| Jobs for all makes for a good slogan. It’s even better when governments actually make efforts to provide jobs to people. But is it such a good idea when legislation is enacted to provide employment?
That was main agenda on the plate at the two-day workshop hosted by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) from 12-13 November at the Mughal Sheraton, Agra. Among the 20-odd participants were three eminent economists and over a dozen journalists.
The three speakers were Ashok Desai, erstwhile chief economic advisor to the finance minister (1990-92), Subir Gokarn of ratings firm Crisil and A.K. Seth of Delhi School of Economics. P.D. Kaushik, research fellow at the RGF, was the moderator.
The focus of the first session was the Rural Employment Guarantee Act (REGA). Desai was the first speaker. He emphasised three basic necessities, namely, poverty alleviation, unemployment and rural health.
POVERTY ALLEVIATION
Poverty is a national characteristic of India about which the nation can do precious little in the short term. Two important questions facing the administrators in this regard, according to Desai were, “What are the criteria to select people for alleviation of poverty?” and “How do we reach them?” For Desai does not believe in wholesale or “general poverty alleviation”. The able-bodied must work for their livelihood. To him, the social segments eligible for the purpose are “children, women and the old who are subject to stress and prone to ailments”.
UNEMPLOYMENT
Desai adduced the examples of the two World Wars. Said he, “The rate of unemployment in the US and UK increased tremendously after WW I. So, in WW II, all countries contributed heavily to increasing government income to fight the war. What resulted was after the war, most countries were left with empty coffers and huge budgetary difficulties.”
Relating this with the current scenario, Desai iterated unemployment benefits laws as an incentive to unemployment. This was precisely the case with UK following World War II. Even today, Europe in general and UK in particular, have a higher unemployment rate than the US. “The simple reason is that there exist leave/sick-leave benefits and other such benefits in Europe” which tend to make workers slack and tardy at their jobs.
RURAL HEALTH
Desai pointed out health as a neglected area in rural sector, which needed special attention. Subir Gokarn, taking the mike next, cast agricultural in two parameters, that is, yield/growth and risk factor. While an increase in the former reflects greater purchasing power, the latter must be controlled. This would entail greater connectivity between rural and urban areas across the country so that prices of agricultural commodities remained stable.
Gokarn blasted subsidies (Rs 1.7 lakh to Rs 1.8 lakh a year), which led to price distortions and wrong incentives in agriculture. Emphasising the essence of a rural safety net for risk management, Gokarn's bottomline was that employment for all through REGA was a pipe-dream.
A.K. Seth was brisk and crisp. “Employment has to be systemic in nature; agricultural research is essential; support prices must be optimised; alternative jobs must he made possible and education or literacy of the villagers help in diversification of skills,” he said.
The focus of the second session held on Sunday morning was ‘Bharat Nirman’. Desai criticised state governments, saying although devolution of power at the Centre was on the rise, the states centralised power in their capitals. Other drawbacks in the planning process were lack of feedback and despite initiation of new programmes, the lack of follow-up and maintenance of the same due to paucity of assets. Desai likened the situation to “land without water”.
Seth demanded new and balanced infrastructure. He said, “In India, so far funding and financial progress has been aimed primarily at the corporate sector.”
Another important view that emerged at the workshop was that extremely high tariffs and the Reserve Bank of India’s inexplicable protectionist attitude have robbed Indian products, especially rice and sugar, of global competitiveness. Had it not been for these, India would be determining world prices of rice and sugar. |
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Bharat Nirman
Bharat Nirman was founded by late MC Bhandari in early 1980 and was registered as a charitable and public utility society on June 9, 1980. The main objective with which the society was set up was to revive all ancient Indian sciences and propagate the Indian way of life, culture and development. In order to achieve this, Bharat Nirman has taken up activities in the fields of yoga, meditation, ayurveda and herbal cure, holistic healing, astrological and supra-normal sciences, spirituality, cultural heritage, rural development, social, economic and educational reforms, national integration and unity. |
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