Looking after leaping

Economic Survey’s hesitations are both refreshing and disturbing

For those who read every line, the latest Economic Survey is alarming. For those who read in-between the lines, it is disturbing. Certainly, there is some good news. FDIs, for instance, are still on the rise (while foreign portfolio investment is declining) and the current account deficit has been reduced, in spite of the diminution of remittances, largely because of a contained trade deficit. Growth remains high at 7.2 per cent, but its rate is declining and its composition is worrying. Services continue to grow at 8.8 per cent and agriculture is back at 4.1 per cent because of a good monsoon, but industry registers a setback, from 7.4 per cent in 2015-16 to 5.2 per cent in 2016-17.

The Economic Survey asks: “What went wrong?” and offers the following explanation: In the 2000s, “economies all over the world were booming”, Indian firms “made plans accordingly. They launched new projects worth lakhs of crores”, their “investment financed by an astonishing credit boom”. Naturally, “projects that had been built around the assumption that growth would continue at double-digit levels were suddenly confronted with growth rates half that level”. Firms stopped investing and banks, mostly public, which have accumulated a huge amount of bad loans, stopped lending. The growth of credit to industry became negative during the last fall, making SMEs suffer even more than big companies.

What to do? This is where the Economic Survey needs to be read in-between the lines. A few pages after celebrating the liberalisation of the economy and the end of socialism, the authors admit that while “Most economic problems are best resolved through market-based mechanisms”, “in this case, this mechanism doesn’t seem to be working” — more, “a centralised approach might be needed”.

Which means that “the bulk of the burden will necessarily fall on the government” and that it may even imply “forgiving some burden on the private sector”. In other words: Businessmen have not strategised properly, but they should not be held accountable, and the taxpayer has to help them. In this market economy of some kind, benefits can be private, but losses have to be socialised.

To be fair, this is only the short-term solution the Economic Survey is suggesting. The authors do not content themselves with this quick-fix perspective because they know that “unless there are fundamental reforms, the problem will recur again and again”. Why? Because, as Atul Kohli has already demonstrated, India is not market-friendly but business-friendly (As the Economic Survey says on page 42, “India is not quite what it appears to be”): Even if crony capitalists have bad projects in mind, politicians will twist the arm of the public bank managers to lend them the necessary amount — in exchange for the funding of some election campaign.

Hence, this suggestion: “Structural reform aimed at preventing this can take many forms but serious consideration must also be given to the issue of government majority ownership in the public sector bank”. Why is the suggestion not more precise and so hesitant, because the authors know (and say!) that it is in the domain of reform that “the least amount of progress has occurred” under the Modi government. While the prime minister has reached the middle of his term, the Economic Survey points out that “Perhaps the most important reforms to boost growth will be structural”, like strategic disinvestment, tax reform and subsidy rationalisation. This is long overdue for those who supported the BJP in 2014 and for whom reforms were the mandate. These reforms have not really taken place yet, according to the Economic Survey.

In fact, the epithet “structural” is repeated 18 times in the Survey, to say that structural reforms are needed, to suggest they are on their way and to say that they have happened already. The chapter on demonetisation illustrates this fundamental hesitation.

The Economic Survey offers the first official detailed analysis of demonetisation. The reasons it mentions are standard: “to curb corruption”, counterfeiting, the use of high denomination and especially, the accumulation of “black money”, generated by income that has not been declared to the tax authorities. The authors admit that the impact of this decision on the growth rate is underestimated because the evolution of the informal sector — that has been the most directly affected — is not measured precisely in the national income accounts. Yet, the graphs shown by the Economic Survey are telling: Sales of two-wheelers and cars have dropped by 10-20 per cent after the November 8 announcement; the real estate market has sunk, etc. The Survey candidly admits that the most badly affected have been the poor, a category coterminous with the 350 million people who have no cellphone. These “digitally excluded” cannot easily go cashless. (Paradoxically, the Survey considers that demonetisation has been popular in India on the basis of a “phone survey across households in five states (that) shows that approval rates for demonetisation have remained high, over 75 per cent on average”).

While the short-term damage is obvious, the most disturbing conclusions pertain to the long-term gains. The authors of the Economic Survey do not conceal that the long-term effects are conditional: Demonetisation will only bear fruit economically if it is accompanied by structural reforms, including an ambitious GST. Speculating that “GST will probably be implemented later in the fiscal year”, the authors conclude: “The fiscal gains from implementing the GST and demonetisation, while almost certain to occur, will probably take time to be fully realised”.

The many doubts that are pervasive in the Economic Survey are refreshing in the present era of post-truth democracy, when facts are often conveniently overlooked. But they are disturbing too because the rulers’ sense of direction does not seem to be as firm as public discourse would like citizens to believe.

P.S.: One of the main issues for Indian society, jobs, is mentioned in passing — in contrast to the detailed study of the labour market in last year’s Survey. One of the few indirect references made to it concerns the loss of India’s competitive advantage in the textile and leather industries vis-à-vis Vietnam and Bangladesh — one more reason for asking for structural reforms.

The writer is senior research fellow at CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS, Paris, professor of Indian politics and sociology at King’s India Institute, London

Source: Indianexpress, 9-02-2017

Will gendered spaces prevent sexual abuse?

How do segregated canteens, wearing salwars protect women?

I have mixed feelings about the incident, having studied in Miranda House as well as co-ed schools. I think the concept of a dress code is viewed in a very myopic way in this country. Corporate offices impose dress codes on both men and women. Even TV anchors are never seen wearing kurta-pajamas, and don dark coloured coats and ties instead, even in the sweltering summer. I have seen TV journalists on Haryanvi channels wearing formal Western dress. How could this have escaped us, while we scrutinise a school for imposing uniforms? If a college decides that women should not be wearing skimpy ridiculous garments, we should treat it with an equal footing. I would envy public school girls in their salwars when I wore a skirt on cold winter days. We accept the Western dress as a symbol of freedom and progress in this country which is ridiculous. As soon as someone errs on the side of the Indian dress code, it is seen as regressive. As for gendered spaces, sexual harassment will not be prevented from separating men and women but I can safely say that an all-women environment has its perks. Girls can relax without being conscious all the time and made fun of for their body and appearance, because young boys can get annoying. But this should not come at the cost of women being afraid. Women should be able to look men in the eye, and make them lower their gaze instead.

—Madhu Kishwar, academic, feminist and writer

Sexual harassment is a state of mind, which a gendered canteen or traditional uniforms will not be able to stop. Besides, this seems like a very cosmetic, knee-jerk reaction. I think there should be awareness programmes centred around boys to reinvent their thinking. But this is a long-term solution. Short term: families as well as schools should take a stand. Boys should not be pampered into thinking that their actions will not have consequences. Those who break the law by ogling, stalking or worst, molesting, should be reprimanded accordingly. The current system allows culprits to get away with it.

—Olga Tellis, journalist

Spaces are always gendered, some more secure, as compared to others. Gender segregation will not prevent sexual harassment. Gendered spaces are counterproductive and will not prevent sexual harassment. The real world does not function like this. Addressing the larger issue of why it happens is crucial, and a zero-tolerance policy is needed. Uniforms too, especially at a tertiary level, prevents students from expressing themselves, and positive differences from emerging. Boys and girls should be like each other, and prescribed behaviour along the lines of ‘boys will be boys’ is befuddling and regressive. If we prescribe gendered spaces and salwar-kameezes to young adults, they will not learn the concept of consent and women will not be equipped to protect themselves in the future.

—Shoma Choudhury, HOD of Sociology, St Xaviers, Kolkata

Source: DNA, 9-02-2017

An extraordinary academic

The story of a distinguished Indian scholar in public policy studies

Few Indians know about the huge and poignant tribute that the United States has paid to their distinguished compatriot: the late Dr. Sripati Chandrasekhar (November 1918-June 2001). And, by extension, to India. Indeed, the University of Toledo (UOT), Ohio, has preserved papers documenting Sripati’s life and research for the benefit of other scholars. Sripati’s collection is housed at UOT’s Carlson Library’s Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections.

“Chandra,” as Sripati was known to his friends, wore many hats. A former Vice-Chancellor of Annamalai University, he was a prolific scholar/demographer and wrote 32 books. Indeed, he fell in love with the subject of demography (population studies) as a teenager. He started contributing to The Hindu on Indian demography and other themes. And his undergraduate essay on India’s population problems won the Papworth Prize. He founded the Indian Institute of Population Studies and the academic journal, ‘Population Review,’ which he edited for over 40 years.

As a Cabinet Minister

However, he is best known for his work as Union Minister for Health and Family Planning in Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet. In this position, he played an important role in popularising birth control methods, advocating for smaller families, for women’s biological emancipation, and for a cleaner India. Chandra was a charismatic conversationalist, and an eloquent orator. He persuaded President Lyndon B. Johnson to continue supporting India’s family planning programme. This way, he brought the subject to the attention of policymakers abroad, and to the attention of many non-specialists. A passionate social scientist, Chandra was 83 and still working on half a dozen projects, including his autobiography, when he died in La Jolla, California.

How did Chandra’s papers achieve the privilege of being archived at UOT in 2002? Chandra’s family members had previously agreed that they would gift his materials to the University of California, Berkeley. In fact, karmic connections between Chandra and his earnest shishya (student) and colleague, Dr. Daniel Johnson, who at the time of his death was the University of Toledo’s president (vice-chancellor), best explain this.

Karmic ties

But first, a little about Chandra’s karmic ties with the U.S. With Mahatma Gandhi’s blessings, Chandra set sail for the free world at the end of 1940. He took his M.A. in economics from Columbia University, then went to New York University to take his Ph.D. in 1944. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on India’s population problems. His advisers were Professors Harold Hotelling and Henry Pratt Fairchild. In 1945, under the auspices of Pearl S. Buck’s East and West Association, Chandra criss-crossed the U.S., lecturing passionately for India’s freedom. (Founded during the Second World War, the East and West Association sought to mobilise American public opinion in favour of the Allied Powers’ war effort in Asia).

In 1947, Chandra married Anne Downes, an American Quaker, at the St. Peter’s Church in New York. The priest who solemnised his marriage was Mahatma Gandhi’s American disciple. From 1947 to 1994, Chandra lectured at various institutions in the U.S., India, and Europe. Indeed, he is the first Asian scholar that the University of Washington, Seattle, invited to deliver the John and Jezzie Danz lecture on the problem of abortion, with special reference to India. Over the years, Chandra accumulated several awards and honours, including honorary doctorates from the U.S., Hungary, Canada, and India.

Chandra last taught demography from 1993-94, at the University of North Texas, Denton. He was invited by Daniel Johnson, Dean of the School of Community Service at Denton. A distinguished urban sociologist, Johnson had first learned of Chandra when he wrote a paper for an advanced graduate seminar in demography, in which, he compared the populations of India and Japan. However, it was only in 1993 that Johnson first met Chandra, when Professor Vijay Pillai, a mutual friend and colleague brought him to Johnson’s office. “What was intended to be a 10-minute introduction turned into a four-hour conversation about world population,” says Johnson. And it morphed into a lasting and meaningful friendship. This culminated in securing a permanent home for Chandra’s collection at Toledo, since 2002.

The project

Having persuaded Chandra’s family to gift his materials to the University of Toledo, Johnson oversaw the move from start to finish. The Rockefeller Foundation in New York co-funded this project. Barbara Floyd, a veteran archivist, drove to La Jolla to take possession of the library materials and bring them back to Toledo. Floyd, with Kimberley Brownlee, a manuscripts librarian, readied the materials for public use. Chandra’s collection reaches over 78 linear feet. It is a veritable treasure trove. It comprises materials on family planning, birth control, and human rights with special reference to women. It also includes materials on other related subjects, such as migration, Indian culture and history, environmental and health issues, and food production and nutrition. Also included are photo albums documenting special events in Chandra’s life, and audio-visual materials of his speeches with Martin Luther at Amherst College, Massachusetts, and his appearance on the Today Show, the American TV programme. Chandra’s awards, honours, personal papers, and correspondence, including correspondence with public figures, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Hillary Clinton, complete this collection. Finally, at Johnson’s initiative, Chandra’s books, including Hungry People, Empty Lands and Red China: An Asian View, have been re-published.

Chandra was a pioneer in his field, demography. Moreover, demography intersects with many areas including sociology, economics, statistics, global health, human rights, women’s rights, international law, peace and security, and the history of medicine. Small wonder that his collection continues to attract scholars from the U.S., Canada (Professor Ian Dowbiggin) and the U.K. (Rebecca Williams, Warwick University and Cathryn A. Johnston, King’s College, London. The latter’s doctoral dissertation submitted in January 2016 focusses on the “problem of population in India, 1938-74”).

(The author was S. Chandrasekhar’s research assistant in the U.S. and later an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Toronto)

Source: The Hindu, 24-01-2017

UPSC Economic Service/Statistical Service Exam 2017: Notification issued, check it here

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Wednesday issued a notification announcing examination date and procedure for applying for Indian Economic Service/Indian Statistical Service Examination, 2017 on its official website.

Approximately 44 posts in 1) Indian Economic Service (15 posts) 2) Indian Statistical Service (29 posts) would be filled through the examination.

The last date to apply for the examination is March 3, 2017 till 6pm.

Aspirants are required to check eligibility conditions and instructions before applying for the exam, exclusively through the website www.upsconline.nic.in.

Candidates shall be issued an e-admission certificate three weeks before the commencement of the examination and will be available on the official website.

Source: Hindustan Times, 8-02-2017

Education in Budget: Plenty of promise, but will it pass practical exam?

Your college may soon be able to draft its own curricula. You may be able to take more online courses from trusted, even elite, institutes. It may just become easier to secure a postgraduate (PG) seat if you are a medical student.

The Union Budget, presented last week by finance minister Arun Jaitley, had plenty in store for the education sector. The government promised a 9.9% increase in budget, for one thing. It has also promised to loosen the purse strings for on-campus research.

“Both moves will be helpful. In a country with around 41% of the population under 20, the measures will produce more employable graduates and enhance scientific innovation,” says Ajeenkya DY Patil, chairman of Ajeenkya DY Patil University, Pune.

But while the budget sounds like good news all around, there are questions over whether the Centre will fare well when it comes to implementation. In the immediate future, all eyes are on the reforming of the University Grants Commission (UGC), which will allow universities and institutes greater autonomy.

TEXTBOOKS TO TECHNOLOGY

“The redesign of the UGC will benefit the colleges striving for betterment,” says Apoorva Palkar, member of the higher education department at the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA). Palkar is also the former director of Mumbai university’s department of higher and technical education and believes the move will help teaching staff too. “Colleges and universities can now be academically and financially independent, which will let them hire better teachers and conduct more research,” she adds. “The institutes can also collaborate with students and industry experts to design modules and make lessons more contemporary.”

Many institutions have struggled to wrest autonomy from the government, but the process has been complicated. Selection is arbitrary and there are too many tests and much paperwork involved. The budget has simplified this. What will now happen is that colleges and universities will be evaluated on performance. “Those that do well will be granted autonomy without much hassle,” Palkar says.

For the first time, the budget has announced a 5,000-seat increase in medical seats at the post-graduate (PG) level. “Currently there are only 18,000 PG seats for clinical subjects across the country,” says Dr KK Aggarwal, president of Indian Medical association (IMA), a national voluntary organisation of doctors.

This means that only half the students that graduate in medicine secure a means to study further. Dr Aggarwal believes there should be more PG seats than undergraduate seats, “so students from abroad can study here”, making it a revenue source for India. “The US has 19,000 undergraduate seats and 32,000 post-graduate seats,” he points out.

A welcome plan this year has been the setting up of a system that measures annual learning outcomes which refers to the level of proficiency students get in the skills such as English, analytical thinking and creative thinking at educational institutions across India. We currently have no way of knowing, say, how proficient are the students in what they need to be and just exam marks are not the way of knowing.

“Every year, national surveys reveal the disparity in the skills between government and private institutions,” says Dhiraj Mathur, partner-Education, PwC India, a network that provides assurance, tax and advisory services. “The country needs an objective assessment of how students actually fare, to improve education quality.” The idea, though will take time to materialise, he says, given how much data will need to be analysed.

Students are particularly excited about the Swayam initiative mentioned by Jaitley. The portal, launched in November, is run by the Union HRD ministry and offers free online courses across the arts, sciences and other streams.

“The announcement that Swayam will have over 350 courses and will be linked to DTH channels will help it get more content and better features,” says Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which developed the platform. “Soon, a student will be able to take the course online and have an option to transfer credits for the it to the university he or she studies at.”

Among other proposals is one to establish a national testing agency for all entrance exams. The move aims to relieve AICTE and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) from conducting entrance exams so they can concentrate on academics. You will not need to write multiple entrance exams for engineering colleges and deemed universities once the national testing agency is established. “Students will have to write fewer exams for admissions,” says Sahasrabudhe. “We will also get engineers of uniform quality as the exam will be standard.”

Emphasis on learning foreign languages is greater than ever this year after the minister mentioned that 100 skill centres with courses in foreign languages will be set up. “Learning foreign languages helps in getting jobs at multinational companies in India and getting hired abroad,” says K Saicharan, founder of Vivekananda Institute of Foreign Languages, Hyderabad.

A BUMPY RIDE?

The budget looks good on paper. Will it pass the practical exam?

Agnelo Menezes, principal of Mumbai’s St Xavier’s college, says that greater autonomy is a much-needed, long-overdue development, but there are loopholes that must be addressed.

“Along with autonomy, institutions should be allowed to appoint teachers as per international standards,” he says. He also believes that a differential fee structure (depending on a student’s economic background) be introduced so the instate can afford qualified teachers. Currently, St Xavier’s is facing a faculty crunch in seven departments, the gaps are filled by temporary, visiting faculty.

The budget does not also provide the kind of monetary benefits required to function in autonomy, says Menezes. “For the longest time, institutions like the UGC have been in control of our fee structure, which does not allow flexibility according to the economic and financial well-being of a student, rather relies on the quota and other systems,” he says, adding that because of this, there is always lack of funds to concentrate on bettering educational facilities for students. “As long as these pre-requisites are not properly met with, the autonomy will remain only on paper, failing to make any difference in effect,” he adds.

As for a unified way to study how students fare across India, that dream is a long way away from reality, says Mathur of PwC. “The US has been trying to implement it for a decade. We need adequate infrastructure and resources to implement it.”

Source: Hindustan Times, 8-02-2017

Fine Tune Heart And Head With Commitment

Discourse: Swami Sukhabodhananda





In Indian culture, there is a maxim called `andha panku nyaaya'. The narration goes further ­ a blind man and a lame person are trapped in a forest fire. One cannot see but he can walk, while the other cannot walk but he can see. They both help each other... lame person guiding and the blind person carrying the lame person and thus they both escape the forest fire.We are caught in the forest fire of samsara, living a life of deficiency . Our head and heart each has one type of strength and also one type of weakness.Strengthening the strengths and weakening the weaknesses makes a person integrated. Krishna refers to such an integrated person as yuktaha.In such an integrated space one can come out of the forest fire of samsara, conflict and the ups and downs in life.
We need to amalgamate both head oriented knowledge and heart oriented devotion. In the words of Adi Shankaracharya, both head and heart should blend in the right proportion. Fine tune both your head and heart right now, in all walks of your life. Dealing with your patner, sometimes only the head may not work, sometimes only the heart may not work.At times, you have to be flexible with both dimensions of your heart and head.
The complete works of Adi Shankaracharya addresses both these methods: balancing your head and your heart. What is very important is your commitment towards growth and enlightenment ­ moksha, towards liberation, niravana, call it by any name it does not matter. It is such a commitment which brings about a certain synergy , brings about certain homeostasis in your whole being.
Without commitment all knowledge one acquires will only decorate one's ego. Without commitment towards enlightenment all the feelings in one's heart are directed towards decorating a feeling that one is a very heart oriented person. Have you seen a lot of `feeling oriented arrogance' as some people express? More often they shun knowledge and take shelter by declaring that they are just feeling oriented.
Therefore, the bottom line is ­ it is neither the head oriented knowledge nor heart oriented feelings but it is the commitment towards liberation ­ nirvana ­ which is most important.
Just for a moment let us scan back to the lives of great masters. We realise that there existed thirst for achieving enlightenment irrespective of the situations or difficulties that they encountered in their lives.
By studying the lives of enlightened masters one gets in touch with the recipe for engaging in an adventure ­ a true adventure of life. In fact, this adventure is the very purpose of their whole lifetime. It is said, `What is the quality of an enlightened person (`Siddhashya lakshanaani yani') should become the effort for the seeker ­ saadhakasya saadhanani prayatnena sampaadyani iti shravanaat.
For example, if someone's cooking ability is something to be emulated, the recipe of that good cooking should be taken and adopted in one's life.
Pause for a moment; let us examine clearly our commitment and fine tune our understanding so as to get clarity and polish our understanding. All great masters had commitment towards enlightenment, and it is that commitment with which one's knowledge will sharpen the focus. One's heart, one's elevated feeling is going to smoothen one's way into understanding. Without a deep rooted commitment nothing substantial would happen.

Stranger in the classroom

I am beginning to understand what cultural exchange means, and I am relishing these moments here because very soon I will miss, ‘Onkita’ and they won’t be around to sing their song ‘Tchikita’ to me.

It feels wonderful when you enter the school premises and the students come running to greet you. Some ask if I will stay with them the entire year and some even correct my French pronunciations. “Bonjour Onkita,” they all chanted on my first day in class. I knew the French were at loggerheads with the phonetics of the Indian languages, but now I witnessed it, as they could not pronounce a simple ‘Ankita.’ And here is where my journey began…

I was teaching English and French in India, but the notion of learning in a new education system came in the form of The Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF). The idea was not to merely help French teenagers speak better English, as their language assistant, but to take my culture to theirs, mix both in a crucible and produce some interaction in English. Now that was a challenge! My first month in Paris went by smoothly. After the initial week of introduction, I encouraged them to ask me questions. I made a presentation about my country (India), my city — basically the life I left in India to pursue this opportunity. The curious minds spoke and I was instantly put at ease. They had all sorts of questions: “How many languages do you speak in India?” “Do you see elephants on roads?” “Do you have a boyfriend?” “Do you have any pets?” I happily answered all of them.

As months passed, exercises became different and more interactive. The challenge for me was that I had to teach different age groups. It was and still is irksome to decide activities based on these age groups. Learning a language in French classrooms is pretty different from India. In India we focus more on completing a syllabus and appearing for a ‘final exam’ as our target, but here in France, students have to take the language exam only at the end of Class XII.

As an assistant teacher, it is a bit relaxed, as I need to work in accordance with the main teacher, and with the class in half and half groups. Sometimes, the students remind me of the time when I was learning French. So once I decided to do a role-play activity, just like I had during my French language learning days. It turned out to be the most fun activity that day; not more fun than a Trump and Hillary telephone conversation. On November 14, I spoke to them about Children’s Day celebrations in India. The students asked me a lot of questions, and many also debated having a similar day in France. This was followed by a video of the song ‘Bum Bum Bole.’ I was floored by their reaction.

I have just three months left with these students here, and I have got attached to them and their stories. It’s wonderful how these few months have been preparing me to go back to India with all that I have learned from my students. I share a beautiful rapport with my colleagues here. They are not just people I work with, they are people who encourage me with their teaching ideas; after work, they take me out dancing or playing badminton or invite me over for dinner.

I am beginning to understand what cultural exchange means, and I am relishing these moments here because very soon I will miss, ‘Onkita’ and they won’t be around to sing their song ‘Tchikita’ to me.

(The writer is a language lover who left journalism to pursue her passion for teaching)

Source: DNA, 8-02-2017