Monday, May 30, 2016
National Education Policy recommends Creation of All India Education Service
The key recommendation of the committee on National Education Policy, which submitted its report to the HRD ministry recently, is the creation of an All India Education Service. Other changes in the policy may range from pedagogy to structural changes.
It was in the 1980s that an all-India education service was first proposed by the then Education Secretary Anil Bordia. Later, Kapil Sibal, that time HRD Minister, was in favour of the concept but failed to implement it. Thematic consultations were held by HRD ministry, University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education, National Council for Teacher Education, National Council for Educational Research and Training and several centrally-funded universities and institutions, autonomous bodies and attached offices.
This time, the committee consisted of T S R Subramanian, former Cabinet Secretary as the Chairperson and Shailaja Chandra, former Chief Secretary, NCT of Delhi, Sevaram Sharma, former Home Secretary, NCT of Delhi, Sudhir Mankad, former Chief Secretary, Gujarat and J S Rajput, former Director, NCERT.
Source: Digital Learning, 30-05-2016
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR BANKERS AND ACADEMICS (ICBA) 2016, DHAKA.
Wed, 20-Jul-2016 to Thu, 21-Jul-2016
(Organized by Australian Academy of Business and Social Sciences and The Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, USA)
Theme: Exploring research directions in banking, business and social sciences
In Partnership with: Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management, Dhaka, Bangladesh; The Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, USA
Venue: Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management, Mirpur, Bangladesh
CALL FOR PAPERS
The ICBA 2016 invites active and potential bankers to participate in two professional workshops and/or any concurrent sessions on some emerging topics in commercial and public banking. It also invites academics, researchers, and decision and policy makers to submit conceptual, theoretical, empirical, and experimental research papers and abstracts in the fields of business and social sciences. Date: July 20-21, 2016 Venue: Venue: Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management, Mirpur 2, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh Conference Website: https://www.aabss.org.au/conference/icba-2016-dhaka
SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS
The Journal of Developing Areas (being published by the College of Business, Tennessee State University, USA) The ICBA 2016 gives the participants an opportunity to publish their full-fledged conference papers in the Journal of Developing Areas (The JDA), which has a highly recognized multidisciplinary journal since 1996. Full-fledged submissions, which do not meet the JDA’s acceptance criteria, will be considered for publication in the Bank Parikrama, which is a scholarly peer-reviewed journal published by BIBM since 1996.
PROFESSIONAL WORKSHOPS
There will be two high quality professional workshops in this conference. - Financial Institutions and Inclusive Economic Growth (Day 1) Presenter & conductor: To be announced soon Discussants: To be announced - Corporate Leadership: What and How to Deliver? (Day 2) Presenter: Professor Stephen Boyle, University of South Australia, Australia Discussant: Dr. Carmen Reaiche, University of Adelaide, Australia.
FURTHER INFORMATION, SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS, REGISTRATION & PAYMENT
For further information, submission, registration and payment, please click on this link:https://www.aabss.org.au/conference/icba-2016-dhaka
KEY DATES
Abstract/Full Paper Submissions Close Sunday, June 19, 2016 (11:30pm AEST) Registration Payment Deadline Thursday, June 30, 2016 (11:30pm AEST) Camera-ready Paper Submission Deadline Thursday, June 30, 2016 (11:30pm AEST).
Evolution of English as She is Spoke
Regional variety in how the language is spoken gets increasing acceptance
Thanks to the pukka accents of the British Raj, many Indians imagine the cut-glass enunciation of Received Pronunciation to be the default tone in Britain, too, with Eliza Doolittle's charming Cockney cadence providing a counterpoint.That, of course, is not true, with even Queen Elizabeth II's regal diction having changed perceptibly during nine decades of speaking Her English. Indeed, her grandchildren's accents -noticeably less posh than their older relative's -reflect how spoken English is changing even in its homeland. So, the news that the Estuary Accent -spoken in London and the South East -is swamping regional variations and colloquialisms is not surprising at all. Given that linguistic dissimilitudes are what traditionally perpetuated class and regional hierarchies in Britain, a single overweening accent may be just what the hour demands.Britons are at least opting for a form of English spoken on its side of the Atlantic and not the other -or even from populous anglophone lands east of the Suez. In India, luckily , the various accents of English mostly denote nothing more divergent than region. But trans-Atlantic rhoticity has crept in and even the once-hallowed tones of All India Radio newsreaders have evolved into a more indigenous patois, signalling a new era of Angrezi here too.
Source: Economic Times, 30-05-2016
Live in the Moment
ECKHART TOLLE
|
The greater part of human pain is unnecessary . It is selfcreated as long as the unobserved mind runs your life. The pain that you create now is always some form of non-acceptance, some form of unconscious resistance to what is. On the level of thought, the resistance is some form of judgement. On the emotional level, it is some form of negativity . The intensity of the pain depends on the degree of resistance to the present moment, and this, in turn, depends on how strongly you are identified with your mind.The mind seeks to deny the Now and to escape from it. In other words, the more you are identified with your mind, the more you suffer. Or you may put it like this: the more you are able to honour and accept the Now, the more you are free of pain, of suffering. You will be free of the egoistic mind.Why does the mind habitually deny or resist the Now? Because it cannot function and remain in control without time, which is past and future, so it perceives the timeless Now as threatening. Time and mind are, in fact, inseparable.
Make the Now the primary focus of your life. Whereas before you dwelt in time and paid brief visits to the Now, have your dwelling place in the Now and pay brief visits to past and future when required to deal with the practical aspects of your life situation.
Accept first and then act. Whatever the present contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend, not enemy . This will miraculously transform your whole life.
Make the Now the primary focus of your life. Whereas before you dwelt in time and paid brief visits to the Now, have your dwelling place in the Now and pay brief visits to past and future when required to deal with the practical aspects of your life situation.
Accept first and then act. Whatever the present contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend, not enemy . This will miraculously transform your whole life.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
HRD ministry
sets new rules for award of MPhil, PhD degrees
The HRD
ministry relaxed several rules for women candidates including allowing a 240
days break to avail maternity benefits within study period
For a female research candidate the course duration has been relaxed by
two years for PhD and one year for M.phil courses. The human
resource development ministry has set new rules for award of research degrees
such as MPhil and PhD at Indian universities.
The HRD
ministry has also relaxed several rules for women candidates, including
allowing a 240-day maternity break from their studies.
The new
rules are aimed at putting in place a “proper system” for doctoral studies and
streamline their administration, duration and quality, said higher education
secretary V.S. Oberoi. The rules are also intended to allow women greater
flexibility in pursuing research.
In
2013-14, some 107,890 students were pursuing PhD in India. That was less than
0.4% of the total student enrolment in the country. Of the students pursuing a
PhD, only around 3,335 were women.
Following
are some of the key changes:
(1) MPhil
duration: Minimum two consecutive semesters or one year, and a maximum of four
consecutive semesters or two years.
(2) PhD
duration: Minimum of three years, including course work, and a maximum of six
years. Extension beyond the limit to be governed by statute or ordinance of the
individual institution.
(3) Number
of PhD scholars per supervisor now has been fixed at 8/6/4 for
professor/associate professor/assistant professor, respectively. It was eight
per supervisor earlier.
(4) Number
of MPhil scholars per supervisor now at 3/2/1 for professor/associate
professor/assistant professor, respectively. It was five per supervisor
earlier.
(5) Only a
full-time regular teacher of the concerned university/college can act as a
supervisor. It means an external, visiting, adjunct or part-time teacher in a
university cannot be the core supervisor of a research scholar. However, a
co-supervisor can be allowed in inter-disciplinary areas.
(6)
Special provisions have been provided for women scholars. For a female research
candidate, the course duration has been relaxed by two years for PhD and one
year for MPhil courses. It also applies to physically handicapped candidates
with 40% disability.
(7) The
new rules allow the women candidates maternity leave, or child-care leave, once
during the entire duration of their MPhil/PhD programmes for up to 240 days.
(8) Women
candidates can now also transfer research data due to relocations to new
institutions. It means that if a woman candidate shifts her place of work or
residence because of any personal or professional reasons, she can shift her
research work from one university to another close to her where she is moving.
The rules will encourage more women to
enrol in doctoral programs by allowing them to get married and build a family
while pursuing their studies, said S. Parasuraman, director of the Tata
Institute of Social Sciences.
He said
the HRD ministry’s new rules are also “progressive and will help address
procedural issues related to administering the programmes”.
Source | Mint – The
Wallstreet Journal | 26 May
2016
It's Nothing But a Dream
OSHO
|
All that can ever be experienced is phenomena. Remember, not only are the objects of the world phenomena and dreams, but also objects of consciousness. They may be objects of the world, they may be just objects of the mind. They may be great spiritual experiences.You may see kundalini rising in you: that too is a phenomenon -a beautiful dream, but still a dream. You may see lotuses blooming inside you and a great fragrance arising within your being: these too are phenomena, because you are the seer and never the seen, always the experiencer and never the experienced, always the witness and never the witnessed.
The ego is a by-product of the illusion that whatsoever you are seeing is true. If you think that objects are true, then the ego can exist; it is a by-product.If you think that objects are dreams, the ego disappears.And if you think continuously that all is a dream, then one day , in a dream in the night, you will be surprised: suddenly in the dream, you will remember that this is a dream too! And for the first time, you will experience yourself deep asleep, yet awake -a very paradoxical experience, but of great benefit.
Awareness and dreaming can't exist together. Here, awareness arises, and there, the dream disappears. Your eyes will be so clear, so transparent, and everything will look psychedelic, colourful, alive. Even rocks will be felt to be breathing, pulsating; even rocks will have a heartbeat. When you are awake, the whole existence changes its quality .
The ego is a by-product of the illusion that whatsoever you are seeing is true. If you think that objects are true, then the ego can exist; it is a by-product.If you think that objects are dreams, the ego disappears.And if you think continuously that all is a dream, then one day , in a dream in the night, you will be surprised: suddenly in the dream, you will remember that this is a dream too! And for the first time, you will experience yourself deep asleep, yet awake -a very paradoxical experience, but of great benefit.
Awareness and dreaming can't exist together. Here, awareness arises, and there, the dream disappears. Your eyes will be so clear, so transparent, and everything will look psychedelic, colourful, alive. Even rocks will be felt to be breathing, pulsating; even rocks will have a heartbeat. When you are awake, the whole existence changes its quality .
New PCB data on air pollution less scary
Contrary to popular perception that air pollution is going up in the State, two of the major air pollution parameters — nitrogen dioxide from vehicle emissions and sulphur dioxide from industrial emissions — were well within the permissible limits in the State during the past five years.
This forms part of the findings in the Ambient Air Quality monitoring report compiled by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB), between 2011 and 2015
The report also indicates that Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (the microscopic liquid or solid matter found suspended in the atmosphere) of sizes between 2.5 micron and 10 micron had recorded a dip in 2015, though it had gone up by over 100 per cent of the permissible levels in 2013 and 2014 in some stations.
Air quality data
The air quality data, to be released by the PCB on June 5, assumes significance in the wake of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposing a ban on diesel vehicles. In its landmark judgement, the NGT had held that no “diesel vehicle with the capacity of 2000 cc and above, except Public Transport and Local Authority Vehicle” shall be registered in the State and “all the diesel vehicles, whether light or heavy, which are more than 10 years old, shall not be permitted to ply on the road in the major cities such as Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur.”
The Central Pollution Control Board had fixed the permissible concentration of sulphur dioxide as 50 micron/normal metre cube in Ambient Air for industrial, residential, rural, and other areas. The upper limit for nitrogen dioxide was fixed as 40 micron/normal metre cube. Barring Veli in Thiruvananthapuram, the sulphur dioxide level was found to be relatively lower in all the monitored stations. The highest value (17.37 micron/normal metre cube) in five years was obtained in 2015 from Veli.
Relatively high areas
The nitrogen dioxide emissions were relatively high in the air samples near SMV School, Murinjapalam, and Pettah in Thiruvananthapuram district all these years and 2015 proved to be the worst year as higher values were recorded from all these stations.
The PCB has compiled the data after analysing the air data from 24 stations set between Thiruvananthapuram and Kanhangad.
The Lawyers Environmental Awareness Forum, the petitioner in the case before the tribunal, had pointed out that lorries and trucks, which are more than 10 years old, were the key culprits in the rising air pollution levels of the State. The poorly-maintained buses of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation were adding deadly gases to the atmosphere, they pointed out, while pleading for the ban on polluting vehicles.
Source: The Hindu, 26-05-2016
Death, An Enigma In Any School Of Thought
Ashok Vohra
|
Death is an enigma. According to Wittgenstein it is so because, “death is not an event in life; we do not live to experience death“. Whereas Wittgenstein attributes the mystery surrounding death to it being the limit of life, Niels Bohr treats death as mystical because “we are both spectators and actors in the great drama of existence“.Death has a mystical aura around it because its inevitability prompts us to ask questions about life and its meaning.Almost every school of Buddhism recognises the significance of contemplation and meditation on the nature of death because firstly, it makes us conscious of the impermanence and shortness of life and makes our life meaningful. Secondly , contemplation about death makes us understand the phenomenon of death and familiarises us with the dying process, taking away the fear of death.Thirdly, contemplation on death makes us aware of the shortness and preciousness of life and so makes us live life fully.
According to Tibetan Buddhism, death is “the separation of the most subtle body and mind from the more gross aspects of body and mind“.The separation between the two the subtle and the gross is not sudden. It is a gradual process. That is why according to Tibetan Buddhism death is not a point in time. It is a gradual process.
A living person is an aggregate of gross and subtle mind and body . Gross body refers to the physical body comprising muscles, fat and bones. Gross mind refers to thoughts, feelings and other dispositional mental states.As opposed to them subtle body is the energy flowing through our physical body . It is like the electricity that flows through electric wires. Subtle mind refers to intuition and inner wisdom.It is also called “clear-light mind“. At the commencement of death process the coarser mind ceases and gives way to subtler mind. Conceptuality ceases. Our being is filled with vacuity .We become unconscious. Death comes when our being is filled with clear emptiness clear light. Surprisingly, all those who narrate a near-death experience give a pivotal place to clear and bright light in their narrative.
The physical signs of death, consciousness leaving this body are: cessation of heat from chest the region of the heart; slum ping of body; decomposition of body; a subtle awareness that consciousness has left and the body has become an empty shell.
The cycle of death is complete only after consciousness completely leaves one aggregate and subtle body , and attaches of gross and subtle body , and attaches itself with another aggregate. As a result a new personality comes into being much like the flame of a dying candle giving rise to a new source of light. There is a continuum though not identity of consciousness.
It is not necessary that the new being has to be a person. Depending upon its karmas and thoughts at the time of death, it can be reborn as a preta a hungry ghost, asura a jealous god, and even a god, or an animal. In Buddhism suicide is condemned because the person committing suicide is filled with negativity and depression. This is reflected in his next birth.
The process of reincarnation may take up to 49 days. Since the state of mind at the time of death is so important for future life, Buddhism proscribes disturbing the dying person with show of emotions. Such a show and clinging to the dying person disturbs him mentally which in turn affects his reincarnation.Therefore it is advisable to let a person go peacefully . (The writer is former professor of philosophy , Delhi University.)
According to Tibetan Buddhism, death is “the separation of the most subtle body and mind from the more gross aspects of body and mind“.The separation between the two the subtle and the gross is not sudden. It is a gradual process. That is why according to Tibetan Buddhism death is not a point in time. It is a gradual process.
A living person is an aggregate of gross and subtle mind and body . Gross body refers to the physical body comprising muscles, fat and bones. Gross mind refers to thoughts, feelings and other dispositional mental states.As opposed to them subtle body is the energy flowing through our physical body . It is like the electricity that flows through electric wires. Subtle mind refers to intuition and inner wisdom.It is also called “clear-light mind“. At the commencement of death process the coarser mind ceases and gives way to subtler mind. Conceptuality ceases. Our being is filled with vacuity .We become unconscious. Death comes when our being is filled with clear emptiness clear light. Surprisingly, all those who narrate a near-death experience give a pivotal place to clear and bright light in their narrative.
The physical signs of death, consciousness leaving this body are: cessation of heat from chest the region of the heart; slum ping of body; decomposition of body; a subtle awareness that consciousness has left and the body has become an empty shell.
The cycle of death is complete only after consciousness completely leaves one aggregate and subtle body , and attaches of gross and subtle body , and attaches itself with another aggregate. As a result a new personality comes into being much like the flame of a dying candle giving rise to a new source of light. There is a continuum though not identity of consciousness.
It is not necessary that the new being has to be a person. Depending upon its karmas and thoughts at the time of death, it can be reborn as a preta a hungry ghost, asura a jealous god, and even a god, or an animal. In Buddhism suicide is condemned because the person committing suicide is filled with negativity and depression. This is reflected in his next birth.
The process of reincarnation may take up to 49 days. Since the state of mind at the time of death is so important for future life, Buddhism proscribes disturbing the dying person with show of emotions. Such a show and clinging to the dying person disturbs him mentally which in turn affects his reincarnation.Therefore it is advisable to let a person go peacefully . (The writer is former professor of philosophy , Delhi University.)
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
A Bite of Cancer ?
A new study by Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has shown that 84 per cent of bread and bakery samples collected from the city contain residues of potassium bromate, potassium iodate or both. Potassium bromate (KBrO3) and potassium iodate (KIO3) are chemical food additives which, according to Indian food regulations, can be used by bread makers and bakeries as flour treatment agents. Potassium bromate helps achieve high rising and a uniform finish. But the safety of these additives is under a cloud.
Popularly used in many parts of the world a few decades ago, potassium bromate was allowed based on the assumption that no residue of bromate would be found in the final product. However, studies began to find detectable residues of bromate in finished products. Other studies showed that bromate was a possible carcinogen. In the 1980s and early 1990s, global scientific expert committees began reducing the allowed limit of use for bromate. Eventually, they recommended not using potassium bromate at all, a warning that was heeded in many countries. Potassium iodate is also banned in many countries as it can lead to higher intake of iodine, which can potentially affect thyroid function. But India continues to allow the use of these treatment agents, exposing people to the risk of consuming them through bread and bakery items.
To find out if potassium bromate and potassium iodate are present in different types of breads, the Pollution Monitoring Laboratory (PML) at CSE collected 38 bread and bakery samples from retail shops, bakeries and fast food outlets in Delhi during May-June 2015. The samples included popular varieties of white bread, whole wheat/atta bread, brown bread, multigrain bread, sandwich bread, pav, bun, ready-to-eat burger bread and ready-to-eat pizza bread. The tests were conducted on a UV-visible spectrophotometer using a published method. Both potassium bromate and potassium iodate oxidise the dye, producing the same colour and indicating the presence of either one or both chemicals. The results were startling.
- Thirty two of 38 samples or more than 84 per cent of samples tested were found to contain potassium bromate and/or iodate in the range of 1.15–22.54 ppm (parts per million). Moreover, residues of potassium bromate and/or iodate were found in all product categories tested by PML (see ‘A grim report card’).
- All samples of white bread, pav, bun and ready-to-eat pizza bread were found to contain potassium bromate and/or iodate. Nineteen of 24 samples or 79 per cent of bread and about 75 per cent of ready-to-eat burger bread also tested positive for the chemicals.
- The highest level of potassium bromate and/or iodate was found in sandwich bread. This was followed by pav, bun and white bread. Even the average level of the residues was high in these product categories.
- Products of Perfect Bread, Harvest Gold and Britannia were found to contain high average levels of potassium bromate and/or iodate. Harvest Gold Sandwich bread had the highest concentration of the chemicals.
- Products of all seven popular fast food outlets selling pizza and burger tested positive for potassium bromate and/or iodate, but at levels lower than those found in bread, pav and bun.
Level to level, women earn almost as much as men in India: survey
The pay gap narrows to 3.5% for men and women at the same job level, same firm and in the same function
Reams have been written about the difference in pay between men and women, which has emerged as a hot-button issue when it comes to gender equality at work.
According to various surveys, the pay gap is estimated to vary anywhere between 19% and 27%. But on a closer look, the difference is far less, finds a recent global report.
Indian men, overall, earn an average 18.8% more than women, according to Korn Ferry Hay Group’s report released on Tuesday.
But on comparing the salaries of men with women at the same job level, the same company and in the same function, the study shows that men earn only 3.5% more than women.
The global study analysed gender and pay of about eight million employees in 33 countries, including 57,000 employees in India.
“Our data shows that when it comes to thinking about pay on the basis of gender, a man and a woman in the same company, doing the same job will usually be paid nearly the same—but still favouring men by 1.6% (globally),” said Ben Frost, a global reward expert at Hay Group, adding that this is true across geographies form Sweden to South Africa.
So just where is that huge pay gap coming from then?
It exists partly because there are fewer women in better paying job functions and industries such as science, technology, engineering—all of which pay above average, and are very male-dominated.
Lesser-paying sectors such as hospitality and tourism are women-dominated. This pushes the overall average male salary above the average female salary, resulting in a wide average pay gap, said Frost.
“Getting more women into these higher-paying functions and industries will push up average female salaries, and help to close the overall pay gap,” he said.
The other reason is also the lack of women in senior functions and in leadership positions.
“If we want to close the pay gap and make a difference, it is the road to the top jobs that needs to be the focus. This is the pay gap problem,” added Frost.
Globally, Hay Group’s research found that women make up 40% of the workforce for clerical jobs, but only account for 27% of manager roles and 17% of executive-level jobs.
In India, that number is worse—only 10% of managers are women and 5% of women hold executive-level jobs.
But it is also important to note that the study considered only the base salaries when comparing the pay of men and women.
“There is some evidence that the gaps for variable pay are slightly larger than for the base salary, which is mostly explained by women working fewer overtime hours than men on average,” said Frost.
Experts, believe that not including variable pay does not give the complete picture as variable pay accounts for a significant part of the compensation.
“Without variable pay, the data is not representative, as women lack the ability to sell their performance as well as men, affecting their ability to earn more for their performance,” said Geetha Kannan, managing director of The Anita Borg Institute, a non-profit that works to foster gender diversity in the technology sector.
Also, even within a function, the pay that employees can earn within a band varies much more than 3.5%; so a pay gap of 3.5% seems to be on the lower side, said Kannan.
Job site Monster.com last week released a report that said the gender pay gap varies as much as 34.9% in the manufacturing sector to 17.7% in the banking, finance and insurance sector.
Sucharita Palepu, global head of people policies and practices at Tech Mahindra Ltd, however, said that even if one includes variable pay, there is not a perceivable difference in what men and women earn in a similar role in a company.
But she did concede that as a function of negotiation, men tend to earn more than women, as men possess better negotiation skills.
“All good employers do not have any element of compensation that gets governed by gender. So, by design, pay is designed based on the role, the criticality and the performance,” said Sandeep Chaudhary, chief executive officer at Aon Hewitt India.
However, he said that employees have different preferences based on their gender, age and income, and that could influence the way the employees are paid, thereby creating a pay gap.
In India, women account for only 23-24% of the total labour force and generate a mere 17% of the share of the gross domestic product (GDP), a 2015 McKinsey Global Institute study found.
This figure is far below the global average, where female workers generate 37% of the world’s GDP.
Also, a gender pay gap usually emerges over time.
“Women and men in the technology sector start out with equal pay, responsibility and aspirations. However, by the time they are 12 years into their careers, women tend to receive ` 3.8 lakh lesser salary than men,” said Shachi Irde, executive director, Catalyst India WRC, a not-for-profit that works to expand opportunities for women.
Source: Mintepaper, 25-05-2016
The ease of living in India
A quarter century of economic reform has transformed the economy. But governments have been less mindful of addressing social and natural capital
In June 1991 a new government was installed in the country after a period of economic precariousness combined with political instability following the assassination of a prime minister. For the next five years the political process and the economy were managed by the unlikely duo of P.V. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh, respectively. The policy changes that had been initiated then have come to be known as “the economic reforms”. But even decades later finance ministers of both the UPA and NDA speak of the need for “more reforms”. This must confuse the layperson for it suggests a process that is never completed. It is of course true that as our understanding of the working of the economy evolves, fresh avenues for reform of policy open up. However, the reforms of 1991 were based on a certain idea of what was needed and a substantial part of the agenda announced then has been implemented. So as the 25th anniversary of the reforms approaches, it would be legitimate to take stock of what has been achieved, especially the extent to which they have succeeded in terms of the expectation.
The crisis of 1991
In 1991, the focus of the reforms had been on trade, exchange rate and industrial policies. This had everything to do with the immediacy of the balance-of-payments crisis the economy then faced. When the Rao government took charge, it was estimated that foreign exchange reserves would cover up to two weeks’ imports. A rule of thumb is that a country should aim at a cover of about six months. With debt servicing due, the speculation in the international circles was whether India would default on its commitments. In political memoirs of the moment India’s leadership comes across as motivated to ensure that India honoured her obligations. To contain the external deficit, Finance MinisterManmohan Singh had devalued the rupee and reined in public expenditure. He then went to the International Monetary Fund for balance-of-payments support. This would have required courage. Retrenchment, belt-tightening, and devaluation were unpopular across the political spectrum, even within the Congress party — though on the question of how the foreign exchange needed to finance international payments was to be acquired, the critics of the strategy had had little credible to offer. Within three years the crisis was surmounted and the programme with the IMF ended.
In 1991, the focus of the reforms had been on trade, exchange rate and industrial policies. This had everything to do with the immediacy of the balance-of-payments crisis the economy then faced. When the Rao government took charge, it was estimated that foreign exchange reserves would cover up to two weeks’ imports. A rule of thumb is that a country should aim at a cover of about six months. With debt servicing due, the speculation in the international circles was whether India would default on its commitments. In political memoirs of the moment India’s leadership comes across as motivated to ensure that India honoured her obligations. To contain the external deficit, Finance MinisterManmohan Singh had devalued the rupee and reined in public expenditure. He then went to the International Monetary Fund for balance-of-payments support. This would have required courage. Retrenchment, belt-tightening, and devaluation were unpopular across the political spectrum, even within the Congress party — though on the question of how the foreign exchange needed to finance international payments was to be acquired, the critics of the strategy had had little credible to offer. Within three years the crisis was surmounted and the programme with the IMF ended.
There can be no doubt that the reforms have eased India’s balance-of-payments constraint. India’s reserves today exceed $350 billion, compared to less than $6 billion in March 1991. Moreover, the period since is the longest recorded when the country has gone without a foreign exchange shortage. Earlier one had arisen in every decade, starting with the 1950s. It is also significant that this new-found resilience has been achieved while the economy has got increasingly integrated with the rest of the world. This outcome has gone against the pessimistic prognosis of the time that eliminating controls would suck in imports and jeopardise the balance of payments. This did not happen as exports also rose, though mainly in a sector unimagined in 1991, that is, software services. Of course, the rupee has depreciated very substantially after it was floated.
There is the criticism that the balance of payments has been manageable only due to capital inflows, and that the portfolio flows they comprise are subject to reversal. This is indeed correct. But a run has not occurred in 25 years, not even in the last decade when global capital may have stampeded out following the global financial crisis. Altogether, the reforms should be credited with having improved India’s external position. The current account deficit has been financed comfortably, most measures of external indebtedness show an improvement, and the dramatic increase in foreign exchange reserves tells its own story.
Great power ambitions
However, the reforms were not envisaged as merely staving off a balance-of-payments crisis. In Dr. Singh’s words, spoken in Parliament, they were meant to be the harbinger of “the emergence of India as a major economic power in the world”. This is a worthy aspiration and the crude nationalism at times on display today should not discourage us from nursing it. The question is whether we are on the right path to the goal. If per capita income is taken as the measure then we are still some distance away from ‘great power’ status. The most recent World Bank data show that over 2011-15 GDP per capita — measured in PPP dollars — was 5,700 in India, 11,108 in Albania, 13,206 in China and, yes, 25,638 in Malaysia.
However, the reforms were not envisaged as merely staving off a balance-of-payments crisis. In Dr. Singh’s words, spoken in Parliament, they were meant to be the harbinger of “the emergence of India as a major economic power in the world”. This is a worthy aspiration and the crude nationalism at times on display today should not discourage us from nursing it. The question is whether we are on the right path to the goal. If per capita income is taken as the measure then we are still some distance away from ‘great power’ status. The most recent World Bank data show that over 2011-15 GDP per capita — measured in PPP dollars — was 5,700 in India, 11,108 in Albania, 13,206 in China and, yes, 25,638 in Malaysia.
Though India’s economy may not at present compare well with that of other countries, it could yet be that its rate of growth has increased after the reforms. This has actually happened, but the claim often encountered that 1991 was a watershed year in that a stagnant economy had finally been energised is false. While the rate of growth of the economy accelerated after 1991, it had done so twice earlier, first in the 1950s and then in the late 1970s. So the reforms have only maintained an existing history with respect to economic growth. What of poverty? Here the record is the same as that of economic growth. Absolute poverty has declined since 1991, but this has been the trend since the early 1970s. Essentially, the decline in poverty has kept pace with growth. Thus, mirroring growth of the economy, while the rate of decline in poverty accelerated since 2004, it had already accelerated on the cusp of the 1970s and the 1980s. However, even after a quarter century of economic reforms, approximately a quarter of the country remains poor according to a poverty line that is low by international standards.
It is important to note that poverty measures are dependent upon the definition of poverty. The official index in India, on which the above cited trends are based, measures access to food a little more accurately than it does access to other conditions of life which are at least as vital. Even beyond health and education, the conditions of life are affected by physical infrastructure, which determines livelihood chances and well-being. Major components of this infrastructure would include transportation, water supply and sanitation.
It is not as if successive governments have not recognised their significance, but they fail to convince that “more reforms” — incidentally called for by both the Finance Minister and the Governor of the Reserve Bank — will be able to provide them. Structural reforms as liberalisation aim to provide access to and raise the profitability of the private sector. This may be essential at times, but there is a wide swathe of an economy where the market fails to deliver. This it does in the presence of what are referred to as externalities and public goods. Public goods are important as they mitigate the impact of income poverty and inequality. We can think of health, education, public infrastructure and recreational facilities as constituting the space in which we actually lead our lives. A significant transformation of it in India would require both a strengthening of the public finances and a generation of political will. The relevance of both can be understood when we see political parties competing in the distribution of kitchen appliances and laptops while the public infrastructure crumbles to pose a threat to life and limb and diminish the quality of life.
Natural capital
Then there is natural capital. An underlying premise of the reforms is the desirability of expanding the scope of markets. In many spheres of the economy controls had proliferated over the decades to the detriment of both growth and welfare, and their dismantling has resulted in an increase in both. But markets are not always the best way to deal with nature, as we discovered when confronted with water shortages across the country this summer. Deep and smart regulation is necessary if we are to deal with depleting natural capital, of which this is only one instance.
Then there is natural capital. An underlying premise of the reforms is the desirability of expanding the scope of markets. In many spheres of the economy controls had proliferated over the decades to the detriment of both growth and welfare, and their dismantling has resulted in an increase in both. But markets are not always the best way to deal with nature, as we discovered when confronted with water shortages across the country this summer. Deep and smart regulation is necessary if we are to deal with depleting natural capital, of which this is only one instance.
Widespread liberalisation of the economic policy regime was long overdue in 1991, and has played a positive role since, but its impact has run its course and the policy has recognisable limits. Liberalisation cannot address all aspects of the man-made environment and now climate change threatens to change everything forever. We do not have another quarter century to deal with these imperatives. Government must be prevailed upon to match their concern for the ease of doing business with a commitment to the ease of living in India.
Achal Prabhala works on access to medicines; Sudhir Krishnaswamy is on the faculty of Azim Premji University.
Source: The Hindu, 25-05-2016
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