3 after the Manipur Government decided not to allow NSCN (IM) General Secretary, T Muivah, to undertake a “political” visit his native village Somdal in Ukhrul district. The two sides had thus literally pushed Manipur to the verge of a breakdown with stocks of all essentials commodities, including baby food and life saving drugs, almost drying up. While the NSF has temporarily suspended the blockade after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Centre is keeping its fingers crossed the ANSAM follows suit. Else, it would continue its much-needed intervention in view of the Guwahati High Court's order to it as well to the  State governments to keep NH-39 and NH-53 free from all obstructions.

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Orissa’s Illegal Mines

Orissa presents a classic case of how illegal mining is unabashedly thriving in the country. The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) last week disclosed  that 215 out of 341 working mines i.e. over 60 per cent in the State were operating without statutory Central government clearances! Shockingly, some mines have been in business for years without even submitting a statutory mining plan to the authorities. Of the 215 mines, 15 have been operating without clearances for over two decades, while 17 operators have done so for 15 to 20 years. Another 38 mines have existed illegally for 10 to 15 years and 65 for 5 to 10 years, whereas the other "illegal" 80 mines have there for one-five years. Worse, the State government officials were aware of these mines in question, allowing them to violate the law by taking advantage of a loophole in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957. In this case, if the mine operator applies for renewal of a lease within prescribed time, then under Rule 24A(6) of the Minerals Concession Rules 1960 — introduced in 1994 — the lease is automatically 'deemed' to have been extended till the State government actually deals with the application.

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ULFA For Peace Talks

Good news has come Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s way.  The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has formally expressed its willingness to open peace talks with his Government to end over three decades of violent insurgency in the State. "We have got a formal communication from the ULFA regarding holding peace talks," Gogo told the media on Sunday last. However, he refused to elaborate whether it was a formal letter or who had communicated the offer, except that it was from an important leader of the outfit. There has been a deadlock in opening peace talks between the two sides with Gogoi insisting that the Government would go for peace talks only after the ULFA formally express their interest. As of now, almost the entire ULFA top brass, including its chairman, deputy commander-in-chief and political ideologue are in jail, which leaves its self-styled commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah still elusive, believed to be somewhere on the Myanmar-China border. The Government has appealed to him to come and join the peace process. How soon will the negotiating process start, is, however, any body’s guess.

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Drought In Himachal?

A drought-like situation is playing spoilsport for crops in Himachal Pradesh. It has damaged a major area of vegetable crops in the Kandaghat area. Over 60 per cent of the crops have been damaged, delaying the transplantation in the area. Farmers are worried that this year they might have to bear heavy losses. ”I am a nursery grower but as you can see a maximum of my area is empty because of drought,” a farmer explained. “Our cash crop is tomato, capsicum and cauliflower and our economy depends on these vegetables. But because of drought, all our crops have been damaged.” This year, the crops of capsicum, brinjal and tomato had already been damaged. The nursery owners are worried that if there are no timely rains farmers won’t be able to produce vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower and tomato this year. Sadly, the drought has hit when the area under vegetable cultivation has increased from 25,000 hectares to 50,000 hectares in the State during the last few years. 

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Caring Delhi

Delhi is not as heartless as is made out to be. A recent survey by an NGO, HelpAge India carried out on senior citizens in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Bhopal, Patna, Kolkata and Hyderabad, found that the country’s capital has the least percentage of elderly abuse reported--15.4 per cent. In comparison, 79.3 per cent respondents in Bhopal faced some form of abuse, whereas Kolkata had 22.8 per cent reported physical abuse. Interestingly, Delhi has the highest number of elderly owning property in the country (68.3 per cent), with 62 per cent deriving their main source of income from pension. The survey also found that 19 per cent victims faced abuse from their domestic help but the maximum abuse was inflicted by their own children! The main context however, being property (35.4 per cent) followed by lack of emotional support (30.2 per cent).The silver lining is that Delhi is more aware of laws and programmes (53.8 per cent) as against Mumbai (44.7 per cent), Kolkata (40.3 per cent ) and Bhopal a mere eight per cent. Time for other cities and towns to sit up.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Events & Issues

New Delhi, 14 June 2010

J&K Revisited

DANGEROUS ISLAMISATION OF VALLEY

By Prakash Nanda

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has just returned from Kashmir. He appealed for peace and requested the “separatists” to return to the negotiating table. He held a series of conferences with the officials and political leaders. And as expected, he announced over Rs. 1000 crore sops to the State. Importantly, to score some misplaced points, he threatened the Armed Forces to behave properly in Kashmir, forgetting the fact that but for these, he, or any Prime Minister, would not have been able to land in the Valley.

 
But one fails to understand what Singh achieved overall from his two-day Kashmir visit in concrete terms? Well, the media, both national and international, went overboard. The press in Pakistan, where our home minister and foreign secretary are heading later this month, too got enough material to comment on. But the separatists have not been impressed. Worse, the security forces have been greatly demoralized. Sadly, it has now become quite routine for the civilian regime and elites in Kashmir to effortlessly raise their fingers at the Armed Forces for all their troubles, thus providing fuel to the extremists and separatists. And on the flimsiest of pretexts, officials of the military and paramilitary forces are being framed and suspended.

 
Ironically, the PM has not deemed it fit to travel to other, and in a sense more turbulent parts of the country – the North East, particularly Manipur and Nagaland. People there have been facing a blockade for over two months now. Of late, the Centre has totally mishandled the Naga issue. If any part of the country needs the presence of the Prime Minister to assuage the feelings of the affected people and boost their morale, it is the North-East. But, Singh and his advisors do not think so. Perhaps this is due to the fact that a visit to the North East will not attract headlines as it would in Kashmir.   

 
One has no problem with the “news-worthiness” of Kashmir. But what is worrying is that the Centre and the dominant section within the strategic community in the country find it politically incorrect to reveal the real problem in the Valley from the viewpoint of  national interests. And that real problem is the growing Islamisation of the Valley, which, in turn, makes any negotiated settlement of the Kashmir issue almost impossible. An “Islamic Kashmir” will have nothing to do with India. Let me explain this point.

Over the years, Kashmir has been witnessing what Bangladeshi scholar Abu Taher Salahuddin Ahmed says are three principal trends – Indianness, Kashmiriness and Muslimness. The Indianness has been propagated by the federal forces, be it the Central Government or national parties such as the Congress and the BJP. However, the problem in the State is due to the tussle between those believing in Kashmiriness and those loyal to Muslimness.

Kashmiriness is an offshoot of the much-talked about Kashmiriyat, which, while co-existing with Indianness, talks of inclusive or composite identity, binding all groups together and not offending any section. No wonder why despite being a Muslim-majority area, beef-eating, until recently, was virtually non-existent in the Valley.    

 
Of course, some scholars now point out that there were always differences between Muslims and Hindus (essentially Kashmiri Pundits) in their interpretation of the concept of Kashmiriyat. But undeniably, the concept did promote coexistence. Majority of the Kashmiri Muslims, therefore, had no problems with the Hindus or for that matter with the Buddhists. And, the key factor to the success of Kashmiriyat was the fact that the overwhelming majority of the Kashmiri Muslims believed in Sufism or what is said the “Rishi tradition” that believed in saint and shrine worships. Of course, it was greatly facilitated by the fact that as was the case in other parts of the subcontinent, Muslims were essentially converts from the fold of Hinduism.

 
In contrast, the Muslimness always advocated the exclusive concepts in the Valley. Promoted by the Wahhabi and Ahl-i-Hadith sects, this school relies more on the authority of the Quran and Hadith and is totally opposed to the concept saints and shrine worships. This tradition or school has always been in minority in Kashmir, but has been there always. It was behind organisations such as the Muslim Conference and the Kashmir Jamaat (KJ).

 
Needless to say that almost all the separatists and terrorists, including the so-called moderate elements like the Hurriyat Conference, belong to the school of Islamness. They have nothing to do with India. No amount of appeasement will ever impress them to stay with India. They believe in the theory of “Kashmir for Muslims” and their essential argument is they cannot co-exist in a Hindu-dominated India.

 
Interestingly, these elements became active in Kashmir only after the 1979 Iranian revolution. It was then that one heard more of the “liberation of Kashmir” and “Islamic revolution”. These elements became more vocal in politics also and formed many small political outfits. In September 1985, twelve such outfits came together to form the Muslim United Front (MUF). Soon the MUF claimed to provide an alternative to the National Conference of Farooq Abdullah on the ground that he “sold out” the Kashmiris’ interest in the Accord with the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Since then, political Islam has had firmer roots in the Valley. The Pakistani support and assistance to the cause has greatly facilitated the cause. But what has really helped  political Islam in the Valley is the virtual politics of appeasement on the part of the Central and State governments to the separatists. The likes of Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh have wrongly believed that by pandering to the demands of the Hurriyat and civil right activists, the situation will improve. However, appeasement will never work with forces of “Muslimness”; rather it will embolden them and strengthen the cause of “Kashmir for Muslims”. Did not we hear the likes of Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah saying during the Amarnath yatra agitation last year that Kashmir must not compromise its Muslim character?

 
Fortunately, even today the majority of the people in the State would like to remain part of India, as evident by the recent opinion poll, conducted by Chatham House (UK) on either side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. The poll showed that only 2 per cent of the people of J&K want to be part of Pakistan. As many as 58 per cent of the 3,774 polled, in J&K and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), are ready to accept the LoC as a permanent “soft border” — an idea dating back to the famous “Simla Agreement” of 1972 between Indira Gandhi and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

That being the case, it is high time the Indian Prime Minister, whichever party he or she may belong to, stopped inviting the separatist leaders to the negotiating table. Because, no amount of concessions will satisfy them. They simply need to be ignored and their militant supporters be disciplined. Clearly, they do not represent the majority. If they are imposing the so-called bandhs and the locals are listening to them it is mainly because of the fear they have generated in the people’s hearts and the self-imposed helplessness of our security forces.

 
The Prime Minister and the Chief Minister need to appeal directly to the people through good governance. Importantly, our secular Muslim leaders from the mainstream must be encouraged to visit Kashmir more often to impart the message that Muslims are more secure in India than in Pakistan. Indeed, that is the best way to fight the Islamisastion of the Valley. ---INFA 

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Economic Highlights

New Delhi, 11 June 2010

New Tax Code

MAKING LIFE MORE DIFFICULT

By Shivaji Sarkar

“My appetite is infinite and greed is more”, says Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to income-tax commissioners exhorting them to collect more. He also hinted at unfolding the revised draft of the Direct Tax Code and phase out deductions.

The finance minister has only hinted at more trouble for the citizens as he called upon the officers to surpass the target of Rs 430,000 crore set for the current fiscal year. The phasing out of exemptions would effectively increase the tax rates as there is no proposal to reduce the present slabs.

It also opens up the debate of having income-tax, as an oppressive tool of the State particularly in a country that has one of the highest tax rates. A citizen is made to pay almost 65 to 70 per cent of his income as taxes – direct, indirect, provincial and local in addition to various other toll taxes. One obvious fall out of the high tax rates is on the market as it depresses the capacity of the so-called middle class to spend. This lowers activities in the market. The Government’s growth projection at 8.5 per cent is unrealistic as international and independent agencies do not go beyond 7.5 per cent. Therefore, the tax policy needs to bolster this.

Besides, less than 3 per cent of the population come in the direct tax net – that is a little over two crore of  110 crore people. In a country with a low income by most of its people, even after intense efforts the number may not rise much.

The Kelkar committee had noted that for such tax collection “efforts” the Government has been losing 48 per cent of the taxes it collects. Since then the department has added an army of officers, inducted through a fiat of the former finance minister Yashwant Sinha. Logical conclusion is that the Government is losing more money on collecting every rupee that it adds to its kitty.

The citizen is not born to pay all his income to the authorities, whose accountability is often in doubt. The idea for revising the Income-Tax Act was mooted primarily to simplify the cumbersome rules, rationalize the tax structure and simplify procedures in order to reduce hassles created by bureaucratic discretion. An unstated objective was to reduce the rampant corruption. During the last few years a number of income tax officials have been held with huge accumulation beyond their known source of income.

This has been possible owing to large discretionary powers that the officials have and multiplicity of rules that could be interpreted in many different ways. The system is oppressive for the tax-paying citizens. The Direct Tax Code instead of rectifying the lacunae sought to further empower the officials. Instead of simplifying the procedures, it has proposed to complicate it in many ways.

The code has stressed less on willful compliance or creation of a system where one would be tempted to pay the tax. One blatant instance is the scheme launched for shopkeepers who were told to pay Rs 1400 if their turnover was upto Rs 5 lakh. It failed because many of those who filed the returns and paid the tax were subject to a witch-hunt. The officials found it an easy tool to harass the tax-compliant citizens. Thereafter, the scheme failed.

The code needs more discussion. The Finance minister should not be in a hurry to satiate his greed. He needs to look at other ways for reduction of taxes. It is universally known that higher taxes lead to higher evasions. The corporate is master of the art. They fudge accounts to reduce tax burden. The present rate of 33.5 per cent including various cess, is too oppressive. A compliant corporate taxpayer may find himself out of business. That is how there is opposition to the proposed minimum alternative tax (MAT).

If the taxes are at a high level of 30 plus percentage, an individual or corporate would be only forced to comply with it. It would normally be not a voluntary action. The State would have to take recourse to measures such as tax deducted at source (TDS). In a way TDS demonstrates the distrust the State has for its citizens. It only punishes the willful taxpayer and serving class who are not in a position to evade it. Others who can, are allowed to get away.

The Government needs to look at its TDS policy, which has been extended to bank deposits. It is eroding the hard-earned savings of the people. Corporates are not affected by it. Reclaiming the money invites a cumbersome procedure and sometimes greasing of the palm does wonders. But the Government guided by bureaucratic convenience is not interested in doing away with it.  The citizen continues to be harassed and the government fills up its coffers with money that is not due to it.

So far the revised draft has not proposed any change in the basic tax structure. Unless it does that there would not be any rationale in doing away with exemptions being given now. The basic idea to do away with the exemptions emanated from the suggestion of bringing down the highest tax rate to 20 per cent. The other slabs were expected to be of 10 and 15 per cent.

The tax code has ignored this basic and instead went on to increase the tax burden by doing away with the exemptions. This is neither an honest practice nor does it simplify the procedure.

A tax payer should be encouraged to pay it voluntarily if the income tax has to continue. It should be looked at whether doing away with income tax would reduce expenditure of the Government or not. The assumption is that a Government making its tax administration heavy and oppressive ends up spending more.

This is also evident from the finance minister’s admission that litigations have increased manifold as the tax administrators made unreasonable assessments and demands. The code has not addressed this issue. It is being redrafted after 50 years and is to last for the next five decades. It should not be a half-hearted effort to continue with the past ills. Instead of hurrying through, it calls for an even more intense discussion and enactment of procedures that make voluntary compliance, including filling up of forms, easy and rewarding. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)