Do it yourself

Reforms ain’t mean the same for Delhi and Sangli

Thought for the day

“Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.”

- H. L. Mencken (1880 -1956)

Word of the day

Sprechgesang (n):

A vocal style intermediate between speech and singing but without exact pitch intonation.

(Source: Dictionary.com)

Shri Nārada Uvāca

Why Gujarat fake counter case is so much more important than so many other SITs, CBI investigations and allegations of state atrocities especially in J&K and North Eastern states.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Mandate 2014 – Andhra Pradesh: land, liquor, gold and movies

We visited 15 out of 23 districts Andhra Pradesh (AP) in past one week. After Bihar and West Bengal, AP appeared like a different world altogether. Bountiful nature exploited judiciously, people forward looking, women emancipated, agriculture productivity high, farmers and agriculture labors doing well, education a movement, primary health facilities perhaps best in the country.

On the negative side, economic disparities are very high. The difference between top 10% and bottom 10% would probably be the highest in the country. The society is deeply divided on caste lines, though not so on religious lines.

The key highlights of the visit are as follows:

(a) We found Andhra one of the most balanced economies in the country. Except for a few northern districts, agriculture is well developed and productivity high. A strong education movement has provided a strong base for services sector. Industry, especially knowledge based industry such as IT services, and high risk R&D based industry such as pharma have flourished due to high risk taking aptitude, large pool of skilled professionals and supportive administration.

(b) To our surprise, we found much stronger savings and investment culture in the state. Our deep interaction with about 400 people suggest that the State people have much stronger enterprise culture than the commonly recognized Gujarati and Marwari communities.

(c) Land, liquor, gold and movies are strong passion with the people, in that order. However, excessive consumption of liquor has not damaged the basic fabric of the society as was found to be the case in case of Haryana and Punjab.

(d) Contrary to the trend seen in other primarily agrarian states like MP, UP, Punjab and Haryana, the investment in agriculture in the State is high.

(e) Social infrastructure is well developed, mostly due to strong community culture and private initiatives. Physical infrastructure is much better but has suffered badly in past 5-6years due to political instability.

(f) The state has a large middle class with strong saving, investment and consumption tendencies. Presently, investment activities in the state are at a standstill both in public as well as private sector. The State is probably one of the better lead indicators of national economic trends.

(g) Politically we found the State fast heading towards complete regionalization, on the lines of Tamilnadu and Uttar Pradesh. Congress is at risk of losing this State for good. BJP in any case is a marginal force here.

(h) US Visa is still a passion with middle classes. But unlike Punjab, people are mostly seeking good education and professional opportunities not just immigrating at any cost.

Read our special series Mandate 2014

Reforms ain’t mean the same for Delhi and Sangli

Thought for the day

“Politicians fascinate because they constitute such a paradox; they are an elite that accomplishes mediocrity for the public good.”

- George Will (1941 - )

Word of the day

Muster (v):

To gather, summon, rouse.

(Source: Dictionary.com)

Shri Nārada Uvāca

Several reports are suggesting that Uttrakhand government had been negligent in acting upon ISRO and IMD warnings. Reports also suggest that the disaster management apparatus of the state was grossly inadequate to manage so many pilgrims.

The mute question is could the government be tried for “Causing multiple deaths by negligence”.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Mandate 2014 –West Bengal: Confused, complex and rebellious

Our team travelled through 11 out of 19 districts of West Bengal in past week. What we witnessed was not totally surprising but still shocking. It seemed like a different world altogether. Most of the 90mn population lives in abysmal poverty. Persistent exploitation appears to have turned rural Bengal into a deeply disturbed society. The internal disturbance manifests itself in profound rebellion against authority and system.

We found the state completely cut off from the rest of country in terms of socio-economic development.

The key highlights of our West Bengal tour are as follows:

(a) Over three decades of communist rule has little ideological impact on the peoples’ life. The only thing they seem to have imbibed from communist rule is rebelling against authority and system. The society is still divided on caste and religion lines. Economic disparities are as high as ever. There is little sense of “commune” or “community” insofar as economic activities are concerned. Moreover, the state mostly retains its colonial socio-economic structure – exporting raw material and labor and importing food.

(b) The much acclaimed land reforms have apparently led to fragmentation of land holdings, making the primary economic activity of the state most uneconomical. There are virtually no signs of cooperation movement in agriculture or industry. The farming techniques are primitive.

(c) The rebellion mostly manifests against authority on economic and political issues. The social inequality is not only accepted but to some extent protected as just. This makes the society confused and complex.

(d) The current regime that ended the over three decades of communist rule appears to be making no difference. The people, policies, program and vision all look the same. The only change that is conspicuous is the beginning of local vs. outsider debate amongst urban middle class. Many fear that it will not be long when non-Bengali populace faces prejudice

(e) The rebellion in the society, especially against the system has traditionally constricted the growth of industry in the state. There are no signs of any change in the offing.

(f) The feudal superiority complex of middle and upper middle class is intact, more so in rural areas, despite long communist rule.

(g) The most shocking observation was the gender bias.

(h) The sense of economic well being that comes from the aggregate data is mostly derived from few pockets like port city of Haldia, capital city of Kolkata and mineral resource belt of Durgapur – Asansol. There are little signs of urbanization and modernization beyond these centers.

(i) Employment status is poor with stagnant industry and least productive agriculture. The fabled Bhadralok is virtually non-existent outside Kolkata.

(j) Unlike other states, the construction boom in the state is limited to few select areas.

(k) WB is perhaps the only large state where 25p coins are in currency.

Read our special series Mandate 2014

Reforms ain’t mean the same for Delhi and Sangli

Thought for the day

“Ideology, politics and journalism, which luxuriate in failure, are impotent in the face of hope and joy.”

- P. J. O'Rourke (1947 - )

Word of the day

Scrum (n):

A place or situation of confusion and racket; hubbub.

(Source: Dictionary.com)

Shri Nārada Uvāca

Agenda for Monsoon session of Parliament is set. Opposition will stage multiple walkouts demanding resignation of Ajit Singh (Jet Ethihad deal), Moily (favor to Reliance with gas price hike), Bahuguna (mismanagement of disaster), Navin Jindal (coal gate), and PM (collective responsibility for all this). Congress will try to unsuccessfully push Food Security Bill amidst din and blame it on the opposition.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Mandate 2014 – Bihar: brilliant people caught in political quagmire

In the last phase of our Discover India tour we travelled through 23 of 38 districts of Bihar state spanning across 8 divisions covering over 2300kms. With population of over 100mn people, the state is considered critical for aggregate growth and development of the country.

Traversing through this land of rich heritage, bountiful nature and brilliant people was a rather disappointing experience. Abysmal poverty, poor social and physical infrastructure, completely fractured political establishment, disinclined administration and deeply divided society on caste lines. We saw a little reflection of much acclaimed 10%+ growth beyond a few large and tier two towns.

The key observations of our Bihar states were as follows:

(a) The state of agriculture in this predominantly agrarian state is pathetic. Frequent floods, lack of labor (major surprise) uneconomical holdings, poor marketing infrastructure, lack of formal credit, social biases, scant food processing industry and high incidence of land related litigation were some major reasons cited for lower agriculture contribution to the state economy.

(b) Low agri growth and virtually absent private enterprise has resulted in large labor migration from the state in past 3 decades. This is a strong vicious cycle now which the administration is finding difficult to break despite sizable rise in social sector spending and mostly transparent implementation of MNREGA.

(c) In the current popular political context, it was inevitable to look for comparisons between Bihar and Gujarat. We found many stark similarities between the two competing states. Like Gujarat, a large component of the Bihar growth could also be attributed to the repatriated money by laborers working in other states. The level of indebtedness at household level is high and exploitive. Society is polarized on caste and religious lines. Land and construction is the largest contributor to the wealth creation in past decade or so. The major differences include over-reliance on government’s provisions in case of Bihar and highly fragmented political establishment.

(d) Power and poor water management are the most regretted infrastructure bottlenecks.

(e) The state of education beyond large towns and cities is dismal. Most teachers in villages were found unfit to be even high school students.

(f) Socio-economic disparities have grown substantially in past two decades. Though the current government has been largely successful in restoring the Bihari pride, the effort has not yielded significant socio-economic dividend.

(g) The incumbent government appeared losing support of influential middle class post breaking of NDA alliance in the state. As the social division on religious line is not found to be very strong in the state, the expected dividend from minority votes may not compensate for the loss. We see a material losses for ruling party in the next general election.

Read our special series Mandate 2014