Uttar Pradesh : A State Hungry For Good Governance

Our politician, most of the times, blamed ‘coalition dharma’ as major hurdle in the path of development. In last two State assembly elections, the people of Uttar Pradesh gave their clear mandate to some popular parties to rule upon the State. Here, so called the coalition dharma totally disappears from the scene. It is a good sign for a State like Uttar Pradesh, where many national and regional parties are contesting elections with their full potential. Thus, it was hoped that a party which would make government in the State would try to establish an efficient government. But time has shown that to have a hope for good governance from Uttar Pradesh Government is just like swimming in glaciers. Uttar Pradesh, being the most populated State of our country, can become a State of best human resources in India. Of course, the State is facing some critical challenges in its social, economic and political environment, but it can be solved by a stable, efficient and visionary government. Social problems like crime against women and children; gender inequality; malnutrition; weak health care system; dwindling education system; disappearing social harmony among classes and communities; and disparity in income redistribution have caused a lack of social security among the people of Uttar Pradesh. Major economic challenges like unbalanced growth of economy among the regions in the State (heavily industrialized regions of NOIDA, Greater NOIDA, Ghaziabad, etc. and scarcely industrialized regions of far-eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand); interrupted power supply to industrial units and agriculture; weak physical infrastructure such as lack of all-weather roads; structural unemployment; poverty; lack of entrepreneurship; weakening of MSME sector and many others have deteriorated the State’s economic figure. On political front, caste and religion based politics; increasing corruption in government offices; inefficient public administration; red taped bureaucracy; nepotism; lack of transparency and accountability; disintegrating law & order and some other things are continuously de-shielding the Constitutional guards. In a condition like this there is greater room for a government to work out on improving the governance but today, in spite of performing some reform activities, the current U.P. government is doing only politics. When the Samajwadi Party’s government under the leadership of Mr. Akhilesh Yadav came into power in Uttar Pradesh, it made millions of hearts happy as they envisaged a dream of a progressive increase in the development and overall happiness of Uttar Pradesh. But after one and half years of Samajwadi Party’s government, this dream is disappearing day by day. Though Mr. Akhilesh Yadav, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, has taken some counter measures to tackle with (the above mentioned challenges) like ensuring health care facilities to the rural population of the State, starting on-door ambulance services, equipping the students with modern day technology, promoting cooperative societies, announcing the Uttar Pradesh Industrial and Infrastructure Investment Policy 2012, yet the ongoing political insensitiveness over the recent developments in some crucial social, economic, political and administrative issues has made the government a mockery. It is a time of high need, when our State government should work on new growth and development model suitable to our State with highest priority to administrative efficiency, effectiveness and people’s satisfaction. Otherwise to have faith in our government would be a thing of past.

Need to regulate health sector

During an informal talk with Prof. Jean Dreze (at University of Allahabad) on government’s approach to revitalize the health sector in India, a conclusive end was that without strengthening health infrastructure on government’s behalf, it would be difficult to gain fruits of allowing FDI in health and insurance sector. As Planning Commission emphasized the importance of health and insurance in 12th 5yr plan, it became worthwhile to prioritize certain policies and goals related with health sector to support the faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth. Till the date private health sector could not made accountable through regulating the provisions of hospitality in India. In the absence of effective regulation, increased government incentives in health sector will always absorb by the private hospitals, and chains of health care centres. Allowing foreign investment in health and insurance sector will benefit only private sector because dynamism of market forces will always catch this opportunity in absence of non-competent government health infrastructure. In fact government itself can prove things better by channelising the different health and insurance schemes through PPP and can create some legislative reforms to ensure accountability on private sector as has been done in case of Right to Education.

Rape and its sociology

Gender inequality remains a great cause behind rape like heinous crime. Gender inequality is rooted in the female-male power relationship. Society considers males with stereotypically masculine expressions of sexuality and females with stereotypically feminine expressions of sexuality. In India, cross-cultural perspectives were mainly occupied by men. Here in India, being subordinate to men, women could not oppose strongly to the socialisation of gender stratification based on traditional gender roles within the family. Moreover, social institutions like religion, family, education, employment, etc. promoted the traditional socialisation of women in an era where cross-cultural boundaries were continuously diminishing. The market based or market oriented socialisation on western parameters represented women as a good economic instrument based on sexuality. Men feel no discomfort in embracing women prestige and status, because the opposing societal forces were already overlapped by market forces. So, to improve the status and role of women from second-class to a leading and equally participating entity in country's development, the most effective tool is political system because only State with, in capacity of its Legislature, Executive and Judiciary organs can break the stereotypically masculine expressions of male through establishing a legal framework in which women with their right-based approach can achieve a status of gender equality. But social participation and social regulation in reorganizing women's status on their social security front will remain the most important throughout entire structural reform process.

Is it our own society?

Every rape causes social death of the suffered woman. Rapists are the best example of worst mentality in any society. In India, after flooded rape cases, women’s protection and their security is become a matter of greater concern. Delhi gang-rape case slaps on the face of our so called “intellectual” society. This incident shows complete failure of our Legislation, Executive and Judiciary in taking proper concerns of women’s respect and their rights. By nature, women, being physically less stronger than men, are not able to protect themselves or to restrict against these (sexual assault and rape) kind of violence. To provide them some kind of restrictions against these sexual offences, it is State’s duty to take some efficient measures in form of stringent punishment and strict laws for crime against women. Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010 is not sufficient to curb such kind of activities. There should be a special law for crime against women having stringent punishment not only for the commission of the offence but also for “attempt to commit an offence” and “abetment of the offence” as we have in the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 for sexual offences against children. Special courts for speedy trail, women friendly procedures, relief and rehabilitation of women, etc. must be State's priority while curbing out such a heinous crime against women. Society, also, has to play a major role in regulation of itself. The morality and respect for women must be injected into coming generation’s blood through education and family values. Without protection of women from sexual offences and other violence, their empowerment will have no mean in practical.

A Capitalist Move Of Indian Brand Of Socialism

The Union Government's step of allowing 51 per cent FDI in multi brand retail segment, boasted as the next biggest step since 1991 reforms by government, has proved political opportunism overriding the economic logic. Government thinks FDI as it is a source of filling the savings, forex reserves, trade deficit, management and technological gap and as an instrument of international economic integration but without considering the socioeconomic status and needs of the people of India, a policy like the multi brand FDI may prove the smacking of utter policy paralysis. Government's arguments behind the adoption of FDI in multi brand retail segments are like recognition of serious supply-side constraints (particularly in the food-related retail chains); improvement in back-end infrastructure promotion of share values of the farmers by reducing the role of intermediaries who obtain a disproportionate share value; identification between interests of consumer (nearly 115 crore) and the interests of retailers (nearly 5 crore); strengthening the tax collection of the government by improving the possibilities to tax the unorganised retail sector; improvement in quality standards and customer expectations; etc. Moreover, Indian Council of Research in International Economic Relation (ICRIER), which was appointed to look into the impact of big capital in the retail sector, also come to the conclusion that investment of big money (as FDI in multi brand) in the retail sector would, in the long run out not harm interests of small, traditional retailers. But above all, the most important fact is that FDI driven modern retailing is labour displacing to the extent that it can only expand by destroying the traditional retail sector. cmpanies like Wall Mart, Carrefour, Tesco, etc. will offer a range of household items and grocery directly to consumers in the same way as the ubiquitous 'kirana' stores. With their incredibly high capital, FDI driven retailing units such as Wall Mart, Correfour, Tesco, etc. will be able to sustain losses for many years till its immediate competition is wiped out. This is normal predatory strategy used by these companies to drive out small and dispersed competition. Once a monopoly situation is created, they will then turn into buying low and selling high. To obtain goods and services at the lowest possible price is in the interest of the consumer and it is his/her privilege but it cannot, in any circumstance, override the responsibility of any society to provide economic security for its population and collective well-being must take precedence over individual benefits. The primary task of the Government of India is still ti provide livelihoods and not create so called efficiency of scale by creating redundancies.

--Piyush Tripathi

A "Compromised Governance"

The UPA Government's 'Direct Cash Transfer Scheme' in place of subsidies is not more than an example of what we call "compromised governance". Cash in place of subsidies ("services") lacks a sense of responsibility and accountability towards providing social security and social protection of the poor people. The two basic pillars of this scheme are-  Aadhaar cards and opening of new bank accounts. The implementation of Aadhaar scheme is already in question as the National Identity Authority of India Bill 2010 was rejected by the Parliamentary Standing Committee in 2011 and on November 30 this year, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Union Government seeking their response on the Constitutionality of implementing the Aadhaar scheme for social entitlements. Opening of millions of new bank accounts on the basis of Aadhaar cards (which already have some technical flaw) is the next challenging aspect of this lofty cash transfer scheme. today, our banks are flooded with number of cases related with accounts having fake identity, illegal transactions, discrepancy, etc. In that case millions of new accounts will make it more difficult to handle the situation. The access of banks and banking activities, easy availability of markets, etc. will have to ensure to the poor people on behalf of the government. If the scheme is implemented, then the scene would be like this- a beneficiary will go to the bank, collect the sum of cash after standing for hours in a long row, then will go to the market, purchase some items of daily uses and finally will back to home............when will he work to make some earn? Because a poor eats what he earns everyday. An economy running under the inflationary pressure, such kind of schemes can prove a wrong move. Government should never be hasty in taking those decisions influencing a large public domain.

Direct Cash Transfer Scheme By The UPA Government

Direct cash transfer against the schemes having subsidized commodities, there is a slight difference in terms of economics but becomes large at its socioeconomic impact. In a scheme where, government is giving subsidy, there is a realization of being helped among the beneficiaries and they took it as their right to be protected and secured. The prize of subsidized commodities are lower than the current market prize and they can purchase it by spending a little amount of money. But in direct cash transfer schemes, beneficiaries are provided with some amount of cash in place of subsidies. Here, a person who is awarded with some amount of cash under the above scheme, may spend it on some other needs instead of those for which he get with that amount of cash from government. A good example is of U.P. Government's "Kanya Vidyadhan Yojna" . Here, U.P. Government gives a good amount of cash to those girls passing senior secondary examination for their further education, but in most of the cases, it has been spent for some other reasons. Moreover,challenges like the existing problems in wage payment, signifying the correct beneficiaries, etc. under the MGNREGA and the suspected ground basic problems in Aadhar cards may prove the biggest hurdle in the UPA Government's dream of being the best helping hands of the poor and needy.