Aadhaar advantage: Correct ID of beneficiaries can save Govt Rs 15,000 cr

The Government of India could save over Rs 15,000 crore even if 10 per cent of the money (Rs 1,50,000 crore) spent on food, fertilisers and fuels each year can be saved by identifying and eliminating duplication in recipient data, according to Mr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Deputy Director-General, Unique Identification Authority of India.

He was speaking at the Institute of Management Consultants of India’s (IMCI) national convention in Mumbai organised in collaboration with the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies on Saturday.

Mr Pandey underlined the cost benefit of the UID programme, which is estimated to cost the Government Rs 18,000 crore, and explained the figure of 10 per cent savings.

“The Government of Maharashtra gives grants to school students from certain segments of about Rs 1,500 crore. A drive was undertaken one year ago, to give those students money directly by getting them to open bank accounts. By the end of the year, they had spent only Rs 1,000 crore and there were no claimants for the remaining Rs 500 crore, because those students don't exist,’’ Mr Pandey pointed out.

With linking of biometric data collected through the UID project to the bank accounts, there would be further tightening of data by avoiding duplication, he said.

“Verification processes have shown that 10 to 15 per cent of the existing data is bogus,’’ he said, citing the case of a drive on enrolment data in schools in Maharashtra, on the basis of which grants for mid-day meals, books and other benefits are awarded.

Underlining the need for capturing biometric data that ensures uniqueness for each individual, he said: “I used to live in Delhi and had a ration card there. When I moved to Mumbai, I got one here. Even in the same place, it is possible to get multiple PAN cards by using a small change in the spelling of the name or change in address. The existing data is not robust enough because they cannot ‘talk' to each other. With the UID data being online, verification to avoid duplication is possible.’’

Focus on weaker segments

The UID programme has so far enrolled 13.3 crore Indians, he said, and is growing at the rate of 10 lakh a day. The focus has been on weaker segments of society to start with.

“The starting point has been remote and rural areas, and in cities it has been the slums. While in Maharashtra, for instance, 30 per cent of the population has been enrolled, the bulk of it is from rural Maharashtra,’’ added Mr Pandey.

In Amravati, 95 per cent of the population has been covered; in Ahmednagar the figure stands at 80 per cent, while it is 70 per cent in Jalgaon, he said.

For de-duplication for each of the 10 lakh people enrolling each day, their biometric data (10 finger prints and eye iris capture) are cross-checked against each person’s data already captured (13.3 crore). This poses huge technological and process challenges, said the UID official.

India's Knowledge Economy

Private higher education is one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing segments of post-secondary education at the turn of the 21st century. A combination of unprecedented demand for access to higher education and the inability or unwillingness of governments to provide the necessary support has brought private higher education to the forefront. Private institutions, with a long history in many countries, are expanding in scope and number, and are increasingly important in parts of the world that have relied on the public sector. A related phenomenon is the "privatization" of public institutions in some countries. With tuition and other charges rising, public and private institutions look more and more similar.

Private higher education has long dominated higher education systems in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines. There has been a dramatic shift from public to private post-secondary education in Latin America, and Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela now have at least half of their students in private universities. Private higher education is the fastest-growing sector in many countries in Central and Eastern Europe, as also in India. For the most part, this unprecedented growth in the private sector stems from an inability of the governments to fund expansion.

There is tremendous differentiation in private higher education internationally. Harvard University, with its endowment measured in billions of dollars, could hardly be more different from a newly established "garage university" in El Salvador offering specialized training in a few fields. Some private institutions are highly focused in specific fields, such as the world-renowned INSEAD international management school in Paris. Others are large multipurpose universities like the Far East University in Manila, with more than 100,000 students. Some are among the most prestigious institutions, like Waseda or Keio in Japan, Yale in the United States, the Ateneo de Manila in the Philippines, or Javieriana University in Colombia.

Higher education in India is gasping for breath, at a time when India is aiming to be an important player in the emerging knowledge economy. With about 300 universities and deemed universities, over 15,000 colleges and hundreds of national and regional research institutes, Indian higher education and research sector is the third largest in the world, in terms of the number of students it caters to. However, not a single Indian university finds even a mention in a recent international ranking of the top 200 universities of the world, except an IIT ranked at 41, whereas there were three universities each from China, Hong Kong and South Korea and one from Taiwan.

On the other hand, it is also true that there is no company or institute in the world that has not benefited by graduates, post-graduates or Ph.D.s from India: be it NASA, IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Bell, Sun, Harvard, MIT, Caltech, Cambridge or Oxford, and not all those students are products of our IITs, IIMs IISc/TIFR or central universities, which cater to barely one per cent of the Indian student population. This is not to suggest that we should pat our backs for the achievements of our students abroad, but to point out that Indian higher educational institutions have not been able to achieve the same status for themselves as their students seem to achieve elsewhere with their education from here.

The experience over the last few decades has clearly shown that unlike school education, privatization has not led to any major improvements in the standards of higher education and professional education. In higher education and professional courses, relatively better quality teaching and infrastructure has been available only in government colleges and universities, while private institutions of higher education in India capitalized on fashionable courses with minimum infrastructure.

The last decade has witnessed many sweeping changes in higher and professional education: For example, thousands of private colleges and institutes offering professional courses, especially engineering courses, appeared all across the country by the late 1990s and disappeared in less than a decade, with devastating consequences for the students and teachers who depended on them for their careers. This situation is now repeating itself in management, biotechnology, bioinformatics and other emerging areas. No one asked any questions about opening or closing such institutions, or bothered about whether there were qualified teachers at all, much less worry about teacher-student ratio, floor area ratio, class rooms, labs, libraries etc. All these regulations that existed at one time have now been deregulated or softened under the self-financing scheme of higher and professional education adopted by the UGC.

It is not that the other well established departments and courses in government funded colleges and universities are doing any better. Decades of government neglect, poor funding, frequent ban on faculty recruitment and promotions, reduction in library budgets, lack of investments in modernization leading to obsolescence of equipment and infrastructure, and the tendency to start new universities on political grounds without consolidating the existing ones today threatens the entire higher education system.

The economics of imparting higher education are such that, barring a few courses in arts and humanities, imparting quality education in science, technology, engineering, medicine etc. requires huge investments in infrastructure, all of which cannot be recovered through student fees, as high fees will make higher education inaccessible to a large section of students. Unlike many better-known private educational institutions in Western countries that operate in the charity mode with tuition waivers and fellowships (which is one reason why our students go there), most private colleges and universities in India are pursuing a profit motive. This is the basic reason for charging huge tuition fees, apart from forced donations, capitation fees and other charges. Despite huge public discontent, media interventions and many court cases, the governments have not been able to regulate the fee structure and donations in these institutions.

It is not only students but also teachers who are at the receiving end of the ongoing transformation in higher education. The nation today witnesses the declining popularity of teaching as a profession, not only among the students that we produce, but also among parents, scientists, society and the government. The teaching profession today attracts only those who have missed all other "better" opportunities in life, and is increasingly mired in bureaucratic controls and anti-education concepts such as "hours" of teaching "load", "paid-by-the-hour", "contractual" teachers etc. With privatization reducing education to a commodity, teachers are reduced to tutors and teaching is reduced to coaching. The consumerist boom and the growing salary differentials between teachers and other professionals and the value systems of the emerging free market economy have made teaching one of the least attractive professions that demands more work for less pay. Yet, the society expects teachers not only to be inspired but also to do an inspiring job!

On the other hand, many teachers are also exploiting the situation. Due to acute shortage of teachers the Universities, especially the new Universities, are found to be at the receiving end because of constant job hopping by teachers for better pay packets. Sometimes, this job hopping goes to the level of professional black mailing.

Yet another worrisome trend in higher education and research is the emerging government policy of according deemed university status to national labs and research institutes, so that these institutes can award their own Ph.D. degrees, without having to affiliate themselves to a university or fulfilling any other role of being a university. It was expected that these national (or regional) laboratories would employ selected scientific manpower generated from the colleges/universities and nurture their talents towards specific applied goals. But this did not happen, as the national labs became more sophisticated versions of university departments drawing better monetary and infrastructural support and publishing research papers, for which they need research students, who cannot be retained and tapped unless they are promised research degrees.

Traditionally, colleges and universities have been non-profit institutions, operating under legal authority from the State to provide education and engage in research and other education-related activities. These institutions have been owned by non-profit agencies, such as religious organizations, educational societies, and others that have legal authority to own and manage them. For the most part, these arrangements do not permit the institutions to earn a profit, while they are guaranteed a high level of autonomy. In some cases, the university is "owned" by a sponsoring organization, in others by the academic staff and administrators, and in still others by boards of trustees or governors that may be partly composed of academics or dominated by outsiders.

With the stress on cost-recovery measures, many areas of study, including the humanities and social sciences and even the natural and physical sciences, have come under great pressure. Only the marketable areas of study may survive. With the universities emphasizing revenue-generating programs, Darwin's law might come into operation, and other areas of study, however important they may be, could fade away. A significant increase in fees for general education might shift enrollment from general education to professional education.

The trend toward privatization has also created serious problems concerning equity in higher education. While the government is to a great extent able to ensure that protective discrimination policies are followed in government colleges and private aided colleges, resistance to such policies is much higher in the case of self-financing institutions. While the overall elasticity of demand may not be high, such elasticity may certainly be high for the economically weaker sections. In other words, under privatization even if the size of total enrollment does not change, the composition might change in favour of the better-off sections of society.

The government's inability to control the quality of education in private colleges is also being increasingly felt. The first choice of parents and students in general is the government colleges, and when they fail in that endeavour they seek admission in private colleges, where admissions criteria are relaxed for those who can pay the high fees. Unfortunately, even strong proponents of private higher education call for government to take responsibility for regulating quality in the system. But given social, political, and economic factors, the government seems to feel severely handicapped in regulating quality in private institutions. Generally, once recognition is granted to a private institution, which is not a very difficult process, the government is unable to enforce any of its conditions. This is true to some extent even in the case of State-aided private colleges. State grants are rarely delayed for any reason. Massive erosion of quality in private colleges might lower the overall quality of higher education.

Conflicts that arise between national manpower needs and the short-term market signals that influence private higher education institutions have also had serious impacts. The long-term consequences can include manpower imbalances--both shortages and gluts.

In the whole process of privatization, universities might well become more and more efficient, but the important question is: "efficient to do what?" They become financially efficient, generating more and more resources, but in the process lose sight of their main academic goals and objectives. Activities hitherto peripheral to universities tend to become the dominant ones. Universities tend to undertake increasingly more commercial and quasi-commercial activities--such as, consultancy, sale of physical products and services, publication of books, training, and so on. Herein lies the great danger of privatization and to the very development of higher education in India.

Crisis in Higher Education

Way back in 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru, in his convocation address at the University of Allahabad, said “a University stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason, for progress, for the adventure of ideas, and for the search of truth. It stands for the onward march of the human race towards even higher objectives. If the Universities discharge their duty, then it is well with the nation and the people.”

The definition of a university, so succinctly summed up by the first Prime Minister of Independent India, has undergone a sea change over the last five decades. The Universities today are found wanting in many of the once cherished ideals. The primary reasons for the fast deterioration of these ideals is the continuous political interference in the academic administration of Universities and the grave situation in the financial sphere of higher education.

Unless some urgent steps are taken, it may lead to a real crisis. The current financial trends are so alarming as to drive many intellectuals to give a call for launching an “education emergency”.

The current situation
Few would contest that our universities and colleges, including those imparting professional education, are in bad shape today. Barring the rare exception, campuses across the country present a picture of breakdown-run-down and ill-managed buildings, libraries without books and journals, laboratories without equipment, derelict classrooms, and the list can be extended ad nauseum.

Equally depressing is the intellectual environment, with teachers often not teaching and students not learning. Of course, the former complain of being ill-paid, saddled with unrealistic workloads and that too without adequate facilities, constrained by outdated and irrelevant syllabi, buffeted by an intrusive bureaucracy and politicians and, worse, denied the social respect they once enjoyed.

As for the students, one often wonders what and how they learn. An unwelcoming environment, adverse teacher-student ratios, poor infrastructure and low access to learning aids, often absent teachers and frequent strikes-all contribute to engendering a crass attitude towards the university, a near exclusive focus on somehow acquiring the necessary degree, usually with the help of crammers and, for those who can afford it, private tuitions.

While India has the second largest system of higher education, next only to the US, the total number of students hardly represent 6 per cent of the relevant age group aged between 18 and 23 years, which is much below the average of developed countries (47 per cent) and less than that of developing countries, which is 7 per cent. With the expansion of school education, the pressure on the higher education system to expand is expected to continue in India.

For a country which, a few decades back, prided itself for being at least a Third World leader in matters of higher education, claimed to have the third largest scientific and technical work force in the world, and hoped to piggyback its growth path on its human resources, such a situation can only be described as alarming.

Higher education in India, which is predominantly a State funded and directed activity, is in deep financial strain, with escalating costs and increasing needs, on the one hand, and shrinking budgetary resources, on the other.

Faced with financial crises, the State and Central governments have not been able to allocate adequate resources for higher education. We are far behind the target of spending 6 per cent of GNP on education, as recommended by the Education Commission (1964-66).

Public expenditure on higher education as a share of GNP increased consistently until the 1980s. In fact, in the late 1970s, India was spending almost one per cent of GNP on higher education. This trend changed in the 1980s and its share reduced to 0.56%.

From the mid-1980s onwards, especially after the National Policy on Education, the focus of discussions and priority in allocation shifted towards elementary education. From 1970s onwards there was a consistent decline in the share of allocations to higher education, reaching the lowest share of 7% in the Eighth Plan.

The actual expenditure on higher education, however, increased manifold, from Rs 14 crore in the first Five-Year plan to Rs 84,943 crore in the eleventh Plan, at current prices.

In 1950-51, the government and private sources shared the expenditure on higher education equally. More importantly, fees accounted for nearly 37% of the total recurring expenditure on higher education. However, by 1985-86 more than 80% of the expenditure came from government sources. Correspondingly, there was a decline in other sources of funding for higher education. The trends in the financing of higher education in India show that: (i) the share of the government in total educational expenditure has increased; (ii) the share of higher education in the total public education expenditure has declined, both in plan allocation and in recurring expenditure; and (iii) student fees and endowments as a share of total resources for higher education have declined. Consequently, the share of government expenditure in total spending on higher education has increased.

Thus, higher education in India is characterised by massive public investment, though the investment is still regarded as much below optimum.

Reforms needed
Most of the reform measures recommended in higher education centre around two major propositions—improving efficiency in the functioning of public institutions, on the one hand, and mobilizing resources from non-governmental sources, on the other. The former category of reform measures focus on efficiency in resource use so that more resources are available even when additional resources are not allocated to the sector. A general trend in these reform measures is to shift the burden of cost from the public to private and household domains.

In the Indian context, two important committees were appointed to recommend measures to respond to the demand for funds for education. The Swaminathan Committee (AICTE, 1994) looked into possibilities of resource mobilization in technical education and the Punnayya Committee (UGC 1993) looked into the funding of central universities. The AICTE panel felt that institutions of technical education should have enrolments in the range of 1,500-2,000, with a minimum annual intake of 180, and with an intake of 40-60 for every course discipline. The Committee also suggested staff-student ratios to vary between 1 : 15 and 1 : 20. The report on technical education strongly advocated the possibility of rationalizing teaching workload and reducing the share of salaries in recurring expenditure from 80% to 60%. It also advocated reducing the share of regular faculty to 60% and appointing the remaining 40% of the staff on a part-time and contract basis.

Other experts have suggested that universities must reduce their staff drastically and ideal of ratio of teaching and non-teaching staff 1:1.5 should be achieved, which would mean massive outsourcing of various activities like security, sanitation, messenger services, data entry, maintenance of buildings, etc.

The universities could also resort to innovative methods of saving the money by optimum utilisation of space, centralised purchase system, centralised admission process, development of a network of higher education institutions and sharing of physical and faculty resources.

Reforms relating to mobilisation of resources include, promotion of distance learning, encouragement of private sector and cost-recovery methods. The overall constraint in resources calls for private initiative and community support. In the mixed economy of India, while the contribution of private sector has been significant in general, its contribution to higher education has not been encouraging.

In the 1980s a large number of 'capitation fee colleges' (aided or unaided), offering professional courses, especially engineering and medical, were set up in the private sector. The system of capitation fee began first in Karnataka and soon spread to Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The July 1992 judgement by the Supreme Court, however, held that the capitation fee system represented a potent denial of a citizen's right to education under the Constitution.

It was not just lack of State funds that allowed the unbridled growth of the capitation fee phenomenon. Most such private initiatives came from caste-based associations of lower and middle castes in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. They had been looking at their own socio-economic upliftment in the face of oppression from upper caste Brahmins. However, over a period of time these objectives underwent change and acquired an entrepreneurial character, wherein profit became a major motivator.

Such private colleges mushroomed with little concern for providing quality education. Rather than using the rush of admissions to professional courses to impose higher academic standards, the State governments allowed the managements of these private colleges their quota of seats, which were filled for political and other non-academic considerations.

There were compelling reasons why State governments yielded to the pressure of various sectional minorities and entrepreneurial interests in order to protect the private managements of such institutions. The managements maintained a close link with vested interests-caste leaders, politicians, businessmen and government officials. Community and caste colleges were often supported by religious leaders and their mutts and served as vote banks for caste leaders.

Efforts to privatise higher education in India, by encouraging private agencies to set up institutions of higher learning, have enjoyed limited success in general education. Pure or “unaided” private colleges do provide financial relief to the government in providing higher education, but at huge and long-term economic and non-economic cost to the society. The growth of private sector has led to two types of distortions: (i) it encourages only certain courses, especially professional courses; (ii) it adversely affects equity considerations in education, since admissions are based more on the ability to pay principle than on merit.

Advocates of privatization say that it would at least take care of those segments of the demand for higher education that can afford to pay the prices charged by the private institutions. State universities are over centralised, bureaucratic and monopolistic, thwarting the impending ideas of students and professors subordinate to the government. They often play the tune of political masters, who keep changing.

Most of the times, the vice-chancellors are appointed on political considerations. They bring politics in universities and the scholarship is driven out. Research is given a back seat. Private universities have existed in the US for last hundred years. The standard of education in them, and the quality of research output, vis-a-vis that of the State controlled universities, is superior. The best universities (like MIT, Boston) are private. Private universities in India will break the monopoly of the State universities and provide relief from all ills of State universities

However, while setting private colleges, utmost care must be taken to ensure that the same does not lead to rampant commercialization of higher education. To this end, necessary control and monitoring mechanism must be developed to ensure quality education at reasonable cost.

Cost recovery and current issues in financing
Heeding the advice of their American counterparts, many experts have declared higher education a non-merit good deserving little or no subsidy. Basically, the argument that higher education is a non-merit good proceeds as follows: College education enables a student to get better paid jobs, more prestigious jobs and more secure jobs too. Therefore, the college graduate earns a private benefit from higher education. Hence, it is not fair to burden the taxpayer with the cost of such education. So, higher education does not merit a subsidy, at any rate not much subsidy.

However, this is only one side of the story. Graduates may earn a lot, but they may contribute a lot more to the economy and to society. For example, a scientist working at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre may earn ten times the national average wage. That is undoubtedly an enormous private benefit. At the same time, if poor but capable students are prevented from studying, and therefore, less able persons alone are available for space research, who would suffer more—the individual or the economy at large?

Cost-recovery implies a reduction in subsidies in higher education. The best way to reduce subsidies is to diversify the sources of funding for higher education. This could be done by shifting the financial burden either to the beneficiaries (students) or to their users (employers). Student loans, graduate tax and enhancing fees are some of the suggestions made in this regard. Loan scholarships have been suggested as a cost recovery method. One advantage of the student loan scheme is that the incidence of liability is confined to those persons who take advantage of the public provision.

A student loan scheme can create two types of distortions. First, professional courses which enjoy a premium in the employment market will be preferred, at the expense of others which are important from the point of social and national concerns, both by the providers of loans and borrowers. Second, when banks try to provide educational credits to students they look for surety and security deposits, which poor students are not in a position to provide. Moreover, even if poor students get loans, education does not guarantee employment. With no employment or no ability to repay, people from relatively poorer sections will be worst affected.

Another commonly suggested measure to recover the cost of higher education is through a graduate tax. The graduate tax is an education specific tax levied on those companies in production sector that use educated manpower. The major drawback with the scheme is that it might create distortions in the employment market as many employers may use lower level educated manpower as a substitute, instead of recruiting university graduates.

Another cost recovery method in higher education is to increase fee rates. Generally, it is felt that the levels of fees in higher education in India are very low and that there exists much scope for increase in the fee and for rationalisation of the fee structure. This is more so in case of higher technical education.

In order to avoid deprivation of poor but deserving person to avail of such education, the provision of scholarship and loan funds may be made. Schemes such as "earn while learning", under which students work in labs, libraries, etc., and earn money, could also be launched. The cross-subsidisation of education will, thus, ensure equitable access to higher education. In view of the resource crunch, to optimise cost effectiveness, financial assistance to universities should be based on vigorous assessment of their performance.

The present "covering the deficit" approach of university funding discourages saving, economy or generation of internal funds. Universities should also open their campuses abroad or tie up with universities and institutions to offer their programmes for mobilizing funds and providing education in the countries where such education is in demand. This assumes importance, as education in 21st century will be international in character, placing emphasis on quality, with partnerships and networks being important.

Similarly, universities may engage in consultancy services and patents should be taken out for the discoveries and innovations made by the faculty and students. Universities may also rent out their premises during vacations / after class hours on commercial and semi-commercial basis.

Other sources of income will also have to be boosted up by encouraging private donations and endowments, strengthening community participation and establishing industry-university linkages.

Quality improvement
Quality of higher education in the country is deteriorating with expansion. It is said that only about five per cent of the colleges in India are maintaining anything like satisfactory academic standards. Evaluation of the performance of the students in the examinations is the common method by which the quality of education is determined.

However, the subjective elements that are inextricably linked with the quality determining methods in the education system, make the task of measuring the quality of education a difficult one.

The quality of education of a student depends on various factors, like the teaching to which he is exposed, educational facilities and environment available in the institution and his own temperament and approach to studies. By subjecting the students to a test for a few hours at the end of a course and classifying the students into different categories on the basis of performance in examinations, is only to make the superficial, unrealistic and unfair classification.

For improving the academic standards, steps must also be expeditiously taken for (a) improving the efficiency of teachers (b) to provide the minimum required infrastructure (c) to see that examinations in all colleges are conducted in a fair manner without malpractices.

Decentralization and autonomy to institutions of higher education is perhaps one solution to the problems connected with evaluation reforms. If colleges become autonomous, continuous assessment of students, performance and use of diversified methods, instead of only written tests, can be adopted. But care must be taken by some supervisory mechanism to see that subjectivity is not increased in these institutions.

However, it is to be noted that quality assurance in education cannot be only student-centric, but should also be society-oriented, as society supports the education system. Every educational institution needs to set out its mission to meet the expectations of society and its people and the country at large. In the context of quality control and maintenance of quality in higher education,
UGC has set up an autonomous Inter-University Institution for quality assessment and accreditation. This is named as National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and it was set up in 1994.

Objective of NAAC is to assess and accredit institutions of higher learning in India, including universities and colleges, with an objective of stimulating the academic environment and quality of teaching and research, encouraging innovations, self-evaluation and accountability in higher education. Several universities and colleges have offered themselves for this assessment, which is a voluntary process.

Modernising higher education
A student pursuing higher education in India gets much less choice than his peer in the West, where one can specialise in aeronautical engineering and can also learn to play the piano as a part of the overall credit requirement, or can study biochemistry, calculus and linear algebra at the same time—a possibility unthinkable in India where the higher education system rigidly follows the anachronous Oxford-Cambridge model of education supply (fixed courses with watertight syllabus for each degree programme).

Also, we certainly need to take a second look at the current pre-degree programme. Does a student' need such an over-specialisation at such a young age? What if a student who has chosen a medical stream does not get into medicine, but would like to major in physics or chemistry, both of which require a sound knowledge of mathematics.

A credit-based semester system is ideal since it offers maximum flexibility in terms of course offerings, course selection, faculty and student schedules, and optimum use of existing facilities.

Recommended changes in college education system include, review of pre-degree programme, the value of a four-year undergraduate study, credit based semester system, the need of an orientation programme for new students, diverse majors and minors, 'double major system, change from teacher centered method to learner centre method of learning, and the relevance of technology in the classroom.

Other challenges include, framing an academic calendar, providing for the stipulated minimum working days, annual up-dation of curricula, examination reform, restoring quality to distance education courses, evaluation and assessment of performance of teachers, skill up-gradation of faculty, making foolproof evaluation of doctoral dissertations to improve research work, clear policy for granting permanent affiliation to courses and colleges and fixing
norms for teachers.

A disturbing development of the 1990s has been the influx of foreign universities that prefer to enter into partnership with professional organisations and little-known institutes that do not form part of the Indian higher education system. The activities of such universities need to be discouraged.

There is also an urgent need for making vocational courses more purposeful, result-oriented and rewarding. At present, most vocational courses are seen as inferior and expensive.

Despite the expansion that has occurred, it is evident that the system is under stress to provide a sufficient volume of skilled human power, which is equipped with the required knowledge and technical skills to cater to the demands of the economy. The accelerated growth of our economy has already created shortages of high-quality technical manpower. Unlike the develop countries, where the young working age population is fast shrinking with higher dependency ratios, India has a demographic advantage with about 70% of the population below the age of 35 years. But this advantage can only be realised if we expand opportunities for our youth on a massive scale and in diverse fields of basic science, engineering and technology, health care, architecture, management, etc. This is possible only if we initiate rapid expansion along with long overdue reforms in the higher, technical, and professional education sectors.

Last, but not the least, effective measures should be initiated to check the canker of corruption. There is considerable degradation of quality standards, thanks to corrupt practices prevalent in many universities. The sycophancy culture has spoiled the academic atmosphere. Negative trade unionism and petty politics should have no place in temples of learning.

To meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, and to acquire a competitive edge, the higher education system has to transform to make it more socially relevant, information and technology-oriented, diversified, going beyond areas of specialisation and of high quality. The skills and specialisation of graduates produced by our system should match the real needs of the productive sectors in the market place, and the changing needs of our society.

M.P. chosen for ‘National e-governance Award’

Madhya Pradesh has been selected for “National e-governance Award” for its initiatives in the IT sector, official sources said today.

The award will be given to the state during the two-day 15th national conference on e-governance to be held at Bhubaneshwar from February 10.

The Chief Minister, Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has congratulated the officials whose efforts have led to the honour for the state.

The awards were announced under seven categories and Madhya Pradesh bagged honour in one of them. The award is given every year by the Union Government.

The State Government’s e-governance project in Gwalior district has bagged the award. Under the project, 75 public services spanning 13 departments were successfully delivered through 48 Janmitra Samadhan Kendras benefiting 3.86 lakh applicants, they added.

Foodgrains output set to touch 250 mt

Bolstered by a record production of wheat and rice this year, foodgrains output in 2011-12 is set to touch an all-time high of 250.42 million tonnes, surpassing last year's best of 244.78 million tonnes.

Significant rise in paddy production in the eastern belt has boosted the overall foodgrains situation this year despite slight shortfall in coarse cereals and pulses production. Overall, good monsoon too helped the situation.

“About 12-13 million tonnes more of rice has come from the eastern belt alone and, as a result, the overall foodgrains output is estimated at a record 250.42 million tonnes,” Union Agriculture Secretary P. K. Basu told journalists here on Friday after the release of the second advance estimates. Mr. Basu pointed out that “Bihar and Jharkhand, known as laggard states in farm production and productivity, had outperformed in paddy yields.”

Rice output in Bihar has more than doubled to 6.75 million tonnes from 3.10 million tonnes. It has trebled in Jharkhand to 3.3 million tonnes from 1.11 million tonnes last year. West Bengal also has shown a significant improvement in rice output.

Rice and wheat production are expected to set new records this crop year (July to June). Rice output is projected at 102.75 million tonnes against 95.98 million tonnes last year.

Helped by winter rains, wheat production is set for an all-time record of 88.31 million tonnes as compared to 86.87 million tonnes. However, the output of pulses is expected to be slightly lower at 17.28 million tonnes as also of oilseeds at 30.53 million tonnes due to diversification of significant area to cotton in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan, Mr. Basu said. The output of coarse cereals is expected to be lower at 42.08 million tonnes against 43.68 million tonnes in 2010-11.

Cotton production has increased to 34.09 million bales from 33 million bales of 170 kg each last year.

Sugarcane output is expected to be higher than last year at 347.87 million tonnes against 342.38 million tonnes.

Climate change: India for roping in rich to shoulder burden

The Minister for Environment and Forests, Ms Jayanthi Natarajan, made it clear on Friday that India would put pressure on richer nations to shoulder a larger burden of the climate change responsibility at the Rio meet in June.

She said the principle of “equity” for cutting greenhouse gas emissions should be the “bottomline” of negotiations on climate change. She was addressing a session in the ongoing Delhi Sustainable Development Summit.

World leaders are meeting in Rio de Janeiro in June for the United Nations Conference on sustainable development, known as Rio+20.

India and China have differences with the developed countries that are seeking to make the commitments at the conference binding and enforceable.

Meanwhile, the European Union climate head, reacting to India's position on equity and the right of countries to develop, said the EU realised that those who industrialised before others had a special responsibility, but India and others also needed to come up with what exactly they mean when they talk about equity. At a media interaction here on Friday, the EU Climate Commissioner, Ms Connie Hedegaard, said, “We are open to discussions,”, but added that “in a world where we are mutually inter-dependent, we need to be mutually accountable as well.”

RENEWABLE ENERGY

The EU climate head called upon all countries to pledge to double the share of renewable energy by 2030 along with ensuring universal access to energy. Ms Hedegaard said the EU may recommend the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies before 2020 at the Rio+20 meet. “The notion that fossil fuels are cheaper is changing. With crude oil prices going up, the world will need to reflect on alternatives,” she said.

She said in 2010, the world subsidised fossil fuels worth $400 billion. Of this, only 10 per cent were targeted at the poor, according to International Energy Agency data.

Polio eradication, a dubious claim

Health officials seem to be in a self-congratulatory mode, since no case of paralytic polio has been reported during 2011. But that doesn't mean that polio has been eradicated. As has happened in some other countries, polio cases can reappear.

Secondly, different public health experts have pointed out that polio cannot be eradicated through vaccination alone. Poliomyelitis, like many other infectious diseases, is primarily a disease of poverty, leading to insanitation and malnourishment. In developed countries, polio declined along with improvement in living standards, including sanitation. Vaccination played only a supplementary role in the disappearance of polio cases.

However, now an illusion has been created that we can overcome polio through vaccination alone. Polio incidence can be substantially brought down through immunisation. But there are technical reasons why, unlike small pox, polio cannot be eradicated through vaccination.

HIGHER LIMB PARALYSIS

Under the Indian eradication programme, three doses of oral polio vaccine were introduced from 1978–79 into the National Immunisation programme. This reduced paralytic polio cases by 80 per cent — from 24,257 in 1988 to 4,793 in 1994. But in 1995, under the influence of international agencies, the polio eradication strategy was launched, with a manifold increase in expense and human power deployment in polio vaccination.

The Central Government spent Rs 1,747 crore on pulse polio in 2009-10, and a total of more than Rs 12,000 crore during the last 12 years. When, in 2006-07, it spent Rs 1004 crore on Pulse polio, routine immunisation with some other vaccines received only Rs 327 crore, and tuberculosis control Rs 184 crore. And the context is — we have approximately 1.5 crore in tuberculosis cases and four lakh annual tuberculosis deaths compared with the estimated 20,000 cases, and less than 500 deaths annually, when the polio eradication programme was launched.

The justification for the polio eradication programme is that it would substantially reduce the incidence of lameness in children, because polio constitutes the most important cause of preventable lameness in children. But in reality, the incidence of limb-paralysis in children has increased after the Polio Eradication Initiative!

The Web site of the National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP) reveals that the number of cases of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) in children increased from 3,047 to 60,466 (20 times) during 1997 to 2011! Officials argue that this rise in figures is because of thorough documentation and increased sensitivity of the surveillance system for recording AFPs, and that most of these children are later found to be normal. However, if the sensitivity of the surveillance system is increased in, say, the year 2000, we would see a steep rise in AFP cases in only 2001, and may be 2002. The continuous steep rise in AFP cases from 1998 till today belies this ‘explanation'.

Dr Jacob Puliyel, invoking the Right to Information, accessed Uttar Pradesh data which revealed that in 2005, of the 10,055 AFP cases, 2,553 cases were followed up for two months, 898 (39 per cent) continued to have paralysis. These were thus not ‘false positive cases' but were cases of paralysis as such. Dr Satyamala confirmed this for 2006, by again invoking the RTI. That most of these cases of ‘residual paralysis' don't have a polio virus in their stools is no consolation for the paralysed children and their parents.

It is possible that massive use of Oral Polio Vaccine (which contains attenuated but live polio virus) has mutated into a new virus which doesn't have identical morphological properties of the polio virus, but which causes paralysis. A rational and humane response to this rise in paralysed children should have been to suspend the additional dosages of the Oral Polio Vaccine and to investigate the matter. If any other scientific explanation is found, this programme can be exonerated. But till then, to continue with these additional dosages of Oral Polio Vaccine is unethical.

It is necessary that all these children who have lost their limbs be fully rehabilitated, and their parents adequately compensated. Criminal liability should be ascertained for those officials who have suppressed this information of breakup of follow-up of AFP cases, and those officials and policymakers who are responsible for continuing this policy of PEI.

VAPP CASES

It is well-known that Oral Polio Vaccine inevitably causes Vaccine Associated Paralytic Polio (VAPP) in a miniscule proportion of Oral Polio Vaccine receivers — an average 1 case of VAPP per 4 million doses of polio. In India, due to Pulse Polio, it is expected that annually there would be approximately 200 cases of VAPP till Pulse Polio continues. These children have to sacrifice their limbs involuntarily on the altar of ‘Public Good', that too, without getting rehabilitated, and without their parents getting compensated! The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan made the demand for rehabilitation and compensation for VAPP cases. The National Human Rights Commission recommended it. But the government ignored it.

Till polio isn't eradicated globally, developed countries will have to continue polio-vaccination even if there have been no cases of polio in these countries. Hence, it is in their interest that Polio Eradication is continued, even if it may not be the priority of the developing countries. One way of doing this is to exaggerate the problem of polio. In 1988, 32,419 cases of paralytic poliomyelitis were reported globally. While estimating the paralytic cases, WHO increased this figure 10-fold, to 3,50,000, with the argument that the actual cases were ten times the reported cases. By a sleight of hand, in subsequent literature, the word “reported” was deleted and it was claimed that annually polio paralyses ‘more than 3,50,000 children'!

It should also be pointed out that polio is only one cause of lameness in children, and the overwhelming majority of AFP cases are due to non-polio viruses. Hence, even if polio is eradicated, it will reduce lameness in children by only approximately 20 per cent. We should certainly try to control polio through vaccination and sanitation. But to create an impression that we are eliminating lameness in children through polio-vaccination is misleading.

Andhra Sugars begins supplying liquid hydrogen to ISRO

Andhra Sugars Ltd has started supply of liquid hydrogen, cryogenic fuel to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Liquid hydrogen is used as a propellant in the Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) by the national space agency.

GSLV is used in placing bigger satellites in a stationery orbit. India is testing its capabilities in this area. The liquid hydrogen tanker was flagged off by Mr S. Ramakrishnan (Director – LPSC) and Mr P. Narendranath Chowdary, Joint Managing Director of Andhra Sugars today from the Tanuku plant.

According to Mr Chowdary, the company has set up a facility to liquefy hydrogen gas with the technical guidance from ISRO.

In ISRO's satellite launch vehicle's solid propellant is used in the first stage, liquid propellant in the second stage and cryogenic propellant in the third stage of GSLV. All these propellants are now manufactured by Andhra Sugars.

The Tanuku-headquartered company has been supplying propellant's to the ISRO for some time as part of its national commitment and indigenous technology capability demonstration.

Acidic oceans - a closer reality

Most people invariably associate carbon emissions with atmospheric pollution, and the resultant negative impact on human life and health. However, elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide can also leach into oceans over time, throwing the pH balance of the seawater completely off-balance and making them increasingly acidic.

How it happens

Of all the carbon emissions generated by human activities, 45 percent still remains in the atmosphere-the remainder is absorbed by oceans, and a small percentage is taken up by terrestrial plants. The absorbed carbon is largely in the form of inorganic carbon compounds such as carbon dioxide and carbonates, which react with water to form compounds such as dissolved free carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, bicarbonate and carbonate.

A result of this dissolution of carbon dioxide in seawater is an increase in the oceans' hydrogen ion concentration, thus decreasing the ocean pH. Since the Industrial Revolution of the 18th Century, the hydrogen ion content of the oceans has increased by approximately 29 percent. Experts estimate that by the year 2100, the acid concentration of the world's oceans will increase dramatically-even tripling from the existing levels if no substantial control measures are undertaken.

The rapid pace of acidification is triggering alarm bells for ecologists and marine life experts, who predict that if this acidification were to continue unabated, it will soon reach levels that are higher than anything the planet has witnessed in the past 65 million years.

Why is it dangerous?

The biggest threat from changes in the chemistry of ocean water is to marine organisms and their habitats. Increasing acidity is especially deleterious to the process of calcification, which involves the creation of calcium carbonate shells and plates. Calcification is a vital component of the lifecycles of a wide range of marine organisms, and a decrease in oceanic pH will prove threatening to their sustenance. Besides this, organisms may also suffer a variety of other harmful effects to their reproductive systems and general physiological health due to increased exposure to carbon dioxide. Recent research also suggests that acidification may interfere with the acoustic properties of seawater, allowing sound to propagate further. The resultant increase in ocean noise will adversely affect marine animals that use sound for navigational purposes.

While the planet's oceans have long served as a safety net of sorts in regulating the carbon content of the atmosphere, their carbon absorption abilities come at a steep cost-severe changes to ocean chemistry and a barrage of damaging implications for aquatic life. If this trend of arbitrarily dumping carbon into the atmosphere continues for much longer, scientists fear a relapse of the greenhouse event that struck the planet 55 million years ago, rendering many deep-water species extinct because of dramatic chemical changes to their underwater environment. Even as research is still underway to gauge the complete impact of acidification on the planet's oceans, the fact still remains that without timely measures, the damage may just go too far to be undone.

Green power sector: The India advantage

The country's status as a developing nation may actually prove to be a blessing in disguise for the green power sector

A yawning rural-urban divide, exploding population, inadequate facilities, low standard of living-these are only but a few of the many challenges that lie ahead before India as it forges up on a steep, development gradient. On the other hand, the world at large is confronted by the urgent need to make industry, business and lifestyles greener and more environmentally responsible.

For government and regulatory bodies in India, balancing the need to 'go green' with developmental issues seems difficult, even more so when the demand for resources and amenities far outstrips the available means. In such a situation, it seems but obvious for sustainability to take second place to economic growth. But if green development experts are to be believed, India's current situation places it at a unique vantage point for harnessing green technology to further its economic growth.

A power-hungry nation

Rapid urbanisation and booming industries have generated a huge demand for energy, one that far outstrips the supply. India's traditional dependence on thermal, coal-fired power plants is proving grossly insufficient, while also increasing power costs as resources become scarcer and more difficult to come by. For power producers, therefore, it makes more sense to invest in low maintenance, high output green energy technologies such as wind and solar power, which will prove to be a long-term, sustainable and cost-effective solution, in times to come.

A multi-pronged advantage

India's topography and geographic situation ensure that it receives ample sunlight and wind all through the year, making it an ideal candidate to harvest wind and solar energy. The Indian government is also a signatory on several international 'green' forums such as the Kyoto Protocol, and has accordingly issued legislature that incentivises the use and generation of sustainable power.

Considering that the cost of setting up a sustainable power plant is only slightly higher than a traditional fossil fuel-based unit, investing in the former is increasingly viable for Indian power players. Further, favourable government policies make it that much more cost-effective to set up these plants. Low running costs mean a shorter payback period-all the more reason for the renewable energy sector to flourish on the domestic front.

Opportunities from challenges

India's existing power grid is the number one reason why despite increased interest from the government and a booming power sector, the close-to-100 GW disparity between demand and supply continues to exist. The good news is that revamping this now obsolete grid structure is the only feasible way forward for the domestic power sector, and hence power producers will have to invest in developing newer, smart grid technologies.

The opportunities-from-challenges scenario exists in other areas as well: with India facing an acute shortage of potable water, the urgency to investigate alternative technologies such as desalination and wastewater recycling units is much higher than in other developed nations, which can go without such initiatives in the short term. India is poised for a sea change in terms of sustainable technologies, provided the private and public sector discard short-term profits in favour of long-term, sustainable rewards.

Social Responsibility for SMEs

The ongoing debate in Western economies regarding the role of corporates in widening the gap between the rich and the poor, exemplified by the Occupy Wall Street movement, has brought focus on ‘Corporate Social Responsibility' in public discourse in India. CSR in India is several decades old, where large corporate houses have been role models in adopting the local society they depend on for land, labour and some other resources. However, CSR has remained an elusive practice, adopted only by a limited number of large corporates, and is yet to become a mainstream initiative even among large companies. In this context, SMEs in India have a key role to play, in bridging the social divide while building a prosperous India.

BUSINESS WITH ETHICS

Some CSR initiatives that any SME can strive to achieve include simply conducting its business in an ethical manner; paying all taxes and duties, providing a healthy working environment, adhering to basic social security regulations such as minimum wages, ESI, PF, etc, shunning cash-based transactions, and avoiding corrupt practices to solicit business — each of these will contribute to a much more equitable society than what we have currently inherited. SMEs are the bulwark of the economy, accounting for more than 45 per cent of industrial output, and more than 40 per cent of India's exports. A widespread adoption of ethical business practices among SMEs can have far-reaching implications for the country.

LOCAL COMMUNITIES

It may not be always cost-effective for an SME to source all its resource requirements — manpower, basic raw material, components, etc — from the local vicinity. However, building a relationship with the local community by co-opting them in some form would definitely help the enterprise in the long run. Entrepreneurs must realise that they are utilising a fair share of local resources such as land, water, power, etc, and should strive to return the favour to the local community. While adopting schools or hospitals could be possible only for large corporates, SMEs could meet their CSR goals through providing local employment, developing local vendors for supplies, using local agricultural produce or farm waste, etc.

Many entrepreneurs interpret CSR initiative as charity; however, this isn't a sustainable model, as such initiatives would suffer at the slightest pressure on the profitability of the enterprise. Entrepreneurs should recognise that CSR is their inalienable responsibility for the society, and strive to interweave CSR initiatives with their regular business goals.

NREGA, Food Bill can distort labour market

It appears that collectively we may not have learnt appropriate social or economic lessons from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) operations.

One would have assumed that the NREGA recipients would adopt it as a supplementary employment opportunity, instead of giving up their regular occupation.

The government's infusion of Rs 70,000 crore through NREGA should have created an additional primary employment for about 2 crore people assuming Rs 35,000 (inclusive of wages, leakage, and material) per person. Given the low savings level in the rural areas — our national average household savings is 18-19 per cent and a lot less in rural areas — and hence a very high level of consumption, the income multiplier is very high.

Even if one assumes a much more sober employment multiplier of three, it should have created 6 crore jobs in the rural areas — capable of wiping out unemployment (and the associated problems such as hunger and malnutrition). But there is hardly any evidence of such a big-bang impact in the rural areas.

Instead, there is a far-greater-than-expected increase in absenteeism from regular employment — organised and unorganised — and consequent increase in wage levels in traditional vocations. Instead of working additional hours and enhancing incomes and climbing aspirational ladders, the rural recipients seem to have given up their regular occupation and chosen to be satisfied with their current levels of income and consumption.

Ignoring social dynamics

This unanticipated and counter-intuitive outcome of NREGA needs to be understood. It is an uphill task to change social behaviour and personal habits of people; even aspirations and desires seem to rigidify with advancing age. Leisure is not the privilege of the rich alone; even the poor fancy such pursuits.

Demand for products depends on aspirations and desires, availability and exposure to temptations, and peer pressure. Clearly, peer pressure among the rural poor is feeble to begin with, and the penetration level of many products in our rural areas, except for shampoos, soaps, toothpastes, mobile phones and sweetmeats, is very low. Desires have been marinated at very low levels for ages of poverty and under-nourishment. Most of the NREGA wages has hence invaded just food, causing high food inflation.

The current Food Bill does not seem to incorporate the lessons from these social dynamics — low aspirations resulting in substitution of employment instead of supplementing it, leading to rising wage levels in traditional occupations, and food inflation. The Food Bill might provide short-term succour, but in the long term both damage the system and stymie individual growth and eagerness to work.

Negative aspects

Let us assess some of the possible negative side-effects of the Food Bill.

Firstly, if farm labour takes the benefits of food security and ‘shrinks' its work to a corresponding extent, we could have a steep increase in agrarian labour costs. Our agriculture, which is already ailing for want of public or private investments or research (the last significant breakthrough came about four decades ago), could hardly cope with a crisis on the key input — labour costs.

Secondly, if the labour takes NREGA and food subsidies and shrinks from other work, labour costs can go up steeply for rural industries which are, as it is, not that competitive. Rural industrialisation may receive a setback.

Thirdly, and perhaps the most dreadful, is the long-term consequence. Like aspirations, desires and lifestyle even lethargy and leisure can be hard-coded into personal DNA. Easy money from NREGA and Food Bill could easily lead to long-term lethargy in people, who are already used to unemployment, under-employment-induced work inertia and might get used to subsidies. Any development or poverty reduction depends in equal measure on individual desire and initiative, and external help and intervention. A Food-Bill type of initiative will blunt the effectiveness of future developmental initiatives.

Fourth, such large infusions into ‘aspiration trapped' markets can cause high food inflation.

Go for skill building

Social security to cover cyclical unemployment or temporary unemployment between jobs, like in the West, may be all right. But it may be an inappropriate medicine for solving chronic unemployment, which can be solved only with expansion of employment opportunities. A more beneficial approach would be skill-building leading to better productivity and lower ‘effective' labour costs.

Luckily India is woefully short — both quantitatively and qualitatively — in several social and economic services that only the Government can render, such as police, justice, traffic regulation, public administration, urban waste disposal, civic administration, among others. Just catching up with the world averages in such social services will create enough primary employment to largely address the unemployment and poverty issues. Fortunately not all government services require high prior education — more on-the-job training would improve the quality of services far better.

Jayalalithaa launches Rs 750-cr health insurance scheme

A new health insurance scheme for providing free medical and surgical treatment to 1.34 crore families in Tamil Nadu was January 11 launched by the Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa, at an annual outlay of Rs 750 crore.

Under the “Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme”, replacing the previous DMK regime's insurance cover, a family would get a health insurance cover up to Rs 1 lakh a year for four years, an official release said.

In the case of certain diseases, the insurance cover could go up to Rs 1.50 lakh. The scheme, to be implemented by public sector United India Insurance Company, would be applicable to every member of a family whose annual family income is less than Rs 72,000.

Ms Jayalalithaa handed over ID cards for the scheme to seven beneficiaries and approval letters for treatment to seven others on the occasion.

After coming to power in May, Ms Jayalalithaa had scrapped the “Chief Minister Kalaingar's Insurance Scheme” named after the DMK President, Mr M. Karunanidhi, as part of reversing DMK regime's pet projects.

Observing that the DMK Government's scheme did not benefit everyone, the release said under the earlier initiative a family was given only Rs 1 lakh total cover for a block of four years.

Furthermore, the insurance amount of Rs 1 lakh in the earlier scheme was not sufficient for treatment of life-saving and major surgeries and no provision was made for post-operative treatment, forcing the poor to borrow money for their medical treatment, the release said.

India’s forest cover falling: Study

India's forest cover has declined by 367 sq km between 2007 and 2009. While the figure may not seem alarming, it runs counter to the impression that afforestation and conservation programmes are yielding results.

The largest dip in forest cover was in the northeast which lost 550 sq km. This loss was very partially made up elsewhere, even as there was an overall negative growth in green cover. There was better news from states like Punjab, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan where social forestry projects seem to have worked to some extent.

The 2011 report of the Dehradun-based Forest Survey of India accessed by TOI has been submitted to the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and is to be released soon.

The news for Delhiites is not encouraging. There has been no change in the forest cover although Delhi government has been repeatedly claiming that forest areas are increasing. With civic agencies pointing to unchecked encroachments in the Ridge, the FSI report is not a surprise.

Maximum reduction in forest cover has been reported from insurgency-hit Manipur, totaling 190 sq km. Nagaland comes next with at least 146 sq km forest being lost between 2006 and 2008. The trend is equally worrying in Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

The last FSI report in 2009 showed forest cover in the northeast had increased from 1,69,825 sq km in 2005 to 1,70,423 sq km in 2007 -- an annual increase of 299 sq km over two years.

Citing reasons behind the sharp fall in forest cover, a retired conservator of forests said some forest areas in the region were inhabited by tribals and locals practised Jhum cultivation by clearing out huge swathes of forest areas. There was also the threat of organized wood smugglers and mafia.

But there have been some positive indicators elsewhere. Forest cover has increased by 100 sq km during these two years in Punjab, sources in the FSI said. "This is primarily because the government is pushing agro forestry activities. If satellite imagery establishes at least 10% area in an hectare is under forest, we designate it as forest cover," said an official associated with preparation of FSI reports.

Sources said that while Haryana and Himachal Pradesh reported slight increase in forest cover - 14 and 11 sq km respectively. "We expect the forest cover will be more in Haryana in the next report which will be out in 2013 considering the positive impact of Supreme Court ban on mining in Aravallis," said an official posted at FSI.

Indian Economy - Socio-economic Planning

(Planned economy is one in which the state owns (partly or wholly) and directs the economy. )While such a role is assumed by the State in almost every economy, in planned economies, it is pronounced: (for example in communist and socialist countries- former USSR and China till the 1970's.) In such a case a planned economy is referred to as command economy or centrally planned economy or command and control economy. (In command economies, state does the following

• Control all major sectors of the economy
• Legislate on their use and about the distribution of income
• State decides on what should be produced and how much; sold at what price
• Private property is not allowed)

(In a market economy, it is the opposite- state has a minimal role in the management of the economy- production, consumption and distribution decisions are predominantly left to the market.) State plays certain role in redistribution. State is called the laissez faire state here. (It is a French phrase literally meaning "Let do.")
(Indicative plan (see ahead) is one where there is a mixed economy with State and market playing significant roles to achieve targets for growth that they together set.) (It is operated under a planned economy but not command economy.)
The difference between planned economy and (command economy is that in the former there may be mixed economy and while in the latter Government owns and regulates economy to near monopolistic limit.)
(Command economies) were set up in China and USSR, mainly for rapid economic growth and social and economic justice but have been dismantled in the last two decades as (they do not create wealth sustainably and are not conducive for innovation and efficiency.) (Cuba and North Korea are still command economies.)

History of Economic Planning in India: The beginnings

India being devastated economically after more than 2 centuries of colonial exploitation resulting in chronic poverty, eradication of poverty was the driving force for the formulation of various models of growth before Independence.

(In 1944 leading businessmen and industrialists (including Sir Purshotamdas Thakurdas, JRD Tata, GD Birla and others) put forward "A Plan of Economic Development for India" -popularly known as the 'Bombay Plan".) It sawIndia's future progress based on further expansion of the textile and consumer industries already flourishing in cities like Bombay and Ahmedabad. It saw an important role the State in post-Independent India: to provide infrastructure, invest in basic industries like steel, and protect Indian industry from foreign competition.

(Visionary engineer Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya. pointed to the success of Japan and insisted that 'industries and trade do not grow of themselves, but have to be willed, planned and systematically developed') - (in his book titled "Planned Economy for India"(1934)) Expert economists and businessmen were to do the planning. The goalwas poverty eradication through growth.

(The Indian National Congress established a National Planning Committee under the chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru.) It (1938) stated the objective of planning for development ("was to ensure an adequate standard of living for the masses, in other words, to get rid of the appalling poverty of the people"). It advocated heavy industries that were essential both to build other industries, and for Indian self- efence; heavy industries had to be in public ownership, for both redistributive and security purposes; redistribution of land away fromthe big landlords would eliminate rural poverty.

(During the 1940's, the Indian Federation of Labour published its People's Plan by MN Roy) that stressed  on employment and wage goods). (S.N. Agarwala, follower of Mahatma Gandhi published Gandhian Plan that emphasized on decentralization; agricultural development; employment; cottage industries etc.)

Planning Goals

After Independence in 1947, India launched the year plan for rapid growth. (Planning has the following long term goals).

• Growth
• Modernization
• Self-reliance and
• Social justice

(Economic growth) is the value of the goods and services produced by urban economy. It (is conventionally measured as the percent rate of increase in real gross domestic product, or real GDP- real means adjusted to inflation.) (Growth measures quantitative increase in goods and services.)
Economic development refers to growth that includes redistributive aspects and social justice. GDP shows growth and welfare and human development aspects like education, access to basic amenities, environmental quality, freedom, or social justice. (Economic growth is necessary for development but not sufficient).
Growth is expected to [spread to all sections and regions; raise resources for the Government to spend on socio-economic priorities etc. (It takes a long time for growth to trickle down to all people and regions. Therefore, State plans for an expeditious process of inclusive growth.)
(Modernization is improvement in technology. It is driven by innovation and investment in R and D.) Education is the foundation of modernization. (The more modernized the economy, the greater the value created by it).
(Self-reliance means relying on the resources of the country and not depending on other countries and the MNCs for investment and growth.) India embarked on the goal partly due to the colonial experience and partly due to the goal of orienting growth to development and poverty eradication. (Nehru-Mahalanobis model of growth that closed Indian economy and relied on basic industries is the main plank for self-reliance.)
The term (self-reliance)  should not be confused with self-sufficiency - the former means depending on resources of the country) and avoid dependence on external flows); the latter means that the country has all the resources it needs. No country can be self-sufficient. Social justice means inclusive and equitable growth where inequalities are not steep and benefits of growth reach allrural- urban ,man-woman; caste divide and interregional divides are reduced.
While the above four are the long term goals of the planning process, each five year plan has specific objectives and priorities.

History of Planning

First Plan (1951-56)
The First Plan stressed more on agriculture, in view of large scale import of foodgrains and inflationary pressures on the economy. Other areas of emphasis were power and transport. The annual average growth rate during the First Plan was estimated as 3.61% as against a target of 2.1%. Renowned economist KN Raj, who died in 2010was one of the main architects of India's first five-year plan.
Second Plan (1956-61)
With agricultural targets of previous plan achieved, major stress was on the establishment of heavy industries. Rate of investment was targeted to increase from 7% to 11%. The Plan achieved amore than targeted growth rate of 4.32%. This Plan envisaged to give a big push to the economy so that it enters the take off stage. It was based on Nehru-Mahalanobismodel- self-reliance and basicindustry driven growth.
Third Plan (1961-66)
It tried to balance industry and agriculture. The aimof Third Plan was to establish a self sustaining economy. For the first time, India resorted to borrowing from IMF. Rupee was also devalued for the first time in 1996. India's conflict with Pakistan and repeated droughts also contributed in the failure of this Plan.
Annual Plan
As the Third Plan difficulties on the external front (war with China in 1962 and Pakistan in 1965); and the economic troubles mounted on the domestic front- inflation, floods, forex crisis- the Fourth Plan could not be started from 1966. There were three annual plans till 1969. This period is called plan holiday- that is when five year plans are not implemented. The Annual Plans were: 1966-67, 1967-68 and 1968-69.
Forth Plan (1969-74)
The main objective of this Plan was growth with stability. The Plan laid special emphasis on improving the condition of the under-privileged and weaker sections through provision of education and employment. Reducing the fluctuations in agricultural production was also a point of emphasis of this Plan. The Plan aimed at a target growth of 5.7% and the achievement against this was 3.21 %.
Fifth Plan (1974-79)
The main objective of the Plan was Growth for Social Justice. The targeted growth rate was 4.4% and we achieved 4.8%. It was cut short by the Janata Party that came to power in 1977.
Sixth Plan (1980-1985)
Removal of poverty was the foremost objective of Sixth Plan. Another area of emphasis was infrastructure, which was to be strengthened for development of both industry and agriculture. The achieved growth rate of 5.7% was more than the targeted one. Direct attack on poverty was the main stress of the Plan.
Seventh Plan (1985-90)
This Plan stressed on rapid growth in food-grains production and increase in employment opportunities. The growth rate of 5.81% achieved in this Plan was more than targeted one. The plan was more than the targeted. The plan saw the beginnings of liberalization of Indian economy. The 8th Plan could not start in 1990 due to economic crisis and political instability. There were two annual plans- plan holiday.
Eighth Plan (1992-1997)
This Plan was formulated keeping in view the process of economic reforms and restructuring of the economy. The main emphasis of this Plan were

• to stabilize the adverse balance of payment scenario sustainably.
• improvement in trade and current account deficit.
• human development asmain focus of planning.

It was indicative plan for the first time. The Plan was formulated in a way so as to manage the transition from a centrally planned economy to market led economy. The targeted annual average rate of growth of the economy during Eighth Plan was 5.6%. Against this, we achieved an average annual growth of 6.5%.
The Plan was based on Rao-Manmohan Singh model of liberalization.
Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002)
The salient features of the Ninth Five Year Plan are a target annual average growth rate of 6.5 per cent for the economy as a whole, and a growth rate of 3.9 per cent for agriculture sector, among others. The key strategies envisaged to realise this target rest on attaining a high investment rate of 28.2 per cent of GDP at market prices. The domestic saving rate, which determines the sustainable level of investment, is targeted at 26.1 per cent of the GDP. Care has been taken to ensure achievement of a sustainable growth path in terms of external indebtedness as well as fiscal stability, Rate of growth achieved was 5.4%
Tenth Plan (See ahead)
Growth Performance in the Five Year Plans (per cent per annum)

	Target	Actual
1. First Plan (1951-56)	2.1	3.61
2. Second Plan (1956-61)	4.5	4.32
3. Third Plan (1961-66)	5.6	3.21
4. Fourth Plan (1969-74)	5.7	4.80
5. Fifth Plan (1974-79)	4.4	5.69
6. Sixth Plan (1980-85)	5.2	5.81
7. Seventh Plan (1985-90)	5.0	6.7
8. Eighth Plan (1992-97)	5.6	5.35
9. Ninth Plan (1997-2002)	6.5	7.8%
10. Tenth Plan(2002-2007)	8%
11. Eleventh Plan( 2007-12)	8.1 (revised 2010)

The economy is expected to expand by 9% per cent in 2010-11- having achieved 8.9% real growth in the first half of 2010-2011. It may rise to 10 per cent in the terminal year of the 11th Plan. Government set an average annual growth target of 9 per cent for the 11th Plan - beginning with 8.5 per cent in the first year and closing with 10 per cent In 2011-12. The MTA document said the economy exceeded expectations in 2007-08, with a growth rate of 9 per cent, but the momentum was interrupted in 2008-09 because of the global financial crisis. Following the globalmeltdown, the growth rate slipped to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09 from over 9 per cent in the preceding three years. In the year 2009-10. the growth rate was 7.6%.

Planning Commission

(The Planning Commission was constituted in March, 1950 by a Resolution of the Government of India, and works under the overall guidance of the National Development Council). (The Planning Commission consults the Central Ministries and the State Governments while formulating Five Year Plans and Annual Plans and also oversees their implementation). (The Commission also functions as an advisory body at the apex level).
The 1950 resolution setting up the Planning Commission outlined its functions as to:

• Make an assessment of the material, capital and human resources of the country, including technical personnel, and investigate the possibilities of augmenting such of these resources as are found to be deficient in relation to the nation's requirement;
• Formulate a Plan for the most effective and balanced utilisation of country's resources;
• On a determination of priorities, define the stages in which the Plan should be carried out and propose the allocation of resources for the due completion of each stage;
• Indicate the factors which are tending to retard economic development, and determine the conditions which, in view of the current social and political situation, should be established for the successful execution of the Plan;
• Determine the nature of the machinery which will be necessary for securing the successful implementation of each stage of the Plan in all its aspects;
• Appraise from time to time the progress achieved in the execution of each stage of the Plan and recommend the adjustments of policy and measures that such appraisal may show to be necessary; and
• Make such interim or ancillary recommendations as appear to it to be appropriate either for facilitating the discharge of the duties assigned to it, or on a consideration of prevailing economic conditions, current policies, measures and development programmes or on an examination of such specific problems as may be referred to it for advice by Central or State Governments.

(The Prime Minister is the ex officio Chairman of the Planning Commission). (Deputy Chairperson enjoys the rank of a cabinet minister). (A member of the Planning Commission enjoys the rank of a Minister of State in the Union Government). Cabinet Ministers with certain important portfolios act as part-time members.
(The Deputy Chairman and the full time Members of the Planning Commission function as a composite body in the matter of detailed plan formulation. (They provide advice and guidance to the subject Divisions of the Commission in the various exercises undertaken for the formulation of Approach to the Five Year Plans, and Annual Plans). Their expert guidance is also available to the subject Divisions formonitoring and evaluating the Plan programmes, projects and schemes.
The Planning Commission functions through several technical/subject Divisions. Each Division is headed by a Senior Officer designated as Pr. Adviser/Adviser/Addl. Adviser/Jt. Secretary/Jt. Adviser.
The various Divisions in the Commission fall under two broad categories:

• General Divisions which are concerned with aspects of the entire economy; and
• Subject Divisions which are concerned with specified fields of development.

The General Divisions functioning in the Planning Commission are:

• Development Policy Division,
• Financial Resources Division, .
• International Economics Division,
• Labour, Employment andManpower Division;
• Perspective Planning Division,
• Plan Coordination Division,
• Project Appraisal and Management Division,
• Socio-Economic Research Unit,
• State Plan Division, including Multi Level Planning, Border Area Development Programme, Hill Area Development and North Eastern Region (NER), and Statistics and Surveys Division,
• Monitoring Cell.

The Subject Divisions are:

• Agriculture Division,
• Backward Classes Division,
• Communication & Information Division,
• Education Division,
• Environment and Forests Division,
• Health & Family Welfare Division,
• Housing, Urban Development & Water Supply Division,
• Industry & Minerals Division,
• Irrigation & Command Area Development Division,
• Power & Energy Division (including Rural Energy, Non-Conventional Energy Sources and Energy Policy Cell)
• Rural Development Division,
• Science & Technology Division,
• Social Welfare & Nutrition Division,
• Transport Division,
• Village & Small Industries Division, and
• Western Ghats Secretariat.

The Programme Evaluation Organisation undertakes evaluation studies to assess the impact of selected Plan Programmes / Schemes in order to provide useful feedback to planners and implementing agencies.
The Commission is a corner-stone of our federal structure, a think-tank ; helps to balance the priorities and expenditures of the Ministries of the Union Government ; throws up ideas on policies for structural and perspective changes ; and is a reservoir of research."

Relevance of Planning

There has been a national debate about the relevance of planning in the era of liberalization where the state controls and regulations are dismantled to a great extent andmarket forces are given larger role. (The investment of the government for the five year plans is also on decline). (The trend began in the 7th plan and strengthens into the Eleventh Plan).
It is true that the quantitative aspects of planning in terms of control over economy are being selectively phased out and the nature of planning process is undergoing a qualitative change. Planning is important for the following reasons in the era of liberalization

• (In a federal democracy like ours, the principal task of planning is to evolve a shared vision among not only the federal units but also among other economic agents so that the efforts of all the actors become convergent towards the national priorities, the role of planning is to develop a common policy stance for center and states. Also, (the task of federal policy coordination is central to Indian Planning). For example, the need to invite foreign investment in infrastructure areas like power need center - state coordination as the necessary legislation and administrative changes involve both.
• While the growth process can be made the responsibility of the corporate sector to a greater degree, its direction and distribution are to be steered by planned public intervention so that regional imbalances are reduced and socio economic inequities are set right. For example, `directing the growth of the large industry into the backward areas and technology intensive areas to realize national goals.
• The nature of instruments available to planners in the implementation has changed. Quantitative controls have yielded place to qualitative ones .The planning process has to focus on the need for planning for policy.
• Planning at the grass roots level that is participatory is very crucial for improving the delivery systems and proper use of the resources. The role of the government is thus to facilitate participatory planning.
• Environmental priorities are a major concern of planning is necessary for the sectors like energy, communication, transport and so on as private sector needs to be guided into the national plan.
• In the era of globalization where corporates are not expected to plan beyond the growth of a particular unit, the (role of safeguarding national interest is that of planning by the State). For example, being subjected to various discriminative trade practices by EU, USA and so on, (the Indian farmers,manufacturers and exporters have to fight sophisticated battles in the WTO for which the legal services and information and building up bargaining power are best provided by the State).

Thus, planning continues to be relevant and ever more so for the following reasons

• Federal cooperation and coordination
• Equitable growth
• Environment friendly development
• Defending national interest in the age of globalization
• Inter-sectoral balance in growth

Changing Role of Planning Commission

(From a highly centralized planning system, the Indian economy is gradually moving onwards indicative planning where hard planning is no longer undertaken). The role of the (Planning Commission) accordingly changes. The Commission concerns itself with the building of a long term strategic vision of the future and decide on priorities of nation. (It works out sectoral targets and provides promotional stimulus to the economy to grow in the desired direction).

Planning Commission plays an integrative role in evolving a national plan in critical areas of human and economic development. (In the social sector, Planning Commission helps in schemes which require coordination and synergy like rural health, drinking water, rural energy needs, literacy and environment protection).

When planning in a vast federal country like India involves multiplicity of agencies, a high powered body like the PC can help in evolution of an integrated approach for better results atmuch lower costs.

In our transitional economy, (Planning Commission attempts to play a systems change role and provide consultancy within the Government for developing better systems). It has to ensure smooth management of the change and help in creating a culture of high productivity and efficiency in the Government.

In order to spread the gains of experience more widely, Planning Commission also plays an information dissemination role.

With the emergence of severe constraints on available budgetary resources, the resource allocation system between the States and Ministries of the Central Government is under strain. This requires the Planning Commission to play a mediatory and facilitating role, keeping in view the best interest of all concerned.

From Planning Commission to Systems Reforms Commission

There has been a significant change in the role of the PC since its inception in 1950. In the beginning, Planning Commission was all powerful and had the final say and the veto over every aspect - related to growth and socio-economic development- of the functioning of the Union Ministries and the State Governments: The manner of raising and utilising resources; specific allocations to particular schemes and programmes; location of enterprises; expansion and reduction of capacities; application of technologies; sources of supplies; modalities of implementation; priorities, phasing, pricing, targets and timeframes; nature of the instrumentalities; qualifications and strength of personnel of organisations; staff emoluments etc.
(Since 1991, India adopted the indicative planning model, away fromthe kind of centralised planning on the Soviet model envisaged by Jawaharlal Nehru). Now Ministries and Departments, as well as the corporate entities in the private sector, enjoy a lot of functional, financial and operational autonomy.
In the era of liberalisation, the economic players should properly be left to decide for themselves what they consider to be the appropriate courses of action on the various issues coming up before them, whether they relate to policies, schemes or investments.