दृष्टिकोण – Indra's Viewpoint

Muslims constitute 13.4 per cent of India’s population. Jammu & Kashmir is the only Muslim majority state. Pockets of West Bengal, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Bihar have pretty high Muslim population. Forty-six of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies have more than 30 per cent Muslims. The community makes a decisive impact on the outcomes of about 110 seats. A mass swing in any direction is bound to dramatically alter India’s complex political arithmetic.

Find below some of the views expressed by Muslims that appeared in media recently:

” In the 2014 parliamentary elections, they are likely to vote for the best-placed candidate to defeat BJP nationally….For Muslims, communalism is a much bigger issue than corruption (and perhaps their prosperity, health or education) .”

“Muslims in UP will vote for whoever can defeat BJP candidates.” “We may be angry with SP but what option do we have? Muslims will have to choose between SP and BSP in most of UP.”

And the remarks of its leaders are equally difficult to digest for the secular India.

Imam Barkati, the Shahi Imam of the Tipu Sultan mosque in Kolkata, approves of the strong words Rahul Gandhi uses against Narendra Modi and the BJP and wants Mamata Banerjee to make sharper attacks on them too.

Senior Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind leader Mahmood Madani says, “In some places like Assam, Bengal etc they will vote for candidates, in other places like UP and Bihar, they may vote to defeat a particular party”.

Akeel Ahmad, a local from Bareilly, claimed the first choice of the Muslims would be a national party, since Lok Sabha elections are about government formation at the Centre. “But to defeat Modi, they may vote tactically and this would be decided only at the eleventh hour.

Aligarh Muslim University Teachers’ Association secretary Aftab Alam announced that the association will pass a resolution, dissuading voters in UP and Bihar from voting for “communal and fascist forces”.

Are these not divisive statements? And it has resulted in regional parties such as SP, BSP, TMC to mushroom and prosper on the plea of secularism rather more so by branding the only national alternative as fundamentalist. Is it possible to today to have a stable government in Delhi?

Who should decide the secular credential of a political party?

Tanweer Alam, a Delhi-based activist wrote very rightly: ‘India is secular not because Muslims want it to be so, but because this country has evolved over millennia in a way that religion and its practice have been left out of the domain of the state. Europe did not become secular to accommodate Jews, Muslims or Buddhists, but to protect people from sectarian strife within Christianity. US secularism has similar origins. India too is secular because of Hindus, not Muslims, Sikhs, Christians or Parsis.’

Recent surveys point to a massive swing in favour of Modi, the BJP and the NDA. It cuts across the urban-rural, caste and community divides. However, Muslims have not fallen in the line to the country-wide upsurge for a change in Delhi.

However, some voices raise hope.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio wondered if the BJP is called communal, how can Congress be different as it is also “giving undue protection to certain communities”.

Interestingly, the Congress has been visibly trying to woo Muslims at all cost. Just on the day, EC declared the schedule of General Election 2014, the UPA government published 4 full page status report on the status report on Justice Sachar Committee on the minority in all the national newspapers. I don’t know how many of the Muslims went through it.

And in next few days, a panel appointed by the UPA to review the implementation of recommendations made by the Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee found that the conditions of Muslims had not changed perceptibly since 2006. Who stopped the government in implementing those measures? Is it not a cheating of the community?

Even the PDP — the main opposition party in Jammu & Kashmir — as well as Hurriyat and separatist leaders believe that BJP’s “anti-Muslim” prime ministerial nominee, Narendra Modi, is the best bet for Muslim-dominated Kashmir in the hope he can address both the internal and external dimensions of the region’s problem.

And the Supreme Court rapped the Mulayam government in Uttar Pradesh and the Central government for failing to ‘smell’ the Muzaffarnagar riots and take timely steps to prevent it from happening. Still Muslims in UP will not vote for UPA and the SP which are majorly banking on minority support in the 2014. Is it not illogical, unethical and, may be, antinational for the Muslims under the influence of their religious and political leaders to shun BJP even in 2014 election for Delhi?

Why should Muslims rally behind the candidate best positioned to defeat the BJP and vote for any party which hardly has performed when in power even at state level?

BJP is certainly not a party of Hindus. Why do Muslims brand BJP a communal party, if other minority communities do not do that?

“In Goa Assembly election, BJP had put up a large number of members of the Christian community. Most of the minority community voters of Goa voted for the BJP. Many of the ministers including the Deputy Chief Minister belong to the minority community.

Will there be change in this forthcoming election? All sane Indian hopes so and so do many Muslim youths of India. In the recently elections to the Rajasthan Assembly only four members of the minority community – two Sikhs and two Muslims were elected to the legislative assembly. All the four belong to the BJP.”

Muslims, particularly educated ones must join BJP in large number. Unless the winnable Muslims join BJP, how can they be expected to be its candidate? No party can resort to Harakiri by selecting any one from the community just for enhancing the number.

I wish many like MJ Akbar join BJP, and Muslim youths carefully think over what Akbar who has been a distinguished journalist and author said about Narendra Modi:

“There has never been, since independence, such intense scrutiny, or such absolute determination to trace guilt to a Chief Minister, as Modi faced from institutions loyal to the UPA government over two full terms.”

“We need a national recovery mission. Only someone who has delivered can offer a credible promise of leading such a critical mission.

Let the community leaders change their mind about BJP in the interest of the country that is their motherland. Only then, they can pass a verdict if BJP is communal and discriminates. In the interest for a stronger India moving to become superpower, it is essential.

One like me, who has seen the Indian manufacturing from very near quarter for almost fifty years, gets amazed to read such news. “The large royalty payments by MNCs and the consequent outflow of foreign exchange totalled $37 billion last year.”

Maruti Motors alone paid ₹2453.8 crore to its parent company Suzuki in 2012-13 itself. And during last five years between 2009-2013, the total amount of the royalty outgo from Maruti to Suzuki amounted ₹7843.9 crore. One can very well imagine what it means for an automobile plant. Suzuki could have easily set up at least three new manufacturing plants with a capacity of 1,50,000 per annum each in the last five year with only the earning from the royalty.

One may blame the government policy or something else. But anyone in the position of Suzuki would extract the maximum from the country dependent on import of technology. The amount may vary. However, the real challenge lies in creating a situation where India too start earning such royalties through its own innovations and product designs that are superior and in demand by the customers all over the world. Indian companies will have to pour sufficient money in R&D and world class product development. The government will have to facilitate to have an ecosystem for that.

One of the main reasons of poor show in manufacturing of critical high-tech items is the over-dependence of the Indian government on public sector units run under various ministries set up over years that had hardly kept pace with the global technology development in critical areas.

BMEL has languished as assembler of Tatra trucks for army over all these years. It could have certainly developed a better product. BHEL could hardly meet the domestic demands of power plant equipment with its old technology. A company of its size with so many years of experience could have certainly become a significant global player.

Except for L&T, hardly any other big manufacturing company came in private sector. Even Tatas that one time manufactured locomotives and earth moving equipment, could not upgrade its products to the world class standard of technology, and closed the business or carried on with domestic market.

There are many areas where India has lagged in the manufacturing capability. India is today top importer of arms in the world. Very lately it has just sought to diversify its sources from different countries including USA, but done very little to develop the defence arms and equipment with the cutting edge technologies indigenously that can reduce its import significantly.

DRDO and its 50 establishments as well as the five defence PSUs, four shipyards and 39 ordnance factories were expected to develop, produce and deliver all the weapon systems. However, its performance till is far short of the need of the nation. Unless the India develop and manufacture defence equipment and hardware, as well as be able to sell them in a competitive global market, the country can’t be rated high in manufacturing capability. Unfortunately, the government has till date hesitated to involve the private sector in the manufacture of the defence items. There are reasons to believe that some Indian companies are capable to do that and also interested in investing for it.

Ajai Sukla, who keeps on writing on this issue, has a wish list for the political leadership of the government that comes after Election 2014: The next government “must lay down specific goals to galvanise indigenous defence such as: by the end of this decade (a) the Indian Air Force will field an indigenous medium combat aircraft powered by engines built in India, and the military’s range of light and medium helicopters will be India-designed and developed; (b) the navy will deploy indigenous nuclear-powered and conventionally powered submarines, and one nuclear-powered aircraft carrier; (c) the army will field an indigenous main battle tank and infantry combat vehicle, both with indigenous engines; and (d) all three defence services will develop secure terrestrial and satellite networks that have minimal foreign components.” However, it must commit itself in implementing all what is required to have it fast in reality with its benefits to the manufacturing in India.

Surprisingly, I found a programme ‘Innovating for a better tomorrow’ on CNN-IBN that talked about one defence achievement, the Brahmos, the world’s fastest cruise missile that can be maneuvered while still in flight.

Another product that got mention was the development by Dr Reny M Roy, DRDO scientist of the Explosive Detection Kit (EDK) that uses chemicals to trigger reactions and detect explosives.

One gets impressed with its specifications. But unless India puts it in operation and also export it to the leading user countries, India hardly gets its benefits.

In other areas too, some Indian innovative products made impressive reviews by even the manufacturing experts of developed countries.
@ Tata Motors: Nano, the cheapest car of the world and then ACE, the mini-truck
@ M&M : Scorpio, the cheapest SUV

Bajaj Auto, and Hero Moto are now world class two-wheeler manufacturers with its own products. However, in high end products, both are still to make the presence felt. Other Indian innovation worth-mentioning are:
• Hindustan Unilever: For Pureit Water Purifiers, a breakthrough innovation developed and designed locally for low-cost domestic water purification.
• Godrej & Boyce ChotuKool: A compact small fridge that runs on both electricity and battery for the mid- and low-income urban and rural markets.
• GE Healthcare: For introducing MAC 400, a low-cost ECG machine that has profoundly impacted clinical guidelines and ECG standards, and made ECGs available to every physician, every patient, everywhere.

India could have gone ahead with better integration of its IT talents with product development and manufacturing. However, there is hardly any visible indicators coming from the Indian manufacturers.

All Indians are looking with hope for the new government arising out the general election 2014 to take up the growth of the manufacturing seriously and do everything for its growth at 12-15 percent per annum for next five years. That alone can make India a superpower, not the services. India will have this as its last opportunity.

It is a welcome sign that both the national parties in election fray for winning the election in 2014 are at least considering manufacturing as the key sector for the growth of the country. Narendra Modi wishes the country to focus on the manufacturing sector, particularly electronics and defence, to reduce the high dependence on imports and ensure inclusive growth. ” Rahul Gandhi does also promise to make India ‘a manufacturing hub of the world’. Unfortunately, the mechanical engineer, Arvind has only one point plan of stopping Modi in his bid to reach the top chair.

Let us wait the best for the nation.

@ Will re-engineer the cabinet formation with lesser number of totally accountable ministries where the targets of various infrastructures or developmental parameters are not defined by the sanction amount but by the units of its achievents, and the objective must be to get the projects implemented in time bound manners.

@ Will work for providing universal excellent education for all.

@ Will use your cadre and volunteer force around the country so that all poor and deserving families possess the ration cards and get one cooking gas cylinder every month at the subsidised price.

@ Will mobilise your volunteers around every school in rural and urban India to ensure that every child compulsorily attend the school full time and not only for mid day meal.

@ Will abandon the practice of contract teachers working simultaneously with very high salaried teachers in the schools.

@ Will appoint an retired and trained ex-defence force graduate personnel as administrator in every rural school to supervise the working of every aspect of management for excellence? (Every rural school will manage a village library, an information centre with broad band internet connected computers and also compulsorily take up the task of imparting knowledge including preventive health care, physical exercises and skill including that of farming, necessary education for all adult men and women.)

@ Will set up a hall of activity centre in every village that can be used by the rural entrepreneurial women such as SHO for manufacturing marketable items, and will provide help in marketing them.

@ Will have at least a weekly marketplace in each panchayat.

@ Will provide every panchayat in next ten years with an ITI and a model high school on the model of Kendriya Vidyalaya or Navodaya Vidyalaya, along with one IIT, one IIM, one AIAMS in every state.

@ Will make India energy surplus working prudently in every field, be it the oil and gas exploration, coal mining, solar and wind, biomass and nuclear, efficient generation and distribution, and waste reduction. For example, ‘a very recent issue of The Economist noted that the German energy giant Siemens reckons that new solar cells have the potential to produce electricity cheaper than coal-fired generators can.’

@ Will work for a GDP growth of at least 10 percent per annum with equal emphasis on all the three sectors- agriculture, manufacturing, and services.

@ Will focus on the manufacturing sector and do everything as the nation’s priority number one to grow at 12 percent per annum to improve its share to around 25 percent of GDP providing employment to all the youngsters in rural as well as urban India in all sorts of low cost low tech to high end high tech fields. Indian entrepreneurs must get a change in mind-set for manufacturing rather than giving it up to become traders of Chinese goods as increasingly happening.
@ Will encourage ‘Made in India’, and encourage traders and organised big retailers to get the wares for domestic and global consumers to manufacture in India.

@ Will encourage every enterprise, the small, medium and big to export to have CAD and foreign currency reserves favourable. Overall exports must reach a trillion by 2022.

@ Will fix up a time period for the end of the practice of reservation of any kind that is more divisive than anything less and put the thrust on empowerment and elimination of the causes of differentiation.

@ Will have a new planned city at every100 km of all the highways with manufacturing centres, education hub, and living accommodation.

@ Will make India the most attractive for foreigners to come for business, education, medical treatment, spiritual attainment or tourism in largest number.

@ Will make India glorious and powerful in every field so that every Indian takes pride in calling himself so.

And finally for the 81 plus million voters: Vote decisively to give a clear verdict to one of the political parties. The nation deserves that decision of singlemindedness.

Normally on Sundays, I try to contact some members close to us in extended family. Last Sunday, I happened to talk with my eldest brother-in-law in his village in Bihar. He is 80+, but 100 percent fit. He has been a teacher and as he informed, spends quite some time every day on newspaper. I happened to ask him about the election prospect in the forthcoming general election. I was surprised when he said, “Bihar still will prefer Nitish for Bihar, but for Delhi Modi will be the choice”. I fully agree with him. But will that be the view of the majority of the electorate? Can the common voters on their own appreciate that while the regional parties and leaders are fine for the state assembly, the Lok Sabha election must only provide a clear majority for one of the major political party? If it does not happen this time, India will fail to correct its economic policies to bring the growth rate and other economic parameters on the right track again, and it will have to wait for another five years to get the opportunity again.

It is now a fact that the big states such as UP, Bihar, West Bengal are getting laggard in the race of development, particularly in education and industrialisation. UP in past few decades elected either Mulayam Singh Yadav or Mayawati to run the government. Both governed the state as their personal fiefdom. Both used the ignorant electorate of a particular religion and selected castes to serve their vested interest to come in power and accumulate huge wealth for themselves and their near and dear ones. They saved the corrupt government at centre because of the fear of its sins of corruption that are still active with the investigating agencies.

Why have they not invested whole hog on educating the children of the deprived classes or in providing the sufficient skill for better employment? The reason is simple: if the children of the underprivileged get the right education and skill, their vote bank will vanish. Both want to win election for their candidates for a simple reason for getting important portfolios for themselves and their kins with all its benefits. Why do the new, even a little better educated and knowledgeable generation does not understand that and see them defeated in at least the election of Lok Sabha? How long the wrong notion of affinity of caste and community will be preferred over the national need?

It is unfortunate that both are getting the majority of the votes from the minority community that controls the winning percentage for any election. Should not they show the duo of UP the road to defeat in the national interest? Can the religion be above the nation? Many like me wish the minority to play the decisive role to elect the candidates of either of the national political parties only.

Nitish Kumar has certainly brought a lot of development in Bihar. Unfortunately, he devotes hundred percent of his time only for winning the election. None can become his second man, so in eventuality the state will again get into chaos. Nitish could have certainly devoted more time on bringing back the glory of the institutes of higher education in Bihar. Nitish would have transformed the administrative system to make it lean and efficient. Why should not he, being an engineer himself, get out of the management of those state engineering colleges if he can not make them good? But the people of Bihar must clearly eliminate the political parties of Ram Bilas Paswan and Lalu Yadav who are in business of politics to provide employment for all the off springs of the family by misguiding the downtrodden and ignorant.

The story of West Bengal is unique. One can’t hope very much there with Mamta who is set to rule West Bengal for next thirty plus years as the leftists under Jyoti Babu did. I hardly see any hope for any of the major national political parties there, as perhaps the people of West Bengal consider them as the parties of outsiders. Here again, the minority community is helping such a situation.

Election of 2014 will test the maturity of the nation. Every sane Indian must help in bringing a major national party in clear majority for forming the next government so that they do not get the excuse for policy paralysis in governance or for bringing the necessary reforms for development. Regional parties may be fine for the state assemblies but certainly not for Lok Sabha.

Will it happen? I do not know and so are millions like me.

It was interesting to hear Chidambaram as usual, even in the din created by some MPs. His emphasis on manufacturing sector was impressive. In the main body of the interim budget 2014 speech that may be his last, Chidambaram said,

“Manufacturing is the Achilles’ heel of the Indian economy. The deceleration in investment in manufacturing is particularly worrying. Consequently, there is no uptick yet in manufacturing. The National Manufacturing Policy has set the goal of increasing the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 percent and to create 100 million jobs over a decade. Eight National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ) have been announced along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and nine projects have been approved by the DMIC Trust. Five NIMZs outside DMIC have also been given in-principle approval. Three more corridors connecting Chennai and Bengaluru, Bengaluru and Mumbai, and Amritsar and Kolkata are under different stages of preparatory work. Additional capacities are being installed in major manufacturing industries such as steel, cement, refinery, power and electronics. Several measures have been taken to promote micro, small and medium enterprises including notifying a public procurement policy, establishing technology centres and common facility centres, and launching the Khadi mark.”

And then Chidambaram proposed another new fund for the pat subject of the time:

“Ministry of MSME will create the ‘India Inclusive Innovation Fund’ to promote grassroot innovations with social returns to support enterprises in the MSME sector. I propose to make an initial contribution of `100 crore to the corpus of the Fund.”

And naturally, the country requires skilled persons to run the enterprises:

“I had promised an ambitious programme to skill millions of young men and women and had tasked the National Skill Development Corporation to implement the programme. The National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme was launched in August 2013 and has been widely hailed as a success. At last count, 24 Sector Skill Councils, 442 Training Partners and 17 Assessment Agencies had joined the programme. 204 job roles have been finalised. 168,043 youth had enrolled and 77,710 have completed their training. Hon’ble Members will recall that I had set apart Rs.1,000 crore for the scheme. The whole of that amount will be transferred to the NSD Trust and I propose to transfer another sum of Rs.1,000 crore next year to enable the Trust to scale up the programme of NSDC rapidly.”

“India’s economy, in terms of the size of its GDP, is the 11th largest in the world. There are great things in store. There is a well-argued view that in the next three decades India’s nominal GDP will take the country to the third rank after the US and China.”

Chidambaram then comes out with his prescription for attaining what he predicts. Manufacturing and skill development get its place in ten point prescriptions or commandments. The country would have been benefited if Chidambaram would have come out with such a guideline or road map for his government at the beginning of its wasted ten years in 2004, in his first budget speech.

“We therefore owe a responsibility not only to ourselves but to the whole world to keep our economy in robust health.

The UPA Government has a clear line of sight to the goals that we have set for ourselves. I have broken down the steps toward those goals into tasks that must be undertaken by the Government of the day. I crave your leave to identify ten such tasks:

vi. Manufacturing: We must focus on manufacturing and especially on manufacturing for export. I propose that all taxes, Central and State, that go into an exported product should be waived or rebated. I also propose that there should be a minimum tariff protection so that there is an incentive to manufacture goods in India rather than import them into India.

ix. Skill Development: Skill development must rank alongside secondary education, university education, total sanitation and universal health care in the priorities of the Government.

Manufacturing in India needs a much focused attention and close follow up. I wish it gets changed with the next government and it goes for manufacturing in right earnest.

Every individual as well as every company of the country is waiting for the general elections later this year to give a stable government that can improve business sentiment, the country’s economic growth trajectory. Like many I have some priorities that the new government must ensure and commit. I wish to have a new dispensation,

Who can encourage women and get them empowered with a fifty percent employment in every segment as police woman, drivers and assistants of buses and public transport, postman, machine operator, teacher, and shopkeeper?

Who can get a super speciality hospital in each of 800 district head quarters and a healthcare centre with telemedicine facility in every Panchayats of rural India?

Who can set up a tried school model (Kendriya, Navodaya, Kasturba Gandhi, Sainik) in every Panchayats of rural India? Who will ensure every rural school to have a reading room, a creativity centre, and sports ground? Who can showcase the school complexes of the rural India as temples of learning not merely as teaching centres? Who can bring back the glory of teaching profession? Who can bring the students from India schools competitive enough with China in PISA tests?

Who can develop an education zone in the outskirts of every district headquarters with a number institutions for higher education compatible with the population of the hinterland?

Who can make India a major manufacturing nation with manufacturing contributing at least 25 percent of its GDP? Who can encourage 100 manufacturing companies in public and private sectors to become MNCs with global brands? Who can make a trillion dollar from the export from manufacturing sector? Who can make the public sector companies globally competitive in products as well as size and scale? Who can encourage the Indian companies to export at least 30 percent of its products in world market? Who can make Indian companies to invest significantly in innovation and R&D?

Who can set up a skill centre and a cooperative manufacturing unit, be it for knitting, papad, apparel, handicraft or for even sanitary towels in every Panchayats of rural India?

Who will find an end of encroachment, unauthorised unplanned construction all around the country by providing affordable houses within nicely landscaped areas in all the metros, cities, towns, villages of the country?

Who can bring the end to reservation on caste lines and introduce quota for financially weaker sections, bringing all communities under its ambit? Does the real needy person even among Dalits and Backward Castes get the benefits of reservation?

Who can make India the largest producer of finished metals, such as steel, and aluminium? Who can stop the export of iron ore and get it all converted into the best value added finished products?

Who can stop the export of cotton and make Indian textiles the best in world with focus on value addition from “farm to fibre to fabric to fashion to foreign”?

Who can take the production from farm to a new level of potentials that can feed the nation plus also others hungry in the world? Can an effective programme be implemented to achieve what the McKinsey consultants suggested in ‘Reimagining India’ that is inserted below?
“India that is a global agricultural powerhouse, with exports approaching $164 Billion a year by 2030(compared to $30 billion in 2011)
India with agricultural output of $620 billion by 2030(compared to $270billion in 2011)
India with a food processing GDP of $120billion by 2030(up from $24 billion in 2011)
India where the income of rural citizens rises sixfold and approaches that of those in the cities”

Who can get universalising of solar water pumps for irrigation of farm that is pretty much possible with so small holdings for the most of farmers and get alternative cheap biofuel for tractors with not undue price as for diesel.

Who will plan in outcome units with specific time target rather than just allocation of fund for different projects.

I wish like minded readers add to these wishes that help the country to get back on the track of high growth economy where GDP grows above 10 percent for next 10 years, and in turns higher employment generation and prosperous life for them.