Amritsar based Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies released its first book of the year 2022 entitled Corona virus: India's Experience. The book is authored by Dr Gursharan Singh Kainth Director General of the institute with assistance from Dr Sukhdeep Singh; Mrs Damapreet Kaur and Navdeep Singh and published by Notion press.
The work (updated up to May 31, 2021) is an anthology on Corona virus pandemic with India as a geographical coverage. The book is an attempt to narrate the pandemic, profile best management practices and to present the general public voice as it relates to public satisfaction and perceptions of health services. It also examines the public management response of a democratic government and draws lessons for effective public management in dealing with other grand public management challenges of our times.
According to Dr Pramila Menon, State Mother Child Nutrition Consultant UNICEF find the book to be a vital source of organic innovation which has been enabled by the tireless efforts of various unnamed health professionals, police personnel, district officials, sanitation workers, innovators, and members of the civil society, all of whom are COVID warriors and worthy of our collective appreciation.
Authors
Dr Gursharan Singh Kainth
Co-authors Dr Sukhdeep Singh, Mrs Damapreet Kaur, and Navdeep Singh
Nipah Virus (NiV) is a zoonotic virus, meaning that it can spread between animals and people. Fruit bats, also known as flying foxes, are the animal reservoir for NiV in nature. Nipah virus can be transmitted to humans from animals (such as bats or pigs), or contaminated foods and can also be transmitted directly from human-to-human. In infected people, it causes a range of illnesses from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and can cause mild to severe illness and even death. The virus can also cause severe disease in animals such as pigs, resulting in significant economic losses for farmers.
Based on an assessment by the Global Virus network, the R0 (R naught) of the Nipah virus was estimated to be 0.43. R0 is a mathematical term quantifying the average number of new infections that one infected individual can generate in an otherwise naïve population. For an infection to spread through a population, R0 needs to be greater than 1 (>1). Based on assessments made from the previous Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala that killed 17 of the 19 infected patients, the fatality rate is 45 per cent to 70 per cent.
Natural Host: Fruit Bats
NiV is a member of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus. It is a zoonotic virus, meaning that it initially spreads between animals and people. Fruit bats also known as flying fox of the family Pteropodidae - particularly species belonging to the Pteropus genus - are the natural hosts for Nipah virus. There is no apparent disease in fruit bats. It is assumed that the geographic distribution of Henipaviruses overlaps with that of Pteropus category. This hypothesis was reinforced with the evidence of Henipavirus infection in Pteropus bats from Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Timor-Leste.
African fruit bats of the genus Eidolon, family Pteropodidae, were found positive for antibodies against Nipah and Hendra viruses, indicating that these viruses might be present within the geographic distribution of Pteropodidae bats in Africa.
Given that NiV is genetically related to Hendra virus, another henipavirus known to be carried by bats, bat species were quickly singled out for investigation and flying foxes were subsequently identified as the reservoir.
Infected fruit bats can spread the disease to people or other animals, such as pigs. People can become infected if they have close contact with an infected animal or its body fluids (such as saliva or urine)—this initial spread from an animal to a person is known as a spillover event. Once it spreads to people, person-to-person spread of NiV can also occur.
Outbreaks: Past and Present
Nipah virus (NiV) was first discovered in 1999 following an outbreak of disease in pigs and people in Malaysia and Singapore. This outbreak resulted in nearly 300 human cases and more than 100 deaths, and caused substantial economic impact as more than 1 million pigs were killed to help control the outbreak.
While there have been no other known outbreaks of NiV in Malaysia and Singapore since 1999, outbreaks have been recorded almost annually in some parts of Asia since then. It was recognized in Bangladesh in 2001, and nearly annual outbreaks have occurred in that country since. The disease has also been identified periodically in eastern India. The virus has been shown to spread from person-to-person in these outbreaks, raising concerns about the potential for NiV to cause a global pandemic.
Other regions may be at risk for infection, as evidence of the virus has been found in the known natural reservoir (Pteropus bat species) and several other bat species in a number of countries, including Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines, and Thailand.
Although Nipah virus has caused only a few known outbreaks in Asia, it infects a wide range of animals and causes severe disease and death in people, making it a public health concern. Outbreaks occur almost annually in parts of Asia, primarily Bangladesh and India. The Nipah virus is known to spread from its natural host, such as flying foxes (fruit bats), to animals and humans and can cause serious illness that may result in death. The first case of Nipah virus in South India was reported from Kozhikode district in Kerala in May 2018. The outbreak was contained and declared over by June 10, 2018, not before it took 17 lives. Thereafter, in June 2019, a new case of Nipah was reported from Kochi and the sole patient was a 23-year-old student, who later recovered. With this year's reporting of a case, it is the fifth time the virus has been detected in India and the third in Kerala. As per the latest report of the Central High Level Team, Nipah Virus disease is not a major outbreak and only local occurrence limited to two districts in Kerala i.e. Kozhikode and Malappuram. Available data suggests that there is no need for the general public to be apprehensive about the safety of individuals and their family members. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is closely monitoring the situation.
Transmission
During the first recognized outbreak in Malaysia, which also affected Singapore, most human infections resulted from direct contact with sick pigs or their contaminated tissues. Transmission is thought to have had occurred via unprotected exposure to secretions from the pigs, or unprotected contact with the tissue of a sick animal.
In subsequent outbreaks in Bangladesh and India, consumption of fruits or fruit products (such as raw date palm juice) contaminated with urine or saliva from infected fruit bats was the most likely source of infection. There are currently no studies on viral persistence in bodily fluids or the environment including fruits. Human-to-human transmission of Nipah virus has also been reported among family and care givers of infected patients.
During the later outbreaks in Bangladesh and India, Nipah virus spread directly from human-to-human through close contact with people's secretions and excretions. In Siliguri, India in 2001, transmission of the virus was also reported within a health-care setting, where 75 per cent of cases occurred among hospital staff or visitors. From 2001 to 2008, around half of reported cases in Bangladesh were due to human-to-human transmission through providing care to infected patients.
The Nipah virus is known to spread far more slowly than SARS-CoV-2. However, it is its ability to kill that is the biggest concern. During the first outbreak in Siliguri, 45 of the 66 people confirmed to have been infected died, that is, a mortality rate of 68 per cent. In the next outbreak, in Nadia district of West Bengal, in 2007, all the five infected people died. During the most recent outbreak in Kerala in 2018, 17 of the 18 patients confirmed to have been infected died. In 2019, only one case of Nipah virus infection was detected in Ernakulam, but prompt response restricted any further spread. The infected person survived.
Signs and Symptoms
Human infection ranges from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory infection - mild, severe, and fatal encephalitis. Infected people initially develop symptoms including fever, headaches, myalgia (muscle pain), vomiting and sore throat. This can be followed by dizziness, drowsiness, altered consciousness, and neurological signs that indicate acute encephalitis. Some people can also experience atypical pneumonia and severe respiratory problems, including acute respiratory distress. Encephalitis and seizures occur in severe cases, progressing to coma within 24 to 48 hours.
The incubation period (interval from infection to the onset of symptoms) is believed to range from 4 to 14 days. However, an incubation period as long as 45 days has also been reported.
Most people who survive acute encephalitis make a full recovery, but long term neurologic conditions have been reported in survivors. Approximately 20 per cent of patients are left with residual neurological consequences such as seizure disorder and personality changes. A small number of people who recover subsequently relapse or develop delayed onset encephalitis.
The case fatality rate is estimated at 40 per cent to 75 per cent. This rate can vary by outbreak depending on local capabilities for epidemiological surveillance and clinical management.
Diagnosis
Nipah virus infection can be diagnosed with clinical history during the acute and convalescent phase of the disease. Different tests are available to diagnose NiV infection. During early stages of the illness, laboratory testing can be conducted using real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from throat and nasal swabs, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, and blood. Later in the course of illness and after recovery, testing for antibodies is conducted using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Other tests used include polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and virus isolation by cell culture.
Early diagnosis of NiV infection can be challenging due to the non-specific early symptoms of the illness. However, early detection and diagnosis are critical to increase chances of survival among infected individuals, to prevent transmission to other people, and to manage outbreak response efforts. NiV should be considered for people with symptoms consistent with NiV infection that has been in areas where Nipah is more common, such as Bangladesh or India—particularly if they have a known exposure.
In addition, the quality, quantity, type, timing of clinical sample collection and the time needed to transfer samples to the laboratory can affect the accuracy of laboratory results.
Treatment
Though Nipah was first identified in 1999, but there are currently no drugs or vaccines that specifically target Nipah virus infection. WHO has identified Nipah as a priority disease for the WHO Research and Development Blueprint. With outbreaks contained and localized, the Nipah virus, unlike the corona virus, has not received global attention. In 2018, the WHO lauded Kerala for the outbreak response, saying that "illustrates how effective, strong, and connected health systems in close cooperation with animal health and wildlife sectors are vital to preparedness and fast reaction."
Treatment to Nipah infection is limited to supportive care, including rest, hydration, and treatment of symptoms as they occur. There are, however, immunotherapeutic treatments (monoclonal antibody therapies) that are currently under development and evaluation for treatment of NiV infections. One such monoclonal antibody, m102.4, has completed phase 1 clinical trials and has been used on a compassionate use basis. In addition, the antiviral treatment Remdesivir has been effective in nonhuman primates when given as post-exposure prophylaxis, and may be complementary to immunotherapeutic treatments. The drug Ribavirin was used to treat a small number of patients in the initial Malaysian NiV outbreak, but its efficacy in people is unclear.
The golden rules of track, test, treat apply to Nipah infection too.
Prevention
In areas where Nipah virus (NiV) outbreaks have occurred (Bangladesh, Malaysia, India, and Singapore), people should:
Practice hand washing regularly with soap and water
Avoid contact with sick bats or pigs
Avoid areas where bats are known to roost
Avoid consumption of raw date palm sap
Avoid consumption of fruits that may be contaminated by bats
Avoid contact with the blood or body fluids of any person known to be infected with NiV
Because NiV can be spread from person-to-person, standard infection control practices and proper barrier nursing techniques are important in preventing hospital-acquired infections (nosocomial transmission) in settings where a patient has confirmed or suspected NiV infection.
Other geographic locations are at risk for NiV future outbreaks where flying foxes (bat genus Pteropus) live. These bats are currently found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines, and Thailand. People living in or visiting these areas should consider taking the same precautions as those living in areas where outbreaks have already occurred. In addition to steps that individuals can take to lower their risk for NiV infection, it will be critical for scientists, researchers, and communities at risk to continue learning about NiV to prevent future outbreaks.
A recipient of a Cultural Doctorate of Philosophy in Economics from USA. He is an active member of various professional bodies, namely —
Indian Society of Agricultural Economics,
Indian Society of Agricultural Marketing,
Indian Institute of Public Administration,
Agricultural Economics Research Association (India) and so on.
Among other things, he has participated and presented papers at various international/national/regional seminars, conferences, etc. He was a member of the Academic Council of the Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar. There are about 200 research papers published in internationally renowned journals and 15 research monographs in the collection of an unwearied researcher. During his three decades of professional experience, he has also written, co-authored, or edited 15 books that have been well received and highly acclaimed. He received many awards, including Guru Dronacharya Samman, Vijay Rattan Award, among others.
India has tremendous potential to attract international students from all over the world. Sadly, our institutions of higher learning have not been able to capitalise on this opportunity. International students are just not applying to Indian universities, recording a drop in the number of enrolments, which reflects the unfulfilled potential of the country’s education system. Apparently, Indian institutions are not fully maximising their potential to be a global campus with diverse students as well as losing out in revenue. Association of Indian Universities (AIU) report entitled Internationalisation of Higher Education in India paints a picture of a continuing dramatic expansion of Indian higher education. Nearly 33 million students enrolled in nearly 800 universities and 40,000 colleges, the Indian system is one of the largest in the world (and currently second only to China in terms of total enrolment). Going by the demographic trends and rapid expansion, it will soon become the single largest system of higher education in the world. Indeed, the Indian government is in the midst of making good on its very ambitious target to increase tertiary gross enrolment ratios to 30 per cent by 2020. That participation rate stood at just under 18 per cent as of 2010 but had climbed to nearly 27 per cent by 2015. As that rapid expansion suggests, the focus in Indian higher education over the past decade has been very much on building capacity and improving access for domestic students. Even so, the AIU aims to call attention to the limited foreign enrolment in Indian institutions. The figure is a far cry from the 4.85 million universities are allowed to enrol. This comes under the policy framework which enables universities and colleges to admit international students up to 15 per cent of their total student cohort. In contrast, India sends the second highest number of its students overseas, data from the Institute of International Education reveals.
According to AIU institutions are permitted to enrol foreign students up to a limit of 15 per cent of their total enrolment quotas, meaning that Indian universities have the collective capacity to enrol nearly five million foreign students under current rules. This is, however, a highly theoretical ceiling. The total global population of internationally mobile students only recently moved past five million, and AIU survey data makes it clear that Indian universities are attracting only a small percentage of that total. Based on a survey of member institutions, the AIU calculates total foreign enrolment in Indian higher education at 30,423 for 2015, down slightly from just over 31,000 the year before. This count is based on 341 completed surveys out of a population of 593 potential respondents. The AIU concludes, however, that the completed surveys provide a reasonably complete picture of foreign enrolment, in part by assuming that “all those universities that had international students reported the data and thus those not reporting the data do not have international students on their campuses. However, the most recent UNESCO data suggests that there is some undercounting in the AIU tally. UNESCO puts the total overseas enrolment in India at nearly 42,000 for 2015 – a number that, while substantially different in percentage terms, does not meaningfully alter the findings in the AIU survey.
Overall, AIU describes a pattern of modest inbound growth, from about 8,000 foreign students in 2000 to more than 30,000 as of 2015. This represents a nearly three-fold increase over the 15 years with total overseas enrolment more than doubling between 2005 and 2015. That slow but steady growth of course pales in comparison to Indian outbound numbers over the same period. As of 2016, there were more than 255,000 Indian students enrolled abroad, and India – again second only to China – has been a major driver of growth in international mobility for some years now.
When it comes to inbound though, most foreign students enrolled in India come from other Asian countries. Roughly six in ten overseas students in India are from elsewhere in Asia and another 20 per cent come from Africa. But where the proportion of Asian students is on the rise (up from just under 50 per cent in 2000), the reverse is true for Africa, which accounted for more like 40 per cent of all foreign enrolment in the early 2000s. Table reflects the leading sending markets for inbound students to India as of 2015. As the table indicates, roughly half of India’s foreign enrolment comes from the top five sending markets.
AIU report further reveals that:
Just under 72 per cent of all foreign students in India are enrolled in undergraduate programmes. Another 21per cent are studying at the post-graduate level.
Male students outnumber females by roughly a 2:1 margin.
Foreign enrolment in India is highly concentrated by institution. Only 23 universities report international enrolments of 300 students or more. In fact, the top ten receiving institutions host nearly six in ten of all foreign students in the country. These include Indira Gandhi National Open University in New Delhi with 3,022 students, the University of Pune (1,896 students), and the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in Bangalore (1,842).
“PIO/NRI” refers to non-resident Indians, that is students drawn from the Indian diaspora that are not permanent residents of India.Source: AIU
“Lack of enough applications from international students was reported to be a major stumbling block as over 58.93 percent of the universities reported they do not receive enough number of quality applications from international students. Other major stumbling blocks to the internationalisation of India’s higher education sector include:
Difficulties in recognising equivalent international qualifications (26.79 percent)
Lack of residential accommodation for international students (22.32 percent)
Difficulties in obtaining visa for international students (20.54 percent)
OP Jindal Global University reported safety and security in India are other causes of concern, while Maharishi Markandeshwar University feels the difficulty in finding sponsorship is a major obstacle. This means Indian institutions are not fully maximising their potential to be a global campus with diverse students as well as losing out in revenue.
“India has tremendous potential to attract international students from all over the world. Sadly, our universities have not been able to capitalise on this opportunity,” the report said. While it wouldn’t be realistic for India to aim to get 4.85 million into its universities – data from the Institute of International Education recorded only around one million international students worldwide in 2015/16 – the report is urging for the institutions, regulatory bodies and the government to aim for a “more pragmatic 10 per cent of the global outflow”.
While India has seen a massive increase in the number of international students since 2000 – a mere 7,791 then – there were only 30,423 international students in 2014, according to the Association of Indian Universities’ annual report. The figure is a far cry from the 4.85 million universities are allowed to enrol. This comes under the policy framework which enables universities and colleges to admit international students up to 15per cent of their total student cohort.
The AIU is not subtle in expressing its views on the current state of internationalisation in Indian higher education. It is “concerned about the low numbers of international students in our campuses,” notes the report, which adds that India’s global market share is “abysmally low at only 0.61per cent.”The result, AIU adds, is that Indian universities “are losing out on the advantage of not only generating some revenue but also of making their campuses diverse.”The AIU notes as well that many Indian institutions are simply not actively engaged in international student recruitment at this point. (Only about six in ten universities indicate any sort of active marketing or promotion in international markets.) To help build the country’s share of internationally mobile students, the report calls for a national international education strategy, and for greater collaboration between the various levels of government and international educators in India and abroad.
Globally investment in higher education lead to new areas of competition and act as an impetus for every stakeholder towards improving standards of excellence to compete in the global market. India should strive to become a global hub for higher education and attract students from developed countries to gain “economically” and start “get a soft power engagement with the world. India can be a hub for higher education in the world. People will come not just from developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, but from United States for education. The American higher education market is extremely expensive and India with its advantage of the English language, very good engineering and finance education can do this and it is possible – a foreign exchequer spinner. This is going to give a soft power engagement with the world. Historically, countries performing economically very well, have done this typically.
The imperative demands to narrow compartmentalization and look forward to a more interdisciplinary set-up with a well-coordinated interaction, both within and outside the university. Indian higher education policy is to develop our capacity to share and generate knowledge regionally and internationally. The mix of the home and international community within the university will help to enrich the academic environment and best serve the larger vision of higher education in India to evolve into a global hub. International students bring with them varying cultures and ethos which make the rich Indian culture even richer and helps cross-border integration. India has a room for all faiths, languages, and people. And dialogue across cultures in the academy becomes a humanizing agency of beneficial social consciousness, thereby enhancing the idea of wider social concerns and effects. Today’s Global village is indicative of changing ethnic and cultural contours, where expatriate aloofness has to give way to plural cultural kinship and a universal vocabulary of a literary community belonging to many nations. Changing scenario of higher education require serious thinking on what are the various aspects of excellence and how best to achieve them. Apart from excellence in institutions, international standards in research as well as promotion of creative ideas and innovative interaction among teachers and students beyond borders is vital to the vision for a more prosperous and peaceful tomorrow in the globalised environment.
There is a dire need to go to the roots of the problem of the ever-diminishing of overseas students in Indian Universities. Need of the hour is to evolve a coherent - consistent policy, both at the college and university level. An objective assessment of the problems faced by overseas students is needed so that sufficient improvements can be made in various areas to finally have an impact on changing scenario where there seems to be hardly any encouragement given to overseas students.
The admission process in our universities needs simplification. The condition to qualify the entrance test should be waived off because it is difficult for a non-English speaking country student to clear the entrance examination and this also discourages many to apply in Indian Universities. Moreover, the physical presence of the overseas students applying to a course should not be necessary. International students should be allowed to apply for admission and also pay their admission fee online. They should be informed by post or email of their eligibility subject to the conditions that the original certificates shall be verified before s/he is allowed to join the department. Additionally 10 per cent seats may be reserved for international students in every department. A single window system can remarkably facilitate the admission procedures of overseas students. The long-stranding demand for a separate transit hostel or a mess that caters to an intercontinental community has been on the anvil without seeing the light of day. Apparently, the will to become an international university with students and teachers interacting from different nationalities seems to be a low priority of our regulatory bodies.
The focus, therefore, has to reflect on the rich extra-curriculum and social life of our country, and give the international community a lively sense of daily experience that generations of undergraduates and graduate students share. The bonds of ethnicity and culture, which hold together Indian must remain as enduring as ever. To achieve this, the university has to work in partnership with educational organizations around the world and be ready to take necessary steps to achieve a close working relationship through exchange programmes. International competitors are made our close collaborators. Renewing links with universities around the world can bring together active citizens who become strong agents or ambassadors of change. For this, we must identify the world-class institutions from which we can gain in our enterprise of both teaching and research. Adequately advertisement are made abroad of our international standards and the academic standing of our faculty. Undoubtedly, over the years, there has been a steady progressive improvement in various areas of teaching and research and some universities in India have been playing a leading role in this region contributing to the intellectual life of generations of students both from India and abroad.
A recipient of a Cultural Doctorate of Philosophy in Economics from USA. He is an active member of various professional bodies, namely —
Indian Society of Agricultural Economics,
Indian Society of Agricultural Marketing,
Indian Institute of Public Administration,
Agricultural Economics Research Association (India) and so on.
Among other things, he has participated and presented papers at various international/national/regional seminars, conferences, etc. He was a member of the Academic Council of the Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar. There are about 200 research papers published in internationally renowned journals and 15 research monographs in the collection of an unwearied researcher. During his three decades of professional experience, he has also written, co-authored, or edited 15 books that have been well received and highly acclaimed. He received many awards, including Guru Dronacharya Samman, Vijay Rattan Award, among others.
Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies, Amritsar as part of 7th National Seminar of the institute, organized paper writing and presentation contest among school children on the theme Recycling of Waste Water and Reuse System. Dr Gursharan Singh Kainth Chief Executive officer cum Director of the institute said that Water is basic necessities for the survival of life for every human creature or living beings on earth. The world is facing water and water quality crisis arising out of population growth and GDP, urbanization, industrialization, upward living standards, poor water use practices and waste water management strategies. Despite about 15 per cent rise in global annual freshwater flows resulting from hotter temperatures speeding up the hydrological cycle and hence more precipitation, global water use also is expected to catch up and rise to about 19 per cent, leading to water crisis. It is estimated that withdrawals for domestic water use would double while industrial use of water is likely to increase by almost 45 per cent by the year 2100.
In 2017 the UN-Water programme concentrates on the connection between water and wastewater. In the quest for sustainable development reusing wastewater is inevitable. Wastewater is perceived as a valuable resource, DR Kainth added. The World Economic Forum ranks water crises, such as scarcity, floods and pollution, among the main risks for the global economy. Every drop of water will increasingly have to be used,re-used, and then re-used again.
Dr Kainth suggest that ‘This can only be done if every user is considerate of the needs of other and subsequent users. The UN Valuing Water Initiative is working a comprehensive and hands-on tool to improve global practices on valuing water. To create awareness about this valuable natural resource among the up growing generation of 14 to 17 yrs, paper writing and presentation contest was organised.
We have received about one hundred papers from various schools was received for the contest. Depending upon content and originality of the paper only 12 papers were shortlisted and called to present their papers. Each participation was given 10 min to complete his/er presentation.
Presentation by Ms Simranjeet Kaur of Holy Heart Presidency School, Amritsar was decalred as the BEST Paper while Miss Snehpreet Kaur of Guru nanak Girls Senior Secondary School, Amritsar was awraded consolation prize. Dr Rajinder Kaur of Department of Botany and Environmental Science of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amrsar was the Chief od the jury. Other members of the jury was Mrs Manosha Sharma of Department of Education, Guru Nanak Dev University and Mrs Jaspreet kaur Department of Physices, BBK DAV College for Women, Amritsar.Prof and Head Dr (Mrs) Parmjeet Kaur Nanda of Punjab School of Economics Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar gave away the prizes. She congurlated the award winners and advised the partcipants not to loose heart and work hard. She added that it is our duty of all to use this most precious natural resource judisously and with utmost care. There is well known adage – Waste not, Want not. I wish to add, Waste not the Waste and do not untouch an untouchable. Giving human touch to technology has never harmed anyone. Member of the organizing committee Sh Kanwar Sukhjinder Singh Chhatwal welcome the audience and Mrs Parminder Kaur conducted the stage beautifully.
A recipient of a Cultural Doctorate of Philosophy in Economics from USA. He is an active member of various professional bodies, namely —
Indian Society of Agricultural Economics,
Indian Society of Agricultural Marketing,
Indian Institute of Public Administration,
Agricultural Economics Research Association (India) and so on.
Among other things, he has participated and presented papers at various international/national/regional seminars, conferences, etc. He was a member of the Academic Council of the Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar. There are about 200 research papers published in internationally renowned journals and 15 research monographs in the collection of an unwearied researcher. During his three decades of professional experience, he has also written, co-authored, or edited 15 books that have been well received and highly acclaimed. He received many awards, including Guru Dronacharya Samman, Vijay Rattan Award, among others.
Dr Gurusharan Singh Kainth Director, Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies
Dr Rajinder Singh Bawa
Ms. C A Jyoti Soi
Indian tax system is the most complicated one in the world with the Centre; the States and local bodies having power to levy variety of taxes to earn revenue. The Current multi-staged tax structure has charges from both the States as well as Centre leading to cascading effect of taxes. There are taxes at different rates and at multiple points. Centre has taxes like Income Tax; Service Tax; Central Sale Tax; Excise Duty and Security Transaction Tax while States have VAT or Sale Tax; Octroi; State Excise; Property Tax; Entry Tax and Agriculture Tax and so on. These multiple taxes over burned the Indian products affecting its price and sales in the domestic as well as global market. As such Indian uncertain tax policies have been criticized globally in the past. However, in the past two years, India has been on a tax overhaul which has been shored up the government reform credentials.
To address this, the Constitution Amendment Bill for Goods and Service Tax (GST) has been approved by the President of India post its passage in the Parliament (Rajya Sabha on August 3rd and Lok Sabha on August 8th 2016) and ratification by more than 50 per cent of states (16 States) legislatures. Government of India is committed to replace all the indirect taxes levied on goods and services by both the Centre and States and implement GST by April 2017. The passage of the Constitutional Amendment Bill as well as release of MODEL GST laws indicates the determination of the Government to implement GST at the earliest.
GST is heralded as the biggest tax reform since independence, reforming the Indian taxation system through implementing a single tax on the supply of goods and services, replacing all the direct and indirect taxes currently implemented by both the Central and States Government. It is still not clear how the new GST regime will impact the economy in the short and long run. Overall, it is expected that GST will have far reaching implications on businesses and production in India through a change in India’s tax structure, incidence, computation, payments, compliance, credit utilization and reporting. It is expected that this tax reform will increase economic growth rates and will broadly have beneficial impacts on the Indian economy through supporting the development of a common Indian market, reductions in logistics and transaction costs, improving compliance and broadening the tax base, and reducing the cascading effect of tax on the cost of goods and services.
As far as tax reform in the field of indirect taxes are concerned, the historical tax reform as a Challenge is the Goods And Services Tax (GST) which is at present under implementation stage. Government has decided to implement this law with effect from April 1st, 2017. GST is seen as the most ambitious and most significant tax reform in the history of indirect taxes which would subsume not only the Union Levies including the Central Excise Duty; Service Tax etc but also the state level tax such as Value Added Tax, Octroi; Entry Tax; Purchase Tax and Entertainment Tax among others. It is the culmination efforts of over 13 years by the successive Central and State Governments to reach the present level.
Union Finance Minister who chairs the GST Council that includes State Finance Ministers as its members has set a target date of 22th November 2016 to finalize the modalities of the tax including the model legislation and crucial rates for tax. In the last two meetings held 0n 22nd;23rd and 30th September 2016, GST Council has decided on issues including the threshold for business on which GST would be levied; the draft Business Rules; the future of Area Based Exemptions as well as control over small business among others. Business with an annual turnover of up to Rs 10 lakh in North Eastern States and up to Rs 20 lakh in other states will be exempted from GST. States will have the sole control over manufacturing business with an annual turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore. There will be an element of dual control above the threshold and either the state or centre will have control over the business depending upon risk assessment.
GST CAPPING:
GST Council on November 3, 2016 noted that the GST will be levied at multiple rates ranging from 0 per cent, 5, 12, and 18 to 28 per cent with food grains exempted from the tax. The lowest taxes will go to several food items such as meat products, milk and dairy, and other processed foods. Purchase taxes, market fees (Mandi taxes), and infrastructure development taxes will be incorporated into GST. It is expected that better compliance will help in widening the tax base and hence lowering the tax burden on average dealer in agriculture trade. It will improve market competitiveness, helping export markets. Uniformity across states and the nation will help in compliance and the new GST tax structure is expected to help protect the interest of small traders and hence attract more traders, boosting competition.
There is, however, significant debate across the political spectrum at what standard rate the GST should be set and which items to include and exclude. The opposition parties are advocating for a rate below the generally proposed 18 per cent while some States are proposing to set it at 20 per cent to ensure adequate revenue collection. A report for the government on how to ensure neutral revenue rates after GST implementation recommends a standard GST rate of 17 to 19 per cent for most goods and services, a 12 per cent rate for some goods (including most agricultural goods) and a 40 per cent rate for luxury goods. The Central Government has clarified that all food grains and food commodities that go into the common food basket will be exempted from the tax and a few items will be taxed at the 5 per cent level. It is not yet clear which items will be taxed and how that may affect nutrition.
However, there arises certain concern regarding its implementation from April next. One such concern is that certain numbers of items are exempt from tax e.g. petroleum and petroleum products and electricity will not be under GST. States and centre will continue to levy taxes on them.
Tsunami of debates and discussions came crawling in ever since the GST bill been given a go-ahead from the centre. As the passage of GST bill rolls in towards scripting history in the Indian economy, various sectors agreed-disagreed with the India’s biggest tax reform. While government made a strong pitch saying it will put an end to tax terrorism, some were skeptical if India was ready to take such a great leap forward. Presently, GST Bill is getting ratified by the state governments and it is likely to come into consideration by April 2017. It would be of interest to know the industries directly or indirectly related to Agriculture which are exempted from taxes including Excise, VAT,CST etc The information may also be shared for food grains, irrigation projects, drip irrigation, farm machinery, tractors, fertilizers, seeds & agro-chemicals and water related.
If we have the audacity to believe what some gushing analysts are saying, the passage of GST Bill is as momentous as gaining independence in 1947. The euphoria will soon fade away as finance ministers of all states start the tortuous process of talks and negotiations with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his team of advisors and bureaucrats. Do remember: there is a chance that the implementation of the Bill could still be scarpered. If the opposition senses that the BJP is weak (could be after assembly elections in UP) and some parties start nit picking on a Money Bill vs a Finance Bill, the whole thing might collapse. In any case, most sensible analysts know that it would be at least five years before the positive effects of GST spread across the economy. The early stages in fact would see a lot of chaos.
GST & e-NAM:
GST is expected to create a more seamless movement of agriculture produce between states and is expected that primary markets can respond quickly to the market signals avoiding local shortages and avoiding transportation costs of up to 3 to 5 per cent depending upon the region and commodity. GST will help favor the e-National Agricultural Market (e-NAM) given that taxation on agricultural products will be simplified. e-NAM will help in avoiding Mandi fees and taxes and link farmers with buyers and improving market efficiency, hence beneficial for both farmers and buyers. Both GST and e-NAM have a common goal to create an integrated National Commodities Market with a uniform tax structure for uniform market fees across the nation.
GST may help facilitate and significantly increase the trade of goods and services within India. Bihar is the only state without the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act and has also welcomed the ratification of GST saying it will increase country-wide trade and state tax revenues since it has no organized market sector. The multiple layers of taxes with the supply chain will be clubbed into a single tax. The movement of goods and services will at ease across the states. For example, successful GST implementation is expected to eliminate the queues of trucks waiting at state boundaries. Indian businesses are generally supportive of the GST as it is expected to simplify their value chains.
GST & Organised Agriculture:
Every supply chain will be affected by the new tax regime meaning that farmers will also be affected. However, the effect is not clear yet since the laws in the act exempt agriculturalists but the allied services might be affected and hence can impact agriculture. To best understand the system, farmers need to understand the documentation, system compliance, and use of information technology along with the digital transactions. There can be some resistance due to initial new system adjustments.
The impacts on production, however, are unclear as it might dis-incentivize the farming community. The reduction in the number of tax-exempt products from 300 to 90 under GST may include some farm inputs that currently have tax exemptions and concessions; that might be increase in their price and hence impact the net income of the farming community. Seeds will continue to be exempted.
The implementation of the GST along with demonetization may require farmers to increasingly use banking channels and appropriate banking policies may be required to waive feeds and help low-income farmers access the banks.
The implementation of the GST is expected to significantly boost trade within India. GST will eliminate the current multitude of taxes, duties, and surcharges that exist between states, thereby effectively creating a common Indian market. However, the taxes that will be imposed on the movement of goods are not clear. For instance, if goods move from producing states to consuming states, it is unclear which state will receive the tax benefits and how those benefits will be structured. However, ‘producing’ states are likely to experience a decrease in total tax revenues, and ‘consuming’ States an increase in total tax revenues, due to changes to where goods are taxed. It is hoped that the taxation of services by states will allow them to mitigate the expected shortfall in tax revenues.
GST Network:
The Central and State governments have joined hands to register for the new Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), a non-profit, non-governmental organization that will provide shared technological infrastructure. The key objectives of the GSTN are to provide a standard and uniform electronic interface to provide shared information technology infrastructure for all state government agencies.
It is expected that market signals will be clearer and food grains and other food commodities can move from surplus zones to deficit zones. This may help more traders participate and increase competition in the markets to respond to local food shortages. The GST system will help incorporate more accurate information on agricultural and food stock levels nationally and regionally, assisting with food security decisions. Perishables can move faster and cheaper due to less checks, paper work and taxes during transport.
GST & States Revenue:
The main concern in the application of GST to food is the impact it would have on those living at or below subsistence levels. It was noted that in the rural sector, the predominant distribution channel for unprocessed food would be either a direct sale by the farmer to final consumers or through small distributors and retailers. Even where food is within the scope of the GST, such sales would largely remain exempt because of the small business registration threshold. Further, the output of agricultural sector is mostly exempt from tax, and inputs in agricultural sector like power and fertilizer are heavily subsidized and will continue to be subsidized.
In effect, this means that ‘producing’ states are likely to experience a decrease in total tax revenues, and ‘consuming’ states an increase in total tax revenues, due to changes to where goods are taxed. However, it is hoped that the taxation of services by states will allow these states to mitigate the expected shortfall in tax revenues. Thus, the shorter-term and longer-term impacts of GST will be discovered in the near future. With the rollout planned to be next year on April 1, the important decisions rest on the shoulders of the GST council, regarding the GST rates. The capping of the GST at rate of 18 percent will not be favorable as it might lead to revenue deficits in some states.
But that’s not the point of this piece. Even as applaud this important tax reform, it is worthwhile to ask why Indian farmers cannot reap the benefits of a unified pan Indian market. Despite promises made by the government, Indian farmers are effectively slaves of Local Mandis where they have to sell their produce. It is a criminal offense for them to take their produce and sell it in another state. For those who have travelled in real India in trains away from Delhi, one common sight is ticket collectors and railway cops extorting bribes from farmers or traders carrying a few sacks of wheat or ride to another state.
For this India, a unified market is a cruel joke. In this age of so called globalization, why can’t an Indian farmers export his produce to any country in the world? As of now, that is unthinkable. In fact, every time India faces the prospects of shortage of any agricultural products, exports are either banned outright or heavy export duties imposed – Indian export is surplus based. This is not the only way the Indian farmer is marginalized, neglected and exploited. If you and I take a loan to buy a car, we lay an interest rate of 10 per cent at most. For a farmer buying a tractor with a loan, the interest rate is usually never less than 15 per cent. And even then, corrupt bankers and local leaders exploit farmers systematically even here. Initially, a farmer would be encouraged to take a tractor loan. Often he wouldn’t read the fine print. A month or two of default and the bank would seize the tractor and “auction” it to recover the loan. A local “leader” would buy it at throwaway prices and the loot would be shared. Meanwhile, the farmer and his family would be ruined. Look at the cruel joke played every year on farmers in the name of paying compensation for lost crops. The amounts range from Rs 15 to Rs 150.
GST & AGRICULTURE:
Indian agriculture sector which contributes around 16 per cent to GDP, are yet to pull down the curtain on how the implementation of the bill would affect the sector as there are mostly marginal and small farmers in the country. However, many lauded the centre’s decision saying it will help in the free flowing of the agri-products without any hindrance although there might be slight variation in taxation. The impact on the food industry will affect people living in all sections of the society. However, taxing the food could hold more impact on the poor. But, the exception of food can shrink the tax base as well. As we know that Agriculture is the root/backbone of the Indian economy and government has always kept it as its top priority. Food includes various different items such as meat, fish, poultry, grains, cereals, dairy products and milk, confectionary, snacks, candy, etc. In India, many of the food items have been exempted from the CENVAT, while cereals and food grains are liable for the state VAT of 4 per cent. While the other unprocessed food such as meat and eggs, coarse grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables come under the restricted state VAT category. Beverages are generally taxable, with the exception of milk.
Food is a large portion of spending of lower income households and any tax on food and farm produce would be regressive since production and distribution of food as well as agricultural produce is largely unorganized in India. Since most food items have been either exempted from tax or taxed at a lower rate, it should be the attempt of the government to let the agriculture sector escape taxation in a just manner after the GST legislation is enacted. The main issue in the application of GST to food is the impact it would have on those living at or below subsistence levels. Doubtlessly, it accounts for an even higher proportion of total expenditures and incomes that are living at the bottom of the income scale. Taxing food could thus have a major impact on the poor. By the same token, a complete exemption for food would significantly shrink the tax base. As expenses related to food constitute a sizeable portion of lower-income households, agriculture and agri-produce including food processing industry should be kept out of GST.
GST & National Agricultural Market:
A uniform purchase tax throughout the country will help further the aim of National Agricultural Market (NAM) however we may see a spurt in the prices of agricultural goods as the GST rate is expected to be higher than VAT which was capped at 4 per cent. It is expected that after the implementation of the GST, the prices of the agricultural products and services will rise but the products will be able to reach places via trucks in a better way. The implementation of GST will also favor the National Agricultural Market on merging all the different taxations on agricultural products. The ease of transportation of the agricultural good will improve the marketing and improve the virtual market growth. In the present system, we see that there are difficulties in the implementation of tax support by the centre over the policies of states. Therefore, in the GST regime, we can witness a boost in the inter-state trade and achieve goals of National Agricultural Market.
In order to achieve National Market in agriculture, there is need for harmonization in the provisions of APMC Act, EC Act and WDR Act. The implementation of GST is expected to facilitate the implementation of National Agricultural Market on account of subsuming all kinds of taxes/cess on marketing of agricultural produce as well as it would ease interstate movement of agricultural commodities which would improve marketing efficiency, facilitate development of virtual markets through warehouses and reduce overhead marketing cost. Agricultural commodities are perishable in nature in varying degrees therefore trade is influenced by the time required for transportation. The Economist (Nov 8, 2014) reports that long distance trucks in India are parked for 60 per cent of the time during transportation. The simple uniform tax regime is expected to improve the transportation time, and curtail wastage of precious food. The present system many times, makes it difficult to implement tax support provided by the centre for an agri-commodity due to heterogeneous policies adopted by the different states. The implementation of GST is expected to bring uniformity across states and centre which would make tax support policy of a particular commodity effective. The ease of availing tax credit under GST regime is expected to boost inter-state trade leading to achieving the objectives of National Agricultural Market.
The biggest pros of GST is that we will have a single tax without the cascading effect of multiple taxes, so only value addition is taxed at each point, that is a healthy international practice. Unless the overall GST is low for the food processing sector, it will lead to an increase in inflation and will not benefit farmers or consumers. It is hoped that GST does not put breaks on the growth momentum recently regained or burn a big hole in consumers already pin holed pockets and take processed food beverage, a fundamental necessity, out of the common man’s reach.
GST will bring within the tax net transactions such as trading in oilseeds, pulses and cereals, which, at the moment, are happening outside the tax structure. It will bring benefit to processor and consumers as cascading impact of prices will be checked, Sabziwala is an Indian startup company and its business is to source fresh vegetables and fruits directly from farmers and supply them to urban customers.
Dairy farming, poultry farming and stock breeding are specifically kept out of the definition of Agriculture given in model GST Law, hence it seems that these will be taxable under GST regime.
The mere cutting of wood or grass, gathering of fruit and raising of man-made forest or rearing of seedlings or plants have also been specifically kept out of the definition of Agriculture, hence it seems that these will be taxable under GST regime.
Agriculture by cultivating the land on crop share basis is kept out of the definition of “to cultivate personally”; hence it seems that these will be taxable under GST regime.
Agriculture by persons other than Individual and HUF seems also kept out of the definition of “to cultivate personally”, hence it seems that these will be taxable under GST regime.
Farmers, however, appreciate this decision – “GST is like a big boost to the agriculture sector. Interstate moving needs permission or approval as there are various taxes charged by different states. GST bill will solve most of the problem and will pave way for free market and moving from one part to another for retail and processing. Traders when they take a particular product across the country, at every point they are subject to various taxes, approvals, permissions and license. GST bill is the first act towards total liberalization of agriculture marketing.
Further, the introduction of the constitution (122nd) amendment bill will play a weighty role in the affordability of agri-machineries. It will give incentives on the sale of diesel which is the main product with which trucks carrying goods and tractors on the field operate. Incentive to agri-machinery on which excise duty is high will make it easily affordable than Chinese machinery. In India, where the farmers are mainly small and marginal and cannot afford expensive machineries, it will be a positive factor.
However, the agri-commodity sector is still hanging by thread as to whether the APMC or Mandi taxes will be abolished and only GST will be applicable. The application of GST in the food and agriculture industry is into high consideration and the public is hopeful to witness various fruitful reforms in this sector. GST has been the long awaited 122nd Constitutional Amendment Bill, which has been passed by both upper and lower house and will become law by the next year. With the unification of the taxation system, many sectors will be benefited only if things go as per the bill. GST is good. But unless Indian agriculture and farmers are given the same freedom as other economic agents the economy, 50 per cent of India will continue to be legally discriminated against.
The Purchase tax (VAT) on agricultural products will get subsumed in the GST. However other “statutory charges” that are levied on food grains by local governments like Rural Development Fee, Market (Mandi) Fee, Infrastructure Development Tax and commission to agents etc. may continue in the new regime. It was considered to exempt the Purchase tax from GST at the behest of Food producing states like Punjab and Haryana, because these states earn significant revenue from Purchase Tax. For instance, Punjab earns more than Rs 1000 Crore from Purchase tax. But the centre has been able to convince these states by assuring that any fall in their revenue shall be compensated.
GST & Dairy:
GST is not beneficial for agricultural commodities and allied sector but might benefit the engineering sector. Currently, there is no tax to procure milk from farmers. We only pay 2 per cent central VAT on sale of milk powder to a company. When GST gets implemented, the tax can be 12.5 per cent or 15 per cent or 18 per cent. There will be a straight cost hike in milk and milk products prices.
GST & Tea Industry:
Tea industry of India feels that it should be exempted from GST. Tea is the most popular thing in India after water. Tea garden showcases the definition of agriculture in India and the Draft Model GST law insisted on its exemption. In case full exemption of GST is not possible, GST rate on tea should be kept at par with the current tax rate of 5 to 6 per cent. The present concessional tax rate of 0.5/1 per cent for teas sold through auctions is allowed to continue under the GST regime. Otherwise, tea will become costlier.
GST & FISHING:
GST be exempted on some specific items fishnet twine and ropes used by the fishing industry and poultry sectors and on fly ash bricks and blocks. The applicable GST on fishing nets, fishing twines and fishing ropes should be totally exempted as these are quite necessary for the fishermen and are now exempted from the purview of the Central excise duty and also VAT in almost all the States. These fishing nets are highly essential for the livelihood of the fisherman community.
Similarly, fishnet twine used for manufacture, mending and repair of fishing nets which is not taxed now should also be exempted. Fishing rope which was exempted earlier in many States should also be exempted and fishing rope if at all to be taxed; it should be at the lowest strata of 5 per cent.
GST & Poultry Sector:
Under the model GST law, the definition of agriculture excludes “poultry” from its ambit. There is need to maintain “status-quo” with regard to taxation of poultry products under GST regime as compared with present indirect tax regime. Currently, entire poultry sector (egg, chicken and major inputs like poultry feed) is not subject to any indirect taxes. However, if GST is imposed, it would lead to heavy increase in prices of these essential food products and adversely impact the pockets of poor and public at large, he pointed out, stressing that encompassing poultry sector within the ambit of GST law would also be highly detrimental to the poultry farmers. Fly-ash bricks and blocks have replaced the conventional red bricks which results in less pollution (as there is no burning of coal like the red bricks) and more importantly, it uses the very polluting fly ash that is generated from large numbers of thermal power plants. “These industries such as fly-ash bricks and fly-ash blocks reduce the menace of fly-ash and these industries are in green categories and all these units are in small scale sector. These exemptions can greatly benefit the underprivileged and deprived section of the country and help promote large scale employment as also help reduce pollution.
GST EXEMPTION:
A committee of officials headed by Revenue Secretary is preparing the item-wise list for GST rates. More than 16000 representations were received seeking exemptions or lower rate of GST. Though the exemption list has not been finalized as yet, it is learned that nearly 80 items would form part of exemption list (i.e. no GST would be applicable on it). These items include grains, non-mineral water, poha etc. Only 80 items exemption will lead our country to unsound economic. All food products must come under exemption. Only ready to mix Masala should be taxed.
Currently, common items exempted by the Centre and states include bread, eggs, milk, vegetables, cereals, books and salt. These should continue to be exempted. The negative list of services, exempted from the levy, will be reduced to include only essential services such as health and education. Only a very small number of essential services will be out of the GST net. The negative list of services currently has 18 heads, which include health care, education, goods transport agency and non-air conditioned restaurants, among others.
In the rural sector, the predominant distribution channel for unprocessed food would be either a direct sale by the farmer to final consumers or through small distributors/retailers. Even where food is within the scope of the GST, such sales would largely remain exempt because of the small business registration threshold. Given that food is currently exempt from the CENVAT, the GST under a single-rate, comprehensive-base model would lead to at least a doubling of the tax burden on food (from 4 per cent state VAT to a combined GST rate of 8 per cent). The alternative of exempting food altogether (or zero rating) would not be any better as it would have an adverse impact on Revenue Neutral Rate. Thus, prices of the agricultural items and services are expected to rise after the implementation of the GST, although the overall inflationary impact of the proposed indirect regime will be negative.
The output of agricultural sector is mostly exempt from tax, and inputs in agricultural sector like power and fertilizer are heavily subsidized for this sector, and should continue to be subsidized. As such there might not be any appreciable change in this sector on account of GST. However a final analysis can only be made when Actual GST Act are passed and implemented.
GST & Dual Control Controversies:
Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has started the exercise of putting the goods in the four tax slabs which will be shared with the GST Council. After nailing a four-tier rate structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent, the GST Council at its meeting on November 4 failed to reach a consensus on which category of assesses would be governed by the Centre and which by the states.
Differences on the issue of cross empowerment to avoid dual control arose with states demanding control over 11 lakh service tax assesses, and the Centre proposing to do away states having exclusive control over all dealers up to an annual revenue threshold of Rs 1.5 crore — an issue which was settled in the first meeting of the GST Council.
The draft legislation has 195 sections, so it is the core bill of the legislation. GST Council discussed 99 sections and a few clauses need to be redrafted, which would be changed during the course of time. Too many sections of law yet to be finalized, GST can’t happen without consensus on dual control.
The government is very clear on a single administration dealing with an assesses. Centre and States gathered for GST Council meeting to discuss GST Bills and control/ administration under GST on December 11-12. But two day meeting was curtailed to a half day gathering with discussion on clauses under GST Bills. With no headway on dual control/ administration and pendency of discussion on all clauses of GST Bills, it is more likely than not that GST would skip its roll out date of April 1, 2017. The GST Council has not been able make any headway on dual control. The council has not given a nod to GST laws as well. Next GST Council meeting will take place on December 22-23, 2016.
The Council has arrived at an option of two proposals — horizontal division and vertical division. ‘Horizontal division’ would mean taxpayers would be divided both for administrative and audit purposes based on a cut-off turnover. Those with a turnover over Rs 1.5 crore would be administered both by the Centre and the states, while those with below Rs 1.5 crore would be administered solely by the states.
‘Vertical division’ based on ratios assigns taxpayers to a tax administration, Centre or state, for a period of three years for all purposes including audit. Taxpayers could be divided in a ratio which would balance the interest of the Centre and the state, both with respect to revenue and spread of numbers. But the Centre feels that horizontal division would be lopsided as 93per cent of Service Tax assessees and 85per cent of VAT taxpayers have a turnover below Rs 1.5 crore.
Whether the (administrative) control over those with annual revenue of less than Rs1.5 crore should be given to the states, or should be handled by states and centre together, is only a problem of pragmatic administration. But that has become the stumbling roadblock now. States are peeved by the centre which is sticking to its position. Seventy-five per cent government employees are from the states. States share a good rapport with small traders (taxpayers below a threshold of Rs1.5 crore). The reasons (for giving administrative power to states) go on.
While the central government’s vote will carry a one-third weight, votes of all state governments put together will have a two-thirds weight. Every point attains conclusion with 3/4th majority in GST Council and administration may not get concluded in next GST Council meeting. To get a three-fourth majority, the centre needs the support of at least 16 states… The central government does not have those numbers, given the political equation within the council right now.
GST may miss the Bus:
In the scheme of things, it is a huge setback for BJP government as the April deadline looks tough to achieve as the winter session end on December 16. Majority of states, including Kerala, West Bengal and Delhi, are sticking to their stand of sole control over entities with turnover below Rs 1.5 crore. Vertical division of assessees for collection of taxes and for the purpose of audit would create problems for small taxpayers. Kerala, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Delhi, Odisha…majority of states want a combination of vertical and horizontal (dual control structure). Below Rs 1.5 crore turnovers, states should tax and above Rs 1.5 crore, it can be vertical division. Furthermore, it will be difficult for taxpayers of below 1.5 crore as they will have to face both state and central harassment. They will be sandwiched between the two pillars. Proposals should be executed in such a manner so that nobody will face problem.
States are demanding exclusive control over assessees of Rs 1.5 crore and below for both goods and services. Centre is agreeable on goods, but is not yielding on services. States are looking at their interest to safeguard their revenue. Centre will have to yield to states to get the CGST and IGST bills passed. A middle ground on the issue has to be worked out politically. A common ground is a must before centre proceeds to pass CGST and IGST Bill in Parliament.
BJP government has tried hard to push GST Bills in the recently concluded winter session. However, before that GST Council needs to agree on nuances of the GST Bills and control/ administration of GST. Centre and States have been unable to break the deadlock on pending issues in the GST Council. Considering winter session completes on December 16, there is very little time to fit in everything and present the bill.
The Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed by Parliament on 16th September 2016 implies that government has only until September 2017 to roll out GST in India. The Constitution does not permit delay in GST implementation. The government notified GST on 16 September and the Constitutional Amendment itself says the current indirect tax system can continue for one year, after which the GST has to come. If as on 16 September 2017, there is no GST, then there is no taxation in the country. Apparently, government have a constitutional compulsion to have a GST in place before September 16 (2017), otherwise the country doesn’t run, and the tax is absolutely essential. Central government will not be able to present the supporting legislation for the GST in this winter session of Parliament. The only way GST Bills can be tabled is to call a special session of the parliament for GST.
City based noted economist Dr Gursharan Singh Kainth has been recognized for his unwearied research efforts with Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2017 by the award committee of GRABS Educational Charitable Trust Chennai. The award carries a certificate and trophy in the winner’s name indicating the award category. According to communication received from the secretary of the trust, award will be confirmed on January 22, 2017 at Namma Veedu Vasanta Bhavan, Chromepet, Chennai and distinguished Chief Guest of the day, will be Shri. Shaik Mohammad Saleem, Deputy Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Chennai.
Dr Kainth starting his career as Lecturer at Post Graduate Department of Economics, Government College Gurdaspur and later at Khalsa College; Amritsar specializes in Quantitative and Development Economics with multi-disciplinary approach. He has the distinction of serving the prestigious Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana for about two decades (1980-2001) and remained Director-Principal of Saint Soldier Management and Technical Institute, Jalandhar. Currently, he is heading city based Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies since its inception.
A recipient of Cultural Doctorate of Philosophy of Economics from the World University, Arizona, USA is an active member of various professional bodies and participated and presented papers in various International/national/regional seminars, conferences etc..Awarded BEST PAPER AWARD by Government of India. He was awarded ICSSR Senior Fellowship for two years. He is elected to Board of Governors of Indian Water Partnership-a sister concern of Global Water Partnerships and honoured on the National Teacher Day by NIFD. He is a member of Editorial Board of various international journals published in India and abroad.
An unwearied researcher Dr Kainth has about 200 research papers published in various international and national journals of repute and 25 research monographs to his kitty. Besides, he has authored/co-authored /edited 20 books which have been well received and highly acclaimed during his three decades of professional career. He was honoured by various national and international awards.
Dr Kainth undertook in-depth analysis in the varied domain of economic development in general and agricultural development in particular at regional level. He made a useful attempt at sketching the anatomy of economic development of Punjab. Dr Kainth has thoroughly searched the elementary educational scenario of Punjab as a Senior Fellow of Indian Council of Social Sciences Research, New Delhi; National Council of Educational Research and Training of MHRD as well as for the NITI Aayog erstwhile Planning Commission.
His careful venture in the area of agricultural export not only offers as a timely tome but also boldly addresses some of the nagging doubts and growing dilemmas facing policy planers and authorities alike. His diagnostic studies of farmers-producers lead to better understanding of development of market structure- an important pre requisite to successful agricultural operation. Rigorous yet lucid analysis of information of non economic factors on production pattern amply demonstrated that the technological innovation can ensure the freedom from the clutches of the weather vagaries is a myth.
His careful probing into a micro unit of farmer’s experience contradicts the doom sayers for they expose an optimistic reality whose lessons can and should reshape future thought and action. The resurgence of money-lenders, the fatigue of cooperative credit institutions, the advent of micro finance with its multifaceted activities, the paramount importance of marketing of crops in a globalize environment have added knots and twists to the structure and processes of rural financial market. His in-depth analysis of rural financial market will help administrators and political leaders how to effectively provide finance to the poor.
Dr Kainth has also extensively explored the issue of Global warming, which is a modern development problem. This issue has become more complicated involving the entire world tangled up with difficult issues such as poverty, economic development and population growth. Dealing with it will not be easy. Ignoring it will be worse. This is one of several crucial challenges that already impede the progress of agriculture particularly in the vast marginal rainfed farming regions where majority of the Earth’s poor and food insecure reside. This means that addressing the difficulties that farmers already faced in many areas - not only low and erratic rainfall and hot temperature but also inadequate infrastructure, lack of access to markets and credit and other challenges- will contribute to current agricultural development and food security while building resilience to future climate change. Use of Bio technology for development of varieties with enhanced tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress, resource conservation technologies that use less water and nutrients are some examples of technologies required to tackle the effect of climate change. A new model of development is required to give urgency to copping with climate change. Apparently, successful adaptation will require not only new crop technologies and increased investment in water security but also policy backup to give small-scale subsistence farmers better access to information, credit and market. Understanding these impacts will help clarify the specific adaptation that both policy makers and farmers must make.
A recipient of a Cultural Doctorate of Philosophy in Economics from USA. He is an active member of various professional bodies, namely —
Indian Society of Agricultural Economics,
Indian Society of Agricultural Marketing,
Indian Institute of Public Administration,
Agricultural Economics Research Association (India) and so on.
Among other things, he has participated and presented papers at various international/national/regional seminars, conferences, etc. He was a member of the Academic Council of the Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar. There are about 200 research papers published in internationally renowned journals and 15 research monographs in the collection of an unwearied researcher. During his three decades of professional experience, he has also written, co-authored, or edited 15 books that have been well received and highly acclaimed. He received many awards, including Guru Dronacharya Samman, Vijay Rattan Award, among others.
Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies popularly known as IDSAsr is a centre for advanced research and training in multi disciplinary areas as diverse as agriculture and rural development; social change and social structure; environment and resource economics; globalization and trade, industry, labour and welfare; macro economics issues and models; population and development and health policy research. The institute is being runs under the aegis of Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies Society, Amritsar which is a registered national scientific and educational society under Societies Registration Act, XXI of 1860, Chandigarh in July 2009 vide Registration No. 77 of 2009-2010. The society was collectively conceived by a group of like-minded peoples drawn from different disciplines and backgrounds to promote research, publication, development, training and similar creative activities.
Though the institute is at the embryonic stage, it has got membership into various world organizations, namely, UN Global Compact; Global Water Partnership; Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development; Forum: Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development and so on.
Recently, institute has brought out two very important publications in the form of eBooks on a very burning theme:
Water Energy and Food Security with ISBN 978-81-922952-8-2
Energy for Sustainable Development with ISBN 978-81-922952-6-8
You will find these eBooks very useful and enjoy it readings. It will be highly appreciated if you lease place order of the same for your organizations.IDSAsr has planned to organize its 7th IDSAsr National seminar on the theme Recycling of Waste Water and Reuse System in the month of November 2016 (November 25-26, 2016).
All are invited to contribute their well thought research paper on any of the sub theme within the main theme of the seminar. One can also attend the seminar without a paper. Your valuable contribution must reach us before the end of October 2016. However earlier submission will help us to plan its publication in a better manner. You are also requested to rush an abstract of the paper at an early date to enable us to plan the seminar in a better manner. Paper in absentia will also be considered. Also gave wide publicity among your network. For more clarification contact at the institute at kainthgs@yahoo.com or idsasr@gmail.com .
All the papers accepted and presented at the seminar will be published as Proceedings of the seminar with ISBN no of the institute. Institute will take care of local logistics (lodging boarding etc) such as accommodation foods and local travel to the registered delegates.
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The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) warning that water demand would outstrip energy demands two-fold highlighted the scale of water-energy nexus. But the reality is more complex. Critically, a global population expansion to 9 billion people by 2050, coupled with increased economic growth, will intensify competition for water, as well as increasing the need for food and energy, creating a trilemma for 21 st century society to resolve.
Traditional water-energy nexus thinking highlights the mutual importance of water and conventional energy. Energy is fundamental to collect, transport, distribute and treat water. Water is essential to extract process and refine fossil fuels. The onset of climate change further exacerbates the interconnectivity of the energy-water nexus.
A global water gap of 40 per cent between demand and accessible water by 2030 and that water consumption is set to rise from 4,500 billion cubic metres to 6,900 billion cubic metres with no change to business as usual practices and policies, such as improved ‘crop per drop’ irrigation and rain-fed measures.
Agriculture accounts for 71 per cent of current total global water withdrawals. A 50 percent population increase will exponentially increase agricultural output, requiring more water and energy through fertilizers, harvesting and processing. India could double water consumption through to 2030 to 1.5 trillion cubic metres, leaving the country with a 50 per cent water gap. Anticipating any substantially positive impact of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in developing plants that combine higher energy content with reduced water consumption is difficult.
A call was raised for awareness of the nexus between water, food and energy security, as well as climate change. A serious water crisis ahead has been realized as many groundwater resources are depleted, while demand for food and energy is increasing.
By 2030, the world’s population and economic growth are expected to lead to a 40 percent increase in energy and water demand, and a 50 per cent increase in food demand. Meanwhile, climate change puts additional strain on agriculture.
The increases in food prices in the recent past too have been closely linked to rising energy and oil prices, with serious economic implications. The poor are particularly affected by high food prices as they spend a high proportion of income on food.
Worryingly, the triple food, fuel and financial crisis of recent years may be a taste of things to come.
Global agriculture is also highly dependent on energy from fossil fuel-burning for many processes, from on-farm mechanization, to fertilizer production, to food processing and transportation. The price of oil is also closely correlated with the price of fertilizer.
Energy is crucial for production and transport of food, from the ‘farm to fork’. The food sector currently accounts for around 30 per cent of the world’s total energy consumption and over 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. The emerging biofuels market increases interdependencies between food and energy prices, since feed and fodder commodities are being used for biofuels, and also because a higher oil price increases demand for biofuels. The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) has found that growing bio-fuels from crops is extremely water-intensive, as well as being a practice which puts pressure on food crops. According to the FAO, it takes 2,500 litres of water to produce one litre of biofuels for transportation. New legislation may be needed to address the impact of biofuels mandates on food and water security.
Energy and water are both absolutely essential for food. This is especially true because irrigation is used for the production of roughly 40 per cent of global food. In this way, agriculture accounts for about 70 per cent of all freshwater withdrawal. Inefficiency in one area can also lead to inefficiency in another. For example, subsidized electricity for irrigation can lead to over-pumping, which contributes to groundwater depletion. Where water is extremely scarce, desalination – which is highly energy-intensive – is used.
As conventional fossil-fuel sources become depleted, we have seen a shift to processes like hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) which are even more water-intensive. Extraction and processing of oil sands uses about 100-1000 litres of water per gigajoule (GJ), compared to 10-100 litres for conventional oil and gas. According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), 79 per cent of new planned power capacity in India will be built in water-stressed areas. Use of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology also increases water consumption.
Renewable energy has brought new challenges. Hydropower, already the world’s dominant source of renewable energy, is a prime example of a technology that must be carefully managed to avoid negative impacts. Dams can affect biodiversity, fish migration and have impacts on downstream food security. We must start to think about the ‘water productivity’ of energy. Solar power, for example, hardly uses any water.
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In the long-term, it will be necessary for our food to be produced using sustainable energy resources and this is likely to require a transformation in agricultural systems. At the moment, we are seeing the opposite occur: food crops such as maize and soy are being used to fuel energy-consuming transport. This issue must be tackled. Otherwise, there is a risk that food prices will continue to sky-rocket.
Research is only just beginning to explore the complex issues in the food-energy- water nexus. What is clear is that better collaboration is needed between different sectors.
Policy-makers must ensure that expansion of certain types of energy does not put a strain on other vital resources. Policy-makers often work in silos – for instance, there can be little cooperation between those working on reducing emissions and those on adapting to climate change. This may have led to the controversial issues created by biofuels expansion. It is clear a more holistic outlook is needed in tackling these problems and managing increasing demands for energy, water.
This water gap presents the opportunity for water-rich countries, such as Canada, to address how to maximize its freshwater resources to provide ‘virtual’ water through intensive products and commodities to water scarce countries. Current energy trends exacerbate the trilemma. Average global temperature increases of 3.6°C are likely.
The current global energy infrastructure will contribute 80 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions necessary to reach a 2°C warming, the threshold of serious climate change predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). And the US Third National Climate Assessment suggested extreme scenarios could lead to a temperature increase of more than 5°C by the end of the century, causing cataclysmic climate change by IPCC projections. Moving from this current energy trend is problematic.
Fossil fuels are projected to comprise 80 per cent of global energy demand to 2035 with current policies. A shifting of fossil fuel subsidies to renewable energy subsidies could see renewable energy supply over 60 per cent of demand.
From a water perspective, this energy shift could be advantageous. Energy’s water dependency accounted for 15 per cent – 583 billion cubic metres – of global water withdrawals in 2010. While only 66 billion cubic metres are not returned to source, energy-related water withdrawals are anticipated to increase by 20 per cent by 2035, with a dramatic 85 per cent increase in consumption. The rate of water not returned to source would almost double to 120 billion cubic metres.
In contrast, the use of renewable energies to 2035 is predicted to increase water consumption by only 4 per cent although some technologies – such as concentrated solar power, which generates steam to drive turbines – would be more water intensive than others. Tackling climate change through measures such as carbon capture storage could also prove to be water intensive.
But energy is vital to humanity and development. Worldwide 1.3 billion people have no access to electricity, while 2.6 billion people use traditional biomass for cooking. Does the world need to rely on fossil-fuels to bridge this energy gap? Wind, water and sunlight can provide all new energy to 2030 and replace pre-existing energy sources by 2050. Society, industry, governments and investors have to wake up to the reality surrounding food, energy and water – and fast. There are alternatives to fossil fuels but there are no alternatives to food, or freshwater.
Nearly one-third of all food produced gets lost or wasted in production and consumption systems, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization. In a world of 7 billion people, set to grow to 9 billion by 2050, wasting food makes no sense – economically, environmentally and ethically. Small but simple actions by consumers and food retailers could dramatically cut the 1.3 bn tonnes of food lost or wasted across the world each year. Requesting smaller portions at restaurants, freezing leftovers and donating to food banks can help make a difference, while retailers and supermarkets should be carrying out audits and working more closely with their suppliers to reduce waste.
Together, we can reverse this unacceptable trend and improve lives. In industrialized regions, almost half of the total food squandered, around 300m tonnes annually, occur because producers, retailers and consumers discard food that is still fit for consumption.
This is more than the total net food production of sub-Saharan Africa, and would be sufficient to feed the estimated 870 million people hungry in the world.
According to the FAO, 95 per cent of food waste in developing countries are unintentional losses at early stages of the food supply chain, caused by financial, managerial and technical limitations in harvesting techniques; storage and cooling facilities in difficult climatic conditions; infrastructure; packaging and marketing systems.
But in the developed world, the end of the chain is far more significant. At the food manufacturing and retail level, large quantities of food are wasted because of inefficient practices, quality standards that over-emphasize appearance, confusion over date labels and consumers being quick to throw away edible food due to over-buying, inappropriate storage and preparing meals that are too large. Per capita waste by consumers is between 95 kg and 115 kg a year in Europe and North America/Oceania, while consumers in sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-eastern Asia each throw away 6 kg to 11 kg a year.
A recipient of a Cultural Doctorate of Philosophy in Economics from USA. He is an active member of various professional bodies, namely —
Indian Society of Agricultural Economics,
Indian Society of Agricultural Marketing,
Indian Institute of Public Administration,
Agricultural Economics Research Association (India) and so on.
Among other things, he has participated and presented papers at various international/national/regional seminars, conferences, etc. He was a member of the Academic Council of the Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar. There are about 200 research papers published in internationally renowned journals and 15 research monographs in the collection of an unwearied researcher. During his three decades of professional experience, he has also written, co-authored, or edited 15 books that have been well received and highly acclaimed. He received many awards, including Guru Dronacharya Samman, Vijay Rattan Award, among others.
Agriculture industry in India is proverbially called a “Gamble on the Monsoon”. The Indian agricultural environment has undergone numerous structural changes due to changes in the government policies. Farmers face floods, drought, pests, disease, and a plethora of other natural disasters. The weather is their greatest adversary, something that can never be controlled by man.
Yet, farming has been in existence since the caveman turned his spear in for a hoe. Farming has come a long way since then; nevertheless; farmers are still at the mercy of the heavens. Crop insurance is a risk management tool that farmers can use in today’s agricultural world. For a premium, farmers can pass their weather-related risk onto a third party. Farmers in India have been subjected to publicly administer insurance schemes since 1972. Every scheme has been flawed, yet the Government of India is still attempting to strengthen agriculture by protecting its farmers from the weather. India’s failure at providing public crop insurance does not stand alone. In both the developing and developed world, governments’ crop insurance schemes have run at huge losses while not delivering an effective product. The inadequacy of such schemes is a well-established fact. On the other hand, private insurance does exist in situations where it is feasible and no subsidized insurance is offered. The farmers stand to benefit even more from private insurance when there are several competitors.
Government crop insurance has proved to be a failure worldwide, but India seems to have ignored both its own failure and the failure of other countries. Various crop insurance schemes will not fix the ills of Indian agriculture planned by the authorities, how grand it may be. Private crop insurance may or may not develop if all government crop insurance is abolished. Abandoning insurance schemes does not mean abandoning farmers. The new insurance government policy, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) could have wide-ranging effects. The study covered the opportunities and constraints for agricultural insurance in India, how PMFBY will be supported and governance will be maintained, and the best strategy for technology to increase farmer’s awareness and successful implementation. The government’s focus will be to bring in more farmers without loans (which comprise merely 5 per cent of total farmers at present) under the scheme. A total of 5,000 automated weather stations will be set up across the country. The IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority), AIC (Agricultural Insurance Company), and 11 private and four state-owned non-life insurers have expressed their interest to participate in the scheme. Opportunities for agricultural insurance in India are numerous and insurance can be a risk transfer mechanism for Indian farmers that depend heavily on rains especially with the increasing influence of climate change. There is room for experiments and expansion of new insurance products since penetration is low and there also a favorable political environment for insurance and support of agricultural livelihoods.
Various constraints include the mindset of farmers and states, finances, technology, logistics, convenience, transparency, and the role of insurers. In the current budget, the Finance Minister has allocated Rs 5000 crores to support the PMFBY which will have additional support from the state budgetary resources. This spread across India per hectare comes to Rs 243 per hectare which is a limited amount if the scheme becomes popular.
One of the major challenges that remain is: How to segregate insurance and disaster relief. Insurance products have a commercial basis whereas the disaster relief for small and marginal farmers has a social implication. However, it is important to distinguish between subsistence farmers with no or very low chance to become commercially viable for whom insurance should be designed as a Social Protection Policy rather than as a commercial risk management tool. However, they can be issues of distinction between these two groups.
There are data constraints that also greatly limit the use of insurance. Additional yield data and farm gate data, data on land holdings, crops grown and damage calculations are needed. The scheme now covers most of the crops and with small areas in particular crops, loss may not be assessable via remote sensing or drones. Lack of adequate databases for determining premiums and indemnities and lack of adequate infrastructure create constraints in implementing crop insurance in India, particularly in backward states. The procedure is complicated for fixing the farm gate price for non-MSP crops, which may give rise to disputes. Furthermore, modernization of the land records should be promoted by the states and provisions of including land tenants be considered.
There is also a lack of public awareness of agricultural insurance. In particular, backwards regions are still facing lack of development in getting the benefits of government programs since they lack awareness and non-corporation of concerned officials, as well as unreliable and untimely harvesting information.
There is high expenditure from the public sector, as the scheme is not based on commercial viability, but depends on large subsidies, which may become problematic in the long run. To reduce competition, the government decided to have a single insurer in any district to avoid duplication in coverage. The selection of insurers is based on the premium rates rather than qualitative parameters which can be restrictive in terms of growth. Political pressure and interference can also lead to complications.
There was a strong need for awareness drive among farming families, especially small and marginal farmers. The private sector can play an important role in dissemination about PMFBY. Banks and insurers can also play a key role alongside government. Banks can have agents who can motivate farmers, arrange insurance policy, payment of premium etc. Damages by wild animals should be included because farmers are not cultivating many crops (pulses) in summer season due to concern about animal damages. Price risk should be considered along with yield risks and that products such as insurance, credit, information be bundled otherwise they will be outcompeted by the informal insurance sector. Insurance and ad-hoc relief are not run together; preference will be to avoid paying premiums if ad-hoc relief is offered. Both these programs have to be implemented separately.
Technology usage will be critical both for design and usage by farmers and India do possess strong IT capacity. Measures can be taken to improve weather insurance products including involvement of international experts, using satellite imagery with innovative computer models, and creation and usage of specialized indices like Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. The credibility of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) should be improved using a digital confirmation and auditing process and the State should ensure the use of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enabled and camera-fitted mobile phones while conducting CCEs. Development of a web portal could make data on land records for all states available to financial institutions for speeding the insurance processing.
Technology can also be used to send SMS-based weather data to progressive farmers and farming groups, to provide training through videos or SMS communication about insurance, and to promote index-based insurance as part of a wider package of services, grafted into existing, efficient delivery channels with private sector engagement and with access to international risk transfer markets. In addition, Community-Based Insurance with farmer producer organizations (FPOs) needs to be encouraged to reduce the high transaction costs in the existing model. FPOs, through Private Public Partnerships (PPP) can promote mobile technology use for money transfer both for premium collection and compensation payments. Related training and certification of FOs who in turn can train large number of small and marginal farmers can also be made part of the system. A shift from Social Crop Insurance Program towards Market based crop insurance program should also be explored with time.
Private crop insurance can be observed worldwide, even though it is not highly developed. Private crop insurance has tended to cover more specific risks and not cover management-related risks. These insurance policies offered must fit needs of farmers and be beneficial–otherwise they would not exist. This is not necessarily the case with government sponsored crop insurance. Private insurance works in a wide range of countries for a wide range of agricultural activities. Insurance programs vary from tropical plantation crops in Latin America to tree crops in the USA.
Government crop insurance has proved to be a failure worldwide, but India seems to have ignored both its own failure and the failure of other countries. The PMFBY will not fix the ills of Indian agriculture, nor will any other grand insurance scheme planned by the authorities. Private crop insurance may or may not develop if all government crop insurance is abolished. Abandoning insurance schemes does not mean abandoning farmers. Farmers could be given an income guarantee not based on yield, price, or area planted. Even now an income insurance scheme is being considered in India. Investment in agricultural infrastructure/research would be more equitable as opposed to subsidies to crop insurance and may yield more long-term benefits. Farmers deserve the chance to farm on their own. They know the weather better than anyone—it is their greatest foe and their greatest friend. The government should stop trying to play God and help farmers help themselves. The government has admitted that it lacks the resources to administer a proper insurance scheme at the individual level. For various reasons a second-rate scheme is deemed as necessary.
Globally, the value of crop insurance, private or subsidized, is much debated by academics and policy makers. The concept of index-based contracts for natural disasters in place of crop insurance has been recently introduced. Farmers would purchase a contract and be compensated when a certain event or natural disaster occurs. Rainfall contracts are one example. Rain is relatively simple to monitor and the history of rainfall in most areas is well known. Farmers would be compensated if the rainfall in an area would go below a set level, with varying levels of payment depending upon the level of rainfall. The faults of this approach lie in its similarity to the area approach. However, the benefits are significant, including reduction of moral hazard, adverse selection, and transaction costs. This alternate model could be adopted as an improvement over the PMFBY but would still deter the private sector from entry into crop insurance. A better option would be an income guarantee not based upon yield, crop grown, or farm size. Farmers could be given an income guarantee not based on yield, price, or area planted. Considering the various subsidies that are given to farmers through various means–fertilizers, seed, price supports, etc.–an income guarantee should not be an unfeasible option. Farmers need to be able to respond to market forces and develop their own risk-management tools.
MPLADS = Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme
THE SCHEME:
The MPLAD and MLALAD scheme was launched on 23rd December 1993, by former Prime Minister, P V Narasimha Rao to execute small works of a local nature to meet the urgent needs of their constituents. The scheme empowers every Member of Parliament (MP) to spend a certain sum of amount on the development of his/her constituency on various social development areas such as health, education, drinking water, electricity, family welfare, sanitations and so on. The objective of this Scheme is to fill the gaps existing in the provision of infrastructure through various Central and State schemes thereby enabling wholesome development. The central idea is creation of durable community assets and for provision of basic facilities including community infrastructure, based on local requirements. Under the Scheme, yearly allocations are provided for undertaking developmental works within an electoral constituency. The initial amount allocated was Rs 5 lakh per year to each MP which was enhanced to Rs 5 crores. The MPs can recommend the work(s) in their constituency (in case of Lok Sabha) or anywhere in the state from where they are elected (in case of Rajya Sabha). Under the MPLAD Scheme, the release of instalments and their utilization is non lapsable, i.e. the funds for a particular year can be released and also utilized in the same year or the subsequent year(s) subject to eligibility. The preference is given to works such as related to national priorities, including provision of drinking water, public health, education, sanitation, roads, etc. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has been designated as the nodal agency to coordinate the work and to conduct internal audit of the work carried out by the public representatives. The ministry compiles the data of the utilization of the fund based upon the inputs provided by the concerned. The scheme is a mechanism for the Members of Parliament to recommend works of developmental nature for creation of durable community assets and for provision of basic facilities including community infrastructure, based on locally felt needs. It has, however not been smooth sailing for the scheme. Besides the many implementation lapses (as pointed out by the Standing Committee on Finance in 1998-1999, the CAG and the Planning Commission), the constitutionality of the scheme has been questioned by various scholars and experts.
The scheme was thought to be a potential developmental scheme which would benefits the local residents of every constituency/district in the form of suitable social infrastructure. It was suppose to enthuse more energy into the representatives to recommend productive works in their areas in order to receive favourable votes in the next election.
ROLE OF DISTRICT AUTHORITY:
The district authority is empowered to examine the eligibility of works sanction funds and select the implementing agencies, prioritize works, supervise overall execution, and monitor the scheme at the ground level. The district authorities get the works executed through the line departments, local self governments or other government agencies. In some cases, the district authorities get the works executed through reputed non government organizations. Delay or laxity in sanction or implementation (of works recommended under MPLADS) is the responsibility of the district authorities. The district authorities are generally required to approve eligible recommended works within 75 days and to complete them within one year. The projects should be sanctioned and implemented even if an MP demits his membership as MPLADS funds are non-lapsable. MPs can recommend works up to their full annual entitlement at any time of the year. Each MP can suggest to the district collector works up to the tune of Rs 5 crore a year to be taken up in his or her constituency. The Government of India releases the annual entitlement of Rs. 5 crore in two equal installments of Rs 2.5 crore each, directly to the district authority.
THE PROBLEMS:
The scheme largely failed to achieve its objective and met the fate of other similar schemes which benefitted only to certain strata precisely the Politian-bureaucrats-contractors. The scheme though has many credible works in its credit (such as Bihar Flood rehabilitation, Tsunami Works, etc), majority of the fund allocated for the scheme was either unspent or spent frivolously which only bewildered the hopes of the common man and made the nexus even more powerful. The total amount spent using MPLAD scheme is not less than Rs. 4000 crore per annum at the rate of Rs. 5 crore on one MP. The ministry of statistics and programme implementation, the nodal agency in its internal audit has consistently exposed that majority of the MPs in the key competency of spending the amount properly and on effective and duration assets have failed in their duty. The sorry state of affairs even continued in the last lok Sabha (i.e. the 15th Lok Sabha) in which not even a single Member of Parliament has been able to utilize the fund allocated under the scheme for infrastructure development in his/her constituency. Also, recent reply under Right to Information Act, 2005 showed that in majority of the districts, the guidelines for implementing the scheme were violated and some MPs even went to the extent of creating their own assets out of this fund contravening the strict guidelines on what areas the money can be spent. The implementation of the scheme was entitled to the district authorities only to make it more efficient and without any undue involvement from the concerned MP. It was also entrusted that a transparent and accountable system will be developed by the giving the implementation to seasoned officer (such as engineers, accountants, etc) under the direct control and supervision of the District collector. The MP was allowed to only inspect the work created so far. However, it could not prevent the nexus to develop and use it to fulfill their objectives rather than the objectives which were envisioned at its conception. In addition MP’s recommend work based upon yes person/followers of his/er party affiliations and mostly in his party dominated areas leaving aside/untouched the areas of opposition from h/she did not have favourable votes – A mere shame on the democracy too. If corruption is the biggest illness that business faces then there is a vaccine and that is transparency. We all need to be vaccinators, front-line workers for transparency.
MPLAD and Principle of Separation of Power:
One of the important issues is that MPLAD Scheme assigns executive functions to legislators and thereby confuses the separation of power. The Second Administrative reform Commission used this critique to recommend that the Scheme be abolished. As local bodies are better placed to deliver civic services then it may be wiser to devolve funds directly to them rather than to the MPs.
IMPROVISATION:
MPLAD scheme can be improved with certain tweaks in its implementation reforms. The districts authorities and MPs should be answerable to the effective utilization of the fund and there should an incentive for those officials who are doing the work as per the expectations to achieve the common objective of local development via creating durable social assets. The continuous monitoring recommendation of Controller and Auditor General (CAG) of India should also be followed. The MPLAD scheme has great potential to develop each constituency and district provided it has been studded with proper implementation mechanism which should essentially break this nexus of politician-bureaucrat-contractor.
Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament K V Thomas said MPs cutting across party lines will meet the Prime Minister, demanding enhancement of the MPLADS fund from Rs five crore to Rs 50 crore for implementation of the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. “Our demand is either enhance the MPLADS fund to Rs 50 crore, or give special assistance to the projects in the model villages. Thomas said at present the “lacuna” in the Prime Minister’s scheme is that there is no special assistance for the model villages from the Government of India. On the other hand, Government of India says to coordinate all the state government and central government projects in these model villages and develop the village and use the Rs five crore which is given as MPLADS fund. This is not practical. MPLADS funds have to be used in all parts of the parliament constituencies and not in a particular village. Now the government is considering a proposal to increase annual allocation under the MPLADS from Rs 5 crore to Rs 25 crore for every MP. Had the initial amount of Rs five crore used properly; there would have been transformational change in the India especially the rural areas. There is a very strong need for proper execution and implementation of the scheme in its true spirit.
The data shows that not a single rupee was spent in 278 constituencies (51 per cent) in 2014-15. Of these, 223 MPs did not recommend any amount. Considering that MPs have a recommendatory role in the scheme, it is surprising to see that 41 per cent of them haven’t even recommended any amount for their constituency. In the remaining 55 constituencies, the MP recommended works but no money was spent by the district authority. In all, the average amount of recommendations made was worth Rs. 2.16 crore, while the average expenditure incurred was mere Rs. 57 lakh. However, it must be noted that the funds for a particular year can be carried forward for utilisation in subsequent years. Some development projects might cost more than the allocated amount of Rs. 5 crore, which might be one reason for low utilisation of MPLADS funds for the first year in some constituencies.
Sh Narinder Modi should review this and reduce it to Rs one crore only with a max of Rs 5 crores based on merit. Just imagine if these funds are made available to Rotary clubs all over India, they can implement many socially beneficial projects with full accountability. Majority of MPs are wasting public money – A very heavy price in the name of democracy? On the pattern of reconstituting of Planning Commission into National Institute of Transforming India ( NITI Aayog); – a step towards decentralization; both the schemes, namely, MPLAD as well as MLALAD should be scrapped and replaced with the State Development Programme, which would be implemented at the District level. The schemes would be selected by a district selection committee headed by the minister-in-charge and MLAs and MLCs; Councilors/ Sarpanches of that district as members. The implementation shall rest with a body of engineers, headed by Engineer-in-chief. The district Magistrates would only monitor implementation and contractors would be chosen through open/e – tendering in which a representative of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) would be present. The Centre/state government would allocate funds as per requirement.Initially, Village/Ward Development Committee should be constituted which will prepare the village/ward development programme based upon the immediate and most pressing needs of the area.These V/W Plans should be put up in the Assembly Development Area Committee. MLA’s of the area in consultation with the Sarpanches/councilors of h/er assembly area should prepare development plan of assembly area. Finally these assembly plans should be merged into the district/Parliament area plan and ultimately into State Plan. The schemes would be selected by a District Development Committee headed by the minister-in-charge and MLAs and MLCs; of that district as members. Non official members (four to five having a rich development experience in agriculture and allied sector, health, water and sanitation and service sector like education etc) can be co-opted into the committee. Committee should select different works to be undertaken in the district depending upon urgency and need of the area. These Committees should meet twice a year as funds are released by the central Government twice a year. No work should be sanctioned before the expiry of five years from its last completion. It is further suggested/recommended that all the development work should be routed through single window scheme/development funds because it is observed that same work is shown to be completed under different schemes – a very bad name of in the cause of democracy. It will avoid duplication of the work already completed.
The implementation shall rest with a body of engineers, headed by Engineer-in-chief. The District Magistrates would only monitor implementation and contractors would be chosen through open/e – tendering in which a representative of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) would be present. The Centre/state government would allocate funds as per requirement. Cutting across party lines, all MLA of the MP’s area should also be involved in the development of the areas.Moreover MPLAD should also be linked to MGNEREGA.Funds available under NEREGA scheme could also be utilized for better development and planning.
The scheme can be linked with MGNEREGA scheme where in the labour component can be adjusted in the later scheme and other development schemes. Village Development Committee should be constituted inter alia including Local MP, MLA, local panchayats leaders and others elders of the village. VDC should prepared need based village development plan and funds from all agencies be clubbed for its implementations and works executed accordingly.VD plan should have a separate component for example education development, water and sanitation development, roads development, health, electricity and so on. Component having least inequalities may be provided top most priorities and inter village inequalities minimized. It will also reduced inter village/city migration. Initially top priorities may be given to basic needs of the village development followed by luxury development such as communities’ hall infrastructure and so on. Funds from all sections should be merged and development undertaken through Panchayati Raj institution. It’s an Extension of the Adarsh Village Gram Plan adopted by the present NDA Government led by Sh Narinder Modi wherein all the villages will be at the same level in one respect or the other. As such India will be really Developed India especially the rural India. However, it needs a very strong POLITICAL WILL irrespective of the party affiliations which is lacking in our political leaders. Furthermore Minor Development Works of emergencies nature can be adopted out of VDP on priorities basis too. NITI Aayog should take over the function of Online Centralised Monitoring System for review of infrastructure projects from the MOSPI. PEO of NITI Aayog may be renamed and restructured to handle the monitoring and evaluation mandate of NITI Aayog and could be headed by an officer of level of DG (Additional Secretary) and may be attached office of the NITI Aayog.
Education is an important indicator of inclusive growth for an economy and a critical input for investment in human capital. It is indeed a fundamental right of every child to receive at least the basic education. India is in the process of transforming itself into a developed nation. Yet we have 350 million people who need education. The Right to Basic Education is spelled out explicitly in Article 26 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet planned efforts in real terms with concerted policy of mass education that ensures Elementary Education for all become a reality only after country got independence in 1947.
In 1950, the Indian Constitution had resolved in Article 45 under the Directive Principles of State Policy, “Free and Compulsory Education to all Children up to the age of fourteen years”. Since then, every five year Plan including, the National Policy on Education (1968), the revised National Policy on Education (1992) have attempted to refine India’s efforts at Universal Elementary Education (UEE).
There have been important Constitutional amendments as well to boost Elementary Education. The 42nd Amendment to the Constitution in 1976 brought education (which was largely a state responsibility) into the Concurrent list and made elementary education the responsibility of both central and state governments. In 2002, Government of India took another significant step by making Elementary Education a fundamental right through 86th Constitutional Amendment. In 2009, India further passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009). Regrettably where we are now? Despite all these significant achievements, the goal of Universal Elementary Education remains elusive and far a distant dream. The learner's achievement across the country remained unsatisfactory and far below than the expectations.
Punjab is no exception to all this: Punjab government has also taken various steps to improve educational status, but in spite of such efforts, the educational standard of government elementary schools in Punjab is not improving as per expectations. Besides affecting academic achievements of the bright students; the standards of education at elementary level are declining fast, apparently due to paraphernalia of constraints which inter alia, includes(a) inadequate inputs, including teachers, (b) defective syllabus and examination system, (c) lack of discipline, supervision and guidance, (d) absence of clear-cut education policy, (e) centralization of authority in the minister, sidelining the education officers, (f) uneven distribution of resources, and (g) a parallel system of completely independent public schools. All these causes lethargy, de-motivation, lack of will and personal interests.
Although number of primary schools has increased yet the enrollment of primary government schools is decreasing day by day. Study reveals a lack of infrastructure, lack of teaching aids in rural schools of Punjab and very importantly the indiscipline along the students coupled with very low standard of education. Parents have failed to release the importance of education and least bother about the education of their wards. The teachers of government rural schools did not take interest in teaching due to burden of non-academic work coupled with lack of interest among the parents. Moreover government schools are dominated by reserved categories enrollment, especially of Schedule castes due to obvious reasons. The general category students prefer to go for private schools due to various constraints prevalent in the government schools. However, Pupil-teacher ratio in Punjab’s elementary schools has declined indicating improvement in the pupil-teacher ratio in Punjab - a healthy sign of development.
On the other hand, the government rural schools face numerous problems. And one of the constraints under RTE Act is the areas or limits of schools coupled with no detention policy. According to RTE Act, primary schools should be established within a walking distance of one km of the neighbourhood. Moreover, upper-primary schools should be established within a walking distance of 3 km of the neighbourhood as per RTE norms. This is why enrollment in primary section has declined in spite of increased primary schools. On the other hand, urban schools were over dominated by teachers. Apparently, there is a strong need for redeployment of teachers, in addition to recruitment of qualified and better trained teachers, which would also improve learning outcomes. Moreover, due to increased upper-primary schools; majority of the schools had not sufficient/good infrastructure. Need of the hour is to merge primary and upper-primary schools in one i.e., Elementary Schools, which should be established within a walking distance of 3 to 5 km of the neighbourhood. At the same time, government should provide free to and fro transport facility. By this, schools would be able to meet all its necessary requirements (like proper teaching staff, good infrastructure facilities etc). It is an important step that government must take to improve quality of education.
In government schools, old teaching methods and techniques were used to teach the students. Teachers still prefer to use only Blackboards. They do not use CD’s, projectors and computers etc due to lack of knowledge about new teaching aids or innovative techniques of teaching. Moreover teachers were not aware about the positive effects of new teaching aids. Through innovative educational technology, the students can easily grab the things whatever teacher wants to convey to their students. Academic performance of government rural school students was very dismal. The students were not able to answer even simple questions out of their syllabus taught to them. Moreover the children did not know how to write in Hindi, English or even in Punjabi- their very mother tongue/native language. Their reading skill was also dull. Their Academic performance has to be improved with the adoption of new innovative ideas and techniques. Moreover, to improve the level of education in Punjab, various constraints of government rural schools should necessarily have to be improved on war footing. The need of the hour is: to provide financial help as well as its efficient use should be given due attention. More teachers should be appointed so that the education of students do not effect adversely. Pre-service/in-service training should be arranged for the teachers for the adoption of the new teaching technology. The new teachers now should be appointed in schools only after having training about how to teach in class. Moreover the non-academic burden of teachers should be reduced so that they can concentrate on teaching only and improve the student’s academic capabilities. For reducing the teacher’s burden, non-teaching staff should be appointed. Clerks must be appointed in government schools for maintaining records and handling clerical work- may be on rotational basis. Moreover, sweepers, peons, librarians etc should also be appointed in schools - may be on part-time basis. For improving the concentration level of students necessary emphasis should be put on the health of children by giving healthy food in mid day meal programme. Moreover, sports competitions should be arranged. The confidence levels of students can be improved through debates and discussions. Their reading-writing and speaking skills should be improved which is also a part of education.
The children are taking more years to become primary graduates than ideally required. The unfinished task in terms of enrollment and out-of-school children is a challenging one. Rigorous efforts are needed to bring and retain them under the umbrella of education system. Disaggregated planning with block as its unit may help to identify disadvantage groups and areas. The community, in this direction, can play a vital role in bringing and retaining unenrolled children to schools. Micro planning exercises in this regard and development of village education plans may be useful. For creating the awareness among parents, help of NGOs can be taken. In rural area of Punjab, parents do not prefer to send their children to schools due to poverty.
Moreover it has been noticed that some of children come to school only to take benefit of various freebies/schemes and due to mid day meal. They prefer to go to their home after taking meal. Rather some of the parents’ also demanded/suggested/proposed pocket money for their wards. Government should take necessary steps for awaking the people about the importance of education in one’s life. Government should also pay whole-hearted attention to Early Childhood Development to fully develop childhood potential as it could lead to more peaceful societies. Return on investment data show that focusing resources on supporting young children is a “no-brainer. In addition to the economic argument, a burgeoning field is growing around the effect of early childhood education on social cohesion and peace building.
That can boost up the level of education in Punjab. Access to primary education was universalized through flagship programmes of Government like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid Day Meal scheme, RTE Act etc. However, despite this, a few children are still deprived of elementary education due to inability of their parents to send them to schools because of their poor economical status coupled with educated unemployment in Punjab. For these parents, sending their children to school means not only incurring extra financial burden but also depriving them of some money which their children would have earned otherwise by doing labour. That being the attitude of these economically backward parents, such parents have to be motivated to bring their children school by providing them food and nutritional needs. Several elementary level students scurried around collecting disposable plates, glasses, spoons and other trash. Numerous eight to thirteen year olds (sometimes in their uniforms in the unmistakable maroon sweaters that are part of the school uniform in Punjab) were working as waste-pickers-cum-waiters in various marriage palaces and other wedding ceremonies. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 in occupations such as the above.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, mandates free and compulsory education for all children between the ages of six and fourteen, but there was no voice of protest or concern to check this malpractice. Furthermore, due to lack of infrastructural development in Punjab rural schools, the obesity epidemic is sweeping Punjabi children with half of the children aged between seven and 17 years found unfit to compete in sports events. Nearly 24 per cent children possessed high BMIs (Body Mass Index) compared to the national average of 19.9 per cent. The findings are significant as these involve future of Punjab, the state traditionally known for high fitness levels among their masses. The low fitness level is being blamed due to lack of basic skills to play sports, unhealthy eating habits and sedentary options available for entertainment through TV, Internet and video games. Importantly, children in non-metros have been found to be fitter than those in metros.
Apparently, it is the total neglect of the government rural schools by the successive governments by not providing adequate number of teachers as well as infrastructural facilities which has led to the collapse of the elementary education in the rural area of Punjab. In order to ensure quality education in government schools, emphasis should be on teacher’s training, motivations and on basic issues related to school management. It is a very serious matter and state must find solution to the problem otherwise state will be Educated Illiterates in reality.
Government schools requires large amount of funds for their proper functioning. It is the duty of the government to provide financial help to government schools for some improvements like meals, rooms, new technology adoption, furniture for staff and children etc. If these requirements would be fulfilled then government schools could work properly. If government not provides funds to the schools, then problem can be overcome of exploiting the role of school council.
To provide quality education, there is need of good teachers. More teachers should be appointed in the under staffed schools so that education of students does not affect adversely. The problem of under staffed and over staffed schools should be removed. More teachers should be appointed in under staffed schools or the teachers from over staffed schools should be transferred to under staffed schools. Teacher’s shortage problem can be overcome to a large extent by proper rationalization of teaching staff in schools.
In the government schools, there is a shortage of non-academic staff because of this mostly teachers did clerical work while the main function of the teachers is to provide qualitative education. So to improve this, the non-academic staff should be appointed in government schools for reducing the burden of teachers. If the non-academic staff is appointed in government schools then teachers can perform their duties properly.
Teacher is the only person which provides good education to students and for providing better education, teacher training must be provided to teachers. The training of teachers is a major area of concern at present, since both pre-service and in-service training of school teachers is inadequate and also poorly managed. Pre-service training needs to be improved and regulated in both public and private institutions, while systems for in-service training require expansion and major reform that allows for greater flexibility. The teachers of government schools should be given training about the new teaching methods and aids so that they can teach properly. Moreover new teachers should be appointed only after giving the training. Student’s enrollments in the government schools are quite low because of shortage of teaching learning aids. More students can be attracted in schools by creating enthusiasm in them for learning; visual aids like projectors, television etc. can be used. Some educational movies can also be shown to them. To appreciate the efforts of students, some type of scholarships either in the form of gifts or books can be given to them who perform well in the class. Sports competition, debates and discussions should be conducted for the students to improve the level of their confidence. Their concentration level should be improved.
There are various learning styles in each classroom, and teachers can engage students by designing activities that appeal to individual strengths. For example, one student may choose to design a t-shirt to express an understanding of poetry elements and another may elect to build a model airplane to demonstrate the laws of gravity. By using this personalized strategy, students become engaged in lessons and deepen their understanding of content.
It was observed that Infrastructures were not safe and easily accessible. Due to lack of infrastructural facilities, students felt less willingness to participate into sports and cultural programs. Results revealed that attitude varies with differences in socio economic status, districts, literacy rate of blocks, and with available school infrastructure facilities.
People should be made aware about the importance of education. They should understand that how education is important for their children. For creating the awareness among people help of Non Government Organizations can be taken. Although the Government is providing free education to the children yet some of the parents do not send their children to schools due to their poor financial condition. As their children help them in earning some special sessions or classes should be conducted for the parents to make them realize the significance of education for their children.
It is believed that collaboration between home and school can result in improved student academic performance and communication with parents. Schools can foster this relationship by showing parents how to supplement school work at home. Parents feel empowered when they can help in planning the academic curriculum, and volunteer at the school in meaningful and interesting ways.
Cleanliness towards school infrastructure should be initially conceptualized. Moreover, schools should have adequate facility of drinking water. This problem may be temporarily overcome by encouraging students to bring water bottles but schools should make efforts for permanent solution of this problem by either generating their own resources or asking help from the government or community.
The critical role of teachers in the entire education set-up must be realized. Emphasis should be made to address their professional development needs. Processes should be set up to initiate a participative mode for the teachers in the development of curriculum, text-book, teaching-learning material and methodologies. However, simultaneously the teachers have to be made more responsible and performance-oriented.
Examination system of government schools should also be changed. It is important to review the current examination system and consider possible alternatives. At present, the emphasis on education is on theory which is encouraging rote-learning without basic understanding. More practical work and activities should be encouraged, which would also discourage mass copying and rote-learning. It will be appropriate to adopt a regular grading system and emphasize on the year-long classroom work, instead of evaluating only on the basis of annual examinations. This will increase the attendance rate and the knowledge of the students.
For the improvement of the education system; institutionalized mechanism has to be set up for regular inspection, monitoring and follow-up. A school graduation and evaluation system, initiated by the state from this year, is a welcome step, which needs to be institutionalized. A similar system of appraisal of teacher and school heads must also be put in place. One needs a local-level body or institution to monitor the performance of teachers. Nonetheless, given the serious implication, it is important for all agencies working on RTE to do an independent checking on their own and RTE needs re-thinking. There is no point in wasting public money. One thing is clear - Government, Civil Society Organizations and international agencies working on basic education in India cannot afford to sit idle.
A recipient of a Cultural Doctorate of Philosophy in Economics from USA. He is an active member of various professional bodies, namely —
Indian Society of Agricultural Economics,
Indian Society of Agricultural Marketing,
Indian Institute of Public Administration,
Agricultural Economics Research Association (India) and so on.
Among other things, he has participated and presented papers at various international/national/regional seminars, conferences, etc. He was a member of the Academic Council of the Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar. There are about 200 research papers published in internationally renowned journals and 15 research monographs in the collection of an unwearied researcher. During his three decades of professional experience, he has also written, co-authored, or edited 15 books that have been well received and highly acclaimed. He received many awards, including Guru Dronacharya Samman, Vijay Rattan Award, among others.
