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IiA

DEVELOPMENTMONTHLY

•

DEVELOPMENT & DISCONTENT

February 2007

Chief Editor: Anurag Misra

Editor: Dr Sapna N. Singh

Let noble

Vol 51

Joint Director (Prod): N.C. Mazumder

Cover Design: C.H. Patel

e-mail: [email protected]@yahoo.co.in

Website: www.publicationsdivision.nic.in

every sideRig Veda

•DIDnD

CONTENTS

THE PROBLEM 5

ISSUES AND CONCERNS : 9Manmohan Singh

RURAL UNREST : 11D. Bandyopadhyay.

DEVELOPMENTAL WOES 15K. P. S. Gill

PANACEA COULD LIE IN PANCHAYATS 21. L. C. Jain

NAXALITE MOVEMENT IN INDIA , 23Prakash Singh

GREYHOUNDS 29M. S. Shanker

AN INTEGRATED STRATEGy 31R.K. Bho"nsle

INDIA'S GORDIAN KNOT : 37Ajay K. Mehra

SECURITY IN THE AGE OF GLOBAL TERROR 41A. S. Kalkat

VIOLENCE: CENTRAL BIHAR : 44Devendra Mishra & Subhash Sharma

J&K WiNDOW 47

SACHAR COMMITTEE REPORT 51Imtiaz Ahmad

BEST PRACTICES , 55

REFORMS MUST TO KEEP GROWTH BUOYANT 56

INTERVIEW: M.S. SWAM INATHAN 59

WOMEN AND PLANS : 61DevakiJain

DO YOU KNOW? , 64

CYCLE RICKSHAWS IN DELHI 66. Geetam Tiwari

RELIGIOUS SHRINES 68D. C. Bakshi

RURAL FINANCE IN INDIA 70.G. S. Kainth

IN THE NEWS , :. 72

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With indePtbanaly~is,.~rit~:u~~,~!th Pictrire~il~r~Ph~~s'o~;,the;E~?n~~kSu~yey" 06~~7,, Railway Budget 07-08 a~~'IJ~onB~~get,~7-08 'ti~eminent e~?nOinist~,'l:lnd}sutijectspecialistswill appear in the Special'Issue; '", , t

'. '" " " '. \

2 YOJANA February 2007

About the Issue

THE GOVERNMENT has admitted now that its writ no longer ran in parts of 160 districts affectedby Naxalites converting them into "Liberation Zones" and taking upon themselves the functions of

the state administration and police. Naxalism is seen as the single largest internal security challengeever faced by the country. -

Of the 13 affected states, the movement is intense in parts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, while it is making inroads in Kerala, Kamataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttarahchal and Haryana. Thereis growing professionalism in Naxal ranks and their attacking strategy.

, .The National Common Minimum Programme of the UPA says that the Union Government does not

consider the Naxal violence to be a mere law and order problem and it needs to be tackled as a socio-economic problem. The Naxalites will continue to breed internal unrest and upset peace till such time theeconomic inequalities are not addressed. Studies show that the poorest of our people are concentrated inthe Naxalite belt from Bihar's borders with Nepal to Rayalseema in Andhra Pradesh. Unless their grievancesare addressed speedily, their resentment and anger would continue to fuel the Naxalites. Good governanceand effective implementation of development programmes are the key elements to counter socio-economiccauses of Naxalism.

The changes in character and style of the movement must be recognized. There is growing militarizationand superior army-style organization. This needs strengthening of local policing and intelligence gatheringsystem. Competent officer's need to be posted in the Naxalite affected districts and areas with stable tenure."Greyhounds" of Andhra Pradesh can serve as model to other affected states. Winning the confidence oflocal population is another important area-. In several meetings called by the Centre of affected states, ithas emerged that the drive against movement have often been hit by the lack of coordination betweenstates and central intelligence agencies. The positive outcome of these meetings has been that the Centrehas now made it clear that it will closely monitor the implementation of counter-revolutionary strategiesin different states. Earlier the Union Government's role was only confined to sending paramilitary forces,reirnburs~g security related expenditure to states and modernization- of police.

Addressing the meeting of Chief Ministers of naxalism affected states, the Prime Minister said, " ourstrategy to handle Naxal menace has to walk on two legs - one, to have an effective police response andat the same time focus on reducing the sense of deprivation and alienation", Another important point bythe Prime Minister was "The police response is necessary so that the obligation of the Indian state to upholdpublic order is fulfilled. However, an effective police response does not mean that we need to brutalisethe Indian state". The time has come to translate Prime Minister's works into action to halt and curb thespreading of Naxalism and allow.fruits of economic development to reach faster to the affected areas. 0

YOJANA February 2007 3

Leading.f.romthe front .

4 . . YOJANA February 2007

The Problem

:"N"~;'~;~'iAXALITES OPERATE in a~l.l - . vacuum created by"::i .'-- - --- _. inadequacy of administrative~: .---.< -- and political institutions,,ll-: 'espouse local demandsand take advantage of the prevalentdisaffection and injustice among t~eexploited segments of the populationand seek to offer an alternative system,of governance which promisesemancipation of these segments fromthe clutches of 'exploiter' classesthrough the barrel of a gun.

Naxalite menace remains an area ofserious concern. In 2005, naxaliteviolence claimed over 660 'lives asagainst 566 casualties in 2004. Whilethe quantum of naxal violenceregistered a marginal increase of 3.8 percent in 2005 over 2004, resultantcasualties went up by 18.1 per cent.

In 2005, the states of Bihar andJharkhand witnessed a few high profileincidents like looting of weapons fromthe Giridih Home Guard training centre(Jharkhand) and the J ehanabadjailbreak. However, the overall nax~lviolence increased mainly in AndhraPradesh due to stepped up violence bynaxalitt?s following their unilateral

YO.J:ANA February 2007

withdrawal from the peace talks and ~nChhattisgarh mainly owing to greateroffensive by naxalities to derail SalvaJudum, a voluntary and peaceful anti-naxalite m~vement by local people.

Recent Trends

Spatial spread: Of the total 12,476police stations in the country, naxalviolence was reported' with 460 policestations in 11 states in 2005. During thecurrent year so far, 372 police stationshave been affected by naxal violence. _

Avaiiable reports, however, suggestthat CPI (Maoists) have been tryin~ toincrease their influence and activity inparts of Kamataka, Kerala, Tamil Naduand Dttaranchal and also in new areasin some of the already affected states.

After the merger of Communist PartyMarxist Lennist-People's War (CPML-PW) and Maoist Communist Center ofIridia (MeCI) into CPI (Maoist) inSeptember, 2004, they are reported tobe trying to woo other splinter groupsand have also consolidated their frontorganisations into 'RevolutionaryDemocratic Front' (RDF) and People'sDemocratic Front of India (PDFI) tointensify then- masS contact programme,Indian naxalite groups continue to

sustain theIr fraternal and logistic linkswith Nepalese Maoists, though there areno strategic and operational linksbetween the two.

The naxalite leadership continues topursue their ideology to wageprotracted people's war.through thearmed struggle to capture politicalpower, while a significant number ofnaxalite cadres are anti-social andcriminal elements, In the recent past,naxalite groups seem to lay greaterfocus on organising along military lines,They are also acquiring contemporaryweapons. Their constant effort is toupgrade technology and sophisticationof, their weaponry and techniques.

The. latest taCtics adopted by thenaxal outfits are to engage insimultaneous multiple attacks in largenumbers particularly against policeforces and police establishments.

In the recent past, there have been anumber of naxalite attacks on railwayinfrastructure mainly in AndhraPradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal andBihar, DetentioIl--of a train in March,2006 Latehar District in Jharkhand wasalso a serious incident even though itdid not involve any casualties.

5

The overall counter action by theaffected states. in terms of naxaliteskilled, arrested, surrendered and armsrecovered from them achieved betterresults in 2005 and 2006 so far,. however there is an urgent need to ..further improve and strengthen policeresponse particularly by the states ofChhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa,Maharashtra by improving actionableintelligence collection and sharingmechanisms and strengthening theirpolice force~ on the pattern of SIB andGreyhounds in Andhra Pradesh.

Key Initiatives at the State Level

I~~r::~bl:~~:~ ..i~t~:~~t~t:~o:~~~b:c' a~~~fopfuefl,t:iandjh~ti~e,

•. Ensure effective implem~;ntatioll of l~nd'leforms:P~nchaYllt (Extensionto Sched~IM Areas) A(;t (PESA) and formulation .of resettlement andrehabilitation (RR)policy for. displacea.tribaIS.

• fmprove governanceand'establishbetter deliyel)' systems for peoplecentric developme!?-tal activities in thenaxal affesteddistricts ..

• Ensure proper andfUlfutilisation of ,fUnd~un4ery~rious developme~t~ .~,chemessuch as,Bharat. Nirman,!3DI! :BR;,GF',National R;?ralEmploYll,lent.GuaranteeScheine,PMGSY;. Mid (iayMeal Scheme;~tc.

The Government has taken thefollowing measures to improve poli~eand development response to controlthe naxal problem:-

Police Response

Modernization of State Police:.Funds are given to the states under thePolice Modernization Scheme tomodernize their police forces in termsof modern weaponry, latestcommunication equipment, mobilityand other infrastructure. The naxalaffected states have also been asked toidentify vulrterable police stations andoutposts in mixal areas and take up theirfortification under the Scheme.

Revision of Security RelaJedExpenditure (SRE) Scheme inFebruary, 2005: At present, 76 districtsin 9 states badly affected by- naxalviolence are covered under this scheme.The level of reimbursement under theScheme was raised in February, 2005from 50 per cent to 100 per cent andnew items like insurance scheme forpolice personnel, community policing,rehabilitation of surrendered naxaliies,expenditure incurred on publicity. tocounter propaganda of naxalites, othersecurity related items not covered underthe Police Modernization Scheme etc.,were also included. The Scheme hasenabled the states to improve groundlevel policing in the naxal affected

6

areas. This Scheme has been extendedfor a further period of five years beyond31 March, 2006.

Supply of Mine ProtectedVehicles: Keeping in view the increasedcasualties of police personnel andcivilians caused by lED/land mineblasts, the naxal affeCted states havebeen provided 80 Mine ProtectedVehicles (MPVs) under the PoliceModernization Scheme.

This supply has been streamlined bytaking up the matter with the Chairman,Ordnance Factory Board.

Long-term deployment of CentralPara Military Forces: In order tosupplement the efforts of the states inproviding an effective response to thenaxal violence, Central Para MilitaryForces have been deployed on a long-term basis as requested by the affectedstates.

India Reserve Battalions: Thenaxal affected states have beensanctioned India Reserve (IR) battalionsmainly to strengthen security apparatusat their level as also to enable them toprovide gainful employment to theyouth, particularly in the naxal areas.Ten additionaL IR battalions have alsobeen approved for the naxal affectedstates.

Recruitment in Central ParaMilitary Forces: In order to wean

away the potential youth from the pathto militancy or naxalism, recruitmenCguidelines have been revised to perrni.t40 per cent recruitment in Central ParaMilitary Forces from the border areasand areas affected by militancy ornaxalism.

Protection of Railways: In thewake of increased attacks on railwayproperties, the matter has been.discussed with the Ministry of Railwayso as to take appropriate preventivemeasures in this regard.

Salva Judum in Bastar region,Chhattisgarh: An anti-naxal movementbegan in June, 2005 in' Bastar region of.Chhattisgarh as a spontaneousexpression of pent-up anti-naxalitesentiments among the local 'people. Themovement was triggered. off by ameeting of eight villages. at Tebmarvillage in district Bijapur, whereas thevillagers expressed their unhappinesswith the modus operandi of naxalitescausing harassment and starvation ofcommon villagers due to cutting off ofemploYII,lentopportunities. Salva Judumactivists mobilized villagers/tribalsagainst naxals through a series ofrallies, meetings and padyatras in naxalstrongholds of the two blocks (Bijapurand Bhairamgarh). of Bijapur policedistrict in South Bastar. This voluntaryand peaceful movement by local peoplehas now spread into Bijapur,

YOJAN~ February 2007

. ..•....this would go a long way in tackling thedevelopmental aspects of the na;x.alproblem. The states have beenrequested to focus greater attention onthis area as' also accelerate people-centric developmental activities andcreate employment opportunities in thenaxal affected areas with. special focuson creation of physical infrastructure interms of roads, communication, poweras also social infrastructure such asschools, hospitals etc.

ConclusionThe Central Government views the

naxalite menace as an area of seriousconcern. The Government remainsfirmly. committed .and determined toaddressing the problem. Essentially, the.state governments would need to pursueeffective measures to further improveground level policing and developmentresponse, besides countering thenegative propaganda unleashed bynaxalites, to contain and control thismenace. The Central Government willcontinue to coordinate and. supplementthe efforts and resources of the stategovernments on both security .anddevelopment fronts to meet thechallenge posed by naxalism. 0

(Compilation by Editorial Team,Yojana, English)

.. fill in critical gaps in physical and socialdevelopment in the naxal affected areas.Apart from these districts, other naxalaffected areas/districts have also beenincluded under the Backward RegionsGrant Fund (BRGF) Scheme whichcovers 250 backward districts in thecountry.

Tribal and Forest related issues: Inorder to address the areas ofdisaffection among the tribals, thegovernment has introduced theScheduled Tribes (Recognition ofForest Rights) Bill, 2005,. inParliament. Further, to facilitatesocial and physical infrastructure inthe forest areas, Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests has, asrequested by the Ministry of HomeAffairs issued general approval toallow such infr~structure by uti.)ising .up to I hectare of forest for non-forestpurposes. The Ministry has alsopermitted upgradation of kutcha roadsconstructed intopucca roads.

Land reforms employmentopportunities in the naxal areas:Naxal groups have been raising mainlyland' and livelihood related issues. Ifland reforms are taken up on priority .and the landless and the poor in thenaxal areas are allotted surplus land,

Deve~lopmentResponse

Backward Districts Initiative(BDI): Since the naxalite meanace hasto be addressed on the developmentalfront also, the Government has providedfinancial assistance of Rs 2,475 crorefor 5:\ naxal affected districts in 9 statesof Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,Orissa, Jharkhand, Maharashtra,Madhya Pradesh, Dttar Pradesh& WestBengal under the Backward Districtslnitiative (BDI) component of theRashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana (RSVY).Under this Scheme, an amount of Rs 15crore per year has been given to eachof the districts for three years so as to

Bhairamgarh, Usoor, Sulana and Kontablocks in Dantewada district. So far,Salva Judum activists have held morethan 150 anti-naxaliterallies.

Keeping in view the importance ofSalva Judum movement as a majorbulwark in sustained campaigfl againstmuals and view of the naxalite attacks.on innocent Salva Judum activists, thestate government has been advised t6enhance the deployment of. security,forces to provide effective areadomination, ensure safety of S~lvaJudurn activists and strengthen securityof relief .camps.

I

I 'Enact Naxal Surrender Scheme'.T.....'.,'heU~~?n hbrn~~stryhas, ...•....requesiedalLrnajor naxal-

...........affect~~states'to strictlY

im~lem~n tl~e .."suriender-cum-rehabilitati0l?:'l'\~chem~s!or ...naxaliteswhQwant to shu.n' violen~e and' jointhe mainstrearn.

The Gent,ralg()vernmentr~in~~urses, u~~er t~eses&lty-related

exp~ndi~~re,s~reme .•~.~'.'.the nax~l-affectedstat~~,~xpe~~tllre of. uptoRs20,000 per'l'erson,dep~nding upon

-' - .

whether the naxalite has surrenderedwith ..arms or without. arms.

'"i ," "

Major naxahaffected states alreadyhave surrender-cum-rehabilitation"schemes for naialites who' 'Wantto shunviole~Ce and jOin the mainstream. TheCentrel)as requested all Naxal-affectedstate~overnme~ts to strictly implement.the;iheme. The Centre also providesassistance to the state govemments. TPe.. ,- '--'" ,,~

incentive packages vanesj'from. state-tostate.

The .jh~khandGovebllnent hasoffered sops to naxals to surrender.The main componets ..are:

• M<>nthly allowance of Rs 2,000.• Rs 50,000 iIi cash.• Life insurance w?rthRs 10 lakh;• \"ocati?naltraining f9f two years.• Lawyers tdfight th~rrc~es in court

• o;Zacre ag~cultur~t~ land.• Free educa~gn ~d he:althf~cilities

for the surrenderednaxaliteandfaniily.


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8 YOJANAFebruary 2007

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I:ssues and, ConcernsManmohan Singh

, HE FOREMOST concernrr" to-day is internal security,; "The Centre and the States" , must jointly find solutions to

• " the problems we face,

The country confronts a wide arrayof complex internal security problemsand threats, Each of these need to bedealt with in different ways,

- Inc'reasingly also, they call to.r closercooperation between the Centre and thestates, since problems are no longerconfined to a single state but encompassseveral states, Integrated functioning ina federal set up such as ours, where lawand order is a state subject, is not easybut we must' find ways and means todeal with this situation and rethink someof our past practices,

Internal SituationTo improve matters, the main stress

has. to' be on capaCity building andimproving the capabitity of the states(as also thatofthe Centre) to deal withcurrent and future .problems, Capacity-building at the state level is mostcrucial, and if there are any financial, constraints, the Centre would be willingto provide necessary assistance, Outunderstanding, however, is that the statesare not doing enough even regarding thefilling up of existing vacancies in thePolice and otherlawand order agencies;or improving the quality of the state,Sp~~cialBranches, or toning up -the law.and order administration, Withouteffecti ve lmv and. order; economicdevelopment would be impossible.

More attentiqn is needed to improvethe 'software' for the maintenance ofpeace,. This means improving

YOJANA February 2007

intelligence generation and collection,as also the overall strengthening ofintelligence mechanism. Analyticalcapabilities need to be enhanced.Proper benchmarks need to beestablished against which progress andperformance can be measured.

The meeting mainly.focused on Leftwing extremism, terrorism, and how toassuage feelings' of insecurity amongour IJ?inorities, specially Muslims. Thedevelopments in the North East andJammu & Kashmir. also need to bereviewed.

The Chief Ministers of'the North-Eastern states and J&K shall recognizea fundamental. reality, namely, that indealing with problerns of peripheralstates and societies, we need to bespecially sensitive to the nuances ofeach situation, and the encyclopediccharacter of regional and tribal demandswhich, if not anticipated and dealt with. in time, could culminate in a full-fledged militancy. States like Mahipurand Nagaland in the North East appearspecially vulnerable today demand yourpersonal attention. There is little scope'for personal predilections that overridenational considerations andrequirements.

The same can be said of J&K. Eventhough the situation has shown signs ofimprovements these past two years, weshould remain on our guard in view ofcontinuing efforts by anti-India andanti~national elements to whip-upemotions' and transform these into aviolent movement.

Naxalite MovementThe approach to the Naxalite

problem needs a blend of firm, butsophisticated, handling of naxaliteviolence with sensitive handling of thedevelopmental aspects. It is'in the mostneglected areas of the country that Leftwing extremism thrives today. These arealso the main recruiting, grounds fornaxalite outfits. While Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and AndhraPradesh are in the forefront of naxal-related activities today, many otherstates remain vulnerable: .ChiefMinisters must personally take in handwhat deliverables are possible evenwhile preparing to meetnaxaliteviolence through effective law & ordermeasures.

The real key in the fighting naxaliteviolence is' 'good' intelligence. This

, would involve effective integration ofstrategic and tactical intelligence,properly leavened with ground level'information avaj.lable at the level of thePolice StationS. The Police is the firstresponder in naxal-related situations,and is a: very important pole. in thisenti~e effort: Sensitiiing the PoliCe is,therefore, a criticai require~ent.

Special training for Forces engagedin naxalite operations is equallyimportant. Andhra Pradesh has anexcellent training establishment for anti-naxalite operations.

An 'Empowered Group' of Ministersis constituted which could be headed bythe Home Minister, imd include selectChief Ministers, to closely monitor thespread of the naxalite movement ..TheGroup could meet at frequent intervalsand review special measures that Heedto be taken, nature of assistance ,to be

9

HeadNo. of IncidentsPolicep'ersonllei ..killedCiiriiianskiiledNaxaliteskilled

2002

l-+No. oflricidenls

Source: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)

provided. exchange of -personnelbetween States.

TerrorismConcern about the increasing

activities of externally-inspired-anddirected-terrorist outfits in the countryis justified. Intelligence Agencies warnof a furhter intensification of violentactivities on their part, with thepossibility of more 'fidayeen' attacks;use of suicide bombers; attacks oneconomic. and religious targets;targeting of vital installations, includingnuclear establishments, Army Camps;and the like. Reports also suggest thatterrorist modules and 'sleeper cells' existin some of our urban areas, all of whichhighlight the seriousness of the threat.

These are serious matters and wemust find ways and means to deal withthese decentralised micro-terroristoutfits. This will necessitate greateralertness on the part of the States andlocal Intelligence Agencies, as, also thePolice who have a locational advantage.Unless the 'best constable' is broughtinto the vortex of our couIiter-terroriststrategy, our capacity to pre-empt futureattacks would be severely limited.

In the battle against terrorism, therole of the public will be vital. A majoreffort is necessary on our part tosensitise the public into becoming alliesin this war and persuade some of themto function as counter-terrorist'wardens', who would report on any

kind of unusual activity. Siplliarly, co-opting the media and getti~g them toplay more positive role would be usefuland this should form part of an overallmedia management strategy. None ofthis will, however, happen without yourpersonal direction and involvement.

On the prevailing insecurity amongminorities, specially Muslims, theadverse consequences of this can beextre~ely deleterious for out polity. Theresponsibility to ensure that this doesnot happen lies squarely upon all of us.It is unfortunate that terrorism hasresulted in certain sections of ourpopulations being targeted, with theresult that a wrong impressi,on has beencreated of the radicalization of theentire Muslim community. It is, hence,imperative that we embark immediatelyupon a proactive policy to ensure thata few individual acts do not result intarnishing the image of an entirecommunity, and remove any feelings ofpersecution and alienation from the'minds of minorities.

All religions recognize the existenceof certain 'sacred values'. We shouldseek to highlight the commonality ofsuch 'sacred values' and campaignagainst pernicious ideas andphilosophies such as the "clash ofcivilizations". Instead we shouldpropagate the idea of a: 'confluence ofcivilizations' .'Sacred values' are. idealswhich are transcendental in nature. Weshould encourage sober elements in all

communities to agree to a properarticulation of 'sacred values' for,dissemination among people. Botheducation and the mass media must beactively encouraged to promote, thisintegrated vision.

We must recognize that theMuslim community in largeparts of our country nurses a

strong grievance of not having been anactive participant and beneficiaries ofprocesses of social and economicdevelopment. All of us have an obligationto redress legitimate grievances of ourminorities. CMs must pay personalattention to ensuring that our minoritiesare effective partners in processes ofsocial and economic change. In dealingWith terrorism, scrupulous regard andrespect for fundamental human rights ofcitizens, particularly of minoritycommunities, ought to be a core concernof our law enforcement agencies. Noinnocent person should be harassed in ourstruggle against terrorism. If a mistake ismade, effective. remedial correctivemeasures must be .taken well in time.Government agencies, particularly lawenforcement agencies must establishintimate contacts with community leadersand show adequate sensitivity to theirconcerns. CMs ought to put in placeeffective mechanisms to achieve theseobjectives. 0

(Adapted from Prime Ministers openingremarks in the Chief Ministers'

Conference on Internal Security.)

10 . YOJANA February 2007

Rllral UnrestD Bandyopadhyay

The. smoulderingember of rural

unrest in India canbe doused by properaction undertakenwith understanding.and sympathy,dialogue and.reasoning

EASANTS DID notdisappear. Tribals' could notbe assimilated with themainstream populace. Dalitscontinue to be the landless

hewers of wood and drawers of waterfor the upper classes and castes. Theprojected trajectories of thedevelopment. paradigm .of large scale'withdrawal of surplus labour from therural areas to be absorbed in themassive development of the secondaryand tertiary sectors had gone awry.

Fifty eight per cent of the Indianlabour force is still engaged inagriculture and allied occupations.Tribals are being pushed up the hillsbecause of illegal incursion of outsidersin their traditiDnal domain. Dalitscontinue to swell the ranks ofagricultural prpletariat which isincreasing in an alarming way. 'Povertyratio among the SCs and STs continueto be much high~r at 35 per cent and44.2 per cent respectively as against thenational average of little over 26 percent. Neo-libeJ:al development pro.cesstotally by-passed them. Not only thatthe invasion of the corporate sector intoagriculture and forestry andenhancement of ceiling limits on land in

some states has exacerbated theincidence of landlessness with theconsequential rise in the free floatingmass of rural poor moving around insearch of employment. This hasdepressing effect on rural wages andhas aggravated casuaUsation of labouron terms grossly unfavourable to them;This is supported by different rounds ofNSSO data on agricultural wage from1983 to 2000.

Victims of development - the projectaffected people (PAP) - add anotherunpleasant dimension to the scenario ofrural alienation and turmoil. There is nofIrm official fIgure regarding the totalnumber of PAP rendered landless due tocoercive acquisition of land by the Statefor "development" purposes. Scholarshave made various estimates. Thegenerally accepted fIgure (calculated byWalter Fernandes) is that between 1951and 2005,50 to 60 million persons wereforcefully evicted from their hearth andhome. It is it colossal fIgure. It is morethan the total population of majority ofthe member countries of the UnitedNations. Among the PAPs tribalsconstitute 40 per Cent. The absolutefIgure would be 20 to 24 million out ofthe total tribal population of a little over

T1ly author is Executive Chairper~on and Hony. Director, Council for Social Development. He is the Chairman of the'PlanningCommission, Expert Groilp on Development issues dealing with discontent, unrest and extremism." , ,J, ' ..•

YOJMrA February 2007 11

80 million. It appears that the mainbrunt of the adverse effects ofdevelopment had to be borne by thetribals who had the least sustainingpower.Not only that, it is estimated thatof the 50 to 60 millionPAPs only 28 to30 per cent has been properly resettledand rehabilitated. This is bad enough.The situation in the case of tribals is farworse. It is estimated that only 18 to 20per cent of them had been properlyrehabilitated. Thus a vast number ofdisplaced, homeless, landless andjobless tribals are roaming about asflotsam and jetsam of the crueldevelopmentprocess.Theyaredepressedand dejected, irritated and angry.

Tribals did not have any concept of"exclusive title or possession withincommunity. Ownership was bestunderstood as mutual respect andrecognitionof access of an individualorfamily to a separate plot of land to beused for special requirement of thefamily" (Prabhu 2002 fromReclaiming Land)

Extension of general laws and theiraccompanying institutions to theScheduled Tribal areas created a hiatusbetween the "modem" laws and theiragencies and the traditional mode oftribal life and living style. This resultedin a conflict between the traditionalsystems and the formal institutions, .esp«cially with regard to the rights oftribal people over land and resources onwhich they had subsisted for centurieswithout formal ownership deed or title.

Beginningwith the colonial time andcontinuing in the post colonial era, theintrusion of formal economy withprivileged individual rights andindividual or corporate profit motivehas systematically undermined orsubverted.the' informal. communitariansystem of the tribals and theirlivelihood. This crisis has been furtheraggravated by the recent influx ofindividuals and corporate bodies intothe tribal domain and their take over oftribal lands and other natural resources

12

which traditionally gave sustenance tothe tribals.

Tribals lost their control oftraditional livelihoodresources throughseveral state actions. First is the forestreservation policy which declaredforests,degradedforests,waste lands onthe periphery and even partly arablelands as reserved forests where hhmanhabitation was prohibited. These,reserved areas sometimes includedvillageswhichwere allowedto continuewithout any right or title and whichsupplied free or cheap labour to ForestDepartment and ) to forest persortnel. .

The secondmeans of alienatiopwasthe leasing of forest lands to the. corporate sector for mining, processingindustries,agri or forest based business,logging. and timber felling or fortourism ventures. Tribals were deniedaccess to pasture lands and forestswhich had been providing 'them withlivelihood.

.ThirdlY; there were the draconianlaws regarding wild life.protection and national parks

and sanctuaries which forcefullyexcluded all habitations from vast areasnotified under these laws. By a sly ofhand of the forest authorities localrightful residents became interlopers orencroachers on their own lands. Thetraumatic reversal of the position fromrightful owner -occupiers to illegalencroacherspushed the affected peopleto desperation to use any means to venttheir resentment. In some places thisdeep human tragedy was compoundedby the extinction of the species forwhich such cruel methods were used.R~nthambore provides an examplew~ere with the exclusion local tribalsthe tiger population also disappeared.The story 9f Sariska is not different,either.

Lastly, as already noted the coercive, acquisition of land for "development"purposes has already displaced about80 to 90 million tribals turning themhomdess, lalldiess, resourceless and

jobless. It is not surprising, therefore,that social unrest has emerged. in theaffected areas. It manifests itself indefiance of the authority from simpleform of demanding right of communitymanagementof forests to militancy.TheState cannot avoid the responsibility ofcreating conditions in which in sheerdesperation andrage, tribals resorted toviolence.

Half way across the globe in theChiapas region of southern Mexic'o

. indigenouspeople declared in 1980"wedemaI).d absolute respect for ourcommunitarian self-determination overour lands, over all our natural resourcesand over the forms of organization thatwe wish to give ourselves Weare opposed to have our naturalresources plundered in the name of asupposednational development" (Bart.aA & Otero.a, 2005).

The demands of the Chiapasindigenous people in Mexico fullyrepresents the aspiration and demandsof 80 million tribals of our country aswell.

Our old national leadershipwas wellaware of it. Way back in 1942Mahatmaji wrote in Harijan (18-01-1942) "The Adivasis are the originalinhabitants whose material position isperhaps, DO better than that of Harijansand who have been victims of neglecton the part of so called high classes.The Adivasis should have found aspecial. place in the constructiveprogramrrie" (Gandhi, M.K. - India ofmy Dreams, Navjivan Trust, 1947).

- Orily Mahatma could have the moralcourage'during the freedom struggle toown up that the society had neglecteddie Adivasis. It is not therefore stranget6 find in the Party Programme ofCentral Comnlittee (P) of CPI (Maoist)- dated 21.092004, the observationthat"The State will ensure various forms ofautonomy to all Adivasi communitiesfor their full fledged development andexecute special policies accordingly".Why sh~t'ld it beieft to CPI.(Maoist)

, YOJANA, February 2007

<--

Land ceiling laws have beenimplemented in a tardy and impropermanner in our c"ountry. Only 7.35million acres of ceiling surplus landwere vested in the State (March 2002)of which 5.39 million acres weredistributed among 5.65 millionbeneficiaries. Even distribution was notdone, correctly. In many casesbeneficiaries with "patta" in land didnot get physical possession of the landallotted to them. Old owners continuedto possess and enjoy the usufruct ofthese lands. Worse still are the"cases ofthe same vested land being distributedto different sets of beneficiaries atdifferent points of time, of course, givingno physical possession to anyone -ofthem. It only made the poor to fight thepoor so that the erstwhile landlords couldlord oye!: their former estates.

Land holdings after several decadesof implementation of ceiling laws stillremain highly skewed. In 1995 tinyholdings constituted 78 per cent of thetota} operational holding andcommanded 32 per cent of the area.'Thus 22 per cent of operational holdingcontrolled 68 per cent of the arableland. While figures clearly justifyfurther reduction of land ceiling andrationalization of various categories ofland for ceiling purposes, under thepressure of neoliberal economicpolicies different states are doing theopposite by enhancing the ceiling limitsin the name of commercialization and

contracts; Incidentally, the protagonistsof this move in the State machineryshould do well to remember that about90 years ago in 1917, MahatmaGandhi's first public action in Indiaafter coming from South Africa w3;s to

, fight for the cause of peasants ofChamparan in Bihar against unfairterms of contract imposed on them bythe European Indigo planters.Advocates of this system should alsoappreciate that between two unequalpartners there cannot he any faircontract in favour of the weak.

Expropriation of CPR for handingover the land to corporate sector foragri-business or industry has causeddepeasantization among the farmingcommunities and accentuatedimmiserisation of already poor landlessand. marginal farmers most of whombelong to dalit groups. Depeasantisationdirectly increases landlessness andacute poverty coupled withassetlessness results in debt bondage.

Active encouragement of the statefor "contract farming" is putting, self-employed autonomous peasants underharsh and often disadvantageous

Employment in the organized sectorincreased very slowly from 24 millionin 1983 to 28 million in 1999-2000. Itmeant an annual average incrementalgrowth in employment of little over 2lakh,per yem:, which was insignificantcompared to the annual rate of growthof labour force. It is now recognizedthat in the era of "jobless growth" theorganised sector's capacity to absorbsurplus labour would remain minimal tonil. As a result under compulsion ofcircumstances the vast majority ofadditional labour force will have to beabsorbed both in the farm and non-farmsegments of the rural economy and inthe unorganised segment in the urbanareas.

I:twould have several adverse:consequences. This large army oflandless workers would tend to

_depress rural wage rates therebyaccentuating poverty as alreadymentioned. It would also increase thenumber tenancies with harsh and

. extortionate conditions and terms. TheNSSO figure of 7 to 8 per cent oftenancy is generally recognized as grossunder-estimation. Micro-studies by wellknown scholars indicate that theincidence of concealed tenancies varybetween 15 to 35 per cent in differentstates which have formally abolishedtenancies. Extremely severe forms ofexploitation are noticed in respect of.these "inyisible" tenancies.

However, this CPR is gettingincreasingly scarce through statepossession or privatization includingcorporatization. In different statescorporatiions are being given huge tractsof so called waste land, degraded forestland and semi-arable lands whichconstituted CPR for the dalits and thevillage poor; This has badly affected theeconomic positions of these people.Neo-liberalism has put the dalit andagricultural wor~.ers under triplejeopardy of social, economic andpolitical exclusion. Exasperated anddesperate dalit groups constitute thetinder dry flammable substance'awaiting a spark to i~te.

or any odler militant group to do so ?Can't the mighty Indian State do it?

Common Property Resources (CPR)where every member of the communityhad easy access and usage facility usedto be an integral part of the social andeconomic life of the village poor,particularly, for the landless and landpoor households. Among the landlessvast majority belonged to'Dalit groups.Some scholarly studies have pointed outthat dalits are concentrated among thelandless agricultural labourers becauseunder the traditional caste system theywere excluded from ownership of land.Consequently, for sheer survival theyhad to depend heavily on the CPR. Astudy of seven states in semi-arid areasindicated. that CPR accounted for 9 to26 per cent of household income oflandless and marginal farmers, 91 - 100per cent of their fuel wood requirementsand 69 - 89 per cent of the~r grazingneeds (Jodha - 1986, Reclaiming Land).

The overall employment situation inthe rural areas is rather bleak. Out of thetotal labour force of 363 million (1999- 2000) in the country, 251 millionworkers were employed in -the rural,areas. The primary sector employedroughly 58 per cent of the total labourforce. Development of secondary andtertiary'i;'eC'tors could not absorb thesurplus labour from the primary sector.


modernization. of. agriculture. Thus thepossibility of getting a parcel of land bythe landless for minimal livelihood andhousehold food security is becomingdimmer by the day.

Apparently, in different' parts of thecountry' in different depressed andoppressed groups, there are kegs of drypowder waiting for fire to set in. But theflaming bush fire is not taking place asthere is a lack of country-wide politicalmobilization among the landless and thedeprived. Instead of being united on the.basis of class, the poor are fragmented'along caste, ethnic, religious and otherdivisive lines. Moreover, land struggletend to differ for different interestgroups. Landless strive for landownership. Tribals and indigenousgroups strive for the protection of theirtraditional righfs on forest and otherlivelihood resources. Marginal andsmall farmers strive not only to retaintheir land but also to make it moreproductive and to acquire and, or, toenhance their political power and.influence. Thus with disaffection allaround th,ere being no coalescing ofinterests and objectives, no combineddetermined J;Ilovement was possible toseriously threaten the establishment.

hi an agrarian economy like India landconfers personality'tO"all individual or agroup. It endows 'social respectability. Itis a means of political empowerment. Itis the ,basic ingredient of a dignified lifeand living. Hen-ce a just and fairdistribution of land resources is ofutmost importance for building ~negalitarian and strife - free society. It isfor the state to arrange for equitableredistribution of hind and water.resources and to restore the traditionallivelihood rights of the tribals in" theforest areas. Unmet just demands mayprovoke the sufferers to use forcewhether for occupation of land or forexercising rights over forestryresources. The ruling establishmentcannot avoid "t;akingresponsibility for its .failure to read' the writing on the wall ..

14.

Another major cause of ruraldiscontent is the trident of mal-governance by the Forest, Revenue andthe Police administration. Rajiv Gandhipithily described the situation. Heobserved "the experience of the vastmajority of our people at the grassrootshave been that, at the interface betweenthe 'people and .the 'administration, theadministration is unresponsive,inefficient, unsympathetic, oftencallous, sometimes even cruel to thosewhom they meant to serve". Thesituation is far worse in the tribal areas .

What we are witnessing in India andsome Latin America~ countries in' theform of rural land movement of violentnature is basically the "third wave" orleft politics (Moyo & yeros, 2005).When the agrarian crisis is becomingmore acute, there is a deepening ofpolitical vacuum in the country side.Traditional parties of the left which hada rather nebulous relationship with thedispossessed in the countryside have, byand large, succumbed to the. logic ofcapital either to obtain power or afterobtaining power, eschewing MarxianLeft policies, though many of them stillcarry the name of Marx in their breastplates ..

They are openly and unashamedlypromoting neo-liberalism in its crudeform discarding even the fig leaf ofegalitarianism not to speak of socialism.The "third wave" of virulent left politicsis the direct result of the traditionalleft's subservience to the needs ofcapital :exhibited. through theiradherence to the neo-liberal economic. reform policies.

The social base or this newmovement which includes the Maoists'of India, is the masses of rural poorJallen by the wayside because ofrelentless pursuit of',neo-liberaleconomic policies. Its leadership islargel y. confined among: the. peasantintellectuals who have disassociatedthemselves from the establishedpolitical parties and their university

based intellectuals. Their tactic is,predominantly direct action centeri~ground direct physical occupation of landand other natural resources. Some 'ofthem have opted for armed struggle likethe CPI (Maoist) in India. ZapatistasinMexico and the FARC in Colombia.Their strategy is autonomy from theestablished political parties and thestate. This line is being followed by therural movement in the Philipplines,India (CPI-Maoist), South Africa, theZapatistas in Mexico 'and MST inBrazil.' Their ideology' tends to fuseMarxism with the local brand of ethnicor racial discourses. They are quite.sensitite to gender and ecologicalissues. In fact there is a conscious effortto indigenize the Marxian theory to thespecifidocal situation (Moyo & Yeros,. 2005).

Long ago Mao Zedong propounded'the 'thesis of "Fish in Water". "Fish"were rural militants. Disgruntleddisaffected and resentful poor peasantry,agricultural workers, forest dwellers,displaced persons and the like"constituted the "Water". If theirdisaffection could be removed orsubstantially reduced water wouldevaporate and the fish would be lefthigh and dry and they would cease toexist eventually. Since almost all thedemands and grievances of the tribals,Dalits, landless' agricultural workers andthe.like could be met and resolved'within the parameters of theConstitution and existing legal andpolicy frame, a responsive andsympathetic political leadership atdifferent levels can solve the issue ofrural unrest if they had the will and ifthey could transcend their proximateclass interests. The smouldering emberof rural unrest in India can be dousedby proper 3lction undertaken withunderstailding and sympathy, dialogueand reasoning. Harsh counter violencemight not be the correct response as ithad failed so far duting the. last fourdecades since the "Spri):g thunder" of1967. 0

YOJANA Feb~ary 2007

Developmental WoesK P S Gill

Publicexpenditure needsto be directed

forcefully to thecreation of

productive assetsin India's villages

NDIA'S MOST significantsequity challenges, today andin; the foreseeable future, areinternal, although, with hostilene~ghbours constantly fishing

in troubled waters, these have aconsiderable external <;limension aswell. Terrorism and sub-conventionalwarfa!e ar~ the most important anddangerous manifestations of this threat.As time passes, we h~ve seen. terroriststrategies, tactics and access totechnologie~ systematically improve thelethality arid disruptive efficiency oftheir attacks, even. as. evidence ofcontinuou~ state support andsponsorship by Pakistan andBangladesh mounts. Each new terrorist,outrage - ~specially when it occurs in. India's ciries and not in neglected'hinterland; areas, where such thingshave become a daily norm - provokesa hysteria of analysis and of polltical_ posturing.

.As terrorist capacities augment,. thereis a palpa~le expectation after eachmajor incident that, this time, somethingwill change; the Government willannounce ~ome new set of measuresand policies.J:hat will create the national

strength and capacities to deal firmlyand effectively the scourge of terrorism.Soon enough, however, the incident isforgotten and there has been littlenoticeable change in the basic structureof national responses to terrorism overthe past decades.

The political discourse on thesubject of terrorism reflects a range ofutterly fruitless peculiarities. Othercivilized countries and communitiesacross the world have made the fightagainst terror an article of faith, where,the political establishment has risenabove petty and partisan politics, givingpriority to the fate of the innocent andvulnerable over their own personal andpolitical fortunes. The inteUigentsia andthe administration - including justiceadministration - in these societies,'while they have,remained committed tofundamental values of democracy, haverecognized the grave and extraordinarythreat to civilization that terrorismconstitutes, and have adequatelyempowered the executive, intelligence .and enforcement agencies to deal withthe challenge.

There is little evidence that the rulingand 'intellectual' claSses in India will do

The author is former Director General, Punjab Police and is President of the Institute for Conflict Management; New Delhi. He iscum:ntly Adviser to the Government of Chhattisgarh on Naxalism;

YOJANA February 20071,

15

this in the foreseeable future. The IndianpolitiCal perspective and agenda onterroriSm remain unalterably muddled.The political classes in India,unfortunately, seek to make politicalcapital out of everything, often andincreasingly to the detriment of thenational interest. But a consensus acrossparty lines is necessary on the issue ofterrorism and on counter-terrorismpolicy. Terrorism is a problem that hasbeen, and will remain, with us for manyyears, and alternately burying our headsin the sand, or responding with hysteria,can only undermine public confidencein the state machinery. Westerndemocracies have, virtually on the ftrstsign of terrorism on their own soil,immediately. secured a consensus onresponse, establishing necessary andelaborate legislative -instrumentalities,and empowering their enforcementmachinery to the hilt. On the other hand,after decades of terrorism on Indiansoil, we continue to muddy issues andengage in the game of mutualrecrimination and populist posturing.Terrorist organisations across the worldare linking up and establishing animmensely c.oordinated and globalisednetwork - but we fail even to secure aminimal agreement on, or coordination.of, national responses.

The upshot is that, wherever. terrorism rears its malignant

head, more and more troopsfrom the country's various securityforces are simply throWn into theconflagration, .willing sacriftces to thestate's failure to evolve effective andproactive mechanisms' for thecontainment and neutralization of thisspreading affliction.

But the 'security forces' are not thefaceless, formless, mechanical 'force'th~t the media, the politicians and thegeneral public think them to be, to bepitched into' the void at will. Humanbeings make up these forces, and there

16

will be limits to their willingness forsacrifice if they find that the very'people, powers and institutions that theyftght for, and so often die to defend, arecareless of their needs and theirconcerns. And 'such carelessness is~anifest everywhere, as the politicalclasses remain concerned exclusivelywith their own survival, security andproftt~ rather than with the wellbeing ofthe nation"s fighting men, or of thenation itself. It would be difficult, today,to ftnd.an example of a political leaderwho has raised issues relating to theinterests of security personnel, or evenconcerning the necessary powers,equipment .and facilitiesrequired bythese forces to secure. effectivenessagainst an enemy that is constantlyavailing of the very latest techriiques,technologies and processes ofmodernity. On the other hand, you willfind numberless leaders and publicfigures who are willing to speak thelanguage of the terrorists and theirapologists; who constantly exhort us tounderstand 'root causes' and themotives of 'our children' and 'ourbrothers and sisters' who inflict massmurder on innocents.

Today, so many of those who bravelyfought terrorism have been abandonedto the mongrel formations of theterrorists and their 'human rights' fronts,and to the vagaries of a flawed anddeeply prejudiced judicial system; andthe weight of national institutionsappears disproportionately to be exertedto beneftt those who are intent on thedestruction of these very institutions, .rather than those who s.eek to protectthem. Today, it is the terrorists and theirproxies who are best protected by ourlegal and institutional safeguards, andby our political orientation; innocents,national assets - both institutional andindividual - and the men who ftght todefend the staty, are often left to theirown devices in the face of a mercilessand unremitting onslaught.

There is, of course, SOme evidenceof positive movement in certainspheres. A new Police Act, longoverdue, has now been drafted - thoughit has visible and enormous flaws.Funding no longer remains a bottleneckfor police and security forces'modernization - though the utilizationof funds is riddled with inefficienciesand leakages. Coordination between theCentre and State Governments showssigns of improvement, though points of'friction persist. The general awarenessamong the political classes and Centralbureaucrats regarding the threat anddimensions of terrorism. in the countryappears to be rising, slowly butconsistently. While a confusioQ ofperspectives 'persists, early signs ofsome emerging coherence, at least ofintent if not policy, are becomingvisible.

Nevertheless,the long-promi.sed'synergy' between varioussecurity forces, and between

the states and with the Centre, remainsa chimera, even as systems of commandand control of counter-terrorism forcesremain inchoate. It is useful to notice,in this context, that, in areas of multi-force operations involving the Army, the'unified command' model remainsdominant. This structure, in practice, ispatently violativeof the Constitutionalscheme of the supremacy of civilianauthority in all matters, includinginternal security and counter-terrorism.The unifted co~and has traditionallymeant the supremacy of the Army and

1"'" .

the subordination or marginalisation ofstate police forces and para-militari~s,and has not been conducive to betteroperational coritrol in theatres of multi-force operations. It has had only limitedsucce"sses in bringing an end toterrorism or insurgency anywhere.Nevertheless, this remains the preferredmodel of command and controlwherever the"Army is depl6yed,and itis time for a radical review, and the

YOJANA February 2007 .

Naxal Violence in C.hhattisgarh400 - ~ -- 700350 600 ..__ .... :-..---- ----300 - ......... 500250 400 ------- '.

200 - . ---300 -----150 ---"100 -

. 200 -----~50 - 100- - ,0- ., 0

2002 2003, 2004 20052005(31.11l.2005)

"

2006 (31.10.2006)

I-+- No. of Incidents -.- Police personnel kiUed.••.•••Civilians kUled "*"' Naxalites killed I I -+-Incldents -'-Pollce personnel killed --- Civilians killed "*",Naxalnes.killed l~

Head 2002 2003 2004 2005 Head 2005 (31.10.2005) 2()06(31.10:2006)No. of incidents 304 256 352 380 No. of incidents 319 .' 627"Police Personnel killed 09 30 08 47 Police Personnel killed 45 .' 73Civilians killed 46 44 75 118 Civilians killed 94 292Naxalites killed 10 08 15 32 Naxalites killed 23 52

-MHA

adoption of a more effective model ofcoordination and cooperati vecommand.

The Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) has now been designated thelead agency for countercterrorism andcounter-insurgency operations acrossthe country, and continues to bedeployed in all major theatres ofviolence, including Jammu & Kashmirand the Northeast, where the unifiedcommand structure is applied. Even instates where the Army is not present, as. in Maoist affected areas, problems ofinter-force coordination, as of inter-statecoordination, persist. These have beenrepeatedly underlined by the politicalleaderships both of the affected statesand the Centre, but little headway hasbeen made in securing the necessary'synergies'. The CRPF is still to securethe wherewithal, the mandate, and theinstitutional Jransformations necessaryto meet the demands of its new role.

The prob~em is an .approach that is,at best, piecemeal and accretionist,seeking the arbitrary augmentation ofspecific capacities - principallymanpower, weapons and technologies -froni time to time, in response toparticulilr emergencies, and withoutreference to a coherent gameplan. Thelacunae in this approach are manifested,for instance, in the pattef:lls of


'modernization' of police andparamilitary forces. 'Modernization' is,in fact, a misnomer for what ishappening, and this can at best bedescribed as 'technology enhancement' .The technologies that are being passedout to the forces in the name ofmodernisation are often 30 to 40 yearsold, and even in the sphere of emergingtechnologies such as communications,the acquired models' are often on theverge of obsolescence by the time theyare made available. Considering thesheer pace of contemporarytechnological transformation, it isnecessary to set up a special committeefor continuous technological evaluationand acquisition. Technologies today areshackling rather than enabling theSecurity Forces, and large proportionsof funds are completely wasted.

Another aspect of technologyacquisition is its centralization, whichhas meant, delays, the acquisition ofunsuitable technologies and corruption.As corruption in p).lrchases rises, it -rather than the requirements on ground

begins to detennine whichtechnologies are acquired, and this istremendously demoralizing for theforces. Modernisation funding,moreover, must become more specificand must be released for use underseparate heads. 'Lumped' funding lends

itself to greater diversion and 'leakage'.

Modernisation, moreover, is notsimply a matter of buying better weaponsand technologies. The modernisation ofsystems and minds has entirely escapedthe scope of current efforts. Often and 'incertain areas, modernisation may demanda discarding or diminishing lethalitjofweapon systems, rather than theircontinuous enhancement. Moresignificantly, the manpower profiles;management systems, strategies,methods and protocols for securityforces, their respon~es andadministration, need to be extractedfrom the primitive constraints ofinherited systems, before we can shapeeffective counter-terrorism forces andresponses.

For years now, the nationalleadership has been deludingitself, and misleading the nation,

into believing that terrorism issomething that can lend itself to an easysolu~ion' across the negotiating table ...:.with Pakistan, with terrorist frontorganisations, and with terrorist groupsthemselves. The truth, however, is thatthese are long wars of attrition, andthere should be no doubt whatsoever ofthe malevolent vision or of thedetermination of India's enemies tokeep these wars alive. These areprotracted wars, which will require an

17

effective and enduring state apparatus tocreate powerful instrumentalities to huntdown and destroy the terrorists, and toimpose unbearable costs on theirsupporters and sponsors. Unfortunately,we seem to be moving in exactly theopposite direction, as appeaseme~t ofthe' enemy dominates our politicalvision, as security agencies areconstantly asked to operate with theirhands tied behind their backs, and as theenveloping environment is made morearid more conducive to exploitation andoperation by terrorists.

Another aspect of the Indian politicaldiscourse on terrorism is the falsedichotomy that is created between the'military vs developmental'solution, orthe 'military vs political' solution. Thisis utter nonsense, but it is politicallycorrect nonsense, and to be an advocateof the 'developmental' or 'political'solution, while excoriating the supposedirrationality of the military solution is ahighly rewarding public posture. Thus,rising terrorism and violence across thecountry is continuously accompanied bymuch talk on the need f()r development,political and land reforms, and thesocial emancipation of long-neglectedpopulations in areas of persistent orescalating conflict. Development, weare repeatedly told, is the only solutionto the menace of widening insurgenciesand terrorist movements; unless weaddress the 'root causes' of poverty,backwardness and deprivati~n in theseareas, the extremist forces will ~nly gofrom strength to strength.

There are several levels at whichthese perspectives are. wrong, and as aresult of which they will necessarilyyield counter-productive policies. It isnot possible to take up these argumentsin detail here (I have written about theseelsewhere), but it is useful to notice,basically, the fact that no unique set of'root causes' actually explains theemergence of insurgent or terroristviolence. The administrative system and

18

the Government's extension networks inareas of conflict simply collapses,particularly in the rural hinterland, theendemic 'ieakage' of developmentalresources across the country ismagnified even further in such areas, assystems of accountabIlity disintegrate;a vast proportion of the developmentalallocations actually find their way toinsurgent and anti-state groups and littlebenefit eventually accrues to the targetpopulations. ,Essentially, fimilly, youcannot 'out-develop' a full-blowninsurgency.

But there is an even morefundamental difficulty withthis approach: a modern

Government is required to address theproblems of backwardness and massdistress not because and where there isanti-state violence; it is required toaddress these problems across its entirejurisdiction because that, precisely, iswhat it exists for. A corollary, here, isthat by disproportionately allocatingresources and efforts for reform(however unsuccessfully) to the. 'development' of violence-driven areas,the state validates the idea that socialand economic transformation cannot besecured in the absence of such violence,thus producing a demonstration effectthat catalyses a further spread of violentideologies.

Consequently, unless conditionsconducive to. the efficient delivery ofpublic goods, including education,health and minimal social security, andto massive private investment anddecentraliz;ed, widely disperSed, ruralenterprise can be created, various'packages' for areas of conflict or ofendemic poverty will haveinconsequ~ntial impact. Publicexpenditure needs, now, to be directedforcefully to the creation of theseconditions, of productive assets andcapacities, ofa minimal moderninfrastructure and facilities in India'svillages, which can help them integrate

with the booming urban economy, andthrough this, to the globalizing world.

It is crucial to understand that lawand order is a precondition for, and nota consequence of, these conditions, andmust be maintained across the countryand throughout the year, not fitfully,when a particularly urgent challengeconfronts us, or when a high profiletarget or victim is affected. Unlessdisruptive anti-state violence iscontained and conditions of securityprevail, ilone of the other terms for thisprocess of reconstruction can be met.

The military thinker Carl vonClausewitzwams us that, in war, "themistakes which come from kindness arethe very worst. .. If one side uses forcewithout compunction, undeterred by thebloodshed it involves, while the otherside refrains, the first will gain theupper hand." This is the principle thatmust be kept in mind while framing anapproach to counter-terrorism (we arestill far from framing a counter-terrorism policy or strategy).

There is, in the Indian discourse, anair of utter bafflement regarding thequestion of use of force within the'context of democracy, with thedominant thinking endorsing the ideathat all use of force is somehow aviolation of democratic principles, andthat the state must negotiate a solutionto every emerging problem or conflict.Within this bafflement, the idea of the .---rule of law - which (and not theelectoral process) is the essence ofdemocracy - has been completelysacrificed. Regrettably, those who claimto speak for democracy seem to beunfamiliar with the most fundamentalaspects of c;lemocratic theory, andparticularly with the debates on the roleof force in democratic governance.Politically correct rhetoric has left usindifferent to the plight of the victimsof crirninaland terrorist violence', evenwhile there is a constant harping on the


concerns and grievances of those whoresort to crime and terrorism. Indoing this, the dominant discourse, Ineffect, removes all constraints fromthose who resort to violent excess,while it places extraordinary andirrational constraints on the agenciesof the state that are intended toprotect the rule of law.

The nature of terrorism demandsquick, indeed, immediate and decisiveapplication of appropriate -force; itrequires the creation of institutionalstructures and protocols of response,not only for counter-terrorist action, butfor relief and containment of the impactof terrorist acts; above and before all,however, it demands a measure ofclarity and an understanding of thenature and necessity of use of force, arealization that the use of capricious,weak and ineffective force compoundsand escalates violence, and thatcontinuous emphasis on political and

negotiated solution actively privilegesviolence and terror at the cost of theinterests of the law abiding citizen, andof the nation. Thus, when we argue that'these are our brothers and sisters' , and'these are our children', we ignore thefact that those whom they kill are also'our brothers and sisters' and 'ourchildren'; and tliat it is the prior,inescapable and constitutional duty ofthe state to protect. the latter, and toimpose the laws of the land, beforeunrealistic considerations of a universalpacifism destroy the possibility of such.protection. Counter-terrorist policy andresponse are an awful responsibility ofthe state, and must anchor themselvesin a practical wisdom, "withoutconceding too much either to pity or toindulgence."

Through history, nations have had tomaintain and often refresh theirindependence through the force of arms.The South Asian region has become an

extraordinary locus of instability, witheach of India's neighbours skirting state,failure. India is, itself, deeplysusceptible to a complex dynamic ofdestabilization that has alreadyextended areas of disorder and non-governance to large parts of the country,with nothing resembling an adequate setof responses in e'vidence. The use offorce in the defence of freedom, and ofits laws and Institutions, is not just amoral necessity, it is a survivalimperative. It is a demand that must befulfilled, moreover, not with jingoismand hyper-nationalism, or' withemerging patterns of communalpolarization and coercion', but ratherwith a strong and sustained reliance onrationality, on' a detailed understandingof the challenge of terrorism anddisorder, ap.d of the imperatives of ademocratic, lawful and effectiveresponse to the threats to the nation'sfreedom and survival. 0

, Naxal Activity on the Decline, Says Union Home SecretaryCentre to help States Strengthen their Police Forces

training to the .

$tateChief Secretaries; policechiefs and senior officers from thena:1aI-~ff~Cted$tat~s attended thetvy.o,..dayIlle~L 0

OntaIks;\Vitll,;:u~i!edJ.,ib~r~ti?uFront ofAs9Ill,~~~~g~l saidth~tthe ..Goyern~~nt?-"as;cea~y~ort~lksProvided theygave.iuV$!iting thatthey ",auld shll.hiWe patllofviolence.

He reiterated that theGovertlm~~~iwa~r~e~rtoholdtalkSwith th.e?~falities ....if they ..gavenpartl1,s'lie1l2ged~eaffected ..State!>to~do~tas~rren~er poliqy fornaxalities on the1ines of the one inAndhratBnidesh!

~!a:!e~~er~,h~faid,~e,'GovetJlment's~~p~o~~h'•••,'vy.lls,t??!~ngthe Left wingextremists back into the socialmainstream. However, firinaction

betalcenjfth~y attacked ...pglice.nelnr innoce.nt people.

......~~~~~~,4~n~ip.t~e demand~byditf7re~tsfa!e~; tylrJ)uggal ...•.assured~7tl}9fa~<lit~gn~lc:en;traI support to,~elJ?~tre?g!h71l~;i~ ~Iice'for'7by;im.•.proving the intelligen;ce s~t,..upan...<1

,- ", " -'. - '''',', ;,":' __ - -- "', .'0 ;:;":.-~

Quggalsaid, the menace wasn;o ql'lted'toBihar, Jharkhand,'qr}s~~,'~h~att~sgarb,. Andhra~2ad~~h1,e!s~~rJJ ••tAaharas~traand~e~t;~etI¥aL~hiteatot!l1 oi51 0~0!ic7s~~iqn~;aqed n3:f'a1J?r?blemsi~.~pP~.:~h~??mberhaddecteased to?:72tbis year. <

'~II1~e 1\f.~x~l.~,am~ct~d"Sfate~"]IJS~O.~ld'~~~rth~"PPtimu!U;" ...•.•.utIIi~ation of,. fu~ds unde:'yariou;~.~e?tr;at~c~eIlle!, fat;

~~~~~1al ~~ ..i~pr9ye~~~t ..o;" .•....,~~!iti~~~nrllral ar~~ s;r~~.

¥?i~?'lf9!U~,~~qretaryVK"D'\lgg~1sai,d. ' ' ."."'- ,- c,,:-, '.,.,,:,

EX~!7~s~ri~sa~i~facfioll overt~e:~'.,'}n?~~al.,a~tiYIty;~rf?ll&&~l~U~,~?T<1~y~lg~~~lltwgU;ldg?. '~~r.i~~~ntai~i?~th~:,~~eft~te'~ "wi~nes~i?g~~llttll!hewa~.e~f!~~!i?n;~holl~dh~v~~e!t~r

"""rrept and rehabilitationP9lici~~,

~~q~F~!'i?~p~ess~er~o?satt?:.Brt,d, ?~,~;tr;(}}~~~iSog2~i llatio?

tI~$ol'!*e;;~3;tlaxal:affecte~


Panacea could liePanchayats

•In

L C Jain

Panchayatsare not a

panacea - but-they can plyour boat to awholesome

life

"i

l'{!,.,!""AXALISM HAS extended

l...•..,.'.•',.::...'.•',.••..'....~; •..!.! .. ; •..•. ,~.,., .•••..•1..•[..'•.'......•.'.,•.•,.,..'.!.!•...••.••.. , ~:m. ~.::; \~O~~~.ct:~l~'.!.'. " paramilitary forces are~ ; ,'0' ' , _ " :. _:~': '_'. C'-'.' __ \

>. ,i!!.!!! being 'deployed. It wastherefore music to hear panchayat rajminister Mani Shankar Aiyar flag alllessage he had picked up at the thr~e-day conference on paIlchayats at VigyanBhavan (June, 2006) that there is a non-police way of halting the spread ofNaxalism. Aiyar said that he had heardthat in tribal areas, where the PanchayatExtension to Scheduled Area Act(PESA) is effective, and where there is

\

respect for traditional institutions,customs and usages as stipulated inPESA, there is an absence of Naxalism.Hence implementation of PESA and theholding of meetings of the TribalAdvisory Council as stipulated in theFifth Schedule of the Constitution, headded, is ."critical to ending the ~a:xalitemenace that threatens our unity, stabilityand democracy."

The' participants underscored thatgram sabha activism and .social auditare the only way of securing better' andcleaner government at the grassroots. Ithas been brought out that in states

where there is better governance interms of law and order, there is betterpanchayat raj.

Diffictdties, failures and setbacksnotwithst<:tnding, it was encouraging tohear thepanchayat raj revolution beingportrayed as a "long term process".Nearly 2.5 lakh elected Panchayati RajInstitutions (PRIs), which, along withthe urban local bodies, constitute anarmy of some 32 lakh electedrepresentatives, with proportionalrepresentation for Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes (and Other BackwardClasses in many states). Mostdramatically, PRIs and urban localbodies have thrown up 12 lakh womenrepresentatives. And, one half of the

. total of 32 lakh representatives areyouth below 35 years of age.

Attention was drawn to the three-point democratic deficit in our system,namely, representativeness limited to itsarithmetical sense; the deficit in themandate for panchayat raj despite goingas far as we could in stretching theConstitution; and the deficit in anintelligent political relationship beingestablished between the different tiers of

The author is a noted economist, former Member, Planning Commission, and has worked extensively on Panchayati Raj issues.

YOJANA February 2007. 21

our hierachical system of governance,res~lting in panchayats being pervertedinto instruments of patronage ratherthan participation.

The answer lies in two otherthoughts placed before the conference,both based on the perceptions of theMahatma: ,one, that Gandhi's demandwas for Village Republics, not VillageKingdom. PRIs must functiondemocratically and transparently and beaccountable to lively gram sabhas. Theother thought brought to attention wasGandhi's concept of governance asoceanic circles spreading outwards as inthe ocea~ without anyone circleimposing itself on any other.

The conference endorsed the BigBang approach to devolution in Karen,which has rendered such remarkableresults compared to the incrementalmodel preferred by far too many of theother states.

Also that funds must be madeavailable to PRIs in such quantum as toreach a critical mass.

The funds should flow united;devolution with strings attached will bea debased form of devolutjon. Whilepanchayat raj is revolutionising socialrelationships in the countryside in. thethree vital areas of promotingdevelopment, strengthening democracyand ending discrimination, it is also true

that policy makers need hard facts fora sound, scientific, scholarly approachtowal:ds policy-making for panchayatraj.

Aiyar concluded on a haunting note:It is a horror that while in terms ofmillionaires India ranks eighth in theworld, in terms of the HumanDevelopment Index it ranks at 127.

That is the heart of the developmentdilemma with which the country isfaced.

Panchayats are not a panacea-butthey can ply our boat to a wholesomelife. 0

(Courtesy: 'The Asia.n Age')

22

NEXT STOP: MOONISRO working on launch of unmanned mission to orbit moon in 2008,

followed by manned mission by 2020


:;to ~ ~ '>f > ¥' ,,' '" l' ~ ~~ ~NlUALtSM ;' .'~,,',' /"j" .""~ {.. /~IEW'POINT

Naxalitein India

Movement

Prakash Singh

Government hasprepared acomprehensive14-Point Plan todeal with the

problem. How farthese measuresproduce results,remains to be seen

HE NAXALITE movementderives its name from asmall village Naxalbari onthe tri-junction of India,Nepal.and what was then

East Pakistan, where tribals took uparms against the oppression of the

" landlords in 1967. The movementspread like wildfire to different parts ofthe country. Some of the finest brainsand the cream of India's youth in certainareas l~ft their homes and colleges tochase the dream of a new weld, a newsocial order. Two decades had passedsince th~ dawn of independence and yetlarge segments of the Indian population_ peasants, workers and tribals -cor.tinued to suffer the worst forms ofexploitation. The peaceful politicalprocess; it was felt, would not be ableto brin"g about the necessary changebecause vested interests controlled thelevers ()f power, regulated the wheels ofindustry' and had a feudal strangleholdover the predominantly agrarianeconomy. An armed struggle was theonly way out, they thought.

The ~atithal tribals of N axalbari,armed with bows and arrows, forcibly

occupied the land of the kulaks andploughed them to establish theirownership. Demonstrations wereorganized against persons holdingpaddy in their godowns. In many cases,the entire stocks were lifted anddistributed or sold locally at cheaperrates. There were violent clashes.Between March and May 1967, nearlya hundred incidents were reported to the .police. The situatior. progressivelydeteriorated. After some dithering, theWest Bengal government ordered thepolice to take action. The movementwas squashed, but "Naxalbari explodedmany a myth".

The extremists, following Mao'sdictum that "if there is to be revolution,theJ:e must be a revolutionary party",formed, on April 22, 1969, theCommunist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). It was declared that "the firstand foremost task of our Party is torouse the peasant masses in thecountryside to wage guerilla war, unfoldagrarian revolution, build rural base,use the countryside to encircle the citiesand finally to capture the cities and toliberate the whole country":

The author is former DG, BSF. He was also DGP, Uttar Pradesh and DGP, Assam. He is Padma Shri awardee on national security.

23YOJANA February 2007

,

2006 (31.10.2006)1631033108

2005 (31.10.2005)44916163123

2005 (31.10.2005)

-+-Incidents '~Police-personnel killed """*-Civillans killed '''*Naxalites killed

HeadNo. of incidentsPolicel;'ersonnel killedCivilians killedNaxalites killed

200553222184160

2005

2004310066847

2003

57?

12127163

20023461284

87

20032002

500

400

300

200

100

o

•••.•No. of IncIdents •.•.• Police personnel killed __ Civilians killed, -;{- Nal<alileskilled

HeadNo. of IncidentsPolice Personnel killedCivilians killedNaxalltes killed

-MHA

The Chinese Communist Partywelcomed the formation of the

, CPI(ML). The MarxistcLeninist groupsof other countries like UK, Albania andSri Lanka also extended their recognition.

The Rise

The Naxalite movement, 'drawinginspiration from the Maoist ideology,had a meteoric phase for about two'years from the formation of the party tillthe end of June 197 I. The ripplesstarting from Naxalbmi spread in ever-widening circles to practically all partsof the country. The only areas whichremained untouched were the north-eastern states and the Union Territoriesof Goa, Pondicherry and Andaman &Nicobar Islands. The dominant strandof the movement was the annihilation ofcla,ss enemies. It was viewed as a"higher form of class struggle and thebeginning of guerilla war". Cham'sassessment was <that "every corner ofIndia is like a volcano" about to erupt,that "there is' the possibility of atremendous upsurge in India", and hetherefore called upon the cadres to startas many' points of armed struggle aspossible. "Expand anywhere andeverywhere" was his message. Suchexpansions were particularly noticeablein Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh,

Debra-Gopiballavpur in West Bengal,Mushahari in Bihar and Palia inLakhimpur district of UP. . '

The Naxalite violence was at a peakfrom about the middle of 1970 to themiddle of, 1971. It is estimated thatthere were 4 total of about 4,000incidents in the country from the middleof 1970 to the middle of 1971. The bulkof these were from West Bengal (3,500)followed by Bihar (220) and AndhraPradesh (70).

The political parties realized theemergence of a new force. Thegovernment became conscious of a newthreat not only to law and order but tothe very existence of the democraticstructure of the country.

The Decline

The Government of India organizedjoint operations by the army and the.police in the bordering districts of WestBengal, Bihar and Orissa which wereparticularly affected by N axalitedepredations. The ()perations wereundertaken from July 1to August 15,1971 and were code-named OperationSteeplechase. The broad strategy of theSecurity Forces was to surround as largean area as possible and seal the routesof entry and exit. The Army formed the

outer cordon and the CRPF the innerring. The local police, which wasgenerally accompanied by a magistrate,carried out thorough search of the area.Suspected naxalites were arrested, illicitweapons, ammunition and explosivesseized. Wherever possible,simultaneous action was taken in theneighbouring area also so that thenaxalites sneaking out were caughtwhile attempting to escape. Theseoperations covered Midnapur, Purulia,Burdwan and Birbhum districts of WestBengal; Singhbhum, Dhanbad andSanthal Parganas of Bihar, andMayurbhanj of Orissa.

The operation achieved the desiredresults, though not to the extentanticipated by the adrnipis~ration. Theorganizational apparatus of the naxalitesin the aforesajd districts was thrown outof gear and the party activists fled fromtheir known hideouts to other places insearch of safety. Violence registered adrop. Incidents of arms-snatching felldown. Above all, it restored theconfidence of the people in the strengthof the administration. Charu Mazumdarwas also arrested by the Calcutta Policedetectives on July 16, 1972. A few dayslater, he died. Charu's death marked theend of a phase in the Naxalitemovement. The period following his


Head 2002 2003 2004 2005

No. of incidents 68 ....49 35 42

F»olieePersonnel killed 07 12 04 01

Cfvlllans killed '. 04 03 04 13

NanlHes kilkid . 01 01 00 03

'.-- ---- --- ~ .'

.•... '-4

'2006 (31.102006)~38040412.

2005 (31.10.2005)38011303

2005(31.10.2005) 2008(31.10.200~)

I..•..lncldents••• PollcepersOnneildlecl-"CIv";;'~~"':'~~~ F

HeadNo. of IncidentsPolice Personnel killedCiVIlians killedNaxel"" killed

2005200420032002

-MBA

death witnessed divisions andfragmentations in the movement.

DR21iJThe formation of People's War

Group in Andhra Pradesh subsequentlyin 1980 under the leadership ofKondapalli Seetharamaiah gave a newlease of life to the movement. ThePWG's program included:

• re:distribution of land

• enforcing payment of minimumwages to the farm labour

• imposing taxes and penalties

• holding people's courts

• destroying government property

• kidnapping governmentfunctionaries

• attacking policemen

• enforcing a social code

The PWG is believed to haveredistributed nearly half a million acresof land across Andhra Pradesh. Itsactivists also insisted on a hike in thedaily minimum wages and the annualfee for jeetagadu (year-long'labour),The poorer sections found that what thepoliticians had been talking about andthe government promising year afteryear could be translated into a realityonly with the intervention of Naxalites.

Garakala daras (Lord of the Bushes) ishow the Naxalites came to be known inthe interior areas. Kidnappings to securethe release of its own cadres wasfrequently resorted to by the PWGactivists. The cause celebre was thekidnapping of six lAS officers includinga Principal Secretary of the stategovernment and Collector of EastGod~vari district on December 27,1987, while they were returning from atribal welfare meeting at Pulimatu in thedistrict. The state government decidedto play safe and released the eightNaxalites in Rajahmundry jail. ThePWG got tremendous propagandamileage out of the incident.

The revolutionary writers of thelana Natya M.andali, the cultural frontof the PWG, greatly helped in preparingthe environment in which the Naxaliteideology found ready acceptance. Itsmoving spirit was Gummadi Vittal Rao,better known as Gaddar. He was aballadeer who fought the establishment

. with the power of his songs. ThePeople's War Group gradually spreadits organizational network to the coastaland Rayalaseema districts in the state.It extended its tentacles to the adjoiningareas of Mahatashtra, Madhya Pradeshand Orissa and made a dent even in the

bordering districts of Karnataka andcertain pockets of Tamil Nadu.

The Andhra Pradesh governmentbanned the PWG and its six frontorganizations in 1992. At the same time,the state police, assisted by the centralparamilitary forces, undertook well-organized counterinsurgencyoperations. As a result, 248 Naxaliteswere liquidated and 3,434 activists wereapprehended in 1992. The arrest ofKondapally Seetharamaiah and otherimportant leaders meant further setbackto the PWG. There was demoralizationamong the ranks and about 8,500N axals surrendered before theauthorities.

In Bihar, the Maoist CommunistCentre, another major naxaliteformation, perpetrated acts of violence.Its organizational network extended tomost of the Central Bihar districts.During the six year period from 1987to 1992, there were eight majorincidents in Gaya, Chatra andAurangabad districts in which 42Rajputs, 40 bhumihars, 5 Muslims, 1BJP MP and 3 policemen among otherswere killed. What began <).S a fight forsocial and economic justice actuallydegenerated into a caste conflict with aveneer of class struggle. The MCC ran


virtually a parallel judicial system incertain pockets. These were describedas Jan Adalat or People's Court wherethey would even shorten an accused bysix inches - behead him, in other words!

[Pre~ent Pos~The present phase - we could also

call it the third phase - of the movementcommenced with the holding of theNinth Congress of the People's WarGroup in 2001, when it was decided tomilitarise the armed component of the"party by giving more sophisticatedweapons to the People's Guerilla Army.The total number of incidents ofviolence and resultant deaths in thecountry during the last five years havebeen as follows:

~ Spread over a large geographical area

Violence was thus at a peak in 2005when 1,594 incidents took place inwhich 669 persons were killed, though2003 had registe!ed a slightly highernumber of incidents.

Andhra Pradesh "has graduallyemerged as the epicenter of left-wingextremism in the country. The PWG setup a People's Guerilla Army inDecember 2000 "to strengthen thepolitical power of the people and todefeat the efforts of the State and theCentral Governments to check the(revolutionary) movement".

are indications that the PWG "cadresreceived training in the handling ofweapons and lEDs from some ex-LTTEcadres. They have also someunderstanding with the NationalSocialist Council of Nagaland(I-M) forsupporting each others' cause. Somebatches of CPML-Party Unity alsoappear to have received arms trainingunder the guidance of United LiberationFront of Assam. The Communist Partyof India (Maoist) has also worked out

"a strategic alliance with the CommunistParty of Nepal (Maoist).

@!iuation in ,States IAndhra Pradesh

The most audacious attack by thePWG took place on October 1, 2003,when they tIied to assassinate the ChiefMinister of Andhra Pradesh,N Chandrababu Naidu, on a forest roadbetween Tirupati and Tirumala inChittoor district while he wasproceeding to attend the Brahmotsavamcelebrations. Cfaymore mines hit the carof the chief minister; the bulletproofarmour over the car however saved him.Four others including the State'sInformation Technology minister,B Gopalakrishna Reddy, sustainedserious injuries. The PW claimedresponsibility for the attack, saying thatit was "to eliminate a person who hasbeen perpetuating state sponsoredviolence".

Peace talks were held between thePeople's War Group and the state

~ Increase in potential for violence

~ Unification of PW and MCCI

~ Plan to have a Red Corridor

~ Nexus with NE insurgents andNepalese Maoists

The Government of India havealready expressed concern over thespread of the Naxalite movement overa huge geographical area. The PrimeMinister has described N axalitemovement as the single biggest threat tothe internal security of the country.According to the Institute for ,ConflictManagement, the movement hasactually spread over 165 <;Iistrictsin 14states and that the Home Ministry'sassessment in this regard is anunderstatement. The Naxals' potentialfor violence has increased substantiallywith their acquisition of sophisticatedweapons and expertise in the use 9fimprovised explosive devices (lEDs).They are said to be in possession of atleast 6,500 regular weapons includingAK 47 rifles and SLRs.

The movement got a tremendousboost when its two majorcomponents, the People's War (PW)and the Maoist Communist Centre ofIndia (MCCI), decided to merge onMarch 21, 2004, though a formalannouncement was made on October14, 2004 only. The unified party wascalled the Communist Party of India(Maoist). The merger, ~part fromaugmenting the support base of themovement, has given it the characterof a pan-Indian revolutionary group.The Naxals' plan to have a CompactRevolutionary Zone stretching fromIndo-Nepal border to theDandakaranya Region is likely to geta fillip with the unification of theirranks.

The Naxalite groups' nexus with theother extremist organizations has addedto the complexity of the problem. There

564482515566669

1,2081,4651,5971,5331,594

Total Incidents Deaths20012002200320042005

The Ministry of Home Affairs,Government of India, admits the spreadof naxalite movement to 76 districts in9 states of the Union, namely, AndhraPradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Orissa, Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh an"d WestBengal. It further concedes that thePeople's War and the MCCI are tryingto increase their influence imdoperations in some parts of the states ofTamil Nadu, Kamataka and Kerala andalso in some new areas of the statesalready affected.

The disturbing features of themovement are:


,Uttar Pradesh has witnessed stirrings. of Naxalite activities in the eastern beltin Sonbhadra, Gorakhpur, Ghaziapur,BaHia, Chandauli and Mirzapurdistricts. On November 20, 2004Naxalites blew up a police jeep in theforests of Chandauli with a landmine,killing 13 PAC and 4 police personnel.

In Maharashtra, Gadchiroli isparticularly affected, though there areincidents in Bhandara, Chandrapur,Gondia and Nanded districts also.

government of Andhra Pradesh duringJune-July 2002 at the initiative of'Committee of Concerned Citizens'.Three rounds of talks. were held butunfortunately there was no agreementon the substantive issues. The PWGcalled off the talks in July 2002 inprotest against the allegedly killing oftheir cadres in 'fake encounters'. Asecond round of peace talks were heldfrom October 15 to 18, 2004 atHyderabad, but there were no fruitfuldiscussions. The government tookstrong exception to the Naxals movingabout with arms in towns and cities. TheNaxahtes' annihilation of Narsi Reddy,Congress MLA, and eight others in amajor attack on August 15, 2005 inMehboobnagar proved to be theproverbial last straw. The peace processended abruptly, and governmentreimposed the ban on the Communist. Party of India (Maoist) and its frontorganizations.

"mm]The Naxalite movement in Bihar is

bogged down in caste basedjealousies aD:d rivalries. On January5, 20105, the N axali te killed theSuperintendent of Police, Munger byblowing up his jeep. Six otherpolicemen were also killed. Lately,the Maoist Communist Centre hasshifted its focus to the Jharkhandregion, which was carved out-ofBihar on November 15, 2000. TheNaxallites are said to be active in 15out of the 22 districts of Jharkhand.They have been particularly targetingthe police .and the paramilitarypersonnel.

.DJtdememh1ttitgarJ!jIn Madhya Pradesh, following the

bifurcation of the state in November2000, Naxalite violence is nowconfined to Balaghat, Mandla, Dindori,and Sidhi districts only. The Madhya

Pradesh Transport Minister, LakhiramKavre, was annihilated on December15, 1999 in retaliation to the killing offour top PWG leaders

In Chhattisgarh, Naxalite violence isconcentrated mainly in the Bastar areaand in Rajnandgaon, Jashpur andSarguja districts. The state governmenthas been trying to mobilize the tribalsthrough 'Salwa Judum' (peace mission) ..This is being vehemently opposed bythe Naxalites, and they have beenrecklessly killing the Judum activists.The latest carnage took place on July16, 2006 when Maoists slaughtered 27tribals in a relief camp in Dantewadadistrict.

Naxalite violence in West Bengal isat a low pitch compared to the otherstates. This is to be attributed to thesuccess of Operation Barga underwhich sharecroppers were registered.and given permanent and inheritablerights on cultivation of their plotscovering a total area of 11 lac acres.Besides, 1.37 lac acres of ceilingsurplus and benami lands were acquiredby the state government and distributedamong 25 lac landless and marginalcultivators. The land reforms have seenthe emergence of a new class looselytermed 'rural rich' and weakened thesocial and political power enjoyed bythe landlords in the countryside. Thereis some Naxalite activity nevertheless inMidnapur, Bankura and Puruliadistricts.

Orissa witnessed a qualitativeincrease in Naxalite violence duriI).g2000 and 2001. The MCC hasestablished its presence in the northerndistricts while the PWG hasconsolidated its hold over the southerndistricts. The formation of Andhra-

Orissa Border Special Zonal Committeegave 'fillip to Left Wing Extremism inthe State.

In Karnataka, Naxalites have beenactive in the Kudremukh area followinggovernnient's move to evict the tribalsfrom the forests. On February 11,2005,Naxalites killed 6 policemen of theKarnataka State Reserve Police inTumkur district.

The factors which gave rise toNaxalism in the country are,unfortunately, very much present todayalso. The extent of poverty in thecountry continues to be abysmal. Landreforms remain a neglected area.Unemployment figures are high. Tribalshave been getting a raw deal.Governance, particularly in .remoteareas, is poor.

Government have prepared acomprehensive 14-Point Plan to dealwith the problem. There' is specialemphasis on the socio-economicdevelopment of the affected areas, andthe state governments have been askedto ensure speedy implementation ofland reforms. Infrastructure is beingdeveloped and there ar'e.pt'ans toprovide employment to the youth in theremote, backward areas. The NationalTribal Policy seeks to protect the rightsof tribals. How far these measuresproduce the intended results, however,remains to be seen. 0


28 YOJANA .February 2007

l

Greyhounds The Answer toExtremist Violence

M S Shanker

This elite group, which was startedwith a small number of 100-odd

As a result, the state sufferedmaximum casualties amongst the policepersonnel as well civilians. Although,the state police could raise the APSpeci::tl Police battalions to combat thenaxal menace, yet they could not matchthe left-wing extremists.

This forced the then government torecruit and train much more elite policeforce. And.it was rightly named as ."Greyhounds" .

erstwhile government in the state hasthought of containing the left-wingextremists violence, which wasspreading like wild fire. The CivilPolice, who were being trained only tocontain and enforce law and order wereunable to face the challenges beenthrown at by the well-trained CPI-MLsplinter groups: Of them, the thenPeople's War Group, was recognized as. most militant as it could acquire mostsophisticated weapons like AK-47assault rifles and acquired blasting oflandmine technology using remotecontrol operations.

No sooner this was realized, the

Successive governments in the statewere dilly-dallying with the spread ofleft-wing extremist violence who havespearheaded their ideological warfarewell equipped with arms andammunition. While an "X" partyperceived it as a socio-economicalproblem, the "Y" as law-and order. But,the fact that it was the combination oflaw-and order as well the socio-economic.

Established way back in 1989, thebr~inchild of a tough super cop, K SVyas, the Greyhounds, had shown to theentire country that the powers that be,if it has commitment to containsenseless violence perpetrated by these .CPI-ML groups, it can as well succeedin its efforts.

NDHRA PRADESH, whichwas bogged down with theleft-wing extremist groups'of CPI-ML violence, hadestablished a separate high-

profile and well 'trained unit withinAndhra Police to take on the left wingextremists.

~']reyhounds haveb4~comepopular not

only in manynaxal-infestedstates but also

some. neighbouringcountries like

NepalThe. author is Chief PRO with Andhra Pradesh Police.


members, has now grown manifold. Thestate police are keeping the exactmanpower figures of this unit as topsecret.

There is a special drive to recruityoungsters for this elite group. It isgathered that the basic requirements to -join this group are also different. Apartfrom physical fitness, the other factorthat is being considered was strongmental ability to accept challenges andexecute them. Their training is-as toughas the Army, if not more. Like in IndianArmy, this the author is Chief PRO with

- Andhra Pradesh Police. Elite unitmembers are also being trained tohandle modern weapons, understandand imbibe latest technologies inweaponry, map reading, perfectcommunications skills, overcomedifficulties in tough terrains (like ropewa.lldng, mountaineering, skiing, horseriding etc.,). Apart from this they arebeing trained in guerilla warfare besideshandling suicide squads.

The elite group is being pressed intoservice only after attaining specificinformation about the possible left-wingextremists groups movements indifficult terrains of either Nallamalaforests or deep jungles of-Dandakaranya, which cover most of thestate geographical peripheries on theEast and Northern borders. The Special

\

Intelligence Bureau (SIB) of the statepolice's anti-naxal wing is giving the tipoffs.

Ironically, the police had to facedifficulties in combating the armednaxals, as the state have territorialborders with Maharashtra, MadhyaPradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa in thenorth-East and Tamil Nadu andKarnataka on the southern side.

The left-wing extremists do havetheir -presence in Madhya Pradesh,Maharasthra; Chhattisgarh, and Orissa,besides making penetration in someparts 'of the other two southern states.In the past, the extremist groups hadused the 'strike~and-run' tactics byeffectively using their manpower totheir set targets. The naxals alsoeffectively used their favourite slogan"land to tiller" and impressed upon thetfibals living in remotest andinaccessible- areas. After successfuloperation, the naxals managed to takeshelter at these tribal hamlets, as theyare not accessihle.

Fearing possible mining of the areaand the ill-trained cops re$tricted onlyto the urban areas. However, theyrealized that development andcontaining left-wing extremist violencemust go hand-in-hand. It thought of awell-trained police units like

Greyhounds and chalked out schemes toimprovement communication networkto reach out to remotest comers of thestate, especially in the deep jungles.

As a result, the elite police outfit,'Greyhounds operations' startedyielding results as Andhra Pradeshduring its last two years intensified itsoperations to flush out the left-wingextremists from their hideouts. This wasafter the state government puttingsincere efforts for a dialogue with theleft-wing extremists groups foramicable settlement to ensure: long-lasting peace and tranquility in the state.But, the talks failed and Greyhoundsswung into action.

The Centre too has finallyrecognized Andhra Pradesh initiativesin successfully containing the left-wingextremist violence, which rocked thestate little over two and half decades,-and directed other naxals (or Maoists)infested states to follow Andhra model.This is no mean achievement.

The Greyhounds, on the other hand- have become popular not only in manynaxal-infested states within the country,but also to some neighbouring countrieslike Nepal. They choose to send theirpolicemen -to get trained by theGreyhounds unit situated on the cityoutskirts on a sprawling campus. 0

---

- - .Humane Policy for Displaced I?armers : PM

o

The- Prime Minister

-~:~a:~:i:a~::~::::~~displacedJarmers would be finalizedin the next three months.

Itw6rirdbe "more progressive,humane and conducive tdthe long-term welfare of all stakeholders in oureconomy", Dr Singh was speaking atthe inaugural function of the -annualmeeting of Federation. of IndianChambers of Commerce and'Industry

30

(~C~i):iie -said issuesi~richasl~ndacquisition and displacem~nt of peopleand their rehabilitation andresettlementsh~~ldlj~ transparently .and' t:ffecti \relyadd1:essed.

Recfyiringto tax l'egirri~~he said thatour' tax. sys.tem should be Iiberalbutequitab1e. Irithe longrun,itshouldnpt.have toO many exemption~}batmake _tax.adm!nistration an. unnecessarilycomplex exercise vulnerable to misuse,Dr Singh said.

.•••..~ifitid~~cpa~~~f~~~h~~cpe.c ..h9P6d:therctwo countries. become. so':~i~n~l~ that apatposPJiere.of trustisg~~~r~~~?V?vyi!i 's vi~ion9freg~o~al integ~ati93hePrimeMi~c~sct~~said ';~d~r~~of'a da~whe~\\f~ile retai~ing.:gurrespe~ti venaiionalidentities; (~he can have-breakfast in AnirHshr, lunchi inLah()rearid din.ner}n I~l;lbul".


NAXALISM . . .. . ANALYSIS, +

An Integrated StrategyRK Bhonsle

A virtuous.economic cycle.lor employmentis a key facet ofthe strategy

which needs tobe diligentlyfostered

The author is an expert on security issues.


HE REBIRTH 'Of Naxalism inIndia in the 1990's hascaincided with the sec andphase 'Of natian building 'Of

'Ouryaung republic. Iranically.it alsa 'Overlaps liberalisatian 'Of theecanamy undertaken by ecanamicvisian 'Of the present Prime Minister, DrManmahan Singh, integrating thecauntry with the glabal ecanamy anddismantling the licence permit raj 'Of

yesteryear. While the creamy layer 'Of

the ecanamy easily adapted ta glabalrealities and is grawing at a steady 8 per,cent aver the years, at the subterraneanlevel, at which the Naxal mavement'Operates, is sadly the parallelecanamy'Operated by the guerillas that is seen tabe prospering. Thus the influence 'Of theNaxals extends by a canservativeestimate ta aver 160 'Of the 602 districts'Of the cauntry .

The contrast between the farces 'Of '

glabalisatian and Naxalism in India,explains the prasperity-paverty dyad 'that caexists. The reality is that baththese trends are significant far natianaldevelapment. Far withaut integratingwith the glabal ecanamy, India cannatacquire the resaurces ta develap its,

"ather" in which the Naxals aperate,andwithaut develaping the, "'Others" wecannat call 'Ourselves citizens 'Of adevelaped warld, an aspiratian 'Of everyIndian. Naxalism thus needs ta beunderstaad as a phenamenan afnatianbuilding, as its failed dimensian,needing urgent palliatives essentially atthe grass ro?ts level.

Equality and equity is the visian 'Of

'OurCanstitutian, a pawerful dacumentwhich has inspired generatians. Yet ithas failed ta bring abaut change inmillians 'Of Indians far lack 'Of

adaptatian at the subterranean level.This inability to ttan~farm theConstitutianal visian ta the deep netherworld 'Of rural and tribal India was ripefar thase with revalutianary ideas andvi gaur as K Seetharamaiah 'Of thePeaple's War wha have successJully'Organised a mavement 'Of rebellianagainst nan implementatian and nandelivery 'Of palicies 'Of the state.Gradually .extendin~ their reach ta areaswhich have been traditionally backwardand yet rich in extractive resaurces asminerals and tendu, the mavementtoday encampasses over 25 percent ofthe cauntry's area spread aver its heart,

31

2004,37941

128

20

200&308

27'

91

078406

7118

-MHA

The characteristics of Naxalismwould thus indicate a structuredideological, political, social, economic

Contours,

live by the gun reaping a rich harvestof extortion arid "tax" collection withrevenues to the tune of Rs 100 crorereported in Andhra Pradesh. Acquisitionof facilities' for manufacture ofsophisticated arms and ammunition is apart of the overall process of expansiondemonstrated by the seizure of a largeconsignment of rockets in AndhraPradesh, allegedly manufactured in anindustrial complex in Chennai. Thehierarchy of organisation' follows thepattern of state committee, special zonalcommittees, area committees, dalams,local squads and action teams. Thespatial spread is denoted by its interstate expanse with reports indicatingthat Naxals of Andhra Pradesh areproviding leadership for the movementin other states grooming local

'leaders. The total contour ofN axalism today represents aninstitutional form of terrorism withguerrillas capable of isolated large scalemilitary operations as witnessed inJehanabad and a series of networkedacts of terroris~ across a broad swatheof the nation'alhinterland;

well as hubris of bureaucraticgovernance.

Unable to change the status quodemocratically, revolutionaries seize theinitiative with a genuine desire fortransformation in the lives of the massesat least in the beginning of themovement till an ambit,ion for selfgrowth, personal grandeur, andanimosities, pelf and power results inloss of sight of the original aims of thestruggle leading t.o adoption of meanswhich ate criminal and dehumanizingsuch as the killing of innocents inErrabore, Chhattis~arh on 17 July 2006as a symbol of opposition to SalwaJudum. The anti social elements waitingin the wings with divergent social and,political aims and merchants of profit astendu contractors enter the fray to createconditions of anarchy in which they canprosper, by undermining the state.

The administration dependent onextensive security 'is further alienatedfrom the masses, leaving the field openfor the so called revolutionaries who

the junction point between, AndhraPradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra,Chhattisgarh, Jharkhimd and Bihar inthe North and pockets of other states,' • Lack of empathy of the politicalKarnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar class which in a modem system ofPradesh and West Bengal. An administration and legislativeanalytical view oJ the affected areas functioning tends to gravitate awaywould reveal common characteristics from the grassroots.of failure of governance and theprocesses of nation buildingsummarized as given below:

• Dependence of a majority of thepeople on agriculture at thesubsistence level, a primitive fOnTIofsurviving nature's bounty, with no'human intervention in the form ofplanned farming, soil replacement,regeneration and market dictatedsowing patterns.

• Extractive mining, forestry and alliedproduce, which are highlyexploitative, remain the only othereconomic activity.

• Modernisation in terms of education,health care, and secondaryemployment in blue and white collar)obs or services are :virtually nonexistent.

• Apathy of the, administration to theneeds of the people on the plea of"non intervention in tribal culture,customs, and traditions and stasis as '


~... ., and military profile summarized as

follows:

• The ideological underpinnings arecomplex varying from tribalism tocommunism. However development

, and the growth divide is the keyparadigm and Naxalites are adept atmanipulating local grievances fornefarious ends.

• Organisation is well structured andincludes a political, military,economic as well as technical wing.Strategic congruity and coordinationbetween Naxals operating in various-

- states is evident.

• The level of militant actionsrepresents networked terrorismrather than an ability to carry outcoordinated Paramilitary operations.

, • Financial support is derived fromlow level economic terrorism in thefOlm of extortion, "taxes", levies andlooting of government treasuries andbanks. External financial support ofvested interests has not been noticedso far.

• Support of the lpcal populationvaries from genuine sympathy tocoercion.

• Naxalism affects society at all levels.

Out of the 160 plus districts affectedby N axalism, ,it is generallyacknowledged that 55 are worstaffected where the Naxalite are.reportedly running a parallelgoVernment. On the other hand theA'bujmadh area in Chattisgarh is'reportedly'devoid of any form ofrgovernance and is unde; total Naxalcontrol. The area facing Naxal tyrannycould ?e divided int6 'following threecate~~oties:

• Tier 1. Abujmadh Area. - Under_total control of the Naxals, need toestablish state authority.

•• Tier 2. 55 Worst affeCted districts ~re-establish state authority, neutralizeparallel influence of Naxals.

YOJANA February 2007-

• Tier 3. Balance 100 plus districts -Contain Naxal influence, enhanceeffectiveness of state authority,

Counter Naxal StrategiesGeneral : Given the constitutional

diversity in law and order between thestate and the centre, it has not beenpossible to follow a uniform strategy.As'the overall strategy of the Naxals iswell coordinated, the fallout of variedpolicies by different stat,es isinvariably castigated. There arereasons to believe however that itmay be possible to follow divergentstrategies between states and evenwithin different districts in a statedepending on the level of militancy,the strength of the Naxalite and thelevel of their operations. There IS nodoubt that this will create situationswhere Naxalite under pressure in onedistrict may seek sanctuary in otherareas, but it has the benefit ofwinning over local support byestablishing a positive differential.

Strategy: The primary strategyselected has to be people centric ratherthan the normal trend of terrorist focus.The variation is subtle and thus needsdelibefatlon. In people centricstrategies, all acti vities law and order,development Of humanitarian arerelated to providing relief to the people,be it immediate, short and long tern.Operations impinging on safety andsecurity of the public are avoided evenif it implies a temporary reprieve to -themilitants.-The example of Salwa Judumcould perhaps highlight this facet. Thedisplacement of almost 70,000 peoplefrom their homes and livelihood haspossibly occurred as the larger

-implications of such a movement and itsNaxalite backlash was not realised.Today it lias become an example ofliving human tragedy, where poor tribalhave been made refugees in their ownhomeland. The people-centric strategiesdoes not imply a pacifist approach to

the contrary it would entail search anddestroy missions s~eking out theguerrillas but avoiding fall out of theconfrontation on the masses.

Multi Pronged Approach : In linewith people centricity, a nuancedapproach with different levels of police,development and economic activities inTier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas wouldhave to be undertaken as explainedbelow:

(a) Tier 1. This being under totalcontrol of the Naxalite, two approachescould be adopted. Negotiation with thelocal Naxa1 leadership, which may notwork initially but if persisted couldachieve results and could be attempted.The other option is to neutralize theNaxals, for which at present, operationsby the army appear to be the onlyalternative.

(b) Tier 2. 'Operations in this areawill be perforce police predominant tore-establish ,control and neutralizeinflu~nce of terrorists. Situationalprotection of a wide variety of targetswill be essent~al. Police will have to besupported by special commandotaskforces based on the Grey houndmodel of Andhra Pradesh.Concomitantly follow up developmentoperations are essential.

(c) Tier 3. These operations need to-be development heavy, limiting policeinfluence to creati,ng an atmosphere ofsafety and security for conduct ofnormal"economic activities. A brokenwindows approach has to be followedin that even the smallest incident has tobe investigated and the culprits nailed.

Grassroots Governance. Re-establishing grassroots governanceimplies ensuring that benefits of variousschemes in vogue such as the ruralemployment guarantee sche~e, PradhanMantri Gram Sadak Yojna,the securityrelated expenditure grants reach the"Aam Admi" rather than remaining

33

contain economic impainnent need tobe undertaken by law !is well aseconomic enforcement wings; the latteris particularly weak and needs to beactivated at the state and district level.Containing unemployment despite thelarge number, of employment guaranteeschemes is a challenge. Equity in pay isanother issue, even the Special Policeofficers are paid Rs 1,500 a monthwhich is just above $ l' a day, theestablished global poverty indicator.Restraining rumours, propaganda anddisinformation is a major challenge.The Maoists generally have well oiledpropaganda machinery which has noinstitutional counters from theadministration. There is thus a need for.evolving a vibrant media andcommunication strategy,at the grassroots.

Governance

~Emplo~1l1~ritRelated ~l1~mk. Acti vi,ty •

'.Pb1iti9al~1;\d social S~~~~gy

Eolicing~d SOCi~p~lj)~~g .•VOf;tti~rfland G~ner~lEdu~ati9n:'MasS blfonnation; Edu~ation, ".,.;Communic~tion, ';<h, ,''7

Health ~Setvices ~~{':/• if;;FiminciaLassistance !oJ

incorporating all elements, of the societyhas to be established. The role of the.grid will be two fold, containment of theroot causes and symptoms of militancyand expanding effectiveness ofgovernance summari~ed as in Table.

The key aspects of containment are

restricting the geographical spread, by. ,Expansion of governance is the keyidentifying likely areas where Naxalite to normalizing the situation.are planning to spread their influence by Administration implies ensuringproactive police and economic delivery of the benefit of the largemeasures, Information about such areas number of schemes in the field ofis available in open sources. Control of employment guarantee, land reforms,violence and crinie are primary police education; health and business to thetasks to be carried out through masses. The procedures for most ofdeterrence as well as proactive policing these are so complicated that it createsto seek hideouts and rush them, a vigour a series of middlemen, who in leagueshown by the Grey Hounds of Andhra with corrupt officials tum out to be thePradesh Police recently. An attendant principal beneficiaries. Tangible resultsissue is containmeht of dehumanization, in governance can only be achieved bywhich permeates due to a culture of simplification of procedures to be userviolence and self survival ignoring the friendly for a sub literate tribal. Politicallarger social good. This can only be and social synergy will act as a principalachieved by enlightened means of medium, where political parties andjurisdiction adopted by the state.. social organisation undertake the role ofRestricting the trend of inducting local, an inter link between the masses and theyouth in police and Para military forces administration in a positive way. Thepurely for employment generation is an example of students organisations inaspect which needs consideration. urban areas, who at the time ofContainment of social. discontent is a registration of new entrants to collegescritical issue, measures for the same set up camps to guide and assist youthneed to be carefully thought through in filling forms and facilitate fonnalitiessuiting local conditions. fo~ entrance could be adopted for thisTribal rights, distribution of land and purpose in rural areas, where CIvil

greater social equity will go it long way society organisations can act asin achieving this objective. Strategies to, ' facilitators 'in dissemination of

grandiose proclamations bla(ed fromthe ramparts of festooned daises. Thiswill necessitate major organisationalchanges in our delivery mechanismsand attitudes from the lowest patwaris,naib tehsildars, tehsildars to the key toall governance, the district magistrate.In parallel, people's representativesn~ed to build public opinion to supportthe executive. For implementation thefollowing is suggested:

(a) Tier 1. A fresh model ofgovernance with virtual control underanny would bave to be adopted.

(b) Tier 2. 55 selected districtmagistrates and superintendent of policepreferably volunteers should.be postedto these districts for a minimum tenureof three years. No post in the districtadministration should 'be left vacant andspecial monetary as well as promotionincenti ves should be provided toofficials, who will be functioning underextreme threat of danger to life.

, (c) Tier 3. Volunteers for serving inthese districts could be called for,alternately two year tenure should bemade mandatory before grant" of nextpromotion at all levels and additionalbonus in terms of financial' andmonetary benefits could be granted.

RU1l1ours,disinfonnationRecruitment by Naxals

Unemploymentf Social DiscontentViolence

~ Dehumanization and criin~

Implementation StrategyA coordinated grid comprising of

security and administration

34 YOJANA Febru'ary 2007

governance in concert with.the district administration.Creating a virtuouseconomic cycle for growthof employment is a keyfacet of the strategy ofexpansion, which needs tobe diligently fosteredbased on linkage ofvocational and skill basededucation with jobs. Areverse model of inductingyouth in jobs on stipendand then training them inrelevant skills should beadopted to engage peoplein fruitful occupations.

Education. and health services are theprincipal agents of change in a society.Schools and health centres should behubs of development and the, districtadministration needs to ensure thatthese function effectively. All posts inremote areas need to be fullysubscribed. A critical area is masseducation on issues of health, derivingprogramI)1e benefits and gener.alawareness for which specific campaignsneed to be launched. Financialassistance in terms of small loans andcreation of self help groups is a measurewhich has received internationalrecognition with the Nobel Peace awardto Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Thispositive perception needs to beexploited to rid the tribal from the vicelike grip of money lenders.

Policing is a principal facet forres.toring normalcy. A number ofmeasures to improve policing at thestate level have been taken, but itsbenefits once again are not being seenat the grass roots level. The key topolicing is a grid of functional policestations and security hot spots such asSalwa Judum camps. An intelligencenetwork is another important issue. Thesigns of a likely strike by Naxalite arereasonably obvious and will includeincreased activity of militants and their


supporters to the area, contact 'with localsleepers, disappearance of keysleepers aild greater presence ofaliens. In some cases it has been seenthat shopkeepers are aware of a likelyincident and keep theirestablishments closed, but the policehave not noticed the change, nor havethey been informed for fear ofreprisals. Penetration of the terroristorganisations and human intelligenceis of essence supplemented bytechnical intelligence. Social policingis an important facet which isnormally neglected. This entailscreation of synergy between thecitizen and the policemen throughmutual respect and reducing necessityfor communal policing thereby,targeting poJice activity towards hardcore crime rather than marginalactivities. This will also contribute tobuilding intelligence .networks byindicating existence of sociallydeviant activities of individuals andgroups.

Information needs to be leveragedas a core strategy for monitoringimplementation. A bottoms upinformation loop which starts fromthe common man and moves upwardsto the panchayat, taluka, district andthe state to provide feed back needsto be created. On the other hand an.

integrating top down loop wouldfacilitate information dissemination.Physical and human data points haveto be established and a core groupf.ormed comprising of the political,administrative, police, economic,social and media head in each area tosynergise the process. Such a coregroup should evolve periodic t~rgets,divide these into achievable goalsbased on fixed time lines in terms ofweekly, fortnightly and monthly'objectives and then mpnitor progress.

Naxalism is one of the manychallenges of nation builqing facingIndia. There is no doubt that through .enlightened policies and commitment ofthe people, the executive and theleadership, this challenge would be overcome in times to come. It is howeveressential to ensure that this is achieved.with minimum dissonance, humantragedies and loss of lives, so that thetransformation of those at the mm;ginsof our economic success story is aspainless as possible. Fortunately thecountry today is endowed withsufficient resources; inability of deliveryof these to those who actually need ithas however. been poor. An integratedgrid strategy suggested above is one. way this could be achieved to enablethe benefits of governance reach thegrassroots in Naxal affected areas. 0

35

. Rural Progress Plan of Rs 1,58,310 crore

Ea first of its kind estimation ofinfrastruc. ture deficit in ruralreas, the National Council of

Applied Economic Research(NCAER) has estimated aninvestment of Rs 1,58,310 crore intelecommunications, power roadsand transport, water and sanitation.

Pointing to the fact that ruralIndia faces more acute shortage ofinfrastructure, the India RuralInfrastructure Report made. a strongpitch for decentralising andlocalising the provision .of theseservices in addition to seekingnewer financing instruments. It saidthat even a stepped up allocation forinfrastructure, from 4.6 per cent ofthe gross domestic product atpresent to 7-8 per cent of GDP inthe 11th Plan, may not be sufficientto bridge the gap.

"The capital needed to buildinfrastructure is a small percentageof the total expenditure that wouldbe needed to be .incurred by states(for operation and maintenance).Nor do the the capital costs includecentral funds that would be neededto be spent on administrativeexpenses and subsidies," it said.

The report pointed out that78 per cent of ruralhouseholds did not haveaccess to toilets, while 5 percent did not have a source ofdrinking water within a onekilometre radius.

Despite claims of widespreadelectrification, only 52 per centrural households had powerconnections and those witp

. connections had to do withoutelectricity for 13-17 hours a day. It

36

also said that 44 per cent householdsdid not have access to surfaced roads.The telecom boom too seems to havetouched the villages only at thefringes, with 92 per cent householdshaving to do without a decentexchange line.

The prescription for. bridging thegap is promoting new technologies,developing local initiatives andstimulating demand. In case oftelecom, for instance, it suggestedthat instead of landlines, wireless andcellular phones provided a more cost-effective solution and microfinancecould help village-folk buy or hireinstruments.

Similarly, it suggesteddecentralisation to help a multioperator (discom) regime. This wayadministrative costs would comedown, Besides, it has recommendedrevenue-sharing among generators,transmission companies anddistributors so that say, a distributoris not held to ransom by a powerproducer.

For roads, the reportrecommended the establishment ofvillage-level associations, whichcould build roads, based oncontributions from m~mbers andsubsidies from the government andalso collect user charges to ensureproper maintenance. The governmentfunding should be based on theeconomic benefit that flows andpriority should be given to projectsthat provide more returns. The reportsuggested that microfinance canstimulate vehicular demand andinformal operators, providingservices which may not be legalunder present rules, could be roped in

for better connectivity.

There is also a suggestion to levyuser charges for water~somethingwhich has often not found favourwith the political classes~to reducewastage and also generate resourcessince government assistance is oftenfound insufficient. For those who •found the charges heavy,microfinance is recommended as anaid. "Local providers now face entryand pricing barriers in formal watermarkets, although many operateinformally. Registration would helpto legitimise their operations," itsaid.

PM Lists Five Challenges• Revitalising rural economy

• Improved delivery of publicservices

• Detter urban management

• Financial system for globalintegration

• Private investment ininfrastructure

Developing villages: The RuralInfrastructure Report of the NCAERhas estimated an expenditure ofRs 1,58,313 crore to developvillages. The requirement fordifferent sector are:

• Rs 92,609 crore for telecomconnectivity.

• Rs 55,243 crore for power supply.

• Rs 5,892 crore for roads andtransport.

• Rs 4,488 crore for water andsanitation.

(* At 2002-03 prices)

(Source: NCAER's, 'India RuralInfrastructure Report')


In.dia's Gordian Knot

L.....•.

..

Without economicdevelopment,

strong-arm tacticswill not succeedagainst thenaxalites evenwith th.e strongest.possible anti-terror law

VEN as the Indian state isdesperately looking for aweapon that can cut it freefrom the Gordian knot ofNaxalism, conditions on the

ground give the impression that socio-economic situation in the thirteenaffected states of the country as well asin those that have been put on red alertwill continue to provide the Maoistswith the foot soldiers for theirrevolution. Obviously, the knot is notonly tightening its noose around India'sneck, there appear to be no one who.could exercise the proverbialAlexandrian slash. This was perhaps onthe mind of Prime Minister DrManmohan Singh, when he describedNaxalism, along with terrorism, as thetwo biggest terrorist thre'lts'to thecountry in his independence day speech,

However, he also recognised the.socio-economic problems that surroundits spread and prodded the affectedstates to hasten implementation of theprogrammes of socio-economicupliftment of the underclass in theaffected regions. Obviously, his two-pr'onged strategy of dealing withNaxalism is to come down heavily onthe Maoist leadership at the van guardof the movement and wean away thepoor, whose frustrations with the stateand society, take them .on therevolutionary path.

Whether or not this strategy willwork remains to be seen. For, it is easy

. .~to admIt for the government"\. .programmes ofsocio-econupliftment of the poor haveworked so far and created conditionfor the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist'revolutionaries' to challenge the Indianstate at a time when the country has notonly unsh.ackled its 45 year oldcommand economy in 1991, but duringthe past decade and a half has beenattempting to connect to the globalcapital and l~bour market to findemployment for its hi1110n-pluspopulation. It is not easy to dismantlethe traditional dominance structures,which are alive and kicking even as thecountry is gearing up to celebrate thegolden jubilee of its independence inless than a year. It is even more difficultto check the new emerging dominancestructures of the global and local capitalfrom joining hands with the establishedones in perpetuating the existingexploitative structure,

The institutional decline of theschool structures across the states andgradual roll back of the state fromelementary education, has not helped increating a quality skilled work forceneeded for the specialised requirementsof the modem technological job market,Indians' reputation in IT andmanagement notwithstanding. Nowonder, peripheries being drawn to thecentre of the globalising Indianeconomy are witnessing conflicts, notall of.them engineered by the Naxalites,

The author is Director, Centre for Public Affairs.


work has seen to have weaned awaypeople from the reyolutionary path,aside from providing the state withgreater access to these areas. Obviously,the governm~nts, the parties, and theleadership running the juggernaut of theIndian state have faltered, may failed,in their basic responsibility. If thereports about the Naxals running someof the essential state functions likeheald, education and justice are true,then the fudian state has faltered in a bigway. Though it would not be easy to'recover the lost ground, it is importantthat it should be achieved .

While development deficit in termsof basic necessities remllins enormous,there is complete failure on the. landredistribution front, which has beenfurther aggravated by the agrarian crisisreflected in the farmers' suicides inVidarbha: Andhra Pradesh and otherstates. Unfortunately, land reform doesnot figure in the agenda of the Indianstate in the post -liberalisation era. TheUnion as well as the state governments,including the Left Front government inWest Bengal, are busy wooing FDI,obviously in a bid to cash in on the'advantages' of globalisation. Indeed,_globalisation is as much a policy-oriented and plimned process as it isfortuitous one in the era of increasedinternational travel and the IT boom,but a government can push the agendaof the forces of globalisation by beingoblivious of its own ground realitiesonly on its own peril. If a large part ofthe Indian populace is tied to land andforests and dependent on it forlivelihood, this reality has to be part ofthe government's globalisation orientedpolicies too. This means that land andagrarian policies need attention.

Indeed, the anti-poverty programmeshave found a boost with the NationalRural Employment Guarantee Scheme,but, for one, they do not attend to thisissue of land rights in rural India and, foranother, the NREGS too is not fairing anybetter than earlier programmes inreducing poverty. A recent study of thescheme in Jharkhand concludes:

'The picture emerging from this briefinvestigation is far fTOmencouraging. As

pIe of dedication as well as thee;+~.,anisational skill and understanding

~ °/the micro socio-economic situation in~'O.~" Ihe region by one person. The#~# /subsequent consolidation of various

. ~~ ~ ~ /" factions of the Maoist groups ~e not so~ ~~ ' much based on peasant mobilization asI> ~ :Sl' on their cadre-based, conspiratorial, and~ ~ ~ '

~0

~~ ..,...~f violent guerilla tactics, Yet, there is an.!'." >5 ~ i.:;.'";~ ~v q;r element' of popular support for them

.~ ~ 'Co' ~ NGf~ ' o;;;.~ ,~ CJ~.he' from the poor in the areas where they~ °0"'>;.,1.~ !'.,# ~ "c:: ~ ilcy have consolidated.

,s-e,;~ ~ ~ I '. thi'th'0, ~;;S; v ~~.$ In SOCIO-econOffilCterms; s IS e. ;;S;~O~. ~~ ~~ ,ro.?;:,-';'t 'area which the Indian state needs to"'" ~. ~ lie .

.~ .4 . attend to. There are mstances from. the.••:s~":r2Jf 1946 very outset that whenever the land and

:t$' If 1967 development question has been/I~ both attended, the support to Maoism has

.,~. , a.atIOn of also declined. Popular support to the{ship had Telangana movement started dwindlingthe CPI after Mahatma Gandhi's disciple and

.' 0-- sparked by Sarvodaya (literally meaning upliftment'~""'---:ail"1ffiffie(liate incident, in both cases the of all) leader Acharya Vinoba Bhave

organisational strength provided by the toured. Telangana extensively andparty became the main sustaining factor. realising the importance of ,landEven the revival of the Maoist launched his famous bhoodan (donationmovement in Srikakulam (Andhra of land) movement from there. In fact,Pradesh) in 1980 by Vempatapu Charu Mazumdar too realised this whenSatyriarayana followed intense the' CPM-led United Front governmentmobilization of the girijans. However, in West Bengal launched its landthe 1946 movement was different and redistribution policy in 1967 in thesignificant in One distinct way from the wake of the Naxalbari. Reacting to itstwo. The rebellion organised by the CPI impact, he observed:since 1944 was against a feudal-I . I d . hi hI 1 ... wherever there have beenco oma or er, m w coca was very 1 'th

. h h"' Th h . d movements on vested and, e peasantmuc t e lOCUS. oug not orgamse ., . . who gets the possessIOn of the vestedagamst the IndIan state per se, ItS 1 d d th I' t 't d

.' . an an e lcense 0 occupy 1. oessubstantIve battles were fought agamst " .th . d d Indi Ind d th not rem am actIve any longer m thee m epen ent an state. ee, e . t' . . peasant movemen .SOCIal order was unhkely to change.overnight and the landlords were quick He further added:to make alliances with the new ruling ...within a year (of the possession ofelite, but' the party carried forward the the land), the class character of the poormovement in the hope of a great peasant changes and he becomes'acommunist victory and looked forward middle peasant. He no longer shares theto support from the Soviet Union, which economic demand .of the poor andwas not to be. The Naxalbari movement landless peasant. Thus, economism drivestoo displayed its distinctiveness and a wedge in the unity of the fightingcontradictions as it flourished and peasants and plunges the landless anddecayed on a second split in the poor peasants in despondency.communist movement in India. The No wonder, the Naxals today resist,Srikakulam experience, which in a way . any move by the governments in theis the spark that has carried the Maoist respective States to carry. out anyrevolution forward despite intense developmental work in the area underfactionalization and - splits, is an their control. For, even developmental


2004'

.84,06

0902

2005.9524

2903

2227

03

-MHA

things stand, there is little differencebetwleenNREGA and earlier employmentprogrammes such as NFFWP (NationalFood for Work Programme). andSGRY(Sanjay Gandhi Rozgar Yojna).And the basic purpose of employment ondemand at the statutory minimum wage

. is nowhere near being achieved.Further, the forest resources in the

country too have been commercializedalienating the adivasis/girijans fromforest produce. Industrialisation, miningand the const:n:Iction of big dams havecaused massive displacement of thetribals without proper resettlementpolicies. The tribal and dalitdevelopment programmes over theyears have created new elite structure inthe community, leaving patches of acutepoverty and causing distress migrationfrom there. Moreover, corruptionnetworks involving politicians,. locallydominant persons and families,contractors (the three could beoverlapping too) and bureau,cracy. inareas with forest resources are onlypervasive, they are invasive in the livesof the tribals too. The recent politicalcrisis in Jharkhand, the State created bybifurcating from Bihar the mineral richtribal inhabited' Chhotanagpur plateaubecause the interests of the tribals werebeing ignored in Bihar, amongst otherthings reflects that the interests of poorand the marginalised can becompromised under ariy dispensation.

The naxalite challenge rests upon the


issues of agrarian transformation, tribalpeople's rights, nationality movementand resisting imperialism andglobalization adding up to an integratedprogramme of what they characterize aspeople's democratic revolution tochange the nature of the Indian state.Because of the issues that pursue theyhave a social base which sustains themdespite a variety of repressive measurespursued by the Indian state.

The security. response too appears tohave lacked vision, as strategically andtrainingwise, the Naxals clearly have anedge Over the security forces. Not onlyhave they demonstrated that theirintelligence network is superior to thepolice, they have also exposed that thearmed police (State or Central) neitherhave the training, nor a strategicthinking to engage them effectively. Ofcourse, this is linked also to the largerdebate on institutional decline of theIndian police at every level, particularlyat the cutting edge level that is criticalfor day to day intelligence, and lack ofa policy for policing violentphenomenon such as the Naxalism.Iehanabad would not have happenedotherwise.That tl).e Naxals i~ AndhraPradesh could mine the surroundings ofan police station before mounting anattack so t~at the police persons areneither able to react, nor chase, them,clearly shows they have honed in theirguerilla tactics to perfection, while thesecurity forces do not have a counter

strategy either of offence. or defence.

Obviously, policing needs, strategiesand attitudes require redefinition in thecontext of the current Indian realitiesand Naxalism, along with terrorism, isone of the very serious, emergingchallenges. The seriousness of thechallenge of Naxalism is that though themovement has been using terror as animportant tool, it cannot be equatedwith terrorism because of its socio-economic dimension and considerablegrassroots support to it.

Neither the Salwa Judum experimentih Chhattisgarh, which is reported to havepitched the tribals against their ownbrethren, nor raising a girijan Greyhoundforce, which too is having a similar effect,appears to be an appropriate securityresponse to Naxalism. A movement likeSalwa Judum which also plans to arm thecommunity against the Naxal attacks bydesignating some of them as Special .Police Officers, could also have thenegative impact of some of them settlingtheir scores. In any case, the brutalattacks on the Salwa Judum camps inrecent past gives the impression that thetribals in Chhattisgarh are increasinglygetting exposed to pressure from boththe sides. Therefore, in order to involvethe community in policing such socialupheavals as Maoism, the Indian stateand its security agencies need to win theconfidence of the. people. The Indianstate as manifested at the local with itsbureaucracy and security agencies in

39

intellectual discourse can create,regarding the current nature of themovement as 'Yell as the post-revolutionsociety they would like to create, in casethey succeed. They need to indulge in asocial audit of their movement withoutcompromising on the principles theystand for. It is questionable if they canreach ideological high ground withmindless violence they often indulge in.Nax~sm throughout the course it has'followed, has been part of the politicalchurning going on in the country sinceindependence. It is today facing far toocomplex nationai 'and global environmentthan in thel940s, 1960s and 1980s.Nationally, it is functioning within theuniverse of the liberal, what they woulddescribe as -bourgeois, democracy.Despite rejecting it, many of them havebeen involved with the negativedimensions of the local power politics.Indeed, such engagements are explainedaway as strategy, but they do lead to thedilution of the ideological morality. Eventhe ideological realities of the Marxism-Leninism-Maoism have changed globallywith the collapse of the Soviet state andfar reaching changes adopted by Chinafor its economic growth. The questionwhether it is taking these changes intoaccount while analysing its strategiesremains unanswered.

The Indian state, in fact, has far toomuch introspection to undertake both interms of policies and theirimplementation. It has to go beyond itsknee~jerk.attitude towards a phenomenonlike Naxalism. It is indeed not terrorismin the traditional sense of the word,despite using terror as one of its primetool. Therefore, even the immediatestrategy of gealing with Naxalism musttake into account. The questions of landreforms and poverty alleviation in thecountry has ,to be strategised' for visibleresults at the earliest. Development.programmes must not be perceived asanti-people due to the displacement-resettlement hiatus. Indeed, withouteconomic development, strong"armtactics will not succeed against theNaxalites even with the strongestpossible anti-terror law. 0

Manoranjan Mohanty had' three.propositions in his perceptive study ofNaxalism in the 1970s: (i) The Naxalitemovement was a pre-organisationalmovement; (ii) it practised ideologicalparallelism to a large extentmechanically applying formulations ofthe Chinese revolution to contemporaryIndia; and (iii) the strategy pursued by .the Naxalites was a narrow constructionstrategy and was not always one ofrevolutionary violence.

Reviewing the movement in thecurrent context he finds both change andcontinuity in each of the threedimensions. He finds their ideologicalformulation still underdeveloped on theissue of class -caste-gender relationship,though some of the groups have beenactive on the issues of nationality.However, they have not realized oraccepted that the liberal-democraticprocess in the country has created spaceto accommodate people's causes.Second, he finds the Naxalites organisedinto three major formations-one, havingrejected Cham Mazumdar's line, focusedon mass organisation and took

. parliamentary path as well; second,continued Mazumdar's lines and rejectedparliamentary politics; the third stream issYlJlbolised byCPI (ML) with thelegendary Kanu Sanyal as its generalsecretary. Perceptively, he sums up thecurrelit stage of the Naxalite movementsaying:

While the state failed to recognisethe character of revolutionary violence,the Naxalites failed to abide by thenorms of revolutionary violence.

ConclusionV R Krishna Iyer, whom the

Naxalities would certainly not regard asinimical to their ideology and cause,.appeal to them to stop their mindlessviolence. The July 17 attack on SalwaJudum camp has raised severalquestions' regarding their tactics; Twothings have in particular been striking.First, the slaying of women and children(as little as three years old) and, second,the presence of teenagers among theirranks. Both raise disturbing questions,beyond the ideological maze that an

areas with perv~ive deprivation does notinspire-enough confidence. The pressuresof policing a high risk and high tensionactivity such as Naxal rebellion normallybrings out the worst in the police andsecurity agencies, leading to custodialcrimes such as torture and rape as wellas fake encounters, which indeed indeedhave worse impact than collateraldamage, for such acts are premeditated.Clearly, beyond the common parameters'like modernisation of equipmentsmentioned in the MHAAnnual Report as .a strategy to combat Naxalism,modernisation of rninds and attitudes ISrequired, which is easier said than done,For, if we are talking of dealing withNaxal violence in thirteen States, we arereferring to' thirteen State policeorganisations and the Central para-military forces being used for anti-Naxaloperations. This obviously makes the taskof police modernisation more complex.

Maoism Today

The Maoist expansion in the past few. years has been impressive, if notphenomenal-from 55 districts in ninestates in 2003 to 156 districts in 13 statesin 2004 to 170 districts in 15 states in2006. In their strongholds in about 55districts in 12 states, they run parallelgovernments, which is not surprisinggiven the retreat, if not collapse, of thestate in key social sectors such aseducation and health in many states andstranglehold on political power of thosewho. control land and other economicresources. However, only thingprominently known about their parallelgovernment so far is the jan adalat,basically kangaroo courts, and their brutalsummary punishments that keep thepeople in the area l!.deqwitely terrified.The expansion of their area of influencein 170 out of 604 districts of the countryand the 'parallel' government they havebeen able to establish, give themsustenance in a dubious way, give thema territory to train on and plan their'revolutionary' foray against the state andthe people. This is impressive given theirlegendary splits, many of them based on'ideology' and 'strategy', whichcontinued till recently.


SecurityTerror

•In the Age of Global

AS Kalkat

terrorism can be attributed to the. development of exclusive instead of

inclusive societies. Terrorism draws itsstrength from one of three sources:

'militant religious fundamentalism,ethnic intolerance or deprivation.Religion sans frontiers, thereforereligious militancy, has to be addressedglobally. Ethnic. intolerance anddeprivation are region-specific, with thecommon thread of economics runningthrough them, and are b~st. dealt withregiollally or nationally.

Since.Afghanistan the 'Islarnist holywarriors' or jihadis, emboldened bydefeating a superpower have constituteda grave threat to countries that hadbeen insulated earlier due to theirstrength' or distance. Militant IslamistfundameAta1lsm in its new avatar as

. . . - (~ '.

Al-Qaeda is now a global phenomenonand a global threat. His-important thatthis form of religious fuildamentalism isdifferentiated from religious orthodoxywhich exists in all religions in some

.1

proportion or other, primarily to. keepthe flock together, and 'is no. threat tosociety or the state. Militant religiousfundamentalism, on the other hand,advocates the use ,of unbridled violence

, . In the long list of weapons of massdestruction available to the violentsocieties there is a new player with anunlimited reach infinitesimally smallcost of production, and fairly basictechnology : terrorism in the form of the'human bomb'. No state, howsoeverpowerful, is immune from this weaponthat has the capability of striking fromoutside or within. The genesis of

MAJOR impact of theglobalising world is thatsecurity can no longer becomparttnentalisedregionally or nationally and

any analysis of the security environmentof a region or area has to take intoconsideration global issues that have adirect or indirect impact on the region.Simultaneously the heightening levelsof political and social' expectations bythe people and consequently states andsocieties are coming under pressure.The changed environment after 9/11and the U.S. perception that thedefinition of national security is notnecessarily common for all stateshighlight the reality that in an inter-dependent world' security cannot beachieved at the cost of others,

Terrorism needs a.top-down

< approach whi~e.Insurgencyrequires a bottom-

up approachThe author is former Chief, Indian Peace-Keeping Force (lPKF) and has had extensive experienc~ in combating terrorism and ihsurgency.


The impunity with whic!t someterrorists, after committing heinouscrimes, escape to countries' across theborder or overseas leads to a feeling ofhelplessness. It leaves the lawenfor~ement agencies the thankless jobof dealing with bureaucracies and thelaws of different countries. The worldcommunity needs to formulate a set ofspecial international laws to overcomethis hurdle. India is na't a soft state; itjust has a higher tolerailc~ level than theWest. The danger is that, at some stage,a frustrated and anguished populationmay react and decide.that enough isenough and' take the law into its OWnhands. We need to develop a capabilitythat enables us to send the message that

. the power, res~urces, and authOrity-~the disposal of the state. Our laws were'made for the normal law-breakers andcriminals; our forefathers did notenvisage the rise of this new threat tohumanity and civilisation.

A structured two-pronged approachi's needed to combat the .new threat:first, a set of laws or 'rules ofengagement' for dealing with terrorists;secondly, a special force organised andtrained to operate under these speciallaws, with the authority to operatedomestically and externally to preventdisconnect. This special force should besupported by a dedicated counter-terrorism intelligence unit, thecomposition of which should be not theusual police and intelligence operativesbut social and political scientists,psychologists, and cyber and financialexperts. This is not to suggest that lawe~forcement agellcies do not have arole. Law enforcement is central tosustaining the normal way of life andvital for domestic intelligence gathering.However, operations against terrorgroups require capabilities more akin tothe military; this requires highlyspecialised forces and a dedicatedorganisation. This may be the time toconstitute such a force in India .

is destruction of the established social. system and structure, that is, the wholeway of life offree societies. This virusdoes. not take long to infect homegrownproducts imd soon enough localcriminal gangs get drawn into theterrorist's web. It is important to makea distinction. between terrorism and

.insurgency, as different approaches arerequired to tackle each of them: .

We are' a party to the 'global waragainst terror', Wars are fought underthe articles of war, not under civil laws.Given that this war is not likeconventional wars, the military isperhaps not the ideal force to deal withit. Neither are the conventional policeand paramilitary forces the best option.When the enemy has already crossedthe. borders, he cannot seek theprotection of civil law and has to ,befought wherever and however with all

Terrorism needs a top-downapproachwhiIe insurgencyrequires a bottom-up approach.

For an insurgent movement to flourish,it must have support of a segment of thepopulation whereas terrorism can beeffective with just a few sympathisersand supporters amongst the popuiation.In tackling an insurgency, it is a fight forthe 'hearts and minds' of the people andthe people have to be addressed andwon over. With. terrorism the leadershipor perpetrators of terrorism need to' betargeted. Insurgency usually has ruralroots while terrorism has an urban bias.The terrorists are as well trained as, andoften better equipped than, an armysoldier and to pit out paramilitary andpolice forces against them is an unequalequation. Our ~pproach .so far has beento deal with it as a law and order issue, .

. which being a state subject results indifferent states having differentapproaches to the problem' andcomplicating the requirement of acountrywide coordinate approachagainst terrorism. Delays in the judicialprocess add to the problem.

. to terrorise the population and the stateto achieve their ends. The impact is notconfined to specific regions or weakand underdeveloped states but is facedacross the board by all' societies,entailing a global responsibility tojointly confront it.

Terrorism isa deadly act committedby highly trained and motivated peoplewho are 'devoid of humanity and ,haveno value for human life. Tackling it onconventional lines is unlikely tosucceed. In the fight against terrorismthe strengths. of a free society are a!so .its weaknesses. Terrorists use the rightsand liberties inherent in a democraticsociety to operate with comparativefreedom and then use the democraticlaws to circumvent or evade theconsequences. World leaders makeprofound statements like 'if ,yousacrifice freedom for ~ecurity you endup getting neither' and then promptlyproceed to laws in their own country tocurb civil rights and liberties to ensuresecurity, underscoring the point thatextraordinary circumstances needextraordinary measures.

, .

There are no 'good' terrorists,whatever their grievance or cause. Nordoes terr6rism' have a religion. Thereare or have been terrorists belonging toalmost all the religions of the world : toassociate terrorism with any particularreligion is upjustifiedand unfair. The'coalition' in the fight against terroristand religion together even though, inthis instance, it militant 'Islamist'organisation is the perpetrator.

. Fundamentalists very much want this tobe labelled as the 'clash of civilisation',

- which serves their purpose of putting allMuslim countries and Muslimpopulations worldwide under pressure.

The terrorist groups are not ordinarycivilians or some misguided youth butthe paramilitary organs of militantextremism such as LeT, Naxalites, andthe like who believe in the culture ofextreme violence and whose objective


e shallgetyouwherever,andhowever'and that the Indian state will not be amute spectator to the murder andmassacre of its citizens and children,Atthe same time, NGOs and like-minded .organisations need to. focus their'resourcesand energiesonaddressing theproblemof terrorismfrom a societalandsociological.imgle, which is the onlylong-termremedy,This is the preventiveaspect In the campaign to reach out tothe people, the police forces are not the, rightvehicle,given the publicperceptionof their conduct, which is unlikely toinspire confidenceor win friends,

The objective of terrorism is exactlywhat the name implies - to terrorise thepopuilation, If it does not receivepublicity, it cannot succeed.The media,the public, and politicians can play animportant role in denying this. A casein point is the recent cricket 001 tri-

series in Sri Lanka, where after theColombo bomb incident some of themedia unwittingly went into a frenzyover the securityconcerns of Indian andSouth African cricketers. The fact thatthe prime targets, if at all, would havebeen the Sri Lankan cricketers and thattop Indian diplomats would be a muchmore important target than thecricketers escaped the minds of many.In the event, South Africa withdrew itsteam and the terrorists achieved theirobjective.This is not to suggest that themedia should underplay the threat 'of .terrorism. In fact, they have a vital roleto play in sensitising the public to thisthreat. However, they need to exercisecare that this sensitisationdoes not whipup public hysteria.

India is rapidly reaching a high levelof development and meeting this threatis central to our economic progress and

is of great urgency.A developed societyis highly dependent upon publicutilities, technology, energy, instantcommunication, rapid travel, andprompt medical aid to sustain its way oflife. Highly ind'ustrialised states aretherefore far more vulnerable toterrorist attacksthan countrieswith 'riceand fish' economies. The spectre ofterrorism haunts us as an omnipotentand omnipresent phenomenon. Livingin fear of terrorist attacks is almostbecoming the. way of life. Today thequestion is not 'whether' but 'wheJ:landwhere' they will strike again. This willresult in people fearing to venture outof their homes, not a good omen for ademocratic society: The time foranalysis is over. It is time for actionbefore we reach the stage of 'paralysisthrough analysis' . 0

(Courtesy: 'The Hindu')

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t•.• inthe?umbe~?fmalnq~shed ~~dern. .

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1999, wlf~n theiast survey was.(:a;~ried.0l;1!'They~ave imp~oved 6'n9therhutRan(ievel()pmentindices, 'tnpugh,'

,,-« - .",' ---,." .. '.'.

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-undemoupshed .cIil,ldI'ell~~~alm?stdtlUbled;.'Fi1enl,lm6er.ofun?~rweig~tcliildrenhas ms ne,up:l\.;Tamil:;;;Nadu, sidered.another

YOJANA Febrmiry 200743

t

Violence oo Central Bihar

Devendra Mishra_Subhash Sharma

Out of box thinking is neededJogo into the cultural rootsof violence in central Billar

VERYBODY TALKS about

"E.,

",' the weather, Mark Twainonce observed but nobodydoes' anything about it. Thesame i.s true about violence

in central Bihar. The roots of violence, ,

- is the subject of endless commentary,most of it without prescription.

Recent violence iIi Manipur Villagein Sekhpur Distt., and Gciachak Villagehas only highlighted the gravity andurgency of the situation. In CentralBihar, the various incidents of violencehave occurred either in the name ofcaste or due to land related issues whichare often intermingled. But the crux ofthe problem.is poverty, long termunemployment, material deprivation,social deprivation and finally socialexclusion. Basically, it is thequestioning of bur social, and economicorder along with democratic credential?Is this the absence of peace; orenormous growth of poverty andunemployment, inequity and growingdisparity? Whatever it may be theproblem is far more serious.

More than anything, it is about socialexclusion. Social exclusion is about

income but it iSilbout more. It is aboutprospects and networks and lifechances. It is more harmful- to theindividuals, more. damaging to othersself-esteem, more corrosive for societyas a whole, no more likely to be passeddown from generation to generationthan material poverty. Poverty includesnot only economic but also social andcultural dimensions. Relationshipbetween distributional and relationalquestions lies at the heart of socialexclusion. Unemployment further addsfuel to fIre: Channels of upward socialmobility are gradually being closed off,a phenomenon with crucial'consequences for both the stability andthe dynamic evolution of society.

Several years ago, Dudley Seers inhis article "The Meaning ofDevelopment" ,(InternationalDevelopment Review, Vol.lI No.4),stated -

"The questions to ask about acountry's development are: What has _been happening to poverty? What hasbeen happening to inequality? What hasbeen happening to unemployment? If allthree of these have become less severe,then beyond doubt this has been a

period of development of a countryconcerned. If one or two of these centralproblems have been growing worse,especially if all three have, it would bestrange to call it 'development', even ifper capita income doubled.

An in-depth analysis of various typesof violence in Central Bihar reveals thatwhile in 'the beginning the killing of thelandlords and looting of crops/grainswere primary strategies, now theimposition of economic blockade orsanctions (preventing labourers to doagricultural tasks in the landlords'fields) and holding of 'Jan-adalat'(people's court) to punish the oppressorare primary strategies (though killing isstill considered relevant). At present,economic sanctions are usually imposedby CPI (ML-Liberation) whereas JanAdalats are usually convened by theCommunist Party (Maoists). As thesupremo of Ranvir Sena, BrahmeshwarSingh Mukhia remarks about theblockade: "The Naxalites havedestroyed the farmers of the state. Theyharass us, extort money, instigateworkers not to work on our fIelds, anddeclare economic blockade which hasleft more than 40 thousand acres of

The authors are members of Indian Revenue Service and Indian Administrative Service respectively. The views expressed in the article'are strictly personal.

44YOJANA .February 2007

2002 2003 2004 2005

8 ..of Incidenls -- PolIce peraonnel kllIed •..••.•CIvilians kDled "*" N8ll8Dteskilled I

-- ~ --- --....

2005(31.10.2005) 2006(31.10.2006)

I ..•...Incldents __ Police personnel killed •..••.•Clvlllsn••kIlJed"*"Naxsllle. kll!8d I

Head 2002 2003 2004 2005 Head 2005 (31.10.2005) 2006 (31.10.2006)

No. 011incidents 239 250 323 183 No. of incidents 161 89Polletl Personnel killed 06 26 05 24 Police Personnel killed 20 05Civililms killed 111 102 166 70 Civilians killed 59 34Naxalltes killed 22 09 01 10 Naxalltes killed 07 04

-MHA

cultivable land barren in the Bhojpurdistrict alone." Now one more pertinentquestion arises: why there is morenumber of incidents of violence andmore gruesome violence in CentralBihar than in other parts of Bihar.Following points are relevant First, inCentral Bihar the proportio~ ofscheduled castes (dalits) population isrelatively higher than that in northBihar; e.g., the population of da1its inGaya is 26 per cent, in Nawada 25 percent, in Aurangabad 23 per cent,Nalanda 19 per cent, Rohtas 19 per centand Bhojpur 15 per cent, against thestate average of dalits population being15 per cent. And numerical strengthscounts in democracy not only inelections but also in daily life to protestwith more confidence and morale.

Second, in Central Bihar most of thelandlords belong to two traditionallydominant and aggressive castes, namely,Bhumihar and Rajput and two emergingdominant castes- Yadav and Kurmi,while it is not so in north Bihar wherein some regions Brahmins are inmajority and in other regions mostbackward castes (included in Annexure-I by the Govt. of Bihar) are in majoritybut they are not much dominant in termsof landholding. In Central Bihar, insome parts Kurmis and Yadavas arenew dominant landlords.

Third, social exploitation anddistancing (especially sexualexploitation of women as well as feudal


attitudes) is more pronounced in CentralBihar than in north Bihar. Fourth, themode of agricultural production andproductivity is more advanced (in termsof better irrigation, double croppedarea, use of HYV s of seeds, use ofchemical fertilizers and insecticides) inCentral Bihar, which, in tum, sharpensthe relationship between the landownersand the labourers regarding the share ofsurplus created. On an average, twothirds of gross cropped area and three-fourths of net sown area in CentralBihar is irrigated while the same inNorth Bihar is far less. Fifth, the literacyrate in Central Bihar is more than thatin north Bihar, hence the 'culture ofsilence' is being replaced by the 'cultureof questioning' due to better and moreawakening of the rural masses ..

Finally, there is a very rich traditionof dissent and protest in central Bihar.For instance, formation of TriveniSangh (Organisation of Yadav, Kurmi,and Koeri) on 30 May 1933 inKargahar Thana or present Rohtasdistrict) led the movement of threebackward castes for higher status andtheir protest against the upper castescentered in central Bihar. Their positiveactions in social sphere were wearing ofsacred thread, focus on children'seducation and intra and inter-caste unitywillIe negative actions in social sphere.included restr~ning early marriage andavoiding non-vegetarian foods. On theother hand, their positive actions in

economic sphere included demand foroccupancy rights in lands in their use aswell as reducing high rent on casteground while negative economic actionsincluded refusal to perform 'beggar',refusal to do menial tasks and to payextra-legal cases and refusal to sellproducts to landlords and moneylendersat lower than market rates. Again KisanSabha was active in this region since1930's. Similafly, this region was afertile ground for the emergence of thesocialists in 1960s. Even earlier inCentral Bihar, there had been' analternative religious-social order in theforms of Buddhism, Jainism andSikhism, as a challenge to the.hegemony of Brahmanic Hindu socialorder. The famous agitation led byChhatra- Yuva Sangharsa Vahini againstBodhgaya 'math' is also very significantin the context of central Bihar.

As a land reform measure, landswere distributed among the poorlandless labourers for agriculturalpurposes, out of ceiling surplus land, orbhoodan land or gairmajarua khas landbut the new settlees are oftendispossessed by the landlords, or thelatter are in practical possession anddistribution of land exists only on paper.It is important to note that out of 6.48lakh acres of the total bhoodan landsavailable, only 2.87 lakh acres (44%)were confirmed by the officials.Secondly, only 39% (2.54 lakh acres)has been distributed so far. Thirdly, a'

45

ties is one of the main problem of th~twentyfirst century and for successfullytransforming Bihar" economy is must.But in the end, problem can be solved 'by changing the basic structure ofpower and domination. Channels ofupward social mobility should also begradually strengthened for stability anddynamic evolution of society. Landreforms are one of the important steps.For example, nearly 13 lakh acres ofagricultural land was acquired andredistributed to the landless poor inrural area of Bengal. Such a massive re-distribution of wealth has helped tomitigate agrarain tension. According toProf. Pranab Bardhan "The sharp.decline in extreme poverty in China, may have more to do with the 1978 landreforms then foreign trade investment".

A strong desire to correct historicalinjustice, out of box thinking is neededto go into the cultural root of violencein central Bihar without eschewing theneed for urgency, it i~ equally importantthat steps and decisions taken are on thebasis of reasoned argument rather thanimmediate knee-jerk reaction of anyincidents of killing or emotionaloutbrust. In the end, a holistic approachis needed in tackling the escalatingviolence in Central Bihar. There isabsolute decline in agriculturalproduction per capita and an evensteeper absolute decline in foodgrain 'consumption/production per capita.Since at the core of it is to overcomingof the agrarian crisis, therefore steadyincrease in per capita cerealconsumption in the violence affectedarea will go a long way to mitigate theproblem. People particularly themarginalized and deprived people ofCentral Bihar are just like Camus"outsider" who do not play the gameand who are like outsiders to the societyin which they live, wandering on thefringe, on the outskirts of life, solitaryand ready to die for truth and dignityand rights. Finally, it is no longer revoltof poor against rich but it is a'metaphysical revolt. The revolt of managainst the condition of life, an inbornimpulse! 0

Feudal attitude (Samanti Vichar, asis called in Bhojpur) of the uppercastes, untouchables has often beeninstrumental in igniting the caste tensionand conflicts. The upper castes oftendislike the lower castes sitting on theircots at home at former's visits, orwearing good clothes, shoes or sacredthreads. As Jagdish Mahto, the founderof naxal movement in Bhojpur told hiswife before going underground: "whenI have no izzat (dignity) left what is thepoint of living."20. The untouchabilityand other forms of social distancingoften lead to caste.-conflicts, both atreligious and secular public places(schools, markets, bus station, fields,chaupals etc.). sexual exploitation (interms of having kept, eve-teasing, rape,obscene gesture, and remarks) of lower,castes' women by the upper castes'males has been a very signifIcant causeof violence. Over the years, caste ischanging its traditional role fromintegrating, h-armonic and non-antagonistic to disintegrating,disharmonic and antagonistic. In thefirst phase, there was focus on caste asa group of endogamy CIati ki beti jatiko') and commensality; in the secondphase, it expanded to caste for politicalsupport 'jati ka vote jati ko;' in the [malphase, caste further expanded as anorganized force to grab from others,protect from others, and hurt and damageothers 'Apni jati bachao, doosri jatibhagao alITmitao' thus 'we versus them'.

Thus, the consequences of violenceare very severe-some visible but othersinvisible, some short-term but otherslong term, some localized but otherstrans-village/region. Hence, the need ofthe hour is enlarging the spread ofprimary and secondary education andby providing free access to informationto take various pro-active social,economic, cultural and politicalmeasures to prevent the occurrence ofthe violence because due to merelycurative devices and reactive measuresthe society at large has paid a veryheavy price and continues to do so at'present. In the context of socialfragmentation, strengthening of social

major chunk of 2.79'lakh acres (43%)is shown as not distributable due tobeing hilly area, river portion; forestarea, duplication in the plot numbers,untracing,.etc. Finally, about 1.15 lakhacres of land (17%) is pending forconfirmation and distribution. Thisshows the lack of political will, apathyof the, administration and misdeeds ofthe donors. As far as central Bihar'sposition is concerned in ~s regard, stilla large chunk of bhoodan lands is notdistributed:

Out of 1.67 lakh acres of bhoodanlands available in central Bihar's elevendistricts, only 35% has been distributedthat is less than the state average of39%. Not only this, even the ceilingsurplus land cases in large number arestill pending in different revenue andhigher courts. In November 2005, in theentire Bihar 1433 such cases involving1,12,696 acres of land were pending ofwhich 512 cases involving 35090 acreswere pending in Patna High court andSupreme Court of India. In 11 districtsof Central Bihar, 244 cases of ceilingare pending in which the total areainvolved is 9015.8 acres. In this region,Gaya, Kaimur 'and Nawada stand fIrst,second and third in terms Of themaximum area involved in suchpending cases. As per Bihar govt. data(October 2005), 4663 cases ofdispossession were reported from theentire Bihar involving 2868.98 acresagainst which 3845 persons were givenpossession involving 2323.40 acres;thus still 318 persons are dispossessedof 545 acres of land. In central Biharregion, the situation is alarming, forinstance, in Kaimur where 476 personsare still dispossessed of 210 acres ofland, followed by Gaya with 52 suchpersons dispossessed of 50 acres ofland. In other districts of the region,situation is reported to be almostsatisfactory. However, it is not ruled outthat some genuine cases ofdispossession are ignored by the local.revenue officials or the matter is notreported to them by the victims becausethe former are not active and sincere inthis regard.


~~

TASK FORCE set up by PM

A Manmohan Singh to look into. Jammu and Kashmir'si. .. i infrastructure problems has

. ....--J recommended the transfer ofa 390-MW power project from theNational Hydroelectric PowerCorporation to the state, a Rs 1,750cron: road development scheme and asatellite business hub for Srinagar.

"Demonstrable successes" in theform of heavy investment by the privatesector. That's part of the prescription thePrime Minister's task force has fordevelopment in Jammu and Kashmir.

Many benefits of the India growthstory are bypassing Jammu and Kashmirdue to the negative investor perceptionabout the security situation in the state."The state needs to attract some largeand medium industrial houses to investin tbe state," the panel, headed by thechairman of the PM's EconomicAdvisory Council and former RBIgovernor Dr Rangarajan, has said.

The panel's recommendation formainstrearning the state into the nationaland global economy include a slew ofquick-yield projects and a foundationfor long-term economic growth.

Pointing to the fierce competitionbetween states in attracting domesticand foreign investment, the panel feltJammu and Kashmir was "severelyhandicapped" due to its poorinfrastructure and distance form themajor markets. A Special InvestmentZone is one of the measures the panelhas suggested for the state, whereseveral factors have resulted in a classic"backwardness trap" of low economicactivity, low employment and low-income generation.

In its report, the C RangarajanCommittee has also asked forimprovement of health, telecom, roadsand tourism sectors, improved fiscalpolicies, and an urgent image makeoverfor the state.


With power being a problem area forthe state, the panel has suggested that theDulhasti hydroelectric project and 1,020-MW Bursar storage scheme be transferredto the state from NHPC. There is anurgent need for a policy framework todevelop hydro-power, the panel added.The taskforce al~o pointed out thatthough tourism has been picking up, ithas hardly reached the pre-militancylevels. To reach that level, the paneladded, the government needs tomodernise airport and fast-track road andrail projects.

Pointing out that farming techniquesare outdated, the panel said there was aneed for better sorting, grading,packaging and cold-chain storagefacilities. Road density in J&K is amongstthe lowest in the country and the panelhas called for expansion of highwaycorridors.

The panel has also pushed for revivalof infrastructure in rural J&K. The panelfeels that such an improvement will havehuge' peace dividends.

A short-term measure that has beenrecommended is to hav'e hotels currentlyoccupied by seeurity forces. vacated andreturned to owners who can be given softloans to renovate them quickly.Projections show that the state needs6,000 additional beds by 2010 andanother 3,000 by 2015. Tentedaccommodation-a concept the statepioneered in Pahalgam-should meet theneed till existing accommodation isupgrade,d and new rooms added.

• Reconstruction and maintenance ofexisting physical assets

• Comprehensive fiscal adjustment• Investment in physical infrastructure

like power and roads• Investment in social infrastructure like

heath and education• Creating climate conducive to private

investment• Balanced regional development

Stressing that inspmng theconfidence of potential tourists as a safeand secure destination is the mostimportant challenge for the sector, thetask force has called for a "tourismvision document" for the road ahead.Other recommendations include up-grading skills and service standards withthe help of leading hotel chains,upgrading the Sher-e-Kashmir Complexwith state-of-the-art facilities,harnessing heritage tourism and increaseexpenditure on tourism promotions.

Road. density in the state is amongthe lowest in the country and existingroads are in poor shape. While it isnecessary to improve and expandhighway corridors, it is equallyimportant to connect towns and villagesto be main corridors through an internaland network, the report has said.

The systems -and processes of fiscalfederalism that work for the rest of thecountry "are not necessarily optimal"for J&K. "The content and process ofdevelopment of J&K has to be designedkeeping in view the state's uniquehistorical, institutional and politicalfactors," the task force has said in itsreport submitted to Prime MinisterManmohan Singh.

The task force, constituted by the .Prime Minister, focused oninfrastructure like roads power andtelecom, employment-generationinitiatives in tourism and horticultureand social infrastructure like health. l:!l

47

-. 1 _

PM Pitches for Peace Treaty with Pakistan

PrimeMinister Manmohan Singhhas welcomed President PervezMusharraf's four-point formula

for peace and renewed his offer for abilateral treaty of peace, security andfriendship, which he said would be aninstrument of enduring peace andprosperity.

Reaching out to Pakistan with his'vision' of Indo-Pak ties andwelcoming 'new ideas' from Pakistan,he said the two countries needed towork together with' an 'open mind' andbuild trust.

Addressing a rally in Amritsar, hesaid India was working towards betterties with Pakistan, but the process didnot have a time frame.

"The destinies of our two nationsare interlinked and there is a need to

put the past behirid to think about ourcollecti,:e destiny," he said.

He expressed confidence that thiscould be achieved. ''If our minds aredetermined and focussed on this goal,I am confident that this destiny c~anberealised," he said.

Singh said a treaty of peace, securityand friendship was essential as it wouldbecome the instrument for realising"our collective destiny and the basis forenduring peace an~ prosperity in theregion."

"Last week I read about some newideas and thoughts expressed fromPakistan," he s'~d,referring to PresidentPervez Musharraf's four point formulato resolve'the Kashmir issue, whichincluded demilitarisation and jointmanagement of the undivided state.

"We welcome all ideas as theycontribute to the ongoing thoughtprocess," Singh said, adding that ifboth sides approached the issues withan "open and friendly mind and worktogether on resolving each of these, itwill be possible for us to resolve allpending issues."

Expressing confidence that thetwo neighbours could continue onthe path of peace, he said, "This ispossible and we will make ithappen. This is not a dream, it canbe a reality."

"I am confident that if we continueon this path of peace, Amritsar canonce again regain its glory as a majorcentre of trade and commerce. Ibelieve this is possible and we willmake it happen," he said. .•

. " '"'" -~"... ~"""'~ ..,., .._"Santa Comes Calling at Gulmarg, after 17 years

Visitors enjoyed a "',\11ite Christmas," as a thick blanket of snow coyered the landscape

which featured snow scooter race,skiing and a cultural programme anda cultural programme.

Authorities are bracing up formajor winter tourism events thisseason. However, the GulmargGandola, the world's highest, cable car,is not making much business. It-remains closed most of the time. a

Itwas altogether a different sceneat Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmiron 25th December'06.

Christmas was celebrated amidfanfare, with the State Gove1J1ment .launching the Kashmir Snow Festivalto attract tourists from all over theworld.

Visitors got to enjoy a' "whiteChristmas," as a thick blanket of snowcovered the landscape. Besides aChristmas Mass at the century-oldChurch, which was thrown open to thepublic after a gap of 13 years in 2003.Santa Claus came calling after 17years.

People had fun playing snowballwith the Santa.

"I am here with the message ofpeace as we yearn for peace,prosperity and tranquility in Kashmir.I am here to pray for peace," saidSarfaraz Khan, a local. resident'dressed as Santa Claus.

48

A hirge number of foreign anddomestic tourists, besides locals,joined the Mass. "This is symbol Ofour rich culture, which stands fortolerance and brotherhood," said aresident pointing to the decorations atthe church.

Gulmarg wore a'merry look with.tourists taking active.part in the festival,

! BRINGING PEACE


Good Morning Kashmir 24/7 Music in Valley

Kashmir firs.t radio jockey,trying to get audiencefor his24-hour FM station (Big

FM) launched in the state recently.

In the Valley that goes to sleep atsix, the channel, from the AdlabsFilms and the Anil Dhirubhai Group,may t:ven,mean a lifestyle change.

The station head, Parvez Malik,says: "For the city which sleeps at six,now people can rock throughout thenight. There. is hardly any electricityand radio can be a good option."

Though there are no phone-inpro~rammes initially, the showreceived a 600 SMSes in the first threehoun, of its launch. Another 300followed in the next few hours.

Stationedin a makeshift studio in thecampus of Radio Kashmir, the station isfunctioningfrom two-room space insidewhat looks like a tin container. Threejockeys and a few engineers will manthe station in the first few months.

Twenty-five-year-old Izhar Rishi,picked up after auditioining about 300young men from across the country, ishosting Big Nun Chai (Kashmiri salttea on the lines of Big Chai, themorning show aired in Big FM's 45other stations). Rechristened 'SmileBhai' after rigourous training inAhmedabad by radio trainer DanoDay from US Rishi says his missionis to bring. smiles to Kashmidfaces.The Nun Chai is followed by a

women's programme, with walk-inguests interacting with an anchor.Another three hours every eveningwill be dedicated to music, alsohosted by female radio jockey. Therest of the day and throughout thenight, the listeners will either havepre-recorded programmes of just f1lmsongs, "As we grow the channel isalso growing", says Malik.

While the male jockey iscomfortablewith revealinghis identity,the female jockeys are not. Sara Khan(not the real name), a practisinglawyer,loves talking to people but prefers notgetting her photograph taken. "Justsecurityreasons,but youwillget to hearmy voice everyday." she says. 0

Srinagar Home to W~r1d's largest Tulip Garden

Amid explodingbombs and thestench of cordite andtrinitroglycerine, the flowers

continued to bloom in Kashmir and inlarge numbers. Citizens and lovers ofnature would, perhaps, rejoice alike toknow that Siraj Bagh in Srinagar isfast emergingas one of the largesttulipgardens in the world, a site where 2.50lakh tulips will bloom next spring.

Tulips are cultivated in Kashmirwhich is the only place in India wherethey bloom from March to May innatural climatic conditions ...Cultivationof tulips has recently been':considered an attractive prosposition:;pyniany farmers in the region who are:>'shiftingor diversifying to the crop.

The tulip garden in Srinagar has'beep thrown open to tourists for over: the past two years and is still a new.attractionfor visitors and nature loversin the Valley.


During the last one year, varioussteps have been taken to controlencroachment around the gardens andparks and a full-fledged drive was

launched to maintain the parks andgardens efficiently. As a result of arecord arrival of tourists during themonths of April, May and June; arevenue of Rs 75 lakh was realised thisyear in the shape of tickets to;the

famous gardens of Kashmir by thedepartment."

Saying that the secret behind thebeauty of the "paradise" lies in itsgardens, the Chief Minister MrGhulam Nabi Azad advised officersconcerned to categorise the gardensand parks in A, B and C to regularisetheir maintenance and beautificationjobs.

Mr Azad also asked thedepartment to ensure a good supplyof Chinar saplings to all governmenthigh schools and ensure theirplantations next year. He said thathe has already advised schoolauthorities to plant saplings ofChinar and other trees in theirpremises. He also advised officials toencourage private sector entrepreneursdealing with production of flowers toinvest in the state. 0

49

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ill>-




Sachar Committee ReportImtiaz Ahmad

OR A healthy nation it isnecessary that all sectionscomprising it should developtogether. If any section of thesociety lags behind or is not

able to benefit from development,policies, the nation .ought to beconcerned.

. It has been a continuing complaint ofMuslims that the process ofdevelopment witnessed by the countryhas by passed them and they were beingleft high and dry. The SacharCommittee was appointed by the PrimeMinister so that an assessment of thesocial, educational and economicconditions of Muslims in India couldbecome available.

Muslims are a large and diversecommunity and are dispersed in allparts of the country. Any assessment ofthe community's socio-economic andeducational conditions of 'thecommunity has to take cognisance ofthis diversity and recognise that itsstanding cannot be a function merely ofits religious identity. It is likely to varyaccording, to regional and socialdivisions prevailing within thecommunity. For example, if a region hasnot experienced economicdevelopment, the entire population ofthat region is likely to be depressed andbackward. Likewise, the community's

social standing is likely to be greatlyinfluenced by its social ana economicprofile. If the community has .apreponderance of lower social strata, itsposition will naturally be considerablylower: than another community with apreponderance of better off socialclasses.

The Sachar Committee had to lookat all these complexities and come upwith a rounded picture of the socio-economic condition of Muslims incontemporary India. Its report hasbroadly concluded that large sections ofMuslims continue to remain deprivedand margnialised and there exists astrong case for carefully plannedinterventions should seek to ensurethat the dismal picture in respect ofthose sections of the community whocontinue to be depressed' anddisadvantaged, whether ineducational or socio-economic terms,changes.

. There is considerable scope in thereport for it to be read differently bydifferent people. This is natural becausewith respect to Muslims a wide varietyof perceptions and interpretations havebeen prevalent over a long time. Forexample; the observation of the SacharCommittee Report that Muslimsituation is a little better than that of theSCs and STs, especially with respect to

educational attainments, is likely todisturb a whole lot of people who areprone to thinking that and believing thatMuslims have stood higher than the SCsand STs and this is sufficient to indicate'that Muslims have been the target of aninsidious process of discriminationwhich the state is obliged to eliminate.It cannot be denied that as a minoritycommunity Muslims are susceptible tovarying degrees of discrimination.

What the Muslim performance vis-a-vis the SCs and STs suggests that thelatter's better performance in certainsectors of life, particularly education, isnot because discrimination against themhas lessened. They are still treated asuntouchables and continue to be farmore deeply stigmatised anddiscrimimited against Muslims. What itsuggests is that the SCs and STs have 'been able to take advantage of theopportunities which have becomeavailable to them. Clearly, a keydeterminant of the increased accessavailable to the SCs and STs ineducation and employment isaffirmative action, but the bottlenecks .that the SCs and STs have facedhistorically are also far more severe.Under the circumstances, a naturalconclusion that sections of Muslimswould draw is that the benefits ofreservation should be extended to them

The author is former Professor, Political Sociology, JNU, New Delhi and has worked on issues relating to Muslims.


from the same stigma as characterisesthe SCs are clubbed along with theMuslim OBCs. Both justice and fairplay would require that the bar currentlyplaced on Arzal Muslims, and DalitChristians, from enjoying the benefit ofreservation for SCs and STs should beremoved so that they too are entitled tothose benefits. Further, if many moreMuslim OBC groups have becomemarginalis~d or continue to be deprivedof developmental benefits, they can beput on the Schedule of OBCs. This willensure that they have increased accessto development benefits., For othergroups of Muslims, many of whom maybe deprived or bereft of the benefits ofdevelopment to the same extent asothers, the necessary condition wouldbe to exert better. At the same time, asthe report indeed makes a forceful plea,the' state should ensure through.appropriate public policies thatprejudice, discrimination and sense ofgrievance which act as dampers togroups entitled to equal opportunity ateremoved.

to equalise their chances of benefitingfrom development processes.

Perhaps the most relevant part of thereport is the discussion of the internaldivisions that have been historicallyprevalent within the Muslim communityin India. While the myth of the Muslimminority-the idea that all Muslims areone and there are no social distinctionswithin them-has been a dominantfeature of the discourse about Muslims,they have always been divided withinalong the axes of caste or caste-likegroupings (often described as zats orbiradaris) and social assets. Followingearlier sociological writings, the reporthas discussed Muslims in terms ofAshraf (upper or noble born), Ajlaf(converts from artisan and menialcastes) and A{zal (lowly) and shows,though not in substantial detail, thatdifferential performance as well asaccess to developmental'benefits isclosely associated with location in termsof these axes. In other words, the Ashrafare more generally advantaged, theAjlaf are substantially deprived and theArzal are extremely marginalised. Thisfinding of the report has a direct bearingon the assessment of the social,educational and economic standing of thecommunity and the interventions requiredaddrel"sing Muslim marginalisation.

Affirmative action is one effectiveinstrument of in"creasing access todevelopmental benefits and promotingequity. One question raised by theSachar Committee report is whetheraffirmative action should be extended tothe community as a whole, which eliteMuslim classes will definitely welcome,or whether it should be limited to thosesections that have remaineddisadvantaged and marginalised as a-result of their overall weak economicand social position. On this question the

. Committee's perspective is ambiguous.Fortunately in the case of l\1uslimsaffirmative action is already provided tothose sl?ctions that are classified asbackward classes. One anomaly is thatArzal Muslims, whose social situationis similar to the SCs and who suffer

52

On the whole, while the findings of.the Sachar Committee are significantand ought to be acted upon, themethodology followed by theCommittee has brought to the foreseveral substantive questions whichdeserve careful consideration. If thosequestions are not clarified and settled,there is serious risk that the debate onthe report in the days ahead would becaught up in the quagmire ofunwarranted communalism.

One question relates to the principleof comparison across communities.What principle was available to theCommittee to decide that there was aneed to look at differentials acrosscommunities? Should one not havemoved beyond to the specificities ofthose sections and families amongMuslims that display similar levels andthose that are disparate? Success orfailure, and more particularly levels ofsocio-economic development achieved,is a function not merely of, to use thelanguage of the Committee, the SRC

(Socio-Religious Community) to whichone belongs. It is also a function of theassets and resources that a group orfamily is able to mobilise as it seekssocio-economic advancement. Thoseendowed with similar or comparableassets are more likely to achieve asimilar level of socio-economicadvancement. If the data showed thatdespite access to assets and resourcessections within Muslims performeddifferently, then there would be causefor worry. This question is pertinentbecause a serious perceptual issue isinvolved here. It is whether thedifferentials that characterise Muslimsand other SRCs are a function ofreligion and ethno-religious identity orof other tangible and not so tangiblefactors. In other words, if it is held thatthe differentialS are a function of ethno-religious identity then nothing short ofisolating Muslims and treating themaside from others would be the way ofameliorating their condition. On theother hand, if it is held that socio-economic advancement is less afunction of ethno-religious identity andmore an issue of assets and resources,then obviously the emphasis wouldhave to be shifted to the creation ofassets through ge.neral economicdevelopment rather than isolating oneSRC for amelioration.

The second question relates to theprinciple of proportionaterepresentation in the different sectors oflife such as economy, politics andeducation .. One line of reasoning thathas dominated the discourse of well-being of Muslims is that they should berepresented to the extent of theirproportion in the population. TheSachar Committee report has invokedthis principle time and again in makingits assessment of the relative postionofMuslims in the different sectors of

- social and economic life. Where doesthis pnnciple come from? There was atime in Indian politics when theprinciple of parity was widely espousedand propagated and distributiveadvantages were demanded in terms ofpopulation proportions .. It was on this


, .

principle that polit~cs became a zero-sum game in which every gain for one

. community was seen as a loss byanother community.

The Constitution of India attemptedto override this principle by makingequity and equality of opportunityrather tl~anparity to be the guiding basisof national life. According to thisconstitutional principle, the State's roleis not to ensure that all communitiesshould be represented in the differentsectors of public life in proportion totheir share in the population but ratherthat all communities should have equalopportunity to develop and advanceeven though currently they might havedifferential assets and advantages.

The Constitution recognised even asit procJlaimed equality that communities(SRCs in the language of the SacharCommittee's report) have historicallyhad. differential advantages leading upto the persistence of gross inequalitiesin real life. Up to a point the legislationspassed under the direction of the

constitutional directions sought torestrict, if not reduce or eliminate, thoseadvantages by restricting property rightsand exclusive privileges. At the sametime, the legislations sought to create aframework to equalise life chances' foreveryone irrespective of considerationsof social affiliation. At least in somecases, the principle of reversediscrimination was also adopted whereit seemed that without such reverse.discrimination life chances would notbe equalised.

It is possible that during the pastsixty years the practices of the Statehave not been true to the letter and spiritof the Constitution due to which theequality of life chances has notmaterialised for some communities.Musliins may be one such community.It is also possible that certaincommunities which have had a greaterhold over the structure of the State havedeliberately blocked life chances forcertain others. One of the dilemmas ofthe Indian society has been that the

State is secular but the society has beenboth communal and communitarian.. Under such conditions the possibilitiesof the dominant sections holding backothers or blocking their life chancescannot be denied.

So far as such blockages exist, theState is, and can be made, liable toremove them. The State can be made tofulfil that liability both by political.pressures and legal action. On.e hasreason to believe that the PrimeMinister was led to constitute theSachar Committee to explore whethersuch blockages existed in the case ofMuslims in view of the persistentMuslim complaint that they were notgetting a fair deal. Such of theconclusions and recommendations ofthe Committee that suggest that suchblockages exist should be addressed. Atthe same time, the publication of thereport cannot be converted into anoccasion to relapse back into amindsetwhere parity rather than equity andequality of opportunity is made the coreof public demands. 0

w>-

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Community Radio Run by-D1alit Women

. V Balakrishna

EADY... Taking ...Cue ... ' One villagewoman is givinginstructions from thecontrol room.

Some other viUage women in thestudio started singing.

The programme is recorded, and itis broadcast.

This is not a scene in All IndiaRadio, Hyderabad. This is a scene in a'community radio station iIi a remotevillage called Machnoor ofJharasangham MandaI in' MedakDistrict, a backward area in AndhraPradesh. Here two Dalit women, oneNarsamma is from Pastapoor villageand the other Narsamma is fromAlugolu village, are running aCommunity Radio Station. Since boththeir names are similar, their villagenames have become their identity. Theyhave studied only up to 10th standardand they did not know what isbroadcasting and how it is. But nowthey are experts in recording, editing,dubbing, mixing, all the latesttechniques of broadcasting includingannouncements.

All this happened with the help oflocal NGO called Deccan DevelopmentSociety (DDS) which is involved inRural Development Programmes, likewomen empowerment, s~lf help

groups, agriculture. etc. They helpedthese women with financial 'assistancefrom the UNESCO in setting up astudio, equipment like recorders,mixers, editing suits etc. An FMtransmitter is also set up which willcover a radius of 30 km aroundMachnoor and cater signal' to morethan 100 villages.

If one woman remains in the station,the other goes with her UPTR (UltraPortab1e'Tape Recorder) to the villagesand records interviews and talks ofexperts in the villages. The subjectsvary from women issue~, childdevelopment, health, social problems,agriculture, pest management,watershed development, drinking water,Iiutrition, child labour, and all otherissues related to the villages. They areempowering villages by conductingplays, stories, songs etc. They havecredited 500 hours of recordings so

far in seven years. Sincetheir station do not have alicense to air theprogrammes they take therecordings to the villagesand play them in the publicaddress system and also in 'their group meetings. Sincethe Government of India,has taken a decision togi ve licenses to thecommunity radio stationsthrough out the country,

their station will be the first one toget the license and they can broadcastthe programmes.,

'Initially, people were not willing tohear our programmes, when they cameto know how useful they are, theystarted showing interest' says GeneralNarsamma, who got the title 'General'as leader of a children group earlier.

'We have already provided at leastone FM receiver in each village andnow we are concentrating on providingan FM receiver to each of ourcommunity member in all the 75villages, as we are going to get licenseto air the programmes' says Mr SureshKumar, Deputy Director, DDS.

To know about what these Dalitwomen are presenting on theCommunity Radio, one has to log on towww.ddsindia.com. 0

The author is Editor, Yojana (Telugu), Hyderabad.


http://www.ddsindia.com.

Mid-Year Economic Review 2006-07

Reforms Must to KeepGrowth Buoyant

role in accelerating economic growthwith foreign direct investment (FDI)buoyancy pushing up net capital inflowsto $ 12.5 billion du~ing April-June ascompared to $ 7.7 billion during thefirst quarter of the previous fiscal.E~ports were also strong at $ 69.5billion during April-October.

The report has called for caution toensure that macroeconomic stability asthis was key to promoting investmentand growth. "Indeed there is need forcontinuous caution in maintainingmacroeconomic stability to support thepick up in investment and growth on anenduring basis. This is particularly so Inthe current conjuncture with largeglobal macroeconornic imbalances anduncertainty in currency markets," thereview said.

The pointers frbm the review-tabled in Parliament-for the 2007Budget include reforms in labour laws,deregulating of mining and regulatoryreforms for 'the pension as well asinsurance sectors. Adequate emphasishas been placed to stress on the ~needtoopen up mining further and encouragemarket forces to usher in moreThe external sector has played a key

Simply put, you can get ready touncork the bubbly to celebrate un-precedented economic growth during2006-07 though agriculture is notkeeping pace with,the overall buoyancy.To step up the gas further, thegovernment now plants to prune taxexemptions, reforms the regulatorysystem for pension, insurance sectors;and revamp delivery of subsidies byintroducing food stamps and smartcards.

o FULLSTOPS in India'sgrowth story. Manufacturingis resurgent services goingstrong, revenue collection .buoyant, Inflation under

, control, exports jumping 37.3 per cent,foreign investment flows strong and noover heating of the economy'

The finance ministry's and mid-yearreview of the economy calls for reformsin labour laws, deregulation of miningand steps to boos! agriculture. Irritantslike lack of adequate power generationlinger, but the big sectors projects theeconomy racing in the right direction.

FM's Reviewcalls for reformsin Labour JAws,deregulation ofMining & steps

to boostAgriculture


(Compiled oy Editorial Team, Yojana.)

"If investment continues to bebuoyant and efficiency improves, theproblem of, overheating may tum outto be less real and more imaginary,"said the report. Attributing rising'inflation to supply side constraintsbesides rapid rise inctedit growthand money supply, finance ministerP Chidambaram said the governmentwill take pre-emptive action tocontain rising prices.

"We have to be ahe,ad ofdevelopments and take pre-emptiveaction, rather than fall back and takecorrective action." Chidambaram said itwas too early to say whetherinflationary expectations have comedown.

The wholesale prices-based annual'inflation rate declined to 5.16 per centfor the week ended Decemoer 2 from530 per cent and 5.45 per cent in thetwo previous weeks, .following areducation in prices, ()f petrol and disesl.

Inflation' accelerted from 4.1 percent at end-March 2006 to 5.5 percent on June 17 and again on 18November. 0

The review pointed out that a large'part 'of the current problems ofinflation is induced by commodity-specific' supply problems related to

'products 's~fh as wheat and pulses."A durable solution to the price riseproblems has to be found inincreasing yields and domestic outputof such products. Simultaneously,ma~roeconomic policy response hasto be prospective rather thanretrospective", the review said.

lilbour ,reforms to push growth

• Tax exemptions, to be primed• Efu-lyse~~gup~find~pendent

regulatory; system$ ..for. insl:!rance,p~nsionslX:tors,

• ,Fine-:tunirig ofsuQsidies

• R~form?fthe r~~~lat9ry systemsf9r mining sector"

uncertainty in currency markets," Itsaid.

The ,Committee on Fuller CapitalAccount Convertibility (2006)indic'ated that a current accountdeficit to GDP ratio of 3 per centcould be comfortably financed andneed for' policy action would arise ifthe ratio rises substantiaIfy above 3per cent.

. The Plamiing Commission., in theApproach Paper ,to Eleventh FiveYear Plan, appears to confirm thisdiagnosis, the report said. Also thechanging 'composition of 'demand,which indicates addition toproduction capacity to support ahigher growth rate of the economy,

The review highlighted that thoughit seems unlikely that the currentdeficit ,is a cause for alarlI}; there isneed for continuous caution' inmaintaining macroeconomic stabilityto support the pick up in investmentand growth on an enduring basis."This is particularly so in the currentconjuncture with large globalmacroeconomic imbalances and

reduction and monetary tightening to.brin'g inflation under control.

the buoyant stock market and stableconditions in.the exchange ratemarket of the rupee, indicate that

Furthermore" the 0 lI}oderation of there need not. be a cause for,internatio'nal • ptices" of ,crude' immediate worty, the reportpetroleum has also tJroughtsome, , ' ' ,. ". ,. ~indicat~d.

"n~liei On the expectations front:' th~' "report,' said.

. ',;

Faced with some upward pressureon inflation, the ,government and theRBI have already initiated measuressuch as supply management, duty

On infrastructure, the financeministry's view is that users shouldpay for services. Projectinginvestment need for the 11th five yearplan period at $ 320 billion, thereview, has cited shortage ofelectridty,and water supply as keyareas of concern.

On overheating, the financeministry reels that the concernsexpressed by some sections waS dueto a combination of high economicgrowth and slow creeping up ofinflation in manufactured products.The review has, however, clearly,rul~d out any need for alatm,~t this.state. The on'ly area of c~n~~rnhighlighted by the report is thedisappointing performance ofiheagricultural sector which grew by just2.6 per cent in the first sixmontbs ofcurrent financial year. The minimumsupport price (MSP) mechanism hasnot delivered the desired results andfaired to discover the market price"the finance ministry feels. "There isa need for a clear separation of pricesupport to farmers and procurementby the states, on the one hand andsubsidy to 'the poor citizens on theother."

Part of the optim,ism i~ based onthe fact that roblist economic' growth,with GDP growth touching'9.1 percent was based -on resurgence inmanufacturing which grew by 10.9per cent and the vibrant servicessector that expanded by '10:7 percent.

momentum into the financial sector. Inthe case of mining, lh~ 'reportemphasises on the unfinished agenda offurther reforms.


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Harnessing Collective Thinking. Power.Interview with' MS Swaminathan

ADS: Yojana hqs been a very importantsource of both information and alsopolicy analysis and policy direction andI hope, as the word Yojana reminds us,it is very important for us now to giveour own thinking to our own problems,and not be carried away by what otherssay, what others think. We should applyour minds to our own problems; ourown' people will find solutions, localsolutions and Yojana must emphasisethe need for harn.essing the .collectivethinking power of our country throughthe effective use of Panchayat RajInstitutions.

ADS: Very important. In a countrywhere 70 per cent of the people arein agriculture, it is high time, we gaveimportance to agriculture andtherefore, Yojana as an authenticbody, can bring ab,out information,for example, even suicides. Farmers'

suicides - why is it happening, whyis it persisting, why is it not goingdown, why has itgone.down in someareas and not in other places, wbatare the reasons, how to deal with itand so on.

ADS: There was a lot of euphoria cif thegreen revolution, people thought, ourproduction problems are solved, soinvestment on irrigation, investment onextension, investments on researcheverything went down and we arereaping the cost of those wrongdecisions.

ADS: There are concerns andmisapprehensions some of themvalid, and some of them inadequate'knowledge what is important for us isto develop a mechanism, liberatedmechanism which will promote

responsible bib-technology whichwill help to understand both ri~k andbenefits in a Very objective manner.Three years back a committee whichI chaired recommended a nationalbio-technology and regulatoryauthority which could .be anautonomous body which will inspirepublic confidence; media confidence,political confidence,. professionalconfidence. The sooner we have amechanism' the better, otherwise wehave to think about fourdiffere~tissues. One, is the safety of the'environment, and then the safety ofconsumer. What we eat should notcause us harm. Then safety of any'new problem that arises, like newdiseases what we called bio securityand finally trade security. The recentconcern particularly in Haryana wasmore from traders than environmentalist.Traders felt that if European countriesknow that we have genetically modifiedrice, they will not import from us. At themoment we are exporting bothbasmatiand non-bas mati rice about 4to 5 million tonnes a very largeamount we export. Today, Europedoes not permit to export. So in myreport I have mentioned we shouldlook at trade security, we shall lookat bio safety and bio security we

Prof M S Swaminathan is Chairman, National Commission on Farmers. The interviewer is I. Vijayan, Editor, Yojana (Tamil), Chennai,

YO.J~A February 2007 59

Ans: Yes. The Commission hasrecommended to reduce the ,crop loanfrom 7 to 4 per cent. 0

Ans: Talking about the dry farming areas,. say in Tamil Nadu, there is a rain for a .year the next year there is no rain, orthere might be heavy.rain resulting inflood. As a result the farmer might nothave a good yield. In addition he has totake loan to buy seed. In view of theabove he is given 4 to 5 years time torepay his crop loan. When the WorldBank gives 40 years time to repay theloan taken by our country, how can oneexpect a farmer to repay his dues withina year or one season with poor yield orharvest.

In our country we cannot force a farmer.There are 150 million farming familiesall making their own decisions becausethe land is individually owned, it is not .owned by the Government. Therefore,we can mislead the farmer may be forone year, but second year you cannotmislead. So farmer grows a crop withthe hope of net income per hectare, notby net yield, if he has got higher incomehe will go for that and that's why moreincome per drop of water movement isbeing started on June 1, 2007. Itemphasises on how to increase theincome for farmers, because todayfarming has become uneconomic. Andextreme steps are suicide of the farmers.Therefore we must look at theeconomics of farming. We should lookat the income of the farmer in fact thenational commission on farmersrecommended agricultural growthshould be given by the growth rate in. farmers income and not just productionalone.

'~'E"." verYfiv~.~ute&:~Iqdi8.n•.•........ . frQ.ln., '. CQ ...•jID.......Pl~ ...ca.'....ti\)..*...'n...•.s...•..l ..-;....~.l....liX .' pregnancy an,8 chij~birthr . '.''\lP tQ approxi~atel~ 1.~',OOOW(l';deathsperfyear',:l!hese.ateilhe~dingsthe latestrepot1\by 1JNIC~ onmaternhealth in llidia./ ~ .•. +. ' ,.

should environment safety about theconsumers the man who eats thesame. So.all these matters. need to beanalyzed carefully by a professionalbody. Even the Hon'b1e SupremeCourt of India have recentlyexpressed our concern about theregulatory mechanism. As I said

. , "

objl?ctive mechanism is one, whichwill weigh the risk carefully whichwill also weigh the benefit carefullyand then come to a conclusion.

'Qnes:/:What is the genltral,'llPprehell$ion l;)ftheo~famte,rs'l'

""0- •

India'sMat~maf Mo~alityJ£itio~, ' - .- ,~", '>.'_ ~'i"<,,:';::. -:." - ,.,,;

~) ha}been,seen;tobetashf~as\~.maternal death~per'J, live[lbout'fouritime;.bighe.r th~.POPUlation:;PoJic~(NlfJ?),+.. g~alp~:~"per 1,()O,~ Iive'~~irthl; &f • .• !i

A~rding' to. the ~msl:a"':,:' __ .' - " --:, ' ,',~:,- ,-::~'w:' ._,0" y-Madhya P1;ade~~;and,. .!PridMMRisa~bigh' as~OO{}I:.~Assam. .,~ihar~ G~jar;i; ..J;lary~akamatalm;OriS~a, ~jastlan~!1d l'!e~Bengal it~~ceeijs 4°ope~fl,~.~~iyl>irths:lt ~as.'fo;md .iliatover th~las('Siit'.~tear!lthe~ehas been "np Signifi~:tnt:~;:r,eduetion"in theMMR. ...~../s::.. "0

t:- :,~:>- -::": , '-:,~::,:. _ 'j::' '_::~:.' '.~t~:"The MMR in India of\378materhal'~

(leaths per,.i,oO,!)OOliveB.ft.ths.ili:l~;"t/ - ". - - 'k •.). -~ k:;~

Ans: Ordinary farmer wants incomesecurity and crops security, he doesn'tcare whether the variety he grows ishybrid or something which came fromgenetic modifications. He looks at theproduct and grows it. If he grows it forone year and doesn't getmore yield orif the crop is not more resis~t or if thequality is not good he will not next year.

60 YOJANA February ~007

~ '" /4' ~~: '~ ~ '<. ~' <X P ~ <- 0; "' ¥ ~ .j;::

" :" ~" :, '" ISSUES'

\N"omen" and 'Pla~nsDevaki Jain

Unless the entirerange of

facilitators ofwomen's

",empowermentcome together, thenew wagon will"move alongwithout women

, ~-

"NE OF the first countries tomake serious efforts tobring in women'sviewpoints and perspectiveon development planning

was India.

While in the fIrst few plans, the issueaddressed was din:cted towards,"redeveloping", the / country,strengthenillg-its capacity to produce, and be self suffiCient By the time of the6th plan the momentum and the interestin bringing a speCifIc concern namely,dealing with women, simulated thePlanmng Commission at that time, tobring a chapter on women. At this time,since the major interest in India was,towards employing the unemployed, thechapter was called "Women'sEmployment" and not a chapter on, Women and Development or Gender asit is now called.

There is a message in that attempt asit includes women in an importantperspective of planning, nam'elyemployment, which still is a burningissue for women, who are in the lowerincoqle deciles, in India.

In preparIng the 'II th plan, many of

the issues that were raised by the fIrstmeeting of the Steering Committeereflected the gains and the inadequaciesof the location of women in the plansover the last four plans. There was acritical appraisal., The critical appraisalwas strengthened by the mid-termappraisal of the 10th plan on the subjectnamely Chapter 4, which actuallyrevealed clues for the SteeringCommittee to take note of.

Even if planning for women ischanged to planning with women, thereare many dilemmas and challenges inbuilding a chapter into any fIve yearplan which aims to include women andChildren as a special category withinthe planning process.

The Steering Committee meetingmentioned above revealed thechallenges, dilemmas and problems ofbringing women as an identity intopublic policy. The problems are notmerely the fact that the, category )Vomenis not homogeneous - and that they arescattered across class, caste, religion,location, etc., and thereby cannot bebundled into one identity. The problemis that they are engaged in every aspectof the political economy - every sector,

1ibe 'auth?r is a noted development economist.

,YOJANA February 200761

• Of all agricultural workers, 99.4 percent work in the informal sector.'

For example women are deeplyengaged as labour in con~truction andconstruction is one of the major sourceof employment next to agriculture.Since their skills are not upgraded torespond to the current constructionneeds they are again left in the lowestpaid most vulnerable positions.

The increasing inequality and the

increase in pressure of poverty isexperienced by women to such a greatextent that they are now doing shortterm and long term migration with allthe hardships of migrati9n. Recentstories how girls are married quicklyeven at the age of 14 or 15 sincecontract laborers in other states wantcouples is a particular example but thereis female adult migration in largenumbers.

It is well known that women areamongst the poorest of the poor. Themajority of those who are HIV AIDSvictims, most malnourished and we alsoknow that the infant mortaIity rate hasbeen increasing and so too maternalmortality in the last few years while theeconomy is growing at a fast -rate.

Another example in from tiny. enterprise; Millions of women are what. can be called owners of tiny enterprise,-which are being gobbled up by the newMART mode.

Simultaneously, there are immensechanges in the institutionalarrangements being made for deliveryof devel,opment especially to the lessprivileged section of society. Centralschemes are being gradually liquefiedand an increasing percentage of fundsare being given as untied funds at thelocal level. Gram panchayats are being'empowered and while women may havea quota of seats in them, unless theentire range of facilitators of women'sempowerment from governmentmachineries for women such as.Department of Women. and Child,Women Study Centers, Women'sMovement, the Central Social WelfareBoard, come together to strengthencapacity at the local level for women todeal with their interest and ideas fordevelopment, the new wagon will movealong without women. \

Thus, it is much better that insteadof trying to assess the current schemesoperating on behalf of poor women and

Involvement(Percentage)

Share of WOOlen in AgriculturalOperations I

• 53 per cent of all male workers arein agriculture

• 75 per cent of all female workers arein agriculture

• 85 per cent of all rural femaleworkers are in agriculture

For women this percentage hasdeclined iess than four points since1972-73. An estimated 20% of ruralhouseholds are de facto female-headed due to widowhood anddesertion, or because of male out-migration. These women are oftenmanaging agriculture and providingfamily subsistence with little maleassistance, but without titles to orcontrol over the land they arecultivating.

Yet as it is shown in the table belowthey are the majority of the workersin many critical processes or steps inagriculture~

Activity

every programme either as subjects orobjects and therefore to capture theirpresence in one chapter trivializestheir position in the Indian politicaleconomy.

In fact, in this particular exercise ofengaging with women in planning ordesigning or drawing up a five year-plan, the women identity is legitimateand necessary. It need liot be broken upinto conventional strata, just as tli.edalitor the minority identity has the value inthe whole, apart from in the parts.

Attempts to do a chapter on womenin the five year plan, tend to get drivenby what is 'called the Ministry ofWomen and Child, formerly adepartment, which has the historicalevolution of being a funding agencywith a plethora of schemes. Theseschemes range from attempts toimprove the economic capacity ofwomen to the usual social amenities andservices, but bundles specially forwomen or a separate fund kept forwomen within allocation called thecomponent plan. Thus, the womenchapter further marginalises women,which really makes women into basketcase.

The difficulties with such anapproach are-

The schemes meant for women don'trecognize the central role that womenmay be playing or the marginalizationthey may be experiencing i'n sectorswhere they both earn their livelihood aswell as provide to the domesticproducts.

For example in agriculture ; Ruralwomen workers in agriculture arelinked to informal work status on theone hand and with marginal workerstatus on the other.

• 64 per cent of the total informalsector workforce depends onagriculture.

• 38 per cent of all agriculturalworkers are women.

(,


There is much to be learnt from thepast experience, on what NOT to do.Further, there is enormous value addedif a plan takes into consideration theperspectives provided by the location ofsocial groups like women, minoritiesdalits into their full consideration,instead of seeing them as victims, orpatients as Prof Amartya Sen has sajdin one of his lectures, I quote:

• In strategies, we need to haveworking groups within steeringcommittees and those workinggroups would be to discuss howwomen matter.

• We should pick up on the ideas thatcome from and for NREG Scheme.For e.g., Himachal Pradesh had an.idea that they would want to have abuilding for the anganwadi and forchildren toilets. This could befunded as an NREG Scheme and itwould immediately benefIt women.

.We should visualise issues in relationto minorities and dalits and findways in which their concerns areexpressed. Thus, there could, becommissions which' focus ondiscrimination of women, includingagencies set up for SCs & STs or.minorities. Just as the Commissionon unorganized labor, we shouldhave a Commission .on the impact ofdiscrimination or we bring it in avery big issue into theAdministrative. ReformsCommission.

The idea of doing gender budgetingand child budgeting should bedropped as indeed this is in some "We need a vision of mankind not assense plugging into what is on and _ patients whose interests have to pewhat is on is certainly not been looked after, but as agents who can daenabling. effective things-both individually and

jointly. We also have to ga beyond therole .of human beings specifica11y as'cansumers' or as 'peaple with needs',and consider, more braadly, theirgeneral role as agents .of change whocan - given the oppartunity - think,assess, evaluate, resolve, inspire,agitate, arid thraugh'these means,reshape the warld". 0

Instead of that we cauld ga into whatwe can be called Fiscal Palicyadvise. Should government raisemoney through sale of arrack, orother sources, by pointing aut that

. . liquor and arrack in the village hasabsalutely hurt the well being offamilies.

• Women's organizations and WomenStudy Centers would provide theenabling hands but there is noscheme at all to support themJ

• regarding funds, the funds should beto provide enabling hands to _letwomen be there .own agents. Thus,the women's machinery shouldbecome only an advocacy tool.

• data, through the knowledge thatthey have provided, through thedifficulties of institutional supportfor them.

What we need to do this time is tovisiblise' women, visualise themthrough;

We are fortunate that we have a mid-term appraisal chapter which tells usthat all is not well with the strategiesthat we have followed in bringing moreattention to women's role in planningfor development. Thus, we can use theMTA's own commentary, as it isgovernment's own assessment of thepast.

Third Section, The action where dowe go? Women's footprints on theIndian development plan - how dowomen want to receive developmentassistance. How do they want to designdevelopment planning andimplementation? Here, we could drawideas from regions.

Nothing exposes the disjunctionbetween the percentage growth and theground level, as well as the profile ofor the face of the less privileged classesbe it by class, caste or minority. So, itis important to do a data map fromwhich the rest of the plan can derive,with response, rather' than try to drawmore money to be delivered throughmore schemes.

S~~condSection, which gives

Mapping of data

India's women with special referenceto those in poverty. The face of theIndian women.

Thl~ Chapters could be designed asfollows:

FiIrst Section, which gives thehistorical evolution of ideas forintegrating women in developmentplanning at both the national and somestate level experiences.

. We could mention how the fIrst timewomen were brought into the sixth plan,it was a chapter on women'semployment and the contributionwomen wer~ making in the differentsectors of. the economy and therebydrew attention to the needs to strengthenwomen's livelihoods and women asworker, not only a target of socialwelfare.

the allocation of fund for them or evenreserving funds for women in sectors,a presentation is made which is morelike mapping, seeing the Indian mapwith the faces of women, where are theylocated in the productive sectors, whereare they being immiserised,what are thekinds of trends that are emerging as aresul.t of some of the matro-policyinitiatives that are being taken, where

. are livelihood~ getting increased, wherelost.

Thus, the women chapter furthermarginalizes women and the women'sministry is the basket; which reallymakes women into basket cases.


Do You Know? What is the Budget ?

What is Contingency Fund?

As the name suggests this funds isplaced at the disposal of the Presidentto enable the government to meeturgent unforeseen. expenditurepending autno:risationfromParliament

What is Public Account?

Besides the normal receipts andexpenditure of the government whichrelates to the Consolidated Fund,certain other transactions entel,'government acc.ounts in respect ofwhich government acts more as abanker, for example, transactionsrelating to provident funds, smallsavings collections, other deposits,etc. The money thus received is keptin the Public Account. As the money,generally speaking, does not belong togovernment and h~ to be paid backsome time or the other to the personsand authorities who deposited it,

Budget is also called theAnnual parliamentary approval for paymentFinancial Statement. This is , from the PublicAccount is not required.the main budget document. .

Under article 112 of the Constitution, What is Revenu~ Budget?a statement of estimated.receipts and This consists of the revenue receiptsexpenditure of the government of of the government (tax revenues andIndia has to be laid before Parliament other revenues)and the expendituremetfor every financialyear.This statement from these revenues. Tax revenuesshows the receipts and payments of comprise proceeds of taxes and otherGovernment under the three parts in duties levied by the Union. Otherwhich Government" accounts are revenues are receipts of the government

'kept: (1) Consolidated Fund mainly consisting of ,interest and(2) Contingency Fund and (3) Public dividend on investments made byAccount. government fees lUldreceipts for other

services rendered by the government.What is Consolidated Fund,? Revenue Expenditureis expenditure forAll revenues by the government, the normal running of government

loans raised by it, and also itneceipts departments and various services,from recoveries of loans granted by it;: , interest charges on debt incurred byform the Consolidated Fund. All government, subsidies and so on.expenditure of the government is Broadly speakiI;lg,expenditure whichincurred from the Consolidated Fund does not result in the creation of assetsand no amountcan be withdrawnfrom is treated as revenue expenditure. Allthe Fund without authorisation from grants given to state governments andParliament. other parties are also treated as revenue

expenditure even though. some of thegrants may be for creation of assets.

What is CapiW Budget? '

This consi~tsof capital receipts andpayments. It also incorporatestransactions in the Public Account.Capital receipts are loans raised bygovernment from the public which arecalled market loans, borrowings bygovernment from Reserve Bank andother parties through sale of TreasuryBills, loans received from foreignbodies and governments and reCoveriesof loans grantedby Central governmentto state and Union territorygovernments and other parties.

Capital payments consists of capitalexpenditureOnacquisitionof assets likeland, buildings, machinery, equipment,as also investments in shares, loans andadvancesgrantedby centralgovernmentto state and union, territorygovernments, g0'femment. pompanies,corporations and,othel,'p~e~. :

64

What are Demand for. Grants ?

This the form in which estimates ofexpenditure included in the AnnualFinancial Statementand required to bevoted in the Lok Sabha are submitted.Generally one demand for grant ispresented in respect of each ministryor department. However for largeministries and departments more thanone demand is presented.

What is Finance Bill?

The proposals of government forlevy of new taxes, modification of theexisting tax structure beyond theperiod approved by Parliament aresubmitted to Parliament through' thisbill.

what is Performance Bndget?This is the budget of the ministry

in terms of functions, programmesand activities and gives appraisal,reports separately in respect ofmajor central sector .projectslprogrammes estimated to costRs 100 crore or more.

What are Appropriation BiDs?

After the Demands for Grants arevoted by the Lok Sabha, Parliament'sapproval to the wit4drawal from theConsolidated Fund of the amounts sovoted and the amount to meet theexpenditure charged on theConsolidated Fund is sought throughthe Appropriation bill.

What the Budget Deficit?The difference between revenue ,

receipts plus non-debt capital receiptson one side and total expenditureincluding loans, net of repayments, onthe other side. In othl~rwprds, this isthe budget deficit plus borrowingsand other liabilities.

What is PrimaryDetic1t ?

This is fiscal deficiturlnu$ interestpayments. Q

.',' YOJA.,NA;February-;W07

Do You Know? Kinds of Deficits

The Fiscal Responsibility andBudget Management Act, 2003 haslaid down the roadmap for a gradualreduction and finally, elimination ofrevenue deficit by 2008-09. This willentail raising of revenue and,simultaneously, having some checkson expenses relating to subsidies,salary and pensi0t;! bills, interestpayments, etc. After all, thegovernment ought to live within itsmeans.

difference between reve'nueexpenditure and revenue receipts isrevenue deficit. It means thegovernment is unable to meet itsexpenses from recurring sources of .income.

Significance of fiscal deficit ?

The government's first task is tobridge revenue deficit, Second, it .must generate the resources forinvesting in projects and schemes of.capital nature. This may include.equity contribution to public sectorundertakings, loans for publicenterprises and investment ininfrastructure sector projects ..Theseinvestments yield direct as well asindIrect dividends.

The government b()rrowsmoney tobridge the revenue deficit and fund.developmental projects and schemes.The government, as sovereign,borrows. at competitive rates fromvarious sources which include theReserve Bank of India, commercialbanks, general public, externalborrowings etc. The total borrowingsused to bridge the receipt-expendituregap is called fisel deficit. This is

be . measured as a percentage of GDP asit may not be appropriate to compareborrowings of different years inabsolute terms. 0

deficit

Tax is the most important source ofrevenue for a government. The

Should revenueeliminated ?

According to the revise'd estimatesfor 2004-05, while the Planexpenditure was Rs 1.37 lakh ,crore(budget estimates for 2005-06 put itat 1.43 lakh crore), the interestpayment on loans borrowed to furtherthe ends of deficit financing was Rs.1.26 lakh crore (budget estimates for2005-06 put it at 1.34 lakhcrore). Itmeans India is spending nearly thesame amount on interest payments. ason development. Tl,1isalso explainsthe alarming limi~s to which the. .concept of-deficit financing has beenstretched.

Is deficit financing necessary ?

States often fail to generate taxrevenue which is sufficient enough totake care of the expenses of the state,especially a welfare state. Deficitfinancing allows the state toundertake activities which, otherwise,would be beyond its financialcapacity.

The concept, it may be recalled, waspopularised by noted British economistJM Keynes with the aim of pumping adepressed economy.The basic intentionbehind deficit fimincing is to providethe necessary impetus to eco,nomicgrowth by artificial means.Unfortunately,the extent to which Indiahas been practisingdeficit financing hasgone way beyond what co~ld possiblyhave been contemplated by LordKeynes.

capital receipts. These include domesticand external borrowings, proceeds ofdisinvestment, recovery of loans givenby the Union government, etc.

De{icit il>bal>icallythe differencebetween expenditure and receiptl>.In public finance, it means thegovernment il>I>pendingmore thanwhat it is earning. Governmentexpenditure and revenue can be splitinto capital and revenue. Capitalexpenditure generally includes those'expenses which result in creation ofassets. Revenue expenditure isprimarily that which does not resultin asset creation..--:.Hkeinterestpayments, salari~s, subsidies, etc.Eg., I~xpenditureon construction ofa fly over will be capitalexpenditure, while the salary beingpaid to government officialssupervising the construction will berevenue expenditure. .

.What is defidt ?

Similarly, on the receipts side,whatever the government receives astaxes is revenue receipt. Receipts notof a recurriging nature are generally

l'he Union government will bepaying as much as Rs. 1.34

. . lakli crore as int~rest during2005-06. An amount large enough tobuild 27,00,000 medium-sizehousecosting Rs. 5 lakh each, or 500new schools in each district of the .~ountlY. Unfortunately,funds of such .magnitude go down the drain in theform of interest payment each year.Interest payment is nothing but areflectionof debts accumulated by thegovemme!lt .over the years forbridgl;ng deficit. Successive financeministers have tried, without success,to .bridge the growing revenue-expenditure chasm. Finance miniter P.Chidambaram too will endeavour to

. contain deficit in IJudgetfor 2007-08at various kinds of deficits and theirimplicationsfor the economy;


Cycle Rickshaws •In DelhiGeetam Tiwari

Rickshaws are often viewed as causefor congestion and vehicles whichviolate traffic regulations and cause'chaos on the toad. However, rickshawsand other non motorised vehicles inDelhi as well as in other cities havepeen completely ignored in trafficplanning and road designs. The roadnetwork is .used by at least sevencategories of motorized and non-motorised vehicles.

Since primarily bicycles and othernon-motorized vehicles use the left sideof the road, buses are unable to use thedesignated bus lanes and are forced to .stop in the middle lane at bus stops.This disrupts the smooth flow of trafficin all lanes and makes bicycling, use ofricks1)aws and other non motorisedmodes mOre hazardous. Motorized

'D." ..~.....t.•EUll IS known to h.av.e th.e survive. Often the rickshaws are owned. maximum number of by contractors who demand fixed rent

•.• motorized' vehicles from the pullers. They do not care about: ,compared to' any other the technology or the environment in, Indian city. However, the which the rickshaw puller has tonumber of cycle rickshaws and other . operate: However, this is only one side.motorised-modes has been increasing of the exploitation faced. Theover the years. Despite increasing authorities is the cause for much moreincome levels of the resident population serious concern.and growth in number of cars andscooters there seems to be enoughdemand for bicycles and cyclerickshaws and thelas. Given the socio-economic mix of the city populationand spatial pattern, this demand isexpected to continue in future also. Infact, there is a strong case to developpolicies and infrastructure whichenables smooth movement of cyclerickshaws because this is a zeroemissiqn vehicle, and can serve' as afeeder mode to bus transport and metrorail.

Employment generation is the otherstrong argument in favour of cyclerickshaws. It provides opportunity tothe unskilled migrant population for anhonest living. Several case studies havedocumented the exploitive conditionsunder which a rickshaw puller has to

Rickshaws havea positive role inmodern. transportsystem when.mobility and

cleanenvironment are

the basicconcerns of all

The author is with Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.


traffic does not use the curbside laneeven when. bicycle and rickshawdensities are low. Providing a separatebicycle and rickshaw track would makemore space available for motorizedmodes and bicycling less hazardous.Clearl~{, it is the lack of facilities forrickshaws and bicycles and other nonmotorized modes which results incongestion and chaos and not thepresence of these vehicles III

themselves.

Rickshaws and modern transport

Rickshaw moves at an averagespeed of 12 km/h. For trips which areless then 3 km in length, rickshawprovides .an attractive optioncompared to bus or metro system. Ithas an important role as a .feedersystem to the metro or other masstransit options like Bus Rapid TransitSystem. For feeder trips which areless than 1 km, rickshaw can serve asa feeder mode. The other competingmodes like bus or three wheelers arenot as attractive because they havehigher emissions. Nearly' 50% of thetrips in any city are less than 5kmlong, including megacities like Delhior Mumbai. Rickshaw continues to

Ioffer a viable mode of transport.

Number of bicycles and cyclerickshaws in the city are estimated to be1.5 million and 110,000-300,000respectively. In addition to bicycles,non-motorised rickshaws are used fordelivery of goods like furniture,refrigerators, washing machines etc.Semi-skilled workers, carpenters,masons, plumbers, posunen, and courierservices use bicycles. Therefore, thedemand for bicycles and rickshaw existsin large numbers at present and is likelyto exist in the future also. This situationis not explicitly reCOgnised in policydocuments and very little attention isgiven to improving the facilities fornon-motorised modes.


The current policies regarding cyclerickshaws and other non motorizedvehicles are restrictive and are based onthe false notion that efficient transportsystem does not have any place forthese vehicles. Traffic managementexperts and traffic police have proposedarea and time restrictions on themovement of rickshaws in Delhi. Thenumber of rickshaws tpat can beregistered in the city is fixed by thegovernment (99,000) in order to restrictthe number 'of rickshaws. Theregistration procedure requires theowner to have a valid ration card.Rickshaws are allowed to be registeredonly during the stipulated time periodtwice a year. These restrictive policiesmust be viewed in the context of thepresent environment of globalizedeconomy where the highest level ofpolicy makers talk about reducinggoveniment controls to enable freemarket economy to operate! Shouldthese policies not apply to theoperations of cycle rickshaws and othernon motorized vehicles as well?

Basic Infrastructure

A well functioning roadinfrastructure must fulfill therequirements of all road users.

Pedestrians, bicyclists and non-motorised. rickshaws are the mostcritical elements in mixed traffic. Alonger lasting safe road-traffic systeniprimarily requires two designprinciples:

• Arterial roads which are more than'30 m right of way (ROW) must havephysically segregated bicycle/non-motorised vehicles (NMV) path,which cannot be used by motorisedvehicles (especially motorised twowheelers).

• Average speeds onroads which haveless than 30 m ROW must be

brought to 20-30 km/h with the helpof traffic calming measures.

Traffic movement in the old andhistorical parts of Delhi which includesChandni Chowk area should be plannedexclusively for rickshaw movement toensure clean and safe mobility. Otherarterial roads should be redesigned toinclude parking for rickshaws and 2.5mwide separate lane. Capacity of MVlanes can be increased by 50 per centif separate lanes for rickshaws andbicycles are created. This would alsoresult in safe feeder infrastructure formetro and Bus Rapid. Transit Systemplanned for the city. Detailed designsfor road cross section and intersectionshave been prepared f0t: Delhi. Whichshows inclusion of separate service lane'and footpath. Service lane includes"services" such as parking for cyclerickshaws and other non motorisedvehicles also, and designed spaces fgrbicycle repair, shoe repair and otherhawkers.

Rickshaws have a positive role inmodem transport system when mobilityand clean environment are the basicconcerns of all. However poorunderstanding of their requirements andlack of physical facilities for thesemodes creates congestion andinconvenience for all other vehicles.Often the government promotesrestrictive policies for the movement of .these vehicles. It is possible- to designroads and parking facilities for them incities which will facilitate movement ofother'vehicles also.

Rickshaw friendly infrastructure willfacilitate the use of public transportsystems like metro and Bus RapidTransit systems by improving the

_accessibility to these systems. Suchpolicies will also help in enhancing thepositive role that rickshaws and nonmotorized vehicles can play in citytransport system. 0

67

~,

Religious Shrines andRural Employment

DC Bakshi

Securitycover for theshrines canprovide jobsto millions inthe ruralareas

UR RELIGIOUS heritageis unique. It is centuriesold. Village folks live inharmony despite thediversity in religion and

caste, practicing individual faiths andderiving spiritual strength from locallnearby shrines, The basic fact is that thelandscape is incomplete without anearby place of worship - big or small.

Annual fairs at these shrines are theextension of this ethos. Economicactivity generated through this mediumis sizeable. They are reservoirs ofentrepreneurship. Being virtualfountainheads of rural economy, a lotmany people get employment in this un- .organised sector during the season.

Security cover for the shrines on'self-sustained' basis, which has of lateassumed great importance can providejobs to millions in the rural areas.Ample help from the stateadministration and rural developmentagencies can be made available in thisregard.

Let us face the stark reality viz. interms of a holistic safety cover for theshrines, the sanctum sanctorum and thevisiting devotees. Majority of thecomplexes are unsafe. In an internalsecurity review meeting held in Delhiattended by State Chief Secretaries, itwas mandated "We have to be on totalalert, identify vital installations, prepareplans to strengthen the intelligencenetwork, religious processions andyatras, also have been identified for'special security measure."

According to a media report, therenowned Somnath temple in Gujarat isto be provided additional security cover.Admi~tedly, this is a step in the rightdirection since Gujilrat has alreadywitnessed a gruesome telTorist attack atAkshardham (Gandhi Nagar). Anyonewho has visited Somnath would agreethat it continues to be a soft target. It issUlTounded by sea. The mighty waveshit the peripatetic walls from threesides. A stray bullet from an ordinarysea-dhow by a band of rogue-telToristscan cause commotion. It can bring

The author retired from IAF and is presently Managing Editor, 'Air Power' JournaL


down nation's prestige beyondlimits. In addition, like any otherreligious hub, Somnath has itsshare of vagrants thronging at theentrance, seeking alms and sellingpetty goods. Such conglomeratesare an 'ideal repository for theundesirable characters. They posea serious security hazard.

Why only Somnath? Are theneighbouring shrines lessimportant? The fact is thatSomnath is just, one 'amongst themany-equally venerated places ofworship in this region. Within theshrines, the devotee.s throng inlarge numbers for darshan; entry/exit points are literally choked.They are manned byinexperienced, low-paid staff.Frequent stampedes and pettythefts are a common feature.

The rural poverty quotient in Indiais appalling dismal. According to a ladyDistrict Collector in the tribal belt; avillage-household's total assets on anaverage (utensils, beds, clothes andpetty cash) are less than Rs 250.

Tpanks to the' efforts of RuralDevelopment network at the Centre andstate/district, various schemes launchedby the government are graduallybringing in the desired changes, notonly the mindset of people, but also interms of facilitating them for betterliving.

NREGS (National RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme),recently launched is the ultimate in thechain of events. VIrtual employment has 'reached at the doorsteps of villagers.. They do not have to migrate to cities;far away from their hearths in search ofjob. The psychological impact ofNREGS is highly constructive. Theword "employment" has found meaningin their lives. Not only in the cities,employment is available in the rural beltas well.


Rural Tourism is the talk of the town.Says the Union Minister of Tourism &Culture, Smt. Ambika Soni: "Over theyears, industrialization anddevelopment have become increasinglyurban-centric. The rural areas aresuffering from the problems of fallingincomes and lesser job-opportunities".According to her, Bharat NirmanYojana is likely to playa key role toameliorate the cause of rural folks-.

Militancy of late, has become hydra-headed. We need to educate our peopleto become vigilant. The local shrinesneed protection. Since, the militancy isno more an urban phenomenon; it istime we extend the long arm of securityconsciousness to the interiors.

Religious shrines cal? be protectedby:

• Streamlining the administrativemachinery of the shrines with activeassistance from state administration.Security aspects need to beemphasised. Standard proceduresand practices be framed and strictlyfollowed. Let its onus be fixed on

shrines management board.

• Raise "battalions" of village/towndefence councils (on the lines ofJ&K) to administer security coverto the shrines: This can be a greatsource for employment.

• Improve intelligence network atgrassroots levels. In Arunachal,every village has a "Gaon-Boodha"(he is a paid employ~e) whorepresents the district's/state'sauthority. He provides relevantinputs to district administration andalso keeps a watch on undesirableactivity. Yet another source ofemployment.

• In metro cities, we see schoolchildren manning the trafficcrossings. How about. bringingyoung and the needy in rural areasin the folds of security network forshrines.

In conclusion, rural employmeJ;1t andreligious tourism have immensepotential for integration. Thecoordinates of the matrix arefavourable, they .onl~ need a push. 0

69

Rural Finance •In IndiaGursharan Singh Kainth

Since the inception ,of CentralEconomic Planning in 1950, thegovernment identified the credit

Rural credit,system must becompatible withthe goals ,ojhigher growthwith better equity

NDIA IS basically Rural India needs of the rural people and framedand Rural .India virtually policies conduciVe for the flow ofincludes the cultivators, the' institutional credit for the farm sector.village craftsmen' and There 'has been substantialagricultural laborers. One of the improvement in the flow of

serious and unrelenting problems faced institutional credit In India for theby the Indian farmers' .house~olds has past three decades. But agriculturalbeen indebtedness. Despite substantial credit started growing only after bankimprovement in agricultural output and nationalization and has increaseddistribution of credit, still majority of manifold since then. The overallthe farmers are suffering from this performance of Indian bankingmajor economic malaise "aIled system is 15per.cent as against theindebtedness along with lack of timely - norms of 18 per'cent of Net Bankingand adqequate farm credit. Agricultural Credit. Indian record of .extension ofdistress witnessed in the country rurar" credit- is a quite story ofoccasionally takes the form of suicides institutional innovations. Aby farmers. It is a symptom of a deep- remarkable feature Of agriculturalrooted malady arising from inadequate credit extension in India was thepublic investment and insufficient widespread network of Ruralpublic action in recent years. 9iven the Financial'Institutions. The main storyseriousness of the emerging situation, in the extension of rural credit hasSt Soldier Management Technical been the ascending of commercialIristituteJalandharorganized a two days banks along with RRBs with aNational Seminar jointly sponsored by corresponding. fall in the share ofNABARD and Planning Commission, cooperatives. This is reflected in theGovernment of India. increasing concern in recent years

over the effectiveness; governanCeanci financial . health of ruralcooperative. There is a strong need torevitalize rural cooperatives and put

,The author is Principal, St Soldier Management and Technical Institute, Jalandhar.


on a sound, business footing.Structural transformation taking placein the Indian e~onomy has workedagainst the agricultural sector.

, Looking to the credit flow towardagriculture and allied sector, there isa positive hope of reverse migrationtaking place in the country; Thevillage~s in the country will becomeprosperous and urbanities will like togo back to thevil1age~ for peacefulliving.

The ,declining growth rate iri.agriculture is somethings serious. Toboost agricultural growth rate, Indianeeds massive investm«nt in both thepublic as well as private investment.But public investment over the years-has stagnated or declined. On theother hand, subsidies to agriculturesector have been blooming. There is aneed to reverse the ratio (4: 1) ofInvestment to subsidies as marginalreturn in terms of agricultural growthand poverty alleviation are muchhigher through investment thansubsidies.

There is a need for legal andinstitutional changes' relating, togovernance, regulation and functioningof rural cooperative structure and RRBswho have to be critical institutions forrural credit in future. Both the structureof cooperative; namely, short run andlong run lending insti.tutions rnustbemerged into one entity to provide goodgovernance and healthy competition inthe banking sector. Furthermore, all thethree tiers of cooperative, that is, state,district aJ1dprimaries must function in'collaboration with each other, ratherthan competing. There is a need toJoster credit structure to make enhancedrural credit a lasting phenomenon.

The majority of rural householdsare with limited land resourcescoupled with small economic activityaccompanied with poor technology.'


Lending by the formal financialinstitutions to the poor has beenunsatisfactory. But their demand forcredit has been rising due to growingfamily size, increased consumptionrequirements social obligation and soon. But the institutional.agencies notonly lack the required mechanism toassess their needs but also oftenoverlook their demand for credit onthe ground that their needs are fornon-productive purposes. Besides,. perceived high risks, transaction costsand absence of collateral securitykept the poor away from the hold offormal financial institutions. To reach-rural poor, institutional innovationsare needed. Banking infrastructureneeds to re-'orient its finance servicefor rural poor, An independent broadresearch study may be undertaken tolessen the adminIstrative load andcosts such as reduction in thedocuments required for the purpose. ,Information technology can play asignificant role in rural creditdelivery system. Therefore, the natureof technology suitable at variouslevels may be identified.

. Rural credit system must becompatible with the goals of highergrowth with better equity. There ismerit in considering a comprehensivePublic policy on risk management inagriculture, as not only a means ofrelief to distressed farmers but. as aningredient for, more efficientcommercialization agriculture. Indiaw:ould need new market institution forrisk mitigation. A future market is astep in the right.direction,. whichheeds to be stre~gthened. The keyissue is minimizing the market risksfor farmers for creating a scale ofmarketing for the produce of thesmall farmers, Government should'promulgate a Prevention of Atrocitieson Farmers and Farm laborers Act foraddressing usurious money lending

and land grabbing. Such an Act muststipulate that all lands grabbed by ,moneylenders in the last 10 to 15

years should be reverted back to theowners .and there should besecuritising of moneylender's assets:Courts must be instructed to fast tracksuch cases instituted under the Act.RBI should securitise loan of legalmoneylenders to farmers and take theassets pledged with moneylenders astheir own security. For landlessworkers, banks should take over the. loans on their books against the cashflow due to these people underNREGP.

Micro finance and Self-helpGroups must be fine-tuned. Suitablemechanism need to be evolved to seethat SHGs do not charge high .rates of'interests from their clients and.improve access to those who cannotsign by making their use throughthumb impression. The positivefeatures. of Kisan Credit ard (KCC) isits revolving credit facility, creditlimit based on operational holdingsetc. However, under KCC althoughthe credit limit sanctioned to thesmall and marginal farmers appear tobe better 'but the security orientedlending policies appears to be amajor hurdle. The scope of KCCshould be enlarged to take care of theassociated needs of the farminghouseholds. Issues of diversion ofKCC funds for non-agriculturalactivities and failure in the timelyrepayment of credit availed throughKCC in some parts of the country andin case of large proportion of thef<\TIIle,:sneed to be addressed ungently.This can go a long way to bringprosperity to Indian farmers. 0

CorrigendumOn the last page of Jan 07 Special

Issue of Yojana, the date of joining ofDeputy Chairman, Montek SinghAhluwalia may be read as 04 July, 2004.

71

In the News• The legislation to pr~vide for 27 per cent

reservation for OBCs in educational institutionsincluding the IITs and IIMs from' the nextacademic year has become a law with thePresident Dr APJ Kalam giving his assent to it.The provisions of the Act would not apply toCentral educational institution established in tribalareas, institutions of excellence, researchinstitutions of national and strategic importanceand minority educational institutions.

• Marking the opening up of the Indian stockexchanges to foreign investment, the world'slargest stock exchange - New York Stock

.Exchange - has entered India by inking a deal topickup a 20 per cent stake in the National StockExchange (NSE) along with Goldman Sachs andtwo other private equity funds for $ 490 million.

• Led by oil refinery production and cement, thesix core infrastructure industries posted animpressive growth of 9.5 per cent in Novemberthis fiscal compared to 5.7 per cent in the samemonth of 2005.

• The Centre has approved the amendment ofMaternity Benefit Act, 1961. This will empowerthe Central government to revise the medicalbonus payable. At present, this bonus is Rs. 250and the government considers there is urgent needto revise it to Rs 1,000.The Amendment Bill willbe introduced in Parliament.

• The Union Cabinet has approved a self-employment scheme for rehabilitation of manualscavengers as a' Central sector scheme. It willbenefit about 3.5 lakh three [mancial years from2006-07 to 2008-09.

• The Centre has approved the constitution of twowageboard (under a common chairman)- one.forworking journalists and the other for non-workingjournalist newspaper employees. The two wageboards will submit their reportswifu three years.

.72

• Other Cabinet decision-o Insurance Amendment Act for revision of FDI

cap referred to a Group of Ministers.a Deadline for telecom companies to comply with

FDI guidelines extended till the end of January,2007.

a The Union Cabinet discussed a proposal Oltlinvestmentpatterns to govern pension funds anddecided to convene a Chief Minister'sconference on how to invest money they havegenerated.

a The government has decided to completely exitauto major Maruti by selling its residual 10.27per cent stake which is over Rs 2,700 crore.

~ Passport norms eased -

The usually cumbersome and stressful process ofgetting passports made will be easier nowfollowing the Ministry of External Affairs move t.orevise the guidelines of issuance of passports tomake it user-friendly. The cpanges are:a Eligibility criterion for Emigration Check Not

Required (ECNR) stamping will hereafter bematriculation rather then graduation as atpresent.

a No police verification required for re-is~ue ofpassports. .

a Tatkal passport in 14 days and in seven daysfor an extra Rs 500/-

• The Union Cabinet has approved amendments tothe Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2005 to checktheft of electricity move effectively.

• The UN Security Council has agreed to imposesanctions against Iran for refusing to suspenduranium enrichment. The resolution asks allcounties to ban the supply of sp~cified materialsand technology that could contribute to Iran"snuclear and missile programmes. [J


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