Economic
Highlights
New Delhi, 27 December 2014
Rlys & Postal Services
NEW ECONOMY JUNKING REFORM?
By Shivaji Sarkar
The economic agenda of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi is getting clearer but it needs a holistic look. His
averment on the Railways not being privatised along with the Economic Advisor’s
pronouncement that the public sector would get a better role in ‘Make in India’
and development sounds reassuring to a country. This is in the backdrop where
the private sector though prospering has lived in a cocoon for having more
profits and subsidies (incentives).
Modi has to evolve a new economy. So
far the economic debate veers round what is euphemistically called “poverty
management programme” (PMP). The Prime Minister is obviously under pressure of
looking for funds to pep up the economy. So an obsession with foreign
investment or for that matter any kind of investment is but natural.
This is where the Government needs
caution. The 23 years of Manmohanomics had emphasized on private corporate
growth, shrinking Government, higher cost, tax on tax, cess on cess and toll on
toll. A free moving country hit too many speed breakers. This resulted in a
wider rich-poor gap and increased poverty. Slow growth and loss of jobs were
natural.
Therefore the new Government has to
have a new economic vision combining agriculture, farm land, growing
urbanisation, road construction, low power-energy cost, industrialization and
rising taxes. Today, VAT is to be replaced with GST. The VAT is 25 per cent of
the price of a product. The proposed GST may be pegged around 27 per cent. This
doesn’t hurt the industry. But it hurts the Government, the largest consumer,
and the common man who bear the brunt of industrial profits.
The latest proposal of the Road
Transport Ministry to increase road cess on petrol is a classic way of stating
that Manmohonomics is not dead yet. Even now one pays Rs 2 per litre as cess
which should have built up over Rs 60,000 crore corpus. The principle of
fleecing the people as in Manmohanomics must not be the base of the new
economy.
No country goes on building roads in
perpetuity. “Connectivity” is meaningless if people cannot travel. When people
are paying high cess, road tax, city toll – none of which are to be subsumed by
GST – why should they pay toll on highways or expressways built with their
money? It only fattens the pocket of the so-called developer, who thrives on
public money.
As a first, the NDA Government
should allow toll-free movement of all private vehicles, taxis and farm goods.
Lowering of toll, if at all to be levied, for larger commercial vehicles also
needs to be considered. The levy for any stretch should not exceed 30 months,
the period which gives back the investment made by anyone. The 30-year lease to
a concessionaire, mostly large business Houses, only makes the people and
economy poorer.
In such a scenario, Modi’s renewed
fancy for the Railways raises new hopes. It is nice to learn that it would be
the central focus of development and would not be a minister-centric activity
that has been the bane of Indian Railways.
Over the past many decades, each
minister ended up using the Railways to “develop” his/her own constituencies,
get political mileage and increase popularity by introducing trains that lose
sheen no sooner another new minister took over.
The Prime Minister now wishes well
for the Railways and the postal services -- to be developed as the crucial
infrastructure. And, this is the right approach. However, it is also true that
an ordinary post now does not reach its destination. Most of it goes into “raddi” (waste paper). The private
courier does not take mail to hinterland, as it is not profitable. Sadly, a
vital communication link built by the colonial rulers and thriving till about
two decades ago is in a mess, jeopardizing growth. Postal communication and
telephone costs are becoming exorbitant. It hurts the poor, farmers and those
in remote rural areas.
The new Government would earn kudos
if the credibility of the postal services and Indian Railways is brought back.
Contrary to the views of “experts” none of the two need heavy investments.
These only need to get back their old management culture that functioned
efficiently enough. The new management concept that any improvement (often
called reforms) needs investment – because it increases profits or commissions
of some - is a misnomer.
The Railways despite many problems
remains one of the better-managed institutions. Spick and span trains emanating
from Varanasi
such as Shiv Ganga Express or ViswaBharati fast passenger from Shantiniketan
could be cited as instances of the capability of the Railways. These have the
cleanest toilets and cheapest food!
True, the Railways functions against
many odds. Its prioritisation of trains has to change. An older train-- may be
a Janata, Lal Quila or Gomati-- has to be restored its original speed of the
1950s or 1970s, when these were introduced, if these cannot be speeded up. The
reservation system has to improve and must do away with Tatkal, (Instant) as suggested by the parliamentary standing
committee. The speed of goods train at 20 km an hour, as pointed out by the
Comptroller and Auditor General, has to increase. These simple steps don’t cost
a paisa. What is required is only a change in attitude of looking down upon
heritage.
Yes, it needs Plan investment of Rs
63,000 crore for quadrupling of tracks and some other improvements. But if the
Railways could be slightly put back in time to restore its basic management
culture, upkeep and schedule, much of the cost could be reduced.
Similar is the situation with the
postal department. It needs infusion of manpower to keep it the most efficient
communication network. It suffers from what could be termed as the “blueline
bus” syndrome, which overtook the green Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC)
buses. Unmistakably, the private courier services are sabotaging it. It
requires minimum investment – not the huge amount that is often projected as
prohibitive.
Modi has raised hopes. He has to
fulfill the promises made by ensuring low-cost high- governance syndrome. The
Union Budget is not far away. However, it is difficult to do all things in one
go. If he can start with the Railways and postal services and branch out to
other areas for improving these, no reform is needed. Yet, it would still be a
new beginning. The nation can have a new economy if the public sector is
allowed to take centre stage. The private sector can always help and coexist.
--- INFA
(Copyright, India
News and Feature Alliance)
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