Round The States

New Delhi, 29 May 2021

Lakshadweep Turmoil

BJP AGENDA MUDDIES WATERS

By Insaf?

Tiny Lakshadweep has hit national headlines, for all the wrong reasons. Misplaced ‘reforms’, as proposed by Administrator P K Patel in the Union Territory have ruffled feathers not only of locals, led to a division in the BJP including central level, but also Kerala, which has strong social and cultural links and Congress and Left parties --all writing to President Kovind and Prime Minister Modi demanding intervention and his recall. His proposals, termed as ‘autocratic and unilateral’ range from a ban on beef in the Muslim-dominated territory, to disqualifying panchayat poll aspirants with more than two children, to introduction of a Goonda Act even though the crime rate on the islands is very low,and establishment of a development authority with powers to acquire land,and developing roads as per National Highway standards, which are not required. Patel is accused behaving like a king, furthering ‘business interests of people in mainland and hell bent on destroying the islands. Perhaps, as he rubbed shoulders with the powerful: he served as Gujarat’s Home Minister when Modi was CM. The administrator rubbishing all criticism, justifies his proposals as: the islands haven’t witnessed development in past 70 years; we are laying the foundation for their future in a planned way and to develop it in two decades on the lines of Maldives, a global tourist hub!There’s more than meets the eye! The saffron party’s hidden agenda, did we hear?

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Haryana’s Check on Protests

Is it Haryana government’s way to rein in the farmers’ protests? The timing suggests an affirmative yes. On Wednesday last, Governor Arya gave assent to Haryana Recovery of Damages to Property Act.The State can now recover from protestors if any damage is done to people’s shops, vendor carts, houses, government offices, vehicles, buses and other public property in guise of any movement. Home Minister Vij has cautioned any such movement in future will hamper the intention to damage people or public property and though ‘carrying out such movements is a part of democracy,it is incorrect to harm in guise of it.’ Recall, there was stiff opposition in March when ‘Haryana Recovery of damages to property during disturbance to public Bill, 2021’was passed by a voice vote in Assembly. Chief Minister Khattarsaid: “it’s necessary to instil fear in minds of those who damage property, this is our constitutional legal system.”What he doesn’t admit is it comes at a time when the government is facing intense farmers’ agitation. Clearly, he has taken a leaf out of Yogi Adityanath’s book. Uttar Pradesh is the first State to bring a similar Bill. Will he be as successful?

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Jharkhand-Centre Row

Jharkhand is determined to slug it out with the Centre. The latest row is over wastage of vaccines, wherein Union Health Ministry has put the State on top of the list among others. Its data says Jharkhand’s wastage proportion is 37.3%, as against Chhattisgarh (30.2%), Tamil Nadu (15.5%), J&K (10.8%), Madhya Pradesh (10.7%) -- much higher than national average of 6.3%. But the State claims it’s just 4.65%.Chief Minister Soren goes a step further and in a tweet,said the Centre’s data is “just not confusing but also laughable.” Till nowthe State, he contested, has ‘received 48.63 lakh vaccines and Centre’s figure show the State has used 40.12 lakh vaccines on its population -- which can be cross-checked with CoWin app data and certificates issued…37% of 48.63 lakh would be around 18 lakh then how come we administered 40.12 lakh to the people’! Earlier, he took on the Centre for not giving enough aid as per expectations to tackle Covid-19. In a tweet, he said: “Today, respected PM called. He only spoke his ‘mannkibaat’. It would have been better if he had talked about something fruitful and listened.”Looks like neighbour,West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee style of taking a dig is rubbing off on Soren?   

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Karnataka Vaccine, Land Mess

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappahas more on his plate than he can handle. Two fronts swamp him --shortage of vaccine amidst rising number of covid cases and group of party MLAs wanting to unseat him. On vaccine front, the High Court has taken note of the grim status wherein government centres are claiming unavailability of first doses of vaccine for the 18-44 group, but private hospitals are carrying out the vaccinations! It asked both State and Central government to scrutinise the issue in ‘context of equality before law as per Article 14 of Constitution.’ The vaccination drive to the new age-group, barring frontline workers, is halted since May 14 due to vaccine shortages and government wants to conserve it for 2^nd dose. Yediyurappanot only needs to prepare a strategy for the court, but pray his olive branch to adversaries in State BJP keeps them at bay. The Cabinet put on hold the controversial land deal to sell 3,667 acres in Ballari region to steel major JSW Steel, cleared in April, as many MLAs were against it. The anti-Yediyurappa camp was collecting signatures and even approached top leadership for an all BJP MLAs meeting around June 7. New Delhi seems to have calmed down tempers. For the time being or will CM be kept on edge of his seat?

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J&K Political Flutter

There is a flutter of political activity in the Valley finally. Will it nudge J&K administration to respect elected representatives?Cutting across political divisions, Mayor Mattuand 60 members of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) are on indefinite hunger strike against Jt. Commissioner (Planning) Ghulam Mir, accusing him of corruption and demanding he be asked to go. SMC’s revenue, they allege has fallen “significantly” and files regarding building permission are kept pending at his home for months, whereas earlier they would take a decision in a month. Plus, they are made to feel subservient to bureaucrats, who are protocol wise below them. Worse, they feel humiliated as Mir is said to have givena statement that all corporators ‘are thieves, and have vested interest,’ and are pushed to background during foreign dignitaries  visit. But he isn’t the only target. They are upset with the Commissioner too and demand he be sent back to Gujarat. It’s a beginning alright and who shall blink first is worth a watch.

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Live-In-Relationship

Live-in-relationships conundrum in Haryana. Accepted or frowned by society? Of three rulings in Punjab & Haryana High Court, two were against and one in favour! Allowing a petition for protection by a couple in a live-in relationship, a single judge bench observed “the individual has the right to formalise the relationship with the partner through marriage or to adopt the non-formal approach of a live-in-relationship” and directed police to ensure neither lives or liberty of the couple is harmed. In law, he said “such a relationship is not prohibited nor does it amount to commission of any offence” and hence “such persons are entitled to equal protection of laws as any other citizen.” Just a couple of days earlier two single judge benches had dismissed similar petitions saying “if such protection is granted, entire social fabric of society would get disturbed”, as such relationship is “morally and socially not acceptable”, agreeing with State counsel that these “are not legal and are frowned upon by society”. Will they now ponder over their colleague’s reasoning: it’s a western concept which found acceptance in metro cities; education has played a great role; concept has percolated down to small towns/villages and social acceptance is on rise. Times are changing! ---INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)

Round The World

New Delhi, 4 June 2021

Tracing The Virus

INDIA BACKS PROBE

By Dr D.K. Giri

(Prof. International Politics, JIMMC)

India had finally shaken off its hesitation in joining others in demanding thorough investigation into the origin of the virus. This time the demand is direct, unlike last year when 62 countries moved a resolution in World Health Assembly, the apex organ of WHO to study the origin and implications of Covid-19 virus on the lives and economies in the world. Then, neither Wuhan nor China was mentioned. Now, the investigation may require China to give access to Wuhan laboratory, its records and employees etc.

The Resolution last year suggested that the Director General of WHO should contact the World Organisation of Animal Healthto conduct scientific and collaborative field missions and identify the zoonotic source of the virus and its entry into humans including the possible role of intermediate hosts. The WHO came out with its report in March 2021. It suggested that the virus came from the bat to humans via other animals. It is ‘extremely unlikely’ that the virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology accidentally. 

The needle of suspicion points towards the lab-origin of the virus as Beijing has been withholdingfacts, and diverting attention. Initially, for a couple of weeks, it did not share the nature and extent of the infection in Wuhan area. At the same time, Beijing blamed USA and Italyfor spreading the virus, and said they were the first sites of the infection.

Furthermore, ridiculously, the Chinese Academy of Sciences conjectured that the SARS-COV-2 virus may have originated in India in the summer of 2019. There was acute water scarcity in the Indian Sub-continent which would have led the monkeys’ fight amongst themselves. Due to the unhygienicconditions and poor sanitationsexisting in this part of the world, the virus from the monkeys would have come to humans and infected others in an undetected state.

However, 13 countries led by the US had disregarded the WHO Report of 30 March done at the behest of Beijing as inconclusive and insufficient without using original data and samples in China. WHO Director General Dr Tedroshimself admitted that his team had difficulties in accessing raw data. He added that “he did not believe that this assessment was extensive enough. Further data and studies would be needed to reach more robust conclusions.”

The statement was revealing as Tedros Adhanom, a Chinese nominee to this post made it implying that China was not transparent. These 13 counties asserted that there was need for a follow up investigation that was a“transparent and independent analysis and evaluation, free from interference and undue influence, of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In the meantime, as the dust settled after the horrific shock of the virus wore off after the countries went through second and third waves etc., virologists and Intelligence personnel have come up with more circumstantial evidence as well as scientific elements that merit a comprehensive and transparent investigation. Two noted scientists Angus Dalgleish of the United Kingdom and Birger Sorensen of Norway have stated that the SARS-COV-2 had no credible natural ancestor and is most likely a lab-creation.

In the US, former President Donald Trump had been insisting that the virus originated in the Wuhan lab. A State Department factsheet released near the end of the Trump administration had said “the US government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses.”

As many as 18 scientists, including one of Indian origin, Ravindra Gupta, a clinical microbiologist at the University of Cambridge, and Jesse Bloom, who studies the evolution of viruses at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, David Relman, Professor of microbiology at Stanford said, “more investigation is still needed to determine the origin of the pandemic and theories of accidental release from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable.”

They added, WHO’s investigation into the origins of the virus had not made a “balanced consideration” of the theory that it may have come from a laboratory incident.Director of Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Dr Rochelle Walensky also said in his Senate testimony that a lab-leak origin certainly was one possibility.

Armed with the above expert opinions, US President Joe Biden has ordered an enquiry on 26 May 2021 by the American Intelligence to give him a more comprehensive and definitive report on the origin of the virus. He has given them 90 days to complete the investigation. Biden said his Intelligence Committee (IC) has too coalesced around two scenarios on the origin of the virus, one from the animal, and another from the lab. But neither of them is conclusive. The President asked his IC to redouble their efforts and come up with a more robust and concrete finding.

The American leadership wants to get to the bottom of this issue, the origin of the virus as it is so far shrouded in suspicion and conjectures. White House Senior Covid Advisor Andy Slavitt said. “We need a completely transparent process from China, we need the WHO to assist in that matter, and we don’t feel like we have that now.” But will they ever get that cooperation from China? Beijing has been calling the call for investigation an act of vendetta, manipulation and diversion. The commonsense perspective is if China has nothing to hide, why should it not open the WIV lab and the records?

Now the moot question is how far would New Delhi go in demanding accommodation of investigation and accountability for the findings, should the source of the virus turn out to be the laboratory? At the time of writing, Indian Foreign Minister is attending the virtual meeting of BRICS. I have argued in this column if BRICS will serve any meaningful purpose for India as Beijing and Moscow lean more towards Islamabad than Delhi? That apart,foreign policy experts would argue that the time has come for naming and shaming China on spreading the virus, which took 3.5 million people so far and destroyed the economies across the world.

New Delhi cannot hold back any more in regard to Beijing. The second wave was heart-wrenching and devastating killing over 0.3 million, the foreign press like NYT puts it at 1.6 million. The trauma and shock of people, including doctors, dying that India went through could not have been worse even in a war. Therefore, the Indian leadership owes it to its people to find out the truth about the origin of the virus and demand retributive action against the perpetrators of such a deadly crime.

Some say we should remain neutral and non-aligned as before as it is tug-of-war for supremacy between two big powers, USA and China. That is really politicalgobbledygook at its worst and diplomatic fantasy at its best. India must put an end to its prevarication on China and take positions. That is the call of the times and in its national interest. –INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)

Events & Issues

New Delhi, 3 June 2021

Lakshadweep  Row

WHOSE CONCERN?

By DrS.Saraswathi

(Former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)

Kerala Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution expressing solidarity with the  people of Lakshadweep against the Union Territory Administration and calling on the Centre to recall Administrator Praful K. Patel and take immediate steps to protect the lives and livelihood of the islanders.Development of a small UTstanding isolated from the mainland, which would have gone unnoticed a few years back, has now made front page news.

Any issue or eventis quickly turning into political in Indiaas political consciousness is growing fast perhapsdue to constant electionsand extremely active “Opposition parties” watching for opportunities. In the process,  limits of powers  and authority  of different organs and at  different levels   are forgotten and violated.

The issuedividing interested people and opinion makers pertains to the draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021 (LDAR) and the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) introduced by the Lakshadweep Administrator with the main aim of promoting the UT as a “renowned international  tourist  destination”.The Regulations supersede all existing regulations and  vest unrestricted powers with the Administrator  for development of the UT and prevention of crimes.

On both accounts, Lakshadweepis very different from other States.PASA proposes to vest immense powers with the Administrator for prevention of crimes though recorded crime rate does not show need for such powers. It is contended that the changes are proposed without consulting local residents or their representatives orpanchayat.The proposals have been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs for approval.

Opposition spreading like wildfire,“Save Lakshadweep” campaign is gaining momentum to  block the changes and restore original status. A hidden agenda is suspected to lie behind these drastic reforms. Kavaratti village panchayatpasseda resolution protesting against what it calls   “unconstitutional, undemocratic, and  unscientific” reformsintroduced by the Administration.

A petition was filed by a Congress leader in Kerala High Court challenging LDAR and PASA on the ground that Lakshadweep Administrator was illegally interfering in the “social, political, and cultural realities” of the islands. The court refused to stay their implementation. Many Opposition parties in Kerala allege that the “authoritarian rule of Lakshadweep’s new Administrator …is causing unrest in the island”.

Development ofremote areasseparated from the mainland of a nation by history, geography,  and also socially, economically and culturally is not a smooth affair for any country. Any change is taboo for somewhile status quo unfair and unacceptable.

LDAR primarily aims at holistic development and particularly that of tourism in the island for which there is tremendous scope.Lakshadweep Development Authoritywas created recently with extensive powers including the right to evict land owners. Orderly and progressive development of land in urban and rural areas, grant of permission to develop land have been envisaged.The Regulation empowers the Administrator toconstitute Planning and Development Authorities (PDAs) with government-appointed chairman and experts.

There is opposition to the proposal to construct a highway or tram-way in the island which would change the ecologically fragile environment. Mining and exploitation of mineral resources is proposed to promote cement manufacture.Fishing rights have been curtailed for the sake of  coast guard.On the social side,ban on cow slaughter and buying, selling, transportation or storing beef or beef products in any form, introduction of preventive detention law, and imposing two-child norm for contesting panchayat elections are proposed.

Critics point out that the LDAR 2021 would  “destroy the delicate eco-system of the coral isles  and the lives and livelihood of the islanders”. Indiscriminate promotion oftourism and various projects for “development” were opposed as destructive of the life of the people.Maldives   Model of tourism development, cited by Patel, is not acceptable to some sections of nature conservationists.

Lakshadweep is an archipelago of 36 islands built by corals and surrounded by the Arabian Sea  with only 10 of them inhabited.It extends to just 32  sq.km and is situated 220 to 440 km away fromKochi in Kerala. It has a population of 64,000 by 2011 census. Interestingly,there is no aboriginal inhabitant found in the islands as in Andaman and Nicobar. The SC and ST List of  1956 has identified inhabitants of Lakshadweep as STs. There areno SCs in Lakshadweep.  Malayalam,the language spoken in the nearest mainlandKerala is the principal language  spoken here. Total literacy is aspecial attribute.

The islands have political links with Kerala tracing its first settlement back to the period of a Chera king in Kerala who converted to Islam.By 7^th century, Islamisation was almost completed in the islands. The arrival of Portuguese and establishment of its dominanceincreased the importance of the islands then known as Laccadives. The islands then passed on to the British rule. In 1912, the British made Lakshadweep Regulation, which conferred limited power of  judicial and magisterial status to Amins/Karamis of the islands. The Regulation restricted entry of “outsiders” into the islands which tightened exclusion of these islands from the mainland India.

Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands werepart of Madras Presidency in 1949 and became a UT under the Indian Constitution in 1956  under the same name. It  was a Scheduled Area.   Parliament had the legislative power to make Regulations. The Administrator appointedby the President under Article 239 of the Constitution has power to make regulations for “peace, progress, and good governance” which overrides the legislative power of Parliament. He can repeal or amend any Act presently applicable to Lakshadweep.The collective name Lakshadweep was adopted for these islands in 1973 and mainland laws have been extended to it since 1965.

Governing Remote Territories is not uncommon, but requires special provisions in any country.There are sevenremote Australian Territories far away from the mainland located thousands of   km in the pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans and the Coral Sea extending from Antarctica to Equator. These External Territories with a few exceptions are governedby Federal Departments, but are free to legislate on subjects concerning their citizens.Financially and constitutionally subordinate tothe Federal Government, they have no powers with regard to subjects of national importance.

Northern Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, and Micronesia have external territories under their rule.   Annual meetings of Western Regional Science Association (WRSA) have since 1984 provides   an international forum for exchange of information and ideas in development processes and problems of remote regions. 

Lakshadweep is important for India’s security. Its  proximity tolittoral States such as Maldives and Sri Lanka is a critical factor.Its situation in the Arabian Sea is crucial tosafeguard India’s vital shipping lanes to the Middle East and for other security interests. In the wake of terror  attacks in Mumbai in 2008, the importance of safeguarding this remote UT increased. 

The strategic significance of these islands for the security of India is far more important than written principles of federalism. Development ofthis island UT is not a matter for political disputes or even discussions, but a concern of the nation to be handled by administrative, defence,ecological and other experts keeping the interests of the country as the focus while safeguarding those of the local residents. --- INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)

Economic Highlight

New Delhi, 31 May 2021

Informal Sector & Economy

    PVT DEMAND CRITICAL: RBI

By Shivaji Sarkar

The repeated natural disasters and Covid-19 lockdowns are taking a heavy toll on India’s economy and hit the informal sectors the most. The Central relief to three States, Gujarat, West Bengal and Odisha is Rs 2000 crore in addition to States also allocating part funds.

The raging second covid wave is impacting States’ finances. The Centre has released Rs 8837.6 crore in advance as the first installment of its share to State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for 2020-21. It is a huge sum for a country subsisting budget expenses on debt.

The World Bank gave $1 billion (Rs 72,000 crore) support to to India’s health sector. The second tranche of $250 million is to be released this year. There is also a $400 million International Development Association soft loan.

The Reserve Bank of India says at end-March 2020, India’s external debt was placed at US$ 558.5 billion, recording an increase of US$ 15.4 billion over its level at end-March 2019. India’s overall debt is $ 2628.49 dollars or Rs 3.80 lakh crore as on March 2021. Debt servicing cost has also increased. Interestingly enough no money was raised through “masala bonds” as rupee-denominated bonds (RDB) are called in a choppy global market and tight domestic monetary conditions. External commercial borrowings during March 2021 amount to $ 9.23 billion.

While its debt burden is growing, the domestic situation is a matter of concern. The UNICEF South Asia Regional Director George Laryea-Adjei has warned that the scale and speed of the Covid-19 surge is “outstripping” India and its neighbours’ abilities to provide life-saving treatment to the people and “there is risk of fragile health systems collapsing”.

Even the RBI has expressed concern on India’s growth prospects in its annual report this week as it depends on how fast the country can arrest the second pandemic wave. It sees uncertainties and the only hope is from the bumper rabi crop or agriculture sector and some activities in housing, road construction, freight transportation and the IT. Interpreted, it means most other sectors remain stagnant or in many cases like the SMEs and the unorganised or informal sector in trouble.

The World Bank in its latest study, The Long Shadow of Informality: Challenges and Policies, says that India has the highest share, over 70 per cent, and one-third of GDP, of informal employment along with Bangladesh and Pakistan. These workers are excluded from labour laws and social protections schemes. They lose jobs and face extreme poverty and food insecurity as the pandemic has intensified. This diminishes the ability to mobilise the fiscal resources for conducting macro-economic policies and build human capital for long-term development.

Government expenditures also were lower by as much as 10 percentage points of GDP. Similarly, central banks’ ability to support economies is constrained by the underdeveloped financial systems associated with widespread informality. Though global body reports praise India’s free food programmes during the first phase, not continued in the second one, finds even the central bank constrained. It virtually clubs the country with the emerging markets and developing economies (EMDE).

The other concern is that most informal workers are predominantly women and young people (in reality it shies away from saying children). They have little recourse to social safety and suffer severe income losses. “Limited access to social safety nets has meant that many participants in the informal sector have neither been able to afford to stay at home nor adhere to social-distancing requirements” World Bank observes.

“High levels of informality lead to weaker development outcomes. Countries with larger informal sectors have lower per-capita incomes, greater poverty, greater income inequality, less developed financial markets, and weaker investment and are farther away from achieving the goals of sustainable development”, it says.

The report is critical of heavy regulatory and tax burdens being imposed leading to the rise in numbers of informal employment. It castigates Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, West Asia and North Africa tax excesses.

India needs to learn from the observation as it is resorting to increase taxes of all kinds during these difficult days and even medicines have at least 5 to 12 per cent taxes. The State governments are increasing annual taxes on houses by over 5 per cent and many other facilities including tolls and fuel charges. The various stipulations of GST and its penalties need to be eased if the country has to grow.

The stark revelation is that since 2018 the numbers in the informal sector are growing, though since 1990 to 2018 it registered a fall. This is a pointer to a global slowdown and Indian finances have seen falling during the last three years adding poverty in absolute numbers. Even the jobless in the IT sector and manufacturing has swelled. Many gainfully employed till a year ago are now without an income support. The CMIE recently reported that over 80 per cent people have suffered income losses.

These are critical areas the government naturally finds it an uphill task to turn the table. It has severely hit demand and leading to crisis in almost all spheres of life, worsened by high price rises. The RBI recognises the problem in its annual report. It says: “The recovery of the economy from Covid-19 will critically depend on the robust revival of private demand that may be led by the consumption in the short-run but will require acceleration of investment to sustain the recovery.” That remains a problem for both the Centre and States.

The World Bank suggests that steps have to be taken to improve governance and business climates and harps on streamlining the taxation system for lowering the cost of production and help increase operational margins.

The Central government has repeatedly been suggested to review its high taxation and extortionist approaches. Unless the lowest in the rung, the unorganised daily wagers, are empowered, expecting better conditions shall remain a dream. And yes, it has also to give up cosmetic avoidable debt-funded expenditures like the Central Vista of Delhi. The panacea is simple if adhered to. --- INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)