By Shivaji Sarkar

Trade unions have risen like the Phoenix. In recent history never has an all-India strike been as successful as it was on February 28. Trade unions owing allegiance to various political parties, the Congress, the Left and the Sangh joined hands.
Eleven central trade unions — BMS, INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, AICCTU, UTUC, LPF, SEWA — backed the strike call, supported by 5000 trade union units, posing a major challenge to the Central government, which had asked the unionists to call off the show of strength.
“This is a historic occasion. For the first time all the big trade unions have come together to protest the anti-labour polices of the Government,” stated General Secretaries of the Bharaitya Mazdoor Sangh BN Roy and All India Trade Union Congress’s Gurudas Dasgupta.
Employees of all sectors banking, insurance, road transport, coal, defence, port & docks, steel and many State governments joined the strike. Spectacularly the casual workers of the unorganised sector participated even in rural areas including those in Aasha and Anaganwadis. Additionally, for the first time the strike was total in nothern easter States of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, which have remained away from the mainstream.
The successful strike, joined by millions across the nation testifies that the workers are once again uniting against an oppressive system and unresponsive regime. At the same time, Governments in many States unleashed repressive measures. Delhi’s Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit imposed provisions of ESMA to thwart the strike and also arrested 200 workers. The Haryana police arrested State Road Transport workers at Bhiwani. In Jammu and Kashmir, there were lathicharges and 2000 arrests. In Chhattisgarh, security men of a large private group beat up workers, whereas union activists were arrested in Pondicherry.
The unions’ demands include a national minimum wage, permanent jobs for 50 million contract labourers, end to contract labour, increase the gratuity payout and compulsory registration of trade unions within 45 days, more government efforts to rein in the rising cost of living, and an end to the sale of stakes in profitable public sector companies. The charter of demand called upon the Government and all political parties to take stock of the situation and not view the strike as retrograde. Unfortunately trade unionism, of late, is being viewed as anti-industry and anti-investment, which it clearly isn’t.
On its part, the industry has tried to project that thousands of crore of rupees were lost in the one-day strike, which is not the case. While industries have lost little, the workers have lost a day’s wages amounting to at least Rs 10,000 crore. Besides, the industrialist gained from the savings on various expenses including energy consumption.
However, the strike calls for introspection. Why should the workers willingly lose a day’s wages? They would not do so unless driven to the wall. Inflation, poor quality of jobs and the culture of hire and fire have forced them to strike. Sadly, inclusive growth has become a mere slogan of the Government. Corporate reserves and profits have grown manifold even as public sector bank deposits have become critical and workers marginalised. How can the nation progress if its 60 crore workforce is kept out of the growth process?
Indeed, this is the reality. If the nation’s growth is stunted losing pace every day, it is because the workers have become victims of high inflation, exploitation, low wages, insecurity and are being deprived of sheer purchasing power.
A nation that ignores its workers is destined to lose the growth steam. India has definitely lost that in all sectors, be it infrastructure, core sector, banking or now even the services. The deprived workers troubled by high inflation and low wages are not contributing to the country’s growth.
This apart, the obsession with foreign direct investment (FDI) does not add to growth unless there is consumption. And the workers need to be enabled to consume. This is not happening as the industrialists are smart. They are sitting quiet over their large deposits because they are aware of the fact that their gain is the nation’s loss! Saving on wages both by the Government and industry has led the nation to the most difficult situation. The recession in the West is only partially responsible for it. If a nation ignores its most important capital, people, then it is bound to get mired into a crisis against its wishes.
Take the case of implementation of minimum wages. This is a prerogative of the State governments, but many don’t even have it, forcing the workers in many cases to do without basic survival wages. Likewise, both the industry and the Government often call for labour reforms, but these boil down to further curtailment of their rights and comforts and a regime of hire and fire.
The employers virtually have usurped illegally the right to deny Provident Fund, Gratuity and wage dues. They lay off employees and declare lock outs at will without the requisite statutory permission. Worse, officials of Government ignore the industry lobbyists’ misdeeds and the labour department rarely implements the laws except when it can extort. Hence, trade unionists have rightly called the strike a wake-up call for the Government.
Since 1991, the era of liberalisation has seen massive job cuts, poor quality employment, large deprivation and workers’ families being reduced to below poverty level. It was hoped that after the 2007 Lehman bankruptcy, the Government would at least take drastic action to lead the corporates to follow the correct path. This hasn’t happened. Rather they were rewarded with sops that they didn’t need and only fattening their coffers further.
The February 28 strike is not the end but the beginning of a new era of vibrant trade unionism. European nations like Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, are today seeing a severe backlash from the working class. In the US this class is leading the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. These are loud signals for the Centre and it must act in favour of the working class. The nation needs reforms but not what was planned by Manmohan Singh when he was Finance Minister. Those reforms were neither pro-industry nor pro-worker but pro-corporate.
Today, Singh as Prime Minister expresses concern as the growth pace is slowing down. But if it is genuine then he needs to heed to the strike call and usher in programmes that would create jobs and ensure workers’ happiness. If he fails to listen, whatever growth so far would be a thing of the past and may even slide back to the historic Nehruvian Hindu rate of growth of two per cent! If Singh wants the nation to survive, he must as the first step, accept the demands of the 11 trade unions, it’s the basic minimum.
Growth without happiness is a misnomer. Workers have started uniting and this is the biggest hope. Indeed, they are the biggest stakeholders and could usher in the most necessary change. With their participation, growth could eventually become inclusive. Are the policy planners listening? INFA

By B K Chum

Is the Pakistani establishment planning to shelve the Kashmir issue “temporarily”? Perhaps yes if latest developments are any indication. For instance, Pakistan’s high commissioner in New Delhi, Shahid Malik has handed over an invite from foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to hardliner Hurriyat leader Ali Shah Geelani and the Hurriyat’s moderate wing head Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for talks. Pakistan reportedly wants to discuss with them its changed perception on the Kashmir issue which apparently it wants to put on the backburner “for the time being”. New Delhi has indicated Geelani would be issued a passport if he applies for one.
The development assumes significance in the backdrop of the resumption of backchannel contacts between India and Pakistan for resuming the suspended process of talks for normalization of relations which obviously also implies finding a solution of the Kashmir problem.
A beginning in this context was made at the last week’s meeting between the Commerce Ministers of the two countries when Pakistan decided to liberalise trade with India despite persistent opposition from hardliners and industrialists. Islamabad decided to open its market to all exports from India except for a drastically scaled down negative list of 1,200 items. By the end of 2012, Pakistan has indicated it would grant most-favoured nation (MFN) status to India.
It will not be the first time that the two countries would be making efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue through negotiations. Two attempts had also been made earlier. The first was in 1999 when in their Lahore meeting Atal Behari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif reached an understanding on the Kashmir issue. It failed due to Musharraf’s Kargil misadventure. The second made by Manmohan Singh and Musharraf which had also finalized broad modalities of settlement was foiled by Pakistan-sponsored terrorist actions in India and sidelining of Musharraf after the elected civilian government took over.
The latest change in Pakistani establishment’s attitude from “hard” to “conciliatory” on the Kashmir issue has taken place for a number of reasons. It must have by now realized that Kashmir cannot be annexed by overt or covert armed confrontation with India and can also no longer be used to divert the Pakistani people’s attention from the country’s internal problems. Secondly, Pakistan may have also concluded that with referendum demand becoming obsolete and redundant, separatists successive boycott of elections has knocked the logic out of their claims of being the real representatives of Kashmir. Hence, Islamabad may ask them to participate in future Assembly elections in Kashmir.
Apart from above factors, Pakistan’s multiplying security, governance and political problems have also contributed to Islamabad’s changed stance. There is political instability in Pakistan. Tensions between the civilian establishment and the Supreme Court have grown to seemingly unmanageable level. The memogate controversy has widened the wedge between the Army and the ruling elite.
On the political front, the cricketer-turned-political celebrity Imran Khan is riding a wave of popular support for his party Tehreek-e-Insaf. Using the platform of corruption and reducing the American footprint in Pakistan, he has become a politically potential threat to the contemporary rulers.
More serious is the escalating terrorist activities which have worsened the country’s security environment. Created by the US and Pakistan’s Intelligences CIA and ISI, in the eighties against the Soviets, the jihadis and Talibans have now become Frankenstein for the two countries. Their armed operatives have been killing hundreds of soldiers, police personnel and citizens in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan’s Waziristan has particularly become their bastion for attacking NATO forces in Afghanistan’s border areas. (After the Soviets exit from Afghanistan the armed jihadis and Talibans were pushed into Punjab and Kashmir to help the elements demanding Khalistan and Azad Kashmir. But the Indian security forces resolute counter-terrorism steps foiled their attempts in Punjab. During the last over three years, their activities have also been drastically curbed in Jammu and Kashmir virtually restoring normalcy in the state).
Another acute problem Pakistan is facing is the full blown insurgency in Balochistan. The Pakistani establishment and its Kashmiri supporters have been demanding right of self-determination for Kashmiris. Having already lost its relevance the demand has now become self-defeating for them in the wake of a US Senator’s demand for the grant of self-determination right to the people of Balochistan (though the US later officially dissociated itself from the demand). Although an agitated Pakistan government lodged a protest against the resolution, it has made the already obsolete self-determination demand for Kashmiris a non-issue.
As though these problems were not enough to rattle Pakistan’s ruling class, another source of worry for Pakistan is the widened wedge between Islamabad and the US. America’s major grouse against Pakistan is its duplicity in curbing terrorism and also use it as an instrument of state policy.
However, despite their escalating tensions, Pakistan and the US are not likely to end their “mutually advantageous friendship”. It is virtually impossible for Pakistan to survive as a single entity without US financial and arms help. On the other hand, America’s strategic compulsions will not allow its relations with Pakistan to turn unredeemable. It needs Pakistan not only to fight the jihadis and Talibans who have made Af-Pak their international breeding and operational bastions but also to check China from expanding its footprints in the region.
Although Islamabad’s ostensibly conciliatory mood provides a welcome opportunity for promoting peace and normalization of relations between India and Pakistan, New Delhi will have to exercise greater vigilance against any revival of terrorist activities. Past experience shows that whenever peace and normalisation process started, terrorists whether foreign or their sleeping cells in India strike to sabotage the efforts. (IPA Service)

Finance Minister Abdul Rahim presented the budget for the financial year 2012-13 in the Legislative Assembly. Some new minor taxes have been proposed and some concessions have also been given. Many items remain static. In many items the levy on VAT has been withdrawn and exemption from service tax on some services like medical treatment has been announced. Modification in existing rate of structure on stamp duty and exemption from Entry Tax on all IT Institutes, IT coaching centres and IT educational institutions is a welcome step.

The Finance Minister announced Rs. 33,853 crore worth budget for 2012-13 up from Rs. 31,022 crore of current financial year (2011-12). This year’s budget was to the tune of Rs. 31,212 crore but the revised estimates have put it at Rs. 31,022 crore. He projected State’s annual plan for next financial year at Rs. 7300 crore, an increase of 10 per cent from Rs. 6600 crore of the current year and Prime Minister’s Re-construction Plan (PMRP) at Rs. 700 crore down from Rs. 1200 crore of the current year. It will be noted that Daily Excelsior had earlier exclusively reported that the State’s budget would be around Rs. 35,000 crore…

Significantly, the budget shows State’s increasing dependence on the Centre as 53 per cent funds were coming out of Central grants and 13 per cent from the share of Central taxes. Rest of the income included 16 per cent from own taxes, six per cent from non tax revenue and 12 per cent from capital receipts. This shows that the State is still far away from self sufficiency in terms of raising revenues. The State is spending 46 per cent on salaries and pensions of Government employees, eight per cent on payment of interest on account of Central debts, 9 per cent on power purchase, two per cent on security and 26 per cent on development. It spent 9 per cent on other resources including the Government’s own expenses. That only 26 per cent of revenue is available for development of the State is not a happy picture and shows that our progress will be very slow. Voicing concern over increasing revenue expenditure, Mr. Rather said the State would have to incur a whopping amount of Rs. 16,140 crore on salaries, pensions and retirement benefits to the Government employees in the next financial year. The Finance Minister projected economy to grow at the rate of 7.5 per cent in 2012-13 as against 6.8 percent during the current fiscal year. He said the State had surpassed the target of 6.6 per cent growth rate for the current year. However, he admitted that the State lagged behind Per Capita Income, which was Rs. 28,932 in 2011-12 as against national PCI of Rs. 38005.

In an overestimate, we find that out of Rs. 33,853 crore worth budget, the Government has proposed Rs. 24,990 crore as revenue expenditure, which included expenditure of the Government, and Rs. 8863 crore as capital expenditure including the development works.

The Finance Minister said the State would be spending Rs. 3100 crore for purchasing power in 2012-13 as against Rs. 3000 crore this year. The purchase bill was put at Rs. 2400 crore this year initially. Revenue was expected around ` 1200 crore as against Rs. 1415 crore target this year. Next financial year’s target has been fixed at Rs. 1732 crore… He said the State’s tax revenue was expected to go up to Rs. 4800 crore during current financial year as against Rs. 3500 crore in the last fiscal year. Referring to relation between peace in the state and the process of development, the Finance minister said that owing to increase in State’s tax base and peace prevailing in the State, we want to percolate peace dividends among the people, which was the main reason for extending VAT exemptions, extension of benefits to industry and tourism sector, complete lifting of VAT on cooking gas and other items. Pointing out that housewives have been weary of rising prices and keep on complaining that their home budget is going out of hands, FM announced complete removal of VAT on domestic cooking gas. He said the move would also ease pressure on Power Development Department and demand for more energy supply will get reduced. With lifting of VAT, the price of LPG cylinder was expected to be reduced from Rs. 428.50 to Rs. 406.50. However, there would be no reduction on 13.5 per cent VAT on LPG used for commercial purposes. The new rates would come into effect from April 1 this year. He proposed to continue VAT exemption on atta, maida, suji, besan, paddy and rice etc till March 31, 2013. The VAT exemption on these items, announced in the last budget for one year, was due to expire on March 31, 2012.

He announced continuation of existing tax concession to the industrial units till March 31. The industrial units registered in the State had been enjoying tax concessions under relevant packages of incentives. Noting that IT gadgets like desktops, laptops, palmtops etc have become popular among the youth but they still carried high price tag, FM proposed full exemption of VAT from computers and IT related items like desktops, laptops, palmtops, pen drives, CDs, memory cards, chips, headphones, computer cleaning kits, electronic diaries and IT peripherals. He also proposed full exemption of VAT on stationery items used by students, which included adhesives, gums, glues, adhesive solutions, gum pastes, lapping compounds, epoxies, resins, tapes, tags, markers, sealing wax, papers envelops, pencils, crayons, highlighters, erasers, sharpeners, pencil boxes and ‘takhti’ etc. Some of these items were being taxed at the rate of 13.5 per cent and others at 5 per cent

He proposed tax exemptions on all types of chemical fertilizers, bio fertilizers and micro nutrients from the levy of VAT. He further proposed to exempt insurance services, which cover agricultural and horticultural crops and all types of cattle wealth including infrastructure of dairy, poultry, sheep, goats, bird units and fish farms from the tax chargeable under the J&K GST Act.

This appears a people friendly budget and one would like to call it “Students’ Budget” because it takes great care of the interests of the school and college going youth. It is a welcome budget in that sense.