Issues facing India
Issues facing India
Corruption
Dependence on Agriculture
Business Environment
Corrupt Media
Unemployment
Inefficient Police
Quality of Education
Terrorism
Naxalism
China
Infrastructure
Over Regulation!
Crimes against women
Environmental degradation
Ineffective system of Justice Population growth
Poverty
Votebank Politics
Slow Judiciary
Political control overGovt. Policies
Poor Business Environment
Corruption Ailing Judicial system
Poor Educational standards
Unemplyment
Poor AgriculturalProductivity
Poor Implementation of Govt. Policies
Status of Women
Poverty
As things stand...
Agenda
Political Leadership Business Environment Poverty Education Law and Order
Global ranks
Per capita GDP: 141 Human Development Index: 136 Ease of doing business Index: 134 Corruption Perception Index: 94 4th most dangerous place for women (after
Afghanistan, Congo, and Pakistan)
Political Leadership
India grows despite and India grows despite and not because of the not because of the
Government!Government!
Political Leadership
Control over executive and judiciary Populism inherent to Democracy Corruption Electoral System Coalition Dharma
Control over Executive and Judiciary
Civil Services CBI Vigilance Police Issues with Judiciary
Populism inherent to Democracy
Corruption: Can it be solved? Judicial & Police reforms and Independence of
the Anti-corruption wings Privatization RTI Use of IT Initiative by private players Income tax reforms Simplification of the laws, lesser role of
beureaucracy. Protection to whistle blowers
Political Leadership: Electoral System
Coalition Dharma Ideological differences – fractured policy
debate Blackmail Uncertain fate of the govt
Representation of People Bill, 1951that should be "torn and thrown out".
Representation of People Bill, 1951that should be "torn and thrown out".
Business Environment
• Ease of • DB 2013 rank
• Doing Business (Overall Ranking) • 132
• Starting a Business • 173
• Dealing with Construction permits • 182
• Trading across Borders • 127
• Enforcing contracts • 184
• Resolving Insolvency • 116
Growth rates of India and China
Growth rates of China, S. Korea, Taiwan, India Infrastructure growth
Poor Infrastructure
Growth rates of China, S. Korea, Taiwan, India Infrastructure growth
Slow Reform Process
Refrain from touching politically sensitive areas– Land Acquisition – New LARR Policy, 2013– Labour Laws– Tax rates - GST– FDI in Multibrand Retail
Divergent State Policies
Example: West Bengal / Gujarat / Kerala / Maharashtra / MP / UP / Bihar
Difference in the style of functioning leads to different growth trajectories.
Business-politician Nexus
Business control over policy making, media, implementation etc.
Creates
Bureaucratic Inefficiency
Scale of implementation Performance measurement metrices Political control Ill conceived policies Corruption
Business Environment: Government Initiative
New R&R Policy Thrust areas/sectors, priority sector lending Creating infrastructure through PPP, BOT, FDI
etc. Tax holidays, single window clearance Micro-finance
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2013
Heavily loaded in favour of land owners Huge mark up to the historical market price
to determine compensation amounts Numerous entitlements to landowners
including permanent job and upfront payment Prohibiting the use of fertile agricultural land
(beyond 5% per district) may be counter productive.
“Socialism is the destiny of any society. But it must pass through
Capitalism first.”
Agenda
Poverty Business Environment Education Political Leadership Law and Order
Poverty Population below poverty line: 29.8% World Hunger Index Rank: 94 (of 119) 43% Indian children under 5 are
underweight and 58% stunted as of 2008 - the highest in the world
Sector Employment (%) Share of GDP (%)Primary 51 17
Secondary 22 26
Tertiary 27 57
Sector wise contribution to GDP
Govt Initiative: Subsidies
Issues: ✗ Opportunity cost of
money✗ PDS losses✗ Market distortions✗ Inclusion/exclusion
errors✗ Environmental impact
Money granted by the Government to keep down the prices of commodities.
Subsidies in India: Alternative
Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme– Bolsa Familia Programme
Implementation– UID Programme – Aadhaar Integration, ERP Integration and
Integration with nodal bank and payment gateways
Subsidies in India: Alternative
Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme– Conditional Cash Transfer– Bolsa Familia Programme
Implementation– UID Programme – Aadhaar Integration, ERP Integration and
Integration with nodal bank and payment gateways
– Direct transfer of Subsidy through state govt followed by UID based benefit transfer to the targets
DBTS: Risks
Proper Identification of beneficiaries Addressing the liquidity constraint Price indexing of the subsidies Controlling the overall scale of expenditure Black marketing
Govt Initiative: Food Security Bill
✔ Provision of subsidized food grain for 67% of the population (75% rural and 50% urban population to be covered)
✔ To provide Rice, wheat and coarse cereal at Rs. 3, 2 and 1 respectively.
The most optimistic estimates put the cost of the scheme to Rs. 1.3 lakh crore per annum
(11% of the net expenditure)
Food Security Bill: Critique
✔ Do we need it?✔ How are we going to fund it?✔ Impact on other items?✔ Can we deliver?✔ Isn't it too obvious?
Govt Initiative: Food Security Bill
Political implications Public distribution system Cross Subsidy
Govt Initiative: MGREGS"the largest and most ambitious
social security and public works
programme in the world"
IssuesNet value add
Impact on the job market
Impact on the budget
Poverty: Summary Poverty and Unemployment go hand in hand. Govt. schemes for poverty alleviation focus
on creating jobs & subsidies in agri & other produces.
Govt schemes are marred by ill-conception, scale of implementation and corruption.
Education Literacy rate: 74% (82% for men and 65% for
women) (world average: 84%) Only 15% of Indian students reach high
school, and just 7% graduate Consistent share of at least 3% in the budget
spend since freedom.
Access to Education
Right to Education Act
Education is the fundamental right of every child between the ages of 6 and 14
Private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children from poor families
It prohibits all unrecognized schools from practice
No donation and no interview for admission
No child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education.
Quality of EducationRole of govt bodies (UGC, AICTE, MCI etc)➔ Teacher – student ratio➔ Balance between acads and extra-curricular
activities➔ Rote based teaching ➔ Skill development
75% of technical & 85% of general graduates are unemployable by industries. (WSJ)
No Indian university appeared in top 200 (including the IITs). (QS World University Rankings (sept 2011))
The number of students writing CAT 2013 is 2 Lakh (for 3500 seats), GATE 2013 is 12 lakhs (for less than 500
seats), over 5 lakh students for IITJEE 2013, 7.5 lakh for NEET 2013 etc.
Education: Important issues
Fee and Funding Pvt participation and degree of control Attracting foreign universities Limited job opportunities post graduation Adult Education – Literacy vs Education
Education: Summary
The govt has spent a lot of money on Literacy but to not much avail.
The policy is misdirected – Education and not Literacy should be the target.
Focus on employability and alternately creating more employment opportunities is the ultimate solution to the problem.
Agenda
Poverty Business Environment Education Corruption Law and Order
Law and Order
Police Judiciary Status of women
Police
System of policing is governed by "Police Act of 1861"
Police-population ratio of 120 against global avg. of 270 per one lakh
“An average of 50 transfers every month in a state that has around 350 IAS officers...43 IPS officers have been transferred 40 times in
their career.”“the bureaucrats should work in close coordination with party
leaders or face the music.”- State of affairs in UP
Read article “A hell hole for Civil Servants” by Tehelka
Police Reform1.Minimum tenures for senior police offices (Station Inspector upwards).
2.Setting up of a body to decide transfers, postings, promotions and other service related matters of police officers.
3.Police Complaints Authority at state level to inquire into public complaints against police officers.
4.Increase in the funding/budgetary allocation for the Police department.
5.Separate the investigation and law and order functions of the police.
6.Greater integration of various arms of investigation.
Judiciary
More than 3.7 Crore cases pending at various levels of courts (district, high and Supreme)
High pendency levels at the quasi judicial forums (like MRTP commission, consumer forums, Company Law Board, Administrative tribunals, taxation tribunals etc).
“Justice delayed is justice denied.”
“Justice should not only be delivered, it should also be seen as being delivered.”
Judicial Reforms Simplification of the court procedures– Service of summon, recording of evidence,
arguments, decision Suitable changes to categories of laws with high
pendency– Dishonored cheques, Motor Accident, Land
acquisition, maintenance to dependents Compounding/amnesty schemes for penalty
related offences Alternative dispute resolution mechanism– Lok Adalat, pre-litigative redressal, expert
tribunals and regulators, Fast-track courts Use of IT
Status of Women
Foetecide (sex ratio: 941; 914 for children below 6 years),
Discrimination (male vs female literacy rates) A crime against a women is committed every
three minutes, a women is raped every 29 minutes, a dowry death occurs every 77 minutes - National Crime Records Bureau
Causes– Social: Justice and policing, Mindset (Patriarchy,
Tradition, Marriage)– Economic: Lack of job opportunities, Limited family
income – Biological: Nature of work, maternity, self-defense
Government Initiative● Woman Reservation Bill (pending for over 4
years) The sexual harassment of Women at
workplace Act, 2013 Protection of Women from Domestic Violence
Act, 2005 Justice JS Verma Committee report and
Nirbhaya Act (Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2013)
Women empowerment through Self Help Groups, Microfinance, reservation in education etc.
28/04/23
THANK YOU