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vol. 11, ISSUE 3 | JUNE 2017 Anil Tyagi | editor GS Sood | business editor Sheshadri Chari | roving editor Alam Srinivas | contributing editor Anish Gandhi | consultant, foreign affairs Narendra Kaushik | associate editor Rakesh Bhardwaj | editorial consultant Ramesh Sharma | bureau chief (north india) Ajit Ujjainkar | bureau chief (mumbai) Mayank Awasthi | sub editor Pawan Kumar | production coordinator Nipun Jain | finance Gautam Das | legal consultant Bushchat Media | edit & design Madan Lal | webmaster Abhisshek Tyagi | director advertising & marketing $1,/ 622' | 9,&( 35(6,'(17 0$5.(7,1* +919811639632 36 685$/ | 9,&( 35(6,'(17 0$5.(7,1* +919873243950 e-mail: asps@gfilesindia.com delhi: e-mail: adv@gfilesindia.com mumbai: 48/C-1, Areshwar, Mhada, S.V.P. Nagar, Andheri(W), Mumbai 400 053 Chandigarh: SCO 5- First Floor, Zirakpur-Shimla Highway, Zirakpur, District Mohali Punjab CONTACT â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 0172-509368 e-mail: rameshsharmaemail@gmail.com kolkata: 1,/2< /$+,5, +919830071652 ranchi: 0$1,1'(5 .80$5 6,1+$ +917461999985 $1,/ 7<$*, 35,17(5 38%/,6+(5 QG IORRU GGD VLWH QHZ UDMLQGHU QDJDU QHZ GHOKL Ä&#x192; +All information in gfiles is obtained from sources that the management considers reliable, and is disseminated to readers without any responsibility on our part. Any opinions or views on any contemporary or past topics, issues or developments expressed by third parties, whether in abstract or in interviews, are not necessarily shared by us. Copyright exclusively with Sarvashrestha Media Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction of any material of this magazine in whole, or in part(s), in any manner, without prior permission, is totally prohibited. The publisher accepts no responsibility for any material lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with any advertisement without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisements Code. Published and printed by Anil Tyagi on behalf of Sarvashrestha Media Pvt. Ltd at Polykam Offset, C-138, Naraina Industrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi 110028. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts in New Delhi only

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S India heading for a war with Pakistan in Kashmir? Will there be a solution to the Kashmir problem? India has been waiting for long to find a way out of the labyrinthine puzzle that the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Kashmir problemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; has posed for nigh seven decades and has only become more complex with every passing one. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a year since Burhan Muzaffar Wani, a Hizbul Mujahideen commander, was gunned down by the Army in its counter-terror operation. The valley responded with anger that hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been seen in recent decades despite the continuing stalemate in solving the problems of Kashmir. The Indian Army and paramilitary forces are fighting a proxy war waged by Pakistan using local Kashmiris as their weapon. No doubt, Kashmir is a multifaceted issue. India has carried this eczema for the last 70 years; sometime it subsides and at others, it inflames. But now the cracks, crevices and wounds have begun to bleed like never before and a view is gaining ground that the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;heaven on Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is now nowhere to be found. The Kashmir issue has three obvious players: the Kashmiris, the Indian Government and the non-state actor, Pakistan. Anyone who has ever dealt with the issues that plague Kashmir will assert that dialogue is the only way to resolve the crisis. But then, advocates of more radical measures wonder: dialogue with whom and for what? This issue of gfiles analyses the complex Kashmir problem. Our writers, Anil Anand, Mohd Sayeed Malik and MK Kaw share their respective insights on the issue, coupled with their personal experiences. There are divergent views among those who are dealing with the issueâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;declaring LOC as international border; abolition of Article 370 as long advocated by the BJP; withdrawing the armed forces from the valley; revoking the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 (AFSPA) from Jammu and Kashmir; and, sanctioning autonomy to the valley. These suggestions have a multiplier impact in India. The Mehbooba Mufti government is fighting a war for survival while her arch-rivals and former chief minsters Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar, are staring at political irrelevance for now. Hurriyat leaders are constantly changing goalposts and the BJP/RSS combine is analysing their newly acquired power in the State while stakes rise for the Narendra Modi-led central government. There are around 200 top ranking individuals who head political and government dispensations and reports of money exchanging hands among State and non State actors within the valley have continued to rise. Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s State actors generously fund not only terror outfits active in Kashmir but also the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;parallelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; political leadership active in the region. Nobody wishes to give up on this hefty loot. Keeping the Kashmir issue alive is a lucrative employment and may well be a reason for perpetuating the Kashmir issue. But can any conflict sustain without the support of the people of the land? No. Why are the people of Kashmir so agitated and disenchanted with the central, State and local leadership? According to one survey there are 41 lakh unemployed youth in the Valley. The three biggest employment generators in the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;handicraft, horticulture and tourismâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;are facing their own challenges. The common Kashmiri does not know intricacies of governance; he/she needs employment to keep the embers of the household kitchen burning. Dialogue, coupled with a rock-solid delivery mechanism for promises made by the government, is perhaps the only mantra to calm the burning Chinar. ANIL TYAGI HGLWRU#JĂ&#x20AC;OHVLQGLD FRP

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

CONTENTS

COVER STORY

Kashmir: Spinning out of control With even schoolchildren coming out to protest on the streets, the situation in Kashmir is the worse than the one prevailing in the militancy hit 1990s. In the absence of any overture by the Centre and total helplessness of the State government, the path to peace in Kashmir looks elusive. Political dialogue is the only option, which has even been advocated by two Generals of the Indian Army. Their voice needs to be heeded.

pg 8

Dialogue, the only way out Let the security apparatus do its job as it had been doing so efficiently and listen to the considered opinion of former senior Army commanders that channels of communications be restored with all political stakeholders

Can we retain Kashmir?

pg 18

Bric-a-Brac Nagarjuna case resurfaces, Kejriwal gets lucky, Vaghela taking stock?, Captive audience pg 6

Governance: Demonetisation and WHUURU ÀQDQFLQJ

pg 24

Ordeal at the Attari border during a recent visit to LahoreIslamabad (Pakistan) via Amritsar-Attari-Wagah-GT Road after a JDS RI DOPRVW \HDUV $V WROG WR JÀOHV E\ % 0XUDOLGKDU 5HGG\ pg 32

Governence: Digitalising farm market? Pushing the farmers towards a ‘digital market’ with the force of ODZ LV OLNH DVNLQJ WKH EXON RI WKHP WR Á\ EHIRUH WKH\ FDQ VWDQG on their feet. Will this extreme be inclusive and sustainable? It remains to be seen pg 38

Governence: GST roll out: Will it impact the common man?

The government claims that the new tax regime would be

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

pg 22

revenue neutral, which means that the common man VKRXOG QRW EH DGYHUVHO\ DIIHFWHG %XW D UHYLHZ DIWHU RQH \HDU is advisable.

State Scan: Uttar Pradesh: Making the State investor friendly

pg 42

The State has tremendous locational advantage along with advantages of connectivity that offers opportunities to harness untapped potentials of growth pg 46

An analysis of whether the decision to replace the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes from circulation has impacted terrorism funding and is it enough to have a long-term impact on terror funding and militant activities.

Experience: Border woes

It is a question that is on the top of the mind for crores of Indians

Diaspora: Typist to a tycoon

5DP %X[DQL·V MRXUQH\ WR WKH SHDN RI VXFFHVV PDWFKHV WKH one of Dubai’s transformation from a shabby port town to a hub of world business

Perspective: For a seamless life By the Way

pg 52 pg 54

Criteria blues, In Gupta’s defence, In the spotlight, Shake up or shake down pg 61

Plus... Birthdays of MPs, Civil Servants Tracking: Transfers & Postings

pg 55 pg 58

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LETTERS editor@gfilesindia.com

not become a burden. He asked civil servants to strive towards such arrangements. LK Misra via blog This is with reference to the May cover story on the Civil Service Awards (‘Competitive Federalism’, gfiles, May 2017). It is important to note that the Prime Minister, on the occasion of Civil Services Day, minced no words in saying that civil servants today bear a great responsibility, more than ever before. Earlier, the government was almost the sole provider of goods and services, which left a lot of scope for ignoring one’s shortcomings. However, now, very often, people perceive that the private sector offers Recognition and reward The 11th Civil Services Day was indeed a better services than government. day of rededication, as described by Prime Therefore, with alternatives now being available in several areas, the responsibilMinister Narendra Modi. The cover story ities of government officers have ‘Competitive Federalism (gfiles, May 2017) rightly focused on the key message increased. As the Prime Minister emphaof the Prime Minister. He emphasised the sised this increase is not in terms of scope of work, but in terms of the challenge. importance of competition, which brings qualitative change. He said that the soon- And therefore, the service as a whole er the attitude of Government can change needs to gear up to meet this challenge. S Shweta via email from regulator to enabler, the faster this challenge of competition will become an opportunity. The Prime Minister said that Coast in peril I would like to commend MG while the absence of Government in a Devasahayam on his article highlighting sphere of activity should be perceptible, its presence in a sphere of activity should the environmental peril of India’s coast-

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line and beaches (gfiles, May 2017). This aspect is often disregarded in environmental fora and dialogue overshadowed by climate change, endangered wildlife and diminishing forests. As pointed out in the article, the coastline includes sand dunes, mangroves, coral reefs, sea grasses, salt marshes, mud flats, atomic minerals, estuaries, lagoons and unique marine flora and fauna. Planned changes to India’s coastal zone law to allow reclaiming land from the sea and the use of thousands of miles of coastal land for commercial purposes will damage the environment and affect the livelihoods of millions of fishermen. The Marine Coastal Regulation Zone notification proposes to lift the ban on reclamation of seabed land for commercial purposes, allow tourism in ecologically sensitive coastal areas and the building of new coastal roads. Relaxing environment rules will have a serious impact on a country already suffering the effects of climate change. Environmentalists say the coastal development norms under the draft Marine Coastal Regulation Zone notification 2017 is weaker than the current Coastal Regulation Zone notification, 2011. The new notification also proposes to allow temporary tourism facilities in ecologically sensitive areas. Ashok Singh via email

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

Bric-a-brac informers & information

Removing a judge nagarjuna case resurfaces

N April 20, 54 Rajya Sabha members gave a motion notice to Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Hamid Ansari demanding impeachment proceedings against the present Justice CV Nagarjuna Reddy of the High Court for Andhra Pradesh and Telengana. The allegations against the judge vary from nepotism to corruption, disproportionate assets of wealth and interfering in the judicial process. The first attempt to remove Justice Nagarjuna Reddy by 61 members failed in December last year, following the last-minute withdrawal by 19 members. Though the members who have signed the motion cut across the party lines, sources in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat say, that it amounts to shadow boxing between the TDP and the Congress party. The TDP wants impeachment proceedings to begin against Reddy, while the Congress is opposing it since the Judge was appointed during the Congress regime. Rumours have it that the latest attempt is also on the verge of fizzling out with Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad prevailing on MPs to withdraw their names. It is learnt that about 10 MPs have once again withdrawn from the notice. An impeachment motion requires minimum of 50 Rajya Sabha members. Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha Chairman is yet to send it to Chief Justice Khehar Singh for his advice. If the Chief Justice gives a green signal, the Rajya Sabha Chairman would appoint a three-member judicial committee headed by sitting Supreme Court Judge and two other High Court Judges for an enquiry. Parliament is the only means to remove judges from office in the country’s higher judiciary. Since 1950, only four judges of the higher judiciary have faced an impeachment process.

Coup sabotaged by a driver kejriwal gets lucky

T is well known that in the old days, the greatest source of information were barbers, drivers and cooks. But apparently, this holds true even now. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind ind Kejriwal went through such an experience ence lately when his minister Kapil Mishra was as almost on the way to carry out a coup d’état against his d by AAP leaders, government. As narrated the story goes somethingg like this: Just before the Delhi hi Municipal Elections, thee self claimed poet Kumarr Vishwas released a video o tape alleging a selfcentred leader was surrounded by

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

Kapil Mishra convinced 15 sycophants. In the meantime, Kap MLAs that Kejriwal has lost the confidence of the people. AAP leaders info informed that the ruling about the support of 21 BJP was confident ab MLAs who are under investigation by Election misuse of office of profit. Commission for the m So that took the tota total to 36 MLAs. Now for the icing: Kapil Mis Mishra’s driver informed driver that his boss is Manish Sisodia’s d likely to be the new Chief Minister soon. Sisodia’s driver told his boss who informed his boss Kejriwal. immediately inform immediately dismissed Kapil Kejriwal immedia rest is history. Sharma. The re

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Bric-a-brac

years

Vaghela taking stock? rahul in a fix

arendra Modi and his political aide Amit Shah, the master blasters of the politics of checkmate, are learnt to have finalised plans for their Gujarat sweep. Indications from Gujarat are that the polls in the State may be advanced and held before thee tenure of the current government iss over. Sources say many top Congress ess leaders are making a beeline for the he saffron party. The grapevine has it that stalwart state Congress leader er Shankersinh Vaghela is extremelyy upset with the party, and not only refuses to attend any party rally or function, but he did not even meet Rahul Gandhi when the latter visited the state recently. Apparently, then Rahul took the initiative to meet Vaghela. During the tête-à-tête, Vaghela is

said to have put some tough demands to Rahul. The first is he should be made the party’s face in the next st state polls; and, second, that he should be given complete freedom in ticket gi dis distribution for at least 100 seats. Rahul clearly said that the party Rah would wou not declare anyone as CM designate. Vaghela, in the desig meanwhile, has been in constant mean touch with Amit Shah through a Mumbai Mum businessman. Apart from this, Vaghela is still friendly with V Narendra Naren Modi. Besides, the BJP is also in conversation with two scions of fo former Congress biggies: Tushar, son of late Amarsinh Chaudhary, and Bharatsinh Solanki, son of Madhavsinh Bh Solanki, and they may join the saffron camp S any day.

BJP’s mega media exercise captive audience

T was indeed a mega media PR exercise, the biggest ever conducted by the BJP. The context was Prime Minister Modi’s completion of three years in office on May 26, 2017. It is needless to say, that the BJP is at a peak, having captured majority of the States besides ruling at Centre with total command. It was cause for celebration. The BJP conducted a two-day—May 27 and 28— media show highlighting the achievements made by the Modi regime during the last three years. The venue was the government-owned Ashok Hotel in the Capital, with BJP Chief Amit Shah calling the shots and holding informal consultations and interactions with the who’s who in media. The lunch on Saturday was for the electronic media followed by dinner with social media and website bosses. This was followed by a Sunday lunch for print media— English and Hindi. The dinner that day was for regional media bosses and chief of bureaus. Each event included an hour-and-a-half powerpoint presentation by party spokespersons and Union Ministers on a huge 25-metre-long digital board.

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

COVER STORY kashmir anil anand

Kashmir: Spinning out of control With even schoolchildren coming out to protest on the streets, the situation in Kashmir is the worse than the one prevailing in the militancy hit 1990s. Making the situation worse is the Centre’s abhorrence to involve those forming the middle ground in the Valley and the PDP-BJP State government’s inability to resolve their differences. This has resulted in misgovernance, giving rise to a situation which is being merrily cashed in on by separatists and pro-Pakistan elements. But, in the absence of any overture by the Centre and total helplessness of the State government, the path to peace in Kashmir looks elusive. Political dialogue is the only option, which has even been advocated by two Generals of the Indian Army. Their voice needs to be heeded.

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

LAMOUR for peace is the buzzword when it comes to discussing Kashmir situation in the midst of current spate of violence. It has always been a tricky situation to predict either the causes behind turmoil in the valley or the possible way out in quest of peace. Yet, there has never been a dearth of efforts in the past to break the vicious circle with fair amount of success. Currently Kashmir is passing through a phase of turmoil which has come in the wake of a new political backdrop and, subsequently, many new and dangerous dimensions added to it. It has made the task daunting, but not impossible, for those who are in the quest of or clamouring for peace. It is being perceived—and it is not entirely wrong—that Kashmir is passing through the worst phase of terrorism or unrest, even worse than those days of 1990 when the valley was almost shut with no political activity in sight to sustain democracy. A big difference this time is that a demo-

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cratically elected government is in place—the debate over its efficacy apart—whereas in the mid-90s the official agencies struggled hard to start the democratic process to give a chance to the people to elect a dispensation of their choice. In the normal course, it is fraught with danger to predict or even analyse as to what triggered a particular situation at a particular time. It is akin to sticking one’s neck out to forecast weather in the valley, which in the hills changes by the hour. The current situation has a different dimension and is a break from the past in the sense that certain possibilities were looming large after the BJP-PDP combine came to power and those needed to be either pre-empted or addressed well in time to at least lessen the impact, if not prevent it altogether. Preventing occurrence of such a situation in Kashmir had always been a tall order. There was nothing unconstitutional about this alliance forged between

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two political parties which secured majority of seats, the PDP in Kashmir and the BJP in Jammu region. But the underlying difference between their respective political ideologies and the strong public perception against the PDP in Jammu and that against the BJP in Kashmir was bound to turn into a flash point if not handled tactically. The worst fears have come true and the situation has been allowed to spin out of control because of the sheer apathy of the two alliance partners. Could this gap between the two ruling alliance partners be bridged or public perceptions changed? One

convenient answer, again based on certain perceptions, is in the negative.

T definitely was a difficult alliance and needed to be followed-up with painstaking efforts to make it acceptable in the eyes of people of both Jammu and Kashmir, more so in Kashmir. But that was never done. As a result, public unrest took over everything else and Pakistan merrily fished in the troubled waters as has been its wont in the past. The leaders of both the BJP and the PDP needed to be commended to come together despite strong differences on almost all issues. But it

The PDP-BJP alliance was a difficult one and needed to be followed-up with painstaking efforts to make it acceptable in the eyes of people of both Jammu and Kashmir, more so in Kashmir. But that was never done. As a result, public unrest took over and Pakistan merrily fished in the troubled waters

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

COVER STORY kashmir anil anand

would be naive to accept that all their differences ended with the claim of coming together to meet aspirations of people of the two regions and, at the same time, bridge the gap between Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh which was at a dangerous level. This claim has since fallen flat. The PDP founder and the then Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, could have been a great asset in the matter of making the alliance acceptable in Kashmir. But his unenviable position of a veteran Kashmiri leader was never used to its full potential by his ally and big brother BJP. The ailing Mufti died a dejected man, though he never showed any remorse for having joined hands with the BJP.

IS death further compounded the problem both within the alliance and the PDP with his inexperienced daughter Mehbooba Mufti replacing him. Her problems were aggravated by the attitude of the overzealous ally leadership. They wanted her to speak in their tone and at the same time perform, thereby putting her as well as the alliance’s existence into danger. To be fair to Mufti Sayeed, he took a greater risk than the BJP in joining hands with the saffron party and accorded more space to his ally. In turn, he expected some elbow space to sell the alliance in the Muslim majority Kashmir. But that never happened. The hardening of stance on BJP’s part not to look beyond the party’s stated thinking and give alliance a real chance on the ground by transcending beyond government formation, led to the situation slipping out of hand to the advantage of separatists and pro-Pakistan elements. So, in more than one way, there is something unique about the problem erupting afresh circa 2017. There was

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

Mehbooba Mufti: On the horns of a dilemma

NCE a firebrand leader who would promptly reach out to the families of terrorists killed in encounters with security forces, PDP president and chief minister Mehbooba Mufti is today the most vulnerable. Given the choice, she would not continue in a coalition which, apart from being unacceptable to her core support base, is one where her hands are tied and lips sealed. Also, she has to cater to BJP’s discourse in which there is no space for soft-peddling even in the name of Kashmiriyat. But, she has no option but to continue the alliance unless BJP pushes her to the brink. But, as Mehbooba has adopted a line in consonance with the BJP’s national politics, the national leadership of the party is shy of taking the BJP-PDP alliance to a breaking point. On certain counts they have given Mehbooba some elbow space on issues like Article 370, but beyond that she is at their mercy. In a way, Mehbooba-led PDP and BJP have become indispensable for each other till the time the parties have a total rethink. The other option for the BJP is to engineer defection in PDP and create a new alliance. Such rumours were in the air and at least two senior PDP leaders had showed inclination to lead the charge, but the move could never take off. Such a move, if it happens, is fraught with serious consequences. First, the memories of GM Shah experiment, who was installed as Chief Minister after Dr Farooq Abdullah’s majority government was removed by engineering defections in mid-1980s, are still etched in peo-

ple’s mind. Secondly, adventure by any PDP leader to break the party to align with the BJP is easier said than done, given the present public mood and the volatile situation. Mehbooba has lost credibility in people’s eye as she is being perceived as furthering the BJP’s interests in the Kashmir Valley. The issues of misgovernance have taken a back seat and totally clouded by politics. Replacing her with a new dispensation may not help generate public sympathy in her favour, but it would certainly create another villain in whosoever becomes the Chief Minister. Mehbooba’s dismissal or imposing Governor’s rule would only add to the chaos and bring the Centre in direct clash with the situation at ground. Although the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Jitendra Singh, has recently made an “off-thecuff” remark about a possible shift to rotational system with the BJP having a Chief Minister, it neither has seriousness nor acceptability on ground. That would only provide Mehbooba an excuse to walk-out of the alliance. – Anil Anand

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Hurriyat: Losing relevance

HE All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), even at best of times, in terms of separatist amalgam’s relevance, has only been a talking shop. Its leaders have a knack at hobnobbing with Pakistan to foment trouble in the valley, which was always done at a price and, at the same time, keep certain quarters in Delhi convinced that the Hurriyat could come handy while initiating a dialogue at some juncture. Of late, the Hurriyat has totally lost its relevance. In fact, even in the run-up to the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, its leaders were confined to their houses. Most Hurriyat constituents are either one-man army or have very small pockets of influence. Under the present circumstances, the movement on ground has totally slipped out of their hands. The new generation of separatists, influenced by a set of radicalised youth such as Burhan Wani, have been openly questioning the standing and contribution of Hurriyat leaders. The Hurriyat leadership, of both Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Syed Ali

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Shah Gilani factions, are at a crossroads. They are in a dilemma of their own making for running the risk of losing clout with Islamabad and, at the same time, totally discrediting themselves in the eyes of Kashmiris for amassing wealth and ensuring that their own wards enjoyed all privileges. The only plus point with Hurriyat factions is that these have some experienced leaders. Despite having lost ground to a new set of separatists of the Wani genre, Mirwaizs and Gilanis can still play a meaningful role to extricate Kashmir from the current mess and help create a situation where dialogue could be held for all the stakeholders. For that to happen, the Hurriyat leaders would have to do some soul searching and become more transparent about their financial matters. Other than Hurriyat, the rest of the separatist diaspora is unorganised and leaderless. But somehow, due to certain factors related to mainline politics, they have generated public sympathy. – Anil Anand

a simmering discontent resulting out of the formation and, later, inaptitude of the BJP-PDP ruling coalition. As stated earlier, there was a strong sense of prediction this time with none other than a former GoC and some others time and again pleading that factors, other than the security forces, should also actively come into play to pre-empt a dangerous situation building around.

ORMER Northern Command chief, Lt Gen DS Hooda, on the eve of his retirement made a strong case for opening dialogue, particularly with agitated youth. This suggestion assumes more significance in the backdrop of another thoughtprovoking comment made by him that he did not see an easy solution to end Kashmir conflict and called it a “long war” that would require “long term approach” and that militarily the situation has largely come under control. His views were somewhat shared by former Army chief, Gen VP Malik, particularly in regard to opening a dialogue and seeking a political solution to the problem. That in no way suggests that the security apparatus has to lower their guard, which was made amply clear by them. It is the prerogative of any new elected government to formulate new policies to tackle situations like those prevailing in Kashmir. So did the BJP government under Narendra Modi. But, somewhere in this new formation, the views of the two Generals have not found an echo till date. A new doctrine is at play in Jammu and Kashmir. It is based more on the asserting authority of the State, which is fair. But it overlooks the need for a middle ground to open a dialogue. The only commonality between the earlier policies and the new Kashmir doctrine is that in both the cases the

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

COVER STORY kashmir anil anand

alarming trend of radicalisation of Kashmiri society, particularly the youth, has been overlooked. Barring the Army, which has laid greater focus involving youth at various levels, no other arm of either the Central or the State government has done anything concrete in this direction. Behind observations of these Generals is a strong feeling to prevent any situation where protesting mobs come face to face with a fully trained professional army. This is direly needed to avoid a catastrophic situation and protect the Army’s sanctity.

HAT the two Generals have been implying through their thrust on dialogue is that the political process should take over from where the security forces have retrieved the situation. The increasing scenes of college and school students, particularly girls, taking to the streets in protest and raising anti-India slogans are a reflection to the fact that their worst fears have started to come true. A key to preventing this situation, and as propagated by not only the Generals but by other sections of the society also, was protecting the middle ground necessary to keep some channels open for dialogue with all the stakeholders. Instead of protecting the middle ground, which has dangerously shrunk over the months, the debate on this count has been snubbed with Centre’s (read BJP) reiteration that no talks would be held with the stone-pelting youth on the street, or that the dialogue would be held only after the last gun of the terrorists is silenced. Asserting the State’s authority is an important part of State craft and there are no two views about it. But, in the context of a democratic polity, the

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match between what the security apparatus has achieved and what the political arm (read the Centre and the State government) would not do. There are limitations to what security forces could do in a well-defined democratic system, as pointed out by the Generals. They have a limited but an important role to contain a situation and then provide a safe platform for governmental and political activities to reach out to the people and win their hearts and minds.

The hardening of stance on BJP’s part not to look beyond the party’s stated thinking and give the alliance a real chance on the ground by transcending beyond government formation, led to the situation slipping out of hand to the advantage of separatists and proPakistan elements exertion of the State’s authority has to be followed or accompanied with measures that keep people’s confidence in the system intact. In the current context, a dichotomous situation has arisen. The State’s one way assertion of authority has led to the muz-

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zling of saner voices in the Kashmiri society. A buffer which could have, as in the past, helped explore middle ground for a dialogue is under great danger of losing its voice. This apart, the current situation has arisen also due to a total mis-

HE process of containment of terrorism necessarily needs to be accompanied by simultaneously exploring avenues to open dialogue with all the stakeholders. Of course, it is the prerogative of the government of the day to decide how, when and where to start the dialogue, or its mechanism, through direct or indirect means. But, it is a necessity to break the logjam and the only potent avenue is through dialogue. The hardening of stance in a particular direction by the ruling alliance partners has also led to a serious difference in the thinking of the political masters and what those manning the security felt. Ostensibly, under political compulsions and matching up to the new doctrine of nationalism which could have a bearing for the BJP at national level if seen propagating a dialogue with all the stakeholders, the situation in Kashmir was allowed to drift. It created a fertile ground for the separatist and radical interests to sway the sentiment towards a direction where it suited them the most. The absence of any mechanism to engage the society made things easier for them to mould public opinion to their advantage. That is certainly not to suggest that there is only one shade of public opinion in the valley and that

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COVER STORY kashmir anil anand

everyone concurred with those pelting stones on the streets and totting guns. Strong abhorrence to dialogue till the last gun has been silenced has led to more protests and resultant causalities. Somehow, it has resulted in a situation where the entire population seems to have been united by a common sentiment. This is an alarm of a different kind and a more dangerous one. The stonepelters and gun-wielding youth are considered as stray and indoctrinated groups, but the number of their sympathisers in the society has grown sizably. The college and school students are increasingly hitting the road in protest while the State government is

haplessly looking the other way; these are dangerous dimensions. So what really was the trigger behind the current situation?

Lok Sabha bye-election, the other postponed, and poll for 11 seats to the State Legislative Council were dutifully completed to maintain the charade of strengthening democracy. Notwithstanding the serious situation prevailing on the ground, the purpose was to somehow complete the electoral drill without caring for people’s sentiment. Not that this has happened for the first time in this troubled State. On the face of it, this electoral phase might

Former Northern Command chief, Lt Gen DS Hooda, on the eve of his retirement made a strong case for opening dialogue, particularly with agitated youth. This suggestion assumes significance in the backdrop of another thoughtprovoking comment made by him that he did not see an easy solution to end Kashmir conflict and called it a “long war” that would require “long term approach” and that militarily the situation has largely come under control

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look a miniscule one, but it has hit the credibility of poll process much harder than at any stage in the past. National Conference chief patron, Dr Farooq Abdullah, won the Srinagar Lok Sabha bye-election which recorded the lowest ever 7 per cent polling, with his share being less than 50 per cent. The legislative council polls witnessed the ruling alliance partners BJP and PDP clashing and not collaborating with each other. These are certainly disturbing developments particularly from the peoples’ perspective and have tossed certain serious questions even as the previous concerns arising after such situations have remained unanswered for all times to come. There is a question mark on whether these bye-elections should have been held or not? The decision to hold polls is in itself mired in controversies. Majority of the key players involved in the conduct of elections were of the strong view that the situation was not conducive for elections. It was intriguing that one found the Election Commission of India (EC) and the Home Ministry on opposite sides of the fence on this issue. This is another matter that their difference came to light only in the post-Srinagar poll scenario as the blame game over low polling began. The ministry claims it had advised the EC against this while the latter boasted that it does not require the ministry’s clearance to hold elections, that too in a place as sensitive as Kashmir. The security related arrangements are in the ministry’s domain. So the EC’s claim seems too farfetched. It is only reflective of a bigger malady that has set in. Although it has nothing to do with the functioning of either the Home Ministry or the EC, the malady has its basis in the differing political perception of the BJP and the PDP

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over handling of Jammu and Kashmir. The security forces were too stressed to be pushed into the poll process without any thinking and a proper plan in place. As a result, the worst fears of the two General have come true and security forces have been left bruised, cornered and forced to offer explanations for acts which they were asked to perform as their duty. At the same time, those who should have been actually blamed for creating a mess due to misgovernance or total lack of good governance are sitting pretty and celebrating victories. There is no doubt that holding of bye-elections was a big trigger this time for vested interests to seize the opportunity. A non-existent State government with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti caving-in when she was expected to stand up and seen to be at total mercy of the Centre, has led to a hopeless situation. It was justifiable in the early 1990s to start political process at all costs

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when the valley was under the tight grip of Pakistan-sponsored terrorist outfits. The political class also showed courage and fought elections at great personal risk. Dr Abdullah was one among them. So, in some ways, the low polling percentage was also seen as an achievement.

UT in 2017, after a lot of hard work and sacrifices made particularly by the security forces in retrieving the situation, the abysmally low 7 per cent polling is simply unacceptable. More seriously, the repoll in 38 polling booths recorded a pathetic 1 per cent voting and still the system had the audacity to accept this outcome. It is certainly not to blame the people of Kashmir who have on many occasions in the past shown their faith in the power of ballot. Those who either misread the situation or allowed elections to happen for personal reasons are certainly to be blamed.

The situation was on an even keel both in Srinagar and Anantnag Lok Sabha constituencies. How come elections happened in Srinagar and postponed indefinitely in the latter simply because South Kashmir, of which Anantnag is a significant part, the mainstay of the ruling PDP, was up in arms against the Muftis or that Dr Abdullah was “assured” of his victory in Srinagar. The political machinations seemed to be at full play in these bye-elections. Some willingly and others unknowingly became part of this. Decidedly the people of the State have been the losers once again. The BJP-PDP alliance was justified by the two partners on two pretexts; First, to provide good governance and second, and more importantly, to bridge the dangerously increasing gap between Jammu and Kashmir regions. In over two years of its existence, the alliance has miserably failed on both these counts. Again, a significant factor responsible for it is

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COVER STORY kashmir anil anand

the failure of the two parties to thrash out a common ground to provide them a cushion against their regional political interests and, in the case of the BJP, even the national one. The governance is the worst sufferer all this while with corruption is rampant at all levels. It seems there is no attempt to set the house in order by either of the two ruling alliance partners who are focused on pursuing their respective brand of politics. A strong impression has gathered that the Chief Minister finds herself in a state of helplessness to convince the Centre to accept certain ground realities. How would anyone describe the visuals of a small group of security personnel surrounded by an irate anti-India slogan shouting mob? This is the worst testimony of erosion of the State’s authority. This was another matter that the security personnel maintained their cool and did not use weapons to open fire in self-defence. The security forces, particularly the Army, have a prescribed role in any given situation; more so in an internal conflict. Trained to kill the enemy, the Army has its limitations when dealing with own people in such situations. Thus, there arises a need for a dialogue and to engage with the people to prevent any direct clash between them and the Army. It is rather disturbing that the Army has willy-nilly become the focal point in public discourse in this conflict. In fact, they are finding themselves caught in the crossfire. What better describes the situation than the words of Lt General Hooda: The Army is “either being strongly supported or strongly hated”. A rather unlikable situation has arisen for the Army where fingers are sought to be raised on its rich secular and impartial image.

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His words are not less than a pointer towards emanating alarming signals. Again, the underlying concern behind these words of caution is to prevent mass protests through other means so as not to land the Army in a direct clash with the public.

T General Hooda and people of his ilk should be heard carefully when they talk of the need to have a “calm, practical and realistic” look at the situation, which is very complex and having cross-connections at every intersection. They speak from a position of strength while making such suggestions and these should not be misconstrued as weakness. In the current situation what worries one the most is the continuous

widening of conflict zone and simultaneous shrinking of the middle ground. If still left untended, it can further add to the problems. Interestingly, the conflict zone had considerably shrunk after peak militancy days of the 1990s. This was made possible mainly through coordinated efforts of the government and the security apparatus. As a result, not only the political process was restarted after a decade of turmoil but free and fair elections could be held thereafter. This, in turn, led to improved governance and willingness to talk within Kashmir and on a separate stage with Pakistan. The killing of home-grown militant outfit Hijbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, a local, and develop-

The BJP-PDP alliance was justified by the two partners on two pretexts; First, to provide good governance and second, and more importantly, to bridge the dangerously increasing gap between Jammu and Kashmir regions. In over two years of its existence, the alliance has miserably failed on both these counts. Again, a significant factor responsible for it is the failure of the two parties to thrash out a common ground to provide them a cushion against their regional political interests and, in the case of the BJP, even the national one

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ments thereafter, has not only given rise to a new generation of militants but has also pushed the educational institutions, down to school levels, into the conflict zone. Mishandling of the circumstances connected with Wani’s killing had a catastrophic effect on the situation. There have been persistent efforts by Pakistan and its agent to drum local support to foment trouble through acts of terrorism. It is a recorded fact that even during the peak militancy days it was difficult for them to get local recruits into their cadres. However, in the post-Wani scenario, local recruitments have become easier and, in many cases, voluntary. This has emboldened dreaded terrorists outfits such as Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahiddin. One area which needed a greater focus was the alarming increase in the radicalisation of the youth. There are no visible attempts over the years, leave alone formulating a policy, to arrest this trend. It required efforts at the societal levels by tapping the saner elements. But, with the middle ground shrinking fast either out of fear or sympathy, such efforts could

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become more difficult. In the name of middle-pathbreakers, there are only stray efforts by certain private quarters or peacenicks to save and strengthen this middle ground. One such effort was made by former Foreign Affairs Minister and veteran BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and some other stray groups without eliciting any response from the Centre. None from the valley’s saner elements have so far shown any inclination to make efforts on this front unless the ground situation improves.

ACKLING Kashmir crisis is a long-drawn battle and requires strategy on firm footing which should be divested of political and electoral compulsions. There is a school of thought which backs a Punjab-like operation in the valley using power of the gun. This is the most unfeasible option, particularly in Kashmir which is demographically homogeneous and will be fraught with repercussions. Reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir or its trifurcation is being forwarded as another solution. This is easier said than done. Giving statehood to Jammu region and Union

Territory status to Ladakh have been in the agenda of the BJP since the days of its earlier avatar, Bharatiya Jan Sangh, apart from the abrogation of Article 370. Not only the three regions are presently dangerously placed against each other but situation is far from normal even within the regions. There are divisions and sub-divisions in the respective regions and any attempt at reorganisation without building consensus at all levels would create problems afresh. As an option, trifurcation of the State can be put as an agenda on the discussion table. It needs to be explored during times of normalcy otherwise it could prove to be a costly proposition; a hasty decision could propel a fresh wave of discontent in all the three regions. The priority of the day should be to first control the situation and keep the dialogue option open at all levels. It is important in the national interest to protect the Army’s sanctity. The trifurcation of the State could be an option to be explored during times of normalcy. Else, fishing in troubled waters could prove too costly. g

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

COVER STORY

kashmir mohammad sayeed malik

ASHMIR’ has been and, in all probability, will remain India’s perpetual ‘work-in-progress’ in the foreseeable future. Lack of political imagination/will, both in New Delhi and Srinagar, has more to do with it than any of its other factors, including inherent volatility in the valley’s ground situation or the menacing Pakistan dimension of the festering problem. For sure, the situation in the valley is worrisome. Unabated violence is adding to emotional alienation as the lines of communication between local

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rulers and the ruled as well as those between (political) Srinagar and New Delhi have broken down. Consequently, the security apparatus has to take more load than it is designed to sustain the desired minimum politico-constitutional equilibrium. For this reason, even the redressal mechanism—judiciary—has been rendered almost dysfunctional. Near absence of rule of law and non-redressal of accumulated grievances aggravate alienation on the ground. Desperation is a natural consequence. It is a vicious circle, trapping every

organ of the State as much as the aggrieved local population. Periodic conflagration is endemic, with agonising dislocation of normal routine. Economy continues to be lashed by its toxic fallout. Two inevitable inferences are— one, New Delhi is either clueless about tackling the deteriorating situation on the ground in Kashmir or it is just not interested in ‘wasting’ its time in exploring political means for dousing the fire; two, the NDA government’s thinking on ‘Kashmir’ has become hostage to (mis)perceived

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ation can be gauged by the fact that not so long ago the voter turn-out in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as well as in the subsequent State Assembly elections was between 50 and 70 per cent. Those who know and understand the objective ground reality will testify that political factors have much more to do with this slump in popular mood than the level of violence on the ground. Yet, this very crucial factor either escapes the attention at the top or is deliberately ignored for doubtful reasons. The result is excessive thrust upon security (law and order) measures without supplementing the effort on the political front. Ironically, this critical discrepancy has been pointed out, time and again,

ground situation continues to take its heavy toll. The mainstream political class in the valley finds itself squeezed into a corner and rendered pathetically clueless.At the grassroot level, their political workers are preoccupied with their families’ physical safety. The situation has taken a full turn from where it was till a year or so after the 2014 general elections when the mainstream appeared to be having an upper hand in steering the course of events. Today they find it safer to be led by the course of unfavourable events on the ground rather than leading. As of now, they are stranded and left with Hobson’s choice. The worst casualty is the ruling PDP whose Agenda of Alliance (AoA)

Even the redressal mechanism—judiciary—has been rendered almost dysfunctional. Near absence of rule of law and non-redressal of accumulated grievances aggravate alienation on the ground. Desperation is a natural consequence. It is a vicious circle, trapping every organ of the State as much as the local population exigencies of its thorny external dimension involving Pakistan. In any case, the mounting toll, in physical and emotional terms, is adding to the estrangement, particularly in the valley. The recent blood-stained ‘election’ in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency is a case in point. Eight persons were killed on the polling day that witnessed poorest ever (7 per cent) voter turnout, making its outcome a mockery and impelling cancellation of the polling in South Kashmir’s Anantnag parliamentary constituency vacated by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti—a grievous psychological setback in the crucial battle between the mainstream and separatists. The range and depth of mass alien-

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by the top Army brass in the state. The then Northern Army Commander Lt Gen DS Hooda went public more than once to exhort that channels of communications be restored with ‘all political stakeholders’. He left no one in doubt about how the ground situation is perceived from within the security apparatus that is, unfairly, left to take the brunt all by itself. Even after their retirement, Lt Gen Hooda as also former Srinagar-based Chinar Corps commander (R) Lt Gen Subrata Saha have been exhorting all concerned to return to the path of debate. Similar voices emanating from political quarters here and in rest of the country have so far got lost in wilderness, even as the deteriorating

with the coalition partner, BJP, has been reduced to an object of ridicule and contempt because the partners have not moved even an inch in implementing it during the past two-and-ahalf years of their stipulated 6-year tenure. It has lost sanctity, if ever it had any. Consequently, the PDP’s public image has taken a beating on its supposed bastion, rendering it politically handicapped. Worse, its credibility on its home ground is mud today. That factor also explains the higher intensity of violence in South Kashmir compared to rest of the troubled valley. It is an irony of the situation today that, contrary to logical consequence of sharp decline in the PDP’s political fortunes, its main rival in the arena,

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

COVER STORY

kashmir mohammad sayeed malik

National Conference also finds itself sharing the same doghouse. That is primarily because the mainstream politics on the whole has become stinky and acquired an abominable image on the ground. The only course out of this messy situation is that the NDA government pauses for a while, takes a cool look at its strategy and tactics of ‘dealing’ with the country’s only Muslim majority state with accumulated heavy historical baggage. To start with, let the coalition leadership, particularly the BJP, revisit its tacit commitment made in the AoA for running the seemingly incompatible arrangement in J&K. That commitment made to the people needs to be honoured, or at least shown some respect. Dialogue with stakeholders, including the Hurriyat and, at a different level, with Pakistan, is a key element of that approach. So are other issues of key political significance. If the internal dimension of India’s Kashmir problem has worsened over the past few years, New Delhi’s failure to honour its commitment (AoA) has much to do with it. And, if Pakistan has been able to find greater space to foment trouble on this side of the LoC, New Delhi must accept its share of the blame (ignoring the commitment made at the time of going into alliance). To be fair, NDA alone is not at fault. Preceding two UPA governments had

The range and depth of mass alienation can be gauged by the fact that not so long ago the voter turn-out in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was above 50 per cent

done no better. Manmohan Singh’s Round Table on Kashmir and its five Working Groups had generated hopes and expectations, only to be drowned in the inexplicable apathy of the UPA leadership in following up their recommendations.

ODAY there is across-the-board lack of credibility. ‘They have no intention to undo the injustices done to us,’ is the understandable common refrain in Kashmir. Result is that when ordinary people come forward to face life-threatening odds and participate in the national democratic exercise, their participation is momentarily hailed loudly but its corresponding obligation is soon forgotten or, as is locally suspected, deliberately ignored. Trust deficit is its inevitable conse-

Today there is across-the-board lack of credibility. ‘They have no intention to undo the injustices done to us,’ is the understandable common refrain in Kashmir. Result is that when ordinary people come forward to face lifethreatening odds and participate in the national democratic exercise, their participation is momentarily hailed loudly but its corresponding obligation is soon forgotten or, as is locally suspected, deliberately ignored

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quence. And that is playing havoc with occasional, feeble attempts to ‘win hearts and minds’. More than once, the people have shown their willingness to trust the ‘other side’ but without any reciprocal gesture. This attitude has to change, unless, of course, ‘affinity of (basic) ideals’, underlying the country’s only Muslimmajority state’s voluntary accession with the Indian Union, against (communal) run of events in 1947, is sought to be jettisoned for some doubtful coercive ideological supremacy. Let the security apparatus do its job as it had been doing so efficiently and so effectively all through the two general elections. Listen to the considered opinion of (former) senior Army commanders and act upon their exhortation. They, more than anyone else, understand ‘Kashmir’ and its nuances. g The writer is a veteran journalist with vast knowledge and experience in reporting, commenting and analyzing political matters. Known for authentic interpretation of the complex Kashmir situation. Former executive editor of the SUNDAY OBSERVER and ex-Director Information & PR J&K Govt (on contract with Sheikh Abdullah govt). Experience in reporting/ analyzing political and electoral matters across several states, including U.P & West Bengal

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

COVER STORY kashmir mk kaw

Can we retain Kashmir? It is a question that is on the top of the mind for crores of Indians

ODAY, more than ever before, people are asking the million dollar question: Can India retain Kashmir? And it is strange that the question is being asked during the prime ministership of Narinder Modi, the most astute head of government that we have had in a long, long time. When Modi assumed office, he made a number of moves that seemed to augur well for a relationship with our neighbour that would provide a dominant role to India. He called a kind of SAARC summit to be held at the inauguration of his tenure, he pretended a friendly relationship with Nawaz Sharif, even going to the extent of attending a family function at his house when there was no invitation, formal or informal to the event. He blew hot and cold with reference to the holding of talks at foreign secretary level, inclusion of the representatives of the separatist lobby, allowing the High Commissioner of Pakistan to host a party in honour of the visiting separatist leaders and so on. He allowed considerable latitude to the alliance partner, even to the extent of not breaking the bond in the face of extreme provocation and letting the stone pelting and school burning mobs have their way. He gave away huge amounts of aid for public welfare to gain the goodwill of the people affected by floods and other calamities. The overall impression he gave was that of an avuncular affection from an indulgent relative who wanted to earn approbation and goodwill from the

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disaffected Muslim population in the valley in order to create a power base for the BJP. In this strategy he did not deviate much from that of his predecessors. Even the much-touted surgical strike was claimed to have been tried in the past by the Congress and National Conference regimes. So where have we got to? Most observers feel that Modi has reached the end of his tether and will have to try out a totally different strategy if he wishes to retain Kashmir valley. Some of the ideas that have been floating round are: Â&#x2021; +H VKRXOG PDVWHUPLQG D FRDOLWLRQ of powers that are being hurt by the Pak menace, with a cohesive, coordinated, cogent response. Â&#x2021; +H VKRXOG WDNH WKH %DOXFKLVWDQ offensive to its logical conclusion, leading finally to its breaking away like Bangladesh. Â&#x2021; 7KH ILQDO VROXWLRQ ZRXOG RI FRXUVH have to be demographic a la the Chinese treatment of Tibet. Â&#x2021; 0DQ\ DVWXWH REVHUYHUV KDYH VWDWHG in private that the threat to Kashmir constitutes a threat to the very existence of India. The RSS will have to play a major role in countering the Pak challenge to the concept of Akhanda Bharat. Â&#x2021; 6RPH RI WKH LGHDV ZRXOG UHTXLUH legal amendments like abrogation of article 370 of the Constitution, rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in secure agglomerations and even walled cities, creation of cantonment-assisted areas where retired army personnel can be allotted land and provided free housing.

Â&#x2021; $OO WKLV FDQQRW KDSSHQ ZLWKRXW D tremendous input from Modi. It will need a massive initiative on the diplomatic front, somewhat reminiscent of Indira Gandhiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diplomatic onslaught prior to her coup in Bangladesh. He will have to convince the great powers that Pakistan is a rogue state, it is the fountainhead of terrorism and drug trafficking and nothing short of its dismemberment would be required if peace and amity has to prevail in the region. Â&#x2021; ,Q WKLV GLSORPDWLF RIIHQVLYH KH ZLOO need the support of other neighbours like the SAARC powers, Iran and so on. The entire narrative may appear to be an extremist vision not related to the ideals of the UN. It will be objected to on the ground that Pakistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s friends like the Chinese, the Wahabis, the ISIS and others will not take such initiatives lightly and that this might trigger off a nuclear war, even the third world war. As behoves a world leader like Modi he will naturally take all perspectives into consideration. Not for a minute is the present writer in favour of all the steps conjured up in the above paper. He has merely inscribed the thoughts of a number of intelligent people who cannot stomach the daily fare of assassination, mutilation, mayhem and destruction that our wily neighbour serves up every morning for our consumption. g MK Kaw is a former Secretary, Government of India

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017 gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

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GOVERNANCE

demonetisation terrorism

Demonetisation DQG WHUURU ÀQDQFLQJ The ‘Demonetisation’ scheme announced by Prime Minister Narender Modi in November 2016 was aimed, among other things, to hit out at terrorist funding. As we reach the six month threshold, Akanksha Narain analyses whether the decision to replace the existing 500 and 1,000 rupee notes from circulation has impacted terrorism funding and is it enough to have a longterm impact on terror funding and militant activities, especially in a scenario where terrorist encounters are a frequent occurrence even today.

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N November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a sudden move, announced his government’s decision to discontinue the legal tender status of `500 and `1,000 notes and instead introduce new 500 and 2,000 denomination currency. This ‘demonetisation’ policy, according to the PM, was aimed at tackling black money, counterfeit currency, disrupting criminal activities and terror financing. The impact of the demonetisation policy, as related to curbing the finance of terrorism, is gradually emerging from the shadow of its surprise announcement. So, after nearly six months, has demonetisation achieved its objectives? And, were its achievements, if any, worth the pain, disruption and despair caused to so many millions in the country, especially when there are reports that the new currency is gradually inching its way back into terror organisations. Since there were widespread reports of the usage of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) for financing of terrorism and drug financing, both the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) felt that demonetisation can contain it. In a note given to Parliament’s Department Related Committee of Finance, the RBI has said: “It occurred to the Government of India and the Reserve Bank that the introduction of new series of notes could provide a very rare and profound opportunity to tackle all the three problems of counterfeiting, terrorist financing and black money by demonetising the banknotes in high denominations of `500 and `1,000 or by withdrawing legal tender status of such banknotes.” Though, the Finance Ministry has reiterated that the demonetisation exercise has had a “positive impact” on terror financing, in its submission

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to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Ministry has admitted that no counterfeit notes were seized by agencies from November 8 to December 30. While an amount of `474.37 crore in new and old currency was seized by the Income Tax department during the demonetisation drive from November 9 to January 4, the Ministry has said it has no information whether the persons from whom the cash was seized were terrorist groups or smugglers. To a specific question by the PAC on how many counterfeit notes of

Though, the Finance Ministry has reiterated that the demonetisation exercise has had a “positive impact” on terror financing, in its submission to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Ministry has admitted that no counterfeit notes were seized by agencies from November 8 to December 30 `500 and `1,000 have been seized from terrorist groups, smugglers of arms, drugs and spies until December 30, the Ministry said, “No counterfeit currencies have been seized by agencies under CBEC (Central Board of Excise and Customs) since November 8, 2016, till December 30, 2016.” Of the total cash seizures between November 8 and January 4, 2017, `112.29 crore was in new currency. A search on 36 hawala operators across the country could bring out new currency worth `20 lakh only! Nature of Threat Firstly, it is important to outline the nature of threat faced by India as

part of the ongoing fight against the finance of terrorism. The finance of terrorism in India includes terror funding from within and beyond the country’s borders. Amongst formal channels, money has been moved through banking channels, as was witnessed prior to the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. It can also involve the use of money transfer service scheme (MTSS), as has been resorted to repeatedly by the Indian Mujahideen (IM) to finance their operations in India. Benefactors in Pakistan transferred money to innocuous middlemen not previously suspected of terrorist linkages in India. This money was later withdrawn and handed over to IM cadres to fund their activities. There have also been attempts to exploit the barter trade between India and Pakistan through over or under valuing the invoice, thereby creating a surplus value, which was then diverted for funding terrorism. As part of the informal channel, large amounts of money are also received in the form of counterfeit currency or FICN that are smuggled into India by air, land and sea. The transfers have at times been routed through third countries in West, South or Southeast Asia. These have also been smuggled across the borders through existing criminal networks. However, the most commonly exploited method of transferring terror funds remains cash. Money is transferred in the form of cash across borders through couriers, and thereafter converted into Indian currency to support terror funding. Cash also forms the last mile instrument of choice, for financing both organisational activities and terrorist operations. This includes money spent for buying weapons, paying cadres or organising terror strikes. This is especially the case with groups which

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demonetisation terrorism

collect their funds directly in the form of extortion, kidnapping or so called taxation. The resultant funds generated are stored as cash or gold. There have also been cases of money being invested in real estate or investments in businesses both inside and beyond Indian borders, to cater for long term needs. The last, and possibly the most commonly used method of transferring value remains hawala in the Indian context, especially by Pakistan and Pakistan-based terror groups which have been fuelling, funding and coordinating terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) as well as through the IM. Impact of Demonetisation O draw a co-relation between demonetisation and its impact on each of the formal and informal channel of terror funding, it is important to examine the role played by 500 and 1,000 rupee denominations at various stages of the finance of terrorism cycle. The financial hit likely to be taken by a terrorist group is closely linked with its cash reserves, the ability to retain liquidity in a business where terror groups choose to invest and the ease of reconverting these assets into liquid money. Groups in Northeast India and the CPI (Maoist) operating in the Naxal affected areas of the country are likely to be hit the most, as a large proportion of their financial reserves are more likely to have been held as cash. Further, investments in property will become relatively difficult to liquidate to recreate funds for organisational support mechanisms. In contrast, Pakistan and J&Kbased terror groups, while impacted, will be able to recuperate faster as they are financed by the Pakistani State, rich donors in West Asia, vol-

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the withdrawal of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes on November 8, 2016

untary collections in Pakistan, FICN or drug money. None of these can be impacted in the long term to an extent that terror organisations are unable to sustain themselves. However, the impact will certainly be felt in the immediate and midterm future, wherein, the cash available for sustaining activities, like civil disobedience in Kashmir Valley, will be sucked out of the terror economy. Though demonetisation can potentially create the necessary conditions for combating the finance of terrorism and is an important step in the

Clearly, the policy cannot serve as a ‘final solution’ to combat violence, fake currency and black money in the system. The policy may temporarily weed out fake currency in the system, but it cannot stop the flow of new and improved forged currency entering the system. Counterfeiting does not require identical replicas, just ‘good enough’ to create distrust in the monetary system

fight against the finance of terrorism, it is neither the first nor the last if the interlinked threats of corruption, crime and the finance of terrorism have to be controlled. The objective of demonetisation is linked with removing unaccounted wealth (black money), criminal proceeds (which is different from black money), as well as FICN and Indian currency hoarded and distributed by terrorist groups. Merely removing a major portion of cash alone will not resolve any of these challenges. The finance of terrorism is yet to become a priority area for Indian intelligence and enforcement agencies. While funding of terrorism by Pakistan in J&K may be an almost 30-year-old phenomenon, groups in Northeast India have continued to extort the local population blatantly for almost seven decades. This has been facilitated by the inability of the State to clamp down on these groups. Some of these regions have also witnessed collusion between powerbrokers and militant groups, which has been complicit in the creation and utilisation of terror funds. The impact of demonetisation must therefore be seen in the context of corruption, crime, money laundering and the financing of terror being closely linked as a symbiotic contagion

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IMBABWE, Fiji, Singapore and Philippines are some of the other countries to have opted for currency demonetisation. Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy collapsed after the 1984 demonetisation move that did not go as planned. The military government of then President Muhammadu Buhari introduced different coloured notes to invalidate WKHLU ROG FXUUHQF\ LQ RUGHU WR Ă&#x20AC;JKW EODFN PRQH\ +RZHYHU WKH GHEW ULGGHQ DQG LQĂ DWLRQ KLW FRXQWU\ GLG QRW WDNH WKH FKDQJH ZHOO DQG WKH HFRQRP\ FROODSVHG In 1982, Ghana rolled out the decision to demonetise WKHLU FHGL FXUUHQF\ QRWHV LQ RUGHU WR WDFNOH WD[ HYDVLRQ DQG HPSW\ H[FHVV OLTXLGLW\ PRQLWRU PRQH\ ODXQGHULQJ and corruption. The change created chaos across the FRXQWU\ DQG Ă&#x20AC;QDOO\ UHVXOWHG LQ D PRYH EDFN WR SK\VLFDO DVVHWV DQG IRUHLJQ FXUUHQF\ ZKLFK REYLRXVO\ PDGH WKH HFRQRP\ ZHDN )URP 'HFHPEHU 3DNLVWDQ KDV SKDVHG RXW WKH ROG QRWHV DV LW ZLOO EULQJ LQ QHZ GHVLJQV 3DNLVWDQ OHJDOO\ LVVXHG WKH WHQGHU D \HDU DQG D KDOI EDFN DQG WKHUHIRUH WKH FLWL]HQV KDG WLPH WR H[FKDQJH WKH ROG QRWHV DQG JHW QHZO\ GHVLJQHG QRWHV 3DNLVWDQÂˇV JRYHUQPHQW SODQV WR LPSOHPHQW WKLV GHPRQHWLVDWLRQ RYHU WKH QH[W WKUHH WR ILYH years, in contrast to Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accelerated approach. =LPEDEZH XVHG WR KDYH note. Yes, a one hundred trillion dollar note! The =LPEDEZHDQ HFRQRP\ ZHQW IRU D WRVV ZKHQ 3UHVLGHQW 5REHUW 0XJDEH LVVXHG HGLFWV WR EDQ LQĂ DWLRQ WKURXJK ODXJKDEOH YDOXH QRWHV $IWHU GHPRQHWLVDWLRQ WKH YDOXH RI WULOOLRQ GROODUV GURSSHG WR GROODU DQG ZHUH DOVR put up on eBay. The demonetisation that happened in North Korea LQ OHIW SHRSOH ZLWK QR IRRG DQG VKHOWHU .LP -RQJ OO LQWURGXFHG D UHIRUP WKDW NQRFNHG RII WZR ]HURV IURP WKH IDFH YDOXH RI WKH ROG FXUUHQF\ LQ RUGHU WR EDQLVK EODFN PDUNHW 0LNKDLO *RUEDFKHY RUGHUHG WR ZLWKGUDZ ODUJH UXEOH ELOOV IURP FLUFXODWLRQ WR WDNH RYHU WKH EODFN PDUNHW 7KH PRYH GLGQÂˇW JR ZHOO ZLWK WKH FLWL]HQV ZKLFK UHVXOWHG LQWR D FRXS DWWHPSW EURXJKW GRZQ KLV DXWKRULW\ DQG OHG WR 6RYLHW EUHDNXS $XVWUDOLD EHFDPH WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW FRXQWU\ WR UHOHDVH SRO\PHU SODVWLF QRWHV WR VWRS ZLGHVSUHDG FRXQWHUIHLWLQJ 6LQFH WKH SXUSRVH ZDV WR UHSODFH SDSHU ZLWK SODVWLF DQG RQO\

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WKH PDWHULDO FKDQJHG LW GLG QRW KDYH DQ\ VLGH HIIHFWV on the economy. In 1987, Myanmarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s military invalidated around SHU FHQW YDOXH RI PRQH\ WR FXUE EODFN PDUNHW 7KH decision led to economic disruption leading to mass protests and resultant loss of many lives. In Zaire, 'LFWDWRU 0REXWX 6HVH 6HNR V DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ ODLG RXW EDFN WR EDFN FXUUHQF\ UHIRUPV DORQJ ZLWK D SODQ WR ZLWKGUDZ REVROHVFHQW FXUUHQF\ IURP WKH V\VWHP LQ 7KH UHIRUP ZDV QRW ZHOO UHFHLYHG E\ WKH SXEOLF DQG UHVXOWHG LQ LQFUHDVLQJ HFRQRPLF GLVUXSWLRQV 0REXWX ZDV RXVWHG LQ 2Q 'HFHPEHU 9HQH]XHODÂłZKRVH LQIODWLRQ rate is estimated to touch 475 SHU FHQW WKLV \HDUÂł DQQRXQFHG GHPRQHWLVLQJ LWV PRVW YDOXDEOH QRWH WKH EROLYDU ELOO 7KH 1LFROiV 0DGXUR OHG JRYHUQPHQW JDYH FLWL]HQV D KRXU ZLQGRZ EHIRUH ZLWKGUDZLQJ WKH FXUUHQF\ ZKLFK DFFRXQWHG for 77 per cent of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cash in circulation. The government EHOLHYHG WKDW FURVV ERUGHU PDILD KDV EHHQ EX\LQJ 9HQH]XHODQ EROLYDUV DQG VHOOLQJ WKHP IRU YDVW SURILWV LQ &RORPELD +RZHYHU WKH JRYHUQPHQW ZDV IRUFHG WR JLYH FLWL]HQV an H[WHQGHG GHDGOLQH IRU WKH XVH RI WKH EROLYDU ELOO after a serious shortage of currency led to violent protests and looting. ,Q FRQWUDVW FRXQWULHV ZKLFK ZHUH VXFFHVVIXO LQ FDUU\LQJ out demonetisation are in the European Union. The FRXQWULHV ZKLFK MRLQHG (XURSHDQ 8QLRQ LQ WKH EHJLQQLQJ phased out their respective currencies and adopted Euro LQ ,Q RUGHU WR VZLWFK WR WKH HXUR DXWKRULWLHV ILUVW IL[HG H[FKDQJH UDWHV IRU WKH YDULHG QDWLRQDO FXUUHQFLHV LQWR HXURV :KHQ WKH HXUR ZDV LQWURGXFHG WKH ROG QDWLRQDO FXUUHQFLHV ZHUH GHPRQHWLVHG +RZHYHU WKH ROG FXUUHQFLHV UHPDLQHG FRQYHUWLEOH LQWR HXURV IRU D ZKLOH so that a smooth transition through demonetisation ZRXOG EH DVVXUHG In the United States of America, the highest value of GHQRPLQDWLRQ FXUUHQWO\ LQ SURGXFWLRQ LV WKH ELOO But, in decades past, the Federal Reserve has issued DQG HYHQ ELOOV 7KH 86 VWRSSHG SULQWLQJ WKH ELOO DQG ODUJHU GHQRPLQDWLRQV RI FXUUHQF\ E\ EXW WKHVH ELOOV continued circulating until the Federal Reserve decided WR UHFDOO WKHP LQ

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that collectively affects the security of the country. Days after the controversial move was introduced, the then Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, claimed that post ‘demonetisation’, J&K registered a steady decline in violent activities. In 2016, Kashmir Valley had become a hotbed of protests and violence in the aftermath of Burhan Wani’s death, a local Hizbul Mujahideen leader. While both the government and the minister claimed that ‘demonetisation’ will dry the wells of black money and, in turn, sources of terrorist funding, just a few days after the scheme was rolled out, militants in Kashmir were caught with new 2000 rupee notes! What is being witnessed in the Kashmir Valley over the past few weeks—stone pelters and attack on uniformed men—totally belies this claim. Therefore, one needs to analyse the stated impact of the move on terrorism and other security threats in India in light of the ground realities. Positive Impact on Fighting Terrorism HE ideology and traction of a terrorist organisation has limited impact without the backbone of finance. The ability to carry out attacks, fill ranks with committed fighters and pay them, buy weapons, carry out propaganda, are all dependent on financial resources which, in turn, determine the credibility of threat from the concerned group or organisation. It is expected that the ‘demonetisation’ process will affect terrorism only in the short term as it will be able to suck out the FCIN in the economy. FCINs, which are largely introduced into the Indian economy by neighbouring nations (and other nonState actors), are crucial to funding

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terrorist activities, be it for buying weapons or funding the last leg of any terror activity (transportation, food, accommodation, etc.). DesPITE the positive intentions of the policy, the focus of demonetisation and its impact on the country’s security is exceedingly myopic. While it attempts to target fake currency notes and black money in the system, it is bound to have a very limited and short term impact on the sources of terror financing and its enabling actors. To the government’s credit, the new policy will create hurdles for militant and terrorist organisations that rely on extortion, kidnapping and taxation for income generation, i.e. deal with large amounts of liquid cash. Groups, especially Naxals, will face the brunt of replacing currency and the resultant cash crunch in the short term, which will limit the scope of their activities. The first limiting factor of the policy is the assumption that money which is used to fund militant activities is all parked in liquid form, i.e. loose cash. This is far from the truth! While small sleeper cells and individuals might keep cash, terror groups (and oth-

Though demonetisation can potentially create the necessary conditions for combating the finance of terrorism and is an important step in the fight against the finance of terrorism, it is neither the first nor the last if the interlinked threats of corruption, crime and the finance of terrorism have to be controlled

ers involved in illegal activities) keep cash reserves in the form of gold— the favourite form of investment for Indians as well! Moreover, they have also been known to invest their money in real estate, businesses and shell companies. This ensures that not only is their money parked safely, but also that it continues to grow. Therefore, declaring big legal tenders as illegal in order to drain terror organisations of their financial resources will not handicap these groups. While it does reduce their current cash reserves, it will not leave them defunct. Second, the policy also assumes that money enters the country and/ or reaches such organisations only through illegal methods. Terrorists employ a range of channels to fund their activities, which include kosher channels too. In the past, money has been transferred using the banking system and at the same time MTSS have also been employed. In order to escape detection, benefactors outside India transfer funds to persons who have in the past not been suspected of involvement in any terror activities. Later these individuals withdraw cash and pass it to terrorist groups; the Indian Mujahideen has been known to use such methods in the past. There have been instances wherein benefac-

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tors in West Asia have transferred funds to NGOs, especially in Kashmir, which in turn have been used to fund violent activities. The Indian government has made an attempt to mitigate such nefarious activities by tightening the noose around international funding for NGOs. However, is it an attempt to reduce misuse of funds for carrying out violent activities, or does it stem from the desire to subvert the proactive stance taken by many NGOs that put the government in a corner, remains a question unanswered. ‘De-monetisation’ as a decision appears to be obsessed more with ‘navel-gazing’ than focusing on a grander picture of security. It fails to address the issue of over-valued sales, thus creating cash surpluses, which are in turn diverted towards illegal activities including terror financing. The policy only adds a minor inconvenience of rendering current cash reserves as worthless, but doesn’t stop any future illegal activity. However, with a significant population still being regularly caught with large cache of new notes, despite weekly withdrawal limits introduced by the government, sheds light on the structural loopholes that allow for illegal activities to be carried out and parallel economies to still exist.

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HE growing trend of counterfeit currency (in new 500 and 2000 rupee notes) entering India via Bangladesh indicates the possibility of counterfeiters already being able to flood the Indian economy. The fact that “three of five ATMs in India use outdated technology and lack basic security features” makes it easy for fake currency to gain circulation. The dearth of close-circuit television cameras, one-time combination locking combinations and unsecured ATMs allow cash loaders to introduce FCIN without any monitoring. A string of cases of fake currency recovery from various parts of the country, including notes ‘issued’ by ‘Children’s Bank of India’, are case in point. Failure to Target Income Generation The most stark shortcoming of the security measure is that it fails to target the income generation mechanisms employed by militant organisations and the nexus between them, illicit trade, corruption and criminals. Narco trade, for example, makes its way from India’s western and eastern borders and is closely linked with terrorist activities. All across the globe, drugs have played an important role in funding terrorism and other violent activities. Afghanistan’s opium trade is instrumental in ensuring its survival while drug trade in

Latin America has long fuelled violence in the region. In 2014, police arrested Khurshid Alan, a constable, who was allegedly delivering 22 pounds of heroin. It was later found that his supplier was a senior commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, based in the Pakistani city of Abottabad. In June 2015, an Indian farmer was caught transporting 110 pounds of heroin in hollowed out logs; narco terrorism finds facilitators from all walks of life. It would be foolhardy to believe that one policy can singlehandedly target and end terrorism and other forms of violence. Nevertheless, that is the impression that the government has been giving in an attempt to defend its policy decision. Yet, the point remains that without attacking sources of income generation, the move will prove to be nothing more than a band-aid while trying to fight a tumorous growth. In short, a superficial attempt carried out at an enormously huge cost to the exchequer. Closely related to the existence of terror outfits are thriving criminal networks. Routes used by criminals to traffic humans, illicit arms and drugs are often also exploited by terrorists. The attack in both Gurdaspur and Pathankot in Punjab, have been closely linked to drug trafficking in the State—70 per cent of youth in Punjab and close to 64 per cent in Gurdaspur are drug addicts. In eastern India, Naxals have been known to demand protection money from illicit arms dealers and manufacturers (Munger in Bihar is a hub of illicit arms industry), which, in turn, goes into carrying out militant activities. The nexus between militants, criminals, politicians and power brokers further complicates the issue of security. To ensure that illicit trade

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Demonetisation will only have a shortterm impact on terrorism

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radicalised individuals may pledge allegiance to groups like the Islamic State (IS) on their Facebook walls and open fire at people in a club. While one may raise questions whether such individuals were really a part of a terrorist organisation, what remains unquestionable is that they are successful in posing a security threat and easily spread fear, a primary aim of terrorism. Additionally, terror groups are turning to the online realm to carry out their attacks, be it by spreading propaganda via social media platforms, hacking government websites

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Changing Terror Tactics HE changing terror tactics and landscape further complicates the already entangled web of security, not only in India but across the world. The increase in the number of ‘lone wolf’ attacks ensures that terrorists no longer need to rely on large organisations, sleeper cells or even big doles of cash to carry out attacks. Ramming a truck in a vibrant market or simply stabbing a few people while screaming out a political message are enough to instigate fear and make it to the front pages of newspapers around the globe. Self-

Conclusion Demonetisation is a radical monetary step which is usually resorted to by failed economies or whenever there is hyper inflation. While ‘demonetisation’ will deal a severe blow to India’s black market, inflation and real estate, terrorism— which is cheap and can be funded by kosher resources—will face nothing but short term hurdles. In order to safeguard the country’s security interests, the government will need to tackle the issue from numerous angles, especially when the cost of carrying out terrorist attacks has become so low. We must also not forget that the counterfeiters will now get to work on the new 500/2000 rupee notes, while India will not resort to de-monetisation in the near future. It is interesting to note that this was not the first time the GoI has gone for the demonetisation of high-value currency. It was first implemented in 1946 when the RBI demonetised the then circulated `1,000 and `10,000 notes. The government then introduced `1,000, `5,000 and `10,000 denomination banknotes in a fresh avatar eight years later in 1954 before the Morarji Desai government demonetised these notes in 1978. g

Despite the positive intentions of the policy, the focus of demonetisation and its impact on the country’s security is exceedingly myopic. While it attempts to target fake currency notes and black money in the system, it is bound to have a very limited and short term impact on the sources of terror financing and its enabling actors

i d a n di i

can carry on without many hindrances requires patronage of those who are responsible for law and order, be it border and custom officials, transport authorities, local police, forest officials or politicians. Kiren Rijiju, Minister of state for Home Affairs, recently informed Parliament that 68 members of various security forces have been arrested since 2014 for alleged involvement in drug trafficking. While the policy may or may not have been able to tackle black money (given the high value of deposits made up till December 31, 2016), it has created only temporary roadblocks for various terrorist and militant organisations.

or sharing well-produced movies. In such a day and age, the Indian government’s attempt to push the country towards digital economy in the aftermath of ‘demonetisation’ can also have negative repercussions. While countries like China and Pakistan have stepped up their cyber-warfare capabilities, India in 2016 witnessed the hacking of several Indian banks, leaving millions of bank accounts compromised.

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

EXPERIENCE indo-pak border

Border woes Ordeal at the Attari border during a recent visit to Lahore-Islamabad (Pakistan) via Amritsar-Attari-Wagah-GT Road after a gap of almost 11 years. As told to gfiles by B Muralidhar Reddy of The Hindu

was The Hindu Pakistan correspondent from July 5, 2000, to May 25, 2006. It was on May 25, 2006, that I took my flight from Islamabad to Lahore, returning to India at the end of nearly six-year-long meaningful, intense and a truly historic phase in the history of ever turbulent, religious and secular life in Pakistan. The period was chaotic and terrific for Pakistan after the United States of America made a determination that it was the forces commanded by Osama Bin Laden, supposedly operating from Tora Bora caves inside Afghanistan, that were responsible for bringing down the twin towers in New York. Predictably, Washington stuck a military death blow to the Taliban and the faithful of Bin Laden. As if what was going on account of the American diktat and all that followed was not enough, Gen Musharraf and his regime got entangled in potentially what could have been a nuclear war with India thanks to the audacious attack on Parliament of India for which New Delhi blamed the elements from Pakistani with the blessings of the military and intelligence establishment. For nearly 11 months the Indian side mobilised 100,000 soldiers on the borders facing Pakistan and the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had actually said it would be “aar ya paar ki ladai’’!

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ull credit then to Vajpayee, who took everyone by surprise at a rally on April 23 in Srinagar. He extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan! A clever Musharraf grabbed the offer with both hands. The offer came when the relations between India and Pakistan had hit a new low after the 1971 war. The Indian mission was without a High Commissioner since New Delhi had recalled its

then High Commissioner, Vijay K Nambiar, days after the Parliament attack, road, rail and air links between the two sides were cut, trade had been suspended and visas were issued rarely during the tense time. From the hour of Vajpayee’s offer what followed for the next few years (it hit a roadblock after the Mumbai Taj hotel attack on November 26, 2008) was truly amazing. First move

came from New Delhi with the announcement that seasoned diplomat, who was at that time Indian Ambassador in China, Shiv Shankar Menon, would be the new Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad. Menon subsequently rose to the position of country’s Foreign Secretary. A bus link came from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad (the capital city of the Kashmir under the control of Pakistan). There was goods traffic on the same route since 2005. For the first time in the history of the relations between India and Pakistan, a Hurriyat delegation from Kashmir was allowed to travel by road from

I had always wanted to travel back to Pakistan. The opportunity came in November 2016 when I got invited to attend the wedding as well as a reception of a woman journalist friend from Lahore. The wedding was in Lahore followed by a reception in the same city and another one from the groom’s side in Islamabad Srinagar to Muzaffarabad. Kashmir leaders of all hues (those who believed in the Indian Constitution as well as those who did not subscribe to it) had actually an opportunity to travel to Islamabad and meet the various stakeholders in peace as well as war! The rail link between Thar in Sindh on the Pakisatani side and Rajasthan on the Indian side, which was disrupted after the 1965 war, got restored and running, if not very smoothly. These were just a few positive developments which helped the people.

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My opportunity to return to Pakistan came unexpectedly after a gap of 11 years. I had always wanted to travel back to Pakistan. The opportunity came in November 2016 when I got invited to attend the wedding as well as a reception of a woman journalist friend from Lahore. The wedding was in Lahore followed by a reception in the same city and another one from the groom’s side in Islamabad. Call it a coincidence, in November the Press Club of India chose to organise a seminar on BRICS following the BRICS convention hosted by India at Goa in October. Pakistan was not invited at the conference at Goa. However, the Press Club of India decided to invite a representative of the Pakistan High Commission for the seminar.

HERE I bumped into Illiyas Nizami, a Political Officer with the Pakistan High Commission. I told him about the wedding scheduled in March in Lahore and expressed my desire for a visa to travel to his home country. The officer was positive in his response and said I could visit the mission just before the wedding. I had applied for a visitor visa seeking permission to travel to Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi. Next trip I made to the mission armed with the visa application form along with my passport. He simply said the mission would get back to me about the outcome. The marriage was on March 23 and I had applied for a visa on March 16. On the afternoon of March 22, I got a call from the Pakistani mission informing me that I can come and collect my passport. When I collected the papers, I realised that my request for a visit to Karachi had not been granted and the visa was valid for a period of 10 days from the day I stepped on the soil of

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The copy of the certificate given by the Foreigners Registration Police Station Office in Islamabad enabling return to India at the end of the stay in Pakistan

Pakistan. In my excitement I had conveniently forgotten to look at the fine print on whether or not I was exempt from police reporting. It was only after I reached Islamabad on the fifth day of my visit that I realised that mine was a police reporting visa and I had failed to register myself at Lahore immediately on my entry into Pakistan. Thanks to the folly now I had to get an exemption certificate from the all powerful Interior Ministry in Islamabad and it took me seven trips on the back of a motorcycle of a

journalist friend in Islamabad to the Interior Ministry and the police station in Islamabad where foreigners are required to register and obtain the certificate to leave the country! My reservation on Shatabdi Express to Amritsar on March 23 was not confirmed. In effect, my plan of making it to the wedding on March 23 had gone awry. On the afternoon of March 24, I boarded a bus from Amritsar to Attari border on the Indian side, which is two kilometres from Wagah border

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on the Pakistani side. The bus ride cost Rs 30. The bus drops one off two kilometres before the border checkpost. I took a cycle rickshaw, paying Rs 10 to the border checkpost. I entered the main gate where the BSF sentry took a look at my passport, entered the details in a registry and directed me to the passenger hall where the immigration and customs formalities are done. A very old looking man caught sight of me as I was proceeding to the departure hall and said he would take my luggage for a fixed fee of Rs 150. He looked very fragile and stressed. I agreed to be bargain and he wheeled my luggage which was not much. My ordeal started the moment I neared the entry point of the immigration hall as the BSF Jawan there, unlike his colleague at the main entrance gate, was, to say the very least, very hostile. I was the only one at the entrance of the hall. He began yelling at me: “Line mein khada ho (stand in the line)”. But, there was no line and no indicator; in fact, there was no one. I politely but firmly told him I am very much in the line and had not violated anything. That got his goat. How dare a fellow wanting to cross into Pakistan talk back to him. “Awaj neeche rakho. Jyada bakwas nahi. Dekh loonga (Keep your voice down. Don’t talk rubbish, I will at against you)’’, etc. I told him that I have done this 200 times and certainly was not intimidated by him. But he simply won’t let go of me. He searched me brusquely and, after giving me dirty looks, handed me over to another colleague. The drama, which was completely avoidable, went on for nearly 15 minutes and it was only when they realised that I will not be intimidated by their behaviour, they let me go. I was ushered into an empty vast

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hall. I was pounced—literally pounced—upon by two young women at the anti-polio vaccine counter. I was ordered to swallow what they insisted were anti-polio drops. I made it known that I will not obey, but they persisted saying since I was not carrying any certificate on polio vaccination, I will have to swallow the polio drops. I walked away nonchalantly towards the officer in-charge of the immigration desk only to be confronted by another hostile individual. Accidentally, I had not taken off the earphones I had plugged into my mobile phone, which incidentally was playing some songs in my mother

My ordeal started the moment I neared the entry point of the immigration hall as the BSF Jawan there, unlike his colleague at the main entrance gate, was, to say the very least, very hostile tongue, Telugu. I could hear the two woman from the anti-polio vaccine shouting to the immigration officer, complaining I had refused to swallow the drops and why my passport should not be taken up for a look. Just at that time my earphones came undone and music blared. It was an opportunity for the officer to shout at me. “Yeh sangeet khatam karke aao. Yeh gana bhajana jab khatam khonge phir aana (Finish your music first. Come when you have listened to your music)’’, he screamed. Before I could say anything, he had heard from the woman at the antipolio drops counter and ordered, “Wapas jao. Drops peeke aao (Go back and have the polio drops)’’. Too

stunned to react, I went back. After I swallowed the drops, one of the women gave me a slip. My ordeal re-commenced when I returned to the immigration officer. Even as I was at the counter, the officer was telling a Pakistani in very hostile terms that he will not let him cross till he produced the original copy of the visa given by the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

HEN it was my turn. The officer took hold of my paper and the visa granted by the Pakistani mission. “Who was granted you this visa? Whose handwriting is this? I cannot read anything,” he kept complaining. When I tried to explain to him that it was my handwriting and that I have a problem writing neatly, he was not satisfied. He then referred me to the other officer in-charge at the counter responsible for stamping the papers of diplomats and officials. Another round of ordeal began with this officer wanting to know who I was, why I was travelling to Pakistan, etc. A passport is supposed to speak for itself and an immigration officer is trained to read every single detail about an individual within minutes after scrutinising a passport. By now he had learnt I was a journalist, had worked in Pakistan, had travelled with the Prime Minister and my last travel was with the President of India in July to Africa. He asked me when was the last time I went abroad. I told him I had gone with President Pranab Mukherjee in June 2016 on his Africa trip. “It was not June, it was July,” he said. He asked me all kinds of random questions and after about 10 minutes a woman liaison officer from the immigration office came there. I introduced myself and she, who had just joined the service over a year ago, said she had read my despatches

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

EXPERIENCE indo-pak border

from Islamabad as well as Colombo when she was preparing for civil services. “Sir, you are most welcome to my office for a cup of tea. We will help you complete the immigration formalities sitting there,” she said. I accepted the invitation and went with her. I told her of my not-so-polite and hostile encounter with the BSF guard at the entrance to the hall and wondered why there is so much hostility in the air. She said, “We hear this complaint from so many passengers crossing to the other side. I wonder what is the reason.” I told the young lady that it is not rocket science and she can herself make out the reasons if she keeps her eyes and ears around on the goings on in the so called departure hall.

FTER spending nearly 30 minutes, with a hot cup of tea and some biscuits, she took me to the immigration counter. After all this, the grumbling of the officer at the counter had not stopped. It was with great reluctance that the officer finally stamped my papers after repeating all that he had earlier said to me. After that, I managed to strike a brief conversation with the coolie I had engaged. He had witnessed all I had gone through in the last one-anda-half hours. He was used to it. He told me that this is the new routine and that the business for coolies in the last few months is down. He said the officers and the border guards on the Indian side have been demonstrating open hostility. Once a person obtains an exit entry on the passport, a BSF bus takes him or her to the Pakistani side of the border. The bus with me and essentially members of the Ajoka theatre troupe on board moved towards the Pakistani side of the border and dropped us

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

before the arrival hall of the Pakistani immigration after about 10 minutes. The picture at the hall was in total contrast to what I had witnessed. Moments after I had disembarked, I was ushered into the hall by a Pakistani ranger. It was 45 minutes or so before the border closed for crossings by ordinary passport holders. The immigration hall wore a deserted look. There were two officers at the counter, a woman and a man. The woman had brought her toddler son to the immigration office and the boy

After spending nearly 30 minutes with a hot cup of tea and some biscuits, the woman liaison officer took me to the immigration counter. After all this, the grumbling of the officer at the counter had not stopped. It was with great reluctance that the officer finally stamped my papers after repeating all that he had earlier said to me was happily fiddling with the desktop of the mother. The proud mother was showing off to her male colleague about how tech savvy her 3-4 year old son was! The male immigration officer, who took passport as well as the visa paper, was very polite. He apologised saying that he will have to remove the staple of my two old passports as he was required to keep a photo copy of my visa entry, stamped on my passport by the Pakistani mission in New Delhi. He knew all about my host, her daughter who had got married last evening, the reception in Lahore (which was just about 23 kilometres from Wagah

border) and about all other Indian guests who had arrived in the course of the last two days. “You are late by a day as the wedding was scheduled yesterday. Anyway, you can make it to the reception scheduled later in the day,” he told me as he went about completing formalities so that he could stamp my official entry into Pakistani. The whole business was done in less than 10 minutes. Even as he was engaged in my stamping my passport another officer from the immigration side came to inform him that two Indians who had crossed over to Pakistani earlier in the day were now crossing back into the Indian side. He was asking what could be business of the two suspicious looking young Indians, who had multiple entries into Pakistani, crossing in and out in just a day. He made out a case that the two young Indians should be questioned about what they exactly they did in Pakistan during the day and why they were returning in just a day. The officer who was looking at my passport as well as the lady officer agreed that indeed the Indian needed to be questioned. I do not what exactly happened after that. It took me a little longer to find the customs officer and get the green signal to cross. There I was on the Pakistani side. From the arrival hall to the place where all Pakistanis wanting to cross over to the Indian side are to disembark, the distance is about halfa-kilometre. Normally, a toy train ferries passengers from the arrival hall till the point where one can engage either a taxi or an auto-rickshaw for the onward journey to Lahore. But that day there was no toy train and I walked the distance lugging my luggage all on my own and walking all alone! g

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

GOVERNANCE

agriculture mg devasahayam

Pushing the farmers towards a ‘digital market’ with the force of law is like asking the bulk of them to fly before they can stand on their feet. Will this extreme be inclusive and sustainable? It remains to be seen

HE Government of India (GoI) is working on creating a common agricultural market that will improve the lot of farmers and the efficiencies of India’s notoriously inefficient farm-produce markets. A model law to reset the way agricultural markets operate is in the making. It proposes to replace

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

existing fragmented and overregulated markets for agricultural produce and allow farmers a wider choice of markets beyond the local mandi or wholesale markets. As statement of purpose, this is what Ashok Dalwai, Additional Secretary at the Agriculture Ministry, who heads the committee that

drafted the new model law has to say: “Our goal is to create a one-nation, one-market model for farmers, similar to what GST (the goods and services tax) is to taxation... a model of creative disruption for an efficient marketing system.” The model law aims at liberalising agricultural trade allowing farmers

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agriculture—a sector involving 140 million families and the largest private enterprise in the country. Ramesh Chand, member of Niti Aayog, echoed this when he said: “Agrarian distress has begun after reforms started in 1991, when focus shifted to the manufacturing and service sectors, which grew much faster. It was only a decade later that some reforms were undertaken in the sector…” If this concern is really genuine, the eminent Think Tank and the Union Agriculture Ministry would do well to dig out the “Report of the HighPowered Committee on Agricultural Policies and Programmes–1990” submitted to the then Deputy Prime Minister, Ch. Devi Lal, just about a year before the onset of the 1991 ‘Liberalisation-PrivatisationGlobalisation’ process.

to access a wide range of markets to help them get better prices. Obviously, this initiative is part of the ‘Digital’ juggernaut and the process was set in motion after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM) platform in April 2016 and later set an ambitious target of doubling farm incomes by 2022. While giving some details of this ‘one-nation, one-market model’, Dalwai lamented that the reform process beginning in 1991 largely ignored

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HE committee was headed by former Union Agriculture Minister Bhanu Pratap Singh and had top farmer leaders, parliamentarians, eminent economists and an administrator (the writer) as members. The main Terms of Reference was to examine the feasibility and desirability of declaring/ transforming agriculture as industry and suggest policies and programmes to make India an agriculturally surplus nation. The committee looked at the issues from one large perspective—remunerative/stable income to farmers across the board while ensuring food security for all with the active involvement of key stakeholders. The core issues identified were: need to rely more on the commitment of farmers, who are the producers, and the market mechanism that influences consumption; protecting the farmer and the consumer against the vagaries of production and the

market forces in order to enhance agricultural productivity and ensure fair prices; reduction in the cost of foodgrain procurement, storage, transportation and distribution; an efficient delivery system under which those in genuine need of subsidies and support are properly targeted and given sufficient access to foodgrains; and, effective intervention powers in

A model law to reset the way agricultural markets operate is in the making. It aims at liberalising agricultural trade, allowing farmers to access a wide range of markets to help them get better prices. This initiative is part of the ‘Digital’ juggernaut and the process was set in motion after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM) platform in April 2016 and later set an ambitious target of doubling farm incomes by 2022 the hands of the government in times of need to protect the interests of producers or consumers. The committee suggested a series of policy initiatives. The emphasis was on withdrawal of all controls— except that of quality—on movement, processing, marketing and export of farm products, except in years of scarcity. The concept of “triple pricing” was advocated in order to regulate the market and protect the producer, consumer and the

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

GOVERNANCE

agriculture mg devasahayam

mum support price and consumers reasonable and relatively stable cost. Traders—private as well as cooperatives—will also know the limits within which they can operate. Small farmers will be saved from going in for distress sales and the government will have the facility to quickly locate and acquire foodgrain stocks in times of need.

O The proposed plan aims at allowing farmers a wider choice of markets beyond the local mandi or wholesale markets

trader. There will be a ‘parity price’ to fully compensate the farmers for a rise in the cost of inputs and their other necessities of life, a ‘support price’ below which prices will not be allowed to fall, and ‘intervention price’ beyond which prices would not be allowed to rise. An important suggestion was to establish a chain of professionally managed rural and peri-urban warehouses with infrastructure and banking facilities. The farmers may, at any time, sell their produce to the warehouses at the support price and this stock will go in government account. The farmers will have the option to deposit the same in their own accounts and take bank loans against their pledged stock. It should be obligatory for all stockists who wish to stock more than 20 tonnes of foodgrains to do so only in these

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

warehouses. Private sector could be involved in building and managing these warehouses. As soon as the price of foodgrains in the open market rises above the intervention price (already fixed), all stocks or part of it would be acquired by the government agencies on payment of “parity” price. If the price would fall below the support price, the farmers would have the right to sell their stocks to the government at the support price already fixed. Storage charges paid by farmers would be compensated. This mechanism could be made to work effectively by establishing appropriate Food Security Regulatory Authorities at the Centre and in the States invested with adequate powers to implement and monitor. Under this policy mechanism, farmers will be assured of mini-

BJECT of the scheme was to empower and rely on the real stakeholders in the system instead of a bunch of “bureaucratemployees” who are more interested in their job security than the nation’s food security. This is sought to be done by trusting the farmers and giving them incentives to stock foodgrains at the chain of government/privatelyowned or contracted warehouses and draw sustenance and support from the same. In short, the committee’s recommendations were meant to make the farmers stand on their feet and be their own boss with a stable income instead of depending on government charity. Had it happened, large parts of India would not have gone through the shame and agony of its small/ medium farmers living in penury with thousands of them committing suicide. Because reforms suggested by the committee would have addressed the two critical causes for this distress—unremunerative/ unstable farm prices and debttrap. But that was not to be! Now, a quarter century later, pushing the farmers towards a ‘digital market’ with the force of law is like asking the bulk of them to fly before they can stand on their feet. Will this extreme be inclusive and sustainable? The jury is out! g

The writer is a former Army and IAS officer

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

GOVERNANCE taxation tn pandey

GST roll out

Will it impact the common man? The government claims that the new tax regime would be revenue neutral, which means that the common man should not be adversely affected. But a review after one year is advisable.

LL sections of media in the country are currently engaged in the process of making an assessment of what has been achieved by the Government in three years of its being in office. Though three yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; time is not a long time for judging the performance of any Government, yet having voted in the present Government with lot of hopes and aspirations the people are keen to know how far their expectations have been met or are in the process of getting fructified! One of the institutional reforms undertaken by the NDA Government relates to far-reaching economic legislation and achievement of federal cooperation in the matter of enactment of Goods and Services Tax (GST) laws at the Central and State levels. This matter was pending for years with the previous UPA Government and it is certainly a big achievement that the present Government has been successful in giving practical shape to the proposals and getting the constitutional amendment for the same passed. The rollout of such law from July 1, 2017 now almost seems a certainty after two meetings of the GST Council held in Srinagar on May 18-19, 2017 ÂżQDOLVLQJ WKH WD[ UDWHV IRU DOPRVW DOO

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

the goods and services bringing these LQWR ÂżYH FDWHJRULHV RI 18% and 28%. In the meeting held on May 18, the rates for almost 1,211 JRRGV LWHPV ZHUH ÂżQDOLVHG DQG WKHVH ZHUH JURXSHG XQGHU ÂżYH UDWHV DV LQ Table 1. Amongst the exempted (0% rate) goods are items like foodgrains, gur, milk, bread, atta, pulses, fruits, vegetables, etc. In most States, these are already exempt though some States tax some of these commonly consumed items. This indicates that the impact of GST on these items for the common persons will be almost neutral â&#x20AC;&#x201C; no gains, no losses. According to Union Mines and Power Minister Piyush Goyal, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;GST will light up homes of poorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; because of fall in price of coal consequent to revision of Table 1 Rates

Percentage of total items considered

0% (Exempted Goods)

14%

12%

17%

18%

43%

28%

19%

tax rate to 5% by keeping coal in the 5% slab group (currently, it is taxed at 11.7%). Sugar, tea, coffee (not instant tea and coffee) and edible oil will attract tax at 5%. Hair oil, soap, toothpaste, capital goods, industrial intermediaries will be taxed at 18% rate. Consumable durables like refrigerators, ACs, televisions, cars, etc., would be subjected to 28% tax. The Central Government has made a commitment to the States that it ZLOO FRPSHQVDWH 6WDWHV IRU ÂżYH \HDUV LQ UHJDUG WR DQ\ GHÂżFLW WKDW WKH 6WDWHV may suffer consequent to imposition of GST. To meet this obligation, the Central Government will impose â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Cessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; over and above the tax rate to generate revenue for this purpose. The rates of cess vary from 1% of tax to 290%. Some instances of the imposable cess are given in Table 2. The above are just few instances. The list for levy of cess is quite long. The cess will serve dual purpose. Besides generating revenue, these high rates check the consumption of pernicious goods in the society which are harmful. )URP WKH ÂżJXUHV VODWHG HDUOLHU LW could be seen that nearly 60% of the items will be taxed between 12% and 18% tax rates. The major reduction in

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Table 2 Description of Supply

Rate of GST Compensation Cess

Items

(in percentage)

Small cars (Petrol)

Small cars (Diesel)

Mid segment cars

Unmanufactured tobacco

Chewing Tobacco (without lime lube)

160

Pan masala (gutka)

204

Smoking mixtures for pipes and cigarettes

290

Snuff

rates will be in the categories of goods in Table 3. As against this, the tax on mobile handsets will increase to 18% from present 12%. In white goods, it will increase to 28% from the present 23-25%. The rate brackets for services were considered on the second day of the Council meeting, i.e., on May 19, 2017 when rates for all services, H[FHSW ORWWHULHV ZHUH Âż[HG %\ DQG large, the burden of tax on services is expected to rise from the present 15%. According to the Revenue Secretary, this will be offset by input credits. Exemption from service tax for healthcare and education and some others are to continue. On some categories of services, the UDWHV ÂżQDOLVHG DUH JLYHQ LQ 7DEOH In a short write-up like this, rates in respect of various other services cannot be stated. The rates mentioned

here are merely illustrative. However, broadly it could be said that other than those services which are exempt, all services numbering nearly 500 have been grouped in four categories of rates namely 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% which will mean that for the bulk of them there will be an increase from the present rate of 15% to 18%.

EGRETFULLY, it is noted that work of finalisation of rates for some categories of goods has been left to be decided in the next meeting of the GST Council, scheduled for June 3, 2017. The leftovers are gold, bidis, agricultural implements, textiles, footwear and biodiesel. It is not understood why rates for these products too could not be finalised in the May meetings. Besides the rates as stated earlier, WKH *67 &RXQFLO DOVR ÂżQDOLVHG 5XOHV

Table 3 Items

Rates (in percentage) Present

Projected

Hair oil

23-24

Toothpaste

23-24

Soap

23-24

Capital goods

Cereals

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in respect of seven matters concerning GST implementation. This could be considered to be a good performance. In the foregoing discussions, an attempt has been made to highlight some salient aspects relating to the proposed GST regime. It could be said that the GST Council has given some shape to the GST law and on that basis, States too have made their laws (which were hitherto being discussed in different ways in different forums). The long wait for the new regime concerning indirect taxes to be in the form of a new law could be said

The Central Government has made a commitment that it will compensate States for five years in regard to any deficit that the States may suffer consequent to imposition of GST. To meet this obligation, the Central Government will impose a cess over and above the tax rate. The rates of cess vary from 1% of tax to 290% WR EH RYHU 7KH UDWH ÂżQDOLVDWLRQ ZRUN which was a stupendous exercise and was being talked about in different ways, in a way, has ended. But it cannot be said that everything has EHHQ ÂżQDOLVHG WR WKH SRLQW RI OHDGLQJ the country to the avowed objective behind the GST law of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;one country, one taxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;? One aspect that complicates tax laws are the ushering in of various categories of exemptions and the foregoing discussion shows that the new GST law could not be an exception in this regard. However,

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

GOVERNANCE taxation tn pandey

Table 4 Categories of Services

Rates declared (In percentage)

(a) Restaurant Ĺ&#x201A; Non-AC Ĺ&#x201A; AC with liquor licence Ĺ&#x201A; In 5-star hotels

12% 18% 28%

(b) Hotels and Lodges (room charges) Ĺ&#x201A; Tariff below Rs. 1,000 a day Ĺ&#x201A; Tariffs between 1,000-2,500 per day Ĺ&#x201A; Tariffs between 2,500-5,000 per day Ĺ&#x201A; Luxury rate having rooms above Rs. 5,000 per day

No tax (Exempted) 12% 18% 28%

18%

(d) Transport services

(e) AC train travel

(f )

Air travel Ĺ&#x201A; Economy class Ĺ&#x201A; Business class

5% 12%

(g) Work contract

12%

(h) Cinema, gambling, betting (there will be no separate entertainment tax for such events) 28% the Centre seems to have promised that these would be stopped in a gradual manner in coming months and the new system materialises. A beginning could perhaps be made from petroleum products and spreading over to rate structure thereafter! It may perhaps be better WR Âż[ D WLPH IUDPH IRU WKLV The new laws for the Centre and the States have been hurriedly conceived of and besides being complicated, considerable adhocism has set in their formulation! For example no reason has been given why lottery services have been left out of the purview of the new law! Further, though entertainment services are to be taxed at the rate of 28%, Revenue Secretary H Adhia has said that the State Governments will have the authority to create a separate law to charge tax in addition to the 28% proposed for funding local bodies. Where will be the end if such

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

Businessmen and service providers are expected to pass on the benefit arising to them consequent to regime of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;no tax on taxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in the GST era, and because of availability of input tax credit in certain respects and a non-profiteering clause in the GST law. But will there be efficient and adequate machinery to implement such a provision! relaxations are permitted in other areas? Will it not put an end to the concept of one nation, one tax? Admittedly, the common man will gain in certain respects as some items of daily needs like foodgrains, milk, sugar, tea and coffee may be cheaper but he will be paying higher amounts

for certain items and services like DLU WUDYHOV WHOHFRP DQG ÂżQDQFLDO services, eating in restaurants, etc. According to Revenue Secretary H Adhia, implementation of GST will EULQJ GRZQ LQĂ&#x20AC;DWLRQ E\ ,I WKDW happens, the common man will EHQHÂżW LPPHQVHO\ There is also another angle. =HUR WD[ RQ IRRG LWHPV PD\ EHQHÂżW the consumers, but this may dry up revenue generation for States like Punjab who levy VAT on such products and the Centre may have to compensate such States for such loss of revenues! However, it may be too early to make an assessment in this regard.

USINESSMEN and service providers are expected to pass on the benefit arising to them consequent to regime of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;no tax on taxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in the GST era, and because of availability of input tax credit in certain respects and a non-profiteering clause in the GST law. But will there be efficient and adequate machinery to implement such a provision! The Finance Minister, the Revenue Secretary and many other dignitaries have hailed the law calling it antiLQĂ&#x20AC;DWLRQDU\ 7KH &RPPHUFH 0LQLVWHU has said that it will boost exports and make it easy to get refunds. Many others have praised it on similar lines. However, all adverse comments and praises are at present on a presumptive basis. According to the Government, the new tax regime would be revenue neutral (which means that the common man will not be adversely affected). Let the new regime work from July 1, 2017 and then a review could be done after one year. Any new legislation which is the result of a more than a decade of work needs to be given a fair trial. g The writer is former Chairman, CBDT

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

STATE SCAN industrial policy

UTTAR PRADESH

Making the State investor friendly The State has tremendous locational advantage along with advantages of connectivity that offers opportunities to harness untapped potentials of growth by SUNIL KUMAR GUPTA

TTAR PRADESH is the most populous State in India, with a large pool of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour. Alternately, the population is also looked upon as the largest consumer base in the country with approximately 223 million people. It is the largest producer of foodgrains among all States in India and accounted for about 18.39 per cent share in the country’s total food grain output in 2015-16. However, there is tremendous locational advantage enjoyed by Uttar Pradesh along with advantages of connectivity that offers opportunities to harness the untapped potentials in terms of growth across the State. It is evident that there is huge disparity in terms of industrial growth and development across districts. Although between 2004-05 and 2015-16 the annual growth rate of Uttar Pradesh reached 10.54 per cent, yet it is nowhere near its true potential. It, therefore, looks necessary to address the reasons for realising the true potential in growth of industries in Uttar Pradesh through adoption of a new policy and strategy for promotion of industries. Moreover, since the announcement of recent Industrial Policy of Uttar Pradesh was in 2012, the changing dynamics in market place, several recent policy initiatives of the Government of India and an extremely competitive environment amongst States to attract domestic and foreign investment in industrial sector have together provided strong reasons for the State government to design and fashion the new industrial and investment policy for Uttar Pradesh. Being an economist and an author, I felt it’s my duty to give my suggestions for the betterment of the Industrial and Investment policy of the State. Following are some

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suggestions which can further improve the policy, boost investments and make the environment investor friendly in Uttar Pradesh. 1. Investor Assistance Portal An ‘Investor Assistance Portal’ will be a unique online platform which will act as the first point of contact for any probable investor in the State of Uttar Pradesh. This portal will reduce contact between the investor and officials of different departments to a nil, thus reducing the steps required in getting an approval. It can have the following features: i. Provide a complete information of available Land Banks in the state of Uttar Pradesh like: *,6 EDVHG /DQG %DQN ,QIRUPDWLRQ 'HYHORSPHQW 3ODQ DQG 7RZQ 3ODQQLQJ 6FKHPH 8WWDU 3UDGHVK 6WDWH ,QGXVWULDO 'HYHORSPHQW Corporation (UPSIDC) and other industrial development authority’s Land Bank. 6SHFLDO ,QYHVWPHQW 5HJLRQ 6SHFLDO (FRQRPLF =RQH 3ULYDWH ,QGXVWULDO 3DUNV ii. Provide a One Stop Solution to Investors for identification, application and allotment of suitable land.

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iii.

iv.

v. vi. vii.

viii. ix. x.

xi. xii.

xiii.

xiv. xv. xvi. xvii.

A comprehensive list of Pre-Establishment as well as Pre-Operation approvals required for setting up a business. A customised list of approvals required by the investors specific to their business by keying in certain details in the form of questions. Online facility for filing of all required forms and making payments. Online availability of certificates and licenses to view as well as for download. Create time-bound, web-based transparent working mechanism for project clearance, Date of Production declaration, financial and non-financial assistances and clearances. Dashboard to view all the applications and their status. A unique account for each investor for all communications across departments. If approvals are not granted in a prescribed time by the concerned Authority, it will be treated as “Deemed Approval”. Facilitation officers shall be appointed for improving ease of doing business in the State. These Facilitation Officers shall extend their support to the potential investors for setting industries in the State of Uttar Pradesh. These Facilitation Officers shall also extend their support to the industries for availing incentives provided by State Government. A robust grievance redressal mechanism. A helpline number for all enquiries. Common Application Form across all departments. Details of incentives under various policies and the procedure for availing these incentives.

2. Virtual Land Bank Exchange A virtual Land bank Exchange can be created to act as the platform for sourcing land for Industry/projects. The land owners interested in sale/ land can upload details of their lands for access by the industry.

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3. Ease of doing business The State government needs to set its priority on ease of doing business in State. Timely clearances and responsive post-investment facilitation services have been identified as the cornerstone for improving business environment and boosting investor’s confidence. I. Construction Permit Enablers 'HVLJQ DQG LPSOHPHQW DQ HIIHFWLYH V\VWHP WKDW allows online application and payment without the need for a physical touch point for document submission and verification. 'HYHORS OHJDOO\ YDOLG PDVWHU SODQV ]RQDO SODQV ODQG use plans for all urban areas (ULBs). 0DNH WKH PDVWHU SODQV ]RQDO SODQV ODQG XVH SODQV for all ULBs online for easy information availability to assist applicants in developing building plans. ,QWURGXFH VHOI FHUWLILFDWLRQ WR UHSODFH 7UHH 12& WLOO required replanting activities are complied with. (VWDEOLVK D GHGLFDWHG FRQIOLFW UHVROXWLRQ PHFKDQLVP for land and construction permits. II.

Environmental Registration Enablers The simplest approach for reducing the regulatory burden on business from environmental procedures and licensing is to introduce different inspection regimes for different categories of pollution. For green industries, the State can do away with mandatory inspections and replace them with needbased inspections, which are only invoked in case there are specific complaints. The inspection regime for Amber and Red industries should also be differentiated, with less frequent inspections for Amber and more frequent inspections for Red industries and firms. Implementing this differentiated inspection regime will require a clear notification that outlines the process for each type of industry, and also mandates the frequency of inspections for Amber and Red industries.

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

STATE SCAN industrial policy

III. Labour Regulation Enablers Â&#x2021; (QVXUH WKDW WKH V\VWHP DOORZV XVHUV WR GRZQORDG the final signed approval certificate from the online portal. Â&#x2021; ,QWURGXFH D SURYLVLRQ IRU VHOI FHUWLILFDWLRQ WKLUG party certification. Â&#x2021; 6LQJOH LQWHJUDWHG UHWXUQV DFURVV DOO DSSOLFDEOH labour laws. IV. Obtaining Water & Electricity Connection Design and implement a system that allows online application, payment, tracking and monitoring without the need for a physical touch point for document submission and verification. V.

Online Tax Return Filing Â&#x2021; 6LPSOLI\ DSSOLFDWLRQ IRUPV DQG SURFHGXUH RI approval. Â&#x2021; 6LQJOH ,' IRU DOO 6WDWH WD[HV 2QOLQH SD\PHQW DQG return filing system.

VI. Inspection reform enablers Â&#x2021; 'HVLJQ DQG LPSOHPHQW D V\VWHP IRU LGHQWLI\LQJ establishments that need to be inspected based on computerised risk assessment. Â&#x2021; 3XEOLVK D ZHOO GHILQHG LQVSHFWLRQ SURFHGXUH DQG checklist on departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website. VII. Access to Information and Transparency Enablers Â&#x2021; 'HVLJQ DQG LPSOHPHQW DQ RQOLQH V\VWHP ZKHUH DQ investor can key in specific details (such as type of industry, number of employees, location, etc.) and obtain information regarding all State approvals applicable to establishing her/his business/industrial unit. Â&#x2021; 0DQGDWH WKDW WKH ILQDO SURIHVVLRQDO WD[ UHJLVWUDtion certification (where applicable) will be issued within at most one working day from the date of submission of application form. VIII. Single Window Â&#x2021; 0DNH 8G\RJ %DQGKX PRUH HIIHFWLYH DQG efficient. Â&#x2021; ,QWURGXFH SURYLVLRQV IRU GHHPHG DSSURYDO IRU example, land diversion application). Â&#x2021; )L[ WKH WLPH IRU GLVSRVDO RI DSSOLFDWLRQ IX.

Availability of Land Design and implement a GIS system giving details

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about the land earmarked for industrial use. X.

Commercial Dispute Resolution Enablers Â&#x2021; (VWDEOLVK &RPPHUFLDO FRXUWV WR H[SHGLWH FRPmercial cases. Â&#x2021; ,QWURGXFH H ILOLQJ VXPPRQV DQG FDXVH OLVW IRU commercial disputes. Â&#x2021; ,QWURGXFH H SD\PHQW IRU FRXUW IHHV Â&#x2021; ,QWURGXFH GLJLWDOO\ VLJQHG FRXUW RUGHUV

4. On the basis of investment, projects can be categorised into the following five categories: 1 Micro and Small Projects. 2 Medium Projects. 3 Large Projects. 4 Mega Projects. 5 Ultra Mega Projects. 5. Industries can be classified as: 1. Priority Sector Industries. 2. Core Sector Industries. 3. General Industries. 6. MSME Sector Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) cater to the vital needs of the economy in terms of their two specific rolesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as a support base for a large industry and as a stand-alone provider of goods and services. In fact, they form the backbone of the industrial sector in terms of numbers and provide the largest share of employment after agriculture. Micro Small Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006, seeks to facilitate the development of these enterprises, enhance their competitiveness and provides a legal framework for recognition of both manufacturing and service entities in the State. The Government of Uttar Pradesh should propose to frame rules for the implementation of this Act, especially MSME Facilitation Council and procurement of goods and services by State PSUs and other government organisations. Â&#x2021; &UHDWLQJ SUHIHUHQFH IRU 060(V LQ YLHZ RI WKHLU OLPLWHG requirement of land, and their capacity to absorb more labour per unit of capital and energy. Â&#x2021; ,QFUHDVH WKH FRPSHWLWLYHQHVV RI 060(V DQG DGRSWLRQ RI Â³=HUR 'HIHFW =HUR (IIHFWÂ´ PDQXIDFWXULQJ SUDFWLFH Â&#x2021; 3ULFH SUHIHUHQFH ZLOO EH DOORZHG IRU JRRGV PDQXIDFtured by Micro and Small Industries of Uttar Pradesh in case of purchases by government departments and State-owned PSUs, including Boards, Corporations, Development Authorities, Improvement Trusts,

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Â&#x2021; Â&#x2021;

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0XQLFLSDOLWLHV 1RWLILHG $UHD &RPPLWWHHV &RRSHUDWLYH bodies and institutions aided by the State government and Companies where the government share is 50 per cent or more. 3URYLGLQJ SODWIRUPV IRU LQWHUDFWLRQ EHWZHHQ (QWHUSULVHV of Uttar Pradesh. 3URYLGLQJ SODWIRUPV IRU LQWHUDFWLRQ EHWZHHQ (QWHUSULVHV of Uttar Pradesh and potential domestic and global markets through trade fairs, road shows, etc. (QFRXUDJLQJ WKH 06(V WR SDUWLFLSDWH LQ QDWLRQDO DQG overseas business fairs and exhibitions, and international delegations. 6HWWLQJ XS D SHUPDQHQW H[KLELWLRQ FXP FRQYHQWLRQ centre for exclusive display of MSME products. 7KH UDZ PDWHULDO JHQHUDWLQJ XQLWV VKDOO EH SHUVXDGHG WR give purchase preference to the local industries, whose production is dependent upon the supply of such raw material. Similarly, the PSUs/private sector large industries, located within the State, would be persuaded to give purchase preference to local industries while making purchases of raw materials and other items required by it. $ V\PELRWLF UHODWLRQVKLS EHWZHHQ WKH 060(V DQG WKH Technical Institutions should be developed by linking each cluster with a technical institution to solve the technical and design related problem of the MSMEs. 6SHFLDO HPSKDVLV VKRXOG EH JLYHQ RQ SURYLGLQJ Common Facility Centres (CFCs) mainly through Public-Private-Partnership initiatives to MSME projects of a cluster. (IIRUWV VKRXOG EH PDGH WR SURYLGH OLQNDJHV IRU 060(V with micro-finance institutions, raw materials, focused market access, etc. 6FKHPHV OLNH &UHGLW *XDUDQWHH )XQG 7UXVW 6FKHPH Cluster Development Programme for MSMEs, Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme, Technology Up-gradation Scheme being operated by the Government of India and various other promotional schemes of different ministries of the Government of India are proposed to be suitably dovetailed for the benefit of MSM Enterprises of the State. Efforts should also be made to suitably complement these schemes, enabling the entrepreneurs to avail maximum advantage of these schemes. 3URPRWH HPSOR\PHQW JHQHUDWLRQ LQ LQGXVWULDO DQG VHUvice sector by providing facilitation under the Industrial and Investment promotion Policy, MSME Act 2006 and other policy interventions. 3URPRWH TXDOLW\ FHUWLILFDWLRQ )32 SURFHVV ,62 DQG

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patent certification for local industries. Â&#x2021; ,QFHQWLYHV WR 60(V UHODWHG WR YDULRXV DFWLYLWLHV related to food processing. Cluster development approach Cluster development approach will help in enhancing the productivity and competitiveness as well as capacity building of MSEs and their collectives in the State. Clustering of units also enables providers of various services to them, including banks and credit agencies, to provide services more economically, thus reducing costs and improving the availability of services for these enterprises. Cluster development approach shall have the following objectives: (i) To support the sustainability and growth of MSEs by addressing common issues such as improvement of technology, skills and quality, market access, access to capital, etc. (ii) To build capacity of MSEs for common supportive action through formation of self help groups, consortia, upgradation of associations, etc. (iii) To create/upgrade infrastructural facilities in the new/existing industrial areas/ clusters of MSEs. (iv) To set up common facility centres (for testing, training centre, raw material depot, effluent treatment, complementing production processes, etc). Â&#x2021; 5XUDO )XQFWLRQDO &OXVWHUV 7. Start-up Policy Â&#x2021; 8WWDU 3UDGHVK 6WDUW 8S 3RUWDO VKRXOG EH ODXQFKHG WR provide a one stop solution to start-ups. Â&#x2021; 6WDUW XS IHVWV FDQ EH KHOG LQ WKH 6WDWH WR JDOYDQLVH WKH start-up ecosystem to provide national and international visibility to the start-up, innovators and ecosystem players and to bring all the ecosystem players on one common platform. Â&#x2021; &HQWUDO ,QFXEDWLRQ /DE FDQ EH VHW XS LQ WKH 6WDWH WR function as the hub of all government/governmentaided incubation centres in the State. Â&#x2021; 6SHFLDO HQGRZPHQW FDQ EH SURYLGHG WR LQVWLWXWLRQV RI higher education in the State to setup incubation/innovation centres in their respective institutions with an aim to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in the education institutes. Â&#x2021; $VVLVWDQFH FRXOG EH SURYLGHG WR FRUSRUDWHV RI QDWLRQDO repute/SEBI-registered venture capital funds/ industry associations to set up and operate incubation centres in the State.

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

STATE SCAN industrial policy

Â&#x2021; 9LUWXDO ,QFXEDWRU 3ODWIRUP FDQ EH FUHDWHG WR EULQJ LQ together academia, industries and investors. This platform can connect the academic institutions, start-ups, industrial mentors, equity venture firms and all other relevant stakeholder. It can also function as a repository of the ongoing start-up projects in the State. Â&#x2021; 7KH 6WDWH JRYHUQPHQW FDQ FUHDWH D V\VWHP WR DJJUHJDWH and grant access to the selected incubators/start-ups to the instrument facility in private and government laboratories, libraries in the institutions of higher education and public sector units across the State. Â&#x2021; 7R PRWLYDWH WKH \RXWK WR WDNH XS HQWUHSUHQHXUVKLS WKH universities and institutions of higher learning would be encouraged to follow the global best practices. The Central incubation lab can help them upgrade their curriculum in order to introduce mandatory courses on entrepreneurship and financial literacy. Â&#x2021; 7KH 6WDWH VFKRRO FXUULFXOXP VKRXOG EH XSGDWHG WR incorporate modules on basic electronics, entrepreneurship, digital and basic financial literacy to develop an aptitude amongst students. Â&#x2021; )DFXOWLHV FRXOG XQGHUJR D WDLORU PDGH WUDLQLQJ DW WKH State Central Incubator Lab or other facility to develop a nuanced understanding of the latest development in the field of start-ups and other skills. Â&#x2021; 6WXGHQWV FDQ WDNH D VHPHVWHU RII IURP WKHLU UHJXODU education programme during their stipulated degree programme to work on their start-ups full time. After the semester, they can come back to complete their education. This provision can be extended up to three years for students pursuing their own start-ups. Students need to have 31 per cent equity in their startup in order to avail this added relaxation. Â&#x2021; )DFXOWLHV LQ WKH LQVWLWXWLRQV RI KLJKHU OHDUQLQJ VKRXOG be encouraged to take time off to work with students at the incubator centre for a stipulated time, after which they can join back to their normal work. Â&#x2021; 7KH JRYHUQPHQW FDQ RQ D UHJXODU EDVLV RUJDQLVH EXVLness idea challenges in its incubation centres to attract youth and motivate them to take up entrepreneurship. Â&#x2021; 7KH JRYHUQPHQW FDQ LQYLWH EDQNV WR VHW XS ÂľVWDUW XS only branchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; or dedicated unit in the branch which could focus on special needs of start-ups like opening of bank account, easier foreign exchange facilitation, easier handling of loan, etc. Â&#x2021; 7KH JRYHUQPHQW FDQ LQYLWH DQG SDUWQHU ZLWK OHDGLQJ global accelerators and incubators across the globe to facilitate the start-up ecosystem in the State. 8. Develop more industrial parks in private, joint

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

venture and PPP mode. 9. CSR by big business houses in consonance with the State government. 10. Provide greater economic benefits to the weaker sections of society, including Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, Differently abled persons, retired soldiers and women entrepreneurs in order to bring them into the mainstream of industrial development. 11. Increase the level of processing, reduction of wastage, value addition, enhance the income of farmers as well as increase exports, thereby resulting in an overall development of food and food processing sector. 12. Facilitate private sector participation in the construction and maintenance of industrial infrastructure. 13. Set up new training institutes/centres for skill development with emphasis to train 30 per cent women and upgradation of existing training institutes with modern standard syllabus. 14. Realise the potential of agriculture sector and rural economy by setting up some more food parks. To allot industrial land to food processing units and for food parks on preferential basis. 15. Provide preference to low energy and nonpolluting industries. 16. Emphasise on industries that rely on local production, local skills, and local consumption. 17. Encourage new investment in developing heritage tourism for which the State offers tremendous opportunities. 18. Promote development of ancillary units to cater to the upcoming investments in public and private sector. 19. Facilitate high-end quality infrastructure facilities, including developing industrial land, availability of quality power, efficient transportation network, etc. These should be the prime focus of the new industrial policy.

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20. Efforts should be made to ensure availability of 24 hours of uninterrupted power supply to the industries situated in all industrial areas. 21. Steps should be taken to revive viable sick units. 22. Promote innovation, start-ups and technology transfer. 23. Promotion of non-conventional energy. 24. Equally focus on the service sector. 25. There is a great potential to generate solar power through installation of roof-top solar power plants in the State. For installation of these plants, the State government should provide capital /generation subsidy/ incentives. 26. Give incentives for power generation by solar energy by private entrepreneurs. 27. Promote of clean and green technology. 28. Launch e-commerce portal in the State for providing marketing support to small entrepreneurs. 29. Introduce a redressal system in every district to sort out trade disputes. 30. Form an agriculture irrigation scheme with special focus on Bundelkhand. Also, form a Bundelkhand and Poorvanchal fund for development of various industries in Bundelkhand. 31. Focus on tourism sector. 32. Promote handicraft industries. Uttar Pradesh is a State where the skills of art and craft are worshiped as gods and passed on from one generation to another. It is the land of art and artisans. The arts and crafts of Uttar Pradesh are famous not only in India, but all over the world. Right from the silken saris to the earthen pottery, carpets weaving to chikankari embroidery, the hands of the legendary artisans and the master craftsmen have the magic in their hands. The silken touch with the masterly style produces

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the best sketches, designs, patterns and structure that are unique in captivating the hearts of every one who looks at them. Each region of UP deals with some specific art or craft. Handicrafts industries are labour intensive, so special emphasis should be provided to them to generate more employment opportunities in the State. 33. Handicraft industries should be supported to enable them to export their products. 34. A Special Investment Board should be constituted to increase investment in the State. 35. Provide best-in-class incentives to attract more and more investors to set up industries in the State. 36. Linking of industrial services provided by the 6WDWH RQ WKH H EL] SRUWDO RI WKH &HQWUDO JRYHUQPHQW 37. Leverage industrial opportunities provided by the DMIC. 38. Leverage industrial opportunities provided by EDFC (Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridors). 39. Attract Foreign Direct Investment in the State. A healthy business environment with predictable and non-discriminatory regime reduces the risk of doing business and is a major contributor to foreign investments. 40. Improve the connectivity by establishment of road, rail and air transport. 41. To boost the service sector and technology in the State, IT parks should be established. 42. Pharma Parks should be established to cater to the consumption of medicines in the State. 43. Integrated Industrial Townships should be GHYHORSHG DORQJ WKH 1DWLRQDO +LJKZD\V 44. A Dry Port should be established to promote exports from the State. 45. Administrative procedures should be simplified to improve the conducive environment for industries in the State. 46. 1HFHVVDU\ LQLWLDWLYHV VKRXOG EH XQGHUWDNHQ IRU simplification of labour laws. 47. Put the government focus on “Inclusive Growth” of the State. 48. A new industrial policy should be designed to create employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled workforce. 49. Branding of the State of Uttar Pradesh should be undertaken. 50. Marketing of the industrial policy of the State VKRXOG EH GRQH ZLWK ]HDO g The writer is an economist, author & philanthropist. He can be contacted at www.sunilkumargupta.com

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

DIASPORA

dubai ram buxani

Typist to a tycoon Ram Buxani’s journey to the peak of success matches the one of Dubai’s transformation from a shabby port town to a hub of world business by SADIA RAHMAN FROM DUBAI

N adolescent, whose family was reduced to penury due to the unfortunate partition of India, with a 10th pass certificate and typing skill, landed in a shabby port town. The rag to riches story of this gentleman perfectly matches with that of the town where he landed. A one-street town devoid of all the present attractions and facilities is today’s shining modern city Dubai and the adolescent, an office assistant of ITL, is now its co-owner. Yes, he is none other than Ram Buxani, the former chairman of the India club and IndusInd bank. Ram Buxani was born in a middle-class family of Hyderabad, Sindh, now in Pakistan. Ram was five years old when the partition of the sub-continent took place, forcing millions of Sindhis to leave their home town and look for refuge outside newly created Pakistan. Ram’s mother, a young widow of 34 years, with her three sons, two daughters and mother–in-law, was also the one to leave her motherland for leading an uncertain life elsewhere in India. She, on reaching India, in the absence of her husband, sole bread–earner and decision maker of the family, initially wandered here and there. She then finally took up residence in Baroda and started supporting her family without sufficient resources. In Baroda, the young Buxani was admitted in the Sindh Hindu High School. But the hidden sense of responsibility towards family made him quit studies to learn typewriting. Thereafter, he soon got a job of a typist. But in his heart he had a wish to seek job in a foreign country. His elder brothers had already moved out of India and

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

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were settled in Hong Kong. They wanted Ram to join them, but no opportunity was coming up for him to make the move to the island. In midst of all this, he responded to an advertisement for an office-assistant in a Sindhi newspaper placed by ITL, a business associate of KAJ Chotirmall and Company. Dr Ram Buxani with his daugher Chetna Shastri

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After getting through an interview, he obtained the job at a salary of `125 plus perks and was placed in a small indenting unit of the company located in Dubai. Like this, a young boy of 18 years with mere typing skill, in 1959, landed on the shores of Dubai with a simple ambition, “My family should live fairly well”. The four-employee unit of ITL which employed Buxani was receiving samples from Japan for showing to the potential customers. But before his entry, the samples were lying unattended in the office. Buxani took notice of these samples and placed them in the market for receiving orders. The business slowly began to grow. Within a period of three years his salary increased to $300 with the proposal from the chairman: “I will either give you an increase in salary or make a profit-sharing arrangement. The choice is yours.” Buxani accepted partnership. He soon started receiving his share of profit from the company. After some time, he became an investor too. Some of the shareholders who needed money sold their shares, which Buxani bought. And, like this, he gradually acquired 50 per cent shares of the company. He is now the vice-chairman of the company. Besides, he is the director of several companies in Panama, Mauritius and India. The circumstances forced Buxani to forgo his studies for supplementing his family income, but deep in his heart he had cherished a desire to attain education. This desire he fulfilled later in his age and became the first NRI businessman to obtain doctorate in Business Administration from the prestigious Washington International University. After JRD Tata and MS Oberoi, he is the world’s third renowned entrepreneur and the first renowned NRI to write his autobiography. ‘Taking the High Road’, his autobiography apart from narrating his own trials and tribulations, also gives a camera–eye description of the growth of today’s hi-tech metropolis that is Dubai. Dr Buxani is the spokesperson of NRIs in the United Arab Emirates and works for the welfare of Overseas Indians, especially those living in the UAE. He has played a key role in the abolition of estate duties and bridging the gap between Indians and the Overseas Indians. For his contributions he has received many laurels such as ‘The Lion of the Year Award’ by Lions Club of Dubai, ‘Friend of the Year’ Award by the Friends of Overseas Sindhis, Bombay, ‘Men of Achievements Award 1983’, Jhulelal Award, Udyog Ratna Award, Shiromani Award, Bharat Ratna, Hong Kong, to name a few. g

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

PERSPECTIVE life sadhguru

UCH has been written about how the world perceives a guru. The modern world is capable of both extremes—ardent devotion at one end and open hostility at the other. But how does a guru perceive the world? I was once asked this question at a satsang. The answer is simple. When I am walking down a street, I am capable of seeing everyone around me as a regular person—the way everyone else does. But when I sit as a guru, I don’t see any people at all. I see just outcrops of earth within which I see just small puffs of energy. That is all you are. You imagine that you are something different. But you are no more than a mound of earth prancing around and claiming to be unique and independent. Eventually, this mound will fall back to the earth and return to where it came. That is the absurdity of the human charade. There is, however, a dimension within you which is not of the earth. It is of a different nature altogether. As a guru, my concern is only with that dimension. I am not interested in you as a person at all. Now this may sound like a terrible insult! But it is not so, because what you call your personality is simply a heap of limitations that you have glorified and frozen into an entity that you describe as ‘myself’. The problem is that you are trying to become special, to become exclusive—a sure-fire recipe for loneliness, fear and selfdestruction. If there was no compulsiveness within you, you would have no limitations and consequently, no personality at all! Now this sounds terrifying too. But if you were able to sit here without any compulsions whatsoever, you could do just anything you want and be just any way you want.

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

For a seamless life Without a ‘personality’, you would have tremendous presence. A few years ago, an American delegation went to China. They were depressed looking at the bustling economic activity in mainland China. When the Chinese official asked them why they were so downcast, they replied, “Our economy has plummeted by almost 35 per cent in these few years. What have we got to celebrate?” Then the Chinese official took a chair and put it before a mirror. “Do you see two chairs?” he asked. They nodded. “If I put another mirror there will be many more chairs. Now all that’s happened to you is that the mirror is gone, but your one chair is still there. What are you cribbing about? After all, you put the mirror to deceive others, not yourself!” That is all this personality is: a mental projection, a self-manufactured exaggeration that you have begun to believe. You are collaborating in your own delusion! When your conclusions about life harden into mental structures—ideologies and philosophies, ethical and moral systems—they turn into what you call your personality. These are mere boxes, entirely of your own making. As a guru, these boxes are of no interest to me. The spiritual process means to become like the life process. Life is seamless. It is entirely without

boundaries. But the mammal mind is constantly trying to create boundaries where there are none, because the survival instinct demands it. Human beings who believe they will survive better if their boundaries are fixed are not so different from dogs that are constantly ruled by the urge to mark their territory. But if you look at the universe, is there any boundary at all? The earth has atmospheric limits but these are operational boundaries. Your body has some operational limits too. But it is still transacting with the universe on a moment-to-moment basis. Each time you breathe, what is not you is becoming you, and what is you is becoming not you. You are a part of the living organism of the cosmos. The true evolution of the human mind will happen only when the compulsive urge of self-preservation will drop, and human life will be ruled neither by instinct nor intellect, but by sheer intelligence. As a guru, my only desire is to help people drop their painful self-created fences, and participate in the great unlimited seamlessness of the life process. For this is who you are. You are life itself. You are not separate from it and you never have been. g Sadhguru, a yogi, is a visionary, humanitarian and a prominent spiritual leader (www.ishafoundation.org)

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birthdays IAS officers’ birthdays Jun 16, 2017 — Jul 15, 2017

IAS officers’ birthdays Jun 16, 2017 — Jul 15, 2017

A Jayathilak

Pramod Kumar Das

Reeta Harish Thakkar

Pratyaya Amrit

Kerala

Madhya Pradesh

Tamil Nadu

Bihar

jayathil@ias.nic.in

daspk2@ias.nic.in

reeta.ht@ias.nic.in

pratyaya91@ias.nic.in

Shyamal Misra

Akash Tripathi

Ashutosh AT Pednekar

Sanjay Kumar Alung

Haryana

Madhya Pradesh

Rajasthan

Chhattisgarh

shyamal.misra@ias.nic.in

takash@ias.nic.in

ashutosh.teli@ias.nic.in

sk.alang@ias.nic.in

Om Prakash Meena

Gopalakrishnan K

S Krishnan

Owais Ahmed

Rajasthan

Kerala

Tamil Nadu

Jammu & Kashmir

op.meena@ias.nic.in

gopalakrishnan.k@ias.nic.in

krishs@ias.nic.in

owais.ahmed@ias.nic.in

Anbu Kumar V

NS Prasanna Kumar

Govekar Mayur Ratilal

Frederick R Kharkongor

Karnataka

Tripura

Assam–Meghalaya

anbukkumar@ias.nic.in

ns.prasannakumar@ias.nic.in

mayur.govekar@ias.nic.in

royf@ias.nic.in

NBS Rajput

Praveen Kumar

Himanshu Shukla

Arvind Kumar Sharma

Odisha

Tamil Nadu

Andhra Pradesh

Gujarat

singhrnb@ias.nic.in

kumarp5@ias.nic.in

himanshu.shukla86@ias.nic.in

sarvindk@ias.nic.in

Dipinder Singh

MS Shanmugam

Madhu Rani Teotia

Rajeshwar Singh

Punjab

Tamil Nadu

Union Territory

Rajasthan

dipinder.ias@ias.nic.in

shanmugam@ias.nic.in

madhurani@ias.nic.in

singhr16@ias.nic.in

Dinesh Singh

Jagat Raj

Arava Gopi Krishna

Shaleen Kabra

Uttar Pradesh

Union Territory

Jammu & Kashmir

sdinesh1@ias.nic.in

jagat.raj@ias.nic.in

aravag.krishna@ias.nic.in

kabras@ias.nic.in

Smita Sabharwal

Nidhi Chhiber

Chittaranjan Kr Khetan

Kamini Chauhan Ratan

Telangana

Chhattisgarh

Uttar Pradesh

dass2@ias.nic.in

chhibern@ias.nic.in

khetanck@ias.nic.in

ratankc@ias.nic.in

Amarendra Sinha

S Ziyaullah

Kartikeya Goel

D Varaprasad

Uttarakhand

Karnataka

Chhattisgarh

Andhra Pradesh

sinhaa3@ias.nic.in

s.ziyaullah@ias.nic.in

kartikeyagoel.ias2010@ias.nic.in

vprasadd@ias.nic.in

Hari Krishna Dwivedi

Prerna H Deshbhratar

Doifode Sagar Dattatray

Babu A

West Bengal

Maharashtra

Jammu & Kashmir

Andhra Pradesh

dwivedih@ias.nic.in

pdeshbhratar.ias2010@ias.nic.in

sagar.doifode@ias.nic.in

ababu@ias.nic.in

Vibhu Goel

Usha Sharma

Sanjay Bhatia

Ganesh Shankar Mishra

West Bengal

Rajasthan

Maharashtra

Madhya Pradesh

vibhu.goel@ias.nic.in

sharmau@ias.nic.in

bhatias2@ias.nic.in

gsmishra.ias2010@ias.nic.in

Rajnarayan Kaushik

Purna Chandra Kishan

Abhimanyu Kumar

A Venu Prasad

Haryana

Rajasthan

Punjab

rajnarayankaushik.ias2010@ias.nic.in pc.kishan@ias.nic.in

abhimanyu.kumar@ias.nic.in

prasada3@ias.nic.in

Anurag Rastogi

Arvind Singh Hyanki

Chandrakala JU

Sanjay Dixit

Haryana

Uttarakhand

Tamil Nadu

Rajasthan

rastogi4@ias.nic.in

arvindsingh.hyanki@ias.nic.in

chandrakala.ju@ias.nic.in

dixits@ias.nic.in

16-06-1966

16-06-1973

16-06-1957

17-06-1974

17-06-1970

18-06-1960

18-06-1958

19-06-1977

19-06-1957

20-06-1963

20-06-1984

20-06-1980

21-06-1965

21-06-1961

22-06-1975

22-06-1980

22-06-1960

23-06-1961

23-06-1966

24-06-1959

24-06-1969

25-06-1962

25-06-1982

26-06-1963

26-06-1974

27-06-1964

28-06-1966

28-06-1977

29-06-1967

30-06-1990

30-06-1986

01-07-1981

01-07-1983

02-07-1961

03-07-1980

04-07-1986

05-07-1960

06-07-1986

06-07-1982

07-07-1967

08-07-1964

10-07-1988

11-07-1974

11-07-1962

12-07-1964

12-07-1968

13-07-1971

13-07-1959

14-07-1975

14-07-1983

15-07-1963

15-07-1960

For the complete list, see www.gfilesindia.com

www.indianbuzz.com

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

birthdays IPS officers’ birthdays Jun 16, 2017 — Jul 15, 2017

IPS officers’ birthdays Jun 16, 2017 — Jul 15, 2017

KK Mishra

Vikas Sahay

Kishan Singh Meena

Ajay Pal Lamba

CADRE: Haryana

CADRE: Gujarat

CADRE: Jharkhand

CADRE: Rajasthan

dir.scrb@hry.nic.in

dydg@rakshashaktiuniversity.edu.in

cmd@jphcl.gov.in

sp-jodhpur@rjpolice.gov.in

Anand Mohan

M Abdulla Saleem

Mekala Suresh Kumar

Om Prakash Meena

CADRE: AP Goa Mizoram Union Territories

CADRE: Karnataka

CADRE: Maharashtra

CADRE: Tamil Nadu

igss@cisf.gov.in

masaleem@svnpa.gov.in

srpf@mahapolice.gov.in

sp-cb@tnpolice.gov.in

Lokanath Behera

VN Jadhav

Bhupendra Sahu

P Mallana Goud

CADRE: Kerala

CADRE: Maharashtra

CADRE: Rajasthan

CADRE: Manipur

behera85@yahoo.com

jadhav@mahapolice.gov.in

srmgu.fci@nic.in

md@ksphc.gov.in

Ranjeev Kumar Garg

Chandrashekhar Solanki

V H Rao Deshmukh

Damodar Goutam Sawang

CADRE: Madhya Pradesh

CADRE: Jharkhand

CADRE: Andhra Pradesh

rajeevgarg@svpnpa.gov.in

sp.radio@mp.gov.in

ig@uppolice.gov.in

cp@vza.appolice.gov.in

Umesh Sharaf

Anurag Agrawal

Navin Agarwal

Prithvi Raj

CADRE: Telangana

CADRE: Assam-Meghalaya

CADRE: Jammu - Kashmir

CADRE: Himachal Pradesh

umeshsharraf@svpnpa.gov.in

igp-border@assampolice.gov.in

dg.nada@nic.in

dg-ttr@hppolice.gov.in

Kalyan Bandopadhyay

C Mageswari

Dhruv Dahiya

Raja Babu Singh

CADRE: West Bengal

CADRE: Tamil Nadu

CADRE: Punjab

CADRE: Madhya Pradesh

kalyanb@svpnpa.gov.in

sp-vig@tamilnadupolice.gov.in

adcp.ldh.police@punjab.gov.in

igwaw@itbp.gov.in

A Srinivas

S B Fulari

Lalit Das

Devesh Chandra Srivastava

CADRE: Kerala

CADRE: Maharashtra

CADRE: Odisha

CADRE: AP Goa Mizoram Union Territories

spcbcidhq.pol@kerala.gov.in

srpf@mahapolice.gov.in

ldas@svpnpa.gov.in

dcsrivastava@svpnpa.gov.in

M Srinivasulu

Dilip Kumar

PH Rane

Roopa D

CADRE: Telangana

CADRE: Uttar Pradesh

CADRE: Karnataka

msrinivasulu@svpnpa.gov.in

dilip.kr1961@ips.gov.in

dcpcarhdc@ksp.gov.in

digp-prisons-kar@gov.in

Kamal Pant

Anil Subhash Paraskar

Murgesh Kumar Singh

Ravindra Kumar Pandey

CADRE: Karnataka

CADRE: Maharashtra

CADRE: Telangana

CADRE: AP Goa Mizoram Union Territories

adgpksrp@ksp.gov.in

iasanil@yahoo.com

mksingh@svpnpa.gov.in

rkpandey@svpnpa.gov.in

Ashok Awasthi

Kuldeep Kumar R Jain

S Praveen Kumar

Sudhansu Sarangi

CADRE: Madhya Pradesh

CADRE: Karnataka

CADRE: Odisha

aawasthi@svpnpa.gov.in

spchn@ksp.gov.in

spraveen@svpnpa.gov.in

ssarangi@svpnpa.gov.in

S Senthil Kumar

Reeta Rai

Surendra Singh Yadav

A Arun

CADRE: Andhra Pradesh

CADRE: Uttar Pradesh

CADRE: AP Goa Mizoram Union Territories

CADRE: Tamil Nadu

ssenthilku@ap.gov.in

sp-agra@uppolice.gov.in

jtcp-ap-dl@delhipolice.gov.in

igp- thiruchirappalli@tnpolice.gov.in

Sunil Kumar Vishnoi

Virendra Kumar Mishra

Mrinalini Shrivastava

Indra Chakravorty

CADRE: Rajasthan

CADRE: Uttar Pradesh

CADRE: Sikkim

CADRE: West Bengal

skumar@assampolice.gov.in

sp-kaushambi@uppolice.gov.in

mshrivastava@svpnpa.gov.in

dc-hq@wbpolice.gov.in

Isha Pant

Kapil Garg

AG Babu

Ashok Kumar Dhar Dwivedi

CADRE: Madhya Pradesh

CADRE: Rajasthan

CADRE: Tamil Nadu

CADRE: Uttar Pradesh

sptkr@ksp.gov.in

director.scrb@rajpolice.gov.in

dcp.traffic@tn.gov.in

dg-telecom@uppolice.gov.in

16-06-1960

16-06-1970

17-06-1961

17-06-1958

18-06-1963

19-06-1958

20-06-1981

20-06-1967

21-06-1964

22-06-1980

23-06-1964

23-06-1984

24-06-1965

25-06-1966

25-06-1959

26-06-1975

27-06-1975

27-06-1971

28-06-1967

28-06-1961

29-06-1981

29-06-1984

30-06-1960

30-06-1961

01-07-1959

02-07-1958

03-07-1969

03-07-1972

04-07-1960

04-07-1961

05-07-1987

05-07-1964

06-07-1957

07-07-1976

07-07-1975

07-07-1978

08-07-1970

08-07-1978

09-07-1978

10-07-1958

10-07-1963

11-07-1957

11-07-1967

12-07-1971

12-07-1975

13-07-1962

13-07-1968

14-07-1972

15-07-1957

For the complete list, see www.gfilesindia.com

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

www.gfilesindia.com KWWSV WZLWWHU FRP J¿OHVPDJD]LQH KWWSV ZZZ IDFHERRN FRP J¿OHVPDJD]LQH

Lok Sabha Members Jun 16, 2017 — Jul 15, 2017

Lakhan Lal Sahu

Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati

Babulal Chaudhary

Rajnath Singh

BJP (Chhattisgarh)

TDP (Andhra Pradesh)

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

lakhanl.sahu@sansad.nic.in

agajapathiraju.p@sansad.nic.in

babulal.mp@sansad.nic.in

38ashokroad@gmail.com

Bhagat Singh Koshyari

AP Jithender Reddy

Ganesh Singh

Sriram Malyadri

BJP (Uttarakhand)

TRS (Telangana)

BJP (Madhya Pradesh)

TDP (Andhra Pradesh)

bbhagat.koshyari@sansad.nic.in

jreddy@sansad.nic.in

sganesh@sansad.nic.in

malyadri.sriram@sansad.nic.in

Kirit Premjibhai Solanki

Sushil Kumar Singh

Bhagirath Prasad

Arpita Ghosh

BJP (Gujarat)

BJP (Bihar)

BJP (Madhya Pradesh)

AITC (West Bengal)

kirit.solanki@sansad.nic.in

sushilkumar.singh19@sansad.nic.in

dr.bhagirathprasad@sansad.nic.in

ghosh.arpita@sansad.nic.in

Santokh Singh Chaudhary

Prahlad Singh Patel

Ram Vilas Paswan

Pashupati Nath Singh

INC (Punjab)

BJP (Madhya Pradesh)

LJSP (Bihar)

BJP (Jharkhand)

ss.chaudhary@sansad.nic.in

prahladp@sansad.nic.in

ramvilas.p@sansad.nic.in

pashupati.ns@sansad.nic.in

Bishnu Pada Ray

Heena Vijaykumar Gavit

CS Puttaraju

PP Chaudhary

BJP (Andaman and Nicobar Islands)

BJP (Maharashtra)

JD(S) (Karnataka)

BJP (Rajasthan)

andaman.mp@sansad.nic.in

gn.vijaykumar@sansad.nic.in

cs.puttaraju@sansad.nic.in

pp.chaudhary@sansad.nic.in

Rahul Gandhi

A Anwhar Raajhaa

Narasimham Thota

Shatrughan Prasad Sinha

INC (Uttar Pradesh)

AIADMK (Tamil Nadu)

TDP (Andhra Pradesh)

BJP (Bihar)

office@rahulgandhi.in

anwhar.raajhaa@sansad.nic.in

narasimham@sansad.nic.in

shatrugn@sansad.nic.in

PR Senthilnathan

Supriya Sadanand Sule

Santosh Ahlawat

Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank

AIADMK (Tamil Nadu)

NCP (Maharashtra)

BJP (Rajasthan)

BJP (Uttarakhand)

senthilnathan.pr@sansad.nic.in

supriyassule@gmail.com

ahlawat.santosh@sansad.nic.in

nishankramesh@gmail.com

Chand Nath Yogi

Nandi Yellaiah

BJP (Rajasthan)

INC (Telangana)

chand.nath@sansad.nic.in

nandiy@sansad.nic.in

Pradeep Tamta

JD(U) (Bihar)

syadav@sansad.nic.in

Prathap Simha

ET Mohammed Basheer

16-06-1958

INC (Uttarakhand)

M Venkaiah Naidu

BJP (Karnataka)

IUML (Kerala)

prathap.simha@sansad.nic.in

basheeret@gmail.com

Kunal Kumar Ghosh

BJP (Rajasthan)

mvnaidu@sansad.nic.in

Jayshreeben Patel

Raj Kumar Saini

20-06-1968

AITC (West Bengal)

Rajaram

BJP (Gujarat)

BJP (Haryana)

jk.patel@sansad.nic.in

rajkumar.saini@sansad.nic.in

Suresh Gopi

BSP (Uttar Pradesh)

rajaram.mp@sansad.nic.in

Sanjeev Kumar Balyan

Manoj Kumar Sinha

26-06-1958

BJP (Nominated)

Anil Kumar Sahani

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

sanjeevkumar.balyan@sansad.nic.in

manojsinha.mp@sansad.nic.in

Dharmendra Pradhan

JD(U) (Bihar)

akumar.sahani@sansad.nic.in

Murali Mohan Maganti

Ashok Mahadeorao Nete

26-06-1969 BJP (Bihar)

Narendra Budania

TDP (Andhra Pradesh)

BJP (Maharashtra)

muralimohan.maganti@sansad.nic.in

ashok.mahadeorao@sansad.nic.in

Ram Gopal Yadav

INC (Rajasthan)

n.budania@sansad.nic.in

Prabhas Kumar Singh

Satish Kumar Gautam

29-06-1946

SP (Uttar Pradesh)

Vandana Chavan

BJD (Odisha)

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

prabhas.singh@sansad.nic.in

satish.gautam@sansad.nic.in

16-06-1971

26-06-1951

17-06-1942

26-06-1954

17-06-1950

27-06-1963

18-06-1946

19-06-1950

28-06-1987

19-06-1970

29-06-1949

20-06-1967

30-06-1969

21-06-1956

01-07-1942

21-06-1976

01-07-1946

22-06-1959

01-07-1953

23-06-1972

01-07-1959

24-06-1940

25-06-1964

28-06-1960

01-07-1968

01-07-1972

02-07-1948

02-07-1962

03-07-1947

05-07-1946

05-07-1964

06-07-1962

06-07-1963

10-07-1951

10-07-1954

10-07-1966

11-07-1949

12-07-1953

15-07-1946

15-07-1959

Rajya Sabha Members Jun 16, 2017 — Jul 15, 2017

pradeep.tamta@sansad.nic.in

kunal.ghosh@sansad.nic.in

sureshgopi.mp@sansad.nic.in

d.pradhan@sansad.nic.in

ramgopal.yadav@sansad.nic.in

Sharad Yadav 01-07-1945

01-07-1949

01-07-1968

04-07-1963

05-07-1956

06-07-1961

NCP (Maharashtra)

vandana.chavan@sansad.nic.in

For the complete list, see www.gfilesindia.com

www.indianbuzz.com

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

Tracking

For a complete list of appointments & retirements, see www.gfilesindia.com

RAKESH SRIVASTAVA

SUNDEEP KUMAR NAYAK

K RAJRAMAN

The 1981-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre has been appointed Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development.

The 1988-batch IAS officer of the J&K cadre has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project in J&K.

The 1989-batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Expenditure.

JATINDER NATH SWAIN

The 1989-batch IAS officer has been appointed Principal Secretary to UP CM Aditya Nath Yogi.

LEENA NAIR The 1982-batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre has been appointed Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

The 1988-batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.

RASHMI VERMA The 1982-batch IAS officer of the Bihar Cadre has been appointed Secretary, Ministry of Tourism.

UPMA SRIVASTAVA The 1988-batch IAS officer of the Sikkim cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation.

JAGDISH PRASAD MEENA The 1983-batch IAS officer of the AssamMeghalaya cadre has been appointed Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs.

ANANT KUMAR SINGH The 1984-batch IAS officer of the UP cadre has been appointed Secretary, Ministry of Textiles.

DEBASHISH PANDA The 1987-batch IAS officer has been appointed Resident Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh in Delhi.

SRINIVAS R KATIKITHALA The 1989-batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training.

PK BORTHAKUR The 1989-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghayala cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare.

Moving On: IAS officers retiring in June 2017 BIHAR

Bhanu Pratap Sharma (1981) Mohan P Madhukar (2006)

GUJARAT

Pradeep Kumar Pujari (1981)

HARYANA

Krishan Kumar Jalan (1982)

KERALA

K Suresh Kumar (1989)

MAHARASHTRA VM Patil (1996)

MADHYA PRADESH

VK Batham (1992) Suraj Damor (1994) Kamta Prasad Rahi (1998) Rajni Uikey (1999)

ODISHA

Pravakar Pradhan (2002)

PUNJAB

Gopal Krishan Singh (2001)

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

RAJASTHAN

Om Prakash Meena (1979) Anirban Mukhopadhaya (1980) Basant Kumar Dosi (2001) Mahesh Bhardwaj (2003)

SP GOYAL

SHANTANU The 1991-batch IAS officer of the J&K cadre has been appointed Development Commissioner Handicrafts at the Joint Secretary level in the Ministry of Textiles.

PRAMOD KUMAR TIWARI The 1991-batch IAS officer of the AssamMeghalaya cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution.

SRIRAM TARANIKANTI The 1992-batch IAS officer has been appointed Chief Electoral Officer in Tripura.

SANJAY LOHIYA The 1994-batch IAS officer of the AssamMeghayala cadre has been appointed Principal Secretary to Assam Chief Minister.

NIDHI CHIBBER The 1994-batch IAS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Defence.

PRAVEEN PRAKASH

TELANGANA

Satyanarayan Mohanty (1980)

The 1994-batch IAS officer of the AP cadre has been appointed Resident Commissioner, AP Bhavan, New Delhi.

TAMIL NADU

ROHIT KANSAL

UTTAR PRADESH

The 1995-batch IAS officer has been appointed Principal Secretary to the J&K Chief Minister.

K Maharabushanam (2004) Vipin Kumar Dwivedi (1998) Ashok Kumar (1999) Neelam Ahalavat (2000) Pramod Kumar Agrawal (2002) Om Narayan Singh (2002)

SHIVANAND JHA The 1983-batch IPS officer has been appointed as DG (Intelligence) in Gujarat.

UNION TERRITORY

TIRATH RAJ

UTTARAKHAND

The 1984-batch IPS officer has been appointed DG (Law and Order) in Gujarat.

NK Sharma (2002)

Amarendra Sinha (1981)

WEST BENGAL

Nandita Chatterjee (1980) Basudeb Banerjee (1983)

LOKNATH BEHERA The 1985-batch IPS officer has been appointed DG of Vigilance and AntiCorruption Bureau in Kerala.

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www.gfilesindia.com

RESHUFFLE OF IAS OFFICERS IN UP SANJIV RANJAN is Chief Development Officer, Saharanpur; CHANDANI SINGH has been appointed Chief Development Officer, Bagpat; SAMUEL PAUL is Chief Development Officer, Allahabad; ANUJ SINGH has been appointed Chief Development Officer, Gorakhpur; APURVA DUBEY is Chief Development Officer, Amethi; RAMESH RANJAN is Chief Development Officer, Ghaziabad; DEEPA RANJAN is Chief Development Officer, Hapur; RAJ KAMAL YADAV is Chief Development Officer, Pratapgarh; RAVINDRA KUMAR MANDER is Chief Development Officer, Agra; AVINASH KUMAR is Chief Development Officer Farrukhabad; HARSHITA MATHUR is Chief Development Officer, Basti; DIVYA MITTAL is Chief Development Officer, Gonda; PRIYANKA NIRANJAN is Chief Development Officer, Mirjapur; SATYENDRA KUMAR is Chief Development Officer, Bareilly; SUNIL KUMAR VERMA is Chief Development Officer, Varanasi; ARYAKA AKHORI is Chief Development Officer, Meerut; NARENDRA PRASAD PANDEY is Special Secretary, Minority Welfare and Muslim Wakf Board; JAGDISH is Additional Director, Uttar Pradesh Administration and Management Academy, Lucknow; SHAMIM AHMED KHAN is Special Secretary, Medical Education; HRIDAY SHANKAR TIWARI is Director Administration Medical and Health Services; BHAVNA SHRIVASTAVA is Special Secretary, Housing and Urban Planning; NAGENDRA PRATAP is Special Secretary, Commercial Taxes and Entertainment; MANISH KUMAR VERMA is Additional CEO, NOIDA, Gautam Buddh Nagar; K VIJAYENDRA PANDIAN is MD, Uttar Pradesh Scheduled Caste Finance Development Corporation, Lucknow; RAJENDRA PRATAP SINGH has been appointed DM, Kasganj; ASHUTOSH NIRANJAN has been appointed MD, UP Small Scale Industry, Kanpur; GB SINGH has been appointed DM, Gonda; K BALAJI has been appointed Project Administrator, Greater Sharda; JAI PRAKASH SAGAR is DM, Auraiya; VIVEK as Special Secretary, Home; SANTOSH KUMAR RAI is DM, Faizabad; CHANDRA VIJAY SINGH is CDO, Gajipur; DR RUPESH KUMAR is Special Secretary, Environment; MANVENDRA SINGH is DM, Lalitpur; DR ANIL KUMAR is Director, Revenue Lucknow; MONIA RANI is Special Secretary, Industrial Development; SHIVAKANT DWIVEDI is DM, Chitrakoot; SUHAS ALWAI is Special Secretary, Excise; CHANDRA BHUSHAN SINGH is DM, Ajamgarh; DIVYA PRAKASH GIRI is Additional Commissioner, Excise Allahabad; K VIJAYENDRA PANDIAN is Vice President, Kanpur Development Authority; GOVIND RAJU NS is Special Secretary, Rural Development, Director Social Audit; SHASHI PRAKASH GOYAL is Principal Secretary, CM Civil Aviation and Protocol; JITENDRA KUMAR is PS, GAD; SANJAY AGRAWAL is Additional Chief Secretary, Higher Education; ALOK KUMAR is PS Energy; SAVKANT is ACS Housing and Urban Planning; DEVASHISH PANDA is Investment Commissioner, New Delhi; ARVIND KUMAR is PS, Home; SHARDA SINGH is Special Secretary, Ayush; SHAMIM AHMED KHAN is Director, Medical Education and Training; SURESH KUMAR SINGH is MD, Cooperative Sugar Mill Federation, Lucknow; SUDHES KUMAR OJHA is CEO; RAHUL PANDEY is Joint Magistrate Gorakhpur; KRITIKA JYOTSNA is Joint Magistrate, Gorakhpur; NEHA PRAKASH is Special Secretary, Irrigation; PRAMOD KUMAR is VC, Agra Development Authority; DR RAJNISH DUBEY is PS, Revenue; NS RAVI is ACS, Rural Development; MAHESH KUMAR GUPTA has been appointed PS, Secretariat Administration; SUDHIR GARG is PS Finance; AJAY KUMAR SINGH is Secretary, Khadi and Rural Development; NINA SHARMA is Commissioner, Rural Development and Secretary, Planning; PARTHSARTHI SEN SHARMA is Commissioner, Rural Development; SANTOSH KUMAR YADAV is Secretary, Women Development; SURENDRA VIKRAM is DM, Balia; BHANU CHANDRA GOSWAMI is Vice Chairman, Allahabad Development Authority, Allahabad; S RAJLINGAM is DM, Sultanpur; VAIBHA SHRIVASTAVA is Special Secretary, Minority Welfare; AKHILESH SINGH is DM, Ambedkarnagar; AJAY YADAV is Special Secretary, Planning; GAYA PRASAD is Vice Chairman, Hapud-Pilkhua Development Authority; YASHU RUSTANI is CDO, Mathura; RAVISH GUPTA is CDO, Faizabad; A DINESH KUMAR is CDO, Jhansi; ABHISHEK SINGH is CDO, Ajamgarh; ARVINDAM BHATTACHARYA relieved of Medical education; MANOJ MISHRA remains as Secretary, Culture; HEERALAL is Special Secretary, Culture; PRAKASH CHAND SHRIVASTAVA is MD, UP Desko, Lucknow; AMRIT TRIPATHI is Special Secretary, Finance; ABDUL SHAMAD is Director, Mid-day Meal Authority, Lucknow; DR HARIOM is Secretary, GAD; DEEPAK AGRAWAL is Secretary, Revenue; RUDRA PRATAP SINGH is Special Secretary, Small Scale Industries and Export Promotion; SARVAJRAM MISHRA is DM, Jaunpur; AKHAND PRATAP SINGH is Special Secretary, Tourism and MD, State Tourism Corporation; MANISH KUMAR VERMA is DM, Kaushambi.

RAJESH KUMAR SHARMA

VINOD KUMAR SINGH

SJM GILLANI

The 2003-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre has been appointed Special Secretary, Urban Housing and Development.

The 1992-batch IPS officer of the UP cadre has been appointed IG Railways in UP.

The 1994-batch IPS officer has been appointed Director of Vigilance, J&K.

MANISH SHANKAR SHARMA

SUJEET PANDEY

The 1992-batch IPS officer, MP cadre, has been appointed additional DGP, Disaster Management, Homeguards, Bhopal.

The 1994-batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been appointed IG (Administration) in UP.

SB SHIRODKAR

R NISHANTHINI

The 1993-batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre has been appointed IG (Establishment) in UP

The 2008-batch IPS officer of the Kerala cadre has been appointed Commandant, Women Police Battalion in Kerala.

ANAND KUMAR The 1988-batch IPS officer of the UP cadre has been appointed ADG, Meerut.

ABHAY KUMAR PRASAD The 1991-batch IPS officer, Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been appointed ADG, Lucknow.

www.indianbuzz.com

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

Tracking

For a complete list of appointments & retirements, see www.gfilesindia.com

JASPAL SINGH The 1996-batch IPS officer of the AGMUT cadre has been appointed IG in Goa Police.

RESHUFFLE OF IAS OFFICERS IN MAHARASHTRA AMIT SAINI has been appointed CEO, Special Purpose Vehicle, Smart City, Pune; MP SHAMBHARKAR has been appointed Commissioner, Social Welfare, Pune; SHEETAL UGALE has been appointed Additional Municipal Commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation, Pune; ABHIJIT RAJENDRA RAUT has been appointed CEO, ZP, Sangli; DEEPAK KUMAR MEENA is CEO, ZP, Nashik; RAJENDRA BHARUD has been appointed CEO, ZP, Solapur; VIKAS DESHMUKH has been appointed Deputy Director General, YASHADA, Pune; SM KENDREKAR has been appointed Commissioner, Agriculture, Pune; VN KALAM has been appointed Managing Director, Maharashtra Film, Stage and Cultural Development Corporation Ltd., Mumbai; ARUN UNHALE has been appointed Joint Secretary, Relief and Rehabilitation, Revenue and Forest Department, Mumbai; AMIT SAINI has been appointed Joint Commissioner, Sales Tax, Mumbai; KAMLAKAR PHAND is Commissioner, Integrated Child Development Scheme, Navi Mumbai; CK DANGE has been appointed Joint Managing Director, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd, Kalyan; PARIMAL SINGH has been appointed Municipal Commissioner, Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation; OMPRAKASH DESHMUKH has been appointed Managing Director, Maharashtra State Seeds Corporation, Akola; OMPRAKASH BAKORIA is Joint Managing Director, MS Electricity Distribution Company, Aurangabad; SAMPADA MEHTA is Collector, Mumbai City; RANJIT KUMAR is Deputy Secretary to Governor, Malabar Hill; E RAVENDRAN has been appointed Commissioner, Skill Development, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Navi Mumbai; GANGATHARAN D has been appointed CEO, ZP Dhule.

AMITABH YASH The 1996-batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre has been appointed as IG, Special Task Force in UP.

KOYA PRAVEEN The 2009-batch IPS officer has been appointed as Director Ports in Andhra Pradesh.

VINAY MOHAN KWATRA The 1988-batch IFS officer has been appointed as Ambassador of India to France.

PRAMOD KUMAR PATHAK The 1986-batch IFS officer of the Kerala cadre has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Ayush.

KAMLESH CHATURVEDI The 1988-batch IFS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

VIVEK SHARMA

MADHU RANJAN KUMAR

The IRS-IT officer has been appointed as Secretary, Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI).

The 1984-batch IRSS officer has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Higher Education.

The 2015-batch IFS officer of the Rajasthan cadre has been appointed Conservator of Forests, Headquarter and Forest Conservator, Banswara.

SHISHIR SINAH

ALOK SAXENA

The 1988-batch IOFS officer has been appointed DDG at Joint Secretary level in UIDAI.

The 1989-batch IPoS officer has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Health & Family Welfare.

KAMA ZIMPA BHUTIA

NIRANJAN LAL

MURUGAN ARMUGAM INBRASU

The 1997-batch IFS officer, Jharkhand cadre, has been appointed Conservator of Forests (Central), Regional Office, Chandigarh.

The 1998-batch IOFS officer has been The 1985-batch IRSME officer has been appointed Director, Department of Fertilisers. appointed Joint Secretary, Mumbai, Department of Atomic Energy.

APOORVA KRISHNA SRIVASTAVA

MEERA RANJAN TSHERING

The 1988-batch IPoS officer has been appointed Joint Secretary & FA, Ministry of Women & Child Development.

SANJAY The 2004-batch IRS-IT officer has been appointed Deputy Secretary in the Directorate General of Supplies & Disposal under the Department of Commerce, Delhi.

ANURAG TRIPATHY

ANANT NARAYAN NANDA

The 1988-batch IRPS officer has been appointed Secretary, Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE), under the Department of School Education & Literacy.

The 1982-batch IPoS officer has been appointed Secretary, Department of Posts.

CHHAVI JHA

KULDEEP SHARMA The IRS-IT officer has been appointed as Under Secretary in the CBDT, Department of Revenue.

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

The 1990-batch IRAS officer has been appointed as Joint Secretary, National Commission for Women, under the Ministry of Women & Child Development.

K VINAYAK RAO The 1987-batch IRAS officer has been appointed Member, Finance, at Joint Secretary level in the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Ministry of Urban Development.

JAYASEELAN The 2003-batch IDAS officer has been appointed Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Shipping, Delhi.

AASTHA SAXENA KHATWANI The 1991-batch ICAS officer has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development.

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www.gfilesindia.com

...by the way Perplexed civil servants

here has been discussion in the civil services over the so-called 360 degree profiling that the Modi government has opted for where feedback from colleagues plays a critical role in promotion and appointment of officers. And of late, civil servants serving with Central Government are perplexed by the way the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is issuing orders about the appointments of secretaries to the Central Ministries. The procedure till now was that each month, the DoPT appoints secretaries whenever the senior batches are exhausted and/or a vacancy arises. Currently, IAS officers from the 1978 to 1984 batch are serving as secretaries. Senior officers have observed that some 1982 and 1983 batch IAS officers are still serving as Special Secretaries and Additional Secretaries and are waiting for their postings as Secretary. But DoPT has just appointed 1984 batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre Dr. Anant Kumar Singh as Secretary Textiles. The Modi government has opted to break from tradition in selecting its next set of secretaries by opting to empanel officers from the 1984 and 1985 batches in one go. For instance, 17 officers from the 1984 batch have been empanelled as fulltime secretaries, while there are 20 from 1985. In contrast, 31 made it as secretaries from the 1983 batch, while another 11 were given secretary equivalent grade. From the 1982 batch, 28 officers had become secretaries when the first list was released, and eight were given the rank and pay of secretaries. In the past, the norm was to appoint those with less than two years of service to posts that were secretary equivalent. This time, however, the government has opted to designate some with just around 18 months to go as fulltime secretaries, while some officers who have three years to retire will serve the remainder of their tenure as “secretary equivalent“, running the risk of reporting to their juniors in the years to come. g

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In Gupta’s defence

here is widespread anguish among serving and retired civil servants on the issue of a two-year jail term for retired coal secretary HC Gupta along with two serving IAS officers — KS Kropha, 1982 batch IAS and former joint secretary in coal ministry and current Meghalaya chief secretary, and KC Samria, 1993 batch IAS and the then director in coal ministry — in coal block allocation case during the UPA regime. Not only the IAS Association but most of the senior secretaries are analysing the impact on the n the day-to-day working within p, a government. Anil Swarup, 1981-batch IAS officer of the y, UP cadre and Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, has expressed his opinion on n social networking sites. Mr. Swarup raised a fundamental issue of governance, “The interpretation of the system of working of committees as apparently interpreted in this case, implying that Chairman is personally responsible for all aspects of the functioning of a committee as also it’s decisions, will strike at the root of the system of governance in this country, starting from the functioning of the Committee of Secretaries downward.” Swarup further defended, “Shri Gupta’s integrity, competence and sense of what is right, combined with his innate morality, modesty and generosity, have made him a role model for many a public servant. This is the reason for the widespread sense of disbelief that a person like him could be placed in a position, which has driven him to take this extreme step of opting to go to jail.” Some IAS officers said publicly, if Gupta could go to jail, “then most of us should be behind bars”. Further, former Chief Election Commissioner and Gupta’s batchmate Dr SY Quraishi tweeted: “HC Gupta is one of the most honest officers who lived like a sadhu. Pained to see how he is being treated.” g

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gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

...by the way Shake up or shake down

Raids strike fear

one are the days when IAS officers were relaxed and convinced that nobody can dare to touch them. There have been income tax, CBI, and Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on the premises of IAS officers in Noida, Kerala, Maharashtra, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Surprisingly, the agencies have dug out stashed cash in millions, properties, luxury cars, and jewelry. After the raids on Hriday Shankar Tewari in Noida, UP IAS officers are living in fear. There are many IAS, IPS officers who have earned millions when they served in the Akhilesh Yadav regime. Most of the corrupt, dishonest and incompetent IAS, IPS officers’ names are in public domain in Lucknow especially that of a lady secretary in the PWD department. Also raided was Rajiv Arora, a 1987batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, in connection with the money laundering probe in the `1,500-crore alleged illegal land acquisition in Gurgaon’s Manesar area. The other officials raided by ED include Surjit Singh, Chief Town Planner and Director Planning of the HSIIDC, and retired IAS officer DR Dhingra, who served as Director of Industry and Commerce in Haryana government. The Bihar government has, meanwhile, issued showcause notices to over a dozen IAS officers and District Magistrates, asking them under whose permission they left the headquarters to participate in a meeting on February 26 and form a human chain outside Raj Bhavan. The officers have been asked to respond within three days. Over 50 IAS officers, including secretaries of several departments and District Magistrates, had protested against the arrest of Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) chairman and senior IAS officer Sudhir Kumar in connection with the question paper leak scam. All these incidents have impacted the morale of even those officers who are hardworking and upright. g

gfiles inside the government vol. 11, issue 3 | June 2017

he Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Indian Foreign Service have long been seen as silos, sometimes criticised at home as aloof and elitist. Yet peers view the IFS as among the best diplomatic services. Though MEA has a very cordial and respectful atmosphere among the officers but the manner in which new Ambassadors and High Commissioners are being appointed has created some heart burn among senior IFS officers. It appears S Jaishankar, Secretary Ministry of External Affairs, is taking every step swiftly. Some of these new appointments are: Ms. Vani Sarraju Rao (IFS: 1994), currently Joint Secretary has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Finland. Jaideep Mazumdar (IFS: 1989), currently Joint Secretary has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of the Philippines. The appointment of Vinay Mohan Kwatra (IFS: 1988), as the next Ambassador of India to France has surprised many. Ms. Pooja Kapur (IFS: 1996), currently Joint Secretary has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Bulgaria. President Pranab Mukherjee’s Press Secretary Venu Rajamony, (IFS: 1986), has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Mukta Dutta Tomar (IFS: 1984), currently Additional Secretary has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Federal Republic of Germany. Nepal has always been very important for India. An Indian Ambassador plays a vital role in bilateral relations. A very senior officer Manjeev Singh Puri (IFS: 1982), currently Ambassador of India to Belgium has been appointed as the Ambassador of India to Nepal. Subir Dutta, (IFS: 2003), currently Ambassador, Embassy of India, Madagascar, has been appointed as Ambassador to the Union of Comoros with residence in Antananarivo. In MEA corridors, officers whisper that the new ambassadors, high commissioners are part of the restructuring of young and experienced officers by Jaishankar. g

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Regn.No.DL(C)-14/1161/2016-2018 Licence No. U(C)-03/2016-17, Licence to post without prepayment Posted on 7th & 8th of every month at SPM SRT Nagar, Post Office, New Delhi 110055 R.N.I. No: DELENG/2007/19719. `200, vol. 11, issue 3 | Date of Publication: 5/06/2017 | Pages 64