Paths to the Summit

During the week, people tend to leap out of bed the moment the alarm rings, jump into the shower and rush off to work — and all this while, their bodies are still technically ‘asleep’. This kind of routine places tremendous strain on heart and brain. Thirty minutes of early morning T’ai Chi or Yoga not only prevents such self-inflicted damage to the body, it also helps you to tackle the rest of the day in better ways.

There are a number of reasons never to miss a day of your practice. A certain continuity is necessary for progress. If a day is missed, there is a strong possibility that the mind will lose the thread of both what has been learnt in class and what has been worked on.

When an insight or breakthrough is imminent, it is important that the vehicle for its actualisation be available. Missing a day makes the next day harder and less efficient. When you are active, a certain momentum begins to build up. When you are inactive, a corresponding inertia prevails and becomes increasingly difficult to overcome.

As you practise, you will discover new details, experience new body feelings and become more integrated. Your mind will become calm, clear and focused inward. Your movements will take on a softer, smoother, more effortless quality, and you will begin to develop a T’ai Chi body. One day, you will be surprised by your skill. T’ai Chi is not the only way to the top of the mountain; so many practices are there to choose from. But for those who find T’ai Chi suits them, it is a good way to progress.

Source: Economic Times, 10/08/2018

The Indian Economic & Social History Review: 

Table of Contents: Volume 55 Issue 2, April–June 2018

Early years of East India Company rule in Chittagong: Violence, waste and settlement c. 1760–1790 Anandaroop Sen First Published April 23, 2018; pp. 147–181 Abstract Preview |  |  |

Pan-Islamic bonds and interest: Ottoman bonds, Red Crescent remittances and the limits of Indian Muslim capital, 1877–1924 Michael O’Sullivan First Published April 23, 2018; pp. 183–220 Abstract Preview |  |  |

Beyond Hindu–Muslim unity: Gandhi, the Parsis and the Prince of Wales Riots of 1921 Dinyar Patel First Published April 23, 2018; pp. 221–247 Abstract Preview |  |  |

Sri Lanka and North India during the Gupta Period: Facts and fancy Cédric Ferrier First Published April 23, 2018; pp. 249–281 Abstract Preview |  |  |

Review Article

Governmentality, activism and representation: Dalit studies, a review essay Ramnarayan S. Rawat First Published April 23, 2018; pp. 283–293 Abstract Preview |  |  |

Book Reviews

Book review: Michael H. Fisher, A Short History of The Mughal Empire Meena Bhargava First Published April 23, 2018; pp. 295–297 Abstract Preview |  |  |

Book review: Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, The Defining Moments in Bengal: 1920–1947, Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, The Colonial State: Theory and Practice and Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and Rana P. Behal, eds, The Vernacularization of Labour Politics Amar Farooqui First Published April 23, 2018; pp. 297–302 Abstract Preview |  |  |

Book review: Amit Kumar Gupta, Crises and Creativities: Middle Class Bhadralok in Bengal c. 1939–52, Parimal Ghosh, What Happened to the Bhadralok and Tanika Sarkar and Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, eds., Calcutta: The Stormy Decades Tirthankar Roy First Published April 23, 2018; pp. 302–306

The time inconsistency of the Assam Accord

The Assam Accord and its protracted aftermath, in which the recent publication of the first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a critical milestone, raise important questions on the institutional environment of policymaking. There are some policies which, by their very nature, are characterized by a long time gap between announcement and operationalization. What are the implications of such a hiatus?

First, the currents of time may change ground realities to the point that the policy no longer achieves the ends for which it was formulated. This may be on account of qualitative changes that call for new thinking or a vastly more complex implantation scenario. But the intervening period can also be used by those adversely affected to queer the pitch. Their efforts can include exacerbating the size of the problem, for instance by redoubled immigration, marshalling vote banks, or otherwise delaying implementation.

When the time of implementation arrives, given the policy mismatch or the heightened risks, the government may well prefer to withdraw. This would happen notwithstanding any advance announcement ruling out a government retreat. Therefore, for the adversely affected public, a process of struggle resulting in a policy withdrawal is better than meek surrender. Anticipating the resulting embarrassment, policymakers may choose to eschew such policy measures altogether, even those that may be regarded as serving the collective good.

This phenomenon is called the “time inconsistency” of policymaking. At the time of the announcement of a policy, the government makes a commitment that it would like to back out of at the time of implementation. The result is suboptimal policymaking.

However, there is another equilibrium that allows the optimal outcome to emerge. This involves the government giving up its discretionary power by making a credible commitment to take the implementation forward, irrespective of the ground realities. One way of establishing credibility is to cede control to an autonomous implementing authority. In this situation, affected parties will cease to vitiate the process and the government will be able to implement the policy in relatively more sanguine circumstances.

The connection to the Assam case is clear. The implementation of the Assam Accord waxed and, largely, waned for more than three decades. The neglect extends to the 10 years when the Asom Gana Parishad, the organization born from the Assam Movement, was in power in the state. These 10 years overlapped with the governments of both Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Centre. The present publication of the NRC follows a writ petition filed by a non-governmental organization, Assam Public Works, in July 2009 that resulted in the Supreme Court taking over the monitoring of the NRC updation process in December 2014. It is through such forces, which enjoy a measure of autonomy from the government, that policy credibility is established. A future in which the public eschews attempts to derail a policy given the perception of institutional commitment is the possible gain from the current situation of uncertainty.

However, this is subject to a number of caveats. First, the institutional structure does not need to give up discretion entirely to pre-empt obstructive action by adversely affected parties. A high enough probability of implementation suffices. This implies that cases where conditions on the ground are highly risk-prone can be allowed to lapse. However, it should be made to appear that this decision has been taken in a random manner, to sustain the perception that the structure has the will for difficult policy implementation. Second, the longer the gap between policy announcement and implementation, the greater the possibility of mutual harm. Hence, such policies should come with a time stamp. Upon the passage of a minimum period of time, say 10 years, but before the completion of the maximum policy period, say 15 years, the courts can be called upon to act by any member of civil society. Intervention beyond this would be regarded as judicial overreach. The present instance, with 33 years having elapsed since the announcement of the policy, can be regarded as falling into this category. Finally, a plan for taking care of those affected must precede announcements that make the ground under the feet of so many people vanish.

The Assam Accord was as much a promise to indigenous dwellers as it was a threat to illegal immigrants. In the nature of promises wrested at the end of a bitter struggle, it probably entailed the government biting off more than it could chew, even without the poison pellets injected by those who were adversely affected. A credible threat of going forward regardless of changed ground realities minimizes the unpalatability of these measures by preventing political disruption engineered by the adversely affected public. But fulfilling a promise, especially after the fires of the agitation have died down, is a task any government would prefer not to undertake. Again, the need for credible commitment becomes clear.

The big question on the NRC remains the efficiency and speed with which implementation will happen. Given the rapidity with which political priorities shift, it is difficult to claim that the future will be marked by a lower level of violence. Meanwhile, who thinks about the babe in arms who came to India from Bangladesh decades ago and is told she is a foreigner in the only land she knows even as her 50th birthday approaches?

Rohit Prasad is a professor at MDI, Gurgaon, and author of

Game Sutra is a fortnightly column based on game theory.

Source: Livemint epaper, 9/08/18

India not on track to meet 2030 targets of reducing child mortality

The number of neonatal deaths remains around 2.4 times higher than the target

Almost half of the districts in India are not on track to reduce the mortality rates of newborns and meet the target set under the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, a study has found.

India still has the world’s highest number of deaths among children under five and newborns, around 1.1 million per year.

The study, by Jayanta Bora and Nandita Saikia from Austria-based non-profit International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, is the first to evaluate neonatal and under-five mortality at a district level in India, as well as a state level.

Under the World Health Organization’s Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3), all countries should aim to reduce neonatal mortality to 12 deaths per 1,000 live births per year, and under-five mortality to a maximum of 25. Researchers used data from the National Family Health Survey, a survey of the full birth history of women aged 15-49, carried out most recently in 2015-16, and used the data from the previous round conducted in 2005-06 to model future trends.

Poverty and neonatal deaths

They found that the various measures employed in India have cut the number of deaths of under-fives by around half in in the past 23 years, from 109 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to around 50 in 2013, but this is still double the target.

The number of neonatal deaths remains around 2.4 times higher than the target, at around 29 deaths per 1,000 live births. The picture, however, is very complex. For example, the under-five mortality rate for boys in the South West district of Delhi is 6.3 per 1,000 live births, well within SDG3 targets.

However, in Rayagada in Odisha, the mortality rate is 141.7. The researchers found that just nine per cent of districts in India overall have so far reached the SDG3 targets for neonatal mortality, with 14 per cent reaching the targets for under-five mortality.

The vast majority of the worst performing states on mortality rates are in the poorer states of north-central and eastern India, although there are some high-risk districts in richer, more developed states such as Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

Almost all districts in the most populous states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh will fail to achieve the SDG3 goal on neonatal mortality. In Uttar Pradesh, the research showed that not a single district would meet the target for under-five mortality.

Socioeconomic and geographic disparities

There is also some variation between genders. The female neonatal mortality rate is below that of males, which is expected as this is the global trend. However, this is not the case with under-five mortality, indicating gender discrimination.

“The state-level mortality rate does not reflect the inter-district variation in neonatal or under-five mortality rates,” said Bora. “While some districts of a particular state may already have achieved the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) target 15 years in advance, some districts will not achieve this even by the 2030 target time. Mortality rates vary enormously across the districts.”

Much of the variation is likely due to socioeconomic and geographic disparities. District-level female literacy rates vary from 24-89 per cent while urbanisation ranges from 0-100 per cent.

There are also large differences in the implementation of mortality reduction schemes and the accessibility and availability of healthcare. “It is important to note that India experienced the highest reduction in mortality rate in the period 2005-2016. Therefore, to achieve the SDG-related mortality goals at the district level, it needs to intervene more rigorously than ever,” said Saikia. “The majority of Indian districts need to make a giant leap to reduce their neonatal and under-five mortality rates.”

Source: The Hindu, 6/08/2018

Three northeastern States emerge as new HIV hotspots

Health Ministry attributes rise of incidence in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura to injecting drug users and unsafe sexual practices

The good news is that there has been a steady decline in the number of HIV cases in India. The bad news is that Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura have emerged as the new hotspots for HIV, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Lok Sabha reply

In response to a question in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the Ministry attributed the reason for the rise in the incidence of HIV in the three northeastern States to the high-risk behaviour of Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), and unsafe sexual practices.

In four sites in Mizoram and one in Tripura, HIV prevalence was higher among IDUs, which for the rest of the country is 6.3%. At least in three places at Aizwal, Champhai and Kolasib, the prevalence of HIV in IDUs was 37.44%, 33.06% and 38.14% respectively.

HIV prevalence among female sex workers was higher at four sites — two in Tripura and one each in Mizoram and Meghlaya. At one site of Mizoram’s Aizwal district, the prevalence of HIV was as high as 24.68%, compared with 1.6% for other sites in the country.

In the case of pregnant women visiting ante-natal clinics (ANC), six centres in Mizoram, two in Meghalaya and one in Tripura recorded HIV prevalence of more than 1%, compared with HIV prevalence of 0.28% among pregnant women visiting ANCs in other places in India surveyed in December 2017.

The HIV Sentinel Surveillance (HSS), a biennial study conducted by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), is one of the largest regular studies in the world dealing with HIV in high risk groups of the population.

The HSS had referred that HIV prevalence in the context of ANCs in the northeastern States of Mizoram (1.19%), Nagaland (0.82%), Meghalaya (0.73%), Tripura (0.56%) and Manipur (0.47%) were among the highest.

Samiran Panda, Director of the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), said that the discussion on HIV prevalence has to be taken to the districts. “We need prevention and intervention strategies for the most-at-risk population in these pockets, with good coverage,” Dr. Panda said.

In terms of persons living with HIV (PLHIV) who are on Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART), Dr. Panda said that almost 12.28 lakh people are covered under ART. According to him, the target is to bring 90% of the 21 lakh people living with the HIV infection in India under ART.

“Going by that target, we are still short of about 6 lakh patients. The challenge is to encourage more people to take the test and then provide them with ART,” he said.

ART’s efficacy

Interestingly, ART leads to effectively suppressing the virus and reducing the transmission of HIV from the infected person, Dr. Panda said.

Source: The Hindu, 6/08/2018

Reforming the civil services

The lateral entry scheme has the potential to bring fresh talent to the bureaucracy

A recent move by the Centre seeking applications from ‘outstanding individuals’ to fill in 10 posts of Joint Secretary has caused consternation. A retired bureaucrat has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against the decision. The response from applicants, however, has been overwhelming.

Some apprehensions

Many serving Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers see this move as threatening their hegemony. Some retired officers and political opponents consider this as the beginning of the end of a “neutral and impartial” civil service with the likely induction of loyalists to the current dispensation. It has also been argued that this marks the “privatisation of the IAS”. Doubts have been expressed if private business houses would “plant” their people in order to influence government policies. But the fact remains that most others think this is a bold decision that should be given a fair trial.

Since criticism is based on perception, a reality check is necessary. In our Cabinet system of government with collective responsibility, the secretariat plays a crucial role. The concept of a ‘generalist’ higher civil service can be contextualised against technical/specialised bodies on one side and the lay political executive on top. Political scientists like Prof. M.A. Muttalib have studied this aspect in their works on public administration.

How the Secretariat functions

Higher bureaucracy in the secretariat often has to examine proposals received from specialised departments/corporations (say, the Central Public Works Department, Central Water Commission, various Central public sector undertakings, manned largely by technical experts), and in consultation with other ministries/departments like Finance, Personnel and Law prepare a cohesive note to facilitate the Minister concerned or the Cabinet to take a final decision. This is a complex consultative process for which detailed procedures have been formulated. How to steer a proposal through this labyrinth requires both expertise and experience. A final government decision is obtained, after the file moves through this long internal and hierarchical process, when the proposal is approved. The key officials in the secretariat, from the Joint Secretary to the Secretary, are the point persons guiding this consultative process and advising the political executive to take a final call. How an abstract idea is to be given a concrete, implementable shape is one key concern of such officers.

A Joint Secretary to the government has this crucial “line” function to perform in policy formulation and its implementation. Though the original proposal is often prepared by technical experts and sent to the “government”, the final decision rests with the Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary, the Secretary and finally the Minister/Cabinet. The question often raised, in this context, is whether the higher bureaucracy is equipped to comprehend complex economic and technical issues in order to properly aid and advise the Minister. Can a career civil servant, recruited through a tough competitive examination, cope with the increasingly complex matrix of decision-making at the senior levels of government? Can an IAS officer, however brilliant and diligent she might be, based on her experience at the sub-district and district levels, handle diverse portfolios from civil aviation to power to defence? These are valid questions that have been raised from time to time.

Generalist v. specialist

Evidently, terms like “professionalism”, “specialisation”, and “technical expertise” are often used vaguely and inter-changeably. Doesn’t an IAS officer, after years of experience at the field level, become an expert in public systems? Can the expertise of a doctor or an engineer be of the same nature as that of a policeman or an auditor? Can a renowned oncologist, for example, be suitable to advise on how the health policy of the nation is to be formulated? How valid is the observation to ‘keep experts on tap, not on top’? Admittedly, concerted efforts should be made to help IAS officers, after their first decade of “immersion” in districts, acquire specialisation in broad sectors like social, infrastructure and financial, based on their qualification, aptitude and preference. This idea had never been pursued seriously.

Specialists like engineers, doctors, agricultural scientists, lawyers have always had a substantial say in the decision-making process as also in its implementation. Lateral entry at the level of Secretary has met with some success. Besides, Secretaries to the Departments of Atomic Energy, Science & Technology, Scientific and Industrial Research, Health Research, and Agricultural Research have always been scientists of eminence. Similarly, in departments like the Railways, Posts, etc., all senior positions are manned by Indian Railway or Postal Service officers. Therefore, there is nothing very original in the new initiative to allow entry at the level of Joint Secretary.

However, those inside the system feel threatened that their territory is under assault. One perceived fear is that the number of such lateral entrants may be increased with time and that the political leadership, by creating a ‘divide and rule’ mechanism, would further demoralise the ‘steel frame of governance’. The second related fear is that in the garb of recruiting outstanding individuals, politically indoctrinated persons will be inducted into the system. These fears could have been allayed by letting the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) handle the recruitment process, after defining the job requirements more explicitly.

The government must ensure that only candidates, the likes of whom are not available in the existing system, are appointed. If they turn out to be truly outstanding, there should be provisions to induct them permanently in the government, with approval of the UPSC, and consider them for higher postings. Ideas have also been advanced for IAS and other officers to gain work experience, for a limited period, in the private sector.

The government should have the best people at the helm of affairs and if there is a need to supplement the existing stock of talent by attracting fresh blood into the system, the IAS, in fact, should welcome such an inclusionary move. The automatic mode of every member of the higher services reaching the top echelons requires a hard look. In view of this recent move, it is hoped that IAS and other officers will introspect why many of them turn out to be indulgent, self-serving and subservient to the political executive and how the system can be shaken to discourage such officers from ceaselessly moving upward, even after retirement. This move to reform the services should have come from within than from without. The lateral entry scheme, if implemented properly, may foster more competitive spirit, break the complacency of the higher civil servants and eventually prove to be a pioneering initiative in public interest.

Amitabha Bhattacharya is a retired IAS officer who has also worked in the private sector and the United Nations. The views expressed are personal

Source: The Hindu, 9/08/2018

Direction From Vision

Krishna gives a very comprehensive understanding of the entire science of the management of life. In chapter 18 of the Bhagwad Gita, He says there are three types of visions or points of view that people have about life. Krishna declares that one who sees the oneness of all beings or sees unity in diversity is endowed with the best vision. Such a saatvik vision gives rise to love, service, consideration for others, accommodation of the viewpoints and needs of others, and cordial relationships.

The second type of vision is rajasik in nature. It is a mediocre vision that focuses on differences and understands such differences to be the reality. It gives rise to a sense of ‘I-ness’, ‘my-ness’, ‘your-ness’/ I and my, you and yours. It results in likes and dislikes and leads to conflicts.

The third and last kind of vision is a tamasik vision. It takes a very partial view of life, where a part is mistaken for the whole. Such a person foolishly gets attached to one small thing, being, concept or ideology and this gives rise to bitter fanaticism.

Each of these visions — the saatvik vision of unity in diversity, the rajasik vision of seeing only the differences and the tamasik vision of ignorance — comes with its own consequences and expressions. Accordingly, one with a saatvik vision will be a doer of saatvik karma, and the quality of his karma will be saatvik in nature. Similarly with rajasik and tamasik visions. Thus, depending on our view of life, the very quality of our life is established.

Economic Times, 9/08/2018