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June 2015 Vol.- 01 Issue - 09

Security Threats from Cyber World Complexities of Land Acquisition Effective Border Management Key to National Security

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June 2015 Vol. 1 No. 9 Editor-in-Chief Ajit Sinha Editor Anand Mishra Senior Copy Editor Ramesh K Raja Reporting Team Ritika Bisht Sagarika Ranjan Graphic Designer Girdhar Chandra Fuloria Web Architect Farhan Khan Guest Writers & Contributors Praveen Raman Raj Bhushan Jaiprakash Sharma Sophia Zehra Abbas CORPORATE OFFICE Strategy Head Ajay Kumar Accounts Executive Yogesh Chikara FOR ADVERTISEMENT CONTACT Stuti Bhusan stuti@governancetoday.co.in FOR SUBSCRIPTION CONTACT subscription@governancetoday.co.in ADVISORY BOARD Terry Culver, Associate Dean, SIPA, University of Columbia Vinit Goenka, National Co-Convener, IT Cell, BJP Amod Kanth, General Secretary Prayas JAC Society Pratap Mohanty, Former Dy Educational Advisor, MHRD, GOI Ranjit Walia, Managing Counsel Walia & Co. Published By Ajit Kumar Sinha 713, 3BA - Tower No. -4, River Height, Raj Nagar Extn - Ghaziabad Uttar Pradesh-201003 Printed & Published by Ajit Kumar Sinha on behalf of Odyssey Infomedia Pvt. Ltd. Printed at Rama Offset Printers A-43, Sector - 10, Noida - 201301, UP Editor In Chief - Ajit Kumar Sinha @ All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, and mechanical, including photocopy. Or any information storage or retrieval system, without publisher’s permission editorial does not endorse the content of advertisements printed in the magazine

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14 THE COMPLEX CASE OF INDIA’S INTERNAL SECURITY Managing internal security is the biggest challenge for Indian government today. Jihadi terrorism, left wing extremism, secessionist movements in Northeast, organized crime, communal tensions, cyber crimes etc. are major sources of internal security threats the country faces. The situation is further muddied by the failure of successive governments in addressing even the basic needs of a large number of people. What is frustrating is that the response of government in dealing with these threats is confusing, fragmented and lax. Besides, the bureaucratic and institutional structures are not in place that could enable a concerted drive to secure countrymen from various security threats. There is a need for immediate and comprehensive overhaul of the system for tackling these sensitive and tricky issues of internal security.

SECURITY THREATS FROM CYBER WORLD

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Pavan Duggal Consultants to UNCTAD and UNESCAP on Cyber law and Cybercrime

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CHHATTISGARH HEADING TOWARDS IT REVOLUTION

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Saurabh Kumar CEO, CHiPS

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AGGRESSIVE PACKAGING AND MORE GOVERNMENT FUND REQUIRED TO PROMOTE TRADITIONAL ART FORMS Sangeeta Bahadur Director, The Nehru Centre, London

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INDIAN COUNTERTERRORISM POLICY MUDDLED AND CONFUSED EFFECTIVE BORDER MANAGEMENT KEY TO NATIONAL SECURITY SOVEREIGNTY TO BLEED RED? DIFFERENT AND DISCRIMINATED POLICE MODERNIZATION IN INDIA A DISTANT DREAM COMPLEXITIES OF LAND ACQUISITIONLEGALITY, POLITICS AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST IS YOUR COMMUNITY PREPARED FOR THE WORST? THE GAMUT OF CYBER FRAUDS AND CRIMES LEGAL COMMUNITY AGAINST NJAC SMART CITIES COME WITH CHALLENGES NET NEUTRALITY AND THE FREEDOM OF CHOICE UPLIFTING LIVES OF TRIBES BY PROVIDING BASIC NEEDS OF ENERGY (LIGHTING) AND DRINKING WATER CHHATTISGARH - MARCHING TOWARDS HIGHER PEAKS PITCHING HARD FOR KNOWLEDGE BASED INDUSTRY WORKING WITH ABSTRACT June 2015

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Odyssey Infomedia Pvt. Ltd. B-108, 1st Floor, Sector-63, Noida - 201301,UP, U.P. 201301 Phone: +91-120-4234008, | www.governancetoday.co.in Governance Today June 2015 For queries, call 91-120-4234008, or email at subscription@governancetoday.co.in

Editorial

SECURING CITIZENS FROM INTERNAL THREATS

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n our previous issue we brought out the problems pertaining to Indian education system. This time around we shifted our focus on much graver subject - India’s internal security environment. Internal security is one of the top national issues of the country today. The internal security of the country has various dimensions, including defending country’s citizens from various threats, increasing security at city level, investing on police modernization and fighting increasing cybercrime, to name a few.

Terrorism and Naxal threat, critical infrastructure protection, border security, maritime security, police modernization, city surveillance, intelligence and cyber security are crucial challenges that require extensive funding from the government. With the escalating modern day criminal activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs has realized the need for investing more on technological capability of the internal security ecosystem to provide agile security governance.

However, the Indian internal security environment is marred by multiple challenges. The absence of single decision making authority makes proper and effective actions difficult. There are numerous agencies who work alone, in isolation of other agencies. There are no effective laws to address the terrorism. As for local security, Modernization of Police has remained on agenda for too long and no real action has been seen on ground for many decades. Now that the central funding has been cut in expectation of states increasing efforts on the same, it is to be seen how things evolve on this aspect.

The biggest irony is that corporate houses in India, whether small medium or big enterprises, emphasize greatly on training of their employees but same is not the case with our police forces who are responsible for maintaining law and order. Apart from providing with state of art weapons, communication systems and cutting edge equipment, it is of crucial importance to invest in their training and counseling sessions if we want our police forces to become modern, smart and responsive to the needs of the society. Witnessing the overall problems, we cannot just blame our police forces for their inability in safeguarding our citizens; the government is equally responsible for their inefficacy.

What our country needs is higher degree of coordination between various departments and between the center and the state governments that calls for clarity of roles and responsibilities and exact guidelines on interaction with other agencies. This would not only minimize conflicts and confusion in the security apparatus but also allow efficient operation and swifter response in crisis situations. However, looking at the present state of our internal security sector we need to work from base level and bring in necessary changes.

Best regards

Ajit Sinha Editor-in-Chief

June 2015

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Governance Watch

Enrol MNREGA Workers under Social Security Schemes: Govt to States

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he NDA government has asked states to enrol all MNREGA workers under the three newly-launched social security schemes and open bank accounts for each worker under the Jan Dhan Yojana. In a communiqué to all states including Congress-ruled Kerala, Union Rural Development Ministry has also asked them to disburse MNREGA wage payment through the banking network operated by banking correspondents wherever functional banking correspondents are deployed by the banks. The decision in this regard, as per the ministry note, was taken at a meeting chaired by Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Nripendra Misra, on May 15, within a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the schemes -- Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY). The development is aimed at widening the scope of these programmes for empowering the poor and marginalised in the country. It may be noted that over 3.6 crore households in the country were provided employment under the MNREGA, the largest employment guarantee scheme, in the last fiscal.

Bihar to Get Road Projects worth Rs 50,000 crore

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nion Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari recently announced that Bihar would get roads worth Rs 50,000 crore and the work would be started this year itself. The Union Minister also said that a water-port would be constructed along the Ganga in Patna to connect it with Kolkata via water way by next year.

He added that small planes that could land on water would also be brought.

“Once this water-port is ready, trains will not be necessary for going to Kolkata from here (Patna). People can easily travel on the Ganga to reach there,” he added. Speaking at a function to mark the completion of one year of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government at the Centre, Gadkari also said that his ministry will open “Driving Training Centres” in all the assembly constituencies across the country, including Bihar. He said the driving training centres would cut down issue of bogus licenses where people get them without even visiting the district transport officers (DTOs).

Central Fraud Registry Coming Up Soon

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he Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon set up a Central Fraud Registry as part of an early warning system. The idea is to set up a structure for quick sharing of information about unscrupulous borrowers and help banks fight bad loans. The Registry will work under the supervision of the RBI, as per reports. At present, there is no single database that lenders can access for all relevant details of previously reported frauds. The structure, which is in the works, will make available more information to banks at the time of starting a banking relationship, extension of credit facilities or at any time during operation of an account. For example, at the time of sanctioning of a loan, banks can make use of the registry by checking the credentials of a borrower. For good measure, the CBI and the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) have shown interest in sharing their databases with banks which in turn can be fed into this centralised searchable database that can be accessed by banks.

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Governance Watch

PM Launches Kisan Channel

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aking a strong pitch for farmers’ prosperity and development of villages, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched DD Kisan Channel, which would provide information about best agricultural practices and related content to those linked to the progress of the country. The PM said that agriculture had so far been a “neglected” field and there was a need to make it “vibrant and dynamic”. Modi, whose government has been projected by the Opposition as “anti-farmer”, chose the occasion to highlight the NDA’s commitment to farmers and regretted that they had been left to fend for themselves. Stressing that there was a need to change the mindset that the profession of farming was “not so bright”, he said earlier agriculture used to be the first choice of occupation but now it is the last option to be exercised by the youth. Making a strong push for use of modern technology in agriculture, the PM asserted that if the country has to move forward, villages will have to be developed and this can be done only by promoting agriculture.

Minimum 200km between Two Halts on Anvil for Mail, Express Trains

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n order to ensure smooth and safe travel by the rail passengers, the government recently said it was planning that mail and express trains travel a minimum of 200 kms between two stations. Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, who was in UP’s Bareilly to highlight the achievements of BJP-led NDA government and lay foundation stone for shade of DEMU trains, also said that the ministry was sensitive towards safe and smooth travel of passengers. He said passengers reach their destination safely was a priority and maximum facilities were being provided by increasing the frequency of rail traffic. He said highlevel changes were being made in the internal system to check rail accidents and the Centre has spent Rs 1 lakh crore on railways in the last one year. The government has set a target of Rs 8.5 lakh crore investment during its tenure of five years. He said that Rs 37.4 crore would be spent on building the DEMU shade.

UPSC Bats for More Women in Civil Services

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he Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has encouraged women candidates to apply for the prestigious civil services examination to select IAS and IPS officers. The UPSC said this in the notification issued for civil services preliminary examination 2015. The move is aimed at ensuring gender balance in workforce.

Women had bagged the top slots in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 civil services examinations. Whereas, a male candidate topped in the 2013 exam. There were 15 males and 10 females in top 25 positions in 2013 civil services exam results. The civil services examination is conducted by the UPSC annually in three stages — preliminary, main and interview — to select candidates for prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others. This year, the preliminary examination will be held on August 23 in 71 centres at about 3,000 venues. This time the candidates are required to apply only through online mode for the civil services and Indian Forest Service examinations and “no other mode for submission of applications is allowed,” it said.

June 2015

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Governance Watch

CBEC in Full Strength Now

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ith the appointment of five new members, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), the apex body for indirect tax policy making, is in its full strength now. Former Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Najib Shah, his wife Neerja Shah, who is working as Director General in Directorate General of Human Resources Development, and Vanaja Narayan Sarna, Chief Commissioner, Tax Arrears Recovery, have been appointed as new members in the CBEC. Besides them, Ashok K Kaushal and VS Krishnan, who are working as Chief Commissioners, have also been appointed as members in the CBEC. The CBEC consists of a chairperson and maximum of six members. At present, Kaushal Srivastava is working as CBEC chairperson who is due to retire this month only. With the appointments of the new members, the CBEC is expected to get a boost in its effort to collect indirect tax revenue comprising of service tax, excise and customs duties. The CBEC has surpassed its indirect tax collection target by a handsome margin of Rs 4,000 crore to reach Rs 5.46-lakh crore in the 2014-15 fiscal.

Compress Delivery Schedules of Warships, Parrikar asks Shipyards

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efence Minister Manohar Parrikar has asked both public and private shipyards to compress delivery schedules of warships and other platforms for the Navy and Coast Guard. Addressing the Naval Commanders’ Conference recently, the minister said in the last one year the modernisation plan of the Navy has gained significant momentum with induction of several new platforms. Parrikar expressed satisfaction with the impetus being imparted towards indigenous development of naval capabilities. He said each commissioning of a ship or launch of a submarine built in India is a proud moment for everyone and the nation as a whole. He said all 48 ships and submarines presently on order for the navy are being constructed in Indian shipyards, which is in keeping with the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ vision. The Defence Minister expressed appreciation on the stellar role played by the navy in evacuating citizens of nearly 35 countries in the extremely dangerous and war like conditions during ‘Operation Rahat’ in strife -torn Yemen.

Race Against Time to Accomplish Goal of ‘Toilets in Schools’

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he government seems to be in a race against time to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of ensuring toilets in all schools in the country by Independence Day this year, with only 1.21 lakh completed out of a targeted 4.19 lakh. In his Independence Day speech last year, PM Modi had promised that, “next year when we stand here, every school should have toilets for girls and boys”. While the target is for constructing 4.19 lakh toilets under the Swachh Vidyalaya initiative, only 1.21 lakh toilets have been completed so far even as 2 lakh toilets are in an advance stage of completion, Education Secretary Vrinda Sarup said. Sarup and Higher Education Secretary SN Mohanty were briefing the media about the Human Resource Development Ministry’s achievement on the completion of one year of Modi government. Sarup said the ministry is regularly monitoring the work with the states for fulfilling the mission, which is also being supported by central PSUs and private players. The PSUs have committed to construct 1.67 lakh toilets while the private sector will be pitching in with 4,562 toilets.

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Governance Watch

Satellite Tracking System to Tackle Forest Fires in Himachal

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he Himachal Pradesh government has set up a satellite tracking system to find forest fires and launched awareness campaigns to safeguard the region’s green cover, in an endeavour to save forests in the state. The awareness campaigns are aimed at educating local people to detect fires near forests and take measures to prevent them. Forest fires have emerged as a big challenge for the state fire department during the summer. The launch of the satellite tracking system will enable the department to keep constant vigil on the forests. The system will immediately send SMS alerts to forest officials upon the occurrence of any fire in the vicinity of forests. In addition to this, 700 participatory committees have been constituted along with the setting up of 90 water tanks and 100 watch towers to sight and put out fires.

India to be Self-reliant in Urea Soon

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nion Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar recently said the country will become self-reliant in urea and fertiliser in the next four years and is aiming to become the steel hub of the world. In fact, India will be an export-focussed country from the current import-oriented one in the urea sector, Kumar said. The minister said that the Prime Minister has taken initiatives to reopen all closed urea and fertiliser plants in the country, including those in Sindri (Jharkhand) and Barauni (Bihar). “We have a target to produce 70 lakh metric tonnes of urea in the country and taken steps to open plants in Assam, Telangana, Odisha and other parts of the country,” he added. According to the new urea policy, the government has decided that there will be no urea price hike for the next four years. An additional 20 lakh tonnes will be added following the revival of Sindri plant, the minister said, adding that the current urea production stands at 2.25 lakh metric tonnes. On top of that, he said, the reopening of the Sindri plant would generate 3,500 jobs.

Village Opens Own Mall to Beat Inflation

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n the wake of rising inflation and poor quality of products available in the market, a group of enterprising villagers has opened a ‘mall’ in Punjab’s Jalandhar, selling a wide range of products at attractive discounts. The mall, named as ‘Nanak Hut’, situated at about 40 km from the district headquarters, was conceptualised by 10 people of Seechewal village with the help of social activist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal. Speaking about the profit margin from such an enterprise, Kulvinder Singh, secretary of the organisation running the mall, stated, “We have reduced the profit margins to 5-10 per cent of the cost price, because of which the customers are getting them at prices much lower than the listed price or the MRP.” “All items of daily use, including electronics, food items, vegetables, clothes etc are available at reasonable prices under one roof at the mall,” he added. The society aims to earn a profit of just 5-10 per cent of the business, informs another society member.

June 2015

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Global Watch

U.S. Criticizes China for Building Artificial Islands

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he US has criticized Beijing’s efforts to build artificial islands in the South China Sea, where China has been changing the contours of some islands to make them more worthy of military activities. The ownership of islands in the South China Sea are contested by many nations including China, Vietnam, Philippines and Brunei. The South China Sea region is of high strategic value as many crucial shipping lanes that connect Asia to the Middle East and Europe pass through this water mass.

In a statement at the naval base at Pearl Harbor, the US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that the US would remain the principal security power in the Asia-Pacific for decades to come. He further said the American forces would not respect territorial claims that they considered illegitimate. It is worth noting that recently, a spat broke out between the US and China when American military planes flew over South China Sea islands which China claims.

Dalai Lama Urges Suu Kyi to Help Rohingyas in Myanmar

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he sufferings of Rohingya Muslims has made Dalai Lama appeal for their well being. The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader has requested Aung San Suu Kyi’s help in addressing the plight of the Rohingya, who number more than a million but have not been recognized as citizens of Myanmar. Their travels are restricted and have faced persecution and deprivation in recent years. The government of Myanmar has come under severe criticism over its treatment of Rohingyas. There have been many incidents when Rohingyas have been attacked by radical Buddhist elements in the overwhelmingly Buddhist country. Some international leaders have advocated applying pressure on the country for better treatment of Rohingyas. Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, felt that aid donors, including the European Union, should make their funding for the country conditional on the restoration of citizenship, nationality and basic human rights to

Japanese Yen at 12 years Low

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early 70 percent of foreign students accepted by the University of Tokyo for undergraduate degrees taught in English declined admission for the 2014 school year. The results are a setback for Japan’s efforts to attract a bigger share of foreign students to boost the international stature of its leading universities.

Foreign students appear to prefer other colleges overseas because the University of Tokyo, known locally as Todai, offers a limited number of classes taught in English. The University of Tokyo launched its Programs in English at its Komaba campus in 2012, and has increased the number of students it accepts from 38 to 49, and then to 61 over the three academic years.

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June 2015

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Lead Story

The Complex Case of

India’s Internal Security | ANAND MISHRA

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t is often said that India is essentially a subcontinent and not a nation.

The diversity of the population and ethnicities, languages, terrains and the aspirations bring with itself a highly complex matrix of security requirement.

This is especially so because India exists in a volatile region dogged by intra national and international conflicts.

Further complicating the problem is the fact that massive socio economic disparity and the failure of the state to cater to the needs of a large number of people have alienated various sections of the population. Additionally, organized crime and cybercrime form a symbiotic relation with rogue elements, feeding them in the process. But the most problematic aspect of India’s internal security is that it suffers from the most complex types of terrorism in different parts of the country. All of these put together present a highly complex, evolving and multilayered internal security challenge to the lawmakers.

Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the successive governments, there is a general sense of insecurity among people. Policies have been half baked and fragmented at best and as 14

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such, have met only partial success even as threats have mutated greatly.

Needless to say, a comprehensive, innovative and futuristic policymaking is required, which not only tackles existing challenges, but also envisages challenges over the horizon and plan to deal with them proactively.

Security is a dynamic concept and encompasses all aspects of an individual’s life. As such, it has physical safety as well as financial security and social security dimensions. Therefore, internal security planning has to take into account all sources of threats which can put in danger any aspect of citizens’ well-being. This was accepted in the

Status Paper on Internal Security of the Ministry of Home Affairs, released in March 2008. It forecast a dark scenario for India’s internal security if the Indian state and society did not take pro-active steps to root out violence from within India by an equitable program of development for all. The report identified armed violence in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir, Naxalism and growing communal violence as four areas of concern for India in this context. In 2012, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh branded ethnic violence, left wing extremism, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, coastal security,

Lead Story

terrorism in the hinterland and cyber security as major internal security challenges for the country.

India has been one of the worst sufferers of terrorism for last thirty years. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been the most visible places of terrorist violence in the country for last two and a half decades. But as incidents such as September 2008 serial bomb blasts in Delhi and Mumbai attacks in November 2008 show, no city, state or region is free from the threat of terrorist attacks. Records show that India has seen the maximum number of terrorist attacks in countries that are not in a civil war situation. According

to National Bomb Data Centre (NBDC) report, India is the third most dangerous place in the world as far as bomb blasts are concerned; only Iraq and Pakistan are more dangerous.

The disturbing aspect of terrorism in India faces is the comprehensive involvement of Pakistan as a state which significantly enhances the capability of terrorists on one hand and limits the effectiveness of the Indian response on the other. With the massive increase in the penetration of internet and modularization of terrorist activities, which means small independent groups becoming capable of launching deadly strikes, the nature of terrorism

has changed and so has the response required to deal with them.

It is no longer sufficient to monitor the physical activities of established terror outfits and movement of known terrorists, but increasingly the fight is moving into cyberspace, which is being used to radicalize youths, teach weapon making and generate funds to perpetrate attacks. The arrest of Mehdi Biswas, who was handling an Islamic State oriented Twitter handle, in Bangalore last year is a chilling reminder of this fact. The networked nature of the terrorists shows that at no point of time, greater integration of efforts and higher intel sharing was more important in dealing with terrorist threats.

An equally critical and pronounced need for greater coordination among central agencies and between center and states is required to deal with the sticky problem of Naxalism which has persisted for nearly four decades since its humble beginnings from Naxalbari in West Bengal. Today, the movement has spread over to Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgrh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradish, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra. According to experts, the problem of Naxalism is more socioeconomic and political in nature than violent terrorism and that it is the most serious internal security challenge for India, even more than the Pakistan sponsored terrorism. The reason is the multidimensional effort required to deal with the situation.

The infested regions have faced the worst form of misgovernance, lack of development and administrative apathy for decades. As such, any approach to deal the violence aspect of the problem is bound to fail unless backed by genuine efforts to provide sustainable development. What complicates the matter a great deal is the fact that many areas of development and also law and order are state subjects and because of the lack of political will, coordination between center and states has remained suboptimal thus far.

However, if terrorism and Naxalism are threats that are well documented and often heard about, the threat to internal security from the Northeast June 2015

Governance Today

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Lead Story

is rarely heard and deliberated about unless some issue of ethnic discrimination and violence comes in from the region or from another part of the country involving people from the Northeast. Situated between China, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar, the region consisting of seven states, is a highly strategic landmass, with an international border stretching up to 4,500 km. The region has suffered from separatist terrorism and ethnic violence for long and the center’s response towards the same has been lax to say the least.

The separatist movement in Nagaland and Naga Assam dispute on the border are some of the longest running violent movements in the country. From Naga

been plagued by terrorist outfits like the ULFA and the Bodo areas have been disturbed by National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).

What is important to note in the case of the Northeast disturbance is that most of the armed insurgent groups have got active backing from India’s neighbors. Earlier China provided arms and base to the separatist elements and later on, Pakistan and Bangladesh also joined in. Bangladesh had also provided base areas for underground camps for many of the Anti-India outfits before 2008 when Sheikh Hasina came to power. As for return to normalcy, while Tripura and Mizoram have been successful in stamping out violence with effective governance and

India faces multiple violent internal security threats

National Council, founded in the forties to the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), floated in the seventies, the ethnic and nationalist Naga uprisings has festered for long and despite agreements like the Shillong Accord and cease-fires that the government of India signed with NSCN (IM), the Naga issue has not fully settled. In other parts of the region, Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), based in Manipur, has been engaging in armed struggle against India since 1978. On the other hand, Assam has 16

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accommodation, states like Manipur and Nagaland have proved hard to improve. Another crucial problem is the high discrimination that people from the Northeast face in other parts of India, which in turn, alienates them from the country. This sense of alienation blunts any initiative that Govt. of India takes to engage people from that region.

Ethnic and sectarian violence have been among the most terrifying aspect of Indian social life. The most prominent of these has been the religious violence

which is a byproduct of the country’s partition and social mismanagement for the sake of electoral gains by political parties since independence.

The ill effects of ethnic and religious violence is the impact it has on the other major internal security problem, i.e. terrorism. When aided by the illgotten money from organized crime, it creates a multilayered threat for internal security. A critical aspect of ethnic, religious or sectarian violence is the economic destitution and poverty that creates a constituency for violent, anti social elements. It has been well documented how people from poor regions are found more involved in crimes and terror activities.

Another huge dimension of internal security is the cyber domain which has given opportunity to innovatively deal with security threats and at the same time, afforded criminals and terrorists to anonymously spread their messages, recruit, collect money and coordinate attacks. Because of the proliferation of the internet, the threats to secret information of government, corporates and institutions have become highly vulnerable. Equally damaging are the financial frauds and attacks on the banking systems that can be launched from cyberspace. Because there is no global platform to fight cyber terrorism, each country, including India finds itself alone in the war against cyber crime and cyber terror. Unfortunately, at legal as well as operational level, the ability of the state to fight this new genre of security threat is very low.

Massive technological upgradation of infrastructure is required to deal with this threat.

In totality, to deal with this multidimensional and multilayered threat matrix, a massive capacity building at various levels is required.

Most important of all, a new paradigm is needed in which threats to internal security are dealt with in a seamless operational environment without consideration to state or center’s jurisdictions. This requires careful analysis of integration of efforts in crucial areas including intel sharing, force modernization, especially in the

Lead Story

There has been a consistent increase in the areas infected by Naxalism

Maintaining security is a complex task which has to be undertaken at various institutional levels at the center and in states, be it on terror or Naxal front, or maintaining coastal and border security. It is a fight in which all stand together, to win or lose area of handling high risk operations, and cyber crime management.

The most fundamental of all is the immediate creation of the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), which was mooted after 26/11 attacks, but has not yet seen the light of the day because states are not willing to cede enough powers to the center to fight terrorism. Other agencies such as National Investigation Agency (NIA) should have a seamless information exchange with other agencies such as National Information Grid (NATGRID)

social-economic-political malaise that is at the root of Naxal and ethnic violence on one hand and Northeastern insurgencies on the other. As such, respectful economic accommodation, sustainable development and ethnic sensitization need to supplement and sometime precede hard military crackdown.

Lastly, what needs to be realized is that security is an indivisible concept, i.e. one dimension of security cannot be separated from other dimensions and attended to. In terms of internal security, an effective counterterrorism initiative cannot be successful if criminal activities and elements remain strong or if judiciary remains lax. For example, unless Hawala market is killed, or drug paddling is stopped, it would be very hard to stench flow of finance to terrorists. So, investment is required in entire law and order

People from the Northeast face discrimination across India

and Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS). Finally, there has to be a strong agency to deal with cyber terrorism and cyber crime.

But perhaps the most crucial aspect of fighting internal security threats lies in non-military arena. It is well known that poor states with high economic inequality and fragmented societies are most exposed to internal security threats. As such, the biggest challenge for the Indian state are poverty, unemployment, and the ethnic and racial disenfranchisement. It is these

spectrum. Secondly, it is impossible to defend one part of the country without securing other part. That means it is necessary that all states and the center needs to rise to the task to defend the country as a whole. Maintaining security is a complex task which has to be undertaken at various institutional levels at the center and in states, be it on terror or Naxal front, or maintaining coastal and border security. It is a fight in which all stand together, to win or lose.

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Indian Counterterrorism Policy Muddled and Confused | ANAND MISHRA

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ecently, Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said in an interview that India is now going in for intel-backed targeted killing against terrorists in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This, along with military dominance at the Line of Control with Pakistan had brought a 30 per cent reduction in cross-border ceasefire violations and infiltration bids.

This comes as a welcome change from the reactive mode of counterterrorism that India has practiced ab-initio. But the operational paradigm that the minister

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referred to, requires two critical elements in order to be successful. First, there has to be a strong intelligence of the terrorists’ movements and second, capability to dominate international boundary. Both have been traditional weaknesses of Indian counterterrorism efforts. While Indian intelligence capabilities are fragmented and suffer from inadequate coordination, a large part of India’s international boundary is not dominated by Indian forces; in fact, India’s borders with Bangladesh, Nepal and Burma are quite porous and over 7000 km long coastline is not sufficiently monitored. Incidentally, intel lapse and poor maritime policing were responsible for not preventing

Mumbai attacks of 2008.

Changing Face of Terrorism India has been one of the most consistent victims of terrorism since independence. While terrorism in Punjab started in the early eighties, the oldest and still unsolved violent struggle against the Indian state has been raging in the Northeast part of the country. Even though it has not hogged as much limelight as terrorism in other states, it is strategically as important as terrorism in J&K. Except for the Northeast, India has faced four broad terror movements over last three and a half decades. It started from Punjab in the beginning of the eighties, which lasted for about

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one and a half decades. The terrorism in J&K started around 1990 and is still smoldering. Third is the Naxal or left wing terrorism that is continuing in a slow civil war pattern for last almost forty years and is spreading gradually in the hinterlands. Finally, we have the new global Jihadi terrorism that has no geographical or political agenda per se, but which has become the most prevalent, spread out and troublesome type of terrorism the country has witnessed.

The nature of terrorism has undergone a sea change over the last couple of decades. Traditionally, it used to bound to a particular territory, for example Punjab or Kashmir Valley. But now, it has become more defused with no specific area or even a well defined political objective. This makes tackling the problem and targeting of terrorists much tougher than ever. The case of jihadi terrorism is a good example. Not only it has a global footprint, the trigger for attacks are also not located within the country now. There have been attacks in India in retaliation of incidents in other parts of the world. Further, no longer are terrorists organizations Indian controlled. For example, terrorism in Punjab was carried out

by Punjabi youths and outfits were also Punjabi. Similarly, terrorism in J&K was started by Kashmiri youths before the movement was hijacked

by Pakistan as part of its low intensity war with India. Compared to these, today’s terrorism is mostly handled by Pakistani establishment, either directly or through outfits like LeT, JeM and IM etc.

With time and the evolution of technology, the operational methodology of terrorists has also evolved. Three crucial aspects need attention. First, the firepower has increased tremendously, thanks to the increased resource flow from Pakistan, which allows terrorists to mount attacks of much higher scale and finesse. Second, the radicalization and recruitment has become more sophisticated, thanks to the internet.

Third, India has also become the target

in the global jihadi plan of outfits such as ISIS and Al Qaeda which are not only instigating violence through sleeping modules, but also attract educated urban youths to spread terror agenda on social media and to fight in alien lands. There are over hundred Indian youths who are estimated to be fighting for ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

To fight this evolved terror network, which is more international, operates in physical and cyber space and has state support from across the border, a comprehensive, smart, innovative and coordinated approach is required which is radically different from what has been the case so far. Fighting terror is no longer a game of area dominance in a particular state or region, it is now an interplay of state of the art intelligence, cyber warfare, seamless coordination

to counter terrorism were seriously hampered by impediments to coordination and information sharing between agencies. In addition, it said, law enforcement organizations displayed a limited command and control capacity.

India has a multitude of intelligence agencies. These range from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), working under the Home Ministry for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), created after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Then there are CBI; RAW; National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), which was created in 2004 as a scientific organization under the national security adviser, which in turn, works under PMO; Defense Intelligence Agency; Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI); Directorate of Air

India is on the target map of global terror organizations such as ISIS

among agencies and most important of all, ruthless efficiency in eliminating high profile targets to render terror modules headless. But our system comes across as confused, unprepared and haphazard with low political will to root out terror infrastructure.

Unintelligent Intelligence Infrastructure The US Dept. of State’s Country reports on Terrorism in 2013 pointed out the weaknesses of India’s counterterrorism policy, mentioning that India’s efforts

Intelligence (DAI) and Directorate of Navy Intelligence, working under Indian Navy. These various departments are supposed to coordinate and cooperate with one another in the sharing of intelligence. However, coordination on the ground is not up to the mark. Experts also opine that there is competition among intelligence agencies which prevents information sharing.

Mumbai attacks brought these failures to the fore. The response of central and state agencies were slow and sending intelligence from June 2015

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the central government to the law enforcement personnel was inefficient.

Another classic example is that of Yasin Bhatkal, the accused in orchestrating a series of deadly bomb blasts and one of the co-founders of the terrorist Indian Mujahideen group. Kolkata Police had arrested him in 2008 in a fake currency case, but he was released later because the police was unaware he was on the NIA’s most wanted list. He was finally re-captured in a hideout on India’s border with Nepal in 2013.

A crucial weakness that most intelligence agencies suffer from is the lack of resources. They most often fall short of trained officers and finances.

The case of NIA is an example. The elite agency was created in response to the Mumbai attacks and is modelled on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s counterterrorism wing. Headquartered in Delhi and having six branch offices, the agency is facing as much as 30 percent manpower shortage on its sanctioned strength of a little over 800 people. This has forced the agency to depend on outside agencies. The shortage is worst in Kolkata and Guwahati, which have emerged as the hotbed of Jihadi terrorism.

Non-Unified Institutional Structure However, the muddled intelligence situation is not the problem, but the symptom of the fact that India does not have a unified system to fight terrorism. The internal security system is fragmented and poorly coordinated.

There are a multitude of investigative and law enforcement agencies at the center and in the states which are responsible for law and order.

Incidentally, state police forces have their own counterterrorism and intelligence units, which are weak and work in an isolated manner. The central and state agencies coordinate through joint committees and task forces. But these are very slow and because of mistrust competition over resources or simply incompetence, are unable to integrate efforts in any crunch situation.

Then there are legal provisions that are unaddressed still. India till date 20

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does not have a comprehensive law to fight terrorism. There is a cobweb of acts dealing with issues of internal security which include the National Security Act of 1980, the Code of Criminal Procedures of 1973, the Arms Act of 1959, the Explosive Substances Act and 1908, the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act of 1990, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act of 1958 and the Religious Institution (Prevention of Misuse) Act of 1988. There have been attempts made to create an anti-terrorism law, but they have failed for various reasons.

Action Task Force (FATF), the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing and the Asia/ Pacific Group on Money Laundering, India has not put in place procedures for freezing and confiscating terrorist assets without delay.

What transpires thus is that India needs to immediately beef up NIA, create a strong NCTC and rearrange the terrorism fighting organizations which are equipped with adequate physical infrastructure, manned with suitably trained manpower and which do not face a cash crunch. Most importantly, the agencies must be least in number and have a mechanism to seamlessly communicate and strike whenever needed, without jurisdictional conflicts.

Broader Framework to Deal with Terrorism

Premium investigative agencies are still lacking in manpower

For example, in 2002, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) was created which gave extended powers to the government for fighting terrorism.

However, some measures, such as the ability to keep terror suspects in custody without bringing them to trial, met with objections, and the law had to be repealed in 2004 on alleged misuse of the law. But some states such as Karnataka and Maharashtra have created laws like Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) and the Karnataka Control of Organized Crime Act respectively that deal with terrorism. However, most states do not have any specific law to deal with terror suspects.

Because of these institutional shortcomings, even those actions which do not require hard capacity building, are often left hanging. For example, despite being a member of the Financial

In his highly acclaimed book, The Politics of Counterterrorism in India: Strategic Intelligence and National Security in South Asia, Prem Mahadevan, a senior researcher at the Center for Security Studies (CSS), Zurich, presented a four constraints paradigm in India, which consisted of lack of political consistency, lack of political consensus, lack of operational capacity, and lack of operational coordination. While the initial two are exercises in creating political constituency, the latter two are elements of hardcore capacity building, both at manpower level and at institutional level.

There is no question that there is a dire requirement for a comprehensive overhaul of the entire counter terrorism system. The new terrorism is not isolated to infiltration of terrorists from across the border who can be neutralized by the army or the BSF. Nor are terrorists interested in killing a defined set of people. Today’s terrorism is a highly diffused threat with hidden terrorists, motives, targets and highly evolved communicating and operating styles.

To fight this type of enemy with a fragmented structure is a recipe for disaster. As such, there has to be an agency which has complete jurisdiction over the entire activity spectrum,

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from intel gathering to investigate cases and from arresting suspects to carry out targeted killing of terrorist leaders. There would always be a gray area between normal law and order maintenance and fighting terrorism and states need to cede that much power to center as is necessary to deal with terror threats. Where states need to stand up and be counted is on police modernization as police is often the first line of engagement and defense against terror suspects.

KPS Gill, a former DGP of the Punjab Police, who is credited with defeating terrorism in Punjab, mentions clear political resolve, rejection of public support for the militants and the Rajiv-Longowal peace accord along with effective utilization of police and central para-military forces and effective intelligence network as success factors for defeating terrorism in the state. What is important is the political backing and deft handling of social reasons supplemented the hard military actions. Mahadevan refers to lack of political will and lack of political consensus as reasons for failure of Indian counterterrorism efforts. But as was the case in handling terrorism in Punjab, a strong political will across spectrum is needed to tackle threat from the new terrorism.

Ultimately, counterterrorism is as much about eliminating terrorists as it is about creating an environment so that terrorists don’t find constituency.

It is the latter where imaginative and accommodative socio economic policies play the decisive role. The fruits of

NCTC Caught in Center State Crossfire Post Mumbai attacks of 2008, the need for a powerful umbrella organization to fight terrorism was felt as intelligence and coordination failures started to become clearer. In this environment, the idea of the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) was mooted. The elite agency was modelled on the National Counterterrorism Center of the USA and the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre of Britain. It was envisioned as an organization which was capable of “preventing a terrorist attack, containing a terrorist attack should one take place, and responding to a terrorist attack by inflicting pain upon the perpetrators,” according to the them Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The NCTC had been envisaged as an umbrella organization, which could exercise control over agencies like the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and the National Security Guard (NSG). NCTC was originally planned to be put under IB. However, the body has not seen the light of the day because of the opposition of states who consider it as diluting the federal structure of the country. This is because unlike the American National Counterterrorism Center, which deals only with strategic planning and integration of intelligence, or the British Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which has also has a coordinating role, the NCTC has sweeping powers to conduct operations.

This, the states say, goes against the constitutional provisions which place law and order under the states list. While the government has altered the original provisions by keeping the NCTC out of IB and handing over arrested suspects to state police, but these have still not satisfied states and resultantly, the all-important terrorism fighting organization remains hanging in limbo.

development must reach the remotest places and to every section of society.

There are enough evidences that youths from poor, illiterate and disenfranchised societies fall prey to terrorist and separatist ideologies. Also, there is a greater need to engage with our neighbors who are not well equipped to ensure that their hinterlands are not

Indian police is ill equipped to take up any counterterrorism activity

used against India. Typical examples could be Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh etc. India could use big brotherly diplomacy to strengthen their policing and border management capabilities.

On the other hand, it would have to work harder diplomatically to isolate hostile countries such as Pakistan and China so that they desist from abetting terrorists targeting India.

Right to have a safe and secure life is every Indian’s birth right. Regardless of political grievances, no entity or individual can be allowed to kill people.

Terrorists have a global agenda backed with global money and operational capabilities. Counterterrorism efforts have to remain a few steps ahead. A disintegrated institutional structure and lack of consensus among political parties have long harmed India and helped anti-Indian forces. We can hardly afford to do it anymore.

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Effective Border Ma Key to National Security | RAMESH KUMAR RAJA

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ith a landmass of sub-continental proportions, India occupies a predominant strategic position in Southern Asia and dominates the northern Indian Ocean.

India has nearly 15,000 kms of land border running through 92 districts in 17 States and a coastline of 5,422 kms touching 12 States and Union Territories (UTs). India also has a total of 1,197 islands accounting for 2,094 kms of additional coastline. There are 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (area involved 7,110.02 acres) in India and 111 Indian enclaves (area involved 17,158.13 acres) in Bangladesh. India shares its land borders with seven countries. As a

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matter of fact, barring Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Delhi and Haryana, all other States in the country have one or more international borders or a coastline and can be regarded as frontline States from the point of view of border management.

Even as the proper management of borders is enormously significant from the security point of view, different parts of our extensive borders have a variety of problems specific to them which have to be properly addressed.

These problems have worsened in recent past with Pakistan’s policy of cross-border terrorism, along with its bitter anti-India propaganda designed to delude and sway the loyalties of the border population. The escalation of cross-border terrorism, targeted to undermine India, has thrown up new

challenges for our border management policy.

The intrusion of armed mercenary terrorists from Pakistan, mass migrations from Bangladesh into lower Assam region, the smuggling of consumer goods and fake Indian currency from Nepal, the operations of ULFA militants from safe hideouts in Bhutan and the sanctuaries available to the insurgent groups of the northeastern states in Myanmar and Bangladesh, have all added to India’s border security challenges.

The terminology of border management, therefore, must be construed in its widest sense and should imply co-ordination and concerted action by political leadership and administrative, diplomatic, security, intelligence, legal, regulatory

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nagement and economic agencies of the country to secure our frontiers and sub serve the best interests of the country. From this viewpoint, the management of borders presents many challenging complications. For instance, the manner in which the sensitivity of India-Nepal border has changed over a period of time presents the dynamic nature of the problems concerning management of borders. The nature of porous border between India and Nepal, which once happened to be peaceful and troublefree, has completely changed now with the increasing activities of Pakistani spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on the other side of the border.

Likewise, with the growing propensity of anti-Indian elements to use coastline and the airspace, the concept of border security has undergone a profound transformation. In response to the gradual expansion and strengthening of security so far, mainly along what has long been perceived as a sensitive land

border, terrorists are already on the look-out for soft gaps, either on the land or along the coast and if need be, from the air. The Purulia incident of 1995 and infiltration of terrorists from sea route in 2008 to attack Mumbai has already demonstrated our vulnerability from these routes. The wrongdoers, with unprecedented money power, access to latest technology, organisational strength, manoeuvrability and scope for strategic alliances with other like-minded groups, can select their theatre of action for surprise strikes.

While land borders have from time to time received Government’s attention primarily because of the wars with Pakistan and China and the problems of insurgency, illegal migration from Bangladesh and smuggling activities, the same cannot be said of our coastal areas or of our airspace.

What worries India most is that insurgent groups in various parts of the country are receiving foreign funds

and encouragement. Illegal infiltration and smuggling of arms and explosives, narcotics and counterfeit currency are other problems that have received less than optimal response thus far.

The porosity of our borders in many parts of the country, makes the task of the anti-national forces much easier.

These issues highlight the need for utmost vigilance on the borders and strengthening the border guarding forces.

But increasingly, marine policing and coastal border management is troubling the policymakers. Some of our maritime boundaries are still undefined and much of our land borders are not demarcated on the ground. The disputed and unsettled nature of our boundaries has made them a source of tension and made policing much more difficult. Moreover, there are 12 major ports and around 200 minor ports in the country. The 12 major ports are International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) compliant and are subject to security audit once in two years. However, there is no such mechanism of security audit for the smaller ports.

It may be noted that many of our borders are man-made artificial boundaries and not based on natural features such as rivers and watersheds.

They are extremely porous and easy to cross, such as the borders of Nepal and Bhutan which earlier was not much problematic, but has now become so thanks to persistent attempts of terrorists to enter Indian territory from any point. Subsequently, multiplicity of forces on the same borders has inevitably led to the problems of command and control as well as the lack of accountability for encroachments, poor intelligence and inept handling of local sensitivities.

To make boundaries secure, border guarding forces need to be distinguished from central police organisations. Being more akin to the Army and different from central police organisations which are called in to support civil power from time to time, they need to be appropriately strengthened both in

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India’s long coastline has become new entry point for terrorists of late

terms of equipment and manpower.

For unity of command, the principle of ‘single point control’ must be followed. Divided responsibilities and unclear jurisdictions never result in effective control. For instance, while the BSF should be responsible for all settled borders, the responsibility for unsettled and disputed borders, such as the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the Indo-Tibetan border, should be that of the Indian Army.

The forces unfriendly to India have tended to occupy the void created by inadequate reach of the national media. For combating terrorism and insurgency, quite often security forces are called upon to take tough measures.

These measures may sometime cause inconvenience and annoyance to the local people. This sense of discontent is exploited by hostile elements to create a feeling of ill will against the security forces and the Government. Timely release of information to the media would help in combating such invidious propaganda of the elements hostile to India. In this regard, it is necessary to 24

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manage national media in border areas on one hand and on the other, to ensure foreign hostile media is not allowed to be broadcast in Indian territory. Due

may impart information to the media.

According to the recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Reforming the National Security System, the concept of village volunteer forces (VVFs) helping in border management has a great deal to commend itself.

VVFs have worked with a good degree of success in areas where they have been tried so far. Effective border management is now, and should always be, a primary national security priority.

At the end of the day, what needs to be realized is that if we leave doors opened, intruders would come in with malafide intentions. The key to remain secure is to keep doors closed and when open, maintain strict vigil. It applies to our homes as much as to the country. For long, this basic truth was ignored for many reasons. But it is no longer possible because we live in an environment where there are mostly enemies surrounding our territory and those who are not, are incapable of ensuring their land is not used for Anti Indian purposes. It is therefore, important that we would have to take all necessary steps to ensure that our borders, coastline and airspace are monitored enough to not miss any

The nature of porous border between India and Nepal, which once happened to be peaceful and trouble-free, has completely changed now with the increasing ISI activities

to the sensitive nature of their duties, the interaction of the officials of the security agencies and security forces with the media has necessarily to remain restricted. However, specialized officers, properly equipped and trained

intrusion and our border security mechanism is strong enough to inflict unacceptable damage to those who do intrude.

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Sovereignty to Bleed Red?

| SAGARIKA RANJAN

O

ver four decades back masked faces with guns were named Naxals. Today they are Maoists. As per analysts, they are a serious threat to the sovereignty of the nation and a roadblock in the development of the country.

So, who are these Naxalites or Maoists who kill innocent people, blow off vehicles, threaten government officials and stall development? Why don’t they want development? Why will anyone not want development?

Are these Naxals a threat to the country’s sovereignty? Yes, they are but where did they come from. Surely, not born this way!

Naxalites were born when they had to steal for empty stomach, when their families were shot dead in front of their eyes and when they were

humiliated for being backward. Social and economic negligence was the very seed of red rebellion.

Ushinor Majumdar, a journalist who has worked closely on Maoists’ issues, says that Naxals were not born, they evolved out of adversity. Want of the basics led them to fight and fend for themselves.

In no way can they be considered right for over the years they have been killing innocent people and security forces in the name of working for an egalitarian society. They fail to understand that bloodshed can never help attain equality; instead, it is hurting their own ilk and the rest of our country.

So how did it all start? Majumdar explains: “Maoism or its erstwhile name – Naxalism – finds its roots in tribal oppression. For a long time, it remained the sole movement that recognized and partially addressed the sad state of tribals in the country. As it

grew, the Left Wing Extremism or the LWE movement exposed deeper issues about tribal oppression in Central India.

Anti-corruption has been incorporated into the mainstream political agenda very recently and the kind of corruption we see in urban India is vastly different from that in the Central Indian forests.

There it is often a fight between paying bribes to stay alive, to eat and to stay out of jail for collecting firewood from the forest. People just got fed up after a point and picked up the guns.”

He further adds that the people also joined LWE movements against powerful landlords and politicians in the late 60s and 70s, when revolution was in the air. In some cases, the tribals are so poor that they enrolled as Maoist cadre as an employment opportunity; the ideology came later.”

The problem of Naxalism is three layered; development or the lack of it is the central one. The lack of developmental works, less or very often June 2015

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no income opportunities, isolation from the outside world besides ignorance about the government’s schemes is forcing these people to take up arms.

A reliable source from one of the Naxalite affected villages in Bihar said: “These are not people living in the jungles or are different from us. They are like us. When they fail to get jobs and occupations and lead a normal life, they take up arms as they are paid a decent salary for it.”

He added that the loyalty of these common people is the biggest threat.

These are people who were once neglected by the government and helped by the Maoists. So, there is a

A dream of a better tomorrow but a concrete foundation is yet to be laid.

Social pundits believe that these Maoists either need to be reformed or eliminated but they have an upper hand over our security men as they are trained to kill while our security men are trained to fight for saving lives.

Killing people and disastrous approach towards the government cannot be justified because millions of innocent villagers suffer. The children in the Naxal affected areas cannot go to school. People cannot sell their produce to the city markets.

They cannot avail any benefits. All this because there are no roads, bridges

about peace talks with the Maoists.

Cherukuri Rajukumar was allegedly killed on the way to peace talks. Other former Maoists (like Kameshwar Baitha, Keshwar “Ranjan-ji” Yadav) who have surrendered have been cut a raw deal, while those who have come into mainstream party folds with their supporters have been rewarded with poll tickets, money and businesses.

BJP and the NDA are also selective in their approach. In Jharkhand, they have declared a war-cry against the Maoists, promising to eradicate them completely. They are even using vigilante groups for this, which can work outside the SOPs that limit the CRPF. None of the parties have ever taken the initiative to sit down and talk to the Maoist leadership. But, in the Northeast, the government engages with the rebel groups because of

The Naxalites were born when they had to steal for empty stomach, when their families were shot dead in front of their eyes and when they were humiliated for being backward and poor With time, the scale and sophistication of Naxal violence has increased

section in the society that is sympathetic towards the Maoists. Justifying them, they argue that for both the central and state governments, industrialization is the messiah for all problems.

Manufacturing activity has become the benchmark of development and politicians believe that it will bring roads and development into interior areas, unlike what the Maoists think.

And this thinking is the root cause of all disasters. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited a number of foreign countries in an attempt to secure the boundaries but it’s time now to look into our own house for the floor has cracks.

We have grand plans for the nation.

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and schools, and the government is unable to make these as Red rebels won’t allow.

The engineers, doctors, bankers and other personnel sent to these areas are either threatened and they leave the place or they are kidnapped, asked to stop the works and sometimes even eliminated. When Maoism started there was anarchy and neglected lot who needed revolutionaries but today things have changed but Maoists have not. They are still following decadesold ways.

On top of this, political games have worsened the situation. Majumdar explains, “In two successive terms, the UPA proved it was not serious

the threat of a foreign power. They have split the country in favored and unfavored revolutionaries.” The Maoists are therefore apprehensive of the government, police and other security agencies, he says.

If the country has to progress and its sovereignty maintained then Maoists need to be a part of the developmental process and the governments have to deal smartly.

According to the experts who have worked closely in the Maoistaffected areas, the popular notion of development hardly captures the imagination of the local tribal people in the Naxal affected areas. There has been hardly any analysis to understand

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villagers found themselves on the wrong side of Maoists’ kangaroo courts, that sympathy evaporated.

In several places such as in Bihar, roads, schools, water, education, job opportunities helped to connect people to the “mainstream”. But, in many places they do not want the manufacturing- and mining-based growth is what is propagated all the time. They like their way of living, their occupations – all they want is basic necessities such as education, energy and health.

Majumdar shares an example of the

The appeal of LWEs grow in void left by government

what is the need and desire of the locals. Are they interested in the industry? Are the locals benefiting?

Who is the so called development favoring and benefiting?

What is promised is the development of the area and the people are also a part of it but what actually happens?

Majumdar says, “Look at progressive ministers like Jairam Ramesh. Following Operation Anaconda and his muchtouted Saranda Action Plan, the only result was a few roads in Saranda forest. These were used to build “permanent” CRPF camps. Now, major corporations are vying to get mining licenses in those areas since security is close at hand.”

Where are the common people, the forest dwellers and the tribal? So this gap is the opportunity for the Maoists

who have endeared themselves with the people in many ways. Central Indian states play dirty and vitriolic political games on domicile issues while the Maoists have not publicly engaged in that rhetoric. They have adopted Gondi as a language for their publications in Chhattisgarh. This attracts not just rural tribals but also Gondis in other places who love their language and culture.

The government has at best a bird’s eye view of the situation according to which Maoists are simply an object to be eliminated if they cannot be coopted in the way government desires. The villagers’ side story is that in some cases, the villagers have spoken of Maoists as their preferred government simply because they have been around while the official administration was busy pilfering funds. But, when these

There has been hardly any analysis to understand what is the need and desire of the locals. Are they interested in the industry? Are the locals benefiting? Who is the so called development favoring and benefiting?

Kutku village below the Mandal dam in Jharkhand. There are around 30 beautiful villages in the midst of small hills and three rivers. These villagers have been protesting the building of a dam for three decades or more. They have sympathized with the Maoist movement because the district administration submerged their villages and drowned their families sometime in the 90s. The Maoists killed the people responsible. With the Maoist movement diminishing there, the government now holds them hostage by stopping roads or development in the submergence zone.

Will that help popularize a democratic government that chokes its own people?

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Social Divide

Different and Discriminated

| SAGARIKA RANJAN

“A

s far as Muslims are concerned Indian state does not care. It wants to entangle Muslims in sectarian clashes. We have seen whenever riots have happened and they have happened because of few people who want to rule or satisfy their own ego.”

These are not words of any politician or some social leader; these are the words of a student from the valley — our valley. Shabir Bhat, a Kashmiri student thinks that the “politics of India is based on communalism.”

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Sad it may be, but Bhat’s views resonates the thought of hundreds of youth in the valley who are very much a part of India and who are as per our Prime Minister the most important lot of our country.

Munazah Kanwal, another resident of Kashmir says, “All these clashes are politics done by few. The common people are just being dragged into it.

All this is done to gain power. These select few are trying to show that the people within the state aren’t at peace so they are diverting the minds of the masses to win the crown of this very particular place.”

At a Combined Commanders’

Conference in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked the armed forces to be prepared for a future where the enemy may be invisible.

He had asked them to be prepared for a changing world. His words, as in a report were: “Beyond the immediate, we are facing a future where security challenges will be less predictable; situations will evolve and change swiftly; and, technological changes will make responses more difficult to keep pace with.”

Certainly, our friends abroad are connecting but the unity in diversity has been reduced to placid meaningless words, as Asha, an Assamese women

Social Divide

laments: “They were my flat mates. We stayed in the same room but they never shared food from my plate and not because they did not want but because I was from Assam.”

She explains the discrimination, “It is about the eyes, the nose and the look. There are several tribes in the north east. All different, very different but the problem is that not many know this and club us all together and discriminate.”

India is one country where diversity resides. Something we all are proud of and boast about our cultural world over but that’s it. It ends there. There are deep dividing fissures under this thin deceiving film of unity in diversity.

Sharanya – quiet, studious and as graceful as her pony that always struggled to reach her knees. She was in a North Indian town for her plus two studies. Her skirt was a little longer than the rest, her face a little darker than the rest, her accent a little different from the others and these slight differences were enough to make her feel India was not hers.

Explaining her stay in Patna, she says, “I thought I had friends till I discovered they all were around to make fun and have a gala time amongst themselves.”

She adds that her food, eating style and many other beliefs and activities were mocked upon. At the same time she accepted that even though she was sad, she was not surprised as similar incidents take place even in the south.

The difference is that the victims are non South Indians.

Amreen Makhani, born and brought up in Chennai, said, “I have seen people here not being friendly with tourists. Even though they know English, they pretend not to know any other language but Tamil.”

She adds that the locals here have some grudge against people who speak in Hindi. It is a kind of customary feeling that is being blindly followed without reason that the people from north aren’t of our land. Same goes with the other parts of India. North is discriminated in south, south in north, east in west and west in east and so

on. Its hard to drive home the fact that they are all Indians; that identity is secondary to their regional identities.

The government takes up a lot of steps to support these people in an attempt to fill in the fissures but the outcome is troubling but often it further complicates the issues. The reservations and special provisions being made available to the people from the valley or to minority tribes or the people from north east India are adding to the divide not bridging it.

Educational institutions are places where these unsaid divides are more pronounced than anywhere else. “I had some reserved quota in the college

North is discriminated in south, south in north, east in west and west in east and so on. It’s hard to drive home the fact that they are all Indians; that identity is secondary to their regional identities and had made it to college through it. For two years, I was pestered by other students for this. They used to not make friends with me and irritate me and make me feel that the general quota kids are facing discrimination not us. There were some students who had higher scores but were not selected as the seats were taken up by the reserved lot. I could not complete my engineering and today are sitting in this shabby shop,” said a shopkeeper in Gangtok.

He added, “I never asked for the quota but was selected under it. What was my fault?” These reservations are to help but the government needs to look back at its policies and think are they really helping?

Also, the attempts of government in addressing the issue of social divide

appears half hearted and ill thought through. For example, recently it took some issues related to education a very important aspect of the north east education system was ignored which is that they do not have Hindi in their curriculum at any stage.

Asha explains, “I have never studied Hindi ever in my whole student life and that is a problem if we want to mingle with the population in the other parts of the country. I cannot speak Hindi without that different accent and that invites discrimination.”

It is strange why these people are not being given an option to study Hindi when almost all the state and central government offices use Hindi as official language.

To the above question, some authorities concerned, replied that these people from the north east do not wish to learn Hindi.

They love their language. However, members of various NGOs working for the minorities and to eradicate discrimination say that these are just excuses. Yes, they love their languages and dialects but there should be a fair chance given to them. They do not have options at times. Every Indian should have the right to at least learn the official languages. Even if they do not develop command over it, they can at least learn enough to communicate when required.

North-eastern and Kashmiris are mentioned quite often as the cases are more and the discrimination is more but they are not the only one. There are differences among castes, class, creed, region and religion.

Social pundits are of the view that these differences are like termites eating away the social structure of the nation. Slangs like ‘gujjus’, ‘mallus’, ‘biharis’ and a lot more are signals that need to be identified.

These deep social fissures are fertile grounds for anti social and anti national elements. Less appreciated, ethnic divides and isolation that they engender is like a ticking time bomb, a bomb made by the people, of the people and for the people!

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Interview

Security threats from cyber world

Pavan Duggal Consultants to UNCTAD and UNESCAP on Cyber law and Cybercrime 30

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Pavan Duggal is one of Asia’s foremost experts in the area of cyber laws and cyber security and is widely recognized as one of the top ten cyber lawyers in the world. He has been on the panel of consultants to UNCTAD and UNESCAP on Cyber law and Cybercrime respectively. Besides, he has been a member of the ICANN Nominating Committee representing the Asia Pacific region.

Last year, he organized a conference on the issue of Cyber security whose recommendations have formed the basis for global interaction on the same. In an interaction with Anand Mishra, Duggal explained the crucial issues related to cyber-crime and cyber security. Edited excerpts:

Interview

W

hat is your opinion on the issue of net neutrality which has become very prominent recently?

The issue of net neutrality is a crucial issue because it is going to decide whether internet per se would remain free for everyone or would telecom service providers be allowed to offer preferential treatment for internet related services. The issue came into limelight when TRAI put up a report on its website at the end of March 2015, asking for people’s comment on this issue. This generated a huge pushback because people felt that telecom companies should not have the prerogative to hijack the internet. Majority of people felt that the internet should not be a domain for a select few, and under the garb of free or seemingly free schemes, internet should not be divided between haves and have-nots.

On the other hand, telecoms are saying that we have invested a lot of money in our infrastructure but new disruptive technologies such as Whatsapp, which has already killed the SMS market, are now killing voice market as well. Therefore, there is a need for regulating the over the top (OTP) application market. They feel they should be allowed to offer packages to their customers. Typical examples could be Airtel Zero or Facebook’s Internet.org, which essentially provides customers with a set of free websites but charge a premium rate for any website visited outside of the package. This is what people are complaining about. But legally speaking, the concept of net neutrality has not been defined under any Indian law. Currently,the TRAI is collating its recommendations and we would have to await its final recommendations.

If there is no law on net neutrality, how can we address this issue?

Should there be a new law for this or changes and alterations required under existing laws?

We need to understand that net neutrality is a complex subject, so let us not address such a complex subject in such a hurry. Out of 190 odd countries of the world, only a few countries have come up with law on net neutrality. Also,every country defines it differently and there is no unanimity on how to define it.India, like any other country, has to understand and discover its own definition of net neutrality keeping in mind its own specific requirement and conditions. In order to move

Cyber terrorism is an integral part of cybercrime but now it is increasingly getting separate and distinctive attention. Never in history was it so easy and cheap to spread terrorist philosophy and ideology at the click of a button. Additionally, internet is increasingly being used to collect money towards net neutrality, first India would have to legally define net neutrality, especially in context of mobile internet set up because majority of internet users in India are using it through mobile sets.

Once you have defined it, you can come up with legal provisions and decide whether you can do it through altering the Information Technology (IT) Act or bring out a new law itself. The Minister of IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad has made it clear that we are in no hurry and would take a decision after consulting all stakeholders, because it involves issues of grave public interest.But

the Govt. has said that it is for net neutrality, i.e. the network should be neutral per se. Also, at the end of the day, one should understand that there is no such thing as free lunch.

So, we would have to wait for the emergence of the jurisprudence on net neutrality to evolve.

Let us come to the issue of cybercrime? What all can come under purview of this new genre of crime?

Cyber-crime is a constantly expanding black hole. What initially looked like a manageable exercise, is suddenly growing out of proportion with each passing day. And over a period of time, the concept of cybercrime has changed. From just being a crime committed on internet, the definition has become far more comprehensive to include all crimes committed by computers, networks, all communication devices, smartphones, tablets, and all smart devices like smart TV or smart fridge etc. With each passing year, the cost of cyber-crimes is increasing.

According to a survey, the financial worth of all cyber-crimes committed globally was 449 billion dollars last year.

Further, newer technologies and devices engender newer, innovative cyber-crimes. For example, many rogue mobile apps have emerged which steal data from your mobiles without your knowledge. With the emergence of the Internet of Things connecting all sorts of smart devices, cyber-crimes have evolved.

For example, it was found in UK last year that a smart TV was recording all the conversations and was transmitting it over internet. And now, there is a new phenomenon called Dark Net, which operates at a level below internet and where all kinds of cybercrimes are available as services. Another problematic aspect is that now all computing devices can be converted into botnets and be used as launch pads for committing attacks.

Increasingly, we are losing the war on cybercrimes and there is need for June 2015

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Interview

more efficacious ways to deal with them.

We have increasingly starting to hear about the cyber terrorism.

How do you see this development?

Cyber terrorism is an integral part of cybercrime but now it is increasingly getting separate and distinctive attention. Never in history was it so easy and cheap to spread terrorist philosophy and ideology at the click of a button. Additionally, internet is increasingly being used to collect money. The third dimension of the issue is that social media is being used increasingly for radicalization.

no single convention on cyber terrorism.Disturbingly, most countries have not yet woken up to the potential damages of cyber terrorism. Recently, our PM talked of coming up with a treaty on cyber terrorism which is a step in the right direction.

Is our internal security apparatus strong enough to adequately deal with challenges thrown by cyber criminals and cyber terrorists?

Well, India has not done enough in the field of cyber security. It does not even have a distinct law on cyber security. We only have made

Terrorist organizations for example have thousands of Twitter handles.

Last year, an Indian person who was handling the Twitter accounts of ISIS was held. As such, cyber terrorism has become the biggest challenge today.Unfortunately, the legal framework for fighting it is not very much effective, primarily because there is no unanimity on how to define cyber terrorism.

Different countries have different approaches, commensurate with their own situations. There is

amendments to the IT Act in 2008 to incorporate a legal definition of cyber security, and some provisions on the same. But cyber security is emerging as a huge challenge and legal enforcement agencies must constantly update themselves in terms of skill sets and awareness to tackle this challenge. So, while police is well equipped to deal with internal security, there is a lack of genuine expertise while dealing with crimes in digital realm. In this area, there is therefore, a dire need

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for capacity building. In a scenario where majority of mobile phones have access to internet, which can be used as tools to perpetuate cybercrimes, a few cyber-crime cells in a few cities won’t suffice. Further, newer technologies allow greater ability to wipe out fingerprints of illegal activities. So, there is a need for greater sensitizing of agencies in the area of cyber security.

What is your assessment of the national cyber security policy of 2013? Do you think it provides for a strong and credible deterrent against cyber-crime and more so, cyber terrorism?

The government came up with the policy in 2013 and it was a good policy at that point of time.

But it has remained a paper tiger and not much work is reported to be happening on it. For example, the policy said that India should have half a million cyber security professionals over next few years, but after two years, there are not more than a couple of thousands.

So mere existence of policy is not enough, effective implementation is required which is dependent on the political will. Also, our education system is not clued to create cyber security professionals. Two years ago, the UGC came out with a notification encouraging universities to develop courses on cyber security.

But barring a few, not many have come up with the same. So, there is a need for more courses on cyber security and in fact, cyber security and law should be made a part of the school curriculumbecause children have access to smart devices these days and as such, should be taught about the potential ramification of their actions. But while CBSE has been working of the issue of cyber bullying, on the issue of cyber security, not much has been done.

Do you think there is enough global cooperation to deal with cybercrime and cyber terrorism threats?

Right now there is no global treaty on cyber security. On the contrary,

Interview

countries are currently in a state of distrust and mistrust, especially after the Snowden revelations. Countries are increasingly concerned that the data of their citizens are not accessed in an unauthorized way by state or non-state actors. The effect of the Snowden revelations can be gauged from the fact that after the Seoul conference in 2013, no global interaction took place till the recently held Hague conference.

So, the work has now started but it is still sometime before countries could agree on some common parameters on the issue of cyber security at global level. Back home, in Nov 2014, we had organized a conference on cyber law, cyber-

requirements of proactive cyber security and cyber law compliance.

India is still a reactive mode country and companies like to act when something happens. But the issue of cyber security is absolutely essential. Reason being that if you are competing globally, you have to ensure that your network and critical information infrastructure is always secure and is constantly saved from unauthorized activities. But unfortunately not much alertness is seen on ground. It is only when companies are working with some jurisdiction that they are forced to comply with the client’s laws.

For example, when some Indian company works with a US company,

opposition. How can we ensure that cyber laws can be effective yet not threaten the independence of individuals to voice their opinion freely?

There is a very thin line between defending national security on the one hand and ensuring civil liberty on the other. There are no magical formulae and the government has to deal with the issue on a case-tocase basis. But yes, Section 66A was a really nasty provision of the IT Act, which was open to constant misuse and abuse. The Supreme Court has rightly struck down, saying that it put unreasonable restriction on the freedom of expression which

it has to obey certain US laws; but that is not the case when they are working with domestic companies.

Most companies have no clue about what they should be doing for cyber security or cyber law compliances.

And that exposes them to the risk of not just attacks, but also to the risk of being used as launch pads for further cyber-crimes.

Recently, there have been many instances when it has been alleged that the government has used cyber laws to suppress dissent and

is guaranteed under Section 19 of Indian constitution. By and large, there is a consensus worldwide that in case of conflict between national security and personal liberty, national security would prevail. But in no circumstance, national security requires to trammel over individual liberty. A more harmonized approach would encourage greater public participation in governance, ultimately encouraging e-commerce and e-governance.

By and large, there is a consensus worldwide that in case of conflict between national security and personal liberty, national security would prevail. But in no circumstance, national security requires to trammel over individual liberty

crime and cyber security. It came out with a roadmap which is now on Oxford University’s website and is being discussed among international players. We are organizing the second edition of this conference this November.

As more and more Indian companies are entering military hardware business, it has become crucial for them to prevent data thefts. How are they faring?

Indian companies have, by and large, not woken up to the

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Police Modernization in India

A Distant Dream

Modern day criminal activities are giving rise to huge amount of investment in police modernization around the world but when it comes to our country police forces are managing with the limited resources provided by the government and that has resulted in criminals easily getting away eventually. | RITIKA BISHT

I

ndia is the second lowest among 50 countries ranked (on the basis of police per capita), according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2010. Police forces are measured as the number of police per 100,000 people, and India has an abysmal 129 officers. While this ratio has increased significantly in India over the last decade, it remains far behind many other major economies.

The report states Scotland has around 330 officers per 100,000; South Africa has 327, the United States has 238 officers, and Canada has 201 officers per 100,000 population. To add to the woes, Indian police forces are already lagging behind as compared to other developed countries in terms of having cutting edge technological support.

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scheme is responsible for providing cops with secure police stations, training centers, police housing (residential), equipping the police stations with the required mobility, modern weaponry, communication equipment and forensic set-up to name a few.

However, things are completely different on the other side. The government’s recent move to withdraw police modernization fund from the Central budget to states will affect funding for key police infrastructure—construction and upgrading of police stations, police housing, forensic science laboratories and training facilities which are of utmost importance to battle advanced criminal activities. While this is in tandem with the approach that with increased allocation of funds, states need to take more responsibilities, considering the lack of political will,

police modernization seems on backburner.

With reduced fund allocation and focus, the combat capability and forensics and investigative skills of police forces have taken a serious hit and are left to compromise with the limited funding even as criminals and terrorists move ahead technologically.

Status-Check of Police Forces Recently, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its 2014 report criticized Jammu and Kashmir government for providing poor infrastructure and lack of basic facilities for the state police force that needs it the most in the country. The CAG report revealed that 18 police stations and 103 police posts were operating without own buildings. And out of 192, only 89 police posts are functioning from own buildings. Moreover, in eight

Hit or Miss

districts, body protectors and bullet proof vests were not available with 64 police stations wherein there are 2865 police personnel.

When it comes to the capital city, the Delhi Police has been unable to install close circuit cameras, buy new weapons, vehicles and upgrade technology and build new police stations which is required for a high risk city.

Police have been given responsibility to secure an area of 1,483 square km and safeguard the lives of 1.86 crore population with a strength of 77,894 personnel but more than half of them

police stations, police forces and the government have failed to live up to the expectations of the civilians.

Global Scenario Taking global scenario in account the last decade has witnessed a rise in police expenditure. According to the Accenture report on Preparing Police Services for the Future released in 2014, annual policing expenditure in the United Kingdom currently stands at approximately £14.5 billion, compared to £9.8 billion in 1999. The United States’ spending on police protection has increased by 445 percent since

When it comes to using social media, Boston Police had used Twitter for frequent and transparent updates to citizens during the Boston Marathon bombings, and the use of social media eventually led to the capture of the bomber.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police survey revealed that of the 92.4 percent of agencies that use social media, 77 percent use it for investigations and 74 percent reported that it has helped them solve crime in their jurisdiction.

Thus, worldwide significant emphasis is being given towards

Policing is much more than just law enforcement and that is why understanding the changes in society that can affect policing in coming time is vital to the service provided today Members of Bosnia Special Police Support Unit

are deployed for VVIP security.

Moreover, there are only 13 bomb detection and four bomb disposal teams but because of lack of bomb detection equipment, even these personnel have been diverted to other departments. The bomb squad lacks adequate manpower and infrastructure, and personnel with specialized skills.

At a glance, the country’s police force is facing problems like shortage of vehicles, failing to modernize the PCR, ill-equipped force, and absence of state-of the-art technologies.

Police station is the first contact point of people in distress and thus the importance of efficient and effective police functioning at the police station level is important for building public confidence in the state. But till now,

1982 and it invests more than US$ 100 billion on police forces annually.

These investments have shown positive results when it comes to the use of modern technology and training.

As a part of new-age technologies, Singapore, for the Safe City pilot program, has integrated advanced analytic capabilities into the existing video monitoring system used in the city by applying computer vision and predictive analytics to video feeds to detect public safety concerns. All this would sound Greek for an Indian police official.

Police forces have also reaped benefits through mobile technologies.

In Belgium, the adoption of smartphones by the RIHO Police reduced administrative processes per statement by 20 minutes.

enhancing police services by adopting new-age technologies. An increasing threat of terrorism, crime rates, illegal immigration and drug trafficking are expected to encourage hefty amount of investment in this domain in future also.

Looking Beyond Financing Hefty investment is needed to enhance the police services across the country but most importantly there is the need to use monetary fund in consideration with changes in society. Policing is much more than just law enforcement and that is why understanding the changes in society that can affect policing in coming time is vital to the service provided today. This holds true not just for India but for police forces around the world.

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Hit or Miss

What is needed is an integrated approach that would enable frontline officers to lead to informed and flexible interactions that better engage as well as serve citizens. The focus has to be on providing police officers with a single and complete picture of the situation they are dealing with or about to be confronted by in real time.

Social Engagement Police forces need to shove off traditional communication of enquiry and must welcome a range of contact channels that facilitate interaction with citizens in dynamic and cost effective ways. People need to have confidence that during the time of any unexpected distress police services would be available without the actual presence of cops.

New and emerging technologies, such as social media and mobile apps, can be used to engage citizens, aid investigations and gather intelligence.

This is important as social media and apps can allow the police to speak directly to the public, and present the facts without others spinning it. Some of the prominent changes that would be required for improving policing in coming years are as follows:

areas such as cybercrime and corporate fraud. Apart from collaborating with private sectors, police can work with other justice organizations can help speed up investigations.

The country needs to also collaborate at international level to fight borderless crime. For example, Europol has supported more than 13,500 crossborder cases in 2011 through intense use of intelligence. Thus, police forces need to cooperate with different sector to support different aspects of policing.

Enhancing Services via Analytics Analytics is considered as a new wave of disruptive technology which can

that can enhance the response times to public safety incidents.

Successful intelligence sharing and proactive crime fighting, however, must be supported by interoperable systems and crime databases. Improved data standards and management and can be advanced by the use of technologies such as biometrics and automatic facial recognition. With integrated policing systems and high-quality data, automated analytics engines can improve the efficiency of police officers.

Criminals are making use of technology in their nefarious plans and Indian police forces with their

Real-Time Access on the Move Investigations rely on accurate and timely information, hence there is a need to empower police officers with real-time access to information.

Mobile technologies bring a new sense of immediacy and accuracy to investigation process. Sharing information interactively at the crime scene enables real-time analysis and investigation. The objective is to give mobile officers quick and easy access in one central repository to all information related to a subject of interest at the scene.

Collaborative Approach Engaging with the private sector can lead to improvement in support services, outsource administrative functions, or share back-office services.

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Austrian Police Officers at their headquarters in Vienna

be used to enhance intelligence-led policing by managing risk-identifying criminal networks. For example, burglary data is used by Santa Cruz City in the United States to identify streets at the greatest risk of burglary and then increase patrols in those areas.

The scope of analytics can be expanded to include hospital, prison or traffic data to offer richer intelligence.

Sophisticated analytics techniques can quickly process a wide variety and volume of data sources—from video cameras, sensors, and biometrics—to dramatically transform policing. This will increase situational awareness, streamline operations and offer alerts

obsolete investigative methods are failing incessantly to match with their plans. This despite the fact that crimes are getting more sophisticated.

As policing requirements and paradigms change, government needs to empower police forces so they can outperform criminals. As Atmaram Deshpande, Superintendent, Goa Police, quoted, “Policing for the future will depend on world-class training, modern technologies, international collaboration, technical assessments and thorough investigation and prosecution.” This is an endeavor India can ill afford to fail in.

Emergent Issue

Complexities of Land Acquisition-Legality,

Politics and the Public Interest | SOPHIA ZEHRA ABBAS

T

he Land Acquisition Amendment Bill 2015 (henceforth LAA 2015) which replaced the Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013(henceforth LARR 2013) which in turn substituted for the draconian Land Acquisition Act of 1894 is one of the most important issues before the country today. While it has been debated in parliament and on the streets, many substantive issues that need to be addressed have been missing from the conversation. Some of these came up at a seminar held at the Delhi School of Economics in April – such as the larger political, economic and judicial contexts within which one can make sense of the trajectory of the land acquisition laws; the constitutional and historical bases of sovereignty and public interest; the relationship between land reforms, land acquisition and land use change.

Who are the different stakeholders and what are the varying claims involved in the question of land acquisition?

Is the provision of compensation at market value and employment an

adequate substitute for the loss of land and livelihood? What regional and rural-urban variations are important in understanding the impact of land acquisition?

The Historical Trajectory of the Land Acquisition Act, Regional and Urban-Rural Experiences of The Act LARR 2013 was passed with the support of all major political parties after two years of intense discussion and introduced several important changes to the 1894 act. The first major change was in the degree to which land acquisition is compulsory. While the colonial act allowed acquisition of land for ‘public purposes’, defining such public purpose was left to the state. The LARR act, however, reduced the scope for arbitrariness by making it mandatory for the government to obtain the consent of 80 per cent of the affected families. Likewise, the introduction of the Social Impact Assessment feature that makes it compulsory to calculate the associated costs and benefits underlining the acquisition process, curtailed the power of the state to acquire land

under the eminent domain clause.

While the earlier act granted cash compensation between one fourth to one fifth of the market value making the process of land acquisition highly subsidized, with the LARR 2013 act it was raised to twice the market value for urban areas and four times the market value for rural areas. This was also accompanied by the introduction of the right to rehabilitation and resettlement which emerged as a legal right for the affected party for the first time. Moreover LARR also brought in a retrospective clause which mandated that if the land was not used for five years it would be returned to the original owner. It specified the kind of land that could be acquired and restricted the acquisition of multicropped fertile land. Furthermore it also imposed a penalty clause involving punishment for government officials who were found guilty of violating any of the terms and conditions of the law.

With all these changes in place, the new act was considered a huge step forward from the 1894 act, with a degree of space for affected families.

However, as soon as NDA came to power in 2014, they wanted to go back on the act they had agreed to in 2013.

The excuse for bringing in an ordinance was that it was required to extend the higher market rate to 13 parallel laws under which land is acquired listed in the LAAR 2013 appendix. Additionally, PM Modi argued that the LARR 2013 was too cumbersome and was holding up land acquisition for key projects; and claimed that changes were also required for rural infrastructure. The ordinance proposes a removal of the consent and SIA clause, suggests an elimination of the rider on acquisition of multi-cropped land and attempts to maneuver around the rehabilitation and resettlement feature of the LARR act. Moreover, by expanding the idea of what counts as public purpose, wherein it lists luxury hospitals and schools as public interest, it makes acquisition under the pretext of infrastructure and development easier for private interests.

In this sense then, the ordinance June 2015

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Emergent Issue

Supreme Court has ruled in favor of higher compensation in many cases

appears as a return to the 1894 act that had led to so much protest over the years, as well as police firings. This does not imply, however, that the LARR 2013 was free from asymmetries of power between state and affected families.

While the current ordinance expands on the idea of public purpose the LARR 2013 kept this idea ambiguous and inclusive, making room for power to flow in as vested interests.

One of the features of the 2013 act which has also been retained and has been much publicized by the NDA is the enhanced compensation across all acts under which land is acquired such as the Coal Bearing Areas Act. However, market value means different things for different entities like the state, real estate brokers and land owners. Government market value is significantly less than the actual market value. Moreover, in many places such as scheduled areas, there is no market in land as land cannot be freely bought and sold to non-adivasis. Besides, the act ignores the lack of desire on the 38

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part of many land owners to part with their land despite high monetary compensation.

While LARR 2013 required consent, it is a well known fact that fake and forcible consent can be obtained and land acquisition carried out. The same is also true for the Social Impact Assessment feature which can be as precarious as an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). These are often rigged in a way where those actually affected are denied a voice, and others who have nothing to do with the project are brought in from outside.

Neither LARR 2013 nor the LAA 2015 have focused adequately on the idea of land use change which is an essential feature of land acquisition today.

While most often land acquisition is a prior step to land use change making the latter an easy process, this does not mean that we conflate the two processes. Some land use change based on stricter ideas of rehabilitation, resettlement and compensation is needed and one cannot always oppose

all instances of land acquisition. This implies that while land acquisition can be justified in some instances, attempts at mapping out what these conditions are and making this process legitimate have so far been absent within the debates around the legality surrounding land acquisition.

Evidently then, there is a need to substantively alter the present land Acquisition bill alongside challenging the earlier existing LARR 2013 act so that vested interests are not allowed to benefit from ambiguities and possible loaded interpretations of law. Regional experiences of land acquisition from West Bengal, Goa and Gujarat alongside the urban-rural variations in land acquisition point to various inconsistencies present within LARR 2013 as well. For instance, both the 1894 Act and LARR 2013 did not recognize the existing Goankari system of common land use and ownership in Goa. Similarly, there have been multiple provisions within these acts used to acquire land in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh which have not been in best interests of land owners and have benefited industrialists and real estate players. Moreover many of these acquisitions have been facilitated using police brutality and by misusing the law and the expression for dissent has been narrow and heavily curtailed in this regard.

Most of these acquisitions have been carried out under the pretext of urbanization which is described by the government as a viable public purpose, and there is consistency in terms of promoting an imagination of the urban which involves building smart cities, industrial corridors and changing land use from agriculture to more productive activities. In fact such urbanization is seen as coterminous with development and this logic then dominates the acquisition of wastelands as well, where waste is seen as being passed on to more “productive hands� to ensure urbanization. The fact that what government defines as wasteland continues to provide people with their livelihood reveal how the

Emergent Issue

state’s perception of urbanization, growth, waste and so on need to be more deeply probed for a nuanced understanding of the problem at hand.

The state’s incorporation of a fixed urban imaginary also requires inquiring into the nature of land acquisition within urban space. The specific example of Mumbai shows how forceful land acquisition is an equally common practice in cities. However, it is not termed as land acquisition within the boundary of a city and instead appears in the contexts of firstly, affordable housing and secondly, industrial corridors. These two, in particular, reflect a new strategy of urbanization wherein multi-crop fertile land will be acquired to build a “smart city” and land on the ruralurban periphery will be traded off for land within the city for the urban poor.

This is indicative of a desire to not only push the urban poor to the margins but also implies that there is no law to deal with ‘acquisition’ in the city, rendering all acquisition that takes place within the city necessarily lawless. While the 2013 LARR at least mentions urban areas, there is absolute lack of clarity regarding what the 2015 ordinance might propose in this context. Such ambivalence then allows the state to exercise arbitrariness in interpreting laws that benefit some people at the expense of others and makes room for impunity within the law.

Public Interest, Sovereignty and the State: The larger Emergent Politics of Land Acquisition The idea of the state as sovereign, holding ultimate supreme power is a European concept that found entry in India with colonialism. The basis of eminent domain is sovereignty, public interest and the state’s supposed capacity to determine this notion of public interest. But rather than the constitutional idea of the state being a protector of the weak against the strong, today it is no longer even a neutral arbitrator appearing to mediate between varying claims and interests. Post the liberalization

era even the limited Nehruvian efforts for land reforms came to a halt. Instead, the eminent domain clause is invoked for private interests with the constant invisibilization of those displaced. Likewise, with the present ordinance, sovereignty is also asserted by providing legal protection to government servants against penalization for violating conditions laid out by the law during the course of land acquisition.

Such lack of accountability then pushes one to question where the state is exercising its powers of decision

While the 2013 LARR at least mentions urban areas, there is absolute lack of clarity regarding what the 2015 ordinance might propose in this context. Such ambivalence then allows the state to exercise arbitrariness in interpreting laws that benefit some people at the expense of others making. In this regard it has been argued that primary decisions surrounding land and its usage have come to be located at the upper echelons of state bodies and principles outlined by them are difficult to challenge even through litigation. Nevertheless, in the last few years there have been multiple overruling by the Supreme Court in the form of judgments around land acquisition cases in areas like Gurgaon where the decision has been in the interest of the aggrieved parties. These positive interventions by the judiciary however have not been able to solve the problem of contentious issues like compensation which even after being enhanced barely comes down to the level of actual market value.

The market value for land which is calculated through circle rates or sale deeds most often is undervalued because of obsolete land records, and tendency to understate stamp duty resulting in over-acquisition of land.

Besides, there is a need to look at the larger politics surrounding the practice of land acquisition which influences the power to determine rights to land. With the current ordinance, seen in conjunction with other bills like the Mines and Minerals Bills, the distribution of such power has been disproportionate and the Centre has been devolved with greater power than the state governments.

For instance, the present Mines and Minerals ordinance gives the Centre power to increase the area marked out for mining and set the conditions for auction of leases and selection of bidders. This essentially restricts the power of the state governments in controlling such matters and indicates to bias in devolution of powers with the new legal changes being introduced.

In this context then, there emerges the need to look for possible solutions to the ongoing land acquisition problem both in terms of demands for adequate rights to land and livelihood, such as a National Development Act. Organizations like the National Alliance of People’s Movements have asked for a white paper on land usage since 1947. In combination with a demand for rights surrounding land and livelihood, there also exists a need to insist on plurality in terms of the location of decision making and sovereignty. Regarding the present land amendment ordinance, only time can tell what shape the current problem surrounding resources like land will take, but for now the need of the hour is to analyze and discuss the law threadbare so that the substantial and collective land rights are not usurped from land owners.

The writer is a research scholar at the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics. This article is based on a seminar held at the Delhi School of Economics on April 8, 2015.

June 2015

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Social Preparedness

Is Your Community Prepared

for the Worst?

| RITIKA BISHT

I

ndividuals can make a difference in their own community but when it comes to social preparedness majority of people in our country give it a blind eye. Our society is continuously marred with innumerable risks for which community is not prepared and unfortunately people do not seem to care about their own safety as well. But modern day criminal activities and all-time prevalent natural disasters have made it important for people to come together to protect themselves against such risks.

No matter how much technologically 40

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advanced we have become, we are still far from being called a ‘civil-society’.

The sad reality is that we live in an increasingly violent society in which the fear of crime is ever-present.

Personal safety has become an issue of importance for everyone.

With increasing number of crimes accompanied by inevitable natural disasters, the society has to take initiatives to come together and educate themselves to respond to any emergency effectively.

What is required is planning which is an important avenue to community emergency preparedness. The practice of emergency response planning is best thought of as a process - a

continuing sequence of analyses, plan development, and the acquisition by individuals and teams of performance skills achieved through training, drills, exercises and critiques.

Thus, the challenge is to maximize awareness and encourage participation in social preparedness activities to affect change at the community level.

The Importance of Disaster Preparedness The one thing that is inevitable and cannot be prevented and undone is natural disaster. Tsunami, floods and earthquakes have hit the country hard in past and will continue to devastate livelihoods in future also. Does it mean

Social Preparedness

that we should sit peacefully and do nothing and wait for another natural disaster to strike?

Social preparedness for any such catastrophe is of crucial importance to save lives and livelihoods. However, majority of our population is blithely unaware about various aspects of disaster preparedness aspects.

Almost two years ago, catastrophic floods hit the state of Uttarakhand, killing more than 5,500 and affecting more than 100,000 others. The calamity was considered India’s worst natural disaster since the 2004 Asian tsunami.

It has left us questioning whether the society and the country are adequately prepared to respond to disasters.

In the wake of the 2004 Tsunami, Koïchiro Matsuura, UNESCO DirectorGeneral in 2005 stated, “anticipating, educating and informing are the keys to reducing the deadly effect of such natural disasters. Unfortunately such activities have not been given priority.”

According to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation,

almost 85 percent of the country is vulnerable to one or more hazards such as earthquakes, floods, droughts, cyclones and landslides. More than 50 million people are affected by natural disasters annually, according to the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM).

Though it remains impossible to predict when and where a natural disaster will occur, the impacts of disasters can be reduced by taking a variety of personal safety measures.

Being prepared for a major disaster is the most effective way to minimize the damage suffered by the affected population. Majority of people in India do not have a clue about social preparedness against any natural disaster. Educating community about disaster preparedness is not just the responsibility of the state but also of community itself.

Given that people in a community interact and exchange information, living in a community with high average level of education is beneficial in improving preparedness levels.

As per the study carried out by Rachmalia in 2011, the catastrophic loss during the Tsunami in 2004 was largely because of lack of knowledge, absence of warning systems and lack of preparedness among the people. Japan’s Tohoku earthquake in 2011 was equally devastating but the effectiveness of local emergency warning systems and disaster preparedness among citizens saved many lives.

These incidences illustrate that disaster preparedness among society is critical to mitigate disaster impacts.

Securing Our Neighborhood With increasing crime and violence, public safety has emerged as an important function for governments across the world. The basic principles of good governance must find a direct application in any urban safety strategy, aimed at reducing and preventing common problems of crime and insecurity.

However, securing neighborhood is not only the responsibility of government but also of the community

itself as criminals come from within this very social stratum.

The alarming increase of the crime rates signals to the fact that moral orientation in the masses is facing a notable shift that needs to be viewed seriously. Despite improvements and innovation in the modes of crime prevention and systematization of the law enforcement agencies in the country, most major forms of crimes and incidents of anti-social behavior are increasing fast.

Everybody wants to live in a place where they feel safe and communities themselves can play a vital role in addressing these problems and helping their local neighborhoods to feel safer.

The Safer Community approach is founded on the belief that when communities begin to own the problems of crime they will be motivated to work to solve those problems or minimize the effects of crime.

People need to work in unison and be involved in neighborhood watch, street watch, and various environmental enhancement measures that can deter crime.

The concept of neighborhood watch has proven to be one of the most effective ways to reduce crime. It involves the police, community safety departments of local authorities, other voluntary organizations, and above all, individuals and families.

The idea centers on neighbors recognizing suspicious activities and reporting crimes to police. Neighbors can help police catch rapists, muggers, drug dealers, kidnappers, or others who pose a danger to the safety of their community. And, most importantly, they keep an eye out for each other.

Cellular phone is effective for Neighborhood Watch groups to use to fight crime. In Florida, over a ninemonth period, use of cellular phones

by Neighborhood Watch Groups in 11 areas caused a decrease in burglaries, robberies, and thefts.

USA, UK, New Zealand and many other countries have witnessed decrease in criminal activities when communities have collaborated with police forces. It seems a distant dream when people in June 2015

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41

Social Preparedness

One of the Tsunami ravaged villages that hit Indian Ocean coast in 2004

been incorporated in the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosures Bill, 2010, with respect to the protection of witnesses and protection of the identity of complainants. However, the same would be effective only after being implemented as a law, since the Bill is yet to receive the assent of the President of India though it has been passed by both the Houses of the Parliament.

It is high time that an exhaustive and wholesome witness protection program is taken up in the country’s criminal justice system to encourage community to help police forces to minimize criminal activities.

Our communities need to promote the culture of prevention, be it in relation to securing local community or disaster management scenario.

Citizens play a major role in helping the government to make its scheme or

our society will understand the need for such approaches and feel that they can participate to enhance individual and community security.

Community Collaborating with Police Forces Relying completely on the formal systems of control to maintain law and order is difficult. As mentioned before, safety of our city or community is stronger when people assist police officers in updating about any suspicious happenings.

The situation in India is different as society does not trust its own judicial system. The disturbing fact is that India does not have a Witness Protection law.

The threat to the lives of witnesses is one of the primary reasons for them to retract their earlier statements during the trial.

There is nothing in the law to protect witnesses from external threats, inducement or intimidation. Political pressure, self-generated fear of police and the legal system, absence of fear of the law of perjury, an unsympathetic law enforcement machinery and corruption are some of the other reasons for witnesses turning hostile 42

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A neighborhood watch sign in Mississippi, United States

in the course of trial.

Dismal state of affairs during police investigation, and the subsequent court procedures which takes an agonizingly long time to meet any logical end, are adding to the woes of the criminal justice system of India.

Certain positive measures have

plans truly effective. Thus, people in our country need to devote a little time from their schedule to educate themselves and others about the importance of being aware and prepared for the things that can save livelihoods and make a community a little safe place to live in.

June 2015

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Cyber Security

The Gamut of Cyber Frauds and Crimes | JAIPRAKASH SHARMA

T

he evolution of computers was imagined as a machine to make easy human efforts which has eventually witnessed an exponential expansion in business, research and personal fronts. The organizations have come up with most profitable growth in multidimensional product markets.

The electronic business has multiplied its turnover in a shortest period with the convenience and ease attached to ecommerce framework. The online buying, selling and facilitation have created a billion dollar industry parallel to the brick and mortar market. The ecommerce business avenues have boosted their bottom lines and created historical splurge in the cyber space.

Despite the positive growth of ecommerce and extensive use of cyber space there is something which still holds back this sector and that is cybercrimes. As stated by the Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in the Lok Sabha in March this year, cyber fraud cases involving Rs 497 crore have been reported by the RBI and CBI in the last four years. Several cyber attack techniques have been used in engineering these crimes and are normally reported as ATM debit card, credit card, and internet banking frauds. He informed the Parliament that 10,048; 8,765; 9,500 and 9,362 cyber fraud cases and losses of Rs 38 crore, Rs 67 crore, Rs 78 crore and Rs 60 crore have been reported to the RBI during 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and April-December 2014, respectively. He said, “CBI has registered 46 cases (14 preliminary enquiries) and 32 RCs (regular cases) relating to cyber-crime in various parts of the country during the last few years that is 2012, 2013, 2014 44

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Cyber Security

and 2015 (till date). In these cases 34 persons have been arrested and an amount of Rs 90 crore, Rs 158 crore and Rs 6 crore was involved in these cases registered during the year 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively as Times of India reported.

After the enactment of the Information Technology Act in the country in the year 2000, very interesting cases have been reported in the area of cyber-crimes. The decided case of Umashankar Sivasubramanian V/s ICICI Bank, 2010 provides how a

non-resident Indian lost his money from the saving bank account without even operating the account or visiting the branch. With the aid of fake email, the hackers retrieved the secret account details of the plaintiff and siphoned-off more than four and half lakh rupees. The court made the bank pay for the account holder’s loss due to weak security system provided by the bank. This case created ripples in the online banking and made the banks opt for multilevel security systems for online fund transferring.

The online buying, selling and facilitation have created a billion dollar industry parallel to the brick and mortar market.

The ecommerce business avenues have boosted their bottom lines and created historical splurge in the cyber space. Despite the positive growth of ecommerce and extensive use of cyber space there is something which still holds back this sector and that is cybercrimes

Similarly in case of Sonysambhandh. com V/s Arif Azim, the company recovered the products which were delivered in India while the payment was made by a credit card of an American national without her knowledge. The credit card details of Ms Barbara were used by a BPO employee to order goods from USA to India. Likewise, in the case of National Association of Software and Service Companies V/s Ajay Sood & Other, the court held ‘phishing’ on the internet to be an illegal act, entailing an injunction and recovery of damages. Elaborating on the concept of ‘phishing’, in order to lay down a precedent in India, the court stated that it is a form of internet fraud where a person pretends to be a legitimate association, such as a bank or an insurance company in order to extract personal data from a customer such as access codes, passwords, etc.

The misuse of cyber space has far more devastating consequences from

the perspective of national safety.

In the case of State V/s Mohd Afzal and others (2003), the accused were arrested with laptops and other computer hard disks or peripherals used for attacking and breaching the security of Indian Parliament. Even there are numerous cases of identity crises or spreading false/ offensive messages about an individual u/s 66A of the Information Technology Act 2000 (Section 66A has now been made inoperative by the Supreme Court).

However, the cyber laws in India still

Year

No of Cases

Amount Involved (Crores)

2011-12

10,048

38

2012-13

8,765

67

2013-14

9,500

78

Apr-Dec 2014

9,362

60

keep a silence on numerous issues of domain name infringements which creates threat for e-commerce portals along with the new tricks of hacking or squatting especially in the light of repealed Sec 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The writer is the Head of the Department of Commerce and a former Dean of Faculty of Commerce & Business at the Delhi School of Economics.

June 2015

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45

Legal Eagle

Legal Community Against NJAC I | RAJ BHUSHAN

n a paradigm shift in appointment of judges in higher judiciary which is now a two decade old, the collegium system may come to an end which at times squarely criticized by the political and executive classes and even draws flak from the legal fraternity.

The National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 is enacted to regulate the procedure to be followed

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by the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) for recommending persons for appointment as the Chief Justice of India and other Judges of the Supreme Court and Chief Justices and other Judges of High Courts, their transfers and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The ostensible reasons prompted this reform is the lack of transparency and competency in the judicial appointment. There has been growing

belief that the members of the Supreme Court collegium have not been exercising their power diligently and are appointing their close relatives or particular lawyers as High Court judges. Undoubtedly, the collegium system has its limitation, and in this backdrop this effort is an exercise whereby the political and executives challenge the primacy of judiciary and the collegium system in order to bring some positive changes. The better

Legal Eagle

and the greater objective to impart transparency is to make the selection process public. But there is a stern belief among jurists that the National Judicial Appointment Commission will destroy the independence of the judiciary.

What Government Wants?

In accordance with the amended provisions of the constitution, the NJAC will consist of (a) Chief Justice of India, (b) Two other senior judges of the Supreme Court next to the Chief Justice of India, (c) The Union Minister of Law and Justice, (d) Two eminent persons to be nominated by a committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister of India and the Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha. In case of no such Leader of Opposition, then, the Leader of single largest Opposition Party in Lok Sabha will be substituted.

Out of two eminent persons, one

person would be from the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes or OBC or minority communities or a woman. The eminent persons shall be nominated for a period of three years and shall not be eligible for re-nomination.

The rudimentary function of the Commission are recommending persons for appointment as Chief Justice of India, Judges of the Supreme Court, Chief Justices of High Courts and other Judges of High Courts.

Additionally the Commission is responsible for recommending transfer of Chief Justices and other Judges of High Courts from one High Court to any other High Court. While deciding the moot issue, the Commission ensures that the person recommended for the job are of ability, merit and other criteria mentioned in the regulations related to the act have been fulfilled.

Commission is also responsible to draw up a code of ethics for Judges

of the Supreme Court, Chief Justices of High Courts and the Judges of the High Courts and this can also to inquire into, suo-motu or on a complaint or reference, cases of misconduct or such deviant behavior of a Judge other than those calling for his removal and advise the Chief Justice of India or the Chief Justice of a High Court appropriately after such inquiry After enactment of this new law or introduction of the Commission all stake holders including eminent jurists in the country have voiced their reactions. A case is pending before the Supreme Court on this issue filed by the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association challenging government’s move and the judgment is likely to be announced in this year during this summer vacation

Bone of Contention Notwithstanding to anything else

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47

Legal Eagle

the ‘independence’ and ‘primacy’ of judiciary are challenged by the executives and legislatives and this is now the bone of contentions.

The National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 has provided unfettered regulatory power in matters pertaining to the functioning and appointment of Judges in the higher judiciary. Not only does it empowers the National Judicial Appointments Commission to formulate regulations in respect of criteria of suitability, other procedure & conditions for selection and appointment of Judges to the Higher Judiciary, but also provides that any such regulation made by the

the National Judicial Appointments Committee (being either the Eminent Person or the Law Minister) thereby overruling the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India and other two Senior Most Judges of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. In this scenario, the balance shift towards the ‘eminent’ members and the law minister whose collective decision may overrule the opinion of Chief Justice of India and the two senior judges.

In a case where the executives are the one of the largest litigant block, to allow this litigant to sit in a committee of 6 in which 3 are from the apex court and the other three are led by the Law Minister himself on the part of the ‘executive’ and where the future of the member judges forms part of the business of the Committee, the composition of the Commission is legally unjustifiable and constitutionally un-sustainable.

Independence of Judiciary

What’s the Process in Other Countries?

The Independence of the Judiciary is an integral part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi made it clear to the SC that the Collegium System was dead

Commission shall be subject matter of approval by both the Houses of the Parliament. This limit the role of the Commission which is subject matter of the legislation The second important issue is the compromise on the ‘Primacy’ of the opinion of Chief Justice of India resultantly altering the basic structure of the Constitution. In the present situation by virtue of the Act, the Primacy is done away with and by giving ‘Veto’ powers to any two members of 48

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and independence of the judiciary, inter alia, includes the necessity to eliminate political influence even at the stage of appointment of a Judge, the executive element in the appointment process being minimal. The intent of constitution of India is to divide the power of the State among the three organs viz., the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. Each of the organs should operate independently and discharge the functions assigned to it by the Constitution.

The United Kingdom for ‘England and Wales’ has a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) comprising comprised of 15 members of whom two are from the legal profession, five judges, one tribunal member, one lay justice (magistrate), six lay people, including the Chairman. This Commission is vested with the function of selecting judges for courts and tribunals in England and Wales. Similar JACs are established for Scotland and Northern Ireland also.

The appointments of Judges in United States of America are made under Article II by nomination of the President ‘by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.’ Therefore in USA the Senate holds the key of appointment of Judges.

In Germany, the judges of the Supreme Federal Court are selected jointly by the Federal Minister of justice and a committee for the selection of judges consist of the Land Ministers of justice and an equal number of members elected by the Bundestag (Lower House).

In France, the section of the High Council of the Judiciary with jurisdiction for judges makes nominations for the appointment of judges in the Court of Cassation, the first presidents of the courts of appeal.

In Japan, all judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the cabinet except the Chief Judge who is appointed by the Emperor. The appointments are to be reviewed every ten years by the House of the Representatives after the first review following a general

Legal Eagle

Government says the NJAC would not impact the independence of judiciary

election. The judges of the inferior courts are appointed by the Cabinet from a list of persons nominated by the Supreme Court.

It is evident from the above that the executives and legislations are primarily responsible for the administrative functions such as appointment of the judges in higher judiciary. The practice of judges appointing judges is virtually non existent in most of the developed democratic countries.

However in the Indian context the primary question emanates and need to be addressed here is as whether our Indian democracy which is so diverse encompasses various interest groups is matured enough embrace this new change?

What Next The whole gamut of the issue arising because of the challenges on the ‘primacy’ of judiciary which is perceived to be diluted after introduction of this constitutional amendment (‘Amendment’). The ostensible reason of introduction of this Amendment is to introduce the transparency and accountability in the higher judiciary.

However the new enactment is perceived to be a move to venture into the realm of the opaque system of the selection process. This is alleged to be a move by the executives to challenge

Though the intent of government is to make the whole system transparent and accountable but this shift should be gradual and safeguarding the operational independence of the judiciary the independence of judiciary and reinin the judicial activism.

Many eminent jurists do feel that introduction of this constitutional Amendment is beyond the legislative competence of the Parliament. The Amendments are in violation of Articles 124(2) and 217(1) of the Constitution of India and by virtue this amendment, the basic structure of the Constitution have been compromised with hence the same may be treated to be unconstitutional.

The argument have been put forth in support of the Commission is that the role judiciary is not marginalized or reduced however it is being counter-balanced by the executive and legislatures. This was anyway

the original intent of article 124 – duly modified to widen the process of selection where in the role of executives are now more active and beyond imparting ‘consultation’ in selection process.

Many counter view points have also been outlined against the Commission are remained unaddressed so far, such as the appointment of ‘eminent’ person as a Commission member. Noticeably there is no stipulation or clear criteria of induction of eminent person in the Commission.

The issue is still under legal consideration and would take time to settle, but by and large, the legal fraternity seems to have certain reservations in implementation and execution of the Act. Notably the judicial consultation has not taken in account and Primacy has been compromised with. There is imminent need of inter group consultations to make NJAC a reality. Though the intent of government is to make the whole system transparent and accountable but this shift should be gradual and safeguarding the operational independence of the judiciary. Government action in haste has been grossly criticized by the legal luminaries. However the exhaustive consultations among stakeholders may effectively address the limitations arising while implementing the Act. The NJAC may not be the best thing to happen to judicial appointments, but it may be a welcome change to deal with the opaque collegium system which could be timely reviewed.

But with questionable integrity of legislatures and executives coupled with diverse social and political set up, the effectiveness of NJAC is remained to be seen. Secondly, how the issue of ‘eminent’ person may be dealt with when it comes to their appointments wherein no guidelines and question of competence have been discussed or may be treated as a political stooge?

A fine tune is still required to make it effective.

The writer is an advocate and specializes in corporate laws.

June 2015

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Smart Infra

Smart Cities Come with Challenges | RAMESH KUMAR RAJA

I

ndia has a population of approximately 1.27 billion people, and is growing. According to an estimate, by the year 2050, the population in Indian cities will touch 843 million. To accommodate this extensive urbanisation, India needs to find smarter ways to manage complexities, reduce expenses, increase efficiency, and improve the quality of urban life. In this regard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s quest to build 100 smart cities is said to be the most ambitious project launched for the development of the country, in a determined effort to upgrade the current landscape of Indian cities and make them liveable.

The smart cities program has received considerable support and widespread interest from countries and international organizations who are interested in exploring investment and collaborative opportunities with India. The government on its own has earmarked Rs 48,000 crore for this purpose. Under the government’s 100 smart cities program, approved by the Cabinet more recently, each selected city will receive a central assistance of Rs 100 crore annually for five years driving economic growth and taking

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progress forward. Special emphasis will be given to participation of citizens in prioritizing and planning urban interventions.

The mission of building 100 smart cities intends to promote adoption of smart technology based solutions for efficient use of available assets, resources and infrastructure to enhance quality of urban life and provide a clean and sustainable environment. According to a senior official in the know of the program, “There will be a special emphasis on participation of citizens in prioritising and planning urban interventions. The program will be implemented through area-based approach that includes retrofitting, redevelopment, pan-city initiatives and development of new cities.”

The attention will be on core infrastructure services such as adequate clean water supply, sanitation and sold waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, affordable housing, power supply, robust IT connectivity, governance, particularly e-governance and citizen participation.

The Prime Minister has already got commitments from developed nations such as Japan, Germany, France, the US, the UK and Canada on helping the program with their experience

and technology. Technology helps maximize utilization of resources by leveraging data collected from sensors, controls, and real time data analytics. For example, smart energy management can be used to improve key segments like buildings, which consume 40 per cent of all energy in India, as well as utilities, healthcare, governance, transportation and education. This move is expected to reverse decades of neglect.

As per industry body NASSCOM, the government’s smart cities program can create business opportunities to the tune of $30-40 billion for the IT sector over the next 5-10 years. The IT industry association has also prepared a report on the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in the smart cities programme which was unveiled recently during the Smart City Expo in New Delhi. The association has built a framework to highlight the role of ICT in developing smart cities, and categorize ways and means to make relevant ICT interventions that will enable sustainable and transparent management of future smart cities.

But while some corporate giants have come forward for the mission, public sector infrastructure financing companies are not too keen to support the projects financially. Tech giant IBM has chosen Surat, Allahabad

and Visakhapatnam among 16 global locations for its smart cities program to help them address challenges like waste management and citizen services. Cisco, another tech giant, has prepared the ICT master plan for four smart cities which was proposed under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project. As part of the project, Cisco is preparing plans for Shendra Industrial Park in Maharashtra, Dholera Special Investment Region in Gujarat, Manesar Bawal Investment Region in Haryana and Khushkhera Bhiwadi Neemrana Investment Region in Rajasthan.

“The objective is to dovetail physical planning with digital planning so as to ensure integrated control and governance. Cisco Smart City in Bangalore is a showcase of how the government can offer governance and essential services to citizens digitally, build broadband highways, enable digital inclusion and deliver information for all,” says Purushottam Kaushik, managing director, sales, growth verticals, Cisco India & SAARC. According to Babul Supriyo, minister of state for urban development, “Smart Cities is among the most vital initiatives of our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

To fulfil this dream of building selfsustainable and citizen friendly cities, we need an enlightened mind to make it a reality. It is time we think, plan

and act fast. When we know we are walking in the right direction, the only option left for us is to just walk fast.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is working 24x7 and is open for innovative ideas to empower the dream of smart cities.”

Even though the government has allocated a huge sum of money for the mission and think tanks, corporate and various ministries are putting their heads together to make this initiative a success, the whole country waits to see this dream become a reality.

The question is how close are we to see smart cities? How is this plan different from earlier attempts at providing better urban infrastructure or at creating new townships which have not been able to deal with the issue of liveability satisfactorily? Even successful special economic zones have had to contend with the issue of lack of social infrastructure, which usually means access to avenues of education, health, arts, sports, and so on. There are several definitions of a smart city but the Modi government’s idea of one usefully incorporates institutional infrastructure (governance), physical infrastructure, as also social infrastructure.

But there are numerous challenges and these challenges, in fact, start now. Creating a smart city isn’t

just about creating the physical infrastructure — roads, clean water, power, transport and so on, things that India finds difficult to deliver to its citizens nearly seven decades after Independence. It is hoped that public private partnerships (PPP) will deliver but the mechanism seems to need a lot of tweaking in order to work, a fact acknowledged in the last Budget.

The big challenge will be to create selfsustaining cities, which create jobs, use resources wisely and also train people.

This also means more autonomy for these cities. Whether that can happen is a debateable question depending heavily on the maturity of the Indian political system.

Since technology is at the core of smart cities, accommodating those who are technologically illiterate will be a tedious task. Applications therefore, via technology literacy, need to be aligned to ensure that people of all educational and linguistic backgrounds are able to leverage the benefits of technology for social and economic progress. “Given that essential and core services run on these solutions, ring-based networks, redundant data centres, and backup of end devices give operators the assurance of high availability in any scenario,” feels Kaushik.

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Policy

Net Neutrality and the Freedom of Choice | PRAVEEN RAMAN

“T

he government stands for ensuring nondiscriminatory access to the Internet for all citizens, and the current debate on net neutrality should be seen from this perspective, while resolving the issues harmoniously with constitutional and economic principles. The government agrees with the viewpoint that blocking and deliberately slowing down/speeding up of lawful content on the Internet should not be allowed, and customers should have unrestricted access to all lawful content on the Internet,” Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said in Parliament while replying to a calling attention motion moved

by Trinamool Congress spokesperson Derek O’Brien in the just-concluded Session of the Parliament.

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Our government should adhere to the principle that an unhindered communication and exchange of views are hallmarks of a healthy society in which Internet plays a key role today.

We cannot imagine our life as Internet has become an integral to our day-today existence. Wouldn’t it make sense to do our best to save it?

At political and social levels, there have been many debates discussing about net neutrality in the last couple of months. What exactly net neutrality is and why we should worry about it at all? These questions have bothered all of us now a days.

If you use Internet in the current form, you must be aware of net neutrality. Today, Internet is free. It means the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) don’t distinguish the content or data we intend to access. We are free to access Facebook, Twitter or any website of our choice and the ISPs will charge us

as per the amount of the data we use irrespective of the content of the data.

This is called net neutrality. Suppose on one find day, your ISP asks you to pay an extra amount for, say, Facebook or Twitter, it would surely make you uncomfortable because it will not only add burden to your budget but it will also censor your right of choice on Internet.

This is the reason why the demand to maintain status quo net neutrality has risen all across the world. Net neutrality is important for a user-friendly Internet.

We also need it because free Internet is in interest of our society. It is one of our basic rights to communicate freely and without any hindrance.

Leave alone users, even Internet will be badly affected if net neutrality is not maintained. Internet has grown in the last 30 years to world wide web by adhering to the principle of openness.

It will not be feasible for the internet to

Policy

survive without net neutrality. Internet has grown by respecting choice of its users.

There have demand to check net neutrality. Those against it essentially have economic motives. If ISPs are allowed to make any web payable for the users, it will increase their revenue substantially. For example, a large number of ISPs are of the opinion that they should be allowed to charge for services like YouTube because these services consume more bandwidth compared to a normal website. In fact, these ISPs want a share in the money that YouTube or similar websites make.

In this way, they will be able to create revenue from both, websites and users.

Internet penetration is growing fast in India. There are many start up websites struggling to survive in this competitive market. Without net neutrality, there will be no level playing field for small players as big ones can easily spell the rules of the business. The scope of innovation on the web will be very limited.

In India, net neutrality is not regulated. ISPs normally adhere to this principle. But there are no legal compulsion to do so. However, the Union Government and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are realising that there is a need for a public law to regulate it. At present, there are no legal provisions for either the government or the regulator to enforce non-discriminatory access to the Internet.

Of late, there have been indications that the government in interested to regulate net neutrality that may favour towards telecom companies and ISPs. A Standing Committe under chairmanship of BJP MP Anurag Thakur had already been set up. The committee is delegated to take views from all stakeholders. In it’s first meeting, no headway could be made as the members of the panel (mostly opposition) demanded that the government should invite views of consumer forums and over-the-top service providers. The panel was also accused of being selective in inviting people for the meeting as only Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular

were invited by Chairman Anurag Thakur (BJP) for the meeting.

The government also moved towards regulation through other institutions also. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had invited comments from all the stakeholders on the issue and has received over 10 lakh responses which it is currently studying. The regulator has divided the comments into three sections, namely, comments from the service providers, comments from the service providers’ association, and comments from other stakeholders.

While, the content of comments is in public domain, the general feeling is that the regulator might go against net neutrality.

An obvious question that one may raise here is what government can achieve by checking net neutrality.

two conclusions from the sequence of events. First, given that India ranks low on the ladder in terms of Internet connectivity, a conducive policy frame work that supports net neutrality becomes imperative. A free and democratic Internet is very important for a country like India as it can play an important role for the development in digital economy and social change.

Secondly, for a growing market like India, it would make more sense that net neutrality should be left on market forces. If it is not needed in future, we will remove it.

Another argument through which the government can encroach upon our choice on Internet is the question of national security. We cannot deny that there are serious issues involving security, public safety and privacy that

Net neutrality is also a basic requirement for innovation

In economic terms, Internet market in India will grow to $ 150 billion by 2018, almost thrice from what we have. Not only Internet will have deeper penetration into the rural areas, it will also account for 5 per cent of the country’s GDP, as per one report. Taking this into consideration, the government sees it as a lucarative tax avenue. But before it inches towards tampering our choice on Internet, the government should be very careful. The growth of Internet will be very crucial for our society and our government will have to put the policies in desired direction.

As the debate on net neutrality have reached Parliament, we can look at

need to be addressed. And for which a check and balance system can be set up for this. But that should not be an excuse to curb freedom to surf internet to buy clothes from the vendor of one’s choice.

At last, taking view from the both sides, it is important that ISPs profit should be sustainable, the government can resort to regular price revision depending on the market forces. A good government is one that takes view of everybody and tries to find the best of solutions. For the time being though, the issue of net neutrality continues to be the talking point.

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53

Healthcare

Government Should Promote PPP Model in Food Testing Service Besides pollution, food adulteration happens to be a major health hazard for people in day-to-day life. While the pollution (those in air) goes down lung affecting the entire respiratory system, adulteration of food stuff leads to a number of harmful effects on the digestive system – it’s cancerous and life threatening in many cases. In spite of all these, the shady business of adulteration is flourishing, and victimizing people like never before.

To discuss the issue, Ramesh Kumar Raja talked to Dr Saurabh Arora, founder of Food Safety Helpline, an initiative by Auriga Research Ltd, a multi-disciplinary contract research and testing organisation that is involved in the analysis of food products, water, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics etc. Edited excerpts:

A

Dr Saurabh Arora Founder of Food Safety Helpline

dulteration of food products has become an order of the day putting lives at risk. How do you look at it?

Food adulteration is a serious health hazard in India, especially in sub-urban areas, where the actual activity takes place and from where the adulterated food is then transferred to the large cities to be sold in the shops. Although there are severe punishments and penalties – such as up to Rs 10 lakhs fine and life imprisonment for serious cases leading to death – there is a need to do more in order to check the rampant menace in the society. The food safety officers (FSOs) are now more active in raiding the premises of defaulter food business operators (FBOs). Now, with the availability of portable food adulterant testing kits, the FSOs can perform tests and take decisions on the spot and book the erring FBOs then and there.

The consumers must also be more aware about the issue that may be going on under their noses. The government could play a proactive role in creating awareness among the people through TV, radio and the print media. The consumers on their part should purchase their food articles from reliable and reputed shops. They should check the pack labelling for FSSAI license number, BIS or AGMARK certification. They should identify and avoid the eateries and restaurants in their community that have a bad reputation for serving poor quality

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Healthcare

food. In case of doubt, they can test for common adulterants using reagents available at their disposal in their homes. Further help can be sought from food testing labs in case of serious problems.

What does the government do to check the reliability of a restaurant kitchen?

The government on its part inspects various establishments from time to time. They give particular attention to the cleanliness and hygienic conditions of both the kitchen and eating areas, at the time of the renewal of the FSSAI license of a restaurant. The FSSAI certification, hence, should be clearly displayed in the restaurant, and the food business operator must make sure that this is renewed from time to time. The kitchen area must be spotlessly clean.

Proper storage area is important as food inspectors are very particular about these aspects. Water is a vital component of the kitchen, hence, safe potable water, tested and certified by a NABL accredited and FSSAI approved testing lab, should be available at all the time.

Moreover, the food samples need to be sent for testing for microbiological contamination etc. once in every six months and all records and documents must be maintained and kept ready for regular audits.

Don’t you feel there is a need for more number of food testing labs to meet the demand of food processing sector that is growing at a fast pace?

There are currently 82 NABL accredited, FSSAI notified food testing labs and most of them belong to the private sector. The Govt. of India is involved with the regulations and has four referral labs in the country, which work in sync with other notified labs (Level 1 and Level 2 labs) to check for compliance and maintenance of standards & practices by other testing labs. There is a need for more number of labs to cater to the rapid expansion of the food processing sector and to cope with the increasing demands. The

government could play a vital role in this direction by initiating more public-private-partnerships (PPPs).

What challenges does the government face in containing illegalities of food processing sector?

Much of the non-compliance from the side of the food business operators (FBOs) largely arise from a lack of awareness about the current rules & regulations and standards.

Many are not even aware that they require a valid license from FSSAI in order to operate their food business.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to increase the awareness among FBOs to get their samples tested at least once in six months. Issues pertaining to the food product approval system, particularly for dietary supplements, nutritional products etc. need to be addressed. With the ever-expanding food processing industry, the

There is a need for more number of labs to cater to the rapid expansion of the food processing sector and to cope with the increasing demands. The government could play a vital role in this direction by initiating more public-privatepartnerships (PPPs) government also needs to keep pace and increase the manpower to cope with the increasing demand. The laws and associated penalties need to be implemented more stringently.

Here also, more manpower is required. There is also a need for better infrastructure and greater coordination between the Central and State governments.

Could you share your operations and business model?

We have an online presence through

the Food Safety Helpline, which is a dedicated portal for the food business fraternity so that they are well informed about all aspects of FSSAI compliance needs. It is for this reason that the entire Food Safety & Standards Act is placed on the website to facilitate stakeholders looking for regulatory information.

To this end we also offer E-courses, conduct webinars, and operate blog posts that will serve to help the food business community to ensure safe food for the consumer. A mobile app that caters to self-inspection of food business premises is also available that can be downloaded from the portal on any Android mobile phone.

This app provides useful information for the food business operators.

What positive changes can your actions bring in the area of food safety?

Lack of awareness is the gap which we want to bridge. According to estimates, there are more than 40 lakh FBOs in India who need licenses.

We intend to target them all so that they can be included on the food safety platform. We could also realise some gains from our paid services like E-learning and onsite trainings on food hygiene. We are planning to scale up our consultation services based on regulatory requirements and on promotion of our analytical and testing services and inspection/ audits.

Additionally, we intend to promote services like onsite trainings. We plan to use mobile labs for sampling food products in important cities in India which would promote food hygiene.

We have recently introduced the facility of sample collection from the client locations through a dedicated vehicle where food samples could be conserved to a minimum -10 degrees Celsius. The service is in operation in Delhi-NCR and also covering a radius of ~250 km, up to Agra and Jaipur. We have plans to expand the number of these temperature-controlled vans in the near future.

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CSR

Uplifting lives of Tribes

by Providing Basic needs of Energy (Lighting) and Drinking Water

I

ndia Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) was set up by the Government of India in 2006 with the main objective of channelizing long-term finance to infrastructure projects under the scheme for financing viable infrastructure projects through a Special Purpose Vehicle called India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL), broadly referred to as SIFTI. As a public sector company, IIFCL’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities are closely linked with the principles of sustainable economic 56

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development. The objective of these efforts is not only to help the society by providing facilities for health, education, civic amenities, etc. but also to create opportunities for skill development, self-employment, to promote greater environmental responsibilities and encourage environmentally friendly technologies for sustainable development.

IIFCL in terms of its recently approved CSR policy is also committed to promoting projects for improving environment, sustainability have

objective to commercially exploit the indigenous technologies developed

by National Laboratories and R&D Institutions in the country.

CEL has developed a number of products for through its R&D efforts and in close association with the premier National & International Laboratories including Defence Laboratories. In recognition of all these efforts, CEL has received a number of prestigious awards including “National Award for R&D by DSIR”.

selected M/s Central Electronics Limited as an executing agency for a project called “Social Upliftment of Tribes by Providing Basic needs of Energy (Lighting) and Drinking Water”

About CEL Central Electronics Limited (CEL) is a Public Sector Enterprise under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India.

It was established in 1974 with an

CEL is a DSIR recognised R & D company and has pioneered the development and commercial production of Solar Cells, Modules and Solar PV systems based on crystalline silicon technology in India. CEL is ISO-9001:2008 & ISO14001:2004 certified company, backed by a strong and highly dedicated and well qualified R&D team and has a strong presence in solar PV business. The company has recently commissioned a state-of-the-art solar PV module manufacturing plant with a

capacity of 40MW per annum.

CEL’s Experience in Rural Development Projects Over the past several years, CEL has designed and installed solar photovoltaic systems for a wide range of applications, with a strong focus on remote and rural areas.

As part of the Corporate Social Responsibility of several public companies, CEL has undertaken complete project management responsibilities for their rural electrification and development projects, including procurement, installation and commissioning of the

products and overall operation and management for five years.

In 2001, CEL pioneered the concept of “Remote Village Electrification” in India by successfully electrifying 90 tribal villages in Dantewara district of Bastar Region (Chhattisgarh State) under the joint initiative of Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Govt. of India.

In addition to the above, CEL executed several projects in remote and unelectrified villages of Rajasthan, June 2015

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CSR

breeding. Economically this district is generally poor. Hunger arising out of the lack of source of livelihood and basic needs of life has forced a difficult life on the tribals of the district.

Upon careful analysis of the ground realities of many villages of the district, following broad issues were found present in all of the villages proposed to be covered by the project:

Energy Access • All proposed areas do not have access to electricity. Residents have expressed an interest in receiving electricity access.

• On average, village households spend Rs.250 per month on kerosene, much of which is purchased from the open market.

• Kerosene is used for lighting and cooking purposes. Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions from burning kerosene raise health concerns.

Water • Rainwater harvesting is the primary source of water for the villagers.

This water is collected in wells, but villages have no way of treating or filtering the water.

• Water is also available from tankers, which must be purchased from nearby towns and are very expensive.

Jharkhand, Orissa, Manipur, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh. These projects involved providing home lights, streetlights, and solar lanterns to the areas.

The IIFCL Project The project is located in the district of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan Initially a team of CEL official and IIFCL official conducted a baseline survey in the villages of Jaisalmer district in western Rajasthan. This district falls in the dry zone of the state. Most of the population of these areas are tribal and earn their livelihood by cattle 58

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Village Details Sl no.

District

Panchayat Garmpanchayat samiti

Villages

01

Jaisalmer

Sankara

Padampura

Padampura, Sanova Nada and Badarsar

02

Jaisalmer

Sankara

Manasar

Rawatpura, Natasar, Ramasar, Bhurpura Manadev Nagar and Bhom Singh Pura

03

Jaisalmer

Sankara

Bhurajgarh

Kamansar, Abhapura, Sympura, Parwatsar

CSR

• In most villages, groundwater is around 150-300 ft. deep, and in certain areas the water is extremely hard.

Project Description and Implementation With a clear focus on the village priorities, the project focuses on interventions related to solar energy and water. These interventions will impact individuals and households through their social development and the larger community through economic prosperity resulting from better education and skill enhancement.

For houses, a standalone rooftop solar system has been provided that converts sunlight into DC electricity through a solar photovoltaic module mounted on a metal support structure.

The generated electricity charges a storage battery, which can supply electricity after the sun sets.

These systems are capable of powering a 20W fan, A 100 W panel will be provided to each household, enough

to power a small 20 W fan, 2lights, a mobile charging unit, and solar lantern. The battery pack included will provide approximately 10 hours of battery backup for normal lighting and fan usage.

For the schools, Solar Power Pack has been provided to operate fans, lights, water pumping system and computers.

For the community centers, solar power pack for operating fan, TV and lights was provided.

Most of the villages in India have lack of access to potable water and it is a major issue for villagers. The main source of water comes from rainwater harvested in small pits. Village residents have no way to purify this water, and many complain of falling sick because of drinking dirty water.

Currently, villagers use a winnowing sieve or simply filter water through cloth. Many have to turn to buying water, which costs Rs 1,000 for a full tank.

CEL is well equipped to make an impact in these villages as it has a strong in-

house expertise in providing solar powered water pumps. These solar water pumps are specially designed to lift water for irrigation, drinking and other similar applications. These solar powered water pumps are good options for areas where there is no electricity.

For the villages which are proposed to be covered under the project, CEL has used pumps, which can pump water from 240 meters depth. Helical rotor pumps, which can be powered from independent solar panels, are most suitable to reach the water table in the village area, which can be more than 200 meters deep. The pumps are water-lubricated and constructed with high-quality non-corrodible stainless steel components.

The project is expected to make a positive impact in the lives of villagers. Broadly, following social/ environmental outcomes/ impact are likely to accrue from the project: • Electricity for each household, reducing dependence on kerosene • Electricity and modern facilities in schools encouraging children of the villages to attend classes.

• Clean drinking water supply, improving health of villagers • Improved livestock watering and irrigation • Increased availability of water for cooking, cleaning and sanitation • Solutions with high reliability and life expectancy • Solutions that are cost-efficient • Opportunity for higher employment This model for development takes advantage of synergies between development efforts to decrease cost while providing a more comprehensive solution than one-off development efforts. This method also aims to deliver a more focused intervention to bring about development in the identified villages in a sustainable and scalable manner.

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Interview

New World Needs New Reforms With changing times, laws need to be changed as well. However, the existence of Indian Police Act 1861 symbolizes the present stagnant state of the police force in our country that has failed to live up to the expectations of citizens. Ajit Sinha spoke to Amod Kanth, Former DGP of Goa and Arunanchal Pradesh, and Founder of NGO Prayas, about the present state of the Indian Police. Edited excerpts:

W

hat are your views about the current Policing structure? What is the problem with our police

forces?

The Indian Police Act 1861 remains totally out of tune and is inflexible.

Its continuation explains half of the police problems. It is one of the major hurdles in improving the police force in India. It is the direct outcome of 1857, the first war of independence. When British took over India they created a police system which directly served the interest of British Empire.

Because of this legacy, the Indian Police happens to be a force and not a service. It exists to maintain law and order and the law is meant to maintain justice in the system. However, laws do not protect poor, deprived, children, women, elderly and disempowered.

Instead, they protect the rich, the affluent and powerful who actually do not need this service.

Our police force is not able to respond to the genuine and logical needs of the people.

There had been several police commissions. But despite their recommendations to bring changes in the law, the Indian Police Act remains the same.

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Amod Kanth Former DGP of Goa and Arunanchal Pradesh Who is responsible for the system remaining unreformed?

There is a reason why police reforms do not take place. Supreme Court of India gave its historic judgment in 2006. The Police Commission recommendations came in around 1976-77 and after a gap of nearly 30 years Prakash Singh (Govt. of India) succeeded in getting a judgment from Supreme Court of India on police reforms. This judgment was handed over to the union/ state governments, even the DGPs, most of whom were not enthusiastic to

implement the same. At that time I was the DGP in Arunanchal Pradesh.

I prepared a routine note under which Supreme Court judgment had to be implemented by the state government.

Gegong Apang, the then Chief Minister of Arunanchal Pradesh did not find any problem in enforcing this judgment.

Arunanchal Pradesh was the only state in India where reform was fully carried out.

However, the then Home Secretary who was not involved in the process indicated to the Chief Minister that his

Interview

decision will not be welcomed as police reform was against the Government.

Mr. Apang did not approve the process initiated by me and the Chief Secretary and soon enough, I was transferred.

Majority of Chief Ministers, Chief Secretaries, DGPs opposed the judgment and the reason for this is that nobody wants a police reform in India.

Those who are running the system and gaining out of it do not wish to see any changes.

What are your views on NDPS Act? In 1986, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi brought the NDPS Act (The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act). It was primarily because of NDPS Act, Narcotic Control Bureau and powerful effort made by then state and Central government that India did not become a big center for drugs trafficking despite being so close to Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent (Asia’s two main opium-producing areas).

So, NDPS was one part where government did not disappoint. But India is a natural place for drugs because of its neighborhood. Thus, government of India, police, the various drug enforcement agencies have to play a very important role.

What do you think about the government’s approach towards police force?

I do not think that the current government cares about Police Reform or is keen on changing the Police Act. The Budget 2015-16 has curtailed the funds for Modernization of Police Force (MPF). CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems) is one of the largest projects of the government of India for modernization. This project is of crucial importance because CCTNS would create a national level network under which all crimes, all criminals and all important information about policing and law & order would come under one system. Starting from NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) down to police station, there are 700 police districts and 16,000 police stations in the country. Through CCTNS all of them

will be connected.

The responsibility of modernizing our police forces has been given to states. However, looking at their tardy records in the past state governments cannot be trusted with this segment.

Police modernization scheme is the reason for the positive change that have taken place in state police in the past 15 years and that is why government should rethink about their decision to curtail the budget for MPF. Can you elaborate on the issue of Naxalism in relation with our police force?

There is no doubt that the Naxal movement in the country has survived and grown because injustice is ingrained in the system, particularly in tribal areas. Before I joined the police force, my brilliant contemporary from St Stephan college of Delhi University Arvind Narayan Das joined the Naxalite movement along with some other outstanding scholars. He worked in Purnia which has the worst feudalistic record in India when it comes to the issue of absentee landlord and high poverty. But he and his friends were not violent; they wanted to work for the poor and marginalized. So, there are different shades of Naxalite as many of them are not violent and get support of the people who always have been marred by injustice.

The extreme acts of violence committed by Naxalites may not be acceptable to us but the ideology and motivation behind such acts make us ponder over entire scenario. As far as police is concerned, they have no solutions for it and they are not the ones who can solve it. The only thing they can do in this regard is – curb it.

What can be done, apart from MPF, to train our police officers?

There are three dimensions in connection to our police officers – conduct and behavior, professional ability and what the system asks for.

The Indian Evidence Act does not trust a policeman. If anyone makes a confession or statement in front of a police officer then it is not admissible

under the law. Thus, there is lack of trust in the system. Policeman is not trustworthy according to Indian law.

CRPC, the Evidence Act and the Indian Penal Code also don’t trust the police.

A complaint is supposed to be written in the same language as stated and facts be accurately noted. But it is generally ignored. When an individual lodges a complaint he is supposed to sign on FIR register but this is generally ignored. Essentially, the policeman who exercises raw power, the policeman who does not act, and the systemic flaws together cheat or deprive the common man of his basic right.

What are your thoughts on women reservation in police force?

I am strongly in favor of 33 percent reservation of women in police force which has now been initiated in Delhi and other Union Territories. There are certain reservations about this among people and officers themselves. But after five or seven years when every third police officer would be a woman then people will not have any option but to accept a woman as the police officer of the area. Soon, all activities of the police will have woman officers.

I personally feel that women are less dishonest and more compassionate and will bring decency in the system.

What are your views on the relationship between Police and the politicians?

I strongly believe that if you do things according to the law then you must also understand the importance and power of the politician. The politician has the right to interfere, to enquire, to influence but he has no right to promote illegal things. In a democratic system his rights cannot be denied but at the same time it is the job of a police officer to enforce the law. My view is that police officers do not need to be rebellious in their approach otherwise they will be thrown out. If they want to make positive changes in the system then they need to be within the system and follow ideals accordingly and try to do what is expected of them under the law.

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State in Focus

Marching Towards Higher Peaks T he state of Chhattisgarh was formed in the year 2000 by cutting off parts of Madhya Pradesh. Since then, the state has made tremendous progress in all aspects and is today among the fastest growing states of the country.

The progressive leadership and effective governance has ensured not only strong economic and industrial growth, but also sound social sector management and intelligent use of technology for responsive governance.

Domestic Product (NSDP) of the state has grown at 15.5 percent during this period to reach US$ 25.1 billion. This reflects the vast latent capabilities of the state.

The state government has taken numerous policy initiatives to impart momentum to the state’s economy. A wide range of fiscal and policy incentives have been provided to businesses as delineated under the state’s Industrial Policy 2009-14. Additionally, the state has well-drafted policies for the IT/

of Indian Railways. Over the next four years it is planning a further 600 km railroad connectivity developed through public-private-partnership. The power generation is another area in which the state has done commendable job.

Today, it is amongst very few states that have surplus power.

Because of these initiatives, the state has emerged as one of the most preferred investment destinations in India. Jindal Steel and Power, Bharat Aluminium Company, Indian Oil

The state is rich in natural resources and has huge deposits of limestone, iron ore, copper, bauxite, dolomite and coal. The state is also home to more than 1,500 varieties of medicinal plants and is one of the three richest biospheres in the country.

Chhattisgarh has grown at a rapid clip and has this is resulted in sharp rise in per capita income of the state. The per capita GSDP increased at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.4 per cent between 2004-05 and 2013-14 to stand at US$ 1,101.5. The Net State

ITeS, minerals and energy sectors. It has simplified business procedures besides granting speedy clearances for proposals and promoted downstream industries to spread industrialization.

In order to ensure qualified manpower to be used in industry, the state has implemented the Skill Development Act 2013 to develop employment skills among the youth. Also, it has put in place sound physical infrastructure.

Resultantly, it has the highest freight loading in India and contributes to around one-sixth of the total revenues

Corporation, South Eastern Coalfields, NTPC, Lanco Infratech and KSK Energy Ventures are some of the major companies which have set up their plants in the state in the hardcore infrastructure sectors of power, steel, cement, mining, oil and gas etc. Today it accounts for 30 percent of aluminium production and 32 per cent of steel/ sponge iron production in India. Shortly, NMDC is about to commission a 3 million tonnes per annum integrated steel plant at Nagarnar.

The futuristic stance of the

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State in Focus

Man of Substance

T

he mineral rich state of Chhattisgarh is currently a name to reckon with on the map of the country. Thanks to Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh for transforming its fate from an underperforming territory to a super performer state. But it’s not been a cakewalk for him. He infused his political acumen and administrative skills for the betterment of the state.

During his course of uninterrupted rule for three terms, he even went on to earn the sobriquet of “Chawal Wale Baba” for the popularity of unique pro-welfare schemes including distribution of rice at Rs 1 and Rs 2 per kg to families belonging to extremely poor and below poverty lines categories.

Despite the recurring Maoist violence for which he has had his share of criticism, tech-savvy Dr Singh has turned the backward state into a model of development. He was also credited for bringing in Chhattisgarh Food Security Act to ensure food to people of the state, much before the National Food Security Act which was being considered as a “game changer” by the Congress party at the Centre. Singh has won praise from political rivals including former finance minister P Chidambaram (during his tenure as home minister) for adopting pro-active policy to tackle naxalism.

It was during his tenure in 2006-07 that Chhattisgarh came first in India with regard to implementation of twenty-point developmental programme of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The assessment of the same was done by Statistics and Programme Implementation Ministry, Government of India. To recognize the role of Chattisgarh in its efforts on human development, the United Nations has bestowed the state with its highest award. The state has witnessed excellent fiscal management, which was acclaimed all over the country.

Coming from a family of farmers, Dr Singh did his schooling from Chhuyikhadan, Kawardha and Rajnandgaon and graduated in science from Government Science College, Bemetara from 1971 to 1972. After completing a bachelor’s degree in Ayurvedic Medicine (BAMS) from Government Ayurvedic College at Raipur, he practiced Ayurvedic Medicine in Kawardha after completing the course. Many a times he treated the poor free of cost, and his simplicity, openness and yearning to serve made him quite popular among the natives.

Dr Raman Singh was moved by the principles and ideologies of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh from his student days. During 1976-1977, he became the president of Bharatiya Jan Sangh Yuva Morcha at his native place Kawardha. He has an outstanding career in electoral politics. In 1983-84 he was the Municipal Councillor of Sheetla ward of Kawardha. In 1990, he was first elected as a Member of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly and in 1999, Raman Singh was elected as Member of the 13th Lok Sabha. From October 1999 to January 2003, he was the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry. In 2003 Raman Singh was made the state party chief of Chhattisgarh and given the responsibility to pursue state elections preparations, which he delivered with unprecedented success. On December 7, 2003, he took oath as the second Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, a post he continues to hold till now.

government is also visible from the fact that it has undertaken numerous initiatives to use technology in governance. Initiatives such as e-procurement, e-classroom, Geographic Information System, State Wide Area Network - CG SWAN and State Data Center are geared to revolutionize governance and empower citizens of the state who can get the reliable services of the state government with full accountability and no distortion. The state’s plan to develop Naya Raipur as country’s first Smart City is a trend setting project which would be emulated by other states in future.

The state has won many awards for its achievements. The state has been acclaimed as “one of the best fiscally managed states” by the Reserve Bank

of India (RBI). Also the state was selected for the prestigious National e-Governance Award (GOLD) 201415 for innovative use of geographic information technology. In 2010-2011, Chhattisgarh won an award for being the largest rice producing state and in 2013, it was selected for National Literacy Award for the first time since its formation in November 2000.

The state has made rapid progress over last decade or so. The clean, efficient and progressive government has acted as an enabler to this progress. There is expectation that the government would be equally successful in unleashing the next generation of reforms which would transform the state from an industrial state to a knowledge driven state.

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State in Focus

Pitching Hard for Knowledge Based Industry

| GOVERNANCE TODAY BUREAU

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ince its inception, the state of Chhattisgarh has made rapid progress which is reflected in its growth. The gross state domestic product (GSDP) of Chhattisgarh is expected to reach US$ 46.8 billion in FY 17 from US$ 29.2 billion in FY 14. The state has seen huge investments coming in various heavy industries like steel and cement. Chhattisgarh is one of the only few states in the country that have surplus power and which are profitable 64

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in terms of utility-based electricity.

What is not very much known is that the state has also put in place one of the most innovative, investor friendly and rewarding IT/ ITeS Investment policy with a vision of establishing an information society consisting of informed, active and responsible citizens which is the basic tenet of a true democracy.

The government of Chhattisgarh has initiated the ‘Make in Chhattisgarh’ policy in line with the “Make in India” initiative of the government of India.

The policy to promote investment

in Electronics and IT/ ITeS related sectors is a part of this broad policy.

This policy focuses on incentives on capital investment and working capital financing, IT infrastructure development along with Capacity Building of work force. Further, an online single window is being setup for facilitating the investors and for timely providing various incentives/ concessions under the policy.

The fourfold objective of this policy is to encourage investment in Electronics and IT/ITeS sectors in the state, develop Naya Raipur and other

State in Focus

Advantage Chhattisgarh • Naya Raipur is the first Smart City of the country and an upcoming I.T Hub • Higher return on investment • Sufficient supply of rightly trained manpower • Power surplus state offering cheap electricity • Situated on East-West corridor • Excellent social infrastructure of 237 sq. k.m. Already an investment of Rs 5,000 crores has been made in the project and a further Rs 10,000 crore investment is lined up. And the results are starting to show. An IT Tower is fast coming up as Plug & Play infrastructure for IT/ITeS industries. IT

major cities of the state as IT Hub and Electronic Manufacturing Cluster, skill development of local youth as per the needs of these sectors, and the development of IT Hubs/IT Park by providing incentives to potential investors.

What makes Chhattisgarh better?

The state offers some unique advantages compared to other states for investors. First and most important, the state is developing Naya Raipur as the first Smart City of India with an area

Incubation Centre and Startup Village are also proposed in this city. Further, an entire sector of the city has been earmarked for establishing electronic Manufacturing Cluster.

Secondly, the state offers sound and efficient infrastructure for investors.

Chhattisgarh is a power surplus state and offers power at a rate which is over 30 percent cheaper than other states.

Further, reliable supply of electricity obviates the need for power backups.

Both these factors reduce cost of operations a lot. Because the state is located at a stable place with regard

to natural calamities, it offers best location for setting up Data Recovery Centres/ Data Centres in the cities of Naya Raipur, Raipur, Bhilai-Durg, Bilaspur and Korba cities.

Third dimension of the state’s attractiveness is the good quality human resource. Any knowledge based industry thrives on the availability of enough number of rightly qualified people. In this regard, the state boasts of premier educational institutes such as Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), National Institute of Technology (NIT), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU) and All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS). The state has 50 engineering colleges, 25 polytechnics and 118

Innovative financial incentives • Incentive for Fixed Capital Investment up to 50% • Interest Subsidy of up to 75% for a period of 8 years • Up to 80% rebate on land premium • Rebate on Lease/Rental Space • Exemption on Stamp Duty and electricity duty • 100 % exemption on CST and Entry Tax

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ITIs which all ensure the availability of technically qualified manpower for various technical sectors.

Institutional Arrangement Chhattisgarh Infotech & Biotech Promotion Society (ChiPS) is the nodal agency for the electronics, IT/ ITeS and is the single agency which caters to all the needs of the investors in these sectors. It is also the single point of contact between investor and the state for receiving investment proposals and release of

and foremost, units established in the state eligible for incentive up to 50 percent of the fixed capital investment excluding the cost of the land (with maximum limit of Rs 1.5 crores per unit). Furthermore, the units are eligible for reimbursement of 75 percent of the total annual interest payment on term loan and working capital with maximum limit of Rs1.1 crores per annum for a period of 8 years from the date of commercial production.

Land cost is one of the biggest

Infographic Educational infrastructure • Universities: 19 (Dec 12) • Colleges: 681 • MBA Colleges: 24 • MCA Colleges: 10 • Engineering College: 50 • Polytechnics: 43 (2013-14) • Medical Colleges: 5 • Institutions of Excellence: IIM Raipur, IIT (announced in 2014), AIIMS Raipur

Incentives for MSMEs • Reimbursement of 50% expenditure on ISO–9000, ISO-14000 or other similar national/international certification, with a maximum limit of Rs 7 lakhs • Reimbursement of 50% expenditure on technical patents on the name of unit, with a maximum limit of Rs 10 lakhs. The Unit can avail this incentive for maximum of 2 technical patents per unit per annum • Subsidy through reimbursement of 30% of the total charges paid towards availing internet bandwidth from ISP, with a maximum limit of Rs 3 lakh per annum.

necessary sanctions and approvals and their monitoring. CHiPS has been mandated to enter into appropriate MoU with investors on behalf of the government of Chhattisgarh, allot space to MSMEs and IT/ ITeS units and take other appropriate steps for effective implementation of the policy.

Additionally, CHiPS is the agency to develop appropriate manpower skills and competencies to ensure adequate quality manpower for the industry in association with training and skill development institutions.

Incentives Galore The state has provided incentives which cater to the specific needs of investors in the IT/ITeS sector. First 66

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Naya Raipur already has a well developed infrastructure

investment for any investors. Easing the burden, the state has allowed rebate up to 80 percent of the land premium for units set up in notified areas. Also, units are entitled for 100 percent exemption from payment of Stamp Duty on direct purchase/lease on allotted land. Apart from this, if the property is transferred to another IT unit on sale or lease during policy period then the property transfer will also be entitled for 100 percent Stamp Duty exemption.

Besides these incentives on land acquisition, units established in the state are entitled to 100 percent exemption on CST and Entry Tax, for a period of 10 years from the date of commencement of production or

the date of introduction of the GST, whichever is earlier. All of these steps are geared to bring down the cost to set up business in the state.

The thrust of the government is to encourage investments in high tech areas which is in line with the goal to create a knowledge based society.

The overall attempt is to put in place an ecosystem which incentivizes the investment by providing right operating environment with efficient physical infrastructure and quality human capital. The state’s growth has been remarkable over last many years.

The state is now looking set to repeat its stellar performance in high tech IT/ ITeS sectors as well.

State in Focus

Chhattisgarh Heading Towards IT Revolution The state of Chhattisgarh has been pushing ahead with the agenda of establishing Naya Raipur as a model IT driven smart city which would also showcase the state’s vision to undertake e-governance at the broadest and highest levels. CHiPS is the nodal agency to realize this grand vision. To understand the contours of this grand project, Governance Today spoke to Saurabh Kumar, CEO, CHiPS. Edited excerpts:

Saurabh Kumar CEO, CHiPS June 2015

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an you explain in brief about CHiPS? CHiPS, Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society, was established in 2001 immediately after the state was formed in the year 2000. At that time, there was a large demand for e-governance projects and IT automation within the government department. For this reason the state government decided that the implementation responsibility should be shifted from the Department of Electronics and IT to a separate society and thus CHiPS was formed. The Department of Electronics and IT currently has the mandate of implementing e-governance projects along with investment promotion in IT and electronic fields.

What are the major projects that you are planning to undertake or are currently working on?

extending this connectivity to all the schools and villages within the gram panchayats. Second focus will be to provide high-speed internet, wi-fi hotspots not only in Raipur but across the state.

Introducing unique project monitoring tools and unique decision support systems has been a key thrust area for the Honble CM for which we are working on CM dashboard which is a unique platform throughout India. So, there are lot of innovative things are come in for e-governance projects.

Even when it comes to Smart City solutions, Raipur would on the top as ours is the only city where all the technologies related to smart cities would be tested.

What are the plans regarding the development in Raipur as an IT based-city? And what kind of benefits would be provided to investors who would like to come

CHiPS is i nv o l v e d in implementation of some mega IT Projects like CHOiCE, e-Gram Suraj, e-Procurement, SWAN, e-Treasury, Bhuiyan and GIS. When it comes to e-governance, Government of Chhattisgarh has always been a pioneer state. All the e-governance projects have been running exceptionally well in the state. The state government has taken lot of initiatives to implement state wide projects that would include connecting all the villages via NOFN (National Optic Fiber Network) and

to this city with their offerings and solutions?

Firstly, I believe that Raipur city is unique in terms of land use, industries and the educational institutions that would come up in the city. So, all these factors make Raipur a great place for investors to introduce their solutions.

Secondly, when it comes to helping our investors we already have dedicated sectors defined for IT investors and electronics investors. We have a special policy

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under which we are providing land at very competitive rates that cannot be found anywhere in India.

In addition to this, we are already in talks with the three major realty developers in the country - DLF, Unitech and Ambience. One of them would take up the development of an integrated IT township in the city.

We are also planning to have an IT tower for which we will collaborate with these three developers In smart cities all the utilities have to be provisioned in smart ways. I believe that lot of solutions that have not been implemented in the world would end up being implemented in Raipur as this city serves as the only lab for investors to try new and innovative things. For this to happen, we are in contact with major OEM companies like Cisco and Intel.

How do you plan to usher e-Governance in Chhattisgarh?

We are currently working on few e-Governance projects like Digital Secretariat for which the Office Automation Application suite has been developed through using which files can be managed, moved and tracked. The project will reduce paper work in state secretariat and various departments. In the pilot phase the project is to be rolled out in the Mantralaya and later, in all State Government offices of Chhattisgarh. A support team has been placed inside Mantralaya to support the Departments for using the System.

Another project is e-District that focuses on enabling the delivery of a majority of citizen centric services, which are administered by the District Administration. The implementation of the e-District MMP (Mission Mode Project) starts by identifying the pilot district and then finalizing the list of services that are be taken up under the Project.

It is proposed that a minimum of five services to a maximum of ten services can be undertaken. The services under these core services

State in Focus

would be developed under the implementation of state portal, SSDG (State Service Delivery Gateway) and electronic form project.

One year down the line approximately 150-200 services would be available for citizens which they can avail through mobile phones. The Individual would not have to visit kiosk as they would be able to get their certificate from government’s online repository. We have already developed an android app for provision of 27 services.

Thus our aim for e-governance segment is to obtain basic minimum information collection from the system in order to provide whole bouquet of 300 services.

More than 50 percent of the state’s population lives in rural areas that may be unaware of all the services that you provide. How do you plan to reach out to other part of the state?

Approximately 70 percent of our state’s population lives in rural areas and when it comes to literacy rate it is 74 percent. But educated people do not necessarily mean that they are digitally educated as well. We admit that there are short comings when it comes to taking digital education directly to the field.

In present scenario we have placed our bets on mobile devices because we believe that mobile devices will eventually replace tablets and laptops. But it is possible that people may not be much aware about our services and how to make use of them through mobile devices; that is why we need to simplify our approach to reach out to all the citizens.

Please elaborate about your current projects.

Over the next one year we aim to reach one thousand gram panchayats in terms of connectivity.

By 15th May, 2015 we will have reached 90 gram panchayats via RF (Radio Frequency) connectivity.

These are the gram panchayats that

have been taken up by MPs and MLAs. We have also come up with a Digital India app in which we are trying to put in all the services at one platform so that people do not get confused and get every service at one place.

We have reached 700 villages via bi-optical fiber in terms of NOFN rollout but it has not been leveraged. The fiber has been laid till gram panchayats but they have not set up a CSC (Common Service Center), and do not have a data plan. So yes, it has not been put to optimal use yet. As for the active functioning of CSCs we are targeting

The Government of Chhattisgarh has always given top priority to ICT as it is a key enabler for driving economic development and improving quality of life. For this purpose, we seek to create an IT environment in the state wherein investments in IT are not only encouraged but actively facilitated by welcoming public-private partnerships not only these 700 villages but also 1000 gram panchayats.

What is government doing to promote the education of IT? When it comes to education sector we deal with only IT literacy. There is a separate technical education department that takes care of IIIT and other. Within IT education, CHiPS deals with projects like achieving the target of training 2 lakh people in basic IT literacy over

the period of one year. There is another project of virtual spacing in which we are reaching out to 1600 schools, 18 ITIs and approximately 2000 CSCs. Also, we have planned finishing school for government engineering colleges in which we will have approximately three and half thousand students annually and it will be followed by campus placement.

How long do you think it would take to complete your vision that you have set up for Chhattisgarh?

When we became a state in the year 2000 we had no source of revenue generation. At that time we took a call for the next five years to make good use of our natural resources.

This call was made during the Hon’ble CMs first tenure. Right now, we are in a stage where Chhattisgarh has the best industrial climate in India. We set out this journey to establish best infrastructure and best industry and we have attained our first phase objectives.

In second term, we aimed at putting in place the best new capital city. We are working on it right now and it may take another three years.

State has taken the call that IT and ESDM will be the focal points of this project. For that, we have come with the best policy in the country and we are introducing a separate framework that would guide this policy. We also understand that our vision would not accelerate to another level by mere setting up of policies; we need intervention at different levels which will be taken care of by the government.

As far as Smart city vision is concerned, it is a very exhaustive project but as far as Naya Raipur is concerned people will be able to see few highlights of smart city may be within a year. However, some part of this dream project may get completed in 2030. We are hopeful that we would continue to deliver our best to our citizens.

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Cultural Diplomacy

Aggressive Packaging and Increased Financing Required to Promote Traditional Art Forms Art and culture know no boundaries. But what if they are used as a tool of cultural diplomacy? Definitely, it’s icing on the cake! The Nehru Centre, which acts as the cultural wing of the Indian High Commission in London and regarded by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) as its flagship centre, is one such initiative to enhance India’s soft power abroad. To discuss how it functions in promoting the plurality of India’s culture, Ramesh Kumar Raja spoke to Sangeeta Bahadur, an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1987 batch who is currently posted in London as Minister (Culture) in the High Commission of India and Director of The Nehru Centre.

Interestingly, Bahadur also happens to be the author of the Kaal trilogy which is her tribute to the unique and eternal spirit of India. Edited excerpts:

Sangeeta Bahadur Director, The Nehru Centre, London

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Cultural Diplomacy

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ow do you rate the response of Indian art and culture outside the country?

India has been the flavour of the century, particularly in the field of culture, art and literature, ever since economic liberalization made the world sit up and take notice of a newly reawakened, dynamic country which also happens to possess a civilizational wealth like none other. Cultural diplomacy is now being used intensively as well as extensively to enhance India’s soft power abroad, not just through performances and shows but also through a sustained intellectual effort that focuses on increasing awareness about India. The response has been impressive. Not only is there a deep curiosity about and interest in watching and listening to Indian cultural manifestations; there is an increasing number of artists – those of Indian origin and otherwise – to understand, appreciate and even experiment with Indian art forms.

What is your perception about London as the platform to launch Indian art and culture in Europe?

London has been home to one of the largest and oldest Indian/Indian origin communities in the world.

In fact, it is the biggest non-white ethnic minority group in London, with a population of almost 5.5 lakhs. That was the reason why the government decided to set up the first Indian cultural centre - The Nehru Centre – there, with the mandate of acting as a cultural bridge between India and UK. Long before that, though, private organizations and individuals had already been here for decades, working hard to carve out a place for Indian culture on the busy and amazingly fertile London art scene.

Many Indian/Indian origin artists, exponents, gurus, intellectuals, writers and film makers think of London as their home, and just about everyone who is anybody on

the Indian cultural matrix sooner or later lands up in London to perform for and interact with local audiences.

Obviously, there can be no better platform than London from which to mount a cultural offensive on Europe. Many organizations in neighbouring countries are already drawing on the vast pool of Indian talent in London to fuel their cultural initiatives.

How does the Nehru Centre engage the Indian arts and artists to the audiences of western world? What does the centre do in promoting the Indian art and culture?

The Nehru Centre is the oldest Indian cultural centre in the world, regarded by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) as its flagship centre. It acts as the

ICCR has been doing a commendable job of establishing and sustaining an international cultural outreach, but the fact remains that we are simply nowhere close to what countries like China, UK, USA and France – to name just a few – spend on promoting their soft power cultural wing of the Indian High Commission, and has been given a clear and focused cultural agenda which it fulfils through an intensive calendar of events. Using largely UK-based artistes, performers and speakers but not confined to them, the centre hosts an event virtually every second day, ranging from performances and talks to book launches, seminars, discussions, exhibitions and plays. The artists,

speakers and writers we showcase are not necessarily Indian or of Indian origin; so long as their theme is relevant to India or inspired by it, we use that as the basis for pursuing our cultural engagement with not just the Indian and South Asian diaspora but also with the mainstream British audience. In fact, we have been encouraging performers, speakers and writers from other countries in Europe and even the US to share their Indian cultural experience with our patrons. All our events are free and open to the public so as to make Indian art and thought accessible to everyone who is interested.

Being someone closely associated with a cultural centre in West, what needs to be done to restore the beauty of fading arts in India as well as abroad?

I have never come across a single person in the West, be it in the UK or in any other country I have been posted in, who has not been enchanted by Indian arts, crafts and the wealth of cultural heritage reflected in them. I have met a host of artists and organizers who have no genetic linkages with India but have devoted their entire lives to promoting Indian arts in their own countries and around the world. However, the first step for invoking this kind of interest and dedication is familiarization. ICCR has been doing a commendable job of establishing and sustaining an international cultural outreach, but the fact remains that we are simply nowhere close to what countries like China, UK, USA and France – to name just a few – spend on promoting their soft power.

Secondly, the packaging of our classical and traditional art forms is simply not good enough for this day and age. If our presentations are perceived as being tacky and old-fashioned, they will simply not attract the younger audiences, no matter how talented the artist. This inability to take Indian art forms to June 2015

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the younger generation of Indians and non-Indians has resulted in what you have referred to as the ‘fading’ of Indian arts abroad as well as at home. In this, we need to take a leaf out of Bollywood’s book. Its superb packaging and presentation are what have made it the face of Indian culture across vast swathes of the world, whether the purists like it or not. If we are to keep classical and traditional Indian arts alive and interesting, greatly enhanced government-patronage in terms of resources and financing and imaginative and aggressive packaging and promotion become crucial. Unless we succeed in making our arts exciting, relevant and accessible to the younger people, they will inevitably fade away in time.

Does the author in you help in bringing out new ideas to spread the reach of Indian arts in the UK? To some extent, yes – in the sense that I can see, like a story unfolding in my mind, the possibilities in something new and off-the-beatentrack that comes to my attention, and am willing to give it a go! To the extent that I can, I do make sure that The Nehru Centre gets involved with projects and ideas that have the potential of taking India to new and larger audiences, to people for whom it may be their first encounter with an ancient civilization that is still constantly evolving in so many ways. Also, being an author with a felicity for words, I suppose it is easier for me to sell the India story to my interlocutors and get them interested in the multi-faceted and dazzling cultural experience that India can be once it grips your imagination!

Tell us something about your Kaal trilogy and its second book, Vikraal, which was released recently.

In many ways, the Kaal trilogy is my tribute to the unique and eternal spirit of India, particularly its strong and vibrant mystical

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We need to take a leaf out of Bollywood’s book.

Its superb packaging and presentation are what have made it the face of Indian culture across vast swathes of the world, whether the purists like it or not traditions. While it is often classified as a mythology, the Kaal trilogy is not one. Instead, I chose to create a totally new mythology with its own

any incident or character from our epics, what we have borrowed from is India’s timeless mystical and spiritual traditions. We have used concepts culled, inter alia, from the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagwad Gita, the Bhagwat Puranas, the Shakta tradition, Tantra and Tibetan Buddhism. There is no lecturing from the pulpit; the ideas and resonances are woven intimately into the story, merely adding depth and layers to the narration.

Vikraal takes the evolution to the next crucial step, carrying him beyond mental limitations through the very intense process of self-realization orchestrated by the entity who calls itself Kaal –

Sangeeta Bahadur with Karan Singh

matrix, parameters, equations and dynamics. The story is centred around the growth of a superhero – Arihant, who has been created by the cosmos as a divine weapon designed to destroy the deluded Lord of Maya, Aushij. Unlike his western counterparts, though, Arihant’s growth as a superhero is based on the uniquely Indian concept of an inner unfolding of potential. While I have not used

the Time-Keeper of the universe.

Around this central story are wrapped the bright threads of politics, strategy, warfare, ambition, greed, hatred, loyalty and, yes, romance! I have also, in Vikraal, explored Aushij’s world-view and his decision to choose the Dark Path. Like Milton’s Satan, he evokes not just sympathy but also empathy in the reader!

Art & Culture

Working with Abstract

| KUMUD SINHA

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t is a complex process to draw abstract which has no defined shape or orientation. Even tougher is to sculpt abstract which is adding dimensions to what exists only in realms of thoughts and emotions. You can not create abstract out of nowhere.

You need a fluid yet well developed idea of what you intend to create. And yet it is possible that what you create is somewhat or completely different from what you started with.

But that’s what Punkaj Manav has been doing for years. After graduating from the Delhi College of Art, he has worked on such ideas and has held solo shows at Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, CISFA Art Gallery, Nagpur and Artist Centre, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai. His works also feature at prestigious places

including Rashtrapati Bhawan, Sahitya Kala Parishad, Lalit Kala Akademy at Chennai and Delhi and Technical Education department, New Delhi.

The most essential element in Punkaj’s work is the power of the ‘stroke’. These disciplined yet fluid and spontaneous strokes reflect the strength of his abstract works as they ensure speed, accuracy, and legibility in composition.

As his work becomes more abstract it becomes more like music: an art form which uses the abstract elements of sound and divisions of time. Inspired by the possibility of non-representational vocabulary, his works contain more than the physical/tangible. His feelings respond to various stimuli but the

senses are connected at a deeper aesthetic level. He works with an idea that art has a spiritual dimension and can transcend ‘every-day’ experience, reaching a spiritual plane. This series of relief reflect his inclination towards an ‘objectless state’ employing occult as a way of creating an ‘inner’ object.

Pankaj quotes legendary artist Georges Braque to express his thought on his art, “There is only one valuable thing in art: the thing you cannot explain.”

Punkaj’s works follow continuum; it bears no trace of reference to anything recognizable. Similar to music: an art form which uses the intangible elements of sound and divisions of time. It induces our senses to respond to various stimuli, connecting to deeper aesthetic level. While discussing with him about his work he mentions that art moves from physical to spiritual plane. With greater freedom and passion he invents his sculptural forms which go beyond what we physically June 2015

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experience in nature. Offering much more freedom to creative process, he considers the possibilities and variations of outcome as limitless. To many, this wide and unbounded freedom appear to be anarchist on the surface. But it is this freedom to work with abstract form that he carefully develops and expertly orchestrates in soft clay. The meticulously worked-over medium (clay) evolves into a mystifying object, lovingly and painstakingly made.

Sculpture is an art form which conveys an instant sense of life - you can feel the pulse of it because its expression is spatial. When the three-dimensional realization of an idea is united with the substance and the components, this agreement gives it a perfect magnitude.

The forms of sculpture are perceptible and substantial; therefore they can

appeal strongly and directly to both tactile and visual sensibilities.

For Punkaj, it is not only important to express the outer form but to use it in relation with spiritual vitality or inner life. In his work ‘Senses Unrevealed’, clay acquires a fluid and sinuous form with the play of weight, poise, and curvature. The modeling of such a form seems to open up an infinite variety of continuous curves in the third dimension, in accordance with the contours changing the original concept.

This is an unusual experience, as the sequence of action while sculpting is very intuitive and instinctive. The form, structure, and the rhythm in the proportions are dissolved in the vibrations of a spiritual light creates a complete harmony. These mysterious folds, orifices, curves and drapes signify 74

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several dispositions.

Punkaj’s ability to let his intuition guide him over the gap between conception and realization without compromising the integrity of the original idea is seen in many works.

Clay as a medium has vitality - it resists and makes demands. Punkaj describes his work process, says it begins with his mood; then the surface takes his mood

in the texture; and then he is lost in a new world of a thousand possibilities. As the work progresses it fosters naturally where one stroke goes in association with the second. These strokes have a compulsion about them which carries him forward into completely unknown territory.

By making the most of expressive qualities of the medium (clay), Punkaj is able to create works in which sincerity and fluency of form are mutually reinforcing. Such works go beyond the mere presentation of fact and commune a wide range of delicate and powerful stances. Forms are perceived as having an expressive character as well as purely oblique properties. They come across as subtle, forceful, sinuous, tense, tranquil, vigorous, and malleable and so

on. The whole realm of expressive form (both three-dimensional and relief) has been used by Punkaj to express a vast range of human emotions and feelings from the most tender and delicate to the most violent and ecstatic. Both, his sculptures and reliefs, succeed to project primitive feeling: touch, texture, solidity and tenderness, aura and force to evolve and breathe.

Punkaj’s style is similar to the surrealism and expressionism; his sculptures are constantly moving and changing every time you look at it. One of the contemplative reliefs work titled ‘Shunya’ has nine round elements (each

a work of art in itself). The perceptive nature of his works requires a practice of concentration as well as time to process the metaphysical message. Texture in it triggers the impulse to touch and feel and it plays with the perceptions of the viewer. Certain scribble design represents the compulsive part of the relief. This work is like a window that the artist opens to infinite universe.

Works like this recreates the artist’s own conception of the meditative world.

Punkaj’s working method itself echoes the instinctive nature of his works. Creating a surface is the beginning of his artistic process. His works dwell in a remarkable quality of fluidity. The formal quality of his works grows from each fold, and develops as a whole. Each stroke is premeditated yet has a different configuration. The arrangement of variant strokes is further augmented once it is glazed.

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