PM's remarks at the launch of #DigitalIndiaweek

Text of PM's remarks at the launch of Digital India week

मंच पर विराजमान मंत्रि परिषद के मेरे सभी साथी, उद्योग जगत के सभी मित्र भिन्‍न भिन्‍न देशों के सभी राजदूत और बहुत बड़ी संख्‍या में पधारे हुए नौजवान दोस्‍तों,

मैं श्रीमान रविशंकर प्रसाद और उनकी टीम को ह्दय से बहुत बहुत अभिनंदन करता हूं बधाई देता हूं कि उन्‍होंने comprehensive integrated approach के साथ भारत के भविष्‍य को बदलने का एक खाका खींचा है और जिस बारीकी से सारी योजनाओं की रचना की है, मुझे विश्‍वास है कि करोड़ों देशवासी जिन सपनो को संजो रहे हैं वे सपने साकार हो कर रहेंगे।

उद्योग जगत के कुछ मित्रों को यहां मंच पर, डिजिटल इंडिया के संदर्भ में वे क्‍या सोचते हैं वे क्‍या कर सकते हैं के विचार हमे सुनने को मिले। हमारे रविशंकरप्रसाद जी हिसाब लगा रहे थे बैठे बैठे, कि वो क्‍या बोल रहे हैं और उन्‍होंने मुझे बताया है कि करीब करीब साढे चार लाख करोड़ रूपये का investment.. और करीब करीब 18 लाख लोगों को रोजगार.. और यह तो जो ऊपर बैठे हैं उन्‍होंने बताया हैं और नीचे बहु‍त बड़ी मात्रा में बैठे हैं.. उनका अभी सुनना बाकी है। यहां बहुत बड़ी मात्रा में इस क्षेत्र में पहले से ही काम करने वाले उद्योग जगत के मित्र बैठे हैं।

वक्‍त बहुत तेजी से बदल चुका है। पहले हम लोग कभी किसी परिवार में जाते थे और छोटे बच्‍चे से बात करते थे तो बच्‍चा क्‍या करता था? अगर आपका चश्‍मा है तो खींच के ले जाता था या आपकी जेब में पेन है तो उसको उठाता था। लेकिन आज आप मार्क करना कि वह न चश्‍मे को हाथ लगाता है न पेन को हाथ लगाता है वह आपका मोबाइल फोन छीनता है। मोबाईल फोन हाथ में आते ही ठीक से पकड़ता है, आप मार्क करना.. और अपना शुरू कर देता है और अगर, जैसा चाहे वैसा आपरेशन नहीं होता तो रोने लगता है यानी बाकी वह कुछ समझे या ना समझे डिजिटल ताकत को समझता है। समय की मांग है कि हम इस बदलाव को समझें और अगर हम इस बदलाव को नहीं समझेंगे तो हम कहीं पड़ रहेंगे कोने में दुनिया दूर चली जाएगी और हम देखते ही रह जायेंगे एक समय था कि सदियों पहले लोग बसते थे, नदी के तट पर। गांव बसते थे, शहर बसते थे नदी के तट पर या समुंदर के किनारे पर।

वक्‍त बदल गया बाद में जहां जहां से हाइवे गुजरते थे, शहर वहां बसना शुरू हुए लेकिन अब मानव जा‍ति वहीं पर बसेगी जहां से ऑप्टिकल फाइबर गुजरता होगा। ये बहुत बड़ा बदलाव आया है और इसलिए अगर विश्‍व के अंदर सवा सौ करोड़ का देश, अपनी ताकत का अहसास कराना चाहता है तो जो हजारो साल पुरानी महान संस्‍कति है.. हम सवा सौ करोड़ देश वासी हैं, हम 65 प्रतिशत 35 साल से कम उम्र के हैं, ये गीत गाने से बात बनने वाली नहीं है। ये जो भी विरासत है, जो सामर्थ्‍य है, उसके साथ आधुनिक विज्ञान को, आधुनिक टेक्‍नॉलॉजी को जोड़ना अनिवार्य है। अगर demographic dividend.. इसको अगर digital strength नहीं मिलेगी तो ये demographic dividend ..हम global level पर जितनी मात्रा में फायदा उठाना चाहिए नहीं उठा पायेंगे। इसलिए देश को तैयार करने की आवश्‍यकता है। आज हमारे देश में करीब करीब 25 करोड़-तीस करोड़ internet users हैं। users की संख्‍या में तो दुनिया में ये संख्‍या बहुत बड़ी है लेकिन जो इससे वंचित है वो संख्‍या भी दुनिया के हिसाब से बड़ी है। जिनकी अपनी पहुंच थी जिनकी अपनी ताकत थी जो खुद कर सकता था, जिसको ज़रूरत थी, उन्‍होंने तो अपना कर लिया। लेकिन जो खुद नहीं कर सकता है, उसको उसके नसीब पर छोड़ देना चाहिए क्‍या? देश का एक तबका.. वो तो Digital world के साथ बहुत तेज गति से आगे बढ़ता हो और देश का बहुत बड़ा तबका उससे वंचित रह जाए तो जो अमीर और गरीब की खाई के कारण समस्‍याएं पैदा होती हैं, शहर और गांव में सुविधा के कारण जो खाई पैदा होती है, उससे भंयकर स्थिति Digital Divide के कारण पैदा हो सकती है।

इसलिए यह हमारा दायितव बनता है, हमारी जिम्‍मेवारी बनती है कि हम इस आधुनिक विज्ञान, जो कि मानव की आवश्‍यकताओं की पूर्ति का एक बहुत बड़ा catalyst agent बना हुआ है, उससे गरीब से गरीब भी वंचित नहीं रहना चाहिए। यह सुविधा जब तक हम गांव, गरीब, किसान तक नहीं पहुंचाएंगे तो यह विकास की जो बातें हैं, न वो उसका लाभ उठा पाएगा, न हम उसको सेवा दे पाएंगे। इसलिए इस चुनौती को हमने स्‍वीकार किया है कि आने वाले वर्षों में, दूर-सुदूर गांव में भी गरीब से गरीब व्‍यक्ति को भी इस platform को उपलब्‍ध कराना चाहिए, जिस platform से वो अपनी आवश्‍यकताओं की पूर्ति का माध्‍यम..आवश्‍यकता के अनुसार उपयोग करता रहे। दुनिया जिस प्रकार से बदल रही है, आपने देखा होगा आपको घर में.. मान लीजिए कभी तय करें कि चलो भई किसी restaurant में आज अच्‍छा खाने जाना है, परिवार के चार लोग बैठकर के चर्चा करें कि कहां जाएंगे और आपका 15-16 साल का बच्‍चा है, वो सुनता है, तो वो क्‍या करता है.. तुरंत वो Google गुरू के पास जाता है। Google गुरू से पूछता है कि नजदीक में अच्‍छे से अच्‍छा restaurant कौन सा है, अच्‍छे से अच्‍छा menu कौन सा है? और वो table पर वहां बैठे बैठे बुक करा देता है। यह इतना बड़ा बदलाव है, इस बदलाव को समझते हुए हमने भी अपनी व्‍यवस्‍थाओं को विकसित करना चाहिए। minimum government maximum governance, इस सपने को साकार करने में technology बहुत बड़ा रोल प्‍ले करती है। e-governance, सामान्‍य मानव की.. जो शासकीय सेवाओं में उसका हक है, उसको प्राप्‍त करने के लिए उत्‍तम से उत्‍तम मार्ग है। e-governance बहुत ही तेजी से m-governanceमें बदलने वाला है। ‘m’ does not mean Modi Governance, it is mobile governance. सारा कारोबार, सारी आवश्‍यकतांए, सारी व्‍यवस्‍थाएं मोबाइल फोन के ईद-गिर्द.. पूरी सरकार आपके मोबाइल फोन में मौजूद होने वाली है, वो दिन दूर नहीं है।

लेकिन इसके लिए हमें अपने आप को सजग करना होगा, व्‍यवस्‍थाएं विकसित करनी होगी। e-governance easy governance, is economical governance.. आर्थिक रूप से अनुकुल यह governance.. और उसको हम जितना बल दे सकें, हमें उसको बल देना है। उसी प्रकार से हमारे सामने समस्‍या रहती है, सरकार में, एक ही काम के लिए इतनी multiple activity करनी पड़ती है, इतना समय बर्बाद होता है। आधुनिक विज्ञान के माध्‍यम से conversion इतना सरल होता है.. और जैसा अभी आपको presentation में बताया कि आज सरकार में 10 जगह पर 10 काम हैं तो सारे certificate दस जगह पर देने पड़ते हैं। अब वो सारी मुसीबत चली जाएगी। जब व्‍यवस्‍थाएं खड़ी हो जाएंगी तो आपके एक Digital number से उसको सारी चीजें उपलब्‍ध हो जाएंगी और कारोबार आगे चलता चला जाएगा। आने वाले दिनों में.. आज हम चर्चा करते हैं कि बच्‍चों को इतना बोझ उठाकर के स्‍कूल जाना पड़ता है। उनके बक्‍से में उनके वजन से ज्‍यादा किताबों का वजन होता है। इन बालकों की समस्‍या का समाधान भी Digital India में है। सारा syllabus एक छोटे से equipment में वो अपने साथ लेकर के घूम सकता है। इसलिए कुछ लोग, ऐसी जब बात होती है तो उनको लगता है कि यह तो बड़ा elite class के लिए काम है, बड़े लोगों के लिए काम है.. हकीकत नहीं है।

जब satellite छोड़े जाते थे, आज से कुछ वर्षों पहले, तो कुछ लोग डिबेट करते थे कि भारत जैसा गरीब देश! यह satellite किस के लिए छोड़े जा रहे हैं! क्‍या उपयोग है! लेकिन आज वही satellite, weather forecast अगर सही ढंग से करता है तो सीधा-सीधा फायदा गरीब किसान को होता है। जब खर्चा करते हैं तो आलोचना होती है लेकिन वही बाद में मानव की आवश्‍यकताओं की पूर्ति करता है। यह सारी योजनाएं जो आपने देखीं.. अब देखिए आज, तो बैंक में जाना वगैरह सब है लेकिन वो दिन अब दूर नहीं है कि बैंक पेपर लेस होने वाला है, बैंक premises less होने वाला है। पूरा बैंकिंग कारोबार आपके मोबाइल फोन से चलने वाला है।

यह जो बदलाव आ रहा है, इस बदलाव के लिए हमें अपने आप को सजग करना चाहिए कि नहीं करना चाहिए। अगर हम देखें तो हम 19वीं शताब्‍दी से.. तब से इन कामों को तेज गति से आगे बढ़ाने की आवश्‍यकता थी। जब दुनिया ने Industrial revolution देखा, हम पिछड़ गए, क्‍यों? क्‍योंकि हम गुलाम थे। औद्योगिक क्रांति का हमें लाभ नहीं मिला। लेकिन आज जब IT revolution आया, हम आजाद हैं, हम youthful nation हैं और हमारे पास talent है। जहां तक IT की बात होगी, दुनिया हिंदुस्‍तान का लोहा मानती है। हमें यह मौका गंवाना नहीं है। गुलामी के कालखंड में हमने जो मौका गंवाया, यह मौका हमें IT revolution में गंवाना नहीं है। इसके सामने कुछ और चीजों पर भी बल देने की आवश्‍यकता है। Petroleum Import की हमारी मजबूरी है, ऊर्जा की आवश्‍कयता है, जरूरत पड़ती है, हमारे पास source कम है, लाना पड़ता है। लेकिन यह बात गले नहीं उतरती है कि हिंदुस्‍तान का second highest import electronic goods हैं। क्‍या यह देश, जहां पर इतने IT Professionals हो, जहां इतनी बड़ी मात्रा में उद्योगकार हों.. और कोई इतनी बड़ी technology भी नहीं है। क्‍या हम हमारे देश में electronic goods इतनी बड़ी मात्रा में न बना पाएं कि जो qualitatively globally competitive हों, और भारत का बना हुआ हो ताकि भारत को कभी बाहर से import न करना पड़े।

Digital India के माध्‍यम से हम electronic good को हिंदुस्‍तान में manufacture करने की दिशा में आगे बढ़ सकते हैं। हम देश के उद्योग जगत को निमंत्रित करना चाहते हैं। मैं नौजवानों को भी, start-up के लिए जो मदद चाहिए, सरकार देने के लिए तैयार है। और आज दुनिया में start-up की दिशा में हिंदुस्‍तान के नौजवानों की संख्‍या बहुत बड़ी मात्रा में है। आने वाले दिनों में शायद अमेरिका के बाद हम नंबर दो पर आ जाएंगे, start-up के लिए। लेकिन इसे और बढ़ाना है। मैं देश के नौजवानों को भी चुनौती देता हूं, अगर IT Professional हमारे हैं, दुनिया के IT कंपनियों में ढेर सारी मात्रा में भारतीय मूल के लोग नजर आते हैं, लेकिन क्‍या कारण है कि Google का innovation हमारे यहां नहीं होता है। क्‍या कारण है कि innovation बाहर होते हैं। Digital India के माध्‍यम से हम देश के नौजवानों कोinnovations के लिए आह्वान कर रहे हैं, कि आप आइए, इस चुनौती को स्‍वीकार कीजिए।

भारत जैसे देश को सबसे पहली आवश्‍यकता है.. जैसे Make in India का महत्‍व है, वैसे ही Design in India भी उतना ही महत्‍वपूर्ण है। हमारे देश के नागरिकों की रूचि, प्रकृति, प्रवृति के अनुसार हमारा प्रोडक्‍ट तैयार हो। वो जिस भाषा में समझता है, उस भाषा में प्रोडक्‍ट तैयार है। जिस age group को address करना है, उसकी आवश्‍यकता है के अनुसार प्रोडक्‍ट तैयार हो। सवा सौ करोड़ देशवासियों का बाजार है। हमारे देश के नौजवान अपने talent का उपयोग करते हुए, innovations को ध्‍यान में रखते हुए Design in India.. इस concept को पकड़ते हुए Digital India के अंदर नई ताकत, नए प्राण भर सकते हैं.. और उसको बल देने के लिए मैं देश के नौजवानों का आह्वान करता हूं। विश्‍व की ओर नजर करें, मैं मानता हूं कि भारत को एक बहुत बड़ी जिम्‍मेवारी अदा करने का समय आ गया है। हम देख सकते हैं कि दुनिया में रक्‍तविहीन युद्ध.. और मैं बहुत जिम्‍मेवारी के साथ बोल रहा हूं, रक्‍तविहीन युद्ध के बादल मंडरा रहे हैं। इस रक्‍तविहीन युद्ध के जब बादल मंडरा रहे हैं तो ऐसे में सुख-चैन की जिंदगी जी सके, क्‍या भारत इसका नेतृत्‍व कर सकता है कि नहीं कर सकता है?विश्‍व को सुख-चैन की जिंदगी जीने के लिए रक्‍तहीन युद्ध से सुरक्षा देने के लिए क्‍या भारत का talent काम आ सकता है कि नहीं आ सकता है? मैं जो रक्‍तहीन युद्ध की बात करता हूं, वो मु्द्दा है – cyber security का, उस पर हम बल देना चाहते हैं। और आज जब हम इस Digital India को launch कर रहे हैं तब उनको सपनों को साकार करने का हमारा प्रयास है तब मैं जरूर कहना चाहूंगा...

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where:

High-speed Digital Highways unite the Nation

एक जमाना था Highways के लिए मांग होती थीअब अकेले Highways से चलने वाला नहीं है। Highways भी चाहिए और information Highways भी चाहिए

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: 1.2 billion Connected Indians drive Innovation

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Knowledge is strength – and empowers the People

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Access to Information knows no barriers

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Government is Open - and Governance Transparent...और मैं जब कह रहा हूं भ्रष्‍टाचार के खिलाफ लड़ाई लड़ने में technology बहुत बड़ी मदद कर सकती है। सारे लीकेजेस को रोका जा सकता है। हमने जो अभी कोयले का auction किया सारा Digital platform का उपयोग किया था। अनेक खादानों का auction हुआ, लाखों करोड़ों का काम हुआ, लेकिन यह सरकार पर एक भी इल्‍जाम नहीं लगा। क्‍यों, क्‍योंकि हमने इस Digital platform का उपयोग किया, सम्‍पूर्ण रूप से transparency पर हमने बल दिया। और इसलिए भ्रष्‍टाचार को रोकने के लिए भी information and communication technology एक बहुत बड़ा instrument के रूप में उपयोग किया जा सकता है।

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Technology ensures the Citizen-Government Interface is Incorruptible

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Government Services are easily and efficiently available to citizens on Mobile devices

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Government proactively engages with the people through Social Media

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Quality Education reaches the most inaccessible corners driven by Digital Learning

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Quality Healthcare percolates right up to the remotest regions powered by e-Healthcare

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Farmers are empowered with Real-time Information to be connected with Global Markets

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Mobile enabled Emergency Services ensure Personal Security

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Cyber Security becomes an integral part of our National Security

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: Mobile and e-Banking ensures Financial Inclusion

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: e-Commerce drives Entrepreneurship

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: the World looks to India for the next Big Idea

I dream of a DIGITAL INDIA where: the Netizen is an Empowered Citizen

Vision and The Nine Pillars of ‪#‎DigitalIndia‬ Digital India

No reason for IIMs to be alarmed

ttempts by successive governments to inject a modicum of accountability into the Institutes have been construed as threats to autonomy, but this is not the case

The Indian Institutes of Management Bill, placed for comments in the public domain until recently, intends to bring the IIMs under an Act of Parliament. An IIM Act would enable the IIMs to confer degrees, instead of diplomas and fellowships. The leading IIMs are up in arms against the Bill. One wonders what the fuss is all about.

The framework that the Bill intends for the IIMs is more liberal than the IITs Act. For instance, the Bill intends only a Coordination Forum for the IIMs, unlike the IIT Council which has powers of policy-making and oversight. The IITs have a higher standing globally than the IIMs. Admissions, curricula and faculty recruitment at the IITs have all remained free from government interference. If the IIT Act has not cramped the IITs, why should we believe that the proposed IIM Act would erode the autonomy of IIMs?

The issue here is what the leading IIMs mean by autonomy. These IIMs have long taken the position that what they need is not just academic autonomy (which they have always had) but financial and operational autonomy. Since the early 2000s, they have enjoyed financial autonomy as well, meaning they are self-supporting. They now demand operational autonomy.

The expression ‘operational autonomy’, as used by the IIMs, is rather misleading. It’s not just the freedom to implement policies, as the expression would seem to connote. It includes the framing of policies, including those related to matters of governance. The leading IIMs have long contended that all appointments and decisions related to the institutes should be left to their boards of governors.

They would like the chairperson, board members (other than the government nominees) and the director to be all selected by the board. Faculty compensation too should be set by the board. The government should have no say on the fee structure. Defining the powers and responsibilities of the director should be left to the board. And so on. The government’s role, these IIMs believe, should be confined to setting broad objectives and ensuring that these objectives are met.

The IITs do not have these privileges. Nor were these privileges intended for the IIMs in the memorandum of association under which they are governed. In 2004, V.K. Shunglu, a former Comptroller and Auditor General, submitted a report on the finances of the IIMs. In his report, he remarks caustically, “IIM (Ahmedabad) continues to implicitly assume authority it arguably does not possess and explicitly seeks autonomy and ownership which does not emerge from the Articles of Association.” Leaving aside the legal position, how appropriate are the IIMs’ demands? The question is best answered by addressing three issues. What are the conditions, in general, for boards to be effective? How are public universities in the U.S. and elsewhere governed? What has been the track record of the leading IIMs on matters of governance?

Boards do not become effective because they are composed of wise men and women who will offer sage counsel. They are effective when they are held to account. In the corporate world, three conditions must be met for boards to be effective. There must be competition in the market, and large or dominant investors who monitor performance closely. The financial markets must be efficient. Even where these conditions are met in large measure, boards are seen to be not effective enough.

American universities

Universities in the U.S. may not be subject to the discipline of financial markets but they certainly face fierce competition. There’s very little difference amongst the top 20 universities or, for that matter, amongst the top B-schools. Rankings and research output are closely monitored by the various stakeholders. Alumni are big donors and often sit on the boards of universities. As a result, boards are under pressure to deliver. Non-performing presidents and deans are shown the door.

“The IIMs have not had fixed tenures for board members, something that one would regard as a basic axiom of good governance”

The IIMs lack serious competition. The pecking order amongst the IIMs themselves has hardly changed over a very long period. Board members, including the chairperson, come and go and have little stake in the institutions. IIM boards have not set performance norms for directors. Under these conditions, it’s unrealistic to expect that the boards can enforce accountability. It’s important for the dominant stakeholder and promoter, namely, the Government of India, to keep a watch. This will require monitoring of decisions, not just outcomes. It will be especially required if the IIMs come to be covered by an Act of Parliament as the government itself is accountable to Parliament.

Although American higher education is dominated by private, non-profit universities, there are also State universities of the highest quality. How are they governed? Well, California has one of the best State systems in higher education. The board of governors at California — called the Board of Regents — has 26 members, of whom seven (including the governor of the State) are ex-officio members. The governor appoints 18 members. The board appoints one student as Regent. At Texas, the nine-member board is likewise appointed by the governor. These highly regarded universities don’t bleat about any threat to their autonomy.

The functioning of the IIM boards itself has left much to be desired. In September 2008, a committee headed by R.C. Bhargava made scathing observations on IIM boards. It said, “Board agendas are filled with routine administrative approval requests…only rarely do boards discuss strategy and prepare any long-term plans.” Even today, murmurings are heard in the IIM system about the perfunctory nature of board meetings.

Shortcomings

The government has had to step in to fix serious shortcomings in governance in the IIM system. For decades, some of the IIMs had outsized boards with some 25 members. The government had to persuade the IIMs to prune their boards to a more compact number of around 15 (and even this was construed as a threat to autonomy!). IIMA has not thought it necessary to change its statutory auditors for 50 years; the IIM Bill now has a sensible provision for rotating the statutory auditor every four years.

The IIMs have not had fixed tenures for board members, something that one would regard as a basic axiom of good governance; the IIM Bill limits the terms of board members to a maximum of six years. In 2012, the five-person committee constituted by the IIMA board to select a director did not have a single academic on it; it was composed entirely of people from the corporate world. The IIM Bill wisely mandates a desirable composition of the selection committee.

There has never been any threat to the autonomy of the IIMs. It’s the attempts of successive governments to inject a modicum of accountability that have been construed as threats to autonomy. There are provisions in the IIM Bill that, perhaps, require discussion — for instance, the provision that states that all regulations made by the IIM boards require the prior approval of the government. However, the IIMs can hardly contest the basic thrust of the Bill, namely, to put in place transparent processes and clear norms for accountability in the system.

The woes of Greece

As financial markets worldwide tumbled over concerns that Greece would default on its debt to the troika comprising the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the people of Greece were being presented with a Hobson’s choice by its government led by the leftist party platform, Syriza. In the midst of intense negotiations with representatives of the troika over rolling over debt payments, the Syriza government sought to extend the deadline for payments in order to allow it to put the conditionalities of the troika for a bailout extension to a referendum vote. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has denied that this referendum, scheduled for July 5, is on whether or not to continue within the eurozone; he says it is only on the acceptance of the troika’s demands. But with the troika unrelenting on the June 30 deadline for repayment of debts to the IMF, and Greece being in no position to pay, the referendum could more or less be on remaining in the eurozone. This presents a difficult choice for the people of Greece. After all, the Syriza was voted to power in January 2015 precisely on the promise of halting the programme of austerity imposed by creditors that has resulted in a drastic contraction of Greece’s economy and increase in unemployment. Yet, the mandate was also for negotiations to remain within the eurozone as Greek voters had realised that the Grexit would mean too much pain (at least in the near term) due to capital flight, a run on the banks and other troubles in returning to the drachma as currency.

Over the past five months, Syriza representatives, true to their mandate, have sought to alter Greece’s terms of engagement with its creditors, seeking debt relief that would allow fiscal expansionary policies to spur the economy. Yet, the troika’s response has been to stonewall the proposals and instead push Greece to further the austerity measures it has pursued following the first major bailout in 2010 andanother in 2012. The troika’s reasoning is simple: tolerating a Greek default would amount to sending signals to other creditor-nations about similar leniency. Instead, the troika has merely offered a five-month extension of Greece’s bailout programme with fresh funds but with persisting austerity conditions. With barely a concession to the Greek position, there remains a wide gap between the Greek people’s expectations and the EU recommendations. With Greece already having to impose capital controls and bank holidays to avoid further capital flight — measures that were supposed to be taken in the event of an exit from the EU — it begs the question whether the Grexit is inevitable.

Essay on Needed, a new urban vision

Dear
 candidate write an essay  in about 1000 words on

• "India's cities needed a new urban vision"

Rs two lakh crore investment likely to rain on urban areas in next five years for Smart cities and AMRUT plans

“India’s cities are among the greatest things we have”, Charles Correa , world-famous architect had said.He would have been more convinced about his perception after emergence of smart cities on India’s large canvas in near future. Alas! He is no more. Marathon exercises are underway to accomplish the much touted project ,being billed as a watershed initiative to give fillip to the growth agenda.

With an investment entailing Rs 48,000 crore from the Centre, 100 smart cities will be developed in next five years. Carrying forward his agenda of accelerated growth aimed at recasting the country’s urban swathes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet has approved spending of about one lakh crore on urban development under two new urban missions in next five years. The twin projects, which are being unfurled  June 25 this year, are the smart city mission and the Atal Mission for rejuvenation and urban transformation ( AMRUT ) of 500 cities with outlays of Rs. 48,000 crore and Rs.50,000 crore respectively.

 The smart cities mission seeks to ensure basic infrastructure services to enable a decent quality of life in urban pockets and a clean and sustainable environment and adoption of smart solutions. Officials claim smart cities mission seeks to fetch the benefits of urban development to the poor through promotion of public transportation and enhanced access to public spaces. The improved urban environment under the mission will give fillip to economic activity which in turn benefits the poor through increased employment and livelihood opportunities.

Urban population,according to 2011census, was about Rs 37 crore accounting for 31 per cent of total population . As per latest estimates,about 5.80 crore urban population are poor.Taking lessons from the implementation of Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission that was launched in 2005 and implemented till March 2014, when it was wound up by the previous government ,new initiatives have been formulated, sources say. US trade development agency (USTDA) signed MOU with the governments of Rajasthan and AP for assisting in making Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam into smart cities.

Fourteen countries have expressed interest in building smart cities. These include : US, Japan, China,Singapore , Germany, France , Netherlands, Sweden , Israel,Turkey and Australia.  The improved urban environment under the mission will give fillip to economic activity which in turn benefits the poor through increased employment and livelihood opportunities

 Under the smart city mission ,each selected city would get central assistance of Rs.100 crore per annum for five years and each state will shortlist a certain number of smart city aspirants as per the norms. Smart city aspirants, say official sources, will be picked up through a transparent “city challenge competition intended to link financing with the potential of cities to perform to fully accomplish the well laid out objectives of the ambitious mission.''

States plan will be further evaluated for pumping of money from the Centre’s coffers.Sources made it clear that the smart city mission intends to promote adoption of smart solutions for efficient use of available assets, resources and infrastructure for improving quality of life. Thrust will be laid for participation of locals in prioritising and planning urban interventions. It will be implemented through areas based approach consisting of retrofitting, re-development, pan city initiatives and development of new cities.

A UNI correspondent, who visited a few areas in the Hindi heartland states recently, found that locals were calculating potential locations of smart cities and have started their own reckoning of hike in land prices in and around those areas.”It is not only money raking calculations, we are keen to have better urban life ,and future generations will not forgive us if the present rot of haphazard development was not arrested in a stipulated period.'' At some places,bets are on the potential sites of smart cities and locals were enthused. Informatively, a statutory town is one that has a municipal body. There are 4,041 statutory cities/ town as per 2011 records. Out of these, about 500 cites are with a population of above one lakh each are focus of AMRUT. These 500 cities account for 73 per cent of India’s population.

According to highly informed sources, number of cities that can be nominated for Smart city & AMRUT respectively so far are like this : A&N ( 1&1) ,Andhra Pradesh ( 3 &31),Arunachal Pradesh (1 &1), Assam( 1&7), Delhi( 1&1) ,Karnataka( 6 &27), Kerala( 1&18) , Uttar Pradesh ( 13 &54),WB ( 4&28) Maharashtra ( 10&37) etc. Official sources said under retrofitting, deficiencies in the identified area will be addressed through necessary interventions as in the case of local area plan for downtown Ahmedabad. Redevelopment enables reconstruction of already built up area that is not amenable to make it smart as in the case of Bhindi Bazar of Mumbai and West Kidwai Nagar in Delhi .

Pan city components could be interventions like intelligent transport solutions that benefit all residents by reducing commuting time. The smart city initiative planners have agenda for core infrastructure services like adequate and clean water supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport ,affordable housing for the poor, power supply, robust IT connectivity, governance, especially e-governance, security and safety of inhabitants ,well developed health, education services besides sustainable urban development.

Official sources said Smart City action plans will be implemented through special purpose vehicles which will be created for each city and state governments will ensure steady stream of resources for SPVs.

Both Smart city mission and AMRUT are linked with an umbilical chord. AMRUT, entailing an investment

of Rs 50,000 crore, envisages proper infrastructure services relating to water supply,sewerage,septage management, storm water drains, transport and development of green spaces and parks with special plans of meeting needs of children.

The Mission inter alia aims at achieving urban reforms such as e-governance, building of professional municipal cadre,devolving funds and functions to urban local bodies, review of building bye laws, improvement in assessment and collection of municipal taxes, credit rating of urban local bodies,energy and water audit and citizen centric urban planning.

Sources said in order to push reforms, the government has also planned 10 per cent budget allocation will be given to states/ UTs as incentive based on achievement of reforms during the previous year. A reform matrix with timelines will be circulated to states in the guidelines.

The AMRUT Mission will be implemented in 500 cities and towns each with a population of one lakh and above. It will also be carried out in some cities situated on stems of main rivers, a few capital cities and important cities located in hilly areas, islands and tourist areas.

Unlike JNNURM, central government will appraise individual projects but states, sources said, get flexibility of designing schemes based on needs of identified cities and in their execution and monitoring. States will only submit state annual action plans to the Centre for broad concurrence based on which funds will be released .

Central assistance will be to the extent of 50 per cent of project cost for cities and towns with a population of ten lakh and one third of the project cost for those with a population of above ten lakhs.The funds will be released in three instalments in the ratio of 20:40: 20 based on achievement of milestones indicated in state annual action plans .

Sources said the government has already approved central funding under AMRUT to the projects sanctioned under JNNURM and not completed. JNNURM projects relating to the urban development sanctioned during 2005-2012 and achieved physical progress of fifty per cent availing 50 per cent central assistance released and those sanctioned during 2012-2014 will be supported till March 2017. Accordingly ,102 and 296 projects will get central support for balance funding to complete these projects.

Official sources say a minimum investment of over Rs two lakh crore would flow into urban areas over the next five years since states and urban local bodies would mobilise matching resources ranging 50 to 60 six per cent . In addition, substantial private investment would be mobilised by states and urban local bodies through PPP model as required to meet project costs.

India’s Export Scenario

  India, which had a global share of 2.4 per cent in trade at the time of independence, dropped to a mere 0.7 per cent in 1991 because of inward looking policy of self-reliance and exporting only the surplus. The balance of payment crisis in 1991 rightly brought about a change in India’s economic philosophy. This change resulted in opening up the economy and a new foreign trade policy that resulted in India’s two way trade in both merchandise and services reach nearly $ one trillion annually from a mere $70-80 billion in 1991. But the question is have we done enough. While India’s share in global merchandise trade has gone up to 1.7 per cent in 2013-14 from 0.7 per cent in 1991, China’s has gone up to a whopping 11.8 per cent from 1.8 per cent in the same period. In Services trade, India, which had a slight edge two decades ago because of IT software, had gone up from 1.2 per cent of global share in 1991 to 3 per cent in 2013-14. China whose share was a mere 0.5 per cent in global services trade in 1991, has gone up to 4 per cent in 2013. The figures speak for themselves. While we have gone a long way in trade since the opening up, India has not done enough to realise its true potential.

            Twenty-five years since trade liberalization started in India, but there lot of fixing is still needed. The new foreign trade policy announced by Commerce and Industry Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman in April this year attempts to fix some of the problems in bid to reach $900 billion of merchandise and services exports annually in five years.  This meant total two-way trade is expected to double from the present $1 trillion to $2 trillion annually in the next five years. This is a gigantic task considering that global economy is still struggling to gain momentum. 

            The global outlook has certain positives and negatives. Lower global oil prices helped oil importing countries like India as it imported nearly 80 per cent of its requirement.  But lower oil prices hit the oil exporting economies like West Asia and this contributed to slowing down of exports from India and west Asia is one of the major importer of Indian goods and services. So, softening of commodity prices globally had certain advantages and disadvantages to India’s trade. Also there is volatility in exchange rates and this impacts trade badly.  Indian exporters always say that more than appreciating or depreciating currency, volatility in exchange rates poses greater danger to trade.

            Though this bleak global outlook provided lot of challenges to India’s trade, it has also provided opportunity to fix the problems faced by India to make its trade more competitive. The new foreign trade policy has sought to address some of them. Trade facilitation and ease of doing business are the two major impediments to pushing India’s trade. While it takes six hours for a ship to turnaround that is to off-load and up load and leave in Singapore on an average, it takes six days for a ship to turnaround in any of the major Indian ports. Also the road connectivity to ports is so bad that it delays container movements. The huge container ships and tankers cannot land in any of the major ports because of low draft as result of which there has to be trans-shipment at Colombo or Singapore increasing cost to exporters. The paperwork is much more in India than elsewhere in the world.

            It is precisely for this reason the new Foreign Trade Policy considers these two challenges --trade facilitation and ease of doing business, as major focus areas. Recently government reduced the number of mandatory documents required for exports and imports to three, which is comparable with international benchmarks. A facility has been created now for uploading documents in exporter or importer profile and the exporters will not be required to submit documents repeatedly. Government has also made an attempt to simplify various “Aayat Niryat” forms, bringing in clarity in different provisions, removing ambiguities and enhancing electronic governance.

            One of the problems manufacturing exporters complain is inadequate and erratic power supply.  This creates problems for exporters to keep up the schedule for delivery. As a result exporters forced to go diesel generators for power backup raising the cost. One unit of thermal power costs Rs 4-5 per unit whereas diesel power costs around Rs 15 per unit and sometimes Rs 3-4 per unit more because of large scale of diesel pilferage in the country.  Government’s ambitious programme in the power sector will help ease this problem. Government proposes to add 2.66 lakh Mw of additional power including 100,000 mw of solar power with an investment of over $300 billion in the next five years. This will help India’s trade particularly manufactured exports.  The foreign trade policy provides a necessary framework for increasing exports of goods and services as well as job creation and increasing value addition in the country.

            The new FTP lays down a road map for India’s global trade engagement in the coming years and measures required for trade promotion, infrastructure development and overall enhancement of trade eco system, according to the Commerce minister.  But government should be careful while entering into regional trade agreements as there are fears that they are being increasingly used by global corporates to make emerging economies to bend and rule by proxy.  The tough negotiations by India in the India-EU free trade agreement went to show, India would not give in that easily to corporate lobby through their governments in those countries.

            The five year trade policy also introduces two new schemes – Merchandise exports from Indian scheme for export of specified gods to specified markets and Services Exports from India scheme for increasing exports of notified services in place of plethora of schemes earlier with different condition for eligibility and usage. This is yet another step in moving towards ease of doing business. Measures have also been taken to give boost to defence and hi-tech exports.  Robots are increasingly replacing some of the mundane and hazardous jobs done by workers like in the paint shop and precision work. This is an area where India could leapfrog and overtake China in this new export frontier. Government should lay special emphasis to cash-in this sector.

            Inverted duty structure of raw materials and intermediary goods was one area that was bothering manufacturing sector and their exports particularly in the electronics sector. Over $40 billion of electronics goods are being imported, next only to oil and gold imports in the country. This is being sought to be addressed by the new electronics policy, which aims to attract up to $400 billion investments in the sector in the coming years. Also finance minister Sh Arun Jaitley has addressed some of the inverted duty structure issue in his last two budgets and foreign trade policy promises to do more.

Overall, the new foreign trade policy is on the right track some of major woes of    exporters in pushing up India’s trade. It has started with right earnest. The previous trade policy was to take India’s merchandise exports to $500 billion annually by 2013-14 but ended up with $312 billion in 2013-14, a way off the mark. Global economic situation was said to be the reason for not achieving the target. One only hope the same thing is not repeated.

Health Survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)

A Health Survey Indicates that During 15 Day Reference Period 89 Per 1000 Persons Reported Illness in Rural India Against 118 Persons in Urban Areas. Howover, Un-Treated Spell Was Higher in Rural (Both for Male and Female) than Urban Areas.

A Health Survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) has indicated that during a 15 day reference period 89 per 1000 persons reported illness in rural India against 118 persons-Proportion (per 1000) of Ailing Persons (PAP) in urban areas. However, un-treated spell was higher in rural (both for male and female) than urban areas. Private Doctors were the most important single source of treatment in both the sectors (Rural & Urban). More than 70% (72 per cent in the rural areas and 79 per cent in the urban areas) spells of ailment were treated in the private sector. Inclination towards allopathic treatment was prevalent (around 90% in both the sectors).

            The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the key indicators of Social Consumption in India: Health, generated from the data collected during the period January to June 2014 in its 71^st round survey.

NSS Surveys on morbidity are being conducted from 28^th round (1973-1974) and the last survey was conducted in NSS 60^th round (January to June 2004).

              The survey on Social Consumption: Health conducted during the period January to June 2014 aimed at generating basic quantitative information on the health sector. One of the vital components of the survey was dedicated to collect information relevant for determination of the prevalence rate of different diseases among various age-sex groups in different regions of the country. Further, measurement of the extent of use of health services provided by the Government was an important part of this exercise. Special attention was given to hospitalisation i.e. medical care received as in-patient of medical institutions. The ailments for which such medical care was sought, the extent of use of Government hospitals as well as different levels of public health care institutions, and the expenditure incurred on treatment received from public and private sectors, were investigated by the survey. Break-up of expenditure by various heads was estimated for expenses on medical care received both as in-patient and otherwise.

 The detailed results of this survey on health are planned to be brought out by the NSSO through a main report.  In order to make available the salient results of the survey well in advance of the release of its report for use in planning, policy formulation, and decision support and as input for further statistical exercises, the NSSO has released the key indicators.

            The key indicators are based on the Central sample consisting of 4,577 villages in rural areas and 3,720 urban blocks spread over all States and Union Territories of India. The information was collected through a schedule (25.0) from a set of sample households during the period January to June 2014. The total number of households in which Schedule was canvassed, was 36480 in rural India and 29452 in urban India.