Charan Singh's Shrewd Politics Reviewed work(s): Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Jan.

20, 1968), pp. 183-184 Published by: Economic and Political Weekly Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4358142 . Accessed: 25/01/2013 17:33
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ECONOMIC

AND

POLITICAL

WEEKLY

January 20, 1968

newspapers would have the public believe that economists in conclave shy away from practical realities to delve into theory. The simple disturbing trutl is that little of the discipline which economists are supposed to possess is evident at the conferences, regardless of whether the problems discussed are theoretical or practical. The absence of discipline spreads from the top dowitwards. What, except inertia and craving for hospitality, prevents the Economic Association from making its deliberations more useful and purposive? The presidential address of Professor M V Mathur had planning as its main theme, but said nothing on either the content or mechanism of planning. It set out in some detail the composition of various boards and committees to be set up at each level of the planning apparatus. This foray into the tempting field of administration left out the pay scales appropriate for each level in the hierarchy. Group discussion on food policy attracted the largest number of Veins of Un-discipline participants. Its proceedings would have done honour to an undergraduate ECONOMISTS often dilate upon thc debating society, with this difference cost-benefit nexus so fundamental to that the chairman could not treat the their science and seldom fail to -re- speakers or the hecklers as immature mind others of the crucial role of orga- students. Growth theories attracted the nisation. These sermons are forgotten more venturesome who sought to cover when they themselves get together. The the whole ground in a single session; annual all-India economic conferences nobody was clear in the end which have always been a convenient pro- brand was being peddled in what marfessional rendezvous, with a little bit ket. Incidence of taxation was discussed of genuine debate thrown in to justify in a much smaller group which merthe itinerary of participants from all cifully focussed its attention on a single over the country. Variety as betwetn paper which dealt with shifting of comconferences is determined largely by the pany taxation. Why does not the hospitality offered by th- Association set such specific topics and extent of hosts. The main useful function of the invite those who have worked on them conference has been to enable debuitants to submit papers for discussion, instead to make their bow but, of late, sub- of competing with the chapter headings mission of paners has been left almostl of approved textbooks in its search for exclusively to the 'outs'. Few care to conference subjects? read the papers in advance and discussion on the various subjects (which are announced a year in advance) is wholly The Inimitable Tangent spontaneous and extempore. This malaise has been known for a long THAT eoiled maroon turban alone time but those who offer solutions so would have set him apart in any gatherreadily for others' problems have ing except, as he always corrected, on sought none for their own. a railway platform. D G Karve, who died The golden jubilee session of the Economic Association in Madras last month was no turning point. It did little to relieve this set pattern and 'hat little consisted in specially getting a few dinosaurs to parade the extinction of their intellects. Charitable reports in
a few days back, could not be mistaken for anything other than a Poona intellectual, and yet he was different from the other Poona savants. His depth as a scholar was moderate and, in a city known for the longevity of its intellectuals, he died relatively young at 69.

sible over time, flows of capital to particular projects may be jerky in the attempt to keep within the annual ceiling. To take India's case, the coming years were expected to bring in substantial new foreign investmenit in the petrochemicals range. Though alternative sources of foreign finance may still be available from other industrial competitive countries, the room for bargaining between countries would be reduced. Second, with the American tendency to take Presidential appeals seriously, there is every chance that tourist travel might be considered 'antiAmerican'. Air India's trans-Atlantic traffic might suffer and the country s earnings, both official and non-official, from tourism may be reduced. Third, till now the US Administration's proposals for aid used to be generally pared down by the Congress, but now the Administration itself will initiate a smaller scale of aid.

The greater part of his life was spent in teaching but his forte was diplomatic tact. The mind was sharp and the expression smooth. There never was a yawn when he got up- to speak, though one did wonder at the end where exactly he stood, and why, on tne isSut; under debate - except when it concerned the co-operative movement to which he dedicated himself after retirement from teaching. Invariably, the right hand delved into the deep inside pocket of his long coat and brought out a pencil which he twirled between the hands till its return to the same pocket signalled the imminent stepping down. Those wrinkles girdling the eyes seemed to be the product not of age but of frequent laughter, which brought a rosy tint to the cheeks. If the business sessions of the Economic and Agricultural Economics Conferences had any colour or interest, it was largely in Karve's inimitable moving of the vote of thanks. Karve was the first senior academic economist drafted to New Delhi in the early fifties but he remained carefully aloof from the Planning Commission as Director of the Programme Evaluation Organisation, which was financed during his tenure by the Ford Fo-undation. Later, there was a stint as chairman of the Village and Small Industries Commission in 1955 w-hich framed the policy - largely negative and protectionist - for small and cottage industries in the Second Plan. The last high office he held was as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank in charge of agricultural credit. In a word, he could embellish the Establishment but, probably aware that he could not remould it, he preferred to remain tangential wherever he was. That touch and go of the tangent was finally manifest in the suddenness of his death. too.

Charan Singh's Shrewd Politics

ON the face of it the UP Chief Minister, Charan Singh, seemed to be unnecessarily adding to his troubies when, immediately in the wake of the rcsignation of the SSP and Communist ministers from his Government, he launched on a cabinet expansion-cuin1reshuffle. The move, he must have known, would seriously upset the Jan Sangh, the largest constituent of the 183

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January 20, 1968 ruling Samyukta Vidhayak Dal. In the reshuffle the Jan Sangh ministers have been deprived of important portfolios like co-operation and local self-government. The Jan Sangh had exploited its control of these departments to pack co-operatives and local government bodies with partymen. The sharpness of the party's initial reaction to the loss of the portfolios was, therefore, underthere was angry talk standable of the SVD electing a new leader in place of Charan Singh. But the shrewd calculations on which Charan Singh had based his moves are now becoming clear. The SSP and Communist ministers resigned from Government over specific issues like abolition of land tax and release of those detained in connection with the State Government employees' strike, but thQ discomfiture of the two parties particularly of the SSP, since it is the second largest party in the SVD arose from the fear that the Jan Sangh by exploiting the portfolios in its control was worsting them in the struggle for political influence at the district and lower levels. By taking away some important departments from Jan Sangh Ministers, Charan Singh has mollified the SSP and the Communists who, though no longer in his Government, may be expected to continue to support it. The move may also bring back the Swatantra party which had left the SVD in July last year. The General Secretary of the party, N Dandekar, has expressed 'satisfaction' over the reallocation of portfolios. The party has only 12 seats in the Assembly, but in the precarious balance between the SVD and the Congress and betwcen the different units of the SVD, even these matter. For the moment, then, Charan Singh seems to have survived by skilfully exploiting differences between the parties constituting the SVD. The Jan Sangh has clearly backed down; it has withdrawn the demand for replacing Charan Singh, and the Jan Sargih leader, Ram Prakash, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, has expressed confidence that the crisis will blow over. The reason for the Jan Sangli's retreat is that the fall of the present Ministry may well lead to a mid-teim election in the State, since because of the differences within the Congress it is improbable that a Congress Ministry
184

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY for-med by C B Gupta will survive for any length of time. The Jan Sangh is clearly not anxious for an election at this stage and this strengtherns Charan Singh's hands in dealing with the party. If these various considerations continue to carry weight with the different parties, resignation of SSP and Communist Ministers and cutting down to size of the Jan Sangh may have left the Chief Minister actually stronger than before. In any case there is no chance of the SVD pulling together under anyone else.

BUSINESS

Export Policy for Tea

IN 1967 tea exports recovered to 205 million kgs from 175 million kgs in 1966 and 199 million kgs in 1965. The unit value realisation rose from Rs 5.77 per kg in 1965 to Rs 7.67 in 1966 anld to Rs 8.78 in 1967, a, rise of about 50 per cent ovei 1965. Only part (about one half) of this benefit, which accrued largely from devaluation, was absorbed by export duties. India has again become the world's largest exporter of tea, relegating Ceylon to the seeond place. Retrospectively, Governm,ent's policy of sustaining the price of tea by imposition of export duties appears to have served its purpose. Devaluation of sterling last Novcnber and the consequential devaluation of the Ceylonese rupee by 20 per cent have now brought some new factors into the situation. The austerity measures adopted by UK are likely to reduce the sterling price of tea, while Ceylon's devaluation has restored the competitive edge of its tea. Predictably, the tea export interests have stepped up their demanrdfor export duty abolition no doubt with an eye on the impending
budget.

In recent weeks much progress seems to have been made towards evolving some kind of joint action on these lines. There is a move to set up a joint Indo-Ceylon marketing organisation. So long as these delicate negotiations are going on, it would be worthv-hile to exercise a degree of restraint in meeting competition from Ceylon. Since tea is of predominant importance in Ceyon's exports as well as in its internal economy, a premature move on India's part to improve its competitive strengtl would invite retaliation and harm the intercsts of both. While tea interests have been contcnt over the years to look to Government repeatedly for concessions and incentives, they have done little to diversify the direction or product pattern of exports. Exports have been unduly concentrated on UK (55 per cent) while many neighbouring regions which are large con sumers of tea have been ignored. The appreciable increase in tea exports to East European countries in recent years has demonstrated how new market areas can be exploited by adopting favourable trade policies.

India and Ceylon between them account for three quarters of world tea exports; competition in the world market is, thus, mainly duopolistie. At the same time, the demand for tea has tended to be highly inelastie to price changes. The declining trend in world tea prices over the last many years has been mainly the result of increase in competition between the sellers rather than of greater buyer resistance at prevailing prices. Logieally, the longterm interests of the two main exporters would be best protected by joint aetion towards maintaining the export priee of tea rather than dissipation of poten-tial foreign exchange earnings by mutual competition. This could take the form, among other things, of regulating the quantum of offerings on the London market.

Diversification at HMT
EXTENSION of IDB re-discount facilities to machine tools has not improved the sales of Hindustan Machine Tools. In the year to March 1967, HMT received 150 enquiries for deferred payment but sales materialised for only 10 machines. The principal difficulty in utilising this facility lies in the inability of buyers to furnish bank guarantees. This is one more example of how well-intentioned schemes get bogged down because of procedural
tangies.

Recession notwithstanding, the absolute volume of orders booked, pro-

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