As the central elections of May 2014 draw closer, it is hard not to feel a sense of deep frustration with UPA's second term in office. With Congress and Manmohan Singh's hand strengthened, 2009 was to be the start of a new era of reforms and competent administration. Instead, UPA-2 for the most part was mired in charges of rampant nepotism and corruption. It is understandable if majority of the Indians want to vote this coalition out of power. The prime minister made it worse with his unfortunate news conference near the end of his second term.
Having said that, notable positive changes have happened in the last 10 years. Here are some of the more salient changes in no particular order:
Continuous improvement in human development indices. Falling maternal and infant mortality, declining child malnutrition levels,increasing life expectancy to name a few. Try this link for a sampling of various indicators.
FDI in Multi brand retail
Land acquisition bill
Aadhar
FDI in airlines
Improvements in urban infrastructure(airports and Metros)
Lokpal bill
Food security bill
Pension reform
Partial deregulation of Petrol,Diesel and LPG prices
Creating an atmosphere that gave rise to IAC and AAP ( This one was unintended!)
A lot of these are still a work in progress. Eventual success of many of these reforms still hinge on what the subsequent governments do. Improvements in human development indices have not been uniform across different regions and may have happened no matter who was in power. Regardless, the country did not remain frozen in time or slip backwards.
Perhaps, this is more a sign of the resilience of our democracy than a reflection of the quality of our leaders in parliament. Nevertheless, progress was made and the only way for the country from here is forward.
As the trial of the Delhi gang rape case gets under way the role of fast track courts is getting renewed attention. By many accounts like this , this and this there is a backlog of cases spanning several hundred years. Reform of the current moribund judicial system has been a long pending demand of liberal minded Indians. The slow pace of work in lower courts is placing a huge burden on India's supreme court too.
Pious sounding leaders express their outrage at crimes like the Delhi
gang rape and continue to ignore long standing problems in the
law and order system. For politicians facing criminal charges, it is convenient to let the judicial system remain in it's current state of funk.Here is what has happened to funding of fast track courts since 2011(emphasis added by me):
As per the latest available information received from the High
Courts/State Governments, 32.34 lakh cases have been disposed off by
these courts, out of 38.90 lakh transferred to these courts leaving 6.56
lakh cases pending for disposal. The scheme of central assistance for Fast Track Courts was extended
for a period of one year i.e. upto 31.3.2011.It was decided that there
will be no central funding for Fast Track Courts beyond 31-03-2011.
Last Updated on:
14/01/2013
In the coming months, all major political parties will launch their 2014 election campaigns and their respective manifestos.This time, a
clear cut promise of police and judicial reforms in their manifestos should be held as an
acid test of their sincerity. Activists should campaign for the creation of special fast track courts to try elected politicians charged with serious offenses.This should be done both at the state and central levels.
Apart from cases involving serious crimes , there are decades worth of civil law suits languishing in the system causing enormous economic damage. Disputes like land ownership/acquisition, graft charges against civil servants rarely get resolved in a reasonable time frame.
With the next parliamentary elections due in 2014, UPA-2 is unlikely to
enact any serious legislation for judicial reforms. Fast track courts,
which can reduce some of the logjam need additional funding and support. There
is a danger of the focus on fast track courts fizzling away after
the Delhi rape case has been adjudicated. Until permanent reforms are enacted, civil society and pro-reform Indians should fight to keep the fast track courts open and productive.
After the government announced the phased roll-out of direct cash transfers in 2013, there was criticism from some quarters. Swaminathan Aiyar addresses some of those objections:
The most imaginary and hilarious objection (from Arvind Kejriwal,
the BJP and CPI) is that a cash transfer is a bribe to voters.
Political parties have for decades offered welfare goodies such as free
electricity and water, subsidized food, free TVs, free bicycles and so
on. These are unashamed ways to woo voters. But a bribe is illegal
gratification. Welfare giveaways can be called unwarranted or
misdirected, but not illegal.
Others say cash benefits for
education or fuel may be diverted by a beneficiary to liquor instead.
True, but this is equally true of benefits in kind. Mid-day school meals
mean less family spending on food, so the money saved can be spent on
liquor. Subsidised kerosene or rice can be sold in the open market and
the proceeds used for liquor.
...
Some critics claim that cash transfers will be
a way of reducing total benefits. That's pure mendacity. In fact, much
more money will actually reach beneficiaries, which is why rival
politicians are so worried.
Still others say cash transfers
might mean the dismantling of all public systems like ration shops and
government schools. Sorry, but the Congress is ideologically incapable of such libertarianism. Montek Ahluwalia has clarified that ration shops will continue, and government educational and health facilities are being expanded rapidly.
And he points to some potential pitfalls of the program:
However, there are indeed many real problems. There is no good system
of identifying those truly in need, so benefits can go to better-off
folk, especially those mis-identified by sarpanches. It may prove
politically impossible to withdraw benefits from once-poor folk who
become better off. Many poor illiterates may not be registered under
Aadhar or may not be linked to bank accounts, and can get left out. ... Many glitches will arise
in rolling out such a scheme. Some pilot projects have already tested
different transfers in different areas, and corrected the glitches. But
more experimentation is needed. The danger is that the scheme will
quickly be extended to the whole country in half-baked shape simply to
help the election prospects of the Congress. This can mean a flawed CTS
that later needs overhaul.
Some see it as a solution that can fix all ills that plague social programs run by the public sector. I will list a few delivery systems that cannot be fixed by a direct cash transfer.I am sure there are many other examples.
Most rural areas do not have functional primary health facilities within reasonable living distance.It is not uncommon to find quacks passing off as doctors practicing medicine with deadly consequences. Each year, needless number of deaths are caused by lack of access to adequate healthcare. India's maternal mortality rate remains unacceptably high when compared among developing countries. These shortcomings in healthcare cannot be resolved by simply handing out cash to folks. It is much better to strengthen programs like this one.
For millions of undernourished infants and children of school-going age, the mid-day meal scheme is critical in supplementing their diets. The public program designed to address this problem currently suffers from extreme corruption:
Surprise visits by the state commission for protection of child rights,
for its report in 2010, revealed several complaints of children having
fallen ill after consuming the ready mix. Instances of diarrhea,
vomiting and worm infestation of the ready mix packets were also
reported. The National Institute of Public Co-operation and Child
Development (NIPCCD), which analysed the samples, found the food blends
unhygienic. The samples also were found to contain the banned colour
'Sunset Yellow FCF' besides coliform.
...
Supreme Court Commissioner Harsh Mander told NDTV, "I think it's a
really disturbing trend. Globally we have enough experience from
countries in Africa and elsewhere about the great danger when for-profit
organisations enter the area of child nutrition. In simple terms what
we are doing is stealing food from the stomachs of the poorest and
smallest child.
Akshayapatra,a public private partnership which provides mid-day meals to school children sets a fantastic benchmark for doing this the right way. Studies have shown the positive impact of an effective mid day meal program on children's overall well being:
An impact study done in one of the rural areas served by Akshaya Patra, which was conducted by the M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, revealed that the number of children below the optimal nutrition level was reduced from 60% to almost 0%. Anemia was reduced from 40% to less than 5%. Skin infections decreased from 80% to almost 0%. In addition, children developed better resistance to diseases, and they showed significant improvements in height and weight. When Akshaya Patra first began the program in rural Baran, children gained ½ kilo (1.1 lbs) of weight per month. In contrast,during a ten day winter break in the villages, when the program was not in operation, the average child dropped ½ kilo in weight.
In a study the Akshaya Patra program conducted by the Department of Education, Government of Karnataka, 99.6% of students felt that they could pay better attention, and 93.8% of teachers reported overall academic improvement.
In Bangalore, the headmaster of a school that served 560 students reported that 25% of students were totally dependent on Akshaya Patra midday meals. Since Akshaya Patra began providing food,he claimed that attendance was more consistent, drop-outs and long absences decreased,concentration improved, as did height and weight, and students were more mischievous because they were more energetic.
Cash transfers in place of an effective meal program are no match for the results achieved by Akshayapatra. Access to good quality food products is still a challenge in many parts of the country. Parents of poorer children who live in difficult circumstances are ill equipped to deal with low nutrition levels of their offspring. They need assistance from targeted programs.
Although middle class Indians no longer rely on public schools for primary education, there is still a vast majority of lower income Indians who depend on government schools for their children's education. Public primary education looks like this right now:
Too many teachers do not bother showing up to work. Funds allocated for school infrastructure disappear without a trace. The poorest children of the country are robbed of a chance of moving up the economic ladder without a decent education. Although a case could be made for a school voucher system, success is far from guaranteed in India. For decades, the school systems have been in desperate need of reform.This again cannot be solved with cash transfers.
I fully support Aadhar's framework for administration of some of the leaky social programs. The union government should create incentives and prod state governments to improve delivery systems for programs which cannot be replaced with a cash transfer. Because in several of these instances, there simply is no alternative to effective governance.
