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EDITORIAL Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha is quite emphatic that financial indiscipline, be it at the centre or in any State, will not be tolerated. He makes special reference to Special Category or otherwise backward States which are given special packages to help them achieve better growth rate. Even such special States/areas. ...more Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah has rightly asked fruit growers of the State to become more competitive quality-wise and price-wise. Apple growers had complained of distress sales this year. It is attributed to liberalised imports of foreign apples that have hit the Indian market in a big way under the WTO regime. It is not only fruit that is...more |
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Mori learns from ground reality in Pakistan By M R Rao Air freighter fleet to By D K Arora Can BJP bring minorities
By Firoz Bakht Ahmed |
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EDITORIAL Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha is quite emphatic that financial indiscipline, be it at the centre or in any State, will not be tolerated. He makes special reference to Special Category or otherwise backward States which are given special packages to help them achieve better growth rate. Even such special States/areas need not be construed as having license for poor performance and financial indiscipline. This is clear indictment of States which have failed to use Central funds judiciously and continue to remain in acute financial distress. This is despite the fact that they get such funds on the basis of 90 per cent grant and only 10 percent loan. They have thus no excuse for poor performance and multiple failures. It is so because many States who get funds on 30% grant and 70% loan have done very well in terms of progress and development. It is very largely attributed to observance of good financial discipline and judicious use of allocated funds. For instance Himachal Pradesh which was carved out of composite Punjab has done very well although it has more or less the same terrain and conditions as prevailing in neighbouring Jammu & Kashmir State. A close comparison has only one contrast and that is insurgency. It should not be forgotten that insurgency is a new phenomenon which began in 1989. One has to take stock of the period upto 1989 when peaceful conditions prevailed. Even then there was wholesale diversion of Central funds. It thus transpires that insurgency alone is not the villain. There are other factors that have landed the J&K State in dire financial straits. This aspect has been analysed in detail in these columns where both State and Central Government have to share the blame for tardy growth and squandering away funds on non-productive pursuits. One cannot segregate mass corruption from financial indiscipline. In fact they move in tandem. Siphoning of funds as also diversions thereof is a rule rather than exception. This stands manifested from scandals surfacing by the day in almost all the departments. True, Vigilance people have caught many corrupt officials and lengthy enquiries/investigations done. Some challans are also filed. But as regards logical culmination of all such cases to have deterrent impact, one is sorry to say that there is hardly any worthwhile conviction or punishment. In fact, some of these cases pertain to pre-1989 period. So it would be wrong to attribute rampant corruption also to ongoing insurgency. CAG reports made public have pointed to glaring irregularities which fall within the ambit of financial indiscipline. Finance Minister Sinha is no mood to condone it when he says that special category or backward is no license to malpractices. He also makes it amply clear that centre has viable monitoring mechanism of all the funds allocated and the manner in which these have been spent over the years. Such afflictions are not exclusive to J&K but even northeastern States suffer from the malaise of lack of accountability. States like Bihar too have very poor performance record in terms of judicious spending of allocated Central funds. It is precisely to ward off such indiscipline that Eleventh Finance Commission while enhancing the allocations for backward and poor performance State has made funds conditional to previous years allocations and how such funds have been utilised. There is thus an element of accountability and further releases are directly made project-specific even as previous years accountability is a rider. In fact, it is this aspect that has delayed release of plan funds for the current fiscal. Barring advance of Rs 400 crore neither the plan size is finalised nor further funds released although seven months of current fiscal are over. Part of the funds are also conditional to corresponding fiscal reforms by the recipient States. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha is quite undisturbed on the financial scenario by holding the hope that adverse factors will not affect the final outcome in terms of GDP. There could be marginal difference in projections and achievements but that is that. He is equally not exercised over turbulent stock markets that have touched all time low during the year. According to him this is largely related to crisis in the middle east and would soon settle down. In the same vein he is in no mood to intervene in the declining rupee value against the dollar and feels that rupee has to seek and stabilise at its own value. However Reserve Bank is always alive to the situation and could intervene whenever it deems fit. On the burgeoning oil import bill which is slated to touch 18 billion dollars during the current year, Yashwant Sinha rejects pessimism of the prophets of doom by saying that India has comfortable forex reserves of over $ 35 billion to cushion off large import bill. Even on inflation Finance Minister is quite optimistic and calculating. He says that inflation which has touched 7% would remain under control and could even ease off. The positive factors quoted in support thereof are: larger revenue collections than anticipated in the budget, fiscal deficit remaining 5.1% as budgeted for, larger demand created by infrastructural projects including national express highways linking all the four cosmopolitan centres of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta. He is confident of larger flow of FDIs, reaching targets on disinvestment and logging export targets. Good agricultural growth creating problems of surplus is another positive indicator of inflation remaining within manageable limits. It is however open question asto how financial discipline will be maintained by Yashwant Sinha when Mamata Banerjee seeks rolling back of petro product hikes and also announces no increase in passenger or goods tariff in the light of increase in diesel prices. Surely, this is indisciplined approach. Other ministries are also tempted to violate the sanctity of financial discipline like Communication Minister has done in the recent past. If Sinha cannot maintain financial discipline at the Centre, he probably is handicapped for imposing the same on States. Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah has rightly asked fruit growers of the State to become more competitive quality-wise and price-wise. Apple growers had complained of distress sales this year. It is attributed to liberalised imports of foreign apples that have hit the Indian market in a big way under the WTO regime. It is not only fruit that is affected but even Small Scale sector had complained about liberal imports of items hitherto exclusively earmarked for small sector. They nursed apprehensions that they would be thrown overboard unless large import duties are imposed. The Government subsequently gave some incentives including disbursement of Rs 75000 to any unit opting for ISI certification. Under WTO some duties can be imposed but not to the extent demanded by small scale industry and/or fruit growers. This protection can not be everlasting. Ultimately, all sectors big and small must become more competitive. Not only imports liberalised under WTO but also India gets access to hitherto restricted markets worldwide. The password is tapping more export markets. This however can be penetrated and sustained only if our growers maintain required quality, norms, packaging standards and above all competitive prices. This is further conditioned by sticking to time-schedule in terms of assured delivery. Another aspect relates to cold storage to corelate releases to demand rather than flooding the market which is tantamount to distress sale. One hopes that State Government would come up with a nodal agency to help fruit growers adopt healthy marketing, storing and packaging norms besides advising them about potential markets worldwide. If Himachal fruit growers can do better there is no reason why Kashmir growers should not compete their way up. |
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Mori learns from ground reality in Pakistan By M R Rao On Janmasthami, the day heralding the birth of Lord Krishna, religious fervour spilled into the streets; traffic went hay-wire. Yoshiro Mori's visit and his talks with Atal Behari Vajpayee at the imposing Hyderabad House, a short distance from the Historic India Gate, compounded the miseries of commuters. So much so, the Japanese foreign office spokesman did not endear himself to the scribes when he sent in the word: briefing is delayed. It will now be at 9, not at 8 p.m. Not many made it to the venue. Those of us who reached the place were not disappointed though. A good copy was on offer. Also on offer was the alert: Prime Minister Mori will make an important policy statement at the India-Japan Global Partnership meet at Vigyan Bhavan. Not many took the alert at its face value. Some like his correspondent even skippped the FICCI organised events, treating it as yet another assembly of captains of industry to cheer, a visiting dignitary. What a sad mistake the decision had turned out to be! Just like the decision of Japan two years ago at the time of Pokhran II; just like the prevarication Japan displayed at the time of Kargil war. Certainly, Japan has travelled a long way since then and in the words of its envoy Hiroshi Hirabayashi," Tokyo's views on developments in South Asia are now well-balanced and reasonable." India has every reason to be happy with Yoshira Mori's message, given the fact that Islamabad under General Parvez Musharraf has been trying to cultivate Tokyo for help to overcome the serious resource crunch and the mounting external debt. Japan provided Pakistan with $491 million in loans and grants and was the largest trading partner till 1998. Since the nuke test induced sanctions, Pakistan has run into difficlties in debt servicing and in interest liabilities. According to one estimate, Pakistan requires a whopping $5 billion just to service its debt. Instead of direct aid, Musharraf received homilies in plenty and some vague promises to consider a partial easing of the flow of blocked Japanese funds. What prompted the change in the Japanese outlook vis-a-vis the sub-continent? It will be patently unfair to conclude that Japan, like in all other aspects of its foreign policy, is following the US lead. Also absolutely unfair it would be to presume that economic interests have prompted the change in Tokyo attitude. Because, neither of the conclusions stand close scrutiny and fail to explain why Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori was forthright in his condemnation of violence in Kashmir. "There can be no justification for terrorist acts, no matter what their reasons may be," he declared at the Vigyan Bhavan meet, making it clear in the process that Japan was not prepared to condone violence in the name of freedom struggle by Kashmiris. Acknowledging that terrorism had become a serious problem for India, the Japanese Prime Minister volunteered: "A few days ago, I emphasised to General Parvez Musharraf, Chief Executive, the need to take steps for an early return to democracy, to control terrorism and to create an environment for the resumption of dialogue with India." Undoubtedly, Yoshiro Mori is convinced that Pakistan was responsible for the Kargil war. The giveaway was his remark: "In February last year, Prime Minister Vajpayee made a historic visit to Lahore. However, the fighting that broke out in Kargil after the visit betrayed Mr Vajpayee's good intentions, and we also deeply regretted it"! A couple of factors, which have had a profound impact on Pakistan establishment and society appear to have helped in crystallizing a pronounced Tokyo tilt away from the Musharraf regime, while taking care not to push Islamabad to the wall. Firstly, Musharraf is unwilling, nay, unprepared, to act against Islamic fundamentalist militia and madrassas, despite pressure from the global big brother. He has been yielding time and again to the religious lobby, often without much persuasion like on the issue of Islamising the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) - the magna carta with apparent secular orientation, which serves as the basis of the military rule. Mullahs are becoming bold by the day and are issuing fatwas by the dozen against anything and everything they do not like, Maulana Zia-ul-Haq (no relation to the late military dictator) has published a fatwa directing that any Anglo-Saxon (aid worker) entering his area (North-West Frontier region) be killed. He also warned women working for foreign - funded aid agencies that they would be kidnapped and forcibly married to keep them at home where they belong." Secondly, General Musharraf had a role in the induction of the dreaded terrorist Osama bin Laden into Afghanistan. As a trusted aide of Zia, he reared Taliban, Islamised the lower and middle rungs of the Pak military and remained in the forefront of the campaign to train and equip the "Mujahideens" for jehad in Kashmir and elsewhere. Musharraf has very little to show on the economic front. He is still at sea on the issue of new levies affecting the traders and farmers. Economic reforms have not gone beyond the drawing board. More importantly, there are genuine doubts as to the commitment of the General to hold general elections in three years, a time-frame fixed by a pliant judiciary. Parvez Musharraf has been trying to create a constituency a la Zia outside the existing political parties. His lans for December end partyless local bodies elections and systematic efforts to marginalise the established parties through the instrumentality of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) show he is getting into the Zia mould. Worth noting in this context is the outcome of Don McKinnon's mission to Pakistan after Mori visited Islamabad. The Commonwealth Secretary- General Impressed on the General the need for rapid restoration of democracy in Pakistan to bring it back to the Commonwealth. "Musharraf came out across as a determined person, a man, who felt strongly about Pakistan and embarrassed at the political history of his country," McKinnon said, later adding, "There was, however , no commitment from the General on the demand for a clear roadmap for restoration of civilian rule." To what extent the disclosure of the classified 1971 report on the war with India that culminated in the emergence of Bangladesh comprising the Eastern Wing (of Pakistan) influenced Japanese thinking is moot point. The report, penned by the Chief Justice of Pakistan at the behest of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (the Prime Minister), highlights the decay that had set in the military establishment by the seventies. From all available indications, the situation is no different today after over twenty years. Military top brass enjoy the status of holy cows and are excluded from the purview of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the country's most powerful, and most feared Government agency with sweeping powers to detect, investigate, prosecute and dispose of cases of corruption, abuse of power and Kickbacks." Pakistan has entered into 6000 million-dollar defence deals during the last ten year. "Some of the deals have been shady and involved hidden costs," according to observers in Islamabad, who aver "millions of dollars have been paid as commissions, not only to political leaders, but also military leadership." Since the October 12 coup, black money economy has touched an ill-time high of rupees (Pak), 1,500 billion and smuggled goods market turnover has hit rupees 360 nillion mark. The beneficiaries are the people in uniform with the urge of to civilian job. There is certainly yet another dimension to Mori's reluctance to play gold with Musharraf, a game he enjoyed in Bangalore, the Asian Silicon Valley. It relates to the concern over Pak exports of nuclear equipment and materials. Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) 898 issued under section 3 of the Import and Export Control Act, 1950 makes a mockery of international safeguards against nuclear proliferation. This July 24 decree authorises anyone from Pakistan to export, more or less freely, nuclear material like uranium both natural and enriched, plutonium and heavy water as also beneficiaries of Pakistan benevolence? Well, anyone, Taliban including, who would like to bypass the global watchdogs. Musharraf claims that he has put in place safeguards after his move kicked up a furore. Like his other assurances, this one too is hardly convincing, more so to a country, which enjoys its role as a global conscience-keeper on matters nuclear. Naturally, this flip side to Musharraf regime and to his ties with world power is sweet music to Indian ears. Time for celebration, indeed. - CNF |
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Can BJP bring minorities in the mainstream ? By Firoz Bakht Ahmed BJP's call to attract the Muslims is rather an interesting one especially at a time when the community is groping in the dark for a proper political platform. It seems that the BJP wants to evolve a long-term vision that Muslims along with the other minorities, are not merely vote banks but are vital to the idea of a complete, pluralist and composite India. Today, the political atmosphere has changed there is a perceptible improvement in the communal situation. Politicians find it difficult to get an enthusiastic response from the people on communal issues. The Muslim community must welcome the change in the Sangh Parivar from puritanism to plurality. Since the BJP has shelved its contentious issues with Atal Behari Vajpayee, whose maturity and political astuteness is only to well-known, at the helm of affairs. Muslims have not given a fair trial to the BJP even after being disillusioned with the Congress Party or the so-called secular ones. It is time the Muslims overcome their phobia of being stigmatised in their community if they associate with BJP. Fortunately, a beginning has been made by Bangaru Laxman and the Muslim community must now try to find out how dedicated or sincere he is and his party. Having toned down issues like the Ayodhya, Article 70 and common civil code, BJP is in search of a new line. What is astonishing is that for the first time after its birth for some 20-odd years, the BJP has called Muslims the ''blood of our blood'' as expressed by Laxman in his Nagpur address. Even the hard core K S Sudarshan was heard on record saying that BJP is no longer a party with a difference, which is a positive sign provided it stands for pluralist and not puritanism. Earlier branded as a communal party of the Brahminical upper castes, it has over the years acquired a substantial backward caste, dalit and some Muslim support. The process has not been smooth. It has seen the expulsion of the likes of Kalyan Singh and jettisoning of the likes of Uma Bharti and the rightist ideological extremists like the VHP, the Bajrang Dal or the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, besides the think tank of the hard core RSS cadre. The RSS think-tank and policy-makers have fully understood that their coalition partners and the regional parties are not going to toe their Hindutva line and that for a majority government at the centre, it is necessary for the pursuit of its ideology to give a touch of reality to its dreams. Laxman, in fact, put a very bold face when he admitted that the BJP had made little headway in its effort to reach out to the Muslim community. Now the question is whether it is a real change of heart or just an image building electoral exercise keeping in view the assembly elections next year. As Laxman had emphatically pointed out, the incidence of communal rage have ceased to take place after the BJP-led NDA came to power. But the point not to be glossed over is that nothing in special was said about the christian community. Most alarming was the fact that after the attacks on the institutions and individuals of the christian community, BJP's senior leaders were seen condoning such heinous acts like killing of Graham Steines and his two sons and the bishops of some churches. The marauders got a clean chit for it was referred to as a fit reply to conversions. And it is in this light that the new approach-- tha the BJP will now stress on sheding its animosity against the Muslim community- will be received with some skepticism. To believe Laxman at this stage, in whatever he says, would be quite naive no matter how forcefully he spoke for the minorities but it cannot be denied that he is intent on uplifting the lot of the Indian Muslims and possibly redressing the wrongs done to them from the hypocritical and lip-serving Congress. It is also clear that the ball is now in the court of the Muslim community. Afflicted alike by educational and social backwardness, administrative apathy and political expediency, the Muslim community in India has been courted by almost all the politicians but mostly from their own fold. After being cajoled by the Congress for almost four decades and by the likes of Mulayam Singh, Laloo Yadav, Sikander Bakht, Kanshi Ram, Shahi Imam Bukhari and son, Shahabuddin, Ghulam Nabis, the Abudallahas of Kashmir and Salman Khurshid, Indian Muslims are a disillusioned and disjoined lot standing at crossroads. The irrational, fundamentalist and vote-hungry political hawks never wanted this concord and hence they reaped communal dissidence and researched in differences rather than reconciliation. Rabble-rousing and fire-spouting Muslim representatives, both inside parliament and outside, with their churlish manipulations and vote-bank calculations, rolled in affluence every passing day while those whom they represented, were seen with a begging bowl. Besides, they never highlighted the real issues of Muslims, but harped on the ones that sited their vote calculation. The Muslim leadership has completely failed to understand the aspirations of its youth, its striving for excellence and yearning for an enlighteneed future. A desire to compete rather than grovel and grope for quotas and special favours, passion for modern education, questioning the clergy and coming out of the veil and ghettos, are now some of the altered ground realities for the Muslim youth who have been disillsioned and disenchanted by their directionless leaders. Muslim leadership has completely lost both its voice and utility. Still it is bent on keeping the community under control by concentrating on emotionally sensitive issues far from bread and butter. Owing to their lacklustre and lethargic approach, their institutions like the Madrasas, Urdu-medium schols, Khanqahs and Maktabas have been dying for want of care. No Muslim leader till date has made any devoted effort to rejuvenate them. They have been exposed owing to their pernicious vote bank manipulations. The way the Muslim leadership hoodwinked and hurt their feelings by their inaction and mere lip-serving during the Babri Masjid impasse, has in the aftermath resulted as a catalyst in the process of rationalising the relation with Hindus as both share a lot in common. A Hindu of Kolkata (Calcutta) is more akin to a Bengali Muslim than a Delhi Hindu. Similarly, a Maharashtrian Muslim shares more in common with a Mumbaiite Hindu than a Punjabi Muslim. Hindus and Muslims in their respective states are like a beautifully spun harmony on the Indian fabric. It is high time Muslims in India understand that their existence is linked with that of Hindus and that, at any cost, they cannot separate themselves thinking of living in their own outdated ghettos on the pretext of saving their religious identity. Befriending the Hindus and striving for paths of understanding even to the likes of the Sangh Parivar is pragmatic though undesirable approach. If the Sangh Parivar develops cold feet and remains adamant and antagonistic as has been its nature and content, the only way to outwith and sidetrack them is to walk hand in hand with those Hindus who are truly secular, balanced and considerate and there is no dearth of them. PTI Feature |
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