8 Nov Editorial

8 ISSUES AND INSIGHTS
>
MUMBAI | FRIDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2019
Building ethical assets

observers of elders’ behaviour with
respect to truth-telling and injustice. > CHINESE WHISPERS
Likewise, young managers judge their
seniors’ behavior rather than their talk.
Managers must learn to teach business ethics and values In Tata, the lesson on ethics was salu- Keeping a close watch
tary when Tata blew the whistle on itself The Bharatiya
brain is plastic”. don’t recall my grandparents doing so. experiences that I know. in the face of the unfortunate Tata Janata Party (BJP)
Competitive advantage, which was However, my grandchildren will n SPJIMR’s Abhyudaya: Every MBA Finance episode. is keeping a close
based on physical assets throughout the remember affection, hugs, kisses and student compulsorily mentors disad- In short, lessons on ethics, defined eye on its MLAs in
industrial revolution, shifted to intellec- stories that made their eyes wide. Until vantaged children as a part of the MBA as broader than just integrity, can be Madhya Pradesh.
tual assets during the information revo- the age of eight, through emotions and course. As students they perhaps do not imparted even though it is difficult to Chief Minister
lution. In my view, future competitive stories, kids learn values and what is appreciate it, but later, they treasure teach. It is done by deploying the same Kamal Nath told
advantage will shift to ethical assets right and wrong. The plastic brain of chil- the experience. principles that work in a family. party workers
amidst the AI revolution, which is far dren registers and recalls emotions from n Rural development projects: I feel that lack of ethics and morality recently that the
more demanding of data transparency. very early life but recalls facts and knowl- Hindustan Unilever (HUL) pioneered is distributed in the same proportion Congress would increase its strength in
I think that the future could likely belong edge only from the age of eight. The four the idea that every trainee should among business as in media, politics, the Assembly by adding at least two
to strongly ethical companies. principles that every grandparent intu- spend eight weeks, living with a family judiciary, administration, religion and more MLAs. The BJP has taken his words
THE WISE LEADER Mentoring bosses, management teach-
ing and company trainers must engage
itively deploys are (i) encourage kids by
spending emotional time; (ii) impart
in a village. Every trainee goes through
the experience and leaders honed at
NGOs. Business leaders also increasingly
realise that reputation matters to
seriously and has asked its
organisational office-bearers to be in
R GOPALAKRISHNAN with this proposition. learning osmotically through story HUL are all alumni of HUL’s mandatory employees and customers, who tend to touch with its MLAs, especially with
I sometimes think about how my telling; (iii) correct behavioural aberra- rural development stint. respond to good ethics with loyalty and those who have criminal cases against
A
fter reading the words above, the grandchildren will remember me when tions early and (iv) immerse into multi- n TAS social service projects: During my engagement. Anyway, who wants his them. The party has asked them to
reader might wonder what I they have grown up—probably like I ple interactive experiences. Tata career, I was deeply involved in grandchildren to carry the burden that send updates on such cases. At least 30
have been sniffing. After IL&FS, remember my grandparents, which is During my career, I have learnt that introducing eight weeks of social service their grandfather was unethical? BJP MLAs have more than 60 criminal
Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, CG Power, busi- not much! Brain researchers inform us similar principles influence young for every TAS trainee. They probably did “The end result of kindness is that cases registered against them. The
ness ethics and values? But please, that human memory up to the age of business professionals about ethics. not enjoy the experience, but later, each it draws people to you,” said the late party is afraid that the Congress would
please read on. three is virtually nil. From age three to Ethics is not just about morality, but one would recall how enriching it was. Anita Roddick. use these cases as a lever to pressure
There is no denying the monumen- eight, children remember the emotion, about sharing, caring and respect. n Sustainability in TBEM: It is not just these legislators. The party lost the
tal ethical blunders by companies, but but not the facts, of their experiences. They must be influenced during B- about honesty and integrity, it is also The writer is an author and corporate Jhabua by-election recently and
it only confirms that more effort is Regrettably, all those joyful hours that I school years and the early years of the about respect for fellow beings and the advisor. He is distinguished professor of IIT another MLA, Prahlad Lodhi, was
required, perhaps from a different spend with my grandchildren in the career, what I call ‘professional child- environment. Sustainability was intro- Kharagpur. He was a director at Tata Sons disqualified following his conviction in
source: the line boss. You must influ- park, teaching them chess, playing crick- hood’. The ethical brain is plastic and duced into the Tata Business Excellence and a vice-chairman at Hindustan a criminal case.
ence managers during their “profes- et, and taking them to school will not be malleable at that stage. Here are five Model assessment process in mid-2000s. Unilever
sional childhood when their ethical remembered by them at all; just like I disproportionately value-enhancing n Tone at the top: Children are sensitive Email: rgopal@themindworks.me
Moving on...
Over the past few days, debates on Twitter
— both about the microblogging site's
Rural India can’t recover until NBFCs do

allegedly arbitrary rules in verifying
accounts as also blocking some Twitter
handles for allegedly posting content that
flouts its norms — have seen several users
moving to Mastodon. On Thursday, the
An intricate web of links between rural incomes, construction activity and shadow all these links, it’s no surprise to find
that the slump in rural wages
Congress debuted on Mastodon as
@incindia@mastodon.social. The handle
banks are fuelling the economic slowdown accelerated after the NBFC fallout and had a photograph of party President Sonia
the real estate slowdown at the end Gandhi with the slogan "Sach Bharat"
consumption — two-wheeler vehicle of 2018. (true India). Mastodon claims to be a free
sales and the production of All said, until NBFC lending and open-source self-hosted social
consumer non-durable goods — have restarts, construction may not fully networking service. While similar to Twitter
slowed markedly. pick up, and rural wages may not rise and Weibo in most of its features,
Most analysis points to falling food back up quickly either. Mastodon is different since it is not
prices as the root cause as it leaves This leads us to ask what can centrally hosted, which allows each
farmers less well off. But this is not authorities do to prevent the slow- operating server its own code of conduct,
the only reason for falling incomes. down from spreading further? The terms of service, and moderation policies.
Rural Indians have increasingly government has taken an important Users can choose a server with policies they
PRANJUL BHANDARI moved away from working in agricul- step by announcing a stimulus pack- agree with or leave a server that has
ture and moved into construction age to revive stalled housing projects. policies they disagree with without losing
I
ndia’s economy has hit the brakes employment, especially urban con- This may help solve some of the access to Mastodon's social network.
hard with growth falling to 5 per struction jobs, and it’s this shift that’s liquidity issues faced in the real estate
cent, from 8 per cent a year ago, also amplifying the rural distress. sector (where the project is intrinsi-
and impacting everything from con- Our deep dive into the employ- cally sound, but is facing a funding Beware fake profiles
sumption to construction. But how ment status for rural males shows that shortfall). The Army has cautioned its officials about
did this slowdown occur so quickly the reliance on agriculture-based But a second step may also be 150 fake social media profiles that are
and become so pervasive? We believe employment has fallen from a 71.4 per needed. Given the deep interlinks being used by “adversaries” to honey-
much of the blame lies in the strong cent share of total rural employment with the rest of the economy, some trap and extract sensitive information,
links between sectors that at first in FY00 to 55 per cent in FY18. Over NBFCs and real estate developers may sources said on Thursday. They said that
glance can appear largely unrelated. the same period, the reliance on con- need a direct and rescue operation. an advisory was sent to the Army
Our analysis shows that India's struction-based jobs has risen quickly And the real estate sector, in turn, sequently to rural employment For instance, the government or the personnel last month to make them
ongoing rural distress has been wors- from 4.5 per cent to 14.5 per cent. has been badly bruised because it has and incomes. Reserve Bank of India could identify aware of the “trap”. An official said
ened by the slump in the construction Rural workers were initially attract- become too reliant on funding from So can India's mainstream banks the more systemically important people using fake social media profiles
sector which in turn has been driven ed to urban construction projects NBFCs, including housing finance come to the rescue? In theory, yes. But firms, supervise them more closely, had been trying to engage with soldiers
by the serious problems in the shadow because of the higher wages on offer. companies. From the perspective of not as easily in practice. Banks work find buyers or get owners to recapital- by pretending to be fellow Army officers
banking system that’s made up of But when the building craze in the real estate developers, the depen- under strict regulatory limits, which ize them, while also making sure the and police persons, or even posing as
non-bank financial companies cities screeched to a halt, laborers dence on NBFC funding has risen do not allow them to increase lending private shareholders shoulder losses. women. “The profiles are generally two-
(NBFCs). These three areas make up a rushed back to the villages, putting sharply over the last few years. In to the real estate sector rapidly. In the This will help tide over the "solvency" three years old. So, they do not raise
large part of India’s economy with our further downward pressure on rural FY18, 100 per cent of the incremental quarter ending June 2019, the overall problem (where the net worth of the suspicion and appear authentic. It is then
analysis showing how the troubled wages. But why did the building credit taken by real estate developers lending to real estate developers con- project is in question). that they started targeting,” the official
NBFC sector continues to cause craze halt? came from NBFCs, compared to 50 per tracted as a rise in bank loans was not Either way, we believe India's best added. On Wednesday, Rajasthan Police's
widespread pain. Construction activity suffered cent five years ago. enough the offset the contraction in bet to arrest the ongoing slowdown is intelligence unit arrested an Army jawan
India's rural economy has been in because it is dominated by the now- So when that source of lending NBFC credit. to study the often ignored interlinks who was honey-trapped by an agent of
focus since early 2018 when wages in ailing real estate sector. Broadly dried up when the NBFC industry was And if the NBFCs remain cash across sectors, identify the weakest Pakistan's ISI for allegedly sharing
the villages started to fall, unemploy- speaking, 70 per cent of the construc- rocked late last year by a large default, strapped, funding to real estate devel- link, and intervene with full might. confidential and strategic information. He
ment rose, and this toxic combination tion activity is led by residential and the real estate sector was hit hard. opers will remain uncertain and pre- was targeted through Facebook and
pulled down consumer spending. Two commercial real estate. The remaining That then had a knock-on effect vent any significant rebound in the The author is chief India economist, HSBC WhatsApp, they added.
commonly used indicators of rural 30 per cent is driven by infrastructure. on the construction industry and sub- construction sector. By understanding Securities and Capital Markets (India)
INSIGHT > LETTERS
Rescuing the financial sector Finally, it would be indicative of lack of

succession planning if the reins are given
In the concluding part of the series, the author argues that a government with the to an outsider when the organisation is
doing well. It may be a risky choice unless
courage to abrogate Article 370 must not shy away from the banking reform required the chosen person has an equally high
reputation in the industry, quickly under-
balance sheets to resounding media prohibition of industrial houses from provides HR freedom to recruit, retain stands the organisational culture, gains
applause. These aggressive actions owning banks continued, leading to a and develop talent. This one act will the trust of the team and delivers results
neither understood the genesis of the situation where all new private banks likely double the price to book of PSBs. in a short time.
current crisis or the role PSBs had in India today have majority foreign n Large NBFCs should be forcibly con- Y G Chouksey Pune
played in funding the government ownership. verted or acquired by banks to mitigate Succeeding success
and in effect in keeping Indian n The welcome Insolvency and systemic risk. Payment and SFBs Apropos the lucid article “Passing the Hand in hand
democracy afloat as described in my Bankruptcy Code was introduced in should be given full bank licenses and baton… smoothly” by S Suramanian and Apropos your editorial “The Tamil Nadu
last article. Further supervisory this period strengthening creditor stopped henceforth. However, an easy Nupur Pawan Bang (November 7) about way” (November 7); a fast developing econ-
actions were taken, with Brahmanic rights in India. NBFC licensing regime should contin- the challenges faced by CEOs and chair- omy like India needs to integrate all its eco-
disdain, to punish the crooked Indian By keeping interest rates high with ue to spur financial innovation. men who succeed legendary business nomic resources, which calls for efficient
JANMEJAYA SINHA capitalist. Supervisory actions were the accompanying strong rupee, the n The dual control of cooperative leaders. May I add a few points? management of the same. However, India
not supported by monetary policy and RBI induced a slowdown in capital banks and unnecessary tax benefits When the retiring long-serving top boss lacks effective utilisation of its manpower
A
s I highlighted in my last piece, inflation had become the singular tar- investments and hurt exports; it also available to them should be abol- is succeeded by someone from within resources. The population of the country
by 2007, the financials of the get of RBI policy. prevented banks to use treasury profits ished. Similarly old private sector the organisation, the latter generally fol- can be converted into an asset rather than
Indian banking system were Seven RBI actions accentuated the to recapitalise. The fast clean up banks should be asked to transform lows his/her strategy and the organisa- being a liability. It should not be treated as
robust again. The industry had a return banking rot: attempted led to a sharp contraction or be acquired by large NBFCs or tion may fail to explore new opportuni- a burden but as an economic tool.
on assets (RoA) of over 1 per cent, gross n RBI created a monetary policy com- in credit, tightened liquidity for larger banks. ties. If his colleagues do not see him as Focussing on local markets is thus the ideal
and net NPAs below 2 and 1 per cent, mittee and set an arbitrary 4 per cent MSMEs and pushed many into n A clean-up of the regulatory struc- the right choice, he may have to face solution. Trying to reach out to distant mar-
and a cost income ratio below 45 per inflation target for India to be managed bankruptcy. Marginal accounts turned ture in terms of guidelines — holding more difficulties. kets leads to higher cost of infrastructure.
cent. Good health prompted the gov- within a 2 per cent band. Deviations bad leading to capital scarcity and vir- company structures, promoter hold- If the person tries to make strategic Industry and agriculture must work in tan-
ernment to re-enact the familiar cycle outside the band were to be reported tually brought bank lending to a standing limits, ownership of banks by change, the resistance from his top team dem to prevent crippling of other segments
of pillage. This time to build infrastruc- to Indian Parliament. still. Lending shifted to wholesale industrial houses subject to inter may dissuade him and he may have to of the economy. Large industries should
ture. The new instrument was public n The RBI consistently overestimated funds-dependent NBFCs, increasing group lending guidelines, supervisory follow the beaten track because every not encroach into agricultural land as it
private partnerships (PPPs) where the inflation and maintained interest rates risk in the system. Arbitrary low infla- oversight of NBFCs — is overdue. successor cannot be like Ratan Tata or will undermine its capability to source raw
private sector was to build 40 per cent at the highest levels in the world. It tion targets, 3 per cent below a 50-year n The Bank Bureau Board is not need- Anu Aga (mentioned in the article) who material locally, leading to increase in costs
of the $ 500 billion infrastructure target missed the opportunity of using trea- 7 per cent trend line, benefitted only ed and there is a need to improve the overcame resistance and took their com- and eventually retrenchment of labour.
of the Eleventh Plan using PSB balance sury profits for clean-up. short-term global capital making India quality of talent in both the DFS and panies to greater heights. C Gopinath Nair Kochi
sheets. During the plan period, 4,910 n An asset quality review (AQR) with the haven for the “carry trade”. RBI RBI. Even if he succeeds in the new role,
capital projects of over ~150 crore were tighter recognition norms was started monetary actions that precipitated the n Parliament should be apprised on the aura of the parted leader (like Steve Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to: The Editor,
started but unfortunately 2,238 of them in 2015 to clean up the supposed rot banking crisis were accompanied by the state of banking — covering, for Jobs and Bill Gates) keeps haunting the Business Standard, Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar
were stalled for over two years due to in PSBs, triggering major bank quar- rank bad supervision missing the fail- example, the inexcusable unfilled workforce, comparisons become more Marg , New Delhi 110 002, Fax: (011) 23720201
· E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
disputes in PPP contract terms or terly losses. ures — for example, of ILFS, DHFL and positions of MD in BoB and BoI. subjective and the successor may feel
All letters must have a postal address
denial of government clearances on n The easy NBFC licensing regime was now PMC Bank. History will judge the The new RBI governor should sup- under-recognised even if well paid. and telephone number
environment or land. Two-year delays continued, but only two new bank RBI very poorly during this period. port these actions. There is no excuse
obviously fully eroded the private equi- licences were issued to IDFC and Six urgent actions are needed to res- for India’s banking sector to be mori-
ty in the capital projects. The debt- Bandhan Bank, out of many strong cue the financial sector today: bund. We have the best technology
equity ratios of infrastructure compa- bank license applicants. n I am not an advocate of simplistic stack and financial services talent glob-
> HAMBONE
nies rose from 1.3 in 2008 to 3 in 2013. n New type of bank licenses — pay- privatisation in India. I believe the ally. Our journey to a $5 trillion econo-
Fifty per cent of bank restructured ments and small finance banks — were State Bank of India should stay gov- my requires budding entrepreneurs to
assets were in infrastructure, steel, introduced without testing the viabil- ernment majority-owned and other access credit by banks using technolo-
power and telecom sectors. By 2013 the ity of the new models. PSBs should have government as their gy and data. A government with the
banking system was back in turmoil. n Regulatory guidelines: Ambiguity in single largest owner but with a stake courage to abrogate Article 370 must
2013-18 failed clean-up phase: The capital norms, holding company struc- below 50 closer to 26 per cent. This is a not shy away from the banking reform
third phase of Indian banking began tures, and bank ownership norms powerful, overdue, recommendation. required. India just cannot wait.
with a new governor. In view of the remained. The old “Washington It provides these banks the decision- (Series concluded)
build of bad loans the Reserve Bank Consensus” dogmas around diversified making autonomy required to survive.
of India took a series of aggressive shareholdings in banks (despite the It removes needless interference and The author is chairman, BCG India
supervisory actions to clean up bank lessons of global financial crisis) and a the paralysing fear of vigilance and Views are personal
>
OPINION 9
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Volume XXIV Number 61 ILLUSTRATION: BINAY SINHA
MUMBAI | FRIDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2019 gold deposited simultaneously. In many ways, the
scheme continues to be impractical, except in the
Reviving housing case of holders of large quantities such as temples.

The gold bond is like any other bond issued by
the government, except that it is denominated in
Investment will depend on how the AIF works grams of gold instead of rupees. Such a bond is attrac-
tive to those who wish to have the monetary benefit
T
aking forward Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s proof holding gold without physically holding it. Further,
posal, announced in September, to provide last-mile funding for as an asset class, it provides diversification benefit
akin to having a foreign currency asset. However, the
stressed housing projects, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved
government will have exposure to gold price risk. The
setting up a ~25,000-crore alternative investment fund (AIF). movement in gold prices so far has not been
Towards a sensible
According to the plan, the government will put ~10,000 crore in the fund, favourable to the government. There is another risk:
while State Bank of India (SBI) and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) together If the gold bond scheme becomes hugely successful,
will bring in another ~15,000 crore. The fund will be managed by SBICAP the government may find its mainstay, namely rupee-
Ventures Ltd. As demanded by various stakeholders, the government has also denominated instruments, undermined.
Under the coin scheme, gold coins can be pur-
gold policy
included projects that have been declared non-performing assets and the ones
chased and sold at the prevailing market value. It is
going through the insolvency process at the National Company Law Tribunal certainly attractive for individuals holding savings in
(NCLT). According to official estimates, the fund will target 458,000 unfinished the form of physical gold with characteristics of liq-
units in 1,600 stalled projects in different cities. uidity and authenticity.
The government has done well to set up an AIF to support the sector The government has also been trying to bring
instead of directly taking responsibility for completing these stressed projects. The industry should not be overregulated in the name of developing more transparency into gold trade. It made it manda-
tory for customers to disclose their tax code, or
The new investment vehicle will have far greater regulatory flexibility than
either SBI or LIC on their own would have had. On the face of it, the decision
it or curbing black money Permanent Account Number, for high-value gold
purchases. A circular was issued on tax aspects of
W
is expected to help in multiple ways. First, this will provide relief to homebuyers hen it comes to gold, India’s policy-making under desperate circumstances. Gold provides safety gold jewellery holding by households. In July 2017,
whose savings are stuck in these stalled projects, and many are forced to pay has been less than sensitive to its ethos and and security for women, and under difficult circum- the Goods and Services Tax on gold was raised to 3
both the equated monthly instalments on their home loans and rent. Second, the economy. In 1947, restrictions were stances, liquidity for the whole family. Gold is a form per cent from 1.2 per cent.
this would help start activity in the real estate sector, which is struggling imposed on import of gold. Then, private ownership of collateral, not only for the common man in distress
of gold bullion was virtually banned: The Gold Control but even for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the The way forward
because of the liquidity crunch and non-availability of funds. Since real estate Act, 1962, recalled all gold loans given by banks and Government of India when there is a crisis, as in 1991. The NITI Aayog Report in 2018 is a positive policy
is linked to several other sectors, it will help push up economic activity in stopped forward trading in the metal. In 1963, the However, the problem is that the common man document on gold. The recommendations are wide
general and benefit specific industries such as cement and steel, which have production of gold jewellery above 14 carat fineness seeking to buy or sell gold is not always assured of its ranging and include gold mining, gold refining, hall-
seen a sharp contraction in demand in recent months. was banned. In 1968 came another Gold Control Act, quality and often gets cheated. People who buy gold marking, exports, digital payments, and new institu-
All this looks good on paper, but things are unlikely to be that straight- which prohibited citizens from owning gold in the deserve as much consumer protection as buyers of tional arrangements, viz, the Bullion Exchange of
forward. For instance, some analysts have noted that the fund may not be form of bars and coins. This legislation killed the offi- other commodities. India and the Gold Board of India. What should be
cial gold market, and a large unofficial the way forward?
sufficient to make a meaningful difference on the ground. According to market sprung up dealing in cash only. Positive approach First, we should not commit the mistake of hav-
Jefferies, this may be able to fund only 16 per cent of the stalled projects, Gold was smuggled in and sold in the In 2015, three initiatives were taking unfair, insensitive and unrealistic policies as in
assuming a 50 per cent rate of completion. Others give a higher figure. The black market. Many jewellers and bul- en: One, a gold monetisation the past, but we should not go overboard in sup-
impact, to a large extent, will depend on how SBICAP deploys the fund. It is lion traders were involved in this, cre- scheme allowed depositors of gold porting the gold economy either. Second, the policy
also not clear as to what kind of returns this fund would be expecting. Besides, ating a thriving underground market. to earn interest on their metal should avoid putting requirements and restrictions
It is a surprise, then, that such an unre- accounts and the jewellers to on millions of households on gold in the guise of
the fund may face a fair bit of complexity in the case of real estate companies
alistic policy persisted for so long. obtain loans against their metal curbing a form of black money kept by a few
or projects that are undergoing the insolvency process, or are taken to the The case for restrictions on gold account. Two, a sovereign gold unscrupulous elements. Third, we should be spend-
NCLT at a later stage. It will not help the cause if the fund gets trapped in legal imports has been that valuable foreign bond, as an alternative to purchas- ing taxpayer’s money primarily on consumer pro-
hurdles and is not able to recover its investment. It is important to note that exchange is “wasted”. Restrictions on ing metal gold, was issued. The tection. Fourth, the experience with various schemes
investment in such funds will depend on the experience of this initiative. If gold trade are meant to divert house- bonds carry a fixed rate of interest, undertaken recently should be reviewed to deter-
this fund is not able to show good returns, it will be another setback for the hold savings from unproductive phys- WHAT NEXT and are also redeemable in cash mine whether the instrument itself is wrong, rather
ical form. A tenuous link is often made by the holder based on the value than assume that the instrument or scheme should
real estate sector. Y V REDDY
between black money and gold. This of the gold at the time of redemp- somehow be made to succeed. Fifth, as gold has the
At a broader level, the sector is facing multiple issues. Apart from a negative policy in the past failed on all tion. Three, Indian gold coins were characteristic of a currency globally, the RBI has to
liquidity crunch, softer demand because of slower economic growth has result- accounts and, in fact, created problems over decades. launched that provided an assurance of quality to play a central role in the gold policy. At the same
ed in a massive build-up of inventory. This has also led to a significant price The negative approach was gradually abandoned, buyers and reduced the demand for coins minted time, consumer protection and export promotion
correction in various markets. According to one estimate, about 1.25 million commencing with the repeal of the Gold Control Act abroad, thus enabling recycling of the gold available should be major concerns for the government.
housing units are lying unsold across the country. Therefore, at the macro in 1990, liberalistion of gold imports in 1997, and within the country. Finally, the broad approach to a positive gold policy
removal of restrictions on loans against gold, but the In the monetisation scheme, value of the gold is should recognise gold’s unique character as a reserve
level, the recovery in the real estate sector will depend on a broader recovery
inclination to take a positive approach was lacking protected and interest is obtained by the depositor, asset for central banks and its importance for the
in the economy. till recently. but she has to convert existing jewellery into gold for domestic economy as well as the external sector. A
deposit purposes and, if necessary, will have to convert positive policy approach should certainly recognise
Demand for gold the gold back into jewellery on maturity of the deposit. the importance of gold in our economy and society,
Flawed strategy Most of the demand for gold in India originates from
women, and this has to be appreciated in the context
of unequal property rights for women and men in
If the scheme is made attractive, people may be tempt-
ed to buy gold and deposit it in the banks. In that
case, import of gold may increase. The banks do not
especially for women, but it should not subsidise or
overregulate the industry in the guise of developing
it or curbing black money.
Regional FTAs are out, but bilateral ones are as tough the country. Traditionally, gold is inherited by women. find the scheme attractive because it means extra
Women are deprived of their gold by families only holding costs if they do not find borrowers for the The writer is a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India
T
he government’s decision to stay out of the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes 15 other countries,
including the manufacturing hubs of East Asia as well as Australia
and New Zealand, is being justified as being part of a strategy of
remaining open to trade while ensuring that Indian manufacturers are not
exposed to unfair co-operation from China. This is, as a broad-brush strategy
Minimum wage macroeconomics
T
goes, not hard to defend. There is much that is problematic about Beijing’s he government has taken several policy initia- share could rise as unemployment falls and/or wage the supposedly higher status of a government employ-
approach to international trade, and if the RCEP did not build in the appropriate tives to address the current economic slow- rates rise. This relationship is mediated through an ee. This tends to be 40-50 per cent higher than the
controls for Chinese exports, then it might well have cost India too much. down. These important and necessary mea- incomes policy, which acts to secure relative prices of minimum wage stipulated for everyone else.
sures to ameliorate the slowdown have addressed (1) labour and capital that are consonant with macroe- This approach is attractive to an old-fashioned
However, what are the implications if this is indeed the strategy that the gov-
sentiment, (2) the credit pipeline, (3) policy misinter- conomic stability. socialist or feudal who sees minimum wages through
ernment intends to follow? pretations, and (4) sector specific issues. However, if, In developing countries, the problem was often a prism of class struggle/class hierarchy but not very
While multilateral trade rules through the World Trade Organization (WTO) as I have been arguing, the roots of the slowdown lie expressed in terms of a wage good constraint limiting helpful if the minimum wage is seen as the cornerstone
are, of course, the gold standard and India should do its best to ensure that the in deficient structural demand, then other measures home market demand, driven, often, by low returns of a macroeconomic incomes policy. There is no liter-
WTO is revived — especially its dispute-settlement wing — New Delhi’s rejection are needed. to agriculture employment. But India is now a mar- ature on this subject since it is only now with this gov-
of multilateral and regional agreements like the RCEP means that it is otherwise The structural demand problem has its roots in ket-driven economy and, therefore, a contemporary ernment that we have a NFMW.
the historic pattern of growth since 1991, which is pow- incomes policy mediates relative prices through a The NFMW should be determined based on
reduced to bilateral trade agreements with various countries if it wishes to ensure
ered by the goods consumed by the top 150 million, national floor minimum wage (NFMW). For this rea- macroeconomic considerations, namely (1) whether
that its exporters have market access. But it should be clear from the RCEP nego- reflected in the fact that high frequen- son, I welcomed the code on wages, the NFMW would increase aggregate demand for
tiations and the political fallout of those efforts that such bilateral agreements cy leading indicators of the economy 2019, which stipulated a NFMW. mass market consumption. (2) Whether there are sup-
will not be easy to sign. measure items only these people con- This key reform uses the consump- ply bottlenecks in responding to such aggregate
Consider just the countries that were also part of the RCEP but with which, sume. At the heart of the structural tion power of the aam aadmi to demand and, if so, calibrate the NFMW to not cause
unlike the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, India does not currently demand problem is the fact that (1) the leverage economic growth. inflationary pressures by driving up demand that
vector of relative prices is not con- “In principle” objections to this would not elicit a domestic supply response—mass
have a trade agreement. Countries like Australia and New Zealand are big
ducive to broad-basing aggregate measure come from neo-liberal market textiles is a good example. (3) The impact of
exporters of dairy products, for which India is an untapped market as far as home market demand, (2) low produc- economists who are out of date. The the minimum wage on the factor distribution of
they are concerned. Naturally, they will expect market access for their dairy tivity limits the scope for a substantial balance of contemporary theoreti- income— that is, wage and profit shares should be a
sector as part of any trade agreement. But protecting dairy producers and co- increase in exports and, in the case of cal1 and empirical2 research estab- key consideration not from the point of view of equity,
operatives is one of the stated reasons for not signing the RCEP, so how can a mass market textiles, inhibits import lishes that NFMW contributes pos- but from that of macroeconomic stability and growth
bilateral agreement with these nations be signed? Australia, in addition, will substitution, ceding home market itively to aggregate economic optimisation. (4) Subnational minimum wages could
demand to Bangladesh and Vietnam. RATHIN ROY welfare and growth, and that any be set above the floor as desired with other consider-
want greater access to agriculture more generally, but that appears to be a red In the first case, relative prices of things negative employment effects are ations in mind.
line for the Indian government in spite of the benefits for consumers. that the top 150 million consume — offset by the positive impact on Bear in mind that this approach has macroeco-
Even India’s trading relations with the rest of the RCEP countries should be automobiles, air conditioners, etc — have hugely human capital formation and the stability and mag- nomic trade-offs. A higher NFMW may mean lower
looked at sceptically in this context. It has already put into place some restrictions decreased over the past 20 years; thus an air condi- nitude of aggregate home market demand. profits and, therefore, lower taxes and lower public
on the import of palm oil, a commodity in which trade has escalated sharply tioner that would have cost an entry-level civil servant expenditures/fiscal stress. The NFMW may be lower
a year’s salary in 1989 now costs less than a month’s Micro principles vs macro approach than desired by those concerned with household wel-
after the signing of the India-Asean trade agreement. While India’s trade deficit
salary. However, the same is not true of things con- Arguments for a minimum wage in the Indian context fare, dignity of labour, etc. Political pressures to raise
with China may be substantial, so is its deficit with the rest of the RCEP countries. sumed by those earning incomes at, or even triple, have been based not on macroeconomic reasoning the NFMW may defeat the macroeconomic purpose
Thus, the problem with uncompetitive Indian production is not solved simply the minimum wage, such as nutritious food items, but on some notion of a safety net and Victorian in economies with weak political buffers. So these
by avoiding giving Chinese producers market access. Nor is there much hope affordable housing, healthcare and education. notions of relative status. The calculation of the pro- complexities will need to be addressed. But they do
from trade negotiations with either the European Union or the United States. When relative prices do not serve the national good, posed NFMW is based on the basic needs that a family not detract from the need for an incomes policy,
The former has been stalled for years, following demands for protection by then there is a case for government intervention, espe- would need to feed, clothe, and house itself at a basic anchored in a NFMWdetermined by macroeconomic
cially when distorted relative prices are a driver of level with some additional amount for emergencies. considerations, which is of urgent importance in the
domestic industry lobbies like auto and — again — dairy. The latter will expect
macroeconomic slowdown. This case was made by Thus, the proposed NFMW allows for a net intake of face of the structural demand slowdown. -
reversals of recent Indian state action on price control in areas such as medical John Maynard Keynes for developed countries and 2,700 calories per household member, which is not
equipment and pharmaceuticals and an end to subsidies and preferences for was part of the standard macroeconomic toolbox until significantly higher than the intake used to define the The writer is director, National Institute of Public Finance and
Indian producers in sectors such as electronics or solar panels. In other words, 40 years ago. It is back in the toolbox as neo-liberal poverty line. At the same time (as I discovered as a Policy. Views are personal
this new strategy will not amount to much — unless it is only another name for macroeconomics is in discredited tatters after the 2008 member of the Seventh Central Pay Commission), the 1. Cahuc and Michel (1995); See Fanti and Gori (2010);
open protectionism. crisis. In essence, the macroeconomic role of wages is Government of India used a 1950s metric called the Askenazy (2003)
expressed through linking the wage share to consump- Aykroyd formula, which provides for a more diverse 2. Dube et al. (2007); Belser and Rani (2012); full references in
tion and, transitively, to aggregate demand. The wage and better quality basket of consumption in line with the web version on nipfp.org.in
Defender of a faith
from the world of tennis) have a Hindu a fascinating account of an India that has The chapter on the proliferating busi- integral to Hinduism. He is unequivo-
religious connotation. There is an obvious not changed very much from what it used ness of Hindu gurus touches upon a dis- cally critical of the obscurantist political
need to distinguish between the to be half a century ago. The young boy turbing phenomenon. The Hindu religion parties that have been propounding the
Upanishads and the Vedas, just as the dis- in his Bombay (now Mumbai) school who has, in the last many years, manifested idea of a Hindutva thriving on division
Introduction To Hinduism, Shashi tinction between a Hindu name such as made him realise that he belonged to the itself in a highly distorted manner. The and exclusion.
Tharoor, a prolific writer and a current Sivaramakrishnan and completely non- Nair caste is not named, but the author’s rapid rise of gurus with huge mass follow- That is also a political question that
member of Parliament, makes a brave religious names such as Shyamal or Kanika description leaves very few in doubt who ings is an example. Many of these gurus the author leaves readers with. It is note-
attempt to bring out the diversity and sev- should be kept in mind. he was actually referring to and it under- have exploited their religious appeal for worthy that Mr Tharoor does not dwell
eral apparent contradictions in the many Nevertheless, the five sections contain- lines the role caste plays in even urban commercial gain. Critics will find this sec- on this issue adequately, in spite of having
ways Hindus observe their religion and ing 14 chapters in Mr Tharoor’s book is a India. Similarly, a short section of the tion to be slightly biased in the manner in raised it in the last section of the book.
BOOK REVIEW practise their beliefs. Mr Tharoor’s lucid good introduction to prevailing Hindu book is devoted to why he loves to wor- which only a few of these gurus have been The role of Hindutva politics in India for
English prose is his asset and in this book beliefs, particularly for someone who is a ship Ganesha, the elephant-headed highlighted while many others are simply the next few years is critical for the sur-
A K BHATTACHARYA he eschews the many difficult words for complete stranger to Hinduism. To most Hindu god, and how he came to under- ignored. This was perhaps because of the vival of many political leaders such as Mr
which he has now acquired a reputation. Indians, the detailed account of Swami stand his many facets. obvious limitation of space, but the exclu- Tharoor, who professes to be a different
T
he greatness as well as the com- Neither does the book have a “farrago” of Vivekananda or Adi Shankara will hardly The book also has many short and sim- sion of many gurus with dubious creden- kind of a Hindu and abhors the idea of
plexity of the Hindu belief system Hindu mythological tales, nor does the reveal anything strikingly new. But to the plified stories from Hindu scriptures tials suggests that the author may have narrow, caste-obsessed, Hindu majori-
is that there is no one precise way author indulge in “rodomontades” about uninitiated foreigner, the book is a good including the Mahabharata and the played safe by avoiding any controversy. tarian politics. In that sense, the book
of defining it. For instance, there are his knowledge of Hindu scriptures. starting point in understanding the Ramayana, which for instance explain It is in the last section of the book that seems to be an attempt by Mr Tharoor to
Hindus who are believers and there are Quite to the contrary, Mr Tharoor could Hindus. And those who want to know weighty issues on caste and ethics. Thus, the author reveals the politics that is reiterate his political convictions and rel-
also Hindus who are non-believers. There be accused of having made minor com- more, there is a diligently compiled list of Mr Tharoor narrates the heart-rending sto- behind the manner in which the Hindu evance in an India that is rapidly chang-
has always been room for both varieties promises by endorsing the mistaken belief books for further reading. ry of Eklavya, the low-caste archer who religion has expanded its footprint and ing its political colours.
of people in the world of Hindus. Not with- that the popular phrase of Vasudhaiva What makes Mr Tharoor’s book easy had to sacrifice his right thumb to satisfy become more popular in different ways
out reason has it been said that Hinduism Kutumbakam (the world is my family) is and readable is the highly personalised his Brahmin guru’s wishes, and explains including as a tool for political mobili- THE HINDU WAY: AN INTRO-
is not strictly a religion but a composite derived from the Rig Veda or by wrongly account of his interface with the various in another context the logic of killing one’s sation. Mr Tharoor rejects the idea of an
and syncretic way of life. suggesting that names such as Vijay, facets of the Hindu religion. His realisa- near and dear ones, propounded by intolerant Hindu religion, arguing that DUCTION TO HINDUISM
In his latest book, The Hindu Way: An Anand and Ashok (the Amritraj brothers tion of the importance of caste provides Krishna in the Geeta. tolerance and acceptance of diversity are Shashi Tharoor; Aleph, 340 pages, ~ 799
8 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM
PEACE TRAILS
Opinion THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2019

❝
Union home minister Amit Shah
Kartarpur Sahib Corridor is a historic achievement
that generations of devotees will remember ... It
reflects Modi govt’s commitment towards preserving
our rich heritage
❝
● RCEP
SHOBHANA THE VISION OF MAKING INDIAA GLOBAL MANUFACTURING HUB DEPENDS ON GETTING ACCESS TO
GLOBALAND REGIONAL PRODUCTION NETWORKS. FOR THAT, IT NEEDS FTAS LIKE RCEP
SUBRAMANIAN
shobhana.subramanian
@expressindia.com
No competition please,
Change promoters
to fix real estate
this is India
I
NDIA’S BACKING OFF from that,it needs FTAs like RCEP.The logic
RCEP is not surprising. What is of engaging in such FTAs only after
Attract new loans to revive stressed real estate projects with surprising is that it took it so domestic industry is competitive is
easier NPA rules, but only if existing promoters are eased out long to do so.As a reluctant par-
ticipator,India hardlyhad a con-
AMITENDU fallacious.It will never be competitive
unless exposed to competition,which
structive strategyforthe talks.Forsev- PALIT it won’t be.
T
HE GOVERNMENT HAS been working on initiatives to resuscitate the
eral years,and most of the earlyrounds, RCEP members might concede
real estate sector. It has proposed a `20,000 crore fund that would be Senior research fellow and research lead, NUS
it relied on the old strategyof lingering Views are personal more to India if they really value
used to complete projects that have not turned into NPAs yet and
the process. But, as other countries India’s economic and geo-strategic
where 60% of the construction is complete.This sounds good,but can’t
started piling up pressure for conclud- might.There is talk of India pursuing
help beyond a point because sound projects don’t really need help.
ing talks from about a couple of years ests of individual members can be The US imports also don’t threaten bilateral FTAs with some RCEP mem-
The real problem lies in the hundreds of stressed projects—and the bank-
ago,India realised it was being pushed accommodated only up to certain Indian manufacturers,except in high- bers like Australia.Unfortunately,rub-
rupt developers—many of which have been funded by non-banking financial
into a corner. The deal was to be con- extents.It must also note that its para- end pharma, and automobiles. The bing shoulders on the security plat-
companies (NBFCs) and banks.It is these projects that need assistance.Indeed,
cluded in the last ASEAN Summit itself, noia over Chinese imports is not shock, though, will be in dairy and form of Quad won’t guarantee special
we are already seeing collateral damage.
in 2018. But, India’s general election, shared by other members.The rest are other agricultural products. If Indian visas for Indian professionals through
That is because, with limited liquidity and in the absence of refinancing
as well as those in otherRCEPmembers unlikely to be overtly sympathetic to dairy producers prefer being hit by a bilateral FTA with Australia. The
options, many more developers could go bust, and many more projects remain
like Indonesia,Thailand,and Australia, India’s insistence on special protection American milk imports as opposed to dairy sectorwould need to be stripped
incomplete; the fallout of developer defaults on lenders could be significant.
came to India’s rescue. The group against Chinese imports. those from Australia and New of protection, as would more of agri-
There could be a solution: Ask banks to fund stalled projects under certain
decided to defer the conclusion to this Why is the Indian industry, and Zealand, then one needs culture. That, though,
strict conditions. In fact, some banks are believed to have indicated that they
year’s ASEAN Summit at Bangkok. other stakeholders, so defensive on to see what logic sup- might be more than a
are willing to do so if they are allowed forbearance for their share of the expo-
It is only during the last one year or RCEP? It is interesting that the same ports such preference! handful to handle. Get-
sure. In other words, they don’t want their new exposure to be classified as a The logic of
so that India got serious about RCEP. defensiveness is hardly visible with The overarching sen- ting shallow FTAs, as
non-performing asset. They point out that if they have, say, just a tenth of the
Elaborate consultations took place in respect to efforts of an FTAwith the US. timent in pulling out of engaging in such India has done in the
exposure, it is unfair to ask them to label it as an NPA. That is a perfectly valid
the past fewmonths,along with exten- The answer is obvious. RCEP includes RCEP is Indian indus- past with Bhutan and Sri
demand. Indeed, the idea is a good one, and RBI could consider relaxing the FTAs only after
sive engagements with other mem- Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and try’s fear of imports.But, Lanka on geopolitical
rules, but only if there is a change in the ownership of the project, with new
bers.The deal,though,was already at a Korea—countries that are miles ahead will a longer phase-out domestic industry is grounds,is very different
developers being roped in to complete it.
substantially advanced stage. Other of Indian producers on competitive- period, and painfully competitive is from working out deep,
A project where just 20-25% of the work remains,but has been languishing
countries were not sympathetic to ness in manufacturing.The gaps are so slower cut in tariffs—as fallacious. It will modern, comprehensive
for lack of funds—working capital perhaps—could easily be revived with a new
reopening discussions on India’s ‘core’ much that even with high customs India is demanding— FTAs with advanced
lender joining the consortium,and new ownership.The idea could go a long way
demands: bringing up the base yearfor duties, Indian consumers, in many get rid of this fear? It
never be economies. Even if India
if banks are able to rope in strong corporate builders competitive unless gets FTAs with the US
cutting tariffs to 2019 from 2014, cases,preferimports from these coun- won’t. For most of
to take over stalled projects,and lending to these
companies would be less risky.While forbearance
automatic safeguard trigger for stop- tries as opposed to domestic substi- Indian industry, the exposed to and the EU, getting
ping surge in imports, and the insis- tutes.The same lack of competitiveness urge to become compet- competition, which higher shares of these
for any reason is to be avoided because it sets a The government tence on greater market access for its prevents Indian exporters from pene- itive doesn’t exist as markets would mean
bad precedent, this time around, given how the must make sure the professionals.At the end,India was left trating deep in Asia-Pacific markets in long as it is protected. it won’t be competing with benefi-
real estate sector is in terrible shape and how it
process by which a with little choice but to back out. spite of zero orlowtariffs.Exports from Growth of exports ciaries of deep non-reci-
can catalyse growth,RBI maywant to consider it.
new promoter takes India’s opportunity to return to Vietnam, Philippines, and Malaysia requires being competi- procal preferences like
However, it is important that this kind of last
RCEP remains. The joint statement of would be more competitive in larger tive and matching up to better quality EBA. Competitiveness would matter
mile funding doesn’t turn into a bailout for exist- over doesn’t get RCEPministers mentions othermem- RCEP consumer markets like Japan, standards.From an industry perspec- there—a parameterwhere Indian pro-
ing lenders. The projects need to be screened mired in litigation. For
bers working with India for resolving Australia, and Korea, compared with tive, rather than export, it is better to ducers would fall short.
thoroughly to ensure they are viable and are only
instance, outstanding issues. But, this would those from India. focus on the protected domestic mar- The commerce minister’s recent
in trouble because of a shortage of a small quan-
require India being realistic about its The competitiveness problem ket, where the miserable Indian con- lament on FTAs not needing to create a
tity of funds. RBI could review an independent investigative
‘own terms,’and ‘core demands’.It has doesn’t arise for the US.Indian indus- sumer will have to accept whatever is fear psychosis is unlikely to serve its
assessment of the requirement of funds and put agencies should not been excessively reliant on its large try is confident of diving deep in the cheaply available, regardless of qual- purpose. However supportive the gov-
a cap.Also,the existing promoters need to be sent
stall the process as economic size, and the hope that size US market. The post-GSP scenario ity and price. ernment is, industry is unlikely to act
packing. They can’t be, in any way, linked to the
happened in matters so much that it can demand might be different though,since other The vision of making India a towards becoming more competitive.
project. The lenders with previous exposure to
and obtain the impossible. It must GSP-receiving competitors from Asia global manufacturing hub depends Once protected, always protected. No
the project must continue to classify the account the NCLT note that RCEP is a multi-country, and Africa are getting their act on getting access to global and wonder, the relief is so palpable after
as an NPA.They can’t get away from that; the for-
regional trade agreement,where inter- together by reducing business costs. regional production networks. For the pullout from RCEP!
bearance should only be given to the new lenders.
Critically, the government must make sure
the process by which a new promoter takes over doesn’t get mired in litigation.
For instance, the investigative agencies should not stall the process as it has LETTERS TO
happened in the NCLT, where the corporate insolvency resolution process has
been short-circuited by the SFIO, EoW, and so on. Such disruptions will put off
the prospective buyer as also the lenders.Banks today are sitting on funds—the
The reforms that India needs now THE EDITOR
surplus liquidity is more than `2 lakh crore—but are unwilling to lend to poorly-
rated companies for fear of further loan losses.That is understandable; so,they Police-lawyer face-off
do need some support from the regulator and the government. Political control will be
The open confrontation between
The total exposure—across banks, NBFCs, and HFCs—to the developer seg-
ment is estimated at around `6 lakh crore,with NBFCs and HFCs having an esti-
worthless if it is not used for NIRVIKAR the police and the lawyers on the
decisive actions,with respect to court and police station of the
mated 30%. Of this total exposure to developers, 40% comprises lease rental
discounting (LRD), which carries less of a risk. The core developer book (net of the economy,which will both
SINGH streets in Delhi has caused
consternation among the general
LRD), is split more or less equally between banks and NBFCs. Some NBFCs, in Professor of Economics, UC
their quest for high yields—17-18%—appear to have abandoned quality alto-
restore and accelerate growth Santa Cruz. Views are personal
public. Obviously neither side is
wholly to blame; both sides should
gether; now,that money is stuck because the builders are broke,or going broke
share the blame in some measure
since they are unable to sell their stock.The total unsold residential inventory,
THE CURRENT STATE of the Indian regulators also lack sufficient expertise not just the sale of minoritystakes that despite a very one-sided picture
at the end of September, was six lakh units. How much of this was complete at
economy is bad enough to merit the and experience, along with a problem do nothing to force greater efficiency presented by large sections of the
the time is not known.
description of being in a crisis. This is of bandwidth. This is one area where of operations. Again, experts who can media. There must have been a lot of
Strapped for liquidity, some NBFCs are now trying to camouflage the bad
not the kind of crisis that triggered the bringing in foreign know-howcould be design the mechanisms for structur- simmering mutual mistrust and
loans by converting them into equity; at times, these are being converted into
economic reforms of 1991. At that very valuable. It would be expensive, ing these privatisations, are needed, resentment for what started as a
non-convertible debentures(NCD),and sold down to retail or even institutional
time, India was facing the prospect of but with manybillions of rupees of lost and the biggest challenge is whether parking altercation to snowball into
investors, locally and overseas, in what are often junk bonds.
being unable to pay its bills to other economic activity at stake, it would be the government is willing to recruit violent clashes. The instinctive
That is one reason an AQR or an asset quality review for NBFCs—of all shapes
countries whereas now, its problems an appropriate crisis response. them from a global pool. territoriality of the lawyers and the
and sizes—needs to be carried out immediately. That will tell us the true qual-
are much more domestic,and,superfi- Unfortunately, the government A complementary reform to pri- police largely explains the scuffles
ity of the real estate book at a time when it is becoming harder for them to access
cially,not as severe,with growth still at has not seemed open to ideas and vatisation is opening up entry in some that have broken out between them.
liquidity at an affordable cost.The other problem with real estate is that valua-
around 5%.The remedies now are also expertise from outside. A welcome areas of finance,in particular,but also, Events have taken an ugly turn
tions,which are inflated to begin with,will soon start to fall as banks attempts
going to need to be very different. trend of involving academics of possibly, in telecom and other sectors because of the perception of the
to monetise their collateral. That, then, will drive down the value of collateral
Removing controls, and cutting puni- Indian origin with stellar reputations where there is a shortage of supply, encroachment of courts and police
held by other lenders. It will, however, be good in the sense that prices will
tive import duties and tax rates is not has been reversed over the past few dominant players behaving as monop- posts. Video clippings have shown
become real again.
where major reforms have to come, years. Even the warm glow of Abhijit olists, possibilities for growth, or all of police vandalising the chambers of
although trimming some tariff rates Banerjee’s Nobel prize only lasted a the above.Just repeating slogans about lawyers, and lawyers ransacking
could help Indian firms that need to few days,as he became subject to ugly a $5 trillion economy will not bring it police stations. The unprecedented
BuyingTIME import equipment, or intermediate

goods for efficient manufacturing.
The biggest problem, as has been
personal attacks by prominent ruling
party members, annoyed by his
gloomy, if realistic, assessment of the
about,and not having a broad vision of
where the growth will come,and howit
can come about, will ensure that the
protests by the lower rungs of the
police joined by their kin with
placards reading ‘protectors need
Time-banks are a good idea if implemented well; said in this column multiple times,is in Indian economy. Right goal remains unattain- protection’ and sloganeering ‘we
the financial sector. First banks, and now, India needs more able. Having a concrete need justice’, with which the media
otherwise, they would be akin to a ponzi scheme then non-bank financial companies experts like him,who will vision of what a robust had a field day, were in violation of
India’s new
(NBFCs), have run into trouble, and speak their minds and economy,driven bycom- ‘service rules’ and defiance of
bankruptcy code
A
ROBINSON CRUSOE economy is a thought experiment that is often credit has dried up in manykeyareas of provide unbiased analy- petition and innovation, ‘superiors’, and should not set a bad
the economy, with domino effects on sis, as well as specialists represented a might look like in the precedent. Slapping, thrashing or
used in economics to explain difficult concepts with simplicity. One of
real economic activityin those sectors. who can manage, and significant step next decade will also manhandling is wrong; it is a
the best examples is of consumption and pension.The example is of an
Cleaning up this mess will require accelerate, the process of forward, but it has require expertise from punishable crime, no matter who the
island where there are onlytwo categories of people,young and old.The major, concerted efforts if it is to be financial restructuring. around the world, perpetrators and the victims are. It is
young can climb trees and get coconuts, and they part with their earnings so that accomplished in a way that minimises Another opportunity not yet been including from people dehumanising; it not only causes
the old can survive.The example works well till the time the young keep tending to the depth and length of the crisis. for “crisis driven” reform operationalised in who do not necessarily physical hurt but also robs the victim
the old,as once the cycle breaks,there would be no olderpeople left since future gen- Bankruptcy and default situations is in privatisation. In the agree with the govern- of dignity. Getting physical at the
the best
erations won’t tend to the old.Social securityschemes were designed on this idea.In involve renegotiating complex sets of long run,the GSTwill help ment on everything—or slightest provocation is immature.
recent times,the concept has found resonance with the emergence of time-banks. way possible
claims bymultiple creditors,and a poor India’s government raise indeed,on anything. The police should not do to ordinary
While the concept dates back to 1820,the first time such a bank was set up in the US resolution process can lead to an ongo- more revenue; and, as The ruling partyhas a people in custody or lock-up what it
was in 1995.As technology has allowed proliferation of apps to keep track of social ing destruction of value as uncertain- growth recovers,personal solid national political does not want the lawyers to do to
credits, more countries are adopting this approach. Madhya Pradesh, last week, ties are prolonged,and forward looking and corporate income taxes will also mandate for the next five years. It will them. As two indispensable pillars of
became the first state in India to implement such a concept. actions, such as new investments, are become more buoyant. But, for now, a soon complete its project of extending the criminal justice system, the
Given that the state predicts that the 60-plus segment would account for25% of put on hold. series of well-structured, transparent that mandate to enough states so that lawyers and law enforcers should
its population in the next 30 years,it believes a time—orsocial—credit system would India’s newbankruptcycode repre- privatisations, in areas such as the political control of the UpperHouse of nurture their interdependent
help people avail social securityservices based on these social credits.To illustrate,if a sented a significant step forward,but it financial sector,telecom,and airtrans- Parliament is also ensured.But,politi- relationship and complement each
person were to give one hourto volunteerwork at a shelterforthe elderly,she could,in has not yet been operationalised in the port,has the potential to raise revenue cal control will be worthless if it is not other in upholding the rule of law
her sunset years,encash that one hour of work from another volunteer for her care. best waypossible.Some of the problem that the government needs to avoid a used for decisive actions,with respect and serving justice. It is not
Although the approach is novel and, given the right technology, trackable, the idea lies with a judicial branch that is rela- different (more traditional) kind of to the economy, which will restore necessary to draw a demarcation
would onlywork if the state can ensure that there are enough number of volunteers tively inexperienced in such matters, economic crisis.Privatisation will also growth, and even accelerate it to the between them or portray them as
always.At present,the state claims to have the support of Rajya Anand Sansthan,which perhaps to the point of lacking suffi- have large long-run benefits as East Asian-miracle levels that have villains and victims or vice versa.
has a force of 50,000 volunteers.Social experiments like these do sound good,but with- cient competence and expertise. money-losing public sector enter- remained a mirage for almost three They are entitled to dignity of labour.
out support,theyoften fail.Cuba is a good example.Che Guevara’s videos of working Another large problem may be contin- prises are removed from the govern- decades. Making the right decisions As compatriots, they should now
on docks,and helping labourers as part of the moral incentive scheme did work won- ued political interference.Political cor- ment’s broader fiscal responsibility will need openness to ideas,and draw- put “India First”.
ders,but it failed once there was nobodywhose example the masses could follow.Maybe ruption and cronyism have been the basket,and are forced to become more ing on global expertise in ways that — G David Milton, Maruthancode
the state’s ministers can lead from the front to make the idea a success.Otherwise,it bane of India’s financial sector. Gov- efficient and competitive.This kind of have,so far,escaped the thinking of the
would sound as ludicrous as the ministrythat launched it—adhyatma (spirituality). ernment bureaucrats and financial privatisation has to be whole-hearted, current government. ●Write to us at feletters@expressindia.com
Regd. No: DL -21048/03-05. R.N.I. No.26750/74. Printed and Published by R.C. Malhotra on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited and printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, A-8, Sector-7, Noida - 201301 and published at The Indian Express (P) Limited, Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9 & 10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002. Phone: 0120-6651500, Fax: 0120-4367933. (Cover price: Patna: Mon-Fri `6, Sat `9, Sun `11; Raipur: Mon-Fri `7, Sat `10, Sun `10)
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14 FRIDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2019
NEW DELHI VIEWS
OUR VIEW MY VIEW | FARM TRUTHS

REUTERS
A close look at the economic

slowdown reveals its origins
The third anniversary of demonetization is a good time to review lessons from our policy mistakes
tional prices ought to have been to raise, remaining hopes of a revival of the
or at least maintain, domestic prices, informal economy. It led to the closure
and increase investment to support of many enterprises, causing job losses
farmers. The Centre’s response, on the that still haunt the sector.
contrary, was to reduce real investment The seventh misstep was the short-
in agriculture drastically. This was the sighted response to the agricultural cri-
third misstep, and a costly one. sis. Loan waivers were preferred over
By early 2016, it was clear that the other reforms because of political expe-
rural economy had slipped into a crisis, diency. This led to election victories,
HIMANSHU with real wages and farm incomes but agricultural support by state gov-
is associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru declining. The response of the govern- ernments fell sharply as they struggled
University and visiting fellow at the Centre ment, articulated by Prime Minister with large payouts of loan waivers. The
de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi Narendra Modi, was to pronounce the eighth misstep, also an outcome of
The climate emergency

National Rural Employment Guarantee political calculations, was to give cash
Scheme (NREGS) a “living monument” doles just before elections. These may
of the failures of the erstwhile United have benefitted the central and state
M
ost indicators of economic Progressive Alliance government. At a governments, but pushed them into a
activity for the July-September time when the government should have fiscal crisis, squeezing any space for
declared by scientists quarter are now out. The mes-

sage is clear that despite the sectoral
tweaks and announcements, the econ-
omy does not appear to be reviving. The
used public expenditure to revive rural
wages and demand, squeezing NREGS
and other rural development expendi-
ture was the fourth misstep.
meaningful reforms, despite their
urgency being at a peak.
The ninth misstep was the effort to
correct its fiscal mismanagement by
reason that these efforts are failing lies This was followed by the fifth misstep generating revenues through coercive
in the approach of a government which (rather, a misadventure): demonetiza- measures of the tax administration and
When over 11,000 experts who understand exactly what is happening to our planet speak seems reluctant to acknowledge the tion, whose third anniversary is today. It unnecessary interventions such as the
mistakes it has made. broke the back of the informal and rural capital gains tax. These did not lead to
in unison, it’s time to listen. We humans must act now, they say, to avert ‘untold suffering’ The current crisis is primarily a result economy. None of its stated objectives any significant decline in corruption or
of the missteps and misadventures of were achieved, though it did create black money, but created fear and panic
the National Democratic Alliance long-term distress, the after-effects of among financial institutions and corpo-
regime over the last five years. The which are still being felt through the rations, leading to a decline in invest-
W
hen Greta Thunberg, the system rings especially true in India. Heat con- anniversary of the biggest of these mis- decline in demand and rise in unem- ment and corporate credit.
Swedish teen activist, ditions, wind flows, and rainfall levels appear adventures, demonetization, is the best ployment. The sixth misstep was the The 10th misstep has not directly
time to recount the 10 biggest missteps. hurried implementation of the goods contributed to a worsening of India’s
raged against world lead- to have broken seasonal patterns recorded The first moment of reckoning was the and services tax, which destroyed any economic situation, but has certainly
ers at the United Nations over the decades and held firm by tradition for sharp fall in petroleum prices in August created mistrust among stakeholders of
for luxuriating in their centuries. Farms in states such as Haryana and 2014, which offered windfall gains to the country’s statistical system.
“fairytales of eternal eco- Punjab have had to adapt to a late monsoon the government. Unfortunately, this Attempts at suppressing and manipulat-
nomic growth” and doing precious little to that delays the sowing of summer crops. By came along with a sharp fall in prices of QUICK READ ing data have been detrimental to aca-
agricultural commodities that broke the demia, media, and also policymakers
combat climate change, many dismissed her harvest time, rabi season arrives, so farmers back of farmers, some of whom commit- The reason that efforts to revive who are supposed to make policies
speech as alarmist. But the latest warning clear their fields in a frenzy by setting the left- ted suicide. Instead of recognizing the economic growth are failing may based on facts and not beliefs.
issued jointly by more than 11,000 scientists over stubble of the kharif crop on fire, choking crisis and passing on benefits of the lie in the approach of a This list of missteps is not exhaustive
from 153 countries, including 69 Indian scien- cities with an ill wind blowing south. While windfall to them through reduced input government that seems but holds lessons for what could be
tists, is simply impossible to gloss over. Their some parts of India get deficient rains, others prices, the government chose to fritter reluctant to acknowledge the done. While some of these cannot be
away the gains. policy errors it has made reversed, the least that the government
forecast is stark. We human beings, they say, tend to get deluged by concentrated down- This was followed by the double- over the past five years. could do is recognize the gravity of the
are in for “untold suffering” on account of the pours, which get ever more frequent. drought of 2014-15—a rare occurrence crisis. The third anniversary of demone-
planet’s climate crisis, unless we transform the The scientists have highlighted several indi- that deepened the agrarian crisis. The The 2016 misadventure of tization should serve as an opportune
way we live and conduct ourselves in greater cators of how unsustainable our lifestyles are. second misstep was to ignore this. The demonetization was one among occasion to remind ourselves of the
harmony with nature. This ought to concen- As many as 4 billion passengers travelled by air natural response of any government at least ten missteps from which catastrophe caused by these misadven-
during a double-drought and a collapse lessons can now be drawn for tures, based as they were on beliefs and
trate minds like never before. “We declare in 2017, for example, while annual per-capita in farm incomes because of low interna- measures that prove effective. not facts.
clearly and un-equivocally that planet Earth is meat production reached 45kg. These contrib-
facing a climate emergency,” goes their state- ute to significant carbon emissions that result
ment. “To secure a sustainable future, we must in global warming. The urgent measures they
change how we live.” It’s their moral obligation have advocated include slowing population
to forewarn humanity of the cataclysm we face, growth, leaving fossil fuels in the ground,
they believe, and “tell it like it is”. reducing meat consumption, and halting
The statement was published on Tuesday in deforestation. The climate crisis, they have www.livemint.com New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Chandigarh*, Pune* Monday, November 9, 2009 Vol.3 No.267 Rs. 3.00 24 PAGES + 8 PAGES WEF SPECIAL
Ghosn admits to speed

BioScience, a peer-reviewed journal, to mark emphasized, is closely linked with excessive
WEF:
bumps in Logan ride >S6
the 40th anniversary of the first World Climate consumption associated with a “wealthy EXCLUSIVE PARTNER
INFLUENCERS INDEX: Economy keeps
finance minister at the top >20
GPRI: India drops two places to 12 in
political risk ranking of 24 nations >15
Twenty-five years ago,
people could be
SENSEX 16,158.28 ® NIFTY 4,796.15 ® DOLLAR Rs46.81 ® EURO Rs69.63 ® GOLD Rs16,665 ® OIL $75.85 ®
Conference held in Geneva. These scientists lifestyle”. Given their dire prognosis, it would What’s inside
In a huge victory for President Barack Obama and the
GROWTH IMPERATIVE
Singh plans Huge discrepancies

SHADOW OF DOUBT
in IMF numbers
have used verified datasets since 1979 on seem imperative to do what they have sug-
Democrats, the US on Saturday passed a much-debated
excused for not

health Bill that would see the government spend $1.01
trillion in providing health insurance to an additional 36
million Americans and facilitate the biggest expansion of
the social security net since 1965.
LEADING THE NEWS
Things are look-
MONEY MATTERS
>P17
Should foreign companies

financial T he World Economic
Outlook of the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF) has a database that
MARK TO MARKET
MANAS CHAKRAVARTY
For developing Asia, which,
ing brighter for charge their Indian subsidi-
sector reform contains, among plenty of according to IMF numbers,
energy use, population growth, deforestation, gested, and do so without losing time. How-
the Common- aries royalty for using other things, the numbers for saw net private portfolio
wealth Games, trademarks and brands? net private portfolio flows. inflows of $7.9 billion in 2008,
but a lack of vi- Mark to Market explores The October 2009 database the forecast is for net outflows
knowing much, or
sion still besets the argument. >P14 RAMESH PATHANIA/MINT forecasts that net private of $85.184 billion for 2009,
the event, says Anil Pad- *** Changes will be aimed portfolio outflows from which goes up even further to
manabhan.
***
>P4 Tamal Bandyo-
padhyay on
at ensuring that system emerging and developing
economies would increase
$127.542 billion in 2010.
How the IMF arrived at
Shortage of staff is curbing the saas-bahu can generate funds from $85.361 billion (Rs4 these numbers is a mystery,
the Competition Commis- syndrome in In- needed for country’s trillion) to $99.835 billion in because, at least so far this
gross domestic product growth, polar ice mass, ever, that is a challenge extremely difficult to
sion of India’s effectiveness dian public sec- 2009 and further to $110.436
even as it faces long-drawn tor banks and development agenda billion in 2010. TURN TO PAGE 2®
battles with firms challeng- the ways to deal
ing its authority. >P4 with it. >P6 B Y S ANJIV S HANKARAN
sanjiv.s@livemint.com
doing much, about

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ·························
NEW DELHI Market making: related to market making.
The Securities and Exchange
P
As the Wall fell, Berliners
rebuilt their lives
rime Minister Manmo-
han Singh’s United Pro- Sebi slaps Board of India (Sebi) issued
the notice to the exchange for
carbon emissions and other such measures to meet. This crisis could end up as the ultimate show-cause
How ordinary people grappled gressive Alliance (UPA) artificially creating volumes in
with the transformation that government will carry out Seeking change: Prime Minister the derivatives segment in
large-scale financial sector re- Manmohan Singh. 2008 through market makers
capitalism brought. >P19
forms to cata-
lyse economic
notice on BSE without acquiring approvals
from the regulator, according
WEF COVERAGE
growth and B Y A NIRUDH L ASKAR to a Sebi official who didn’t
CORPORATE NEWS ECONOMY & POLITICS also step up >Govt to wind down stimulus steps >P3 anirudh.l@livemint.com want to be named.
climate change. Today

Shipping Corp. of India is public expen- >Nath wants infrastructure decade, ························· A show-cause notice is not
diture in edu- push on road building >S1 MUMBAI an indictment. It seeks an ex-
debating the future of its
conclude that climate change is not just indis- “tragedy of the commons”, where self-interest
>How sustainable will recovery be? >S2
container shipping busi-
ness, including a possible
exit from the sector, as the
health.
cation and
“We need to ensure that the

>Economic outlook promising, but
few concerns remain >S6
I ndia’s capital market regula-
tor has issued a show-cause
notice to Asia’s oldest bourse,
planation from an entity for
certain activities, typically
within a time frame.
firm faces increasing head- financial system can provide To see all of Mint’s coverage on the the 134-year-old Bombay Kalyan S. Bose, head of cor-
The Mango, an end-to-end winds from a downturn in WEF India summit, log on to Stock Exchange (BSE), for al-
content delivery system for global trade. >P9 TURN TO PAGE 3® http://blog.livemint.com/wefindia legedly violating regulations TURN TO BACK PAGE ®
networks being tested by ***
Bell Labs, may soon cata- The Dalai Lama arrived at
pult Alcatel-Lucent’s re- Tawang in Arunachal Prad-
putably evident, but is accelerating at a faster- defeats our common interest. It is very hard to MCA takes
we have no excuse.
search unit into services. esh on Sunday amid a rous-
Bell claims the new tech- ing reception. The spiritual
nology will address issues
of speed and cost in exis-
tent systems while allowing
leader, who is visiting the
state after six years, made
clear that his visit is com-
Rs8 cr cover
content delivery on mobile
phones. >P6
pletely non-political. >P11 against match
VIEWS
***
The outgoing boss of Gen- The fall of the disruptions
than-expected rate. William Ripple, a profes- tell people in countries emerging from poverty
eral Motors Europe, Carl- Berlin Wall 20
Peter Forster, is all set to years ago set B Y A NITA B HOIR &
take charge of Tata group- in motion de- R AVI K RISHNAN
owned Jaguar Land Rover velopments ·························
in the next few months, ac- MUMBAI
that helped
cording to a report quoting
German officials in the
Sunday Times. >P6
raise Asia’s profile in inter-
national relations, says
Brahma Chellaney. >P23
F rom airline strikes to terror
attacks, the Mumbai Crick-
et Association (MCA) is leaving
sor of ecology at Oregon State University and that the lifestyles of the rich are no longer
nothing to chance as it hosts
its first international match in
more than two years.
The seventh one-day inter-
QUICK EDIT
D E SMON D TU TU
national between India and
Australia at the DY Patil Sports
Main Street to Dalal Street Academy ground, Navi Mum-

bai, on Wednesday will have
insurance cover even against
T
the lead author of the statement, said extreme available to all. Alternatives to carbon-spewing
he US labour department sentiment as families prefer to the death of a national leader
said this weekend that the save rather than spend. or a failure of floodlights that
unemployment rate in the These hard facts point to a may lead to the match’s can-
world’s largest economy further decline in the US cellation.
touched 10.2% in October, the dollar, which is not just the “The insurance cover in-
highest in 26 years. This preferred currency of trade cludes public liability insur-
means that 8.2 million and foreign exchange ance in case of a bomb explo-
Americans have lost jobs reserves, it is also replacing sion at the venue or a possible
since the start of the the Japanese yen as the new terrorist attack in and around
weather events led him to initiate this collabo- exist, but are costly and inadequate. Scientific
recession. funding currency for the carry the vicinity where the match is
Growing job losses are trade. A weak dollar and being played, collapse of the
likely to have several effects, near-zero US interest rates stadium, disability or loss of
the most important being that will ensure that this carry life caused to any spectator
the US Federal Reserve will trade continues to grow, during the match, stampede
find it hard to raise interest sending a tsunami of and lathicharge,” said a senior
rates despite the need to do short-term money into Asian MCA official, who didn’t want
so. The fear of even more job stock markets. to be named. MCA has insured
losses in the months ahead Regional regulators will the match for Rs8 crore, added
ration among scientists across the globe. That breakthroughs on various fronts will have
will dampen consumer have to be on their guard. the same official.
Mint is also available for Rs5.50 with Hindustan Times under a combo offer TURN TO PAGE 2®
havoc is being wreaked upon our atmospheric to see us through.
MY VIEW | LEARNING 4.0
The business case for gender equality in our society

product (GDP) would be higher by 27% and women with no secondary or higher educa- faced by women working in the formal sec- women to succeed in.
KAPIL VISWANATHAN grow an additional 1.5% each year. tion are far higher than those who receive tor in corporate India, that of subconscious However, corporations need not wait for
Yet, women remain unequal when it comes secondary education. bias is perhaps the most prevalent. Well such legislation and, indeed, must begin to
to economic opportunity, especially in India. In the next category, as families become intentioned corporate leaders must nip this practise these policies on their own. Support
Only 18% of India’s GDP is from paid work by more prosperous and the need to generate in the bud and set an example for the rest of for women employees in the form of child
women, compared to 40% in China. Only 27% income diminishes, fewer women enter the the organization to follow. This is an area care, maternity leave and flexitime can go a
T
he complex tapestry of gender equal- of India’s workforce is composed of women, labour force. Societal norms favour women where a zero-tolerance policy is essential. long way in this regard. Corporate fiats
ity is composed of various hues— compared to 48% globally. India ranks 120 playing the role of caregivers and home- Another serious hurdle is the culture of requiring the equal and unprejudiced treat-
equality of opportunity, breaking among 131 countries in female labour force makers. As income levels increase further, face time, where employees who are seen to ment of women in the workplace, and
down of gender stereotypes, respect for participation rates. Only 14% of India’s elected women begin to enrol in college and are thus spend long hours in the office beyond regu- requiring equal representation in teams,
roles played by women in the household, members of Parliament are women, com- exposed to opportunities in the formal sec- lar working hours are identified as high per- committees and boards, have proven to be
crimes against women, and female infanti- pared to, say, 24% of the members of the tor, leading to greater participation in the formers for promotion and receive higher effective in many instances.
cide. In this column, I focus on one of these House of Representatives in the US. labour force. remuneration. This, combined with the Most substantially, addressing the com-
hues—the role of gender in the economy— India being a very diverse nation, it is diffi- In this last category of expectation that an plex issue of gender equality requires a shift
seen not through the lens of women, but cult to make country-level analyses and con- college-going women, employee must be ready in attitudes, both at the individual and socie-
is vice-chairman of from the point of view of companies and clusions. For example, in Nagaland, there one observes a curious QUICK READ to work at any place and tal levels. For example, 70% of Indians
Krea University society at large. are eight women for every 10 men in the phenomenon. While any time, makes it much believe that when a woman works for pay,
The facts have been evident for some labour force, as against just two women for 44% of graduating col- Studies have shown that having more difficult for women her children suffer. However, working sup-
years now. Companies across the world with every 10 men in Delhi. lege students are women, more women in the workforce is to succeed. ports the economic and financial independ-
more than one woman on their boards have These variations notwithstanding, only 25% of entry-level beneficial both for business and Legislation at the ence of women, giving them the freedom to
generated shareholder returns 3.3% higher women’s participation in the labour force professionals are women. the broader economy. But national or state level pursue their choices, and putting them on an
each year than companies with no women can be analysed across three income levels. This indicates yet subconscious biases and societal mandating gender equal- equal footing with male wage-earners. In
on the board. A Harvard Business Review Women in very low-income households another cultural norm of expectations limit their role. ity can go a long way in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda
study shows that companies with women work by necessity, mostly in the informal early marriage and removing these hurdles. Gates Foundation, we have established a
occupying 30% of leadership positions are sector. An estimated 120 million, or 97% of home-based roles for While legislation mandating Better education for the centre to study what works to advance
15% more profitable than companies with no all female workers, fall into this category. women. Moreover, this gender equality can go a long way girl child, removal of bar- women and girls in the economy.
women in leadership positions. Closer Here, participation rates of rural women are 25% drops further to a in removing these hurdles, riers to entrepreneurship Respect for women and their freedom is
home, if Indian women participated in the twice as high as those of urban women and paltry 4% of CXOs in corporate India need not and other such legislative something we must build into our society—
workforce to the same extent as women they presumably work on agriculture or low- India who are women. wait and should adopt better actions make the system for society’s sake more than for women’s
across the world, India’s gross domestic paying jobs. Similarly, participation rates of Of the various hurdles policies on its own. more conducive for sake.
VIEWS FRIDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2019
NEW DELHI 15
MY VIEW | VOX HETERODOX G LO B A L VO I C E S
Shut the door on RCEP but let’s Eastern Europe’s populist scam
W hat is galling is how openly Prime Minister Viktor Orban does it, blaming the
get our act together at home European Union for every imagined indignity or interference in Hungary’s
affairs, while milking billions from Brussels to enrich his cronies and prop up his
illiberal rule. He is not alone, as a Times investigation of the bloc’s lavish farm subsi-
dies demonstrates in shocking detail—the governments of several formerly Com-
munist Eastern European states have also cynically taken advantage of the union’s
largess through opaque deals, feeding a new class of land barons. Perhaps even
Economic openness is necessary but not sufficient: it succeeds only when combined with strategic industrial policy more galling is that the European Union knows all this, but prefers not to see or hear
about the corruption for fear of upsetting the precarious bonds that hold the union
together. One of the cardinal rules of the bloc is to defer to national leaders as much
MINT as possible to avoid just the sort of charges of infringing on national sovereignty that
populist leaders across Europe, and Brexiteers in Britain, are so fond of making.
Without effective oversight, however, the funds allotted to the bloc’s newest
members—all provided by European taxpayers—have often become a lavish slush
fund for political insiders, helping them amass wealth and consolidate power...It
may not be the job of the European Union to run member countries, but neither
should the union be in the business of propping up rulers who deliberately subvert
the purpose of its subsidies.
The New York Times
DEEPAK NAYYAR
is emeritus professor of economics,
Jawaharlal Nehru University A free internet is vital to democracy
I n today’s highly digitized world, one of the key indicators of the strength of any
democracy is the degree to which the nation’s internet is considered open. Given
the government’s commitment to its Digital Bangladesh manifesto, it is dishearten-
ing to know that Bangladesh is considered only “partly free” when it comes to inter-
net freedom. According to Freedom House, which has assessed a total of 65 coun-
T
he third summit of the Regional Com- tries in a survey titled “Freedom on the net,” Bangladesh scored 44 points out of
prehensive Economic Partnership a possible 100. To put this into context, China scored the lowest with 10 points,
(RCEP) held in Bangkok, which con- placing it under “not free.”
cluded this week, sought to finalize a It is unfortunate that, despite all the progress we have made in terms of our digital
mega free-trade agreement among 16 infrastructure, the government still feels it necessary to control content on the
countries from Asia and Oceania, internet in such a heavy-handed manner... No good can come of over-regulating
which are home to one-half of the world’s popula- the usage of the internet, and blocking websites or policing social media will only
tion and account for about 40% of the world’s gross do harm to our image in the world... The future is digital [and] Bangladesh is finally
domestic product (GDP) and trade. prepared to enter that future. But at this juncture, we simply cannot afford to under-
The quest for RCEP was driven by two objec- mine all the efforts made so far. Digital Bangladesh is a worthy goal, and certainly
tives. For one, each participating country hoped an achievable one, but for that to happen, greater internet freedom is paramount.
to capture the benefits of regional cooperation The Dhaka Tribune
through deeper economic integration. For
another, it was a strategic geopolitical attempt to
create a bloc with a voice and influence in the Japan-Russia joint activities are long overdue
world. However, the process of plurilateral negoti-
ations, which began in 2012, between countries
that are diverse in terms of economic size, income
levels and national interests, was inevitably com-
P rime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to
embark on joint economic activities on the disputed Northern Territories at
their summit in December 2016 in Abe’s ancestral home prefecture of Yamaguchi.
plex. The prolonged uncertainty ended when larly in Kerala, would also have been at risk. India join RCEP is final for now. However, the joint state- Abe touted this agreement as the high point of the summit. That was nearly three
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s might be the largest producer of milk in the world, ment of leaders at the end of the summit and the years ago, but not one promising plan has been presented to date. Since the agree-
decision not to join the group, and RCEP was born but its tiny dairy farms simply could not have com- subsequent statement of India’s commerce minis- ment’s obvious purpose was to improve Japan-Russia relations, more serious
with only 15 member-countries. peted with scale-economies and superior-technol- ter suggest that India might consider joining the efforts are needed to jump-start the project... The biggest problem is the absence
In this context, it is important to note that India ogies of the dairy industry in Australia and New agreement at a later stage, perhaps next year, if the of any legal framework that applies to Japanese tourists entering any of the four
already has free-trade agreements with Asean Zealand. The story would have been similar for differences are resolved. This ambiguity is a cause islands, which are all claimed by both Russia and Japan.
since 2009, South Korea since 2009, and Japan mining. Output and employment would have for concern. The desire to rush into a free-trade Abe asserts the significance of Russians feeling “enriched” through collaboration
since 2011. In addition, RCEP includes China, been the casualties. Such fears led to a chorus of agreement with the US or the EU on the rebound is with Japanese. His argument is that sharing such successful experiences should
Australia, and New Zealand. The experience since protests, which could not be ignored by an elected more worrisome. contribute to resolving the territorial dispute, but that is nothing but wishful think-
then has been instructive. Between 2014-15 and government in a political democracy. It is essential to shut the door on RCEP and other ing at this stage... However, this is not to say that all significance of joint economic
2018-19, India’s trade deficit increased from $13 Government negotiators bargained for safe- free-trade agreements until we get our act together activities has been lost... One cause for concern, however, is Russia’s recent regres-
billion to $22 billion with Asean, from $9 billion to guards that would protect the domestic industry at home by creating an economy that is competi- sive behavior... Building a system that will enable more Japanese citizens to visit
$12 billion with South Korea, and from $5 billion to from import surges and also for provisions for mar- tive in the world market. Economic openness is the islands should help foster mutual trust and understanding... Both Tokyo and
$8 billion with Japan. Obviously, these agreements ket access in services that could necessary, but not sufficient. Moscow are responsible for striving to realize those joint economic activities in
led to a far greater increase in imports than in be competitive. This was not The revival of industrialization ways that will not harm mutual interests.
exports. In fact, India’s exports to these markets forthcoming. Under the circum- QUICK READ in India requires using interest The Asahi Shimbun, Japan
witnessed a stagnation, just as its total exports did. stances, it was both necessary rates and the exchange rate, cali-
Over the same period, India’s trade deficit with and desirable to opt out of the The ambiguity over whether India brating trade policy, influencing
China rose from $48 billion to $54 billion, while that free-trade agreement. would join the RCEP at a later foreign investment to pursue There is no harm in public advocacy
with Australia and New Zealand went up from $8 However, the government stage is worrisome, although it national development objec-
billion to $9 billion. Thus, in 2018-19, India’s trade
deficit with its potential RCEP partners alone was
$105 billion, which was larger than its total trade
was wrong in its belief that the
pact would have been more bal-
anced if there were some com-
would be worse if India rushes
into trade pacts with America
and Europe on the rebound.
tives, and providing industrial
finance. Strategic coordination
of these policies with a long-
P rime Minister Scott Morrison’s threat to outlaw certain forms of protest by envi-
ronmentalists against coal and gas mining companies might be good short-term
politics but it would be a dangerous move for Australian democracy. Mr Morrison
deficit of $104 billion with the world as a whole, pensation in services and invest- term perspective is described as announced last week in Queensland that he planned to crack down on what he
which included imports of crude oil and petroleum. ment. India does have a compar- Economic openness is industrial policy. described as a new “absolutist” and “anarchist” trend where environmentalists
It is no surprise that there was massive resistance ative advantage in software desirable, but Indian industry This is the primary lesson that impose “secondary boycotts”. In these actions, climate change protesters do not
to the idea of joining RCEP across sectors in India, exports, but that is not true of must turn globally competitive emerges from the success stories target the mining companies directly but instead they target businesses and firms
most of which are vulnerable to the import surges business services, financial ser- first. Until then, we should in Asia—be it Japan, South who provide goods or services to them. They organise picket lines, social media
that could and might follow a RCEP kind of free- vices or telecommunication ser- strengthen the WTO’s Korea, Singapore, Taiwan or, campaigns, consumer boycotts and the like to pressure banks and insurance com-
trade agreement. This is obvious in the manufac- vices, where other RCEP coun- multilateral trading system. more recently, China. Economic panies to stop providing finance to the miners and they try to scare away the con-
turing sector, which has been hurt by imports of tries, such as Japan, South openness was combined with tractors who build the mines.
goods from China, so much so that deindustrializa- Korea, Singapore, and China, are far ahead. Much strategic industrial policy that was implemented by The right to protest and, yes, protest loudly is what separates Australia from
tion is discernible. The problem would certainly the same could be said about investment. Such effective governments. The advocacy of free trade countries like China. It must be protected. Mr Morrison is wrong if he thinks that
have been exacerbated by joining RCEP, as rules- agreements on services and investment can seri- by these countries came only after they succeeded secondary boycotts are a new trend or that they are only used by environmentalists
of-origin can be easily circumvented and Chinese ously constrain the policy space because they stip- at industrialization. against mining. They have long been a widely used tool for many social protest
goods could have been routed through other ulate what governments can or cannot do in the India must follow this path. Until then, it must movements... Protests only succeed if they win the support of consumers and share-
member countries. sphere of domestic economic policies, unlike do everything it can to strengthen the multilateral holders... There must be some limits on protests, for instances where they disrupt
The agricultural sector, which is protected by agreements on trade that are confined to tariffs trading system embedded in the World Trade traffic or commit vandalism. But public advocacy should not be a crime.
tariffs in the range 30-40%, could have been even imposed on goods that cross borders. Organization, instead of rushing into free-trade The Sydney Morning Herald
more vulnerable. The plantations sector, particu- The government said that the decision not to agreements in an elusive quest for development.
MY VIEW | PEN DRIVE
It’s time to take apart the Big Fat Lie about cholesterol
tary saturated fat to heart disease came from serum cholesterol.” promote processed polyunsaturated oils billion in 2016.
C.Y. GOPINATH American physiologist Ancel Keys. His I have my layman questions: If saturated based on soy beans. The diet-heart hypoth- I remember simpler days when we didn’t
famous and controversial Seven Countries fats are so lethal, why didn’t places like Ker- esis, it seems, was tailor-made for them. A need a consultant to tell us what to eat for
Study looked at diet and heart health in the ala, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indone- mixture of intense lobbying, high-profile breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our mothers
US, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Yugo- sia, with diets rooted in coconut oil and red advertising campaigns and funded research somehow knew, and they didn’t need
slavia, Greece, and Japan—and claimed to meats, perish from rampant heart disease? created the right climate for new govern- weighing scales either. We all lived more or
I
began to huff and puff after short exer- find a correlation between dietary fats and Why were native Americans, eating a fat- ment-approved dietary guidelines that dei- less healthy, without stressing about food
tions in 2005. I was 53 and it didn’t feel high levels of cholesterol. France, with high rich diet of mainly red buffalo meat, so spec- fied low-fat diets and exiled coconut and 24/7.
right at all. My first angiogram, at Benga- saturated fat consumption and low heart tacularly healthy, with chronic and malig- palm oils, as well as most red meats from The spirit of it was captured perfectly by
luru’s Wockhardt Hospital confirmed that disease, apparently couldn’t afford to join nant diseases non-existent? A Smithsonian diets. the legendary Dr Cherian Varkey, family
my left descending aorta was 80% blocked. the study. Since atherosclerosis—the Institute study of over 2,000 Native Ameri- Since then, we have seen 50 years of diet friend and cardiologist who oversaw my
No big deal, apparently. In a few minutes, build-up of waxy plaques in the aorta—was cans found only three cases of heart disease. chaos—low carb, high carb, meat only, stent procedure. He invited me over for din-
the attending cardiologists had nuked the the problem, cholesterol was assumed to be How come Eskimos, vegan, paleo, Atkins— ner the next evening, but cooked a disturb-
blockage to shreds and installed a stent. the villain. Lowering it was assumed to be surviving on diets of and scientific “evidence” ing meal: pork curry in orange sauce and
I was told to avoid saturated fats (coconut the solution. whale blubber rich in QUICK READ to okay almost any health beef Viennoise with noodles, delicious and
is a journalist, author, oil) and red meats. No more rogan josh. Stat- However, correlation is not the same as saturated fats have such regimen you prefer. afloat in oil.
designer and cook who ins were prescribed to get my cholesterol causation. Just because high cholesterol low levels of cholesterol Does eating fats raise America is battling an Later, eyes twinkling, he said: “Gopi,
lives in Bangkok into shape. I began to understand that it was and heart disease are seen together doesn’t and heart disease? cholesterol? And does high epidemic of obesity, dia- when a building is as old as you are, what
all about one thing: managing cholesterol. mean that one is causing the other. Here’s a question: cholesterol cause heart disease? betes and heart disease. would you expect to find in its plumbing?
I don’t like popping pills. And I am scepti- Damning evidence contradicting the Who benefits if I The answer to both may be no. Meanwhile, the con- We found your 53-year-old plumbing to be
cal of data that seems to benefit big pharma. diet-heart hypothesis existed even then. wrongly believe that sumption of soybean oil a little clogged, as we’d expected. We
My antennae also tingled when the US, arbi- The world’s longest-running study of diet high cholesterol causes It appears that the diet-heart in the US increased by cleaned it out, put in a stent, and you’re good
ter of so many world standards, quietly and heart health, the Framingham Heart heart disease? hypothesis was tailor-made for more than 1,000-fold in as new again. You have a choice now: live in
removed cholesterol as a “nutrient of con- Study, now in its third generation, unequiv- It gets interesting an American soybean the 20th century. Once fear, treating yourself as a fragile person with
cern” from its 2015 Dietary Guidelines after ocally found the opposite to be true. Its right away. Around the association which was looking to cholesterol was estab- heart disease. Or you could go back to enjoy-
almost five decades of villainizing it. director, Dr William Castelli, stated flatly in time Keys published his promote polyunsaturated oils. lished as a thing to be ing life again—eating what you love, doing
What had they learnt about it? Have we 1992: “[In the study], the more saturated fat findings, an American Intense lobbying seems to feared, selling statins what you love, living happily. Of course,
been fed a Big Fat Lie all these years? one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the soybean association was have deified low-fat diets and became a global growth don’t overdo anything. But for heaven’s
The earliest rigorous studies linking die- more calories one ate, the lower the person’s looking for a hook to exiled coconut and palm oils. industry valued at $19.3 sake, don’t underdo anything either!”
08 OPINION THE TRIBUNE
CHANDIGARH | FRIDAY | 8 NOVEMBER 2019
RCEP experience & setback

THE TRIBUNE established in 1881
India had been given time in the past, why not now?
ment for this purpose. The RCEP
experience has to be actively consid-
ered by them, notwithstanding the
Half-hearted firefighting soothing noises that China is making

on the issue. What is important is that
China obviously wanted the agree-
SC rap exposes laxity of Centre, states on stubble burning ment to go ahead and showed no con-
T
cern to what India was saying. If any-
HE Centre and the states have again been caught napping on the sea- VIVEK KATJU
thing, it viewed it in the context of its
sonal scourge of stubble burning, forcing the Supreme Court to raise EX-SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS current ‘trade war’ with the US.
the fire alarm. In a blistering attack on the government machinery, Like almost every current issue in
P
the court has stated that top-level officers ‘sit in their ivory towers and let M Modi’s decision not to join India, the RCEP also became a vic-
people die’. What lends credence to this scathing observation is the Cen- the Regional Comprehensive tim of politicking. It would have
tre’s witless suggestion that areas in Punjab and Haryana be divided into Economic Partnership been preferable to use this occasion
seven zones, with farmers in each zone being allowed to burn crop residue (RCEP) agreement was to ask basic questions relating to our
in turn. No wonder this idea — perhaps unconsciously inspired by Delhi’s appropriate as it did not meet India’s approach on the current state of our
ineffectual odd-even scheme — was outrightly rejected by the Bench. current minimum requirements. economy and commerce, at a time
The dressing-down by the SC has, as expected, roused the powers However, the fact that the 15 other when global manufacturing process-
that be into action, with PM Narendra Modi directing the Agriculture countries finally decided that they DELINKED: It is time to push for comprehensive engagement with the Indo-Pacific, es are becoming transformed and
Ministry to give priority to farmers of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and would go ahead without India should while clarifying India’s concerns which prevented it from joining the group. the world is going through the fourth
lead to sober, realistic and comprehen- industrial revolution. Such intro-
Haryana in distributing equipment to prevent straw fires. Citing lack
sive introspection on India’s econo- spection would have revealed that
of funds, the Punjab Government has reiterated its demand for Cen-
my and the country’s current position What is vital is that China clearly wanted the agreement to while in the almost three decades
tral help to incentivise small and marginal farmers so that they don’t
burn stubble. Under the judicial scanner, the governments are going
and standing in the Indo-Pacific go ahead and showed no concern to what India was saying. since India began to open up its
Region (IPR), and also the rest of the economy, the country has been
all out to show how serious they are on this burning issue. However, world. This is because the RCEP may transformed and is now accepted as
going by their past record, the status quo will be restored once the lead to the making of far more than a cial reasons, the others, in addition to while making it clear that the country a crucial global player, with the
uproar dies down and the air becomes somewhat breathable. trade bloc; it may politically and these on account of a need to balance is determined to modernise its agri- capacity to project power in its own
The Central and state governments have miserably failed to dissuade strategically impact the IPR, increas- China politically and strategically. culture and manufacturing sectors region and beyond significant areas
farmers from setting stubble ablaze. The machinery for crop residue ing China’s influence, if not clout. Clearly, these countries had given and developing as a major technolog- of its economy—agriculture and
management is either in short supply or is not reaching the intended ben- All power and success is relative. India time in the past. Why did they ical power. More importantly, there associated activities, manufacturing
eficiaries. Political parties desperately woo the farming community with Thus while India has generally done not do so now? It would appear that has to be greater involvement in sectors and technology and innova-
promises such as waiving their crop loans or doubling their income, but well, China has done far better over they had either reached the conclu- strategic areas in the Indo-Pacific, tion—have lagged behind in terms of
stop short of red-flagging the widespread air pollution caused by field the past three decades. Its economy sion that India would not ultimately and this includes the Quad process. international competitiveness. The
is only second to that of the US. Its join because of the nature of its econ- This is the time for India to remain Modi government has ambitious
fires. What’s direly needed is a long-term roadmap to tackle the problem,
manufacturing base has made it omy or finally the Chinese cracked diffident in moving ahead with plans to make India a $5-trillion
factoring in various aspects — equipment, incentives, subsidy and penal-
almost the world’s factory. In recent the whip. More likely, it was a combi- Quad. In this context, it is good that economy and Make in India is a cru-
ties. A judicious mix of solutions, incentives and regulation, executed in years it has shown its technological nation of both factors. In any case the senior officials of the Quad member cial part of that endeavour but that is
a planned manner, rather than a quick-fix aimed at pacifying the court is prowess in some select areas to such lesson to be drawn from this experi- states —India, Japan, Australia and in the future. For now, though, the
the way forward. The nation owes its food security to the farmers. Brand- an extent that it has alarmed the US. ence is that the Indo-Pacific coun- the US —met on the sidelines of the fact is that significant parts of the
ing them as criminals or offenders without giving them adequate support Its strong economy, among other rea- tries are not willing to take a hit on East Asia Summit in Bangkok to economy need shelter and that,
to stop eco-unfriendly practices reeks of ingratitude and indifference. sons, has enabled China to become what they perceive to be there eco- take forward the thrust of the Quad among other reasons, prevented the
the pre-eminent power in Asia and nomic interests linked to China, even ministerial meeting in September government from joining the RCEP
cast a large shadow on the IPR. Many while they may fervently wish for the on the side-lines of the UNGA in after seven years of negotiations.
countries of the region chafe at Chi- elephant’s presence as a partial New York. They underlined the The history of this long negotiating
Reverence is unifying na’s ways but their economies have

developed a dependency on China.
On the other hand, the Indian econo-
counter to the dragon!
The RCEP experience should not
lead to the dilution of India’s Look
need for a ‘free, open, prosperous
and inclusive Indo-Pacific Region
based on shared values and princi-
process also needs to be examined
not to indulge in political or bureau-
cratic finger-pointing but to make
Guru Nanak’s Parkash Purb should be hassle-free my offers opportunities to Indo- East policy. Indeed, this is a time for ples and respect for international improvements in our internal intra
Pacific countries but these are quali- pushing for greater and comprehen- law’. The officials also correctly and inter-ministerial coordination.
T
HE chequered history of the subcontinent will turn over a new leaf tatively different from their sive engagement with the Indo-Pacif- emphasised that the Quad process Sometimes negotiations do drag to
tomorrow with the opening of the Kartarpur corridor, enabling economic linkages with China. ic, while clarifying the nature of did not wish to dilute ASEAN’s cen- the wire but it is best to avoid such a
people from India to visit the place in Pakistan where the founder There can be little doubt that the India’s concerns which prevented it trality in the region. situation. Were clear warnings given
of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, spent his final years. The occasion is momen- RCEP countries would have wanted from joining the group. These coun- The way India should handle China on red lines to all interlocutors to
tous, marked by the bridging of the divide between nations and the com- India to be a member of the group: tries should be urged to be accom- is a regular and continuous exercise, avoid bitterness or controversy? That
ing together of communities and parties, professing different faiths and China too for economic and commer- modative of these concerns, even and there are groups within govern- is, after all, the object of diplomacy.
ideologies. All this is in consonance with what Guru Nanak taught —
spreading love and respect to ensure an equitable society — as former PM
The call from Eminabad

Manmohan Singh said at the special commemorative session of the Pun-
jab Vidhan Sabha, convened to mark the Guru’s 550th birth anniversary.
The session brought together legislators from Punjab and Haryana, who
sat in the same hall after half a century. ML Khattar, Bhupinder Singh
Hooda, Capt Amarinder Singh and Parkash Singh Badal shared the space. Vijay Sabharwal reason for the call, ready to discon- He explained that his father, Abdul I asked him if he might be able to
They were, however, unable to be non-partisan. nect at a moment’s notice. Rehman, had overseen the con- send me a photograph of my family
T
Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu acknowledged Badal in his speech, HE other day I received a call After a short pause, the caller raised struction of our haveli there. Akbar haveli, which he enthusiastically
but Manmohan Singh, Amarinder and Punjab Speaker Rana KP Singh on my mobile phone. It was his voice and enquired thrice, ‘Tussi reminisced how, whenever he assured that he would have done
omitted such a mention. Incidentally, Badal and Amarinder are united an unknown number from Sabharwal ho, ji?’ ‘Yes,’ I responded, accompanied his father to the through one of his relatives still living
on the $20 visa fee, calling it jaziya, even as conflicting reports about the US. I took the call, wondering ‘and who are you?’ ‘Main Eminabad, haveli, my father and his elder there. However, he warned me that its
the need for a passport emerged from Pakistan. Both Badal and SGPC who it might be. However, hearing Pakistan, da Mohamad Akram. ’ brother used to offer him sweets, beauty had been regrettably dimin-
president Gobind Singh Longowal are unlikely to accept awards to no one on the line for a while, I dis- Now, the mere mention of Pak- which he still recalled with great ished by the many shops that had
mark Parkash Purb, coming as it is from a Congress government, while connected it, thinking it was proba- istan was enough to put me on high affection to this day, at the age of 80. sprouted in front of it.
Akali leader SS Dhindsa has agreed. The Congress and SAD said they bly one of those phishing calls that alert. However, Eminabad — being ‘I was hoping,’ he continued, ‘that When we had bid our goodbyes,
banks often warn against. my birthplace — piqued my curios- after all these years, someone of the call left me with bittersweet
would attend each other’s events at Sultanpur Lodhi and Dera Baba
After a while, I received another call ity, so I asked for the reason for the your family may come back to visit feelings. What was it that had me so
Nanak but sparred over setting up separate stages by the state govern-
from a different international num- call. Akram started listing names of Eminabad, with Sikh worshippers emotionally excited after a call
ment and the SGPC, and over ending monopoly on kirtan telecast and ber. I found myself getting a tad anx- many family elders, asking me to paying obeisance at Bhai Laloo De from a complete stranger, so much
allowing women ragis at the Golden Temple. ious when the caller identified him- confirm their relation with me, and Khooi and Rori Sahib gurdwaras. so that I had requested for a photo-
Guru Nanak’s teachings are inclusive and have served to bring togeth- self as Mohamad Akram. Why would then, enquired about my age. He Now fully engaged, I enquired graph of my familial home in a
er people of various faiths since centuries. The 550th Parkash Purb would an unknown person with that name said he had been trying to get a con- about Akram’s own life. He told me country against which many in our
be best observed if all parties treat their differences as minor variations on be calling me from a foreign land, and tact number for one of my family that he had retired from Pakistan rail- own spout animosity all the time?
a basic theme and rise above them in a befitting tribute to the Guru. how would our nation view this mat- members for several years, and that ways some 20 years back, and had Could the bonds of humanity tran-
ter? Those were my thoughts as I it was with great difficulty that he since settled in New Jersey, as his scend those of man-made bound-
enquired — disapprovingly — of the had found mine. sons had emigrated there. aries, I wondered sadly.
❝ ❞
thought for the day letters to the editor
It is never a good deal when only one party thinks it is. Follow true path gurdwaras. Allowing women to do (November 7); the decision lacks ing in foreign market. Healthy
— Malcolm Forbes As the 550th birth anniversary of so will be the best tribute to Guru logic. With barely less than a week competition is sine qua non for
Guru Nanak is approaching, every- Nanak. Throughout his life, he in the dispersal of classes before the growth. Not being a part of the
one is trying to add to the celebra- preached about gender equality commencement of examinations of bloc is not an end in itself, but
tions in one’s own way. It’s good to and women’s rights. It was he who the first semester, how will students should be the beginning of a jour-
on this day...100 years ago see the excitement, but one thing said, ‘So kyun manda aakhiye, jit complete academic activities, ney of improving ourselves.
that strikes the mind is that daily a jameh rajan’ . course syllabus and the mandatory KIRTI SHARMA, MOHALI
number of photographs of Guru BALBIR SINGH KAKKAR, JALANDHAR university conditions to be eligible
Nanak are printed in various news- to appear in examinations? Appar- FIR no solution
papers and advertisements, and Stay clear of trap ently, it is a last-ditch effort to fill Reference to the news report
even hoardings are installed at pub- The ISI is funding and promoting vacant seats of these courses. It has ‘ Farmers protest FIRs over straw
lahore, saturday, november 8, 1919
lic places in the name of anti-India activities in Canada, the overweighed all other academic burning’ (November 7); register-
‘respect/honour’. Unintentionally, US, the UK and elsewhere. No sur- concerns. The decision is not an aca- ing criminal cases against farmers
we are made to show disrespect, as prise if the ISI has its eyes on the demic exercise, as the dates of for burning stubble is not enough
An Excellent Suggestion. newspapers are used by us for vari- Kartarpur corridor to push forward admission have already been for stubble management. The
ONE suggestion that is understood to have been made before the ous odd jobs like cleaning and its evil agenda. Our security and extended by universities many Indian Agricultural Research
Committee and which would seem, from certain comments that have packing stuff. Printing photo- intelligence agencies should be times during this academic session. Institute has prepared a capsule
appeared in a section of the Press, to have met with a very large measure graphs of Guru Nanak should be capable enough to take preemptive Such decisions taken at the level of for the decomposition of stubble,
of support was that the Government College should either become a strictly checked, as by these acts we care. If on the occasion of the birth the Higher Education Department which will take some days to get
University College or its buildings, grants, etc. be handed over to the are just wasting money. It has noth- anniversary of Guru Nanak, we all put a question mark on the academ- implemented. How can the gov-
University to use as it thinks fit. We have no hesitation in according our ing to do with respect, which we can renew our pledge to follow Guru’s ic autonomy of the universities. ernment take action against farm-
general support to the proposal. There was a time in our educational show truly by following the path teachings of oneness of God, NK GOSAIN, BATHINDA ers who are not provided with
history when the maintenance of more or less model institutions by shown by Guru Sahib — i.e. ‘kirat mankind and wellbeing of all with- enough facilities or measures to
Government was essential. That time is long past, and the Government karo, naam japo te wand chhako’ . out any discrimination, no forces of Missing RCEP bus prevent stubble burning? They
Colleges have long ceased to be the model colleges that they were at one RABAB, BATHINDA separatism/terrorism can raise It was in the 1990s, at the nudge of might not be educated or aware
time. At present their existence only prevents Government from treating their head here. That the need for the IMF, that the Indian economy enough to know about scientific
all the several Colleges more or less on the same footing. Having served Allow women ragis the corridor arose because the was opened up. Now again, by not methods to manage stubble. The
their purpose, those Colleges should now become the property of the Apropos ‘Allow women ragis at forces of separatism succeeded in joining the RCEP, we are — in the government has also imposed a
University, that is, of all the several residential colleges, forming Golden Temple’ (November 7), it is partitioning the country on com- name of protecting our indigenous penalty of Rs 8.5 lakh on them.
component parts of the University, which may be trusted either to high time that the SGPC takes the munal lines in 1947 should deter us products — letting go off a huge The government should first pro-
maintain them on such a footing that they might still be model decision to allow women to perform from falling into any such trap. market and capital inflow. We need vide proper measures to the farm-
institutions in a limited sense, or to so use them to diffuse their benefits kirtan inside the sanctum santo- HL SHARMA, AMRITSAR to strengthen our industry, dairy ers for stubble management, and
among the whole body of students. At the same time, the Government, rum of the Golden Temple and oth- sector, etc., rather than work if they keep burning it even after
thus relieved from the direct management of one particular institution, er gurdwaras. Nowhere in Gurbani Move not academic towards ‘protecting it’. Reforms that, the government should take
might well be trusted to turn its energies to rendering that helpful or Rehat Maryada, is it mentioned Reference to ‘Admission dates for need to be made, so as to make action against them.
assistance to all which none but itself can render to them. The change will that only men can perform kirtan at law, B.Ed extended till Nov 15’ Indian goods capable of compet- ARCHANA SANTHOSH, KERALA
also have other incidental advantages on which it is scarcely necessary to
dwell at present. Letters to the Editor, typed in double space, should not exceed the 200-word limit. These should be cogently written and can be sent by e-mail to: Letters@tribunemail.com
THE TRIBUNE
CHANDIGARH | FRIDAY | 8 NOVEMBER 2019 OPED 09
Drawing lessons from Delhi police protests

largest union, advised members to This cannot be remedied unless we
stay at home except in emergencies to Combining VVIP security with drastically trim the size of our police
show their protest at the police budg- forces by casting away needless non-
et cut of 62 million euros, pension street policing and crime police functions. Thousands of police
reduction and long working hours. control is never a good policy man hours now wasted on prisoner
‘ Work to rule’ was organised in escorts could be handled by others
2015 by the New York Police Depart- as resources for normal like in Singapore by the Auxiliary
ment (NYPD) to express their resent- Police or by Correctional Services in
VAPPALA BALACHANDRAN
ment at Mayor Bill de Blasio’s police
policing tend to get diverted the US or even by trusted private
EX-SPECIAL SECRETARY, CABINET SECRETARIAT reforms favouring the minorities with security responsibility. groups like Serco in England. We
which diluted Commissioner Bill should merge the State Railway Police
T
HE unrest among the Delhi Bratton’s ‘pro-active policing or It also results in longer (GRP) with the RPF, as was success-
police which erupted as Broken Windows theory. fully done by Pakistan to save com-
peaceful demonstrations on The immediate provocation for the
working hours, causing muter harassment from jurisdictional
November 5 needs to be Delhi police demonstration is lawyers’ hardship to the personnel. quarrels within 29 states.
analysed dispassionately. Media head- violence on them. They also complained On July 23, 2015, I wrote in an online
lines like “revolt” or “mutiny” betray a about work overload, adverse working This pattern has been given news portal that the Delhi Police should
colonial mindset as our police is a civ- conditions, political interference, lack of be made accountable to the Chief Minis-
il department in uniform and not a holidays and neglect by senior officials.
up by other countries. ter. That was when Chief Minister
military force like the Irish Constabu- Private estimates indicate that 25 Arguments that separate Arvind Kejriwal was pleading with the
lary, which the British imposed on us. per cent of the 74,712 policemen are NDA government for control over the
Also, the Delhi police, which had for VVIP security. No official confir- sections are used to man police, like his predecessor Sheila Dik-
started with a strength of 1,152 in 1912 mation was available as the Delhi shit who had made a similar request on
as an adjunct of the Punjab police, is police website was unresponsive.
VVIP security in Delhi are not December 26, 2012 after the Nirbhaya
now the largest police force in the Combining VVIP security with street valid as same officers incident. Public resentment on the Del-
world with 74,712 working personnel policing and crime control is never a hi Police following the December 16,
against a sanctioned strength of good policy as resources for normal COLONIAL PRACTICE: The same pattern of policing continues in Delhi since 1912. manage different wings. 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape was also one of
86,531, according to BP&RD statistics policing tend to get diverted with the reasons for the defeat of the Con-
this year. This is almost the same as in security responsibility. It also results gress in New Delhi.
the entire Canada which has only in stretching working hours, causing 55,000, shares security responsibility police duties like cattle impounding. zens and to visit them at least once a However, in the article, I had advised
68,562 uniformed police officers and hardships to the men. with other federal, state or local police This was contrary to what Sir Robert month, although the 2007 Act was Kejriwal not to insist on control over
31,050 civilian employees. Till a few This pattern has been given up by systems like the Transport police, Peel had done in London in 1829, meant to fix responsibility on their the Delhi Police but to take advantage
years ago, the Tokyo Metropolitan other countries. Arguments that sepa- Park police and Bureau of Diplomat- specifying only prevention and inves- children. This should have been the of a Home Ministry’s advisory to all
Police was the world’s biggest, with rate sections are used to man VVIP ic Security. When our Prime Minister tigation of crime as well as mainte- direct charter of the Social Welfare states on May 21, 2013 to set up
about 46,000 officers. security in Delhi are not valid as the travels to Washington DC, the respon- nance of order as the basic police char- Department as the Act only wanted ‘municipal police’ in cities with a
The fears that our governmental sys- same supervisory officers are manag- sibility of the Washington DC police ter. The Bombay Police Act of 1951 the police to be ‘sensitised’. population of more than one million,
tem will collapse if civilian uniformed ing crime, law and order and security. on his security is peripheral as it is asked them to check infectious dis- Such dispersal of responsibility has as recommended by the Second
units express their feelings through It needed an assassination of a prime directed by the State Department’s eases and street-dirtying. Over a peri- become the norm, whether it is pro- Administrative Reforms Commission.
organised protests is also a colonial minister in 1984 to make us realise Bureau of Diplomatic Security. od of time, successive governments tecting mangroves or detecting illegal I had also said that not one state had
hangover. On October 2, nearly 27,000 that VVIP security and policing can- The basic problem with our policing started dumping municipal and social building constructions. In other coun- come forward to do that.
policemen in Paris marched from not be conducted together. This only which puts our men under severe reform responsibilities either directly tries, municipal or social reform/pro- Following the publication of my col-
Bastille, their iconic protest site, shows that the same pattern of polic- strain is the carry forward of the colo- or stealthily on the state police. tection laws are enforced by special umn, I received a call from Kejriwal
against the “physical and psychologi- ing continues in Delhi since 1912, nial practice of entrusting all coercive, The Maharashtra Maintenance of departments like the senior citizens or on how to do it. I do not know
cal” fatigue from Gilets Jaunes (Yel- when it was only a village. penal, investigation and law and order Parents and Senior Citizens Rules, child protection squads. As a result, whether he has made any attempts
low Vest) protestors. In December The NYPD, the largest police force responsibility on the local police. The 2010 made it mandatory for the local our urban police system has become to draft a legislation to create a
2018, the UNSA-Police, France’s third in the US with a total strength of 1861 Indian Police Act listed 22 non- police to maintain a list of senior citi- unwieldy gargantuan units. municipal police under him.
China spurring Pakistan’s defence build-up

T
HE China-Pakistan strategic Also, diplomatic support from Beijing fitted with RD-93 engine and the ini-
alliance has been expanding against India and the US on various tial batch of JF-17s delivered to Pak-
for five decades now and in occasions was welcomed by most Pak- istan was fitted with the Chinese KLJ-
the last three months, after istanis. Over the last five decades, 7 multi-mode pulse-doppler radar.
the revocation of Article 370, China’s China has provided all-out military Islamabad intends to acquire up to 250
unflinching support to Pakistan has assistance to Pakistan on three critical JF-17s, which represents a quantum
been discernible. Beijing used its fronts: export of defence equipment, jump in Pakistan’s aircraft industry.
position in the United Nations to call assistance in building Pakistan’s Pakistan military acquisitions post
SHALINI CHAWLA
for a closed door meeting at the Secu- indigenous defence capability and Kargil have been focused on the build-
DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, CENTRE FOR AIR rity Council to discuss Kashmir after build-up of its nuclear arsenal. up of the air force and maritime strike
POWER STUDIES, NEW DELHI
the revocation of Article 370, guarded Starting in the mid-1960s, China sup- capabilities of the navy. Islamabad has
Islamabad’s case at the Financial plied a large variety of defence equip- been making significant efforts to add
Action Task Force (FATF) to restrain ment to Pakistan, including the F-6s, force-multipliers in the Pakistan Air
Pakistan’s relationship with the blacklisting of Pakistan, and very slaughter-class attack fast-patrol boats Force inventory and received Chinese
China, which formalised importantly, has offered to extend
military support strengthening Pak-
(FPBs), Hunain-class attack craft, T-
59s and T-60s. The Chinese equipment
built Airborne Early Warning and
Control System (AEW&C) aircraft
through a major step with istan’s position in the wake of rising was affordable for Pakistan and the ZDK-03 between 2011 and 2014.
tensions between India and Pakistan. defence deals were facilitated by Chi- Over the last four decades, China
the signing of the China has reportedly offered to na with easy repayment loans and has adopted an extremely supportive
Shakasgam Valley deploy a certain number of upgraded
version of JH-7AII fighters on the
GUARDING ALLY: China backed Pakistan at the FATF to restrain its blacklisting. relaxed terms and conditions.
In the 1990s, the Sino-Pakistan
posture in the development of Pak-
istan’s nuclear programme and sup-
agreement in 1963, has Sino-Pak border. is not in a position to deal with the been complementing each other’s defence collaboration further flour- plied it with a variety of technology
An ‘official’ Chinese-language “urgent needs of war” and thus China’s strategic requirements despite dif- ished under US sanctions and the two and services, including ballistic mis-
continued to grow in the media report dated September 28, offer would ‘leverage the powerful air ferent cultures, political systems nations entered into deals of produc- siles and power reactors.
light of Beijing’s strategic translation done by the Centre for Chi-
na Analysis and Strategy in New Del-
combat effectiveness of JH-7 AII for
strength multiplication and achieve
and social values, not to talk of dif-
ferent histories. Undoubtedly, the
tion of the Karakoram-8 jet trainer and
for the co-development of a fourth
China has emerged as the leading
exporter of defence equipment to Pak-
interests and its strong hi, stated: “In the face of the strong victory for Pakistan.’ The JH-7AII vari- common strategic objective which generation aircraft, the JF-17. The JF- istan and the two countries have been
Indian Air Force, Pakistan’s efforts ant is reportedly equipped with a more both Pakistan and China share is to 17 is designated to be a low-cost com- conducting an annual joint air force
desire to neutralise India’s are clearly not enough. China, on the advanced radar and avionics system, keep India off balance. bat aircraft to meet the tactical and training exercise, Shaheen, for the
growth. For Pakistan, other hand, could help Pakistan turn enhancing its flight performance. Pakistan’s relationship with China, strategic requirements of the Pakistan last eight years. Beijing’s military
the tables by providing a fighter While the details of the recent move by which formalised through a major Air Force with reduced reliance of Pak- support has given Pakistan emotional
China served the purpose which will have remarkable ‘strength Beijing are not fully known, the fact is step with the signing of the Shakas- istan on imports. The JF-17 is co-devel- and psychological confidence to con-
multiplication’ combat efficiency.” that China is clearly thinking in terms gam Valley agreement in 1963, has oped by Pakistan and China and is duct its foreign policy, primarily
of fulfilling its defence According to the report, against the of offering direct military support to continued to grow in the light of Bei- being built by China’s Chengdu Air- against India, and to some extent,
requirements in the wake backdrop of the India-Pak confronta- Pakistan to deal with any scenario of a jing’s strategic interests and its craft Industry Corporation (CAC) and with other major powers as well. Chi-
tion, the Chinese aircraft (JH-7AII vari- probable India-Pak conflict. strong desire to neutralise India’s Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC). na’s growing defence exports to Pak-
of US sanctions which ant) “can not only effectively suppress China’s assistance in Pakistan’s growth. For Pakistan, China served There have been reports that the istan and its latest announcement to
air defence system of Indian troops; all defence build-up has been central to the purpose of fulfilling its defence design was developed by the MiG com- deploy its electronic fighters on the
disrupted the flow of the the more, can let Pakistani fighters hold the strategic partnership. The two requirements in the wake of US sanc- plex in Russia and transferred to Chi- Sino-Pak border need to be carefully
western equipment. superiority in the air confrontation.” nations share a unique strategic tions which disrupted the flow of the na after the Russian Air Force can- looked into by the Indian leadership
Beijing feels that Pakistan’s economy alliance where both countries have western equipment more than once. celled procurements. The JF-17 is and defence planners.
quick crossword su do ku calendar forecast

ACROSS NOVEMBER 8, 2019, FRIDAY SUNSET: FRIDAY 17:29 HRS
1 Assert without proof (6)
4 Appoint to a task (6) 1 3 ■ Vikrami Samvat 2076
SUNRISE: SATURDAY 06:43 HRS
9 Conditional stipulation (7) ■ Shaka Samvat 1941

10 Different (5)
11 Inexpensive (5) 6 1 2 ■ Kartik Shaka
■ Kartik Parvishte
17
23
Sunny Partly Cloudy Cloudy
CITY MAX
Rainy
MIN
Foggy
12 Predicament (7) Chandigarh 27 16

■ Hijari 1441
13 Relevant example (4,2,5)
18 Sportive (7) 9 4 1 5 ■ Shukla Paksh Tithi 11, up to 12.25 pm
New Delhi
PUNJAB
29 17
20 Russian novelist (5) ■ Vyaa Yoga up to 9.33 am
Amritsar 26 16
22 Escape by cunning (5)
23 Senseless (7) 9 7 ■ Purvabhadrpad Nakshatra up to 12.12 pm
■ Moon in Pisces sign

Bathinda
Jalandhar
27
27
16
14
24 Spurious (6)
■ Tulsi Vivah. Ludhiana 27 16
4 5
25 Instrumentality (6)
HARYANA
DOWN YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION Bhiwani 27 16
1 Facet (6) Hisar 27 17
2 Inexact (5) 6 7 7 6 5 4 2 3 9 8 1 Sirsa
HIMACHAL PRADESH
27 16
3 Momentary view (7)
8 2 1 6 9 5 7 3 4
5 Displeased expression (5) Dharamsala 20 10
6 Brutal (7)
7 Country of north Europe (6)
7 3 4 8 9 3 4 8 7 1 6 2 5 Manali 17 02
5 1 9 2 3 8 4 6 7 Shimla 16 05
8 Still popular past JAMMU & KASHMIR
favourite (6,5)
14 Generally (2,1,4)
1 2 6 3
4
8
7
6
2
7
9
1
5
4
6
5
3
9
1
2
8
Jammu
Leh
23
------
14
------
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION 15 Continuing (7) Srinagar 11 03
Across: 1 Scholar, 5 Sauna, 8 Roller coaster, 9 Arena, 10 Regatta, 11 Beside, 12
Freely, 15 Tremble, 17 Drift, 19 Motion picture, 20 Nerve, 21 Relieve.
16 Maintenance (6)
17 Brave (6)
3 7 1
2
9
4
3
8
5
3
4
6
2
7
8
1
7
5
6
9
UTTARAKHAND
Dehradun 27 13
Down: 1 Syria, 2 Helter-skelter, 3 Leeward, 4 Record, 5 Slang, 6 Up-to-the-minute, 7 19 Demon (5) Mussoorie 17 10
6 5 7 1 8 9 2 4 3
Already, 11 Bitumen, 13 Radical, 14 Temper, 16 Broke, 18 There. 21 Make progress (3,2) V HARD TEMPERATURE IN OC

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8 ISSUES AND INSIGHTS

Building ethical assets

Rural India can’t recover until NBFCs do

INSIGHT > LETTERS

Rescuing the financial sector Finally, it would be indicative of lack of

Volume XXIV Number 61 ILLUSTRATION: BINAY SINHA

Reviving housing case of holders of large quantities such as temples.

Opinion THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2019

BuyingTIME import equipment, or intermediate

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OUR VIEW MY VIEW | FARM TRUTHS

A close look at the economic

The climate emergency

declared by scientists quarter are now out. The mes-

Ghosn admits to speed

Singh plans Huge discrepancies

excused for not

Should foreign companies

sector reform contains, among plenty of according to IMF numbers,

doing much, about

climate change. Today

“We need to ensure that the

Main Street to Dalal Street Academy ground, Navi Mum-

havoc is being wreaked upon our atmospheric to see us through.

MY VIEW | LEARNING 4.0

The business case for gender equality in our society

MY VIEW | VOX HETERODOX G LO B A L VO I C E S

MY VIEW | PEN DRIVE

RCEP experience & setback

Half-hearted firefighting soothing noises that China is making

Reverence is unifying na’s ways but their economies have

The call from Eminabad

Drawing lessons from Delhi police protests

China spurring Pakistan’s defence build-up

quick crossword su do ku calendar forecast

9 Conditional stipulation (7) ■ Shaka Samvat 1941

12 Predicament (7) Chandigarh 27 16

■ Moon in Pisces sign

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