monday,august 12, 2019 the imprint of a state juggernaut€¦ · the debate here is not about...
TRANSCRIPT
DELHI THE HINDU
MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 201910EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
CMYK
A ND-NDE
EDITORIAL
Anubhav Kumar
There has been much development recently with respect to the Protection of
Children from Sexual Off��ences(POCSO) Act, 2012. With an objective of stopping the rampant sexual abuse of children, the Protection of Children from SexualOff��ences (Amendment) Bill, 2019was introduced in the Rajya Sabhain July, and later passed by bothHouses of Parliament. It is all set tobecome the ‘law of the land’. Thepresent bill is welcome in certainrespects as it specifi��cally defi��neswhat ‘child pornography’ is; ‘using a child for pornographic purposes’ and for ‘possessing or storing pornography involving a child’is punishable. It has also widenedthe ambit of ‘Aggravated sexualassault’.
The other sideThe highlight of the Bill is the introduction of the death penalty forthe rape of minors. The Bill, in itsobject clause, justifi��es this by referring to the judgments of the Su
preme Court in Machhi Singh(1983) and Devender Pal Singh(2002) in which the court has heldthat the death penalty can beawarded only in rarest of rare cases. Thus the intention of the Bill isto have a deterrent eff��ect; but itcan be argued that the introduction of the death penalty maybackfi��re in cases of child sexualabuse and even have a catastrophic eff��ect. Often, the perpetrators ofabuse are family members andhaving such penalty in the statutebook may discourage the registration of the crime itself. Also, it maythreaten the life of the minor asthe maximum punishment formurder is also the death sentence.
The Justice J.S. Verma Committee, which was constituted in 2013in the aftermath of the Nirbhayacase, after due deliberations founditself against the imposition ofdeath penalty in rape cases. The262nd Report of the Law Commission of India, 2015, also providesfor abolition of the death penaltyexcept in terror cases.
Today, the death penalty hasbecome a prominent tool of symbolic legislation — a political statement indeed. Many a time, the Government, by introducing thedeath penalty, portrays itself to bestrict and serious with regard tosuch off��ences. It largely diverts attention from the core issues of in
frastructural apathy, procedurallapses and trial delays and conveniently evades the fact that ‘it isthe certainty of punishment rather than its severity which has deterrence in real sense’. It is pertinent to note here that even ayearandahalf after the passage ofthe Criminal Law (Amendment)Bill, 2018, which introduced thedeath penalty for rape of a minorgirl, such incidents have not beenunder check. The debate here isnot about retaining or abolishingthe death penalty but the probableramifi��cations of its provision in theAct.
The deterrent eff��ect of capitalpunishment appears to be on thewane. Globally, there is researchto support the view that despitestringent punishments, there is nofall in the rate of commission ofcrimes. Robin Conley in his book,Confronting the Death Penalty, hasobserved that the death penaltymay seem just and appropriate in
abstract but once you are privy toits practicality, it becomes less appealing. Deterrence has its ownlimitations and it has to be supplemented by exhaustive measuresthat includes an overhaul of thecriminal justice administration.
Court dataThe Supreme Court has recentlytaken cognisance of the sexualabuse of children, directing its registry to fi��le a case as writ petitionwith cause title “Inre AlarmingRise in The Number of ReportedChild Rape Incidents”. The courthas also observed that it intendshaving a ‘zero tolerance policy’ toward child rape. As data on sexualcrimes against children collectedby the court show, 24,212 FIRswere fi��led across India from January to June this year. According toNational Crime Records Bureaudata of 2016, the conviction rate inPOCSO cases is 29.6% while pendency is as high as 89%. The prescribed time period of two monthsfor trial in such cases is hardlycomplied with.
The court has also taken note ofthe delay in trials, in turn directingthe Central Government to set upspecial courts within 60 days ofthe order in each district havingmore than 100 pending cases under the Act. It is to be seen howlong it takes to comply with the or
der. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 introduced thedeath penalty for rape of girls below the age of 12. At the same time,the POCSO Act, under Section 42,provides that where the same actconstitutes an off��ence under thesaid Act and any other law, thenthe off��ender will be punished under the Act or such law, whicheverprovides for greater punishment.This has created an issue as the effect of such an amendment wasdeath penalty for rape of minorgirls but not for assault against minor boys.
The proposed Bill does awaywith such a discrepancy. It is gender neutral and provides for thedeath penalty for “aggravated penetrative sexual assault of a child”,thus bringing both these pieces oflegislation on a par with each other in this respect. With theseamendments and with the Supreme Court considering childabuse “intolerable”, there seemsto be reasonable hope now thatvulnerable children could be safer. The Bill is a step forward in preventing child abuse but the consequences of providing for the deathpenalty need to be closelyobserved.
Anubhav Kumar is Assistant Professor
(Law), National University of Study and
Research in Law, Ranchi, Jharkhand
A point to ponder over in the POCSO Bill More than an emphasis on the death sentence, there needs to be an overhaul of the criminal justice administration
GE
TT
Y IM
AG
ES/I
ST
OC
KP
HO
TO
more letters online:
www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/
corrections & clarifications:
A report headlined “Kashmiri students hold silent protest inAMU” (Aug. 9, 2019) erroneously identified the former Chief Minister of Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah, as ‘ShereKashmir’ and ‘PapaMian’. The two are diff��erent. ‘Papa Mian’ actually refers to anotherSheikh Abdullah, a lawyer and one of the founding members ofAbdullah Girls College, Aligarh Muslim University. It was an editing error.
It is the policy of The Hindu to correct signifi��cant errors as soon as possible. Please specify
the edition (place of publication), date and page. The Readers’ Editor’s office can be
contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to
Friday); Fax: +91-44-28552963; Email:[email protected]; Mail: Readers’
Editor, The Hindu, Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002, India.
All communication must carry the full postal address and telephone number. No personal
visits. The Terms of Reference for the Readers’ Editor are on www.thehindu.com
Offi��cial spokespersons havehailed the recently concluded Budget session of
Parliament as unprecedented bothin terms of its hours of work aswell as its performance. The 17thLok Sabha, which was convenedon June 17, held 37 sittings that extended over 280 hours till it wasadjourned sine die on August 6. Sometimes House sittings were extended into the late hours. The Rajya Sabha, which met on June 20,held 35 sittings till it was adjourned sine die on August 7. Thespokespersons of both Housesclaimed that productivity was approximately 137% and 103%, respectively, denoting the hours ofwork put in. While the Lok Sabhaspent 46% of its time in legislativebusiness, the Rajya Sabha spent51%, a record in recent years.
There were 40 Bills that were introduced during this session (33 inthe Lok Sabha and seven in the Rajya Sabha). While the Lok Sabhapassed 35 bills, the number was 32in the Rajya Sabha; 30 bills werepassed by both Houses of Parliament. In the Lok Sabha, 183starred questions were orally answered while 1,066 matters of urgent importance were taken up;488 issues under Rule 377, that requires advance notice and approval of the Speaker, were attendedto. The Lok Sabha Speaker, OmBirla, repeatedly drew attention tothe equality of the members of theHouse cutting across party diff��erences, and extending opportunities to new and young members.Out of 265 fi��rst time members,229, including 42 out of 46 womenmembers, found an opportunity
to express themselves in theHouse.
All this sounds impressive andthere is much to commend for afunctioning House especially afterthe pandemonium witnessed during the sessions of the 15th and16th Lok Sabha. But can we saythat the fi��rst session of the 17thLok Sabha was representative ofthe concerns and demands of India’s complex, inegalitarian anddeeply diverse polity, eliciting theresponses of the government forits acts of commissions and omissions, and holding it accountablefor its performance? Or, should wesay, both the Houses were craftilystreamrolled to sing to the tune ofthe government?
Legislative measuresAbout half the time of both theHouses in their respective sessionswas spent on legislative measures.Parliament has to be credited forpassing some bills that enjoyed abroad consensus such as the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, the Protection of Children from Sexual Off��ences(Amendment) Bill, the ConsumerProtection Bill, and the SupremeCourt (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, although questions havebeen raised on whether these billsand the way they were framed,were the most appropriate ways tofurther their intent. However, many of the bills passed by the Houses were matters that led to deep division and contention within thepolity, such as the Muslim Women(Protection of Rights on Marriage)Bill, the Aadhar and Other Laws(Amendment) Bill, the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, theUnlawful Activities (Prevention)Amendment (UAPA) Bill, and theCodes on Wages.
Some of the bills passed by theLok Sabha such as the Inter StateRiver Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Surrogacy(Regulation) Bill, 2019, the Trans
gender Persons (Protection ofRights) Bill, 2019, and the DNATechnology (Use and Application)Regulation Bill, 2019 defi��nitelycalled for a wider and closer discussion. Many of the bills, such asthe Motor Vehicles (Amendment)Bill, which was passed by both theHouses, had bearing on powers ofthe States and tended to reinforcethe powers of the Centre. And indeed, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 introducedin the Rajya Sabha surreptitiously,on the penultimate day of its working, and passed by the Lok Sabhaon its last working day, changedthe constitutional status of Jammuand Kashmir, hitherto protectedunder Article 370. It split the Stateinto two Union Territories: Jammuand Kashmir, and Ladakh.
All these legislative measures,particularly, the last one, which intend to defi��ne Indian polity in crucial ways — and will undoubtedlyhave enormous implications forthe future of constitutional democracy in India — were passedwithout routing any of the billsconcerned through the StandingCommittees of the Parliament, orSelect Committees. Given thepaucity of time, there was littlepossibility of subjecting them tocloser refl��ective scrutiny. The government was obviously aware ofthis. In fact, at times it seemed thegenerous time that the Speaker ofthe Lok Sabha gave to new members was at the expense of the rectitude of these bills. Worse still,the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill that radically modifi��ed
Article 370, had to be assented toby the Constituent Assembly ofthe State, by its very provisions.Since the State Assembly remained dissolved and it is underpresidential rule, the sleight ofpresidential powers was employedto move it. Little considerationwas extended to refl��ect popularopinion, with the political leadership of the Kashmir Valley (onwhich the bill has the gravest consequences) under internment,and the whole population keptincommunicado.
Institutional bearingThe legislative measures that theNational Democratic AllianceIIleadership embraced, and themode of piloting them through theHouses have conveyed, loud andclear, a fourfold message. First,the task of Parliament is not to discuss and debate, shape and reshape measures for public good, andensure oversight, but merely playsecond fi��ddle to the executive leadership. Therefore, criticism anddebate over the bills was kept tothe minimum, if avoided altogether. There was no attempt to formthe 24 departmentally relatedstanding committees before thesession, or early in its day, towhich bills could be referred to forscrutiny and review or form subject committees for the purpose.The plea of some Oppositionmembers of the Houses in this direction was all in vain.
Second, formal legal equality ofcitizens would be on premium andall diff��erential considerations ongrounds of disadvantage or considerations of diversity would besuspect: Therefore, Articles 370,35A, and Sharia provisions weresought to be modifi��ed, while commitment to human rights in general, was reinforced by recrafting theNational Human Rights Commission through The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill.
Third, there was an enormous
strengthening of the surveillanceand investigative instrumentalitiesof the State not merely throughthe UAPA, but also in bills pertaining to the economy and fi��nancialtransactions. In these measuresthe ‘lethal machine’ of the Statewas on full display against the prevalent ascription of a ‘soft’ state.
Fourth, legislative measuresand amendments such as theRight to Information (Amendment) Bill, highlighted the emergence of an institutional hierarchy,demoting key positions, involvingtransparency and accountability,to executive discretion. The institutional hierarchy of authority,where the higher rungs were cushioned from the lower ones, was vividly there to see in the way inwhich the name of the Prime Minister was invoked by Ministersand member after member of theruling dispensation as the font ofwisdom, foresight and concern.Clearly, the attempt to craft a docile Parliament had gone a longway.
Impact on democratic ethosIn the past, there was much thatwas lacking in the compositionand functioning of Parliament.There was also little to defend theway the Opposition had made ahabit of boycotting the House andstalling its proceedings, althoughat times it was the most eff��ectiveway of demanding responsiveness, and even to air popular grievances. At the same time, it shouldbe said, Parliament was grapplingwith coming to terms with its owninstitutional working to be thevoice of democracy. If the proceedings in the recently concluded session are a clue to its future,then Parliament has been securelychained to India’s statejuggernaut.
Valerian Rodrigues taught Political
Science at Mangalore University and
Jawaharlal Nehru University
The imprint of a state juggernautHigh productivity apart, this Budget session lacked suffi��cient deliberation, pointing to the crafting of a docile Parliament
Valerian Rodrigues
GE
TT
Y IM
AG
ES
At the Congress’s helmThe election of SoniaGandhi is refl��ective of theabyss into which theCongress party has fallen(Page 1, “Congress namesSonia as its interimpresident”, August 11).Though she can claimcredit for cobbling up UPA1and UPA2, it is doubtfulwhether her sedate stylecan match the rabblerousing ways of the rulingdispensation at a time whenhate and fear rule Indianpolitics. Democratic valuesare under attack in thecountry and one wonderswhether the Congress partyhas let down the nation byopting once again fordynastic leadership. It hasthrown away a historicopportunity for a newbeginning.Manohar Alembath,
Kannur, Kerala
■ The fact that the CongressWorking Committee has
settled for Ms. Gandhi is nota surprise. The grand oldparty of India cannotseparate itself from theNehru/Gandhi family asthere are no acceptablesecond rung leaders. It isingrained within Congressmen and women that theparty and the family areinseparable. If at all there is aleader who is dynamic,articulate and has the abilityto lead, they are confi��ned tohis or her State or region.One is sure that the prefi��x‘interim’ is only a term forthe arrangement wherePriyanka Gandhi Vadra willstep in eventually. M.R.G. Murthy,
Mysuru
■ It is shocking that monthsafter the results of thegeneral election and amarathon meeting onSaturday, the Congress hasfallen back on the familyrather than choosing a livewire president. Why so much
drama when the matter wasalready settled, as a Bengaliproverb goes? Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,
Faridabad, Haryana
■ Ms. Gandhi has done theright thing by assuming theposition of “interimpresident”, thoughreluctantly. Otherwise, therewas every chance of theparty having becomingirrelevant with each passingday since the resignation ofRahul Gandhi as partypresident. There could havebeen a split between the oldand new guard. The idea ofIndia is undergoing a change.Party unity is necessary.Rahul Gandhi would do wellto refl��ect on how he canassist the new president inorder to regain publicconfi��dence in the party.A.S. Srinivasan,
Chennai
■ The Grand Old Party is likea sinking ship. As the BJP is
growing by leaps andbounds, there is a worry thatIndia is heading towards an‘Oppositionless’ politywhich is not good for thecountry. In its present political state,the Congress has failed togain even the support of thegroundlevel cadre. With thenew change, the partyleadership should leave nostone unturned to come backwith vigour and enthusiasmas a constructive Opposition,if not as a ruling party.A. Jainulabdeen,
Chennai
Stand on KashmirThe futile stand of theOpposition in opposing forthe sake of opposition thegovernment’s move on theJammu and Kashmir issue isodd. The Opposition,especially the IndianNational Congress, has lostan opportunity to be unitedand strengthen the country.There needs to be a
which highlighted thedangers of environmentaldegradation in the Ghats,largely the result ofuncontrolled quarrying andthe destruction of forests,wetlands and mangroves inthe name of development.There is need to reinforcethe importance ofecologicallysensitive zonesespecially as there is expertopinion that all this is a“manmade calamity”. Devadas V.,
Kannur, Kerala
permanent solution to thisprolonged issue but in anamicable manner. A policy oflive and let live must comeinto being so that there ispeaceful coexistencebetween the two nations. V.P. Dhananjayan ,
Chennai
Ecological notesThe havoc and destructionacross many regions in theWestern Ghats following avigorous phase of thesouthwest monsoon mustcause policymakers to revisitthe Madhav Gadgil report
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.
Protests broke out in Hong Kong two months ago
when local authorities proposed a Bill that would
have allowed them to extradite suspects to places
with which the city doesn’t have extradition treaties, in
cluding mainland China. The Bill was suspended amid
public anger, but the protests, now entering the tenth
week, continue to rock the city, aff��ecting the economy
and setting off�� an unprecedented political crisis. The
police have tried several tactics to rein in the protesters
and restore normalcy in the city, a major Asian fi��nancial
hub and business centre. They have fi��red tear gas shells
and rubber bullets. Dozens have been arrested, some
on riot charges. Still, the city has been on a standstill.
Public transportation is hit. People, from construction
workers to teachers and lawyers, have joined the de
monstrations. The protesters ransacked the local legis
lative council building and occupied parts of the air
port, which led to the cancellation of several fl��ights.
Graffi��ti appeared across the city calling for “a revolu
tion” and “liberation” of Hong Kong. Despite warnings
from both the city government and Beijing, the protes
ters don’t seem to be in a mood to leave the streets.
It is no longer about the extradition Bill as a leader
shipless group keeps coming up with new and varied
demands. Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong
Kong, has said the Bill is dead. The protesters fi��rst want
ed the city government to formally withdraw the Bill.
Then they wanted Ms. Lam, the architect of the Bill, to
go. Now, the protesters say they won’t end the rallies
even if Ms. Lam quits. They have made a host of de
mands — withdraw the Bill, order an independent
probe into the clashes between protesters and police,
drop all charges on the arrested protesters and start the
process to reform the electoral system. Ms. Lam, per
haps wary of being seen to be weak in the face of
mounting pressure, has ruled out any more conces
sions. For her, the top priority is to restore order, while
Beijing, with its patience wearing thin, has hinted that it
could interfere to end the crisis. Both the city govern
ment and the protesters share responsibility for the cri
sis Hong Kong is in today. Ms. Lam could have offi��cially
withdrawn the Bill instead of merely pronouncing it
dead. Her reluctance to do so even after the Bill was sus
pended only fanned the fl��ames. The protesters on the
other side took an excessively provocative path when
they ransacked the city Parliament and attacked the
police. What could have been a peaceful protest against
an extradition Bill led to the biggest political crisis Hong
Kong has seen since it was handed over to China by the
British colonialists. At least now, the focus of both the
local leadership and protesters should shift to fi��nding
common ground and a peaceful settlement. It’s in eve
ryone’s interest to arrest the slide of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong on the brink As protesters make new demands,
the prospects of a quick settlement recede
Sport is expected to operate at a higher moral plane
where the eff��ort is honest and transparency re
mains an abiding principle. It is a utopian ideal
leaning on pure performance, copious sweat and re
lentless training. But in a practical world greased with
greed, besides matchfi��xing, there is another terrible of
fence: ingestion of performanceenhancing drugs. Ath
letes like Canada’s Ben Johnson were labelled as drug
cheats and rightly denied their Olympic medals. The
World AntiDoping Agency (WADA), since its inception
in 1999, has imposed stringent measures so that sport
stays drugfree. In India, WADA’s rules have been en
forced by the Governmentrun National AntiDoping
Agency (NADA) and almost all sports federations had
fallen in line except one behemoth — the Board of Con
trol for Cricket in India (BCCI). But that aberration was
erased as the BCCI accepted NADA’s supervision follow
ing a meeting between its CEO Rahul Johri, General
Manager Saba Karim and Sports Ministry offi��cials led by
Sports Secretary Radhey Shyam Julaniya. Indian crick
et’s governing body fi��nally agreed to subject its players
to NADA’s testing routines. Before its turnaround, the
BCCI had resisted NADA’s intervention. The main objec
tion pertained to the ‘whereabouts’ clause, which
made it mandatory for a player to reveal where he
would be on a daily basis. The need for privacy was of
fered as an excuse.
Earlier, the BCCI had its inhouse dopetests but it on
ly lent credence to the allegations about confl��ict of in
terest. The issue came to a boil when Prithvi Shaw was
given a backdated eightmonth suspension after he
tested positive for a banned drug, Terbutaline. The 19
yearold batsman, who was checked in February,
claimed that the substance was present in an overthe
counter cough syrup. Shaw’s excuse and the BCCI’s
quick acceptance of his selfmedication, bred scepti
cism. It is either naivety or a classic coverup from an In
dian cricketer, who had been advised about the chemi
cals that have to be avoided even for therapeutic
purposes. The silverlining is that the episode hastened
the BCCI’s move into the NADA’s ambit and also cleared
the decks for the Indian women’s cricket team to com
pete in the 2022 Commonwealth Games at Birming
ham. With the BCCI belatedly allowing NADA to moni
tor its domestic cricketers, by extension the
International Cricket Council too has fi��nally come un
der the WADA’s unerring gaze. In these hyperkinetic
times, it is a fallacy to stress that cricket is just a refl��ec
tion of skill and that drugenhanced muscular effi��ciency
cannot infl��uence match results. Sport has to be a level
playingfi��eld and it is fi��nally one with the willowgame
subjecting itself to universal drugtesting rules.
Dealing with doping Cricket bodies must keep the game free of
performance enhancing drugs
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
THE HINDU DELHI
MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2019 11EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
CMYK
A ND-NDE
OPED
A meeting of the City of London “Independent Labour Party” was held at Essex Hall(London) on June 30. The subject was “Conditions of Labour in India”. Mr. Neil Maclean, M.P., who presided, said: We wish tohear at fi��rst hand about Labour conditionsin India. The Independent Labour Party believed that all people in the Empire with agrievance ought to be heard. Britons alwayswaited to hear the other side from their ownand to hear it in good order, and then havethe fi��ght to put their own side. That methodwas to be adopted in these questions anddiscussion was invited. We wanted to knowand we wanted to put things in India right.So long as the British Empire had a race ofpeople used by another part of the Empireto keep down wages and conditions, it wasbad not merely for India, but for Britain. Mr.Montagu said that his purpose was to makeIndians realise that they were partners in theEmpire. Let them then be equal partnersable to work out their own destiny in accordance with Indian ideas and traditions. Letus get the idea of a subject race out of ourmind.
A HUNDRED YEARS AGO AUGUST 12, 2019.
Labour in India. Delegates’ Views.
India’s ‘water crisis’ took over socialmedia recently. That India’s cities arerunning out of water, coupled withChennai’s drinking water woes,made the ‘crisis’ viral, raising questions about the quality of the discourse and choice of water governance strategies in India. If there is awater crisis, what is the nature of thecrisis? Where is the crisis prevalent?And how do we deal with it?
Usually, a delayed monsoon or adrought, combined with compellingimages of parched lands and queuesfor water in urban areas raise analarm in the minds of the public. Similarly, episodes of interState riverwater disputes catch public attention. However, this time, it was somewhat diff��erent. Videos and news reports claiming that Indian cities arerunning out of groundwater went viral. These news items could not havegained the traction but for the factthat they relied on a 2018 report ofIndia’s own Niti Aayog, which was titled ‘Composite Water ManagementIndex: A tool for water management.’
Zombie statisticsLater, thanks to yet another series oftweets by Joanna Slater of The Wash-ington Post, the ‘crisis bogey’ lostsome of its sheen. Ms. Slater investigated the “zombie statistics” in theNiti Aayog report, especially thepiece of information that said: “21major cities are expected to run outof groundwater as soon as 2020, affecting [nearly] 100 million people.”Her perseverance led to an eventualconclusion that there was no credible evidence for this assessment.
To be fair to Niti Aayog, its projection was only a means to an end goal:leveraging some action from the Indian States. The report’s central goalwas to propose a tool, an index, tomonitor the States’ water resourcemanagement strategies and providethe necessary courseshift, beyondsupply augmentation approaches.The report may have had a lofty goalof promoting ‘cooperative and competitive federalism’ but was, in reali
ty, a desperate move to engage withthe States, in the absence of any substantive leverage to infl��uence theirapproaches to water resources management. This also underscored thatthe fulcrum of any course correctionlies with States.
Yet, what baffl��es us is the question: Just how did such ‘zombie statistics’ gain traction? This is disturbing on two counts: one, there is anabsence of critical engagement or institutional accountability; two, adeeper hypocrisy surrounds the discourse on water governance in India.If there is a crisis, where is the crisisand what is the nature of the crisis?
For instance, what does the reportmean when it says that “cities [are]running out of groundwater”? Doesit mean that cities will not havegroundwater reserves to meet theirdrinking water demand? If yes, this isnot news.
Second, if the report means thatthe crisis lies in the depletion ofgroundwater levels in cities belowsafe rechargeable levels, then this isalso not unknown. For almost twodecades, the Central Ground WaterBoard (CGWB) has been reporting onthe increasing number of overexploited blocks across India, the ‘dark’category blocks. The recent annualbook of CGWB has reported 1,034units, out of the 6,584 units it monitors, as overexploited. If this is the‘crisis’, then we have had it for long.What has this not received enoughattention? Is it because these zonesare not in cities?
Just to be sure how critical the ‘crisis’ is, CGWB’s 2013 estimates saythat the groundwater developmentin India is just about 62% of the utilisable groundwater reserves. Similarly,a recent report by the Central WaterCommission, prepared in collaboration with the Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO), asserted that India is not yet in “water scarcity condition”. But it is certainly in a “waterstressed condition”, with reducingper capita water availability.
Here, we certainly don’t mean tosay that India can continue with thepresent ways of water management.We also cannot remain in a state ofdenial that a crisis is not in the making. However, certain steps need tobe taken to ensure a more useful andproductive discourse about water governance challenges.
First, India needs to reconsiderthe institutional processes for dissemination of knowledge about water resource management. There is acertain amount of danger inherent inthe casual manner in which knowledge about water resources is legitimised and consumed, particularly inthese days of ‘viral’ information.
Second, we need to recognise thethe crisis is not as much of scarcity asof delivery. The challenge is to ensure an adequate access to qualitywater, more so in urban areas whereinequities over space and time areacute. We need to also realise thatwith the country’s rapid urbanisation, demand cannot be met bygroundwater reserves alone. For in
stance, according to the Delhi JalBoard estimates, groundwater meetsjust 10% of Delhi’s drinking waterneeds. The rest is met by surface water sources, most of it transportedfrom outside Delhi. The urbanneeds, which underpin much reporting on ‘water crises’, need to be metby robust longterm planning andpreparation for droughts and othercontingencies.
Responsibility lies with StatesFinally, we need to reconsider ourapproaches to water governance. Wemust recognise that the fulcrum ofchange and action is with the States.For long, water resource departments in States have continued to follow the conventional approaches ofsupply augmentation. The challengeis that of reorienting themselves towards deploying strategies of demand management, conservationand regulation.
The Centre has to work with Statestowards an institutional change forthe necessary courseshift. The Finance Minister, in her budget, repeatedly stated that the governmentwill work with States to address India’s national water security challenges. Let us hope that the government intends to strengthen federalgovernance of water resources towards longterm water security.
Srinivas Chokkakula is at the Centre for PolicyResearch; Ashwin Pandya is with InternationalCommission on Irrigation and Drainage.Views are personal
Individual States need to assume the responsibility for managing water resources in their territories
Delhi residents fi��lling water in cans from a distribution tanker. * GETTY IMAGES
Rethinking water governance strategies
Srinivas Chokkakula
& Ashwin Pandya
In the aftermath of the First World War, sociologist Max Weber told his students thatnot everyone realises the demanding natureof producing good journalism and that ajournalist’s actual responsibility is far greater than that of a scholar’s. The conspicuousabsence of reporting from Jammu and Kashmir ( J&K) following the vivisection of theState last week helped in realising the full import of Weber’s observation.
Journalism performs many tasks. Britishjournalist George Brock has mandated fourirreducible core tasks: verifi��cation, bearingwitness, sense making, and investigation.However, following the Union Government’sdramatic move to alter the political structureof J&K, Indian journalism was forced to temporarily abandon its ‘bearingwitness’ roleand had to resort only to its ‘sensemaking’task. In this newspaper, there was a stronglyworded editorial, “Scrapping J&K’s specialstatus is the wrong way to an end;” a series oflead and OpEd articles; and an outstandingdata story, “J&K’s vital statistics,” which debunked the claims of Home Minister AmitShah that Article 370 hindered development. It is important to classify these writings within the rubric of the ‘sensemaking’task of journalism. While they were rigorousand insightful, there was a sense of incompleteness because there were no ground reports from Kashmir. A day before the government’s decision, all forms ofcommunications — mobile networks, Internet services, and landline phone connectivity — had been shut down, leaving Kashmirand some districts in Jammu isolated.
Knocking on the judicial doorsAnuradha Bhasin, the Executive Editor ofKashmir Times, later moved the SupremeCourt, seeking directions to ensure that mediapersons and journalists from the Stateare able to freely practise their profession.She also challenged the restrictions imposedthrough the complete shutdown on Internetand telecommunication services and severecurbs on the movement of photojournalistsand reporters. Her petition rightly contended: “The information blackout set in motionis a direct and grave violation of the right ofthe people to know about the decisions thatdirectly impact their lives and their future.
The Internet and telecommunication shutdown also means that the media cannot report on the aforesaid developments, and theresidents of Kashmir thus don’t get access toinformation that is otherwise publicly available to the rest of India.”
This newspaper’s Srinagar correspondent, Peerzada Ashiq, documented thegruelling days of blackout in his “Diary of aKashmir correspondent”. His last despatchprior to the blackout was a report on thehouse arrest of former Chief Ministers OmarAbdullah and Mehbooba Mufti and otherleaders on August 4. Then, there was a complete silence for three days. What emergedclearly from Ms. Bhasin’s petition and theMr. Ashiq’s diary is that we know very littleabout the opinion of the people directly affected by the government’s decision.
There are ethical and democratic anglesto the task of ‘bearing witness’. AcademicsRichard Stupart and Katherine Furman explained how we rely on a division of labourto gain knowledge. They contended that noone person can know everything worthknowing; hence we divide the knowledgeproducing tasks. “Journalists who ventureinto sites of confl��ict and suff��ering form animportant part of our collective knowledgeproduction, and one which [is] important tothe rest of us as moral agents,” they argued.
American journalist Roger Cohen’s refl��ections on the ‘bearingwitness’ task broughtout its stupendous role in informing and sensitising people. He wrote: “In the 24/7 howlof partisan pontifi��cation, and the scarcelylessconstant death knell din surroundingthe press, a basic truth gets lost: that to be ajournalist is to bear witness... To bear witness means being there — and that’s not free.No search engine gives you the smell of acrime, the tremor in the air, the eyes thatsmolder, or the cadence of a scream.”
For reasons known only to the state apparatus, it fi��rmly believes that informationblackout will lead to a political consensus.But, political processes gain their enduranceonly when people are active participants.Journalism, when it is not hampered, facilitates informed dialogue and provides a meaningful insight into people’s aspirations. Otherwise, they are left with either a deafeningsilence or an enervating exaggeration. Thestate media will not report the observationof David Kaye, the UN’s special rapporteuron freedom of expression: “There’s something about this shutdown that is draconian ina way other shutdowns usually are not.”
Information blackout leads to silence and exaggerationJournalism, when not fettered, facilitates informed dialogue
A.S. Panneerselvan
Last month, the ‘Chennai water train’made its poignant, slow arrival intothe city, carrying 2.5 million litres ofwater for its parched residents. At thevery same time, in another part ofthe country, unspeakable tragedyhad unfolded, with Assam and Bihargetting ravaged by the monsoons.And just when it feels that the country has been through enough, rainbatters Karnataka and Kerala, takingmany lives and causing more misery.
It is a cruel fact that it doesn’t rainevenly across the planet. With the havoc that rapidlyintensifying climatechange is bringing, one man’sdrought could well coincide withanother man’s deluge.
These climatically turbulent timesbeg the question of whether it wouldbe too farfetched to use the ‘watertrain’ model widely and set up infrastructure to transport water fromareas with surplus toparched lands. Historically, this notion has beentoyed with and abandoned, mainly owing tohow expensive it is to ferrywater through thousandsof kilometres of pipelinesand against gradients, often involving pumping stations requiring a lot of energy. Yet, itisn’t as much a technical problem asone of money, and perhaps politics.
The American, Greek examplesIn the U.S., the city of Las Vegasplanned to use excess water from theMississippi river through a multibilliondollar project, a proposal thathas remained a pipe dream. Frenchengineers have dreamed up plans tohelping waterstarved African nations by hauling icebergs to theirshores. Some of these plans have succeeded; for example, Greece hasused the mega Spragg trash bag andits ‘world’s strongest zipper’ to haulmassive amounts of water.
These schemes have yieldedanother novel idea, which is to usewater to transport water. This hasbeen implemented with success inthe Caribbean, especially during thedrought of 198384 in Antigua. Theadvantages of transporting water over water include the fact that one
Horsepower of energy can move 150kg on road, 500 kg on rail and 4,000kg on water. Similarly, one litre offuel can move 24 tonnes per km onroad, 85 tonnes on rail and 105tonnes on inland water transport.The disadvantages are that the loading and unloading facilities are expensive to construct and, in India,most rivers don’t have the depth andbreadth to accommodate large barges all through the year. It will also require the dredging of rivers, which isexorbitant and might destroy naturalecosystems. Finally, though India recently forged ahead with its inlandwaterways development plans by investing in the National Waterways inthe Northeast, the bigger problem isthat there are too few large industrieslocated near river belts. The impetusfor investment simply doesn’t exist.
Nevertheless, exciting and pathbreaking innovations in technology
and enterprisestill hold outmuch potentialto solve ourworld’s resourceproblems. Desilting of lakes andrivers (concomitant with eff��ective garbage/
plastic disposal); extensive, statemandated rainwater harvesting; desalination and, fi��nally, recycling ofwater — all these can make a considerable diff��erence.
According to Magsaysay awardeeP. Sainath, there have been fi��ve principal migrations of water in India:from agriculture to industry; rural tourban; food to cash crops; poor torich; and livelihood to lifestyle. Theseare all independent of seasonaldroughts and have to do with ourpoor water management strategies.
But, in a country of contrasts —where animals frantically try to savethemselves from fl��oodwaters in Kaziranga National Park while, at thesame time, innocent children carrybackbreaking quantities of water inthe blistering Chennai sun — perhapsit is time to consider outoftheboxtechnological innovations.
The writer is based in Chennai
Pipe dreams for water transfer
It is time to consider outofthebox solutions totake water from a point of surplus to one of defi��cit
Madhurika Sankar The Prime Minister’s supporters are makinga careful assessment of the anticipated voting patterns in the Presidential election before making up their minds whether to votefor the offi��cial Congress candidate, Mr. N.Sanjiva Reddi, or defy the party whip andback the “nonoffi��cial” Congress candidate,Mr. V.V. Giri, on the assumption that hewould be more acceptable to Mrs. Gandhi inthe current power struggle at the Centre.The next two or three days are crucial in thesense that leftwing Congressmen who areprivately campaigning against Mr. SanjivaReddi’s candidature will have to make thefateful choice — with or without Mrs. Gandhi’s concurrence — and face the consequences of their decision. The Opposition partiesalso are marking time and getting ready tomake corresponding changes in their strategy to meet the challenge of a cross vote byCongressmen. Both the Swatantra and JanSangh are discussing the desirability of casting even their fi��rst preference votes for Mr.Sanjiva Reddi as an act of supreme sacrifi��ceby them, if they were faced with the possibility of his certain defeat as a result of lastminute defections by the Congress leftwing inthe name of buttressing Mrs. Gandhi’s leadership by routing the Syndicate.
FIFTY YEARS AGO AUGUST 12, 1969
Danger of defections in Congress
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
FROM THE ARCHIVES
FROM THE READERS’ EDITOR
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
DATA POINT