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Farmer Strike: Arousing India’s Collective Conscience

Published on 16 July 2018
Farming and farmers’protests are as intertwined as oxygen and hydrogen atoms in the water molecule. This is because the road to agriculture is paved with potholes and ditches of policy failures; inadvertent and some deliberate. Friction, jerks and, at time, big jolts in form of mass agitations seem inevitable.

India’s latest tryst with a farmers’ strike was far more significant: it was about taking the voice of the farmer to the people, not to political leaders or policy makers; it was about exposing the core of a critical crisis that will hit the aam aadmi, even if it leaves the politician unscathed, save at the hustings perhaps.
Farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat,Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana put together a united front for a 10-day “gaon bandh” starting Friday, June 1, sending a message to urban India about what it would be like not to have their supplies of essential items like milk and vegetables. Their demands were many, from loan waiver to right price for their crops and the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations. In Madhya Pradesh, the farmers declared a complete shutdown of supplies to cities.
Farmers wage periodic fights for their rights across the world. The struggle ranges over the right to get inputs including water; to the right to save crops and livestock, farmland and life. No wonder certain states such as Michigan in the United States have enacted the Right to Farm Act to protect farming and farms. Modern and medieval histories are replete with instances of farmers’ resentment that at times have exploded into uprisings. In current times, one witnesses more of agrarian grudges venting themselves in frequent street protests.
                                                                                 Click for full story in pdf format
 

Drumming Strong Fundamentals with ‘Missing Fundamentals’

Published on 08 July 2018
 (Image courtesy: narendramodi.in)
 
“India’s macro fundamentals strong, asserts Modi at AIIB meet”. “India’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain strong: Arun Jaitley”.
Should such headlines be accepted at the face value? No. Put chest-thumping claims through prism of multi-dimensionalism. And one would see patches of opacity and blur for want of clarity on fundamentals.
This jarring image is due to the fact that definitions, that form basis of flaunted statistics, are either missing or are outdated/nebulous.It is a fundamental problem with Government’s fundamental claims. 
It exists in several domains extending from lack of definition of black money to shell companies. ‘Poverty’ and ‘out of school children’ (OOSC) also suffer from want of functional/standard definitions. Similar is the case with certain other aspects of economy such as varying definitions of formal worker followed by official agencies.
Add to this limitation the fact that Government does not collect statistics on certain aspects of economy such as how citizens’ use time. This is important indicator for unemployment, underemployment and ease of living in certain countries notably the United States. 
Reckon also the fact that certain data are mere calculations/estimates made on paper work with certain assumptions. 

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Revisit Hazardous Industries’ fate in wake of Vedanta Gridlock

Published on 08 July 2018

 (Edited Image courtesy: Youtube & Vedanta)

1) Is a preventive maintenance system in place, including review thereof? 2) Is Identification and prioritization done for all equipment / system requiring preventive maintenance based on criticality? 3) Is there an established procedure for capturing maintenance needs based on condition of each equipment? 4) Are responsibilities assigned and frequencies established? 5) Is there a system in place to report in writing, on a day-to-day basis, all observed substandard actions or hazard conditions?

Many more such questions would have been fired by chemicals safety regulator at the police and other government officials, who currently control Vedanta’s copper-cum-chemicals complex (formerly Sterlite) at Tuticorin inTamil Nadu This would have happened only if we had a statutory, preventive chemical safety statutory framework.

The five questions are verbatim production from the 59-pages‘Chemical Plant Safety & Security Rating System’ drafted by UPA Government in September 2013.

Neither this proposal nor the proposed safety regulator named Chemical Standard Development Organisation (CSDO) envisioned by the draft National Chemical Policy (NCP-2012) have been finalized & implemented.

Would latest litigation over safety of Tuticorin Complex arisen, if the two proposals had been put in action? How long can India avoid the need for a regulator on the lines of US Chemical Safety Board (CSB)? CSB enjoys statutory protection from interference from any executive arm or other regulators.

Modi Government’s failure on policy-cum-regulatory front has thus made Indian chemical industry vulnerable to belligerent activism. This has resulted in bizarre governance & tight-rope justice on account of many public interest litigations (PILs) from anti-Vedanta camp over a decade.

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Pay Bribes to end Crony Capitalistic Rules in Incredible India!

Published on 20 June 2018
 (Image Courtesy: AirAsia)
 
Was 5/20 aviation rule akin to sacred Lakshman Rekha? Or was it contrived to help a few private airline operators enter overseas flights domain earlier reserved for national carriers?
Did bribes exchange hands during UPA & NDA regimes for doing away with five-year domestic experience criteria to seek permit for flying abroad? The relaxed rule now only stipulates operation of 20 aircraft at time of application under the 2016 National Aviation Policy.
Many such questions would stir mind of anyone tracking low-cost airline AirAsia’s turbulent entry into India through joint venture (JV) route in 2013. 
The turbulence was caused by turmoil within JV, anti-JV machinations by certain  airlines, political lobbying & litigation. The turbulence touched a new high on 28th May 2018. 
On this day, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a first information report (FIR) against “criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct” during 2013 to 2016 to benefit Malaysia’s AirAsia (AA), its JV Air Asia (India) Pvt. Ltd. (AAI) and certain associates.  
FIR has named several suspects including unspecified public servants. CBI also raided premises of certain suspects and seized some documents. 
Stakes are high in aviation business as evident from the Government pursuing a parallel hunt for the facts about alleged bribes-tainted lobbying for reforms & breach of regulations. The facts discovery is already being pursued in the courts through two separate petitions filed in 2013 and 2016.  
The bombshell in FIR reads as: “Information has further revealed that Mr. Sunil Kapur in the month of December, 2014 at the coffee shop in the Four Season, Mumbai Hotel along with Mr.Bo Lingam handed over a closed packet containing cash of Rs. 50 lakhs to one Mr. Sriram, which was given by Bo Lingam to facilitate the removal of the then 5/20 rule”.
CBI has alleged that Mr. Kapur, a food service provider, is a lobbyist for AA. He got onboard catering contract on quid pro basis from Tharumalingam Kanalingam @ BO Lingam, AA’s Deputy Group CEO.
Though issues relating AAI are complex and too many, one that deserves scrutiny is 5/20 rule. This is because many such rules have sustained India’s legendary crony capitalism, smothering economic competitiveness. Moreover, arbitrary and discretionary rules promote corruption. They make a mockery of Government’s ease of doing business claims.

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