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This is not "big data" to be used to cut down welfare expenditure.
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The attack on Teesta Setalvad is part of a larger strategy to suppress dissent.
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Simply passing laws is not enough to root out witch-hunts and killings.
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Thursday, July 23, 2015
A Labour Litmus Test
India needs to rework balance between worker protection, investor confidence.
In February 1976, a new Chapter VB was incorporated in the Industrial Disputes Act, ostensibly as a compensatory measure to provide greater protection to workers at a time when civil liberties of all citizens were under siege. By then, the intelligentsia had become increasingly critical of the Emergency. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s advisors had suggested that it would be wise to earn the gratitude and support of workers as a class. As the results of the 1977 general elections show, this didn’t work. But this one section on our statute books has earned much opprobrium from the investor community and is still a roadblock to faster economic development and growth. Briefly stated, Chapter VB requires all establishments employing a “specified number” of workers to obtain prior permission of the appropriate government or designated authority before resorting to layoffs, retrenchment or closure. Establishments include factories, mines and plantations. Prior to 1976, there was no “prior permission clause” in the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947. When Chapter VB was first introduced, the specified number was pegged at 300 workers. By a later amendment incorporated in 1984, the specified number was reduced to 100 workers, thereby making the provision even more restrictive. This is where the Central law stands today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made repeated calls to the global community to come and “make in India”. But investors with capital and technology have a variety of destinations to choose from and will obviously look for the best opportunities. In today’s business environment, the ability to right-size the workforce in response to changing market conditions is crucial for success, and restrictions on employee adjustments are considered unnecessary impediments. This does not imply compromising with workers’ protection and welfare for corporate greed. It has been aptly stated that “those who have less in life should have more in law”. The challenge is to strike the right balance between worker protection and investor confidence. The first attempt to amend Chapter VB was made in 1993, when P.V. Narasimha Rao was prime minister. After the economic reforms of 1991, there were persistent demands from investors to relax the restrictive sections on workforce adjustments. To test the waters, a proposal was mooted to return to the pre-1984 status, but it was stillborn. A similar proposal during the last NDA government also did not fructify. In the 10 years of the UPA government, major labour law reforms were put on the backburner, citing compulsions of coalition politics. For the first time in 30 years, there is no such compulsion. If the government is serious about converting India into a global manufacturing hub — a sine qua non for employment creation and rapid economic growth — it must replace rhetoric with demonstrable action. Investor confidence will get the necessary boost if the Central government is seen to be spearheading labour law reforms. As a concurrent list subject under the Constitution, the Centre can make or amend labour laws, as can the state governments in their respective jurisdictions. Accordingly, last year, Rajasthan amended Chapter VB of the Industrial Disputes Act and restored the pre-1984 status. It has also amended other labour-related legislation. Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are following suit. But leaving the initiative to the states may result in regional imbalances. So far, the Central government has only undertaken minor, incremental reforms, such as amendments to the Apprenticeship Act, Factories Act, etc. But these incremental steps are not sufficient. The investor community is looking for big-ticket reforms, and Chapter VB of the Industrial Disputes Act will be the litmus test. Even if total revocation of Chapter VB is not politically feasible, restoring the pre-1984 status should not be difficult, especially after the precedent set by Rajasthan. As an accompanying measure, the rate of compensation for layoff, retrenchment and closure can be appropriately enhanced. The fear of large-scale worker displacement is also exaggerated. Lifetime employment is a historical relic. Today’s skilled workforce has much greater employability and resilience. No doubt, several other labour laws also need rationalisation for ease of compliance and business success. But because of the notoriety of Chapter VB, Indian labour laws are seen as some of the most restrictive in the world. That is why it must be flagged as the priority of the Central government.
The writer, a former IAS officer, was senior specialist in industrial relations and labour administration, ILO
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES: DELHI TOPS
NEW DELHI Seventy five cases of sexual harassment cases in higher educational institutes have been reported from across the country between April 2014 and March this year, 27 of which are from Delhi alone, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday by HRD Minister Smriti Irani. Delhi is followed by Uttar Pradesh (23), Haryana (7), Odisha (6), Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Tripura (2 each) and Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Karnataka and Assam (1 each). Two cases have also been received from NIT, one from IGNOU and NEUPA.
“UGC has also reported that complaints have been received against the heads or members of faculties of Punjab University, Jadavpur University, TERI and St Stephens College, Delhi,“ she said. Cases have also been reported against faculty members of Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, and Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat. IANS
Fragments of one of the world’s oldest Koran found in U.K.
Dating back at least 1,370 years, close to the time of Prophet Muhammad.
Researchers at the Birmingham University in the United Kingdom have discovered that fragments of a Koran manuscript in the varsity library are among the oldest in the world, dating back at least 1,370 years, close to the time of Prophet Muhammad.
Radiocarbon analysis has placed the parchment on which the text is written to the period between AD 568 and 645 with 95.4 per cent accuracy.
Close to Prophet’s time
The test, which was carried out in a laboratory at the University of Oxford, places the parchment close to the time of Prophet Muhammad, who is generally thought to have lived between AD 570 and 632.
Consisting of two parchment leaves, the Koran manuscript contains parts of Suras (chapters) 18 to 20, written with ink in an early form of Arabic script known as Hijazi.
The Koran manuscript is part of the University’s Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern manuscripts, held in the Cadbury Research Library. For many years, the manuscript had been mis-bound with leaves of a similar Koran manuscript, which is datable to the late seventh century.
Exciting result
“The radiocarbon dating has delivered an exciting result, which contributes significantly to our understanding of the earliest written copies of the Koran,” said Susan Worrall, Director of Special Collections (Cadbury Research Library).
Dr. Alba Fedeli, who studied the leaves as part of her PhD research, said: “The two leaves, which were radiocarbon-dated to the early part of the seventh century, come from the same codex as a manuscript kept in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France in Paris.”
“According to Muslim tradition, the Prophet Muhammad received the revelations that form the Koran, the scripture of Islam, between the years AD 610 and 632, the year of his death,” said Professor David Thomas, Professor of Christianity and Islam and Nadir Dinshaw Professor of Inter-religious Relations at the University of Birmingham.
Preserved in memories
“At this time, the divine message was not compiled into the book form in which it appears today. Instead, the revelations were preserved in ‘the memories of men,’ parts of it had also been written down on parchment, stone, palm leaves and the shoulder blades of camels,” he said.
“The tests carried out on the parchment of the Birmingham folios yield the strong probability that the animal from which it was taken was alive during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad or shortly afterwards,” Professor Thomas said.
“This means that the parts of the Koran that are written on this parchment can, with a degree of confidence, be dated to less than two decades after Muhammad’s death.
Little or no change
“These portions must have been in a form that is very close to the form of the Koran read today, supporting the view that the text has undergone little or no alteration and that it can be dated to a point very close to the time it was believed to be revealed,” Professor Thomas said.
Good in principle, tough to practise
The ill-effects of indiscriminate liquor consumption on standards of living and public health are well-known. It is for this reason that the Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution require the state to endeavour to bring about prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs except those for medicinal purposes. After the decision of the Kerala government to close down bars other than those in five-star hotels and to introduce prohibition in a phased manner, political parties in Tamil Nadu are increasingly talking of pushing for a ban on liquor if they come to power. TheDravida Munnetra Kazhagam has now joined the Pattali Makkal Katchi in campaigning for a ban, with its president M. Karunanidhi promising total prohibition if voted to power. Actually, it was Mr. Karunanidhi who in 1971 withdrew prohibition in Tamil Nadu, going back on the policy formulated by DMK founder and former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai. At that time, his argument was that prohibition cannot work in isolation. Although Kerala has taken a huge step toward restricting consumption, Tamil Nadu is by no means surrounded by liquor-free States. For instance, Puducherry, not far from Chennai, is known as a tippler’s paradise. Moreover, the State’s finances are shored up by revenue from liquor sales. Many of the government’s freebie schemes actually run on revenues from duties and taxes levied on liquor. Also, political functionaries at the lower levels of the hierarchy benefit hugely from bootlegging and the sale of illicit liquor during periods of prohibition. While many women’s groups support prohibition, the political will to crack down on illicit liquor will doubtless be weak in such circumstances. Any ban on liquor sales will necessarily have to co-exist with a spurt in bootlegging and illicit distillation.
As a policy, prohibition has met with little success anywhere in India. Even when it has helped bring down overall consumption, prohibition has led to loss of lives in hooch tragedies. The high levels of enforcement required for prohibition result in a severe drain on the State’s finances. Prohibition enforcement agencies often become enmeshed in corruption. Tamil Nadu, like Kerala, has had a history of hooch tragedies. In recent years, with the easy availability of liquor in rural areas, the State has been free of such deaths. Indeed, in 2002 the AIADMK government encouraged manufacturers to introduce cheaper liquor to wean away rural workers from hooch. If history offers any lessons, it will require enormous resources and tremendous political will for prohibition to succeed. So far, political parties have not shown the necessary political will, and governments have been unable to muster the needed resources.
The speaking tree - An Ode to Joy
JOHN HUMPHRYS
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In an age when entertainment is the third-biggest industry in the world, one would think that joy would be fashionable.If only it were. Take a look around and you will see the opposite. Everyone seems to want to express a sort of depressed solemnity . It's not hard to see why . Joy comes unmediated. It is spontaneous.But our society is too sophisticated for its own good, our culture too managed and fabricated. Spontaneity is mistrusted. You get an idea of spontaneous joy watching a small child at play . But I suspect we are all capable of it long after we have reached the age of self-consciousness.Our working hours increase as the stress of our working lives becomes more intense.We make sure we are always on call. If we think about it, we reckon that all this is probably necessary because we can have our larger liberty only if we remain competitive, if we work harder than the next guy who's trying to work harder than us. We compensate by buying distractions. We buy `enjoyment', a tepid version of spontaneous joy , indulge in consumer therapy . We impose on our children our own frenetic regimes. School is not for enjoying, it is for remorseless testing, a permanent preparation for exams rather than a preparation for life with plenty of space for joy . And then we wonder why teachers complain that there is no `joy' left in teaching. Occasionally , we need to defy the empire of necessity if only to prove that we can. It might even help put a smile back on our faces.
the speaking tree - Selfless Service Throws Open Opportunities
Sant Rajinder Singh
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We often read media accounts about people who become heroes. We are often moved and inspired by reports of those who have risked their lives to save someone else. We raise to martyrdom those who have tried to help humanity and have lost their lives in the process.Rarely does the average person face the choice of giving up his life in order to save someone else. But there are numerous opportunities that offer themselves to us daily in which we can help someone else. The sacrifice may be of our time, money, other material resources, or skills. There is no dearth of opportunities to give something for common good.
A wealthy person was working with his lawyer in preparing his will. The lawyer was impressed with both the amount of money the man had accumulated and the number of servants he had. The man was proud of how many people he employed to serve him. He felt it was a sign of his success in life.
When the man finally passed on, he waited for his judgment. He felt he would receive a good placement in heaven because he had been so successful in life.
When his turn came the angel, after looking through the entire record, declared that he did not merit time in heaven. “What do you mean?“ the man exclaimed. “Didn't you see how successful i was and how many people served me?“ The angel replied, “For entry into heaven, we do not keep records of how many people served you.For entry into heaven, we only record how many people you served. Unfortunately , your entry into heaven is denied, because in your life, you only served yourself.“ This story illustrates a powerful lesson. Many people focus on amassing their own empires and estates. But, they disregard the purpose for which God gave them the human body . True human beings live for others. Some scriptures say that if God wanted only devotion, the angels were there for that purpose.God wanted to create beings that would serve others, and thus God created humans. Consider which people from history are best remembered. Are they the people who had others serving them, or are they the ones who served others?
There are numerous ways we can be of service to others. Life is filled with many opportuni ties. We can help others by doing physical, intellectual and spiri tual service or service of the soul. Physical service encompasses all those activities performed to help others meet their primary needs in life which are food, clothing, shelter and safety. People also have intellectual needs.There are many people who fulfil the intellectual needs of society teachers, professors, writers and journalists. There is an inherent need in humanity to know who they are and to find out about God. Service of the soul is helping seekers satisfy their spiritual quest.
To truly perform selfless service, one must act without any desire for a reward or recognition, motivated by an innate desire to help another. At the time of giving, one forgets one's own needs and wants, as well as one's comfort and safety to help someone else. Truly selfless people don't expect anything in return for their deeds. The underlying paradox of selfless service lies in the fact that while wanting no reward, selfless service elicits the highest reward Divine Grace. This is the highest gift we can receive in life. When we help someone, our heart expands, our soul opens up. As our love for others flows out, God's love for us can pour in.
Follow Sant Rajinder Singh at speakingtree.in The Speaking Tree is also available as an 8 page newspaper every Sunday for Rs 3. Book your copy of The Speaking Tree with your newspaper vendor or SMS STREE to 58888.
A wealthy person was working with his lawyer in preparing his will. The lawyer was impressed with both the amount of money the man had accumulated and the number of servants he had. The man was proud of how many people he employed to serve him. He felt it was a sign of his success in life.
When the man finally passed on, he waited for his judgment. He felt he would receive a good placement in heaven because he had been so successful in life.
When his turn came the angel, after looking through the entire record, declared that he did not merit time in heaven. “What do you mean?“ the man exclaimed. “Didn't you see how successful i was and how many people served me?“ The angel replied, “For entry into heaven, we do not keep records of how many people served you.For entry into heaven, we only record how many people you served. Unfortunately , your entry into heaven is denied, because in your life, you only served yourself.“ This story illustrates a powerful lesson. Many people focus on amassing their own empires and estates. But, they disregard the purpose for which God gave them the human body . True human beings live for others. Some scriptures say that if God wanted only devotion, the angels were there for that purpose.God wanted to create beings that would serve others, and thus God created humans. Consider which people from history are best remembered. Are they the people who had others serving them, or are they the ones who served others?
There are numerous ways we can be of service to others. Life is filled with many opportuni ties. We can help others by doing physical, intellectual and spiri tual service or service of the soul. Physical service encompasses all those activities performed to help others meet their primary needs in life which are food, clothing, shelter and safety. People also have intellectual needs.There are many people who fulfil the intellectual needs of society teachers, professors, writers and journalists. There is an inherent need in humanity to know who they are and to find out about God. Service of the soul is helping seekers satisfy their spiritual quest.
To truly perform selfless service, one must act without any desire for a reward or recognition, motivated by an innate desire to help another. At the time of giving, one forgets one's own needs and wants, as well as one's comfort and safety to help someone else. Truly selfless people don't expect anything in return for their deeds. The underlying paradox of selfless service lies in the fact that while wanting no reward, selfless service elicits the highest reward Divine Grace. This is the highest gift we can receive in life. When we help someone, our heart expands, our soul opens up. As our love for others flows out, God's love for us can pour in.
Follow Sant Rajinder Singh at speakingtree.in The Speaking Tree is also available as an 8 page newspaper every Sunday for Rs 3. Book your copy of The Speaking Tree with your newspaper vendor or SMS STREE to 58888.
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