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BUSINESS STANDARD

DECCAN HERALD

ECONOMIC TIMES

HINDU

HINDUSTAN TIMES

PIONEER

STATESMAN

TELEGRAPH

TRIBUNE

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CONTENTS

CIVIL SERVICE 3-11

CORRUPTION 12-13

DEFENCE, NATIONAL 14-15

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 16-17

EDUCATION 18-24

FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS 25-27

FOREIGN AID 28-29

HUMAN RIGHTS 30-31

JUDICIARY 32-37

OLD AGE 38

POLICE 39-42

POLITICAL PARTIES 43-44

POVERTY 45-47

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 48

RAILWAYS 49-51

WATER SUPPLY 52

WOMEN 53-55

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CIVIL SERVICE

ECONOMIC TIMES, SEP 15, 2016Now, pensioners can track status via SMS and online

The website, which will serve as a one-stop destination for providing information and speedy redressal of grievances, can also be accessed through mobile devices.

NEW DELHI: Over 11.61 lakh government pensioners can now track the status of

theirpension and grievance redressal through SMS as well as monitor receipts online -- steps that

aim to "lessen harassment" for senior citizens.

The web portal launched by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today will enable central civil

pensioners, family pensioners and freedom fighter pensioners to view their complete pension

profile digitally by logging into www.cpao.nic.in.

They will also be provided with SMS facility for tracking status of pension process and their

grievance registration as well as disposal.

The website, which will serve as a one-stop destination for providing information and speedy

redressal of grievances, can also be accessed through mobile devices and it would also provide

an option to pensioners to give their feedback.

Launching the portal, Jaitley said it is an extremely important initiative which will lessen

harassment.

"Nobody should be harassed, least of all pensioners because they are mostly senior citizens. And

they need that resource and their life depends on that resource. So any delay or red tapism can

actually cause a lot of harassment if not destitution," he said.

He said the facility of tracking pension status on mobile phone is a giant step taken by the

Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO).

The website will provide one-stop solution for pensioners to access information relating to status

of pension cases, and pension payments processed by central ministries and banks.

CPAO disburses the pensions through authorised banks to central government pensioners and in

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the current fiscal it is managing the pension budget of Rs 32,070 crore. In 2015-16, the CPAO

handled 60,211 pensioners' grievances.

Speaking on the occasion, Controller General of Accounts M J Joseph said the portal will bring

in transparency and accountability and ensure more responsive way of handling pensioners

grievances.

ECONOMIC TIMES, SEP 14, 2016UP Chief Secy shunted out, Rahul Bhatnagar new CS

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today shunted out Chief Secretary

Deepak Singhal, considered close to minister Shivpal Yadav, barely two months after he took

charge. Principal Secretary (Finance) Rahul Bhatnagar has been appointed the new Chief

Secretary. "Singhal has been removed and put on wait list. Principal Secretary (Finance) Rahul

Bhatnagar has been made new Chief Secretary," an official spokesman said here. Bhatnagar is an

UPcadre IAS officer of 1983 batch. Singhal, one year senior to him, had taken charge on July 7,

replacing Alok Ranjan who had retired on June 30. Though no reason was given behind the

development, Samajwadi Party insiders said the chief minister was perhaps not happy with him

as he had attended a dinner hosted by SP Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh in Delhi which

Akhilesh gave a miss. SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and some other top party leaders were

peresent at the dinner. The party insiders said Akhilesh was not very happy with Singhal,

considered close to the chief minister's uncle and senior cabinet minister Shivpal Yadav.

Differences of opinion between Akhilesh and Shivpal have been reported on several occasions in

the past, including on the choice of official to be appointed as the state's chief secretary after

Alok Ranjan's term ended, and the postponement of Qaumi Ekta Dal's merger with SP. Singhal

was earlier Principal Secretary (Irrigation), a department held by Shivpal. The removal of

Singhal comes hours after Principal Secretary (Mining) Gurdeep Singh was transferred to Food

and Civil Supplies department replacing Sudhir Garg, who was made Principal Secretary

(Mining). The CBI is probing allegations of corruption in the mining department on the direction

of the Allahabad High Court. In an image refurbishing exercise ahead of Assembly elections,

Akhilesh had yesterday cracked the whip on two ministers Mining minister Gayatri Prajapati

and Panchayti Raj minister Rajkishore Singh facing corruption charges.

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PIONEER, SEP 14, 2016CBI CAN’T PROBE GOVT STAFF SANS SANCTION

The Centre is likely to make it mandatory for the agencies like CBI to seek prior approval from the competent authority for probing charges of corruption against Government servants, starting from peon to top bureaucrats.

The move assumes significance against the backdrop of demand from IAS officers and other civil servants to provide them protection from the investigating agencies on bonafide decisions taken by them.

Some outstanding officers like former Telecom Secretary Shyamal Ghosh and former Coal Secretaries PC Parekh and HC Gupta are facing probe for their alleged involvement in 2G scam and coal blocks allocation scams.

Official sources said that Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) may shield both the serving and retired public servants. The decision is based on the recommendations of a select committee of the Rajya Sabha that had examined a Bill seeking to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

“No police officer shall conduct any enquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under this Act, where the alleged offence is related to any recommendation made or decision taken by such public servant in discharge of his official functions or duties, without the previous approval,” said the panel’s report. Sources said after the Government accepts this “shield” and notify it then it will be mandatory for any probe agency to take prior permission of the competent authority before conducting any investigation against retired and serving public servants — from peon to secretary.

A delegation of IAS officers had recently met Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh and demanded that honest civil servants need to be protected so that they do not shy away from taking administrative decisions.

The permission will be given by the appropriate Governments--Centre and the States--for a serving and retired employee, as per the recent report of the committee on the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013.

However, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) while deposing before the committee had objected to this provision. The CBI opposed the provisions as it may cause unnecessary delay in investigation, it had said.

Public sector undertakings, banks and State Governments supported that competent authority should be the sanctioning authority for investigation and prosecution, while, members of civil society have supported the Lokpal or Lokayukta to be the sanctioning authority, the report had said.

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HINDUSTANN TIMES, SEP 14, 2016UPSC refers Baswan panel report on civil services exam to DoPT

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has referred the report of Baswan committee, that has suggested changes in civil services exam pattern, to the government for final decision.

The UPSC had constituted the expert committee under the chairmanship of former human resource development secretary and retired IAS officer BS Baswan in August last year.The panel had submitted its report to the UPSC last month in a sealed cover and it has been sent to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) for a final decision on the committee’s recommendations, official sources said on Tuesday.

The committee is understood to have recommended reduction in upper age limit of 32 years to appear in the civil services exam, they said.

Lakhs of aspirants appear in the examination conducted annually by UPSC in three stages--preliminary, main and interview--to select officers for Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.

A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August, 2016, as per the latest notification for the exam.

The upper age limit is further extendable for candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes, and those who had ordinarily been domiciled in Jammu and Kashmir during the period from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 1989.The Baswan committee has examined the plan of examination, number of papers, their structure and duration, marking scheme, weightage of marks and system of evaluation among others, the sources said.

The committee was earlier asked to submit its report within six months but it was given an extension for a further period of six months, till last month end. It submitted the report on August 9.

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HINDUSTAN TIMES, SEP 13, 2016Govt officers accused of sexual harassment may be transferred outAloke Tikku

| Officers facing sexual harassment charges could be transferred out to ensure they do not abuse their authority to influence the outcome of the inquiry, the Centre told departments last week.

The government’s advisory is aimed at fixing a gap in the rules that gave the power to recommend transfer of the victim or the suspect to the complaints committee tasked to probe the complaint.

The memo issued by the department of personnel & training that serves as the government’s human resource manager gave departments a free hand to transfer the officer facing charges if there were concerns about his ability to influence the outcome.

Departments may also consider transferring the suspect officer to another office “to obviate any risk of that officer using the authority of his office to influence the proceedings of the complaints committee,” DoPT director Mukesh Chaturvedi said in the memo.

A government official said the decision on the officer’s transfer would have to be taken on a case-to-case basis and would depend on the concerns expressed by the complainant.This is an enabling provision, he said, adding that the transfer would not be taken as an indictment of the suspect.

The sexual harassment law mandates that every office has an internal committee headed by a woman officer to probe complaints. However, there were doubts if the woman officer had to be senior in rank to the charged officer.

Chaturvedi’s memo suggested that civil servants need not lose sleep over the seniority of the panel chairperson. It said the Allahabad high court had rejected objections on the seniority of the panel chairperson which pointed that the rules only require her to be senior.

Inspired by the 1997 Vishakha judgment of the Supreme Court that laid down the ground rules for handling complaints, Parliament had enacted a law to protect women from sexual harassment in 2013.

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The law had, however, taken a conservative view on transfer of officials facing charges and only empowered the complaints authority to transfer the woman on her request or let her take a three-month leave. But the rules framed by the government gave the panel the power to recommend transfer of the charged officer too.

Women comprised nearly 11% of the government’s staff strength of 33 lakh in 2011, up from 7.5% a decade earlier.

There are, however, no statistics about the number of sexual harassment complaints made by government offices so far.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report released last month pointed that 119 cases were registered in 2015 for insulting the modesty of a woman in an office, the provision invoked under the penal code for sexual harassment at a workplace.

This was twice the number of cases registered under this section the previous year and could reflect the lower awareness about the penal provision.

ECONOMIC TIMES, SEP 12, 2016Revoke G.K. Dwivedi's suspension in Zakir Naik FCRA matter: IAS Association to DOPT

NEW DELHI: The Central IAS Association has urged the Centre to immediately review and

revoke the suspension of Home Ministry Joint Secretary G.K. Dwivedi. The IAS Association

took Dwivedi's case to the Minister of State for PMO and DoPT, Jitendra Singh on Sunday.

Dwivedi has been suspended following the renewal of the FCRA registration of the NGO of

Islamic preacher Zakir Naik IAS officers working as Joint Secretaries in the Home Ministry had

earlier pleaded Dwivedi's case to Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The DoPT led by Singh had

approved MHA's recommendation to put Dwivedi under suspension. "The Association requested

the Government to immediately review the case of G.K. Dwivedi who has been placed under

suspension for no fault of his, which has led to demoralization in the rank and file of the officers

working in the Central Secretariat and hence the suspension should be revoked. Dwivedi is

known for his integrity and hard work and in his last two years of his tenure he has implemented

about 17 important initiatives of the government," the association said in its memorandum to the

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Singh. It is believed Singh did not give any immediate assurance on this. The Association also

pointed to cases of retired government servants like Shyamlal Ghosh, P.C. Parakh, H.C. Gupta,

Veena Rao and few others to stress bringing changes to the Prevention of Corruption Act and

extending protection to both the working and retired officers, irrespective of the Service he or

she belongs to. "The Association expressed its concern that due to lack of legal protection and

due to inadequacy in law, the officers, both retired and serving, are facing great difficulties apart

from huge financial loss in fighting the cases and also the social stigma," the Association said.

The Minister assured the delegation that changes in the Prevention of Corruption Act were

already on the anvil with a bill to that effect pending in the Parliament. "There is a need to

protect the honest and sincere officers for taking bonafide decisions in public interest so that they

don't feel shy or edgy in taking bold and innovative decisions," the IAS Assocation said.

TELEGRAPH, SEP 9, 2016Other civil servants upset with IAS

New Delhi, Sept. 8: An umbrella body of civil servants that includes IPS and IRS service associations has accused the Indian Administrative Service of denying other services proper promotion and deputation avenues.

The Confederation of Civil Services Association has submitted a memorandum to minister of state for personnel Jitender Singh listing its complaints against the IAS, which it described as a "privileged service".

The move followed apprehensions that the task force set up by the government to study the cadre structure of Group "A" services would end up as another "sham" exercise to maintain the stranglehold of the IAS over the bureaucracy. The COCSA warned of a chaotic situation if the current stagnation was not addressed.

The COCSA's plea - a long-standing one - is that despite clearing the same exam as those in the IAS, members of the allied services were not treated on a par either in status or in promotions. They also want to be considered for empanelment on a par with the IAS for posts of joint secretary and above.

On August 22, the department of personnel and training had set up a task force for a comprehensive study on the cadre structure of organised Group "A" central services.

The task force has been mandated to recommend an ideal structure for members of these services - which constitute the bulk of the bureaucracy - at apex, higher administrative grade (HAG) and senior administrative grade (SAG) levels and also ways to address the stagnation in these services.

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"While Group A services people complain about the high-handedness of the IAS, they themselves treat those in Group B services no differently, though all have come through the same civil services examination," said an officer.

The COCSA is an umbrella organisation comprising service associations of various organized civil services, including the Indian Revenue Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Audit & Accounts Service, Indian Forest Service, Indian Revenue Service (customs and central excise), Indian P&T Accounts & Finance Service, Indian Postal Service, Indian Trade Service, Federation of Railway Officers Associations (representing nine railway services), Indian Civil Accounts Service, Indian Defence Accounts Service and the Indian Information Service.

ECONOMIC TIMES, SEP 8, 2016'Dabbang' chief secretary cracks the whip in UP

LUCKNOW: From threatening senior officials with prison if they failed to meet targets to

asking policemen to beat up criminals and put them behind bars, Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary

Deepak Singhal is fast turning out to be the state's 'dabbang' bureaucrat. Appointed barely a

month ago, Singhal has sent shivers down the spines of Uttar Pradesh's infamous bureaucracy,

widely perceived as lazy and callous. And he seems to be also endearing himself with the people

as well as the political class. When Shivpal Singh Yadav was PWD Minister, Singhal was his

"preferred candidate" for the top job; now Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, too, seems to be

enamoured of the "quick decisionmaking abilities" of the official. "Though his surname

(Singhal) may make you think he is 'single', but he is like an army on the roll, doing so much

work," Yadav told a gathering recently. He has publicly patted the back of his Chief Secretary on

more than three occasions now, setting aside speculation that Singhal was not his first choice for

the sensitive posting. Usha Shanker, an ageing principal of a local school that educates children

of poor workers, rickshawpullers and maids, told IANS that she was "pleasantly surprised" by

the "proactive attitude" of the Chief Secretary. "I informed him that our school was short of

funds and needed some encouragement from the government and in no time help came. The

Chief Secretary visited along with his wife and told us that the requirements of the 400 school

children would be taken care of," she said. In governance, too, Singhal seems to be leaving his

mark. Having held various posts in the past, including a long stint as the Principal Secretary

(Irrigation), his access to the top political bosses gives him the added edge. "He is very

grounded, to the extent of being rustic, but works with godsend speed," a senior bureaucrat told

IANS. He recently threatened a group of senior officials that he would not hesitate to send them

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behind bars if the timelines of projects were not met. A known globetrotter he says he has

visited more than 72 countries, some as many as two dozen times Singhal's networking skills

seem to be working in favour of the state. Earlier this week, he not only settled a longpending

issue the widening of a road near Kukrail in the state capital with the Indian Army in an hour

but also moved ahead positively on at least three other contentious issues with the Defence

Ministry. This issue had been hanging fire for more than three decades but Singhal "activated the

state machinery and punched the right numbers in Delhi", said a beaming aide. He is also

working relentlessly on getting the muchdelayed international airport at Agra and is in talks with

his contemporaries in Delhi to "smoothen raw nerves and undo the knots" between two

politicallyopposed governments. Known to have a "baniyabuddhi approach" (businessmanlike

approach) the Chief Secretary is said to have expedited speedy and hasslefree allocation of a 16-

acre stretch of land in Greater Noida to mobile manufacturing major Micromax. Officials of the

company admitted that they had not expected to see work at such lightening speed, at least in

Uttar Pradesh. Chief Executive officer Rajesh Agarwal, who was handed over the allotment

letter by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow last week, says the factory that would come

up on this land is billed to manufacture six million mobile phones every year. Singhal's access to

political bosses seems to be working both in his favour and in favour of the state, hitherto tarred

by question marks over investments.

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CORRUPTION

STATESMAN, SEP 15, 2016Babus’ firewall

It is a tough call for the government. While it cannot afford, for obvious political reasons, any dilution of the Prime Minister’s much-hyped campaign against corruption it will also have to satisfy demands from bureaucrats that they be accorded protection against frivolous and motivated prosecution. Representatives of the IAS Officers Association recently met the minister of state for personnel to articulate apprehensions over false accusations from enforcement agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation, and claim that a “protective shield” is being considered -- for both serving and retired officials.

It may become mandatory for the probe agency to seek prior approval from a competent authority before initiating an inquiry. The Association cited a series of cases against senior officials, mainly those who have recently retired, as evidence of needless harassment.

The demand was not pulled out of thin air; but based on the report of a panel of the Rajya Sabha that had examined a Bill seeking to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act. “No police officer”, the select committee had advocated “shall conduct any inquiry or investigation into any alleged offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under this Act, where the alleged offender is relatable to any recommendation made or decision taken by such public servant in discharge of his official functions or duties without prior approval.” Cut through that legal verbosity and it is evident that if the Bill is so drafted investigating agencies will be denied their “fishing expeditions” and be required to do solid groundwork before initiating action. Not surprisingly, the CBI opposed the move when it made its presentation to the select committee.

The CBI, other agencies too, have invited this restriction on themselves. There is no need to recall the scathing comments of the Supreme Court on the functioning of a former CBI chief to bolster the impression that the agency has willingly allowed itself to become a “weapon” in the hands of the presiding deity on Raisina Hill. The “caged parrot” description applies to the agency’s top officials over the years, regardless of which party was in power.

It was often alleged that the CBI was the most effective cementing force of coalition governments -- the “threat” of a probe caused disgruntled allies to discard plans for quitting the government and endangering a majority in the Lok Sabha.

The need for “prior approval of a competent authority” is in itself no guarantee against vendetta -- politicians have made a fine art of “fixing” officials who do not toe their line, but it is a mini-

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safeguard. For, until the CBI is rendered truly independent of sarkari control it will fail to deliver what is promised in its charter.

ECONOMIC TIMES, SEP 6, 2016Tainted' officials lose antiprosecution shield when transferred: SC

NEW DELHI: Providing investigating agencies a significant handle to go after officials accused

of corruption, the Supreme Court has ruled that no sanction will be required to prosecute

government servants who have been transferred out of a post where they allegedly indulged in

such activities. A bench of Justices A K Sikri and N V Ramana gave the ruling while answering

the question "whether a public servant who is not in the same post and is transferred loses the

protection under Section 19 (1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, though he continues to be a

public servant, albeit on a different post?" Section 19(1) prohibits courts from taking cognisance

of an offence under various provisions of the PC Act without sanction from the government

concerned. This means a designated court cannot take cognisance of a chargesheet filed under

the Act against a government servant unless the investigating agency has obtained sanction for

prosecution before filing of the chargesheet. The shield to protect the bureaucracy from

malicious prosecution and help them take bold decisions will no longer be available to officers if

they get transferred from the station where they they committed the alleged corrupt act. Civil

servants are already restive over the prosecution proceedings against some of their colleagues.

Expanding apex court's ruling in Parkash Singh Badal case, the bench said: "If the public servant

had abused entirely different office or offices than the one which he was holding on the date

when cognisance was taken (by the designated court), there was no necessity of sanction under

Section 19 of the PC Act." "Where the public servant had abused the office which he held in the

check period, but had ceased to hold 'that office' or was holding a different office, then sanction

would not be necessary. Likewise, where the alleged misconduct is in some different capacity

than the one which is held at the time of taking cognisance, there will be no necessity to take

sanction," Justice Sikri, who wrote the judgement for the bench, said. Upholding a Karnataka

high court order allowing prosecution of one L Narayana Swamy, the SC said since the appellant

had allegedly abused entirely different office than the one which he was holding on the date on

which cognisance was taken, there was no necessity to take sanction under Section 19 of the PC

Act.

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DEFENCE, NATIONAL

STATESMAN, SEP 14, 2016Hold your fire

Ominous and disturbing are reports that the armed forces and the government are close to a stand-off over “anomalies” in the award of the Seventh Central Pay Commission. The defence minister’s “directive” to implement the award immediately, while differences could be subsequently resolved, is clearly a response to the military’s asking for the revised scale of pay and allowances to be held in abeyance until all creases are ironed out.

Such one-upmanship or brinksmanship must be avoided at all costs memories of the still unresolved differences over the manner in which the OROP promise was implemented still hurt. And none who were “in the know” can forget the “air force mutiny” of the mid-1990s when a previous pay commission award was up for implementation. As political tensions with Pakistan get ratcheted up, and the Kashmir Valley and its long-standing militancy come close to boiling point, any disgruntlement in the forces will have an impact on the national security effort. That is a reality that will not disappear despite any overdose of jingoistic rhetoric. Rather than stand on false prestige to sustain the image of a “tough” government, Narendra Modi and Manohar Parrikar must rise above babu practices and ensure that there is no repetition of what has plagued the awards of previous commissions.

It is nothing short of a national disgrace, and a poor reflection of ministerial capabilities, that the bureaucrats and uniformed personnel retain an adversarial posture that ought to have been junked 70 years ago. At the root of the dispute over pay and allowances is the soldiers’ belief that they will always get an unfair deal since the bureaucrats have “the ear” of the political bosses.

A sore point is the sustained rejection of the forces’ demand that one of their experts be included in the pay panel. Yet when the offer was made for a separate panel for the them the faujis rejected it on the suspicion that regardless of what they were awarded the civil servants would eventually extract more. It is more than a mere money matter: the “uniforms” lament that civilian control has been abused to result in bureaucratic domination.

They also draw attention to the continued downgrading of the military in the “warrant of precedence” and hark back to the days of Independence Rs when the “warrant” was based on a colonial system that had to be dismantled when democracy took root.It is not easy to discard the baggage and suspicions of history, the track record of Narendra Modi and his ministers inspire little confidence in their ability to effect such drastic changes. Our

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“friends” across the Radcliffe Line will be thrilled by a controversy that has the potential to snowball.

STATESMAN, 15, 2016Pay anomalies will be removed, says Parrikar

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday assured the armed forces that he will try to resolve the issues around the 7th Pay Commission, especially the "anomalies" the service chiefs had raised with him.

Parrikar on Wednesday held a meeting with the three service chiefs, an official statement said.A statement from Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, who heads the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) said the three service chiefs have discussed in detail "anomalies" in the Seventh Pay Commission with Parrikar who has assured them to resolve the issues at the earliest.

"The 7th Pay Commission anomalies in respect of the armed forces were discussed with the Raksha Mantri in detail by the service chiefs and the members of the Armed Forces Pay Commission Cell. The Raksha Mantri is seized of all the issues and has assured to resolve them at the earliest. The Services are satisfied with the response," the statement said.

Payments under the 7th Pay Commission had been stopped earlier this month due to anomalies quoted by the forces. The forces are unhappy with the recommendations, and say it gives the forces lower status and pay parity compared to civilian government employees.

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ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

TELEGRAPH, SEP 8, 2016Myths of growth- India should move from slogans and fanfare to trade reforms

Jayanta Roy

The Indian economy has been growing above 7 per cent, which is the highest among all major countries. This has encouraged many of our top policy-makers to announce that India will be a developed country by 2030. This euphoria is not supportive of India's economic performance with a per capita income (exchange rate basis) at paltry $1,590, and even in terms of purchasing power parity only at $6,020. Contrast this with Malaysia, with per capita income of $10,570 (exchange rate basis) and $20,140 in PPP terms. India is far off from even average high middle income countries, leave alone the developed countries. Since we have a large population, our total gross domestic product is, not surprisingly, the third largest in the world. But again, we should not get carried away by that since we have over 250 million people living below the poverty line - the highest in the world.

Some scholars argue that India, with its recent stellar growth performance, will soon outpace China. Again, nothing is true about that. Even assuming a long-term growth rate of per capita income of 4.5 per cent per annum for China, and 8 per cent for India (we give India the higher rate for demographic dividend and lower base), the outcomes are as follows: for per capita income in nominal GDP, India compared to China would take till 2043 to reach just half way of China. India, in 2043, would have GDP PCI of $14,730 while China would be at $28,399. To fully catch up with China, India would take up to 2063, when China would be at $68,492 and India at $68,658.

When we take PPP PCI, India compared to China would take till 2019 to reach half way of China. India in 2019 would have PPP PCI of $8,334 while China would be at $16,516. To fully catch up with China, India would take up to 2040, when China would be at $41,626 and India at $41,952. Of course, these assumptions are heavily weighted against China. China can always grow faster, and sustaining 8 per cent PCI growth for close to three to five decades would be a phenomenal achievement for India, without a parallel in history. This would have to be achieved in the face of huge competition in a turbulent and rapidly evolving global economic landscape.

India and China in the mid-1960s were more or less at the same stage of development. But the Chinese reforms were carried out in the late 1970s as against India's in 1991. The Chinese were much more adaptive to move quickly to second-generation reforms, whereas we postponed them in the last decade on account of complacency resulting from good economic results achieved mostly through global tailwinds and the lagged effects of 1991-2003 reforms. People living below the poverty line is only 12.7 per cent of the total population in China, as against about 30 per cent in India. China's share of trade to GDP is 45 per cent as against India's 32 per cent. Tax revenue as a percentage of GDP is 14.4 as against India's 10.8. China fares better in the social indicators too. Life expectancy is 71 as against ours of 68; births attended by skilled

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health staff are 70 per cent as against ours of 43 per cent; and the prevalence of underweight by age (percentage of children under five) is 14.3 as against ours of 44.

This is the statistical comparison between India and China. Of course, our aim should be to reach our full potential in terms of economic development. We need to benefit from our demographic dividend by providing the best we can for education and skill development. We need to be globally competitive by fearlessly exposing our industry to fierce foreign competition. We need to remove poverty by providing jobs, again with changes in the educational curriculum with a strong emphasis on the use of computers, use of English as a universal language, and stressing on being numerate. We need to de-emphasize traditional history, geography and advanced mathematics for the majority of students. We need to promote "smart" villages with this changed educational curriculum. We also need to put in place skill development facilities all across the country, in the industry and the services sectors.

India cannot achieve high sustained growth with declining or stagnant exports, and hesitant integration into the global economy. China's example on this should inspire us. We need to immediately put aside our protectionist tendencies and try to fully integrate into the world economy. India's size, demographics and economic resources make it a natural candidate for being one of the major global economic players. Preventing this from happening is a lack of an outward-oriented mindset in both government and industry circles. There is still a lurking fear that exposure to foreign competition may be risky, and will not serve national interests. However, exposure to international competition and participation in global production networks are the only way to ensure sustainable growth through achieving both domestic and international competitiveness. The prime minister's "Make in India" initiative offers a good opportunity for India being a major global player, if we move quickly from slogans to 21st-century trade and investment reforms.

Trade reforms that India urgently needs to address for restoration to a high growth trajectory are: connecting India's manufacturing to the regional and global supply chains to drive exports and employment, diversification of professional services beyond IT and IT-ES to widen export earnings from services; and a focused 21st-century regionalism to gain a much wider market access. India also urgently needs better management of its international economic relationship. The current institutional arrangement that disperses strategic decisions to the ministry of commerce and industry and of external affairs lacks the necessary depth, which is compounded by a total lack of coordination. In order to separate the strategic decision-making process related to trade and industrial policy from day-to-day operational issues, a new and independent trade policy council needs to be developed outside the ministries and which reports directly to the prime minister.

China carried out its high-growth strategy in the 1980s and 1990s without public fanfare. We should also not advertise our euphoria with being the third largest global economy, or having the fastest GDP growth in the recent years. As statistics show, we still have some way to go to be a major global player. But we do have the potential to achieve that. Let us be patient and allow the world to recognize our capabilities when we reach that goal.

The author is a well-known trade economist

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EDUCATION

STATESMAN, SEP 15, 2016CBSE guidelines to reduce weight of school bags

In view of the adverse effects that heavy school bags can have on growth of children, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued guidelines to its affiliated schools. The guidelines issued in a circular are suggestions for schools, teachers and parents which can reduce the weight of the school bags.

The ideal weight of a school bag, according to experts, is ten per cent of the weight of the child. CBSE has suggested that hard-bound textbooks should be avoided. Textbooks for classes I-VIII, apart from their academic worth, should be light weight, the CBSE circular said.

Schools have been asked to exhort students to abide strictly by the timetable and inform them about the adverse effects of fatigue caused due to heavy bags on their day-to-day performance in class. Schools have been advised to design weekly timetable in such a way that minimum number of textbooks and workbooks are required each day.

The adverse effects, the circular said, can range from fatigue, muscle pain, shoulder pain, back pain and in extreme cases the distortion of spinal chord or shoulder.

Students should be encouraged to repack their bags on daily basis and to avoid carrying unnecessary articles, textbooks and workbooks that are not needed, the circular said.

CBSE has asked schools to encourage teachers to use alternative methods of teaching based on information and computer technology to reduce the dependence on textbooks.

TRIBUNE, SEP 13, 2016Govt to set up agency to fund research at IITs, IIMsPrerequisites to join HEFA

All centrally funded higher education institutes are eligible to be members of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA)

The institution should agree to escrow a specific amount from their internal accruals to HEFA for a period of 10 years

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These secured funds from institutions will be used by HEFA to mobilise funds from the market. Each member institution is eligible for a credit limit to be decided by HEFASeema KaulIn a bid to boost innovation and build research-oriented infrastructure at premier institutions such as IITs and IIMs, an agency will soon be set up with government equity of Rs1,000 crore.

The HRD Ministry’s proposal to this effect was today approved by the Union Cabinet, which also cleared the third phase of Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) to enhance teaching-learning experience at educational institutions.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said a Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) would be jointly promoted by an identified promoter and his ministry.

The HEFA would be formed as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with a PSU bank or a government-owned NBFC as promoter. It would also mobilise Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds from PSUs and corporates, which would be released to promote research and innovation in these institutions on grant basis. The HRD Higher Education Secretary has been appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the SPV. HEFA will be run by the public sector bank within which it will be created. A decision in this regard will be taken within a month.

All centrally funded higher education institutes are eligible to be HEFA members provided they agree to escrow a specific amount from their internal accruals to HEFA for 10 years. These secured funds from institutions will be used by HEFA to mobilise funds from the market. Each member institution is eligible for a credit limit to be decided by HEFA.

The HEFA will finance civil and lab infrastructure projects. The principal portion of the loan will be repaid through internal accruals (earned by institutes through fee receipts, research earnings etc).

“One third of the funds will be reserved for research infrastructure such as libraries and laboratories. There will be no increase in fee in any institute because of HEFA,” Javadekar said.

The government announced Rs2,660 crore outlay for the third phase of TEQIP that involves equal contribution from Centre (Rs1,330 crore) and World Bank (Rs1,330 crore).

The focus states for TEQIP are Himachal, J&K, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, MP, UP, Rajasthan and eight Northeastern states and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The project will be implemented with the facility of direct funds transfer to the accounts of beneficiary

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institutes. It will be initiated in the current year and will be co-terminus with Fourteenth Finance Commission (2019-20).

HINDUSTAN TIMES, SEP 11, 2016SMS alerts to parents will make it harder for Kendriya Vidyalaya kids to bunkNeelam Pandey

Bunking school will soon become difficult for students as the parents will be able to track online whether their kids have attended classes or not.

Officials said the move is part of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan’s efforts to help parents to keep abreast of their wards’ activities — from attendance, homework, class test results, and health records, examination schedule, among others. Across the country, more than 12 lakh students study in 1,100-odd KVs run by the central government.

The KV Sangathan has already started sending out login and password information to parents to access the online platform named ‘Shaala Darpan’ and can be accessed here.

The SMS information is likely to roll out next month across all KVs, sources said.

Bunking classes by students, especially those in the higher classes, is a major problemfaced by most educational institutions though there is no data available on the number of youngsters who leave home but skip classes.

“There were a few complaints that children used to bunk school on some pretext or the other. Parents in many cases were clueless and many used to get information (only) during their interaction with teachers. This platform will provide greater transparency,” said a senior official of the KV Sangathan.

The official said parents will also get an SMS in the morning if the student fails to attend school that day soon.

The KVs are among the better-managed government schools and have been faring better than private schools in Class 12 examinations over the past few years.

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Though the scheme was announced last year, it is being implemented now, the official said, adding the scheme is for students of Class 1 to 12.

Officials said they are also making efforts to provide e-tutorials to students using the website. Data digitisation of both students and teachers has already been completed.Officials said the initiative will encourage parents to opt for government-run schools rather than private schools as all the activities of the institution will be on the public domain.

HINDU, SEP 14, 2016Involve the States more in higher education

C.N. KRISHNAN

Every year, India dreams of its higher educational institutions rising up to world standards in terms of ranking, number of peer-reviewed publications, and awards for research. It dreams of this despite reports that almost three-fourths of the graduates emerging from these colleges and universities are adding little value to research and innovation as a result of the poor-quality education that they have received. The Central government’s solution to this problem is simple: increase the number of institutions under its control, whether it is the Indian Institutes of Technology or the medical institutes, and hope that the quality improves. By repeatedly doing this, the Centre is limiting its role in improving the quality of education and research given that it controls only some hundred institutions in the country, which produce less than 1 per cent of the total number of graduates in the country every year.

A widening gap

On the other hand, State universities produce over 95 per cent of the nation’s graduates, including from the private college system through the affiliation route. Yet they have little presence in bodies that frame policies and decisions regarding regulation or funding. All the major decisions and initiatives only deal with the Central institutions, with the Centre also seeing some hope from the emerging private universities which are driven purely by money power and political patronage. With the gap in quality of education and research widening between the Central and State institutions, the dream of India becoming the R&D hub of the world, of expanding the manufacturing sector, of creating over ten million jobs annually, or becoming the knowledge superpower is becoming harder to realise.

Ironically, the States do not seem to realise the depth of the problem either; the most they do is to ask the Centre to locate the next, say, IIT in their State. In this context, it is important for the States to redefine their role in higher education.

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The Central government’s virtual abandoning of its responsibility to improve higher education and research in the country — and not just in institutions that are under its wing — is a trend that is unlikely to change. The only option for the States is to take greater charge to improve the quality of these institutions.

This would mean that States will have to tie up closely plans on improving higher education with economic planning and infrastructure. Engineering and managerial education, in particular, should have a direct connection and relevance to the State’s industrial, manufacturing and other productive activities.

There are many ways to do this. For instance, let’s imagine an engineering college with a museum or exhibition displaying the natural resources, energy and ecology, industrial and agricultural products and services, and human skills and technologies of the surrounding area within, say, a 25 km radius. A significant part of the education and research syllabus in this college could be built around this location, its industry and agriculture. The institution and its programme could likewise closely address the economic and industrial context and needs of that area. Of course, this does not mean that all concentration must be on the local; it is possible to do this without losing sight of the demands of the global market and the need to keep education broad-based and liberal.

Participation of the private sector

Where will the States find the funds for such an initiative? One, they will have to increase their own share, which is justified as this sector will now be one of the drivers of the State’s industrial and economic growth. Two, the Centre should contribute more to the State’s efforts in this sector. Three, the private sector and the diaspora should also play a role in contributing to education and research. State-level institutions should be enabled to access private funding and support (including from overseas sources) in an easy manner. A public-private partnership model could work, but it is important that there be no imposition of a one-size-fits-all policy. Uniform rules will kill local initiatives and energies, and should therefore be eschewed.

The States would, of course, have to significantly improve their existing image, especially in the area of quality teaching and research, if serious players from the private sector (including overseas) or the diaspora have to step in. The mode of private participation in the higher education and research sector would also have to be quite different from what exists now, which is mostly a education-as-business-only model.

The onus of bringing about such a change rests on the government; industry, both big and small; academia; intelligentsia; and the media of the State, with strong backing from the Centre. If the States do not participate more in decision-making in the higher education and research sector and all policies are decided around Central institutions, not much can be done to stop the precipitous downward slide of the nation’s higher education and research sector.

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C.N. Krishnan is a retired professor of Anna University, Chennai.

States have little participation and decision-making powers in improving higher education and research in the country

HINDUSTAN TIMES, SEP 8, 2016Govt thinking of a common entrance test for all central universities

The Union human resource development ministry is exploring the option of introducing a common entrance test for all central universities, a move that will end the unrealistic high cutoffs for admission, recorded often in Delhi University.

Several Delhi University colleges declare 100% marks as cutoff to study popular courses such as mathematics, economics, and history. Many students seeking admission miss out by a whisker despite having impressive marks — such as 95% in their Class 12 school exam.

The proposed admission procedure will put all students on an equal footing as everyone will be tested through a common examination. The Centre is likely to call a meeting of central university vice-chancellors on October 6 to discuss the common test.

“A number of issues have been brought to our notice, including the common entrance test. We will draw up the agenda of the meeting soon,” HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said on Wednesday.

Staff vacancy, which is around 35%, in the 40-odd central universities, and issues relating to students’ grievance redressal system are likely to be on the table.

Most central universities have individual entrance tests, while Delhi University follows a cutoff formula for admitting students to its undergraduate courses.

High cutoffs have triggered debates as some states are known to be lenient in giving marks, leaving students from other school boards in the lurch. Of 188 enrolments in Delhi University’s popular Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) this admission season, 129 seats went to students from Tamil Nadu who came with top-grade mark-sheets. Eyebrows were raised as 33 of them were from a single school in the southern state.

Sources said around seven central universities — in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu — admit some students on the basis on their performance in

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the Central Universities Common Entrance Test. “There are complaints about students having an advantage in getting admission through the cutoff system because of lenient marking from state boards … a common test will also do away with students’ travel expenses, as they need not visit different places seeking admission,” a senior HRD official said.

The planned entrance test has its drawbacks too. “This will burden students with another examination after class 12. Any entrance exam is competitive and will spawn private coaching centres all around,” said Dinesh Singh, former vice-chancellor of Delhi University. But, at the same time, students will be spared of the drudgery of applying in several universities individually for admission, and hopefully reduce the fierce competition for higher marks as cutoffs will no longer apply, he said.

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FEDERAL STATE RELATIONS

TELEGRAPH, SEP 14, 2016Mend the fences - There has to be greater honesty in Centre-state relations

CommentaraoS.L. Rao

The Centre hopes to retain an overriding authority over the states in the GST council

This piece is written by a manager and an applied economist, and not by a lawyer or one well-versed in the Indian Constitution. But none can deny that India is a union of states and Union territories in which the Central government has an added leverage. Both the Central and the state governments have areas exclusively under their respective jurisdictions, with some in which both have concurrent jurisdictions. Most of the time, however, this last provision gives Central legislation an overriding importance in matters in which the state governments have passed contrary legislation. There is no equality between the Centre and states in such matters.

However, the Union government has tried to bring in 'cooperative federalism'. Thus in the 2015-2016 budget, it reduced its share of taxes and increased the grants from Central tax collections to states, which could use the fund for their schemes. But a look at the constitutional amendment to the goods and services tax shows that the Centre hopes to keep an overriding authority over state governments in the GST council. The Centre has 33 per cent votes in the GST council that will decide on contentious issues or major matters. With support from states governed by the ruling party at the Centre and other states that can be persuaded, the Centre can muster the 75 per cent majority required, allowing greater possibility for the Centre to get its way. In the past, sales tax rates were a state decision but it will no longer be so. The Centre might have the votes in the council to override a state decision.

The media could also push decisions in the way the Centre wants them to. Thus the Central Bureau of Investigation can be called to investigate cases in a state only if the state government wants it. The CBI is suspected by many to be a creature of the ruling party at the Centre and states are reluctant to call it in. In recent years, the media have acquired considerable influence and are able to compel a state government to call the CBI even when the state's inclination is not to do so.

Yet there are also matters in which the Centre cannot intervene to use its influence. An example is real estate. This is a fundamental factor that affects investment, urbanization, housing, property values that have little relation to supply and demand. The whole sector is riddled with

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shady practices, black money, corruption and so on. It is a major block in the path of industrial development and to better urban living. However, the Centre has not used its power and influence to clean up the sector. For example, Maharashtra has a rent control law and a floor space index provision that give real estate developers a virtual monopoly to set and maintain the prices of real estate. The Union government has the clout to intervene but does not do so. Perhaps, real estate operators are important contributors to ruling parties' election-funding.

Another good example is in the electricity sector, a concurrent subject under the Constitution. State governments control electricity distribution, which is a state subject. Populism often makes state governments give away free power to the agricultural sector, leading to massive groundwater depletion, land salinity because crops that are grown use excessive water on unsuitable soils, and decline in the recharging of water bodies such as lakes. The Centre might be able to intervene on various grounds but has not done so. The Centre has never asked the Supreme Court or the national green tribunal (with authority over all jurisdictions) to intervene.

Parliament passed the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act in 1998. There is an appellate tribunal. The Centre has never used it to correct serious lapses by state commissions that are usually manned by retired government officers who tend to be subservient to the ruling governments. In order to keep tariffs low, some state commissions have kept aside expenses approved by distribution enterprises and avoided raising tariffs. They have labelled them 'regulatory assets' on which interest would be paid. This has effectively taken away cash from the enterprise that should have been reimbursed. All this has constrained the enterprises from spending on maintenance, new equipment and so on, thereby compromising efficiency and expansion.

Statutory regulatory commissions were created at the Centre to monitor telecommunications, airports, competition, future markets, and petroleum and natural gas. Others are under creation to supervise the coal industry, railways and so on. Concurrent subjects have seen both Central and state commissions - such as in electricity, and the yet to come commission for real estate. There are appellate tribunals to hear appeals against the orders of these commissions. But appellate tribunals have tended, in most cases, to dilute the decisions and penalties imposed by the state and Central commissions. This is particularly so in the cases of the competition tribunal and the telecom tribunal. The competition commission has imposed severe penalties for the misdeeds of operating companies, but these have mostly been stayed by the appellate tribunal.

The Central government must find ways to prevent these contradictions by asking the Supreme Court to intervene or by passing corrective legislation if possible. Since the record shows that the courts are less likely to oppose the decisions of commissions unless the law is bad, perhaps the tribunals should be abolished. Commissions in the states tend to go little by precedents set by commissions in other states. A journal on regulatory law will help the commissions find commonalities and precedents.

Is there a difference between the Central and the state governments in their exercise of powers? Some might disagree but the Centre is not subject to the same local political pressures as state governments are. This pressure is exerted by local leaders, communities, non-governmental

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organizations and others to give special privileges to some groups. There is also the problem of corruption in executing projects. Urban facilities, especially in the big cities, confirm this. Money is spent but drains are not cleared, encroachments are not removed, garbage keeps accumulating, new or existing roads are pitted with potholes and housing construction for slums and unauthorized colonies is poor. There is a litany of such issues. Local politicians and bureaucrats gang up with contractors and businessmen to give poor service and to steal public funds. There is no coordination between different agencies and it is impossible to hold any individual accountable for poor and shoddy work.

This is a problem that is extending to rural communities as well. As social and infrastructure development schemes get extended to rural communities, local panchayats get the money to spend on them and they can easily divert the money for their own purposes. Amendments to the Constitution provide for delegation of spending powers to different levels in the village or municipal authority, state and Central government. But there is little supervision down the ladder. Nor is there a single person at each level who is responsible for proper spending.

Centre-state relations are not merely about money being available at different levels. They call for systems, organizational structures and procedures that ensure that spending is done honestly. Indian federal relations between the Union and the states are works in progress. Before they achieve fulfilment, states must become more efficient and the Centre less desirous of control.

The author is former director-general, National Council of Applied Economic Research

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FOREIGN AID

HINDUSTAN TIMES, SEP 8, 2016India’s aid to neighbours takes a hit, MEA scrambles to organise fundsJayanth Jacob

India’s aid to foreign countries has come down considerably this year forcing the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to look at new ways to arrange for funds to meet commitments to neighbouring countries made at the highest levels.

Such financial assistance for technical and economic cooperation is devised for earning goodwill and expanding India’s strategic footprints abroad. It has remained a key foreign policy objective of all the governments.

But the consistent fund crunch has created a difficult situation. The funds earmarked for the programme this year is Rs 7,907.87 crore or 54% of the ministry’s total budget of Rs 14,662 crore as against the allotment of Rs 8,949 crore, which was 60% its budget of Rs 14, 996 crore, last year. The year before, it was 63% of the total budget of the ministry.

The scale down in the funds is considerable when it comes to countries in the neighbouring areas, despite the government’s pronounced neighbourhood first policy.

For example, the funds allotted for Afghanistan this year is Rs 520 crore against Rs 682 crore in 2015-16. Bangladesh will get an assistance of Rs 150 crore which was Rs 213 crore last tear. And the cut is acuter for Sri Lanka. The island nation which will get Rs 230 crore Indian assistance this year against Rs 500 crore it got the last year.

Bhutan, the largest recipient of Indian assistance will get Rs 5,490 crore against Rs 5,612 crore last year. One country that saw a rise in assistance includes Myanmar Rs 400 crore this against Rs 154 crore last year.

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In strategic terms, the sharp cut also comes at a time when China is pumping in more investments in the countries neighbouring India.

As it struggles to cope with the crunch, MEA is looking at ways to raise funds from other ministries. As a first step, the MEA has begun the process of tapping into the funds of the defence ministry.

“Different ministries such as the defence, railways, road transport and shipping are involved in the process of extending financial assistance to foreign countries. And tapping their resources earmarked for these projects would be an ideal way to meet the shortage in funds,” an official said.

According to officials, these funds would be used for training of defence personnel, gifting of equipment and other defence-related machinery. For example, India has robust defence cooperation with countries including Sri Lanka.

Most of the projects are announced to countries when high-level visits such as those of the prime minister, president, vice-president or the foreign minister take place. And not honouring these commitments in time brings a bad name to the country’s reputation.

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HUMAN RIGHTS

HINDUSTAN TIMES, SEP 8, 2016Human rights panel can’t probe armed forces in militancy-hit areas: GovtBhadra Sinha

| The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) cannot investigate alleged excesses by armed forces in militancy-affected areas such as Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir because the panel is a recommendatory body, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi rebutted the NHRC’s offer to probe more than 1,500 alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur and said even the top court cannot “transplant” any powers on the panel.

“It amounts to judicial legislation and will have a deleterious effect on the Army fighting against all odds in difficult terrain,” Rohatgi told a bench of justices MB Loukur and UU Lalit.

In July, the court had held that the alleged extra-judicial killings by the Army and Manipur police required a thorough probe . However, there was no decision on which agency shall conduct the inquiry.

NHRC counsel Gopal Subramanium told the bench that the commission was ready to conduct the probe. “Nobody should have an apprehension to an independent inquiry.”

But Rohatgi opposed the suggestions, saying the army will conduct its own inquiry against those allegedly named in the cases.

“If there is a line of control (LoC), nowhere it is said (in law) whether you should fire here or there,” Rohatgi told the bench when it suggested that NHRC was empowered to probe encounters.

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Only the Centre has the right to conduct a probe to determine the truth.

“We have the right to do otherwise it will lead to a serious situation. People who have died, or retired can’t have retrospective prosecution say from 1987. How can you have cross examination of such people?” Rohatgi argued.

The bench, however, said it was referring to encounters in the heart of Imphal and not at the LoC.

Explaining his submissions Rohatgi said it would be “judicially improper” to determine whether an encounter in an insurgent-affected area was genuine or not.

With regard to NHRC’s powers, the law officer asserted it can only make recommendations. The Centre or State is bound to place the recommendations and annual reports before the Parliament or the legislature.

“The Central government has a right not to accept but has to table it in Parliament, which is a supreme body, reflecting the people’s will. No question of recommendations (NHRC) being binding,” Rohatgi reiterated.

When the court asked if it was mandatory for the government to implement NHRC’s order directing states to compensate, the AG said on humanitarian ground such directions are not rejected.

“Recommendations should also have a value. Otherwise the recommendations will be useless. They (NHRC) must have the ancillary power to conduct any type of investigations”, the bench noted on Rohatgi’s submission and wondered whether Parliament ever debated the commission’s report.

The AG said merely because the NHRC is headed by a former CJI it does not mean that statutory provisions should be ignored.

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JUDICIARY

STATESMAN, SEP 12, 2016Goyal raises issue of lack of women in judiciary

At a time when the judiciary is grappling with large number of vacancies of judges in higher judiciary, Union minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said the collegium should take note of lesser representation of women in the judicial system, a fact acknowledged by Supreme Court judge Justice A K Sikri.

He highlighted the recent achievements of sportswomen in Rio Olympics and the central government's scheme 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', and mentioned about the lack of women in higher judiciary.

Goyal's view that there is a lack of women in Indian judiciary was acknowledged by Justice Sikri, who was the chief guest at an event here to award a scholarship -- Pratibha M Singh Cambridge LLM Scholarship.

"Since the girls of this country are doing great in the world, collegium should take note of the lack of their presence in our judiciary and I hope that we will be able to see more women in this field," he said, noting that the lawyers' community has always made the country proud.

Justice Sikri said at the event, "The world is changing.

Girls are leading in almost every field. In judiciary also, women are doing better than earlier. Over a period of time, in next 15-20 years, we might see more women judges in high courts and the Supreme Court."

He said that there was a need to help the student community more so that they can grow as better professionals and contribute more to the society.

Sikri asked the lawyers and other professionals in the legal field to contribute more to the society and take it as a responsibility.

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Senior advocate Pratibha M Singh, after whom the award was named, said that the purpose of the grant was to help meritorious students to go abroad for higher legal studies so that they return to India and contribute to the country's legal field.During the event, Ashwini Vaidialingam, a law graduate from National Law School of Indian University, Benguluru, was awarded the scholarship. She will join the University of Cambridge for pursuing LLM.

STATESMAN, SEP 12, 2016Milord’s Anguish - IAshok Kapur

The Chief Justice of India, a man of great integrity and learning, has done signal service to the cause of democracy and the rule of law by openly expressing his concern over the problem of mounting court arrears. He was addressing the highest levels of judiciary and the executive recently.

The warning bell could not have been sounded a day too soon. There is a growing danger of the Judiciary collapsing under its own weight. According to the Union Law Ministry, around 60,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, around four million in the High Courts and 27 million in the lower courts. Accumulation of more than 30 million court cases translates to a time-span of more than 300 years to dispose of these, assuming no new cases are filed.

The situation is fraught. Justice, quick and inexpensive is a basic certitude of democracy. So much so that our Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment, has said that the right to a speedy trial is now a Fundamental Right. It was not so when the Constitution was first drafted but is a later addition, looking to the situation as it developed and wheels of justice started moving in slow motion. In the memorable words of the late Nani Palkiwala, one of the greatest jurists of independent India: “I do not know if law in India is an ass, but it is certainly a snail.”

According to the Chief Justice, there is a backlog of vacancies of judges in the various courts. He has quoted the Law Commission which has fixed a norm of 50 judges per million people. The actual strength is much lower. As a result, disposal of cases is slow and the existing strength is not able to cope with the backlog. The average pendency of a case in a subordinate court is about six years.

After disposal in the lower court, if there is even a single appeal, the total time taken to dispose it of is ten years. Though not all cases end up in the Supreme Court, if there is a second appeal, another three years will lapse before the case is finally disposed of. And this does not take into

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account the recurring costs to the litigant in the form of time and money spent in the courts of law. “There is a haemorrhage of costs in our law courts”, was Palkhiwala’s lament. Drastic ills need drastic remedies.

The solution suggested by the learned Chief Justice is somewhat simplistic. Mechanically adding more numbers to the existing strength is a quantitative approach which does not take into account the type of cases that are being regularly entertained by the courts, and the resultant encroachment into the domain of the legislature and the executive. The Law Commission carried out an exercise of the rate of disposal in the High Courts, and there was no correlation between rate of disposal and the actual strength -- in the Delhi High Court itself.

One must examine the basic Constitutional jurisprudence. Ironically enough, it has been laid down by the Apex Court itself in the celebrated case of Keshvananda Bharati caseway back in 1973. There is a separation of powers among the three coordinate organs of the State -- the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. This has been described as the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution, which is immutable. None can encroach on the turf of the other.

Secondly, the Supreme Court has also laid down that public policy is clearly in the domain of the elected government, since it reflects the will of “We, the People.” The political executive is directly in touch with the masses, and can feel their pulse. It is accountable to them. Law making is the exclusive domain of the elected legislature. Judiciary, being an unelected body, is far removed from the common people.

When the Law Commission worked out the judge-population ratio, it is not in the public domain if they factored in the fact that in 1996, Parliament enacted the Arbitration and Conciliation Act which was expressly designed to ‘minimize’ judicial intervention in most of the civil cases. This was a follow-up of a model UN law for all countries to adopt, or adapt. India did likewise. The Act envisaged an ‘alternative civil disputes resolution’ forum, where it would not be mandatory to have judges, or ex-judges preside.

Today, the arrears of civil cases in the Apex Court itself outnumber criminal cases by a ratio of more than 4:1, and in the High Courts by 3:1. Most of these cases, barring title suits and disputes over immovable property need not be entertained by the regular courts at all. These should be left for disposal to other fora where non-judges can preside. Indeed, India already has an institution of a highly-qualified executive magistracy which could take up this responsibility post-retirement, leaving the judiciary to concentrate on criminal and serious civil cases.

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A major reason for an almost unmanageable pendency is that there is no screening of civil cases at the threshold. In the US, only 15 per cent of the civil disputes are admitted in the regular courts of law. The rest are sent for compulsory mediation. Fortunately, in the US as in India, there is no law of Mediation, and the mediators are expected to ‘judge’ on the basis of equity. As a result, disposal is quick and the regular courts are not over-burdened.

Once there is a law on alternative dispute resolution, it is subject to varying interpretations not only of the High Courts but also the Supreme Court itself. This only adds to the problem of lack of clarity of law and slow disposal. It has happened already under the Arbitration Act. Two coordinate benches of the Apex Court have given varying interpretation of the issue of imposing interest in cases of delayed contracts. Till this issue is resolved by a larger bench, the losing parties will take full advantage of this anomaly to delay.

The British gave us with a priceless legacy of well-drafted and well-crafted laws. One such law was the Arbitration Act of 1940, mandating a time-barred disposal of civil cases. When Parliament in 1996 enacted the successor Act, it brought Conciliation within its fold. This was somewhat ill-considered . It now subjects the Conciliation process to the vagaries of the courts’ interpretation. Conciliation is not an adjudicatory process, a point that was overlooked.

One of the reasons for the unmanageable pendency is the increasing encroachment by the judiciary in matters executive. The latest example, from the Apex Court itself is the inquiry by the former Chief Justice of India into the affairs of BCCI, a private entity. The former CJI is undeniably a man of great brilliance and integrity. But the issue is Constitutional. A judge, once he demits office, is functus officio, irrespective of rank. Modern jurisprudence defines a judge as someone “acting judicially”.

The CJI acted as an Inquiry Officer, a function that should have been left to the Executive. Thereafter, the Apex Court has taken up the follow-through of the investigating officer’s report and asked the private entity to “implement” it on a time-barred basis. The entity has been asked to retire all office-bearers beyond a certain age, and debarred members of the executive, both permanent and political from holding office, according reports in the national media.(To be concluded)

STATESMAN, SEP 13, 2016Milord’s Anguish II

Ashok Kapur

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The Constitutional issues are of considerable import. They need to be re-examined in order to ascertain whether they impinge on the division of powers among the three coordinate organs and the broad Constitutional scheme of governance. Undeniably, all judgments and orders of the Supreme Court are binding on all but the Constitution. There is a critical rider “in exercise of its jurisdiction”.

In a similar vein, some High Courts issue directions on matters that are within the Executive domain. To cite some recent examples, a Division Bench of a High Court has asked the State Government concerned to explain how an administrator has been appointed in three official agencies simultaneously. That it happens all the time in the Government, depending on the exigencies of public service and the fact that the three agencies are contiguous, has escaped the notice of the Court.

Another High Court has asked the Government to augment the strength of the local police force, ‘to improve law and order’. A court of law that does not oversee police functioning can hardly ‘judge’ if the state of law and order is a result of under-staffing or a near-total lack of accountability of the ‘force’. When the Finance Ministry pleaded that there were no funds available to expand the force, it was directed to somehow find the resources.

In the bargain, it was overlooked that the ministries do not ‘find’ resources. The funds are allotted by Parliament and then sub-allotted by the ministries to various directorates, according to the needs of and individual justification by various agencies. To direct the Finance Ministry to somehow find extra resources, would be a virtual directive to Parliament itself.

In another case, a High Court asked the state government the reasons for granting parole to an otherwise respectable citizen who had been imprisoned for an offence. The state government fully justified it on the ground of exemplary behaviour of the person concerned. The High Court then asked for the file, entirely overlooking the Constitutional provision that parole and pardon etc is the sole prerogative of the Executive. The judiciary’s task is over once it sentences a person.

The argument is often advanced that if the executive “fails” in its duty, the judiciary must step in. This is a very dangerous trend. Does it imply that if the judiciary fails in its duty, the executive must step in? The danger lies in defining “failure”; it cannot be defined in law. It cannot be left to the discretion of individual judges. Does every case of seasonal flooding or choked drains in a municipal area, or outage in peak demand season constitute ‘executive failure’?

In a recent case, another High Court has abolished the quota for wards of senior government officials in a school in Delhi on the ground of violation of the right to equality. The justification advanced by the Government that it was expressly meant for children of transferable senior

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officials was rejected. It was entirely overlooked that India is a Welfare State, and countless such schools exist for the children of transferable officials of the armed forces, the paramilitary and so on.

Such ‘judgments’ negate the very foundation of the Welfare State that India’s Constitution is supposed to usher. Besides, it diverts the time and the resources of the judiciary away from the overriding Constitutional obligation of liquidating the arrears of cases, especially criminal cases where the accused often languish in jails as undertrials for years. Post the enactment of the Arbitration Law for most of the civil disputes, quick criminal justice will the best preventive of crime.

An unintended fallout of delayed criminal justice is the frustration of the victims and their families over an endless wait for justice. This has two serious ramifications. One, the victim may be tempted to take the law into his own hands. Second, and which is far more serious, there is a clamour from civil society groups to make the laws more “strict”, i.e. draconian, if not summary. A former distinguished Chief Justice of India was led to caution: “The true deterrent to crime is not the severity of punishment but its certainty”.

Most of the policy issues in which the judiciary enters the executive and the legislative domain is triggered by the PIL route. When PIL was first used, and entertained by the judiciary, it was intended to reach out to the poor and deprived citizens whose Fundamental Rights were being invaded by the state agencies. These victims were too poor to seek remedy in the courts of law.

Over time, the ambit of the PIL has been twisted and overstretched to breaking point not so much by the victims as by the various vested interests with their own hidden agendas. It has, fortunately, not escaped judicial notice. A former Chief Justice of India has warned against this trend: “Care must be taken to ensure that a PIL does not become private or political interest litigation.” He has further warned that otherwise, judicial activism threatens to turn into judicial adventurism.

Chief Justice Warren of the US Supreme, head of the world’s oldest federal democracy summed up the position succinctly at the turn of the last century: “It is still the legislature and the elected executive who have the primary responsibility for fashioning and executing policy consistent with the Constitution”.

In sum, a quantitative approach whereby mechanically increasing the number of judges without first clearly demarcating the areas of respective jurisdiction of the coordinate organs of the state, will only prove a variation on the Parkinson’s Law of large organizations that expand only outward till they become almost dysfunctional: ‘Courts will expand their jurisdiction to cover the increased number of judges available to complete the same task’. Abraham Lincoln is universally recognized as one of the Founding Fathers of modern Constitutional law and practice. He had

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warned more than a century and a half ago: “If government policy upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be fixed irrevocably by decisions of the (US) Supreme Court …… the people will have ceased to be their own rulers”. There is a dire relevance of his wisdom in India today. “We, the People”, the very cornerstone of our Constitution, will be rendered a dead letter.

(Concluded

OLD AGE

HINDUSTAN TIMES, SEP 8, 2016DDA to offer old-age homes for govt staff

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will build old-age homes, in the form of studio apartments, for retired government employees in Dwarka Sector 16.

The project will cost an estimated Rs 282 crore and the flats will be available on lease.The allottees will have to pay Rs 2.2 lakh out of which Rs 20,000 would be a one-time non-refundable fee and Rs 2 lakh would be adjusted at the time of allotment against the total premium. Rs 8 lakh would be charged from each allottee at the time of allotment as a one-time premium.

They will have to pay monthly maintenance charge of Rs 10,000 and will have the right to hold the property till they or their spouses are alive.

A total of 12 acres of land has been identified by DDA on which 1,550 studio apartments would be constructed. The project will take four years, said a senior official of the department.

DDA vice-chairman Arun Goel said, “We have decided to make studio apartments because our focus is on giving quality and community life to senior citizens and ensure their privacy.”

A total of 200 studio apartments would be provided to the Indian Navy for renting it out to its retired personnel.

The navy will be responsible for the management of the complex after the project is complete.

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The remaining houses will be allocated to retired central and state government employees, armed forces, teachers at government universities and colleges and DDA employees. The beneficiaries of the project will be chosen through a draw of lots.

The exact quota for each category is yet to be decided. 10% of the constructed area will be for commercial activities.

The area will have Metro connectivity, shopping complex and health-care centres, Goel added.

POLICE

HINDU, SEP 14, 2016A first step to wholesome reformR.K. RAGHAVAND. SIVANANDHAN

The Supreme Court directive on quick uploading of first information reports will promote transparencyand curb arbitrariness in police work

Last week the Supreme Court of India made it mandatory for the police to upload within 48 hours a First Information Report (FIR) drawn up by it suo motu or on a complaint. Aimed principally at protecting the accused who may come to know that he figures in an FIR, but has no idea of the allegations which formed its basis, this order is also a shot in the arm for activists who want to protect citizens from State harassment on flimsy grounds. In this momentous order, Youth Bar Association of India v Union of India and others , Justices Dipak Misra and C. Nagappan laid down several guidelines which could help to promote transparency and curb arbitrariness in police work.

The apex court direction, incidentally, also benefits victims of crime who have no means of getting to know whether their complaint had been brought on record or not. This is welcome because of the Indian police’s dubious record of suppressing crime. Viewed in this perspective, the court’s prescription makes it difficult for station house officers to ignore crime, a common practice adopted with a view to helping an offender or to dress police statistics up so that they conceal even a slight rise in crime.

A logical next step

Right through its history, the Supreme Court of India has distinguished itself by coming out with directions which seek to buttress the fundamental rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution. We need to recall how the court has been tirelessly active in ensuring that police arrests of individuals are kept to the minimum, and when taken in custody, the accused/suspects are accorded civilised treatment, including access to legal assistance. The decision prescribing

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expeditious uploading of FIRs on to the Internet is therefore in sync with the court’s consistent stand that human rights are sacrosanct and cannot be trampled upon out of malice or at the instigation of the political executive (read ministers). We consider this latest fiat as appropriate against continued reports from across the country of police misconduct for their own benefit or to satisfy the ruling party.

In writing its order, the court demonstrated an intense application of mind in respect of two issues: the need to protect national security, as well as the privacy of a citizen; and the technical feasibility of implementing its directive that FIRs should be uploaded within 48 hours of their registration. According to the order, there will be exemption from the directive when the alleged offence is sensitive, such as sexual violence or one in which there is an angle of national security, insurgency or terrorism. We endorse this exception, because we are living in times when both privacy and terror issues matter greatly.

The uploading of FIRs will also not be mechanical and as a simple rule of thumb. The order visualises a circumstance in which the authorities could sometimes decide against uploading on grounds of security. The court however laid down that such decisions could not be taken unilaterally by a single police official. First, such decisions cannot be taken at a level lower that a deputy superintendent of police. Second, such a decision is appealable by an aggrieved party to a committee to be set up by a district superintendent of police or a commissioner of police.

The court also provided for the possible objections of a technical nature that could be raised by vested interests — both policemen and the political network — who did not want FIRs to be publicised through the Internet.

Issue of logistics

One principal negative response to the order points to existing modest police resources, especially in the rural areas, that could hinder easy implementation of the court directive. Many police stations, especially those in remote areas, may have a computer, but may not necessarily be connected to the Web. Taking cognisance of this logistical problem, the court permits the latitude of extending the deadline for uploading FIRs from 24 to 48 hours, or even to 72 hours, under special circumstances arising from the remote location of a police station. Such relaxation of the time limit for uploading would be related only to connectivity difficulties, and nothing else.

We suggest that where there is a connectivity issue, the solution would be to hand deliver expeditiously a hard copy of the FIR to the district police headquarters — where connectivity may not be a problem — through a special messenger. An alternative would be for the State Crime Branch CID at police headquarters to act as the repository or nodal agency to undertake the task of uploading of FIRs. Most States are small and transmission of FIRs even to the CID by special police messengers is practical. We estimate that each State may, at the maximum, have

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about 100 FIRs each day to upload to the Net. In our view, the Supreme Court order is therefore eminently practical.

If you ignore these minor logistical difficulties in the way of its quick implementation, the order should be welcome to every honest, apolitical citizen as one that carries few uncertainties and gives no room for anyone in authority to intimidate the police into gross impropriety. In a country that still has a substantial population which is unlettered and is befuddled by the complexities of our legal system, this new arrangement should come as at least a partial antidote to the misdeeds of a law enforcement machinery that lapses into corruption and high-handedness at the drop of a hat, especially in rural India.

A telling cynicism

Talking to officers across regions, we however found a measure of cynicism on the practicalities of implementing the apex court’s order. We are not surprised at this, because every time courts have sought to curb police arbitrariness by clamping restrictions on the day-to-day routine, there has been furtive resentment. This is why we strongly believe that we should not permit any sabotage of the latest court order. We should work towards building public opinion which would demand implementation of the directive both in letter and in spirit. For genuine adherence to what the court has laid down here, and in several other instances, we need the stakeholders — the executive, policemen and the lay public — to not flinch from their basic duty of wholeheartedly welcoming what the court has said and spreading the message as widely as possible. Without this happening, we do not see any prospect of the directive being followed strictly.

We have not forgotten about what happened to the blueprint for police reform that the Supreme Court drew up in September 2006 on the PIL filed by former Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Prakash Singh. Our hearts ache while recalling the tendentious dilution of all that the court prescribed on that occasion in the hope that we would succeed in establishing an autonomous and professional police force.

We would have been happier had the Supreme Court’s latest order on FIRs incidentally — by way ofobiter dictum — addressed certain fundamental issues afflicting police administration. The first is one of police resources at the grass-root level being grossly inadequate. It is not uncommon for many police stations in the country to each have an effective complement of what is less than 10 staff at any point of time. This is ridiculously small. The scene is particularly deplorable in rural stations. This is explained by the fact of many States having a huge number of vacancies, a state of affairs that can be solved mainly through systematic annual recruitment. It is scandalous that many States are woefully negligent in this respect. A judicial direction that makes annual recruitment mandatory would go a long way in alleviating this ill.

A more painful fact is the extent of graft that prevails at police stations in many regions of the country. There are very few police stations where a citizen can get his complaint registered

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without greasing the palm of the station house officer. This goes unchecked because of the graft at supervisory levels. Choice of officers to head districts police forces is often on the basis of their political leaning and pliability, rather than on their professional competence. As long as this situation remains unchanged, prescriptions such as transparency in FIR-related matters may end up being purely cosmetic.

R.K. Raghavan is a former CBI Director. D. Sivanandhan is a former Commissioner of Police, Mumbai and a former DGP Maharashtra.

We would have been happierhad the Supreme Court’s order also addressed certain fundamental issues afflicting police administration

ECONOMIC TIMES, SEP 8, 2016Unlike constables, police officers can't rest assured

BENGALURU: Police constables won their first victory when the system relented to allow them compulsory weekly offs. Now, they have regular grievance meetings where they are heard by officers. While this has marginally improved the working conditions for the constabulary, officers of the rank of assistant subinspectors and above are now taking the brunt. State police chief Om Prakash issued a circular to all police stations in the state, directing inspectors to hold a meeting with their civil, reserve police and station staff, hear their grievances and solve the problems aired. The circular further asked senior officers including police inspectors to allow the constabulary to walk in to their chambers for meetings and not make appointments mandatory. This followed rumblings in the police constabulary, which planned a protest by going on mass leave on June 4 this year. Although the protest fizzled out, the message was loud and clear. Now, the constabulary is entitled to compensatory offs if there is any emergency work on their weekly off. Meanwhile, there are 246 posts vacant at the subinspector rank. With shortage of staff from ASIs right up to the Deputy Commissioners of Police and there being no provision for a weekly off, the heat is now on the officers. The increased work load (18,702 pending cases in 2015), the pressure of grievance meetings and lack of sufficient rest appear to be taking a toll. "We can't assign more work to constables because they complain in the meeting," said an ASI in central Bengaluru. While the constabulary earned some benefits, thanks to a certain degree of unionism, officers are not organised. Former DGP S T Ramesh wondered hy the police department alone does why the police department alone does not have the provision of weekly offs and that the state government should extend the facility . "Where 150 posts are required, only 100 posts are sanctioned. Of this, only 70 are filled. They should increase the sanctioned strength and fill up all of them," he said. Noting that it was not for him to comment, additional commissioner of Police (administration), R Hitendra, said the state government has to take a decision on weekly offs (to

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officers). Additional chief secretary (home) Subhash Chandra said, "All issues will be solved in a phased manner." Help us understand your experience with economictimes.com.

POLITICAL PARTIES

BUSINESS STANDARD, SEP 12, 2016AAP releases 'Kisan Manifesto'

Arvind Kejriwal to release AAP's farmers' manifesto on Sept 11 A year on, DD Kisan yet to find its feet Ashish Khetan booked for comparing AAP's manifesto with Guru Granth Sahib DD Kisan mired in fights over content 12,000 farmers may take part in kisan mela

The Aam Aadmi Party, eyeing to wrest power in Punjab in the 2107 assembly polls, on Sunday

unveiled its 31-point 'Kisan Manifesto' with an action plan to prevent farmer and farm labourers

suicides and make them debt-free and prosperous by December 2018.

The manifesto was released by Manifesto Committee Chairman Kanwar Sandhu at a party rally

at Baghapurana which was later addressed by AAP national convenor and Delhi chief minister

Arvind Kejriwal.

Sandhu said that the party will re-enact Sir Chhotu Ram Act of 1934 (Moneylenders' Debt) in which under no circumstances will the sum of interest payable exceed the principal amount.

"All debts where a farmer has paid a sum twice the amount of the principal shall be deemed to be wholly discharged," he said addressing the gathering on the occasion.

Every property mortgaged by a debtor whose debt is deemed to be discharged shall stand released, Sandhu said adding that no indebted farmer shall be dispossessed of his land holdings and house.

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He said that loans of poor farmers and farm labourers will be waived off and loans of SCs and BCs will also be waived off.

"Interest on loans of other farmers will be waived off.

Punjab farmers to be debt free by December 2018," he said.

No coercive recovery proceedings against farmers will be launched till December 2018 when they will be debt free, Sandhu said.

To make up crop loss, compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre for crop loss due to drought, floods, pest attack, unseasonal rain, will be given, he said.

In the event of crop failure, farm labourers shall be given a compensation of Rs 10,000 for every month of loss of work, the AAP leader said.

Full implementation of Swaminathan Commission Report on crop pricing will be done by December 2020.

He said that re-registration of land acquired for the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal by Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal governments earlier, will be done in the name of original owners.

It will be ensured that farmers get 12-hours of free electricity for farming, he said quoting the Manifesto.

Shagan of Rs 51,000 within one week of wedding of the daughter of a farmer or farm labour will be given besides Shagan deposit of Rs 21,000 in a bank account in the name of a newly born daughter born to a farmer or farm labour will be made.

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POVERTY

HINDUSTAN TIMES, SEP 11, 1016Govt panel fails to define ‘poverty line’, says form another group to do the jobMoushumi Das Gupta

Just how many people in India are poor? The question remains unanswered with yet another government panel failing to define an official “poverty line”.

After a year and half of work , a 16-member task force headed by NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya has failed to reach a consensus and suggested to the government that another panel of specialists be asked to do the job.

HT has a copy of the panel’s final report, which was given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.

Governments set a poverty line to fix a threshold income to get a headcount of poor people in the country. People earning below the threshold, or the poverty line, are considered poor.

But defining poverty has been a controversial exercise in India with successive governments mothballing past recommendations by experts – largely because a lower poverty threshold could leave out genuinely needy people and a higher one could make the poverty number look bad for a government and require more subsidy spending.

Experts questioned the Panagariya panel’s indecisiveness.

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“The expert group should have taken a view. It can’t just say that there is a lack of consensus. It’s ridiculous,” Abhijit Sen, eminent economist and former Planning Commission member, told Hindustan Times.

“The problem is no one wants to bell the cat when it comes to giving the figures on total number of people who are poor in the country.” Sen blamed politics behind entitlements for the poor for the Panagariya panel’s indecisiveness.

Panagariya did not respond to calls and mobile text messages from HT.

In 2009, a new methodology suggested by a panel led by Suresh Tendulkar to measure poverty levels estimated the number of poor in India at 21.9% of the population. The controversy over the low threshold income level forced the then UPA government to set up another expert panel headed by former RBI Governor C Rangarajan.

That committee pegged the threshold at levels which showed 29.5% of the population was poor. But the poverty debate was not settled.

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Different countries have their own poverty line definitions. The World Bank reckons more than 270 million Indians live on less than $2 a day.

In most of Europe, a family with a net income of less than 60% of the “median net disposable income” – a broad measure of the national average income net of taxes income--is counted as poor.

The United States uses a simpler method. The poverty line represents the basic cost of food for a family multiplied by three. A family is counted as poor if its pre-tax income is below this threshold.

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A part of the reason for the Panagariya panel’s indecisiveness is the lack of consensus among the states too.

Some states such as Odisha and West Bengal batted for the Tendulkar poverty line, while others including Delhi, Jharkhand, and Mizoram preferred the Rangarajan line. The Panagariya panel had asked states to set up their own task forces on this issue and submit their suggestions.

In its draft report, the Panagariya panel had reportedly favoured the Tendulkar poverty line. It refrained from suggesting its own threshold in the final report.

“In view of this lack of consensus (among states), the Task Force recommends that an expert group consisting of the country’s leading specialists on poverty consider the issue in-depth and recommend the poverty line India must adopt for tracking of poverty,” the panel said.

The only point the states agreed on with the task force was that the poverty line – that is calculated based on household expenditure data -- should be used to track poverty and not to identify who is poor or provide entitlements meant for them.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

ECONOMIC TIMES, SEP 9, 201670 per cent staff in government offices watches videos on YouTube

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NEW DELHI: Excessive YouTube viewing in offices that clog the bandwidth and small computer monitors allotted to junior officials which hamper their ability to see digitised files, seem to be the two big challenges to the government's ambitious eoffice project. The issue emerged at an eoffice workshop organised for all ministries on Thursday where the rural development ministry, which is among the first to fully implement eoffice, briefed how to accomplish the task of digitising all files and move to a paperless office. A live demonstration was done to show how a 700page file could be scanned in about six minutes and an efile was retrieved from the system in about five minutes. It was also said Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha would soon write to all secretaries, asking them to specify a cutoff date after which they and their joint secretaries would not be accepting any physical files. But Rural Development Ministry Joint Secretary Santosh Mathew, in his presentation, flagged the two tricky issues. "Sufficiency of bandwidth is an issue. It is said that 30 per cent of people in government work and 70 per cent watch videos on YouTube, choking the bandwidth. Please tell your officials that logs can be pulled out to detect who is watching how much YouTube ... this eoffice will not succeed if this is not checked," Mathew said. He said computer monitors at lower levels (where the file is initiated) were too small and adequate RAM in them was an issue. "Physical files have two sides — correspondence and the noting side. On a small monitor, a junior official is not able to see it properly," he said. Senior officers don't have this problem as they have large monitors. "In the government, a secretary's computer goes down to the joint secretary and so on down the levels," Mathew said. He added it was a challenge to encourage the junior officials to adopt eoffice since they will end up being monitored. "Rajpath has the most costly real estate in the world. It will be shame if we use it to store paper," Mathew said.

RAILWAYS

STATESMAN, SEP 12, 2016Rail fare gambleIt would be over-simplistic to cite the classic argument that “good economics can be bad politics” in relation to the Railways’ decision to introduce “flexi-pricing” on select trains. Opt for

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any euphemism Suresh Prabhu and his officials may favour, a price-hike remains a price-hike. In a country where passenger fares have ever been politically sensitive, the additional Rs 500 crore expected to be generated this financial year (would Rs 1000 crore over a full fiscal be an accurate ball-park estimate?) has to be weighed against the “price” the government would have to pay -- particularly with elections to state assemblies in the offing. The image of the “suit-boot sarkar” would surely be revived by the principal opposition parties, and echoed by just about every other group that does not endorse the NDA. By describing the move as “experimental” Rail Bhavan (the minister has been uncharacteristically quiet) appears to be hedging its bets, leaving open an escape route. That adds weight to the suspicion that it is itself not terribly convinced of the economic imperatives for the move, merely floating a trial balloon. And that fuels the apprehension in political circles that surge-fare test on Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Durantos would be progressively extended to other trains.

That the Railway Budget has been scrapped could mean fewer opportunities for Parliament to scrutinise the move: the government would hope that with the winter session still some months away the “noise” would have died down. There can be no denying the need for a more realistic and commercial fare structure, politics has long played havoc with Railway finances, yet what could translate into a 35-50 per cent increase will not be easily acceptable. What will not “sell” is the contention that dynamic-fares will apply only to “creamy layer” trains -- many more wish to use them but even earlier found themselves priced out.

The reservation-system is not so foolproof as to prevent the first 10 per cent of the seats/berths being cornered by agents -- who would then sell them at a premium. There is inadequate transparency in the system to convince, for despite the Prime Minister’s “crusade” corruption remains rampant. There would also appear to have been some sleight of hand in the manner in which the system was hurriedly introduced. What takes the cake is the contention that flexi-fares already obtain on airlines -- there are now enough carriers to give the traveler a degree of choice: what is the competition on the Railways -- a passenger slow-coach or a Duranto? And if finances were so critical why the obsession with bullet trains? Maybe Prabhu and Modi would have done better to raise fares across the board by three-five per cent. This “token” socialism is self-defeating.

ECONOMIC TIMES, SEP 8, 2016Railways introduces surge pricing for Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains NEW DELHI: Train prices are all set to rise as Ministry of Railways has decided to introduce the

flexi fare or surge pricing for Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains. The new development will

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come into force from 9th september. Flexi fare is same as surge pricing of OLA, Uber where

price of services go up in direct proportion with the demand of the product. "The base fares will

increase by 10 per cent with every 10 per cent of berths sold subject to a prescribed ceiling limit.

There will be no change in the existing fare for 1AC and EC class of travel," a railway ministry

press release said. "The changes in fares shall come into force from September 9, while the

revised fares will not apply to tickets already issued in advance for journeys to commence on or

after September 9," the statement by railway ministry said. The railways further said that vacant

berths left at the time of charting would be offered for current booking. "Tickets under current

booking shall be sold at the last price sold for that class and other supplementary charges like

reservation fee, superfast charges, catering charges, service tax etc., as applicable shall be levied

in full," the release said. "The last price for every class of tickets for the particular train should be

printed in the reservation chart for the purpose of charging of difference of fare in the train or

charging the passengers of the train without ticket etc.," statement said. Take a look at some of

the key points : 1. The base fares will increase by 10% with every 10% of berths sold subject to a

prescribed ceiling limit as indicated in the table. There will be no change in the existing fare for

1AC and EC class of travel. In the tables given below 'X' stands for the present base fares. 2. The

changes in fares as above shall come into force w.e.f 09.09.2016. 3. Vacant berths left at the time

of charting would be offered for current booking. Tickets under current booking shall be sold at

the last price sold for that class and other supplementary charges like reservation fee, superfast

charges. 4. The information should also be displayed to the passenger during the booking in case

the fare of lower class becomes higher than the higher class to exercise option to travel by the

higher class. 5. The operation of various quotas available in these category of Trains shall be as

under: (a).Tatkal Quota: The present limit of berths set aside for Tatkal quota in these trains shall

be operated as per the existing guidelines. However, no additional charges as "Tatkal charges"

will be levied. The berths assigned under the Tatkal quota shall be booked at the rate of 1.5 times

of the base fare for all classes (2S, SL, 2A, 3A and CC) except 1AC and EC. (b). There shall be

no Premium Tatkal Quota in these train services. 6. Refund Rules: There will be no change in the

existing refund rules. 7. The revised fares will not apply to tickets already issued in advance for

journeys to commence on or after 09.09.2016.

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WATER SUPPLY

STATESMAN, SEP 9, 2016Cauvery contretemps

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The Union government dragging its feet to fulfill its obligations in time is largely responsible for the war-like situation in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over sharing of Cauvery waters. Tempers are running high in the Cauvery delta districts for the failure of the short-term kuruvai crop raised between June and August and the inability of farmers to begin the samba cultivation for want of water in the Cauvery, while farmers in Mandya district of Karnataka are at war with authorities for agreeing to release 15,000 cusecs of water for 10 days ordered by the Supreme Court. Even if Karnataka releases 15,000 cusecs for the next 10 days, it will be grossly inadequate to raise the samba crop. The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal after years of hibernation gave its award in 2007, according to which, the parties should share on a pro rata basis during deficit years. The Centre took six years just to notify the award. The Tribunal wanted the Centre to establish a Cauvery Management Board and a Cauvery Waters Regulatory Authority to oversee implementation of the award. The institutions are yet to be set up. Instead, a toothless supervisory committee comprising officials from the Union government, the Central Water Commission and representatives of the Karnataka and the Tamil Nadu governments was set up. Whenever the southwest monsoon is below normal, Karnataka withholds the stipulated quantum of water to Tamil Nadu and Tamil Nadu in turn approaches the Supreme Court which passes ad hoc orders that are more often than not implemented fully. This sequence of events has almost become an annual feature.

Since 1974, Karnataka has been increasing its area of cultivation utilising Cauvery water. Tamil Nadu had developed the Cauvery delta irrigation network more than 1,000 years ago during the Chola period and established its prescriptive right over Cauvery water. Since the quantum of water accruing in the Cauvery system is not adequate to meet the growing requirements of both States, the Centre should come forward with new ideas so that Indian agriculture does not suffer. The BJP government of AB Vajpayee initiated the ambitious inter-linking of rivers project, but it was abandoned by the successor UPA government. The Narendra Modi government could perhaps take up the inter-linking of peninsular rivers for which enough feasibility studies have already been made. It would not only make Tamil Nadu the granary of the south, but also help generate 30,000 MW of clean and green electricity. Since it involves all the south Indian States and seeking their concurrence might take time, there is a simpler solution which would meet the requirements of the Cauvery riparian States, including Kerala and the Union Territory of Pondicherry, and could be taken up immediately. That is to link two of the west-flowing tributaries of the Cauvery, the Netravati and the Hemavati, which drain into the Arabian Sea, and divert the waters eastward into the Cauvery system. That would provide a lasting solution.

WOMEN

DECCAN HERALD, SEP 12, 2016A bill in perpetual limboSophy K J and Rakesh Roshan

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20 YEARS OF WOMEN'S QUOTA BILL : As the bill completes 20 yrs in waiting in Parliament, the draft legislation needs a reconsideration and a relook at

Regardless of women rising to political power in countries across the globe, be it in Theresa May as prime minister of Britain, Angela Merkel in Germany or the ardent support for Hillary Clinton in the US, India’s first step towards ensuring women’s representation in Parliament is still in limbo.

The Women’s Reservation Bill (WRB) introduced on September 12, 1996 reminds us of the 20th year of existence of the unresolved legislative demand before Parliament. The United Nations Economic and Social Council’s mandate of 1990s of 30% women in decision-making positions by 1995 is a farfetched dream considering that today only 22.8% of world’s parliamentarians are women. This means Parliamentary politics is still predominantly a man’s business.

In India, if representation in politics on the basis of population theory holds the ground, it would be embarrassing to see the meagre representation of women in Parliament which is 11.4% in Lok Sabha and 12.8% in Rajya Sabha against the 48.5 crore total population of women in the country.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 of UNDP has also placed India at a disappointing rank of 108 out of 145 countries based on economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment indicators. These figures clearly require close introspection in relation to the long standing demand of ‘guaranteed women’s representation/ women’s reservation’ in Parliament.

The issue of political reservation for women was discussed in the Constituent Assembly but it did not evoke positive response from women, with the elite response that the working of democracy in the normal course would ensure the representation of all sections of the society and that it would underestimate the strength of women to compete as equals.

However, the Assembly very much agreed on ‘sex’ as one of the grounds for discrimination, thus recognising the prevalence of ‘single discrimination’. The fundamental basis for Article 15 upholds principles relating to non-discrimination and equality on the basis of caste, sex, religion, race or place of birth. In Indian patriarchal society, women require reser-ved space in decision making positions which is otherwise monopolised by men.

Introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament by the H D Deve Gowda government in 1996 has historical importance as it sought one-third representation of women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The debate whether women’s representation is only a ‘gender issue or equal representation issue’ has become a prominent point of discussion.

Nivedita Menon has argued in her article titled ‘Elusive Women’ that reservation cannot be solely understood within the women’s rights’ framework. This is truly for the reason that it is a problem of women citizenry and their representation within a democratic country.

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The discrimination on the basis of gender in electoral politics is proved by the figures of women representatives in Parliament. The concept of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ – that is legitimisation of patria-rchy that perpetuates dominant position of men and the subordination of women – has been identified as one of the core reasons for discrimination in India.

From the analysis of the provisions of the WRB, one of the ‘faulty lines’ evident is the suggestion for one-third reservation for women, inclusive of the proposed one-third of reserved seats for SC/ST women under the available SC/ST quota in Parliament. In essence, out of the reserved quota for SC/STs in direct election to the House of the People, one-third of the seats shall be reserved for SC/ST women and those seats would be added to calculate one-third women’s reservation quota.

The argument is that the reservation of SC/ST women under the SC/ST reservation quota shall be independent of reservation to SC/ST women under the women’s reservation quota. This is because SC/ST women fight gender discrimination within the caste and at the same time fight caste discrimination within the gender.

Therefore, double reservation quota independently under SC/ST reservation and women’s reservation can be justified for SC/ST women against single discrimination and double discrimination that they face on gender and caste lines, resp-ectively. The Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on WRB also sugges-ted that to have a fair competition with forward caste women, women belonging to SC/STs should have quota for their political, economic and social advancement.

Quota in upper houses

Secondly, it is also relevant to note the silence of WRB on application of women’s reservation in Upper House of Parliam-ent and legislative councils of states. This would precipitate gender inequality at the Upper Houses of power. The Standing Committee Report favours extension of reservation to the RS and the councils in the states on the principle of equality.

Thirdly, the Bill also has a provision of termination of women’s reservation system after 15 years. The repeal of the Bill without a review of the system and an impact study would be unreasonable co-nsidering the deep-rooted gender inequ-ality in the society. It is important again to note that the Standing Committee Report recommends the review process.

It is important to understand that direct discrimination at multiple levels and complex pattern of hidden barriers prevent women from getting their equal share in politics and decision-making. This is despite the fact that feminists’ argument, that a mere removal of formal barriers doesn’t produce real equal opportunity, holds relevance.

As long as barriers exist, compensatory measures must be introduced as a means to reach equality. The Lok Sabha 2014 election manifesto of the BJP, the Congress and the CPM, unanimously promised passage of the WRB. A reconsideration and relook at ‘faulty lines’ of WRB would provide an equity-based reservation system for women in decision making and equal citizenry for them.

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(Sophy is Assistant Professor of Law and Roshan is student of law, National Law University, Delhi)

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