"People are unjust to
anger - it can be enlivening and a lot of fun."
— Phillip
Roth (American, 1933 - )
Word for the day
Mump (v)
To mumble; mutter.
Malice towards none
Who should worry more about
Pranab-RSS meeting - BJP or Congress?
First random thought this morning
Listening to Mr. S. S. Mundra, former Dy Governor of RBI, one gets
a feeling that most public sector banks are persons, who lived an indulgent
life and developed serious cardiac conditions due to that. Almost all need
immediate surgery.
Couple of them may not survive even after surgery. 4-5 will be
able to lead near normal life after surgery. Rest may remain incapacitated for
long or might be forever.
These incapacitated entities will have a chance to resurrect as
pure consumer finance entities, giving tough competition to retail NBFCs.
Four years of Modi rule - 8
As highlighted in previous posts, the two most impressive
achievements of the incumbent government are (1) continuing with almost all
programs and policies initiated by previous governments and (2) focus on faster
execution of select projects.
The shortcomings of the government may be categorized into three
broad categories (1) Blunders of populism; (2) Failures of omission; and (3) Mistakes of commission.
Blunders of populism
The most cited welfare measure of the incumbent government is
implementation of Ujjawala Scheme, under which the government has proposed to
provide subsidy to 8cr BPL families for acquiring a LPG connection. At present
the beneficiary families are required to get refill of LPG cylinders as per the
norms applicable to all other LPG users, i.e., 12 refills per year at subsidized
rates and more refills at market driven rates. As per recent claims, 3.8cr
families have already availed benefit under this scheme.
I must admit that this scheme may definitely benefit the target
households and prove to be a great help.
But when we juxtapose the scheme to the history of fuel subsidies
in the country, it appears a blunder.
Once introduced, it almost took 50yrs to remove the kerosene
subsidy, and it was possible only once enough electricity generation started
and cooking gas availability got materially augmented. In the meantime kerosene
and transportation fuel subsidies constrained the fiscal position of the
country materially for many years.
Now consider this. 8cr intended beneficiary household means at
least 16-20cr voters under influence. To put this in political perspective,
please note that in 2014 Lok Sabha elections the incumbent BJP was polled a
total of 17,16,57,549 votes (won 282 seats) and principal opposition party
Congress was polled a total of 10,69,38,242 votes (won 44 seats). BSP at third
place got 2,29,46,182 votes and won no seat.
With this political dynamics, ignoring this huge block of 16-20cr
voters would be very difficult for any political party. It is only a matter of
time, when some political party will promise free 12 refills per year to the
beneficiaries of Ujjawala scheme and put a fiscal burden of close to Rs1trn on
the nation.
This eventuality could have been easily prevented, if the scheme
was implemented through a legislation to be passed by Lok Sabha as a money
bill, clearly providing that it is one time subsidy of Rs1600 and no further
subsidy could be provided under the scheme by any government.
The government has obviously not learned anything from history.
Construction of development edifice which are directly in conflict
with sustainability and core beliefs must be rejected outrightly. We have not
seen any policy drive to this effect from the incumbent government. Though many
efforts to the contrary have come forth.
One such blunderers populist announcement relates to a major road
project in the Garhwal Himalaya. The project aims to connect the four sacred
temples in upper reaches through a wider road network.
The stated objective of the project is to make it more convenient
and safer for the pilgrims to visit these sacred temples.
As a frequent visitor to the region, I can vouch that the ecology
of the region is already facing serious threats. The Kedarnath tragedy of 2013
is just an illustration of the disasters we are going to face rather frequently.
Worst the
This widening of roads will not only cause cutting of numerous
trees, but also result in massive increase in vehicular traffic and number of
pilgrims visiting the region. Rise in pollution & garbage, pressure on
infrastructure, massive construction of room capacities and other conveniences
will thoroughly destroy the sanctity of the place itself; and kill the sacred
rivers that originate from there.
If I am minister today, I will completely ban private vehicles in
100km radius of these sacred temples. allow only disable and senior citizens to
travel by public buses to the temples. Develop the traditional pedestrian route
to the temples. Provide tented accommodation with bio-toilets along the way.
Ration the number of pilgrims visiting these temples, and make it compulsory
for all pilgrims to plant one tree each and pay for their maintenance for one
year.
Few years ago, twelve village councils in Niyamgiri area of Odisha
rejected the proposal of Vedanta group to mine bauxite from the area for its
Aluminum project. Though the mining proposal certainly had other concerns such
as environmental degradation and impact on livelihood of local tribes, the
objection of these tribal village councils was primarily on religious grounds.
These tribes worship the Niyamgiri hills as Niyam Raja a sacred deity.
The Supreme Court upheld the supremacy of village council’s
decision and the government accepted it as a rule. The then environment
minister said "I have rejected the Niyamgiri because all the panchayats
have rejected the proposal.....When the panchayats reject, we cannot go ahead
with it. We have made a rule that if the Panchayats (reject), we cannot (grant
clearance)."
The government again not learning anything from history.
...to continue
Also read
No comments:
Post a Comment