Events & Issues

New Delhi, 16 September 2008

Acquisition of Land

Whose Interest Does it Serve?

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

The demand for land has been increasing with industrial projects and urbanization growing at a very fast pace. Many States have witnessed violent clashes over land acquisition and the recent-most case being that of Singur, in West Bengal. There have been protests in Mumbai and Pune as land was acquired at prices much below market rate for a 1,000 hectare multi-product special economic zone (SEZ) to be set up by Videocon.

Farmers’ struggles against SEZs have come to the fore also in Raigad, Rajuranagar, Karla and Aurangabad in Maharashtra and many other States. In fact, from Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa to the Western Ghats, from Punjab to Karnataka and West Bengal, huge industrial projects are fighting local resentment, bureaucratic bungling and political brinkmanship.

The States are desperate to carry forward the industrialization process and are vying with each other to make available the best possible land at cheap rates to corporate houses to attract them. Even fertile land is being acquired for the purpose and worse the compensation is far from satisfactory, in fact much below market rates. Moreover, in some cases the poor farmers and their families are deprived of not only their livelihood but are thrown out of their shelter, where they resided for decades.    

The SEZ syndrome has aggravated the problem further as corporate houses prefer setting up units in such zones where no law of the land applies – no labour law, no environmental law and no panchyati raj law. It may be mentioned that SEZs were created in 2006 through the SEZ Act of 2005 which allowed the government to appropriate farmers’ land and hand it over to corporations.  

The justification given for land acquisition by most States is to gear up industrial growth as agriculture has become unproductive and cannot look after the economic needs of such large population dependent on it. But though political leaders talk of acquiring of non-productive and barren land for industrial use, in practice, however, they acquire the land that the corporate house had identified which is obviously in a convenient location. 

The theory of increasing revenue from industrialization and achieving high growth of the GDP is the ultimate objective before the Government, even though it may have to be achieved by displacing and killing people. Though there is much talk of strengthening agriculture and eradicating poverty at various seminars and conferences, these seem only to misguide the people and make headlines in newspapers. The corporate lobby, which is hand-in-glove with the political leaders, is extremely strong and would go to any extent of acquiring land, even if it may be multi-crop.

A section of so-called western educated experts, who have little idea about rural India or the land-man ratio or the average income of rural households, justify the takeover of such land on grounds that it would facilitate faster industrialization and strengthen the State’s economy. Wanting to be magnanimous enough, they would talk of rehabilitation but have no practical idea of how difficult it is for a family, ousted from its roots, to earn its livelihood in a new place. In the global quest for globalization, for faster industrialization and for increase in profits, some people at the lowest rung of the ladder may have to sacrifice their lives, either due to starvation or hunger or because of displacement.           

The huge land requirement for SEZs all over the country obviously involves displacement of thousands of farmers, and this has become a subject of intense debate among politicians, businessmen and social activists. This has to be viewed in the present context of the need for using agricultural land for enhanced food production keeping in view the rapid growth of population and the somewhat stagnant growth of cereal production. Historian Sumit Sarkar aptly observed that SEZs could become “the biggest land grab movement in the history of modern India”. Both the Congress and the Left are perturbed with such a definition, since displacement of farmers could be politically costly, specially for the former, on the eve of ensuing elections.

The recent spurt in food prices in the Third World countries is a pointer to the emerging crisis. In India imports have been increasing and the chairman of the National Commission on Farmers, Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, in his report, has called to conserve farmland only for agriculture and not for diverting it for non-agricultural activities, such as setting up of SEZs. He has also rightly urged the formation of an expert committee at the State level to identify waste and non-fallow land, which can be used for industrial purposes. Regrettably, nothing has been done so far.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry’s report last year (August 2007) suggested that the Government should explicitly ban the acquisition of double-crop land for building zones in the rules to the SEZ Act. Even single-crop rain-fed land should account for 20 per cent of the area covered by a multi-product zone, the panel, headed by Murli Manohar Joshi observed. It significantly also recommended that the ceiling on cultivable land be reduced to 2000 hectares and there should be a freeze on notification of new duty-free enclaves till the policy is reviewed. This apart, it sought that 50 per cent of the area be used for as processing zone.  

One may mention here that, according to the Central Statistical Organization (2002), India has 18 million hectares (44.5 million acres) of cultivable wasteland and 25 million hectares (61.7 million acres) of fallow land. Taken together, it accounts for 43 million hectares (106.2 million acres) of both cultivable waste and fallow land. Obviously, there is enough such land available for industrialization. Instead of setting up SEZs on multi-cropped land, it would be judicious to use waste and fallow land.

But probably gauging the defiant mood being manifest in Bengal, Haryana, Maharashtra and Orissa, the Government has taken a few steps to help its own case. The Centre has announced that all land has to be acquired with the consent of owners and the ceiling for all SEZs would be 5,000 hectares (12,500 acres). But it needs to be further reduced to 2,000 hectares, as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry. Moreover, the minimum processing area for SEZs has been raised to 50 per cent (from the earlier 35 per cent). However, what is most significant is the decision that “no State can compulsorily acquire land (for an SEZ) from farmers through the Land Acquisition Act”. However, we see acquisition of land continues unabated. 

Worse, no serious thought has been given to the actual plan of rehabilitation of farmers and of ensuring sustainable livelihood for the displaced families. Though Dr Swaminathan and various development experts and planners expressed apprehensions, little has been done. It is now imperative that recommendations on land acquisition should clearly include: fallow or wetland acquisition instead of farmlands for takeover purposes; a ban on multi-crop land takeover; single crop land preferably should also not be taken unless really needed; no State government would ever acquire any land for private industry/SEZ; and a final rehabilitation and resettlement Act following the policy would have to be implemented at the earliest before making any move to acquire land in rural (or even urban) areas for industrialization/urbanization purposes.

Clearly, the trouble over land acquisition is becoming more acute as days pass by.  The political parties and the industry need to sit together and work out a decent formula to ensure that everyone turns out to be a beneficiary—the farmer, the industrialist and the State. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

HEALTH SPECIAL

New Delhi, 12 September 2008

Medical Tourism

INDIA ‘FIT’ FAVOURITE

By Radhakrishna Rao

Quietly and efficiently, India is emerging as a favored medical destination for health tourists keen on getting their ailments treated without any hassles at an affordable cost. A recent study carried out by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) points out that medical tourism could be a US$1 billion business by 2012.

Today, patients from across the world, a majority of them from S Asian and West Asian countries flock to Indian hospitals for high-end treatments including heart surgery and knee replacement. The numbers can be gauged by the fact that one leading corporate hospital chain, which operates in 30 places across the country, alone has treated more than one lakh foreign tourists.

Clearly, high quality health care at affordable costs and English speaking doctors and medical staff have conspired to turn Indian into an attractive destination for getting medical treatment. Moreover, the easy availability of a medical visa (since 2005) has also contributed to the country’s popularity as a preferred medical tourism destination.

In recent years, it has also become the ‘hot favourite’ for fertility treatment. Given that it is safe and legal. Not only that. According to the Union Health Ministry, the cost of infertility treatment here is at least 25% cheaper than the cost of similar service in the USA and West Europe. For instance, while in the USA a surrogacy procedure carries a hefty price tag of US$ 50,000 in India it costs just US$10,000.

In fact, the Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni is quite bullish about the prospects of medical tourism in the country. Asserted she, “As much as US$ 6.5 billion are in the pipeline for setting up affordable hospitals and budget hotels to support medical tourism.”

Further, an in-depth study by the Planning Commission has concluded that the superior quality of medical services along with the low cost of surgeries has made the country one of the most attractive destinations for medical value travel. The study points out that while a heart bypass surgery here would cost a patient just US$ 6000, the same procedure would cost US$ 7894 in Thailand, US$ 10,417 in Singapore and US$ 23,938 in the US.

Significantly, according to the Union Health Ministry the number of foreign tourists visiting the country for medical treatment has been going up by 20% every year. The long waiting period involved in getting diagnosed and treated in hospitals across the US and UK, has helped make India ‘fit’ for treatment. As the waiting period for patients to get checked and treated is quite negligible.

Stated two top cardiac and orthopedic practitioners, “The majority of our patients come from the US and Canada for serious cardiac or orthopedic surgeries. There is a minimum recuperation period for which the patient needs to stay in the country after the surgery.”

However, everything is not hunky dory for India’s booming medical tourism sector. Primarily, because there are a number of hurdles.  “Even though we are on par with any other country as far as medical facilities are concerned, our basic infrastructure needs to be developed for India to become the most coveted medical tourism destination,” said a CEO of a Bangalore hospital.

Besides this, the other barriers include lack of transparent world-wide data on the quality of health care, travel inconvenience and the desire to undergo medical procedures in familiar settings. Similarly, continuity of care is a major issue for those suffering from chronic ailments.

Moreover, it is not clear how well a multi-national approach can address this serious problem. “As they gear up to benefit from foreign patients, Indian hospitals  need to determine what steps they are willing to take to capture the potentially large upside of the medical travel sponsored by the third parties,” stated, a top executive of a multi-national company in New Delhi.

Presently, India lags behind Thailand, Singapore and Israel in terms of general infrastructure and the number of health tourists. However, with some fine-tuning, improved coordination and better image-building, India could very well emerge as one of the most preferred destinations of medical tourism in the economically booming Asia-Pacific region.

“Popular health-care tourism destinations such as Thailand and Singapore, first promoted their tourism potential and then health-care tourism. India is doing both simultaneously which would take sometime to work,” surmised the President of Association of Hospitals of Eastern India.

This apart, importantly, our ancient medi-care system of Ayurveda is gaining popularity in Western countries and is becoming a major component of medical tourism. In fact, much before the concept of medical tourism took off, a large number of Western tourists keen on getting rejuvenation therapies based on Ayurvedic principles used to visit the many Ayurvedic resorts in Kerala.

Taking a cue from the Kerala experience, other States including Karnataka and Uttarakhand have set-up Ayurvedic resorts to attract both domestic and foreign patients. Observed a holistic healthcare expert on yoga and ayurveda, “We need a bigger vision for the next 15-20 years rather than focusing on current issues. It could be an integrated facility, ranging from super-specialty to yoga, research and even IT (Information Technology) and BT (Bio-technology) research related to medicare.

Perhaps one of the little known advantages enjoyed by India’s corporate health-care sector being increasingly patronized by foreign patients is the rapid expansion of the satellite-based tele-medicine network. This was introduced in the country by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

A recent study by CII’s health-care services division states that our hospitals are now mainly frequented by patients from S Asian and West Asian countries, UK, East Africa and Uzbekistan. And in recent months, patients from New Zealand and Australia too have been finding India an ideal destination for getting treated at a very affordable cost. ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)

People & Their Problems

New Delhi, 5 September 2008

Appalling Rate Of Literacy

RIGHT TO EDUCATION IMPERATIVE

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

 
The long-awaited Right to Education Bill has now been referred to a Group of Ministers for a review, delaying a seven-year old commitment to guaranteed schooling yet again. The Bill, as is well known, is to implement the 83rd Constitutional Amendment of 2001, which made education a fundamental right for children between years six and 14.  

In its present form, the proposal will cost the exchequer Rs 12,000 crores a year. Private unaided schools would not be outside its ambit as 25 per cent of seats would have to be reserved by them for poor children in the neighbourhood. It is understood that several educationists have objected to the Human Resource Development Ministry draft, alleging it would only legalize the gulf in schooling opportunities available to the rich and poor.

According to a UNESCO report “Education for All: Global Monitoring Report, 2006” as many as 47 countries have already achieved universal primary education and 20 more are likely to do so by the 2015. But 23 countries, including India, may not achieve the target i.e. may not be able to impart universal primary education by 2015. The Report pointed out that there are 771 million people above 15 years (adult literates) in the world and India and China account for nearly half of them (46 per cent). India’s share at 261 million is much larger than 87 million of China. And 54 per cent of adult illiterates are women.

Thus, it is virtually clear that over the years the government has virtually neglected primary education, specially that of girls. Though, as per Census 2001, the government has claimed literacy rate of around 71 per cent for the 15-35 age group, experts believe this may not be true. Even if we consider these people literate (literally speaking), it may be that a large section may only be able to write their names in their mother tongue and this attainment has little value to any person in life.

This appalling scenario calls for some prompt action on the part of the government to legalize the right to education. Delving into official statistics, one finds that in 2004-05, only one-fourth of the rural families had literate member of age 15 and above, while in urban areas there were only 8 per cent households. It may be mentioned that it took 20 years to raise the national literacy rate by 22 per cent from 43 per cent in 1981 to 65 per cent in 2001. However, one should not find solace with the above as a mere 24 per cent in rural and 20 per cent in urban areas have been considered literate up to primary level.  

It is not that the country lacks schools in the rural areas. In 2005, India had 10.2 lakh primary middle schools, of which 9 lakh were in rural and 1.2 lakh in urban areas. Attendance rates in rural primary schools increased from 69 per cent in 2000 to around 80 per cent in 2005, moving closer to the urban attendance rate of 89 per cent. One cannot deny that the mid-day meal scheme has helped in pushing up the attendance rate.

However, the attendance rate is just 40 per cent in the rural areas while in urban areas it is around 58 per cent. The gap is quite discernible between the rural and urban areas but what is most distressing is the condition of a large number of rural schools. Statistics reveal that about one lakh schools (11 per cent) have merely one classroom and a single teacher from class one to five whereas 6.1 per cent have fewer than three or fewer classrooms (68 per cent). According to the National University of Educational Planning & Administration (NUEPA), nearly one-third schools do not have a pucca building and classes are held in tents, under the open sky.

Nearly five lakh schools in rural India do not have regular headmasters or teachers and 7.3 lakh schools (or 82 per cent) have five or fewer teachers. Another startling fact is that 80 per cent of rural schools do not have electricity compared to 32 per cent in urban areas. Worse, 42 per cent of schools do not even have a common toilet for boys and girls. In Jharkhand, Assam and Chhatisgarh, nearly three out of four schools have no toilet!

Further, it is apparent from the above facts that the environment for teaching from all angles is grossly inadequate and not conducive for proper schooling. It would be difficult to call schools with less than three classrooms and teachers each as centres of education. What worthwhile education can be imparted? This primary schools scenario, specially in rural India, proves beyond doubt the poverty existing in our countryside and as a result of which a major section of the population is deprived of proper and  meaningful education.

Another problem is that of shortage of teachers in the rural areas. The resources of most States have been a hindrance to their recruitment. Moreover, around half have not studied beyond the senior secondary level. Clearly, there is need to recruit larger number of teachers, even if it means recruiting part-time teachers with a monthly emoluments of Rs 3000 or so. With high levels of economic growth and dwindling poverty ratio, it is indeed surprising that in rural areas only around 15 per cent have studied up to middle level (18 per cent in urban areas) and 8 per cent up to secondary level.                 

Apart from all this comes the vital issue of the quality of education imparted and the sincerity of the teachers to reach out to students. It is said that communication is a vital element in teaching, specially to students up to   middle-level. However, surveys reveal that this communicative trait has been very poor among the teachers.  A reason could well be that they are overburdened with the number of classes and, as such, cannot fulfill their responsibilities properly. This is because the level of knowledge in mathematics, science or even the mother tongue among students between class five to eight has been found to be extremely poor in the rural (and even semi urban) areas.

Forty years ago, the Kothari Commission had recommended ways of improving the education system and allocating six per cent of GDP to this sector. But government spending has always remained low (below four per cent) compared to the developed world. The low spending by the government on education has affected the poorer sections, which thus get mediocre education. Add to this lack of resources, slack management and monitoring, which leads to decline in quality.

What then needs to be done? A simple answer: give a serious thought to bringing about a transformation in the education system which benefits all sections and classes of society. This entails: making education more realistic, down-to-earth and based on actual real life experience; allotment of more resources for gearing up education in the rural areas so that each village should have a school up to Class X; improving the quality of education through sensitization of teachers, etc; providing poor students with mid-day meals and books, encouraging them to attend school; improving the course content and induction of materials pertaining to environmental, human rights, sex education etc; ensuring that school education (whether primary or secondary) is free from any kind of political interference; and lastly involving the community, i.e. NGOs and CBOs in motivating students to attend school.

Thus, a paradigm shift in our outlook to education has become an imperative need today. As is well known, a country cannot prosper (however high the GDP may rise) if a significant percentage of its population remains illiterate or uneducated and cannot join the mainstream. The need for free and compulsory education was voiced long back, even before Independence by Gandhiji and Gokhale, and this has now to be turned into a reality. However, political will, sincerity of purpose and involvement of the community are critical aspects in achieving the goal. Let us spread education to the far corners of our country--INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Defence Notes

New Delhi, 9 September 2008

Pay Commission Anomalies

let’s not Demoralise Defence Forces

By Col. (Dr.) P. K. Vasudeva (Retd.)

Prior to the appointment of a Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) for better pay scales for Central Government employees including the defence services, the three Services chiefs had asked the Government for a separate Pay Commission for defence services. The reason: there are different service conditions, which have not been appreciated by the previous pay commissions.

The Service chiefs have been proved right. They are “unwilling to implement” the Sixth CPC report as it is. Recent media reports state that the three Chiefs have apprised Defence Minister A K Antony and want the "anomalies" removed and the status and parity of pay scales to be restored.

After sensing the mood, Antony is learnt to have assured the Chiefs that he would take up the matter with the Government. Till then, the three Chiefs have sought that implementation for officer ranks be “held in abeyance.” They have, however, thanked the Government for hiking salaries of Personnel Below Officer Ranks (PBORs) as desired. But, their grievance that the disparity between service officers and their civil service counterparts not only remains, but has increased. Basically they point out:    

·         Disparity in Pay Bands: The chiefs claim the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) moved the Director rank into Pay Band 4 but retained Lt. Col and its equivalent in other services in Pay Band 3. Earlier, they claim, a Lt. Col got the same pay as an IAS Director and Rs 800 more than a non-IAS Director. Now he gets Rs 14000 less than an IAS director and Rs 11000 less than a non-IAS director.

·        Disparity in Grade Pay: The CoS agreed to their demand to an increase in grade pay across middle-rank officers but also increased the grade pay of civil servants, thereby retaining disparity, the chiefs say. For example, he Pay Commission recommended Rs 6600 for a civil servant equivalent to a Major who was to get Rs 6100. After review, a Major will now get Rs 6600 but his equivalent in the civil service will get Rs 7600.

·      Restricting elite list: The new category of HAG-plus (Higher Administrative Grade) includes all DGs and DGPs but only Army Commanders and their equivalents in other services, the chiefs complain. Their demand: all Lt. Gen officers be included in this category. The Defence Ministry is said to have conveyed that the objections are being looked into and a response will be given soon.

While Antony appears to be sympathetic, the Finance Ministry has strongly denied any "injustice" to the Armed forces in this new pay structure. Its officials are emphatic:"In no way are the defence personnel getting any lesser pay than their civilian counterparts. In fact, they will carry home fatter pay packets than civilian services and paramilitary under the new salary structures of the CPC." 

Quoting the new feature of Military Service Pay (MSP) in the CPC, officials say the Armed forces officers would uniformly get Rs 6,000 more, whereas such a pay was not offered to the civilians and the paramilitary. "Under the 5th CPC there was no compensation provided for the risk factor involved in the defence personnel's job profile. MSP has taken care of that lacuna in the 6th CPC."

Also, the MSP would be counted along with the Basic Pay of Armed Forces officers for calculating the Dearness Allowance (DA). "That would provide them with Rs 960 DA and the amount would increase as the DA is hiked," is another argument. In addition, defence officers posted in Siachen would get an allowance of Rs 14,000 and an High Altitude Allowance of Rs 8,000, which adds up to a total of Rs 22,000. Earlier, the personnel were getting only Rs 7,000 as Siachen Allowance and Rs 4,000 as High Altitude Allowance, adding up to Rs 11,000.

Citing an example of the entry-level defence officers in the rank of Lieutenants and equivalent in Navy and Air Force, the officials explain that under the 5th CPC under the pay scale of Rs 8,250-10,500, they received a salary totalling Rs 15,252 as on December 31, 2005. "On January 1, 2006, from when the 6th CPC would be effective, a Lieutenant under the Pay Band-3 will receive an additional Grade Pay of Rs 5,400 and MSP of Rs 6,000, making his or her total emoluments Rs 27,000.  As on September 1, 2008, when the 6th CPC was implemented, a Lieutenant would get total emoluments of Rs 28, 947," the officials add. As against this, their civilian counterparts in the pay scale of Rs 8,000-13,500 under 5th CPC had received a pay of Rs 14,880.

Another argument put forth is: A Lt Colonel under the 5th CPC received a Gross Pay of Rs 28,086. But under the 6th CPC, he would receive a Grade Pay of Rs 7,600 and MSP of Rs 6,000 under Pay Band-3. His pay as on January 1, 2006, would be Rs 41,690. From September 1, 2008, when 6th CPC was implemented, Lt Colonel’s emoluments stood at Rs 45,000.

With the Finance Ministry virtually rejecting their demands, the Armed Forces' chiefs rightly have asked that the issues raised by them should be addressed by the country's political leadership and not Anomalies Committee. "The CPC created disparities are not just pay anomalies, but core issues. Hence, these cannot be left to the Anomalies Committee. But the Cabinet must consider them and issue a corrigendum to the CPC notification," Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, insists.

Clearly, the issues such as "extant parities of pay" to Lieutenant Colonels and equivalent officers vis-à-vis their civilian and paramilitary counterparts, is not just related to the CPC, but could seriously jeopardise "operational" and "functional" harmony of the defence forces, whenever and wherever they worked alongside the civilian and paramilitary forces officers. .

Let us face the facts that the disparity "badly demoralise" the officers of the Armed Forces and if these persist, it could lead to "despondency" among the defence cadre. Admiral Mehta has even met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to press for the removal of anomalies, explaining that it has serious implications of the command and control element during Unified Command Operations if not addressed. Singh is learnt to have promised that he will personally look into the issues raised.

Let us hope that the Cabinet Committee on Security removes these disparities so that the soldiers do not get demoralised and save the nation from a serious catastrophe. A demoralised force cannot save the sovereignty, security and integrity of the country. –INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)