பொதுத்துறை தனியார் மயமாக்கல் அறிவிப்பு வளர்ச்சிக்காகவே

பொதுத்துறை நிறுவனங்களுக்கான புதிய சீர்திருத்தக் கொள்கை அறிவிக்கப்படும் என மத்திய நிதி அமைச்சர் அறிவித்திருக்கிறார். அதன்படி முக்கியத்துவம் வாய்ந்த துறைகளில் பங்களிப்பு செலுத்தும் பொதுத்துறைகள் அரசின் வசம் இருக்கும் எனவும், மற்ற நிறுவனங்கள்.தனியார் மயமாக்கப்படும் எனவும் சொல்லியிருக்கிறார். 

1991 ஆம் வருடம் நரசிம்மராவ் தலைமையிலான மத்திய அரசு பல பொதுத்துறை நிறுவனங்கள் தொடர்ந்து நஷ்டத்தில் இயங்கி வருவதால், பொருளாதாரத்துக்கு ஏற்பட்டுக் கொண்டிருக்கும் இழப்பை சரி செய்ய தனியார் மயமாக்கல் ஆக்க வேண்டும் என்று  முடிவெடுத்தது. தொடர்ந்து வந்த அரசுகள் அந்தக் கொள்கையை நடைமுறைப் படுத்தி வருகின்றன. 2009-10 முதல் 2013-14 வரை நான்கு வருடங்களில் காங்கிரஸ் கூட்டணி அரசு 80000 கோடி ரூபாய்களுக்கு மேல் தனியார் மயம் ஆக்கியுள்ளது. 

பொதுத்துறை நிறுவனங்களின் நஷ்டங்களால் வருடா வருடம் நாட்டின் ஒட்டு மொத்த சேமிப்புகளில் சுமார் 10 முதல் 15 விழுக்காடு அளவு குறைந்து அதனால் பொருளாதாரத்துக்கு  பெரும் பாதிப்பு ஏற்பட்டுக் கொண்டு வருகின்றது. மேலும் ரூபாய் இரண்டு லட்சம் கோடி ரூபாய்களுக்கு மேல் பொதுத்துறை நிறுவனங்களில் முடங்கிக் கிடக்கிறது.

அதனால் நிதிப் பற்றாக்குறை அதிகரித்து, கட்டமைப்புகள் மற்றும் கல்வி, சுகாதாரம் உள்ளிட்ட சமூக வளர்ச்சித் திட்டங்களுக்கு செலவிட வேண்டிய தொகைகள் குறைகின்றன. மேலும் 40 விழுக்காட்டுக்கு மேற்பட்ட அரசு வருமானம் கடனுக்கு வட்டி கட்டவே சென்று விடுகின்றது. 

பொதுத்துறை நிறுவங்களின் கணக்கெடுப்பு 2018-19, எழுபது நிறுவனங்கள் நஷ்டத்தில் இயங்குவதாகவும், அவை வருடா வருடம் அதிகரித்து வருவதாகவும் கூறுகிறது. ஏர் இந்தியா நிறுவனத்தின் நஷ்டம் 2017-18 ஆம் வருடம் 53,777 கோடி ரூபாய்களாக இருந்தது. 2018-19 ல் நஷ்டம் ரூபாய் 87,840 கோடியாக உயர்ந்துள்ளது. 

மத்திய அரசின் பி எஸ் என் எல் தொலைபேசி நிறுவனத்தில்  2019-20 நிதியாண்டு வரை மொத்த நஷ்டமாக 39089 கோடி ரூபாய்கள் உள்ளன. சென்ற வருடம் தான் பி எஸ் என் எல் மற்றும் எம் டி என் எல் ஆகிய இரு நிறுவனங்களுக்கும் தொடர்ந்து நஷ்டத்தில் இயங்கி வருவதால் மத்திய அரசு சீரமைப்பு நிதியாக 68,751 கோடி ரூபாய்களைக்  கொடுத்திருந்தது. 

தமிழகத்தில் உள்ள இந்துஸ்தான் போட்டோ பிலிம்ஸ் நிறுவனத்தின் நஷ்டம் பத்து வருடங்களில் 13000 கோடி ரூபாயாக உயர்ந்துள்ளது. எனவே மக்கள் மேல் அதிகரித்து வரும் சுமைகளைக் குறைத்து, அவர்களின் வாழ்க்கைத் தரத்தை உயர்த்துவது ஒரு அரசின் கடமையாகும். அதன் மூலமே நாடு வளர்ச்சி பெற முடியும். 

( புதிய தலைமுறை, மே 28, 2020)

Striving for Indigenous Excellence

The world has been fighting the coronavirus for the last four months, with three lakh lives being lost already and the economies facing serious crisis. This period is considered as the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Hence IMF predicts that the global economic growth in 2020 would fall down to -3 percent. 

The United States is witnessing the highest number of deaths. The ‘richer’ countries of Europe have already lost thousands of lives.  The economic impact on many of these countries are severe, with the Government dependency being the only resort. The invisible virus has severely shaken their confidence.  

But Bharat presents a completely different scenario, appreciated by all across the World in its fight against COVID -19.  The death rates are very low compared to other countries, because the steps taken are bold and timely. Hence the World Health Organisation and other global bodies are showering encomiums.   

Initially when the virus set in, we were not prepared like all other countries, as it was unexpected. We did not have the Personal Protective Equipment and had to depend on imports. But within a short time, our people started making it. As a result, we now make three lakh units daily and have emerged as the second largest manufacturer in the World.

This is the Swadeshi approach leading to self-reliance. Field studies in different parts of our country over more than two decades indicate that it is this approach that has taken us thus far during the last seven decades, in spite of many difficulties. 

At the time of Independence, we were a poor and underdeveloped nation. But after seventy years now, we are among the top two fastest growing economies. London Business School had estimated that there were 85 million entrepreneurs in our country, perhaps the highest number in the World. Our performance in different fields over the years has been noteworthy. 

This is in spite of the confusions and contradictions at the policy making levels. After independence, the Nehru Government opted for the socialistic approach without wider discussions, in spite of Gandhi ji suggesting for it earlier. As a result, more than three precious decades were wasted with the neta-babu raj curtailing the initiatives of our society. Hence we were not able to solve even our basic problems. 

During the early 1990s, the ruling establishment opted for the other Western approach namely globalization, again without discussions and necessary preparations. Our critical sectors such as agriculture and the SMEs were severely hit. ‘Consumer culture’ came to dominate the minds of the affluent sections. But in spite of the wrong prescriptions at the macro level, Bharath has been moving ahead steadily but silently over the decades.

Bharat is an ancient nation with an economic history of 5000 years and more. Even when we take the last two millennia, studies by Angus Maddisson show how we were the topmost economy with one third of global output during 0 CE. Moreover, we remained at the top for several centuries continuously, proving thereby that we have had the most sustainable economic system anywhere in the World. 

Subsequently the Europeans systematically destroyed much of our systems, though we largely withstood the attacks of the invaders earlier for several centuries. But the aliens could not the kill the spirit in us. As soon as we got the political freedom, people started venturing into different activities without bothering about the state. 

Ground level studies show that the entrepreneurial initiatives started immediately during the following periods and in a few places even during the British times. Many of the traditional vocations continued and expanded wherever possible. Lack of water and regular income from agriculture forced sections of people to enter into new fields.  Hence the enterprises increased over the decades, due to the initiatives at the local levels.  

The economic development of Bharat during the past seventy years is amazing. It is largely led by the local societies with the local systems that they create with their native genius. Decades ago, when people in southern Tamil Nadu wanted to enter business, they did not have funds.  So they created a system of mobilizing funds called Mahamai by taking a pledge in front of their ‘kula devatha.’  Now they are one of the most successful business communities dominating the businesses of firecrackers and match boxes at the national level and establishing one of the most successful banks, namely Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank. 

Our people have enormous capacity to generate funds at the local levels. For much of the MSMEs, around half of the funds or more are generated locally, with the rest being supported by banks and institutions. Many of the clusters have thousands of crores worth businesses. They mobilise all their funds within the country, even while some of them export and capture the global markets.     

The entrepreneurial abilities of our ordinary sections are exemplary. Rajkot is the well-known engineering centre at the global level. They make different kinds of engineering items, including the mother machines. It was the initiative of few locals with diesel engines during the 1960s that enabled the town to emerge as a global engineering centre. Thiruchengode in Tamil Nadu, known for its rig industry, was almost controlling the business throughout the country till recently. In the recent years, they have moved to foreign countries.   

Our societies are by nature creative and have the tendency to make whatever they require using the limited resources available locally. That is how Juggad became popular and is now part of the international management dictionary. There are thousands of innovations and improvisations going on at the local levels. We have extraordinary skill sets and multiple talents. 

The Western approaches have completely failed. After the 2008 crisis, they themselves openly admit it. All the international bodies such as the United Nations and G - 20 have all accepted that there are no more ‘universal models.’ Bharath, with her superior economic history and functioning systems, has her own functioning models. 

But for a very long time our policy making circles refused to look at the Bharathiya systems and learn from them. Fortunately during the last few years, the top leadership of our country has been advocating policies based on our fundamentals. The Cabinet Resolution dated Jan 1, 2015 for constituting NITI Aayog notes: “We need to find our own strategy for growth. … It will be a Bharatiya approach to development.”  But this one idea should percolate down to different levels without delay. 

The main reason for our development over the years has been our native systems. Even in 2020, IMF predicts that Bharat will have the highest   rate of growth with 1.9 per cent ahead of China, while the advanced economies are expected to have a negative growth of -6.1 per cent. Different studies establish that the family system, saving practices, social capital, entrepreneurial capabilities, larger non-corporate sector and the self-dependent tendency in the society are our strengths, with culture remaining as the foundation of our economy.  

The Western academics acknowledge ‘a distinct Indian model’, in our corporate sector after studying the contemporary modern practices. A US team led by Peter Cappelli took up a study of the top corporates and concluded that the Indian leadership approaches are different from that of the West due to the unique nature of our economy and society. (‘Leadership Lessons from India’, Harvard Business Review, March 2010) 

It is time for us to take up initiatives to evolve a comprehensive and suitable Indian model, based on the principles of Swadeshi to lead us to self-reliance. Such a model should be based on the higher ideals of our civilization leading to the welfare of all with Antodaya as enunciated by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, as the core.  

In the meantime, we have to understand, appreciate and recognize our contemporary functioning systems which have been evolved by our societies based on their ingenuity and instincts. Many of them have proved to be performing models, with increasing number of them being recognized at the global level. It is true that there is need to improve many others so that they would be able to perform better. 

But over all these years the establishments have failed to take them into account, except during the recent few years. The academic system and the intellectuals have neglected this vital aspect that is critical to our nation. The universities have failed to study and research the working systems from the native perspectives for understanding and improving their performance. 

Hence a massive initiative – involving different sections of the society - is required to create an awareness and mobilise support for Swadeshi and Self- Reliance. This is very important for our national reconstruction and hence it is our immediate duty to act upon it. The Sangh leadership has given a call for this at the appropriate time. The Prime Minister has himself articulated this idea, emphasizing its necessity. Now this is the time for all of us to work on this, as Bharth is embarking on her onward journey to the next stage. 

( Organiser, May 24, 2020)

 

Rebuilding India 20

India unites in times of crisis  

Almost the entire world is in the grip of coronavirus disease (    COVID - 19) since March 2020.  The Centre for Systems Science and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University, USA notes that there were more than 2.72 million confirmed cases of the disease reported in 185 countries and territories as of April 24, 2020 with more than 1,91,000 deaths. It is the biggest calamity in the twenty first century that has affected the different sections of the society all over the world. 

COVID -19 is an infectious disease caused by a severe acute respiratory syndrome. It was first identified in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province of China in Dec.2019. Since then it has spread to different parts of the world, resulting in the ongoing 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic. The World Health Organisation declared the outbreak to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. 

The countries in the West are the most affected with the USA and EU losing several thousands of their citizens. The US has so far lost more than 50,000 lives and has more than 8.90,00 confirmed cases. The loss of lives in Europe is much more with Italy, Spain and France losing more than 20,000 persons each. 

Compared to many other countries, India is in a better position in terms of the confirmed cases and the loss of lives. Though we have the second highest population, so far the confirmed cases are around 18000 and loss of lives around 720. Sweden has a population of slightly more than 10 million, but it has already lost more than 2000 lives. The population of Netherlands is around 17.5 million only, but its deaths have crossed 4000. 

Experts opine that one of the major reasons for the lower rates in India are our traditional ways of life such as the cleaning habits, intake of preventive and medicinal items as part of food and drinks and the healthy practices that form part of our lives. Moreover, the central Government has been highly pro-active to contain the disease from the beginning, with the good support from most state Governments.

Even when many countries such as the US were hesitating to take steps, the Indian Government took the bold decision of a complete lock down for three weeks beginning the midnight of March 24-25 and later extending the period by almost another three weeks. Two days before announcing the lock down, the Prime Minister asked the citizens to observe a voluntary public curfew by remaining indoors for 14 hours from 7 am. It was to practice social distancing, thereby to arrest the spread of the virus. 

 A billion plus Indians responded positively to the initiative on March 22.  Besides, the PM also asked the people to thank all those who have been at the forefront selflessly working for others in the fight against the virus, such as doctors, nurses, sanitary staff, emergency services personnel, police, army and others. For this purpose, the PM asked the citizens to stand on their doorways, balconies, in windows at 5 pm on the day and keep clapping hands and ringing the bells for five minutes to salute and encourage them.

As the clock struck 5 in the evening, citizens of the entire nation – rich and poor, city dweller and villager - came out on their roofs, balconies and doorways as one to clap and ring the bells to express their gratitude. Some blew conch shells, some banged the utensils, while a few even used the fire crackers during the time. Many Indians living in foreign countries also took part in the event. The nation stood united as one and thanked the ‘saviours of the nation.’

After two weeks, again the PM gave a call to the citizens for unity to fight the “darkness of coronavirus epidemic”, by switching off their lights at homes and light candles, lamps or mobile flash lights standing at the doors or balconies for nine minutes on April, 9 from 9 pm. He said: “No one is alone during the lockdown, the collective superpower of 130 crore Indians is with every citizen.” 

Once again the entire nation responded to the call with enthusiasm, by coming out with lights and standing for 9 minutes outside their doors or on the balconies showing that the country is united in the fight.  From the President of India till the last man, every one including the industry captains, cricketers, actors, opposition leaders, professionals, farmers, factory workers, housewives and students took part in the event. 

The next day the media reported that India stood united as one to show solidarity, as it did earlier. This is not new to India. Whenever there is need, whenever the nation faced any major difficulties, Indians come together and stand united. It is the tradition of this great nation to support the leader during the times of crisis. Of course, the leadership matters a lot.

During the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965, India faced a severe food crisis. The then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri appealed to the people to skip a meal every week to overcome the food shortage so that the poor could be fed. The country responded to his call by observing Monday fast throughout the war.  

In the recent years, Indians have responded to a similar appeal. During 2015, PM Modi appealed to those who could afford the market rates for their LPG connections to voluntarily surrender their subsidies to the Government. Called as ‘Give it Up’ campaign, it was intended for increasing the budget for subsidizing a higher number of LPG connections for the poorer sections of the society. Ten million people gave up their subsidy in a period of just thirteen months and the numbers continued to increase over the months. 

India is the land of diversity, much more diverse than any other part of the world.  But there is a strong underlying unity. More than hundred years ago, Dr Ambedkar noted: “  …. .. I venture to say that there is no country that can rival the Indian Peninsula with respect to the unity of its culture. It has not only a geographic unity, but it has over and above all a deeper and a much more fundamental unity – the indubitable cultural unity that covers the land from end to end.”

It is this unity that is binding our nation since ages. And India has been maintaining this unity over many millennia. That is the reason why India remains unique. Rabindranath Tagore wrote; “If God had so wished, he would have made all Indians speak with one language ... the unity of India has been and shall always be a unity in diversity.”

During these difficult times of coronavirus, India is standing firm. Dedicated teams of “corona warriors” are on the field, neglecting their comforts and families. Besides, lakhs of Indians are continuously   engaged in distributing food and essential items to the poorer sections and the migrants. Sangh Parivar, religious, spiritual and service organisations, voluntary groups, neighbor-hood associations, industry/ professional bodies and families are willingly doing these activities as their duty.

We have in fact turned the adversity into an opportunity. Our health care delivery systems are getting strengthened. Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan mentioned: “We had only one Lab at the National Institute of Virology at Pune, to perform tests for COVID-19 initially. During the last 03 months we have scaled up the number of government labs to 230 aided by another 87 private labs with more than 16,000 collection centers.”  This is just one aspect of the work.

 India has been scaling up the COVID-19 related activities in all the required directions successfully. Some of them are pioneering. For example, the Government of India has developed a mobile application called Aarogya Setu to connect the essential health care services with the people of India to combat the disease. Within a short span of time, it has already been downloaded by around 7.2 crore people.  

Hence the leaders of different countries and the international bodies are appreciating our efforts to combat the deadly virus. World Health Organisation said: “India can do it.” Besides we are helping many countries – from the US to Maldives - in all possible ways, such as supplying medicines and sending our medical teams. Also we are offering free services as gifts to our neighbours and few other countries.

Moreover, India took the lead for closer cooperation among the nations to take on the fight. As a result, the respect for India has been going up. Coronavirus is hopefully laying foundations for a new world order, in which India is expected to have a major role. Like the way we have united to fight the virus, let us resolve to remain united and work to make use of the emerging opportunities for a powerful India in the years to come.      

Reference

COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 24,     April 2020

( Yuva Bharati, Vivekananda Kendra, Chennai, May 2020)