The One Rank One Pension(OROP) controversy

The retired armed personnels are relentlessly demanding their due right of the One Right One Pension as promised by the ruling government in its election manifesto. They have resorted to measures such as sit-ins and hunger strikes and demanded the urgent resolution of the technical difficulties plaguing its implementation.

The objective of the One Rank One Pension scheme is to provide equal pension to the armed forces having the same rank and length of service irrespective of the date of retirement. In 1973, the government reduced the pension of the jawans of the armed forces from 70 percent to 37 percent . Similarly the officers’ pension was reduced to 50 percent. However, the government assured that the step would not reduce the pension amount since the OROP scheme would be implemented. Till 2015, the assurance was not met with much to the dismay of the armed forces.

The OROP needs to be implemented due to two primary reasons. First, the jawans of the armed forces retire at a relatively early age in mid 30s. This is the period when the family obligations are at a maximum. Moreover, they are unable to join any alternative employment since they cross the age of eligibility. Second, with rising prices, the cost of living has increased dramatically. Therefore, they need economic benefits to maintain a decent living standard.

The government has stated that certain arithmetic issued have delayed its immediate implementation. However, the government would do well to make such data public in the interests of the nation. This would promote healthy debate among the citizens and policy makers as necessary details would be put in the public domain. The government also needs to provide alternative employment to the retired personnels by initiating new policies in conjunction with the private sector . The retired soldiers are relatively young and possess human capital to be absorbed in entrepreneurial ventures.

The fiftieth anniversary of the 1965 Indo-Pak war

The year 2015 mars a special event. It is the fiftieth anniversary of the military battle of the Indo-Pak war that took place in the year 1965. While India celebrates this event as a mark of victory against its rival Pakistan, the opponent too commemorates this day as Pakistan’s defence day. This is due to the fact that India failed to unilaterally win the war against its rival. Therefore, India should introspect rather than celebrate the event while saluting the sacrifices made by our defence forces, as suggested by an eminent foreign relations expert.

One of the major failures in the 1965 war was in the area of intelligence. That said, close on the heels of 1962 Indo-China war, the 1965 war too witnessed a surprise attack by Pakistan. New Delhi was taken by surprise when it learnt that Pakistan had launched an offensive against India along the Rann of Kachchh in its western frontier. Although India launched a spectacular counter-offensive strategy, the inability to deal with strategic intelligence in the first place was a notable failure of its intelligence network.

Second,India lacked strategic planning for the war. It was along the International Boundary(IB) line in Punjab that India captured some areas of the Lahore district in Pakistan.Similarly, India forces captured the Hajipir pass along the ceasefire line in Jammu and Kashmir. Later,in the Tashkent agreement that materialized on the insistence of UN, USA and USSR, India had to forego all its claims and possessions. It is natural for India to follow the policy of ‘non-aggression’ and thus give up the occupied territories during war. However, India failed to pursue the case with strategic view-point and deal with Pakistan firmly in the Taskent meeting in 1966, that was mediated by a third party.

It is notable that India managed to outsmart Pakistan while the Kashmir issue came up at the UNSC meeting in 1965. According to a prominent diplomat who was posted at a member of India’s permanent mission at the UN, India staged a walkout protesting against the speech delivered by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan at the UNSC meeting. This led to the members of the UNSC refraining from discussing the ‘Kashmir issue’ for decades after the war. It is evident from the fact that between 1948 and 1965, UNSC passed 23 resolutions on Kashmir issue. On the contrary, UNSC passed only one resolution after 1965 when it called for respecting the ceasefire line after the Bangladesh war in 1971

Is organic farming the way out?

Organic farming is the model of farming that uses organic resources thus making it an eco-friendly practice. That said, organic farming does not use chemical pesticides and chemical fertilisers. With the growing awareness of the harmful effects of pesticides in the form of high morbidity and life-style diseases, there is a growing clamour for organic farming. Moreover, the need to conserve soil from the impact of chemical pesticides and the consequent run-off resulting in eutrophication and water pollution has given precedence to the adoption of organic farming.  Several states like Sikkim and Kerela have adopted organic farming on a wide scale.

However, it is a proven fact that the productivity of organic farming is much lower and that more organic resources would be required to ensure that there is no substantial decrease in productivity. This may lead to disproportional increase In prices of organic commodities thus making it unaffordable for the common man. Moreover, in the context of India, availability of land is a critical factor. India’s arable land is 2.4 percent of the total arable land in the world. With such scarce resources, India has to feed 1.25 billion of people which comprises 15 to 16 percent of world’s population.

Thus, what is required is a balanced approach that makes a judicious use of organic methods and science and technology.

Smart cities

Smart cities are those cities that strive to promote citizens’ engagement through information and communication technology(ICT) and a well-to-do urban service delivery system. The central government has proposed an outlay of 48000 crore over a period of five years to develop 98 smart cities across the nation. The remaining 48000 crores would be mobilized by the states as well as the private sector.

The reasons for developing smart cities are primarily two-fold. First, it would shift the already existing employment burden in agricultural sector towards non-agricultural sector. The agricultural sector is reeling under disguised unemployment. So, the construction sector in smart city plan would readily absorb the labour force thus providing employment to the needy sections of the society.

Second, the creation of employment opportunities would boost internal demand in the economy resulting in the sectoral growth of the manufacturing sector. It would ultimately help us to realize the ‘Make in India’ concept  that the nation aims to achieve. The smart cities would also indirectly attract foreign investments like FDI in the economy.

However, promoting urban governance holds the key for the success of ‘smart city’ initiative. That said, the central, state and the local government must work in tandem to implement the urban-centric programs. The urban bodies ought to be well-equipped and adequately staffed so as to implement the programs in an efficient and time-bound manner.

Shayari

• Chala jata hun hasta khelta mauj e hawadis se
  Agar asaniyan hon to zindagi dushwar ho jaye
  I frolick through breezes of tragedies
  Life would be troublesome if it was easy

Tackling insurgency in North-East

The insurgeny in North-east India has stymied the growth of the region for decades. Just after India gained independence, insurgency in the region took birth in the form of a group in Nagaland( popularly known as Naga National Council) demanding secession from Indian union. The government launched counter-offensive strategy by promulgating AFSPA in the region. The militaristic strategy failed to contain insurgency effectively as several such insurgent groups emerged later. The government then embarked on diplomatic means such as holding talks with the groups to contain armed rebellion. Though the cease-fire agreements resulted in bringing about a modicum of peace in the region, instances of violence periodically takes place as was seen in the recent killing of Indian soldiers in an ambush in Manipur.

The occurrence of such incidents drive home the fact that there are loopholes in the counter-insurgent strategy adopted by the government. Until now, the government relied on the armed forces and paramilitary forces to take on the insurgent groups. The limitation of such an approach was that the forces faced greater vulnerabilities as they had little know-how about the local terrain. Therefore, the better way was to strengthen the state police and modernize them adequately. Mizoram tackled insurgency effectively as it had a strong state police force equipped with modern technology and adequate know-how about the local conditions.

It is important to note that insurgent groups could mobilise groups and procure arms as long as they have access to financial resources. Therefore, it is imperative to cut off their access to the source of funding. Drug trafficking, illegal trade, kidnapping and extortion are the primary sources of funds for such groups, at times, in connivance with the local political leaders. Therefore, the government should show adequate political will in cracking down on such political-criminal nexus.

One of the major reasons as to why such groups operate with impunity is that they have their base camps not only within the difficult terrain and forested areas of domestic frontiers but also in neighbouring countries like Myanmar. For instance, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland led by S.Khaplang (NSCN-K) has its roots in Myanmar and operate from their bases along the Indo-Myanmar border. Unless the Myanmar government pro-actively crack down on such camps, incidents of terror would not stop in the region. The Indian government would do well to engage her neighbours in flushing these groups operating from their territories. India managed to persuade Bangladesh in flushing out ULFA base-camps from Bangladeshi territory which resulted in weakening of their influence in Assam.

In the long run, it is necessary to bridge the socio-economic disparity in the region. The North-eastern region is tremendously backward economically and unemployment looms large in the region. Consequently, the youth is attracted to such anti-national activities and do not shy in taking up arms against the state. An economically prosperous North-east is in the better interests of the nation because the marginal groups would then be dissuaded from engaging with insurgent groups in the region.

The viability of PPP model

Starting from the tenth five-year plan, the government tried to rope in the private sector for major investments. The public-private partnership (PPP) model was one of the alternatives facilitated by the government. While, PPP model was a success in certain sectors like airport infrastructure, other areas like roadways and power faced numerous difficulties in the execution of projects.

What were the reasons behind the failure of PPP projects? First, PPP projects in infrastructure sector have long gestation periods. Further, the procedural delays in land-acquisition and environmental clearances lead to time and cost-overrun resulting in exponential rise in the time period for project completion. India already ranks low in the index of doing business due to the inability to obtain requisite clearances in a hassle-free manner.

Second, there is no transparency and accountability in risk allocation between the public and private sector. That said, the government instead of being an equal partner with the private party in the execution of project, allocates the risks disproportionately to the private sector. Further, the revenue-earning initiatives for the private party run into rough weather once the project is completed. For instance, the toll booths for the collection of toll tax in the road sector face numerous hurdles in tax collection and it also leads to traffic congestion in peak hours.

The government is therefore prepared to fund major infrastructural projects through Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) model. In this model, a private contractor would be provided with funds and resources to complete the projects in due time. Moreover, it has been realized that it is the public sector that can initially provide a platform for the private sector to invest in. That said, the private sector would be incentivized to invest only when there is an already-built up basic infrastructure in place, which the government has to facilitate.