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WATER CRISIS

IN 21STCENTURY & 12THPLAN

India or Faces a major crisis of water as wemove into the 21stcentury. This crisis threatens the

basic right to drinking water of our citizens; it alsoputs the livelihoods of mill ions at risk. The demandsof a rapidly industr ialising economy and urbanizingsociety come at a ti me when t he potent ial foraugmenting supply is limited, water tables are fallingand water quality issues have increasingly come tothe fore.

Limits to Large Dams

Recent scholarship points to definite limit s tothe role new large dam projects can play in providingeconomical ly viable addi t ional water storage(Ackerman, 2011). The ambitious scheme for

int erl inking of rivers also presents major problems.The comprehensive proposal to link Himalayan withthe Peninsular rivers for inter-basin transfer ofwater was estimated to cost around Rs. 5,60,000crores in 200 I. Land submergence and R&Rpackages would be additional to this cost. There areno firm estimates available for running costs of thescheme, such as the cost of power required to lif twater. There is also the problem that because of ourdependence on the monsoons, the periods whenrivers have surplus water are generallysynchronous across the subcont inent . A majorproblem in planning inter-basin transfers is how totake into account the reasonable needs of t he basin

states, which will grow over time. Further, given thetopography of India and the way links are envisaged,they might totally bypass the core dryland areas ofCentral and Western India, which are located on

elevations of 300+ metres above MSL. It is alsofeared that linking rivers could affect the naturalsupply of nutrients through curtailing flooding of t hedownstream areas. Along the east coast of India, all

the major peninsular rivers have extensive delt as.Damming the rivers for linking will cut down thesediment supply and cause coastal and delta erosion,destroying the fragile coastal eco-systems.

It has also been pointed out that the schemecould affect t he monsoon system signif icant ly(Rajamani et al, 2006). The presence of a low salini tylayer of water wi th low densit y is a reason formaintenance of high sea- surface temperatures(greater than 28 degrees C) in the Bay of Bengal,creat ing low pressure areas and intensif ication ofmonsoon activit y. Rainf all over much of the sub-continent is controlled by this layer of low salinewater. A disruption in this layer could have seriouslong-term consequences for climate and rainfall inthe subcontinent, endangering the livelihoods of avast population.

The Crisis of Groundwater

The relative ease and convenience of itsdecentralised access has meant that groundwater isthe backbone of Indias agriculture and drinkingwater securi ty. Groundwater is a Common-PoolResource (CPR), used by millions of farmers acrossthe country. Over the last four decades, around 84per cent of the total addit ion to the net ir rigatedarea has come from groundwater. India is, by far, the

largest and fastest growing consumer ofgroundwater in the world. But groundwater is beingexploit ed beyond sustainable levels and with anestimated 30 mill ion groundwater structures in play,India may be hurt li ng towards a serious crisis of

Gis t o f

YOJANA
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groundwater over-extraction and qualitydeterioration.

Nearly 60 per cent of all distr icts in India haveproblems related to either t he quant it y or thequality of groundwater or both. According to theCentral Ground Water Boards latest assessment(CGWB, 2009), at t he all India level, the stage ofgroundwater development is now 61 per cent. InPunjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi, this level hascrossed 100 per cent , closely followed by Tamil Nadu(80 per cent ) and UP (71 per cent).

Need for a Paradigm Shift

Given this apparent emergence of l imi ts tofurther develop of water resources in large part s of

the country, the 12th Plan faced a challenge of howto move forward. It was clear that business-as-usualwould not do. New ideas needed to be desperatelyput into place for which t he best scholars andpract it ioners had to come together. Thus, a newarchitecture of plan formulation was designed. TheWorking Groups for the 12th Plan in the water sectorwere, for the first time in t he history of the PlanningCommission, all chaired by renowned experts fromoutside government. Over t he course of severalmonths in 2011-12, a new path was chart ed out,giving ri se to a ten-fold paradigm shif t in waterresource management in India. This paper outlinesthe main features of t his change.

OIL ECONOMY INDIA & ENERGY SECURITY

Since the advent of i ndust rial revoluti on,energy has become the key to growth anddevelopment. Modern life is dependent onconsumption and use of energy so much that percapita energy consumption is directly proportional toper capita Gross Domestic Product of the country.The per capita primary energy consumption in Indiais about 1I3rdof the world average per capitaprimary commercial energy consumption. I t is about1I20t hof the per capit a energy consumpt ion ofUnited States of America, about 1I10thof t he percapita energy consumption of Europe and about

1I4th of the per capita energy consumption of China.Any policy and programme for growth anddevelopment in India will have to address the issuesof access of energy resources as well as harnessingthem for the benefi t of the population.

While the worlds average per capita primaryenergy consumption divided among various energyresources is about 86 per cent in favour of fossil fuel,the proport ion of fossil fuel in Indias energy basketis close to 94 per cent. In the energy basket of theworld as a whole, coal accounts for 30.3 per cent, oilfor 33 per cent and gas for 24 per cent. Among thenon fossil fuels, nuclear energy accounts for 4.7 percent , hydro energy account s for 6.4 per cent andrenewable energy accounts for 1.5 per cent. Thus,the ratio for India is 54 per cent for coal, 3 I per centfor oil and 9 per cent for gas among the fossil fuels,with hydro 4 per cent, nuclear I per cent, andrenewable 1 per cent. In India, apart fromcommercial energy, non commercial sources like bio

mass, f ire wood, cow dung, etc are also used to alarge extent and their percentage share to the totalconsumpt ion has been decreasing steadily but isunlikely to go below 10 per cent by the year 2030-31.

The sectoral energy demand reflects theeconomic str ucture of a country and the powersector has been the primary force behind energydemand in India. The transport sector has also beenincreasing its share in energy consumption and 90per cent of t ransport energy consumption is likely tobe based on oil . Other sectors consuming energy aremainly industr ies using energy for heating, electricit y

and mechanical purposes and commercialestablishments and buildings for lighting, heating andcooling, etc. Indias demand will continue to growrapidly from the present energy demand level of lessthan 700 million tonnes of oil equivalent to over1500 mil lion tonnes of oil equivalent by the year2030-31. This is estimated to be at a CompoundAnnual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.1 per cent which ismore t han double of t he CAGR of 1.3 per centestimated for t he world energy demand.

Indias share in world energy demand is goingto expand from present less than 5.5 per cent to 8.6per cent in 2030- 31. The growth would come fromall fuels. While coal and oil demands are expected toincrease by CAGR of3.1 per cent , the growth fornatural gas, renewable energy and nuclear energy areexpected to be much higher. Since, the consumptionof fossil fuel is the main source of emission of Carbon

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Di Oxide (C02), India has now become the yd largestC02 emitter in the world, following China andUnited States of America. The global pressure will beon India, eit her to reduce consumption or to go forexpensive pollution control measures. In thisscenario, the comparatively less polluting energysources like natural gas and nuclear power would f indfavour, but the availability of these resources willremain a question mark. Much of t he growth policywil l have to address these strategic questions. Indiapursues three key objectives in it s energy policyaccess to resources, energy securi ty and climatechange. It is necessary to understand the intertwineddynamics of energy stakeholders and multipleinterests.

As the growth in energy demand has outpacedthe domestic production, dependence on importedenergy resources has increased. India depends onenergy imports at the levelof35 per cent with 80 percent of crude oil demand and about 20 per cent ofnatural gas demand being import ed. Due to lowproduction of coal, even about 20 per cent of t hedemand for coal is also being met through imports.Indias domestic hydrocarbon production is relativelysmall , result ing in large dependence on imports.India is report ed to be having only about 1 per centof global hydrocarbon resource, but, has, perhapsthe 3rdlargest resource base in coal. Inspite of the

large estimation of local coal resources, the actualaccessibil ity of some coal r esource and t echnicalcapabili ty of Coal India Limited which is a monopolydeveloper, to produce proven coal resources hasbeen suspected. As regards hydrocarbon, since theliberalization of the upstream sector and subsequentopening of the downstream sector, oil and gas sectoris more open and competitive. It is open to 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment. But inconsistentpolicies that put controls both in upstream anddownstream have led to distorted pricingmechanism, underut il ization of resources and lack ofinvestment from major int ernational companies.

Policies that seek to ensure that adequateenergy supplies are available to meet the growth indemand for energy at the national level and policiesthat seek to increase access to modern energyservices at the individual level seem to work at cross

purposes. The former requires a competitive marketbased structure while the latter requiresinterventions in the market structure to correct it sinherent failures. Indias energy security wil l dependon finding the right balance between competingneeds and more import antl y between competingpolicy approaches to ensure that one is not achievedat the cost of other.

In 2012-13, India imported 185 million tonnesof crude oil and 16 mill lion tonnes of product at acost of Rs. 8,53,949 crores. Due to excess refiningcapacit y and presence of some world class refineries,it has become possible to export 63 mill ion tonnesof product resulting in reali zation of Rs. 3,20,042crores. So the net outf low of Rs. 5,33,907 crores was

a big drain on our resources and part ially responsiblefor Current Account Deficit and the weakening ofRupee. Due to Government policies of subsidizingdiesel, kerosene and LPG, the under recovery of Rs.1,61,029 crores in 2012-13, had to be met betweenthe budget resources of Central Government fromthe tax payers money, subsidy expropriated fromthe upstream companies like ONGC, OIL & GAIL andthe balance left for the ref inery and market ingcompanies to fil l. This has resulted in fiscal imbalancein t he Central Government budget , inabili t y ofupstream companies to invest for more explorationand production in domestic and overseas fields and

ruining the balance sheet of refinery and marketingcompanies who have Gross Turnover of over Rs. 8lakh crores and are unable to modernize anddiversify. The Central and State Governmentstogether, on the other hand, collected Rs. 2,45,000crores through taxes, duties, royalt ies, etc from thehydrocarbon sector . The State Government sresources are to a very large extent, dependent onVAT whereas Central Government also recoversequal amount by way of excise, customs, other t axesand dividend, etc. Unless State Governments and theCentral Government are able to diversify their taxbasket and decrease dependence on pet roleumproducts, the prices of these products wouldcontinue to be high in the scenario of high oil pricesand weak rupee.

The multifaceted energy problems are beingresolved to ensure efficient and sustainable use of

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energy. But , the long term challenges and goals haveto be tackled in an integrated and comprehensivemanner. India must pursue technologies thatmaximise energy efficiency, demand sidemanagement and conservation. The IntegratedEnergy Policy Committee (IEPC) has given a longterm perspective which is still valid. The key toEnergy Securit y l ies in greater explorati on,production and utilization of domestic resourceswhich imply that coal and thorium-pased nuclearpower wi ll be crucial for Indias development andsecuri t y. But , t he policy can be as good as theimplementation. An integrated energy policy cannotbe effectively implemented by disconnectedMinistries. The first level of integration has to be

between Ministries that deal with carbon andhydrocarbon. When carbon becomes hydrocarbon orvice versa, it cannot be controlled by different set ofMinistries.

It is anomalous that we invit e the bestcompanies with most modern t echnologies andresources to the hydrocarbon sector when ourresource base is weak but deny access even t otechnologically and resource rich State companies incoal sector where we have a much bett er resourcebase. Coal bed Met hane, Underground CoalGasif icat ion and Surface Coal Gasificat ion are alltechnologies to utilize coal for production of natural

gas and are being implemented in coal rich countrieslike China. If we have a common ministry and acommon legislation with a common regulator f orexploration and production of coal as well as oil andgas, it should be possible to take up these projects inreal earnest and with success. We need to conserveuse of oil and gas in areas where coal can serveequally well.

While emphasis on domestic exploration andproduction of coal and gas should cont inue, we needto protect and conserve the resources of upstreamcompanies so as to di rect t hem to acquirehydrocarbon assets abroad in countries that havemany times more resources than we have. Also, wecant have a distorted pricing mechanism wherepetrol, diesel and kerosene that come out from therefinery process almost jointly and have similarcost s, should sel l domesti call y in the rati o of

7.5:5:1.2. Manipulating the techno economic reali tyand pricing is possible for a short period of time butis not sustainable over a long term. LPG is producedby secondary and tertiary refinery processes and thusis even costlier fuel. I t cannot be subsidized to thelevel of 50 per cent of i ts cost for over several crorecustomers for an indefinite period.

Government should leave the pricing anddistr ibut ion t o be regulated by Pet roleum andNatural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) and decideupfront what subsidy is to be given from the budgetso that competition is generated between public andprivate sector refining and marketing companies tobring about more efficiency and transparency in t hepricing of products.

We should be able to produce more natural gasand coal base methane to substitute LPG for use asdomestic fuel. The large rural area will have tocontinue to find fuel from social forestr y, bio mass,and coal gas with necessary refinements to checkpollution. Such gasifiers need to be encouraged in thepresent sit uation.

While all effort s need be made to push therenewable energy programme, it seems unlikely thatin the absence of any major technologicalbreakthrough, it can take more than 5 per cent shareof Indias energy basket even by the year 2030-31.The nuclear energy programme has to be

implemented so that its share can go up to 4 - 5 percent by thi s peri od. Nuclear civil corporat ionagreements have to be used for improving the supplyand our domestic efforts in t hree stage thoriumbased nuclear plants need to be intensif ied.

The economics of oi l dictates that we take anintegrated view of the energy sit uation and dovetailour policy programmes and implementationmechanisms accordingly.

FUTURE OF

GOVERNANCE E-GOVERNMENT

E-Government (also known as electronicgovernment , onl ine government and digit algovernment ) i s one of t he most signif icantdevelopment s of recent t imes in t erms oft ransforming t he deli very of publi c services tocitizens and other stakeholders. It generally refers to

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the utilisation of information and communicationtechnologies (ICTs) for delivering governmentinformation and services to citizens (G2C),businesses (G2B), employees (G2E), and governments(G2G) (Dwivedi et al. 2012a).Against this backdrop,

e-government is being considered as a technologicalenabler for the delivery of redesigned public servicesin order to eliminate inefficiency, corruption, andbureaucracy and to enhance effectiveness in servicedelivery.

Table 1: Key opportunities offered by e-government

Opportunity Comment Source (s)

Improved government services Bertot et al. (20 I 0),

Increased effectiveness in terms of accomplishing Dwivedi et al. (2009,and efficiency the governments purpose and 20 12a), and Shareef et

functioning al. (2011)

E-government can provide

Better services quick and timely services to Shareef et al. (2011)stakeholders

The services are

provided directly from the Bertot et al. (20 I 0)

Transparency government to recipients and Dwivedi et al.ithout any external (2009,2012b)

interventions

As e-government services

Accessible anytime and are provided through web-

anywhereenabled technology, they Shareef et al. (2011)

can be accessed anytime and

anywhere

The services are primarily

User-centred ICT- intended for the use of citizens, Bertot et al. (2010) andenabled services businesses, and the government Dwivedi et al. (2012b)

itself

As the services are provided Dwivedi et al. (2012a,

Reduced cost and timethrough the internet, they are

20 12b) and Shareef eteffective in terms of time and

cost al. (2011)

E-government minimises

Reduced bureaucracythe hierarchy of authority Dwivedi et al.

for availing any government (2012a,2012b)

services

Enhanced As automated services can

communication be accessed by different Dwivedi et al.

and coordination organisations, coordination and(2012b)

between government further communication becomeorganisations relatively simple

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In order to achieve the benefit s of ICT and toensure the tr ansparent , t imely, and hassle-freedelivery of the cit izen services, the Government ofIndia init iated an e-government programme duringthe late 1990s by adopting the InformationTechnology Act in 2000. The major aims of t his Actwere to recognise electronic contracts, preventcomputer crimes, and make electronic fil ing possible.Later, in 2006, the government approved theNational e-Governance Plan (NeGP) to enhance e-government initiatives in India. It was launched withthe aim of improving the delivery of governmentservices to the common people in their localitiesthrough Common Service Centres (CSCs), which wereset up across the countr y. In February 2012, about

97,159 CSCs were operational with different brandnames and they had started delivering services to thepeople (IDG, 2013).

Since then, the government has launched anumber of e-government init iatives, including e-filemanagement , e-Leave, e-Tour, Income Tax services,online passport services, pension services, e-Procurement, and Excise and Customs Services, toname a few Almost all State Governments and UnionTerr it ories have also implemented their own e-government services to serve their citizens andbusinesses. Some of the most prominent servicesinclude Bhoomi from Karnataka, Gyandoot from

Madhya Pradesh, Smart Government from AndhraPradesh, and SARI from Tamil Nadu. In addition,some e-government services have been implementedat both Cent ral and State Government levels. E-government services such as grievance managementsystems, e-distr ict systems, online electoral rolls, andbill payment systems are some examples of theseservices.

E-government offers a range of opport unit ies(as outl ined in Table 1) to its stakeholders in termsof enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of thegovernment, providing better services, enablingtransparency, allowing access to government servicesanytime and anywhere, providing user-centric ICT-enabled services, reducing cost and t ime, reducingbureaucracy, and enhancing communication andcoordination between government organisations.

The implementat ion of e-government is an

essential component in the transformation of anygovernment towards improving t ransparency,developing accountability, empowering citizens,lowering costs and t ime for services, and providingbetter governance. E-government has helped thegovernment become more result oriented. India hasbeen harnessing t he benefi t s provided bye-government by reaching out to citizens faster and byproviding eff icient services and encouraging cit izensempowerment. The data emerging from thedif ferent e-government init iatives in India indicatesthat it is beginning to t ransform the ef fi ciency,effectiveness, transparency, and accountabili ty of theinformational and transactional exchanges within thegovernment and between the government and the

other stakeholders.E-governance in India has steadily evolved

from the computerisation of departments toinit iatives that encapsulate the finer point s of

governance, in order to improve aspects suchas cit izen cent r icit y, ser vice ori ent at ion, andtransparency (NeGP, 2013). Although, both Centraland State Governments have been trying tocapitalise on the opportunity provided bye-government, its potential to end users can only betruly realised when government init iatives reach outto the masses and when cit izens and businesses start

leveraging such services. As the recent data availableon the website of Indias NeGP highlights, there arealmost 968 e-government websites available acrossthe various States and Union Terr it ories of India.However, it is still lagging behind 125 countries interms of World E-Government DevelopmentRanking (UN e-Gov Survey, 2012). This indicates thateven i f t he government has been spending anexorbitant amount of money on the developmentand implementation of e-government, there arebarriers and challenges that need addressing in orderto bring Indias posit ion at par with nations takingthe lead in this area (such as the Republic of Korea,the Netherlands, the UK, Denmark and the US). Inthis regard, the existing lit erature has identif ied anumber of such barriers and challenges (as outl inedin Table 2) t o developing and realising successful e-government.

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Due to such barriers and challenges, theoverall level of e-government usage around theworld remains comparatively low, even though a largenumber of governments in developing countr ies havebeen putt ing large investments and efforts intoenhancing the usage of such services (UN e-GovSurvey, 2012). The challenges and barriers identif iedin the li terature apply in the Indian context as well .These issues are technical, economical, and social

in nature. With the rapid evolution oftechnology and the high level of skill competenceavailable in India, technical challenges are less crit icalfor the successful realisation of e-government.Contrastingly, the most severe challenges to e-government initiatives in India are social and

economic in nature, such as lack of awareness, access,and use of e-government services by the larger

population living in rural India (Dwivedi et al., 2012a).The government has made considerable attempts inthe last f ew years to overcome these challenges,including its connectivity to a large proportion ofrural population. Furthermore, realising the need forsustainable growth, t he government has announcedrural broadband connectivity for all 250,000Panchayats in three years to bridge the digital divide(UN e-Gov Survey, 2012).

This could be coupled with the development ofmobile-based applications. In order t o resolve theissue of less literate cit izens using e-government ormobile- based government services, it might beuseful to plan the development of voice-basedmobil e applicat ions so that the corresponding

government-based services can be made available toall segments of the society.

Barrier/Challenge Comment Source(s)

Fragmentat ion of services

Fragmented/ lack of of fered Dwivedi et al. (20 12b) and

integrat ion Duplicat ion of Weerakkody et al. (2011)

applications

- Abilit y t o understand and Bertot et al. (2010), Dwivedi

Technology literacy use technologies et al. (2012b), Rana et al.

and access - Availability of the internet (2013), and Shareef et al.

to each individual (2011)

Technological challenges

ICT-related faced by the government in Rana et al. (2013) and

challenges designing and implement ing Weerakkody et al. (2011)e-government

Lack of t rust Variance in the degree of Rana et al. (2013) and

reliance on e-govemrnent Weerakkody et al. (201])

services

Privacy and security Lack of sense of safety and Rana et al. (2013) and

confident iali ty Shareef et al. (2011)

Inequalit y between people Dwivedi et al. (2009,

Digital divide in the social system in 2012b), Rana et al. (2013),

having access t o and use of and Shareef et al. (20 11)

e-government servi ces

The provision of a limit ed number of CSCs hasbeen an appropriate step towards making e-

government services available to cit izens. However,in order to create the crit ical mass of e-governmentusers that is essential for the widespread adoption ofsuch services, the number of CSCs should beincreased to reachable distances in all rur al

communit ies. Fail ure to do so may lead to thecont inued usage of t radit ional channels as mediums

for citizen interaction; hence, it may take a long timeto realise the expected benefits from the e-government development and i mplementat ion.Language acts as another barrier to accessing suchservices, so the core e-government services should be

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provided in regional languages along with Hindi andEnglish. Also, at the local level (i.e. Blocks and GramPanchayats), citizens with the adequate skills andcompetency needed to access and use e-governmentservices should be identif ied as catalyt ic social agents(i.e. champions) for inf luencing other citizens to usethe services, making them aware of t he benefits andincreasing their t rust by reducing securit y andprivacy concerns. Such social agents can also act as anaid for equipping citizens with the required skills andcompetency. Leading countries in terms of cit izenpart icipat ion in democrat ic processes using ICT-based systems (such as Kazakhstan) should bebenchmarked in order to learn and implementappropriate best pract ices and strategies in the

Indian context.A chall enge that is more prevalent on the

supply side is the fragmentation of systems atdif ferent levels (i .e. the Central and the State levels)and the lack of system integration. Analysis of the e-government services provided by the Central andState Governments have revealed that similar e-government systems are separately implementedacross various governments. This is simply a waste ofresources in terms of developing and maintainingthem separately; it also creates problems with dataduplication and errors. The governments at both thecentral and the state levels should implement an

integrated plan in such a way that the same e-government system developed at the cent ralgovernment level can incorporate individual modulesfor each state government or can simply offerdif ferent levels of access at the central and statelevels. For existing systems, mapping is needed inorder to identi fy r edundant systems. Also, theanalysis, mapping, and evaluat ion process shouldmake all efforts to identify any legacy systems (i.e. oldsystems that cannot be int egrated wit h t he othersystems) that exist . In brief, emerging systems needto be streamlined and the implementation of newtechnologies requires some legacy systems either tobe replaced wit h new systems or to be integrated, inorder to provide the int ended solut ion.

Also, there is lit tle evidence of the evaluationof t he services that are already in place. Evaluation isessential in order to examine if the desired value is

being achieved and if there are any lessons that needto be learnt for the development of future electronicservices. Wit hout eff ective evaluat ion, simi larmistakes can be made again.

We conclude the above discussion with thefollowing thoughts. Even though the governments atthe central and the state levels have made largeinvestments in establishing some aspects of e-government inf rastructure, they have not been ableto harness fully the opportunities it has provided.Furthermore, the expansion of e-governmentwebsites alone will not help unless cultural changeoccurs, in order to support transparency, minimisebureaucracy, and enhance cit izen empowerment.After all, citizens will t rust e-government only when

they have trust in government and public agencies.In other words, India needs to move f rom e-government to e-governance. As far as the social andeconomic challenges and barriers to e-governmentare concerned, they mainly relate to reaching out t othe large number of rural citizens who are lesseducated and economically less able. The governmentini t iatives designed to cater to the needs of thispopulation have only proven to be an initial aid tothe problem; furt her progress still needs to be madeto overcome the complex socio-economic challengesto e-government usage in India. It is only if this isachieved that India could implement world-class e-

government systems with the aim of creat ing anequitable information society.

OLD SOIL NEW BILL

The Right t o Fair Compensat ion andTransparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilit ation andResettlement (RTFCTLARR) Bill, 2013 is historic inthe mere fact t hat it ends 119 years of the coloniallegacy of the Land Acquisition Act (LAA) 1894 andbrings Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) withinit s purview. As the post independence history ofdevelopment-induced displacement stands wit nessto over 60 mil lion displaced (Fernandes 2008) withlittle let alone just compensation, the recognition

that land acquisition requires R&R for those who losetheir land and l iveli hoods is a much overduecorrective. However, the RTFCTLARR 2013 limitsthe recognit ion and redressal of t he grievance

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suffered by those dispossessed to compensation andR&R. By leaving state-led acquisition out of thepurview of prior informed consent and the ult imatedetermination of public purpose by the same bodyrequisitioning acquisition in the first placetheappropriate government, it creates a blinkerededifice of justice and top-down development.Underl ini ng the pol icy prerogat ives ofindustrialization, development of infrast ructuralfacil it ies and urbanization, it accordingly expands thedefinition and scope of public purpose. In doing so,it reinforces the colonial doctrine of eminentdomain, i gnores the lessons fr om intensifyingconf licts over land acquisit ion and explicitly instatespolicy bias for capitalist growth over socialist and

democratic development, indeed over sustainableand agrarian development. Consequent ly, i t missesthe opportunity to set precedent to deependemocracy in India and continues uninhibitedly, thecolonial legacy of the LAA 1894. I discuss below someissues around eminent domain, public purpose,resistance to land acquisit ion, compensation and R&Rthat t he RTFCTLARR throws up and argue forsafeguarding democratic and locally appropriatesustainable development through contextuali zedrights to land- and resource-use for all.

Eminent Domain and Right to Property

The jurisprudence around eminent domain(the doctrine that the states power for forcible landacquisit ion draws it s legit imacy from) has alwaysrecognized the right to fair compensation of thosedispossessed for public purpose. While the power ofacquisit ion inheres in the principle of sovereignty, theright to compensation inheres in an individuals rightto property. In a 1952 judgment upholding thepower of eminent domain for acquisition of landfrom big landlords for redistributive purposes, theSupreme

Court of India noted: the concept ofacquisition and that of compensation are twodifferent notions having their origin in different

sources. One is found on t he sovereign power of theState to take, the other is based on the natural r ightof t he person who is deprived of propert y to becompensated for his loss (The State of Bihar vsKameshwar Singh 1952: 25). I mpli cit in the

jurisprudence over acquisit ion and compensationthus, is the recogni t ion of a persons right t oproper t y, an essent ial l iberal tenet definingpersonhood through the ideology of possessiveindividualism. What is important to recognize forour purposes is that both the doctrine of eminentdomain and the right to property are Bri tish coloniallegacies specif ically designed to meet the needs of thecolonial capitalist state. Given that Brit ish commonlaw legitimating forcible acquisition predates theIndian constitution and that t he Indian constitutiondoes not draw upon natural law, the twin principlesof acquisition derived from sovereignty andcompensation f rom r ight t o propert y animating thedoct ri ne of eminent domain have ext ra-

constitutional and pre-democratic moorings in India.Initially a fundamental right in the post

independence Indian Constitution, the right toproperty was soon perceived as a danger t o the earlysocialist preoccupations of the Indian state andpoli t icians. As landlords successfull y challengedacquisit ion for land reforms in the courts on groundsof their fundamental right to property, Land Reformlaws pert aining to takeover of propert y by the statewere moved to the IXth schedule of t he Constitutionfrom the First (Constitutional Amendment) Act 1951onwards. This insulated them from judicial challengeand invalidation. The insertion of Articles 31A-C

through the First Amendment and the Twenty-fi fthAmendment saved certain laws related toacquisit ion f rom challenge under Articles 14 (equali tybefore law) and 19 (fundamental rights). Thiselevated eminent domain t o a const it ut ionaldoctrine, although blanket protection from judicialchall enge under the IXt h Schedule was lat erconsidered untenable. The right to property waseventual ly r emoved fr om fundamental r ight sthrough the 44th Constit utional Amendment Act in1978.

As large development projects were designed,dalits, adivasis, poor peasants and the urban poorincreasingly bore t he brunt of acquisit ion. Theconstitutional status of the doctrine of eminentdomain and the unquali fied removal of t he right topropert y as a fundamental right without attentionto existing social, polit ical and economic inequalities

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resulted in the exercise of eminent domain againstthe most vulnerable populations. Ironically, a moreprogressive public purpose of equitableredistribution of land facil itated the dispossession ofalready economically, socially and politicallyvulnerable people.

Public Purpose in Aid of Capital

Public purpose has increasingly promotedcapitalist interest directly from the mid 1990s. Evenas private infrastructure projects like the Hydro-Electr ic Project on the river Narmada met resistancein the mid 1990s, Special Economic Zones (SEZs)were announced in the mid 2000s as the new enginesof export-led growth, soon running aground from

resistance to land acquisit ion and ex post curtailmentof tax benefits. The Delhi Mumbai IndustrialCorridor (DMIC), the Arnritsar-Delhi-KolkataIndustrial Corridor and PPPs are since set to fostercapitalist growth in the economy, with the help of thestate. The Commerce and Industr y Min ist r ysNational Manufactur ing Policy (NMP) 2011 envisagesNational Investment and Manufacturing Zones(NMIZs) of at least 250 square kilometers each withint egrated townships. The ambit ious DMIC envisagesnine such NMIZs. The RTFCTLARR 2013 expandsthe scope of eminent domain unambiguously,including acquisit ion by appropriate government(state or central) for own use, hold and control(including Public Sector Undertakings); for strategicdefense purposes; infrastructure projects as notif iedby the centre; agriculture related projects; industrialcorr idors, mining and NMIZs; water and sanitation,educat ional , sports, healt h-care, t ouri sm,t ransport at ion and space programme relatedprojects; and housing and development plans ofvarious categories.

We must be clear t hat pr ivate enti t iesundert ake projects for private profi t , while publicpurpose is to secure the development and welfare ofall cit izens and part icularly those deprived of accessto basic necessit ies like a regular livelihood, nutrition,

housing, health and education. These essentiallydivergent motives are incommensurate and cannotbe conf lated; least in a country where nearly 50 percent of t he 1.2 bil lion plus population lives below oraround the poverty line and is heavily dependent on

the agrarian economy. The grounds fordeeming private investments in PPPs (that generallyenjoy an assured rate of return for private capital),industrial corridors, NMIZs or for that matter SEZsas public purpose are f limsy. The policy prerogativeof urbanization and integrated townships promotesreal estate investment in one of the most obscureand unregulated economies in t he country with high

levels of corruption and black money. WhileSocial Impact Assessments in the RTFCTLARR arewelcome, t heir recommendations are non-bindingand the ult imate determination of legit imate publicpurpose lies with the appropriate government. Giventhe explicit and expanded scope conflating capit alistinterest with public purpose, the RTFCTLARR

threatens to engender large-scale capi tali staccumulation by dispossession (Harvey 2005) byproviding outlets for domestic and foreign capital atthe expense of local populations and theirdevelopment. Intensifying popular resistance toacquisit ion then, seeks to counter t he threat ofdispossession.

Resistance to Land Acquisition

Since the 1980s, the enforced displacement ofpeople for large development projects has beenfiercely contested. Anti-displacement movementshave raised crit ical quest ions regarding social andenvironmental costs, prior informed consent ofproject affected including landless people, their legalentit lements and l ivelihood security and democraticprocess and accountability of the state. In the wakeof the Narmada valley, Nandigram and Singur inWest Bengal, Raigad in Maharashtra, Mangalore inKarnataka, Jagatsinghpur in Orissa, Mundra andHansalpur in Gujarat, resistance in Goa, Haryana andU.P., the predominant conf li ct over land andresources is not over compensation and R&R. Nor isit about compensation and R&R in Chhattisgarh. Itis the states presumption of public purpose that isbeing contested again and again t hrough vi talquestions regarding the development it

undertakes-for whom, at what cost and at whosecost. These are not just signal f lashpoints of confl ictover land and resources in the early 21 $I century;they are also conflicts over sovereignty and the rightto decision-making and determinat ion of

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development t rajectories as democratic polities cometo matur it y. The RTFCTLARR 2013 however,attempts to side-step these fundamental issues byfocusing on compensation and R&R. While itmandates consent for private acquisit ion and PPPs,consent is only to be established from land owners.By leaving out the corpus of land acquisitionundert aken by the stat e from the purview ofconsent , i t fails to develop a consent -baseddemocratic model of development. The broad scopeof acquisit ion in aid of capitalism wil l potentiallyresult in more and more of the same, intensifyingconf licts over land, resources, decision-making anddevelopment in the years to come. Let us considerbrief ly the compensation and R&R that RTFCLARR

promises below.

Fair Compensation and R&R

The RTFCTLARR 2013 leaves it to theappropriate government to determine whethercompensation should be at market value of the landor twice that in rural areas, depending on distancefrom an urban area (it is unclear how or why thisdistinction is to be made). Land acquisition officersI have interviewed in the course of my research claimthat their goal is generally to get the best price (readcheapest) of acquisition for the government. We cansafely presume this is true for private ent it ies as well.With the addition of this clause of distance fromurban area determining the factor of multiplication,and given entrenched bureaucratic dispensation indealing with acquisition, it seems unlikely that thebest pr ice wil l be determined in favor of those beingdispossessed. Compensation in urban areas remainsat market value. While compensation includes 100per cent solatium award plus 12 per cent interestuntil the date of award or acquisition, thedetermination of the market value is to be done bycalculat ing the average market value of landtransactions in t he area for previous three yearsfrom half the highest sale transactions. Real estatedevelopers I have int erviewed candidly disclose that

sale deeds never reflect the real sale price of any areaof land as the parties in t ransaction depress prices toavoid stamp duties. A significant amount of the priceis thus paid under the table, contributing to theubiquitously unaccountable and obscure black

economy of real estate. Besides, t he signif icantescalation of land and property prices in affectedareas once a development project is announced isunaccounted for, as awards are to be determinedbased on pr ior rates. Despit e espousal of outcomesthat ensure affected persons become partners indevelopment leading to an improvement in theirpost acquisit ion social and economic status (Gol2013) the RTFCTLARR wil l likely continue metingunjust compensation. Significantly, the coverage ofcompensation and R&R leaves out those dependenton land dependent communities who may not ownany land or work on it directly, like barbersironsmiths and other service providers.

GROWTH, MORE

EMPLOYMENT & MORE POVERTY

The TFCTLARR extends the coverage of R&Rfor private purchase only above an area specif ied bythe appropriate government, or if the appropriategovernment is approached for land acquisit ion, tothe entire area. While this devolution of decision-making to appropriate government may ostensiblysafeguard federalism, competit ive bidding by statesto att ract investment can raise such limits arbit rarilyand create spiraling private concentration of land,exempting signif icant private purchase from R&Robligations. Moreover, with no ceilings on the extent

of land that can be acquired for any project in acountry as densely populated, unfettered acquisit ionwil l int ensify inequali t ies of ownership, access andwealth and exacerbate conf licts, unrest and distress.The tert iarisation process is possibly an outcome ofsluggish employment opportunit ies in the industrialsector, leading to a residual absorption of semi-ski lled and unskil led labour in low product ivi tyactivit ies. Such a pattern of economic change is lesslikely to have beneficial effect on labour withinadequate skill . The erosion of the industrial baseand the proliferation of the tertiary sector do poseserious challenges from the point of view of theproduct ive absorpt ion of the unski lled and semi-skilled workers.

The technology used in the organizedManufacturing sector i s largely import ed f romabroad. It is not util ized adequately to derive the

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maximum possible gains primarily because ofinadequate skill base of the domestic labour. Thepolicy implications of the study can be drawn interms of skill up-gradation of labour and enhancedinvestment, encouraging research on labourintensive. technological progress. Besides, credit andmarketing assistance to workers in some of the pettyactivities is indeed important for improvements inproductivi ty and earnings. The poor skill base of theworkers in marginal activi t ies is a matter of seriousconcern. As possibilit ies of upward mobil it y in suchactivit ies are highly limited, alternative avenues needto be created to offer them a gainf ul l ivelihood.Finall y, the component s which operate asinfrastructure base of the economy need to be

strengthened.Though, the effects of the growth in high

productivity activit ies cannot be felt directly on thepoor, the indi rect effects are not negligible either. Sothe whole question is how to evolve mechanismsthat can raise the pay-offs of the new features thatare arising in the process of growth, and how tomake these gains favourable to the poor as well. Thechallenge before the Indian economy is not to beselective; rather how best the newer trends can beturned to be beneficial, t hat is, faster growth wit hfaster reduction in poverty.

The sustainabil it y of the servi ces growth

depends on Indias ability to secure improved accessto foreign markets, create a more compet it iveliberalized domestic economy, and developappropriate regulatory institutions. Commitment ofall WTO member countries for liberal cross-bordertrade in services rather than only in transport andfinancial services and liberal access for the strictlytemporary movement of skilled professionals aresome of the basic pre-condit ions that need to be metfor enhancing Indias service revolut ion and makingthe contribution of the services sector to overallgrowth sustainable.

How to make the services sector moreresponsive to international trade is a pertinentquestion. Trade with developing countries willpossibly hold bri ghter prospects of growth inemployment intensive services activit ies. Second,several services, in which India has comparat ive

advantages over other countries, have to receivesupport ive measures for t heir expansion so thatforeign demand and domestic demand do notconflict. For example, the health sector can bedeveloped extensively to tap the demand potentialfor such services from several developing as well asdeveloped countries. The price differences withrespect to the developed countries can att ract a greatdeal of foreign demand for healt h services in India.However, supplies often are too scarce even to meetthe domestic demand. Similarly, in the educationsector, India has a great potentiali t y to at t ractforeign demand, part icularly from South and EastAsia, given her comparative advantages in t erms ofprice different ials and medium of instruction.

More reforms relating to the financialinstit utions can invite foreign savings and this mayresult in employment growth as management ofsuch savings wi ll be employment int ensive.Investment of such resources in productive activit ieswil l indeed open up new employment opportunit ies.The backward areas in India require massiveinfrastructural investment in order to get integratedwith the rest of t he world. Act ivit ies like businessser vices which have been Indias comparat iveadvantages can expand f ur t her t o createemployment opportunit ies on a large scale. Insteadof concentrating in a few mil lion plus cities, foreign

investment can then penetrate to other semi-urbanareas as well. Skill up-gradation and human capit alformation in the rural areas will enable the ruralyouth to take advantage of t hese new opportunit iesand thus, international trade in services can be madepro-growth as well as employment-intensive. Povertyalleviation would be a distant dream without theexpansion of social infrastructure (education, healt hetc.) since the knowledge-intensive economy drivenby IT sector requires educated and skil led employees.

Labour market inequality spills over toinequality in education, healt h, polit ical involvementand result s in other demographic vulnerabil ities. On

the other hand, improvement in labour marketequali ty result s in reduction in gender inequali ty inother areas by generating higher levels and betterquality of human capital endowment and byenhancing the productive capacity of women. Hence,

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an important linkage exists between labour market

and empowerment in terms of involvement in thedecision making process. On t he other hand,reduction in gender inequali ty, particularly in thelabour market, result s in higher economic growth aswomens contribution to the production processincreases wit h human capit al formation. Thefeminisation of poverty and the ever-growingproportion of the female population working ascheap labour, growing unemployment, the decline inthe social power of labour and an increase intemporary, part-t ime, casual and home-based workare some of the outcomes of the changes that aretaking place in relation to globalization and economicreforms. A number of policy initiatives for reducinginequali ty in the labour market can be implementedto generate greater human capit al formation, and toempower womens participation in the decision-making process both at the macro and householdlevels.

Urban planning in developing countries needsto consider that urban areas will have to be gearedup to attract further investment and at the sametime enough capacity is created to accommodate theincreasing pressure in the cit ies. How the low incomehouseholds in the rural areas can also benefit in theprocess of urban-centric growth is another dimensionof the problem. What opportunities in terms of

inf rastructure have to be created and how theaccessibili ty of the poor t o these opportunit ies canbe enhanced are some of t he issues that need theattention of t he policy planners.

Though, rural poverty and rural developmentprogrammes may acquire the top priority in thedevelopment strategy of a developing countr y, thecontribution that the urban areas are making to theoverall growth cannot be overlooked. If the overallgrowth has to be stepped up in the future years thenthere is no way how the urban areas contributioncan be underplayed. For t his, more investment incit ies, for their residents and the poor who stri ve

hard notwithstanding their contributions to citysgrowth, are definit ely required. Several countriesparticularly in the developing world usually follow animbalanced approach eit her by ini t iat ing majorinvestment projects in the large cities only or by

raising polit ical slogans in favour of small towns andthe rural areas. These countries need to take morebalanced decisions so that the increase in theeconomic growth originating from the large urbansett lements benefits the poor across all regions.Besides, the medium sized and small towns need tobe kept ready for future productivity growth, oncethe possibility of reaping the benefits ofconcentration from the present set of large cities iscompletely exhausted. Strategic development of t heurban centres can facilitate the rise in productivitygrowth in the rural areas as well. By directinginvestment projects in an urban sett lement which issurrounded by rural areas, the benefit s of growth canbe distr ibuted more equit ably. Some of these issues

are indeed of pr imary importance in urban planning.Large cities are more productive and

industr ies in large urban centers are more efficientthan in smaller centers of human habitation. Moredemand-induced employment opportunit ies areavailable in large cities which possibly grow inresponse t o large quantum of i nvestmentundert aken therein. In terms of several socio-economic and demographic characteristics, largecities seem to be better off. However, this does notmean that poor are able to access an easy ent ry tothese cit ies. Land scarcity, legal restr ictions on land,the politician-builder nexus and networks-based

migration tend to reduce the accessibil it y of the poorto the labour market in large cit ies. As a result ,urbanization in India does not seem to be inclusivein spite of the fact that the large cities account for avery large percentage of the total investment in all -urban areas.

The main policy focus needs to have threedif ferent orientations. One is for t he male migrantswho come to the cit y in search of jobs. Availabili ty ofhigh productivi ty jobs in the rural areas can reducein-migrat ion t o the urban areas and on the otherhand productivity augment ing strategies need to beadopted for those who are engaged in lowproductivity jobs in the urban low productivityinformal sector. The other aspect of the policy has todeal with the job market prospects of women whoaccompany male migrants. In spite of the fact thatthey are engaged in residual activities they are the

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ones who actual ly meet the consumptionrequirements of the households. Hence, thesewomen earners need to be empowered to accessbetter job market opport unit ies, which t hey canpursue along wit h t he household or domestic work.The thi rd aspect concerns t he single womenmigrants. Though they are guided by the economicfactors at the place of destination, their vulnerabil ityin terms of social crime and housing uncertaint y ismost serious and migration policy in developingcountries cannot afford to ignore this aspect, whichhas been gaining prominence in the recent years.

In reference to the question whether well-being improves wit h a rise in t he durati on ofmigration, findings tend to suggest that rural-to-

urban migration has been somewhat beneficial forthe workers and any attempt to stop migration mayturn out to be counter- productive. On the otherhand, several of the long duration migrants and thenatives stil l correspond to a low level of well-beingand high incidence of pover ty. Therefore,implementation of urban employment programmesis indeed important for reducing urban poverty.Since, many of t he urban poor are not f reshmigrants, rural development programmes alone wil lnot be adequate to reduce urban povert y. The otherpolicy dimensions relate to education and healthbecause these vari ables play an import ant role in

determining the well-being of the households.The urban poverty policy in India, however,ignored many of these aspects. For a long time, itfocused only on basic amenities and public

distribut ion system. Even under the recent urbanrenewal mission (JNNURM), inf rastructure andprovision of basic amenities to t he urban poor getthe top priori ty in a handful of sixty-three cit ies.While investment in these areas is necessary, issuesrelat ing to livelihood, micro-credit, provision fortraining and skil l up-gradation, institutional supportand healt h benefi ts to t he workers fr om the lowincome households need immediate attention.

Social capital, particularly in the context of thelow income households, is important in accessing the

job market. inf ormat ion. However, as regardsupward mobil it y, there is no strong evidence toconfirm possibili ties of improving earnings throughnetworks. On the contrary, tradit ional networks

tend to reduce the possibilit y of upward mobilit y bycreating information asymmetry and excess suppliesof labour in certain pockets and activities. Hence,government int ervention is important from thelong-term developmental point of view. On thewhole, slum rehabili tat ion and li velihood issuescannot be treated separately and they need to beintegrated with the survival strategies that the lowincome households have developed on the basis ofsocial capit al. Also, the polit ical contacts are merelya transitory respite. Keeping in view their limitationsand the lesser applicabilit y in other Asian countries,the role of poli tical contact is seen as far inferior to

that of rational policies, which have widerapplicability across countries. Awareness among theresidents has to be created to counter the practice ofbeing used in exchange of short-term gains.

DO YOU KNOW?

Shale gas is a natural gas. It is found trapped in shale formations. Shales are petroleumresource rocks below t he surface of earth. High heat and pressure converts the petroleum of theserocks into natural gas. Interest in exploration of this gas has been increasing worldwide.

It is thought that increased use of shale gas shall help reduce green house gas emissions.However, there is a disagreement on this issue. Some scient ists have advised caution in extractingthis gas. There are fears of methane gas leak during the production of this gas.

Use of shale gas has been on the increase in t he Unit ed States. China is estimated to havethe largest shale gas reserves. According to a report, there are 48 shale basins in 38 countries.The shale gas discoveries in the United States have led to increase in its reserves. The economic

success of shale gas in US has increased interest in its exploration in Europe and Australia too.India too has recent ly approved the shale gas and oil exploration policy. According to media

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HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN INDIAWe know that today in 2013, education for all

has st il l not been achieved in India. This is in acont inuum from over a century and a half ago, whenmodem educat ion was fir st i nt roduced throughWoods Dispatch of 1835 and the Dispatch of 1854.I would l ike to present here a few salient point sregarding the failure of the Indian effort to provideeducation for all, and to offer a major explanationfor the failure, from which arise the other conditionsalso producing and adding to the failure.

Beginning with the fi rst major efforts ofChristian missionaries in the eighteenth century,

modern education was characterized by a distaste forindigenous cult ure that could border on extremedenigration. Alexander Duff (1806-1878), whoarguably created the model for modem education inIndia, was one of the most vit riolic of all missionaries.

He made a case for t he new educat ion with t heargument that the Indian mind, in learning a newlanguage (English) and a new set of concepts, wouldbe forced to un-learn its pantheism, idolat ry andsuperstition.

This is what I read as the central disease ofIndian education, one that makes for failure both innumbers-India sti l l does not have 100 per centli teracy-and in quali ty-Indias school-going childrenare learning below their class levels. I call it thehome-school divide. Indian schools, administrators,policy makers and teachers are pull ing one way andthe childrens families and communit ies are pulling inanother. Teachers and curr icula are also thus, divided.

I do not mean to belittle other problems inIndian education by emphasizing this one. I mean tosuggest that this formulation of t he problem is theacutest way to gain a handle on the problem of the

reports, India is the worlds fourt h largest consumer of energy, could be sitt ing on as much as (96)trill ion cubic feet of recoverable shale gas reserves, equivalent to (26) years of the countrys demandas per the estimate of US energy information administration. India relies on import for much ofits energy needs. As per available data, six basins Cambay (in Gujarat) Assam- Arakam (in the Nort hEast) Gondwana (in Central India) K.G. on shore (in Andhra Pradesh), Cauvery onshore, and Indo-Gangetic basins hold shale gas potential. Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGe) plans commercialproduction of shale gas next year.

ONGC and Oil India Ltd., have been allowed to tap shale resources in blocks allot ted to themon nomination basis. Dri ll ing of ten wells is planned for this year and commercial production maystart next year. ONGC is set to start drill ing for unconventional shale hydrocarbon in Gujarat soon.Cambay in Gujarat is one of the basins which is expected to contain shale reserves. The extractionof shale gas uses hydraulic fracturing which involves blasting water, sand and chemicals undergroundto release tapped oil and gas. Aft er the permission to state-owned firm, private companies may alsobe allowed to explore shale gas and oil from below the earths surface.

What is Escrow AccountEscrow account is an account in a bank which a third party holds during the process and periodof a transaction between two part ies. It is a temporary account which lasts unti l the completionof t ransaction. This account is governed by the condit ions agreed to, between the parties.

This account helps in case of any violation of terms of the contract by either part y. As a thirdparty, banks keep the account in safe custody, in case of any non-fulf ilment of condit ion f rom eitherside. The Bank ensures operation of account according to the terms set in the agreement.

Some banks keep it as a current account without cheque drawing facility or a fixed depositaccount. The banks run the account as per defined agreement . An escrow account may be used forlending arrangements, project financing, securitisation, buy back of shares, take overs, custody,lit igation, sale and purchase of land, custody of software source code etc. The agreement reachedby the parties to open an escrow account in a bank needs banks approval.

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failure of Indian education which seems too slipperyto get a hold of otherwise. The economics ofeducation is import ant , for instance. Surely, theamount spent per head is responsible for the lack ofand poor quality of, educational resources. Thisturns upper and middle class famil ies away fromgovernment schools and creates a market for betterequipped private schools. But, if the country had thewil l to have a system of public schooling, theresources for public schools would be created ,orproduced. It is because the imagination of theeducated middle class fails to comprehend the wholeof the Indian cit izen body as a unit whose needs maybe addressed together, that the will for improvingpublic schooling is so weak. The families of the

masses are conceptualized as essentially different,with a str ing of characteristics we will discuss below,that distinguish them from the famil ies and needs ofthe middle classes. Thus, there is no need to reformeducation with persistence and determination. Thereis no need to fi ght for resources. The short fall ineducational funding is ult imately t raceable to t hehome-school divide. Similarly, we can agree that it ispoor management that is responsible for the poorfunctioning of schools. Even when the teachers aretrained, the school building natty, teaching resourcesavailable, and curr icula imaginative, a principal wil lcomplain that he cannot make the school work.

Management in India is understood as thesuccessful control of production and delivery-if thepersonnel are normal. But , my argument is, thedif ference created by educat ion between kinds ofIndians makes some behavior labelled as abnormaland impossible to deal with, even though it may beculturally appropriate. Thus, there is no ability onthe part of well educated managers to manage lesseducated or differently educated people in India.This management shortcoming may be traceable tothe home-school divide. Without going over otherproblems one by one, let us look at the schools intheir dif ferences and then t rack t he problemaccording to the kinds of schools.

Family Values and the

Home-school Divide

The home is a particular site of politics.Parents and the older generation control younger

generations on principle, for utilitarian reasons, toreproduce themselves socially and culturally, andalso because that is the preferred polit ics rather t hanage equalit y or the dominance of the youth. Careerchoices and choices of what to study are made byparents. Marr iage choices are li kewise made byparents. Sons and daughters-in-law may becontrolled well into their middle ages.

Apart from age polit ics, the family is ri fe withgender politics. Every Indian family is patriarchal.Senior men bond together to control younger menand all women. Age and gender power normscombine together to socialize girls and boysrespectively to assume feminine and masculine rolesso seamlessly that no authori tarian control is needed

and men and women control themselves accordingto strict patr iarchal norms through out their lives.

Then there is class, caste and sectarian politics.Each family maintains its distance from others onthese three lines, as well as on other grounds such aslanguage and region. In each case, there isseparation, hierarchy, stereotyping, sometimes moregently, sometimes aggressively. The school, bycontrast, is a modernizing and secularizing agencywhose mandate is to produce equality and topractice it . Through classroom procedures andregular r it uals, children are taught in school thatIndia is a secular country, that all Indians are fellow

citizens, that the Constit ution guarantees equality toall, meaning both men and women, both rich andpoor and all religious groups.

But is equalit y what schools actually practice?Is democratic cit izenship what they actually succeedin dinning into students heads? There are numerousshortcomings to schools perfect adherence todemocratic, secular functioning. The first and themajor one is that schools themselves are divided upby class lines, if less now, by gender and sect. Thereare no integrated schools in India. There are schoolsfor the rich and schools for the poor and variousgradations in between. It is not a free and simplechoice that people make among schools. It is theirdestiny and their lives that they wager in choosing aschool. And t hey are at the mercy of the systembecause in fact they have no choice at all . Richchildren go to rich schools. Rich schools are rich in

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resources and management and personnel andconvey this air . Because of the social capit al theyimpart , even the children who are not good learnerssucceed in get t ing some use out of their schools.Poor children go to poor schools. Poor schools arepoor in resources and t each poorly. Children maylabour very hard and learn something in theseschools, but the majori ty of t hem remain poorlyeducated. Some drop out because of t he sheerpovert y of the programme in school.

The whole educational system in Indiafunctions on the premise that there are two kinds ofIndians, those who would naturally want to and beable to, pay for better schools for their children, andthose who would r esort to f ree or subsidi zed

government schools t hat are bad or average orunknown, but at any rate, not in the same league asprivate schools that can claim a quali ty that theycharge for. The curriculum of schools is based on thepremise that India is a secular, democratic countryand children should learn about themselves, theircountry and countrymen in modern, progressiveways. Almost all the curricula in Indian schools isprogressive.

As it exists, the school is posit ioned to distanceit self from the family and whatever is eione is doneto t hem, at them, or in spit e of t hem, never withthem. The heme-seheel divide is so ingrained in

peoples minds that they cannot grapple with theproblem of uneducated, poor and working dassfamil ies confronting a modern educational system.

Private English-medium schools

Many parent s who aspire to have theirchildren study are willing to pay for private schoolingwith the faith that these schools will teach Englishand give a competitive edge to their children. Theschools, in turn, again expect, indeed, demand, thatthe home does a large part of the teaching work.They give homework that needs adult help and theyfail children who cannot cope wit h it . Almost 100 percent of first generation, or even second generation

school goers go to a tutor t o study after schoolhours. The curr iculum of these schools is fault y inanother way as well . The teaching of English, Scienceand Social Studies, as well as sometimes Hindi and

Maths, is so non-progressive, non-interactive, andunimaginatively undertaken that children do notlearn well. They leave school ostensibly havingstudied these subjects for the duration of theirschool li fe but with a skill level in them so poor thatthey cannot use their education to provide the socialmobil it y they had dreamt of.

Private Indian-language schools

These are schools founded by t he community,often funded by the government, wit h low fees, oldbuildings, an Indian language as the medium ofinstr uction and a consciousness of being moreindigenous than private schools that are Englishmedium. These are closer to the homes of t heir

students in lit t le ways such as the carelessness oftheir school uniform and the sit ting on the f loor inmadrasas. They also use the mother t ongues of t hechildren. But they are also curiously distanced fromthe homes of t heir students in their cri tique of thehome environments. Instead of attributing any faultin student learning to perhaps a shortcoming inteaching methods, the fault is always seen to lie int he family.An interesting instance is the madrasasattended by the children of weavers famil ies that Ihave studied. Weavers sons oft en start sitting at theloom when nine or ten. Madrasas timings are fromearly morning to noon so they do not clash wit h this.But the discourse that has been built up is of str ictlyeither studying or working. Any work that comesfrom the family is seen as a problem for the school.Although, these madrasas that are started by theweaving community are over a hundred years old, insome cases, this antagonism between the home andthe school has not worked out. There has not evenbeen anattempt to work it out.

The schools do not respond to the ambitionsof the students families eit her. Students and theirfamilies want high quality education to achievecompetit ive success in the future. Almost all Indian-language medium schools aspire very low. Theirspaces and teaching methods are not ambitious in

progressivism or child f riendliness. They do not planpedagogy or events or guidance for their studentsthat might make them successful in the modemworld.

yojana feb 2014

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