Chronical AnalysisNational Health Policy: It is formulated at
MDG in global context. Changing context from the last policy.
First, health priorities are changing. Focused action resulted in
attainment of maternal and child mortality. Other health needs
received scant attention. Growing burden of non-communicable
disease. Secondly, growth of health care industry at 15%. Thirdly,
Health expenditure is the major reason for poverty. Fourth,
improvement in fiscal capacity of state due to growth. MDG: india
will reach MDG on maternal(140) and child mortality(42). Population
growth: 21 states achieved TFR of 2.1 and rest are also showing
decline. Challenge is declining sex-ratio. Inequalities: across
states and urban-rural. Quality of care: recent incidents of deaths
after sterilization in Jharkhand SOPs are not followed during
institutional deliveries. Performance in disease control programme:
complete elimination of polio. Significant reduction in leprosy.
Reduction in HIV. Challenge of TB with the problem of multi-drug
resistance. There are significant reduction but still efforts are
required. Development under NRHM: It was intended to cover all
health needs and not just national programmes but it remain
confined to national programmes in practice, low public spending,
strengthening of health infrastructure. Ambulances, health workers,
equipments, transport services, cash transfer to pregnant women.
Burden of disease: over 75% of communicable diseases are not part
of national programmes. Health programme for non-communicable
disease have very short coverage. Urban health: no arrangement of
primary care in cities and towns. NUHM in 2013 is set to change
these disadvantages. Cost of health: national programmes cover all
drugs and treatment cost with good coverage. Private market has
little role in these areas. No financial protection for vast other
health needs. NRHM extended free care to selected needs. Publically
financed health insurance: like RSBY, low awareness about these
schemes, denial of service by hospitals. Healthcare industry:
policy initiatives for the growth of healthcare industry. Exemption
from income tax for health insurance. Tax rebates, tax exemptions.
FDI is made in this sector. Revenue through medical tourism.
Private sector: 80% of outpatient care and 60% of inpatient care.
AYUSH: mainstreamed in NRHM. HRD: expansion of medical, nursing,
pharmacy and technical education. Little orientation to rural
services. Skill problems of these courses. Challenges: limited
R&D. Modest funding. Regulatory role of government: regulation
of drugs through CDSCO, FSSAI for food, National council for
clinical establishment and education through four councils.
Regulation of drug prices under department of pharmaceuticals.
Investment in health care: in 2011 4.1%. There is a need to
increase this. The government spending is only 1.04%. Principals:
equity, universal access, inclusive partnership with all
stakeholders, pluralism: AYUSH, allopathic, accountability,
affordability. Objective: improve health care setup, reduction in
out-of-pocket expenditure, universal affordability to health care
and drugs, secondary and tertiary care with public and private
sector, influence private sector to align with policy goals.
Vision: 4-5% GDP but 2.5% of GDP is achievable, health cess, high
public expenditure will lead to more job opportunities, use of CSR,
health to all, preventive and promotive care, behavioural change.
Strengthening village health sanitation and nutrition committee and
their urban equivalent, including in educational curriculum,
occupational health needs attention, comprehensive medical care
approach, strengthening and expanding role of ASHA, promotion of
yoga. Approach: universal and free primary care then secondary and
tertiary with public then not-for-profit then commercial private.
Preventive care: comprehensive from selective and called as health
and wellness centre, health card attached with primary health
services, community participation with VSandNC supervised by
panchayats, human resource, primary facility and a referral system,
AYUSH will be included. Telemedicine, trained staff and doctor and
PHC to reduce overcrowding and quality service, expanded and
strengthened role of ASHA, development of urban infrastructure.
Secondary care: expanding services offered, 1000 beds per million,
manpower, support from private sector. Strategic purchasing by
state will give policy direction to private sector. Public
hospitals: prepaid care and not free care. Making right to health a
fundamental right and making denial of health an offence. States
may voluntarily adopt the act by assembly resolution. Free for poor
and affordable for rest a universal health insurance scheme. Public
health system as pre-paid service than social service. Contracting
out to private sector. National health policy review: recent cuts
in health expenditure. Health importance: demographic dividend,
growth and capacity development. Instead of comprehensively
elaborating the centre state relation in health delivery it only
mentions that centres share to be increased to 40 from 30.
Regulating private sector and revamping regulatory institutions are
important before involving private sector in health in big way.
Higher education: fast track and not thought out changes will ruin
the institutions. A common syllabus for all central universities,
common entrance test, faculty, student mobility and credit
transfer. Schemes like gian, kushal and swayam are planned along
with e-libraries and other online platforms. Common entrance test
is only feasible for narrowly defined technical disciplines and
will not work for wide ranges of other disciplines. Common
curriculum aimed at eliminating quality problem but it ignores the
root cause of improper implementation and not model curriculum.
Mobility methods is a replica of European union, our institutions
are already overcrowded making little sense of mobility. The
mobility may be used as a token of reward and punishment. Greater
reliance on MOOCs is worrisome. The issue of mostly English as
medium of higher education is not addressed which a major hindrance
in access to higher education. The method of API to access the
performance of teachers is mechanical in nature and highly
deficient. Land bill: rapid urbanisation, high prices are
distorting the land acquisition. The difference between officially
notified value and market value. Stamp duty, registration fee etc.
are to be registered at lower guidance value creating black
economy. Poor land record management and litigation increases
costs. Reduction in stamp and registration fee to discourage their
evasion. Minimum guidance value to be increased to market value in
phased manner this will help eliminating the process of
notification of guidance value. Nationwide data of land transaction
should be created for dissemination of price related information.
Release of land from government agencies which is lying
un-utilized. FFC: government has accepted enhanced devolution to
states from 32 to 42 %. Though the increase in not much as plan +
non-plan together comes to 39-40%. The 42% is under non-plan and
tax devolution. The conditional component rose high with years
controlled by planning commission in the name of plan expenditure
and normal central assistance calculated by gadgil-mukherjee
formula. FFC has enhanced co-operative federalism by enhancing
financial autonomy and independence. The plan expenditure was used
to punish and reward states based on central power. Top-down and
one size fits all approach has failed miserably. States should be
seen as independent contributor in national growth and not
appendage of union. The new guidelines will help centre to
concentrate of big infrastructure projects. Nuclear Deal: direct
nuclear trade will take time but it opened new areas for
co-operation between two countries. Defence cooperation under DTTI.
Ghost of fukushima. It is a leap of faith rather than giving and
meaningful outcomes in near future. FFC: move away from scheme and
grant based support to greater devolution from centres divisible
pool of tax revenue. Useless schemes like for kerala with high
literacy rate the scheme for primary education is not as much
important similarly for a power surplus state like Gujarat scheme
related to the sector are not needed. Some states have raised
voices due to loss in their share with new formula but this is a
consequence of their better health than others. The reduced fund
will be given to less developed states. Railways: reforms are aimed
at adequate investment in infrastructure. Central pay commission
sets the pay of employees. Pension liability from its own earning.
Cross-subsidisation of passenger tariff with freight tariff has its
limits. The shock wave given by pay commission will remain till
railways is a government undertaking. Converting it into government
owned company is a reform measure but highly resisted by employees.
This arrangement will also keep organisation from political
interference. Entry of private in operation needs a fundamental
shift where management and operations are to be separated. Same
tracks can be used by different operators to generate competition.
Ministry paper leak: being ahead of others to get government
information temps corporate to indulge in such acts. Every
government organisation has a habit of making every information as
secret. Decision in this respect are taken at section officer level
without putting any mind. After investigation permission of MHA is
required for exection of OSA 1923. If offence is done without the
knowledge of head of the company than he is not liable to
punishment. NFSA: maternity benefit of 6000 to be given to women
under act. Scheme needs to be formulated but did not happen.
Reforms have been achieved in PDS. SECC is best available database
for that purpose but still unavailable. Some state went with old
list which is highly defective making the NFSA useless.HealthCare:
long term financing options are not available. Only 4% have health
insurance. Low penetration is due to its optionalness. Most
insurance are for people with illness leading to more claims and
unviability of business. Government can help to improve the
coverage with policy initiatives. Tax incentives and exemption from
service taxes will increase access to health providers. Long-term
capital gain to be exempted from taxation under REIT. These
measures will attract FDI in this sector. CSR could be exploited.
Health Policy: efficient and corruption free implementation of
programmes is the key. Absenteeism, private practice and corruption
are the main problems. Health policy 2015 laid inadequate emphasis
on the governance structure to improve service delivery. TN medical
corporation to procure drugs free from interference and accountable
to independent directors. Full of professional people in the
corporation. Other states are following the same model now. Nuclear
liability: NPCIL can claim compensation upto 1500 crore under right
to recourse. Right to recourse exist independent of contract as per
law which government is trying to wrongly interpret. The right to
recourse is for license time which is 5 years while plant life is
60 years. This will water down the supplier liability by linking it
with contract. Government contended that the amount to supplier
cannot be raised in future which is against the law which provide
for revision of cap with time as per inflation. It was also said
that law itself takes away the right of people to claim tort which
means that supplier are shielded even from criminal neglect. In US,
suppliers are liable for accident and india is going all out to
accommodate the concerns of suppliers making them above the law.
High level shantaram committee: NFSA be curtailed to 40%. PDS be
replaced by cash transfer to fold up FCI as states will no longer
to procure and distribute food grains. India is today
self-sufficient in food production unlike 1960s. This needs a
change in FCI role. People are also moving away from cereals. The
fact ignored is high mal-nutrition, poverty etc. is still
prevalent. Changed production did not lead to food availability to
poor. The food distribution is still important so does FCI. Vast
majority of farmers are not aware of FCI, low collection centres of
FCI, centres are situated in developed region neglecting farmers
from weaker regions. Better procurement in regions with awareness
and collecting infrastructure. States have showed considerable
improvement in PDS leakage and it can be improved further.
Excessive storage leading to rotting and wastage of financial
resources is true which can be stopped by better targeting.
Renewable energy: intermittent, location-specific potential
generally away from grid and higher cost. Peak consumption in night
when solar is not available relying on out storing capacity leading
to increasing cost. In india there is a shortfall in load at the
grid and load shedding is used to keep grid alive.
Reconfiguring the military: ability of a joint operation among
different services is crucial. Indian forces in near future can be
employed in expeditionary roles which makes the flexibility at
command level for quick deployment. Overseas intervention means
greater role for navy and airforce which required their capacity
building. Chief of joint staff is necessary to advice PM and DM.
Use of army in non-core activities like counter-insurgency, riots,
natural disaster etc. blunts the armys war abilities. The size of
all services should be brought to parity which reduces egoness and
build co-operation. Converting army corps in marines for this
purpose is an option. Air safety: 45 flight operations inspectors
in place of 75 in india. shortage or ATC and engineering
inspectors. Lack of rest breaks to pilots and air staff due to
financial crunch faced by airlines in violation of regulations.
DGCA is not able to fulfil its mandate. India is among worst in air
safety on rating list. Renewable: Problem is with that the
expansion is driven by subsidy to both consumers and producers. The
RE is high priced as compared to conventional power. This can erode
the competitiveness of domestic players. The technology is still
evolving and committing huge resources would not be wise. In
germany, price of the power has shot up leading to companies opting
out of there. Carbon capture and store: it captures co2 at its
origin of emission, compress it and store it permanently
underground. There are doubts about the economy because it involves
a lot of investment. But the cost involved is less than the
consequences of climate change. CCS, the only technology that can
capture 90% of the co2 from worlds largest producer. In Canada
first CCS system has come up as boundary dam showing it is viable.
UAE has initiated CCS in iron and steel sector. China is
collaborating with US to develop capability in CCS. Judiciary
economic bottleneck: streamlined court process and faster contract
enforcement as paramount factor shaping efficient and effective
business environments. Crores of case are pending regarding tax
disputes in the courts in india. CJI has made mandatory to file
verdict that also reflect qualitative assessment. UPA II had
devised a plan to create 5000 supplementary courts to settle cases
in order to bring down the litigation time to 3 from 15 years.
Computerization and intelligent case management are cases in point.
Each department can form a team under retired judges to deliberate
on disputes and try to settle them before going to court.
Disposition of cases by consensus is a way forward. Setting up of
SC benches in other cities will also be helpful. FCI Restructuring:
in 1960s, our requirement was to increase production and become
self sufficient. MSP, subsidized input are provided to achieve
this. The objective is now achieved and the whole system needs
restructuring. The recent report proposed: 1) FCI to roll out from
grain surplus states with developed infrastructure giving
responsibility to states to procure the food grains on behalf of
FCI and shifting its energy in eastern states for procurement to
usher in 2nd green revolution and develop their capabilities. 2)
developing warehouse system in PPP where farmer can store and get
80% return from banks and later sell at market price. This would
reduce cost and wastage. 3) bonus be made uniform at 3% over MSP
because these are to be financed by various levies to be charged
from FCI. 4) Price distortion in fertilizer sector is holding back
the investment. Moving to cash transfer will help reducing this
distortion. This will also help in reducing smuggling of urea to
neighbouring states. APMC Act: most states have amended APMC Act to
allow for direct purchase by contract farming instead of going to
mandis. Despite many licenses given there are no private wholesale
market yet. Bihar has abolished APMC in 2006. There are private
unregulated market have came up in the state where small and big
farmers can come and sell directly for wholesale or retail purpose.
The farmers are happy as they have a market near to their area
which saves cost and time then going to regular APMC market. The
individual charges reasonable fee from farmer and buyer. There are
no auctioning here to create competitive pricing. Malprctices can
not be stopped. 2% fee charges is absent in APMC mandis. It is said
that denotification of fruits and vegetable from APMC will benefit
farmers. This is not true as there is no oversight in these private
market and also no auctioning to get competitive prices. There is
no guarantee that these markets will keep working unlike APMC
market. The supermarkets buy A grade produce directly from farmers
leaving lower grades into APMC. The denotification will not help in
this sense. Introduction of auction, more APMC market, liberalising
APMC licensing and denotifying agents from mandis will go a long
way. The APMC market are important as they can not attract large
buyers for contract farming. Ailing ports: major ports come under
ministry of shipping while non-major ports come under state
maritime boards. Most ports come under major ports trust act 1963.
Only one port is constituted under companies act. Port trusts have
not able to take timely and effective decision leading to minimum
development due to lack of investment because of bureaucratic
hurdles. Kandla port under adani has developed more carrying
capacity than trusts. This make a case for corporatisation of
ports. This will give them more financial autonomy, attract private
capital, management flexibility, take them out of control of tariff
authority when working as public companies creating competition.
All ports to be governed under companies act as it provides
autonomy to ports under its purview. Indo-US Nuclear Deal: India
need nuclear energy to fulfil its growing energy needs in a low GHG
emission way. There is no problem to make concession to US as with
their help we are able to procure technology and fuel for our
reactors. The deal is a moral booster than any substantive benefit.
The act itself keep liability at 300 million SDR or 2600 Crore rs.
The figure is itself small looking at fukushima incident. US had
implicated BP for its oil spill due to faulty well. It is
impossible for anybody to go close to melted core and see what
caused it and implicate the supplier. MEA said that section 17 can
hold supplier responsible by operator if provided in the contract
and not automatic. Why would one sign if not obligatory. Government
said that NPCIL will insist on the clause in contract but if
operator is private then what will be the scenario is not known.
Government also said that tort claim in Indian court and class suit
in foreign court is not allowed in the law itself to indemnify
suppliers in the cloak of conforming with CSC 1997. National
insurance pool of 1500 crore is minimum required. One tier of the
pool is for operator while other 2 tier are for supplier who are
already indemnified. The pool will be maintained by 50% of GIC and
50% by government and other insurance agencies. The immediate
relief will be from this pool. Government would be liable for
another 1100 crore before drawing from CSC fund that too after
ratifying. Supplier will pay nothing except some premium. Medicine
for TB: researchers at delhi have found drug candidate for TB and
malaria. This facility is in place due to funding from
international organizations and DBT. This is the result of push
given in 1980s in biotechnology. This has global implications. It
also helped india in developing processes to develop these kinds of
drugs increasing indias capability. The centre has attracted
researchers from around the globe back to india to work on the
project. Robust research atmosphere, adequate funding and sound
regulations to make drug after trials. Inadequate budget of DBT is
a problem. Contempt of court: CPI(M) leader was sent to 4 weeks
jail in kerala by its HC. For criticising the court judgement on
banning rallies on roadside to help smooth traffic by calling
judges as idiots. HC imposed 6 weeks and Sc reduced it to 4. This
will suppress healthy criticism also. The court relied on the
assumption that the statement will make court order in the eyes of
public as court cannot be relied for justice. This is wrong
assumption within a state of high literacy. SC said that due to
their position judges cannot respond to criticism which is true but
COC is to protect the dignity of court and not he judges. The
judges inability is fulfilled by vibrant civil society. It is said
that COC is imperial form as at that time authority of the court is
to be maintained by these options on colonised public. It is also
said that COC is good for countries where courts are trying to gain
legitimacy which is not the case in india. LAAR: ordinance
dispensed with consent for 6 categories of projects and SIA.
Without SIA it will be impossible to assess the affected people to
whom compensation is to be given for non-land owners. It dispensed
with the requirement that 5 years no development land can also be
kept and penalties for non-complying officer. It is claimed that
removal of SIA and consent will reduce cost and also windfall gain
to land loosers. LARR takes circle rates to calculate compensation
which takes into account the agricultural value of land and not the
industrial value and is always below than market values. Before
1980, market was dominated by public sector and when land is
acquired it was seen as for public purpose. In neo-liberal times
land is acquired for private players on large scale. The land are
acquired for any private purpose and given to private sector and
culminated into SEZ. NITI Aayog: It will serve as a state of art
resource centre to evaluate and monitor programmes and provide
policy inputs. It also provide platform for co-operation between
researchers and policymakers. The research on government policies
is done by organisation but the finding are not included in
policies due to absence of sound mechanism for this purpose. NITI
can initiate pilot evaluation before letting go the policy
full-fledged. Evidence based institutions are getting limelight
around the world. Two challenges: 1) inviting high quality
researchers from different fields to provide inputs 2) willingness
among policy makers to learn and accept. IT Act 66A: the section
mandated that anyone causing annoyance or inconvenience or
offensive can be put to jail for 3 years. The section is mostly
vague to bring everything into its ambit and giving arbitrary
powers to police. School girls in Maharashtra, jadavpur university
professor in Bengal, azam khan case in UP, azim trivedis cartoon
are the cases of arbitrariness. Banking System: two challenges: 1)
number of banks have failed to sustain. India has good record in
this case with very few collapse. 2) india lack in financial
inclusion and financial depth. RBI is cautious in granting license.
First push in 1994 then in 2004. Still small business have very
limited linkage with banks. In 2014 two more banks are allotted
licenses. Previous attempts of co-operative banks, SHG, more
commercial banks have failed because they are replicating same
model and were overlapping. This created NPA and goals were
partially met. New banks with differentiated mandates such as small
and payments banks can make difference. 1) a system which can cover
business cost is sustainable in india due to huge untapped
population. 2) mPESA in Kenya is a successful example in point.
Increased depth of mobile, AADHAR and broadband. 3) in conventional
banks with high fixed capital it makes difficult to fund small
business to recover cost. The payment banks apart from banking
operation also helps them to hold their customer base. 66A IT: IT
act 2000 provided immunity to platforms like googe, facebook
because monitoring their content is not possible for them. The
blocking rules also mentioned that content can be removed on the
request of third party. SC has read down the content removal
guidelines. Non-governmental parties have to take court permission
now to remove a content. It is a good step as ISPs lack resources
and incentives to identify the request as valid under the law or
not. SC accepted that government blocking has several safeguards
and left it mostly untouched but laid some guidelines before making
orders. SC said that written reasons should be provided by the
government before issuing any blocking order. If no provided ISPs
can deny the request. SC also said that before making an order
reasonable opportunity should be provided to the content
originator. This will open the door for litigation if procedure are
not followed and is a well laid safeguard. The originator due to
geographical stretch of the globe may not be able to contact the
originator and ISPs may not defend the content to save their
resources makes the government blocking in practice still a
arbitrary task. The blocking process is secret as per rules. The SC
has ignored this part but at least a notice of government blocking
be placed at the site so that originator can know about the issue.
FCI: swaminathan committee report said to fix MSP with input cost +
50% profit. Central government has said the it will not procure
food grains if bonus is given by states. It has also increased the
MSP by only 3%. States have restricted their procurement owing to
this leading to distress sale by farmers. SDG in place of MDG:
eradication of extreme poverty by 2030. In times of dominance of
private sector, environmental challenges previous method of giving
aid to poor countries to feed their population will not work. Fund
to achieve this should not be garnered only with aid but also with
raising funds through own resources like reducing tax evasion etc.
participation of poor countries in global trade is also important
to generate revenue. Providing market access is an important issue.
ASER Report: learning outcomes are declining consistently with 53
to 48% in 2014. Centre launched padhe bharat badhe bharat to
inprove learning, writing and reading skills is I and II. Low
student attendance, low teacher quality, low parental interest and
lack of teacher accountability. When student of V can read II text
only then instead of sticking to regular curricula with expectation
to eventually catch up one should change it to the actual level of
child. The policy making is based on data collected by district
information system on education which does not involve any learning
criteria. Decision making is based on inputs rather than outcomes.
Centre has started initiative in this direction by starting
state-level learning assessment. DTTI: india looks at US to get
defence technology that others cannot provide. Exchange of defence
personnel and partnership between Indian and US players. India
should consider subsidiaries of firms in india. Rajashthan PRI
laws: not below class 10. Sarpanch level class 8 and 5 in tribal
areas. In this context with lower literacy rates marginalised will
be kept out of power circles. It will have adverse effects on women
participation. There are people who worked as sarpanch and learned
to use basic IT services and performed well but without any class8
certificate. Literacy and intelligence has different meaning.
Higher education: IIT delhi director resigned due to pressure of
marginalisation from MHRD. This has little to do with real
problems. DU VC is continuing regardless of cases of misdoings. His
presence demoralises the academic staff. IGNOU faces crisis due to
indiscriminate expansion. Its VC is also under scanner but still
continuing. The erosion of autonomy is generic and not specific.
JNU which has high reputation of research is now facing cases of
plagiarism. More students under a professor against the established
norms. The faculty run institutions outside where they work leaving
little time to look into their duties. One size fits all and
standardisation to achieve excellence is wrong. Mechanical API
based promotion and recruitment has degraded the quality as no
emphasis on quality of teachers. Fake journals have came up to
provide more API rating. UGC has ex-officio VCs which are
themselves involved in various wrongdoings. Expansion of
institutions without recruitment of quality faculty. Ad-hoc
appointment at low wages is demoralising and deteriorating the
quality. Good faculty is reluctant to join new colleges due to lack
of infrastructure. Movability of teachers will be used as
punishment. Justice Joseph: In united states court work on good
Friday but not on national holidays. Good Friday is not a federal
holiday in US. The issue is thus not about religious holidays but
national holidays. The argument that too many national holidays
exist in india can be corrected by pruning the list of national
holidays and adding more restricted holidays. The suggestion by CJI
that judges can bring their family to delhi and fulfil professional
and personal obligations is limiting. The constitution of india
provides individual rights over common rights. This is why ambedkar
rejected the idea of village as basic unit in place of individual.
The priority of institution over individual is a tyrannical one as
it impinges on the freedom of individual. The argument in favour is
that this is not the first time that such a conference is organised
on holiday, in past such conferences are organised on Independence
Day also. Net neutrality
TRAI consultation paper proposes either license to OTT or
compromise net neutrality. Till now what is inside internet packets
is not subject to regulation but bringing the content under OTT
will spread regulatory power of TRAI. Internet has grown due to its
open character and permission less innovation. TRAI argues that the
fixed and mobile telephony is overwhelmed by the traffic. This is
true but the reasons are: ISPs are not upgrading their
infrastructure. They say that they are not generating enough
revenue but the truth is that they are not regulated on tariff
rates but still data services are cheap in india. TRAI should crack
its whip and not compromise net neutrality. The issue is that
internet companies are making tonnes of money so they should also
get a share of it. The recent telecom auction show that ISPs have
enough money as government has said even with high prices tariff
will not increase much. The comparison are made by comparing time
of skype and voice time but these are two different services and
cannot be compared in this way as it is assumed that if skype was
not to be there everybody use voice call. TRAI emphasized this as
revenue gone. This may be true but the data rates have benefited
ISPs. If net neutrality is compromised then ISPs will not expand
their infrastructure and big companies will pay them to free up
bandwidth for them leading to compromised field. Net neutrality in
sense encourages them to expand infrastructure and restricts
monopoly. This is rectified in FCC decree that puts internet
services as public utility. All internet companies such as google
and facebook use their home network to connect to Indian network.
High fee could be imposed to generate extra revenue to connect
external network to ISPs.Net Nutrality
Apples iOS is anything but neutral. It blocks flash. App
developers pay Apple to be listed on the App Store. Nor do we care
about which apps are promoted by Apple. All we care about as
consumers is the experience as it ought to be. Information
Technology Act, 2000 nor any rules and regulations made thereunder,
have any reference to net neutrality. Net neutrality is a principle
that is dedicated to making the Internet a neutral platform for the
proliferation of all kinds of services offered by all stakeholders.
Any enhancement of billing for a lay Internet or mobiles user is
not only going to intrinsically harm the financial interests of the
Indian consumer but could also impact the further penetration of
Internet apart from prejudicially impacting the confidence and
trust that users have in the Internet regulation regime. Internet
services were stated by VSNL in 1995. In 1998 government opened the
sector for private sector with liberal conditions with no license
fee and free to decide the cost of these services. 98% subscribers
are with top 20 ISPs while remaining is either un-operational,
stagnated or declining and also misused. Internet telephony called
grey market is causing revenue problems for licensed ISPs. ISP
telephony services are allowed from 2002 and from 2006 6% revenue
share was imposed on ISPs earned from internet telephony. Telephony
service technology under present license is not user friendly and
required prior knowledge of computer causing its limited
unpopularity which has now become popular due to improved devices.
Uses of these devices is not allowed under present ISP license and
created grey areas. These restrictions have now been removed. In
2006, government has provided uniform access services to provide
unrestricted internet telephony but still services are not started.
Clauses of ISP license needs to be revisited in present context of
new technology and internet services. Cost of laying broadband
infrastructure is high and hence not viable for small ISPs. Dial-up
is costly than broadband. There is no adequate return on investment
made in extending infrastructure for broadband expansion. ISPs with
limited services under license are losing revenue. Separate license
is needed for providing IP TV, IP VPN etc. The conversion of voice
in data and sending over internet as new technology violates ISPs
license conditions. Defence production
India is the biggest importer of arms. It has to pay for
purchase as well as maintenance of the equipments. This is due the
lack of capability of its defence PSUs. FDI is defence sector is
seen as solution to this problem. The reasons forwarded are: even
after decades defence PSUs are not able to meet the requirements of
forces and situation becomes serious in the wave of global military
developments. Superior management culture of foreign companies will
result in adherence to timeline and budget. Despite the contracts
for TOT, none has come significantly because security forces are in
urgency for modernisation. Hence FDI will bring technology and also
generate jobs. None of the argument will solve the problem of
self-reliance in defence production and reduce import dependence.
Drawbacks: FDI means long-term presence and assured contracts to
get adequate return on investment. It will not happen in military
purchases and there will always be a gap of few years. This forced
dependence on purchase will put pressure on government same as it
is feeling because of import. DPP currently mandates 30% local
offset, which means money is used in india but still components
with significant technology are always imported just in case of
automobile industry in india. This will not be significantly
different from offset guidelines even if foreign companies come to
india. All foreign companies protested and forced government to
dilute the offset guidelines. So, it is wrong to assume that FDI
will bring in technology. They wary of sharing technology with
Indian partners especially with PSUs as their bargaining power is
larger than private sector. The failure of Rafael deal is over work
allocation to HAL. The main aim is technology transfer. Recipient
should ensure that it gets and absorbs technology and build it
indigenously. Offset policy should not be seen in financial and
number of jobs created but in terms of technology absorbed by
scientists and companies. If self-reliance is to be achieved then
we have to develop institutions of excellence with political
support and provide financial and infrastructure to pursue the
development of high-end technologies. Environment dilution
HLC on restructuring of environmental laws. First, speed up the
process of identifying project activities and their impacts. This
is to be completed within 10 days otherwise it should be left with
project developers. Second, this identification should be limited
to initial stage only, which means if it is found that further deep
inquiry is needs that cannot be granted. Third, public hearing not
to include settlements which are far from project. Most of the
projects effect far flung areas. Even this public hearing should be
restricted to directly affected people which means in case of dam,
the downstream affected people are not to be included. Fourth, fast
track approval of linear projects which may cause significant
damage even after their narrow area of influence.
NGOs and crackdown
National accreditation agency for NGOs can change the scenario.
The NGOs share diverse purpose, nature and approach. The
accreditation is based on set of standard set of criteria. This
approach is not purposeful because it is difficult to measure
diverse NGOs based on standard criteria. The ratings are helpful to
donors because it will cut their transaction cost based on
financial health and adhering to legal rules. This though is not
going to work well with organisations which are making government
accountable. The accreditation though help in improving public
perception, investor confidence and guidance. Credibility alliance
which is a group of NGOs in india has come forward in this field
but still this field in immature. NaxalsTwo prolonged strategy:
Enhancing security and improving development. Reasons for attacks:
failure and procedural lapses and lack of co-ordination between
centre and state. The local intelligence is missing. In most cases
standard operating procedure were violated such as informing SP
before troop movement. Security forces are superior but will to
wipe out naxals is lacking. State police leadership is incompetent.
Centre-state discontent is demoralising the security forces. State
asks for more battalions but more troops are not the answer. State
police has to take a lead and security forces can only play a
supportive role.
Public Procurement Bill
Benefits: 1) Institutional mechanism of procurement based on
rules and regulations. 2) Fiscal saving from procurement
expenditure 3) it will generate fiscal space 4) it will enhance
flexibility to channel expenditure into growth enhancing areas. The
bill will be applicable to all ministries/departments and companies
where government has more than 50% stake. It will not be applicable
to state and local governments. Bill in current from excludes the
post-tendering steps from its purview such as monitoring, contract
management, payment etc. These should be included in the bill. Bill
in its current from also dilutes the accountability. Judicial
dispute delays the process and hence non-judicial dispute redressal
is needed. Bill established a central procurement agency but it
should be reconciled with decentralised committees. Bill is not
applicable to procurement less than 5 million rupees and also to
emergency procurement in disaster management and national security.
Bill provides to exempt procurement from certain guidelines and
also limit competition to attain certain objectives in public
purpose. But certain other requirements such as advance contract
award notice, risk management techniques should be incorporated in
these cases. For proper implementation of the bill, data management
and standardisation must be enhanced. Data is needed for both
bidders and procurement agencies to enhance transparency.
Professional personnel with enhanced capabilities are needed for
proper implementation. The training programmes should be organised
to achieve this. Climate Change and Agriculture
The adaptive capacity of farmers is limited due to subsistence
agriculture and low formal education. Emission of Co2 is more from
tilted soil that undisturbed soil. Decline is soil fertility due to
change in temperature which affects humus content, water scarcity,
low yield due to increase in temperature, with rising temperature
insects, pest and weeds become more abundant. Mitigation: 1)
scientific water management 2) improving organic matter management
3) efficient nutrient management 4) carbon sequestration by
manipulating soil moisture and temperature. Soil management
practices such as reduced tillage, manuring, residue incorporation,
improving soil biodiversity, micro aggregation, and mulching can
play important roles in sequestering carbon in soil. Some
technologies such as intermittent drying, site-specific N
management, etc. can be easily adopted by the farmers without
additional investment, whereas other technologies need economic
incentives and policy support. Adaptation: 1) Developing climate
ready crop for draught, flood and salinity by genetic engineering.
2) Crop diversification: moving to high-end farm products will
increase income and also result in reduced water and fertilizer
usage. It is capital intensive and a balance between income and
techniques needs to be established. 3) Change in land use pattern:
changing growing, harvesting seasons with the changing climate. 4)
Efficient use of resources: The resource-conserving technologies
(RCTs) encompass practices that enhance resource- or input-use
efficiency and provide benefits. zero-tillage (ZT) can allow
farmers to sow wheat sooner after rice harvest, so the crop heads
and fills the grain before the onset of pre-monsoon hot weather. 5)
Relocation of crop in other areas 6) Improved pest resistance. 7)
weather forecasting and crop insurance. Problems: 1) Due to MSP:
shift from low water food crops to water intensive mono cultivated
food crops. This led to loss of good practices such as mixed
cropping, inter-cropping and crop rotation. This led to loss of
soil fertility and poor nutrition to farmers. 2) Farm bunding is
useful in minimising soil erosion and water run-off, improves soil
moisture and raising water table. Use of tractors due to high
labour cost led to destruction of bunds leading to more irrigation.
This led to extensive exploitation of ground water. 3) Moving to
high-end crops led to lack of fodder and decrease in livestock.
Watershed management is crucial to making agriculture climate
resilient.
Bankrupcy LawStronger bankruptcy law protect interest of
borrowers and lenders. It make the risk and collection procedure
explicit. This will help credit flow and investment. Average time
in insolvency proceedings in india is 4.5 years. Early recognition
of financial distress and timely intervention are needed.
Juvenile Law
Three flawed assumption: 1) children are as culpable as adult 2)
it is scientifically possible to determine the mindset maturity
beyond doubt 3) trying them as adult will deter crime. Mind grows
between 16 to 18 and upto 20. At this stage, mind knows what is
wrong but there is lack of foresight and risk assessment capability
is low. Their capability to understand legal norms and make
decision is low. Children can be negatively influenced in this
period but they can also be rehabilitated due to transitional
nature of thinking. Scientific assessment of children is not
possible scientifically. Transfer policies instead of reducing
crime are increasing them. Coming out of adult prison will increase
risk. This is seen in US context also which is now closing prison
and funding the caring centres for children. Parliamentary standing
committee has pitched for not treating them as adult.
Smart CitiesUrban transport, e-governance and land tilting.
Urban transport: very few cities have in-place bus transport
services. Even those have, lack proper bus capacity. Loss making,
depleting fleet size, inadequate resources, poor service quality
and ignorance about modern technology. Statutory authority will
help planning and initiating transport systems. Efficient
enforcement of traffic rules and real time information regarding
bus location, online fares and ticketing. Finance is critical,
advertisement, congestion tax fund etc. will help. Urban titling:
high land prices is leading to unaffordable housing, tedious
clearance process. IBSA
Influence of china to give more attention to BRICS than IBSA.
India joined too many association with little time available to
official to keep them alive. One reason is that the prime objective
of bringing reforms in UNSC is not more compelling. Other areas of
co-operation are maritime security, drug trafficking, money
laundering and terrorism in south atlantic and Indian ocean
region.