Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Coal makes the vision cloudy

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August 25,2014: The Supreme Court today declared all coal block allotment done between the years 1993 to 2010 as ILLEGAL. It says coal block allocation was done in an arbitrary, unfair and non-objective manner. Though, it has stopped short of cancelling the allotments as the apex court says more hearing is needed into the case.
Thus, the roots of this mega-scam can be traced to NDA-led BJP also. It would be hard to believe if someone says that the Coal Ministry under the Prime Minister Shri A.B. Vajpayee did not know about the unfair means of continued or continuing allocations (a total of 70 coal blocks were given away from 1993- 2005, when BJP-led NDA was in power for a part of that duration). And later, Congress governemnt totally swept over the issue. Obviously, as Prime Minister and Coal Minister, Congress’ Man Mohan Singh owes a major responsibility for this scam ( he should have resigned as PM when the scam came to light during his resign, but he persisted). It seems, the coal had clouded the vision of all our parties and politicians during those years. It also shows that the beneficiaries of such scams and financial irregularities just play it low so that they continue to reap the benefit.

The coal scam is indicative of rampant and deep-rooted corruption and opaqueness in our systems of governance. As responsible citizens, let us not get divided over party lines. Who took the beating if politicians made the loot over coal blocks? We all- the hard working citizens of India!

To read more about the judgement of Supreme Court today on this matter, please click here.

भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ लड़ाई का यथार्थ: An article on AIIMS CVO controversy

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 19298312My article on the issue of transfer of AIIMS Chief Vigilance Officer – Mr. Sanjeev Chaturvedi- that was published in Vir Arjun, a daily Hindi news paper on August 25,2014.  Please have a look!

सुहृद पूंजीवाद (Crony-capitalism)

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जिस प्रकार हमारा समाज और हमारी अर्थव्यवस्था भ्रष्टाचार रूपी दंश से पीड़ित है, उसी प्रकार सुहृद पूंजीवाद (Crony-capitalism) हमारी अर्थव्यवस्था और इस समाज के लिए एक अभिशाप है। सुहृद पूंजीवाद में जहाँ व्यापारी व् पूंजीपति अपने व्यापार की सफलता के लिए सरकारी अधिकारियों के बीच अपने करीबी रिश्तों पर निर्भर होकर गलत तरीकों से कई महत्वपूर्ण निर्णयों पर सरकारी अधिकारीयों की सहमति की मोहर लगवाकर अपने हित और अपने व्यापार को पोषित करते हैं। फिर वो चाहे कोई कानूनी परमिट हो, सरकारी अनुदान हो या फिर किसी अन्य सरकारी योजना का हिस्सा हो। इसे हम व्यवस्था में व्याप्त वितरण में पक्षपात भी कह सकते है।
रिज़र्व बैंक ऑफ़ इंडिया के गवर्नर रघुराम राजन ने सुहृद पूंजीवाद के खिलाफ चेतावनी दी है, जिसमें उन्होंने कहा है: ” यह हमारी विकास दर को अत्यधिक धीमा करता है “। यह विकासशील देशों के विकास के लिए सबसे बड़ा खतरा है। आम जनता के हितों के लिए यह एक वास्तविक चिंता का विषय है।“ यह बात उन्होंने पिछले सप्ताह को मुंबई में ललित दोशी मेमोरियल लेक्चर में कहीं। श्री राजन ने कहा की पिछला आम चुनाव पूरी तरह से राजनीतिज्ञों और व्यापारिक समूहों के बीच सांठगांठ के आरोपों से भरा था जो की एक गंभीर चिंता का विषय है। राजन ने अपने गहरे पहलुओं को सबके सामने रखा जिसमे उनका कहा कि ‘अमीर और प्रभावशाली व्यक्ति भूमि और प्राकृतिक संसाधनों के आधिपत्य के लिए सुहृद पूंजीवाद का प्रयोग कर रहे है, कही ऐसा तो नहीं की सुहृद पूंजीवाद, अतीत में व्याप्त सुहृद समाजवाद को प्रतिस्थापित कर रहा है। यह लोकतांत्रिक अभिव्यक्ति, पारदर्शिता और प्रतिस्पर्धा के लिए हानिकारक है। यह एक स्वाभाविक प्रश्न है, की क्यों जनता ऐसे राजनीतिज्ञों को वोट करती हैं, जो की सुहृद पूंजीवाद को बढ़ावा देते है। कुछ अच्छे लोग है, जो राजनीति के परिद्रश्य को बदलना चाहते है पर जब वो चुनाव लड़ते है तो उनकी जमानत भी जब्त हो जाती है।
ध्यान देने योग्य बात यह है की मैं पूंजीवाद के खिलाफ नही हूँI मेरा अर्थशास्त्रीय झुकाव बाज़ार की तरफ है I सरकार का काम बिज़नस स्वयं करना नहीं है, अपितु, सरकार ऐसा मूल ढांचा तैयार करे ताकि नागरिक अधिक अच्छे ढंग से गुणवत्ता व् उत्पादन वाला व्वसाय कर सके।

Black Markets thrive in India

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How much money lies in white in India (and abroad, by Indians) and how much money lies in black?

What is BLACK money? In today’s technology-driven era, monetary or financial transactions happen 24×7. The transactions where a portion of the money should go to the government, but does not happen is a black money. For example: If sales tax is not paid, income tax is not paid or where dues or fees are not paid but go to the intermediary hands (bribery, greasing palm), they constitute black money. Who suffers if black market thrives? The treasury (sarkaari kosh/khazaana) suffers and in the process, and consequently we all suffer because development work (civic amenities like roads, bridges, schools and other govt related works) does not happen as expected.

An article published today in The Hindu says that as per latest estimates, 75 % of Indian economy could be in form of BLACK money.

It is difficult to reliably estimate how much treasure lies in black markets!  To get some idea, the UPA government led by Mr. Man Mohan Singh had commissioned the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) to undertake this task. The report was submitted to the then Finance Minister Mr. P Chidambaram, but as the news reveals, he never brought it out. The file now lies with Mr. Arun Jaitely, the current Finance Minister.

The 3 sectors contributing most to black economy are: Capitation fee for higher education sector, Real estate deals, and Mining industry. For example, last year capitation fee collected in clandestine manner by private colleges was to the tune of approx. 6000 Crores. 

If the law of land is strong, if it is easy for people to do businesses in more transparent way, when financial laws are not complex and where government makes it easy for its citizens to do businesses through technology (e-governance), black markets will find it difficult to grow. But if politicians and businesses join hands to foster a mutually rewarding relationship, the interests of the the public are often ignored under such circumstances. This is called crony-capitalism.

Q: Can govt control black markets?
A: Yes, a strong government can. I mean you do not have to be physically strong. The intent to curb corruption is enough to make a headway in this direction.
Q: Do we have a strong govt at the Center?
A: Suna to yahi hai! But, does the current BJP party – even though with clear majority in the Parliament- has a clear financial integrity as its goal and objective? If its house is not in order, how can it bring semblance to the financial order of the country? 

To read the details , click to view the article here. 

Ill effects of Not having a Chief Minister!

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Delhi state has no Lokayukta (Ombudsman) at present. The vacancy has been lying vacant since the retirement of Justice Sarin several months back. Delhi has no elected government and hence the vacancy has not been filled up.  The Lieutenant Governor (LG)- since Delhi is under President rule- has no direct constitutional means to fill the vacancy.  In absence of a Lokayukta, a window of grievance redressal  and anti-corruption activism has been shut off for the citizens. It is apparent that common man continues to suffer in absence of a Lokayukta. A news paper has reported that the office of Lokayukta located near ITO has been languishing in absence of the a head.

Delhi state needs an elected government at the earliest. When Mr. Arvind Kejriwal left as Delhi Chief Minister in February, 2014, he had recommended dissolution of the legislative assembly so as to pave the way for fresh elections. However, the Lieutenant Governor did not accede to his advice and has kept the assembly in suspended animation. An assembly kept is suspended animation gives enough ammunition to play foul. The whole country has been witness to the vigorous and frenetic efforts made by BJP in last several months to try to cobble up a majority by enticing the sitting MLAs of the Congress party. In other words, horsetrading is an art that BJP has excelled in. So far, thanks to an activist player like Aam Aadmi party (AAP) that has upset BJP’s apple cart by exposing its misdeed to the public.

AAP on its part has intensified the efforts to demand elections as soon as possible. At the same time, it is asking a pertinent question: “Why is BJP running away from elections?” AAP is mobilizing public opinion on these issues. As a part of this movement, the party has planned a massive public rally at Jantar Mantar on coming Sunday,ie, August 3.

Lokayukta can play an important role in bringing transparency and accountability in the governmental departments , but, alas, the important constitutional office has been lost in the details of finding an elected government. The ill-effects of not having a Lokayukta adds another pound of burden on  the common man who is looking for respite!

It may be noted that Aam Aadmi Party believes that the existing channel of Lokayukta is not meaningful enough to curb corruption and has demanded  a more potent law called “Janlokpal Bill”.

 

 

 

 

 

Aadhaar Card has some real Aadhaar (basis)!

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The issue of Aadhaar Card is back in news. There is a report in the newspapers that Nandan Nilekani, former Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), recently met the Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitely and stressed upon the need to continue with the implementation of Aadhaar Card. As we know, the concept of Aadhaar cards was initiated by the UPA government and for that purpose; the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Mr. Nilekani was appointed as the first Chairperson of UIDAI. BJP had in its election campaigning opposed the UIDAI project. Per reports, the Prime Minister Mr. Modi has now shown inclination to continue with this project.

The system of allocating an Aadhaar Number (Card) has an immense value. Let every Indian be identified and allotted a number. Link it to financial account and Driving License and/or State-issued ID of the person. Then gradually scrap other means of IDs like ration card, PAN number and voter card. At the end, we shall be (in a few years, say) left with: 1. Aadhar Number and 2. A State -issued photo-identification card (eg: Driving License or Simply a Photo-ID). This would remove redundancy and bring uniformity in identifying a citizen.

USA has pretty much the same system (Social Security Number/SSN AND a state-issued DL/ID Card). A Social Security Number is a 9 digit number allotted to a person and carries until death. The concept of issuing a SSN was started in 1930s and has worked well for USA. The duo of SSN and a DL/State ID is a powerful tool to identify a person when it comes to financial accounts and dealings, admission to schools or colleges, employment (read taxes) and obviously background check (hence criminal background too). Thus, one may live in the costliest downtown of Manhattan (New York City) or the extreme border village in Alaska state ( literally touching the borders of Russia) or a remote village in the mountains of Montana state, everyone (who chooses to apply for) would have a SSN, and thus identifiable by the government.

In fact, Aadhaar Number is based upon the same concept of SSN. You get a number issued by the government and you keep it until the physical existence on earth!

Some activists have raised issues about the privacy rights and are opposing Aadhaar cards. I would say that their apprehensions are misplaced. No one should be forced to apply for an Aadhaar card and one is free to live in a vacuum.

The Aadhaar card system will work fine for us. Let us shed our doubts and take a firm path towards attaining a uniform system of identifying the citizens of the country.

They don’t pay back loan and live life Kingsize !

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According to a report published in the Times of India on July 17,2014, the top 50 Non Performing assets (NPAs) in India owe over Rs. 53,000 Crores mainly to Public Sector Banks (PSBs). Some of these defaulters have been declared “willful defaulters”. If loan amounts are recovered from them, it can help PSBs in meeting their capital requirement and avoid selling their stake in joint ventures. Mr. Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines tops the chart of such defaulters. For years our government has been claiming that efforts are being made to recover the bad debts . It is time that Modi-led Federal Govt. takes some hard measures to get this money back into the system for nation’s development. Let us remember that due to soft-peddling of the government, the defaulters continue to dump their own failures on taxpayers’ shoulders. No business should be considered too big to fail, but if the government considers to bail out a failing company, then it must do so with a clear cut contractual obligation on the part of the company to return the money.

The readers might be thinking as to how much Kingfisher Airlines still owe to the banks? Well, it is a loan amount of 4,000 Crores that Kingfisher still has to repay to the banks. Is it okay to live life like Kingfisher even if you have defaulted on your monetary promise?

For the details of the news, please click here. 

A train to Pakistan, but this time from China!

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“The enemy of your foe can be your best friend.” Nothing but this describes China’s long standing plans of getting cozy with Pakistan. Struck between two nations, each of which wants a piece of its territory, India has been trying hard to settle the issues amicably. The latest headache for the Indian Government is China’s plans of building a rail link to Pakistan which will pass through the disputed PoK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) territory.

Adding to India’s concerns is the fact that China is taking it as a swift project with pre-feasibility stage of the link already completed. Pakistan, on its part, sees huge value in the project with its ambassador to China making a remark “This new link will enhance the economic ties between China and Pakistan as well as create a new link between East and South Asia.” The proposed route of the rail link would pass through the Xinjiang region in China, which was a part of the ancient Silk Route. It will join the railway network of Pakistan via Khunjerab pass, which lies in the PoK. China justifies the entire project by saying that it would help them easily receive import material from the countries of West Asia.

What is interesting to note here is that while China is offering a deaf ear to the concerns of the Indian Government regarding the disputed PoK territory, the Chinese government, itself, is much against any third-party involvement in its own disputed territories in the South China Sea. Case in point would be China’s vehement opposition to the exploration projects undertaken by the ONGC Videsh in the South China Sea territory. Although the Chinese officials have maintained their anonymity regarding the PoK dispute and cite ‘ease of imports’ as the lone reason behind the rail link, it is extremely hard not to think about China’s bigger objective of disrupting the Indo-Pak equation.

What further raises the eyebrow is China’s enhancing interest in other projects related to the PoK apart from the rail link. China has taken up the work for renovating the Karakoram Highway which connects the Pakistan mainland to the PoK. The Chinese Government has also pledged a $500 million loan to Pakistan to help complete their side of the project. One of the other reasons given by China for its enhanced interest in the road and rail link to PoK is the ease of importing adequate material for its newly planned Special Economic Zone in Kashgar. One of the western most cities of China, Kashgar has seen relatively low development over the past decades. The planned SEZ seems to be China’s latest attempt to raise this area to the level of other developed Chinese cities.

The recent (June, 2014) visits from Hamid Ansari, Indian Vice President and Sujatha Singh, Foreign Secretary, have initiated a much needed discussion on the rail link issue. While the Chinese Government tries its best to avoid discussion on such issues and instead, releases copy paste joint statements, the Indian Government must place issues like these at the top of its list to ensure a speedy resolution.

India must remember, the Dragon won’t go away if you just close your eyes and assume it’s gone. It is wiser to open the eyes and tame the dragon before it starts laying its eggs!

Reliance is NOT reliable!

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July 14,2014: The BJP’s Narendra Modi-led Central Government has decided to penalize Reliance Industries for producing less than targeted natural gas from KG-D6 block. The Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that Reliance India Limited (RIL) has been slapped with a new fine of  Rs.3,500 crore  ( USD 579 million). Interestingly, if you calculate such penalties in last 4 years for RIL, it stands at a towering amount of  Rs.14,300 crore (USD 2.376 billion). This has prompted Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to urge the government to simply shunt Reliance out. AAP’s argument is that RIL has committed so many defaults that there is a strong basis for the government to now scrap the contract. 

However, on the contrary, is not Modi government shielding Reliance?

In June of this year, Anti-Corruption Branch of Delhi issued notice asking if any penalty had been imposed for underproduction of gas. This question becomes much more relevant since a hearing in Delhi high court is due on 1st August on the basis of FIR lodged by AAP Government (in Delhi) in February,2014 against Reliance Industries.

The penalty that has been imposed today may  just be a PLOY of Modi Government to withdraw the FIR against Reliance Industries. It is time that the Modi acts tough against erring companies and sends a signal that his government means business. Acting soft on such matters gives an impression that Mr. Modi is not able to crush crony-capitalists. 

The press statement of Aam Aadmi Party in this regard can be accessed via this link.