Even while there was so much euphoria over the Trump visit, sections of Delhi were experiencing intense protests, arson, and looting. In north-east Delhi, there were violent clashes between pro and anti CAA agitators that had resulted in a loss of lives and widespread damages to property. It is shocking that police intelligence and common sense could not anticipate such a holocaust. Protests have been there for several weeks across Delhi, with the normalcy not yet returned to Kashmir, terrorists, militants and anti-social elements could be expected to ignite a conflagration. The agitation against Sterlite Industries in distant Tuticorin provided precious lessons: for 100 days the administration missed the opportunity to solve the problem which resulted in the loss of 13 lives and closure of the unit for two years. Why the government could not act on time to ensure peace? At the least, the government should have deployed military and paramilitary forces on the eve of President Trump’s visit. The opponents got the widest coverage by stepping up protests and indulging in bloody violence by timing it during the Trump visit with a legion of global and national media covering the visit. There is a need for the Modi-Amit Shah duo to work in tandem with the chief ministers of the states, especially those ruled by parties in opposition.
Creamy layer will resist skimming off the cream
Dr V C Kulandaiswamy, a former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, suggested progressively taking off the creamy for sections provided concessions under the reservation quotas. His formula was simple and rational: take off 3 per cent every year, reservations will cease in around 30 years.
The original provision in the constitution was for 10 years from the installation of the republic in 1950. But this has been renewed every ten years for sixty years. Relate this to the spectacular improvements in the status of the OBCs. In states like Tamil Nadu, political power has been increasingly wielded by the OBCs. Education, employment and financial stature of these have recorded spectacular changes. Per capita income of the state estimated at Rs 198,670 testifies to the level of comfort reached in terms of earnings. And this state has a majority of OBCs, SCs and STs. This is also true of most other states of India. In this context, the proposal for a major change in the concept of the creamy layer of OBCs to take their salary also as part of gross income to decide the backward class status and eligibility to avail reservations under the Mandal Commission for government employment and education appears logical. The Supreme Court has been mandating a periodic review of the creamy layer and taking these off the OBC privileges. But this is not followed. This will help the much poorer sections of OBCs to benefit from the policy. Presently, these are cornered either in employment or in education by the powerful, creamy layers which had also captured political clout. Of course, our Ramadoss’es and Veeramanis, themselves beneficiaries of the system, could be expected to oppose this.
With the humongous increase in salaries, perks, and pensions that have resulted from the recommendations of the successive pay commissions, there is the imperative to ensure social justice for the poorer sections of the backward classes.
Retain UII headquarters in Chennai
Public sector general insurance companies have not been earning profits on their premium incomes. Especially losses on motor and health insurance policies have been bleeding these. Recently, the government has announced, Rs 2500 crore capitalisation to these three companies to help them meet solvency norms.
To improve viability, a couple of years ago the Union government proposed the merger of the three public sector general insurance companies into a single listed enterprise. The New India Assurance Company Ltd, the largest general insurance company, became a listed company, but the merger of the other three has been pending. The south-based United India Insurance (UII), the largest of the three, is having a good infrastructure in Chennai. It has the credential to bid for locating the headquarters of the new entity in Chennai. The state leadership should stake the claim towards this.
Big spurt in smuggling gold
Just during the month of February, there were several reports of customs officials at the Chennai airport seizing gold that amounted to 23.46 kg valued at Rs 10.02 crore. There have been huge increases in the price of gold in recent days; it crossed Rs. 4000 per gram (on 26 February) on fears of low global economic growth and the Coronavirus impacting global trade and manufacturing. The continuing uncertainty has been resulting in a spurt in purchases of gold as a sound investment. Not just Chennai but other airports in TN have also been reporting widespread smuggling of gold.
During 2019, the Chennai airport customs recorded a 67 per cent increase in cases booked for attempted smuggling; the value of seized articles was estimated at Rs 140 crore.
An indication of the organised nature of smuggling was provided by the incident at Chennai airport. On 19 February, officials of the department of revenue intelligence detained 18 passengers who disembarked from Colombo, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. When these were to be taken to the DRI office, a large group of around 50 attacked the officers, freed the passengers and fled. Subsequently, 13 passengers, 2 staff of customs and a former customs officer were arrested and remanded to judicial custody (The Hindu, 22 February). With the insatiable appetite for gold by Indians, smugglers have been innovating newer systems and finetuned operations. The DRI deserves praise for attempts to match the ingenuity of the smugglers. These need to be assisted in further revving up the intelligence apparatus.
Revving up the performance of PSUs
The Public Enterprises Survey tabled in the parliament pointed to the PSUs profit rising by 15.5 per cent during 2018-19. Also, it mentioned IOC, NTPC, and ONGC as the PSUs that ranked the top 3 in earning profits. MTNL, BSNL and Air India were the PSUs that recorded the most losses. The report showed an increase of 4.67 per cent in income from Central PSUs for 2018-19, of Rs 24 lakh crore, compared to Rs 20 lakh crore in 2017-18. Totally, there are 348 PSUs, of which 13 are under liquidation or on the verge of closure, 86 under construction and 249 operational.
Banana busts
Dr K Alagusundaram, Deputy Director General (Agriculture Engineering) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), pointed to the urgency and importance to minimise the humongous post-harvest loss of bananas, estimated between 30 and 50 per cent due to poor storage and distribution.
India is the largest producer of bananas, the most common fruit. ICAR has the Central Banana Research Station in Tiruchi, where a large number of scientists with Ph D and MSc qualifications work. There is an impact of these in the productivity and quality improvement of banana produced in the state. Progressive farmers have perfected such scientific techniques to emerge prosperous.
A few years ago, with an abundance of produce, there was even a plan to run banana-special trains from Tamil Nadu to Agra.
Sadly, research is not focused on improving the shelf life of bananas, ineffective transportation and marketing, as also in processing. Decades ago, I gathered that the amount of post-harvest losses of food in India is equal to the total consumption of Britain of such products. Should this dismal picture continue? Do we need a Bill Gates to address such problems?
