REWIND

New Delhi, 28 December 2023

Home Front Cries For Attention

By Inder Jit

(Released on 27 December 1983) 

Thoughts in New Delhi as elsewhere are increasingly turning to the New Year, now round the corner. What will 1984 bring? Will Orwell be proved prophetic and his nightmare come true? Will the new year be better than 1983? Expectedly, not a few have drawn up annual balance sheets for the state of the nation. Many among New Delhi’s ruling elite are busy back-slapping each other. They see the year that has rolled by as a year of triumph and glory. Everything appears great. “Look at NAM. And, look at CHOGM”, they say. “We have proved we are as good as the best in the West. Both the summits were undoubtedly a great success. Both have proved once again that we Indians can do it -- as in the case of the splendid Asiad. India’s reputation has shot up in the world and Mrs Gandhi is today acknowledged as one of the world’s most outstanding personalities. Nothing proves this more than the praise showered on her by the President of the UN General Assembly, Mr Jorge Illueca, on the concluding day of the 38^th session. 

But there the kudos must end. Success in holding summits -- in New Delhi and in New York -- is no doubt something of which any country can be proud. But it does not add up to very much in the total national canvas when all is said and done. New Delhi today is undoubtedly beautiful and resplendent as never before. It compares with the best world capitals. It brought Mrs Gandhi many compliments from visiting heads of Government both during NAM and more recently during CHOGM. However, it would be folly to get carried away by polite compliments from visiting guests. New Delhi, as every visiting VIP knows, is not India. What is more, it is not even Delhi. The world is impressed not by outward show but basic strength. In fact, not a few diplomats are intrigued by our astonishing capacity to be influenced by mere floss. They are right. We seem to be living from one summit to another. It's time our leaders took a holiday from foreign affairs and devoted thought to the home front which cries out for attention. 

There is much that Mrs Gandhi can do in the months available to her between now and the poll. Image building and public relations are undoubtedly important and have yielded Mrs Gandhi fantastic dividends. Ultimately, however, people are concerned with their day to day lives, which have not received adequate priority either from Mrs Gandhi or her planners. To mention a few things. We have spent thousands of crores of rupees in importing foodgrains and building up buffer stocks. Yet we could have saved ourselves all this money if only the Government and, more particularly, the Prime Minister had devoted adequate attention to irrigation, as spotlighted by the Public Accounts Committee during the Chairmanship of Mr Satish Agarwal, formerly a Janata Minister. India, according to the 1982-83 PAC report, had planned an additional irrigation potential of 30 million hectares for major and medium projects. But irrigation created after years planning totals only about 20 million hectares. Had the full potential been created, we could have produced 25 million tonnes of grains additionally and been in a better position to hold prices. 

Not only that. Equally scandalous is the lackadaisical implementation of eight major irrigation projects such as the Rajasthan Canal, Nagarjunasagar and Kosi-Gandak. All these projects continue to lag way behind their targets for the past 20 years or so, resulting in an astronomical cost run, apart from the loss caused on account of delay in reaping the benefits. The Rajasthan Canal was originally to cost Rs 55 crores. It is now estimated to cost Rs 100 crores. Had the project been completed speedily and on time, it could have yielded anywhere from 2.5 million to 3 million tonnes annually! Not many today remember the wise advice tendered to the Government of India by Mr Robert McNamara when he visited this country in November 1968 as the President of the World Bank. He was firmly of the opinion that India should give top priority to the Canal and complete it speedily. “I would do this if I were you”, he said in so many words, and added: “It will transform not only the face of Rajasthan but of India.” Alas, his advice was not heeded. 

Time and again, Mrs Gandhi has claimed that the common man today is doing much better. True, he has now the Maruti, priced at Rs 47,500, dedicated to him! The Government also claims that 57 million people have been raised above the poverty line in the past three years. (The number is stated to have been brought down from 339 million in 1980 to 282 million at the end of 1982. Person’s earnings Rs 65 per month or more are said to be above the poverty line.) Is this really so? Claim is strongly contested not only by the Opposition leaders but also by Dr Malcolm Adiseshiah, a well-known economist and a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha. Dr Adiseshiah holds the view that the Government figures are based on the erroneous assumption that real incomes have increased uniformly in 1980-81 and 1981-82 in all expenditure classes, including the poor. Of interest in the context of the common man is the fact that the per capita availability of foodgrains has fallen from 175 kg per annum in 1964 and again in 1978 to 155 kg in 1982-83. 

That the poor majority continues to be subjected to deprivation is also borne out by the price trend. The wholesale price index was 185 in March 1977 when the Janata Government came into office. It went up to 212 by July 1979 when the Morarji Desai Government fell -- an average increase of 1 pt per month. It rose thereafter from 212 to 225 under Mr Charan Singh -- an average increase of 2 pts per month from July to December 1979. After almost four years of rule by Mrs Gandhi, the index now stands at about 320 -- a rise of 95 pts over 48 months or an average increase of 2 pts per month. There has been a steady rise in both wholesale and consumer prices in the first five months of 1983-84. The average works out to 6.9 per cent for the wholesale price index. Dr Adiseshiah estimates that the wholesale prices will rise by around 7 to 8 per cent and consumer prices by 10 to 11 per cent during 1983-84. What, however, is most disturbing is the sharp rise in the prices of essential commodities -- a rise of 13 per cent in wholesale prices of primary food articles alone! 

Little has been done to ensure adequate return from the public sector, which adds up to a staggering investment of some Rs 30,000 crores. Mrs Gandhi has been issuing directives again and again. Most of these have got headlines on the front pages of newspapers. These may please Mrs Gandhi and her penchant for public relations. But they have so far not yielded the long-promised results. Regrettably, the public sector continues to be treated as a milch cow. No one, not even the Prime Minister, regards the investment as a national trust. No one insists on a minimum return. A commercial return of 20 per cent should net the country Rs 6,000 crores per annum which would in one stroke obviate the need for additional taxation and deficit financing. (Why commercial return? Many public sector undertakings are today seeking deposits at 15 per cent.) The total investment should yield a return of Rs 4,000 crores at 15 per cent and a little less at 12 per cent, offered by the Post Office. 

Few have given any thought to the increasing tendency among Government leaders to distribute patronage and help friends (and financiers) through exemptions from customs and excise duties -- something that has prompted the demand for a Committee on Taxation Expenditure as in the US. (“We have a Committee on papers laid on the table of the House,” says Mr Satish Agarwal. “Why can't we have a Committee to go into tax exemptions by executive orders? Some 300 to 400 notifications are issued annually. These add up to a “relief of some Rs 2,500 crores.”) A case in point is the latest exemption of customs and excise duties for big cars. The exemption was intimated to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday by the Minister of State for Finance, Mr Pattabhi Rama Rao. Mr Agarwal sought information on two points: the extent of revenue loss and whether blanket exemption had been given for all fuel cars exceeding 1000 ccs. Mr Rama Rao replied that he would send the details to the member -- and left. The exemptions are estimated to benefit the big car manufactures by some Rs 400 crores! 

Not a little thought requires to be devoted to the mounting problem of debt repayment. Plans have been drawn up for pushing up exports to Rs 30,121 crores by 1990-91 as against imports totalling Rs 30,010, leaving a favourable balance of Rs 111 crores. (Imports during 1983- 84 are expected to total Rs 15,000 and exports Rs 10,467 crores leaving an adverse balance of Rs 4,933 crores.) But experience does not encourage such optimism. In fact, if the current propensity (and recklessness) is any indication, we should be lucky if the present adverse balance does not grow. A leading MP said: “You should not be surprised if we start importing even sugar of which we have a glut.” The need for tightening imports and plugging loopholes has become all the greater following Washington’s decision to refuse to agree to a level of $12 billion for IDA-7 (the seventh replenishment of the International Development Association.) President Reagan’s decision to stick to $9 billion will mean less for India, now that China has become a member. India has been a major IDA beneficiary so far. 

All in all, the year that has rolled by has been rather barren in terms of achievements. (Yes, we had a record production of foodgrains. But the credit must go essentially to the weather gods. Thirtyfive years after freedom, our agriculture and budget continue to be a gamble in monsoons!) The problems we inherited in 1983 are still with us and, if anything, have become worse as in the case of Punjab and Assam. Regional tensions have grown and so also confrontation between the States and the Centre. Law and order has worsened and more and more people in rural areas are being forced to fend for themselves. Corruption continues to grow by leaps and bounds and the country today is witnessing the biggest ever loot in its history, notwithstanding Mrs Gandhi’s repeated promises to stamp it out. Parliament, administration and other institutions have suffered further erosion. Truth is at a greater discount than ever before. Summits and conferences have their use in today’s increasingly interdependent world. But we need to come down to terra firma, pull the economy out of the rut and tackle the country’s many problems clamouring for solution. The world respects only those who are strong. -- INFA.

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)