Cabinet approves GPS, CCTVs in public transport
The Cabinet
Committee of Economic Affairs approved
the ambitious proposal for installing CCTV cameras and Global Positioning
Systems (GPS) in public transport vehicles to ensure women’s safety. The
unified system will be set up at the national level (National Vehicle Security
and Tracking System) and the State level (City Command and Control Centre). The
Rs. 1,405 crore project is part of the Nirbhaya Fund, set up after the
gang rape of a student in Delhi in December, 2012. Two other proposals for
women’s safety under the Nirbhaya Fund include the Railway Ministry’s proposal
to launch a public scheme for setting up a SoS alert system in trains in select
zones. The facility will cover all service providers from all telecom circles.
It will have a call recording facility and a call centre. The Ministry of Women
and Child Development is also formulating a scheme for vulnerability mapping,
opening of response centres and creating awareness for the safety and security
of women in the 32 towns.
RBI eases norms for gold dore imports
The Reserve
Bank of India, partly eased restrictions on import of gold dore. Refineries
will be allowed to import dore up to 15
per cent of their gross average viable quantity based on their licence
entitlement in the first two months for making this available to the exporters on
First in First out (FIFO) basis. Subsequent to this, the quantum of gold dore
to be imported should be determined lot-wise on the basis of export
performance. In August, the RBI had imposed curbs on gold imports and linked it
with exports. Accordingly, 20 per cent, of every lot of gold imported had to be
exclusively made available for exports and the balance (80 per cent) for
domestic use. The central bank further said before the next import, not more
than 80 per cent should be allowed to be sold domestically and the dore so
imported shall be refined and shall be released based on FIFO basis following
20:80 principle.
Amid
widening current account deficit and sliding rupee, the RBI and the government
had imposed curbs on gold imports. Under FIFO methodology, the oldest
entry, or bottom of the stack, is processed first.
Ganguly issue: Cabinet clears
Presidential Reference
The Union
Cabinet gave its nod for making a Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court
for removal of Justice A.K. Ganguly as Chairperson of the West Bengal Human
Rights Commission. The process will be set in motion once the Reference under Article
143 is sent to the court for its advisory opinion. Under Article 143, the
President may refer a dispute of any kind to the Supreme Court for its opinion
and it may, after a hearing as it thinks fit, report to the President. The
Terms of Reference are: will the prima facie indictment by a three-judge
probe panel that Justice Ganguly made ‘unwelcome sexual advances’
towards a law intern amount to proven misconduct? If the answer is ‘yes’, can
it be a ground warranting his removal under Section 23 (1A) of the
Protection of Human Rights Act?
Justice
Ganguly has the option of resigning before the completion of the hearing. In
that case, the Reference will become infructuous.
Regardless of posers, J&K
tried to revive the Roshni Act
Facing embarrassment over
“inaction” in evicting occupants of State land, the government of Jammu and
Kashmir made an attempt, as recently as in January 2013, to grant life for the
umpteenth time to the expired Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of
Ownership to Occupants) Act, 2001— commonly known as the Roshni Act.
Mr. Yameen in India
Maldivian
President Abdulla Yameen’s first visit to New Delhi as head of state comes at a
time when India-Maldives ties are showing signs of improvement. After being
sworn in on November 17 last year, Mr. Yameen’s initial actions show that he is
moving to establish himself as a leader not overly weighed down by the
compulsions of the powerful partners who propelled him to office. His
visit comes after Maldivian Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim met Defence Minister
A.K. Antony and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon in New Delhi.
The Maldives
has special concerns relating to disasters arising out of climate change, apart
from routine security issues such as aviation security and border control. It
was clear that Mr. Nazim’s visit was successful: at the end of the visit, the
Maldives was gifted a second twin-engine helicopter. Also, India is pushing
ahead with maritime domain security awareness in the region, in which the
Maldives and Sri Lanka are the other partners. The crux of the exercise — Mr.
Nazim was in New Delhi ahead of a meeting involving the three nations — is to
put in place a security architecture which will be independent of individuals
in positions of power. Thus, in some ways, Mr. Nazim’s trip set the tone for
the visit, but the issues to be addressed at the highest level are many.
Topping the
list of Maldivian concerns are the visa restrictions that India had imposed
following a souring of relationship with former President Mohamed Waheed, the
ban on export from India of certain types of construction material, and the
lack of adequate trained health services personnel. In return, India wants a
definitive set of rules that will guarantee Indian investments in the Maldives,
apart from cooperation on security related matters. President Yameen’s visit,
which was postponed once, has already made some headway with the signing of
three agreements on January 2, of which two relate to the health sector. Since
India had announced ahead of the much-delayed presidential polls that it would
do business with anyone who was elected to the post, Mr. Yameen’s Delhi visit
is expected to be a win-win for both sides. It will be in the interest of both
countries to amicably settle the issue relating to throwing out GMR, the Indian
operator of the Ibrahim Nasir airport in Male. However much Mr. Yameen may
argue that this was a company-to-company matter, the fact remains that it was
the Maldivian government that threw out GMR. It will not be business as usual
unless this issue is settled to the satisfaction of all parties to the dispute.
AAP- A multi-class urban party
Having
graduated from a political movement to a party in government relatively
quickly, in the small but significant State of Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
is now poised to address its next challenge — that of attaining national
relevance.
The party’s success in Delhi had much to do
with some unique factors related to the capital city such as the extensive
media coverage it received during the phase of its agitations for a Lokpal.
But it was the party’s strategy to move away from a single-issue movement
(anti-corruption) with an element of anti-politics to a “populist” political
organisation articulating real life issues of the ordinary citizens like
inflated power bills and the inequitable distribution of water, that catapulted
it to centre stage. It transited from being a civil society organisation
committed to the realisation of the Lokpal to a political party seeking to
implement the vision of Lokniti (decentralised, communitarian democracy).
By seeking
to mobilise the urban poor on issues related to livelihood and welfare, the
party was able to build a multi-class support base, which included many
sections of the urban salariat and the lower middle classes. The party’s
calling card remains its stress on being anti-establishment, but its source of support
among the poor is linked to expectations of better welfare delivery and
empowerment. It is this mandate from the poor which has forced the AAP to
form a government with the support of the very party that it has been
stridently opposed to. The decision to accept support from the Congress has
certainly dismayed a number of its adherents who identified the latter with
malfeasance and as the “primary enemy” for the party, but for the poor, the
AAP’s ability to make a difference by being in government outweighs such
tactical concerns. The AAP’s garnering of support from Delhi’s urban poor —
except among Muslims who preferred to back the Congress possibly as a bulwark
against a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — was without recourse to
narrow identitarian politics or patronage based on caste, religion or region. The
urban poor — drawn from the working classes in the informal sector, small
traders, hawkers, migrants, etc. — were also drawn to the emphasis on
anti-corruption by the AAP as meaning better and direct welfare services
and opportunities without having to rely upon unscrupulous middlemen. The AAP’s
success in Delhi could possibly be emulated in similar urban pockets elsewhere,
where civic concerns and a compact urban community could enable it to
attract the different urban classes. But the party would certainly encounter a
more difficult challenge as an upstart in most places of the country which are
predominantly rural or semi-urban.
Since the
1990s, the federalisation of India’s polity has followed a course set by
three distinct and significant phenomena. These include:-
1)
The dominance of Other Backward Classes and related caste identity politics
following implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations;
2)
an effective presence of the Hindutva right wing forces following the
Ramjanmabhoomi movement, and
3)
the maturation of neo-liberal “developmentalism” following extensive economic
liberalisation and globalisation.
These phenomena
have introduced various State-level dynamics and changed India’s political
party system. The AAP has emerged as a political player by addressing a
constituency that has been discomfited with the nature of the developmental
process which has spawned corruption, crony capitalism and a new elite.
But, there are other constituencies — particularly in rural India — which still
see the need for patronage and identity assertion as a way out for the
enhancement of their livelihoods. It is doubtful whether the AAP’s message can
make an immediate political impact here.
Social
democratic space- Evidently, the AAP expects that its performance in government in
Delhi and an adoption of a more comprehensive political and organisational
strategy elsewhere would pay dividends in overcoming this challenge. For now,
much focus is on the contiguous States bordering Delhi such as Haryana, and
urban centres like Mumbai and Bangalore. Elsewhere, the party has sought to
engage with and draw in groups from social movements in various States such as
Tamil Nadu and Odisha to expand its political reach beyond readily available
support bases in urban pockets. This strategy should keep it in good stead, but
the immediate nature of the political party system should compel it to seek more
allies beyond the civil society. Engagement and issue-based alliances with
other political forces which have a similar anti-establishment message, such as
the Left parties, would help the AAP in spreading its message more effectively.
This is more so because there is a social democratic space in India’s
national political spectrum that remains virtually deserted. The
Congress historically played this role of a social democratic party, acting as
a “transmission belt,” as political scientist Rajni Kothari called it,
between the government and the people and having a distinct ideological world
view.
The
mainstream Left had once succeeded in occupying that space in States like
Kerala and West Bengal where it translated its radical rhetoric into purposive
welfarism. However, the ideological transformation of the Left from a
radical, social democratic force in the 1970-80s to just another variant of
“developmentalism” (most pronounced in West Bengal) has led to its political
decline. Moreover, the left parties could not expand their areas of influence
beyond three States due to their lack of political imagination in attempting to
win over the many discontents with the present status quo across the country. The
regional parties, since the 1990s, have also metamorphosed into corporatist
entities themselves despite emerging initially as voices for backward sections
that were not represented in the establishment.
If the AAP
constructs a well developed vision on matters of political economy and even
international affairs, it would be able to occupy that vacant, social
democratic space in conjunction with other like-minded parties. At a limited
level, its emphasis on decentralised and participative models of democracy,
if put into practice, could bring about better social audits of welfare
services and delivery and could enhance the institutions of social democracy
that are already in place. Presently, the AAP has relied on an ad hoc
approach to constructing an overall vision on economic or strategic matters,
with an emphasis primarily on political decentralisation. It has perhaps done
so to limit any internal differences between a largely left-of-centre
leadership and an activist base drawn from the middle classes. But the sooner
it comes up with a thoroughgoing vision that places it as a firmly secular,
social democratic party and one that suitably addresses the uniqueness of
India’s diverse political economy, the better it would be for the party to
increase its support base and influence. In other words, the AAP has to come up
with clear views on how it seeks to tackle issues related to the concentration
of wealth, crony capitalism, “jobless growth,” crisis of the peasant economy,
etc. It must also delineate its views on more purposive ways of “identity
recognition,” and eliminating hierarchies and discriminations based on caste,
gender and ethnicity.
The AAP’s
rise as an anti-establishment force and the opening up of a social democratic
space in India’s polity is not unrelated to global trends. In much of the
developing world, a similar process had emerged in recent decades, as an
outcome of the discontent with what is broadly defined as neoliberalism.
If in Latin America this took the form of a “pink tide” against
the elite, the anti-establishment emphasis sought to open up new spaces for
democracy in the Arab world. These developments and the national challenges the
party faces make it all the more imperative for the AAP to have a larger world
view than it currently has.
Centre may pick up half the cost
of transportation of targeted PDS grain
The Centre may share with the
States 50 per cent of the cost of distribution of the foodgrains meant for the
Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) under the recently passed National
Food Security Act (NFSA).
An
inter-State committee of Secretaries chaired by Union Food Secretary Sudhir
Kumar has recommended that the Central government pick up half the cost of
transportation of grain from Food Corporation of India godowns to fair price
shops. The panel has recommended that cost sharing between the Centre and 13
north-eastern and hilly States be in the ratio 90:10. It has also suggested
that a government/panchayat functionary be attached to each of the nearly 5 lakh
ration shops to process complaints from ration card holders. So far five States
— Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka — have rolled out
the scheme. Several others have sought time to identify beneficiaries, which
must be done in accordance with the Socio-Economic Caste Census.
The
cost-sharing issue had been hanging fire since the Act was passed last
September with the State governments demanding that the Centre pick up the
entire cost of transportation. The cost, which includes higher margin money for
ration shop owners, has to be notified by the Centre as Rules. Fair price shop
owners have been demanding a raise in the commission they earn on sale of every
quintal of food grain under the NFSA. If the recommendation is cleared by the
Union Finance Ministry, ration shop owners will earn about Rs. 10,000 as
against Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 5,000 a month now. The margin money has been raised
to plug diversion of TPDS grains into the open market.
The NFSA
seeks to provide 5 kilograms of subsidised rice or wheat or coarse cereals at
Rs. 3, Rs. 2 and Re 1 per kg to identified beneficiaries capped at 67 per cent
of the population.
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