MAKE IN INDIA VS MAKE FOR INDIA

The contribution of the primary sector towards the GDP is only 14-16%, while three-fourth of our population depends on it. Due to this reason India faces grave unemployment. Subsequently the government had to rely upon programs like MGNREGA and DBT to tackle the unemployment menace. These programs do not add any skill sets to these people. The repercussions of such policies of the government are far reaching, since it brought the national exchequers to their knees. Also it led to huge fiscal deficit. Hence to address the twin issue of growth and unemployment, India had to rely upon the manufacturing sector. The advantage India has vis-a-vis China is its demographic profile. The young population cannot be satiated by providing them employment in the primary sector. So our Prime Minister, in his pursuit to augment industrial growth in this country coined the term ‘Make in India’ on September 25 of this year. Not only this, in his foreign visits to countries likes USA and Australia, he marketed this concept, giving a positive signal to the investors to invest in India. The business sentiments had received a big jolt in the previous UPA reign, the government being rigged by a number of corruption scandals and policy paralysis.

MAKE IN INDIA

The government has the aim of making more in India. This implies improving the infrastructure and efficiency of producing in India. When you are talking of producing, it can be agricultural commodities, mining, manufacturing or services. To achieve this goal, the government needs the support of the private sector and the foreign sector in the form of FDI, to build the requisite infrastructure.

Apart from infrastructure, it basically aims at making India a manufacturing hub by eliminating the unwanted laws and regulations, eliminating red tapism, eradicating bureaucratic hindrances and making the clearance process less cumbersome, since the petty bureaucrat empowered by these regulations can become a tyrant.

The other important aspect is the time bound clearances of projects trough a single window. The basic obstacle is to get the environmental clearances, which the government has taken into consideration and plans to act swiftly in this regard. The motive of the government is to help the business and not hinder it. For that, the government plans to have a single window clearance system in place to help the businesses and make them more competitive.

The campaign also aims at providing employment and invests in human capital. This requires enhancing the quality and spread of healthcare, nutrition and sanitation. Apart from these basic needs, appropriate education, vocational training and imparting skill sets in the labour market are the various objectives of this campaign.

And last, the ‘Make in India’ campaign wants to revive the business sentiments of foreign investors and make the ease of doing business in the country more competitive.

MAKE FOR INDIA

Showing yet again his proclivity to diverge from government’s views if required, RBI governor Raghuram Rajan recently redefined the definition of ‘Make in India’ and came up with the concept of ‘Make for India’. When ‘Make in India’ is looking to attract foreign investment, Rajan has suggested budgetary incentives for household savings to ensure that the country’s investment is highly financed by the domestic savings. These so called connotations largely reflect the government policies and the stance taken by the central bank. It is a positive sign since it reflects the independent functioning of the RBI in the FinMin-RBI nexus. The RBI governor has accentuated various aspects which forms the core of ‘Make for India’ campaign.

Firstly, while ‘Make in India’ focuses on export led growth, (since the IIP has been negative, WPI has reached zero) ‘Make for India’ addresses the objectives should be achieved through domestic sources. This can be achieved through a progressive taxation policy that would encourage domestic savings. The world cannot accommodate another China at this junction. Also there is a huge difference between the emerging countries and the industrial nations. Secondly, the manufacturing sector in industrial countries is capital intensive in nature as compared to the labour intensive in India.  Thirdly, when India is going to compete with China in terms of exports, it won’t be easy since China has already got a head start and have a significant advantage over India. Fourthly, the repercussions of such export led growth are multifold- subsidizing exporters with cheap inputs, undervalued exchange rate, negotiating with environmental norms, etc.

Another discrepancy regarding ‘Make in India’ is a strategy of import substitution through tariff barriers. This would be highly detrimental since it would curb domestic competition and make our producers inefficient. ‘Make for India’ envisages creation of an environment through SEZs, industrial corridors, etc where our producers can compete with the global ones. Hence by doing this, not only do we attract FDI, we also encourage the Indian entrepreneurs.

‘Make for India’ also aims at creating a sustainable, unified market that would ultimately lead to lower transaction cost across the country. This can be achieved if the GST bill is passed in the Parliament. Not only monetary policy, sound fiscal policy is the need of the hour since domestic demand is generally over stimulated.

CONCLUSION

The whole purpose of ‘Make in India’ campaign was to send a positive signal to the world that India has come of age with the arrival of the new dynamic leader and ready to assimilate the global world. It was a novel concept to attract foreign investors especially the FDI to usher a new era of manufacturing led growth. The image of the country had taken a big toll due to the umpteen corruption scandals associated with the previous government and lack of competitiveness. Hence the Prime Minister should be given credit for his vision and proactiveness. The announcement itself has raised the market sentiments to a new level, setting new records at SENSEX.  The FDI inflow has increased and there have been continuous trade engagements with other countries.

On the other hand, the brave call by our RBI governor, indicating the nuances as well as the loopholes of ‘Make in India’, has made all of us contemplate regarding the real scenario. Now it is imperative for both the FinMin and the central bank to work in tandem, evaluate the options available, complementing each other and come up with a prudent fiscal and monetary policy, to redefine the image of new India.

Hindutva vs Secularism

In his autobiography ‘My Experiment with Truth’ Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “My devotion to Truth has drawn me into the field of politics; those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics, do not know what religion means.” It is no secret that all the secular parties project themselves to be the messiah of the Muslims, fighting for their rights and liberties. But by doing so, they take the majority for granted. This aspect of Indian society was evident in the concluded general elections. Narendra Modi in his pursuit to enhance his secular credentials, didn’t lose the connect with the core ‘hindu’ votes. He perpetually reached out to the ‘majority’ by invoking the policy of ‘justice to all and appeasement of none’. Hence for the first time, ‘secularism’ has come under intense scrutiny or in fact being challenged by the common mob.

                    In today’s world, religion is a reality as well as a necessity. Even before the current phase of globalisation, capitalist institutions like the market integrated vast areas and people in different parts of the world. There were the capitalists and the wage-earners. The wage earners were devoid of ownership of the means of production due to their poverty. After being paid a subsistence wage, these workers were alienated from the fruits of their labour due to the prevailing social relations. Hence, they grasped the conception of God and institutions of religion to compensate in imagination what they had

lost in the real world. Religion was welcomed by them into their culture in order to make the conditions of the ‘heartless world’ slightly more bearable. On the other hand, capitalists needed religion to buffet the brutal uncertainties strewn in their lives, both as individuals and firms, busy with the task of accumulating capital. The capitalists may occasionally also need religion to be used as an instrument to pacify potential rebels among wage-earners. Hence the words of Marx that ‘religion is the opium of all masses’ is rightly justified as religion comes to the rescue of these wage earners and prevents them from fighting for their rights and liberties.

             In the context of secularism, there has been a considerable debate about the suitability of the concept and practice of secularism in India. Secularism and religion are mismatched in an Indian scenario since religion is irrational and makes a guarded attack on modernity, while secularism signifies modernization. If secularism wants to remove religion from the public life and culture of India, it’s not going to happen.

HINDUTVA AND SECULARISM

Hindutva or Cultural Nationalism is BJP’s conception of nationhood. According to the judgement of Supreme Court of India, Hindutva is ‘a way of life’. It signifies a culture of tolerance and universalism. The BJP owes its origin to the non political organization such as the RSS and hence cannot relinquish the ‘Hindu tag’. This explains the reason as to why Modi refused to wear the skull cap during his ‘sadbhavana fast’ and refuses to apologise for 2002 riots. He also chose a safe, Hindu dominated constituency of Varanasi to contest his first election outside Gujarat. But what’s wrong with it? Modi proudly proclaims himself to be a Hindu nationalist and wears its ideology in his sleeves.

Hindutva can be distinguished as a faith and as an ideology. Hindutva as a faith means ‘a

way of life’, a tradition that is non-monolithic and operationally plural. Religion as ideology, on the other hand, is a sub national, national or cross-national identifier of populations contesting for or protecting non-religious, usually political or socio-economic, interests. Modernity produces religion and then generates secularism to meet its challenge.

      It is important to accentuate the ‘other side’ of secularism too; the anti-religiosity

and the hyper-substantive secularism which excludes religion from public life. It’s time to privatize religion and rationalize politics. Secularism is criticised for being invalid in circumstances where religion is of immense importance to people. Modern culture is a mixed bag and its outright rejection may not be the best way to have secularism.  On the one hand, modern culture has some frightening flaws like a drive to control; a purely instrumental and destructive stance towards nature and human life, towards poor, marginalized sections and victims of the savage side of capitalism. The onus is on us to go for ‘my way’ or the ‘high way’.

PHILLIP HUGHES AND THE GAME OF LIFE

Being a sportsperson helps you to understand and face life better. “Sometimes it all comes together; sometimes you are going to lose it all”. This encapsulates the highs and lows of a sportsperson on the field and in life. But what happened to Phil Hughes was not unfortunate, it was cruel. The twinkle in his eyes, the cheeky smile will never be replenished. He had the entire life ahead of him. He was only 25.Just as in life, there are uncertainties in sports too. Despite the dollops of joy it dishes to fans across the world, it also throws up awful episodes that cast a thick blanket of gloom.

The most important aspect regarding this incident is the remorse and the genuine grief it has created, that has transgressed all boundaries and become all pervasive in nature. In my own life, I could feel the paucity creeping within me, an inexplicable uneasiness making me restless.

  People across the globe were affected by it and offered their condolences and respect in every possible manner. They held out their bats, offered flowers, etc. And what about the young Sean Abbott, who is merely 22 and just starting his cricketing career? Will life ever be the same for him? Yes it is heartening to see all the support and counselling that he is receiving, but the nightmarish images of that dreadful incident will keep haunting him. What will be going through his head when he is at the starting point of his run up? Will he ever be able to bowl a bouncer again?

But what was the reason of such high magnitude of grief? There have been several tragedies on the sporting field, under various circumstances-some have the victims of savage competition, some have succumbed to various inherent anomalies that spurted suddenly to silence them while others have died while celebrations. Memories of three time Formula one champion Ayrton Senna’s death on a race track is still fresh in our minds. Also there have been many recent mishaps too –a Mizoram football player died while doing a somersault after scoring a goal and the Cameroon footballer Foe falling onto the ground dead, have made headlines. These incidents are equally tragic and require equal scrutinization as the Hughes’s case. (The safety aspect in sports shouldn’t be condoned) But why these incidents didn’t elicit such magnitude of grief? Is it because it didn’t take place in a country like Australia or was it because of lack of media coverage?

When we are talking about deaths on a cricket field, the first name that crosses our mind is Raman Lamba. But it didn’t get that global attention which it should have got because fielding at silly point/ short leg without protective gear can bear grave repercussions. We did mourn for him but it was ephemeral and insipid pseudo pragmatism. India’s 2011 world cup star Yuvraj Singh suffered from cancer, but the Indian cricketers (basking under the glory of world cup success) were happily giving interviews at various functions and merely expressing their concern for Yuvi. Why is such a huge difference in the sporting culture of both the nations?

Australia has a rich sporting culture. From the beginning they have learnt to play the game hard but share a drink after the game. They care for their ‘mates’ and go out of their way to help their peers. (both on and off the field. Michael Clark referred him as “the brother that he never had”) While the Australian cricketers enjoy each others’ success, in India it’s always a ‘zero sum’ game. The huge population and the craze for the sport has made us adopt Darwin’s theory of’ survival of the fittest’. The selection criteria at every level has been individual performances. It’s a huge cultural difference. In India, individualism precedes over collectivism. While Hughes’s death has made a significant impact emotionally in the lives of the Aussies, Indian sportspersons confine themselves to their own bubble. The sporting culture in India needs to change right from the nebular stage in order to achieve success, especially in team sports.

But life moves on and definitely cricket must go on. It’s one of the saddest days in cricket since the sport lost one of its most lovable members. As they say, it’s not how hard you get hit but how much you can get hit and still move forward.

Moral Policing and Custodians of Society

Recently the so called agitation staged by a group of youngsters in Kerala, ‘the kiss of love’ has caught the imagination of the youth in India.  Such acts of protests pervaded to other parts of the country too, including some in front of offices of RSS and other Hindu organizations. On the backdrop of ‘love jihad’, an amorous act that was turned and twisted to benefit some, ‘kiss of love’ has certain underlying politics too.

When we talk about moral policing, the political and religious outfits anoint themselves to be the custodians of society. Morality and normative behaviour have different connotations in different societies and its credibility to be ambivalent and ubiquitous is in nobody’s hands. The pictures of Sri Ram Sena activists bashing and vandalizing couples at parks and cafeterias on Valentines Day, or the persistent taunts poked at Sania Mirza, (on her attire)  accused of degrading the status of Muslim women, have been encrypted in our minds. There are many things that play here too.

Firstly, ‘moral policing’, inevitably relates to the issue of ‘appropriateness’ of behaviour of women. The Public Display of Affection (PDA) involves both men and women but the societal norm that the sexuality of a woman is in the hands of men demands women to be tutored. It is always the ‘girl’ who is at fault. Moral policing reflects the archaic mentality that is based on man’s traditional control over women and ‘commodifying’ them.

Secondly, it’s the ‘modernity’ issue. The propagators of a progressive society, who fathom on orthodoxy and the regressive attitude, fail to see the real picture. Yes, there are several ‘evils’ prevailing in our society, but it is our responsibility to cure it. Yes, democracy, urbanization, globalization have made women demand for equality on all fronts (deservingly), but this modernity has to be expansive and inclusive.  One should realise that the vast amount of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ on Facebook do not translate into passionate multitudes on ground. Social networking sites are distant from the hard reality of life. If we are kissing on public today, we won’t be able to face the repercussions later. Even for a married couple, which has the sanctions of the society, is it okay to do stuff in public that is supposed to be a private affair? Our society is rapidly transforming into a progressive society, but we haven’t reached ‘there’ yet. Modernity and ‘norms’ co exist here. Such act grates on the sensibilities of our people, particularly, in the non urban areas.

Finally, it is accepted that certain political outfits carry out certain unethical actions to gain political mileage (and should be opposed), but the ‘kiss of love’ organizers’ fight against the ‘moral police’ cops, though has well meaning, has gone awry because of the wrong tactic that they have employed. One can support and stand by them if they adopt socially relevant and culturally accepted modes of agitation. Modernization is not Westernization and it is upon us to choose the right lessons and not allow the boundary between the public and private shift or become blur. Also there is a lot of difference between what people write and what people practise. Nobody likes PDA in public places!!!

WHY CASTE CONSCIOUSNESS STILL PERSISTS IN INDIAN POLITICS

“Caste is the most overwhelming factor in Indian life. Those who deny it in principle accept it in practice. Life moves within the frontiers of caste, and cultured men speak in soft tones against the system of caste, while its rejection in action doesn’t occur to them”. Socialist thinker Ram Manohar Lohia said this in 1964.The recently concluded general elections has accentuated the issues of ‘India’s rightward tilt’ and ‘end of electoral politics in India’. The myth should be empirically verified and so should be its underlying significance. There is no doubt that BJP won an overwhelming mandate from the people on the back of the charismatic leadership of Narendra Modi, but it would be inappropriate to say that ‘caste consciousness’ was entirely negated in this election. Yes the urban votes went to BJP, where caste and religion are miniscule factors in determining the voting pattern, the rural votes are still caste based. For the urban voters (including the youth and first time voters) with no first hand experience of religious and communal extremism, terms such as secularism and communalism have become obsolete and redundant. They saw in Modi a ‘pied piper’ who would take them to the path of growth and development.

     But three- fourth of India’s population reside in villages, where the ‘caste’ factor cannot be condoned during elections. What explains the persistence of caste consciousness in Indian politics? Media plays a major role in the sustenance of caste by deliberately highlighting the non issues. In various debates, the panellists are constantly asked questions regarding the caste factor (especially in UP and Bihar). Also the media has been accused of being biased by bestowing differential treatment to dalit leaders like Mayawati with respect to other political leaders. The BSP chief’s wealth and her self projection- creating parks and monuments, naming projects after her and celebrating lavish birthdays have been obsessively written about while ignoring her extraordinary political achievements. The political rallies are reported not for their content but for the traffic chaos they created.

       According to eminent sociologist Andre Beteille, ‘inter caste marriages, inter caste dining, etc. have reduced the caste inhibitions in our society to a large extent. But in politics, caste consciousness still persists.’ So what explains this phenomenon? The consciousness of caste is brought forward to the fore at the time of elections. The ‘social engineering’ done by the political leaders to woo the voters, makes the election period, the most appropriate time to play the caste card. The Constitution created ‘rights’ to eradicate caste from the heart of its citizens. But for the majority of the citizens, the habits of the heart are still the habits of a hierarchical society. Other eminent scholars have the opinion that modernity has eroded caste consciousness among us. Today we experience urbanization of society where students dine together at the canteens, dalits enter the temples unopposed, lower and upper caste people travel in the same compartment of a train. Caste may not be dying out in the next 50-100 years, but the rapid expansion of a new middle class, attendant to demographic, technological and economic changes will slowly but surely alter the operation of caste.

When we talk of caste consciousness in politics, it is prejudiced and perceived in a negative outlook, which shouldn’t be the case always. India cannot get rid of its caste identity. Modernization cannot erode the primordial hierarchical structure of our society. ‘Caste in India is class in the west’. The dalits and the shudras belonging to the lower stratum of society have bore the stigma of the caste system in India. Even today people belonging to such lower castes perform the scornful and repugnant act of manual scavenging. This apathy has given rise to caste based parties and political leaders. The social engineering is done to bring forth the issues of exploitation and discrimination. Hence there can be positive aspect to class consciousness too.

      The reason for persistence of caste in Indian politics is the tacit ‘internal code’ of caste, its positives and its culture. This ‘internal code’ makes it special; and distinguishes it from other castes. A few examples will illustrate what it means. Let us look at the caste of the richest people in India according to Forbes. Lakshmi Mittal (baniya), Mukesh Ambani (baniya), Kumarmangalam Birla (baniya), Gautam Adani (baniya), Sunil Mittal (baniya). Most of them belong to the mercantile castes. It is not easy to find many Indians of non mercantile caste who run businesses of large scale. The baniya is convinced that his ability to raise and manage capital is demonstrably superior to that of the rest. He sees that as a result of his caste culture.

Now let us look at ‘honour killing’. Murdering their daughters for honour is almost exclusively done by the peasant castes of north India, especially the Jats of Haryana and Punjab. Such heinous acts have got the legitimacy of khap panchayats there. Honour killing is successful only when his or her caste accepts that the Jat has redeemed his honour by murdering his own disobedient daughter.

Similarly people belonging to the ‘sevayat’ and the ‘daita’ community of Jagannath Puri take immense pride of their lineage. Any aberration in terms of matrimonial alliance outside their caste and community won’t be received amicably. That family is debarred from performing rituals inside the temple.

        This explains the fact that why even today people vote for their own kind. Not for the fear of pollution, but because of a positive attraction towards people with the same values, which emanate from caste. Whether or not the media emphasizes this, is irrelevant. The fact that rural India votes confessionally, for him merit comes from caste values. This condition may not be forever unaltered, but it is also evident that modernity by itself has not dented it. The average villager devotes far more time and thought on home, work and worship and less on political matters. But for him ‘this’ is where caste is embedded most powerfully. Voting pattern is thus an extension of this consciousness that has in fact not changed that much. This fact is clearly evident when BJP had to make alliance with LJP in Bihar and Modi effectively and repeatedly playing his ‘OBC’ card in UP.

STARTUPS-ORIGIN, RISE AND FUTURE

Our grandfathers were primordial, simple and satisfied. The so called specialization and division of labour was nonexistent. In our fathers’ generation, specialization was simple and the ‘seed of ambition’ was at its nascent stage. They went for ‘sarkari jobs’ viz. IAS, banks, etc. But once they entered the professional sphere, they never looked anywhere else. A job guaranteed a marriage and they were consumed in the nitty-gritty of family ties. Our elder siblings craved for money; there was a paradigm shift where success was measured in monetary terms. MBA was the ‘means’ to the ‘end’. A lot of opportunities were created with the embarking of world class B-schools. They loathed the idea of going through the gruelling process of IAS which ate away the prime period of a youth’s life. A MBA degree from a reputed B-school gave them a ticket to the seven digit salary job. Now coming to our generation, we are highly competitive, ambitious and balk to follow the conventional path. The only similar thing about our generation is that everyone wants to be different. We refuse to be one among the horde and espouse something niche. So how do we achieve that?

          Since success is a relative term, some individuals equate success with established societal norms (they go for IAS since it gives you maximum social respect and stature) while others pursue money. Here also there is a difference between money earned as an ‘employee’ and money earned as an ‘employer’. Whether it is entrepreneurship or quitting your job for IAS, both are aberrations that contravene common norms. So what do we do? The tacit belief is that if you are an employee, you are working for your organization and when you start your own business, you sweat it out for yourself. In today’s globalized world, there is a plethora of opportunities for the educated youth. Hence if the individual is not satisfied in any job, he won’t think twice before quitting. Here the concept of ‘self actualization’ comes into the picture. The current bunch is restless and perceives start ups would not only bestow money, but also lead them to self actualization.

ideas ideas and more ideas

          ‘Start ups’ in layman terms means starting your own business. It is not neologism. The ‘gujjus’ and the ‘marwaris’ have always tilted towards family business or other forms of entrepreneurship. Their superior business acumen, which is innate in them, would make them the dominant players in this trade. Today, almost 40% of MBA graduates and almost 70% of MBA graduates from elite B-schools opt for start ups. The startling increase in internet connectivity via a variety of mediums- the computer, the tablets, the smart phones, etc. coinciding with a rise of middle class that has more disposable income than ever before and the aspiration to lead a life that qualifies as a ‘lifestyle’, has translated in the burgeoning of start ups in India. When I talk of start ups, a major chunk of them fall under the ambit of e-commerce. Much of the rapid e-commerce growth is powered by greater consumer choice and consumer awareness and the improved convenience offered by online shopping. Another important aspect is the wider choice that the e-commerce vendors offer in terms of products in sync with global trends. Services such as buying grocery and vegetables are a click away. One can search for houses at a new place. Once can book appointments in top tier hospitals through a common forum. One can compare the prices, the specifications of myriad products and decide accordingly. E-retailing in India is growing well beyond categories like apparel and electronics. It is hitherto entering into domains like travelling, health, food, entertainment, housing, insurance policies, income tax returns, etc. If there is a consumer for it, there is bound to be an e-retailer proving services for it. And if there isn’t, just wait for few months. Start ups such as FLIPKART, SNAPDEAL, MYNTRA are the dominant players in the market today. Other start ups such as ASKMEBAZAAR (a digital open market), MAKEMYRETURNS (empowering the payers to pay their taxes with ease), POLICYBAZAAR (buying an insurance policy online), PUMPKART (buying water pumps online), CREDIHEALTH (providing health facilities from booking appointment to delivering medicines) are emerging at a very fast rate.

catch 22

              Modi, being an astute politician, very well understands the aspirational demographic profile and their psychosis. Hence in the recently announced budget, the government has provided a huge impetus by reserving 10,000 crores for these start ups. Earlier the investment in the form of venture capital would arrive from foreign investors. But with such a step, the government has given signal of its intentions. Hence with government backing, this is the time to go for start ups and build an ‘Israeli culture’ (where children learn innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship right from the school itself) in India.

             So what about the future of start ups in India? The first decade of the twenty first century witnessed the so called ‘IT boom’, which culminated in the bursting of bubble in 2008. (The Lehman brothers fiasco) Will start ups, especially E-commerce meet the same fate? In the E-commerce sector, there is already a lot of competition. So unless a new start up can provide something new to the consumers, and perpetually revamp itself with the changing needs, it won’t survive. Such a start up needs to benchmark itself and thus differentiate itself from the rest of the flock. On the contrary, human needs are humongously insatiable. Changing time will give rise to new wants. Hence there will always be a window of opportunity to carter the new needs. Hence what is required is that the start ups need to be on their toes to grab such opportunities. In simpler terms, consumers can have needs ranging from health, education, decoration to environment and hygiene.  So with new wants, will come new service providers. So the bubble of start ups bursting in the current scenario seems to be a distant myth. So for us, we need to play the ‘wait and watch’ game since the ultimate gainers will be the consumers themselves.

SECULARISM: A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

In his autobiography ‘My Experiment with Truth’ Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “My devotion to Truth has drawn me into the field of politics; those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics, do not know what religion means.” Recently the comments of former defence minister A.K.Antony that in order to appease the Muslims, the Congress party lost the faith of the Hindus, has sparked off a controversy. It is no secret that all the secular parties project themselves to be the messiah of the Muslims, fighting for their rights and liberties. But by doing so, they take the majority for granted. This aspect of Indian society was evident in the just concluded general elections. Narendra Modi in his pursuit to enhance his secular credentials, didn’t lose the connect with the core ‘hindu’ votes. He perpetually reached out to the ‘majority’ by invoking the policy of ‘justice to all and appeasement of none’. Hence for the first time, ‘secularism’ has come under intense scrutiny or in fact being challenged by the common mob.

 Out of the commonly accepted three definitions of secularism, one is people-centric; another is state-centric and yet another is India-specific. Firstly, the people-centric definition emphasises the idea of separating religion from politics, economy, education, social life and culture. The purpose of this separation is not to stamp religion out from life but to contain it to the private lives of individuals (as witnessed in US). A secular state is not supposed to discourage the practice of religion but neither can it base its policies

on religion. The ultimate goal is to make religion a personal affair. Most societies have followers of different faiths and this puts a great responsibility on the state to be neutral. The state-centric definition of secularism emphasises the need to keep the state neutral to all religions. Religious people would like to see the state to show equal regard to all

faiths but others may demand the same respect for atheism. The demand normally is that the state must treat all its citizens equally. This means that the state must neither favour nor discriminate against citizens on grounds of their religion. The third India-specific definition of secularism underlines the importance of the unity of all people against colonialism and communalism. A secular state and society were a part of the social vision of the Indian national movement. Hence, despite the horrendous violence in 1947 and the making of Pakistan ostensibly on religious lines, secularism remained the abiding principle and opposition to communalism was the chosen policy in Independent India.

                    In today’s world, religion is a reality as well as a necessity. Even before the current phase of globalisation, capitalist institutions like the market integrated vast areas and people in different parts of the world. There were the capitalists and the wage-earners. The wage earners were devoid of ownership of the means of production due to their poverty. After being paid a subsistence wage, these workers were alienated from the fruits of their labour due to the prevailing social relations. Hence, they grasped the conception of God and institutions of religion to compensate in imagination what they had

lost in the real world. Religion was welcomed by them into their culture in order to make the conditions of the ‘heartless world’ slightly more bearable. On the other hand, capitalists needed religion to buffet the brutal uncertainties strewn in their lives, both as individuals and firms, busy with the task of accumulating capital. The capitalists may occasionally also need religion to be used as an instrument to pacify potential rebels among wage-earners. Imagine the role of religion in the lives of the Tatas, the Birlas, and the Ambanis. Hence the words of Marx that ‘religion is the opium of all masses’ is rightly justified as religion comes to the rescue of these wage earners and prevents them from fighting for their rights and liberties.

Capitalist societies can be divided into two main categories according to the nature of Church-State relations. The first category consists of those who have a declared State religion and only the adherents of the State religion could become the head of the State, member of high state institutions and participate in the management of State affairs. In the second category, fall countries which have officially declared the separation of the State from any religion but in practice religion is present in the cultural life of the nations. Agencies of the State get involved with the religious ceremonies in the interests of public order, religious education is regulated in the interests of uniform educational standards and religious institutions are overseen in the interests of public good. The Indian case falls in this latter category where there is a formal separation but actual involvement of the State with religious affairs.

             In the context of secularism, there has been a considerable debate about the suitability of the concept and practice of secularism in India. Secularism and religion are mismatched in an Indian scenario since religion is irrational and makes a guarded attack on modernity, while secularism signifies modernization. If secularism wants to remove religion from the public life and culture of India, it’s not going to happen.

HINDUTVA AND SECULARISM

Hindutva or Cultural Nationalism is BJP’s conception of nationhood. According to the judgement of Supreme Court of India, Hindutva is ‘a way of life’. It signifies a culture of tolerance and universalism. The BJP owes its origin to the non political organization such as the RSS and hence cannot relinquish the ‘Hindu tag’. This explains the reason as to why Modi refused to wear the skull cap during his ‘sadbhavana fast’ and refuses to apologise for 2002 riots. He also chose a safe, Hindu dominated constituency of Allahabad to contest his first election outside Gujarat. But what’s wrong with it? Modi proudly proclaims himself to be a Hindu nationalist and wears its ideology in his sleeves.

Hindutva can be distinguished as a faith and as an ideology. Hindutva as a faith means ‘a

way of life’, a tradition that is non-monolithic and operationally plural. Religion as ideology, on the other hand, is a ‘subnational, national or cross-national identifier of populations contesting for or protecting non-religious, usually political or socio-economic, interests. Modernity produces religion and then generates secularism to meet its challenge.

Religion inevitably enters public life through the back door and this leads to communalization of politics. On the other hand, secularism has turned into an intolerant ideology with modernization, development, scientific growth and nation-building as its

allies or constituents. This secularism alienates believers and breeds both old and new kinds of violence. Such secularism breeds old violence in the form of backlash of marginalized believers which in turn reinvigorates bigotry and fanaticism. Secondly, this secularism generates new violence between nation-state and religious communities.

      It is important to accentuate the ‘other side’ of secularism too; the anti-religiosity

and the hyper-substantive secularism which excludes religion from public life. It’s time to privatize religion and rationalize politics. Secularism is criticized for being invalid in circumstances where religion is of immense importance to people. Modern culture is a mixed bag and its outright rejection may not be the best way to have secularism.  On the one hand, modern culture has some frightening flaws like a drive to control; a purely instrumental and destructive stance towards nature and human life, towards poor, marginalized sections and victims of the savage side of capitalism. The onus is on us to go for ‘my way’ or the ‘high way’.

BUDGET: HOPE, EXPECTATION AND PRAGMATISM

As the new government gets to work, one key item on the agenda would be the revival of growth. The key to achieve such an objective is to revive the investment climate. The major challenge for the government would be to revitalize the investors’ faith while at the same time keeping the inflation in check. The Reserve Bank of India’s Financial Stability Report (FSR) highlights that the Global financial markets are showing signs of improved stability although growth is still not on strong ground and easy monetary policy continues in many jurisdictions. On the domestic front, the return of a stable government has definitely provided impetus to the money and the capital market. The BJP led government has already signaled its happiness with the RBI, taking a stern line against the rising food prices by keeping the interest rates pegged at the existing high levels.

      Onions can make the government cry. This has been witnessed in the recent Indian history. Such are the conundrums of facing the country that presenting the general budget is equivalent to a juggler, walking on a tight rope while multitasking. Steps taken to rein in onion and potato prices by raising the minimum export threshold price, is a clear indication of where the Modi government’s priorities lie at this moment. Given the battle against WPI that is being driven up mostly by food prices, it would be a great challenge to inject a growth impetus in the budget.

      The Iraq situation is not going to help India. The rising oil prices will also have a big impact on the CAD (Current Account Deficit). If the oil prices go out of control, what will happen to India’s import bills? (India meets 80% of its oil requirements by importing from foreign countries) So in order to curb in the CAD, a major decision would be to increase the import duty on gold, which was used by the previous government. But if the BJP wants to reduce the import duty on gold to please the electorate that voted it in, where then would it find resources or the ‘bitter pills’ to keep the CAD at bay?

       Election of pro market Narendra Modi has raised hopes that reforms will be put on fast track mode and projects which earlier got stuck, will be cleared. This has led foreign investors to invest over one lakh crores till date in equity and debt taking stock markets, to a new high. Also, what has been helpful in part is the Ukraine crisis in Russia and concerns about growth in China. Money which would have been poured in these two countries, is coming to India. With such high hopes from the government by the investors-both domestic and foreign, any slip off in budget will be severely punished.

        Along with the growth and inflation, many issues need to be addressed lucidly too. The ignominious invoking of the retrospective taxation system in the Vodafone case, has attracted the ire of the foreign investors. It needs to be resolved. GAAR needs to be addressed and its implementation should be postponed. Hard decisions regarding the subsidy on food, fuel, fertilizers, LPG should be pondered upon. GST should be implemented. But it would be interesting to see how it materializes since Modi, as chief Minister of Gujarat, had opposed it vehemently. There is also a need to increase the non tax revenue of the government. PSUs sitting on a huge pile of cash which they are not using, should be asked to give more dividends to the government. The DTC (Direct Taxes Code) Bill, which has been dwindling in the Parliament for too long now, needs to be legislated. Also over the last three years, India has been hit badly by ‘transfer pricing’ issues too. Finally, we continue to pursue the exchange of information with Switzerland, we need to enter into a treaty of the type entered into by UK where account holder who doesn't agree to be named, would be taxed on the accumulated balance and on ongoing income.

         Also India’s greatest bugbear of the immediate future is going to be the unemployment issue, in a country with an increasingly younger demographic profile. If there is no growth in the manufacturing sector, which is actually the prime mover of employment generation, the rising demands of the aspirational India won’t be met and the Indian market will be flooded with cheap Chinese products.

         According to the Prime Minister, the nation has to be governed with certain ‘bitter pills’. But if Mr. Jaitley assumes that he can do that by tinkering with the tax laws or reducing subsidies, he would fail badly. The test for the Finance Minister would be to improve India’s rankings in the Human Development Index, Ease of Doing Index, and Corruption Index. For this, he has to be refreshingly different from his predecessor.

CURSE OF PATRIARCHY

The curse of ‘December 16’ has come back and has blown away Akhilesh’s ‘Sheila Dikshit moment’. Rapes, molestations, domestic violence and other atrocities meted to the Indian women have been a universal phenomena in our society. Only recently in the past few years, the frequency and extent of such nefarious and gregarious incidents have compelled the media to highlight such heinous acts of cruelty. Earlier these incidents would go unreported, but ‘it’ has always been there. Yes we can talk about the various reforms, the role of State, the various legislations to be incorporated, but this would make this article a never ending process. Rapes, molestation, etc. are sensitive issues and people dealing with such issues need to be sensitive and compassionate enough before making any callous, impudent remarks. Tragically, the notion of what constitutes an ideal society, appear to be rooted in the very prejudices that have engendered a culture of violence against women. The Delhi incident, and now the recent incidents in Badaun and Meghalaya have reinforced the notion of a dominant patriarchal society ingrained in the Indian society. Such incidents portray women to be ‘dolls’ at the whims and fancies of diabolical men.

      

        But after the incident, it is always the insensitive, callous attitude of the society (the police, the government, and the insensitive remarks) that adds salt to the wound. The demonizing of the victim (“she asked for it”, “it’s all about money”, “they have made it a business”, “it is consensual all the time”) and the subsequent pariah reflects the retrogressive mentality of the people. When these incidents are viewed under the lens of a microscope, it magnifies the cultural, ideological bent of mind of the society. Cultural thought process that has been given a particular mode through aeon of traditional-inertial forces has fossilized the overall make up of a particular society. No amount of education and wealth, which are being regarded as the cornerstone of modern society, is successful in making a desired change within the gender sensitization domain. Let me point out some of the myriad insensitive comments made by own demagogues. Eminent political leaders such as Sharad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav have made comments such as “when one is young, one tends to slip up” and “boys make mistakes”. Even godmen like Aasaram Bapu’s statement that the 23 year old woman who died after being gang raped in Delhi was as much at fault as her offenders and that she would have sought refuge in prayer and begged her offenders to stop, would make you frown with grimace. This followed by Akhilesh’s ‘google comment’ that rapes occur throughout the country, reflects the lack of political will to deal with such issues. It is interesting to note that they are the same men who vehemently opposed the women reservation bill in the parliament. Why do these men make such irresponsible comments? Are they so naïve not to read between the lines? It is the other way round. The Yadavs (Lalu, Mulayam, Sharad) being grass root level mass leaders, understand the psychosis of the people in these areas, where male dominance is a norm. The portrayal of male chauvinism in states such as UP and Bihar (both rural and urban areas) has kept them in good heed. Hence their comments are in reality not irresponsible comments but a part of social engineering process. One such experience of the writer during his engineering days, where the topic of discussion was whether one should go for a housewife or a working woman, one Bihari guy replied “padhi likhi ko launga aur ghar main bithaunga” (I will marry an educated woman and make her a house wife)

         Do all men who whistle and wink at, grope, stalk, harass and molest women ever feel ashamed of what they do? The answer is NO. On the other hand, shame has been used as a double edged sword against women. They are easily tagged as shameless transgressors for acts such as marrying without the consent of the family, seeking a divorce, asking for a share in ancestral property or refusing to cover her face, hair or body. Since time immemorial, shame in the form of moral sanction has been an effective tool that the patriarchal society uses to control women, to limit their autonomy, their mobility and their choices. Shame is directly linked to the utmost necessity for a victim of sexual violation i.e. her rehabilitation in the society. The actual positive transformation in the life of the victim would take place only when the society is ready to embrace her with open arms.

          Police sensitization and accountability, judicial expediency, fast track courts and justice, civil defence mechanisms, better surveillance through CCTV cameras are some of the steps to bring about changes in the system. But one shouldn’t ignore the role played by one of the most important social institutions, which has a tremendous capacity to subvert the biased construct of social discrimination and stereotype, namely the ‘family’. It was not in vain when the famous sociologist Louis Althusser proclaimed ‘family’ to be the most prominent ideological state apparatuses. Thus families become repositories of exercising the functions of society and sustaining the power relations endorsed by it. The toys that the girls are given, the way the girls are encouraged to dress up, the way they are told to be docile and submissive are all part of the socialization process.

       Violence against women surges whenever the patriarchal status quo or the traditional mode is challenged. It strikes with a severe backlash to kick women back in the space ordained by patriarchy for her. A lot of debate ensued whether rapists are perverted, mentally sick individuals or whether it is about proving who the boss is. The important factor in the crime of rape is that it is all pervasive and is done across class, caste, religion, culture and countries. It is not just the sexual urge or lust but the will to subjugate and dominate the victim that leads to rape. It is an explicit manifestation of the power relations entrenched in our social fabric.

        Hence breaking the shackles of societal norms cannot be brought about through statutory laws; it has to evolve from the society itself, both collectively and individually. Only when parents make their sons realize the importance of respecting the other sex and treating it at par, when society stands up to support victims and ostracise the perpetrators, when society stops seeing women as belonging only to domestic realm, this battle will be holistically won.

IMPLEMENTATION: THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO DEVELOPMENT

The idea of state led development which has been a progeny of the strong democratic currents sweeping modern societies has made it important to see development in conjugation with the political thought and the administrative setup of a society. Most importantly, after the Second World War, development has always been seen synonymous with the State and the larger political system. This is so because in democratic nations it is well established that ‘what’ and ‘where’ of development are ab-initio political questions. Further the socio-economic development has always been viewed as one of the major planks to wield power. As a result expenditure marked for development was seen in a positive light with little suspicion by both auditors and people at large. However, lately this sentiment is fading because of association of populism and several forms of politico-administrative corruption involved in the implementation process.

     If we look minutely, one of the concerning issue is that of linking development with populist politics. This is something that takes place at the planning and policy level and is for everyone to see. But no political party can challenge it since it has got the sanction of the ruling political class catering the needs of an influential interest group of the society. Any party that tries to revoke it shall be ready to face its electoral consequences. One such example can be the implementation of Mandal Commission report by the V. P. Singh government paving a way for perpetual ‘quota system’ in each and every field. Any party which tries to revoke it, shall risk its existence.

      Populism in development programmes can be understood in terms of the idea that when the government of the day, in order to please a particular electoral constituency decides to roll out freebies to them, without taking into account the long term consequences. Populist programmes are often dubbed as temporary compulsions and part of immediate relief package plans. MGNREGA, DCT, FOOD SECURITY ACT, etc. are the various populist programmes of the UPA government meant for socio-economic development.

       UPA government’s flagship programme MGNREGA, which was started in 2005, won the praise of one and all in the sundry. Yet it goes without saying that if on the one hand this programme has helped in bringing more money to the villages and the hinterlands, at the same time, it has been one of the major drains of the exchequer and has contributed extensively to the huge fiscal deficit. This is one of the reasons for the prevailing high inflation, which translates into giving money by one hand and taking it away from other. A good example is this story from Benagadia village of Nayagarh district of Odisha. Under the NREGA scheme, a water reservoir is being constructed for which few men from the village have been employed. The villagers are quite content with the income they are getting, while not realizing that such limited incomes would start proving insufficient very soon with the rising inflation. No additional skill set is being inculcated by these men. The government has set a fixed wage for manual work. This would be highly detrimental to the quality of work force and the economy at large in the near future. Incentives, skill upgradation, incremental wage would make the purpose of such schemes more prudent and beneficial.

In the same context, we can quote other programmes such as ‘farm loan waiver’ schemes which aim at financially helping the farmers at the time of drought and scarce rainfall and eliminating farmers’ suicides. Here also it is the wealthy farmers that benefit from such waivers and the novel idea is paralysed. The politician-bureaucrat-contractor nexus is a classic version of ‘pork barrel’ politics. The RTI/NGO/Human Rights activists who advocate the proper implementation of NREGA are being attacked and killed.

         Coming to the ‘Direct Benefit Transfer’ scheme, which replaced the ‘in kind transfer’, the idea was good but the government failed miserably to implement it. Firstly, it was aligned with ‘Aadhar’ which itself was a big failure. Envisioned on the lines of SSN (Social Security Number) in US, crores of rupees were spent on this project. But the administration and the government failed to convince the people about its utilities and benefits as witnessed in US. With pan cards, driving licence already available for identification purpose , why would one go for another card? Also certain section of people had security apprehensions. These issues should have been addressed in an effective manner, which was not the case. In DBT, the major constraint of lack of penetrative and inclusive banking system was to be compensated through BCs (Business Correspondents). But the lack of vision on the part of the bureaucrats and the will on the part of the BCs paved the way for another poor implementation of a major scheme. Colleges offering Rural Management courses face the ordeal of lack of interest from the students. These management graduates, who are supposed to be the connecting link or in fact the tool to implement the government policies in the rural areas refuse to work there. To address this issue, the government should be proactive by giving added incentives to provide a major fillip.

            The second major bottleneck to implementation is corruption. Corruption persists hierarchically in our society and system. Right from the grass root level to the  bureaucratic-political level, the developmental schemes are maimed by the menace of corruption. The responsibility of implementation of various state as well as centrally sponsored schemes lies on the state government. The institutions performing the social audit are remote controlled by the state executive machinery. Hence there has been an eternal call for auditing by non partisan institutions like CAG, etc. The idea could be lucidly explained by looking at a case study in Odisha. In an awareness program conducted by an organization under the banner ‘Right to Food’ campaign, the loopholes of implementation have been exposed. Many affluent families have more than one BPL/RATION card, while most of the poor people were still deprived of the Ration card. It was also found out that most of the people were given incomplete ration cards (like without their photos on it). Participants expressed their helplessness and agonies regarding the indifferent attitude and corrupt practices (demanding favours in exchange of cards) of the government officials towards their concerns. This is just one of the numerous case studies demonstrating the administrative weaknesses which could be attributed to a large extent to the corruption present at the administrative level.

           Having said all this, it is important to note that the picture isn’t that gloomy as is being portrayed in this article. Every scheme has its success stories too and the loopholes can be plugged. India has a huge, diversified population; hence satiating everyone is surreal. As an outsider, it’s important to accentuate the drawbacks. But there are honest, dedicated officers too. The positive development that we all want to see is not possible without the necessary political support which could be developed when there is a strong political will in bringing development to the masses at the grass root level. This statement itself explains the importance of politics and the administrative apparatus in the concept and the process of development. The new government that has come to power on the agenda of development, should realise the importance of implementation without falling prey to the ‘myopic’ veil of social schemes.

VICES OF COMPETITIVE EXAMS IN INDIA

          

Last year the first cut off list for non commerce students in DU (for commerce subjects) touched 100%. The news was quite astonishing for the common mob. The extent of absurdity regarding this issue should come under close surveillance. The varsity authorities cannot be blamed for this scenario since there has been a catastrophic rise in the number of students who have scored more than 95% as compared to last year. This trend has been continuing. Hence the blame of the present predicament cannot be entirely put on the college for setting the cut off marks so high. This rate of competition gives goose bumps to many parents and is quite unnerving. With the kind of population explosion that we are experiencing in our country now, coupled with the enhanced competition, soon we are going to witness demand exceeding supply and students will have to study as they have never done before (just to get a seat in their desired college).

     This brings our educational system or in fact our educational infrastructure into close scrutiny. The underlying reason for high cut offs in institutions pivots around the fact that India lacks adequate high standard colleges which meet the aspirations of many students. There aren’t many colleges that can meet the demands of the twenty first century modern generation students (and also their parents) and provide them with satisfactory infrastructure.

       The HRD ministry’s vision to set up an Ivy League standard educational system remains a thing to be implemented. But do we possess the requisite infrastructure to create such a system? It is quite bewildering that when the private institutes can set up such an infrastructure and attract students purely on the basis of advertisement and benefits, then why can’t the government achieve such a feat? Also for a varsity to be successful, a lot depends upon the kind of faculty it has. But the fact that the Indian varsities lack credible faculty cannot be denied. Many of the brightest minds of our country like Dr. Amartya Sen, Jagdish Bhagwati, etc. are professors in foreign varsities. Are the Indian Institutions not good enough for them or are our own institutions prejudiced indifferently by our own men?

         The plight of other examinations looks bleak and gloomy. For a young mind, the first national level examination (after 12^th) is the engineering or the medical examination. Then comes the CAT exam which paves your way to the IIMs. The students get under the skin of these examinations to come out victorious. The number of institutions (or seats) do not commensurate the number of students aspiring to occupy those seats. This leads to a ‘rat race’ that often proves detrimental to more number of students. Now coming to the mother of all examinations, the civil services examination, (the IAS examination) is considered to be the most difficult ordeal in the field of academics. People from all background viz. science, arts, commerce, etc. appear for this exam. It is a tedious and grilling process that tests your patience and keeps nagging and prodding your sub conscious mind. With the advent of financial crisis looming in the global market, and the innate urge of certain section of people to go for ‘sarkari’ jobs, the number of applicants are increasing year after year. Here a candidate is tested physically, morally and mentally through a series of robust examinations.

         Coming to the stress factor, the HRD ministry has proposed and implemented various plans. A single examination for admission into engineering and medical colleges (JEE and NEET) has to a certain extent reduced the stress and level of competition that the students have to go through. A ‘grade’ system replacing absolute marks has brought smile to many parents. It received the allegiance of a certain section of students but derived scepticism regarding the various repercussions that it may bring out. Suicides haven’t died out but definitely reduced. Such a prudent act of the ministry has to be appreciated, which had otherwise stagnated.

        

          With the evolution of society, the common man which was earlier hen-pecked, is more knowledgeable regarding the

Opportunities that can be grabbed. The aspirations and ambitions of a middle class man have enhanced considerably and he has the access to various help which earlier looked distantly possible (the expensive coaching classes, the eBooks, internet, etc.). The privileged ones refuse to be one among the herd and transgress the stereotypic paths. With various anomalies and aberrations, he chases his dream and passion and is ready to take the plunge. With such a mentality, cut throat competition is untenable. It will be highly unpragmatic and juvenile on our part to imagine such a scenario unless the government is proactive and makes radical changes in the robust educational system in our country. Proper counselling needs to be done to sedate the volatile adolescent minds to deal with failures. It is imperative to improve the educational infrastructure both in terms of quantity and quality to accommodate such a large demography.