People's Democracy

EDITORIAL

PM’s Independence Day Address

Translate Promises Into Action

IT is customary on our part, while greeting our readers on Independence Day, to reaffirm our resolve to redouble our efforts to strengthen the Indian republic. This is also an occasion for all of us to move forward in the struggle to transform our political independence into the true economic independence of all our people. This, needless to add, implies that in the coming year, the people’s movements must become more powerful, to safeguard and consolidate the gains we have made so far in independent India and carry this forward for the economic emancipation of our people.

On the face of it, the prime minister’s annual speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort reflects some of such concerns. Dr Manmohan Singh says, “India is certainly on the march. Yet, we have miles to go before we can truly say that we have made our tryst with destiny, ……the challenge of banishing poverty remains with us. We have yet to banish hunger from our land. We have yet to eradicate illiteracy. We have yet to ensure that every Indian enjoys good health”. 

Towards achieving this end, the prime minister exhorted the Indian people to join in their efforts to “build a new India” and to launch a “war on poverty”. The Rural Employment Guarantee (REGA) and the Bharat Nirman schemes had been highlighted as the pivots to achieve these goals.

Expressing concern that the benefits of economic growth are not uniformly reaching everybody, the prime minister says, “There is visible progress all around. However, when I see this, I have some worries. And I am aware that every Indian has similar worries.” Referring to the agrarian distress, he says, “The agricultural crisis that is forcing them (farmers) to take the desperate step of committing suicide needs to be resolved.” 

A laudable declaration of intent and an expression of concern indeed! The moot question, however, remains as to how to meet these challenges? For instance, the PM cites the doubling of institutional credit to the agricultural sector at a reduced interest rate of 7 per cent as a positive measure. This, however, falls woefully short of the requirements and the recommendations made by the committees set-up by the government itself. Expert committees had recommended that the interest rate ideally should be zero and, in any case, should not exceed 4 per cent. Institutional credit must rise dramatically given the fact that even today two-thirds of our farmers survive at the mercy of the usurious moneylenders. The inability to repay loans has been universally identified as the main factor contributing to farmers’ suicides. 

Likewise, though the REGA and the Bharat Nirman projects are a move in the right direction, by themselves, they will not make the required significant dent in tackling poverty because of inadequate financial allocations. Vastly larger levels of public investments are necessary to make a meaningful improvement in the people’s livelihood. This begs the obvious question: where does the government raise resources for such investment? Unfortunately, the prime minister’s address does not inspire confidence that the government is prepared to take additional measures towards this end. Through these columns, we have repeatedly elaborated on the alternative ways of resource mobilisation to fund massive levels of public investment. Without repetition, it should suffice to give one example. The prime minister makes satisfactory noises at the health of our stock exchange and growth of the sensex. However, he is completely silent on taxing those who have made hundreds of crores of rupees of profit as a result. In contrast, the common people are being forced to pay more indirect taxes such as service tax in the name of widening the tax net. 

While stating that his government is committed to ensuring adequate availability of essential commodities at affordable prices, the prime minister, however, adds a caveat. That rising prices of essential commodities is one of the most important concerns of Indians today needs no reiteration. The prime minister, however, says that, “if we want better prices for the farmers, so that they can earn a better livelihood, the prices of what they produce and sell will have to go up!” This is, in a way, justifying forward trading in essential commodities. It is a myth to believe that forward trading ensures better prices for the farmers. What it does ensure is better profits for the traders and the middlemen who speculate on the prices of essential commodities and resort to hoarding to artificially jack up prices. The farmers, therefore, do not get better prices and at the same time being consumers as well, they pay more along with all others for these commodities. The net result is that the burden is borne by both the farmers and the people at large while speculators and traders thrive. Forward trading in essential commodities must immediately be banned if galloping price rise has to be controlled.

On many other matters such as education, employment, development of J&K and North East, concern for gender inequality, for backward regions, empowerment of SCs, STs and minorities etc etc, the declaration of intent is, once again, laudable. Two genuine concerns, however, continue to plague all of us. First, such a declaration of intent is not backed by assurances of required financial allocations. Secondly, there is no inspiration of confidence that the declared schemes will actually translate to benefit the needy at the ground level. It is precisely on these two counts that the UPA government must infuse confidence amongst the people that it is genuinely committed to implement the pro-people policies promised in the Common Minimum Programme.

The prime minister made references to two other important areas of concern. The first relates to our national security. While giving this “assurance to every citizen that we will do our utmost to preserve our unity and integrity, to make our country safe and secure ……we will modernise, strengthen and properly equip our security forces and our intelligence agencies”, the prime minister warned the enemies of India that, “no one can break our will or unity. No one can make India kneel”. He called upon Pakistan to take concrete steps to implement its assurance to prevent cross-border terrorism in India from its territory. The recent Mumbai blasts and the consequent terror threats have, once again, brought home the dangers that we as a country and people are exposed to. It is imperative that the government and the people together are able to defeat this menace. 

A matter of serious concern is the fact that the prime minister while describing the international environment and the improvement of our relations with all countries fails to inspire confidence that India shall relentlessly pursue an independent foreign policy. This assumes significance in the ongoing debate in the country on the Indo-US nuclear deal and the implications it has for India’s foreign policy. There is a universal perception that India, under pressure from US imperialism, has been shifting its foreign policy positions as in the case of Iran. The omission of such an assurance that India shall not succumb to any US pressures is disturbing to say the least. Neither has the prime minister given any assurance that in our anxiety to shore up our nuclear energy requirements, we shall not, in any way, compromise on our independent foreign policy.

This, therefore, shall remain an issue of contention. And, public pressure must be mounted to ensure that India’s sovereignty in international relations is in no way compromised. 

Let us all together brace ourselves to meet these challenges. This requires, first and foremost, that the Indian people must redouble their effort to ensure that the UPA government will implement the pro-people promises made in the Common Minimum Programme.

(August 15, 2006)