Ii

DEVELOPMENT
MONTHLY

DEVELOPMENT & DISCONTENT

Chief

Editor:

Anurag

Joint

Misra

Director

Cover
Editor:

Vol 51

February 2007

Dr Sapna

N. Singh

Design:

e-mail:

(Prod):

DIDnD

N.C. Mazumder

C.H. Patel

editoryojana@hotmail.com
ce.yojana48@yahoo.co.in

Website: www.publicationsdivision.nic.in

every side

Let noble

Rig Veda

CONTENTS
THE PROBLEM

VIOLENCE:
Devendra

ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Manmohan

Singh
:

11

BIHAR

44

Sharma

J&K WiNDOW
SACHAR

RURAL UNREST

CENTRAL

Mishra & Subhash

47

COMMITTEE

REPORT

51

Imtiaz Ahmad

D. Bandyopadhyay.
BEST PRACTICES
DEVELOPMENTAL

WOES

REFORMS

K. P. S. Gill
PANACEA

COULD

LIE IN PANCHAYATS

21

. L. C. Jain

Prakash

MOVEMENT

IN INDIA

23

Singh

55

29

M. S. Shanker

BUOYANT

56

M.S. SWAM INATHAN

AND PLANS

59
:

61

DevakiJain
DO YOU KNOW?

GREYHOUNDS

CYCLE

RICKSHAWS

64

IN DELHI

66

. Geetam Tiwari

AN INTEGRATED

STRATEGy

31

R.K. Bho"nsle

RELIGIOUS

SHRINES

68

D. C. Bakshi

INDIA'S GORDIAN

KNOT

37

Ajay K. Mehra
SECURITY

MUST TO KEEP GROWTH

INTERVIEW:
WOMEN

NAXALITE

15

RURAL FINANCE

IN INDIA

70.

G. S. Kainth

IN THE AGE OF GLOBAL

TERROR

41

IN THE NEWS

:. 72

A. S. Kalkat

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YOJANA February 2007

About the Issue

HE GOVERNMENT has admitted now that its writ no longer ran in parts of 160 districts affected
by Naxalites converting them into "Liberation Zones" and taking upon themselves the functions of
the state administration and police. Naxalism is seen as the single largest internal security challenge
ever faced by the country.
-

Of the 13 affected states, the movement is intense in parts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, while it is making inroads in Kerala, Kamataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttarahchal and Haryana. There
is growing professionalism in Naxal ranks and their attacking strategy.
,

The National Common Minimum Programme of the UPA says that the Union Government does not
consider the Naxal violence to be a mere law and order problem and it needs to be tackled as a socioeconomic problem. The Naxalites will continue to breed internal unrest and upset peace till such time the
economic inequalities are not addressed. Studies show that the poorest of our people are concentrated in
the Naxalite belt from Bihar's borders with Nepal to Rayalseema in Andhra Pradesh. Unless their grievances
are addressed speedily, their resentment and anger would continue to fuel the Naxalites. Good governance
and effective implementation of development programmes are the key elements to counter socio-economic
causes of Naxalism.
The changes in character and style of the movement must be recognized. There is growing militarization
and superior army-style organization. This needs strengthening of local policing and intelligence gathering
system. Competent officer's need to be posted in the Naxalite affected districts and areas with stable tenure.
"Greyhounds" of Andhra Pradesh can serve as model to other affected states. Winning the confidence of
local population is another important area-. In several meetings called by the Centre of affected states, it
has emerged that the drive against movement have often been hit by the lack of coordination between
states and central intelligence agencies. The positive outcome of these meetings has been that the Centre
has now made it clear that it will closely monitor the implementation of counter-revolutionary strategies
in different states. Earlier the Union Government's role was only confined to sending paramilitary forces,
reirnburs~g security related expenditure to states and modernization- of police.
Addressing the meeting of Chief Ministers of naxalism affected states, the Prime Minister said, " our
strategy to handle Naxal menace has to walk on two legs - one, to have an effective police response and
at the same time focus on reducing the sense of deprivation and alienation", Another important point by
the Prime Minister was "The police response is necessary so that the obligation of the Indian state to uphold
public order is fulfilled. However, an effective police response does not mean that we need to brutalise
the Indian state". The time has come to translate Prime Minister's works into action to halt and curb the
spreading of Naxalism and allow.fruits of economic development to reach faster to the affected areas. 0

YOJANA February 2007

Leading.
f.romthe front .

. YOJANA February 2007

The Problem
:"N"~;'~;~'i
~l.l

- .

AXALITES OPERATE in a
vacuum
created
by

"::i .'-- ---- _. inadequacy

~:

.---.<

--

of administrative
and political institutions,

,ll-:

'espouse
local demands
and take advantage of the prevalent
disaffection and injustice among t~e
exploited segments of the population
and seek to offer an alternative system,
of governance
which
promises
emancipation of these segments from
the clutches of 'exploiter'
classes
through the barrel of a gun.
Naxalite menace remains an area of
serious concern. In 2005, naxalite
violence claimed over 660 'lives as
against 566 casualties in 2004. While
the quantum
of naxal violence
registered a marginal increase of 3.8 per
cent in 2005 over 2004, resultant
casualties went up by 18.1 per cent.
In 2005, the states of Bihar and
Jharkhand witnessed a few high profile
incidents like looting of weapons from
the Giridih Home Guard training centre
(Jharkhand)
and the J ehanabad
jailbreak. However, the overall nax~l
violence increased mainly in Andhra
Pradesh due to stepped up violence by
naxalitt?s following their unilateral

YO.J:ANA February 2007

withdrawal from the peace talks and ~n

Chhattisgarh mainly owing to greater
offensive by naxalities to derail Salva
Judum, a voluntary and peaceful antinaxalite m~vement by local people.

sustain theIr fraternal and logistic links

with Nepalese Maoists, though there are
no strategic and operational
links
between the two.

The naxalite leadership continues to

pursue
their ideology
to wage
protracted people's war.through
the
Spatial spread: Of the total 12,476
armed struggle to capture political
police stations in the country, naxal
power, while a significant number of
violence was reported' with 460 police
naxalite cadres are anti-social
and
stations in 11 states in 2005. During the
criminal elements, In the recent past,
current year so far, 372 police stations
naxalite groups seem to lay greater
have been affected by naxal violence. _
focus on organising along military lines,
Avaiiable reports, however, suggest
They are also acquiring contemporary
that CPI (Maoists) have been tryin~ to weapons. Their constant effort is to
increase their influence and activity in upgrade technology and sophistication
parts of Kamataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu
of, their weaponry and techniques.
and Dttaranchal and also in new areas
The. latest taCtics adopted by the
in some of the already affected states.
naxal outfits
are to engage
in
After the merger of Communist Party
simultaneous multiple attacks in large
Marxist Lennist-People's War (CPMLnumbers particularly against police
PW) and Maoist Communist Center of forces and police establishments.
Iridia (MeCI) into CPI (Maoist) in
In the recent past, there have been a
September, 2004, they are reported to
number of naxalite attacks on railway
be trying to woo other splinter groups
infrastructure
mainly
in Andhra
and have also consolidated their front
Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and
organisations
into 'Revolutionary
Bihar, DetentioIl--of a train in March,
Democratic Front' (RDF) and People's
Democratic Front of India (PDFI) to 2006 Latehar District in Jharkhand was
also a serious incident even though it
intensify then- masS contact programme,
Indian naxalite groups continue to did not involve any casualties.

Recent Trends

The overall counter action by the

affected states. in terms of naxalites
killed, arrested, surrendered and arms
recovered from them achieved better
results in 2005 and 2006 so far,
. however there is an urgent need to ..
further improve and strengthen police
response particularly by the states of
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa,
Maharashtra by improving actionable
intelligence
collection and sharing
mechanisms and strengthening their
police force~ on the pattern of SIB and
Greyhounds in Andhra Pradesh.
The Government
has taken the
following measures to improve poli~e
and development response to control
the naxal problem:-

Police Response
Modernization
of State Police:.
Funds are given to the states under the
Police Modernization
Scheme to
modernize their police forces in terms
of
modern
weaponry,
latest
communication equipment, mobility
and other infrastructure.
The naxal
affected states have also been asked to
identify vulrterable police stations and
outposts in mixal areas and take up their
fortification under the Scheme.
Revision
of Security
RelaJed
Expenditure
(SRE)
Scheme
in
February, 2005: At present, 76 districts
in 9 states badly affected by- naxal
violence are covered under this scheme.
The level of reimbursement under the
Scheme was raised in February, 2005
from 50 per cent to 100 per cent and
new items like insurance scheme for
police personnel, community policing,
rehabilitation of surrendered naxaliies,
expenditure incurred on publicity. to
counter propaganda of naxalites, other
security related items not covered under
the Police Modernization Scheme etc.,
were also included. The Scheme has
enabled the states to improve ground
level policing in the naxal affected
6

Key Initiatives at the State Level

I~~r::~bl:~~:~

..i~t~:~~t~t:~o:~~~b:c'

a~~~fopfuefl,t:iandjh~ti~e,

. Ensure effective implem~;ntatioll of l~nd'leforms:P~nchaYllt (Extension

to Sched~IM Areas) A(;t (PESA) and formulation .of resettlement and
rehabilitation (RR)policy for. displacea.tribaIS.
fmprove governanceand'establishbetter
deliyel)' systems for people
centric developme!?-tal activities in thenaxal affesteddistricts ..
Ensure proper andfUlfutilisation of ,fUnd~un4ery~rious developme~t~ .
~,chemessuch
as,Bharat. Nirman,!3DI!
:BR;,GF',National R;?ral
EmploYll,lent.GuaranteeScheine,PMGSY;.
Mid (iayMeal Scheme;~tc.

areas. This Scheme has been extended

for a further period of five years beyond
31 March, 2006.
Supply
of Mine
Protected
Vehicles: Keeping in view the increased
casualties of police personnel and
civilians caused by lED/land mine
blasts, the naxal affeCted states have
been provided 80 Mine Protected
Vehicles (MPVs) under the Police
Modernization Scheme.
This supply has been streamlined by
taking up the matter with the Chairman,
Ordnance Factory Board.
Long-term deployment of Central
Para Military Forces: In order to
supplement the efforts of the states in
providing an effective response to the
naxal violence, Central Para Military
Forces have been deployed on a longterm basis as requested by the affected
states.
India Reserve Battalions:
The
naxal affected
states have been
sanctioned India Reserve (IR) battalions
mainly to strengthen security apparatus
at their level as also to enable them to
provide gainful employment to the
youth, particularly in the naxal areas.
Ten additionaL IR battalions have also
been approved for the naxal affected
states.
Recruitment
in Central
Para
Military Forces: In order to wean

away the potential youth from the path

to militancy or naxalism, recruitmenC
guidelines have been revised to perrni.t
40 per cent recruitment in Central Para
Military Forces from the border areas
and areas affected by militancy or
naxalism.
Protection
of Railways:
In the
wake of increased attacks on railway
properties,
the matter has been.
discussed with the Ministry of Railway
so as to take appropriate preventive
measures in this regard.
Salva Judum in Bastar region,
Chhattisgarh: An anti-naxal movement
began in June, 2005 in' Bastar region of
.Chhattisgarh
as a spontaneous
expression of pent-up anti-naxalite
sentiments among the local 'people. The
movement was triggered. off by a
meeting of eight villages. at Tebmar
village in district Bijapur, whereas the
villagers expressed their unhappiness
with the modus operandi of naxalites
causing harassment and starvation of
common villagers due to cutting off of
emploYII,lentopportunities. Salva Judum
activists mobilized villagers/tribals
against naxals through a series of
rallies, meetings and padyatras in naxal
strongholds of the two blocks (Bijapur
and Bhairamgarh). of Bijapur police
district in South Bastar. This voluntary
and peaceful movement by local people
has now
spread
into
Bijapur,
YOJAN~

February 2007

.
.....

Bhairamgarh, Usoor, Sulana and Konta .. fill in critical gaps in physical and social
development in the naxal affected areas.
blocks in Dantewada district. So far,
Apart from these districts, other naxal
Salva Judum activists have held more
affected areas/districts have also been
than 150 anti-naxaliterallies.
included under the Backward Regions
Keeping in view the importance of
Grant Fund (BRGF) Scheme which
Salva Judum movement as a major
covers 250 backward districts in the
bulwark in sustained campaigfl against
country.
muals and view of the naxalite attacks.
Tribal and Forest related issues: In
on innocent Salva Judum activists, the
to address
the areas
of
state government has been advised t6 order
disaffection
among
the
tribals,
the
enhance the deployment of. security
government
has introduced
the
,forces
to provide
effective
area
Scheduled
Tribes
(Recognition
of
domination, ensure safety of S~lva
Forest
Rights)
Bill,
2005,. in
Judurn activists and strengthen security
Parliament.
Further,
to
facilitate
of relief .camps.
social and physical infrastructure in
the forest
areas,
Ministry
of
Deve~lopment Response
Environment
and Forests has, as
Backward
Districts
Initiative
requested by the Ministry of Home
(BDI): Since the naxalite meanace has
Affairs issued general approval to
to be addressed on the developmental
allow such infr~structure by uti.)ising
front also, the Government has provided
up to I hectare of forest for non-forest
financial assistance of Rs 2,475 crore
purposes.
The Ministry
has also
for 5:\ naxal affected districts in 9 states
permitted upgradation of kutcha roads
of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
constructed intopucca roads.
Orissa, Jharkhand,
Maharashtra,
Land
reforms
employment
Madhya Pradesh, Dttar Pradesh& West
opportunities
in
the
naxal areas:
Bengal under the Backward Districts
Naxal groups have been raising mainly
lnitiative
(BDI) component of the
land' and livelihood related issues. If
Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana (RSVY).
Under this Scheme, an amount of Rs 15 land reforms are taken up on priority
and the landless and the poor in the
crore per year has been given to each
of the districts for three years so as to naxal areas are allotted surplus land,

.T
.'.,'
....
I

im~lem~n tl~e .."suriender-cumrehabilitati0l?:'l'\~chem~s!or ...naxalites

whQwant to shu.n' violen~e and' join
the mainstrearn.
Gent,ralg()vernment

r~in~~urses, u~~er t~eses&lty-related

exp~ndi~~re,s~reme
.~.~'.'.
the nax~laffectedstat~~,~xpe~~tllre
of. upto
Rs20,000 per'l'erson,dep~nding upon

YOJANA February 2007

Conclusion
The Central Government views the
naxalite menace as an area of serious
concern. The Government
remains
firmly. committed .and determined to
addressing the problem. Essentially, the
.state governments would need to pursue
effective measures to further improve
. ground level policing and development
response,
besides countering
the
negative propaganda unleashed
by
naxalites, to contain and control this
menace. The Central Government will
continue to coordinate and. supplement
the efforts and resources of the state
governments
on both security .and
development
fronts to meet the
challenge
posed
by naxalism.
0
.
(Compilation

by Editorial

Team,

Yojana, English)

'Enact Naxal Surrender Scheme'

heU~~?n hbrn~~stryhas
, .......
requesiedalLrnajor
naxal...........affect~~states'to
strictlY

The

this would go a long way in tackling the

developmental
aspects of the na;x.al
problem.
The states have been
requested to focus greater attention on
this area as' also accelerate peoplecentric developmental activities and
create employment opportunities in the
naxal affected areas with. special focus
on creation of physical infrastructure in
terms of roads, communication, power
as also social infrastructure
such as
schools, hospitals etc.

-'

whether the naxalite has surrendered

with ..arms or without. arms.
'"i

,"

"

Major naxahaffected states already

have surrender-cum-rehabilitation"
schemes for naialites who' 'Wantto shun
viole~Ce and jOin the mainstream. The
Centrel)as requested all Naxal-affected
state~overnme~ts to strictly implement
.the;iheme. The Centre also provides
assistance
to the state
govemments. TPe
..
,incentive packages vanesj'from. state-to
'--'"

state.

,,~

The .jh~khandGovebllnent
has
offered sops to naxals to surrender.
The main componets ..are:
M<>nthly allowance of Rs 2,000.

Rs 50,000 iIi cash.

Life insurance w?rthRs

\"ocati?naltraining

10 lakh;

f9f two years.

Lawyers tdfight th~rrc~es in court

o;Zacre
ag~cultur~t~
land.
Free educa~gn ~d he:althf~cilities
for the surrenderednaxaliteand
faniily.

..hff

tmom IilPPT !Milts

Rail VikasNigal11lil11ited
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First FloQr,August Kranti Bhawan,
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COD miners,
8

YOJANAFebruary

2007

I:ssues and, Concerns

Manmohan

rr"
,

HE FOREMOST

concern

to-day is internal security,

; "The
Centre and the States
" , must jointly find solutions to
"
the problems we face,

The country confronts a wide array

of complex internal security problems
and threats, Each of these need to be
dealt
with
in different
ways,
- Inc'reasingly also, they call to.r closer
cooperation between the Centre and the
states, since problems are no longer
confined to a single state but encompass
several states, Integrated functioning in
a federal set up such as ours, where law
and order is a state subject, is not easy
but we must' find ways and means to
deal with this situation and rethink some
of our past practices,

intelligence generation and collection,

as also the overall strengthening of
intelligence mechanism. Analytical
capabilities
need to be enhanced.
Proper
benchmarks
need to be
established against which progress and
performance can be measured.
The meeting mainly.focused on Left
wing extremism, terrorism, and how to
assuage feelings' of insecurity among
our IJ?inorities, specially Muslims. The
developments in the North East and
Jammu & Kashmir. also need to be
reviewed.

Singh

problem needs a blend of firm, but

sophisticated,
handling of naxalite
violence with sensitive handling of the
developmental aspects. It is'in the most
neglected areas of the country that Left
wing extremism thrives today. These are
also the main recruiting, grounds for
naxalite outfits. While Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Andhra
Pradesh are in the forefront of naxalrelated activities today, many other
states remain
vulnerable:
.Chief
Ministers must personally take in hand
what deliverables are possible even
while preparing
to meetnaxalite
violence through effective law & order
measures.

The Chief Ministers of'the NorthEastern states and J&K shall recognize
a fundamental. reality, namely, that in
dealing with problerns of peripheral
The real key in the fighting naxalite
violence is' 'good' intelligence. This
states and societies, we need to be
specially sensitive to the nuances of , would involve effective integration of
Internal Situation
each situation, and the encyclopedic
strategic and tactical intelligence,
To improve matters, the main stress
character of regional and tribal demands
properly leavened with ground level
which, if not anticipated and dealt with 'information avaj.lable at the level of the
has. to' be on capaCity building and
Police StationS. The Police is the first
improving the capabitity of the states . in time, could culminate in a fullresponder in naxal-related situations,
(as also thatofthe Centre) to deal with
fledged militancy. States like Mahipur
and Nagaland in the North East appear
and is a: very important pole. in this
current and future .problems, Capacityenti~e effort: Sensitiiing the PoliCe is,
building at the state level is most
specially vulnerable today demand your
crucial, and if there are any financial
personal attention. There is little scope
therefore, a criticai require~ent.
, constraints, the Centre would be willing 'for personal predilections that override
Special training for Forces engaged
to provide necessary assistance, Out national
considerations
and
in naxalite
operations
is equally
understanding, however, is that the states requirements.
important. Andhra Pradesh has an
are not doing enough even regarding the
The same can be said of J&K. Even
excellent training establishment for antifilling up of existing vacancies in the though the situation has shown signs of
naxalite operations.
Police and otherlawand order agencies; improvements these past two years, we
or improving the quality of the state
An 'Empowered Group' of Ministers
should remain on our guard in view of
, Sp~~cialBranches, or toning up -the law continuing efforts by anti-India and
is constituted which could be headed by
.and order administration,
Without
the Home Minister, imd include select
anti~national
elements to whip-up
effecti ve lmv and. order; economic
emotions' and transform these into a Chief Ministers, to closely monitor the
development would be impossible.
spread of the naxalite movement .. The
violent movement.
Group could meet at frequent intervals
More attentiqn is needed to improve
Naxalite Movement
and review special measures that Heed
the 'software' for the maintenance of
to be taken, nature of assistance ,to be
The approach
to the Naxalite
peace,.
This
means
improving

YOJANA February 2007

2002

l-+ No. oflricidenls

Head
No. of Incidents
Policep'ersonllei ..killed
Ciiriiianskiiled
Naxaliteskilled

Source: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)

provided. exchange
between States.

of -personnel

Terrorism
Concern
about the increasing
activities of externally-inspired-and
directed-terrorist outfits in the country
is justified. Intelligence Agencies warn
of a furhter intensification of violent
activities
on their part, with the
possibility of more 'fidayeen' attacks;
use of suicide bombers; attacks on
economic.
and religious
targets;
targeting of vital installations, including
nuclear establishments, Army Camps;
and the like. Reports also suggest that
terrorist modules and 'sleeper cells' exist
in some of our urban areas, all of which
highlight the seriousness of the threat.
These are serious matters and we
must find ways and means to deal with
these decentralised
micro-terrorist
outfits. This will necessitate greater
alertness on the part of the States and
local Intelligence Agencies, as, also the
Police who have a locational advantage.
Unless the 'best constable' is brought
into the vortex of our couIiter-terrorist
strategy, our capacity to pre-empt future
attacks would be severely limited.
In the battle against terrorism, the
role of the public will be vital. A major
effort is necessary on our part to
sensitise the public into becoming allies
in this war and persuade some of them
to function
as counter-terrorist
'wardens', who would report on any
10

kind of unusual activity. Siplliarly, coopting the media and getti~g them to
play more positive role would be useful
and this should form part of an overall
media management strategy. None of
this will, however, happen without your
personal direction and involvement.
On the prevailing insecurity among
minorities,
specially Muslims, the
adverse consequences of this can be
extre~ely deleterious for out polity. The
responsibility to ensure that this does
not happen lies squarely upon all of us.
It is unfortunate that terrorism has
resulted in certain sections of our
populations being targeted, with the
result that a wrong impressi,on has been
created of the radicalization
of the
entire Muslim community. It is, hence,
imperative that we embark immediately
upon a proactive policy to ensure that
a few individual acts do not result in
tarnishing
the image of an entire
community, and remove any feelings of
persecution and alienation from the'
minds of minorities.
All religions recognize the existence
of certain 'sacred values'. We should
seek to highlight the commonality of
such 'sacred values' and campaign
against
pernicious
ideas
and
philosophies
such as the "clash of
civilizations".
Instead we should
propagate the idea of a: 'confluence of
civilizations' .'Sacred values' are. ideals
which are transcendental in nature. We
should encourage sober elements in all

communities
to agree to a proper
articulation
of 'sacred values' for
,dissemination
among people. Both
education and the mass media must be
actively encouraged to promote, this
integrated vision.

e must recognize that the

Muslim community in large
parts of our country nurses a
strong grievance of not having been an
active participant and beneficiaries of
processes of social and economic
development. All of us have an obligation
to redress legitimate grievances of our
minorities. CMs must pay personal
attention to ensuring that our minorities
are effective partners in processes of
social and economic change. In dealing
With terrorism, scrupulous regard and
respect for fundamental human rights of
citizens,
particularly
of minority
communities, ought to be a core concern
of our law enforcement agencies. No
innocent person should be harassed in our
struggle against terrorism. If a mistake is
made, effective. remedial corrective
measures must be .taken well in time.
Government agencies, particularly law
enforcement agencies must establish
intimate contacts with community leaders
and show adequate sensitivity to their
concerns. CMs ought to put in place
effective mechanisms to achieve these
objectives.
0
(Adapted from Prime Ministers opening
remarks in the Chief Ministers'
Conference on Internal Security.)

. YOJANA February 2007

Rllral Unrest
D Bandyopadhyay

EASANTS
DID
not
disappear. Tribals' could not
be assimilated
with the
mainstream populace. Dalits
continue to be the landless
hewers of wood and drawers of water
for the upper classes and castes. The
projected
trajectories
of
the
development. paradigm .of large scale
'withdrawal of surplus labour from the
rural areas to be absorbed in the
massive development of the secondary
and tertiary sectors had gone awry.

The. smouldering
ember of rural
unrest in India can
be doused by proper
action undertaken
with understanding.
and sympathy,
dialogue and
.
reasoning

Fifty eight per cent of the Indian

labour force is still engaged
in
agriculture
and allied occupations.
Tribals are being pushed up the hills
because of illegal incursion of outsiders
in their traditiDnal domain. Dalits
continue
to swell the ranks of
agricultural
prpletariat
which is
increasing in an alarming way. 'Poverty
ratio among the SCs and STs continue
to be much high~r at 35 per cent and
44.2 per cent respectively as against the
national average of little over 26 per
cent. Neo-libeJ:al development pro.cess
totally by-passed them. Not only that
the invasion of the corporate sector into
agriculture
and
forestry
and
enhancement of ceiling limits on land in

some states has exacerbated

the
incidence of landlessness
with the
consequential rise in the free floating
mass of rural poor moving around in
search of employment.
This has
depressing effect on rural wages and
has aggravated casuaUsation of labour
on terms grossly unfavourable to them;
This is supported by different rounds of
NSSO data on agricultural wage from
1983 to 2000.
Victims of development - the project
affected people (PAP) - add another
unpleasant dimension to the scenario of
rural alienation and turmoil. There is no
fIrm official fIgure regarding the total
number of PAP rendered landless due to
coercive acquisition of land by the State
for "development" purposes. Scholars
have made various estimates. The
generally accepted fIgure (calculated by
Walter Fernandes) is that between 1951
and 2005,50 to 60 million persons were
forcefully evicted from their hearth and
home. It is it colossal fIgure. It is more
than the total population of majority of
the member countries of the United
Nations. Among the PAPs tribals
constitute 40 per Cent. The absolute
fIgure would be 20 to 24 million out of
the total tribal population of a little over

T1ly author is Executive Chairper~on and Hony. Director, Council for Social Development. He is the Chairman of the'Planning
Commission, Expert Groilp on Development issues dealing with discontent, unrest and extremism."

YOJMrA

February 2007

,J, ' ..

11

80 million. It appears that the main

brunt of the adverse effects of
development had to be borne by the
tribals who had the least sustaining
power.Not only that, it is estimated that
of the 50 to 60 millionPAPs only 28 to
30 per cent has been properly resettled
and rehabilitated. This is bad enough.
The situation in the case of tribals is far
worse. It is estimated that only 18 to 20
per cent of them had been properly
rehabilitated. Thus a vast number of
displaced, homeless, landless and
jobless tribals are roaming about as
flotsam and jetsam of the cruel
developmentprocess.They are depressed
and dejected, irritated and angry.
Tribals did not have any concept of
"exclusive title or possession within
community. Ownership was best
understood as mutual respect and
recognition of access of an individualor
family to a separate plot of land to be
used for special requirement of the
family" (Prabhu
2002 from
Reclaiming Land)

which traditionally gave sustenance to

the tribals.

jobless. It is not surprising, therefore,

that social unrest has emerged. in the
affected areas. It manifests itself in
defiance of the authority from simple
form of demanding right of community
managementof forests to militancy.The
State cannot avoid the responsibility of
creating conditions in which in sheer
desperation and rage, tribals resorted to
violence.

Tribals lost their control of

traditional livelihood resources through
several state actions. First is the forest
reservation policy which declared
forests, degraded forests,waste lands on
the periphery and even partly arable
lands as reserved forests where hhman
habitation was prohibited. These,
reserved areas sometimes included
Half way across the globe in the
villageswhich were allowedto continue Chiapas region of southern Mexic'o
without any right or title and which . indigenouspeople declared in 1980"we
supplied free or cheap labour to Forest demaI).d absolute respect for our
Department and ) to forest persortnel. . communitarian self-determination over
The second means of alienatiop was our lands, over all our natural resources
the leasing of forest lands to the and over the forms of organization that
We
. corporate sector for mining, processing we wish to give ourselves
are
opposed
to
have
our
natural
industries, agri or forest based business,
logging. and timber felling or for resources plundered in the name of a
tourism ventures. Tribals were denied supposed national development" (Bart.a
access to pasture lands and forests A & Otero.a, 2005).
which had been providing 'them with
livelihood.

The demands of the Chiapas

indigenous people in Mexico fully
represents the aspiration and demands
of 80 million tribals of our country as
well.

.ThirdlY;
there were the draconian
laws regarding wild life.
Extension of general laws and their
protection and national parks
accompanying institutions to the and sanctuaries which forcefully
Our old national leadership was well
Scheduled Tribal areas created a hiatus excluded all habitations from vast areas
aware of it. Way back in 1942
between the "modem" laws and their notified under these laws. By a sly of
Mahatmaji wrote in Harijan (18-01agencies and the traditional mode of hand of the forest authorities local
1942) "The Adivasis are the original
tribal life and living style. This resulted rightful residents became interlopers or
inhabitants whose material position is
in a conflict between the traditional encroachers on their own lands. The
perhaps, DO better than that of Harijans
systems and the formal institutions, . traumatic reversal of the position from
and who have been victims of neglect
espcially with regard to the rights of rightful owner -occupiers to illegal
on the part of so called high classes.
tribal people over land and resources on encroachers pushed the affected people
The Adivasis should have found a
which they had subsisted for centuries to desperation to use any means to vent
special. place in the constructive
without formal ownership deed or title. their resentment. In some places this
programrrie" (Gandhi, M.K. - India of
Beginning with the colonial time and deep human tragedy was compounded my Dreams, Navjivan Trust, 1947).
continuing in the post colonial era, the by the extinction of the species for - Orily Mahatma could have the moral
intrusion of formal economy with which such cruel methods were used. courage'during the freedom struggle to
privileged individual rights and R~nthambore provides an example own up that the society had neglected
individual or corporate profit motive w~ere with the exclusion local tribals die Adivasis. It is not therefore strange
has systematically undermined or the tiger population also disappeared. t6 find in the Party Programme of
subverted.the' informal. communitarian The story 9f Sariska is not different, Central Comnlittee (P) of CPI (Maoist)
system of the tribals and their either.
- dated 21.092004, the observationthat
livelihood. This crisis has been further
Lastly, as already noted the coercive "The State will ensure various forms of
aggravated by the recent influx of , acquisition of land for "development" autonomy to all Adivasi communities
individuals and corporate bodies into purposes has already displaced about for their full fledged development and
the tribal domain and their take over of 80 to 90 million tribals turning them execute special policies accordingly".
tribal lands and other natural resources homdess, lalldiess, resourceless and Why sh~t'ld it beieft to CPI.(Maoist)
12

, YOJANA, February 2007

<-or any odler militant group to do so ?

Can't the mighty Indian State do it?
Common Property Resources (CPR)
where every member of the community
had easy access and usage facility used
to be an integral part of the social and
economic life of the village poor,
particularly, for the landless and land
poor households. Among the landless
vast majority belonged to'Dalit groups.
Some scholarly studies have pointed out
that dalits are concentrated among the
landless agricultural labourers because
under the traditional caste system they
were excluded from ownership of land.
Consequently, for sheer survival they
had to depend heavily on the CPR. A
study of seven states in semi-arid areas
indicated. that CPR accounted for 9 to
26 per cent of household income of
landless and marginal farmers, 91 - 100
per cent of their fuel wood requirements
and 69 - 89 per cent of the~r grazing
needs (Jodha - 1986, Reclaiming Land).
However,
this CPR is getting
increasingly
scarce through state
possession or privatization including
corporatization.
In different states
corporatiions are being given huge tracts
of so called waste land, degraded forest
land and semi-arable
lands which
constituted CPR for the dalits and the
village poor; This has badly affected the
economic positions of these people.
Neo-liberalism has put the dalit and
agricultural
wor~.ers under triple
jeopardy
of social, economic and
political exclusion. Exasperated and
desperate dalit groups constitute the
tinder
dry flammable
substance'
awaiting a spark to i~te.
The overall employment situation in
the rural areas is rather bleak. Out of the
total labour force of 363 million (1999
- 2000) in the country, 251 million
workers were employed in -the rural
,areas. The primary sector employed
roughly 58 per cent of the total labour
force. Development of secondary and
tertiary'i;'eC'tors could not absorb the
surplus labour from the primary sector.
YOJANA February 2007

contracts; Incidentally, the protagonists

Employment in the organized sector
of this move in the State machinery
increased very slowly from 24 million
in 1983 to 28 million in 1999-2000. It should do well to remember that about
90 years ago in 1917, Mahatma
meant an annual average incremental
growth in employment of little over 2 Gandhi's first public action in India
after coming from South Africa w3;s to
lakh,per yem:, which was insignificant
,
fight for the cause of peasants of
compared to the annual rate of growth
Champaran in Bihar against unfair
of labour force. It is now recognized
that in the era of "jobless growth" the terms of contract imposed on them by
the European
Indigo
planters.
organised sector's capacity to absorb
surplus labour would remain minimal to Advocates of this system should also
nil. As a result under compulsion of appreciate that between two unequal
circumstances
the vast majority of partners there cannot he any fair
additional labour force will have to be contract in favour of the weak.
absorbed both in the farm and non-farm
Land ceiling laws have been
segments of the rural economy and in
implemented
in a tardy and improper
the unorganised segment in the urban
manner
in
our
c"ountry. Only 7.35
areas.
million acres of ceiling surplus land
:twould have several adverse
were vested in the State (March 2002)
:consequences. This large army of of which 5.39 million acres were
landless workers would tend to distributed
among
5.65 million
_depress rural wage rates thereby
beneficiaries. Even distribution was not
accentuating
poverty
as already
done, correctly.
In many cases
mentioned. It would also increase the beneficiaries with "patta" in land did
number tenancies
with harsh and
not get physical possession of the land
. extortionate conditions and terms. The
allotted to them. Old owners continued
NSSO figure of 7 to 8 per cent of to possess and enjoy the usufruct of
tenancy is generally recognized as gross
these lands. Worse still are the"cases of
under-estimation. Micro-studies by well
the same vested land being distributed
known scholars indicate that the
to different sets of beneficiaries
at
incidence of concealed tenancies vary
different points of time, of course, giving
between 15 to 35 per cent in different
no physical possession to anyone -of
states which have formally abolished
them. It only made the poor to fight the
tenancies. Extremely severe forms of poor so that the erstwhile landlords could
exploitation are noticed in respect of. lord oye!: their former estates.
these "inyisible" tenancies.
Land holdings after several decades
Expropriation of CPR for handing
of implementation of ceiling laws still
over the land to corporate sector for
remain highly skewed. In 1995 tiny
agri-business or industry has caused
holdings constituted 78 per cent of the
depeasantization
among the farming
tota}
operational
holding
and
communities
and
accentuated
commanded 32 per cent of the area.'
immiserisation of already poor landless
Thus 22 per cent of operational holding
and. marginal farmers most of whom
controlled 68 per cent of the arable
belong to dalit groups. Depeasantisation
land. While figures clearly justify
directly increases landlessness
and
further reduction of land ceiling and
acute
poverty
coupled
with
rationalization of various categories of
assetlessness results in debt bondage.
land for ceiling purposes, under the
pressure
of neoliberal
economic
Active encouragement of the state
policies
different
states
are
doing the
for "contract farming" is putting, selfopposite by enhancing the ceiling limits
employed autonomous peasants under
in the name of commercialization and
harsh and often disadvantageous

13

modernization. of. agriculture. Thus the

possibility of getting a parcel of land by
the landless for minimal livelihood and
household food security is becoming
dimmer by the day.
Apparently, in different' parts of the
country' in different depressed and
oppressed groups, there are kegs of dry
powder waiting for fire to set in. But the
flaming bush fire is not taking place as
there is a lack of country-wide political
mobilization among the landless and the
deprived. Instead of being united on the
.basis of class, the poor are fragmented'
along caste, ethnic, religious and other
divisive lines. Moreover, land struggle
tend to differ for different interest
groups. Landless
strive for land
ownership. Tribals and indigenous
groups strive for the protection of their
traditional righfs on forest and other
livelihood resources. Marginal and
small farmers strive not only to retain
their land but also to make it more
productive and to acquire and, or, to
enhance their political power and.
influence. Thus with disaffection all
around th,ere being no coalescing of
interests and objectives, no combined
determined J;Ilovement was possible to
seriously threaten the establishment.
hi an agrarian economy like India land
confers personality'tO"all individual or a
group. It endows 'social respectability. It
is a means of political empowerment. It
is the ,basic ingredient of a dignified life
and living. Hen-ce a just and fair
distribution of land resources is of
utmost importance for building ~n
egalitarian and strife - free society. It is
for the state to arrange for equitable
redistribution
of hind and water
.resources and to restore the traditional
livelihood rights of the tribals in" the
forest areas. Unmet just demands may
provoke the sufferers to use force
whether for occupation of land or for
exercising
rights
over forestry
resources. The ruling establishment
cannot avoid "t;akingresponsibility for its .
failure to read' the writing on the wall ..
14.

Another major cause of rural

discontent
is the trident of malgovernance by the Forest, Revenue and
the Police administration. Rajiv Gandhi
pithily described the situation. He
observed "the experience of the vast
majority of our people at the grassroots
have been that, at the interface between
the 'people and .the 'administration, the
administration
is unresponsive,
inefficient,
unsympathetic,
often
callous, sometimes even cruel to those
whom they meant to serve". The
situation is far worse in the tribal areas .
What we are witnessing in India and
some Latin America~ countries in' the
form of rural land movement of violent
nature is basically the "third wave" or
left politics (Moyo & yeros, 2005).
When the agrarian crisis is becoming
more acute, there is a deepening of
political vacuum in the country side.
Traditional parties of the left which had
a rather nebulous relationship with the
dispossessed in the countryside have, by
and large, succumbed to the. logic of
capital either to obtain power or after
obtaining power, eschewing Marxian
Left policies, though many of them still
carry the name of Marx in their breast
plates ..
They are openly and unashamedly
promoting neo-liberalism in its crude
form discarding even the fig leaf of
egalitarianism not to speak of socialism.
The "third wave" of virulent left politics
is the direct result of the traditional
left's subservience
to the needs of
capital :exhibited.
through
their
adherence to the neo-liberal economic
. reform policies.
The social base or this new
movement which includes the Maoists'
of India, is the masses of rural poor
Jallen by the wayside because of
relentless
pursuit
of',neo-liberal
economic policies. Its leadership is
largel y. confined among: the. peasant
intellectuals who have disassociated
themselves
from the established
political parties and their university

based intellectuals.
Their tactic is,
predominantly direct action centeri~g
round direct physical occupation of land
and other natural resources. Some 'of
them have opted for armed struggle like
the CPI (Maoist) in India. Zapatistasin
Mexico and the FARC in Colombia.
Their strategy is autonomy from the
established political parties and the
state. This line is being followed by the
rural movement in the Philipplines,
India (CPI-Maoist), South Africa, the
Zapatistas in Mexico 'and MST in
Brazil.' Their ideology' tends to fuse
Marxism with the local brand of ethnic
or racial discourses. They are quite.
sensitite to gender and ecological
issues. In fact there is a conscious effort
to indigenize the Marxian theory to the
specifidocal situation (Moyo & Yeros,
. 2005).
Long ago Mao Zedong propounded'
the 'thesis of "Fish in Water". "Fish"
were rural militants.
Disgruntled
disaffected and resentful poor peasantry,
agricultural workers, forest dwellers,
displaced
persons
and the like"
constituted
the "Water".
If their
disaffection
could be removed or
substantially
reduced water would
evaporate and the fish would be left
high and dry and they would cease to
exist eventually. Since almost all the
demands and grievances of the tribals,
Dalits, landless' agricultural workers and
the.like could be met and resolved'
within
the parameters
of the
Constitution and existing legal and
policy frame,
a responsive
and
sympathetic
political leadership at
different levels can solve the issue of
rural unrest if they had the will and if
they could transcend their proximate
class interests. The smouldering ember
of rural unrest in India can be doused
by proper 3lction undertaken
with
understailding and sympathy, dialogue
and reasoning. Harsh counter violence
might not be the correct response as it
had failed so far duting the. last four
decades since the "Spri):g thunder" of
1967.
0
YOJANA Feb~ary

2007

Developmental Woes
K P S Gill

Public
expenditure needs
to be directed
forcefully to the
creation of
productive assets
in India's villages

NDIA'S MOST significant

sequity challenges, today and
in; the foreseeable future, are
internal, although, with hostile
ne~ghbours constantly fishing
in troubled
waters, these have a
considerable
external <;limension as
well. Terrorism and sub-conventional
warfa!e ar~ the most important and
dangerous manifestations of this threat.
As time passes, we h~ve seen. terrorist
strategies,
tactics and access to
technologie~ systematically improve the
lethality arid disruptive efficiency of
their attacks, even. as. evidence of
continuou~
state
support
and
sponsorship
by
Pakistan
and
Bangladesh mounts. Each new terrorist
,outrage - ~specially when it occurs in
. India's ciries and not in neglected
'hinterland; areas, where such things
have become a daily norm - provokes
a hysteria of analysis and
polltical
_ posturing.

of

. As terrorist capacities augment,. there

is a palpa~le expectation after each
major incident that, this time, something
will change; the Government
will
announce ~ome new set of measures
and policies.J:hat will create the national

strength and capacities to deal firmly

and effectively the scourge of terrorism.
Soon enough, however, the incident is
forgotten and there has been little
noticeable change in the basic structure
of national responses to terrorism over
the past decades.
The political
discourse
on the
subject of terrorism reflects a range of
utterly fruitless peculiarities.
Other
civilized countries and communities
across the world have made the fight
against terror an article of faith, where
,the political establishment has risen
above petty and partisan politics, giving
priority to the fate of the innocent and
vulnerable over their own personal and
political fortunes. The inteUigentsia and
the administration - including justice
administration
- in these societies,'
while they have,remained committed to
fundamental values of democracy, have
recognized the grave and extraordinary
threat to civilization
that terrorism
constitutes,
and have adequately
empowered the executive, intelligence .
and enforcement agencies to deal with
the challenge.
There is little evidence that the ruling
and 'intellectual' claSses in India will do

The author is former Director General, Punjab Police and is President of the Institute for Conflict Management;
cum:ntly Adviser to the Government of Chhattisgarh on Naxalism;

New Delhi. He is

15

YOJANA February 2007

1,

this in the foreseeable future. The Indian

politiCal perspective and agenda on
terroriSm remain unalterably muddled.
The political
classes
in India,
unfortunately, seek to make political
capital out of everything, often and
increasingly to the detriment of the
national interest. But a consensus across
party lines is necessary on the issue of
terrorism and on counter-terrorism
policy. Terrorism is a problem that has
been, and will remain, with us for many
years, and alternately burying our heads
in the sand, or responding with hysteria,
can only undermine public confidence
in the state machinery.
Western
democracies have, virtually on the ftrst
sign of terrorism on their own soil,
immediately. secured a consensus on
response, establishing necessary and
elaborate legislative -instrumentalities,
and empowering their enforcement
machinery to the hilt. On the other hand,
after decades of terrorism on Indian
soil, we continue to muddy issues and
engage in the game of mutual
recrimination and populist posturing.
Terrorist organisations across the world
are linking up and establishing
an
immensely c.oordinated and globalised
network - but we fail even to secure a
minimal agreement on, or coordination.
of, national responses.

he upshot is that, wherever

. terrorism rears its malignant
head, more and more troops
from the country's various security
forces are simply throWn into the
conflagration, .willing sacriftces to the
state's failure to evolve effective and
proactive
mechanisms'
for
the
containment and neutralization of this
spreading affliction.
But the 'security forces' are not the
faceless, formless, mechanical 'force'
th~t the media, the politicians and the
general public think them to be, to be
pitched into' the void at will. Human
beings make up these forces, and there
16

will be limits to their willingness for

There is, of course, SOme evidence
sacrifice if they find that the very' of positive movement
in certain
people, powers and institutions that they spheres. A new Police Act, long
ftght for, and so often die to defend, are overdue, has now been drafted - though
careless of their needs and their
it has visible and enormous flaws.
concerns. And 'such carelessness is Funding no longer remains a bottleneck
~anifest everywhere, as the political
for police
and security
forces'
classes remain concerned exclusively
modernization - though the utilization
with their own survival, security and of funds is riddled with inefficiencies
proftt~ rather than with the wellbeing of and leakages. Coordination between the
the nation"s fighting men, or of the
Centre and State Governments shows
nation itself. It would be difficult, today, signs of improvement, though points of'
to ftnd.an example of a political leader
friction persist. The general awareness
who has raised issues relating to the among the political classes and Central
interests of security personnel, or even bureaucrats regarding the threat and
concerning
the necessary powers,
dimensions of terrorism. in the country
equipment .and facilitiesrequired
by appears to be rising, slowly but
these forces to secure. effectiveness
consistently.
While a confusioQ of
against an enemy that is constantly
perspectives 'persists, early signs of
availing of the very latest techriiques,
some emerging coherence, at least of
technologies
and processes
of intent if not policy, are becoming
modernity. On the other hand, you will visible.
find numberless leaders and public
evertheless,the long-promi.sed
figures who are willing to speak the
'synergy'
between various
language of the terrorists and their
security
forces,
and between
apologists; who constantly exhort us to
the
states
and
with
the
Centre,
remains
understand
'root causes'
and the
a chimera, even as systems of command
motives of 'our children' and 'our
and control of counter-terrorism forces
brothers and sisters' who inflict mass
remain
inchoate. It is useful to notice,
murder on innocents.
in this context, that, in areas of multiToday, so many of those who bravely
force operations involving the Army, the
fought terrorism have been abandoned
'unified command'
model remains
to the mongrel formations
of the
dominant. This structure, in practice, is
terrorists and their 'human rights' fronts, patently violativeof the Constitutional
and to the vagaries of a flawed and
scheme of the supremacy of civilian
deeply prejudiced judicial system; and authority in all matters, including
the weight of national institutions
internal security and counter-terrorism.
appears disproportionately to be exerted
The unifted co~and
has traditionally
to beneftt those who are intent on the meant the supremacy of the Army and
1"'"
.
destruction of these very institutions, . the subordination or marginalisation of
rather than those who s.eek to protect
state police forces and para-militari~s,
them. Today, it is the terrorists and their
and has not been conducive to better
proxies who are best protected by our operational coritrol in theatres of multilegal and institutional safeguards, and force operations. It has had only limited
by our political orientation; innocents,
succe"sses in bringing
an end to
national assets - both institutional and terrorism or insurgency anywhere.
individual - and the men who ftght to Nevertheless, this remains the preferred
defend the staty, are often left to their
model of command
and control
own devices in the face of a merciless
wherever the"Army is depl6yed,and it
and unremitting onslaught.
is time for a radical review, and the

YOJANA February 2007 .

400 -

350
300
250
200 -

.........

Naxal Violence in C.hhattisgarh

-- 700
~

---.

100 50 0-

200
100

2003,

2004

Head
No. of incidents

Civilians

killed

killed

Naxalites killed

:-..
'.

-----

2006 (31.10.2006)
"

-+-Incldents

-'-Pollce

personnel killed

2003
256

2004

2005

Head

352

380

No. of incidents

09

30
44

08

47

Police Personnel killed

75
15

118

Civilians killed

32

Naxalites killed

08

----

2005(31.11l.2005)

2005

2002
304
46
10

....

I-+- No. of Incidents -.- Police personnel kiUed..Civilians kUled "*"' Naxalites killed

Police Personnel

--------

300

--"

.,

2002

-------

500
400

150 -

__

..

600

"*",Naxalnes.killed

--- Civilians killed

2005 (31.10.2005)
319
45
94
23

2()06(31.10:2006)
627"
.' 73
292
52
.'

-MHA

adoption of a more effective model of

coordination
and
cooperati ve
command.
The Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF) has now been designated the
lead agency for countercterrorism and
counter-insurgency
operations across
the country, and continues
to be
deployed in all major theatres of
violence, including Jammu & Kashmir
and the Northeast, where the unified
command structure is applied. Even in
states where the Army is not present, as
. in Maoist affected areas, problems of
inter-force coordination, as of inter-state
coordination, persist. These have been
repeatedly underlined by the political
leaderships both of the affected states
and the Centre, but little headway has
been made in securing the necessary
'synergies'. The CRPF is still to secure
the wherewithal, the mandate, and the
institutional Jransformations necessary
to meet the demands of its new role.
The prob~em is an .approach that is,
at best, piecemeal and accretionist,
seeking the arbitrary augmentation of
specific
capacities
- principally
manpower, weapons and technologies froni time to time, in response to
particulilr emergencies,
and without
reference to a coherent gameplan. The
lacunae in this approach are manifested,
for instance,
in the pattef:lls of
YOJANA February 2007

'modernization'
of police
and
paramilitary forces. 'Modernization' is,
in fact, a misnomer
for what is
happening, and this can at best be
described as 'technology enhancement' .
The technologies that are being passed
out to the forces in the name of
modernisation are often 30 to 40 years
old, and even in the sphere of emerging
technologies such as communications,
the acquired models' are often on the
verge of obsolescence by the time they
are made available. Considering the
sheer
pace
of
contemporary
technological
transformation,
it is
necessary to set up a special committee
for continuous technological evaluation
and acquisition. Technologies today are
shackling rather than enabling the
Security Forces, and large proportions
of funds are completely wasted.
Another
aspect of technology
acquisition is its centralization, which
has meant, delays, the acquisition of
unsuitable technologies and corruption.
As corruption in p).lrchases rises, it rather than the requirements on ground
begins
to detennine
which
technologies are acquired, and this is
tremendously
demoralizing
for the
forces.
Modernisation
funding,
moreover, must become more specific
and must be released for use under
separate heads. 'Lumped' funding lends

itself to greater diversion and 'leakage'.

Modernisation,
moreover, is not
simply a matter of buying better weapons
and technologies. The modernisation of
systems and minds has entirely escaped
the scope of current efforts. Often and 'in
certain areas, modernisation may demand
a discarding or diminishing lethalitjof
weapon systems, rather than their
continuous
enhancement.
More
significantly, the manpower profiles;
management
systems,
strategies,
methods and protocols for security
forces,
their
respon~es
and
administration, need to be extracted
from the primitive
constraints
of
inherited systems, before we can shape
effective counter-terrorism forces and
responses.

or years now, the national

leadership has been deluding
itself, and misleading the nation,
into believing
that terrorism
is
something that can lend itself to an easy
solu~ion' across the negotiating table ...:.
with Pakistan, with terrorist front
organisations, and with terrorist groups
themselves. The truth, however, is that
these are long wars of attrition, and
there should be no doubt whatsoever of
the malevolent
vision or of the
determination of India's enemies to
keep these wars alive. These are
protracted wars, which will require an
17

effective and enduring state apparatus to the Government's extension networks in

create powerful instrumentalities to hunt areas of conflict simply collapses,
down and destroy the terrorists, and to particularly in the rural hinterland, the
impose unbearable
costs on their
endemic 'ieakage' of developmental
supporters and sponsors. Unfortunately,
resources
across the country
is
we seem to be moving in exactly the magnified even further in such areas, as
opposite direction, as appeaseme~t of systems of accountabIlity disintegrate;
the' enemy dominates our political
a vast proportion of the developmental
vision, as security
agencies
are
allocations actually find their way to
constantly asked to operate with their
insurgent and anti-state groups and little
hands tied behind their backs, and as the benefit eventually accrues to the target
enveloping environment is made more
populations. ,Essentially, fimilly, you
arid more conducive to exploitation and cannot 'out-develop'
a full-blown
operation by terrorists.
insurgency.
Another aspect of the Indian political
discourse on terrorism is the false
dichotomy that is created between the
'military vs developmental'solution,
or
the 'military vs political' solution. This
is utter nonsense, but it is politically
correct nonsense, and to be an advocate
of the 'developmental'
or 'political'
solution, while excoriating the supposed
irrationality of the military solution is a
highly rewarding public posture. Thus,
rising terrorism and violence across the
country is continuously accompanied by
much talk on the need f()r development,
political and land reforms, and the
social emancipation of long-neglected
populations in areas of persistent or
escalating conflict. Development, we
are repeatedly told, is the only solution
to the menace of widening insurgencies
and terrorist movements; unless we
address the 'root causes' of poverty,
backwardness and deprivati~n in these
areas, the extremist forces will ~nly go
from strength to strength.
There are several levels at which
these perspectives are. wrong, and as a
result of which they will necessarily
yield counter-productive policies. It is
not possible to take up these arguments
in detail here (I have written about these
elsewhere), but it is useful to notice,
basically, the fact that no unique set of
'root causes' actually explains the
emergence of insurgent or terrorist
violence. The administrative system and
18

ut there is an even more

fundamental difficulty with
this approach:
a modern
Government is required to address the
problems of backwardness and mass
distress not because and where there is
anti-state violence; it is required to
address these problems across its entire
jurisdiction because that, precisely, is
what it exists for. A corollary, here, is
that by disproportionately
allocating
resources
and efforts for reform
(however
unsuccessfully)
to the
.'development' of violence-driven areas,
the state validates the idea that social
and economic transformation cannot be
secured in the absence of such violence,
thus producing a demonstration effect
that catalyses a further spread of violent
ideologies.
Consequently,
unless conditions
conducive to. the efficient delivery of
public goods, including education,
health and minimal social security, and
to massive private investment and
decentraliz;ed, widely disperSed, rural
enterprise can be created, various
'packages' for areas of conflict or of
endemic
poverty
will
have
inconsequ~ntial
impact.
Public
expenditure needs, now, to be directed
forcefully to the creation of these
conditions, of productive assets and
capacities,
ofa
minimal modern
infrastructure and facilities in India's
villages, which can help them integrate

with the booming urban economy, and

through this, to the globalizing world.
It is crucial to understand that law
and order is a precondition for, and not
a consequence of, these conditions, and
must be maintained across the country
and throughout the year, not fitfully,
when a particularly urgent challenge
confronts us, or when a high profile
target or victim is affected. Unless
disruptive
anti-state
violence
is
contained and conditions of security
prevail, ilone of the other terms for this
process of reconstruction can be met.
The military thinker Carl von
Clausewitzwams us that, in war, "the
mistakes which come from kindness are
the very worst. .. If one side uses force
without compunction, undeterred by the
bloodshed it involves, while the other
side refrains, the first will gain the
upper hand." This is the principle that
must be kept in mind while framing an
approach to counter-terrorism (we are
still far from framing a counterterrorism policy or strategy).
There is, in the Indian discourse, an
air of utter bafflement regarding the
question of use of force within the'
context
of democracy,
with the
dominant thinking endorsing the idea
that all use of force is somehow a
violation of democratic principles, and
that the state must negotiate a solution
to every emerging problem or conflict.
Within this bafflement, the idea of the .--rule of law - which (and not the
electoral process) is the essence of
democracy - has been completely
sacrificed. Regrettably, those who claim
to speak for democracy seem to be
unfamiliar with the most fundamental
aspects of c;lemocratic theory, and
particularly with the debates on the role
of force in democratic governance.
Politically correct rhetoric has left us
indifferent to the plight of the victims
of crirninaland terrorist violence', even
while there is a constant harping on the
YOJANA February 2007

concerns and grievances of those who

resort to crime and terrorism.
In
doing this, the dominant discourse, In
effect, removes all constraints from
those who resort to violent excess,
while it places extraordinary
and
irrational constraints on the agencies
of the state that are intended to
protect the rule of law.
The nature of terrorism demands
quick, indeed, immediate and decisive
application of appropriate -force; it
requires the creation of institutional
structures and protocols of response,
not only for counter-terrorist action, but
for relief and containment of the impact
of terrorist acts; above and before all,
however, it demands a measure of
clarity and an understanding of the
nature and necessity of use of force, a
realization that the use of capricious,
weak and ineffective force compounds
and escalates violence, and that
continuous emphasis on political and

extraordinary locus of instability, with

negotiated solution actively privileges
violence and terror at the cost of the each of India's neighbours skirting state
deeply
interests of the law abiding citizen, and ,failure. India is, itself,
susceptible
to
a
complex
dynamic
of
of the nation. Thus, when we argue that
that has already
'these are our brothers and sisters' , and destabilization
'these are our children', we ignore the extended areas of disorder and nonfact that those whom they kill are also governance to large parts of the country,
with nothing resembling an adequate set
'our brothers and sisters' and 'our
of responses in e'vidence. The use of
children';
and tliat it is the prior,
inescapable and constitutional duty of force in the defence of freedom, and of
the state to protect. the latter, and to its laws and Institutions, is not just a
moral necessity, it is a survival
impose the laws of the land, before
imperative. It is a demand that must be
unrealistic considerations of a universal
pacifism destroy the possibility of such. fulfilled, moreover, not with jingoism
or' with
protection. Counter-terrorist policy and and hyper-nationalism,
emerging
patterns
of
communal
response are an awful responsibility of
polarization and coercion', but rather
the state, and must anchor themselves
with a strong and sustained reliance on
in a practical wisdom, "without
conceding too much either to pity or to rationality, on' a detailed understanding
of the challenge of terrorism and
indulgence."
Through history, nations have had to disorder, ap.d of the imperatives of a
democratic,
lawful and effective
maintain and often refresh their
independence through the force of arms. response to the threats to the nation's
0
The South Asian region has become an freedom and survival.

Naxal Activity on the Decline, Says Union Home Secretary

Centre to help States Strengthen their Police Forces

'~II1~e
1\f.~x~l.~,am~ct~d"Sfate~
"]IJS~O.~ld'~~~rth~"PPtimu!U
;"
.....
utIIi~ation of,. fu~ds unde:
'yariou;~.~e?tr;at~c~eIlle!,
fat;
~~~~~1al ~~ ..i~pr9ye~~~t ..o;
" .....
,~~!iti~~~nrllral
ar~~ s;r~~.
?i~?'lf9!U~,~~qretaryVK"D'\lgg~1

sai,d. '

'

"."'-

,-

c,,:-,

'.,.,,:,

EX~!7~s~ri~sa~i~facfioll overt~e:
~'.,'}n?~~al.,a~tiYIty;~rf?ll&&~l
~U~,~?T<1~y~lg~~~lltwgU;ldg?
. '~~r.i~~~ntai~i?~th~
:,~~eft~te'~
"wi~nes~i?g
~~llttll!hewa~.e~f
!~~!i?n;~holl~dh~v~~e!t~r
"""rrept
and rehabilitation
P9lici~~,
~~q~F~!'i?~p~ess~er~o?satt?:.
llatio
tI~$ol'!*e;;~3;tlaxal:affecte~

Brt,d, ?~,~;tr;(}}~~~iSog2~i

YOJANA February 2007

training

~!a:!e~~er~,h~faid,~e,'GovetJlment's
~~p~o~~h'
,'vy.lls,t??!~ngthe Left wing
extremists
back into the social
mainstream. However, firinaction
betalcenjfth~y attacked ...
pglice.
nelnr innoce.nt people.
Quggalsaid, the menace was
n;o
ql'lted'toBihar,
Jharkhand,
'qr}s~~,'~h~att~sgarb,.
Andhra
~2ad~~h1,e!s~~rJJ tAaharas~traand
~e~t;~etIaL~hiteatot!l1
oi51 0
~0!ic7s~~iqn~;aqed
n3:f'a1J?r?blems
i~.~pP~.:~h~??mberhaddecteased
to
?:72tbis year. <

He

reiterated

that

to

the

the

Govertlm~~~iwa~r~e~rtoholdtalkS
with th.e?~falities ....
if they ..gavenp
artl1,s'lie1l2ged~eaffected
..State!>
to~do~tas~rren~er
poliqy for
naxalities on the1ines of the one in
AndhratBnidesh!
OntaIks;\Vitll,;:u~i!edJ.,ib~r~ti?u
Front ofAs9Ill,~~~~g~l
saidth~t
the ..Goyern~~nt?-"as;cea~y~ort~lks
Provided theygave.iuV$!iting
that
they ",auld shll.hiWe
patllof
violence.

......
~~~~~~,4~n~ip.t~e
demand~by
$tateChief
Secretaries; police
ditf7re~tsfa!e~; tylrJ)uggal ....
assured
~7tl}9fa~<lit~gn~lc:en;traI support to, chiefs and senior officers from the
na:1aI-~ff~Cted$tat~s attended the
~elJ?~tre?g!h71l~;i~ ~Iice'for'7by;
0
im..proving the intelligen;ce s~t,..upan...<1 tvy.o,..dayIlle~L
,-

",

"

-'.

'''',',

;,":'

__ -

-- "',

.'0

;:;":.-~

19

o
N

Panacea could lie In

Panchayats
L C Jain

"i

'{!,.,!""
AXALISM

'.!.'. "
!.! ..

life

where there is better governance in

terms of law and order, there is better

\~O

panchayat raj.
~~~.ct:~l~
paramilitary
forces are
~ ; ,'0'
' , _ " :. _:~': '_'. C'-'.' __
\
Diffictdties, failures and setbacks
>. ,i!!.!!!
being 'deployed.
It was
notwithst<:tnding, it was encouraging to
therefore music to hear panchayat raj
hear thepanchayat raj revolution being
minister Mani Shankar Aiyar flag a
portrayed as a "long term process".
lllessage he had picked up at the thr~eNearly 2.5 lakh elected Panchayati Raj
day conference on paIlchayats at Vigyan
Institutions (PRIs), which, along with
Bhavan (June, 2006) that there is a nonthe urban local bodies, constitute an
police way of halting the spread of
army of some 32 lakh elected
Naxalism. Aiyar said that he had heard
representatives,
with proportional
that in tribal areas, where the Panchayat
representation for Scheduled Castes and
Extension
to Scheduled
Area Act
Scheduled Tribes (and Other Backward
(PESA) is effective, and where there is
\
Classes
in many
states).
Most
respect for traditional
institutions,
dramatically,
PRIs and urban local
customs and usages as stipulated in
bodies have thrown up 12 lakh women
PESA, there is an absence of Naxalism.
representatives. And, one half of the
Hence implementation of PESA and the
. total of 32 lakh representatives
are
holding of meetings of the Tribal
youth below 35 years of age.
Advisory Council as stipulated in the
Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, he
Attention was drawn to the threeadded, is ."critical to ending the ~a:xalite
point democratic deficit in our system,
menace that threatens our unity, stability
namely, representativeness limited to its
and democracy."
arithmetical sense; the deficit in the
mandate for panchayat raj despite going
The' participants underscored that
as far as we could in stretching the
gram sabha activism and .social audit
and the deficit in an
are the only way of securing better' and Constitution;
intelligent
political
relationship being
cleaner government at the grassroots. It
established
between
the
different tiers of
has been brought out that in states

l.,.'....
.',....::'.,'..
....~; .. 1.[..'........
'..,.,.., ~:m. ~.::;

Panchayats
are not a
panacea - but
-they can ply
our boat to a
wholesome

HAS extended

... ,~.,.,...

'.!.!......

The author is a noted economist, former Member, Planning Commission,

and has worked extensively

on Panchayati

Raj issues.

. 21
YOJANA February 2007

our hierachical system of governance,

res~lting in panchayats being perverted
into instruments of patronage rather
than participation.
The answer lies in two other
thoughts placed before the conference,
both based on the perceptions of the
Mahatma: ,one, that Gandhi's demand
was for Village Republics, not Village
Kingdom.
PRIs
must
function
democratically and transparently and be
accountable to lively gram sabhas. The
other thought brought to attention was
Gandhi's concept of governance as
oceanic circles spreading outwards as in
the ocea~ without anyone
circle
imposing itself on any other.

The conference endorsed the Big

Bang approach to devolution in Karen,
which has rendered such remarkable
results compared to the incremental
model preferred by far too many of the
other states.
Also that funds must be made
available to PRIs in such quantum as to
reach a critical mass.
The funds should flow united;
devolution with strings attached will be
a debased form of devolutjon. While
panchayat raj is revolutionising social
relationships in the countryside in. the
three vital areas of promoting
development, strengthening democracy
and ending discrimination, it is also true

that policy makers need hard facts for

a sound, scientific, scholarly approach
towal:ds policy-making for panchayat
raj.
Aiyar concluded on a haunting note:
It is a horror that while in terms of
millionaires India ranks eighth in the
world, in terms of the Human
Development Index it ranks at 127.
That is the heart of the development
dilemma with which the country is
faced.
Panchayats are not a panacea-but
they can ply our boat to a wholesome
life.
0
(Courtesy: 'The Asia.n Age')

NEXT STOP: MOON

ISRO working on launch of unmanned mission to orbit moon in 2008,
followed by manned mission by 2020
22

YOJANA February 2007

'

,,'

'"

NlUALtSM ;' .'~,,',' /"j"

:;to

'>f

>

l'

~~

.""~ {..

/~IEW'POINT

Naxalite Movement
in India
Prakash Singh

HE NAXALITE movement
derives its name from a
small village Naxalbari on
the tri-junction
of India,
Nepal.and

what was then

East Pakistan, where tribals took up

arms against the oppression of the
" landlords in 1967. The movement
spread like wildfire to different parts of
the country. Some of the finest brains
and the cream of India's youth in certain

Government has
prepared a
comprehensive
14-Point Plan to
deal with the
problem. How far
these measures
produce results,
remains to be seen

areas l~ft their homes and colleges to

chase the dream of a new weld, a new
social order. Two decades had passed
since th~ dawn of independence and yet
large segments of the Indian population
_ peasants, workers and tribals cor.tinued to suffer the worst forms of
exploitation.
The peaceful political
process; it was felt, would not be able
to brin"g about the necessary change
because vested interests controlled the
levers ()f power, regulated the wheels of
industry' and had a feudal stranglehold
over the predominantly
agrarian
economy. An armed struggle was the
only way out, they thought.
The ~atithal tribals of N axalbari,
armed with bows and arrows, forcibly

occupied the land of the kulaks and

ploughed
them to establish
their
ownership.
Demonstrations
were
organized against persons holding
paddy in their godowns. In many cases,
the entire stocks were lifted and
distributed or sold locally at cheaper
rates. There were violent clashes.
Between March and May 1967, nearly
a hundred incidents were reported to the .
police. The situatior. progressively
deteriorated. After some dithering, the
West Bengal government ordered the
police to take action. The movement
was squashed, but "Naxalbari exploded
many a myth".
The extremists, following Mao's
dictum that "if there is to be revolution,
theJ:e must be a revolutionary party",
formed,
on April 22, 1969, the
Communist Party of India (MarxistLeninist). It was declared that "the first
and foremost task of our Party is to
rouse the peasant masses in the
countryside to wage guerilla war, unfold
agrarian revolution, build rural base,
use the countryside to encircle the cities
and finally to capture the cities and to
liberate the whole country":

The author is former DG, BSF. He was also DGP, Uttar Pradesh and DGP, Assam. He is Padma Shri awardee on national security.

23
YOJANA February 2007

,
500
400
300
200
100

o
2002

2003

2005

.No. of IncIdents .. Police personnel killed __ Civilians killed, -;{- Nal<aliles killed

Head

2005 (31.10.2005)
-+-Incidents

'~Police-personnel

2002

2003

2004

2005

346

57?

310

532

Police Personnel killed

No. of incidents

12

12

06

22

Civilians killed

Policel;'ersonnel killed

84

127

68

184
160

No. of Incidents

Naxalltes killed

87

163

47

Head

killed """*-Civillans

killed '''*Naxalites

killed

2005 (31.10.2005)

2006 (31.10.2006)

449

163

16

10

Civilians killed

163

33

Naxalites killed

123

108
-MHA

The Chinese Communist

Party
welcomed
the formation
of the
, CPI(ML). The MarxistcLeninist groups
of other countries like UK, Albania and

Debra-Gopiballavpur in West Bengal,

Mushahari
in Bihar and Palia in
Lakhimpur district of UP. . '

Sri Lanka also extended their recognition.

The Naxalite violence was at a peak

from about the middle of 1970 to the
middle of, 1971. It is estimated that
there were 4 total of about 4,000
incidents in the country from the middle
of 1970 to the middle of 1971. The bulk
of these were from West Bengal (3,500)
followed by Bihar (220) and Andhra
Pradesh (70).

The Rise
The Naxalite movement, 'drawing
inspiration from the Maoist ideology,
had a meteoric phase for about two'
years from the formation of the party till
the end of June 197 I. The ripples
starting from Naxalbmi spread in everwidening circles to practically all parts
of the country. The only areas which
remained untouched were the northeastern states and the Union Territories
of Goa, Pondicherry and Andaman &
Nicobar Islands. The dominant strand
of the movement was the annihilation of
cla,ss enemies. It was viewed as a
"higher form of class struggle and the
beginning of guerilla war". Cham's
assessment was <that "every corner of
India is like a volcano" about to erupt,
that "there is' the possibility
of a
tremendous upsurge in India", and he
therefore called upon the cadres to start
as many' points of armed struggle as
possible.
"Expand
anywhere
and
everywhere" was his message. Such
expansions were particularly noticeable
in Srikakulam
in Andhra Pradesh,

The political parties realized the

emergence
of a new force. The
government became conscious of a new
threat not only to law and order but to
the very existence of the democratic
structure of the country.

The Decline
The Government of India organized
joint operations by the army and the
.police in the bordering districts of West
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa which were
particularly
affected by N axalite
depredations.
The ()perations were
undertaken from July 1to August 15,
1971 and were code-named Operation
Steeplechase. The broad strategy of the
Security Forces was to surround as large
an area as possible and seal the routes
of entry and exit. The Army formed the

outer cordon and the CRPF the inner

ring. The local police, which was
generally accompanied by a magistrate,
carried out thorough search of the area.
Suspected naxalites were arrested, illicit
weapons, ammunition and explosives
seized.
Wherever
possible,
simultaneous action was taken in the
neighbouring area also so that the
naxalites sneaking out were caught
while attempting to escape. These
operations covered Midnapur, Purulia,
Burdwan and Birbhum districts of West
Bengal; Singhbhum,
Dhanbad and
Santhal
Parganas
of Bihar, and
Mayurbhanj of Orissa.
The operation achieved the desired
results, though not to the extent
anticipated by the adrnipis~ration. The
organizational apparatus of the naxalites
in the aforesajd districts was thrown out
of gear and the party activists fled from
their known hideouts to other places in
search of safety. Violence registered a
drop. Incidents of arms-snatching fell
down. Above all, it restored
the
confidence of the people in the strength
of the administration. Charu Mazumdar
was also arrested by the Calcutta Police
detectives on July 16, 1972. A few days
later, he died. Charu's death marked the
end of a phase in the Naxalite
movement. The period following his

24
YOJANA February 2007

-- --- ---

'.

...
.

2002

Head

68

No. of incidents
Cfvlllans killed

'.

NanlHes kilkid

2003
....49

2005(31.10.2005)

2005

2008(31.10.200~)

I....lncldents PollcepersOnneildlecl-"CIv";;'~~"':'~~~
2004
35

2005 (31.10.2005)

Head

2005

'2006 (31.102006)~
38

42

No. of Incidents

38
01

04

12

04

01

Police Personnel killed

04

03

04

13

CiVIlians killed

13

04

01

01

00

03

Naxel""

03

12.

07

FolieePersonnel killed

'-4

2004

2003

2002

.'

killed

-MBA

death

witnessed

divisions

and

fragmentations in the movement.

DR21iJ
The formation

of People's

War

Group in Andhra Pradesh subsequently

in 1980 under
the leadership
of
Kondapalli Seetharamaiah gave a new
lease of life to the movement. The

Garakala daras (Lord of the Bushes) is

how the N axalites came to be known in
the interior areas. Kidnappings to secure

bordering

districts of Karnataka

and

the release of its own cadres was

frequently resorted to by the PWG
activists. The cause celebre was the
kidnapping of six lAS officers including
a Principal
Secretary of the state
government
and Collector of East

banned the PWG and its six front

organizations in 1992. At the same time,
the state police, assisted by the central
paramilitary forces, undertook wellorganized
counterinsurgency
operations. As a result, 248 Naxalites
were liquidated and 3,434 activists were
apprehended in 1992. The arrest of
Kondapally Seetharamaiah and other
important leaders meant further setback
to the PWG. There was demoralization
among the ranks and about 8,500
N axals
surrendered
before
the

certain pockets of Tamil Nadu.

The Andhra Pradesh

government

holding people's courts

God~vari district on December 27,

1987, while they were returning from a
tribal welfare meeting at Pulimatu in the
district. The state government decided
to play safe and released the eight
Naxalites in Rajahmundry jail. The
PWG got tremendous
propaganda

destroying government property

mileage out of the incident.

authorities.

The revolutionary
writers of the
lana Natya M.andali, the cultural front
of the PWG, greatly helped in preparing
the environment in which the Naxalite
ideology found ready acceptance. Its
moving spirit was Gummadi Vittal Rao,

In Bihar, the Maoist Communist

Centre,
another
major
naxalite
formation, perpetrated acts of violence.
Its organizational network extended to
most of the Central Bihar districts.
During the six year period from 1987
to 1992, there were eight major
incidents
in Gaya,
Chatra
and
Aurangabad
districts in which 42
Rajputs, 40 bhumihars, 5 Muslims, 1
BJP MP and 3 policemen among others
were killed. What began <).S a fight for
social and economic justice actually
degenerated into a caste conflict with a
veneer of class struggle. The MCC ran

PWG's program included:

re:distribution of land

enforcing

payment

of minimum

wages to the farm labour

imposing taxes and penalties

kidnapping government
functionaries

attacking policemen

enforcing a social code

The PWG is believed

to have
redistributed nearly half a million acres
of land across Andhra Pradesh. Its

better known as Gaddar. He was a

activists also insisted on a hike in the balladeer who fought the establishment
daily minimum wages and the annual . with the power of his songs. The
People's War Group gradually spread
fee for jeetagadu (year-long'labour),
The poorer sections found that what the its organizational network to the coastal
politicians had been talking about and and Rayalaseema districts in the state.
It extended its tentacles to the adjoining
the government promising year after
areas of Mahatashtra, Madhya Pradesh
year could be translated into a reality
and Orissa and made a dent even in the
only with the intervention of Naxalites.
YOJANA February 2007

25

virtually a parallel judicial system in

certain pockets. These were described
as Jan Adalat or People's Court where
they would even shorten an accused by
six inches - behead him, in other words!

~ Increase in potential for violence

are indications

~ Unification of PW and MCCI

received training in the handling of

weapons and lEDs from some ex-LTTE
cadres.
They
have
also
some
understanding
with the National

~ Plan to have a Red Corridor

~ Nexus with NE insurgents
Nepalese Maoists

and

The Government
of India have
already expressed concern over the

Socialist Council of Nagaland(I-M) for

supporting each others' cause. Some
batches of CPML-Party Unity also

spread of the Naxalite movement over

appear to have received arms training

a huge geographical area. The Prime

Minister
has described
N axalite

under the guidance of United Liberation

[Pre~ent Pos~
The present phase - we could also
call it the third phase - of the movement
commenced with the holding of the
Ninth Congress of the People's War
Group in 2001, when it was decided to

that the PWG "cadres

Front of Assam. The Communist Party

movement as the single biggest threat to of India (Maoist) has also worked out
militarise the armed component of the"
the internal security of the country. "a strategic alliance with the Communist
party by giving more sophisticated
According to the Institute for ,Conflict
Party of Nepal (Maoist).
weapons to the People's Guerilla Army.
Management,
the movement
has
The total number of incidents
of
actually spread over 165 <;Iistrictsin 14 @!iuation in ,States
violence and resultant deaths in the
Andhra Pradesh
states and that the Home Ministry's
country during the last five years have
assessment
in this regard is an
been as follows:
Andhra Pradesh "has gradually
understatement. The Naxals' potential
emerged as the epicenter of left-wing
Total Incidents
Deaths
for violence has increased substantially
extremism in the country. The PWG set
with
their acquisition of sophisticated
2001
1,208
564
up a People's
Guerilla Army in
weapons and expertise in the use 9f
2002
1,465
482
December 2000 "to strengthen
the
improvised explosive devices (lEDs).
2003
1,597
515
political power of the people and to
They are said to be in possession of at
2004
1,533
566
defeat the efforts of the State and the
least 6,500 regular weapons including
2005
1,594
669
Central Governments
to check the
AK 47 rifles and SLRs.
(revolutionary)
movement".
Violence was thus at a peak in 2005
The movement got a tremendous
when 1,594 incidents took place in
The most audacious attack by the
boost
when
its
two
major
which 669 persons were killed, though
PWG took place on October 1, 2003,
components, the People's War (PW)
2003 had registe!ed a slightly higher
and the Maoist Communist Centre of when they tIied to assassinate the Chief
number of incidents.
of Andhra
Pradesh,
India (MCCI), decided to merge on Minister
The Ministry of Home Affairs,
N Chandrababu N aidu, on a forest road
March 21, 2004, though a formal
Government of India, admits the spread
between
Tirupati and Tirumala in
announcement was made on October
of naxalite movement to 76 districts in
Chittoor
district
while he was
14, 2004 only. The unified party was
9 states of the Union, namely, Andhra
proceeding
to
attend
the
Brahmotsavam
called the Communist Party of India
Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,
celebrations.
Cfaymore
mines
hit the car
(Maoist). The merger, ~part from
Maharashtra,
Orissa, Chhattisgarh,
of the chief minister; the bulletproof
augmenting the support base of the
Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh an"d West
armour
over the car however saved him.
movement, has given it the character
Bengal. It further concedes that the
Four
others
including
the State's
of a pan-Indian revolutionary group.
People's War and the MCCI are trying
Information
Technology
minister,
The Naxals' plan to have a Compact
to increase
their influence
imd
B
Gopalakrishna
Reddy,
sustained
Revolutionary Zone stretching from
operations in some parts of the states of
serious injuries. The PW claimed
Indo-Nepal
border
to
the
Tamil Nadu, Kamataka and Kerala and
Dandakaranya Region is likely to get responsibility for the attack, saying that
also in some new areas of the states
it was "to eliminate a person who has
a fillip with the unification of their
already affected.
been
perpetuating
state sponsored
ranks.
violence".
The disturbing
features of the
The Naxalite groups' nexus with the
movement are:
other extremist organizations has added
Peace talks were held between the
~ Spread over a large geographical area to the complexity of the problem. There
People's War Group and the state

26
YOJANA February 2007

Orissa Border Special Zonal Committee

gave 'fillip to Left Wing Extremism in

government of Andhra Pradesh during

June-July 2002 at the initiative of
'Committee of Concerned Citizens'.
Three rounds of talks. were held but

Pradesh Transport Minister, Lakhiram

unfortunately there was no agreement

on the substantive issues. The PWG

In Chhattisgarh, Naxalite violence is . of Naxalite activities in the eastern belt

concentrated mainly in the Bastar area in Sonbhadra, Gorakhpur, Ghaziapur,

called off the talks in July 2002 in

protest against the allegedly killing of
their cadres in 'fake encounters'.
A
second round of peace talks were held
from October 15 to 18, 2004 at
Hyderabad, but there were no fruitful
discussions.
The government
took
strong exception to the N axals moving
about with arms in towns and cities. The
Naxahtes' annihilation of Narsi Reddy,
Congress MLA, and eight others in a
major attack on August 15, 2005 in
Mehboobnagar
proved to be the
proverbial last straw. The peace process
ended abruptly,
and government
reimposed the ban on the Communist
. Party of India (Maoist) and its front
organizations.

"mm]

The Naxalite movement in Bihar is

bogged

down

in

caste

based

jealousies aD:d rivalries. On January

5, 20105, the N axali te killed the
Superintendent of Police, Munger by
blowing
up his jeep. Six other
policemen were also killed. Lately,
the Maoist Communist Centre has
shifted its focus to the Jharkhand
region,
which was carved out-of
Bihar on November 15, 2000. The
Naxallites are said to be active in 15
out of the 22 districts of Jharkhand.
They have been particularly targeting
the police .and the paramilitary

Kavre, was annihilated on December

15, 1999 in retaliation to the killing of
four top PWG leaders

and in Rajnandgaon,

,Uttar Pradesh has witnessed stirrings

Jashpur

and

Sarguja districts. The state government

has been trying to mobilize the tribals
through 'Salwa Judum' (peace mission) ..
This is being vehemently opposed by
the Naxalites,
and they have been
recklessly killing the Judum activists.
The latest carnage took place on July
16, 2006 when Maoists slaughtered 27
tribals in a relief camp in Dantewada
district.

In Madhya Pradesh, following the

bifurcation of the state in November
2000, Naxalite
violence
is now
confined to Balaghat, Mandla, Dindori,
and Sidhi districts only. The Madhya
YOJANA February 2007

BaHia,

Chandauli

and

Mirzapur

districts.
On November
20, 2004
Naxalites blew up a police jeep in the
forests of Chandauli with a landmine,
killing 13 PAC and 4 police personnel.
In Maharashtra,

Gadchiroli

is

particularly affected, though there are

incidents in Bhandara, Chandrapur,
Gondia and Nanded districts also.
In Karnataka, Naxalites have been
active in the Kudremukh area following
governnient's move to evict the tribals
from the forests. On February 11,2005,

Naxalite violence in West Bengal is

at a low pitch compared to the other
states. This is to be attributed to the
success of Operation Barga under
which sharecroppers were registered.
and given permanent and inheritable
rights on cultivation
of their plots
covering a total area of 11 lac acres.
Besides, 1.37 lac acres of ceiling
surplus and benami lands were acquired
by the state government and distributed
among 25 lac landless and marginal
cultivators. The land reforms have seen
the emergence of a new class loosely
termed 'rural rich' and weakened the
social and political power enjoyed by
the landlords in the countryside. There
is some Naxalite activity nevertheless in
Midnapur,
Bankura
and Purulia
districts.

personnel.

.DJtdememh1ttitgarJ!j

the State.

Orissa witnessed
a qualitative
increase in Naxalite violence duriI).g
2000 and 2001. The MCC has
established its presence in the northern
districts
while
the PWG
has
consolidated its hold over the southern
districts. The formation of Andhra-

Naxalites killed 6 policemen of the

Karnataka State Reserve Police in
Tumkur district.
The factors

which

gave rise to

Naxalism
in the country
are,
unfortunately, very much present today
also. The extent of poverty in the
country continues to be abysmal. Land
reforms remain a neglected
area.
Unemployment figures are high. Tribals
have been getting
a raw deal.
Governance, particularly
in .remote
areas, is poor.
Government
have prepared
a
comprehensive 14-Point Plan to deal
with the problem. There' is special
emphasis
on the socio-economic
development of the affected areas, and
the state governments have been asked
to ensure speedy implementation
of
land reforms. Infrastructure is being
developed
and there ar'e.pt'ans to
provide employment to the youth in the
remote, backward areas. The National
Tribal Policy seeks to protect the rights
of tribals. How far these measures
produce the intended results, however,
remains to be seen.

0
27

28

YOJANA .February 2007

Greyhounds The Answer to

Extremist Violence
M S Shanker

NDHRA PRADESH, which

was bogged down with the
left-wing extremist groups'
of CPI-ML violence, had
established a separate highprofile and well 'trained unit within
Andhra Police to take on the left wing
extremists.
Established way back in 1989, the
br~inchild of a tough super cop, K S
Vyas, the Greyhounds, had shown to the
entire country that the powers that be,
if it has commitment
to contain
senseless violence perpetrated by these
CPI-ML groups, it can as well succeed
in its efforts.

~']reyhounds have
b4~comepopular not
only in many
naxal-infested
states but also
some. neighbouring
countries like
Nepal

Successive governments in the state

were dilly-dallying with the spread of
left-wing extremist violence who have
spearheaded their ideological warfare
well
equipped
with
arms and
ammunition.
While an "X" party
perceived it as a socio-economical
problem, the "Y" as law-and order. But,
the fact that it was the combination of
law-and order as well the socioeconomic.
No sooner this was realized,

the

erstwhile government in the state has

thought of containing the left-wing
extremists
violence,
which
was
spreading like wild fire. The Civil
Police, who were being trained only to
contain and enforce law and order were
unable to face the challenges been
thrown at by the well-trained CPI-ML
splinter groups: Of them, the then
People's War Group, was recognized as
. most militant as it could acquire most
sophisticated
weapons like AK-47
assault rifles and acquired blasting of
landmine technology
using remote
.
control operations.
As a result, the state suffered
maximum casualties amongst the police
personnel as well civilians. Although,
the state police could raise the AP
Speci::tl Police battalions to combat the
naxal menace, yet they could not match
the left-wing extremists.
This forced the then government to
recruit and train much more elite police
force. And.it was rightly named as .
"Greyhounds" .
This elite group, which was started
with a small number of 100-odd

The. author is Chief PRO with Andhra Pradesh Police.

YOJANA February 2007

29

members, has now grown manifold. The

state police are keeping the exact
manpower figures of this unit as top
secret.

--Intelligence Bureau (SIB) of the state

police's anti-naxal wing is giving the tip
offs.

Ironically, the police had to face

There is a special drive to recruit
difficulties in combating the armed
youngsters for this elite group. It is naxals, as the state have territorial
gathered that the basic requirements to - borders with Maharashtra, Madhya
join this group are also different. Apart
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa in the
from physical fitness, the other factor
north-East
and Tamil Nadu and
that is being considered was strong
Karnataka on the southern side.
mental ability to accept challenges and
The left-wing extremists do have
execute them. Their training is-as tough
their -presence in Madhya Pradesh,
as the Army, if not more. Like in Indian
Army, this the author is Chief PRO with Maharasthra; Chhattisgarh, and Orissa,
besides making penetration in some
- Andhra Pradesh Police. Elite unit
parts
'of the other two southern states.
members are also being trained to
In the past, the extremist groups had
handle modern weapons, understand
tactics by
and imbibe latest technologies
in used the 'strike~and-run'
effectively using their manpower to
weaponry,
map reading,
perfect
their set targets. The naxals also
communications
skills, overcome
effectively used their favourite slogan
difficulties in tough terrains (like rope
"land to tiller" and impressed upon the
wa.lldng, mountaineering, skiing, horse
living
in remotest
and
riding etc.,). Apart from this they are tfibals
inaccessibleareas.
After
successful
being trained in guerilla warfare besides
operation, the naxals managed to take
handling suicide squads.
shelter at these tribal hamlets, as they
The elite group is being pressed into
are not accessihle.
service only after attaining specific
information about the possible left-wing
Fearing possible mining of the area
extremists
groups movements
in and the ill-trained cops re$tricted only
difficult terrains of either Nallamala
to the urban areas. However, they
forests
or
deep
jungles
of realized
that development
and
-Dandakaranya, which cover most of the containing left-wing extremist violence
state geographical peripheries on the must go hand-in-hand. It thought of a
East and Northern borders. The Special
well-trained
police
units
like
-

Greyhounds and chalked out schemes to

improvement communication network
to reach out to remotest comers of the
state, especially in the deep jungles.
As a result, the elite police outfit,
'Greyhounds
operations'
started
yielding results as Andhra Pradesh
during its last two years intensified its
operations to flush out the left-wing
extremists from their hideouts. This was
after the state government
putting
sincere efforts for a dialogue with the
left-wing
extremists
groups
for
amicable settlement to ensure: longlasting peace and tranquility in the state.
But, the talks failed and Greyhounds
swung into action.
The Centre
too has finally
recognized Andhra Pradesh initiatives
in successfully containing the left-wing
extremist violence, which rocked the
state little over two and half decades,and directed other naxals (or Maoists)
infested states to follow Andhra model.
This is no mean achievement.
The Greyhounds, on the other hand
- have become popular not only in many
naxal-infested states within the country,
but also to some neighbouring countries
like Nepal. They choose to send their
policemen -to get trained by the
Greyhounds unit situated on the city
outskirts on a sprawling campus.
0
.

Humane Policy for Displaced I?armers : PM

he-

Prime

Minister

h9P6d:

-~:~a:~:i:a~::~::::~~
displacedJarmers would be finalized
in the next three months.

(~C~i):iie
-said issuesi~richasl~nd
acquisition and displacem~nt of people
and their rehabilitation andresettlement
sh~~ldlj~ transparently .and' t:ffecti \rely
add1:essed.

Itw6rirdbe
"more progressive,
humane and conducive tdthe longterm welfare of all stakeholders in our
economy", Dr Singh was speaking at
the inaugural function of the -annual
meeting of Federation. of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and'Industry

da~
Recfyiringto tax l'egirri~~he said that Mi~c~sct~~said ';~d~r~~of'a
whe~\\f~ile
retai~ing.:gurrespe~ti
ve
our' tax. sys.tem should
Iiberalbut
naiionalidentities;
(~he
can
haveequitab1e. Irithe longrun,itshouldnpt.
in AnirHshr,
lunchi in
have toO many exemption~}batmake
_ breakfast
Lah()rearid din.ner}n I~l;lbul".
tax.adm!nistration
an. unnecessarily
complex exercise vulnerable to misuse,
Dr Singh said.

30

...
~ifitid~~cpa~~~f~~~h~~cpe.c ..
therctwo

countries.

become.

:~i~n~l~ that apatposPJiere.of

so'
trust

isg~~~r~~~?V?vyi!i
's vi~ion9f
reg~o~al integ~ati93hePrime

be

YOJANA February 2007

NAXALISM

. . .. .
,

ANALYSIS

An Integrated Strategy
RK Bhonsle

A virtuous
.economic cycle
.lor employment
is a key facet of
the strategy
which needs to
be diligently
fostered

HE REBIRTH 'Of N axalism in

India in the 1990's has
caincided with the sec and
phase 'Of natian building 'Of
'Ouryaung republic. Iranically.
it alsa 'Overlaps liberalisatian
'Of the
ecanamy undertaken
by ecanamic
visian 'Of the present Prime Minister, Dr
Manmahan
Singh, integrating
the
cauntry with the glabal ecanamy and
dismantling the licence permit raj 'Of
yesteryear. While the creamy layer 'Of
the ecanamy easily adapted ta glabal
realities and is grawing at a steady 8 per
,cent aver the years, at the subterranean
level, at which the Naxal mavement
'Operates, is sadly the parallelecanamy
'Operated by the guerillas that is seen ta
be prospering. Thus the influence 'Of the
Naxals extends by a canservative
estimate ta aver 160 'Of the 602 districts
'Of the cauntry .

"ather" in which the Naxals aperate,and

withaut develaping the, "'Others" we
cannat call 'Ourselves citizens 'Of a
develaped warld, an aspiratian 'Of every
Indian. Naxalism thus needs ta be
understaad as a phenamenan afnatian
building,
as its failed dimensian,
needing urgent palliatives essentially at
the grass ro?ts level.

Equality and equity is the visian 'Of

'OurCanstitutian, a pawerful dacument
which has inspired generatians. Yet it
has failed ta bring abaut change in
millians
'Of Indians
far lack 'Of
adaptatian at the subterranean level.
This inability
to ttan~farm
the
Constitutianal visian ta the deep nether
world 'Of rural and tribal India was ripe
far thase with revalutianary ideas and
vi gaur as K Seetharamaiah
'Of the
Peaple's War wha have successJully
'Organised a mavement 'Of rebellian
The contrast between the farces 'Of ' against nan implementatian
and nan
glabalisatian and Naxalism in India,
delivery 'Of palicies
'Of the state.
explains the prasperity-paverty
dyad ' Gradually .extendin~ their reach ta areas
that caexists. The reality is that bath
which have been traditionally backward
these trends are significant far natianal
and yet rich in extractive resaurces as
develapment. Far withaut integrating
minerals and tendu, the mavement
with the glabal ecanamy, India cannat
today encampasses over 25 percent of
acquire the resaurces ta develap its,
the cauntry's area spread aver its heart,

The author is an expert on security issues.

YOJANA February 2007

31

2004,

200&

379

308

41

27'

128

91

84

71

20

07

06

18
-MHA

the junction point between, Andhra

Pradesh,
Orissa,
Maharashtra,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhimd and Bihar in
the North and pockets of other states,'
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh
and West Bengal.
An
analytical view oJ the affected areas
would reveal common characteristics
of failure of governance
and the
processes
of nation
building
summarized as given below:
Dependence of a majority of the
people
on agriculture
at the
subsistence level, a primitive fOnTIof
surviving nature's bounty, with no
'human intervention in the form of
planned farming, soil replacement,
regeneration and market dictated
sowing patterns.
Extractive mining, forestry and allied
produce,
which
are
highly
exploitative, remain the only other
economic activity.
Modernisation in terms of education,
health
care,
and
secondary
employment in blue and white collar
)obs or services are :virtually non
existent.

well as hubris
governance.

of bureaucratic

Lack of empathy of the political

class which in a modem system of
administration
and legislative
functioning tends to gravitate away
from the grassroots.
Unable to change the status quo
democratically, revolutionaries seize the
initiative with a genuine desire for
transformation in the lives of the masses
at least in the beginning
of the
movement till an ambit,ion for self
growth,
personal
grandeur,
and
animosities, pelf and power results in
loss of sight of the original aims of the
struggle leading t.o adoption of means
which ate criminal and dehumanizing
such as the killing of innocents in
Errabore, Chhattis~arh on 17 July 2006
as a symbol of opposition to Salwa
Judum. The anti social elements waiting
in the wings with divergent social and,
political aims and merchants of profit as
tendu contractors enter the fray to create
conditions of anarchy in which they can
prosper, by undermining the state.

The administration dependent on

Apathy of the, administration to the
needs of the people on the plea of" extensive security 'is further alienated
from the masses, leaving the field open
non intervention in tribal culture,
customs, and traditions and stasis as ' for the so called revolutionaries who
32

live by the gun reaping a rich harvest

of extortion arid "tax" collection with
revenues to the tune of Rs 100 crore
reported in Andhra Pradesh. Acquisition
of facilities'
for manufacture
of
sophisticated arms and ammunition is a
part of the overall process of expansion
demonstrated by the seizure of a large
consignment
of rockets in Andhra
Pradesh, allegedly manufactured in an
industrial complex in Chennai. The
hierarchy of organisation' follows the
pattern of state committee, special zonal
committees, area committees, dalams,
local squads and action teams. The
spatial spread is denoted by its inter
state expanse with reports indicating
that Naxals of Andhra Pradesh are
providing leadership for the movement
in other states
grooming
local
'leaders.
The total
contour
of
N axalism
today
represents
an
institutional form of terrorism with
guerrillas capable of isolated large scale
military operations as witnessed in
Jehanabad and a series of networked
acts of terroris~ across a broad swathe
of the nation'alhinterland;

Contours,
The characteristics
of Naxalism
would thus indicate
a structured
ideological, political, social, economic
YOJANA February 2007

~...
,

and military
follows:

profile

summarized

as

The ideological underpinnings are

complex varying from tribalism to
communism. However development
, and the growth divide is the key
paradigm and Naxalites are adept at
manipulating local grievances for
nefarious ends.

Organisation is well structured and

includes
a political,
military,
economic as well as technical wing.
Strategic congruity and coordination
between Naxals operating in various- states is evident.

The level of militant

actions
represents
networked
terrorism
rather than an ability to carry out
coordinated Paramilitary operations.

Financial support is derived from

low level economic terrorism in the
fOlm of extortion, "taxes", levies and
looting of government treasuries and
banks. External financial support of
vested interests has not been noticed
so far.

Support of the lpcal population

varies from genuine sympathy to
coercion.

Naxalism affects society at all levels.

Out of the 160 plus districts affected
by N axalism, ,it
is generally
acknowledged
that 55 are worst
affected
where the Naxalite
are
.reportedly
running
a parallel
goVernment. On the other hand the
A'bujmadh area in Chattisgarh
is
'reportedly'devoid
of any form of
rgovernance and is unde; total Naxal
control. The area facing Naxal tyranny
could ?e divided int6 'following three
cate~~oties:

Tier 1. Abujmadh Area. - Under

_total control of the N axals, need to
establish state authority.

Tier 2. 55 Worst affeCted districts ~

re-establish state authority, neutralize
parallel influence of Naxals.
YOJANA February 2007-

Tier 3. Balance 100 plus districts Contain Naxal influence, enhance

effectiveness of state authority,

Counter Naxal Strategies

General : Given the constitutional
diversity in law and order between the
state and the centre, it has not been
possible to follow a uniform strategy.
As'the overall strategy of the Naxals is
well coordinated, the fallout of varied
policies
by different
stat,es is
invariably
castigated.
There are
reasons to believe however that it
may be possible to follow divergent
strategies between states and even
within different districts in a state
depending on the level of militancy,
the strength of the Naxalite and the
level of their operations. There IS no
doubt that this will create situations
where Naxalite under pressure in one
district may seek sanctuary in other
areas, but it has the benefit
of
winning
over local support
by
establishing a positive differential.
Strategy:
The primary strategy
selected has to be people centric rather
than the normal trend of terrorist focus.
The variation is subtle and thus needs
delibefatlon.
In people
centric
strategies, all acti vities law and order,
development
Of humanitarian
are
related to providing relief to the people,
be it immediate, short and long tern.
Operations impinging on safety and
security of the public are avoided even
if it implies a temporary reprieve to -the
militants.-The example of Salwa Judum
could perhaps highlight this facet. The
displacement of almost 70,000 people
from their homes and livelihood has
possibly
occurred
as the larger
-implications of such a movement and its
Naxalite backlash was not realised.
Today it lias become an example of
living human tragedy, where poor tribal
have been made refugees in their own
homeland. The people-centric strategies
does not imply a pacifist approach to

the contrary it would entail search and

destroy missions
s~eking out the
guerrillas but avoiding fall out of the
confrontation on the masses.
Multi Pronged Approach : In line
with people centricity,
a nuanced
approach with different levels of police,
development and economic activities in
Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas would
have to be undertaken as explained
below:
(a) Tier 1. This being under total
control of the Naxalite, two approaches
could be adopted. Negotiation with the
local Naxa1 leadership, which may not
work initially but if persisted could
achieve results and could be attempted.
The other option is to neutralize the
Naxals, for which at present, operations
by the army appear to be the only
alternative.
(b) Tier 2. 'Operations in this area
will be perforce police predominant to
re-establish ,control and neutralize
influ~nce of terrorists.
Situational
protection of a wide variety of targets
will be essent~al. Police will have to be
supported
by special
commando
taskforces based on the Grey hound
model
of
Andhra
Pradesh.
Concomitantly follow up development
operations are essential.
(c) Tier 3. These operations need tobe development heavy, limiting police
influence to creati,ng an atmosphere of
safety and security for conduct of
normal"economic activities. A broken
windows approach has to be followed
in that even the smallest incident has to
be investigated and the culprits nailed.
Grassroots
Governance.
Reestablishing
grassroots governance
implies ensuring that benefits of various
schemes in vogue such as the rural
employment guarantee sche~e, Pradhan
Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna,the security
related expenditure grants reach the
"Aam Admi" rather than remaining
33

contain economic impainnent

Unemployment
f

Social Discontent
Violence

~ Dehumanization

and criin~

RU1l1ours,disinfonnation
Recruitment by Naxals

grandiose proclamations bla(ed from

the ramparts of festooned daises. This
will necessitate major organisational
changes in our delivery mechanisms
and attitudes from the lowest patwaris,
naib tehsildars, tehsildars to the key to
all governance, the district magistrate.
In parallel, people's representatives
n~ed to build public opinion to support
the executive. For implementation the
following is suggested:
(a) Tier 1. A fresh model of
governance with virtual control under
anny would bave to be adopted.

(b) Tier 2. 55 selected district

magistrates and superintendent of police
preferably volunteers should.be posted
to these districts for a minimum tenure
of three years. No post in the district
administration should 'be left vacant and
special monetary as well as promotion
incenti ves should be provided to
officials, who will be functioning under
extreme threat of danger to life.
, (c) Tier 3. Volunteers for serving in
these districts could be called for,
alternately two year tenure should be
made mandatory before grant" of next
promotion at all levels and additional
bonus in terms of financial' and
monetary benefits could be granted.

Implementation Strategy
A coordinated grid comprising of
security
and
administration
34

need to

be undertaken
by law !is well as
economic enforcement wings; the latter
Governance
is particularly weak and needs to be
~Emplo~1l1~ritRelated ~l1~mk
activated at the state and district level.
. Acti vi,ty

Containing unemployment despite the

'.Pb1iti9al~1;\d social S~~~~gy
large number, of employment guarantee
Eolicing~d SOCi~p~lj)~~g .
schemes is a challenge. Equity in pay is
VOf;tti~rfland G~ner~lEdu~ati9n:
another issue, even the Special Police
'MasS blfonnation; Edu~ation,
".,. officers are paid Rs 1,500 a month
;Communic~tion,
';<h, ,''7
which is just above $ l' a day, the
Health ~Setvices
~~{':
/
if
established global poverty indicator.
;;FiminciaLassistance
!oJ
Restraining rumours, propaganda and
disinformation is a major challenge.
The Maoists generally have well oiled
incorporating all elements, of the society
has to be established. The role of the propaganda machinery which has no
counters
from the
.grid will be two fold, containment of the institutional
administration.
There
is
thus
a need for.
root causes and symptoms of militancy
evolving
a
vibrant
media
and
and expanding
effectiveness
of
communication strategy,at the grass
governance summari~ed as in Table.
roots.
The key aspects of containment are
restricting the geographical spread, by.
, Expansion of governance is the key
identifying likely areas where Naxalite
to
normalizing
the
situation.
are planning to spread their influence by Administration
implies
ensuring
proactive
police
and economic
delivery of the benefit of the large
measures, Information about such areas number of schemes in the field of
is available in open sources. Control of employment guarantee, land reforms,
violence and crinie are primary police
education; health and business to the
tasks to be carried out through
masses. The procedures for most of
deterrence as well as proactive policing
these are so complicated that it creates
to seek hideouts and rush them, a vigour
a series of middlemen, who in league
shown by the Grey Hounds of Andhra
with corrupt officials tum out to be the
Pradesh Police recently. An attendant
principal beneficiaries. Tangible results
issue is containmeht of dehumanization,
in governance can only be achieved by
which permeates due to a culture of simplification of procedures to be user
violence and self survival ignoring the friendly for a sub literate tribal. Political
larger social good. This can only be and social synergy will act as a principal
achieved by enlightened
means of medium, where political parties and
jurisdiction
adopted by the state..
social organisation undertake the role of
Restricting the trend of inducting local, an inter link between the masses and the
youth in police and Para military forces
administration in a positive way. The
purely for employment generation is an example of students organisations in
aspect which needs consideration.
urban areas, who at the time of
Containment of social. discontent is a registration of new entrants to colleges
critical issue, measures for the same
set up camps to guide and assist youth
need to be carefully thought through
in filling forms and facilitate fonnalities
suiting local conditions.
fo~ entrance could be adopted for this
Tribal rights, distribution of land and purpose in rural areas, where CIvil
greater social equity will go it long way
society organisations
can act as
in achieving this objective. Strategies to, ' facilitators
'in dissemination
of
YOJANA Febru'ary 2007

governance in concert with

.the district administration.
Creating
a virtuous
economic cycle for growth
of employment is a key
facet of the strategy of
expansion, which needs to
be diligently
fostered
based
on linkage
of
vocational and skill based
education with jobs. A
reverse model of inducting
youth in jobs on stipend
and then training them in
relevant skills should be
adopted to engage people
in fruitful occupations.
Education. and health services are the
principal agents of change in a society.
Schools and health centres should be
hubs of development and the, district
administration
needs to ensure that
these function effectively. All posts in
remote
areas need to be fully
subscribed. A critical area is mass
education on issues of health, deriving
programI)1e benefits
and gener.al
awareness for which specific campaigns
need to be launched.
Financial
assistance in terms of small loans and
creation of self help groups is a measure
which has received
international
recognition with the Nobel Peace award
to Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. This
positive
perception
needs to be
exploited to rid the tribal from the vice
like grip of money lenders.
Policing is a principal facet for
res.toring normalcy. A number of
measures to improve policing at the
state level have been taken, but its
benefits once again are not being seen
at the grass roots level. The key to
policing is a grid of functional police
stations and security hot spots such as
Salwa Judum camps. An intelligence
network is another important issue. The
signs of a likely strike by Naxalite are
reasonably obvious and will include
increased activity of militants and their
YOJANA February 2007

supporters to the area, contact 'with local

sleepers,
disappearance
of key
sleepers
aild greater presence
of
aliens. In some cases it has been seen
that shopkeepers are aware of a likely
incident
and
keep
their
establishments closed, but the police
have not noticed the change, nor have
they been informed
for fear of
reprisals. Penetration of the terrorist
organisations and human intelligence
is of essence
supplemented
by
technical intelligence. Social policing
is an important
facet which is
normally
neglected.
This entails
creation
of synergy between the
citizen and the policemen through
mutual respect and reducing necessity
for communal
policing
thereby,
targeting poJice activity towards hard
core crime rather than marginal
activities. This will also contribute to
building intelligence
.networks by
indicating
existence
of socially
deviant activities of individuals and
groups.

integrating
top down loop would
facilitate information dissemination.
Physical and human data points have
to be established and a core group
f.ormed comprising of the political,
administrative,
police, economic,
social and media head in each area to
synergise the process. Such
core
group should evolve periodic t~rgets,
divide these into achievable
goals
based on fixed time lines in terms of
weekly, fortnightly
and monthly'
objectives and then mpnitor progress.

Naxalism
is one of the many
challenges of nation builqing facing
India. There is no doubt that through .
enlightened policies and commitment of
the people, the executive
and the
leadership, this challenge would be over
come in times to come. It is however
essential to ensure that this is achieved
.with minimum dissonance,
human
tragedies and loss of lives, so that the
transformation of those at the mm;gins
of our economic success story is as
painless as possible. Fortunately the
country
today is endowed
with
Information needs to be leveraged
sufficient resources; inability of delivery
as a core strategy for monitoring
of these to those who actually need it
implementation.
A bottoms
up
has
however. been poor. An integrated
information loop which starts from
grid strategy suggested above is one
the common man and moves upwards
to the panchayat, taluka, district and . way this could be achieved to enable
the benefits of governance reach the
the state to provide feed back needs
to be created. On the other hand an. grassroots in Naxal affected areas. 0
35

Rural Progress Plan of Rs 1,58,310 crore

a first of its kind estimation of

infrastruc. ture deficit in rural
reas, the National Council of
Applied
Economic
Research
(NCAER)
has estimated
an
investment of Rs 1,58,310 crore in
telecommunications, power roads
and transport, water and sanitation.

also said that 44 per cent households

did not have access to surfaced roads.
The telecom boom too seems to have
touched the villages only at the
fringes, with 92 per cent households
having to do without a decent
exchange line.

The prescription for. bridging the

Pointing to the fact that rural gap is promoting new technologies,
India faces more acute shortage of developing local initiatives and
infrastructure,
the India Rural
stimulating demand. In case of
Infrastructure Report made. a strong telecom, for instance, it suggested
pitch for decentralising
and that instead of landlines, wireless and
localising the provision .of these cellular phones provided a more costservices in addition to seeking
effective solution and microfinance
newer financing instruments. It said could help village-folk buy or hire
that even a stepped up allocation for instruments.
infrastructure, from 4.6 per cent of
Similarly,
it
suggested
the gross domestic product at
to help a multi
present to 7-8 per cent of GDP in decentralisation
the 11th Plan, may not be sufficient operator (discom) regime. This way
to bridge the gap.
administrative costs would come
down, Besides, it has recommended
"The capital needed to build
revenue-sharing among generators,
infrastructure is a small percentage
transmission
companies
and
of the total expenditure that would
distributors so that say, a distributor
be needed to be .incurred by states
is not held to ransom by a power
(for operation and maintenance).
producer.
Nor do the the capital costs include
central funds that would be needed
For
roads,
the
report
to be spent on administrative
recommended the establishment of
expenses and subsidies," it said.
village-level associations, which
could
build roads, based on
The report pointed out that
contributions
from m~mbers and
78 per cent of rural
subsidies from the government and
households
did not have
also
collect user charges to ensure
access to toilets, while 5 per
proper maintenance. The government
cent did not have a source of
funding should be based on the
drinking water within a one
economic
benefit that flows and
kilometre radius.
priority should be given to projects
Despite claims of widespread
that provide more returns. The report
electrification, only 52 per cent suggested that microfinance can
rural households
had power
stimulate vehicular demand and
connections
and those witp informal
operators,
providing
. connections had to do without
services which may not be legal
electricity for 13-17 hours a day. It under present rules, could be roped in
36

for better connectivity.

There is also a suggestion to levy
user charges for water~something
which has often not found favour
with the political classes~to reduce
wastage and also generate resources
since government assistance is often
found insufficient. For those who
found
the
charges
heavy,
microfinance is recommended as an
aid. "Local providers now face entry
and pricing barriers in formal water
markets, although many operate
informally. Registration would help
to legitimise their operations," it
said.

PM Lists Five Challenges

Revitalising rural economy
Improved
services

delivery

of public

Detter urban management

Financial system
integration

for global

Private
investment
infrastructure

in

Developing villages: The Rural

Infrastructure Report of the NCAER
has estimated an expenditure of
Rs 1,58,313 crore to develop
villages. The requirement
for
different sector are:
Rs 92,609 crore for telecom
connectivity.
Rs 55,243 crore for power supply.
Rs 5,892 crore for roads
transport.

and

Rs 4,488 crore for water and

sanitation.
(* At 2002-03 prices)
(Source: NCAER's, 'India Rural
Infrastructure Report')

YOJANA February 2007

....
L
..

In.dia's Gordian Knot

..

.
.~
to admIt for the government"\.
.
programmes
ofsocio-econ
upliftment
of the poor have
worked so far and created condition
for the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist
'revolutionaries' to challenge the Indian
ground give the impression that sociostate at a time when the country has not
economic situation in the thirteen
only unsh.ackled
its 45 year old
affected states of the country as well as
command economy in 1991, but during
in those that have been put on red alert
the past decade and a half has been
will continue to provide the Maoists
attempting to connect to the global
with the foot soldiers
for their
capital and l~bour market to find
revolution. Obviously, the knot is not
employment
for its hi1110n-plus
only tightening its noose around India's
population. It is not easy to dismantle
neck, there appear to be no one who
the traditional dominance structures,
.could
exercise
the
proverbial
which are alive and kicking even as the
Alexandrian slash. This was perhaps on
country is gearing up to celebrate the
the mind of Prime Minister
Dr
golden jubilee of its independence in
Manmohan Singh, when he described
less than a year. It is even more difficult
Naxalism, along with terrorism, as the
to check the new emerging dominance
two biggest terrorist thre'lts'to
the
structures of the global and local capital
country in his independence day speech,
from joining hands with the established
However, he also recognised the. ones in perpetuating
the existing
socio-economic problems that surround
exploitative structure,
its spread and prodded the affected
states to hasten implementation of the
The institutional
decline of the
programmes
of socio-economic
school structures across the states and
upliftment of the underclass in the
gradual roll back of the state from
affected regions. Obviously, his twoelementary education, has not helped in
pr'onged strategy of dealing with
creating a quality skilled work force
Naxalism is to come down heavily on needed for the specialised requirements
the Maoist leadership at the van guard
of the modem technological job market,
of the movement and wean away the
Indians'
reputation
in IT and
poor, whose frustrations with the state
management
notwithstanding.
No
and society, take them .on the
wonder, peripheries being drawn to the
revolutionary path.
centre of the globalising
Indian
economy
are
witnessing
conflicts,
not
Whether or not this strategy will
all of.them engineered by the Naxalites,
work remains to be seen. For, it is easy
VEN as the Indian state is
desperately
looking for a
weapon that can cut it free
from the Gordian knot of
Naxalism, conditions on the

Without economic
development,
strong-arm tactics
will not succeed
against the
naxalites even
with th.e strongest
.possible antiterror law

The author is Director, Centre for Public Affairs.

YOJANA February 2007

37

pIe of dedication as well as the

work has seen to have weaned away

people from the reyolutionary path,
~
/the micro socio-economic situation in aside from providing the state with
~'O.~" Ihe region by one person.
The
greater access to these areas. Obviously,
/subsequent consolidation of various
the governm~nts, the parties, and the
. ~~ ~ ~ /" factions of the Maoist groups ~e not so leadership running the juggernaut of the
~ ~~
'
much based on peasant mobilization as Indian state have faltered, may failed,
:Sl' on their cadre-based, conspiratorial, and in their basic responsibility.
If the
~ ~
~
0
~
~~
..,...~
violent guerilla tactics, Yet, there is an reports about the Naxals running some
.!'." >5
~ i
.:;.'";~
~v q;r element' of popular support for them
of the essential state functions like
.~
~
'Co'
~
NGf
~ ' o;;;.~ ,~ CJ~.he' from the poor in the areas where they
heald,
education and justice are true,
0"'>;.,1
.~ !'.,# ~ "c:: ~ ilcy have consolidated.
then the fudian state has faltered in a big
,s-e,;~
~ ~ I
'.
'0, ~;;S;
v ~~.$
In SOCIO-econOffilC
terms; thi'th
s IS e way. Though it would not be easy to
. ;;S; ~O~. ~~ ~~ ,ro.?;:,-';'t
'area which the Indian state needs to 'recover the lost ground, it is important
"'"
~. ~ lie
.
.~
.4 . attend to. There are mstances from. the that it should be achieved .
.:s~":r2Jf 1946 very outset that whenever the land and
While development deficit in terms
:t$' If 1967
development
question
has been
of basic necessities remllins enormous,
/I~ both
attended, the support to Maoism has
there is complete failure on the. land
.,~.
,
a.atIOn of also declined. Popular support to the redistribution front, which has been
{ship had Telangana movement started dwindling
further aggravated by the agrarian crisis
the CPI
after Mahatma Gandhi's disciple and reflected in the farmers' suicides in
.'
0-- sparked by
Sarvodaya (literally meaning upliftment
Vidarbha: Andhra Pradesh and other
'~""'---:ail"1ffiffie(liate incident, in both cases the of all) leader Acharya Vinoba Bhave
states. Unfortunately, land reform does
organisational strength provided by the toured. Telangana extensively
and
not figure in the agenda of the Indian
party became the main sustaining factor. realising
the importance
of ,land
state in the post -liberalisation era. The
Even the revival
of the Maoist
launched his famous bhoodan (donation
Union as well as the state governments,
movement in Srikakulam
(Andhra
of land) movement from there. In fact,
including the Left Front government in
Pradesh)
in 1980 by Vempatapu
Charu Mazumdar too realised this when
West Bengal, are busy wooing FDI,
Satyriarayana
followed
intense
the' CPM-led United Front government
obviously in a bid to cash in on the
mobilization of the girijans. However,
in West Bengal launched its land
'advantages' of globalisation. Indeed,_
the 1946 movement was different and redistribution policy in 1967 in the
globalisation
is as much a policysignificant in One distinct way from the wake of the Naxalbari. Reacting to its
oriented and plimned process as it is
two. The rebellion organised by the CPI impact, he observed:
fortuitous one in the era of increased
since 1944 was against a feudalinternational
travel and the IT boom,
. I or d er, m
. w hi coca
hI
1 was very
... wherever
there1 have
been
co Ioma
'th
but
a
government
can push the agenda
. muc h t h"'
. d movements on vested . and, e peasant
e lOCUS.Th oug h not orgamse
of
the
forces
of
globalisation
by being
,
.
.
who gets the possessIOn of the vested
agamst the IndIan state per se, ItS 1 d d th I'
t
't d
oblivious
of
its
own
ground
realities
.' battles were fought agamst
.
an an " e lcense 0 occupy 1.. oes
substantIve
only
on
its
own
peril.
If
a
large
part of
th e m
. depen d ent Indi an state. Ind ee,d th e not rem. am actIvet any longer m the
'SOCIal
. order was unhkely
.
peasant
movemen
.
the
Indian
populace
is
tied
to
land
and
to change
forests
and
dependent
on
it
for
.overnight and the landlords were quick
He further added:
livelihood, this reality has to be part of
to make alliances with the new ruling
...within a year (of the possession of
the government's globalisation oriented
elite, but' the party carried forward the the land), the class character of the poor
policies too. This means that land and
movement in the hope of a great
peasant changes and he becomes'a
agrarian policies need attention.
communist victory and looked forward
middle peasant. He no longer shares the
Indeed, the anti-poverty programmes
to support from the Soviet Union, which economic demand .of the poor and
have found a boost with the National
was not to be. The Naxalbari movement
landless peasant. Thus, economism drives
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme,
too displayed its distinctiveness and
a wedge in the unity of the fighting
but, for one, they do not attend to this
contradictions
as it flourished and
peasants and plunges the landless and
issue of land rights in rural India and, for
decayed on a second split in the
poor peasants in despondency.
another, the NREGS too is not fairing any
communist movement in India. The
No wonder, the Naxals today resist
better than earlier programmes
in
,Srikakulam experience, which in a way . any move by the governments in the
reducing poverty. A recent study of the
is the spark that has carried the Maoist
respective
States to carry. out any
scheme in Jharkhand concludes:
revolution forward despite intense
developmental work in the area under
'The picture emerging from this brief
factionalization
and - splits, is an their control. For, even developmental
investigation is far fTOmencouraging. As

e;+~.,anisational skill and understanding

# ~#

I> ~

'

38
YOJANA February 2007

2004'

2005.

.84

95

,06

24

09

29

02

03

22
27
03
-MHA

things stand, there is little difference

betwleenNREGA and earlier employment
programmes such as NFFWP (National
Food for Work Programme).
and
SGRY(Sanjay Gandhi Rozgar Yojna).
And the basic purpose of employment on
demand at the statutory minimum wage
. is nowhere near being achieved.

issues of agrarian transformation, tribal

people's rights, nationality movement
and
resisting
imperialism
and
globalization adding up to an integrated
programme of what they characterize as
people's
democratic
revolution
to
change the nature of the Indian state.
Because of the issues that pursue they
have a social base which sustains them
despite a variety of repressive measures
pursued by the Indian state.

strategy either of offence. or defence.

Obviously, policing needs, strategies
and attitudes require redefinition in the
context of the current Indian realities
and Naxalism, along with terrorism, is
one of the very serious, emerging
challenges. The seriousness
of the
challenge of Naxalism is that though the
movement has been using terror as an
important tool, it cannot be equated
with terrorism because of its socioeconomic dimension and considerable
grassroots support to it.

Further, the forest resources in the

country too have been commercialized
alienating the adivasis/girijans
from
forest produce. Industrialisation, mining
The security. response too appears to
and the const:n:Iction of big dams have
have lacked vision, as strategically and
Neither the Salwa Judum experiment
caused massive displacement of the
trainingwise, the Naxals clearly have an
ih
Chhattisgarh,
which is reported to have
tribals without proper resettlement
edge Over the security forces. Not only
pitched
the
tribals
against their own
policies.
The
tribal
and dalit
have they demonstrated
that their
brethren,
nor
raising
a
girijan Greyhound
development
programmes
over the
intelligence network is superior to the
years have created new elite structure in police, they have also exposed that the force, which too is having a similar effect,
appears to be an appropriate security
the community, leaving patches of acute
armed police (State or Central) neither
response to Naxalism. A movement like
poverty and causing distress migration
have the training, nor a strategic
from there. Moreover,
corruption
thinking to engage them effectively. Of Salwa Judum which also plans to arm the
community against the Naxal attacks by
networks involving politicians,. locally
course, this is linked also to the larger
designating some of them as Special .
dominant
persons
and families,
debate on institutional decline of the
Police Officers, could also have the
contractors
(the three could be
Indian police at every level, particularly
negative impact of some of them settling
overlapping too) and bureau,cracy. in at the cutting edge level that is critical
areas with forest resources are only
for day to day intelligence, and lack of their scores. In any case, the brutal
attacks on the Salwa Judum camps in
pervasive, they are invasive in the lives
a policy
for policing
violent
recent
past gives the impression that the
of the tribals too. The recent political
phenomenon such as the Naxalism.
tribals
in Chhattisgarh are increasingly
crisis in Jharkhand, the State created by
Iehanabad would not have happened
getting
exposed to pressure from both
bifurcating from Bihar the mineral rich
otherwise.That tl).e Naxals i~ Andhra
the
sides.
Therefore, in order to involve
tribal inhabited' Chhotanagpur plateau
Pradesh could mine the surroundings of
the
community
in policing such social
because the interests of the tribals were
an police station before mounting an
upheavals
as
Maoism,
the Indian state
being ignored in Bihar, amongst other
attack so t~at the police persons are
and
its
security
agencies
need to win the
things reflects that the interests of poor
neither able to react, nor chase, them,
confidence of the. people. The Indian
and the marginalised
can
be
clearly shows they have honed in their
compromised under ariy dispensation.
guerilla tactics to perfection, while the state as manifested at the local with its
bureaucracy and security agencies in
The naxalite challenge rests upon the security forces do not have a counter
YOJANA February 2007

39

areas with perv~ive deprivation does not

Manoranjan
Mohanty had' three.
inspire-enough confidence. The pressures
propositions in his perceptive study of
of policing a high risk and high tension
Naxalism in the 1970s: (i) The Naxalite
activity such as Naxal rebellion normally
movement was a pre-organisational
brings out the worst in the police and movement; (ii) it practised ideological
security agencies, leading to custodial
parallelism
to a large
extent
crimes such as torture and rape as well mechanically applying formulations of
as fake encounters, which indeed indeed the Chinese revolution to contemporary
have worse impact than collateral
India; and (iii) the strategy pursued by
damage, for such acts are premeditated.
the Naxalites was a narrow construction
Clearly, beyond the common parameters
strategy and was not always one of
'like modernisation
of equipments
revolutionary violence.
mentioned in the MHAAnnual Report as .
Reviewing the movement in the
a strategy
to combat Naxalism,
current context he finds both change and
modernisation of rninds and attitudes IS continuity
in each of the three
required, which is easier said than done, dimensions. He finds their ideological
For, if we are talking of dealing with
formulation still underdeveloped on the
Naxal violence in thirteen States, we are issue of class -caste-gender relationship,
referring
to' thirteen
State police
though some of the groups have been
organisations
and the Central paraactive on the issues of nationality.
military forces being used for anti-Naxal
However, they have not realized or
operations. This obviously makes the task accepted that the liberal-democratic
of police modernisation more complex.
process in the country has created space
to accommodate
people's
causes.
Second, he finds the Naxalites organised
The Maoist expansion in the past few
into three major formations-one, having
. years has been impressive,
if not
rejected Cham Mazumdar's line, focused
phenomenal-from 55 districts in nine
on mass organisation
and took
states in 2003 to 156 districts in 13 states
. parliamentary path as well; second,
in 2004 to 170 districts in 15 states in
continued Mazumdar's lines and rejected
2006. In their strongholds in about 55
parliamentary politics; the third stream is
districts in 12 states, they run parallel
sYlJlbolised byCPI
(ML) with the
governments, which is not surprising
legendary Kanu Sanyal as its general
given the retreat, if not collapse, of the
secretary. Perceptively, he sums up the
state in key social sectors such as
currelit stage of the Naxalite movement
education and health in many states and saying:
stranglehold on political power of those
While the state failed to recognise
who. control land and other economic
the character of revolutionary violence,
resources.
However,
only thing
the Naxalites failed to abide by the
prominently known about their parallel
norms of revolutionary violence.
government so far is the jan adalat,
basically kangaroo courts, and their brutal Conclusion
summary punishments that keep the
V R Krishna
Iyer, whom the
people in the area l!.deqwitely terrified.
Naxalities would certainly not regard as
The expansion of their area of influence
inimical to their ideology and cause,.
in 170 out of 604 districts of the country
appeal to them to stop their mindless
and the 'parallel' government they have violence. The July 17 attack on Salwa
been able to establish,
give them
Judum camp has raised several
sustenance in a dubious way, give them questions' regarding their tactics; Two
a territory to train on and plan their
things have in particular been striking.
'revolutionary' foray against the state and First, the slaying of women and children
the people. This is impressive given their (as little as three years old) and, second,
legendary splits, many of them based on the presence of teenagers among their
'ideology'
and 'strategy',
which
ranks. Both raise disturbing questions,
continued till recently.
beyond the ideological maze that an

Maoism Today

40

intellectual
discourse
can create,
regarding the current nature of the
movement as 'Yell as the post-revolution
society they would like to create, in case
they succeed. They need to indulge in a
social audit of their movement without
compromising on the principles they
stand for. It is questionable if they can
. reach ideological high ground with
mindless violence they often indulge in.
Nax~sm throughout the course it has'
followed, has been part of the political
churning going on in the country since
independence. It is today facing far too
complex nationai 'and global environment
than in thel940s, 1960s and 1980s.
Nationally, it is functioning within the
universe of the liberal, what they would
describe as -bourgeois, democracy.
Despite rejecting it, many of them have
been involved
with the negative
dimensions of the local power politics.
Indeed, such engagements are explained
away as strategy, but they do lead to the
dilution of the ideological morality. Even
the ideological realities of the MarxismLeninism-Maoism have changed globally
with the collapse of the Soviet state and
far reaching changes adopted by China
for its economic growth. The question
whether it is taking these changes into
account while analysing its strategies
remains unanswered.

The Indian state, in fact, has far too

much introspection to undertake both in
terms
of
policies
and
their
implementation. It has to go beyond its
knee~jerk.attitude towards a phenomenon
like Naxalism. It is indeed not terrorism
in the traditional sense of the word,
despite using terror as one of its prime
tool. Therefore, even the immediate
strategy of gealing with Naxalism must
take into account. The questions of land
reforms and poverty alleviation in the
country has ,to be strategised' for visible
results at the earliest. Development.
programmes must not be perceived as
anti-people due to the displacementresettlement hiatus. Indeed, without
economic development,
strong"arm
tactics will not succeed against the
Naxalites even with the strongest
possible anti-terror law.
0
YOJANA February 2007

Security

In

the Age of Global

Terror
AS Kalkat

terrorism can be attributed

to the
MAJOR
impact
of the
.
development
of
exclusive
instead
of
globalising
world is that
inclusive societies. Terrorism draws its
security can no longer be
strength from one of three sources:
comparttnentalised
'militant
religious fundamentalism,
regionally or nationally and
ethnic
intolerance
or deprivation.
any analysis of the security environment
Religion
sans frontiers,
therefore
of a region or area has to take into
consideration global issues that have a religious militancy, has to be addressed
globally.
Ethnic. intolerance
and
direct or indirect impact on the region.
deprivation
are
region-specific,
with
the
Simultaneously the heightening levels
common
thread
of
economics
running
of political and social' expectations by
the people and consequently states and through them, and are b~st. dealt with
regiollally or nationally.
societies are coming under pressure.
The changed environment after 9/11
Since.Afghanistan the 'Islarnist holy
and the U.S. perception
that the
warriors' or jihadis, emboldened by
definition of national security is not
defeating a superpower have constituted
necessarily
common for all states
a grave threat to countries that had
highlight the reality that in an interbeen insulated
earlier due to their
dependent world' security cannot be
strength' or distance. Militant Islamist
achieved at the cost of others,
fundameAta1lsm in its new avatar as
.
. .
(~
Al-Qaeda is now a global phenomenon
, . In the long list of weapons of mass
and a global threat. His-important that
destruction available to the violent
this
form of religious fuildamentalism is
societies there is a new player with an
differentiated
from religious orthodoxy
unlimited reach infinitesimally small
which exists in all religions in some
cost of production, and fairly basic
.1
technology : terrorism in the form of the proportion or other, primarily to. keep
the flock together, and 'is no. threat to
'human bomb'. No state, howsoever
society or the state. Militant religious
powerful, is immune from this weapon
fundamentalism,
on the other hand,
that has the capability of striking from
outside or within. The genesis of advocates the use ,of unbridled violence
-

Terrorism needs a
<

.top-down
approach whi~e

Insurgency
requires a bottomup approach

'.

The author is former Chief, Indian Peace-Keeping Force (lPKF) and has had extensive experienc~ in combating terrorism and ihsurgency.

YOJANA February 2007

41

. to terrorise the population and the state is destruction of the established social
. the power, res~urces, and authOrity-~
to achieve their ends. The impact is not . system and structure, that is, the whole
the disposal of the state. Our laws were'
confined to specific regions or weak
way of life offree societies. This virus made for the normal law-breakers and
and under- developed states but is faced
does. not take long to infect homegrown
criminals;
our forefathers
did not
across the board by all' societies,
products
imd soon enough local
envisage the rise of this new threat to
entailing a global responsibility
to criminal gangs get drawn into the
humanity and civilisation.
jointly confront it.
terrorist's web. It is important to make
A structured two-pronged approach
a distinction. between terrorism and
Terrorism isa deadly act committed
i's needed to combat the .new threat:
by highly trained and motivated people .insurgency, as different approaches are
first, a set of laws or 'rules of
who are 'devoid of humanity and ,have required to tackle each of them: .
engagement' for dealing with terrorists;
no value for human life. Tackling it on
errorism needs a top-down
secondly, a special force organised and
conventional
lines is unlikely to
approachwhiIe
insurgency
trained to operate under these special
succeed. In the fight against terrorism
requires a bottom-up approach.
laws, with the authority to operate
the strengths. of a free society are a!so .
For an insurgent movement to flourish,
domestically and externally to prevent
its weaknesses. Terrorists use the rights
it must have support of a segment of the disconnect. This special force should be
and liberties inherent in a democratic
population whereas terrorism can be supported by a dedicated countersociety to operate with comparative
effective with just a few sympathisers
terrorism
intelligence
unit,
the
freedom and then use the democratic
and supporters amongst the popuiation.
composition of which should be not the
laws to circumvent
or evade the
In tackling an insurgency, it is a fight for usual police and intelligence operatives
consequences.
World leaders make
the 'hearts and minds' of the people and but social and political scientists,
profound
statements
like 'if ,you
the people have to be addressed and psychologists, and cyber and financial
sacrifice freedom for ~ecurity you end
won over. With. terrorism the leadership
experts. This is not to suggest that law
up getting neither' and then promptly
or perpetrators of terrorism need to' be e~forcement agellcies do not have a
proceed to laws in their own country to
targeted. Insurgency usually has rural
role. Law enforcement is central to
curb civil rights and liberties to ensure
roots while terrorism has an urban bias.
sustaining the normal way of life and
security, underscoring the point that
The terrorists are as well trained as, and vital for domestic intelligence gathering.
extraordinary
circumstances
need
often better equipped than, an army
However, operations against terror
extraordinary measures.
soldier and to pit out paramilitary and groups require capabilities more akin to
,
.
There are no 'good' terrorists,
police forces against them is an unequal
the military;
this requires highly
whatever their grievance or cause. Nor equation. Our ~pproach .so far has been
specialised forces and a dedicated
does terr6rism' have a religion. There
to deal with it as a law and order issue, . organisation. This may be the time to
are or have been terrorists belonging to . which being a state subject results in constitute such a force in India .
almost all the religions of the world : to different
states having different
The impunity with whic!t some
associate terrorism with any particular
approaches
to the problem' and
terrorists,
after committing heinous
religion is upjustifiedand
unfair. The complicating
the requirement
of a
crimes,
escape
to countries' across the
'coalition' in the fight against terrorist
countrywide
coordinate
approach
border
or
overseas
leads to a feeling of
and religion together even though, in against terrorism. Delays in the judicial
helplessness.
It leaves
the law
this instance, it militant 'Islamist'
process add to the problem.
enfor~ement
agencies
the
thankless
job
organisation
is the perpetrator.
We are' a party to the 'global war
of
dealing
with
bureaucracies
and
the
. Fundamentalists very much want this to
against terror', Wars are fought under
laws
of
different
countries.
The
world
be labelled as the 'clash of civilisation',
the articles of war, not under civil laws.
community needs to formulate a set of
- which serves their purpose of putting all
Given that this war is not like
special international laws to overcome
Muslim
countries
and Muslim
conventional
wars, the military is this hurdle. India is na't a soft state; it
populations worldwide under pressure.
perhaps not the ideal force to deal with just has a higher tolerailc~ level than the
The terrorist groups are not ordinary
it. Neither are the conventional police
West. The danger is that, at some stage,
civilians or some misguided youth but and paramilitary forces the best option.
a frustrated and anguished population
the paramilitary
organs of militant
When the enemy has already crossed
may react and decide.that enough is
extremism such as LeT, Naxalites, and the. borders,
he cannot seek the
enough and' take the law into its OWn
the like who believe in the culture of protection of civil law and has to ,be
hands. We need to develop a capability
extreme violence and whose objective
fought wherever and however with all that enables us to send the message that

42

YOJANA February 2007

series in Sri Lanka, where after the is of great urgency.A developed society
Colombo bomb incident some of the is highly dependent upon public
media unwittingly went into a frenzy utilities, technology, energy, instant
over the security concerns of Indian and communication, rapid travel, and
South African cricketers. The fact that prompt medical aid to sustain its way of
the prime targets, if at all, would have life. Highly ind'ustrialised states are
been the Sri Lankan cricketers and that therefore far more vulnerable to
top Indian diplomats would be a much terrorist attacks than countries with 'rice
more important target than the and fish' economies. The spectre of
cricketers escaped the minds of many. terrorism haunts us as an omnipotent
In the event, South Africa withdrew its and omnipresent phenomenon. Living
team and the terrorists achieved their in fear of terrorist attacks is almost
objective. This is not to suggest that the becoming the. way of life. Today the
media should underplay the threat 'of . question is not 'whether' but 'wheJ:land
terrorism. In fact, they have a vital role where' they will strike again. This will
to play in sensitising the public to this result in people fearing to venture out
The objective of terrorism is exactly
threat. However, they need to exercise of their homes, not a good omen for a
what the name implies - to terrorise the
care that this sensitisationdoes not whip democratic society: The time for
popuilation, If it does not receive
analysis is over. It is time for action
up public hysteria.
publicity, it cannot succeed. The media,
before we reach the stage of 'paralysis
the public, and politicians can play an
India is rapidly reaching a high level
through analysis' .
0
important role in denying this. A case of development and meeting this threat
(Courtesy: 'The Hindu')
in point is the recent cricket 001 tri- is central to our economic progress and

e shall get you wherever,andhowever'

and that the Indian state will not be a
mute spectator to the murder and
massacre of its citizens and children, At
the same time, NGOs and like-minded .
organisations need to. focus their'
resourcesand energiesonaddressing the
problem of terrorismfrom a societaland
sociological.imgle, which is the only
long-termremedy,This is the preventive
aspect In the campaign to reach out to
the people, the police forces are not the
, right vehicle,given the publicperception
of their conduct, which is unlikely to
inspire confidence or win friends,

i"KJ'~.'".,'".erM:it,T~INadu;.I-tillulchat\

sU"" .,'.'\ siory,~as als(}s~en ari~pcieas~ze(.

survey;~
t
,,'..,.....
'.".'"
"',...e;a.?esh,.q?jarat,Pqnjab and . inthe?umbe~?fmalnq~shed ~~dern. .
.""'..> .'" "H~ana.J~rJong tJieposte~
~ring th~Jast eignt ye~r~,.West undertl0urished!;ifhilarell~as gone\\!p
,bo);s ofdev~lopm~nt, have}over th<f:.,.Beng~has.~~enthe n~ber of.~~vereIY'%;,from
54per.~~t()f 60~FC
'
'
Yfat~:eg~fsse? '\\j.~~nit~9mes til'i mal~~urishe?phildreI\go up ftom p'surveyh~s
re~or~edi~ri~~
pr;~,vIdin&'.tllu.tf1tlO?lto
chIldren. I~l per~~?t of l~per cent.}
, '.
",','numb~rofse",~relYUnde'fIl0u.ed
cOl~~rast,Onss a!.~sshd:wn som~:'I1it~dbn1Prades1l;,
the' mjrtlberof'y .chiIdr~h,to33f~er; ce
om5~eper

p~o~ss ............
'...\.
'., . .' .',.'....gross!yunde~eightcpildren
h~sgonecent;ightyear~ago.
................
.'........
.~\rhet~d.an~la~l$tedt!i;~m of
'up~~
9.per cent toJ3per.\~nt.,.
Od~sa,kn~'\\jn.'for.hung~~.\a?~
'~a.ti;ona~.!~~1
..~lth;,Sur;e"tii.~~ae~~too,
. a Pr~llesh~\ dro~gIit zotl~s,bas j;~p()rted~ome.
(.~FHS) g~rnt........
i1 t~~et;Y. eIght
reg~ssed,. ~~th 79 ...............
cent. c~i1dre~ 'progt~sS,
.. the p~rcentai~ ..of'
Y~~' ~as;f?un~t~~!t,he~~v~~o~~,
'belo~theage
oft4J:eeana~!llic, .as:' sev .... m~ ..........
'sh~~hi1dre~.going
~tat~s. hfi~e sh~~~dm.~;?Vldm~i
opposedtolZ:3 percent int-l!e 1998 down> m 28to18pfccent.
nutr1tlOn~OC~lld~~n~lnee 1998.'
.
.
'.,
.....,y
1999, wlf~n theiast survey was
.(:a;~ried.
0l;1!'They~ave imp~oved 6'n
9therhutRan(ievel()pmentindices,
'
tnpugh,'

~S

i .

,,-

.",'

---,."

.. '.'.

startledMa~byaPr~8esh
'~ject~d ~ .finctings.of.th~survey;
'In K~ra1~;thin~ber ()~extremely
-undemoupshed .cIil,ldI'ell~~~alm?st
dtlUbled;.'Fi1enl,lm6er.ofun?~rweig~t
cliildrenhas ms
ne,up:l
\.;Tamil:;;;Nadu,

Gujamt.

. ....

Undem6urished%kids
Sever~lyundetn~shed
HimaChid Pradesh
Undemourishedkids
Sevelfly .undemqurished
Baryima "
Undemourishedkids
Severely.'.undetn6urisbed

sidered.another

YOJANA Febrmiry 2007

43

Violence

o
o

Central Bihar
Devendra Mishra
_Subhash Sharma

Out of box thinking is neededJogo into the cultural roots

of violence in central Billar
VERYBODY TALKS about
the weather, Mark Twain
once observed but nobody
E.,
does'
anything about it. The
"
same i.s true about violence
in central Bihar. The roots of violence
- is the subject of endless commentary,
most of it without prescription.

",'

Recent violence iIi Manipur Village

in Sekhpur Distt., and Gciachak Village
has only highlighted the gravity and
urgency of the situation. In Central
Bihar, the various incidents of violence
have occurred either in the name of
caste or due to land related issues which
are often intermingled. But the crux of
the problem.is
poverty, long term
unemployment, material deprivation,
social deprivation and finally social
exclusion.
Basically,
it is the
questioning of bur social, and economic
order along with democratic credential?
Is this the absence of peace; or
enormous
growth of poverty and
unemployment, inequity and growing
disparity? Whatever it may be the
problem is far more serious.
More than anything, it is about social
exclusion. Social exclusion is about

income but it iSilbout more. It is about

prospects
and networks
and life
chances. It is more harmful- to the
individuals, more. damaging to others
self-esteem, more corrosive for society
as a whole, no more likely to be passed
down from generation to generation
than material poverty. Poverty includes
not only economic but also social and
cultural dimensions.
Relationship
between distributional and relational
questions lies at the heart of social
exclusion. Unemployment further adds
fuel to fIre: Channels of upward social
mobility are gradually being closed off,
a
phenomenon
with
crucial'
consequences for both the stability and
the dynamic evolution of society.
Several years ago, Dudley Seers in
his
article
"The
Meaning
of
Development"
,(International
Development Review, Vol.lI No.4),
stated "The questions
to ask about a
country's development are: What has
been happening to poverty? What has
been happening to inequality? What has
been happening to unemployment? If all
three of these have become less severe,
then beyond doubt this has been a

The authors are members of Indian Revenue Service and Indian Administrative
are strictly personal.

44

period of development of a country

concerned. If one or two of these central
problems have been growing worse,
especially if all three have, it would be
strange to call it 'development', even if
per capita income doubled.
An in-depth analysis of various types
of violence in Central Bihar reveals that
while in 'the beginning the killing of the
landlords and looting of crops/grains
were primary strategies,
now the
imposition of economic blockade or
sanctions (preventing labourers to do
agricultural
tasks in the landlords'
fields) and holding of 'Jan-adalat'
(people's court) to punish the oppressor
are primary strategies (though killing is
still considered relevant). At present,
economic sanctions are usually imposed
by CPI (ML-Liberation) whereas Jan
Adalats are usually convened by the
Communist Party (Maoists). As the
supremo of Ranvir Sena, Brahmeshwar
Singh Mukhia remarks about the
_ blockade:
"The
Naxalites
have
destroyed the farmers of the state. They
harass us, extort money, instigate
workers not to work on our fIelds, and
declare economic blockade which has
left more than 40 thousand acres of

Service respectively. The views expressed in the article'

YOJANA .February 2007

--

---

-....

2005(31.10.2005)
2002

8 ..
of Incidenls --

2003

No. 011incidents
Polletl Personnel killed
Naxalltes killed

2005

PolIce peraonnel kllIed ...CIvilians kDled "*" N8ll8Dtes killed

Head

Civililms killed

2004

2002
239
06
111
22

2003
250
26
102
09

2004
323
05
166
01

2005
183
24
70
10

I .....Incldents

__ Police personnel killed

Head
No. of incidents
Police Personnel killed
Civilians killed
Naxalltes killed

2006(31.10.2006)

...ClvlllsnkIlJed"*"Naxsllle.

2005 (31.10.2005)
161
20
59
07

kll!8d

2006 (31.10.2006)
89
05
34
04
-MHA

cultivable land barren in the Bhojpur

district alone." Now one more pertinent
question arises: why there is more
number of incidents of violence and
more gruesome violence in Central
Bihar than in other parts of Bihar.
Following points are relevant First, in
Central
Bihar the proportio~
of
scheduled castes (dalits) population is
relatively higher than that in north
Bihar; e.g., the population of da1its in
Gaya is 26 per cent, in Nawada 25 per
cent, in Aurangabad
23 per cent,
Nalanda 19 per cent, Rohtas 19 per cent
and Bhojpur 15 per cent, against the
state average of dalits population being
15 per cent. And numerical strengths
counts in democracy
not only in
elections but also in daily life to protest
with more confidence and morale.
Second, in Central Bihar most of the
landlords belong to two traditionally
dominant and aggressive castes, namely,
Bhumihar and Rajput and two emerging
dominant castes- Yadav and Kurmi,
while it is not so in north Bihar where
in some regions Brahmins
are in
majority and in other regions most
backward castes (included in AnnexureI by the Govt. of Bihar) are in majority
but they are not much dominant in terms
of landholding. In Central Bihar, in
some parts Kurmis and Yadavas are
new dominant landlords.
Third, social exploitation
and
distancing
(especially
sexual
exploitation of women as well as feudal
YOJANA February 2007

attitudes) is more pronounced in Central

Bihar than in north Bihar. Fourth, the
mode of agricultural production and
productivity is more advanced (in terms
of better irrigation, double cropped
area, use of HYV s of seeds, use of
chemical fertilizers and insecticides) in
Central Bihar, which, in tum, sharpens
the relationship between the landowners
and the labourers regarding the share of
surplus created. On an average, two
thirds of gross cropped area and threefourths of net sown area in Central
Bihar is irrigated while the same in
North Bihar is far less. Fifth, the literacy
rate in Central Bihar is more than that
in north Bihar, hence the 'culture of
silence' is being replaced by the 'culture
of questioning' due to better and more
awakening of the rural masses ..
Finally, there is a very rich tradition
of dissent and protest in central Bihar.
For instance, formation of Triveni
Sangh (Organisation of Yadav, Kurmi,
and Koeri) on 30 May 1933 in
Kargahar Thana or present Rohtas
district) led the movement of three
backward castes for higher status and
their protest against the upper castes
centered in central Bihar. Their positive
actions in social sphere were wearing of
sacred thread, focus on children's
education and intra and inter-caste unity
willIe negative actions in social sphere.
included restr~ning early marriage and
avoiding non-vegetarian foods. On the
other hand, their positive actions in

economic sphere included demand for

occupancy rights in lands in their use as
well as reducing high rent on caste
ground while negative economic actions
included refusal to perform 'beggar',
refusal to do menial tasks and to pay
extra-legal cases and refusal to sell
products to landlords and moneylenders
at lower than market rates. Again Kisan
Sabha was active in this region since
1930's. Similafly, this region was a
fertile ground for the emergence of the
socialists in 1960s. Even earlier in
Central Bihar, there had been' an
alternative religious-social order in the
forms of Buddhism,
Jainism and
Sikhism,
as a challenge
to the
.hegemony of Brahmanic Hindu social
order. The famous agitation led by
Chhatra- Yuva Sangharsa Vahini against
Bodhgaya 'math' is also very significant
in the context of central Bihar.
As a land reform measure, lands
were distributed
among the poor
landless labourers for agricultural
purposes, out of ceiling surplus land, or
bhoodan land or gairmajarua khas land
but the new settlees
are often
dispossessed by the landlords, or the
latter are in practical possession and
distribution of land exists only on paper.
It is important to note that out of 6.48
lakh acres of the total bhoodan lands
available, only 2.87 lakh acres (44%)
were confirmed
by the officials.
Secondly, only 39% (2.54 lakh acres)
has been distributed so far. Thirdly, a'
45

major chunk of 2.79'lakh acres (43%)

is shown as not distributable due to
being hilly area, river portion; forest
area, duplication in the plot numbers,
untracing,.etc. Finally, about 1.15 lakh
acres of land (17%) is pending for
confirmation
and distribution. This
shows the lack of political will, apathy
of the, administration and misdeeds of
the donors. As far as central Bihar's
position is concerned in ~s regard, still
a large chunk of bhoodan lands is not
distributed:

Feudal attitude (Samanti Vichar, as ties is one of the main problem of th~
is called in Bhojpur) of the upper
twentyfirst century and for successfully
castes, untouchables has often been
transforming Bihar" economy is must.
instrumental in igniting the caste tension
But in the end, problem can be solved
and conflicts. The upper castes often
by changing the basic structure of
dislike the lower castes sitting on their power and domination. Channels of
cots at home at former's visits, or upward social mobility should also be
wearing good clothes, shoes or sacred
gradually strengthened for stability and
threads. As Jagdish Mahto, the founder
dynamic evolution of society. Land
of naxal movement in Bhojpur told his reforms are one of the important steps.
wife before going underground: "when
For example, nearly 13 lakh acres of
I have no izzat (dignity) left what is the agricultural land was acquired and
point of living."20. The untouchability
redistributed to the landless poor in
and other forms of social distancing
rural area of Bengal. Such a massive reOut of 1.67 lakh acres of bhoodan
often lead to caste.-conflicts, both at distribution of wealth has helped to
lands available in central Bihar's eleven
religious and secular public places
mitigate agrarain tension. According to
districts, only 35% has been distributed
(schools, markets, bus station, fields,
Prof. Pranab Bardhan "The sharp.
that is less than the state average of chaupals etc.). sexual exploitation (in
decline in extreme poverty in China
39%. Not only this, even the ceiling
terms of having kept, eve-teasing, rape, , may have more to do with the 1978 land
surplus land cases in large number are obscene gesture, and remarks) of lower,
reforms then foreign trade investment".
still pending in different revenue and castes' women by the upper castes'
higher courts. In November 2005, in the males has been a very signifIcant cause
A strong desire to correct historical
entire Bihar 1433 such cases involving
of violence. Over the years, caste is injustice, out of box thinking is needed
1,12,696 acres of land were pending of changing its traditional
role from
to go into the cultural root of violence
which 512 cases involving 35090 acres integrating,
h-armonic and nonin central Bihar without eschewing the
were pending in Patna High court and antagonistic
to
disintegrating,
need for urgency, it i~ equally important
Supreme Court of India. In 11 districts
disharmonic and antagonistic. In the that steps and decisions taken are on the
of Central Bihar, 244 cases of ceiling
first phase, there was focus on caste as basis of reasoned argument rather than
are pending in which the total area
a group of endogamy CIati ki beti jati
immediate knee-jerk reaction of any
involved is 9015.8 acres. In this region,
ko') and commensality; in the second
incidents
of killing or emotional
Gaya, Kaimur 'and Nawada stand fIrst, phase, it expanded to caste for political
outbrust. In the end, a holistic approach
second and third in terms Of the
support 'jati ka vote jati ko;' in the [mal is needed in tackling the escalating
maximum
area involved
in such
phase, caste further expanded as an violence in Central Bihar. There is
pending cases. As per Bihar govt. data organized force to grab from others,
absolute
decline
in agricultural
(October
2005),
4663 cases of protect from others, and hurt and damage
production per capita and an even
dispossession were reported from the others 'Apni jati bachao, doosri jati
steeper absolute decline in foodgrain '
entire Bihar involving 2868.98 acres
bhagao alITmitao' thus 'we versus them'.
consumption/production
per capita.
against which 3845 persons were given
Since at the core of it is to overcoming
possession involving 2323.40 acres;
Thus, the consequences of violence
of the agrarian crisis, therefore steady
thus still 318 persons are dispossessed
are very severe-some visible but others
increase
in per capita
cereal
of 545 acres of land. In central Bihar
invisible, some short-term but others
consumption in the violence affected
region, the situation is alarming, for
long term, some localized but others
area will go a long way to mitigate the
instance, in Kaimur where 476 persons
trans-village/region. Hence, the need of problem.
People particularly
the
are still dispossessed of 210 acres of the hour is enlarging the spread of
marginalized and deprived people of
land, followed by Gaya with 52 such primary and secondary education and
Central Bihar are just like Camus
persons dispossessed of 50 acres of by providing free access to information
"outsider" who do not play the game
land. In other districts of the region,
to take various pro-active
social,
and who are like outsiders to the society
situation is reported to be almost
economic,
cultural
and political
in which they live, wandering on the
satisfactory. However, it is not ruled out measures to prevent the occurrence of
fringe, on the outskirts of life, solitary
that
some
genuine
cases
of the violence because due to merely
and ready to die for truth and dignity
dispossession are ignored by the local
curative devices and reactive measures
and rights. Finally, it is no longer revolt
.revenue officials or the matter is not the society at large has paid a very
of poor against rich but it is a
reported to them by the victims because
heavy price and continues to do so at' 'metaphysical revolt. The revolt of man
the former are not active and sincere in present. In the context of social
against the condition of life, an inborn
this regard.
fragmentation, strengthening of social
impulse!
0

46

YOJANA February 2007

TASK FORCE set up by PM

Manmohan Singh to look into
.
Jammu
and
Kashmir's
i
infrastructure
problems
has
~~
. ....--J recommended the transfer of
a 390-MW power project from the
National
Hydroelectric
Power
Corporation to the state, a Rs 1,750
cron: road development scheme and a
satellite business hub for Srinagar.
i.

Reconstruction and maintenance of

existing physical assets
Comprehensive fiscal adjustment
Investment in physical infrastructure
like power and roads
Investment in social infrastructure like
heath and education
Creating climate conducive to private

A
..

"Demonstrable successes" in the

form of heavy investment by the private
sector. That's part of the prescription the
Prime Minister's task force has for
development in Jammu and Kashmir.
Many benefits of the India growth
story are bypassing Jammu and Kashmir
due to the negative investor perception
about the security situation in the state.
"The state needs to attract some large
and medium industrial houses to invest
in tbe state," the panel, headed by the
chairman of the PM's Economic
Advisory Council and former RBI
governor Dr Rangarajan, has said.
The panel's recommendation for
mainstrearning the state into the national
and global economy include a slew of
quick-yield projects and a foundation
for long-term economic growth.
Pointing to the fierce competition
between states in attracting domestic
and foreign investment, the panel felt
Jammu and Kashmir was "severely
handicapped"
due to its poor
infrastructure and distance form the
major markets. A Special Investment
Zone is one of the measures the panel
has suggested for the state, where
several factors have resulted in a classic
"backwardness trap" of low economic
activity, low employment and lowincome generation.
In its report, the C Rangarajan
Committee
has also asked for
improvement of health, telecom, roads
and tourism sectors, improved fiscal
policies, and an urgent image makeover
for the state.
YOJANA February 2007

investment
Balanced regional development

With power being a problem area for

the state, the panel has suggested that the
Dulhasti hydroelectric project and 1,020MW Bursar storage scheme be transferred
to the state from NHPC. There is an
urgent need for a policy framework to
develop hydro-power, the panel added.
The taskforce al~o pointed out that
though tourism has been picking up, it
has hardly reached the pre-militancy
levels. To reach that level, the panel
added, the government
needs to
modernise airport and fast-track road and
rail projects.
Pointing out that farming techniques
are outdated, the panel said there was a
need for better sorting, grading,
packaging
and cold-chain
storage
facilities. Road density in J&K is amongst
the lowest in the country and the panel
has called for expansion of highway
corridors.
The panel has also pushed for revival
of infrastructure in rural J&K. The panel
feels that such an improvement will have
huge' peace dividends.
A short-term measure that has been
recommended is to hav'e hotels currently
occupied by seeurity forces. vacated and
returned to owners who can be given soft
loans to renovate
them quickly.
Projections show that the state needs
6,000 additional beds by 2010 and
another
3,000 by 2015. Tented
accommodation-a
concept the state
pioneered in Pahalgam-should meet the
need till existing accommodation
is
upgrade,d and new rooms added.

Stressing
that inspmng
the
confidence of potential tourists as a safe
and secure destination is the most
important challenge for the sector, the
task force has called for a "tourism
vision document" for the road ahead.
Other recommendations include upgrading skills and service standards with
the help of leading hotel chains,
upgrading the Sher-e-Kashmir Complex
with
state-of-the-art
facilities,
harnessing heritage tourism and increase
expenditure on tourism promotions.
Road. density in the state is among
the lowest in the country and existing
roads are in poor shape. While it is
necessary to improve and expand
highway corridors,
it is equally
important to connect towns and villages
to be main corridors through an internal
and network, the report has said.
The systems -and processes of fiscal
federalism that work for the rest of the
country "are not necessarily optimal"
for J&K. "The content and process of
development of J&K has to be designed
keeping in view the state's unique
historical, institutional and political
factors," the task force has said in its
report submitted to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh.
The task force, constituted by the .
Prime
Minister,
focused
on
infrastructure like roads power and
telecom,
employment-generation
initiatives in tourism and horticulture
and social infrastructure like health. l:!l

47

-.

PM Pitches for Peace Treaty with Pakistan

rimeMinister Manmohan Singh

has welcomed President Pervez
Musharraf's four-point formula
for peace and renewed his offer for a
bilateral treaty of peace, security and
friendship, which he said would be an
instrument of enduring peace and
prosperity.

put the past behirid to think about our

collecti,:e destiny," he said.
He expressed confidence that this
could be achieved. ''If our minds are
determined and focussed on this goal,
I am confident that this destiny c~anbe
realised," he said.
Singh said a treaty of peace, security
and friendship was essential as it would
become the instrument for realising
"our collective destiny and the basis for
enduring peace an~ prosperity in the
region."

Reaching out to Pakistan with his

'vision'
of Indo-Pak
ties and
welcoming 'new ideas' from Pakistan,
he said the two countries needed to
work together with' an 'open mind' and
build trust.
Addressing a rally in Amritsar, he
said India was working towards better
ties with Pakistan, but the process did
not have a time frame.
"The destinies of our two nations
are interlinked and there is a need to

"Last week I read about some new

ideas and thoughts expressed from
Pakistan," he s'~d,referring to President
Pervez Musharraf's four point formula
to resolve'the Kashmir issue, which
included demilitarisation
and joint
management of the undivided state.

"We welcome all ideas as they

contribute to the ongoing thought
process," Singh said, adding that if
both sides approached the issues with
an "open and friendly mind and work
together on resolving each of these, it
will be possible for us to resolve all
pending issues."
Expressing confidence that the
two neighbours could continue on
the path of peace, he said, "This is
possible
and we will make it
happen. This is not a dream, it can
be a reality."
"I am confident that if we continue
on this path of peace, Amritsar can
once again regain its glory as a major
centre of trade and commerce.
I
believe this is possible and we will
make it happen," he said.
.
. "

'"'"

Santa Comes Calling at Gulmarg, after 17 years

Visitors enjoyed a "',\11ite Christmas," as a thick blanket of snow coyered the

-~"...

~"""'~

..,.,

.. _"

landscape

was
t
altogether a different scene
at Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir
on 25th December'06.

A hirge number of foreign and

which featured snow scooter race,
domestic tourists, besides locals,
skiing and a cultural programme and
joined the Mass. "This is symbol Of a cultural programme.
our rich culture, which stands for
Authorities
are bracing up for
Christmas was celebrated amid
tolerance and brotherhood,"
said a major winter tourism events this
fanfare, with the State Gove1J1ment .
resident pointing to the decorations at season. However,
the Gulmarg
launching the Kashmir Snow Festival
the church.
Gandola,
the
world's
highest,
cable car,
to attract tourists from all over the
Gulmarg
wore
a'merry
look
with
is
not
making
much
business.
It
world.
.tourists taking active.part in the festival, -remains closed most of the time.
a
Visitors got to enjoy a' "white
Christmas," as a thick blanket of snow
covered the landscape. Besides a
Christmas Mass at the century-old
Church, which was thrown open to the
public after a gap of 13 years in 2003.
Santa Claus came calling after 17
years.

BRINGING PEACE

People had fun playing snowball

with the Santa.
"I am here with the message of
peace as we yearn for peace,
prosperity and tranquility in Kashmir.
I am here to pray for peace," said
Sarfaraz Khan, a local. resident'
dressed as Santa Claus.
48

YOJANA February 2007

Good Morning Kashmir 24/7 Music in Valley

ashmir firs.t radio jockey,
trying to get audiencefor his
24-hour FM station (Big
FM) launched in the state recently.

In the Valley that goes to sleep at

six, the channel, from the Adlabs
Films and the Anil Dhirubhai Group,
may t:ven,mean a lifestyle change.
The station head, Parvez Malik,
says: "For the city which sleeps at six,
now people can rock throughout the
night. There. is hardly any electricity
and radio can be a good option."
Though there are no phone-in
pro~rammes initially, the show
received a 600 SMSes in the first three
houn, of its launch. Another 300
followed in the next few hours.

Stationedin a makeshift studio in the

campus of Radio Kashmir, the station is
functioning from two-room space inside
what looks like a tin container. Three
jockeys and a few engineers will man
the station in the first few months.
Twenty-five-year-old Izhar Rishi,
picked up after auditioining about 300
young men from across the country, is
hosting Big Nun Chai (Kashmiri salt
tea on the lines of Big Chai, the
morning show aired in Big FM's 45
other stations). Rechristened 'Smile
Bhai' after rigourous training in
Ahmedabad by radio trainer Dano
Day from US Rishi says his mission
is to bring. smiles to Kashmidfaces.
The Nun Chai is followed by a

women's programme, with walk-in

guests interacting with an anchor.
Another three hours every evening
will be dedicated to music, also
hosted by female radio jockey. The
rest of the day and throughout the
night, the listeners will either have
pre-recorded programmes of just f1lm
songs, "As we grow the channel is
also growing", says Malik.
While the male jockey is
comfortablewith revealinghis identity,
the female jockeys are not. Sara Khan
(not the real name), a practisinglawyer,
loves talking to people but prefers not
getting her photograph taken. "Just
securityreasons,but you will get to hear
my voice everyday." she says.
0

Srinagar Home to W~r1d's largest Tulip Garden

mid exploding bombs and the
stench of cordite and
trinitroglycerine, the flowers
continued to bloom in Kashmir and in
large numbers. Citizens and lovers of
nature would, perhaps, rejoice alike to
know that Siraj Bagh in Srinagar is
fast emergingas one of the largesttulip
gardens in the world, a site where 2.50
lakh tulips will bloom next spring.

During the last one year, various

steps have been taken to control
encroachment around the gardens and
parks and a full-fledged drive was

Tulips are cultivated in Kashmir

which is the only place in India where
they bloom from March to May in
natural
climatic
conditions ..
.Cultivationof tulips has recently been
':considered an attractive prosposition
:;pyniany farmers in the region who are
:>'shiftingor diversifying to the crop.
launched to maintain the parks and
The tulip garden in Srinagar has gardens efficiently. As a result of a
'beep thrown open to tourists for over record arrival of tourists during the
: the past two years and is still a new months of April, May and June; a
.attraction for visitors and nature lovers revenue of Rs 75 lakh was realised this
year in the shape of tickets to;the
in the Valley.
YOJANA February 2007

famous gardens of Kashmir by the

department."
Saying that the secret behind the
beauty of the "paradise" lies in its
gardens, the Chief Minister Mr
Ghulam Nabi Azad advised officers
concerned to categorise the gardens
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he has already advised school
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Chinar and other trees in their
premises. He also advised officials to
encourage private sector entrepreneurs
dealing with production of flowers to
invest in the state.
0
49

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YOJANA February 2007

Sachar Committee Report

Imtiaz Ahmad

OR A healthy nation it is
necessary that all sections
comprising it should develop
together. If any section of the
society lags behind or is not
able to benefit from development,
policies,
the nation .ought to be
concerned.

social standing is likely to be greatly

influenced by its social ana economic
profile.
If the community
has .a
preponderance of lower social strata, its
position will naturally be considerably
lower: than another community with a
preponderance
of better off social
classes.

. It has been a continuing complaint of

Muslims
that
the
process
of
development witnessed by the country
has by passed them and they were being
left high and dry. The Sachar
Committee was appointed by the Prime
Minister so that an assessment of the
social, educational
and economic
conditions of Muslims in India could
become available.

The Sachar Committee had to look

at all these complexities and come up
with a rounded picture of the socioeconomic condition of Muslims in
contemporary
India. Its report has
broadly concluded that large sections of
Muslims continue to remain deprived
and margnialised and there exists a
strong case for carefully planned
interventions
should seek to ensure
that the dismal picture in respect of
those sections of the community who
continue
to be depressed'
and
disadvantaged,
whether
in
educational or socio-economic terms,
changes.

Muslims are a large and diverse

community and are dispersed in all
parts of the country. Any assessment of
the community's socio-economic and
educational
conditions
of 'the
community has to take cognisance of
this diversity and recognise that its
standing cannot be a function merely of
its religious identity. It is likely to vary
according, to regional
and social
divisions
prevailing
within
the
community. For example, if a region has
not
experienced
economic
development, the entire population of
that region is likely to be depressed and
backward. Likewise, the community's

. There is considerable scope in the

report for it to be read differently by
different people. This is natural because
with respect to Muslims a wide variety
of perceptions and interpretations have
been prevalent over a long time. For
example; the observation of the Sachar
Committee
Report
that Muslim
situation is a little better than that of the
SCs and STs, especially with respect to

educational attainments, is likely to

disturb a whole lot of people who are
prone to thinking that and believing that
Muslims have stood higher than the SCs
and STs and this is sufficient to indicate'
that Muslims have been the target of an
insidious process of discrimination
which the state is obliged to eliminate.
It cannot be denied that as a minority
community Muslims are susceptible to
varying degrees of discrimination.
What the Muslim performance visa-vis the SCs and STs suggests that the
latter's better performance in certain
sectors of life, particularly education, is
not because discrimination against them
has lessened. They are still treated as
untouchables and continue to be far
more
deeply
stigmatised
and
discrimimited against Muslims. What it
suggests is that the SCs and STs have '
been able to take advantage of the
opportunities
which have become
available to them. Clearly, a key
determinant of the increased access
available
to the SCs and STs in
education
and
employment
is
affirmative action, but the bottlenecks .
that the SCs and STs have faced
historically are also far more severe.
Under the circumstances,
a natural
conclusion that sections of Muslims
would draw is that the benefits of
reservation should be extended to them

The author is former Professor, Political Sociology, JNU, New Delhi and has worked on issues relating to Muslims.

YOJANA February 2007

51

to equalise their chances of benefiting

from development processes.

from the same stigma as characterises

the SCs are clubbed along with the
Muslim OBCs. Both justice and fair
play would require that the bar currently
placed on Arzal Muslims, and Dalit
Christians, from enjoying the benefit of
reservation for SCs and STs should be
removed so that they too are entitled to
those benefits. Further, if many more
Muslim OBC groups have become
marginalis~d or continue to be deprived
of developmental benefits, they can be
put on the Schedule of OBCs. This will
ensure that they have increased access
to development
benefits., For other
groups of Muslims, many of whom may
be deprived or bereft of the benefits of
development to the same extent as
others, the necessary condition would
be to exert better. At the same time, as
the report indeed makes a forceful plea,
the' state should ensure through.
appropriate
public
policies
that
prejudice, discrimination and sense of
grievance which act as dampers to
groups entitled to equal opportunity ate
removed.

Perhaps the most relevant part of the

report is the discussion of the internal
divisions that have been historically
prevalent within the Muslim community
in India. While the myth of the Muslim
minority-the
idea that all Muslims are
one and there are no social distinctions
within them-has
been a dominant
feature of the discourse about Muslims,
they have always been divided within
along the axes of caste or caste-like
groupings (often described as zats or
biradaris) and social assets. Following
earlier sociological writings, the report
has discussed Muslims in terms of
Ashraf (upper or noble born), Ajlaf
(converts from artisan and menial
castes) and A{zal (lowly) and shows,
though not in substantial detail, that
differential performance
as well as
access to developmental'benefits
is
closely associated with location in terms
of these axes. In other words, the Ashraf
are more generally advantaged, the
Ajlaf are substantially deprived and the
Arzal are extremely marginalised. This
On the whole, while the findings of.
finding of the report has a direct bearing
the Sachar Committee are significant
on the assessment
of the social,
and ought to be acted upon, the
educational and economic standing of the methodology
followed
by the
community and the interventions required Committee has brought to the fore
addrel"sing Muslim marginalisation.
several substantive questions which
deserve careful consideration. If those
Affirmative action is one effective
questions are not clarified and settled,
instrument of in"creasing access to there is serious risk that the debate on
developmental benefits and promoting
the report in the days ahead would be
equity. One question raised by the
caught
up in the quagmire
of
Sachar Committee report is whether
unwarranted communalism.
affirmative action should be extended to
the community as a whole, which elite
One question relates to the principle
Muslim classes will definitely welcome,
of comparison across communities.
or whether it should be limited to those
What principle was available to the
sections
that
have
remained
Committee to decide that there was a
disadvantaged and marginalised as a need to look at differentials across
-result of their overall weak economic
communities?
Should one not have
and social position. On this question the moved beyond to the specificities of
. Committee's perspective is ambiguous.
those sections and families among
Fortunately in the case of l\1uslims
Muslims that display similar levels and
affirmative action is already provided to those that are disparate? Success or
those sl?ctions that are classified as failure, and more particularly levels of
backward classes. One anomaly is that socio-economic development achieved,
Arzal Muslims, whose social situation
is a function not merely of, to use the
is similar to the SCs and who suffer
language of the Committee, the SRC

52

(Socio-Religious Community) to which

one belongs. It is also a function of the
assets and resources that a group or
family is able to mobilise as it seeks
socio-economic advancement. Those
endowed with similar or comparable
assets are more likely to achieve a
similar
level of socio-economic
advancement. If the data showed that
despite access to assets and resources
sections within Muslims performed
differently, then there would be cause
for worry. This question is pertinent
because a serious perceptual issue is
involved
here. It is whether the
differentials that characterise Muslims
and other SRCs are a function of
religion and ethno-religious identity or
of other tangible and not so tangible
factors. In other words, if it is held that
the differentialS are a function of ethnoreligious identity then nothing short of
isolating Muslims and treating them
aside from others would be the way of
ameliorating their condition. On the
other hand, if it is held that socioeconomic
advancement
is less a
function of ethno-religious identity and
more an issue of assets and resources,
then obviously the emphasis would
have to be shifted to the creation of
assets through ge.neral economic
development rather than isolating one
SRC for amelioration.
The second question relates to the
principle
of
proportionate
representation in the different sectors of
life such as economy, politics and
education .. One line of reasoning that
has dominated the discourse of wellbeing of Muslims is that they should be
represented
to the extent of their
proportion
in the population.
The
Sachar Committee report has invoked
this principle time and again in making
its assessment of the relative postionof
Muslims in the different sectors of
- social and economic life. Where does
this pnnciple come from? There was a
time in Indian politics when the
principle of parity was widely espoused
and propagated
and distributive
advantages were demanded in terms of
population proportions .. It was on this
YOJANA February 2007

, .

State is secular but the society has been

constitutional
directions sought to
both
communal and communitarian.
restrict, if not reduce or eliminate, those
.
Under
such conditions the possibilities
advantages by restricting property rights
of
the
dominant
sections holding back
and exclusive privileges. At the same
others
or
blocking
their life chances
time, the legislations sought to create a
The Constitution of India attempted
framework to equalise life chances' for cannot be denied.
to override this principle by making
So far as such blockages exist, the
everyone irrespective of considerations
equity and equality of opportunity
State is, and can be made, liable to
of social affiliation. At least in some
rather tl~anparity to be the guiding basis
remove them. The State can be made to
cases,
the principle
of reverse
of national life. According to this
fulfil that liability both by political.
discrimination was also adopted where
constitutional principle, the State's role
pressures and legal action. On.e has
it seemed that without such reverse.
is not to ensure that all communities
discrimination life chances would not reason to believe that the Prime
should be represented in the different
Minister was led to constitute
the
be equalised.
sectors of public life in proportion to
Sachar Committee to explore whether
their share in the population but rather
such blockages existed in the case of
It is possible that during the past
that all communities should have equal
Muslims in view of the persistent
sixty years the practices of the State
opportunity to develop and advance
have not been true to the letter and spirit Muslim complaint that they were not
even though currently they might have
getting a fair deal. Such of the
of the Constitution due to which the
differential assets and advantages.
conclusions and recommendations
of
equality
of life chances has not
the Committee that suggest that such
materialised
for
some
communities.
The Constitution recognised even as
blockages exist should be addressed. At
Musliins may be one such community.
it procJlaimed equality that communities
the same time, the publication of the
It
is
also
possible
that
certain
(SRCs in the language of the Sachar
report cannot be converted into an
communities
which
have
had
a
greater
Committee's report) have historically
occasion to relapse back into amindset
hold
over
the
structure
of
the
State
have
had. differential advantages leading up
where parity rather than equity and
deliberately
blocked
life
chances
for
to the persistence of gross inequalities
equality of opportunity is made the core
certain
others.
One
of
the
dilemmas
of
in real life. Up to a point the legislations
of public demands.
0
the
Indian
society
has
been
that
the
passed under the direction
of the

principle that polit~cs became a zerosum game in which every gain for one
. community was seen as a loss by
another community.

Awards for Outstanding Wome.oi3anchayatLeacJers

the Institute of Social Sciences invitesn<;>rninationsf?r9u~st~llding
wp!1"!nPanchayat Leaders to JecognjseWO!T'7n.~anchayat
representatiyes'
.~?~trit)Utionto public life and developmentofth~Jrl?~n~hayats;The~vvardswiU
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(~.Ie,~r~liol1sin Delhi on 24Apri'2007.T~e\1~~''!}~?!.20?7celepration~isHll1
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eontact Dr. Bidyut Mohantyatthelnstitut~.9f\Social SCiencesfbrdetails.

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Tel: (91)11-26121902, 2612J999,;g6895370
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E-mail: issnd@vsnLcom;:

>YOJANA February 2007

53

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Vol. 1:Experiences and Reflections on PRA &
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81-7022-664-0 Rs. 200
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YOJANA February 2007

Community Radio Run by

-Dalit Women
1

. V Balakrishna

EADY...
Taking ...
Cue ... ' One village
woman
is
giving
instructions
from the
control room.
Some other viUage women in the
studio started singing.
The programme is recorded, and it
is broadcast.
This is not a scene in All India
Radio, Hyderabad. This is a scene in a
'community radio station iIi a remote
village
called
Machnoor
of
Jharasangham
MandaI in' Medak
District, a backward area in Andhra
Pradesh. Here two Dalit women, one
Narsamma is from Pastapoor village
and the other N arsamma is from
Alugolu
village,
are running
a
Community Radio Station. Since both
their names are similar, their village
names have become their identity. They
have studied only up to 10th standard
and they did not know what is
broadcasting and how it is. But now
they are experts in recording, editing,
dubbing,
mixing,
all the latest
techniques of broadcasting including
announcements.
All this happened with the help of
local NGO called Deccan Development
Society (DDS) which is involved in
Rural Development Programmes, like
women empowerment,
s~lf help

groups, agriculture. etc. They helped

these women with financial 'assistance
from the UNESCO in setting up a
studio, equipment like recorders,
mixers, editing suits etc. An FM
transmitter is also set up which will
cover a radius of 30 km around
Machnoor and cater signal' to more
than 100 villages.
If one woman remains in the station,
the other goes with her UPTR (Ultra
Portab1e'Tape Recorder) to the villages
and records interviews and talks of
experts in the villages. The subjects
vary from women issue~, child
development, health, social problems,
agriculture,
pest
management,
watershed development, drinking water,
Iiutrition, child labour, and all other
issues related to the villages. They are
empowering villages by conducting
plays, stories, songs etc. They have
credited 500 hours of recordings so

far in seven years. Since

their station do not have a
license
to
air
the
programmes they take the
recordings to the villages
and play them in the public
address system and also in '
their group meetings. Since
the Government of India
,has taken a decision to
gi ve licenses
to the
community radio stations
through out the country,
their station will be the first one to
get the license and they can broadcast
the programmes.,
'Initially, people were not willing to
hear our programmes, when they came
to know how useful they are, they
started showing interest' says General
Narsamma, who got the title 'General'
as leader of a children group earlier.
'We have already provided at least
one FM receiver in each village and
now we are concentrating on providing
an FM receiver to each of our
community member in all the 75
villages, as we are going to get license
to air the programmes' says Mr Suresh
Kumar, Deputy Director, DDS.
To know about what these Dalit
women
are presenting
on the
Community Radio, one has to log on to
www.ddsindia.com.
0

The author is Editor, Yojana (Telugu), Hyderabad.

YOJANA February 2007

55

Mid- Year Economic Review 2006-07

Reforms Must to Keep

Growth Buoyant
o FULLSTOPS in India's role in accelerating economic growth
growth story. Manufacturing
with foreign direct investment (FDI)
is resurgent services going
buoyancy pushing up net capital inflows
strong, revenue collection . to $ 12.5 billion du~ing April-June as
buoyant, Inflation under
compared to $ 7.7 billion during the
, control, exports jumping 37.3 per cent, first quarter of the previous fiscal.
foreign investment flows strong and no E~ports were also strong at $ 69.5
over heating of the economy'
billion during April-October.

To step up the gas further,

the
government now plants to prune tax

The report has called for caution to

ensure that macroeconomic stability as
this was key to promoting investment
and growth. "Indeed there is need for
continuous caution in maintaining
macroeconomic stability to support the
pick up in investment and growth on an

exemptions, reforms the regulatory

system for pension, insurance sectors;
and revamp delivery of subsidies by
introducing food stamps and smart
cards.

enduring basis. This is particularly so In

the current conjuncture
with large
global macroeconornic imbalances and
uncertainty in currency markets," the
review said.

The finance ministry's and mid-year

review of the economy calls for reforms
in labour laws, deregulation of mining
and steps to boos! agriculture. Irritants
like lack of adequate power generation
linger, but the big sectors projects the
economy racing in the right direction.

The pointers frbm the reviewtabled in Parliament-for

the 2007
Budget include reforms in labour laws,
deregulating of mining and regulatory
reforms for 'the pension as well as
insurance sectors. Adequate emphasis
has been placed to stress on the ~needto
open up mining further and encourage
market forces to usher in more

Simply put, you can get ready to

uncork the bubbly to celebrate unprecedented economic growth during
2006-07 though agriculture
is not
keeping pace with,the overall buoyancy.

FM's Review
calls for reforms
in Labour JAws,
deregulation of
Mining & steps
to boost
Agriculture
56

The external sector has played a key

YOJANA February 2007

momentum into the financial sector. In

the

case

of

mining,

lh~

'report

emphasises on the unfinished agenda of

reduction and monetary tightening to

the buoyant

.brin'g inflation under control.

conditions
in.the
exchange
rate
market of the rupee, indicate
that
there need not. be a cause for

Furthermore"
the lI}oderation of
,internatio'nal
ptices"
of ,crude'
0

further reforms.

',;

stock market and stable

immediate
worty,
the
report
has also tJroughtsome,
, ''
,
Part of the optim,ism i~ based on petroleum
.
".
,. ~indicat~d.
the fact that roblist economic' growth, " n~liei On the expectations front:' th~' "
The review pointed out that a large'
report,' said.
with GDP growth touching'9.1
per
part 'of the current problems
of
cent was based -on resurgence
in
The review highlighted that though
inflation is induced by commoditymanufacturing
which grew by 10.9
it seems unlikely that the current
specific' supply problems related to
per cent and the vibrant services
deficit ,is a cause for alarlI}; there is 'products
's~fh as wheat and pulses.
sector that expanded by '10:7 per
need for continuous
caution' in
"A durable solution to the price rise
cent.
maintaining macroeconomic stability
problems
has to be found
in
to
support
the
pick
up
in
investment
On overheating,
the finance
increasing yields and domestic output
and growth on an enduring basis.
ministry
reels that the concerns
of such products. Simultaneously,
"This is particularly so in the current
expressed by some sections waS due
ma~roeconomic policy response has
conjuncture
with
large
global
to a combination of high economic
to be prospective
rather
than
growth

and slow

creeping

up of

inflation in manufactured
products.
The review has, however, clearly,
rul~d out any need for alatm,~t this.
state. The on'ly area of c~n~~rn
highlighted
disappointing

by the report
performance

is the
ofihe

agricultural sector which grew by just

2.6 per cent in the first sixmontbs of
current financial year. The minimum
support price (MSP) mechanism has
not delivered the desired results and
faired to discover the market price"
the finance ministry feels. "There is
a need for a clear separation of price
support to farmers and procurement
by the states, on the one hand and
subsidy to 'the poor citizens on the
other."
On infrastructure,
the finance
ministry's view is that users should
pay
for
services.
Projecting
investment need for the 11th five year
plan period at $ 320 billion,
the
review,
has cited
shortage
of
electridty,and
water supply as key
areas of concern.
Faced with some upward pressure
on inflation, the ,government and the
RBI have already initiated measures
such as supply management,
duty
YOJANA February 2007

macroeconomic

imbalances

and

retrospective",

the review said.

"If investment
continues
to be
buoyant and efficiency improves, the
lilbour ,reforms to push growth

primed

Tax exemptions, to be

problem of, overheating may tum out

to be less real and more imaginary,"
said the report. Attributing
rising
'inflation to supply side constraints

Efu-lyse~~gup~find~pendent
regulatory; system$ ..for.insl:!rance,
p~nsionslX:tors,

besides rapid rise inctedit

growth
and money supply, finance minister
P Chidambaram said the government

,Fine-:tunirig ofsuQsidies

R~form?fthe r~~~lat9ry systems

f9r mining sector"

will

take

pre-emptive

action

to

contain rising prices.

uncertainty

in currency

markets,"

It

said.
The ,Committee on Fuller Capital
Account
Convertibility
(2006)
indic'ated
that a current account
deficit to GDP ratio of 3 per cent
could be comfortably financed and
need for' policy action would arise if
the ratio rises substantiaIfy above 3
per cent.
. The Plamiing Commission.,

in the

Approach Paper ,to Eleventh Five

Year Plan, appears to confirm this
diagnosis, the report said. Also the
changing 'composition
of 'demand,
which
indicates
addition
to
production
capacity
to support a
higher growth rate of the economy,

"We have
to be ahe,ad of
developments
and take pre-emptive
action, rather than fall back and take
corrective action." Chidambaram said it
was too early to say whether
inflationary expectations have come
down.
The wholesale prices-based

annual'

inflation rate declined to 5.16 per cent

for the week ended Decemoer 2 from
530 per cent and 5.45 per cent in the
two previous weeks, .following
a
reducation in prices, ()f petrol and disesl.
Inflation' accelerted from 4.1 per
cent at end-March 2006 to 5.5 per
cent on June 17 and again on 18
November.
(Compiled

oy

Editorial

Team, Yojana.)

57

"

":.

"~

~ ~~mv=rfq-~~

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND ADMINISTRATION

(Declared by the GOI under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956)
, 17-B, Sri Aurobindo Marg, Neyv Delhi 110016, INDIA

w~bsite:www.nuepa.org

Admission"to M. Phil. & Ph. D. Programmes, 2007-08

The National University of Educational Planning and
Administration (NUEPA), fully maintained by the Ministry of
'Human Resource D~velopment, Government of India, is a
premier organization of its kind in South Asia engaged in
research and training in planning and administration of all
stages of education,

2 years of experience, are also eligible for. the part-time

Ph. D. Programme.
The National University will follow all mandatory provisions of
the reservation policy of the Government of India.

How to Apply

Candidates may" apply in the prescribed form, separately

NUEPA offers full-time M. Phil. Programme and both
available for M. Phil. andPh. D. Programmes; along with three
full-time and part-time Ph. D. Programmes in
copies of the brief write-up on the proposed research topic (in
educational policy, planning, finance and administration fromE.
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broader inter-disciplinary social science perspective. The
the broad framework of educational policy, planning and,
focus areas of research cover school education, higher
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education, inclusive education, constitutional rights and law, - research proposed to be pursued, the write-up may also be used
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by the University as one of the parameters for initial shortl isting
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of candidate. The Application Form and the Prospectus can
either be downloaded from our website: www.JI1uepa.orgor
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obtained through a request along with a demand draft of
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Rs. 100/- in favour of the Registrar, NUEPA, payable at New
programme shall have a minimum of 55% marks (50% for
Delhi & addressed to the Registrar, NUEPA, 17-8, Sri
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Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110016.
in Education, Social Sciences, Sciences, Commerce,
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screening through which the University will assess the general
Master's level are also eligible to apply. However, they have to
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submit the proof of having qualified in the examination latest
comprehension of research literature and ability to interpret data
by 31st May, 2007 as their s.election for admission to
and draw inferences.
M. Phil/Ph.D Programme will be subject to the abovementioned eligibil ity conditions.
Fellowships
The NETqualified candidates, who have been awarded Junior
NUEPA offers up to 10 Fellowships each fm its M. Phil.
Research Fellowships by the UGC-CSIR, with the aboveand full-time Ph. D. Programme as perthe UGCnorms.
mentioned educational qualifications can also apply.
In addition, the part-time candidates for Ph. D.
Last Date of Application
Programme should have at least two years of
Application complete in all respect should reach the Registrar
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58

YOJANA February 2007

>w

Harnessing Collective Thinking. Power

.Interview with' M S Swaminathan
responsible
bib-technology
which
will help to understand both ri~k and
benefits in a Very objective manner.
Three years back a committee which
I chaired recommended
a national
bio-technology
and regulatory
and so on.
authority
which
could .be an
autonomous body which will inspire
public confidence; media confidence,
political confidence,.
professional
confidence.
The sooner we have a
mechanism' the better, otherwise we
ADS: There was a lot of euphoria cif the
have to think about fourdiffere~t
green revolution, people thought, our
issues. One, is the safety of the'
production problems are solved, so
environment, and then the safety of
investment on irrigation, investment on
consumer. What we eat should not
extension, investments on research
cause us harm. Then safety of any
everything
went down and we are
'new problem that arises, like new
reaping the cost of those wrong
diseases what we called bio security
decisions.
and finally trade security. The recent
concern particularly in Haryana was
more from traders than environmentalist.
Traders felt that if European countries
know that we have genetically modified
rice, they will not import from us. At the
moment
we are exporting
both
basmatiand non-bas mati rice about 4
to 5 million tonnes a very large
ADS: There
are concerns
and
amount we export. Today, Europe
misapprehensions
some of them
does not permit to export. So in my
valid, and some of them inadequate'
knowledge what is important for us is report I have mentioned we should
look at trade security, we shall look
to develop a mechanism,
liberated
at bio safety and bio security we
mechanism
which will promote

suicides - why is it happening, why

is it persisting, why is it not going
down, why has itgone.down in some
areas and not in other places, wbat
are the reasons, how to deal with it
ADS: Yojana hqs been a very important
source of both information and also
policy analysis and policy direction and
I hope, as the word Yojana reminds us,
it is very important for us now to give
our own thinking to our own problems,
and not be carried away by what others
say, what others think. We should apply
our minds to our own problems; our
own' people will find solutions, local
solutions and Yojana must emphasise
the need for harn.essing the .collective
thinking power of our country through
the effective use of Panchayat Raj
Institutions.

ADS: Very important. In a country

where 70 per cent of the people are
in agriculture, it is high time, we gave
importance
to agriculture
and
therefore,
Yojana as an authentic
body, can bring ab,out information,
for example, even suicides. Farmers'

Prof M S Swaminathan is Chairman, National Commission on Farmers. The interviewer is I. Vijayan, Editor, Yojana (Tamil), Chennai,

YO.J~A

February 2007

59

should environment

safety about the

consumers
the man who eats the
same. So.all these matters. need to be
analyzed carefully by a professional
body. Even the Hon'b1e Supreme
Court
of India
have recently
expressed
our concern about the
regulatory . mechanism.
As I said
,
objl?ctive mechanism is one, which
will weigh the risk carefully which
will also weigh the benefit carefully
and then come to a conclusion.
"

the

'Qnes:/:What
is
genltral,
'llPprehell$ion l;)ftheo~famte,rs'l'
Ans: Ordinary farmer wants income
security and crops security, he doesn't
care whether the variety he grows is
hybrid or something which came from
genetic modifications. He looks at the
product and grows it. If he grows it for
one year and doesn't getmore yield or
if the crop is not more resis~t or if the
quality is not good he will not next year.

In our country we cannot force a farmer.

There are 150 million farming families
all making their own decisions because
the land is individually owned, it is not .
owned by the Government. Therefore,
we can mislead the farmer may be for Ans: Talking about the dry farming areas,
one year, but second year you cannot . say in Tamil Nadu, there is a rain for a .
year the next year there is no rain, or
mislead. So farmer grows a crop with
there
might be heavy.rain resulting in
the hope of net income per hectare, not
flood. As result the farmer might not
by net yield, if he has got higher income
have a good yield. In addition he has to
he will go for that and that's why more
take loan to buy seed. In view of the
income per drop of water movement is
above he is given 4 to 5 years time to
being started on June 1, 2007. It repay his crop loan. When the World
emphasises on how to increase the
Bank gives 40 years time to repay the
income for farmers, because today
loan taken by our country, how can one
farming has become uneconomic. And
expect a farmer to repay his dues within
a year or one season with poor yield or
extreme steps are suicide of the farmers.
harvest.
Therefore
we must look at the
economics of farming. We should look
at the income of the farmer in fact the
national
commission
on farmers
recommended
agricultural
growth
should be given by the growth rate in Ans: Yes. The Commission
has
. farmers income and not just production
recommended to reduce the ,crop loan
alone.
from 7 to 4 per cent.
0

verYfiv~.~ute&:~Iqdi8.n
......... . frQ.ln., '. CQ ...jID.......Pl~ ...ca.'.ti\)
... .*....
'n
....
s.....l ......-;~.l....li
X
.' pregnancy an,8 chij~birthr . '.'
'\lP tQ approxi~atel~ 1.~',OOOW(l'
;deaths perfyear',:l!hese.ateilhe~dings
the latestrepot1\by 1JNIC~ onmatern
health in llidia./ ~ .. +.
'
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India'sMat~maf
Mo~alityJitio
'
- .,~",
'>.'_ ~'i"<,,:';::. -:."
- ,.,,;
~)
ha}been,seen;tobetashf~as\~.
maternal death~per'J,
live
[lbout'fouritime;.bighe.r
th~.
POPUlation:;PoJic~(NlfJ?),+.. g~alp~:~"
per 1,()O,~ Iive'~~irthl; &f

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~,

!i

A~rding'
to.the
~msl:a
"':,:'
__
.' " --:,
' ,',~:,,-::~'w:'
yMadhya P1;ade~~;and,. .!Prid
MMRisa~bigh' as~OO{}I:.~
Assam. .,~ihar~ G~jar;i; ..J;lary~a
kamatalm;OriS~a, ~jastlan~!1d l'!e~
Bengal it~~ceeijs 4ope~fl,~.~~iy
l>irths:lt ~as.'fo;md .iliatover th~las('Siit'.~
tear!lthe~ehas
been "np Signifi~:tnt:~;:
r,eduetion"in theMMR. ...~../s::..
"0
._,0"

t:-

:,~:>-

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'-:,~::,:. _ 'j::'

'_::~:.'

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"The MMR in India of\378materhal'~

(leaths per,.i,oO,!)OOliveB.ft.ths.ili:l~;"t
/

60

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k:;~

YOJANA February ~007

'"

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.j;::

'" ISSUES'

\N"omen" and 'Pla~ns

Devaki Jain

"NE OF the first countries to

make serious efforts to
bring
in
women's
viewpoints and perspective
on development planning
was India.

Unless the entire

range of
facilitators of
women's
",empowerment
come together, the
new wagon will
"move along
without women
,

While in the fIrst few plans, the issue

addressed
was din:cted
towards,
"redeveloping",
the / country,
strengthenillg-its capacity to produce
, and be self suffiCient By the time of the
6th plan the momentum and the interest
in bringing a speCifIc concern namely,
dealing with women, simulated the
Planmng Commission at that time, to
bring a chapter on women. At this time,
since the major interest in India was,
towards employing the unemployed, the
chapter
was
called
"Women's
Employment"
and not a chapter on
, Women and Development or Gender as
it is now called.
There is a message in that attempt as
it includes women in an important
perspective
of planning,
nam'ely
employment, which still is a burning
issue for women, who are in the lower
incoqle deciles, in India.
In preparIng the 'II

th

plan, many of

the issues that were raised by the fIrst

meeting of the Steering Committee
reflected the gains and the inadequacies
of the location of women in the plans
over the last four plans. There was a
critical appraisal., The critical appraisal
was strengthened
by the mid-term
appraisal of the 10th plan on the subject
namely Chapter 4, which actually
revealed
clues for the Steering
Committee to take note of.
Even if planning for women is
changed to planning with women, there
are many dilemmas and challenges in
building a chapter into any fIve year
plan which aims to include women and
Children as a special category within
the planning process.
The Steering Committee meeting
mentioned
above
revealed
the
challenges, dilemmas and problems of
bringing women as an identity into
public policy. The problems are not
merely the fact that the, category )Vomen
is not homogeneous - and that they are
scattered across class, caste, religion,
location, etc., and thereby cannot be
bundled into one identity. The problem
is that they are engaged in every aspect
of the political economy - every sector,

~-

1ibe 'auth?r is a noted development economist.

,YOJANA February 2007

61

,(

every programme either as subjects or

objects and therefore to capture their
presence in one chapter trivializes
their position in the Indian political
economy.
In fact, in this particular exercise of
engaging with women in planning or
designing or drawing up a five year
-plan, the women identity is legitimate
and necessary. It need liot be broken up
into conventional strata, just as tli.edalit
or the minority identity has the value in
the whole, apart from in the parts.
Attempts to do a chapter on women
in the five year plan, tend to get driven
by what is 'called the Ministry of
Women
and Child,
formerly
a
department, which has the historical
evolution of being a funding agency
with a plethora of schemes. These
schemes range from attempts
to
improve the economic capacity of
women to the usual social amenities and
services, but bundles specially for
women or a separate fund kept for
women within allocation called the
component plan. Thus, the women
chapter further marginalises women,
which really makes women into basket
case.
The difficulties
approach are-

with

such

an

The schemes meant for women don't

recognize the central role that women
may be playing or the marginalization
they may be experiencing i'n sectors
where they both earn their livelihood as
well as provide to the domestic
products.
For example in agriculture ; Rural
women workers in agriculture
are
linked to informal work status on the
one hand and with marginal worker
status on the other.
64 per cent of the total informal
sector workforce
depends
on
agriculture.
38 per cent of all agricultural
workers are women.

Of all agricultural workers, 99.4 per

cent work in the informal sector.'
53 per cent of all male workers are
in agriculture
75 per cent of all female workers are
in agriculture

85 per cent of all rural female

workers are in agriculture

increase in pressure of poverty is

experienced by women to such a great
extent that they are now doing short
term and long term migration with all
the hardships of migrati9n. Recent
stories how girls are married quickly
even at the age of 14 or 15 since
contract laborers in other states want
couples is a particular example but there
is female adult migration in large
numbers.

For women this percentage has

declined iess than four points since
Another example in from tiny
1972-73. An estimated 20% of rural
households are de facto female- . enterprise; Millions of women are what
headed due to widowhood
and . can be called owners of tiny enterprise,
desertion, or because of male out- - which are being gobbled up by the new
MART mode.
migration. These women are often
managing agriculture and providing
It is well known that women are
family subsistence with little male
amongst the poorest of the poor. The
assistance, but without titles to or
majority of those who are HIV AIDS
control over the land they are
victims, most malnourished and we also
cultivating.
know that the infant mortaIity rate has
Yet as it is shown in the table below
been increasing and so too maternal
they are the majority of the workers
mortality in the last few years while the
in many critical processes or steps in economy is growing at a fast -rate.
agriculture~
Simultaneously, there are immense
Share of WOOlen in Agricultural
changes
in
the
institutional
Operations
arrangements being made for delivery
of devel,opment especially to the less
Activity
Involvement
privileged section of society. Central
(Percentage)
schemes are being gradually liquefied
and an increasing percentage of funds
are being given as untied funds at the
local level. Gram panchayats are being'
empowered and while women may have
a quota of seats in them, unless the
entire range of facilitators of women's
empowerment
from
government
machineries
for women such as.
Department
of Women. and Child,
Women Study Centers,
Women's
For example women are deeply
Movement, the Central Social Welfare
engaged as labour in con~truction and Board, come together to strengthen
construction is one of the major source
capacity at the local level for women to
of employment next to agriculture.
deal with their interest and ideas for
Since their skills are not upgraded to development, the new wagon will move
respond to the current construction
along without women. \
needs they are again left in the lowest
Thus, it is much better that instead
paid most vulnerable positions.
of trying to assess the current schemes
The increasing inequality and the
operating on behalf of poor women and
I

62
YOJANA February 2007

the allocation of fund for them or even

reserving funds for women in sectors,
a presentation is made which is more
like mapping, seeing the Indian map
with the faces of women, where are they
located in the productive sectors, where
are they being immiserised,what are the
kinds of trends that are emerging as a
resul.t of some of the matro-policy
initiatives that are being taken, where
. are livelihood~ getting increased, where
lost.
Thus, the women chapter further
marginalizes women and the women's
ministry is the basket; which really
makes women into basket cases.
Nothing exposes the disjunction
between the percentage growth and the
ground level, as well as the profile of
or the face of the less privileged classes
be it by class, caste or minority. So, it
is important to do a data map from
which the rest of the plan can derive,
with response, rather' than try to draw
more money to be delivered through
more schemes.
Thl~ Chapters could be designed as
follows:
FiIrst Section,
which gives the
historical
evolution
of ideas for
integrating women in development
planning at both the national and some
state level experiences.
. We could mention how the fIrst time
women were brought into the sixth plan,
it was a chapter
on women's
employment
and the contribution
women wer~ making in the different
sectors of. the economy and thereby
drew attention to the needs to strengthen
women's livelihoods and women as
worker, not only a target of social
welfare.
S~~condSection, which gives
Mapping of data
India's women with special reference
to those in poverty. The face of the
Indian women.
YOJANA February 2007

Third Section, The action where do

we go? Women's footprints on the
Indian development
plan - how do
women want to receive development
assistance. How do they want to design
development
planning
and
implementation? Here, we could draw
ideas from regions.
We are fortunate that we have a midterm appraisal chapter which tells us
that all is not well with the strategies
that we have followed in bringing more
attention to women's role in planning
for development. Thus, we can use the
MTA's own commentary,
as it is
government's own assessment of the
past.
What we need to do this time is to
visiblise'
women, visualise
them
through;

data, through the knowledge that

they have provided, through the
difficulties of institutional support
for them.

regarding funds, the funds should be

to provide enabling hands to _let
women be there .own agents. Thus,
the women's machinery
should
become only an advocacy tool.
Women's organizations and Women
Study Centers would provide the
enabling hands but there is no
scheme at all to support themJ

We should pick up on the ideas that

come from and for NREG Scheme.
For e.g., Himachal Pradesh had an.
idea that they would want to have a
building for the anganwadi and for
children toilets. This could be
funded as an NREG Scheme and it
would immediately benefIt women.
.We should visualise issues in relation
to minorities and dalits and find
ways in which their concerns are
expressed. Thus, there could, be
commissions
which' focus on
discrimination of women, including
agencies set up for SCs & STs or.
minorities. Just as the Commission
on unorganized labor, we should
have a Commission .on the impact of
discrimination or we bring it in a
very
big
issue
into
the
Administrative.
Reforms
Commission.
In strategies,
we need to have
working groups within steering
committees
and those working
groups would be to discuss how
women matter.
There is much to be learnt from the
past experience, on what NOT to do.
Further, there is enormous value added
if a plan takes into consideration the
perspectives provided by the location of
social groups like women, minorities
dalits into their full consideration,
instead of seeing them as victims, or
patients as Prof Amartya Sen has sajd
in one of his lectures, I quote:

The idea of doing gender budgeting

and child budgeting
should be
dropped as indeed this is in some
"We need a vision of mankind not as
sense plugging into what is on and _ patients whose interests have to pe
what is on is certainly not been
looked after, but as agents who can da
enabling.
effective things-both
individually and
jointly. We also have to ga beyond the
Instead of that we cauld ga into what role .of human beings specifica11y as
'cansumers' or as 'peaple with needs',
we can be called Fiscal Palicy
and consider,
more braadly, their
advise. Should government raise
money through sale of arrack, or general role as agents .of change who
can - given the oppartunity - think,
other sources, by pointing aut that
assess, evaluate,
resolve, inspire,
. . liquor and arrack in the village has
means,
absalutely hurt the well being of agitate, arid thraugh'these
reshape
the
warld".
0
families.
63

Do You Know?

What is the Budget ?

udget is also called the Annual parliamentary approval for payment What are Demand for. Grants ?
Financial Statement. This is , from the Public Account is not required.
This the form in which estimates of
the main budget document. .
expenditure
included in the Annual
Under article 112 of the Constitution, What is Revenu~ Budget?
Financial Statementand required to be
a statement of estimated.receipts and
This consists of the revenue receipts
voted in the Lok Sabha are submitted.
expenditure of the government of of the government (tax revenues and
Generally one demand for grant is
India has to be laid before Parliament other revenues)and the expendituremet
presented in respect of each ministry
for every financialyear. This statement from these revenues. Tax revenues
or department. However for large
shows the receipts and payments of comprise proceeds of taxes and other
ministries and departments more than
Government under the three parts in duties levied by the Union. Other
one demand is presented.
which Government" accounts are revenues are receipts of the government
'kept:
(1) Consolidated
Fund mainly consisting of ,interest and What is Finance Bill?
(2) Contingency Fund and (3) Public dividend on investments made by
The proposals of government for
Account.
government fees lUldreceipts for other
levy of new taxes, modification of the
services rendered by the government.
What is Consolidated Fund,?
Revenue Expenditureis expenditure for existing tax structure beyond the
period approved by Parliament are
All revenues by the government, the normal running of government
submitted to Parliament through' this
loans raised by it, and also itneceipts
departments and various services,
bill.
from recoveries of loans granted by it;: , interest charges on debt incurred by
form the Consolidated Fund. All government, subsidies and so on. what is Performance Bndget?
expenditure of the government is Broadly speakiI;lg,expenditure which
This is the budget of the ministry
incurred from the Consolidated Fund does not result in the creation of assets
in terms of functions, programmes
and no amount can be withdrawnfrom is treated as revenue expenditure. All
and activities and gives appraisal,
the Fund without authorisation from grants given to state governments and
reports separately in respect of
Parliament.
other parties are also treated as revenue
major central sector .projectsl
expenditure even though. some of the
programmes estimated to cost
What is Contingency Fund?
grants may be for creation of assets.
Rs 100 crore or more.
As the name suggests this funds is
What is CapiW Budget? '
placed at the disposal of the President
What are Appropriation BiDs?
This consi~tsof capital receipts and
to enable the government to meet
After the Demands for Grants are
payments. It also incorporates
urgent unforeseen. expenditure
voted by the Lok Sabha, Parliament's
transactions in the Public Account.
pending
autno:risationfrom
approval to the wit4drawal from the
Parliament
Capital receipts are loans raised by
Consolidated Fund of the amounts so
government from the public which are
voted and the amount to meet the
What is Public Account?
called market loans, borrowings by
expenditure
charged
on the
Besides the normal receipts and government from Reserve Bank and Consolidated Fund is sought through
expenditure of the government which other parties through sale of Treasury the Appropriation bill.
relates to the Consolidated Fund, Bills, loans received from foreign
certain other transactions entel,' bodies and governments and reCoveries What the Budget Deficit?
government acc.ounts in respect of of loans granted by Central government
The difference between revenue ,
which government acts more as a to state and Union territory
receipts plus non-debt capital receipts
governments and other parties.
banker, for example, transactions
on one side and total expenditure
relating to provident funds, small
Capital payments consists of capital including loans, net of repayments, on
savings collections, other deposits, expenditure Onacquisitionof assets like the other side. In othl~rwprds, this is
etc. The money thus received is kept land, buildings, machinery, equipment, the budget deficit plus borrowings
in the Public Account. As the money, as also investments in shares, loans and and other liabilities.
generally speaking, does not belong to advancesgranted by centralgovernment
What is PrimaryDetic1t ?
government and h~ to be paid back to state and union, territory
some time or the other to the persons governments, g0'femment. pompanies,
This is fiscal deficiturlnu$ interest
and authorities who deposited it, corporations and,othel,'p~e~. :
payments.
Q
64

.',' YOJA.,NA;February-;W07

Do You Know?
'he Union government will be
paying as much as Rs. 1.34
. . lakli crore as int~rest during
2005-06. An amount large enough to
build
27,00,000
medium-size
housecosting Rs. 5 lakh each, or 500
new schools in each district of the .
~ountlY. Unfortunately,funds of such .
magnitude go down the drain in the
form of interest payment each year.
Interest payment is nothing but a
reflectionof debts accumulated by the
govemme!lt .over the years for
bridgl;ng deficit. Successive finance
ministers have tried, without success,
to .bridge the growing revenueexpenditure chasm. Finance miniter P.
Chidambaram too will endeavour to
. contain deficit in IJudgetfor 2007-08
at various kinds of deficits and their
implicationsfor the economy;

. What is defidt ?
De{icit il>bal>icallythe difference
between expenditure and receiptl>.
In public finance, it means the
government il>I>pendingmore than
what it is earning. Government
expenditure and revenue can be split
into capital and revenue. Capital
expenditure generally includes those'
expenses which result in creation of
assets. Revenue expenditure is
primarily that which does not result
in asset creation..--:.Hkeinterest
payments, salari~s, subsidies, etc.
Eg., I~xpenditureon construction of
a fly over will be capital
expenditure, while the salary being
paid to government
officials
supervising the construction will be
revenue expenditure. .
Similarly, on the receipts side,
whatever the government receives as
taxes is revenue receipt. Receipts not
of a recurriging nature are generally
YOJANA February 2007

Kinds of Deficits
capital receipts. These include domestic
and external borrowings, proceeds of
disinvestment, recovery of loans given
by the Union government, etc.
Is deficit financing necessary ?

difference
between
reve'nue
expenditure and revenue receipts is
revenue deficit. It means the
government is unable to meet its
expenses from recurring sources of .
income.

States often fail to generate tax

revenue which is sufficient enough to
take care of the expenses of the state,
especially a welfare state. Deficit
financing
allows the state to
undertake activities which, otherwise,
would be beyond its financial
capacity.

The Fiscal Responsibility and

Budget Management Act, 2003 has
laid down the roadmap for a gradual
reduction and finally, elimination of
revenue deficit by 2008-09. This will
entail raising of revenue and,
simultaneously, having some checks
on expenses relating to subsidies,
The concept, it may be recalled, was salary and pensi0t;! bills, interest
popularised by noted British economist payments, etc. After all, the
JM Keynes with the aim of pumping a government ought to live within its
depressed economy.The basic intention means.
behind deficit fimincing is to provide
Significance of fiscal deficit ?
the necessary impetus to eco,nomic
The government's first task is to
growth
by
artificial
means.
bridge
revenue deficit, Second, it .
Unfortunately,the extent to which India
has been practising deficit financing has must generate the resources for
gone way beyond what co~ld possibly investing in projects and schemes of
have been contemplated by Lord .capital nature. This may include
.equity contribution to public sector
Keynes.
undertakings,
loans for public
According to the revise'd estimates
enterprises
and investment
in
for 2004-05,
while the Plan
infrastructure sector projects ..These
expenditure was Rs 1.37 lakh ,crore
investments yield direct as well as
(budget estimates for 2005-06 put it
indIrect dividends.
at 1.43 lakh crore), the interest
The government b()rrowsmoney to
payment on loans borrowed to further
the ends of deficit financing was Rs. bridge the revenue deficit and fund
1.26 lakh crore (budget estimates for .developmental projects and schemes.
2005-06 put it at 1.34 lakhcrore). It The government, as sovereign,
means India is spending nearly the borrows. at competitive rates from
same amount on interest payments. as various sources which include the
on development. Tl,1isalso explains Reserve Bank of India, commercial
the alarming limi~s
to .which the banks, general public, external
.
concept of-deficit financing has been borrowings etc. The total borrowings
used to bridge the receipt-expenditure
stretched.
gap is called fisel deficit. This is
be . measured as a percentage of GDP as
deficit
Should
revenue
eliminated ?
it may not be appropriate to compare
Tax is the most important source of borrowings of different years in
0
revenue for a government. The absolute terms.
65

Cycle Rickshaws In Delhi

Geetam Tiwari

'D." ..~.....t. .Emaximum

Ull IS known to h.av.e th.e
number
of

Rickshaws have
a positive role in
modern. transport
system when.
mobility and
clean
environment are
the basic
concerns of all

survive. Often the rickshaws are owned

by contractors who demand fixed rent
. motorized'
vehicles
from the pullers. They do not care about
:
,compared
to' any other
the technology or the environment in
,
Indian city. However, the which the rickshaw puller has to
number of cycle rickshaws and other . operate: However, this is only one side.
motorised-modes has been increasing
of the exploitation
faced.
The
over the years. Despite increasing
authorities is the cause for much more
income levels of the resident population
serious concern.
and growth in number of cars and
Rickshaws are often viewed as cause
scooters there seems to be enough
for congestion and vehicles which
demand
for bicycles
and cycle
violate traffic regulations and cause'
rickshaws and thelas. Given the sociochaos on the toad. However, rickshaws
economic mix of the city population
and spatial pattern, this demand is and other non motorised vehicles in
expected to continue in future also. In Delhi as well as in other cities have
peen completely ignored in traffic
fact, there is a strong case to develop
planning and road designs. The road
policies and infrastructure
which
network is .used by at least seven
enables smooth movement of cycle
categories
of motorized
and nonrickshaws
because this is a zero
emissiqn vehicle, and can serve' as a motorised vehicles.
feeder mode to bus transport and metro
Since primarily bicycles and other
rail.
non-motorized vehicles use the left side
of the road, buses are unable to use the
Employment generation is the other
designated bus lanes and are forced to .
strong argument in favour of cycle
rickshaws. It provides opportunity to stop in the middle lane at bus stops.
the unskilled migrant population for an This disrupts the smooth flow of traffic
in all lanes and makes bicycling, use of
honest living. Several case studies have
ricks1)aws and other non motorised
documented the exploitive conditions
under which a rickshaw puller has to modes mOre hazardous. Motorized

The author is with Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

66

YOJANA February 2007

traffic does not use the curbside lane

even when. bicycle and rickshaw
densities are low. Providing a separate
bicycle and rickshaw track would make
more space available for motorized
modes and bicycling less hazardous.
Clearl~{, it is the lack of facilities for
rickshaws and bicycles and other non
motorized modes which results in
congestion
and chaos and not the
presence
of these
vehicles
III
themselves.

Rickshaws and modern transport

Rickshaw moves at an average
speed of 12 km/h. For trips which are
less then 3 km in length, rickshaw
provides
.an attractive
option
compared to bus or metro system. It
has an important role as a .feeder
system to the metro or other mass
transit options like Bus Rapid Transit
System. For feeder trips which are
less than 1 km, rickshaw can serve as
a feeder mode. The other competing
modes like bus or three wheelers are
not as attractive because they have
higher emissions. Nearly' 50% of the
trips in any city are less than 5km
long, including megacities like Delhi
or Mumbai. Rickshaw continues to
I
offer a viable mode of transport.
Number of bicycles and cycle
rickshaws in the city are estimated to be
1.5 million and 110,000-300,000
respectively. In addition to bicycles,
non-motorised rickshaws are used for
delivery of goods like furniture,
refrigerators, washing machines etc.
Semi-skilled
workers, carpenters,
masons, plumbers, posunen, and courier
services use bicycles. Therefore, the
demand for bicycles and rickshaw exists
in large numbers at present and is likely
to exist in the future also. This situation
is not explicitly reCOgnised in policy
documents and very little attention is
given to improving the facilities for
non-motorised modes.
YOJANA February 2007

The current policies regarding cycle

rickshaws and other non motorized
vehicles are restrictive and are based on
the false notion that efficient transport
system does not have any place for
these vehicles. Traffic management
experts and traffic police have proposed
area and time restrictions
on the
movement of rickshaws in Delhi. The
number of rickshaws
tpat can be
registered in the city is fixed by the
government (99,000) in order to restrict
the number
'of rickshaws.
The
registration
procedure requires the
owner to have a valid ration card.
Rickshaws are allowed to be registered
only during the stipulated time period
twice a year. These restrictive policies
must be viewed in the context of the
present environment
of globalized
economy where the highest level of
policy makers talk about reducing
goveniment controls to enable free
market economy to operate! Should
these policies
not apply to the
operations of cycle rickshaws and other
non motorized vehicles as well?

Basic Infrastructure
A
well
functioning
infrastructure
must
fulfill
requirements of all road users.

road
the

Pedestrians,
bicyclists and nonmotorised. rickshaws
are the most
critical elements in mixed traffic. A
longer lasting safe road-traffic systeni
primarily
requires
two
design
principles:

brought to 20-30 km/h with the help

of traffic calming measures.
Traffic movement in the old and
historical parts of Delhi which includes
Chandni Chowk area should be planned
exclusively for rickshaw movement to
ensure clean and safe mobility. Other
arterial roads should be redesigned to
include parking for rickshaws and 2.5m
wide separate lane. Capacity of MV
lanes can be increased by 50 per cent
if separate lanes for rickshaws and
bicycles are created. This would also
result in safe feeder infrastructure for
metro and Bus Rapid. Transit System
planned for the city. Detailed designs
for road cross section and intersections
have been prepared f0t: Delhi. Which
shows inclusion of separate service lane'
and footpath. Service lane includes
"services" such as parking for cycle
rickshaws and other non motorised
vehicles also, and designed spaces fgr
bicycle repair, shoe repair and other
hawkers.
Rickshaws have a positive role in
modem transport system when mobility
and clean environment are the basic
concerns
of all. However
poor
understanding of their requirements and
lack of physical facilities for these
modes
creates
congestion
and
inconvenience for all other vehicles.
Often the government
promotes
restrictive policies for the movement of .
these vehicles. It is possible- to design
roads and parking facilities for them in
cities which will facilitate movement of
other'vehicles also.

Arterial roads which are more than'

Rickshaw friendly infrastructure will
30 m right of way (ROW) must have
facilitate
the use of public transport
physically segregated bicycle/nonsystems
like
metro and Bus Rapid
motorised vehicles (NMV) path,
Transit
systems
by improving
the
which cannot be used by motorised
_accessibility
to
these
systems.
Such
vehicles (especially motorised two
policies will also help in enhancing the
wheelers).
positive role that rickshaws and non
Average speeds onroads which have motorized vehicles can play in city
0
less than 30 m ROW must be transport system.

67

~,

Religious Shrines and

Rural Employment
DC Bakshi

UR RELIGIOUS heritage
is unique. It is centuries
old. Village folks live in
harmony
despite
the
diversity in religion and
caste, practicing individual faiths and
deriving spiritual strength from locall
nearby shrines, The basic fact is that the
landscape is incomplete without a
nearby place of worship - big or small.

Security
cover for the
shrines can
provide jobs
to millions in
the rural
areas

Let us face the stark reality viz. in

terms of a holistic safety cover for the
shrines, the sanctum sanctorum and the
visiting devotees. Majority of the
complexes are unsafe. In an internal
security review meeting held in Delhi
attended by State Chief Secretaries, it
was mandated "We have to be on total
alert, identify vital installations, prepare
plans to strengthen the intelligence
network, religious processions
and
yatras, also have been identified for'
special security measure."

Annual fairs at these shrines are the

extension of this ethos. Economic
activity generated through this medium
is sizeable. They are reservoirs of
According to a media report, the
entrepreneurship.
Being
virtual
renowned Somnath temple in Gujarat is
fountainheads of rural economy, a lot to be provided additional security cover.
many people get employment in this un- . Admi~tedly, this is a step in the right
organised sector during the season.
direction since Gujilrat has already
witnessed a gruesome telTorist attack at
Security cover for the shrines on Akshardham (Gandhi Nagar). Anyone
'self-sustained' basis, which has of late who has visited Somnath would agree
assumed great importance can provide
that it continues to be a soft target. It is
jobs to millions in the rural areas.
sUlTounded by sea. The mighty waves
Ample
help
from
the
state
hit the peripatetic walls from three
administration and rural development
sides. A stray bullet from an ordinary
agencies can be made available in this sea-dhow by a band of rogue-telTorists
regard.
can cause commotion. It can bring

The author retired from IAF and is presently Managing Editor, 'Air Power' JournaL
68

YOJANA February 2007

down nation's prestige beyond

limits. In addition, like any other
religious hub, Somnath has its
share of vagrants thronging at the
entrance, seeking alms and selling
petty goods. Such conglomerates
are an 'ideal repository for the
undesirable characters. They pose
a serious security hazard.
Why only Somnath? Are the
neighbouring
shrines
less
important?
The fact is that
Somnath is just, one 'amongst the
many-equally venerated places of
worship in this region. Within the
shrines, the devotee.s throng in
large numbers for darshan; entry/
exit points are literally choked.
They
are
manned
by
inexperienced,
low-paid staff.
Frequent stampedes and petty
thefts are a common feature.
The rural poverty quotient in India
is appalling dismal. According to a lady
District Collector in the tribal belt; a
village-household's
total assets on an
average (utensils, beds, clothes and
petty cash) are less than Rs 250.
Tpanks to the' efforts of Rural
Development network at the Centre and
state/district, various schemes launched
by the government
are gradually
bringing in the desired changes, not
only the mindset of people, but also in
terms of facilitating them for better
living.

Rural Tourism is the talk of the town.

Says the Union Minister of Tourism &
Culture, Smt. Ambika Soni: "Over the
years,
industrialization
and
development have become increasingly
urban-centric.
The rural areas are
suffering from the problems of falling
incomes and lesser job-opportunities".
According
to her, Bharat Nirman
Yojana is likely to playa key role to
ameliorate the cause of rural folks-.
Militancy of late, has become hydraheaded. We need to educate our people
to become vigilant. The local shrines
need protection. Since, the militancy is
no more an urban phenomenon; it is
time we extend the long arm of security
consciousness to the interiors.

NREGS
(National
Rural
Employment
Guarantee
Scheme)
,recently launched is the ultimate in the
chain of events. VIrtual employment has '
Religious shrines cal? be protected
reached at the doorsteps of villagers.
by:
. They do not have to migrate to cities;
the administrative
far away from their hearths in search of Streamlining
machinery of the shrines with active
job. The psychological
impact of
assistance from state administration.
NREGS is highly constructive.
The
Security
aspects
need to be
word "employment" has found meaning
emphasised. Standard procedures
in their lives. Not only in the cities,
and practices be framed and strictly
employment is available in the rural belt
followed.
Let its onus be fixed on
as well.
YOJANA February 2007

shrines management board.

Raise "battalions" of village/town

defence councils (on the lines of
J&K) to administer security cover
to the shrines: This can be a great
source for employment.

Improve intelligence
network at
grassroots levels. In Arunachal,
every village has a "Gaon-Boodha"
(he is a paid employ~e)
who
represents
the district's/state's
authority. He provides relevant
inputs to district administration and
also keeps a watch on undesirable
activity. Yet another source of
employment.
In metro cities, we see school
children
manning
the traffic
crossings.
How about. bringing
young and the needy in rural areas
in the folds of security network for
shrines.
In conclusion, rural employmeJ;1t and
religious
tourism
have immense
potential
for
integration.
The
coordinates
of the matrix
are
favourable, they .onl~ need a push. 0

69

Rural Finance In India

Gursharan Singh Kainth

Rural credit
,system must be
compatible with
the goals ,oj
higher growth
with better equity

NDIA IS basically Rural India

and Rural .India virtually
includes the cultivators, the'
village
craftsmen'
and
agricultural laborers. One of the
serious and unrelenting problems faced

needs of the rural people and framed

policies conduciVe for the flow of
institutional credit for the farm sector.
There
'has
been
substantial
improvement
in the flow
of
institutional
credit In India for the

by the Indian farmers' .house~olds has

been indebtedness. Despite substantial
improvement in agricultural output and
distribution of credit, still majority of
the farmers are suffering from this

past three decades. But agricultural

credit started growing only after bank
nationalization
and has increased
manifold
since then. The overall
performance
of Indian
banking

major
economic
malaise
"aIled
system is 15per.cent
as against the
indebtedness along with lack of timely - norms of 18 per'cent of Net Banking
and adqequate farm credit. Agricultural
Credit. Indian record of .extension of
distress witnessed in the country
rurar" credit- is a quite story of
occasionally takes the form of suicides
institutional
innovations.
A
by farmers. It is a symptom of a deepremarkable
feature Of agricultural
rooted malady arising from inadequate
credit extension
in India was the
public investment
and insufficient
widespread
network
of Rural
public action in recent years. 9iven the Financial'Institutions.
The main story
seriousness of the emerging situation,
in the extension of rural credit has
St Soldier Management
Technical
been the ascending of commercial
IristituteJalandharorganized
a two days
banks along with RRBs with a
National Seminar jointly sponsored by
NABARD and Planning Commission,
Government of India.

corresponding.
fall in the share of
cooperatives. This is reflected in the
increasing concern in recent years

Since the inception ,of Central

Economic
Planning
in 1950, the
government
identified
the credit

over the effectiveness;

governanCe
anci financial
. health
of rural
cooperative. There is a strong need to
revitalize rural cooperatives and put

,The author is Principal, St Soldier Management and Technical Institute, Jalandhar.

70

YOJANA

February 2007

on

sound,

business

footing.

Lending by the formal financial

and land grabbing. Such an Act must
Structural transformation taking place
institutions
to the poor has been
stipulate that all lands grabbed by ,
in the Indian e~onomy has worked
unsatisfactory. But their demand for
moneylenders
in the last 10 to 15
against
the agricultural
sector.
credit has been rising due to growing
years should be reverted back to the
, Looking to the credit flow toward
family size, increased consumption
owners
.and
there
should
be
agriculture and allied sector, there is requirements social obligation and so securitising of moneylender's
assets:
a positive hope of reverse migration
on. But the institutional.agencies
not
Courts must be instructed to fast track
taking place in the country; The
only lack the required mechanism to such cases instituted under the Act.
village~s in the country will become
assess their needs but also often
RBI should securitise loan of legal
prosperous and urbanities will like to overlook their demand for credit on moneylenders to farmers and take the
go back to thevil1age~ for peaceful
the ground that their needs are for
assets pledged with moneylenders as
living.
non-productive
purposes. Besides,
their own security.
For landless
. perceived high risks, transaction costs
workers, banks should take over the
The ,declining
growth
rate iri.
and absence of collateral
security
. loans on their books against the cash
agriculture is somethings serious. To
kept the poor away from the hold of flow due to these people under
boost agricultural growth rate, India
formal financial institutions. To reach- NREGP.
needs massive investmnt in both the
rural poor, institutional innovations
public as well as private investment.
Micro
finance
and Self-help
are needed. Banking infrastructure
But public investment over the years
Groups must be fine-tuned. Suitable
needs to re-'orient its finance service
-has stagnated or declined. On the
mechanism need to be evolved to see
for rural poor, An independent broad
other hand, subsidies to agriculture
that SHGs do not charge high .rates of'
research study may be undertaken to
sector have been blooming. There is a
interests
from their clients
and.
lessen the adminIstrative
load and
need to reverse the ratio (4: 1) of
improve access to those who cannot
costs such as reduction
in the
Investment to subsidies as marginal
sign by making their use through
documents required for the purpose. ,
return in terms of agricultural growth
thumb impression.
The positive
Information
technology can play a
and poverty alleviation
are much
features. of Kisan Credit ard (KCC) is
significant
role in rural credit
higher through
investment
than
its revolving credit facility, credit
delivery system. Therefore, the nature
subsidies.
limit based on operational holdings
of technology
suitable at various
etc. However, under KCC although
levels may be identified.
There is a need for legal and
the credit limit sanctioned
to the
institutional
changes' relating, to
small and marginal farmers appear to
. Rural credit
system
must be
governance, regulation and functioning
be better 'but the security oriented
compatible with the goals of higher
of rural cooperative structure and RRBs
appears to be a
growth with better equity. There is lending policies
who have to be critical institutions for
merit in considering a comprehensive
major hurdle. The scope of KCC
rural credit in future. Both the structure
Public policy on risk management in should be enlarged to take care of the
of cooperative; namely, short run and
agriculture, as not only a means of associated
needs of the farming
long run lending insti.tutions rnustbe
relief to distressed farmers but. as an households.
Issues of diversion of
merged into one entity to provide good
ingredient
for, more
efficient
KCC funds for non-agricultural
governance and healthy competition in
commercialization
agriculture. India
activities and failure in the timely
the banking sector. Furthermore, all the
w:ould need new market institution for
repayment of credit availed through
three tiers of cooperative, that is, state,
risk mitigation. A future market is a KCC in some parts of the country and
district aJ1dprimaries must function in
step in the right.direction,.
which
in case of large proportion
of the
'collaboration with each other, rather
heeds to be stre~gthened.
The key
f<\TIIle,:sneed to be addressed ungently.
than competing. There is a need to
issue is minimizing the market risks
This can go a long way to bring
Joster credit structure to make enhanced
for farmers for creating a scale of prosperity to Indian farmers.
0
rural credit a lasting phenomenon.
marketing
for the produce of the
Corrigendum
The majority of rural households
small farmers, Government
should'
are with limited
land resources
coupled with small economic activity
accompanied with poor technology.'
YOJANA February 2007

promulgate a Prevention of Atrocities

on Farmers and Farm laborers Act for
addressing usurious money lending

On the last page of Jan 07 Special

Issue of Yojana, the date of joining of
Deputy
Chairman,
Montek
Singh
Ahluwalia may be read as 04 July, 2004.

71

In the News
The legislation to pr~vide for 27 per cent
reservation for OBCs in educational institutions
including the IITs and IIMs from' the next
academic year has become a law with the
President Dr APJ Kalam giving his assent to it.
The provisions of the Act would not apply to
Central educational institution established in tribal
areas, institutions of excellence, research
institutions of national and strategic importance
and minority educational institutions.
Marking the opening up of the Indian stock
exchanges to foreign investment, the world's
largest stock exchange - New York Stock
. Exchange - has entered India by inking a deal to
pickup a 20 per cent stake in the National Stock
Exchange (NSE) along with Goldman Sachs and
two other private equity funds for $ 490 million.
Led by oil refinery production and cement, the
six core infrastructure industries posted an
impressive growth of 9.5 per cent in November
this fiscal compared to 5.7 per cent in the same
month of 2005.
The Centre has approved the amendment of
Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. This will empower
the Central government to revise the medical
bonus payable. At present, this bonus is Rs. 250
and the government considers there is urgent need
to revise it to Rs 1,000.The Amendment Bill will
be introduced in Parliament.
The Union Cabinet has approved a selfemployment scheme for rehabilitation of manual
scavengers as a' Central sector scheme. It will
benefit about 3.5 lakh three [mancial years from
2006-07 to 2008-09.
The Centre has approved the constitution of two
wage board (under a common chairman)- one .for
working journalists and the other for non-working
journalist newspaper employees. The two wage
boards will submit their reports wifu three years.
.72

Other Cabinet decisiono Insurance Amendment Act for revision of FDI

cap referred to a Group of Ministers.
a Deadline for telecom companies to comply with
FDI guidelines extended till the end of January,
2007.
a The Union Cabinet discussed a proposal Oltl
investment patterns to govern pension funds and
decided to convene a Chief Minister's
conference on how to invest money they have
generated.
a The government has decided to completely exit
auto major Maruti by selling its residual 10.27
per cent stake which is over Rs 2,700 crore.
~ Passport norms eased The usually cumbersome and stressful process of
getting passports made will be easier now
following the Ministry of External Affairs move t.o
revise the guidelines of issuance of passports to
make it user-friendly. The cpanges are:
a Eligibility criterion for Emigration Check Not
Required (ECNR) stamping will hereafter be
matriculation rather then graduation as at
present.
a No police verification required for re-is~ue of
passports.
.
a Tatkal passport in 14 days and in seven days
for an extra Rs 500/ The Union Cabinet has approved amendments to
the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2005 to check
theft of electricity move effectively.
The UN Security Council has agreed to impose
sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend
uranium enrichment. The resolution asks all
counties to ban the supply of sp~cified materials
and technology that could contribute to Iran"s
nuclear and missile programmes.
[J
YOJANA February 2007

,.RAU'SIAS
A name that Nation trusts
Programme Highlights

Amazing Success
Our 2005 Exam Results
: Nine positions
secured by our students in first 20 and 49 in first 100
with overall 203 total selections. As regards the past
achievements, Study Circle has contributed nearly
one-third of the total selections done for Civil
Services by UPSC since 1953.
It is a well known factthat Rau's is the most trusted
and recommended name all over the country for
lAS & PCS coaching.

Unbeatable Strategy
Answers
that matter : The most crucial fact
about coaching is that it should improve the quality
of your answers in the minimum possible time. It is
precisely this training on which we focus on at
Rau's to give an extra edge to the answers you give!
""rite in the Civil Services Examination.

Civil Services/PCS
Exam - 2007 &
Judicial Services Exam - 2007

Personal Guidance (English Medium) is

available forGeneral Studies! Essay, History, Sociology,
Public
Administration,
Geography,
Psychology, Law & Commerce.

.
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Postal Guidance in English Medium available

for General Studies, History, Sociology, Public
Administration and Geography.

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Be Sure

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We have no branches or associates any where in

India except Jaipur. Our name which has become a
IE!gendamong students for the highest standards in
teaching, and hence has been copied by a lot of
people across India, but no one can match our
quality.
.'

Hostel facility arranged.

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if you are taught

II

by

the stars, sky is the limit.

Contact

personally

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Head Office
Jaipur

Centre

or write

for prospectus

with

DD/MO of Rs. 50/- favouring

RAU'S lAS srUDY CIRCLE

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