EDITORIAL
Let's
act positive
There are certain
situations in which we as the ordinary citizens just pull
down our shutters to observe a bandh. We don't need the
call of a political party to do so. In fact, political
parties jump on our bandwagon to associate themselves
with popular sentiments. We have witnessed this in this
region early this week in the wake of the killings in
Samba. After that, we have been exposed to a similar
phenomenon in the historic "pink city" of
Jaipur which has been rocked by unprecedented serial
blasts. It may just be a coincidence that Jammu and
Jaipur are linked by a fast train popularly known as
Pooja Express. Did the perpetrators of terror travel
through it after having infiltrated from across the
International Border in . ...more
What
do we do?
What does the latest
political turmoil in Pakistan spell for us? On the face
of it the six-week old elected coalition government in
the neighbouring country is in trouble. It has been
rocked by the resignation of all nine Pakistan Muslim
League (Nawaz Sharif) members from the 24-strong federal
cabinet. Mr Sharif has pulled out his colleagues
anguished by the inability of the Pakistan People's Party
(PPP) to honour their agreement to reinstate about 60
judges removed by President Pervez Musharraf. Two
deadlines fixed for the purpose have come and gone. It is
known that the PPP, which is the leader of the ......more
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Economics
as
distilled politics
By S.V. Vaidyanathan
The Prime
Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has warned the political
parties against playing petty politics with the misery of
the people; they must, he insists, stay away from making
an issue of rising prices. The gentleman has a past as a
teacher of economics and is at present a practising
politician; he should know the meaning of meaning.
Politics in all epochs and in all . ...more
Need
for optimum utilization of Water Resources
By Sanjay Kumar
Severe
spatial and temporal variations in rainfall has prompted
the creation of storages be given due priority with the
overall plan for water resources development. The
successive Five year plans initiated after Independence,.
. ..more
Karnataka
can impact coalition putterm
By Arun Nehru
The Karnataka
elections and we need the services of a eminent
astrologer to predict the outcome as another two rounds
of polling in the state take place in the next few days.
The first survey by CNNIBN indicated a near majority for
the Congress and a debacle for the BJP and the exit poll
by NDTV ..... ..more
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EDITORIAL
Let's act positive
There are certain
situations in which we as the ordinary citizens just pull
down our shutters to observe a bandh. We don't need the
call of a political party to do so. In fact, political
parties jump on our bandwagon to associate themselves
with popular sentiments. We have witnessed this in this
region early this week in the wake of the killings in
Samba. After that, we have been exposed to a similar
phenomenon in the historic "pink city" of
Jaipur which has been rocked by unprecedented serial
blasts. It may just be a coincidence that Jammu and
Jaipur are linked by a fast train popularly known as
Pooja Express. Did the perpetrators of terror travel
through it after having infiltrated from across the
International Border in Samba? The initial reports have
indicated the hand of Harrkat-ul-Jihadi Islamia (HuJI) of
Bangladesh in the mayhem in the Rajasthan Capital. Who
does not know that we keep getting uninvited visitors
from Bangladesh in our city? Since most of them are poor
they can perhaps be given the benefit of the doubt of
being innocents. However, not all of them may be birds of
a feather. Some of them can be HuJI militants who find
the home turf too hot because of the commendable drive
carried out against them by the Bangladesh authorities.
We require being careful in this regard. In any case, as
we have repeatedly pointed out in these columns, there is
no reason at all why we should let in illegal immigrants
from anywhere. Our official apparatus has yet to show a
serious handling of this situation. This is a grave
subject in its own right. For the moment, however, the
question bothering us is about our way of thinking in the
wake of gruesome militant strikes.
Don't we withdraw
ourselves into a shell by observing a bandh? Our purpose
of closing down our business is to make known our strong
sentiments against terrorism and its practitioners. We
want to send a firm message that we don't care for money
but for our safety and the unity and integrity of the
country. Do we achieve this objective by sitting idle at
home? Don't we end up losing our precious time for
nothing? By all means we should stand up and be counted
against the cult of the gun. How do we accomplish that by
reducing ourselves to the state of being mute spectators?
It is high time, therefore, that we considered our
approach in this matter. The Supreme Court has banned
bandhs in 1998 but political parties continue to organise
them. The argument against these exercises is that they
cause disruption in everyday life. In these instances the
bandhs are the least desirable trials of strength and
have no regard for their adverse impact on services that
the ordinary citizens badly want to make both ends meet.
Instead, we are talking of
a scenario which is just spontaneous and is called bandh
in the absence of any better alternative expression. We
should manage this spontaneity to get the best results.
We should hold discussions, seminars and meetings to
articulate our emotions. We should do so in every nook
and corner. Our voice should be loud enough to scare the
terrorists and their sympathisers out of their wits.
What do we do?
What does the latest
political turmoil in Pakistan spell for us? On the face
of it the six-week old elected coalition government in
the neighbouring country is in trouble. It has been
rocked by the resignation of all nine Pakistan Muslim
League (Nawaz Sharif) members from the 24-strong federal
cabinet. Mr Sharif has pulled out his colleagues
anguished by the inability of the Pakistan People's Party
(PPP) to honour their agreement to reinstate about 60
judges removed by President Pervez Musharraf. Two
deadlines fixed for the purpose have come and gone. It is
known that the PPP, which is the leader of the ruling
alliance, does not share the PML (N)'s enthusiasm about
recalling the judges. Why has it then settled for an
agreement on this issue? This is inexplicable. On the
other hand the PML (N) has been quite categorical. It has
stuck to its demand virtually as an article of faith. For
the first time it has openly criticised the PPP for
"serving the interests" of President Musharraf
by "blocking the judges' restoration."
Apparently, however, there is no immediate danger to the
government. Mr Sharif has said that his party will go on
supporting it from outside on "issue by issue
basis". To underline its latest stand it will not
sit in the opposition in the National Assembly. For its
part the PPP is also making conciliatory noises in the
hope that the crisis will blow over. It also can't be
ignored either that while Mr Sharif has withdrawn his
ministers he himself has filed nomination to contest a
by-election. It shows that he would like the present
democratic dispensation in Islamabad to survive and is
ready to give the PPP some more time to faithfully
execute its assurance. It will not do good to anyone if
the government in Pakistan collapses after its brief
existence. The United States is evidently perturbed over
the development. Having chosen Pakistan as an ally in its
war against the terrorism it will naturally be wary of
any hindrance in the way of its mission against Al Qaeda.
It is closely watching its interests. According to its
spokesperson, "my understanding is that the
government will continue to function at this point."
It is only too well known that the US has played a role
in helping the return of popular rule in Pakistan. It
would, therefore, be keen that the government endures. In
other words it implies that the US will not be averse to
intervening --- its utterances to the contrary
notwithstanding --- if it finds that the work it has done
so far is being undone.
The message for us in this
State and the country is unmistakable. We have to be on
our guard. Mr Sharif is optimistic that there will not be
any problem vis-à-vis India. He wants strong ties
between New Delhi and Islamabad and has recalled that he
had laid the foundation for them. Of course, the PPP is
also of the same view. One will take them on their words.
What happens, however, if they keep fighting? It will
spell their doom. There is a section of army and
extremists and terrorists of all hues on their home turf
that does not listen to them. Why should it care for us?
.
Economics
as distilled politics
By S.V.
Vaidyanathan
The Prime Minister,
Dr. Manmohan Singh, has warned
the political parties against
playing petty politics with the
misery of the people; they must,
he insists, stay away from making
an issue of rising prices. The
gentleman has a past as a teacher
of economics and is at present a
practising politician; he should
know the meaning of meaning.
Politics in all epochs and in all
countries aims at the seizure of
power. The capture of power is
not an exercise in abstraction.
The power
politicians aspire to-and
seize-is intended to make use of
instruments of various
descriptions available to the
state-administrative, legal,
fiscal, monetary-to further their
own interests and those of their
near and dear ones; the latter
category includes not just kith
and kin, but caste, religious
class or ethnic fraternities too.
Those entrenched in power use
this power to ensure the
enlargement of economic benefits
for their particular
constituency. Those at present
outside the orbit of power will
similarly shout themselves hoarse
to espouse the economic interests
of those who make up their
support base.
Politics, it
follows, is all about economics,
and vice versa. A very learned
Russian gentleman has expressed
it succinctly a century ago:
economics is distilled politics.
If the Prime Minister of our
country does not know it, he can
be politely invited to grow up.
The more likely thing is that he
himself is playing politics by
claiming not to know what is
what. The Left parties in the
country have their support base
amongst the weaker sections, most
hard hit by inflation. The Left
must therefore, for sheer
survival, protest against rising
prices and apply pressure on the
authorities to do something about
it.
At the other end,
the Prime Minister happens to be
the person, who, as Finance
Minister, way back in 1991,
initiated the neo-liberal era by
invoking the 'animal spirit'
latent in our entrepreneurial
classes to spring to life,
thereby enabling the nation to
embark on a great adventure of
lush economic growth. The
unleashing of the animal spirit
is akin to prodding the predatory
instinct of the producing and
entrepreneurial classes to go on
rampage and maximize their
profit-taking to the extent
possible by riding roughshod over
all other considerations; how
others in society live or die
need not be on the agenda of the
profit-takers.
The inflation the
Indian economy is currently
experiencing is only a specific
instance of predatory behaviour.
Rising prices offer opportunities
galore for raking up extra
profits on the part of producers
and traders. The rule of
neo-liberal economics is very
clear: the government has no
business to interfere with the
ongoing inflationary proceedings.
It will now be tough going if the
Prime Minister and his party
request the profit-takers to
exercise some moderation on the
ground that elections are round
the corner.
A dilemma is
involved. It is a multi-party
democracy, the poor make up the
overwhelming majority of the
electorate. There has to be at
least a temporary restraint
exercised by the predators at
work on the price front if the
party which has been their patron
saint is to emerge successful in
the forthcoming polls. This
could, however, be a mission
impossible. For meanwhile the
predators have tasted blood.
The concept of
permanent loyalty too is alien to
free enterprise. The Prime
Minister has already come across
evidence of this hard reality:
deviant voices are a-stir even
within his cabinet on both the
wisdom of and the modus operandi
for pulling back inflation. The
creamy layer has travelled along
its own learning curve. Since the
government has, over the years,
voluntarily withdrawn itself from
the economic sphere and left it
to the care of private entities,
the levers of economic power are
currently under the effective
command of the creamy layer which
has been the exclusive
beneficiary of neo-liberal
growth.
This class, growing
in size and strength over the
years, may now be as many as a
hundred million, or even more.
Whatever the colour of the
government nominally in-charge,
it has to seek the help of this
set if economic administration is
to proceed on a more or less even
keel. At least, such is the
assessment of those guarding the
ramparts on behalf of the
comfortably-placed legions
liberal economic growth has
begot. If a particular political
party chickens out and fails to
go the whole stretch to advance
the cause of predatory
capitalism, why, there are other
parties of the right to do the
job with joyous éclat.
True, the creamy
layer is not an integer, it is
marked by heterogeneities. On
occasion, the interests of
manufacturing entrepreneurs can
be in conflict with those of
traders or of the rich peasantry.
At the same time, it can happen
to that, for instance, a group of
textile manufacturers
simultaneously exercises control
over groups entrenched in
cotton-trading and cotton-growing
as well; their internal
contradictions can then be sorted
out with relative ease.
In any event,
predatory groups working out
compromises with other predatory
groups is not that unusual in the
nascent stage of capitalist
growth; the magnitude of the
plunder is so enormous that
exploiting groups take to the
policy of live-and-let-live. A
kind of chaos comes to rage as
profiteers determinedly proceed
to make their pile; the workers
and the rest of the poor are
squeezed and squeezed, while the
honest householder does not know
in which direction to look for
protection.
There is no such
thing as pure politics or, for
the matter, pure education any
more: it is all economics. INAV
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Need
for optimum utilization of Water
Resources
By
Sanjay Kumar
Severe spatial and temporal
variations in rainfall has prompted the
creation of storages be given due
priority with the overall plan for water
resources development. The successive
Five year plans initiated after
Independence, have laid significant
emphasis on creation of storages that
resulted in creation of many major,
medium and minor water resources
projects. All these projects have
resulted in increasing the live storage
capacity from 15.6 BCM at the time of
independence to around 225 BCM now.
Storages held in these dams are insurance
against the vagaries of nature. Projects
under construction are likely to add
another 64 BCM while 108 BCM is to be
contributed by the projects under
contemplation.
Even after such relentless
persuasion to create more storage, till
date, the present level of development in
terms of creation of live storages is
only just more than 12% of the average
annual water resources potential of the
country. The level of creation of
storages in India is decisively lower
compared to some other nations in the
world. Therefore, there is an urgent need
to vigorously pursue the case for
creating storages, wherever feasible,
given it’s projected rise in
population, urbanization and
industrialization.
Realizing the importance of
quick completion of ongoing projects for
creation of more storages, the Government
has already launched the Accelerated
Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP)
during 1996-97 to provide Central Loan
Assistance (CLA) for accelerating
implementation of ongoing
irrigation/multi-purpose projects on
which substantial progress has been made
and which are beyond the resources
capability of the States. Apart from
creation of storage projects, repair,
renovation and restoration of old water
bodies as well as ground water
development needs to be expeditiously
pursued in an integrated manner.
Highly intensive development
of ground water in certain areas in the
country has resulted in over exploitation
leading to decline in the levels of
ground water and sea water intrusion in
coastal areas. The strategy for the XI
Five Year Plan, therefore, recommends a
two-pronged approach for ground water:
(a) Promotion of ground water development
in areas having untapped/unutilized
potential and (b) comprehensive act for
regulation of ground water development on
sustainable basis
Improvement in water use
efficiency is increasingly perceived to
be a very important strategy for
mitigating the gap between creation and
utilization. This is even more relevant
in case of irrigation sector since a
small improvement in the efficiency can
lead to considerable saving of water that
can be utilized for catering to the
demand from other sectors.
Some of the management
practices that needs to be taken up in
right earnest are:
·Bridging the gap between
irrigation potential created and
utilized;
· Implementation of
restructured CADWM programme in States;
· Participatory Approach in
Irrigation Management (PIM);
· Modernization of
irrigation system and performance
improvement;
· Rationalization of water
rates;
·Benchmarking of irrigation
systems;
· Conjunctive use of
surface and ground water and
· On farm management by
reducing application losses, precision
land levelling and irrigation scheduling
/deficit irrigation.
Domestic, Industrial and
Other Sectors
With population growth, rise
in urbanization and non-uniform water
availability, the domestic water supply
particularly in the large urban centers,
of late, has been an issue of immense
concern. Under such circumstances the
adoption of water conservation measures,
augmentation of water supply through
creation of storages and demand
management has assumed significant
importance. To improve the efficiencies
in domestic sector various measures such
as water audits, mass awareness
programmes, water pricing, proper
maintenance and improvement in supply,
control on leakages, prevention of
un-accounted use of water, etc. has to be
adopted.
Some of the action points
towards water conservation for improving
efficiency in industrial sector could be
setting up of norms for water budgeting,
modernization of industrial process to
reduce water requirement, recycling water
for cooling purposes, rational pricing of
industrial water to compel adoption of
water saving technologies, proper
treatment of effluents and use of treated
water by industrial units.
Another major consumer of
water is the energy sector. The water
requirement in the power sector are
mainly met from the surface water
resources. Recycling of water in pump
storage plants would conserve water and
should be encouraged, wherever feasible,
for generation of peaking power. The
other miscellaneous water requirements
are for recreation, navigation etc., most
of which are non-consumptive.
For catering to
multi-sectoral water demand, the need for
optimum and judicious utilization of the
available land and water resources
through integrated water resources
management (IWRM) is of utmost
significance. IWRM in consultation with
and with participation of all
stakeholders would ensure speedy
realization of the object of adequacy of
water supplies in requisite quantity and
quality.
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Karnataka can
impact coalition putterm
By Arun
Nehru
The Karnataka elections and
we need the services of a eminent
astrologer to predict the outcome as
another two rounds of polling in the
state take place in the next few days.
The first survey by CNNIBN indicated a
near majority for the Congress and a
debacle for the BJP and the exit poll by
NDTV indicates the opposite situation and
both could be right or wrong as the
situation takes many a twist and a turn
as the Congress/BJP/ JD[S] fight for
government formation. My personal feeling
was that the Congress/BJP were locked in
a equal struggle with the Congress
marginally ahead and the JD[S] a distant
third [25-30 seats] and on current trends
it seems that the BJP are ahead of the
Congress and the JD[S] may get 35-40
seats. The battle is far from over and
contrary to my feedback cutting across
party lines I still feel that the
'floating' vote [like Uttar Pradesh] may
drift either towards the BJP or the
Congress for the sake of 'stability'. The
popular feeling however at this time is
that the BJP will get 90-95 seats, the
Congress 75-80 seats and the JD[S] 35-40
seats after the first round and things
will become clear after the second round
where the BJP have their area of strength
and the BSP vote [up or down] will be
vital for the Congress seats. The one
thing most agree upon is the fact that
these are the most expensive elections in
the current year and the Congress/BJP/
JD[S] are matching each other in
firepower! The JD[S] are concentrating
their resources in approx 80 seats and
are running a very efficient campaign and
the former CM is attracting large crowds
and the issue of taking the Congress and
then the BJP for a political joy ride is
not a major negative. No two elections
are showing a common trend and Karnataka
will be no different and we will all
become wise by hindsight and in the
meantime we will see intense campaigning
by the BJP [LK Advani/Sushma
Swarj/Narender Modi/Anant Kumar , by the
Congress [Sonia Gandhi and Rahul] and by
the JD[S] and the Gowda family who will
do everything possible to ensure that the
BJP/Congress are equally matched [no one
in majority] so that the JD[S] can play
'musical chairs' once again in the state
as they have done on the last occasion.
The Karnataka result if it
produces any 'major surprises' can cause
a great deal of movement on 'Coalition'
patterns and this will happen if the BJP
win a majority or emerges as the single
largest party and the chances are that
many sitting on the side lines can then
take a 'stand' for the Lok Sabha
election. I believe that before the
elections there will be three fronts
[UPA/NDA/Third force] but after the
election there will be two fronts and
major winners like the BSP/AIDMK/TDP [100
seats between them] can travel to either
the NDA or the Third force based on
'numbers' and can anyone predict the
future alliance pattern with the
TC/RJD/TRS/JMM/LJP/NC/JD[S]/NCP/MDMK/PMK
[I am sure I have left out some parties]
. A setback for the Congress in Karnataka
will unleash fresh alignments for the
future and in this situation it is best
for all to keep their 'powder dry' and
wait for the 'window of opportunity'.
Seasoned politicians have difficult in
spotting the right alliance and I think
we should watch carefully the moves of
Ram Vilas Paswan whose party has very
limited success [2 MP'S] but he manages
to be a Minister in every government
[JD/NDA/UPA], The DMK [NDA/UPA] and the
PMK and clearly they are able to study
trends better than the other parties. We
may well see individual defections
[grounds of morality etc] but this will
be restricted to a few seats and may have
little value except to cause a 'flutter'
for the day.
The CPI[M] have a problem
with Governor Gopal Gandhi and I agree
that in this day and age we do not need
Governors [hangover from the British Raj]
and it would be a wonderful thing if all
this prime estate can be converted for
public use [public parks and gardens] and
all political beings, retired bureaucrats
and defense personnel 'retire' as
everyone else does and not be a burden on
the public exchequer. I don't think
anyone is really interested in reforming
the system and if this must continue then
Governor Gopal Gandhi is the type of
person we desperately need to remind us
of values long lost in political
expediency. We are all guilty [cuts
across party lines] and in recent times
we have seen the Governor's role in
Bihar, Jharkhand, Goa , Meghalaya and
will we see this in Karnataka if there is
a 'hung' verdict! We have seen the
unfortunate situation concerning the
Health Minister [PMK] and the 'gas
problems' associated with the Shipping
Minister [DMK] , the situation in
Nandigram and can the UPA and the
Congress [145 seats] survive without the
Left [65 seats], RJD [20 seats], JMM [5
seats], the DMK/PMK [26 seats].
As I write this article
there is news coming in of 7 or 8
'serial' blasts in Jaipur and clearly
this is the act of 'sleeper units' who
have infiltrated both from the West and
the East and we should remember that
'terror linkages' are no longer confined
to Pakistan where the government is not
yet in control of the situation. I had
written earlier that this is the ideal
time for the terror network to act but
they may well find that in this cowardly
act they will only strengthen our resolve
to fight this menace with greater
commitment. Good to see the unity of
thought displayed by political parties
and individuals and the terrorists may
find this difficult to understand as
their thinking is blinded by hate and
vengeance and they have no experience of
democracy. CM Vasundra Raje has to act
with speed and severity like UP CM
Mayawati a few months ago and there is no
point in indicating over and over again
the steps necessary in particular on the
Eastern border particularly in the State
of Assam.
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