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January - 2009SWADESHI PATRIKA 1

SwadeshiPATRIKA

EDITORAjay Bharti

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY:Ishwardas Mahajan on behalf of Swadeshi Jagaran Samiti,

'Dharmakshetra', Sector-8, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-22,

EDITORIAL OFFICE'Dharmakshetra' Sector-8, Babu Genu Marg. R.K. Puram, N. D.-22

E-MAIL : [email protected]

CONTENTS

COVER STORY 4Report on Rashtriya Sabha of SJM held in Bangalore byAjay Bharati

SECURITY 13Generating hate against the political class as a wholerisks dangerous consequences says S. Gurumurthy

AGRICULTURE 15The political economy of food is certainly beingrewritten, with grave implications cautionsDr. Devinder Sharma.

OUTSOURCING IRRITATION 18

LABOUR 19Rising number of farm workers would lead to ruralwage erosion says Sh. Shivaji Sarkar

TRADE 21Protectionism, not free trade will help revive the worldeconomy, recommends Dr Bharat Jhunjhunwala.

Cover Page

Vol-14, No. 1, Paush-Margshish 2065 January - 2009

ENERGY 23Rural Electrification in remote areas particularlynorth eastern regions of the country poses achallenge explains Ashok B Sharma.

UNEMPLOYMENT 25Can Obama, a left-leaning suspect take on theestablishment in the economic sphere, asks ProfARUN KUMAR

INFILTRATION 27ABVP asks Centre to stop illegal infiltration.

LETTER 2NEWS 31WTO 35

INFILTRATION

SWADESHI PATRIKA January - 20092

Letters

SWADESHI ECONOMICSAs you have been publishing in Swadeshi Patrika the articles onthe present day crisis in the capitalist countries, it is now well knownthat capitalism and its civilization are in the last phase of survival.Shri. Dattopantji Thengadi had predicted this long ago andaccordingly he along with others tried to work for an alternativeeconomic system. He was responsible for provoking Dr. M G Bokareto bring out a new economic theory as an alternative to capitalismand Marxism. This was successfully done by bringing out HinduEconomics as well as Swadeshi Economics. Swadeshi Patrika hadpublished the full text of Swadeshi economics in many issues inthe past. I feel there is a need to seriously rethink of the alternativeas the collapse of capitalism is clearly visible to many leadingeconomists of the world. Left parties across the globe are takingthis as an opportunity to press for Marxist socialism as an alternativeto collapsing capitalism. They are working hard to propagate thisthrough the available media. Why are we not pushing this thoughtof Swadeshi economics at this crucial juncture when the world islooking for an effective and sustainable economic system togetherwith a new civilization?

I have written down my thoughts on this issue to just start thedebate on the subject. With kind regards.

- D G Bokare

-:: 0 :-Swadeshi movement seems to be the real alternative for the worldgoing through unprecedented crisis. Swadeshi pleads a restrainedlifestyle. It is OK. But the point is how many people are ready toabandon the comforts they have become used to. Swadeshi willhave to find the way to make people realize the price tag of wildconsumerism. Making the ideology attractive for the Genext is thereal Challenge & innovation is the only way out.

- Smriti KohliFaridabad

Quote-Unquote

Nowhere in the world has any culturelooked at the inner mechanics of thebeing as a science, as an evolvedessence of technologies, except for us.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

They (The terrorists) are Muslims butthey don’t understand Islam.

Shah Rukh KhanBollywood actor

The forces which are trying to weakenthe secular bonds in Jammu & Kashmirneed to be identified and isolated.

Farooq Abdullah

There is no use of issuing just warningsto Pakistan. The Government shouldhave the daring to attack it.

Bal ThackeryShiv Sena Leader

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EDITORIAL

December - 2008SWADESHI PATRIKA 3

SwadeshiPATRIKAJanuary - 2009

Cut Interest Rates to Stem the Psyche of RecessionAs per the figures released by the government the rate of inflation has further comedown to 6.38 percent annually in the week ending December 20, 2008. It may be notedthat this figure had climbed to 13 percent hardly 4 month back. Though the benefit oflower prices at wholesale level (the basis at which inflation is calculated in India), areyet to reach the common man, but there is nothing for the government to be proud of,as the deceleration in rate of price rise has not been due to any on the part of thegovernment. Prices have came down due to downfall of speculators and fall in demandthrough ours the world. At the same time there is nothing to really cheer about thesame, as this fall in prices in seemingly a short term phenomenon. Prices of crude oil,metals, food grains etc. may again start rising if speculators have their way.American crisis has also started showing its impact an Indian economy. There is adecline in on rate of growth of exports, outsourcing may also get adversely affected.Closure of giants such as general motors may also affect demand for spare parts exportedfrom India. In fact all sectors having international embages will bear the burnt.

For quite some time demand for housing sector has also been coming down drastically,due to fast rising rates of interest and also high prices of houses. In fact high rates ofinterest has affected the demand at every level including investment demand. It may beimportant to note that period of low rates of interest in the past has also been a periodof high rate of growth of the economy. But increasing rate of interest in the last fewyears has actually contributed to the decelerations in the rate of growth of the economy.Demand of not only houses, even household consumer durables, automobiles etc havealso got adversely affected due to rising rater of interest.

Normally RBI has to adopt contractionary monetary policy during inflation, by increasingrate of interest. But now there is an opportunity to reduce rate of interest thanks to USrecession on the one hand and deceleration in rate of inflation on the other. RBI has infact released more than rupees 3 lakh crores of equity by reducing CRR, SLR andRepo rate. Though some banks have responded by lowering their rates of interest, butmany are yet to follow the suit. They are trying to postpone their interest cut on one oranother protect. It is very essential that RBI adopts all measures at its disposal to forcebanks to reduce the rates of interests. In fact people have postponed their demand forhouses, consumer durable, automobiles etc and in hope of reduction in rates of interest.Any further delay in rates of interests cut will make the situation worse.

We must understand this recession is of US and not of India. Some economies such asJapan, EU and even China are more deeply integrated with US. Therefore they aremore affected due to US recession. For the first time China has recorded a decline intheir exports. In India it is showing some impact but it is more psychological than real.Thinking that recession is on in the world, some sectors are psychologically affected. Itis true that declining prices have affected export dominated economies but in the rest ofthe world including India recession in more of psychological is nature. There is an urgentneed to stem this psyche.


AJAY BHARTI

RASHTRIYA SABHA

Explain your failure:SJM asks Government

Swadeshi Jagaran Manch hasasked the centralgovernment to explain its

failure to anticipate the collapse ofUS financial system resulting inglobal meltdown. The demand wasraised in the resolution passed inits seventh Rashtreeya Sabha inBangalore, Karantaka held therefrom 26-28 of December 2008.

The Rashtreeya Sabha wasinaugurated by Mananiya MadanDass ji , Seh-Sarkarivah ofRashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh.Jutice Rama Jois, Rajya Sabhamember and Ex-governor was alsopresent on the occasion. He wasthe chairman of organisingcommittee.

Over 800 activists of SJMincluding around 150 womenactivists from different parts of thecountry participated in the threeday Rashtreeya Sabha. All NationalCo-conveners Sh. Saroj Mitra, Sh.S. Gurumurthy, Prof.Kumarswamy, Prof. BhagwatiPrasad Sharma, Sh. Ravi Wig andNational Samanvayak Sh. ArunOjha Ji was also present. All themembers of steering committeeand National working councilincluding those from al liedorganisations like BMS, VanvasiKalyan Ashram and Sanskar Bhartialso attended the meet.

Rashtreeya Sabha started in thetraditional style with lighting of the

lamp followed by impressive“yaksha gan” nritya by Sh. RaviShankar Ji and the group. Two littlegirls performed the traditionaldance form in an attractive way thatenthralled the audience.

In his welcome speech JusticeRama Jois recalled his associationwith SJM from its first conventionheld in New Delhi, which he hadattended along with Justice KrishnaAiyer. He expressed his pleasure towitness SJM emerging as apowerful movement in a short spanof just 15 years.

Reminding participants themutually complimentary role ofSwadeshi and freedom movementsJustice Rama Jois said thateconomic freedom and Swadeshi

feeling was the motto of our nationthen.

But unfortunately after theBritish left love for foreign goodsand foreign brands increased somuch so that people continue toask for education in Englishlanguage even after 50 years ofindependence, he added. “We areour friends as well as enemies. Noone from outside is going to solveour problems. We the people ofIndia will have to develop ourcountry, “he opined.

Recalling several quotes fromdifferent books of MahatmaGandhi, the learned Jurist andParliamentarian emphasized theneed to develop a duty basedsociety instead of trying to imitate


blindly the Western concept ofrights based society. Terming theabsence of duty related chapters inthe original constitution as a

serious flaw, Dr. Jois asked for achange in attitudes that willultimately lead to self sufficiencyin every field of national activity.

This was the bottom line ofSwadeshi movement, he explained.

Muralidhar Rao, the nationalconvener of SJM while speaking

Stop Globalisation Save NationThe whole world in general

and India in particular has beensuffering from the painfulexperiences of Global FinancialMeltdown and the resultingeconomic recession. The cancerspot is the reckless deregulationof financial market by USGovernment. ‘Greed is Good’happens to be the slogan of US.This policy of greed has landedthe Wall Street and the MainStreet of the US into this soup.Should this be a model for India?

Indian Economy is alsoexperiencing severe financialcrunch, contraction ofmanufacturing and servicesectors and extensive Job losses.But India is relatively less affectednot because of the government,but despite the government. Inthis connection SJMcongratulates the people of Indiafor mainta ining their basicculture, family values and savingmodels despite the attempts bythe government to change them,adopting the US - Euro CentricSocio Economic policies.

Our PM cajoles the westerncapitalism as casino capitalism,but sincerely copies the samemodel for India.

SJM demands an explanationfrom our policy makers for theirwrong economic policies whichhas resulted in the miserableeconomic and financial situationof the country.

Even in the thick of globalfinancial meltdown ourgovernment is trying to raise theFDI limit in the insurance sectorfrom 20% to 49%. GlobalInsurance companies such as theAIG which are themselves cryingfor bailout will be invited to thecountry for guiding our insurancesector to prosperity. TheGovernment of India deserves tobe congratulated for itsfoolhardiness.

Till October 2008, India wasexperiencing 12% inflation rate.However since then, the Govtclaims that the rate of inflation hasfallen to 8%. However thecommon man continues to reelunder high prices of food grains,edible oils, fruits and vegetables.Government figures on inflationdoes not reflect the reality at theground level. This is because of thedefects in the calculation ofinflation by the government.

While all over the world retailprices are used to measureinflation, India uses Wholesaleprices which camouflages thereality.

Further Wholesale Price Indexincludes only the cost ofcommodities. Cost of services arenot included at all.

Food articles are given a lowweight age of only 22.

DEMANDS:1. SJM demands a thorough

review of the Indianeconomic and financialpolicies of the last 15 years.Measures must be taken toprevent excessive integrationwith the global financialsystem for insulating theIndian economy againstfuture global financialmeltdowns.

2. SJM demands that allattempts to open up thefinancial sector - banking,insurance, stock market,commodity markets andcurrency markets should beput on hold and reviewed.

3. The role of the regulatingagencies such as the RBI,SEBI, TRAI, IRDA shouldbe further reviewed andstrengthened.

4. The government should shiftfrom Wholesale Price Indexto Consumer Price Index forthe calculation of Inflation.The weightage given to foodarticles should be increasedand the cost of servicesshould also be included tomake inflation figures morerealistic.

5. The role of excessive influxof FDI and FII into theeconomy in stoking upinflation should bescrutinized and measurestaken to contain theirrole.

RESOLUTION : 1

RASHTRIYA SABHA


Save Farmer Save AgricultureAgriculture has been the

sacrificial goat of the globalizationpolicy of the Government ofIndia, The percentage of GDPcontributed by Agriculture hasbeen falling rapidly and today itstands at 18%. However thepercentage of populationdepending upon agricultureremains at about 60%. It means60% of the people have to livewith 18% of GDP. The ArjunSengupta committee clearly statesthat 78% of the people in 2005were forced to live on a dailyconsumption expenditure of lessthan Rs. Twenty and a majority ofthis unfortunate populationbelong to the rural economy ofour country. Several reportsincluding NSSO point out thatabout half of the farmers of thesociety are indebted.

The apathy of thegovernment towards agriculturebecomes clear when we note thatthe share of the budgetedexpenditure made on agriculturehas rapidly declined from about27% to a paltry 6% in a period of25 years. Adding insult to injury,the Government is forcibly takingprime farm lands for thedevelopment of SEZs. The shareof agricultural sector in theorganized credit Institutions isvery low. Remunerative price forAgricultural products has beeneluding the farmer continuously.As a result of all the above,farmers suicides all over thecountry has become a daily

phenomenon. Since farming is notat all a paying proposition, most ofthe youngsters from the ruralpopulation are moving away fromagriculture leaving only the old andthe infirm. This does not augurwell for the future of agriculturein the country in general and foodsecurity in particular.1. In the above context, SJM

demands that agricul tureshould be given its respectfulplace in the Indian economyby increas ing publicinvestment in a proportionatemanner.

2. High land values are forcingand tempting the farmers tosell away their lands to realestate agents and other nonfarming agencies. Land valuesare rising unnaturally in thecountry in the last few yearsmainly on account ofincreasing foreign investmentsin the real estate business.Once land becomes costlyagriculture is disrupted and theentire society is severelyaffected. Therefore SJMdemands that FDI in realestate should be totallybanned.

3. For ensuring the food securityfor the people, imports ofagricultural goods such aswheat, rice, edible oils, pulsesand so on should be severelyrestricted by different meanssuch as heavy tariffs.

4. At present there is a safeguardduty mechanism to protect the

Indian manufacturersaffected by the unregulatedimport of foreign goods. Asimilar safeguard duty systemshould be developed andoffered to the Indian farmingcommunity.

5. Transfer of agricultural landsfor non agricultural purposesincluding SEZs should betotally banned forthwith.

6. SJM demands that more andmore agricultural familiesshould be included in thecredit delivery system and thefarmers be provided withtimely and adequate credit atminimal rate of interest.

7. There is an increasingattempt by the Govt underpressure from agri businesscompanies to corporatiseIndian agriculture. This willbe highly detrimental to theagricultural economy of thecountry as well as the agrobased social structure. SJMdemands a halt on allgovernmental attempts tocorporatise IndianAgriculture.

8. The bane of IndianAgriculture has been theincreasing gap between thecost of inputs and the priceof farm products. Thegovernment should takeimmediate steps to fixremunerative prices on thebasis of the actual cost ofproduction .

on the occasion termed theseventh Rashtriya Sabha as bothvital and different. Explaining the

importance of the Sabha, heldunder the deteriorating, securityconcerns in view of Mumbai

attacks, Murali Ji said that the standespoused by SJM from its veryinception is being accepted by the

RESOLUTION : 2

RASHTRIYA SABHA


Halt the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)Negotiation with Developed Countries

It is a well known fact thatWTO negotiations have come toa grinding halt due to hardpositions taken by developedcountries especially with regard toagricultural subsidies. Developedcountries are therefore conspiringto bypass the WTO route andconcluding FTAs with individualdeveloping countries such as Indiato achieve their ulterior motives ingaining market access for theirproducts, technology and services.

In the recent yearsGovernment of India is activelyinvolved in negotiations toconclude free trade agreementswith various countries. India hasalready concluded FTAs withdeveloping Countries and is alsoin process of concluding FTAswith newly industrial izeddeveloping Countries like Koreaand ASEAN Countries. TheseFTAs are said to have majorimplications for livelihood ofIndian farmers and labours themanufacturing sector. There isneed to assess the Socio-economicimpacts of these FTAs to Indianeconomy.

At the same time India hasinitiated FTA negotiations withthree developed Countries/developed country groups viz.Japan, European Union andEuropean Free Trade Association(EFTA). These FTAs areunacceptable for the followingreasons.

Developed country FTAsinclude not only massive tariffreductions on a reciprocal basisfor market access in trade in goodsbut also WTO plus provisions

with regard to services andintellectual property protection.Hence, conclusion of the FTAwith EU considerably reduces ifnot eliminate India’s bargainingpower at WTO.

Along with the abovementioned areas FTA negotiationswith these countries are alsofocusing on governmentprocurement, investment andcompetition policy. These threeissues in trade negotiations areknown as Singapore Issues. Forinstance, EU was the maindemander of these issues WTO.However, it was agreed to removethese three issues from theongoing negotiations due toresistance from developingcountries including India.Developing countries opposedthese issues primarily citing the lossof policy space. Hence inclusionof these issues within FTAs is amatter of grave concern.

All the developed countryFTAs contain Most FavouredNation ( MFN ) treatment need toprovided .Under this clause anybetter treatment provided by otherparty to any other country in areascovered under the FTA with anycountry should be automaticallyextended to others. Such Clauseswould seriously undermine India’sstrategic positioning in future tradenegotiations especially with otherdeveloping counties.

India’s FTA negotiationsseriously undermine India’sindustrial development. The steeptariff reduction would result inimport surge and would result inlarge scale job loss and closure of

manufacturing units especially inthe small and medium scaleindustry. Though India’s growthrate has been between 8-10% inrecent years, India continues tohold the largest number of theWorld’s poor. FTAs withdeveloped countries wouldworsen the situation. Further, thislevel of tariff reduction levelsIndia with little policy space tocharter future industrializationand accommodation of sensitivesectors. It has been well-documented fact that tariff playeda crucial role in theindustrialization of developedcountries.

All the developed countryFTAs conta in serviceliberalization provisions especiallyliberalisation of financial sector.It is well known fact thatunregulated financial sector is theroot cause for the present globaleconomic crisis. Such FTAs willtake away the limited existingpolicy space for Indiangovernment.

Against this background thisRashtriya Sabha of SJM demandsimmediate hal t to the FTAnegotiations with developedcountries. Further SJM demandsan independent expert groupstudy on the socio-economicimpacts of India’s existing FTAsand potential FTAs with ASEANand Korea. Lastly, SJM call uponthe Government to betransparent in their approach toFTAs and inform the parliamenton FTAs and provideinformation to people to have aninformed debate on the issue.

RESOLUTION : 3

RASHTRIYA SABHA


people all over the globe now.That Indian economic sphere

was very large and stock marketscan’t reflect our economic realitywas assertion of SJM, he added.Now cabinet Ministers in theUnion Government are sayingsame thing in different manner.These were the people who usedto project the BSE index with asense of achievement, he recalled.This U-turn was not limited tostock market only but has beenvisible in case of inf lation,terrorism and almost every otheraspects of socio political activity.

Price rise, P. Chidambramwould say, was due to extraneousfactors, out of government controlbut the same man rushes to claimcredit for decrease in inflation. Thisdouble standard must stop, MuraliJi affirmed.

This practice was notrestricted. When P Chidambaramasked OPEC countries to increaseproduction of crude oil after pricesshoot up to $147 per barrel, OPECnations retorted by saying that theywere not responsible. Consultancyagencies at that time blamed India

and China for disproportionateenergy demands that in turn led toincrease in crude prices. If we wereactually culpable for increase thenwho is responsible for fall in pricesfrom $147 to $33 per barrel, heinquired? Has demand in India andChina decreased so suddenly, hequeried. Shifting stance by so calledresponsible Ministers in case offood grain prices is a similar story,when South Indians were blamedfor shortage of wheat and poorwere accused of eating meals twicea day to be at the root of riceshortage leading to price rise.

“This reveals the fact that weare not getting the leadership wedeserve” pronounced Murali Ji.Leadership has yet to arrive, he

added further. Speaking aboutTerrorism and Mumbai attacks,Murali Ji invited the attention ofhis audience towards the inabilityof the government to find out thesources of money coming to Indiathrough participatory notes. Havewe evolved any mechanism to ruleout the possibility of Terroristsusing PN route for moneylaundering. If not then why has thisprovision been allowed in firstplace, he asked? Referring to thefailure of intelligence agencies tocollect information about Mumbaiattacks, Murali Ji accused FinanceMinister of failure to detect thecollapse of US financial system.Inability of the government toinform people of India in advanceabout financial Tsunami coupledwith constantly changingstatements of both the PrimeMinister and the Finance Ministerreveals either their bankruptcy ordeliberate attempt to mislead thenation. Lamenting lack ofaccountability, Murali Ji stressedthe need to have a new leader witha vision. Describing gloablisationbased on the concept ofundermining nationalism as yetanother form of imperialismMurali Ji opined that Globalisationrespecting national interests wasthe only way forward. He furthersupplemented that SwadeshiModel of economy was morerelevant than ever even in presenttimes.

SJM has to be a pathdeveloper. We will have to find newway for the world going throughcrisis; he declared. Savings, familyorientation, entrepreneurship tocreate wealth are the tools to savethe people, he asserted.

Speaking in the inaugural

RASHTRIYA SABHA

Swadeshi JagranManch has

to be apath developer

and find new wayfor the world


Change and continuity may bean ancient philosophical

conundrum that also is at the rootof the most pressing questions ofour times, but not so in SwadeshiJagaran Manch. Change andcontinuity, the clashing oppositesfor rest of the world walk hand in

Change of Guard in SJMMovement continues uninterrupted

hand with each other in this family.Bangalore was witness to thishistoric fact when past embracedfuture smilingly to ensurecontinuity. Yes it was the changeof guard at top level. Nationalconvener Sh Muralidhar Rao wholed SJM from an protesting fringe

to important voice during histenure, handed over the charge todynamic Arun Ojha from Bihar.The transition was quiet, smoothand noiseless. In fact every onepresent though emotional,appreciated and enjoyed gesturesby both out going and incumbent

Shri Arun Ojha, the incumbent National ConvenerShri P. Muralidhar Rao, the outgoing National Convener

session sh. Arun Ojha, RashtreeyaSamanvayak reported the activitiesof the SJM after its RashtreeyaSammeelan held in Indore last year.He said that SJM activists throughout the country were able to raisethe issues related to thedisadvantageous groups of thesociety like Women, Farmers andpeople connected with retail trade.Arun ji also presented the accountof Azadi Bachao Yatra taken outin different parts of the country.

Sh Arun ji advised SJM activists topull up their socks as it is they whohave to shoulder the responsibilityto write the new chapter of theglobal economic architecture basedon renewed social order.

Three books were also releasedon the occasion. These include theWorld Beyond Marx and Market byShri S. Gurumurthy the well knownCA and highly reputed corporateadvisor. The other two books arebased on the lectures delivered by

sh.,Jagmohan, the ex- Governor ofJ&K and Dr. BHagwati PrakashSharma, the all India co-convenerof SJM in D.B. Thengadi MemorialLecture series respectively in theyear 2007 and 2008. VaishvikAarthik Sankat; Karan vaSamadhan by Dr. BP Sharma hasbeen published by SwdaeshiJagaran Manch; the Crisis ofEnvironment & Climate ChangeBy Sh Jagmohn has been publishedby Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd.

RASHTRIYA SABHA

murli jipicture(separate)


leaders.For more than fifteen years

Muralidhar Rao and SJM hadbecome synonymoustantamounting to believe thatSwadeshi Jagaran Manch MeansMurali Dhar Rao and vice versa.Not so any more.the era of Muraliji came to an end in RashtreeyaSabha Bangalore. He relinquishedoffice of the national convener butwill continue to be part of theSwadeshi Jagaran Manch andSwadeshi movement. This decisionwas announced by Man. MadanDas Ji in Central WorkingCommittee and in the inauguralsession of Rashtreeya Sabha by Sh.S. Gurumurthy. Terming Murali jia multi faceted personality whosevarious skills helped SJM becomea legitimate national voice.

He in particular mentioned theteam building capability of Muraliji and oratory skills. IntroducingArun Ojha, the incumbent nationalconvener as an ideal example ofdisciplined behavior, Sh.Gurumurthy anticipated elevationof Swadeshi movement to a newerand higher pedestal. Shift fromSouth to Bihar, the heartthrob ofsocio-political movements of India, he hoped, will usher a new era notonly in the life of SJM but that ofthe country as well. Dr. MaheshChander Sharma also spoke onoccasion. Thanking all the peoplepresent, Murali ji termed the periodin SJM as the best part of his life.Outer challenges never botheredhim because of the gifted team ofassociates, who never brought mylimitations to front, Murali ji added.He a lso mentioned theunconditional support provided bysister organizations likeBMS,Kssan Sangh ,ABVP as the

real reason for the success SJM hasachieved. Murali j i assureddelegates that the next chapter willbe more glorious.

An emotional Arun Ojharefused to accept the change as anend of any era. He said that it is acontinuous flow that is going onand the chapter has yet to close.The writing of the chapter thatstarted in 1925 will close only afterseveral left over pages are writtenand we wil l have to do thattogether, he emphasized.

Arun Ojha, the incumbentnational convener it may be notedwas born on 20th of June 1958 inJehanabad Bihar. He started hispublic life in early school days andafter completing his mastersDegree with Botany as the subject,Arun ji became the head of theyouth wing of VHP in Bihar stateand held that position from 1976to 1980. From 1980 to 1991 he wasthe state secretary of BMS and wasassociated with several tradeunions in Bihar. For a short stinthe also was Bhoudik Pramukh ofBihar Rashtriya SwyamsewakSangh.

Arun Ji remained an integralpart of SJM from its very inceptionand headed Sangarsh Vahini beforebecoming the RashtreeyaSmanvayak, the position he heldbefore he took charge as nationalconvener.

Parallel sessions were also heldin the Sabha. Five subjects werechosen to be discussed bydelegates. They had choice to joinany of the groups based on theirinterest. The subject of the parallelsessions was (1) Agriculture, (2)Education, (3) Women and family,(4) Indian System of Medicine andWTO.

In the first session afterinaugural session representativesfrom different states reported inbrief some of the major activitiesthey had undertaken during the lastyear. Prof. Kanak Sabapati movedthe resolution on ‘falling status ofAgriculture’ and asked delegates tocarefully study the resolutions andsuggest amendments where everthey feel necessary and ensure itsunanimous adoption. Prof. SatishMahajan from Punjab read out theHindi translation of the resolution.

Reporting about Azadi BachoYatra in Jharkhand Sh. Sachindrainformed the house that startingfrom November 9 the yatra in thestate went through all the 22districts covering 2675 kms andcontacted 522 places in which 76small and medium and 24 largemeetings were conducted. 350 SJMactiv ists engaged in yatradistributed more than 50,000 handbills.

Yatra in Uttar Pradesh beganon Sept 28 touched 48 places andcovered 11 districts before itsconclusion on October 5 inMuradabad reported Sh. VipinKumar. Choudhary Krishan Birand Choudhary Mahender SinghTikait were prominent farmerleaders who joined the yatra. Visitto the birth place of ChoudharyCharan Singh and Pt. Deen DayalUpadaya is another importantaspect of this yatra, he added.

10 days yatra in Punjab startedfrom Jallian Wallan Bagh on 25th

September and concluded on 2nd

October after 44 places in which alarge number of people includingwomen participates it wasreported.

Shri Sunil Desh Pandey ofKarigar Panchayat also reported

RASHTRIYA SABHA


the activities they undertook. Heinformed the delegates about aunique yatra they took on arickshaw having mechanism tochange gears by pulling a rope. Thisyatra covered 2000 kms in 27 daysand contacted more than 1000artisans, he added. Encouragingpeople to use terracotta Ganeshasduring Ganeshotsava festivals wasanother of their major activity. APunit reported the agitation theywaged in support of Turmeric andChilli farmers.

On 27th October a talk by Prof.Vaidyanathan and Shri S.Gurumurthy and an impressiveShoba Yatra in traditional dressedof different states was the majorhighlight. in late evening a highlyinspiring and emotive culturalpresentation was made.

Prof. Vaidyanathji was anotherattraction of the Sabha. Hedelivered a lucid talk on theinformal sector. Thanking SJM forgiving him an opportunity tointeract with delegates from allparts of the country, the learnedprofessor started his talk byreferring to engines of Indiangrowth and the nature of thisgrowth.

Speaking about 1950s & 60swhen the growth rate of India wasinadequate and was ridiculed asHindu rate of growth that actuallywas Nehruvian rate resulting fromthe induced curtailment ofentrepreneurship, Prof Vaidyanathsaid that for rest of world theexample of the ‘vicious cycle ofpoverty’ was India that wasdoomed to fail. Experts suggestedpumping of funds from outside,lest a let of people will die, headded.

Liberation of

entrepreneurship fromgovernment contral in 1990’s,changed the scene. Contributionof Agriculture sector decreased toabout 20%, though 60% ofpopulation continued to dependupon it. But service sector grewexponently and contrary to popularbelief IT sector is only 4% of thissector. Though the contribution ofIT can’t be undermined the majorcomponent of services sectorremains construction, dhaba’s,restaurants, whole sale and retailtrade, transport and large numberof other self employed people, headded 35% of our work force isself employed growing @ 10%annually he informed.

Shoba Yatra passed throughdifferent markets and localitiesforcing people to stop and takenotice. They were very appreciativeof the disciplined way in whichSJM activists were marchingwithout causing any disruption orinconvenience to the dailycommuters. Yatra concluded in aPublic meeting that was attendedby a large number of Bangaloreans.Prof Kumar Swamy of Shivmogaaddressed the people in chasteKannada expla ining to themdangerous consequences ofmindless globalisation. He citedfigures from different agencies ofgovernment to highlight the statusof majority of Indians includingthe children Shri R.K. Misra ofBMS and Shri Gurumurthy alsoaddressed the gathering. Shri Misrareiterated the unconditionalsupport to SJM which in his wordswas the Gurubhai of BMS. He wasvery critical of the governmentpolicy on labour and employment.He warned these anti poor policieswill create a serious trouble in

coming days and will not beallowed to continue.

Gurumurthy on Swadeshi“Financial crisis all over the

world is dominating publicdiscourse these days several peopleare saying now that the crisis hadactually begun in the year 2006. Butwhen ever anyone tried to pointthis out, there was a atrociousattempt to first ridicule and laterdeny it altogether. In 2007 somepeople star ted accepting theproblem as a small slowdown. Butthese people used to hasten tosuggest not to worry as USeconomy was very strong andcapable of facing such minorissues. Even in the beginning of2008 “don’t worry” song was sungrepeatedly. But in March 2008 theAmerican financial system shackedwith the collapse of the companythat had its head office in its selfowned building valued to be ofabout 2.50 billion dollars. This overnight collapse of such a hugecompany forced the people toadmit that some thing was seriouslywrong. And by the end ofSeptember 2008 it became veryclear that American economy wasin serious Trouble. These viewswere expressed by Sh Gurumurthin his address to the delegates andpublic. In spite of all this no one isready to go to the root cause ofthe problem. One has to acceptthat most of the people do notactually know what the problemwas? It is clear by a discussionconducted by news week in whichfive noble prize winningeconomists were asked tounderline the cause of the problemand suggest possible solutions. Butno one amongst them talked about

RASHTRIYA SABHA


these pointed questions termingthe ongoing crisi s asinsurmountable, he added. TheNational co-convener of SJMrecalled how SJM was warningpeople in general and academia,intellectuals and policy makers inparticular about the inherentdangers of following US modelblindly, since its inception in1991. Terming decrease insavings and decline in family asan institutions as the root causeof the collapse of US economy,Shri Gurumurthy described thecrisis as the worst ever thing,worse than great depression thathas happened. He cited figuresto substantiate his claim.Explaining the point further hecompared the situation now andthan with figures to prove howpresent economic trouble is muchbeyond ‘slow down’, ‘recession’ ora ‘temporary phenomenon’. Hesaid further that it simply is not aneconomic crisis alone, but in realityis a social crisis a civilizational crisiscombined together in a viciouscricle.

Shri Gurumurthy elaboratedhis view with ample evidencequoting published articles inleading newspapers where inpeople in west have startedaccepting that what they did 10-15years earlier was wrong. In hisopinion the process of‘nationalising’ family in the nameof social security and privatisinggovernment” caused the fall of USeconomy and very oppositehappened in India and othersocieties that value family andrelation based economic model. Hecited the example of enlargingque’s in front of SBI to depositaround 1000 crore/day at a time

when Anglo-Saxon west was facingcash crunch to prove that Indianeconomy was, not only strong butactually a way forward for the worldto emulate.

He congratulated, amongthunderous applauses fromaudience, the women of India forsinging the songs enticing them tospend mere but refusing to actuallyspend the money.

ConculsionOn the concluding day that is

on the 28th of December in thesession proceeding last one, Sh.Kashmirilal Ji declaredprogrammes to be taken up by SJMin the coming year. In his usualhumorous way Kashmirilal Ji askeddelegates to prepare the 5 yearappraisal report of UPAgovernment and highlight the sameat district level in seminars, groupdiscussions and in any other waythey feel better. Kashmirilal Ji alsospoke about his experiences withthe Azadi Bachoo Yatra andsuggested to continue with theyatra till it reaches the places it hasnot touched till now. Declaring year2009 to be the Public AwarenessCampaign Kashmirilal Ji said that

RASHTRIYA SABHA

Swadeshi message will be taken toevery household in the country.

In the concluding session thenew National convener summedup the deliberations of the Sabha.He also announced the newresponsibilities given to leaders atdifferent levels. Some of these areas follows:

Sh. Kashmiri Lal Ji who tillnow was looking after the SJMactivities in north India as theSangathak will now be the AkhilBhartiya Sangathak responsible totake care of the activities throughout the country. All the co-conveners have been g ivenspecific areas to focus on.

Besides that Sh. AnnadaShankar Panigrahi will now be theKshetra Sangathak of Orrisa and

West Bengal. Sh. K Biju will bezonal co-convener of Kerala andTamil Nadu, Shri Apala Prasad Jiwill be conener of cultural cell atnational level and Shri DeepakSharma Pardeep will be inchargeof central office and will also holdthe additional charge of NationalPrabandh Pramukh.

In his manage to activists ArunJi reminded them that India wasnot a indebted nation at the timeof Independence. It was the wrongpolicies of rulers like the firstPrime Ministere Pt. Nehru whoaccepted conditions imposed byUS President Truman. Arun Jirecalled the message of LateDettopant Thengadi who used tosay that best must suffer so thatrest prosper.

Declaring that our struggle isagainst big corporates andgovernment he prayed.

God we enter our last fights,Thou Knowest that our cause is right,

Make us march in thy lightOn to Victory

Shri Kashmirilal Ji Rashtriya Sangathak


Blame the rulers,not democracy

The ‘Page Three’ personalities and the media isGenerating hate against the political class as a whole.This risks dangerous consequences and bails out thereal culprits. The rulers must pay for their fault. Theyshould not be allowed to escape punishment for theirmistakes by joining the crowd of hated politicians,suggests S. GURUMURTHY

SECURITY

A fall out of the Jihadi attackon Mumbai is hugeoutrage. While this anger

is understandable given the way thepresent ruling politicians havehandled the issue of nationalsecurity, what is intriguing is thehate campaign is directed againstthe politicians as a whole and as aclass. Most English TV channelsare ceaselessly and systematicallyfeeding this hate. It is ‘Page Three’personalities particularly inMumbai who star in this campaign.Most Indians would not even knowwhat ‘Page Three’ personalitiesmeans. They are the partying type,mostly found in restaurants in FiveStar hotels. They are so calledbecause, a decade earlier, theirpictures and their parties used toappear in page three ofnewspapers. Now they are all overthe media, wi th most mediasometimes celebrating them withthe front page positions.

When in the past several terrorattacks had taken place andhundreds of people had died, therewas public outcry against terror.But the media never ceaselesslytelecast or print their outrage likethey do now. What is the differencethis time? This time around PageThree celebrities are the protestors.This class had never imagined thatterror would ever touch them. Inthe past they had seen the terrorblowing the commuters by trainand bus to pieces, tearing downordinary men and women incrowded vegetable and generalmarkets. Most in this class do nottravel by trains or buses nor go tocrowded markets. Now the abodeof this class, the Star hotels, is hit,it is terribly angry. How is this classpositioned in our polity? It talks

about democracy but does notvote. It talks against corruption,but would not fight it. It talks ofhigh values but follows a lifestylethat hardly support those values.Now they are the ones anchoringthe national debate on the right andwrong of politicians. Examine howdangerous this is.

Politicians are the products ofelections. And elections do notyield quali ty leadership. Forexample, a RamakrishnaParamahamsa could not have

found a Vivekananda in a Narendrathrough ballots from his co-disciples. It cannot be thatdemocracy is good, but electionsare bad, as there can be nodemocracy without elections.Elected politicians are thebackbone of democracy. If theymanipulate the people, it is the dutyof the elite to educate the peopleto be vigilant. How many PageThree characters have taken toeducating the people to make rightchoices? So their anger against


poli ticians is because theirundisturbed fun and frolic havebeen disturbed. If they feel sooutraged now what where theydoing when trains after trains andmarket after markets were beingtargeted by terrorists in which theordinary people were maimed andkilled?

Now come to their targets, thepoliticians. Politicians are theeasiest target of the elite. But in thiscountry they are the only ones whoare open to scrutiny – as to whatthey say or do. No one canscrutinize, say, the judges. Thescrutinizer will go to jail. No onein his senses can talk against themedia. Only politicians are easysubjects for cartoon or hate. Butthis time around, the campaign thatis on after the Mumbai terror strikeis not just the eruption of pent upapathy towards the politicians. It issomething more. The Mumbaiterror has exposed the rulingparties in the centre and at the state,like no other act of terror has done.The reason is self-evident. It hastouched the very class, thechatteratti, that is the backbone ofthe secular class. The anger of thisclass cannot be directed against thesecular political groups that run thecountry today as that would shiftbalance of advantage to the un-secular opposition. So the presentrulers need to be protected. Result,the anger is intentionally directedagainst the political class as a whole.

Thus, this campaign againstthe political class as a wholeconceals the real intent behind it,namely to protect the seculargovernments at the centre and atthe state which had had allintelligence input about the sea sideterror attack that was coming on

Mumbai and on Mumbai hotelsspecifically, but did nothing to acton them, whatever the reason fortheir inaction. The presentgovernment at the centre and inMaharashtra have been so callousabout national security that over1000 innocent persons have beenkilled in Mumbai by terror strikesin the year 2008 alone! Seeing theentire political class as hate objectsprotects the ruling parties againstpublic retribution. The presentrulers had repealed the anti-terrorlaw in India when the wholedemocratic world was enactingsuch laws against terrorism. The

terror attacks multiplied innumbers under the rule of thepresent government. So blamingthe entire political spectrum bailsout the culprits ruling India today.The Page Three icons and themedia seem to be on this jointenterprise to wash off the sins ofthe ruling party and its leadershipby targeting the political class as awhole.

Take this process to its logicalconclusion. The hate against theruling parties is being universalizedthus as anger against the entirepolitical class. Compare this angeragainst the politicians with how theordinary people raised patriotic

slogans, ‘Vande Mataram’ and‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ when the NSGand Army commandossuccessful ly vanquished theterrorists and again when thefuneral of the slain ATS, NSG andArmy fighters was taking place.Admiration for the army coupledwith hate for political class as awhole is dangerous to democracy.In a democracy, it is necessary tolet the public anger correct theruling party that is at fault. Therulers must pay for their fault. Theyshould not be allowed to escapepunishment for their mistakes byjoining the crowd of hatedpoliticians. There is a lesson for theopposition also; that is if theycome to power, they would betreated no differently. Imagine thepolitical class is hated, and the armyis admired, the legitimacy will bewith the army, not with the politicalleadership. This is what made thearmy in Pakistan ambitious tobecome, and it became, the ruler.Yet, now, the Pakistan army is ashated as politicians in that country.So generating hate against thepolitical class as a whole risksdangerous consequences. Themedia should not help dowse thepublic anger against the rulers atfault. That is what democracy is allabout. The mistakes of the rulingparty becomes the talking point forthe opposition. This forces powerto shift between the ruling andopposition parties.

So the media should educatethe people to punish the rulers atfault, not bail them out by blamingall of the political class, as thatundermine the political class as awhole, for ever. It should not allowthe rulers to escape punishment.Is any one listening?

SECURITY

It cannot be that

democracy is good,

but elections are bad,

as there can be no

democracy without

elections.


TRADE IN AGRICULTURE

Outsourcing food productionWith large populations being displaced world over from land takeovers,and with World Bank aggressively promoting it, control over the foodchain is increasingly being passed into the hands of private investment.The political economy of food is certainly being rewritten, with graveimplications cautions DR. DEVINDER SHARMA.

A t the 150 th comme-moration of the IrishFamine held at Cork,

Ireland, I vividly recall the mayorof the city telling the audience:“How barbarian was the societythen that at a time when peoplewere dying of hunger andstarvation, corn was being loadedin ships for export to neighbouringBritain.” Nearly 160 years after thatgreat tragedy, the world ispreparing a fertile ground for yetanother, more sinister and barbaricact. This time, the world iswitnessing a race to invest inoverseas farmlands and turn theminto food estates.

In the name of food security,what is worrisome is that the globalfood production and distributionchannel is actually getting into thehands of a few internationalagribusiness companies with ties tohedge funds. With largepopulations being displaced worldover from such land takeovers, andwith World Bank aggressivelypromoting it, control over the foodchain is increasingly being passedinto the hands of privateinvestment. Many of the food andfinancial companies investing infarmlands around the world arealso bringing in their own farm

workers, production technologyand equipment.

It is happening around theworld. In India, Karnataka ispreparing to lift restrictions onpurchase of farm land in whatappears to be a misguided attemptto attract investments. Meanwhile,about 15 companies, led by thepubl ic-sector State TradingCorporation (STC), and includingGujarat Ambuja, Ruchi Soyaindustries and JhunjhunwalaVanaspati Ltd., are in the processof leasing 10,000 hectares ofproductive farmlands in Paraguay,

Uruguay and Brazi l in LatinAmerica, mainly to cultivatesoybean and oi lseeds. Indiancompanies are also moving intoBurma to undertake production ofpulses, and buying palm oilplantations in Indonesia. Australiaand Canada are next on the landshopping list.

National laws are beingsuitably amended. The IndianMinistry of Food and Agricultureis backing the outsourcinginitiative. The Reserve Bank ofIndia through the Exim Bank iscontemplating a change in the

AGRICULTURE


existing laws to provide loans tothese companies to purchase landabroad. Not only in India, nationallaws are also being rewrittenelsewhere — in Argentina,Mongolia, Australia, Russia, andmany other nations - to facilitatethe purchase of land overseas orallow foreign companies to buyland within their own borders.

In Pakistan, now in the throesof a food crisis, Prime MinisterYusuf Raza Gilani showedexuberance after his return from astate-visit to Saudi Arabia in mid-June. After all, in exchange for thedesperately needed foreigninvestment, he had reportedlyoffered to sell thousands ofhectares of productive farmlands.Meanwhile, Qatar is preparing tooutsource its food production toPakistan’s Punjab, where nearly25,000 villages are faced withdisplacement. Saudi Arabia is alsoplanning to acquire a 1.6 millionhectares food estate in Merauke inIndonesia to produce rice forexport back home.

Saudi Arabia is not the onlyGulf country looking for landelsewhere. A Gulf CooperationCouncil (GCC) has beenconstituted - with membershipfrom Saudi Arabia , Bahrain,Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Jordan andthe United Arab Emirates -scouting for overseas land in returnfor investments. Land deals havealready been struck with Laos,Indonesia, the Philippines,Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan,Thailand and Burma in Asia;Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia,Russia and Turkey in central Asia/Europe; and Sudan and Uganda inAfrica. Realising that oil revenuealone cannot feed their

populations, as seen in the recentglobal food crisis when fooddisappeared from the supermarketshelf, Gulf countries are investingfor future food security needs.

China is emerging as a majorplayer in this land grab. Afterhaving increasingly divested itsfarm population from agricultureand moving them into the cities,China is now on a land buyingspree. With some 30 land deals

already known to have been signed,mostly in Africa, Central Asia,Australia and the Philippines,China has also prepared anagricultural policy on outsourcingfood production. Most of thesedeals are being executed in a hush-hush manner. Interestingly, whileChina is looking for land outsideits territory, ag ribusinesscompanies from Japan, SouthKorea and America are takingcontrol over its own agribusinessactivities.

The population shift in China— pushing farmers out ofagriculture and moving them intothe cities — has taken a heavy tollof the social fabric, marred bysocial unrest, often bloody. ChinaDaily, the official organ of theChinese government, had reporteda massive increase in rural protests- from 10,000 a year some 11 yearsback to over 75,000 in 2005-06,which means roughly 250 protestsa day. Rapid industrialisation in thecountryside had played havoc with

China is now on a

land buying

spree. With some

30 land deals

already known to

have been signed

AGRICULTURE


a sustainable farming system,thereby necessitating the search forfarmland outside the country. Indiatoo, in a blind race to catch up withChina, is following the same faultyprescription.

Egypt, which recently wasfaced with food riots, stirred ahornet’s nest, when it was divulgedthat a deal was underway to lease840,000 hectares — amounting to2.2 per cent of Uganda’s farm land— for wheat and maize productionto be shipped back. Ironically, atthe same time, Egyptian farmersin Qena district were fighting along-drawn battle to recover 1600hectares of land owned by aJapanese ag ribusiness giant,Kobebussan. Many other countriesface the same dilemma - while theyare looking for land elsewhere,their own farmlands are beingtaken away by foreign companies.

According to a report, Seized:The 2008 Land Grab for Food andFinancial Security prepared by theBarcelona-based GRAIN, food

corporates from Japan - includingAsahi, Itochu, Sumitomo andMitsubishi - have between 2006-08leased and purchased land in China,Brazil, Africa, and central Asia fororganic food production. Nowonder, with Japan not allowingcorporates to own farmland, thesecompanies are looking for greenerpastures everywhere. South Korea,where the government issupporting outsourcing, is buyingland in pristine Mongolia, therebythreatening one of the world’snaturally endowed ecosystems.

Financial companies andothers have even been using bailoutpackages from variousgovernments to move into thisland grab. Goldman Sachs andDeutsche Bank are eyeing atakeover of China’s l ivestockindustry. Morgan Stanley haspurchased 40,000 hectares in theUkraine, where Landkom, theBritish investment group has alsobought 100,000 hectares. The twoSwedish investing firms, Black

Earth Farming and Alpcot-Agro,have purchased 331,000 hectaresand 128,000 hectares of farm landin Russia, respectively. SouthKorean giant Daewoo has broughtin the mother of all land-grabbingdeals; this month it unveiled a planto farm some 1.3 million acres inMadagascar - half the size ofBelgium - to produce corn andpalm oil.

The political economy of foodis certainly being rewritten, withgrave implications in store. Theglobal financial meltdown hadprivatised the profits, and socialisedthe losses. Outsourcing foodproduction will ensure foodsecurity for the investing country,and leave behind a trail of hunger,starvation and food scarcities forthe native populations. Only theenvironmental tab of the highlyintensive farming - devastated soils,dry aquifers, and an ecologicalsystem ruined by chemicalinfestation - will be left for the hostcountry to pick up.

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AGRICULTURE


Outsourcing irritationHUMOUR

As student of economics, let me make a frontal declaration: I favour outsourcing. However, in theIndian context, I find that it virtually absolves responsibility of both parties – one that seeksoutsourcing and the other that does the actual work. Let me also hasten to add a caveat: perhaps

an old man like me could be out of sync with the modern times. While cost cutting is the in thing today,cutting on services has been its unintended consequence. Here is my first hand experience with outsourcing,which could well be an exception, not the rule.

“Hello,” said the sweet voice at the other end and before I could react it went on “If you want a newconnection please press 1, if you want to …” I understood. It was an automated response to the calloffice of my cellular service provider. As the recorder placed a plethora of options before me, I wasperplexed. My range of complaints on my new cell connection meant that I virtually engaged everyoption. As I remained frozen in deep contemplation; the answering machine on its own diverted the callto the customer care officer. Some help for a beleaguered soul, I thought. The mellifluous music, whileon hold, seemed to shorten the 17 minutes wait for the officer. “This is Mohan sir from customer care.How can I help you?” Repeated answering seems to have taken its toll as he went about in a mechanicalmanner. “See I have a problem with my bill and,” I began elaborating. “Please ring our toll free number

1600,” Mohan went on adding another 8 or 10 numbers. “Slowly let me take down,”I pleaded as I reached out to a pen, which as luck would have it had run dry. Thepencil was, you guessed it right, blunt. “But surely you are the service provider andI am sure you can help me,” I said remonstratively. “Billing is not out focal area ofour operations sir, we have outsourced it,” said Mohan as he slammed down thephone. He was service personified.

After hours of trying the 24 hour toll free number, a young lady over thereinformed me that they were only in-charge of preparing and posting monthly bills.“Sir you need to contact the agency which gave you the connection. This issue is notour focal area of operations.” After some effort, I reached out to the vendor assuggested. “What’s your problem sir,” enquired the person over there. As I began

indicating my problem, the person at the other end butted in “This issue does not fall within our focalarea of operations. We merely process applications for new connections. We have strictly followed theguidelines issued by the service provider. I am sorry sir, but we cannot help. You need to contact theservice provider. By the way who directed you here?” I was livid and felt that I was a football kickedaround. All these meant firms outsource responsibilities, not processes, as I understood till date. I instructedthe service provider through a fax to disconnect my connection pronto.

Disconnection gave me instant relief. Not having a cell suddenly seemed to give me some space. Oh,how good it is to return to the simple old days. Consequently my thoughts returned and I realised that Iwould be savings on cell bills. Why not start a recurring deposit on the bill money saved, I thought as Ireached out to the neighbour bank. The PRO gave me a shock of my life. “Sir under know your customernorms prescribed by RBI, there is a number of formalities that needs to be completed. Since this is notthe focal area of our operations, we have outsourced them. You call 1600..” I rushed out of the bank. Bynow I knew I would be sucked into a black hole. While walking back home the words “not our focal areaof operations” seemed to haunt me. Is knowing ones customers and sorting out their inconvenience notthe focal area of operations of business organisations? More importantly, I want to start a society forprevention of cruelty to customers by outsourcing businesses. Anyone who has been a victim ofoutsourcing viz., cell phones bills; credit card statements, E-tickets, E-bookings, customer loans et all canjoin me here. Any takers?

M. R. VENKATESH


Whatever little safety measures were created since Independence has beendeliberately eroded since 1991 era of liberalization in the name of labourreforms finds SHIVA JI SARKAR.

N ew era of labour-oriented reform has tobegin; ill-treated worker

can’t be forced to work foremployer’s profit

Employers’ profit remains safeeither when the economy is inboom or doom. It is the workerwho suffers in both the cases. Theproductive employer i s notconsidered important input. He issupposed to be the mostdispensable and often useless of allthe “ingredients”. Whenever it hitsprofits, the employer has the easiestway of chucking the worker off.

Neither the industry nor thegovernment has taken any takenstep to create insurance for joblosses. Whatever li ttle safetymeasures were created s inceIndependence has been deliberatelyeroded since 1991 era ofliberalization in the name of labourreforms without changing the law.

More of such “reforms”meant the workers basic right wastrampled upon. The government asthe Marxist would say coalescedwith the capitalist employer. Theemployer’s right is always protectedand the worker allowed to starveif not die.

Nobody is sure how many jobsare being lost. The government hasadopted an ostrich-like policy and

LABOUR

would like people to believe thatjob loss is an elusion. The industrypattern of couching such losses aslay-off – temporary job loss, orkeeping the casual workers off theroaster is not officially treated as aloss of job.

The total job loss through2008 is estimated at a modest twoto three million to a staggering 10million. Both the figures arecorrect. About three million jobsare being lost in the organizedsector and another seven millionin the unorganized sectors thatdepend for their survival on theorganized sector.

Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII) secretary generalDK Nair says that over 700,000people have already lost their jobsthis year and another 500,000 more

could be laid off. According to himmany mills, particularly in thetextile and garment sector, arerunning at 75 per cent of theircapacity, have reduced shifts andrunning three to four days a week.

Still the employer grudges thathe does not have freedom to hireand fire. Hiring and firning is a rulein Indian context because thelabour department despite enoughlegal powers does not act. Theofficials are less honest and get

influenced by the employer.Often the polit ical boss alsoprevents them from taking actionwhen the worker is affected. Thelabour courts have become amockery. What more “reforms” anemployer would like to have?

The labour department is notknown to have effectively suedeven an employer for default indepositing the employees’*The writer is senior political and economic journalist and ex-Sr Editor,

The Financial Express


provident fund contribution to theEmployees Provident FundOrganisation. Nor they have takenany action for default in depositingthe contribution to EmployeesState Health InsuranceCorporation. An employer withpackets to distribute to officials cango scot-free. This has happened inall states including the Left Frontruled Kerala and West Bengal.

“For the world’s 1.5 billionwage-earners, difficult time lieahead”, says International LaborOrganisation (ILO) directorgeneral Juan Somavia. He alsodispenses with the view that the eraof liberalization saw wage increase.The ILO Global wage Report2008-09 says that between 1995and 2007, each additional 1 (one)per cent of growth per capita GDPlead to an average only a 0.75 percent annual increase in growth ofwages. As a result, in almost three-quarters of countries worldwidethe labour share in GDP hasdeclined.

The reports also says that since1995, inequality between thehighest and the lowest wages hasincreased in more than two-thirdsof countries surveyed, includingIndia, often reaching unsustainablelevels.

The policy makers andeconomists have ignored thisquotient. The new genre ofeconomists, unlike the ones in1950s of Prasant Mahalanobisschool, gave the labour and theirtrade unions a bad name and left itto fend for itself often sustainingthe worst treatment by theemployers. They turned regularjobs into contract ones gave raisesto lure them away from the legalsecurity net and then fired themwith impunity. All over the country

there are lakhs of such instances.No employer has been prosecutedfor blatant violation of the law.

The jobs have been lost in theUS too. It has reached a 16-yearhigh to touch 542,000. But so havethe cost on support system. Theworkers losing jobs get socialsecurity benefits to sustain theirliving.

India does not have any. Theworkers are leaving in droves fromcities like Hyderbad, Mubai, Surat,Kolkata to their villages. There issimilarity with them and theirbrothers in China. Both do nothave social security benefits. Thefamily comes to sustain them.

These workers are going backto increase the fold of farmlabourers further eroding incomes

in the rural areas. The agricultureemploys 52 per cent in 2007-08. Itis likely to go up at least to the levelof 1993-94 of 61 per cent if notthe level of 65 per cent in 1983-84.

Large industrial employers areresponsible for this grim situation.Since independence they have notallowed any job insurance or socialsecurity benefit to be built up.Liberalisation has come as a strongtool for them to further deprive thework force.

The employers forget thatwork force is the potentialconsumer. If they are notstrengthened the economy cannotbe strengthened. The Indianindustrialist unfortunately has been

extremely self-oriented with afeudal mindset. They do notconsider the work force to be theircompatriots.

Indian workers have lostduring the socialistic regimes as theemployers called them“bandicoots”, when they foughtfor their rights and in the

liberalized economy thoughall industrialists saw their owncoffers rising, the worker wasforced to cut on their basic wages.

A new era of reform has to beushered in. The government, ofany shade, has to care for theworkers. It has to usher in reformskeeping the labour in as theforemost priority. Sustainablegrowth that the Eleventh Plan aimsat would remain a distant dreamunless the reform process startswith increasing the benefits of theworking class. Mere GDP growthcannot be the objective if it doesnot translate into an all-roundgrowth and poverty alleviation.

It calls for policy re-orientation. The World Bank’s prorich and pro-stock market policieshave ushered in the present doom.It has not published publication ofthe World Development Reportthat was due in September. It isrecognition of its policyprescription failure. It is time a newpolicy formulation is createdtreating the labour as the primedevelopment force and takingpolicy prescriptions from the ILO.

The world is looking towardsIndia for the new prescription. Ifthe government the present or thenew one does it, it can be thebeginning of a change. All thatKarl Marx may have said may notbe correct but all that Keynes hassaid is also not correct. Labour hasto be given more weightage.

LABOUR

The employersforget that work

force is thepotential

consumer.


Protectionism, not free trade,will save the world economyAdoption of unrestricted free trade will lead to reduction of incomes of allthe workers of the world and make the crisis deepen. Protectionism willhelp revive the world economy, recommends Dr Bharat Jhunjhunwala

Leaders of G-20, with DrMan Mohan Singh inattendance, are seeking

solution to present g lobaleconomic crisis within the fourcorners of free trade. In doing sothey are presenting the disease asthe solution. Just as a bad doctorkeeps on increasing the dose ofantibiotics when the patient fails torespond and ultimately leads to hisdeath, so the leaders are pushingthe world into deeper recession byadvocating more free trade.

Demand in the marketbasically arises from ei therconsumption by workers or forinvestment in new technologies.Think of the world economy as avillage. Some demand for milk andvegetables, and bricks and cement

to make Foreign Investment in thedeveloping countries. For example,Microsoft first sold the WindowsXP software to Indian consumersat monopolistic prices and madehuge profits. The Company paidhuge salaries to its workers fromthis income. Employees ofMicrosoft, in turn, demandedBasmati rice from India andinvested in India-targeted MutualFunds. Adoption of free trade wasprofitable for the developed anddeveloping countries alike in thissituation. Developed countrieswere able to sell their advancedproducts like Windows XP andalso import Basmati rice fromIndia. They also got an opportunityto make foreign investments inIndia and make profits from theexports of Basmati rice and othercommodities. On the other hand,developing countries got access toWindows software and also madesome profi ts from export ofBasmati rice.

This happy circumstanceappears to have come to a standstillin the last 7-8 years. The lastdecisive technological inventionwas perhaps that of the internet.There has been no similarinvention since then. For example,Windows Vista has not grabbedthe market as Windows XP had.

will be created by the farmers’wanting to buy these things out oftheir incomes from sale of wheatand rice. In addition a demand maybe created for investment in newtechnologies such as a welder’sservices being demanded formaking a greenhouse. A good partof the global demand in the lastcentury has come frominvestments in new technologiessuch as assembly line for cars, jetairplane, atomic power, personalcomputer and internet. Theseinventions were mostly made in theWestern countries. These countriessold these pioneering products torest of the world at monopolyprices and became rich. They usedpart of the ensuing income toimport goods and part of the same

TRADE


In the result, developed countriesno longer are getting huge incomesfrom the export of monopolygoods like Windows XP. Free tradehas become an altogether differentgame in such a situation.Developing countries are able tosell their goods in the developedcountries because their cost ofproduction is less driven by lowwages. India can supply cheapservices l ike processing ofinsurance claims and China cansupply cheap footwear and toys.This has two opposite impacts onthe developed countries. On theplus side they get cheap goods andservices. On the minus side,American workers employed in theproduction of these services suchas processing of insurance claimsare rendered unemployed. Itappears the latter negative impactis more dominant at present times.This is the root cause of thepresent crisis.

American workers have losttheir jobs in large numbers. Theydid not have incomes to repay thehousing loans taken in anticipationof continuation of good incomesand secure jobs. American banksincurred huge losses due to thesedefaults. The disease has spread tothe developing countries. Ourexports of Basmati rice are hit.

The first solution to the crisissuggested by G-20 leaders is toenhance and deepen free trade.This will surely provide cheapergoods to the consumers of thedeveloped countries but also takeaway their jobs. The wages of allthe workers of the world will movetowards one common level.Presently an unskilled worker in theUnited States earns Rs 5,000 perday while his counterpart in India

earns about Rs 200 per day. Thetwo will move to a common level,say, between Rs 300-500 per day.This will be somewhat beneficialfor advanced developing countrieslike India. Their workers will gethigher incomes. But this will behugely harmful for the developedcountries. Their workers will facesteep reduction in their incomes.Accordingly, the present West-centered global economy will faltereven more by deepening of freetrade.

Second solution proposed byG-20 is for all countries to increasegovernment expenditures. In myreckoning such policies can soothethe dips in the short run if the longterm demand is sound and stable.However, such expenditurescannot help create demand in thelong term because presentexpenditures have to necessarilylead to the imposition of increasedtaxes later. A section ofeconomists in the U.S. stronglyopposed the $70 billion bailout toLehman Brothers precisely for thisreason. They argued that thebailout will ultimately impose anadditional burden of about $2000per person on American citizenswho are already in distress. Theincreased expenditures proposedby G-20 are similar in nature. Theyare like drip of glucose. It is goodto give a drip to the patient if he isbasically responding to themedications. But one cannot treata patient by keeping him on dripfor years. The G-20 prescriptionhas no clue about the regenerationof long term demand henceincreased expenditures will lead tomore pain in future even if theyprovide some immediate relief.

Third solution proposed by

G-20 is to make available greateramounts of money to the IMF tobailout developing countries indistress. I fail to understand howthis will reduce the pressure ofcheap goods on the developedcountries which is the main causeof present crisis. Further, thedeveloped countries are themselvesentering into a recession. They willscarcely be able to provide hugemonies to save the developingcountries. A factory that has nobuyers for its goods cannot berevived by giving bailout packages.Similarly developing countriescannot be saved by giving loanswhen there are no takers for goodsproduced by them. The proposedbailout packages will be, at best, likeaspirin.

Protectionism will help revivethe world economy, not free trade.The basic requirement is to raisewages and purchasing power ofthe workers. It is necessary toprevent import of cheap goodsfor this to happen. Countries thatadopt protectionism will be ableto raise incomes of their workersand, in the next cycle, import somegoods from rest of the world on acalibrated and long term basis. Onthe other hand, adoption ofunrestricted free trade will lead toreduction of incomes of all theworkers of the world and makethe crisis deepen. Theprescriptions on G-20 fail on thebasic question: Where will the longterm demand come from in faceof lower wages due to increasedfree trade? We must push for anew world order defined byprotectionism and calibrated globaltrade instead of blindly walkingthe course of free-for-allglobalization.

TRADE


POWERING THENORTHEAST REGION

Promoting

energy

generation

from new

and

renewable

sources

Rural electrification in theremote northeasternregion of the country,

including Sikkim, poses a greatchallenge. Some initial efforts havebeen made by promoting energygeneration from new andrenewable sources, but more needsto be done.

So far, 708 remote villages andhamlets have been electrifiedthrough renewable sources andprojects in 1,167 remote villagesand hamlets are underimplementation in variousnortheastern states. The RuralElectrification Corporation hasidentified 2,710 remote villages andhamlets where grid connectivity isneither feasible nor cost-effective.The state governments have beenrequested to prepare proposals forelectrification of these villages.

A special 10% budgetaryallocation has been made by theUnion government for theelectrification of the northeasternregion under various renewableenergy programmes since 1997-98.Rs 48.3 crore was allocated in 2007-08 as budgetary support. Smallhydropower projects are also beingdeveloped both in grid-connectedas well as decentralised mode forwhich a special incentive packagehas been developed. So far, 126small hydropower projects with anaggregate capacity of 185 mw havebeen set up in the region and 77projects aggregating 93 mw areunder implementation.

In 2007-08, seven new projectsof 8 mw aggregate capacity weresanctioned in Arunachal Pradesh.One existing project in Manipur,Gelnel, of 300 kw capacity hasbeen taken up for renovation andmodernisation. A number ofelectricity generating water mills

and pico hydro projects are beingset up in villages of Nagaland,Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram andManipur. Assam has announced apolicy for setting up smallhydropower projects involving theprivate sector.

Solar photovoltaic (SPV)-based home-lighting systems havefound their way to the northeast.The Union government sanctioned23 SPV power plants in Meghalayain 2002-03 for the electrification of24 villages. Of the SPV powerplants commissioned in 2004-06,one with a capacity of 26 kw catersto two villages: Nonghali andNongtyrklang in Mawryngknengblock of East Khasi Hills district.The village council has set up avillage committee to look after thefunctioning of the plants. Amonthly charge of Rs30 per lightpoint is being collected, of whichthe village committee retains Rs 15and the remaining amount isdeposited with the MeghalayaRenewable Energy DevelopmentAuthority.

Some 80% of the villages inTripura were to be covered throughgrid-based electrification.However, only 55% of thepopulation has access to electricity.In 2003-04, the Union governmentsanctioned two projects for basiclighting facilities in 30 villages and488 hamlets through SPV home-lighting systems and about 12,000home-lighting systems have beenalready provided.

In 2007-08, 8,100 solar home-lighting systems, 320 street-lightingsystems and 32,208 solar lanternswere allocated under the SPVdemonstration programme to thenortheastern region. Support hasbeen given to install six solar waterheating systems of cumulativeASHOK B SHARMA

ENERGY


capacity of 4,500 litre per day inSikkim. The proposals to install 20water heating systems in Mizoramand solar dryers of 500 kg perbatch capacity for dryingturmeric—one each in 20 villagesin eight districts—are beingconsidered by the Uniongovernment.

In Assam, 15 test projects inremote villages are underimplementation to provideelectricity through biomassgasifiers, coupled with 100%producer gas engines, cookingenergy needs to improve cookstoves, cattle dung-based biogasplants and motive power throughbiofuel operated engines.

Three biomass gasifier systemswith an aggregate capacity of 600kwe were installed in Nagaland in

2007-08 to meet electricity needs.The National Biogas & ManureManagement Programme is beingimplemented in northeastern Indiaand 1,719 family biogas plants havebeen set up in 2007-08.

The wind power programmein the region is not viable due to

low potential. Assessments forwind potential were carried out in24 sites and 23 stations wereinstalled in the region, of whichthree were closed down in Tripuraand two in Assam after completingtwo years. All stations were foundto be less windy except P Leikul inAssam.

However, in 2006-07 theUnion government approvedsetting up 20 new stations with 50m masts in all northeastern states,including Sikkim. Small windenergy systems, namely waterpumping windmills, aero-generators and wind-solar hybridsystems are being implemented inAssam and Sikkim. Threewindmills have been set up inAssam and 10 aero-generators havebeen set up in Sikkim.

ENERGY

Solar photovoltaic

(SPV)-based

home-lighting

systems have

found their way to

the northeast.

Rural Electrification in remote areas particularlynorth eastern regions of the country poses a challenge.


Interests of the unemployedWill Mr Obama, a left-leaning suspect in the eyes of the conservatives, carryforward a radical programme? Can he take on the establishment in theeconomic sphere? Therein lies the answer to the problems we are facingtoday. The US as the leader of the world is both a cause of the problems anda possible source of solutions, thinks ARUN KUMAR

UNEMPLOYMENT

Against all odds, Mr BarackObama has won thePresidency of the US only

to be confronted withextraordinary odds —incomparably greater than thosefaced by any recently elected USPresident. Economically, sociallyand politically, the country and theworld are in a state of deep crisis.The US as the leader of the worldis both a cause of the problems anda possible source of solutions.Without the US being a part of anysolution, it is unlikely that theworld, as it is, will be able to resolveits problems. In this sense, it is saidthe whole world should have a votein the US presidential elections.

The G-20 heads met under theleadership of a lame-duck USPresident, Mr Bush, in a largelyfutile talking exercise. Our ownPrime Minister made noises abouthow he saw the crisis coming whiletill the other day he was saying thatthere is no crisis; does credibilitymatter. Mr Obama did notparticipate, perhaps due to hisirreconcilable differences with MrBush who only talked of the freemarkets. Mr Obama’s presencemay have given the wrong signalsand made his own task more

difficult when he takes over in twomonths. However, this delay couldbe very expensive.

Not only is the economicweight of the US so large that itdetermines world economic eventsbut its financial and political cloutsways other countries politically

and socially as well. It draws thebest in the world to its universitiesand think tanks and leads all othersin research in almost all fields.Thus, it is able to set the agendafor the entire world in intellectualterms and also because it haslobbies pushing for its interest inalmost all parts of the world. Itdominates the multilateral agenciesand that is another importantsource of its influence. From issuesof poverty removal, research in

heal th, agenda for theenvironment, nature of thefinancial architecture, fight againstterrorism and money laundering,etc, the US moulds world events.

To be able to lead in such anextraordinarily complex world onsuch a broad front requires

statespersonship of a high orderamong the leaders. This has beenmissing for decades. The US and,following its lead, most othergovernments in the world havebeen governed by narrowly definedshort-term self-interest. One maysay, what is new? But in a far morecomplex world, old ways will notdo. Narrowness of approach is arecipe for disaster and pay-backtime has now come. The world aswe have known it can hardly


survive.All the above listed problems

have a common source, a belief ina narrowly defined national andindividual interest, based on greedand unlimited exploitation. Thus,respect for nature and other peoplehas been at a discount. While thiswas tolerated earlier, today this hasserious implications, especially atthe economic plane and now weare confronted with a collapse forwhich no one has an answer.

The governments all over theworld are scrambling with packagesto sa lvage their financialinstitutions and their economies.Huge sums of money are on offer(capital injection, loans, etc.) —amounting to about $5 trillion. Thefinancial bubble, which is in theprocess of collapse and is draggingdown the real economy, was a resultof deregulation of the financialmarkets and an undiluted pursuitof lucre and the resulting massivedisparities in society.

The financial assets created (inhundreds of trillions of dollars)were a multiple of the size of thereal world economy (around 60trillion dollars) so that the latterdoes not have the resources toresolve the problems created by theformer. Governments can neitherreplicate the markets nor theirintervention is adequate to stop thefinancial bubble from collapsing.

The financial bubble consistsof borrowings and lending byvarious economic entities. As thebubble deflates, while asset valuesdecline, the liabilities remain.Hence institutions develop hugeholes in their balance sheets. Sincethe various financial entities areinterlinked through borrowing andlending, as one institution collapses

and is unable to pay its lenders, thelatter runs into problems and thisricochets to yet others leading tofurther collapse. A vicious cyclesets in and institutions lose trustin each other and stop lending toothers and instead try toaccumulate capital to cover theirown declining asset base. Themoney given by the governmentgoes to support their own assetbase with little lent to anyone else.

While the build-up of thefinancial bubble is gradual andsystematic, its collapse is suddenand chaotic and that is why it isbeyond anyone’s control. Releaseof liquidity and cuts in interestrates do not spur investments andthe economy enters a “liquiditytrap”. In this scenario, it appearsinevitable that the financial marketswould collapse and nothing in theshort run can save them.

Unfortunately, businesses areinter-linked, a large number of thefirms dealing in real products andservices also were involved in thefinancial markets to invest theirfunds or to cover their risk (say, inforeign exchange). These firms arealso suffering losses. Further, theyare confronted with a slow- downin demand and a tightening of thecredit markets since borrowing andlending has frozen. Thus, thegrowth rate of the real outputwhich had already started decliningin 2007 is now in negative territoryover large parts of the advancedworld.

Consequently, unemploymentis rising dramatically all over theglobalised world. This is going tobring real pain to a vast majorityof the people while the collapse ofthe financial world hits only a smallpercentage of the rich and the

upper middle class populations.The collapse of the latter isinevitable but if the formercollapses, it would be catastrophic.The choice before thegovernments is clear — shouldfunds be thrown into thebottomless pit of the financialsector without any real benefits orshould they be used to retrieve thereal economy and keep it going?

The US government is anestablishment run by variousvested interests, and the financialsector interests are deeplyentrenched in it — they have beenrunning the Treasury and the Fedfor long. Their interest is seen asthe main interest. That is why thepoor are not getting help with theirhouses or General Motors is notgetting $25 billion while AIG hasgot $150 billion. Mr Obama wouldhave to overcome this bias in policyand put together a radically newplan. This would require him tochange his set of advisers andthose in the establishment, but thatis easier said than done.

Mr Obama’s win was likeclimbing Mount Everest, but canone do so everyday? Or, havingclimbed it once, can that become ahabit? The world needs it to be so.Will Mr Obama, a left-leaningsuspect in the eyes of theconservatives, be cautious and playsafe? This would be tragic sincethere is no option but to carryforward a radical programme. Hisself-imposed limits will determinehis achievements or failures andthose of the world in the comingyears. If he could take on theestablishment in the economicsphere, there would be hope thathe could also do so in other aspectsof life. The Tribune, Nov. 20, 2008.

UNEMPLOYMENT


Homages Paid to Hutatma Baba Genu

Glorious tributes were paid toHutatma Baba Genu on his

martyrdom day in different partsof the country. In Jamnagar Gujarata function to the effect was held on12 December 2008. A large numberof people attended the function andpaid tributes to the great martyr.State co convener Sh. Ramesh BhaiDave and city convener sh.Gyanender Singh spoke about thelife of Baba Genu.

In the central office of SJM inNew Delhi an impressive functionwas held on 15th of December. Asa part of the fuction a talk followedby question answer session on theon going Global Financial Crisiswas also held.

Recalling the circumstances inwhich Hutatma Baba Genusacrificed his life, Sh. Ajay Bharti,Editor Swadeshi Patrika said thatonly a person with unadulteratedloyalty to the nation can performsuch a deed. Baba Genu, he saidwas not from any strong economicbackground. He had lost his fatherearly in his life and it was the

mother who bought up thechildren by taking up the menialjobs. One could only realize eventoday the availability ofemployment avenues in a smallvillage of early twentieth century ,he added.

Throwing further light on hisearly days, Ajay Bharti , said thatBaba Genu belonged to theMahatung Padwal village of Punethat was near to the vaillage ofanother revolutionary Rajguru acompanion of Amar ShaheedBhagat Singh. Poverty forcedGenu to shift to Mumbai wherehe worked as a labour in a mill. Hewas highly influenced by theSwadeshi ideology propagated byMahatma Gandhi.

On the fateful day Baba Genuhad organized protest rally to stopthe foreign goods being takenfrom shipyard to the market place.When a truckful of foreign goodswas ready to move, volunteerscame in front to stop itsmovement. Irritated police officeMr. Frazer ordered driver Balbir

Singh to drive the vehicle over theprotesters. He refused flately.Britsh Officer himself drove thetruck injuring Baba Genu badly.Baba breathed his last at around4.30 PM. It was the determinedeffort of Baba Genu to stopeconomic exploitation of hiscountrymen that is inspiring andforces generations to rememberthis great son of nation and urgesus to follow his path the speakerconcluded.

Sh. Deepak Sharma Pardeepinitiated the discussion on thetopic “Global Meltdown and itsconsequences for India”. He gavedetailed figures to stress thespeculative nature of financialcrisis. Based on the introductionby sh. Pardeep ji participants raisedseveral questions which wereanswered by Sh. Jagdish Shettigar.Sh. Balashankar, the Editor ofOrganiser concluded thediscussion by summing up theproceedings. A detailed report ofthe discussion will be published inthe next issue of the Patrika.

REMEBRANCE


The Akhil BharatiyaVidyarthi Parishad(ABVP) organised a

massive anti-infiltration rally inKishanganj. The rally wasorganised to highlight the issue ofillegal infiltration of Bangladeshisinto the country, especially Bihar.Over 50,000 ABVP cadre andsympathisers drawn from all-overthe country had assembled inKishanganj, where il legalinfiltration has been taking place onan alarming scale.

The rally was an effort to makepeople aware of the il legalBangladeshi infil tration inKishanganj and Bihar,” said theABVP president Ram NareshSingh. Organising secretary ofABVP B Surendran and nationalsecretary.

More than 50,000 studentsassembled at the ABVP rally heretoday against illegal Bangladeshiinfiltration at Ruidhasa Groundsdemanded to completely seal theIndia-Bangladesh border and puta check on infiltration.

The students who came fromall over the country also warned theUPA government to stopproviding shelter to the infiltratorsand give top priority to the nationalinterest. Shouting slogans againstthe infiltrators the studentsstressed the need to save theeastern India today otherwise itwould be difficult to save the entirecountry tomorrow.

The rally started by payingtribute to the people died in therecent Mumbai terrorist attacks.The rally was presided over by

Massive Rally against Bangla InfiltrationsABVP asks Centre to stop illegal infiltration

ABVP national president Dr RamNaresh Singh. ABVP generalsecretary Suresh Bhatt, convenerof the movement againstBangladeshi infiltration SunilKumar Bansal, ABVP nationalorganizing secretary SunilAmbekar, ABVP national vicepresidents Milind Marathe and JaiKumar also shared the dais.

After the rally a high leveldelegation of ABVP leaders underthe leadership of Shri Ram NareshSingh met the local Collector andpresented him a memorandum forthe Prime Minister Dr ManmohanSingh. The memorandum urgedthe Prime Minister to take allpossible steps to detect and deportthe infiltrators.

The speakers at the rallydemanded strict action against theBangladeshi infiltrators. Shri SunilAmbekar said Bangladesh hadbecome a hub of anti-Indiaactivities. Bangladesh has definitelybecome a helping place for all theterrorist activities organized byPakistan. He said when the peopleare talking about terrorism, theworld community has to look at the

present activities of Bangladeshand they should take strictinitiatives against it.

Shri Suresh Bhatt saidinfiltration is not an instantaneousproblem, rather it is going on forthe last 30 years and the state aswell as the Central governments aresilent over it. He warned the stateand the Central governments if theABVP is able to gather such amassive student rally at ChickenNeck strip they should not feel thatthe students would spare theParl iament and the StateAssemblies.

Shri Sunil Kumar Bansal saidwherever there is any problem inthe country the Vidyarthi Parishaddoes not only register its protestby organizing demonstrates butalso directly reaches the place tofind a reasonable solution to theproblem. He said the problem ofBangladeshi infiltration is notrelated to any region or thecommunity but it is a nationalproblem and it should be treatedlike this. He termed it a wellplanned conspiracy ofBangladesh.

INFILTRATION


MAHILA KARYAKARTA SAMMELLANOrganized by Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram

Kripa Prasad Singh, Joint Gen. Sec. ABVKA

An all India MahilaKaryakarta Sammellanwas organized at Ranchi

from 18th to 21st Dec. 2008 byAkhil Bhartiya Vanvasi KalyanAshram (ABVKA). 2264 delegatesfrom all the Vanvasi populatedareas and Kalyan Ashramcommittees participated in theconference.

A beautiful, informative andeducative exhibition wasinaugurated on 18 th December2008 at 11am by Srimati JaysreeDevi A gond tribe Rani ofVidarbha, Maharashtra. Sri MorenSingh Purti Vice president and SriKripa Prasad Singh,jt.Gen.Sec.Srimati Madhvi joshi, Mahilaworking in charge graced theoccasion. Srimati Girja Biyani,Pushpa Patwardhan and her teammanaged the exhibition. Vanyasouvenir was published on thisoccasion edited by smt. Snehalataand smt. Shasi Modi. Shasi

presented a brief report of Vanyabefore delegates in the conference.Conference was inaugurated bySadhvi Maitreyi yati a famousfemale saint of saffron group,Haridwar, Sri Jagdeoramoraon,president ABVKA. SriMoren Singh Purti, Smt MadhviJoshi, Rani Jayashri Devi werepresent on the dais.

Sammellan started with animpressive Sangathan Mantra“sambadha dhwam,samgachha

Dhwam” and deepa prajwalanbefore the portrait of BharatMata,Lord Ram and K.A. founderBalasaheb Despande.

Sri Gunvant Singh Kothari,Gen.Sec, Sri Jagdeoram Oraon,President, Ma.Mohan BhagawatRSS sarkaryawah, Sushri GeetaGunde, ABVP, Pramila Tai Medhe,Sevika Samiti, Sri Jetha Nag,President, Jharkhand unit, KumariBudhri Tanti,Baster,ShushriNivedita Bhide,Vivekananda

Kendra,Kanyakumari andDr.Shushma Priya, RMCH, Ranchi[Reception committee] addressedthe delegates in different sessionson different issues of Womenempowerment.

A beautiful Shobha Yatra wasorganized before the open sessionof the Sammellan in which 20thousand tribal womenparticipated on the HHC ground,Ranchi.

Very attractive tribal danceswere presented on the stage bydifferent tribal groups in the

Session. Education, healthcare, economic development, ruralsports, preservation of forest andenvironment, girl child educationwere focused in the open session.Delegates were warned againstconversion, Bangladeshi migrants,blind faith and intoxication.Resolutions were passed on tribalwomen economic condition,health, malnutrition, SHGpromotion, and migration of tribalgirls for jobs in towns like Delhiand Mumbai. Supporters likeIDRF ,SPLTrust, KAT, SewaInternational, Hindu Society ofCanada and Jhandewalan DeviMandir Trust were appreciated byKalyan Ashram. president in themeeting. He mentioned that5,42,216 patients treated by KalyanAshram. workers during the yearand students taking education inK.A. projects are 1,20,612.

Meeting was concluded withthe blessings of Sadhvi Varunayatti and Vandematram Nationalsong.

WOMEN POWER


Cow: A source of pollution or wealth?

An FAO report alleges thatlivestock generate greenhouse

gases. Antagonists of cattle allegethat to produce one litre of milk, 990litres of water are consumed. Theyconveniently ignore that greenhousegases emitted by cattle are a sourceof wealth says Ravi Shankar.

A RECENT report of the Foodand Agriculture Organisation (FAO)of the UN has given the opponentsof cow a new issue to mount apropaganda campaign. In thisreport, the FAO has stated thatlivestock contribute a big chunk ofthe greenhouse gases to theatmosphere. The FAO reportentitled ’Livestock’s long shadow’,states that the world’s 1,530 millionheads of cattle contribute more toglobal warming than its 900 millioncars and commercial vehicles. Thegas from livestock flatulence andmanure is estimated to account for27 per cent of global warming andthe high methane content is reportedto be 23 times more ’warming’ thancarbon dioxide.

According to the 17th livestockcensus, our country has 285 millionheads of cattle accounting for over18 per cent of the world’s cattlepopulation. Citing this as the biggestproblem, antagonists of cow havestarted to remark that “even in theface of overwhelming evidence it isunlikely that India’s politicians andadministrators can muster thepolitical will to reduce the cattlepopulation”. They are also worriedabout the low meat production.

It is true that cattle dungcontributes to the greenhouse gasesin the form of methane. But howshould this problem be solved?

Should we also debate whether taxshould be levied on cattle a la UKwhich is reportedly seriouslydebating levy of a ’fart tax’ on allcattle and sheep to reduce theirnumbers? Should we place more andmore emphasis on meat productionby killing the cattle? However, thosewho support killing of cattle claim

that the contribution of cattle to therural economy is marginal and theproduction of one litre of milkconsumes 990 litres of water. Thismakes for a very difficult moralchoice as India may have to choosebetween the sacred cow and the holyGanga. The facts are against them.First of all we’ll take up the issue ofenvironment.

While talking about the FAOreport we should not overlook theother side. Nobody is concernedabout what measures are taken inother countries. Let us look at ourneighbour, Nepal. It has beencomputed that gas generated fromcattle dung in rural Nepal has litaround 140,000 kitchens, saving400,000 tonnes of firewood, 800,000litres of kerosene and preventing600,000 tonnes of greenhouse gasesfrom escaping into the atmosphere.The project, known as the BiogasSupport Programme (BSP), Nepal,has been implemented in 66 of thenation’s 75 districts. The schemerecently won the renowned AshdenAward of GBP 30,000 (Rs. 25,

50,000) for sustainable energy. Onthe international front, the BSP hasbeen able to “sell” to industrialisedcountries the savings made inemission of carbon dioxide andmethane gas. These nations can buysuch “credits” to compensate for theextra greenhouse gases they produceover the allowances stipulated in theKyoto Protocol, the global climatetreaty. Each BSP biogas plant is saidto save some 4.6 tonnes ofgreenhouse gases from entering theatmosphere every year.

The by-product from a plant’sdigester is compost and manurewhich contribute nothing to thegreenhouse effect. The trading ofgreenhouse gases has been madepossible by the Clean DevelopmentMechanism established under theUnited Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change. Inline with this mechanism, the WorldBank is buying USD five millionworth of greenhouse gas emissionssaved by the BSP. The project is alsolooking at clinching more deals withother western institutions as it plansto add 200,000 biogas plants by 2009in rural Nepal, where cattle-raisingis the basic means of livelihood.

This proves that the greenhousegases emitted by the cattle are not asource of pollution; instead they arean enormous source of wealth andprosperity. In India we are facing amajor power crisis and in our ruralareas power grid line is a daydream.We can overcome this situation byusing our enormous livestockwealth. Like Nepal, we can alsopromote biogas plants and save alarge amount of money as well asour atmosphere.

COW

cow picture


National

IRDA contemplatesinsurance products in

vernaculars

The Insurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority (IRDA)said it is mulling developinginsurance products in vernaculars.“It is a suggestion. Languages ofthe products and mechanics of thewhole thing evolve through aprocess of interaction between theregulatory body, counsel andindividual companies,” IRDAChairman J Hari Narayan toldreporters here at the CII HealthInsurance Summit.

At present, insurance productsare sold in English. On claimsettlements, the regulator said 70-75 per cent of the claims are settledin the year they have been filed. Theregulator has asked third-partyadministrators and insurancecompanies to build up IT-basedsystems to process data quickly andefficiently, he said. “We wantcompanies to establish their owninternal systems for grievances andcomplaint redress and make themvery robust,” Hari Narayan said.

If the policyholder is notgetting good service frominsurance companies, he canapproach the ombudsmen indifferent parts of the country andseek redress, he said. There are 12

ombudsmen in the country. Thechairman expects the “terror pool”of insurance products to widen as“we go along”. “So far no claimshave been filed. I expect certainclaims would be (made). And wewill know whether the current poolis sufficient or not only after thoseclaims are filed,” he said.

Reliance launches GSMmobile services

Anil Ambani-led RelianceCommunications announced the

rollout of GSM mobile services,which will be available in 11,000towns countrywide. Announcingthe rollout, Mr. Ambani toldreporters that the company hasinvested over Rs 10,000 crore in theproject, which was completed sixmonths ahead of schedule.Reliance Communications mobileusers will now have a choice ofboth CDMA and GSM services,Ambani said, adding, “the projectwas completed within 15 months”,six months ahead of schedule.

Arresting power ofPolice striped

The eight Bills passed by LokSabha on December 23 without adebate in 17 minutes included aradically revamped CriminalProcedure Code, which divests the

police of the usual arrest powersin all cases where the maximumpossible sentence is seven years orless. Since the CrPC amendmentBill had been cleared earlier byRajya Sabha on December 18, it isall set to pass into law oncePresident Pratibha Patil gives herassent.

Instead of arresting theaccused, the police will now beobliged to issue him a “notice ofappearance” for any offencepunishable with imprisonment upto seven years, which — as ithappens — is the maximumpenalty prescribed under Section124 of Indian Penal Code forassaulting a President.

Seven years or less is also themaximum penalty for a host ofother offences, including attemptto commit culpable homicide(Section 308) or robbery (Section393), voluntarily causing grievoushurt (Section 325), cheating(Section 420), outraging a woman’smodesty (Section 354) and death

caused by negligence (Section304A).

The notice of appearance castsa duty on the accused person toappear before the police and“cooperate” with the investigation.It is only if he fails to comply withthe terms of the notice that thequestion of arresting him will arise.


National

Under the new law ifauthorities are still particular aboutarresting somebody in the firstinstance, then the police willspecially have to give reasons forthat in writing in court.

Rs 1,80,000 crore in27 Days

In just 27 days from October11, the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) infused cash in the bankingsystem equivalent to 3% of India’sGDP estimate for this fiscal year.The liquidity infused now — Rs1,80,000 crore — is Rs 20,000 croremore than what the central bankhad mopped up. The flood of cashis around 78% of the government’stota l plan expenditure of Rs2,05,100 crore for this fiscal.

The government, on the otherhand, decided to spend an extra Rs20,000 crore this fiscal, besides

concentrating on efficientlyspending Rs 300,00 crore beforeMarch to stimulate growth. Thedecision to cut taxes and spendextra throughout the fiscal to boostthe economy is equivalent toanother 2% of India’s GDPestimate, as per the financeministry. The four percentage pointexcise duty cut cost the exchequerRs 8,700 crore, while benefits toexporters are worth Rs 2,000 crore.

This liquidity and more hasbeen re-introduced in the systembetween October 11 andNovember 8 by three successiverate cuts totalling 350 basis pointsand releasing Rs 140,000 crore inthe banking system. A cut in CRRgives the banks enough headroomto lend for short and long term.CRR is now 5.5%.

Wine in DepartmentalStores

Not content with theliberalized issuance and subsequentopening of wine stores, thegovernment is contemplating to

allow departmental stores to sellwines after they acquire licencesfrom respective state governments.“We are working towards easingregulation on wine production andconsumption in the country.Availability of wine would be thefirst step in this direction. Thegovernment is willing to spreadwine culture among people andpromote vineyards in the country,”an official in the ministry of foodprocessing has been quoted bymedi, who wished not to benamed.

To give impetus to wineproduction and its promotion, thefood processing ministry has alsoset up a National Wine Board.

The ministry argues thatpromotion of wine culture will leadto agricultural diversification andemployment generation in ruralIndia. India’s wine market, whichis 1.2 million cases, has beengrowing at 40% this year comparedwith 2007, he added.NASA’s Chandrayaanpayload hits a mine field

An experiment onboardIndia’’s maiden moon mission —Chandrayaan-I — has found iron-bearing minerals in abundance onthe lunar surface, initial reportssuggest. Moon Mineralogy Mapper(M3) instrument of NationalAeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA) hasbeamed back images of theOrientale Basin on the westernlimb of the moon.

An analysis of the imagesindicates abundance of iron-bearing minerals such as Theimages were captured by the M3during the commissioning phaseof Chandrayaan-1, launched onOctober 22, as the spacecraftorbited the moon at an altitude of100 km. M3 is one of the 10instruments onboard theunmanned Chandrayaan,conducting experiments while thespacecraft orbits over the moonnext two years.


International

US faces deepproblems, OECD

The US economy is still facing“sharp downside risks” to growth,according to the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD). The Paris-based organisation warns that thecredit squeeze has been spreadingto other forms of lending, andother financial firms could becomeinsolvent. It says that another fiscalstimulus could be needed if thingsget worse. But it warns that longerterm problems, including healthcare reform and the US budgetdeficit, must be tackled.

Obama’s challenge

The OECD paints a grimpicture of the challenges facing theincoming Obama administration,which takes office on 20 January.It says that “the US economy isgoing through an exceptionallydifficult period” and despite majorpolicy interventions, it is likely that“activity will get worse before itgets better”.

The OECD suggests that theweakness will continue well into2010. It also warns that “houseprices appear to have further to falland foreclosures are widelyexpected to rise.”

The real economy todecline through 2010

The decline in householdwealth of about 20%, due to fallsin the stock and housing markets,is likely to affect spending andhousehold consumption.

The OECD broadly endorsesthe need for a further stimulusplan, saying that “macroeconomicpolicy should stand ready toprovide a renewed stimulus”.

But it warns that, “given theunderlying fiscal situation, thepackage should aim to be strictlytemporary, timely and targeted” -an approach that appears to differfrom the plan for big infrastructureprojects that Pres ident-electObama has talked about.

And it adds that in the longerterm, “the ageing of thepopulation and other trends putthe Federal budget on anunsustainable course” and says thatincreased tax revenue and controlson spending will be needed.

Financial disruption

The OECD says that“resolving the financial crisis couldbe a long drawn-out process”,which could require substantial

government spending just as inprevious banking crises.

It says that the “full effects ofthe forceful easing of monetarypolicy will only be felt afterfinancial market conditionsnormalise”.

So it argues that big rate cutsby the US central bank, the Fed,“appear to be roughly appropriatein light of the adverse effect on realactivity” of the credit squeeze, andsays that “monetary policy shouldremain highly accommodative forquite some time to support theeconomy and the financial system”.

However, it warns that in thelong run, the regulatory systemneeds to be fundamentallyreformed, or else the rescue oftroubled financial institutions“could inadvertently serve toencourage imprudent behaviour”in the future.

“A major overhaul of

regulatory and supervisory policyis necessary to remedy thedeficiencies in oversight that thecrisis revealed,” the report says.

It also calls for reform of thesupervision of mortgage brokers,underwriters and credit agencies toprotect borrowers and investors.

And i t says, morecontroversially, that in the long-term “it would be preferable toleave the securitisation of


International

mortgages to the private sector,”eliminating or reducing the role ofthe big government-sponsoredagencies, Fannie Mae and FreddieMac, which were effectivelynationalised by the governmentearlier this year.

Health care reform

The OECD report has aspecial chapter highlighting theproblems of the US health caresystem, which was much debatedduring the recent electioncampaign.

It points out that, despitespending 15% of GDP, “the healthstatus of the US population doesnot appear to fare well byinternational comparison”.

The OECD endorses the goalof the Obama administration inmaking progress towardsproviding health care insurance forall Americans.

However, it appears to givesupport to the plan proposed by

his electoral rival, John McCain, toreplace tax subsidies to employerswith subsidies to individuals tochoose their own health plans thatwould not be tied to their jobs.

It says the current system isregressive and encourages peopleto buy expensive plans, as well asreducing job mobility.

But i t also suggests thatreforms suggested by president-elect Obama, such as a requirementto have health insurance, andregulating insurance companiesmore tightly so they must acceptall applicants, “are likely to benecessary to expand coveragesubstantially”.

And it warns that thegovernment will have to take toughmeasures to control costs in state-run Medicare system of healthinsurance for older people.

World Bank forecasts agrim 2009

The World Bank has painted a

grim picture of the global economyin 2009, with growth weakening toa crawl and trade volume falling forthe first time in 26 years. In its“Global Economic Prospects”report, the multilateral institutionforecast the global economy wouldexpand a mere 0.9 per cent nextyear and world trade volume wouldfall 2.1 per cent.

Developing countries’economies would likely expand atan annual pace of 4.5 per centwhile wealthier, developedeconomies are expected to contract0.1 per cent, the multilateraldevelopment lender said.

“We know that, in developing

countries, every 1.0 per centreduction in the growth rate willmean around 20 million people lostthe opportunity to get out ofpoverty,” Lin said at a newsconference at the bank’sheadquarters in Washington.

1000 workers handedmarching orders by Jet

Jet quietly sacked 1000 in Sept

Much before its sack order to 1,900employees turned into a publicitynightmare, Jet Airways had handedmarching orders to 1,000 workersand even managed to keep it underwraps.

According to informedsources, Jet Airways CEOWolfgang Prock-Schauer had toldinvestors that the company wasable to synergise better between fullservice Jet Airways and budgetairlines JetLite after trimming itsstaff.

“On the staff numbers, wehave reduced the headcount inSeptember by further 1,000 entriesand now able to synergise theoperations between Jet andJetLite,” the sources said quotingProck-Schauer.

During September, Jet Airwayshad anounced that JetLite offeredvoluntary separation scheme to 687employees.


WTO

WTO chief postpones meeting onglobal trade deal

GENEVA: WTO head Pascal Lamy late on Mondaypostponed a ministerial meeting to nail down a long-awaited global trade deal, saying key negotiatingproblems remained after talks with representatives.

Lamy issued a letter to negotiators after morethan two hours of talks with World TradeOrganisation (WTO) representatives on compromisetexts on agriculture and industrial products.

The talks snagged on issues surrounding cotton,mechanisms to protect poor farmers and proposalsto make especially sharp tariff cuts to certain sectors,he said.

“Without advancing solutions to these three, wewill not stabilise the modalities texts overall,” Lamysaid, announcing a delay in the December 13-15talks for further consultations.

“Depending on the outcome of theseconsultations, a ministerial gathering could take

place here in Geneva from 17 to 19December,” he added.

The World Trade Organization overthe weekend published fresh texts inboth the agriculture and industrycomponents of a draft deal that wereaimed at securing consensus.

But diplomats stressed that manygaps still needed to be bridged to avoidyet another failure in the process, whichhas been given added urgency by the

global slowdown.“It is clear that we are closer to modalities today

than last July. At the same time the risks if we do notget there are higher today than they were last July,”Lamy warned.

“The potential cost of a second failure in lessthan six months and a deteriorating economicsituation call for prudence.”

Diplomats questioned after their meeting withLamy were skeptical as to whether the ministerialmeeting would take place. Many pointed the fingerat the United States, India and China whose positionshad hardly altered since July.

The Doha round of talks, which started at theend of 2001 in the Qatari capital, aims to boostinternational commerce by removing trade barriersand subsidies.

A deal has so far proved elusive as countriesare reluctant to open up their markets or reducefinancial support to farmers. Marathon talks inGeneva in July collapsed amid deadlock betweenthe United States and India.

WTO seeks members’ views onsectoral row

The latest World Trade Organisation (WTO) draftagreement on industrial goods has failed to clear

the air on whether sectoral negotiations forel imination of tariffs should be a mandatorydiscussion point amongst member countries. WhileIndia has held that this is “voluntary” and should bedecided by individual countries, the US has beenstressing on compulsory discussions by al lmembers.

WTO director general Pascal Lamy is trying toget the reaction of individual members on the twodrafts on industrial and agriculture goods, circulatedrecently, before he takes a call on whether aministerial meet should be held this month. Mr Lamywants a ministerial meeting to push the on-goingDoha round of multilateral trade talks towardsconclusion. Attempts are being made to reach anagreement on agricultural and industrialgoods before the end of the year so thatthe remaining areas, which includeservices and rules, could be tied up nextyear.

India’s concern about adequateprotection to poor farmers in case of animport surge has also not been met bythe new draft text on agriculture, acommerce ministry official told media.“The drafts will be discussed by the Cabinetcommittee on WTO to finalise India’s stand in thetwo areas,” the official said.

In the discussions on non-agriculture marketaccess (Nama) or industrial goods, a sectoralinitiative was launched during the Doha round, whereit was decided that members would eliminate dutieson selected sectors. The areas selected includeautomobile & components and chemicals, whichIndia wants to protect f rom indiscr iminateliberalisation.

While the draft text does say that membersshould be allowed to participate in the sectoral talksin “good faith without pre-judging the outcome” ofthe talks (words which India has been asking for), italso mentions that sectorals should be part of thesingle undertaking of the multilateral agreementbeing negotiated in the on-going Doha round. “Thismakes the subject of whether sectorals should becompulsory or voluntary, open to interpretation,” anofficial said.

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