Vision of the visionary manufacturing policy

To improve GDP and to create livelihoods for many, a big plan had been envisioned. Just six days ago the Indian cabinet passed its ambitious plans. New town ships will be made under Article 243Q-C of the Indian Constitution. Realizing that the manufacturing sector needs re-vitalization, the National Manufacturing Policy has been approved. Large size zones have been planned for the making and expansion of the manufacturing industry in India. Setting up of industrial town is going to be easy as non-fertile land has to be acquired for National Investment Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ). These are going to be in the Northern part and Western part of India. For the Eastern corridor, new system of railways is going to be made. The industrial towns to be built will have greater autonomy (sounds like SEZ story). There should be coordination amongst the different departments—industrial growth department, and Planning Commission have problem communicating the urgency and important of land acquisition to the Environment department. And Labour department will follow suit with the issue of granting ‘minimum wages’ to the workers.

Lapse in leadership. In India individuals (in government) envision growth plans; and when the implementation stage comes, they would have left their posts, and new individuals (who do not know the spirit of the plan) will implement it differently. This would give the plan an entirely new form.

Which States are planned for development? Industrial towns have been planned for development in different states of India, and individual states do not have top grade city-planners nor do they know how to make modern contracts like the PPP or BOT etc. It is the central government which has best technocratic acumen needed in the construction of industrial cities. And professionalism and acumen cannot be taught or learnt overnight. Fiscal incentives have been given to private firms for coming forward (20%). But all states should be given incentives for development, not just some. Partiality has been shown in favouring the North and Western over the rest. Only uniform policy will be successful. How the different states take this initiative will vary; for example Maharashtra state may not give land.

Incentives given by state governments. Some states give big incentives to industrialists like the state of Gujrat where industrial town will grow fast. Others may not encourage it, but also not discourage. Some will have road-blocks .There are also some amendments (like for Gram Panchayat Act) needed to make these super towns. Soon the local farmers will agitate for their share in the progress of the state and new amendments would be need in individual states as all have individual land acquisition policies. Unless the original land owners are given a role as a stakeholder, the making of infrastructure will be plagued by rural unrest/protests. There should be a forum (to redress upcoming issues) to hear the problems faced in establishing the townships. The problems will not be state specific; they will be national as these plans are national. Uniform legislation is mandatory for progress. These plans are to be implemented by public partnership models. If there is a serious hindrance which would hamper the implementation, there should be a clause to “stop building” or “exit policy”. In the new zones, buying and selling land will be made easy, as per policy. There will be tax exemption for the industries. And State Pollution Control Board will also favour industrialists as an officer will be delegated from outside. Moreover, Technology Acquisition Fund would be given to the small enterprises for making a patent pool of manufacturing methods using controlled power consumption.

Promise to make livelihoods The plans will give 100 million jobs. But industrialization reduces jobs as few people can mange in the running of factories. And with coming of electronics in as circuit boards etc, jobs are further reduced. This promise may not materialize as anticipated. This would favor the government and the industrialist but he worker will not gain. And our nation consists of only workers.

The true index of our progress is the fact that we lead meaningful lives, even with minimum fulfilment of basic needs; we manage with meager incomes, high cost of living, scarce resources, small homes with high rent, run-away inflation, exploitative Politician, dysfunctional education systems, insufficient health care, inadequate transport facilities, failing infrastructures. And now we have to industrialize quickly to overcome stagnation in our economy. When policies are not based on sound principles, they may lead to ‘plan of mice and men’ and may not become successful. There is a way out; if we implement very quickly the manufacturing policy, the growing pains (labor unrest) that industrialization brings may be overcome fast. And we will establish equilibrium, in economic growth and its public acceptance of it as early as possible.Visionary policies aer here.

Prayer for all Mankind

Today, ‘Bhaiya Dhuj’ festival is being celebrated as sisters pray for their brothers' prosperity. After celebrating Diwali (festival of lights) in their own homes and welcoming Goddess Luxmi (Goddess of prosperity), Indian women visit their brothers’ homes. They keep a ‘Vrat’ or religious fasting for their brothers. As part of their prayers they put a ‘Tikka’ of vermilion and rice (rice symbolises prosperity) on the foreheads of their brothers. On this day of ‘Bhaiya Dhuj’ women pray and wish for blessing of prosperity for their brothers’ homes as it was their home too,originally. These festive seasons show the importance of family, importance of prayers, and importance of value of "prosperity to all". And Indian women carry on these prayers along with a ’Vrat’ and with a deep sense of religious fervor. The true meanings are clear in a higher esoteric level.‘Prosperity for all’ means to prosper without any ‘parity’ or divisions; and all humanity consists of men and women who are brothers and sisters, both literally and figuratively. This is true scientifically, as the human genome projects show that all mankind come from one gene pool which had originated in Africa. All should be blessed with plenty of wealth. And industrialisation can bring prosperity for all humanity. Narrow ideologies divide this world constantly making divisions among all people- those have control over resources and those who do not have control over resources.

The Real Indian: Worshiping of work and tools of his trade

Today is ‘VIshwakarma’ Day or the day when all workers worship their tools of their trades. If one is a carpenter, he would worship his ‘saw’; if one is a farmer, he would worship his plough. Prayer is offered to the God Vishwakarma. All Indians have deep reverence for the work they perform. However big or small their role may be. Even if their job is small in the whole scheme of the economy, their commitment to their work is central to their life and endeavour. It is through these festivals we know why today's Indians are so successful; in performing their work perfectly, they are committed to their duty to serve humanity. They worship their tools which help them in their reverent  livelihood. It is in their deep prayers, that we see the real Indian— a people committed to their professions. These festivals remind them of the importance of their work; and its renewal of their duty towards God Vishwakarma who symbolically inspires them to do their duty sincerely.

Three weeks ago, many musicians and artists were worshipping their tools, musical instruments, brushes and pens because they were performing ‘Saraswati puja’ or the worship of Goddess of wisdom. Even students were worshipping their books, note-books and pens. These are symbolic ways by which people re-dedicate themselves to the various duties, they have toward their society; and  they feel that their tools are their gods. 

Man lives on this Earth because he had learnt to make and use tools, and he continues to live well because he has learnt the importance of these tools in continuation of humanity. We are technocrats and we must use the modern tools, computers, to solve today’s problems and continue to serve humanity.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is here again

Today it is Diwali or the festival of lights. When Indians celebrate Diwali, their homes could be seen from space, the whole of India is lit up for the night of Diwali as seen in this photo from satellite. As the legend goes, in Ramayana,Lord Rama returned from exile to his throne, and the people lit up their homes to welcome him back. Lord Rama must be looking at his land from the heavens and must be happy that people still remember him and celebrate Diwali.People decorate their homes with lights, pray to Luxmi (Goddess of prosperity and wealth), wear new clothes and share sweets(prasad- sweets shared after prayers); all pray for prosperity in their jobs. Children play with fire-crackers which make loud noises.

But life is very different for many urban dwellers in Delhi who live under the pillars of the many flyovers.They seek shelter under the flyovers and are often pushed away by the Municipality under 'slum-clearance' projects. Under the flyovers they sleep when it gets cold; under hot sun, they seek shelter. They sell flowers and make a living.When these flyovers were built, they were working as the manual laborers. After the building phase was over, they were not given another job and therefore stayed on,not knowing where to go.For them everyday is Diwali, as the lights on the flyover are lit on all nights. And every time a heavy-duty vehicle passes over the flyover, they feel the tremors and always hear loud noises.These pillar people are those on whose sweat(hard work) these big concrete structures of urban India were built; and it is this urban India that will not provide them any living space after extracting work from them. Workers continue being the pillars of India, and they are continuously denied a place here.The cost of making of the infrastructures here does not include or calculate the countless people's wasted lives.When will the pillar peoples get their prasad-a share of the prosperity? When will Diwali light the minds of the policy makers? When will be there be a Diwali for the pillar people who are the true pillars of urban India?Who will provide the muscles for future growth of planned infrastructures? India must care for its workers, if it wants to grow.

Our people must have a better standard of living

In India's ordinary people make few demands and live with lower standard of living. Today there are demonstrations in many parts of the world. Ideologies have failed resulting in a lower standard of living for a class of people; they are not able to afford a decent standard of living which they demand. The simple people of India live in a humble way and make few demands for they had a low standard of living always. They live in an ordinary manner—small homes, little possessions, few amenities and ordinary foods. Our people who are living on subsistence should be given better standards and they should make demands. Only when people have a good standard of living, they can think about their political rights.

How to measure development and good economic progress? GDP is not the exclusive index of development. Indices of development are many. Average incomes, nutritional status of the children, educational level, status of women(gender discrepancies), average life-expectancy, accessibility to health care, cost of basic possessions(cost of a shirt), cost of clean living environment(water & air), discrepancy between classes, cost of electricity, cost of fuel, accessibility to government’s systems, and  affordability of basic amenities by all. And there are more. We have to provide our  people with  more than what they have now. We need an inclusive growth  for all which technocrats will bring to India.

Government has to manage our resources and make way for development and growth in all areas; so that people’s standard of living is raised. We must bring economic reforms now. And that depends on political will for proper integration of technology. We must make a political system which can survive by bringing economic progress to all. We must make policies to industrialize fast; we can give subsidies and reduce taxes to encourage industries and guide development. To bring reform means how to align the power of the people (votes) to increase rights given by the industrialists (industrialists support a given party). The poor have only votes as tools to correct the unfair policies; government must make sure that they are given their rights as workers.  Industrialization, when in full operation extracts much work out of the people and has to be constantly monitored. Governments role in making policies for the industrialists should be watched.

Regulation of private industry. Private sector (for making of profit) would completely exploit people; if allowed, to would grow without restrictions. Government must levy less tax   on those industries which give rights to the labor force so that working people have some rights (wages, housing, insurance). And at the same time, government has to make industries contribute to the national growth.

Check Resource Use. Government must intervene to make sure that natural resources are not completely depleted in the name of making profit.  Changes are required to make new policies to monitor constantly the labor resource, environmental degradation- quality of water resource, quality of air (pollution level), and proper land use (some green parks in between industrial stretches)and so on.

Government’s role in industrialization will result in better standards for the people.Government has to make sure that environment is protected and make sure people are not exploited. How we fast are we going to industrialize, which resources we are going to use and how, and what rights we are going to give citizens. These will be answered by technocrats who know the statistics of growth. All industrialization depends on how government is managing the finances. Fiscal Management is dependent on policy decisions. Hence all development and advancement of   future India is dependent on the financial policy-decisions made today. The technocrats now have to give good analysis of latest statistics to extrapolate growth and make progress possible through today's government’s policy decisions.

Innovative Indians-pioneers in M-governance

We are now promoting new methods of visualizing future growth patterns and implementing policies for it. So far all our knowledge was past based and made from statistics of the past. But new innovations and positive outlook of our people towards new technologies (like mobile communications) has opened up new explorations of growth potentials in which past won’t be quoted any more. So we have brand new solutions to address to the problems of the people. Total integration of the varied peoples of the subcontinent of India has now taken place because we Indians are innovative people.

Mobile communications will help us in reaching our people who are settled far far away, in remote places, in villages, hamlets and farms. We are willing to learn better and better ways to connect and are bringing about innovative methods in every aspect of life. For payment of bills, for payment of taxes, for better health schemes, for admission to educational institutes, for contact with local governments (panchayats), for election processes, for interdepartmental contacts, for  much progress. We are a forward thinking people who take to technology as fish take to water.

Health services for the people. Mobile technology is on the rise because it is fulfilling the needs of the people. It is easily available, it is cost effective, it can be learned easily, and people do not have to move to get services. M-health schemes have come up: when government cannot deliver all services, we can link some private firms to public services in an innovative way where services are delivered swiftly. Telemedicine, m-health, hand held devices for diagnosis are modern day tools which have revolutionized medical care. Linking insurance firms to government’s telemedicine division will be a new joint venture in public-private partnership which will deliver health services to the people. An insurance company can take group insurance of a given number of citizens for whom government can give aid.  Thus health coverage for the people is feasible. One major task of government (health scheme for people) is now being bridled.

All-inclusive net of Township/municipality. Most important duty of a technocrat is to link government’s services to the people. Creation of simple new networks is now essential, for information sharing. Now passing of information is possible. People should ask for assistance, and we will be giving them information on latest services. There will be web-cast of ‘news.’ After knowing what government is giving to the people, they will reach for us. It will be a two way communication; they can reach us through mobile phones; now a new network will be made to assist them. Quick and easy networks will be made by fast-track methods. May be a “net-township”, or a “net-municipality” will be made. Physical need of infrastructure of building for municipality, or appointment of various clerks, officers, commissioners etc are all obsolete now; because we will now redefine local government. How ever big or small, all villages, hamlets, tribal groups, all will be covered. We will make sure of coverage, network, and connectivity aspects. Soon government services will be available through mobile network for people. We will be truly connected to the people. M-technology will help us connect to various departments in the government at all levels--block-level, district level, state level central level etc and their integration will bring greater efficiency, and more effective policy implementation.

Providing livelihoods is duty of the government. Unemployment rate show the extent of inability of the government to provide for its people. And government cannot provide jobs to all. Private enterprises can develop themselves by hiring more people. Labor intensive enterprises have to pay lower taxes; this policy decision will encourage firms to create more and more jobs. Linking banking with payment by firms, factories, industries etc, will give employees/workers an identity, a bank account. Mobile numbers also will give people identity.

M-governance. Most important task is linking our services to the people. Already AGMARNET(Agricultural Information System Networks) provide market trends to the farming communities, now mobile-nets will come. Large cooperative industrial farms are on the making. Soon e-panchayat and teleconferencing panchayats will become the consultants of m-panchayats, revolutionizing local self-government. And future elections will be held through mobiles, we will create a “new tech-enabled democracy” in India.

Environment will be lost by Thermal Power

Haphazard Mining policy will lead to quick impoverishment. In its eagerness to promote industrialisation and attract investments government overlooks the great loss to the citizens and the heritage of the nation. In the guise of ‘fast-tracking’ and quick making of infrastructure, environmental degradation is going to take place at high pace in a massive scale. Unfair policies are leading to further impoverishment to nation and its citizens. Laws (relating to mining) favor the industrialists and causes economic loss to the local people and loss of heritage and environment to the nation. Is our nation run by pressures of industrialists or do the common people have any right to live in clean environment?

 Loss by development. Loss to resident citizen is a gain for the rich industrialist. Transfer of power to give clearances, judging the bio-diversity zones and other policy decisions clearly show that people’s needs are being sacrificed for advantages for industrialists. The terminology used is “for development of the country” but it is going to degrade the environment, water bodies, the air and the land. Special advisers (in June 2009) in environment ministry who defined ‘no go’ zones and ‘go go’ zones have in their mind the quick distribution of nation’s resources to the industrialists, for they are motivated by the benefits that corporate lobby bestows upon them. For favors from corporate, we are giving away our forestland which is home of the tribal population, which is home of varied flora and fauna of the Indian subcontinent. Here the loss to the poor is much greater for it is at the cost of their rights that industries are being developed. Tribes are losing their homelands, and forest’s herbal wealth will be lost and biodiversity will be gone forever. The cost of development cannot be compensated by the ensuing losses; and the little gain for industry will mean great loss to many people.

Where is our forestland wealth? Forest area is defined, by environment ministry, as "an area where sky cannot be seen from floor". This is not a good definition, a better definition is required. The number of plant and animal species found per square meter, the contribution of the area to the ecosystem of the  forested regions, presence of native wildlife and other parameters are to be used. In January 2010, coal blocks were delineated from forest areas. Out of 6.5 lakh hectares of forest land surveyed (with 600 mines), 44% were classified as ‘no go’ area for coal mining. Continuous pressure from corporate lobby in November 2010 reduced the ‘no go’ area to 30% of surveyed forestland making more areas open to coal mining industry and increasing number of mines. But all forest areas are homes of tribes who have been pushed out of fringes of settled cultures due to poverty and alienation. There is no forest area which is un-inhabited in India as tribal inhabitants have spread-out homes. They have already been chased away (by poverty) to seek existence from honey, herbs, fruits and forest creatures. They cannot be chased away any further. These delineated areas for mines are in green belts of India. By making approvals and reports sitting in the capital, the planners cannot visualise the great environmental damage that they will do to the forest lands. In April 2011, it was demanded that more areas were given to the coal mining projects. In January 2011, coal ministry complained that environment ministry is posing problems in approving and a committee would define “pristine forest” and “bio-diversity zones”. In defining and redefining, they are trying to further take over big forest areas for mining activities. In February 2011, ‘no go’ zone was reduced to 10% of surveyed forest land. Because the Planning commission wants to increase coal production, new definitions are invented and modified to suit demands of corporate pressure.

Where have our forests gone?. In view of falling coal production all ‘no go’ zones were scrapped altogether, in September 2011 and now Forest Survey of India would give approval to mines on case by case basis. That means all transparency is lost now, anybody can buy a mine and buy clearance. How to track who will get which mine, whose mine is being approved by whom, how much can be mined and how much can be exported, how to tax mined material, how to track transport and export can be tracked if processes are streamlined. And information should be available in public domain. All this should be done transparently. After we uncover malpractices they would try to blame someone for making wrong deals much later, may be another scam. We should streamline procedures now itself. Our forest lands and the habitats it supports would soon be forever lost too. The people of the forest will be further impoverished and will have no place to live and have no food from forest. Mining reduces the forest to dessert; once the forest cover is lost, erosion would ensue, top soil would be eroded, dust would make breathing difficult and land will lose its fertility. Environmental clearances must be done transparently and after investigation of all effects of coal mining of given areas. All the states in the green belt must cooperatively, work together to visualise the consequences of coal mining. Limits must be placed on mining. Only when ecosystem is restored in areas near a mine, new mining area must be delineated. Afforestation measures must done before excavating for another mine.And appropriate policy changes must be made to ensure environmental protection.

Why so much attention for coal mines? Coal is central in the making of thermal power stations for generating electricity. MoUs are being signed with coal producing states, so that fuel for thermal plants can be linked to thermal plants which are being constructed. Thermal project firms start construction before clearance for they are sure that they will get approval. Ministry of Environment has cleared over 200 thermal power projects for generating power for the next five years. These plans will result in great destruction to environment and to our national heritage and dislocation and impoverishment of the local people. The gain of the megawatts after destruction of forests for coal  reserves would be less than the cost of rejuvenating the ecosystem of the land.Other than thermal, there are other ways to generate electricity without destruction to the environment. We need environment friendly methods of generation of power. Once lost, environment cannot be restored to the original pristine beauty.

Coal deposits are not yielding big results  Due to poor outputs from mines, the amount of coal available for thermal power station has become very less. So new policies are made to reduce forest areas and increase coal yields. We are running in a race in which we are going to lose. Already electricity output of thermal powers have reduced. Soon there will be power crisis, and demands for inexhaustible resource cannot be met.Coal mined which were owned exclusively by government are now sold by e-auction to private firms which have made coal scarce commodity. So new policies are made to take away more forest land for coal mine. So it continues, never ending need for coal for ever rising need of thermal power.Energy is the required commodity that the economic advisers pressurise the government for. Who will protect the people's livelihoods and the pristine forests?