CONTENTSyojana.gov.in/cms/(S(peqgcef5ew31ax45tcloy345))/pdf/Yojana/English/2009/Yojana Dec 09...NEED FOR ORGANIC FARMING STRATEGY .....42 W Radhapiyari Devi SHODH YATRA ... Subhash

YOJANA December 2009 1

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December 2009 Vol 53

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Senior Editor : Rakeshrenu

Editor : Manogyan R. Pal

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DEVELOPMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE ................................... 5 P P Shrivastav

FACILITATING DEVELOPMENT ............................................... 10 Kirti Saxena

TOURISM IN MANIPUR .............................................................. 19 B Badrinarayan Sharma

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF BIORESOURCES OF MANIPUR ................................................................................ 23 N C Talukdar

DAMNING THE BRAHMAPUTRA? ........................................... 29 Sanjeeb Kakoty

ETHNIC CONFLICT AND DEMAND FOR CONTIGUOUS HOMELANDS .................................................... 32 S Mangi Singh

STATUS OF WOMEN IN MANIPUR ........................................... 35 Ch Jamini Devi

NEED FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT IN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY ...................................................... 39 Maisnam Bobo Singh

NEED FOR ORGANIC FARMING STRATEGY ......................... 42 W Radhapiyari Devi

SHODH YATRA ENGAGING WITH CREATIVE MINDS IN THE NORTH-EAST ................................................... 46

IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT IN ASSAM ............................... 50 Padma Sharma Goswami Rabin Jyoti Khataniar

BEST PRACTICES THE BAMBOO HUB ................................ 54 Sandip Das

DYNAMICS OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA ............................. 56 Subhash Sharma

DO YOu KNOw? ....................................................................... 60

INSURANCE OMBUDSMAN ...................................................... 62 Sheetal Kapoor

J&K wINDOw ........................................................................... 65

ESSAY COMPETITION UNETHICAL FOOD MARKETING TO CHILDREN .................................................... 66 C Sajith

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About the Issue

The richly vibrant northeast region of the country is in a state of gradual, but steady transformation. The contrary integrative and secessionist pulls that marked the early phase of its transition to nationhood have long ceased

to operate in this land of the mighty Brahmaputra, the eastern offshoots of the Himalayas, deep forests rich in varied forms of life, a diverse mosaic of ethnic groups and rich cultural traditions. The prime concern of the people of the region today is socio-economic development. This concern is shared by the nation as a whole, as was reflected in the NE Vision 2020 released last year. The centre, the states, the industries, the private sector and the civil society are all working hard to bridge the gaps in infrastructure, communication, health, education and other integral areas of development.

For the past four years, Yojana magazine has been documenting development as it unfolds in our Northeastern states. Every year we focus on one particular state. The focus this year is on Manipur.

Manipur or the "Jewelled Land" was the last kingdom to be incorporated into British India in 1891. It was also the scene of fierce battles between the Japanese and the Allied Forces during the IInd World War. A Union Territory from 1956, Manipur attained full statehood in 1972. This land of flat, central plains surrounded by rugged mountains is home to mare than 30 tribes speaking 29 different dialects, and contributing to a rich cultural heritage.

Despite its rich resources, indicators reveal that development in Manipur has not been very encouraging so far. Disruptive forces in action for a large part of the last two decades have forced development into the back seat. Things are, however, poised for a change. On the social front, health and education are areas where good progress has been made in the recent past. This is a necessary beginning for realizing the full potential of the human resource of the state. On the economic front, the several special dispensations made for the Northeastern states and measures being undertaken as part of the NE Vision 2020 are bound to bear fruit. Some industries like food processing have already made a good start. One expects that the existing handloom and handicraft industry would also be revitalized. With the laying down of the Jiribam - Tupu- Imphal line, Manipur will soon be on the railway map of India, and this improved connectivity with the rest of the country should open up access to better opportunities. The current issue brings you articles from policy makers and academicians on various aspects of development in the Northeast in general, and Manipur in particular. q


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Development of Infrastructure

NORTh-EaST

N F R A S T R U C T U R E D E V E L O P M E N T i s commonly interpreted to mean only the physical infra-structure like roads, ra i lways, waterways,

airways; banking, land-lines and mobile telephones for inter-regional and intra-regional communications etc. The pity is that development of the crucial-most infrastructure – the Human Infrastructure – gets overlooked although it ought to be a critical issue for a nation that has suffered a long spell of colonial rule.

Human Resource Development (HRD) is of special relevance to the North Eastern Region (NER), where the blame for slow pace of development is attributed solely to lack of Central funds although it is also known that progress of works has not been commensurate with the investments made. Let us, therefore, examine the factual position – the strengths and weaknesses - in an objective and dispassionate manner.

I

The author is Member, North Eastern Council & Chairman, North Eastern Regional Education Council.

P P Shrivastav

In the above context, the two well acknowledged facts are firstly, that ever since independence all the Governments at the Centre, irrespective of the party in power, have been concerned for and extremely sympathetic to the needs of the people of NER. In fact, socio-economic development of NER has been taken up as a national task and accorded the highest priority by the Union Government. Special strategies have been formulated for removal of infrastructural bottlenecks, provision of basic minimum services and creating a development-friendly environment; and secondly, that the devolution of Central funds has indeed been far more liberal to NER (getting almost doubled in successive 5-yr Plans) compared to other regions of India, as seen from the following figures:

Let us also have a quick look at the special and unique steps taken by the Central Government to address the problems arising from geo-climatic factors and infrastructural

PlaNNiNg

HRD is necessarily a

long-term programme and needs

to be sustained with

imagination and patience


deficiencies faced by the people (around 3.8% of the country’s total population) inhabiting NER which extends over around 7.9% of the total geographical area of the country. Such steps include

• Treatment as Special Category States outside the Gadgil Formula. 90% of their Plan allocations are treated as grant and 10% as loan.

• Permission to use up to 20% of the Central Assistance for non-Plan expenditure.

• Setting up of the North-Eastern Council (NEC) in 1972 for addressing of inter-State concerns and funding of such projects from its own budget.

• The unique dispensation by way of directive to the relevant Central Ministries to earmark and spend at least 10% of their respective annual budgets for the development of the NE States.

• Creation of a Central fund named as the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) to which the balance of unspent amount would get credited, to be utilised to finance infra-structural development

Projects in NER.

• Creation of a new Department DoNER (Development of North Eastern Region) in 2001 and its elevation to a full-fledged Ministry entrusted with the responsibility of dispensing NLCPR.

• Upgrading the NEC from an Advisory body to the Statutory Planning Body for the 8 States of NER in 2005.

Let us also briefly look at the inherent strength of NER bestowed by Nature which has been generous with its bounties to NER.

Nature’s bounties to NER

With over 1/3rd of country’s bio-diversity assets concentrated in the sparsely populated 7.9% of the country’s geographical area, NER has all types of terrains and climates, from snow-bound mountains of the Himalayas in the north, to the smaller hills below towards Myanmar and Bangladesh, and the warm wide plains of the two major River systems - the Brahmputra and the Barak. Forest cover extends over 52% of its geographical area (ranging from 82.29% in Sikkim to 34.45% in Assam as in 2003). These geo-climatic factors coupled

with heavy rainfall have made NER very rich in water resources (37% of country’s river water resources) and in biodiversity as also in minerals.

Precious Human Resource

Our 3.9 crores of virile, hard-working people distributed among 400 or so communities, speaking around 200 languages/dialects and spread over 2.62,179 Sq Kms of NER are our most precious resource. NER is a unique example of basic unity in superficial diversity. Under the traditional system of self-governance, the common man was fully involved in all matters relating to the community, be it security or development. Erosion of these practices and values has had an unsettling effect.

Against the backdrop of these assets, let us now, without going into the statistical details of the substantial infrastructure created/planned in NER, enumerate the challenges faced in the development of infrastructure in NER.

Challenges To Development Of Infrastructure

These challenges arise mainly from :

The Physical factors, viz. the geo-climatic factors – Difficult

State Plan Central Ministries

NLCPR NEC TOTAL

(In Rupees rounded off to the nearest crore)I-VII Plan up to 1990 (Expenditure)

10,344 NA ----- 1,285 11,629

Rolling Pl & VIII Pl(1990-97 Outlay)

18,033 NA ----- 2,072 20,106

IX Plan 1997-02) 25,283 11,935 1,317 2,114 40,649X Plan (2002-07) 35,733 37,771 3,239 2,512 79,253XI Pl 07 to 09(Average Projected)

26,214 19,670 1,649 1,224 68,425


terrain, heavy rainfall and short working season in the field.

The Psychological factors, viz., Inter-community & inter-State relations influenced by age-old history of struggle for control over the only means of subsistence – land, waters and forests, which led to clashes and inter-tribal feuds carried over generations. The cause exists no longer but the age-old feelings and prejudices still persist resulting in lack of inter-community and inter-State coordination and cooperation. Development suffers as a consequence.

Erosion of the traditional system of self-governance and of the village-structure in Tribal Areas has been the undesirable consequence of the v i r tual adoption of the administrative and institutional structure of the far-more populous States of the country. The distance between the common man and the centres of power in terms of hierarchical stages has increased as a result. The ‘common man’ gets largely left out of the planning process, which is influenced and dominated by the rich and the elite. The Development Plans are, therefore, perceived by the people as Plans of the Government implemented by the Governmental machinery.

Erosion of indigenous value-system: resulting largely from the materialistic influences from abroad and even the prevailing atmosphere at home as publicized by the media. The message of present education is also dissonant with NER’s precious heritage of cultural ethos of Equity, Equality, Honesty, Truthfulness, Transparency, Trust, Dignity of labour, Community above individual; Collective

unanimous decision-making based on consensus. These traditional values are still alive among the common man in the villages but confined to dealings within one’s own clan/tribe/community.

The Capacity factor: Technical, financial and administrative capacity to plan, design, execute and supervise infrastructural projects and to optimally utilise public funds on large projects in a proper manner without time/cost overruns, is generally lacking both in the public and the private sectors.

The first of these five factors is not difficult to overcome. The people are used to the terrain and the climate. Modern Science and Technology can overcome almost all physical hurdles posed by the geo-climatic factors. The second one – the psychological factor – will gradually fade out in course of time with better intra-regional communications, education, social interaction and economic interdependence.

The third factor, that of virtual exclusion of the ‘common man’ with governance and development resulting from concentration of power among the rich and the elite, has dangerous portents. The common man has to be consciously invited and attracted to become an active partner in the developmental effort of the Government right from the stage of planning through implementation to monitoring and evaluation. That alone can expose and discourage corruption, inefficiency, subjectivity, leakage and diversion of public funds, poor quality & time/cost over-runs in infrastructure works. An informed public opinion is essential for a healthy democracy.

The fourth factor – Erosion of the best in the traditional value system is the most serious malady. Remedy lies only in a reformed education system that integrates values in education right from the elementary stage onwards. The fifth factor – viz., Capacity development is also a function of education.

THE ROAD AHEAD

The two aforementioned basic issues that are crucial to sustain a healthy democratic system were given top priority by the NEC after its reconstitution in 2005 and action was taken on the following lines:

• The process of inviting the ‘common man’ to become an ac t ive s takeholder in development and governance was initiated by mass contact programme in which 2.5 lakh people from various walks of life in rural and urban areas covering all the NE States, were consulted and their aspirations in various fields of development were recorded by Volunteers from local NGOs. These were compiled as the People’s Vision in 2006 itself. This process of consultation was to be continued year after year to create and sustain his interest in the developmental process. Hopefully, it would be resumed soon.

• The long process of Revamping Education right across from ‘n’ to ‘u’ (Nursery to University) to build an enlightened progressive citizenry from foundation upwards, has commenced. That is essential to sustain and nurture a modern progressive


democratic nation based on the best common elements in the indigenous value-system. Efforts are on to train the youth to seek productive avenues for prosperous and respectable livelihood instead of aspiring only for Government jobs, an avenue that is now choking full.

• Summit-level meetings were organised with all stakeholders to draw up and update holistic plans for development of roads, railways, air services and inland waterways and additional resources were diverted to the ongoing projects.

Inspiration for the above came from the inaugural address of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at the first meeting (12 Apr 05) of the restructured NEC, where he observed inter alia that development of human resource available in North Eastern Region needs to be taken up on the highest priority, upgrading of skills of the work-force, as are relevant to them, may be taken up in the vicinity, redesigning of the educational map of the North Eastern Region should assume a priority concern of this Council and a holistic planning of education and vocational skills is essential if we have to provide to the youth of the North Eastern Region enough opportunities for gainful employment.

To give practical shape to these words of wisdom NEC constituted the North Eastern Regional Education Council (NEREC) in July 05 for re-tuning the education system in NER. Its membership included top academicians like VCs of Universities in NER, Directors of

IIT Guwahati & NERIST Itanagar; the 8 State Governments; Regional experts and national-level bodies like UGC, IGNOU, NCERT etc. After study in depth and discussions, NEREC gave its findings and recommendations in a Paper titled Revamping of Education in NER, essence of which is enumerated below.

B a s i c F i n d i n g s a n d Recommendations of NEREC on the Educational Perspective in NER included the following:

High on literacy statistics but low on quality

The present system of education does not enable the youth to find proper place for themselves in the highly competitive market economy. To improve quality of teaching, NEC has initiated with the help of NCERT skill upgradation-cum-motivational training (in teaching of Maths and Science to start with) as the first step in training of all untrained teachers (around 1.25 lakh in NER) starting from the foundation (elementary level) on which the entire education edifice rests). IGNOU has also expanded its Teachers Training programme.

Art and Culture

NEC has taken a policy decision to progressively earmark 1% of its budget on integration of arts & culture in the education system. That would make education interesting for the child and substantially reduce the very high drop-out rate in Schools.

Teaching of languages of our Eastern Neighbours:

In the wake of operationalisation of the ‘Look East’ policy.

Extensive use of IT in Education:

To be able to reach (in stages) up to the remotest Village Schools and beam model lessons (especially in Science & Mathematics) regularly for students and refresher material for teachers.

Elimination of areas of dissonance with the regional cultural ethos:

The value-frame of western concept of development that is being imbibed from the Education system emphasises individualism, competition, division and decision by vote and an opposition that must oppose for its own sake as against the NER’s moral code of community above individual, mutual trust and cooperation, and unanimous decision based on collective consensus. This contradiction is at the root of many a phenomenon, which inhibit realisation of the optimal potential of the Region.

Rectification of Imbalance between knowledge & Skill:

This may be done by integrating the Vocational stream with the General Academic stream to achieve the optimal Skill:Knowledge mix that suits the aptitude of the student, tunes education to the needs of the community and also substantially improve its employability-potential. Action is also in hand with the help of IGNOU and NCERT to reach the unreached sections of society (drop-outs, partially employed and others) with skills and knowledge.

Emphasis on Nation-building objectives:

Lord McCaulay’s had (in the 19th century) replaced the Indian system of holistic education by his model designed to train the native


youth to aspire for employment under the Government as its faithful servants to help the handful of colonial masters to perpetuate their rule over the vast Indian sub-continent. Training in skills for value addition of local produce locally as a means of gaining prosperity was discouraged. Our youth today also aspire for Government service. India needs a system of education, the primary objectives of which include manifestation of the perfection that exists already in the child, achieving concentration of mind, rather than mere collecting of facts, enabling the student to stand on his own feet in life through productive activity to gain prosperity for him/herself and thus contribute to the national prosperity, NOT depending on government job only, develop a nationalistic and secular outlook in consonance with the regional/ traditional/cultural ethos expanded beyond the narrow limits of one’s own clan/tribe/community, making education meaningful for which recommendations on infusion of indigenous values in education

evolved by NEREC have been circulated among the States.

To meet the needs of the educated unemployed, DPR for a short-term programme of holistic training-cum-handholding of local youth who volunteer for taking to entrepreneurship in their own area, is currently under preparation. Meanwhile Action has been initiated to commence implementation of other recommendations in phases.

Yet another reality that cannot be denied is that heavy infusion of funds in the effort to quickly make up the heavy developmental backlog of the past, is known to lead to some entirely unintended consequences. Sub-standard execution of works, leakages, diversion of funds, dishonest dealings and corrupt practices result in circulation of black money, which is known to spawn many other criminal practices. Misguided and frustrated youth fall easy prey to anti-social and criminal activities like extortion and kidnapping for ransom to earn easy money. Militant outfits

thrive on such money and indulge in trafficking in drugs and arms further compounding the problem. Large areas in NER are exempt from Central taxes, but money is extorted regularly from the people in the name of ‘tax’ on their salary, business and commercial vehicles. The result is very high prices of common commodities, which the poor ‘common man’ has to suffer. The remedy for such ills also lies in the community abiding a sound value system. That can be done now through a proper Education System.

It would thus be seen that the crucial-most input in addressing the problem of sci-economic development as also to discourage corruption and encourage integrity in the society is the education system duly revamped for NER as recommended above along with other short-term steps. HRD is necessarily a long-term programme and needs to be sustained with imagination and patience. q

(Email : [email protected])

Jeevan Jyoti Swaniojan Yojana : A Ray of Hope

The Chief Minister’s Jeevan Jyoti Swaniojan Yojana in Assam has brought many a smile on people’s faces, and unemployed youths of the State in particular. Financial assistance have been provided to 15,341 youth against the target of 17,500 till October, 2009 under the scheme. An institutional credit

of Rs. 122.32 crore has been mobilized till 2009, in this regard.

Under this scheme, unemployed youth are assisted by organizing them into Joint Liability Groups comprising of 4-5 members and by providing them a bank loan of up to Rs. 5 lakh with 25 per cent Government subsidy. Earlier, the Government subsidy stood at 15 percent of the margin money against the bank loan, but considering the present situation of unemployment the Government subsidy has been increased to 25 per cent with effect from January, 2009.

Youths in the age group of 18-40 years living Below the Poverty Level (BPL) and Above the Poverty Level (APL), can derive benefits under the scheme. Apart from assisting youths by providing institutional credit supported by Government subsidy to enable them to take up productive income-generating activities, capacity building is also one of the prime objectives of the scheme. The Government also provides orientation programme in this regard. The scheme covers a wide range of activities in agriculture, animal husbandry, handloom, marketing, transport, pisciculture, agro-processing, small business and small industries and others.


Facilitating Development

NORTh-EaST

I S T R I C T INFRASTRuCTuRE INDEX

The North Eastern Region of the country

forms an area of low per capita i ncome and ma jo r g rowth requirements. The region is deficit in physical infrastructure which has a multiplier effect on economic development. Through programmes of Central Ministries and of the 8 North East State Governments the development of physical and economic infrastructure is taking place.

The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region has recently prepared the North East Region District Infrastructure Index (NER DII) based on 7 broad indicators viz., transport facilities (road density and road quality), energy, water

D

The author is Economic Adviser, Ministry of DoNER, Government of India.

Kirti Saxena

supply, education, health facilities, communication infrastructure and banking facilities.

There are 86 districts in the 8 N.E. States. In the study of NER (DII) the new districts of Kamrup Metro, Baksa, Chirang and Udalguri of Assam are clubbed with the districts from which these were curved out. Similar problem is encountered in respect of two new district of Arunachal Pradesh, viz., Anjaw and Lower Dibang Valley. Hence the district of Anjaw and Lohit are treated as one and Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley are combined as one district. Consequently, the number of districts in this study is 80.

Data source

The Districts wise data used for computing the NER (DII) has

iNiTiaTiVES

The index is expected to serve as a useful guide

in formulation and implementation of

various development policies by the Government of

India

The Ministry of the Development of the North eastern Region is engaged in a number of programmes aimed at the overall development of the region. In this article and the next , the author brings to you two initiatives from the ministry, the former the preparation of an index to measure the infrastructure of a district and the latter, a development programme that has become a success story.


been obtained from the respective Governments of the N.E. States. Data pertaining to area, population, households and villages furnished by State Governments are taken from Census 2001. Infrastructure re la ted da ta a re the l a tes t information available with the State Governments.

Choice o f In fras t ruc ture indicators

Identification of appropriate and feasible indicators of relevance for district level infrastructure is the immediate issue encountered. Planning Commission’s definition of infrastructure has provided useful starting point. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economic (CMIE) had prepared, in 2000, profiles of districts covering 411 districts for 32 States/UTs. Among the N.E. States, only Assam had been included in the study. The CMIE also prepared a composite District Infrastructure Index based on 7 indicators, viz., transport facility, energy, irrigation facility, banking facility, communication infrastructure, educational institutions and health facilities.

The CMIE indicators were found generally acceptable. However, irrigation facility had to be dropped because of lack of uniformity across States in the N.E. region. Water supply is considered an important indicator since over 10% of Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) fund has been sanctioned for water supply projects. Consequently, we settled for 7 broad indicators, viz., transport facilities (road density and road quality), energy, water supply, education, health facilities,

communication infrastructure and banking facilities.

The Districts of the North East are extremely skewed in terms of population, topography, size, development etc. To capture the hill – plain demographic and geographical differences and the relative disadvantages of sparsely populated districts, indicators which are expressed relative to population such as schools, health facilities, communication and banking have been incorporated both in terms of population as well as relative to geographical area. Accordingly we have all together 14 indicators:

1. Transport facilities

1a. Road length per 100 sq km

1b. Surfaced road as % of total road length

2. P e r c e n t a g e o f v i l l a g e s electrified

3. Percentage of households having tap water connection

4. Education infrastructure

4 a . S c h o o l s p e r 1 0 0 0 population

4b. Schools per 100 sq km

5. Communication facilities

5a. Post & telegraph office per 10,000 population

5b. Post & telegraph office per 100 sq km

5c. Telephone exchange per 10,000 population

5d. Telephone exchange per 100 sq km

6. Health infrastructure

6a. Hospital beds per 10,000 population

6b. Hospital beds per 100 sq km

7. Financial infrastructure

7 a . B a n k s p e r 1 0 , 0 0 0 population

7b. Banks per 100 sq km

Summary statistics of the indicators are given in Table 1 below:

TABLE 1: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

Indicators Mean Std. deviation

Min. Max.

Length of total road per 100 square km. 51.84 39.68 2.53 206.62

Surfaced road as percentage of total road length 47.13 23.01 6.61 93.60

Percentage of electrified villages to total villages 75.70 18.71 26.01 100.00

Households having tap water connection (%) 19.71 16.21 1.30 74.32

Schools per 1000 population. 2.25 1.26 0.64 6.38

Schools per 100 sq km 35.37 32.82 0.68 121.97

Post & telegraph office per 10,000 population 2.18 1.45 0.09 7.17

Post & Telegraph office per 100 sq km 3.01 2.82 0.02 9.78

Telephone exchange per 10,000 population 0.52 0.44 0.07 1.97

Telephone exchange per 100 sq km 0.61 0.52 0.02 2.50

Hospital beds per 10,000 population. 10.86 7.98 1.05 40.81

Hospital beds per 100 sq km 15.86 25.80 0.64 142.12

Bank branches per 10,000 population. 0.73 0.55 0.08 4.03

Banks per 100 sq km 1.17 1.33 0.02 7.07


Methodology

T h e c o m p o s i t e d i s t r i c t infrastructure index is defined as,

DIIj = ∑wixij (1)

where DIIj is the composite index for the jth district, wi is the weight assigned to the ith indicator and xij is the value of the ith aspect of infrastructure for the jth district.

A major issue here pertains to assignment of weights to the individual indictors. One option is to assign arbitrary weights based on the available insights into the nature and magnitude of inter-relationships among the variables. This method stands exposed to subjectivity. Another method is the principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA is used to construct composite index in such a way that the weights given maximize the sum of squares of correlation of the indictors with the composite index. Based on our subjective evaluation, we are inclined to impose weights on the individual indicators reflecting the relative importance of certain indicators over the others. Hence the estimation result of PCA

has not been found satisfactory. Under this circumstance the CMIE methodology is considered preferable. Besides, the policy thrust of M/oDoNER as evident from the sectoral composition of sanctioned projects provides useful guide in determining individual weights for the indicators. Sanctioned projects from the NLCPR scheme consists of roads & bridges accounting for 35.31%, power 21.77%, education 11.84% water supply 10.28%, health 7.04% irrigation & flood control 5.51% and the rest for sports, auditorium, markets buildings, airports etc.

F o l l o w i n g t h e C M I E methodology the weights assigned to the indicators are as follows:

1. Road length per 100 sq km 24.0

2. Surfaced road as % of total road length 2.0

3. Percentage of villages electrified 15.0

4. Percentage of households having tap water connection 15.0

5. Schools per 1000

population 6.0

6. Schools per 100 sq km 6.0

7. Post & telegraph office per 10,000 population 3.5

8. Post & telegraph office per 100 sq km 3.5

9. Telephone exchange per 10,000 population 2.5

10. Telephone exchange per 100 sq km 2.5

11. Hospital beds per 10,000 population 8.0

12. Hospital beds per 100 sq km 7.0

13. Banks per 10,000 population 2.5

14. Banks per 100 sq km 2.5

Total (1 to 14) 100.0

xij of equation (1) is defined as

xij = 100*(yij/yiA)

where,

yij = value of the ith indicator for the jth district

yiA = value of the ith indicator for all NER

COMPOSITE NER DISTRICT INFRASTRuCTuRE INDEXState District Rank Score State District Rank Score

Manipur Imphal West 1 328.96 Assam Lakhimpur 41 118.41

Sikkim East Sikkim 2 296.11 Meghalaya South Garo Hills 42 117.10

Sikkim South Sikkim 3 288.92 Meghalaya East Garo Hills 43 116.80

Tripura West Tripura 4 286.12 Assam Darrang 44 114.96

Meghalaya East Khasi Hills 5 248.68 Manipur Senapati 45 114.00

Manipur Imphal East 6 245.00 Mizoram Saiha 46 112.51

Assam Kamrup 7 241.82 Assam Dibrugarh 47 112.35

Tripura North Tripura 8 230.58 Assam Cachar 48 110.65

Sikkim West Sikkim 9 221.08 Assam Golaghat 49 109.39


This t r ans fo rmat ion has normalized the original values of indicators and thereby eliminating the effect of the chosen units. It is evident that each of the value of x for all NER would be equal to 100 and subsequently, the infrastructure index for NER would always be equal to 100.

Nagaland Kohima 10 213.52 Nagaland Phek 50 107.36Manipur Thoubal 11 189.70 Arunachal Pr West kameng 51 106.96Tripura South Tripura 12 188.01 Mizoram Champhai 52 106.59Mizoram Aizawl 13 179.85 Assam Goalpara 53 102.30Arunachal Pr Papumpare 14 162.61 Arunachal Pr Upper Siang 54 101.65Assam Sibsagar 15 161.26 Assam Bongaigaon 55 99.40Nagaland Dimapur 16 157.50 Assam Barpeta 56 98.12Assam Jorhat 17 155.18 Arunachal Pr Dibang Valley 57 97.34Manipur Bishnupur 18 151.73 Mizoram Mamit 58 95.81Arunachal Pr Lower Subansiri 19 148.18 Nagaland Wokha 59 95.14Meghalaya Rhi-Bhoi 20 147.87 Assam Dhubri 60 95.08Assam Nalbari 21 145.98 Arunachal Pr Upper Subansiri 61 94.40Arunachal Pr Tawang 22 144.00 Arunachal Pr Changlang 62 93.22Nagaland Mokokchung 23 142.39 Arunachal Pr East Kameng 63 92.51Mizoram Kolasib 24 139.68 Assam Sonitpur 64 89.92Mizoram Serchhip 25 139.14 Nagaland Mon 65 89.80Tripura Dhalai District 26 134.64 Nagaland Tuensang 66 87.94Nagaland Zunheboto 27 132.71 Assam Tinsukia 67 87.09Meghalaya Jaintia Hills 28 129.61 Manipur Ukhrul 68 83.80Sikkim North Sikkim 29 129.30 Assam Kokrajhar 69 82.85Assam Hailakandi 30 128.03 Mizoram Lawngtlai 70 81.67Mizoram Lunglei 31 127.55 Arunachal Pr Lohit 71 80.93Assam Nagaon 32 127.54 Nagaland Peren 72 76.67Assam Karimganj 33 124.09 Assam Karbi Anglong 73 76.65Arunachal Pr Tirap 34 123.62 Arunachal Pr Kurung Kumey 74 74.57Arunachal Pr East Siang 35 122.48 Manipur Tamenglong 75 73.69Meghalaya West Khasi Hills 36 122.17 Manipur Churachandpur 76 73.13Meghalaya West Garo Hills 37 122.16 Nagaland Longleng 77 71.11Assam N.C. Hills 38 120.95 Manipur Chandel 78 70.49Arunachal Pr West Siang 39 120.69 Assam Dhemaji 79 69.14Assam Morigaon 40 120.64 Nagaland Kiphire 80 65.17

NER 100

The Composite NER District Infrastructure Index is given in the table above. It is expected that the NER District Infrastructure Index ( the composi te index and the ranking of districts on each of the indicators) shall be of help to the Ministry of DoNER and North East State

Governments in better targeting of schemes and projects within the NER in order to reduce intra-regional disparity. The index is expected to serve as a useful guide in formulation and implementation of various development policies by the Government of India.


HE NORTH Eastern Region Communi ty Resource Management Project for Upland Areas (NERCORMP) was

launched in 1999 with funding from International Fund For Agricultural Development (IFAD) with the overall objective to improve the livelihood of vulnerable groups in a sustainable manner through i m p r o v e d m a n a g e m e n t o f their natural resource base that would restore and protect the environment.

Project Area

The first phase of the project which has been extended till the end of the 11th Plan Period covers 862 villages in the 6 contagious districts of West Garo Hills, West Khasi Hills, Ukhrul, Senapati, North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anlong in Meghalaya, Manipur and Assam. The implementing partners are Government of India, through the North East Council (NEC), the state governments of Meghalaya, Manipur and Assam and the Regional and District Societies formed by the Project to achieve the above mentioned goals and objectives.

Rationale for the Project

NERCORMP was designed between the 1994 - 1997, as a people-driven mode of rural development through community based institutions (CBIs) which are participatory, sustainable and

T viable. The CBIs at the grassroots level are called Natural Resource Management Groups (NaRM-Gs) and Self Help Groups (SHG). A switchover to this participative mode of development was necessitated by the limited success of previous development initiatives which were essentially top-down and prescriptive in design and lacked sectoral integration. The earlier

the chronic poverty, the inability of the traditional jhum system of cultivation to cope with increasing population pressures and the land and environment degradation that it led to. The institutional and governance framework of the North East Region, specially in Schedule VI Areas, though democratic in nature, left much to be desired in terms of representation and effective development for local communities.

Goals and Objectives

In addition to the overall objective of providing sustainable livelihoods to vulnerable groups the project also aimed to

• Pomote sensitive development.

• Enhance the participation and capabilities of local people.

• Create and foster environmental awareness and knowledge.

• Establish effective systems for input delivery and asset maintenance.

• Increase the participation of women in local institutions and community decision making.

• Enhance savings capacity and promote thrift.

• Provide access to basic services and social infrastructure.

Components

The project has been designed to comprise of the following components:

NERCORMP- A Success Story

Communities have for

the first time started taking

responsibility for operation and maintenance

of water supply schemes.

Awareness campaigns

have reduced disease

incidence significantly

models ignored the socio-cultural complexity of the tribal populations and their inter-relations, and were not able to address the economic stagnation of the rural economy,


• C a p a c i t y B u i l d i n g o f Communities and Participating Agencies

• E c o n o m i c L i v e l i h o o d Activities

• Community-based Biodiversity Conservation

• Social Sector Activities

• Vil lage Roads and Rural Electrification

Evaluation of the Project

According to an assessment done in 2005, NERCORMP has been a notably successful development intervention, despite challenges and the hugely ambitious nature of its coverage in terms of geographic spread and subject matter.

The rural poverty impact is the main measure of performance of the project. This is a function of the number of households and people actively involved in the project, and the extent of improvement in their livelihood and wellbeing. The Evaluation Mission concludes that at least 25,000 households have benefited to date and received substantive advantage from one or more Project activity. The wealth ranking aggregate figures, which are rough indicators of movement in poverty incidence, show that of a total of 18 390 households assessed between 1999 and 2004, the numbers of “poorest” have fallen from 9,742 to 6,455 and those “better-off” have increased from 172 to 625; thus, 18% of the relevant Project households has

moved out of the poorest category; and 2% of households have moved up into the better-off category.

Main Implementation Results

The main and most direct sources of poverty impact have been production and income oriented activities of on-farm livelihoods; crop diversification, irrigation and terracing, non-farm livelihoods (to a lesser extent) and income generation.

Agriculture, Land use and Biodiversity Conservation

While still practised extensively, the area under jhum has decreased significantly in the review period. 10,211 hectares (ha) of former jhum land have been converted in Project communities, against a target of 23,000 ha. The majority of communities, at least at the cluster level, have established community forests on former jhum land.

Small acreages of new terracing have been achieved, and minor irrigation structures have been started in a few places in all districts, comprising 492 ha of new irrigation - against a target of 370 ha - and repair of 1,530 ha of existing irrigation, against a target of 1,370 ha.

Animal husbandry has markedly increased in Project villages. Pig and poultry, including duck, rearing have been adopted and are proving highly profitable in 8162 and 12334 households respectively. The number of fish ponds has increased substantially to 176

ha. (the appraisal target was 50 ha) Where hives and procedures have been supplied, beekeeping and honey production has greatly increased.

Village Infrastructure and Rural Electrification

The implicit aims of the village roads and rural electrification component were to improve village access to facilitate transport of people, farm inputs and produce, household supplies and the reach to social services and amenities; and to provide the electric power necessary for development of non-farm commercial and small industry activities. Some 170 km of upgrading and 20 km of bituminised new roads serving 190 communities were planned; the achievement in the period of review was 126 km of upgraded roads and 181 km of new, laterite/gravel roads.

The progress has been less satisfying under rural electrification. As against proposed 115 Village Grid Connection and 20 Micro Hydro Electricity Scheme only 80 villages have been connected and 1 Micro Hydel Scheme constructed.

Non Farm Livelihoods

Although no specific targets were set, a large number of non-farm livelihood activities are already operating under the project through the efforts of SHGs and Clusters. Among them are small retail shops - 238; handicraft units - 80; pharmacies - 66; weaving


enterprises - 592; potteries - 484; rice mills - 29; and many others.

Social Sector Activities

These comprised three sub-components: drinking water supply; community health care; and schools agricultural programme. The Project set out to fund new water supply schemes consisting of 40 dug wells, 100 tube wells and hand pumps, and 160 gravity piped systems. The Major achievements include provision of 347 safe drinking water supply systems; 134 water reservoirs; 34 water pond improvements and 30 ring wells. Similarly, construction of 22,120 low cost latrines in 594 villages was acclaimed as a major success with strong impact in awareness and adoption of hygienic practices, leading to control of infectious diseases and to improved health. The sub-component of Schools Agricultural Programme was given low priority. Certain school demonstration plots and farms were taken up by the NaRMGs under the Project.

Community development and Participation - Impact On Institutions and Gender

NERCORMP’s achievements in the field of community organization and participation, formation of viable and sustainable SHGs, breaking of the dependence syndrome and realization of the strength of self management,the pro-poor and poverty targeted approach, and enhancement of sustainable livelihoods have been widely recognized.

On the institutional front, the principal effect of the Project has been at the grass roots, village and local levels and has been most felt among the Project groups and cluster associations and federations and their NGO partners. In some districts, notably in Meghalaya, this influence of the Project has also extended to the line departments whose support has been engaged in the provision of technical assistance to SHGs, NaRMGs and Project staff for the planning, design and operation of investments and enterprises.

The Project area covered a number of tribal communities that have distinctive ethnic, linguistic and socio-cultural characteristics, but share common features, such as village councils. Though the status of women in tribal societies is better than their non-tribal counterparts, women were never part of village councils, nor participants in important community or locality decision making processes. A major thrust of the Project centred on women and their integration into community decision making through establishment of self-managed savings and credit SHGs, cluster SHGs and associations, and NaRMGs, as an alternative to the VDCs envisaged at appraisal. NaRMGs have become community deve lopment p lann ing and implementing bodies, with 50% membership of men and women showing structural gender balance; gender equity is similarly reflected in nearly all of the Project activities.

At present there are 996 NaRMGs in the Project area.

Possibly the most significant achievement of the Project is the formation of SHGs, predominantly of women members: there are now 2071 SHGs - as against an original target of 920, that is a 125% increase - with 33,056 women members, indicating not only the revised village coverage but also enthusiasm for participation.

The SHG movement in Project villages has brought widespread, profound and palpable changes in the mindset, attitude and confidence of women. Their training has enabled them to read and write, which has empowered them. Further, training on book keeping and accountancy was imparted to increase their self-confidence and appreciation of savings and thrift. This is seen in enhanced household decision making and financial management capability. Specific training inputs have included: 206 technical training sessions for over 680 men and 630 women; SHG training sessions on group dynamics and management - 2 388; on savings and credit management - 4 309; on accounts and record keeping - 436; on communication skills - 2 339; and on group rules and regulations – 416

The SHG movement has also brought village women closer together in understanding and in everyday life activities, adding to their social and political status and effectiveness. From income 11


generating activities, women have benefited substantially in terms of time saving, income earning and better food availability; and from forest management and water conservation and supply interventions, with the result that collection from distant sources, of up to 2 km away, is now avoided, drudgery reduced and health improved.

Communities have for the first time started taking responsibility for operation and maintenance of

water supply schemes. Provision of safe drinking water, low cost latrines, and awareness campaigns have reduced disease incidence significantly and eased the work burden of women and girls.

Additional water has also been used for raising plantation and kitchen gardens. Functional l i teracy, particularly among women SHG members, has shown a quantum improvement. With increased income and improved

production, adult - and especially child - nutrition status, has been transformed. School enrolment and attendance is on an upward trend, including that for girls.

In view of the achievements highlighted by the interim evaluation, a proposal for expansion of the Project to three districts of Arunachal Pradesh and three additional districts of Manipur is under consideration. q


Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project

The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Facility envisages connectivity between Indian Ports on the eastern seaboard and Sittwe Port in Myanmar and then through riverine transport and by road to Mizoram, thereby providing an alternate route for transport of goods to North-East India.

The project also provides connectivity between India and Myanmar, which will lead to the development of trade between the two countries. It will also contribute to economic development of Mizoram and other North-Eastern states.

The project involves development of a trade route between the two countries along the river Kaladan. The river Kaladan is navigable from its confluence point with the Bay of Bengal near Sittwe up to Setpyitpyin (Kaletwa) in Myanmar, on its North. Beyond this the river is not navigable owing to shallow water depth and frequent rapids. Therefore, transportation by road is proposed for this stretch. From Sittwe Port to Kaletwa, transportation will be by waterway and from Kaletwa to India-Myanmar border transportation will be by road.

The objective of the proposal is to provide an access route to the land-locked North-Eastern region of India. The project is significant in view of severe pressure on the Siliguri Corridor and Bangladesh’s continued intransigence in providing us transit rights through its territory to the North-East.

Route of the Project

From Kolkata to Sittwe, a distance of 539 Km by Sea

From Sittwe to Setpyitpyin, a distance of 225 Km by Inland Water Transport on river Kaladan.

From Setpyitpyin to India- Myanmar Border, a distance of 62 Km by Road.

Handling Points along India –Myanmar Border

Handling Point in India : Hmawngbu (Mobu) in Mizoram.

Handling Point in Myanmar : Myeikwa.

The Ministry of External Affairs will fund the project fully and handover to the Myanmar side on completion. Inland Waterways Authority of India have been appointed as the Project Development Consultant by Ministry of External Affairs for the Myanmar portion.


NORTh EaSTfOCuS

MANIPuR


Tourism in Manipur

NORTh-EaST

ANIPUR, WHICH is in the easternmost corner of India, is becoming an important tourist destination. Covering

an area of 22,327 sq. kms., the state shares boundary with Nagaland in the north, Mizoram in the South and Assam in the West. Strategically situated in the far-flung corner of the vast sub-continent, Manipur has always served as a vital corridor in historical times.

The state is inhabited by 33 recognized tribes who have mostly settled in the hills, and major community of the Meiteis who are the dwellers in the Imphal valley and other valley district of Manipur. Obviously, culture and traditions of the people are variegated, colourful and exotic. Different communities in the hills have their own wonderful traditions, crafts and ethos. Music, dance and other lively form of arts play an important part in the social life of the communities. Simplicity and dignity of life is the hallmark of

M

The author is Commissioner (Tourism), Govt. of Manipur.

B Badrinarayan Sharma

the people in the mountains.

Celebrated throughout the world is the culture, art and dance of the Meities in the plains. Manipur dance, more particularly the Ras Lila is a classical dance of India. Ras Lila is the epitome of the systhesis of the highest traidition in Indian culture and indigenous culture of the Mongoloid people of the state. Unlike other dance forms of the country, Ras-Lila is inspired by bhakti-the much extolled devotion in Indian philosophy and culture.

In the month of May, Lai-haraoba festival which is a pre-Hindu festival of the valley people of Manipur will surely attract both foreign and domestic tourists.

There a re o ther equa l ly enchanting folk dances, music and dramas including our popular Shumang Lilas or Jatrawalis which will enthrall and entertain the tourists. The plays of Ratan Thiyam of the Chorus Repertoire are internationally famous and are

OPPORTuNiTiES

It is our hope that there

will be less barriers and

fewer restrictions for the people

in this globalized world and we may strive for

harmony, mutual tolerance

and equity


often premiered in Tokyo, London or New York.

In the field of Games and Sports, our sports men and women have shown their best performances, winning gold medals and trophies not only in the country but also in the international sports arena. In the recently concluded National Games in Guwahati, Manipur emerged as the number one among the states participating in the games. It is also a matter of pride for the state that the game of polo originated in Manipur. Some years back, there used to be International Polo Festival at Imphal in which many enthusiastic polo players from different countries participated.

With her rich diversity of culture and traditions, Manipur is endowed with wonderful sceneries, flora and fauna and intricate eco-system. The climate is good and salubrious, ranging from 33 Celsius degree in summer to 5 Celsius degree in winter. Mother nature has been kind to Manipur. There is no catastrophic cyclone, tsunami or drought.

Connectivity

The State has a well developed road network connecting with the mainland India and Myanmar. National High Way No. 39 runs from Dimapur side in Nagaland passing through Manipur and extending upto Moreh on the International border with Mayanmar. National High Way No. 53 connects Imphal with Silchar in the Cachar District of Assam. National Highway 150 runs from Imphal to Mizoram crossing Churachandpur District of Manipur. The nearest railhead connection is from Dimapur in Nagaland, 215 kms away from

Imphal in the north. Another major lifeline of railway connection is at Jiribam which is 225 kms away from Imphal. It is hoped that the railway line will be extended upto Imphal for which survey is already completed. However, the road communication on the National Highways will have to be developed and expanded.

Air Communication :

Imphal Airport is the second largest airport in the northeastern region. Imphal is connected with Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati, Aizawl and Silchar by Indian Airlines, Jetlite, Indigo, and Kingfisher Airlines at present. One can even fly direct from Mumbai to Imphal or from Delhi to Imphal without changing aircraft and return to the metro cities on the same day. If the Airport at Imphal is upgraded to an International Airport, flight to Rangoon Bangkok or Singapore will be much more economical, short and convenient. Surely there will be a time for such a venture with the growing realization that the Look East Policy will be the key to the integration of the economy of the South East Asia and South Asia, much on the pattern of the European Union. The future of India and the whole of North East impinges on such a possibility in the near future.

Infrastructure for Tourism :

Though much is yet to be developed, Manipur has already got infrastructures for a Tourism destination. Apart from good roads and highways, there are a number of good hotels in and around Imphal and other major towns in the valley and hills. State owned

Imphal Hotel is also a comfortable and budget hotel compared to other hotels of the same standard in the north east. Here I would earnestly solicit for investment by the private entrepreneurs and public sector.

The State Government recently embarked upon an ambitious eco-tourism project in the vicinity of Imphal city. Another landmark in Manipur is the Loktak Lake and the areas surrounding the lake. Moirang town which is situated beside the Loktak, 40 kms from Imphal, is the historic place where Azad Hind Fauz (INA) under the leadership of Netaji Subashchandra Bose hoisted the National tri-colour flag. Bishnupur, Imphal and Ukhrul saw the most fierce and decisive battles during the Second World War. These are recorded in the annals of the IInd World War. It is on the plains of Imphal that Lord Wavell decorated General Slim who defeated the Japanese. As a legacy of the war, veterans and relatives of the soldiers who fought and died in Manipur continue to visit Manipur annually from the United Kingdom and Japan. There is a Commonwealth War Cemetery in Imphal. There is also another War Memorial at Maibam Lokpa Ching in Bishnupur District which was constructed by the Japanese Government on the famous Tiddim Road extending upto the Tiddim town in Myanmar. These places are of historical and tourist interest.

Again we have a very rare breed of fauna in the species of brow-antlered deer called Sangai in Manipur in the Keibul Lamjao National Park bordering the Loktak Lake. Such rare and exotic flora


and fauna can only thrive in the mountains, valleys and eco-system of Manipur .This is an invitation itself for the tourists to come to Manipur.

We have also a very ancient temple at Bishnupur town. The Vishnu Temple was constructed during the region of Kiyamba Maharaj in the 15 Century. The influence of Chinese brick making is also discernable in the texture of the bricks. The Archeological Survey of India is now maintaining the temple.

Again in Imphal, we have the historic Govindaji Temple where the deity of Govindaji along with Radharani is worshipped. Rajashree Bhagyachandra Maharaj installed the idol of Govindaji in the 18 century after defeating the Burmese who occupied Manipur. It was a fulfillment of his dream and vision in the great Vaishnavite tradition. In the month of March, during the Doljatra or Holi festival, there are colourful processions of Holi singers with the beating of drums and kartals. In fact our Holi festival is quite unique and tourists will be fascinated and moved by the religious fervour and riot of colours.

Our state is now keen to develop an integrated Development of Tourist Circuit on Imphal-Thoubal-Chandel-Tengnoupal-Moreh routes as these places have the potential for tourism, taking into consideration its geographical locations and proximity to the international border between Myanmar and Manipur. It is at the battle of Khongjom on this route that the British forces defeated the Manipuris in April, 1891.

I may be allowed to say that the State of Manipur is full of potential for development of tourism and related hospitality industry. We have got all the classic features for cultural tourism, games and sports, adventure tourism, nature tourism and eco-tourism. With a literacy rate of about 69 percent, educated youths of the State will be absorbed in gainful employment if only a sound tourism policy in conjunction with the opening of the Asian Highway through Manipur is formulated, thereby facilitating trade and commerce along the Indo-Myanmar border. Economy of not only Manipur but also of the entire North East will be put on a high trajectory. A time will come when the country will be really proud of the North East.

At present, Protected Area Permit (PAP) is proving to be the major obstacle to the growth and promotion of tourism in this part of the country. Times are changing and more so in the wake of globalization, it is important that such restriction should no longer be in place, though at a time, the restriction regime had its own justification and need. Perhaps, there may be compulsions for continuing with the restrictions. However, the noble words of the Rigveda, “Aa no Bhadraah : Kratavo Yantu Vishvatah” : meaning “Let noble thoughts come to us from every side” should continue to dictate our policy.

It is our hope that there will be less barriers and fewer restrictions for the people in this globalized world and we may strive for harmony, mutual tolerance and equality so that there will be free movement of people and labour. People of the nations will stand to gain much from freedom, democracy, world peace, International understanding and mutual co-existence. q


Mizoram plans open market system for farmers

The Mizoram Government is planning to follow an open market system for the locally-grown ginger and other spices. Under the system farmers will be free from government’s intervention in dealing with prospective buyers and in fixing prices of their production to control price fluctuation. An extensive

market survey will be required for which the provision will be made in the budget. The State Agriculture Produce Marketing (Development & Regulation) Amendment Bill 2009 has been put up for the Cabinet’s approval. Rs. 100 crore has been set aside for implementation of the government’s flagship New Land Use Policy during the annual plan 2009-2010.

(Courtesy : Newspaper)


MANIPuR'S LIFELINE uNDER THREAT

CORRIGENDuM

The Loktak lake in Manipur is the largest freshwater lake in Northeastern India. It is also the only lake in this world that carries

floating islands or Phumdis, which are decaying masses of vegetation, soil and organic matter. The largest of these phumdis has the Keibul Lamjao national Park, the last natural refuge of the endangered Sangai deer.

The word Loktak is a combination of two words - Lok meaning stream and Tak meaning end. The Manipur river and many small rivulets flow into the lake. It has a surface area of 287 square kms, and an average depth of 2.7 metres. At its deepest point the lake has a depth 4.6 metres.

This lake plays an important role in the economy of Manipur. It serves as a source of water for hydropower generation, irrigation and drinking water supply. The lake is also a source of livelihood for the rural fisherman who live in the surrounding areas and on phumdis. Several water resources development projects have been built in the Manipur River basin to meet growing demands for irrigation. Seven of these have been completed; these are the Singda Dam Project, Thoubal Dam Project and Khuga Dam Project which are of multipurpose type, the Imphal Barrage Project and the Sekmai Barrage Project – both medium irrigation projects. The most discussed project is the Loktak Multipurpose Project, which provides hydropower, irrigation and water supply benefits. but has attracted adverse criticism for the drastic alteration it has caused to the hydrological regime of the Loktak Lake and associated wetlands.

The lake has a very rich biodiversity. Due to its ecological importance it has been designated as a Ramsar site. The area has however come under a lot of environmental stress due to loss of vegetal cover in the catchment area and construction of Ithai barrage at the outlet of the lake for multipurpose development of water resources. Deforestation has led to soil erosion, and there is a huge amount of silt, as also waste from Imphal city and other areas flowing into the lake. This has reduced the depth of the lake and affected its water quality. The lake is at a high level of eutrophication, many valuable species of flora and fauna are dying out, and even the Sangai deer is nearing extinction.

The Government of Manipur has set up the Loktak Development Authority (LDA) under “The Manipur Loktak Lake (Protection) Act, 2006 with the objective of providing for administration, control, protection, improvement, conservation and development of the natural environment of the Loktak Lake . The main activities carried out by LDA include survey and demarcation, removal of silt, removal of phoomdis, control of water hyacinth through release of weevils, construction of silt detention structures, afforestation of critical catchment area by plantation of appropriate species of plants and fruit-bearing trees and soil conservation through engineering measures.

Introduction of Shri E.Bhaskaran, the author of the article, "The Performance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises" published in November 2009 issue of Yojana was wrongly printed. The author is Assistant Director of Industries and Commerce, Government of Tamil Nadu, Chepauk, Chennai 600 005.

The error is regretted.

Loktak lake


Scientific Management of Bioresources of Manipur

NORTh-EaST

IORESOURCES CAN be considered as those components of earth’s b iodivers i ty, which human societies have

been using from time immemorial for food, medicine, clothing and shelter. In identification of which plant, animal and microorganism fulfi l l various requirements as bioresource, a great deal of observations and informal and formal experimentations must have taken place and results passed overs generations of ethnic and traditional societies. In highly evolved societies, scientific research has not only added value to utilization of bioresources, the accelerated pace of scientific progess has also put a lot of pressure on the planet’s biodiversity, the lifeline for harmonious existence for all life forms including human beings.

Conservation of biodiversity and management of the bioresources are two important issues that need to be addressed at local, regional, national

B

The author is Director (I/C) of the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development under Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India at Imphal, Manipur

N C Talukdar

and international levels. Scientific efforts in these directions have been facilitated by classification of the biodiversity rich regions of the world into biodiversity hotspots. Most of these hotspots are inhabited by people who are economically poor, and include a large number of ethnic groups who hold a treasure house of traditional knowledge on the nutritional and medicinal value of these bioresources.. Currently, there are 34 biodiversity hotspots as per classification of United Nations International Conservation, of which three are located in India. Two of these biodiversity hotspots namely, Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot and Eastern Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot spread across the north eastern region of India and South Eastern region of Asia.

The entire north east India is bountiful in biodiversi ty and bioresources, yet research and development activities to tap these assets for economic development has remained at a

OPPORTuNiTiES

Manipur has the

advantage of a large

market in the South East Asian

countries for products and

processes developed from its bioresources


low level. The need to link the potential of the bioresources to economic prosperity of the region could be possible only through building of scientific institutions for quality research that can convert bioresources into process and products of value to society, through state-of-art biotechnology research facilities, tools of modern biology, documentation of the biodiversity and bioresources of the region, biotechnological interventions for their sustainable development and utilization, development of technological packages for employment generat ion and economic progress of the region, capacity building in bioresources conservation, development, and utilization and collaboration with other nationally / internationally in furthering research pursuits in bioresources. In this pursuit, the Government of India established the Ïnstitute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, (IBSD) at Imphal, Manipur in the year 2000 with the goal of scientific management of plant, animal and microbial bioresources of the Indian region of Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot.

The Indo-Burma Hotspot is home to 13,500 plant species (2.3% of world total), 2,185 vertebrates species (1.9 % of total) of which 7000 and 528 species are endemics to this hotspot, respectively. This hotspot is also home to 1,170 avian and 329 Mammals, and a large numbers of reptiles. Although comparatively a small geographical area, Manipur has the distinction of representing a wide range of climate from temperate alpine to tropical, and consequently has a wide range

of forests and biodiversity. In Manipur, the known biodiversity includes 4000 angiospermic plants species, 430 medicinal plants species, 34 edible fungi species, 500 orchids species and 55 species of bamboo, 40 endemic rice cultivars, 160 fish species and 21 species of migratory aquatic birds. Multitude of low and high altitude butterflies are available in the state but survey records on butterflies are not yet available.

The economically important plants of commercial importance that are currently included as prioritized research in IBSD are Zingibers, Citrus and Orchids. Out of 19 genera and 88 species of Zingiberaceae available in NE India, 42 species from Manipur alone have been maintained in IBSD. There is a great variation in fibre and oil content of ginger varieties and in curcumin and oleoresin content of turmeric varieties. Selection of the locally available ginger varieties with less fibre and high oil yield can provide higher benefit to farmers because of ease in oil extraction from low fibre rhizomes. There are a few zinger varieties such as Zinziber cassumuar and Zinziber zerumbet which are used in indigenous folk medicines and native practitioners claim that these are useful in treatment of diabetes mellitus, cough, stomach ache, ear inflammation and diarrhoea. Rhizome of Zinziber zerumbet, also contains zerumbone to the extent of 88.5% in its oil, which has been shown to be potent anticancer, antiviral and anti-inflammatory agent. Scientific investigation into these claims may result in discovery of bioactive principles of great value in health sector.

The North eastern region of India has seventeen species of Citrus Manipur also has a rich diversity of Citrus and some species such as Citrus maxima, which grow abundantly and exhibit high productivity does not have much commercial fruit value but scientific intervention to remove bitterness factor from it during juice extraction may convert it into a useful commodity. Citrus peel oils are used as flavouring additives in bakery goods, soft drinks, citrus juices and also used as additives in non-food products such as perfumes, soaps, cosmetics, lotions and candles. A comparative study on citrus peel oil compositions of locally available Citrus resources of the state is likely to contribute better flavouring additives for food and cosmetic industries.

Orchids are accepted to be the world's most exotic and fascinating flowers. The unmatched ornamental value of Orchids account for multi-million dollar cut flower industries in several countries like Europe, America, Japan. The 472 identified species of orchids of Manipur is a great bioresource wealth of the state. Twenty two valuable orchids including 13 endangered species of Manipur have been maintained in IBSD orchderium. The need of the hour is to bring awareness, popularization, conservation, propagation and commercialization of orchids so as to convert this wealth into rewarding resources. To reduce collection of orchids from wild for buisness purpose, protocols for in-vitro propagation of selected orchids, Aeridies odoratum and Dendrobium transparens and highly endangered Renanthera imschootiana have been developed.


A protocol for induction of flowering of Dendrobium transparens has also been developed ..

A number of commercially important essential oil yielding medicinal and aromatic plants have been identified in IBSD like selected clones of bay leaf shown to contain 1.3 – 2.1% oil in which eugenol content may be as high as 82%. Eugenol is used as pain reliever and antiseptic agent. Alpinia officinarum and Alpinia galanga are two rhizomatous herbs which contain 1, 8-cineole as the main constituent in its oil to the extent of 28.3 and 53.4%, respectively. 1, 8-cineole is a potent antimicrobial agent. Gultheria fragrantissima, a large shrub found abundantly in the Shillong peak area and contains methyl salicylate to the extent of 99.8% in its essential oil extracted from leaves, twigs and stem. Currently, India imports methyl salicylate for use as component of balm used for relief of headache, muscular pain and common cold.

The climate of Manipur is very favourable for growth of passion fruit. Juice of passion fruit is reported to possess sedative effect and digestive stimulant property. Passion fruit contains 7.45% seeds and its pulp and juice factory release large quantity of seeds. These seeds were found to contain linolic and oleic acid to the extent of 69.3 and 14.4% respectively, as unsaturated fatty acid and the role of these fatty acid in treating heart diseases is well documented.

Besides these priority crops, there is record of large number of medicinal plants nearing 430 species which are collected by local people

from Loktak Lake and agricultural fields of Manipur and used in local traditional medicine. Many medicinal plants are locally used as vegetables and fruits. Scientific researches on these plants are required for determining bioactive principles in them and also method of propagation, domestication and cultivation so that stress on them in their natural habitat is reduced. As far as commercial exploitation and the status of these plants in the wild are concerned, no scientific data are available. However, information on la rge sca le commerc ia l exploitation of few medicinal plants of Manipur indicate that at present Dalchini, Longpepper and Smilex are collected from the forest of Manipur to the extent of 83, 598, 43, 940 qnd 69,600 kg per year respectively. Propagation and cultivation techniques of these plants are urgently needed to reduce pressure on them and eliminate threat of cultivation in their natural habitats.

Another impor tan t p lan t biorecources of Manipur with high commercial value is edible bamboos. Fresh edible bamboo shoots contain about 88.8% water, over 3.9% protein, 0.5% fat, 5.7% carbohydrates and 1.1% mineral, 17 amino acids and are a very popular vegetable, It also has many medicinal properties such as protein digestive properties. There is no systematic data available to determine the extent of stress on its natural habitat. Studies on variation of the nutritional parameters of the bamboo shoots of different species and clones, development of superior preservation technique to make their availability round the year and development of package

for their cultivation are important scientific interventions essential in management of this bioresource for more economic benefit.

N.E. Region and Manipur in particular have rich fish resource. A variety of endemic species found in the wetland ecosystem (Loktak and other lakes) have been documented. Several migratory fishes along the Chindwin-Irrawaddy and Barak river systems have also been listed. As many as 140 fish species have been found in Manipur, including a number of small ornamented fishes in the hill streams. In addition, many edible snails and mussels are also available in this region. There is an ample scope for commercial culture of freshwater mussels and prawn and also hill stream fishes many of which are highly prized. Most of the fishes available in the local market originate from wilderness and there has been a great threat of pushing the delicious local fishes to indigenous fishes list or even extinction. Their induced breeding technique and culture technique can greatly improve the scenario. In IBSD, induced breeding technique of two indigenous carp species Osteobrama belangiri and Bangana devdevi have been taken up successfully. Availability of spawns and fingerlings to fish farmers and entrepreneurs as starting material is expected to popularize the large scale cultivation of these wild species and contribute greatly towards its conservation.

Insect bioresources are one niche area of research initiated in the Institute for its scientific exploitation in sustainable manner. Insect bioresources are well known for their industrial importance. For


instance silk, honey and lac are all insect products obtained through Sericulture, Apiculture and Lac culture, respectively. Amongst the silk producing leading states of India, Manipur occupies 6th position contributing 286 MT of silk from Mulberry, Tasar and Eri. Lac insects living on a variety of forest trees are exploited for their products of commercial value i.e., resin, dye and wax. Some dyes like cochineal obtained from insects Dactylopius tomentosus and D. coccus have been used for the extraction of carmine acid, a natural red dye presently used in food.

Besides these conventionally known and industrially important insect bioresources, several insects are being used for various medicinal purposes by the traditional healers of Manipur. For example. Lethocerus indicus is used for piles and cancer, Cybister confusus for urinary complaints and diarrhrea.. Survey results has also shown that many ethnic groups advocate use of a number of insect species as food items and believe that they constitute a cheap, easily available and rich source of animal protein. These insects are collected from wild but the effect of this practice on ecosystem balance is not known. If these insects have a predatory role on pest, then this traditional practice may not be desirable. However, these scientific issues are currently being addressed through research. Analysis of nutritive and medicinal values of insects based on traditional knowledge and their toxicological and pharmacological evaluation have the potential of converting edible and medicinal insects into buisness.

In addition to these visible bioresources, there is a world of numerous microscopic creatures distributed across different habitats which contribute substatially to the overall biodiversity of earth. Contribution of microbial world to the agriculture, industry and health sectors and to overall growth of modern civiliazation is well known. Very little scientific data are available on the microbial treasures of Manipur. The mushroom fungi flora of Manipur is very rich in diversity (34 species reported). Its edible species are highly rich in protein, flavour, taste and overall nutritive values and of commercial importance. An edible red algae, Lemanea australis locally known as Nungsam, is an edible algae consumed and marketed from natural aquatic habitat of Manipur. The unique feature of this algae is that its growth is profuse in sub surface water of about 30 -50 cm depth. These unique bioresources require immediate research attention for their scientific management.

The different agro-ecosystems of the entire North Eastern region of India including Manipur possess a rich diversity of microorganisms which has not yet been explored. Owing to traditional form of agriculture in the region and use of less amount of agro-chemicals, microflora of these habitats are expected to harbour unique species with potential for discovery of new antibiotics, biofertilzers and biopesticides. . The one lakh hectare of cultivated land in the valley of Manipur can be fertilized solely with organic manures. Production potential for organic manures is very high owing to availability of large quantity of organic biomass

as vegetation generated on aquatic bodies, organic waste from cities, or . crop residues and animal waste.

Citrus dieback malady has been major threat to the profitable cultivation of mandarin orange in the region. In addition to the efforts to produce virus free planting materials by micropropagation and shoot tip grafting, the issue of poor nutrition of the perennial orchards has been addressed through characterization of plant growth promoting rhizosphere bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi and development of biofertilizer with effective strains of these organisms for use as a component of integrated nutrient management. A rich diversity of cyanobacteria of terrestrial and aquatic habitats have been isolated and characterized for use as a source of biofertilizer, single cell protein, natural colorant and other health care products.

Traditionally, soil bacteria and actinomycetes have been the sources of different antibiotics for treatment of various diseases. New scientific discovery is beginning to unravel tremendous potential of bacteria as a source of bioactive molecules against wide range of health related problems. Conventional cultural technique can assess only about 10% of total bacteria present in a habitat but modern molecular techniques have been useful in culture-independent assessment of these potentials in bacteria. In a multi-institutional project executed under private public partnership mode with Nicholas Piramal as industrial partner and other nine R & D institutes of the country including IBSD, initial screening of 13900 bacterial isolates of North


East India indicated 319, 51, 16 and 74 isolates to possess anti-infective, anti inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-diabetes properties, respectively.

Fermentation is one of the oldest and most economical methods of producing and preserving foods. In addition to preservation, fermented foods can also have the added benefits of enhancing flavour, increased digestibility, improving nutritional value and pharmacological values.. There are more than 50 varieties of fermented foods and beverages in NE states of India, such as fermented soybean products, fermented bamboo shoot products), fermented vegetables, fermented fish products, fermented meat products, fermented yak milk products, glutinous rice based alcoholic beverages, millets based alcoholic beverages and fruit wines. There has been a growing interest

world over to explore, search and collect microbial germplasm in search of gene pool, which can help biotechnologist to develop value added products for human welfare. In developed countries their raditional fermented foods such as yoghurt, cheese, sauerkraut, natto, tempe, miso, ect. have been scientifically well investigated, innovative production technologies are developed and these products are commercialized with health benefits label in the international markets. But the local manufacturers here are still depending on their age-old traditional art. There is a need to create awareness about Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and safety of the marketed products as per HACCP system. Development of novel fermented functional foods with clinically documented health promoting properties could have positive impact on the health and welfare of the people, especially

the low income group of the northeastern states of India.

Finally, it may be concluded that plant, animal and microbial bioresources of Manipur can contribute greatly to the state’s economy, if managed scientifically. However, initiatives to reach this goal need to be backed by the right environment for research and also strong extension machinery to disseminate scientific knowledge on bioresources management to end users. Being in the corrider between India and South east Asia, Manipur possess the advantage of enjoying a large market in the South East Asian countries for products and processes developed from its bioresources. In this regards, the “look east ploicy” of government of India may also act as a catalyst in accelerating the pace of bioresources business in the state. q


E-governance in Tripura

As many as 145 Community Service Centres (CSC) would be operationalised soon in Tripura covering thousands of village panchayats in all 40 revenue blocks. Principal Secretary of Information Technology L.K.Gupta informed that besides strengthening telecommunication network, Tripura

has successfully implemented State Wide Area Network (SWAN) project in January, leading to the setting up of CSCs.

The ministry made a commitment that the upgradation of network will be taken care of. Tripura is the sixth State in the country to have successfully commissioned SWAN after Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh and Delhi.

Tripura SWAN is a State-wide computer data, voice and video network connecting 60 points of presence (PoPs) to the optical fibre cable (OFC) back-bone up to block level The SWAN scheme envisages establishment of an intra-government network with a minimum of two Mbps connectivity from the State headquarters to block level through district and subdivision head quarters for providing connectivity to facilitate rolling out of citizen-centric services.

Tripura was also the first State to have successfully engaged an independent Third Party Auditor (TPA) to monitor the performance of SWAN with a view to ensuring desired Quality of Service (QoS) by the network operator and bandwidth service provider.

To attract outside investors, especially for software development, the government had initiated a package of incentives.


uPCOMING POwER PROJECTS IN THE NORTH EASTDibang Multi Purpose Hydro-Electric Project

Arunachal PradeshThe Dibang Multi Purpose Project would utilize ethe waters of the Dibang River to generate 3000

MW of power. In addition, the project would moderate floods in the downstream areas of the Dibang Dam during the entire monsoon period. The Government of Arunachal Pradesh and NHPC have entered into an agreement about the various features of the Project. With the commissioning of the Project in 2017-18, the North Eastern Region is expected to have a surplus in the peak and energy availability of 21.50% (774 MW) & 35.50% (4585 MW) respectively. The surplus power will be transmitted to the power starved eastern and northern region.

Palatana Gas-Based Power ProjectTripura

The Palatana Gas Based Generation Project (740 MW) in Tripura has been conceived along with a 400 KV dedicated transmission line from Palatana upto Bongaigaon (via Silchar) . The project is being developed by OTPC, a Joint Venture company of ONGC, IL&FS and Govt. of Tripura. The sale of power will be through Power Trading Corporation (PTC) The estimated cost for this transmission scheme is about Rs.1400 crores . It has to be completed in the 3-4 years time matching with the commissioning of Palatana generation project.

Monarchak Gas-Based Power ProjectTripura

The Monarchak Gas based Power Project in Tripura will be executed by NEEPCO. Gas supply arrangement with ONGC has been concluded in December, 2007 with the confirmed allocation of 0.5 MMSCUMD for Monarchak at Rs.4125/thousand scm with base year 2008-09 for 15 years on firm commitment basis.

RAILwAY PROJECTS IN THE NORTH EASTNational Projects(1) Bhairabhi – Sairang Railway Line (Assam – Meghalaya) (2) Bogibeel Bridge with linking lines (Assam, over Brahmaputra,73 kms) (3) Dimapur – Zubza(Kohima) New Line (Nagaland and Assam,88 kms) (4) Jiribam - Tupul - Imphal New Line ( Manipur , 97.9 kms)(5) Kumarghat – Agartala New Line (Tripura , 109 kms) (6) Lumding – Silchar – Jiribam and Badarpur - Kumarghat Gauge Conversion (Assam - Manipur and

Assam-Tripura ,367 kms)(7) Rangia-Murkongselek with linked finger Conversion Gauge Conversion (Assam, 510.3 kms) (8) Azra – Byrnihat New Line (Assam-Meghalaya , 30 kms) (9) Agartala – Sabroom New Line (Tripura , 110 kms)(10) Sivok – Rangpo New Line (West Bengal - Sikkim,52.70 kms)Other Railway Projects(1) Byrnihat – Shillong Railway Line (Meghalaya) (2) Harmuti – Itanagar Railway Line (Assam – Arunachal Pradesh)


Damning the Brahmaputra?

NORTh-EaST

VER THE last few years, there have been sporadic reports in the media about China having undertaken a massive project to dam

the Brahmaputra or Tsangpo, as it is known in Tibet. Apart from producing electricity, the other major objective of the proposed dam is to supply water to the water scarce areas of China. Most of these reports have been routinely denied by the Chinese. However, when questioned about the huge movement of men, machinery and materials to the proposed dam site , it was sought to be explained away in terms of infrastructure and road building exercises in Tibet.

In the absence of clinching corroborative evidence, the matter never figured prominently in Indian foreign policy till recently. But there are indications that the issue is set to occupy centre stage in the Indo-China relations in the future. As a case in point may be noted the recent meeting between

O

The author teaches Sustainable Development at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong.

Sanjeeb Kakoty

the External Affairs Minister of India, S.M.Krishna and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, where Indian concerns were said to have been conveyed on the Brahmaputra dam issue.

Paucity of information about the dam is understandable as it is an extremely sensitive matter and could have wide international r a m i f i c a t i o n s . M o r e o v e r , the location of the dam being inaccessible and out of bounds for visitors, information has been difficult to come by. Chinese efforts to keep the project under wraps is understandable since International opposition to the proposed dam at the preliminary stage might create an adverse situation that would impede its successful completion. On the other hand, by keeping the project under wraps, and announcing it to the world on its completion may be a fait accompli.

Perhaps the first reports of the project can be traced back

ENViRONMENT

The ecological

and anthropological

variety that the river

has given birth to and nourished

all through its course, is simply awesome


to an academic paper submitted by two senior Chinese scientists, at the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics in Beijing in 1995. Subsequently, the matter was reported and discussed in a number of forums. This was followed by reports that the Chinese Water Conservancy, Hydro-Power Planning and Designing Institute had conducted feasibility studies in the area.

Probably, to understand the Chinese need and urgency to undertake this project can be better appreciated when seen in conjunction with their population growth, land use pattern and food production. A report entitled the “ Grain Issue in China” which was published sometime in the year 2000 highlights China’s agricultural situation. It reports that “South China is the home of 700 million people, has one-third of China’s crop land and four-fifth of its water resources, whereas North China has 550 million people, two-third crop-land, only one-fifth of its water resources”. It goes on to project China’s population would touch the 1.6 billion mark in a couple of years.. This makes it imperative to increase food production. One way of doing this is by increasing the total area under the plough. This would mean bringing in larger areas of its North West Territory, which includes the Gobi desert, under irrigation. Unfortunately, this area which constitutes almost 45 % of China’s total landmass has only 7% of its water. It is here that the audacious plan to divert the course of the River Brahmaputra comes in . This would entail not only the

building of a huge dam but also the construction of a series of tunnels in the Himalayas which are planned to be drilled by using controlled nuclear explosives.

I n t h e m e a n t i m e , t h e government of the People’s Republic of China has announced the establishment of a "Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon National Reservat ion". In addi t ion a number of studies and feasibility reports have also been reportedly prepared to study the implications, costs and technical aspects of the proposed dam and water diversion project. It is projected that the Yarlung Tsangpo Dam, with its 26 turbines could generate some 40 million kilowatts per hour of hydroelectricity. This would be double than the current output of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtse. In addition, the diverted water could be used to irrigate and green the northwestern part of the Gobi desert in Xinjiang and Gansu provinces of the country.

C h i n e s e E n g i n e e r s a n d scientists seem confident of the technical feasibility of the project. For instance, the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics asserts "we can certainly accomplish this project with nuclear explosives." While the chief planner, Professor Chen Chuan Yu, described the plan to drill a 15 km tunnel through the Himalayas to divert the water before the U-turn at Namcha Barwa and how it was possible to divert the flow of the water. The proposed design seeks to incredibly reduce the approximately 3,000 meters altitude drop, from 100 km to just 15 km. The would result in

the creation of a colossal potential for power generation . A portion of the power could be effectively used to pump water to northwest China over 800 km away!

The Brahmaputra is one of the 19 rivers that drain the Himalayas. Rising in the Chemayungdung Glacier, it runs through China, Bhutan, India and Bangladesh, in a course that stretches out some 2900 kilometers long. Known as Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, it is considered to be one the highest major river in the world. During the course of its journey from the snowy glaciers to the Bay of Bengal, it traverses through lands that boasts of freezing deserts and arid steppes to deciduous scrub vegetation giving way to rich coniferous forests and finally fertile flatlands and mangroves.

T h e e c o l o g i c a l a n d anthropological variety that the river has given birth to and nourished all through its course, is simply awesome. What would be the ecological and human cost of the project? Would the distinct cultures that have grown up along its banks over the centuries survive? The dam would put an end to the silt carrying function of the river. What would be its ecological costs? Was it not silt from this river system that created the Ganga, Mekong and Brahmaputra valleys in the first place?

It is also worth considering the fact that the rate of precipitation in the region, especially north east India and Bangladesh is as high as 80% during the monsoonal months of June to December, and drops to a low of about 2% during the remaining months


of the year. It is in this lean season that the waters of the Brahamaputra would be in very high demand. Theoretically, it is apparent that China’s own interest could dictate that it withholds the flow of the river during the lean period to ensure continued power generation and water supply for itself, while also releasing water during periods of heavy rainfall. Both scenarios would have severe consequences for the lower-riparian countries. The situation could get magnified many times over as a consequence of global warming and climate change, that would lead to excessive rainfall in certain areas as well as accelerate the process of the melting of ice caps and retreating glaciers. Add to this scenario the high seismic activity in the area and the possibility of massive earthquakes. The potential for staggering natural calamity can be compounded by man-made structures such as dams.

There is no gain saying that the ecological cost of building such a dam in the fragile Himalayan

sub-system is anybody’s guess. Secondly, there also exists the threat of radio activity emanating from the nuclear explosives that are planned to be used for the tunneling. In addition, the riparian rights of the downstream nations cannot be ignored. Here, it may be mentioned that the Brahmaputra basin roughly constitutes a 580000 sq.km area, of which it is estimated that 50% lies in China, 33.6% in India, 8% in Bangladesh and about 7.8% in Bhutan. From Tibet, the river descends from a height of some 3500 metres. It takes a turn at around the point called Kay and it enters into a tremendous gorge. Known as the Yarlung Tsangpo gorge, it is the biggest gorge in the world, and much deeper than the famous Colorado Grand Canyon. The gorge traverses a long distance before ending at Pasighat , in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. At this point the drop of the river is some 155 meters. In other words, in less than 200 km, the rivers drops from a height of 3500 meters to 155 meters. This would make the slope of the river 17 m per kilometre. An incredible drop

by any standard. This can be better appreciated if contrasted to the gradient in the Brahmaputra valley which is some 10 cm per km in the Guwahati area!

The Chinese government has gone ahead with surveys and formulation of plans and policies, to dam the river , produce electricity and divert the water to the mainland. At no stage of the formulation process, the Peoples Republic of China has thought it necessary to allow the concerns of the downstream nations to be heard, leave alone accommodated. In the absence of well established International Laws and conventions of river water sharing, the proposed dam and water diversion of the Yarlung Tsangpo or the Brahmaputra could adversely affect the ecology as well as the lives of more than 200 million people downstream. Unless political and human sagacity is displayed by the leaders of the concerned nations, the issue will certainly emerge as a source of enduring tension and the trigger to future conflicts. q


YOJANAForthcoming

IssuesJANuARY 2010

To mark the 60th anniversary of the Indian Republic, the January 2010 issues of Yojana will focus on certain aspects of the evolution of the Indian polity, economy and society over the six decades.

FEBRuARY 2010Growth of the Banking Sector in India

January 2009&

February 2010


Ethnic Conflict and Demand for Contiguous Homelands

NORTh-EaST

A N I P U R , o f t e n described as the land where gods took to dancing, is a land of diversities. A small

state in the North-Eastern region of India, it has a geographical area of 22,356 sq. km. and a population of 2,388,634. The hills constitute 20,126 sq. Km., i.e. about 90% of the total area of the state. While the valley at the heart of the state is inhabited mainly by the Meiteis along with Pangals (Manipuri Muslims), the hills are home to as many as 33 recognized tribes. The 33 officially recognized ethnos in the hills are Aimol, Anal, Angami, Chiru, Chothe, Gangte, Hmar, Lushai, Kabui, Kacha Naga, Kharam, Koirao, Koireng, Kom, Lamkang, Mao, Maram, Maring, Monsang, Moyon, Paite, Poumai, Purum, Ralte, Sahte, Sema, Simte, Tangkhul, Thadou, Tarao, Vaiphei, Zou and Any Kuki tribes. The general tendency earlier was to divide these ethnos into two broad

M

The author is Professor, Department of Political Science, Manipur University, Imphal.

S Mangi Singh

categories – the Naga and the Kuki or Kuki-Chin-Mizo group of people. Accordingly, Aimol, Anal, Angami, Chiru, Chothe, Kabui, Kacha Naga, Koirao, Koireng, Kom, Lamkang, Maring, Maram, Mao, Monsang, Moyon, Sema, Tangkhul, Poumai, Purum, Tarao, and Kharam are regarded as Naga tribes. About the Kuki-Chin-Mizo group or the Kukis, they are Gangte, Hmar, Lushai, Paite, Ralte, Simte, Sahte, Thadou, Vaiphei, Zou and Any Kuki Tribes. The categorization of the tribes into these two categories, however, is by no means complete. There have been certain changes in the trend of using certain nomenclatures to denote different groups of tribes. While the term Naga has come to be acceptable to denote a number of closely related tribes, the same has not been true for non-Naga tribes. For instance, terms like Kuki, Kuki-Chin, Kuki-chin-Mizo, Mizo, Zomi, etc. have been used from time to time to denote all or

OVERViEW

The absence of an effective and

meaningful system of local self governing bodies in the hills

on the one hand and the strong grip of the extra-constitutional

forces in the electoral politics on the other have resulted in the marginalization of mainstream politics


certain groups of the non-Naga tribes. There is also the case of Zeliangrong tribes who, though accepting their being Nagas, aspires to assert their own separate identity within the Naga fold. Besides, a tendency to assert themselves by their individual tribal names has also been there for decades, all the more so since the ethnic clashes of the 1990s.

Regarding their geographical dispersal in the hills of state, none of the five hill districts are exclusively inhabited by one particular tribe or group of tribes. There are as many as fourteen tribes in Chandel District. Of these, the Anal, Maring and Thadou are the major tribes whereas the minor tribes are Lamkang, Zou, Gangte, Moyon, Aimol, Chothe, Purum, Mizo, Tangkhul, Kom, etc. In Senapati District, there are not less than thirteen tribes. Among these, the major tribes are the Mao, Maram and Thadou whereas the minor tribes are the Kabui, Tangkhul, Maring, Chiru, Kom, Koireng, Vaiphei, Kacha Naga, Sema and Koirao. In Tamenglong District, Kabui is the major tribe and the minor tribes are the Thadou and Gangte. In Churachandpur District, as many as thirteen tribes are found scattered. The major tribes among them are the Hmar, Paite and Thadou while the minor tribes are the Chothe, Kabui, Kom, Vaiphei, Zou, Mizo, Gangte, Simte, Ralte, etc. Finally, in Ukhrul District, the major tribe is the Tangkhul and the Thadou is the minor tribe there. Speaking overall, Ukhrul and Tamenglong are overwhelmingly dominated by the Nagas whereas Churachandpur D i s t r i c t i s overwhelmingly dominated by the

Kukis. In the other two remaining districts, Chandel and Senapati, both the Nagas and Kukis constitute two more or less equally effective communities.

Speaking in terms of their represen ta t ion in the s ta te legislative assembly, the hills of the state comprise 20 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) out of which 19 are for the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and one is a General seat. Speaking district wise, of the five districts there, Chandel has two, Churachandpur six, Senapati six, Tamenglong three and Ukhrul three ACs. About the ethnic composition of these ACs, all the six ACs in Tamenglong and Ukhrul Districts (three AC each) are predominantly Naga Inhabited ACs whereas the six ACs in Churachandpur District are predominantly Kuki inhabited areas. Regarding the other two remaining districts, i.e. Chandel and Senapati districts, in the two ACs of the former, both are effective communities in the sense that their sway over electoral politics there is more or less evenly poised. In case of Senapati District, three of the six ACs there namely Mao, Tadubi and Karong are predominantly inhabited by the Nagas whereas another two of them namely Saikul and Saitu are predominantly inhabited by the Kukis. Regarding the remaining one, i.e. Knagpokpi (the lone General Ac in the hills), both the Nagas and the Kukis along with the Nepalis constitute three effective communities there. As a result, nine ACs in the hills always return Naga MLAs whereas another eight ACs always return Kuki MLAs. In the remaining three ACs there has always been stiff competition between the Nagas

and the Kukis. All these mean that the representation of the Nagas and the Kukis in the state legislative assembly has always been a case of either 10:10 or 11:9 or 12:8 unless the Kangpokpi AC goes to a Nepali. At present, the two groups of tribes have ten MLAs each in the state legislative assembly.

The relationship among the various ethnos as well as groups of ethnos remains strained at present due to various factors. Elements of animosity, distrust, fear were never altogether absent and factors responsible for ethnic conflict in the hills are both historical and contemporary. Traditional rivalries, unresolved inter-village land disputes, colonial policy of using one group of people against the other, sporadic and systematic violence committed by one group to another group, fight for control over land and resources, antagonistic assertions for separate homelands, lack of political will on the part of the government to solve the problem, inefficient administration, ineffective law and order enforcing agencies of the state, etc. all have played a role in the conflict.

Further, persistent efforts to bring those tribes who are not immediately identified with any of the major groups, within the fold of the different major groups, have also resulted in certain strains and uncertainties among these tribes, especially in cases where they prefer to maintain their own individual identities.

The major groups in the hills have proclaimed their own homeland aspirations covering areas which they contend as their land. Yet, as none of the


five hill districts is exclusively inhabited by any individual tribe, the relationship between different ethnic communities tends to be strained.

Signs of ethnic aspiration and assertion for contiguous homelands could be seen in the hills of Manipur as early as the late 1940s when the Maos supported the idea of unification of Naga contiguous areas into one political unit. By the late 1950s, the underground movement in the then Naga hills of Assam started drawing cadres from Manipur. One Basikho Chamai from Mao became the first Naga from Manipur to join the Naga underground movement. The following decades saw the Naga underground movement in Nagaland making further inroads among the Nagas of Manipur. With the coming of Muivah into prominence in the firmament of underground Naga movement during the 1980s, and the subsequent formation of the NSCN (IM) in 1990, the Nagas and the Naga inhabited areas of Manipur became more and more concerned with the Naga secessionist movement.

Along with these developments, demands for a greater Nagaland, South or Southern Nagaland, etc. also emerged, followed by homeland taxes and quit notices. These developments have obviously affected the inter-ethnic relations in the hills of Manipur. Land, it is said, is forever, and the only thing worth fighting for. Non-Naga tribes, having been put on the defensive by the developments, started devising ways and means for protecting their hold over the land which they claim to be their own. This in turn, gave rise to the problem of counter

homeland demands like that of a Kukiland or Zalen-ngam, Zougam, etc. At present, a new assertion for another Zeliangrong country also has emerged. Besides, there is also a trend among the tribes to assert themselves by their own individual tribe name rather than being identified with tribe groups. It was against the backdrop of these developments that ethnic clashes between the Kukis and the Nagas took place during the 1990s. In fact, for Manipur, the last decade of the 20th century will always be remembered for the devastating ethnic clashes which led to about 2000 people killed, 500 villages attacked, 7000 houses destroyed and 1,50,000 people displaced.

When one reflects on the problem of ethnic conflict and its ramifications in the hills of Manipur, one cannot help but notice certain obvious things. First of all, there is the all pervading presence of numerous ethnic outfits in the hills of the state spearheading the demands for contiguous homelands and counter homelands. A present there are not less than seventeen ethnic outfits in the hills. The presence of these outfits has adversely affected the democratic electoral process in the hills, both in the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections. The interference has been in different ways like that of outright call for election boycotts, large scale interference with the free exercise of the voting rights of the people, making the aspiring candidates seek their approval before they could contest elections, rigging of votes, , etc. There have also been many occasions when the people in the hills boycotted parliamentary as well as state

assembly elections because of boycott calls given by the ethnic outfits. Even when there is no boycott call, their role in deciding electoral politics outcomes is often decisive.

Such an ongoing process has serious repercussions in the inter-community relationship in the hills. Polarization of the people in the hills on ethnic lines have had already taken firm roots because of the strained inter community relationship between the two major groups. Even for civil society groups, human rights organizations, students’ bodies, Church associations, etc. it has become difficult to maintain their autonomous existence, and many of them have become divided on ethnic lines.

The resultant effect of this has been the serious hindrance of the meaningful evolution of democratic institutions and practices at grass root level in the hills. This trend is more dangerous in view of the apparent failure of the emergence of an effective and meaningful system of local self governing bodies. The failure to hold elections to the District Councils for quite a long time and lack of effectiveness of the Village Authority Act have been the obvious indicators of this. The absence of an effective and meaningful system of local self governing bodies in the hills on the one hand and the strong grip of the extra-constitutional forces in the electoral politics on the other have resulted in the marginalization of mainstream politics that needs to be promoted under the democratic constitution of the country. q



Status of Women in Manipur

NORTh-EaST

HE STATUS of women o f a n a t i o n i s t h e barometer to measure its progress. According to sociologists it is difficult

to measure the status of women and term it as high or low as there is no fixed and unbiased criterion for this. The status of women varies from society to society depending on the prevalent norms and values. Even within a country, it varies with locality (urban/rural), religion, or caste/community. The status manifests itself in terms of level of education, occupation, income, decision-making role and financial assistance available to women.

T. C . H o d s o n , t h e t h e n Assistant Political Agent and Superintendent of the Princely state of Manipur had recorded in 1908 that, ‘the women held a high and free position in Manipur. All the internal trade and exchange of the produce of the country is being managed by them’.

T

The author is Chairperson, Manipur State Commission for Women.

Ch Jamini Devi

This statement holds good even today. Women in Manipur are active and hard-working, artistic and creative , with tremendous potential for development. It is hardly a surprise to see the girls of Manipur on horseback with stick in hand playing the game of Polo. They exhibit excellence in serious discipline of games like football, hockey, athletics, martial arts, weight lifting, cycling, fencing etc. Quite a good number of them represent India in both the national and international levels, bringing laurels to the country. Normally simple, mild, courteous, hospitable, religious minded-and peace-loving, these women can be ferocious as wounded tigers if their honour and their rights are threatened. This fact is well evidenced by the Nupi Lal of 1904 and 1939 and the present Meirapaibi movement.

Following is a brief sketch of the social, educational, economic

The status of women is linked to a large number of factors like spread of education, the

economic well being of people and an

overall atmosphere that allows people to nurture their

traditional cultural values

PERSPECTiVE


and political status of women of Manipur .

Social Status

Socially, the women of Manipur enjoy considerable freedom, liberty and rights in many respects, despite the fact that Manipuri society is patriarchal, and the ideology of dominant men and subservient women has been woven in the beliefs and ethos of all Manipuri communities. The practice of child marriage, female infanticide or Sati are alien to Manipuri society. Although marriages are arranged by the parents, elopement between a marriageable boy and girl is socially recognised. There is no social taboo linked to widow re-marriage. Dowry is also not prevalent, although recent years have seen a rising trend towards inclusion of consumer durables like refrigerators and television in the Aunpot or Streedhan, along with other traditional items like weaving looms and accessories.

However, there are many outdated social customs and traditions in the Manipuri society which humbles the dignity of women. In the Meitei community there is the tradition that a wife can eat her meals only after the husband has partaken it. The birth of a male-child is welcomed whereas the birth of female child is frowned upon. A woman who gives birth to a male-child is given the honour of leading a marriage procession with Yatra Phirook on her head. The sex ratio for the state is 978 females per 1000 males as per the 2001 census. In the hill areas, there is more deficiency in female population. Handed down from the days of kings and nobles, polygamy is still practised in the

state. On ceremonial occasions and festivals, the menfolk occupy the front and prominent seats and any gift or ceremonial offerings are distributed first to them. The social etiquette in Manipur is “Gents first; ladies next”. Daughters are also traditionally denied inheritance of parental property. This is true for all communities – the Meiteis, the Tribals and the Pangals (Manipuri Muslims).

The spread of modern education and growing enlightenment is now gradually bringing in desired changes to uplift the status of women in Manipur, but it will take some time for the changes to percolate down to women in the weaker sections of society.

Educational Status

In the early days there was no formal education for women in Manipur. Daughters of aristocratic families were imparted the knowledge of 3 Rs. at home. In 1898 a girl’s primary school was established for the first time in Manipur, but only 12 girls attended the school. Subsequently, the constitutional provision of free and compulsory education for all children gave an impetus to female education in the state, raising female literacy rates from 0-4 % in 1901 to 2.75% in 1951, and further to 18.87% , 22.87%, 47.6% , 47.6% and 59.70% in 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 respectively. It is heartening to note that from 1961 onwards the female literacy rate of Manipur is higher than the national average. However, the male-female differential of literacy is high at 24.03% (1991 census). Women are also lagging behind in higher education. The drop-out rate of female students is much higher

than that of their male counterparts. Social prejudice, poverty and lack of proper facilities stand in the way of the progress of female education in the state.

Economic Status

Women of Manipur perform income-generating activities like weaving, embroidery, vegetables selling and agricultural activities. Although women are highly skilled in weaving, the raw materials are brought from outside at a high price, and as such their profit margin is minimal. This is one single reason of the decline of the thriving handloom and handicrafts industries in Manipur. Women entrepreneurs who have tried to make a livelihood out of the handloom industry have been discouraged by the fact that they are able to make only upto Rs 2000/ - per month. Women have now switched over to other petty-jobs like working sand quarries, brick field, construction site etc. One major income generating arena is the women’s marketplace. They sell household items and take part in the trade and commerce. Since they have no control over their income, and having no capital, they perpetually remain in the status of vendors. They are at the mercy of the money-lenders who charge a stiff rate of interest. The various schemes of the government and other financial agencies for the development of the entrepreneurs hardly reach them due to lack of information and their ignorance.

Employment of women in the government services is low. Number of women employees in Manipur government establishment for the year 2001-2002 was 14,646 which was 2% of the total employees.


Women employees from the tribal community are even less. The number of Muslim women employees are almost negligible. Women are employed largely in clerical jobs, teaching, nursing, medical and legal professions etc. The employment of women in the more challenging departments of science and technology and in the administrative services are negligible.

Political Status & Empowerment and Decision-Making

Women of the state have been participants in public affairs right from the early days. This participation was linked to the establishment of women’s markets. the first instance of women's awakening in Manipur was the Nupilal (Women’s agitation) of 1939 against rising prices and unavailability of rice. Women suffered physical torture and imprisonment at the hands of the British for defying the orders of the government to export rice.

After Manipur became an integral part of the Indian National Polity, the political status of Manipuri women has undergone a sea-change due to the progress in the field of women’s education and economic empowerment. But women of Manipur have to go

a long way to reach the political status of women of the other parts of the country. Manipur has only one woman member in the 60 members Legislative Assembly. The gender equality in the political arena and in the decision-making bodies is still a far cry in Manipur.

Numerous measures have been taken up by the government for empowerment of women but, national survey of 1998-99 revealed that only 3.3% of the total number of women take part in decision making. Even these decision are largely confined to matters of home and hearth., like the selection of menu , health and hygiene matters, care giving , marketing etc Involvement in the decision-making in higher levels like Chancellors of Examination and Registrars, or even as members of the state Assembly and local bodies is limited.

Health Status

The health status of majority of women of Manipur is dismal. Malnutrition among women is quite widespread. Due to male dominant nature of the society, a woman's access to healthy food is limited, especially in a family with limited means. Women also do not have adequate control over their sex lives, leading to a high fertility

rate of 3.04. The maternal as well as infant mortality rates are high. The spread of HIV and AIDS is also a matter of grave concern. Bad roads, lack of communication facilities especially in the remote, hilly parts of the state, inadequate health infrastructure are some of the prime reasons for the poor state of health of women. There is however a perceptible change, as education and health awareness spread among the new generations. The younger Manipuris have started planning their families, and a large number of them have started opting for hospital and institutional deliveries.

Crime against women is rising in Manipur. There are instances of abuse of the Armed Forces Special Power Act, 1958 in which people, including many women have been tortured and abused. Crime against women is a serious violation of women's right, and it continues unabated, despite many legislations. While legislations are definitely necessary, they are not enough by themselves. The status of women is linked to a large number of factors like spread of education, the economic well being of people and an overall atmosphere that allows people to nurture their traditional cultural values. q


Sikkim Rail Link

Sikkim will come up-on the country’s railway map with Vice President Hamid Ansari laying the foundation stone of a 52.70 km broad gauge rail link between Rangpo in the Hill state and Sevoke in Darjeeling district of West Bengal recently.

The line, which would be later extended upto Gangtok, , would be an engineering achievement for the Railways. It will be a landmark for India and also for Sikkim which has no railway link till now. The contract for the project, estimated to be built at Rs. 1,400 crore, has already been given to State-owned IRCON. The line will be completed in five years following which the extension to Gangtok will be taken up.



Need for a Paradigm Shift in Development Strategy

NORTh-EaST

BALANCED growth of all states and union territories is essential for the political stability, e conomic v i ab i l i t y and growth of India.

However, the country has regions of extreme diversity. This diversity is with respect to size, natural resource endowments, population density, social traditions, initial levels of development, economic organization, infrastructural facilities, industrial and commercial structure and availability of institutional finance, growth rates, poverty levels and indices of social development. As is well known, during the entire period of national planned development, we continued to see a steady widening of regional disparities, inter-state or even intra-state imbalances. In terms of development indices, the North Eastern Region is the most backward in the country. The S.P.Shukla Commission rightly pointed out that the North East Region is confronted by four deficits: a basic needs deficit,

A

The author is Asstt.Professor, Department of Economics, Manipur University.

Maisnam Bobo Singh

infrastructural deficit, a resource deficit, and, most important, a two way deficit of understanding with the rest of the country which compounds the others. The deficits in the region have existed for far too long. Allowing the region to suffer any longer would be detrimental to the political and social stability of the country as a whole.

What is really worrisome is that although the country has made considerable progress in income growth under the current pattern of neo-liberal growth strategy, the region is yet to reap the benefit of development. While the national economy is growing at a very fast pace, the growth rate for the North eastern region is much slower.

The standard of living of the people in the North East Region as measured by per capita NSDP is less than the all India average. At Rs 25,584, in 2007-08, in current prices, it is less than the all-state average of Rs 33,283, by 23 percent (calculated from Economic Survey,

SuggESTiONS

Manipur has a huge

challenge on its hands

in terms of designing

and putting in place a

healthy agenda that facilitates

mechanisms for inclusive growth


2008-09). It is worth stressing that the current trajectory of growth has widened disparities not only in income but also in other indices of development. The divide between advanced states and states of the region in terms of most indicators of wellbeing, is enormous. The income or consumption poverty, as is well known, is often used as shorthand to capture economic wellbeing of people. However, it is enormously essential to go beyond hunger and malnutrition and incorporate a number of other features in conceptualizing poverty, such as deficits in terms of clothing, shelter, basic social services including primary health care, sanitation, education, shelter etc., political helplessness, socio-cultural marginalization and exclusion, among others. The development deficits in the region with respect to commonly used indicators in current discussions including those constituting the so-called Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have deteriorated over time.

Manipur has long been in a state of utter neglect in terms of socio-economic development, either by

virtue of its difficult topography or its administrative structure. It is found that the per capita NSDP is not only lower in Manipur compared to the National per capita NDP but the distance of per capita income of the state from the all India level of per capita income has gradually widened during the post liberalization periods-both first and second decades. The tendency towards greater divide is still continuing in the second decade of the reform as can be seen from Chart 1.

It suggests that the high growth trajectory failed to reverse the tendency towards greater divide. It is also worth stressing that the divide between advanced states and backward states like Manipur in terms of most indicators of wellbeing, is also a huge one. For instance, most recent data obtained by the NFHS-3 for 2005-06 show that the highly urbanized state of Delhi has the highest proportion of households living in a pucca house (95 percent) where as the Manipur is at the other extreme(11 percent). As far as disparities in wealth index is concerned only 16.7 percent

of the population of Manipur is in the highest wealth quintile. The distribution of the population across wealth quintiles shows large variations across households. There have been increases in wealth levels but with perceptible rise in interpersonal wealth inequality in the state during neo-liberal reform periods. The rural urban gap is widening both in per capita assets and per capita net worth. The income growth and wealth inequality have become significantly intertwined during the period of liberalization. At current prices, in 2004-05, Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) in urban area was higher by 18 per cent.

In v i ew o f t he r e l a t i ve backwardness and decade long by-passing of the region in the planning process, the country needs to adopt a somewhat different model of growth, which would be more inclusive and enable to bring about a greater “trickle-down” effect. A special effort is required to reverse the trend towards alienation and distancing of the people from the mainstream. It calls for a paradigm shift in developmental planning in the country. The Planning Commission (2006) in its “An Approach to the Eleventh Five-Year Plan” has stated that a new model of growth is to be adopted during the Eleventh Plan period. That Eleventh Plan is designed to produce both faster and more inclusive growth. The recommendation here is that the growth process had hitherto excluded many but is now to be made more inclusive. A high growth rate is essential not only to improve incomes and standard of living but also to create additional and more opportunities for employment. Growth has to be made inclusive. There are recommendations Source: Economic Survey 2008-09


suggesting ways to accelerate growth and social equity. It may, however, be noted that planning becomes meaningful only in an economy where public investment plays a major role. Public investment in India today is a minor component of total investment and even in areas where public investment is conventionally supposed to play a crucial role, the emphasis now is on Public-Private Partnerships. The state government, as is well known, depends heavily on the central assistance and thus efforts to create economic and physical infrastructure by the state itself is inadequate. Inadequacy of its own resources and insufficient central assistance after independence, coupled with high cost per unit of development, has been important factors in the backwardness of this state. Attracting new investment in Manipur shall require a large amount of public investment in basic infrastructure of roads, railways and airport connectivity. All this would need to come through central assistance due to the weak resources of this state.

S i n c e t h e q u e s t i o n o f infrastructural and industrial investment is becoming largely market-driven under the neo-liberal paradigm, the state is bound to engage in a competition in order to attract private investments both domestic and foreign etc. A special cell has been set up in the Directorate of Commerce & Industries to facilitate investment in Manipur. The office of the Chief Minister, Manipur is monitoring the flow of investment. The thrust sectors so far identified for attracting FDI are fruit processing, bamboo & bamboo products, tourism related industries, bio-technology, electronic and communication. However, private companies are

yet to show interest in investing in infrastructure development in the state. The investors both foreign and domestic prefer regions with a better infrastructure and relatively developed states. In the current year, India received capital inflows of over $42 billion-more than four times the net inflow of $ 9.1 billion in the whole of the last fiscal year (PMEAC, 2009).However; so far, no FDI is coming in the state. If we look at the data relating to state wise distribution of industrial investment proposal, Manipur’s shares in the total proposal (India) is only Rs 10 crore out of Rs. 2,487,303 crore during 1991-2006. Agriculture, the basic commodity producing sector, also suffers chronically from low productivity. Difficult terrain and high costs involved in lifting water for irrigation leaves a large proportion of land dependent on rain fed cultivation. Per unit cost of building physical infrastructure is much higher than in plains. The outdated land tenure system prevailing in the hilly region is also a hindrance to high productivity.. For the domestic market to expand and strengthen, focus has to be on agriculture & irrigation. Development in the hill has to be one of the highest priorities in order to exploit productive capacity of land.

Due to lack of basic infrastructure including proper connectivity, the valuable natural and human resources of the state have not been utilised for its development. As a result a major portion of the population is still below the poverty line. There are large numbers of eligible youth in the state who are unemployed. According to the state employment exchange, the number of educated unemployed youth touched the record figure of

6.5 lakh.. As a result, many anti social and disruptive elements are able to gain foothold and raise their ugly heads.

Manipur faces all the constraints and disadvantages faced by the Special Category States. The cost of living is high, the scope of attracting private investment is very limited and the infrastructure base continues to be in a pathetic condition. The policy makers of the country should take into account the facts of remoteness, limited tax base and high cost parameters while making an assessment of the economic needs of this state. Manipur is already facing an acute debt situation and future fiscal stress due to high interest payments. The Central Government is urged to make a paradigm shift in the resource transfers to Manipur to help it in containing the past “business as usual” model of incurring high debt to meet its developmental requirements.

Manipur has a huge challenge on its hands, in terms of designing and putting in place a healthy agenda that facilitates mechanisms for inclusive growth. Aggressive planning rather than aggressive market should be the new basis for a paradigm shift in the development strategy for the state and NER. This paradigm shift is all the more necessary for a country like India which is being projected as a would-be super power by the year 2020. This vision can be converted into a reality if we could strengthen the economic power of the already fragile state governments. The highest priority must be accorded to exploiting available potential in the states of the North Eastern Region. q

(Email: [email protected])


Need for Organic Farming Strategy

NORTh-EaST

RGANIC FARMING is a holistic production management system based on basic principle of minimizing the use of external inputs and

avoiding the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to ensure sustainability of agriculture.The history and traditional knowledge of agriculture, particularly of tribal communities, relating to organic farming, preservation and processing of food for nutritional and medicinal purposes is one of the oldest in the world. Concerted efforts are being made to pool, distill and evaluate traditional practices, knowledge and wisdom and to harness them for sustainable agricultural growth.

Advantage of using organic farming

• Increases avai labi l i ty of nutrients, specially nitrogen and phosphorus

• Can replace 25-30% chemical fertilizers

O

The author is Research Scholar, Department of Life Sciences, Manipur University.

W Radhapiyari Devi

• Increases farm productivity. Generally 10-40% in grain yield and 25-30 in vegetative growth

• Activate the soils biologically, thereby increasing natural fertility in soil.

• Helps in decomposing plant residues, thereby improving C/N ratio of soil, improving soil texture and structure, increasing water holding capacity.

• Helps in stimulating plant growth in general and roots in particular as they secrete various growth hormones, providing better nutrient uptake and increase tolerance toward drought and moisture stress.

• Some manuring organisms also secrete some fungitic and antibiotic like substances which reduces the incidence of certain diseases and increase disease resistance.

Relevance of Organic Farming in Manipur

Manipur is characterized by

agRiCulTuRE

Emphasis should be on introduction of organic

farming, use of bio-fertiliser and

organic manure in these areas which in turn could be advantageous

for export


certain features which may be seen as major constraints to development, but which can be used to the advantage of the region in the globalised economic scenario. The low input intensity of agriculture of the state makes it ideally suited for organic cultivation. By capitalizing on the organic and eco-friendly nature of agricultural and horticultural produce of the state, significant gains may be achieved in the burgeoning market for organic products.

Manipur falls under the Eastern Himalayan agro-climatic zone with two broad topographic divisions viz., plains and hills. The valley is often referred to as the “Rice Bowl” of the state. Manipur is within the monsoon belt of the country with sub-tropical to semi-temperate climate in the valley and semi-temperate to temperate climate in the higher altitudes. It has a predominantly agricultural economy. Agriculture is the main occupation of the people and rice

(Oryzae sativa L.) is their staple food. Sustainable agriculture is an essential prerequisite for rural development in the state. Sustainability requires systems which are environmentally sound, economically feasible and socially acceptable.

Manipur is characterized by several peculiar features, some posing limitations, others acting as strengths, that have important bearing on the adjoining plains too. These ecological relations tend to drastically limit the choices available to the hill systems in terms of technology and products and this may be looked essentially as a form of service rendered or a cost borne by the hill people. On one hand the region has remarkable advantages of fertile and organically rich soils, ample rainfall and water resources, river valleys, swamps and streams and great climatic diversity supporting diverse cropping possibilities. On the other hand the

slopes and heavy rain make soil unstable and acidic and conditions favorable to rapid vegetative proliferation make agriculture and land management tedious and highly labour intensive process. Given the extent of geographical area relative to population, the forested and sloping terrains and the land rights, the farm size could even incorporate an element of choice. Irrigation intensity is low as the mountain terrain has somehow made it difficult to exploit the ground water potential .

The agro-ecology and the social customs of this region differ from the rest of the country and land scarcity does not appear to be the binding constraint in agriculture so much as the ability to make gainful use of available land. There is a need for careful planning out of alternative and suitable strategies for the development of the region that takes full view of the strengths and limitations of agro-ecology, the

Table 1: Area, Production and Yield of rice by Type of Cultivation Area under Rice (‘000hectares)

Year Valley Hill Manipur Total

Production (‘000MT)

Yield (kg/ha)

Permanent

Permanent Jhum Valley Hill Manipur All-India

2001-02 91 29.2 42.5 (26.1) 162.6 249.4 137.9 2382 20862002-03 80.38 29.55 43.18 153.11 21922003-04 80.78 35.26 41.79 157.83 226.95 154.29 2416

Note: Figure in parenthesis indicated percentage of Jhum area to total area cultivated under riceSource: RCES (various issues) & SAM 2004

Table 2: Agro-Economic Indicators of ManipurCropping Pattern percentage of gross cropped area

State Aver. farm size (ha)

Crop area

irrigated (%)

Fertilizer Inten.

sity NKP (kg/ha)

Population

Density per sq km.

Forest/ Repo.

Area (%)

NSA/ GeogArea

(%)

Rice (%)

Maize (%)

Pulse/oilseeds

(%)

Fruits (%)

Vegetables (%)

Manipur 2.2\ 34.7 105 107 27.2 6.3 76.3 1.4 4.3 3.9 14

Source: RCES (various issues) & SAM 2004


market potentials of the emerging era and above all take account of the crucial interactions amounting to externalities of the hill activities with the ecology of the country.

Manipur is one place where the farmers are still using different varieties of chemical fertilisers and pesticides inspite of the blanket ban imposed on use of these harmful chemicals all over India since 1988. Use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture enhances yields but also undermines the quality of life through possible contamination of soil, water and air and even the final products that retain their residues. Excessive application of pesticides and fertilizers has caused damage to the soil and environment. Pesticide residue is the second largest agent causing cancer, next to cigarettes. Besides, pesticide and fertilizer

residues that persist in the soil are harmful to the beneficial soil micro organism and earthworms thereby resulting in degradation of soil fertility. Fertilizers have a short term positive effect on productivity but a long term negative effect on the environment where they remain for years after leaching and running off, contaminating ground water and water bodies. Further, the use of fertilizers is also very costly. Per hectare consumption of fertilizers has increased from 69.8 kg in 1991-92 to 113.3 kg in 2006-07 at an average rate of 3.3 per cent. A bag of Diammonium Phosphate today costs Rs.490 officially. In black, it sells for around Rs.600-700. The burden is indeed very heavy for the poor farmer.

Luckily, the state has retained traditional practices and shows

an inclination towards organic agriculture that can be harnessed for the development of the state with ecological benefits. Such activities in this state can have external effects on other regions as well. It is a well-known fact that the fertilizer based technology of the green revolution and the much promoted growth oriented strategy pursued in agriculture has so far proved to be inappropriate for several agricultural systems in the developing world including India. It is evident that farmers of the state are accustomed to cultivating the land with traditional practices using organic manures like farm-yard manure, crop residue etc It may be noted that apart from Central Government, five states have their state policies on organic farming. These include Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and

Table 3: Distribution of agricultural land over districts of Manipur (in hectares)District Area Agri. Land water logged area

converted to new agri. Land

Total agri.land

% of agri. Land to total area

ValleyThoubal 51400 21496.50 1470.50 22967 44.68Bishnupur 49600 26138.60 - 26138.60 52.70Imphal* 122800 60616 267.60 60884.40 49.58Total 223800 108251.90 1738.10 109990 49.15

(10.02) (73.18) Hill Senapati 327100 11101.82 - 11101.82 3.39Tamenglong 439100 6907.89 - 6907.89 1.58Churchandpur 457000 9675.02 - 9675.02 2.12Chandel 331300 6192.82 - 6192.82 1.87Ukhrul 454400 6442.92 - 6442.92 1.42Total 2008900 40320.47 - 40320.47 2.00

(89.98) (26.82)Manipur 2232700 148572.62 1738.1 150310.72 6.73

(100)

*Combined figure of Imphal-East & Imphal-West. Source: MRSAC


Uttaranchal. Andhra Pradesh is in the midst of the drafting process. Moreover, Himachal Pradesh has initiated a state level project on organic farming. The North-Eastern states had also prepared an elaborate plan for organic farming promotion. One of the major problems being faced in the study on organic farming activities in the state is the absence of reliable database on production.

Organic farming is positively associated with ownership of livestock, and the effect of this resource increases for smaller farms. Coarse cereals and fodder and vegetable are preferred crops for the organic practice while oilseeds, pulses, mixed crops and fruits are preferred for the purely traditional method. Rice and sugarcane are crops likely for use of fertilizer. Considering the ecology, the possible adverse effects of most modern methods in industry and agriculture on the plains, its abundance of difficult yet fertile tracts of land, its tribal customs of land tenure, its economic strength in terms of livestock ownership and limitations of terrain and irrigation, organic farming seems a promising

avenue for the development of the state. The naturally evolved practices can be guided to follow a more organized course for greater benefits in national and international markets.

Vegetables and fodder can also be very useful for organic farming, as decayed plant mass is a good compost. Livestock and vegetable products promote value addition through processing activities and promotion of systematic organic farming and food processing can be economically very beneficial to the region.

Considering the special nature and location of the state of Manipur, emphasis should be on introduction of organic farming, use of bio-fertiliser and organic manure in these areas which in turn could be advantageous for export. Efforts are required for promotion of organic sources of plant nutrients.. The state has comparative advantage because of the vast cultivated area, which has remained free of contamination from chemicals, spread over distinctly varying agro climatic conditions, for example,

large area in this region with very low or zero use of agro chemicals, can be instantly converted to organic farming. Farmers of the state often use organic manure as a source of nutrients that are readily available either in their own farm or in their locality. There is, indeed, enormous scope of adopting organic farming systems in Manipur with special emphasis on rural and urban composts, crop-residue, legumes, bio-fertilizer etc. The people of the state demand resources and policy attention to attain development in an ecologically compatible way The cost of inputs in agriculture is increasing day-by-day; land holdings are simultaneously decreasing making agriculture unviable for majority of farmers. Barring some few big farmers, almost all are caught in the debt trap and are unable to repay their loans. The land is mortgaged with the moneylenders, who sometimes use hard tactics for recovery. Farmers live in the fear of losing their lands. There is a need to earnestly plan an organic farming revolution in Manipur. q


State women Entrepreneurs Scripting Success Abroad Too

What began as a hobby has empowered many women in Assam to stand on their own feet and script a success story even at the international level thus making their motherland proud.

The North East Women Entrepreneurs Association with membership strength of 250 in Assam at present attributes the success of the women entrepreneurs to hard work and sincerity. Recently some of the members of the association participated in an international trade fair in Greece and came back home doubly happy. Apart from the profit from the sales, the warm response of the Greek buyers for the famed golden and pat silk of Assam with traditional motifs has encouraged these entrepreneurs. “With growing awareness about the changing world and the scope of independent ventures, more and more women are taking up high risk enterprises and they are smiling all the way to the bank,” said a successful participant.

The association is targeting the grass roots women particularly, so that rural economy of the State gets a boost. The association has a showroom in Sivasagar, which is functioning as a market linkage for the rural women. More women are coming forward to establish their independent enterprises as credit facilities have improved.


Engaging with Creative Minds in the North-East

ShODh yaTRa

IBSANKAR MANDAL from Kokrajhar in Assam has modified an auto rickshaw engine to make it more fuel efficient. The heat from the exhaust

pipe is used to heat the air being taken in, before mixing it with the fuel. The transmission system and working of the pump have also been modified. Facilitated by NIF, IIT Guwahati has tested the modified engine and confirmed that it gives around 35 per cent higher mileage than the conventional engines, but the technology needs further refinement before it can be launched commercially.

Kauna weaving Machine

Y. Mangi Singh, a 63 year old physically challenged person from Thoubal, Manipur, has designed a machine to make Kouna (water reed) mats. Kouna is unique to Manipur, and mats are exclusive items from the state. More than four lakh people in the are believed to be engaged in this cottage industry and more than 180 items are made using Kouna. The mat making machine designed by Y Mangi Singh is easy to operate and can weave two mats per day. The quality of the mats produced

S is better than those produced by traditional methods.

Iron Mesh Machine

In Imphal Shri N. Indrakumar Singh, a 70 years old carpenter with no formal education has made a machine to make iron meshes, which have great demand locally. Smoking or drying of fish is an age old practice. Earlier, people used to make different kinds of bamboo mesh for such purposes. The iron mesh, which is more durable, has now become popular. The present innovation is a simple treadle loom machine, the only one of its kind for making iron mesh. It is low cost, and does not need an expert hand to operate. And the good thing about it is that each machine provides employment to about three or four people.

water Turbine

Imli Toshi is a 27 year old innovator currently residing in Dimapur, Nagaland. He always had a keen interest in machines and automobiles, which led him to improve many existing machines and develop new ones. He has developed a water pump, the idea for which came into his mind while he was washing his car, fetching water from a nearby waterfall.

Let us start playing an

active role in transforming

creative potential of

natural resource rich but

economically yet-to-be

developed north-eastern

region

NORTh-EaST


This prompted him to develop a low discharge energy pump, which is a novel combination of a vane pump and a spiral bladed water turbine. The innovation submerged in flowing water can lift water up to a height of one meter. He has also developed a bamboo processing machinery/lathe for the removal of nodes and outer surface. Using bamboo powder, which is a by product of this machine, he then developed a composite material. This powder is used in further developing a composite material for making shafts of a small hydroelectric generator and a low cost bamboo wall.

wood Processing Machines

Low-cost wood processing machines have been developed by Karunakanth Nath f rom Darang and Ghonakonta Gogoi from Dhemaji in Assam. In Karunakanth’s machine, which has a mechanism and linkages similar to manually operated sewing machine, the cutting of wood is achieved effectively and efficiently. This portable equipment is cost efficient, and can be manually operated with both hand and foot pedal options. The work of three labourers can be done by one labourer using this machine. Karunakanth has also developed a multi bobbin charkha and a bamboo cross cutter. Ghonakonta’s multipurpose machine with minimal footprint is built to address all major workshop needs, allowing completing the sequence of wood-working operations in one place, and allowing better control on the finished product.

Bamboo Splitting Machines

L a l b i a k z u a l a R a l t e a n d Lalpiangliana Sailo, two middle

aged innovators from Mizoram, have developed several very useful innovations having applications not just locally but even in the rest of the country. They have developed an innovative bamboo splitting machine for first making strips and then splints for incense sticks. The machines have been sold to local entrepreneurs, who have been producing sticks in large quantities. The innovators are willing to train and provide tools to other unemployed youth too. This innovation is particularly important as bamboo plays a very important role for both soil conservation and also for generating local employment. They have also developed a wood chipper, a fodder cutter for pig feed, dough making machine for noodle and poultry bird dressing machine, which are being used by local entrepreneurs. Some of these are rather cheap and durable alternatives of otherwise costly machines. Both the innovators deserve much larger support for scaling up their enterprise.

E n v i r o n m e n t F r i e n d l y Crematorium

Kambel Chulai, a class three dropout from Jowai, Meghalaya blended tradition with modern construction technology to develop a low-cost, environment-friendly crematorium. In 1988-89, he observed that the traditional method of cremation was highly polluting, time consuming, very costly and also difficult during the rainy season. In order to eliminate these problems he started work on a low cost crematorium and in 1999 the prototype of his innovation was developed with the help of the Sein Raij (the local social and religious organization). Initially, his idea

was rejected as Sein Raij did not want technology to take over tradition. This crematorium is a long structure using the concept of electric furnace but powered by fuel wood having a 36 feet high chimney. Saving precious energy resources, this crematorium uses only Rs. 200 worth of firewood as against Rs. 3000 worth of firewood utilized in the traditional cremation practice. The cremation time has also been reduced to less than 1 ½ hours as compared to 8-9 hours traditionally with almost 90 per cent reduction in the emission of smoke and fumes.

Multi Bobbin Charkha

Hidingmayum Mani Sharma, a class ten pass, is a serial innovator from the village Sangaithel, on the western foothills of Imphal valley, Manipur. He has made a multi-bobbin charkha, resembling a traditional charkha, which can reel/spin four bobbins at a time. There are no separate thread movable guides; it is done by holding the threads manually. The mechanism is simple and its output is four times the conventional single person driven charkha. He has also modified a camera flash to be used for indoor shootings in studios and where there is no regular power supply.

Innovative weaving Machine

The north eastern region is culturally very rich in textile traditions. Conventionally, the task of the insertion of weft threads in handlooms is needed to make a variety of designs manually by tying knots, which is tedious, cumbersome and time consuming. The thread connecting one motif to another has to be cut and is


thus wasted. Deepak Bharali has developed a component system to do the same work more efficiently in lesser time. It consists of three components; base frame, magnet-bearing shaft and specially designed bobbin. These components can be fitted to any handloom Jacquard machine. The innovation reduces the time required for making designs to one-third of the time required in traditional way. IIT Guwahati has been looking into the design issues in this technology and it is likely to make a major impact on the similar looms in coming years.

New Style Drier

Using only wood and aluminium sheet, Tavesu Vadeo of Phek, Nagaland has developed a portable drier named SAWO, after the traditional drying system in a

Naga kitchen. Tavesu felt the need to improve the quality of drying vegetables and particularly cardamom in order to have value in the market. Working over a period of time he finally was able to design a drier, which can utilize both charcoal and electricity energy. He has developed two variants- a single door and a double door one. In the first model 25 kg of cardamom can be dried in 4 hours while in the second one 50 kg can be dried in the same time period. The SAWO dried cardamom fetches a much higher price for farmers with a margin of almost Rs. 10- 25 per kg. Tevesu’s objective is to help and encourage young people to take up self-employment in agriculture by creating higher value for agricultural products by appropriate and low cost technological interventions. Manihar Sharma from Imphal, Manipur has also developed a

vegetable drier that uses baffles to channel air into the drier.

Egg Incubator

Egg incubator developed by Milonjyoti Das from Kamrup, Assam ensures that eggs get controlled heat and humidity to incubate properly. Milon’s incubator can be heated by electric light as well as the kerosene lamp. The kerosene lamp is used in case of power failure. There is a regulator to control the intensity of the light. Such incubators can be used in far flung areas by individuals or SHGs to start small poultry farms to cater to local needs.

These are only a few illustrative examples of the local creativity, spread across the mountains and valleys of the region, waiting to be recognized. Most of the examples of innovations given above have been supported technically or financially by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) for testing, validation or diffusion. For many cases given here or otherwise, patents have also been filed in the name of the original innovator. NIF wishes to invites the readers in its attempt to locate such ingenious talent from these regions or others. Why should a solution remain localized if it has the potential to solve problems of other regions as well? Why should a person solving such a problem remain anonymous? Why should not we actively engage ourselves in helping other to find ways of self- sustainability? And why should we just remain as appreciative but passive readers? Let us start playing an active role in transforming creative potential of natural resource rich but economically yet-to-be developed north-eastern region. q

(E-mail : [email protected], www.nifindia.org)

Egg Incubator


YE-

12/0

9/01

FOUNDATION BATCHES - IAS 2010thCOMMENCE 5 OCT - 2009


Irrigation Development in Assam

NORTh EaST

HE ECONOMY of Assam is predominantly agrarian. The dependence of rural labour force on agriculture and allied activities is

nearly 70 per cent and this primary sector alone contributed 26.4 per cent to the NSDP at current price during 2006-07. There is a general misconception that since Assam is a heavy rainfall state, there is hardly any need for irrigation in the state. Although the state usually receives good rainfall almost every year spreading over eight months (March to October), it is not evenly distributed over time and space. Sometimes, monsoon is delayed or terminates early. The erratic nature of rainfall results in flood and drought, which adversely affect agricultural productivity. Also, there are certain specific areas which fall under rain-shadow belt. Agriculture in Assam is thus a gamble with monsoon.

The performance of agriculture

T

The authors are Lecturers in the Department of Economics, Cotton College, Guwahati and Laluk College, Lakhimpur, Assam respectively .

Padma Sharma Goswami,Rabin Jyoti Khataniar

during recent years has not been good due to floods and drought. As per available estimates, the production of winter, summer and autumn rice recorded a decrease of about 11.18 percent between 2000-01 and 2005-06. The vulnerability of the kharif crop, the principal crop of Assam - to the twin natural calamities of flood and drought, makes it important that the output of rabi crops should be increased to compensate for the kharif losses. The Rabi season which falls in the dry months, is dependent on adequate and assured irrigation water. Unfortunately, not more than five per cent of the net sown area gets irrigation water in winter, which is grossly inadequate for the rabi crops.

Till some decades back, because of low population pressures and copious rainfall, one rainfed Kharif paddy crop was adequate for the state. But now, with the excessive rise in population, more foodgrain

iNfRaSTRuCTuRE

Effective irrigation

development of the state is

also imperative from the point of

view of employment generation, poverty reduction as well

as economic development of the state


is required. Further, large-scale deforestation has led to an upset in the ecological balance, resulting in adverse changes in the rainfall pattern. Drought, which was once confined to the rain-shadow areas of Assam, now occasionally occurs in widespread form. In the first quarter of 2009, Assam experienced a prolonged dry-spell with drought-like conditions. Hence, there is an increasing urgency to create adequate irrigation facilities, to make water available during the dry months of the year for popularization of multiple cropping.

Further, empirical studies have shown that in some areas with irrigation facilities, the small and marginal farmers have proved to be successful cultivators. It was observed after the commencement of an irrigation project, HYV rice and improved techniques made considerable impact on farm income

Sources of Irrigation

There a re two pr inc ipa l river systems in the state, the Brahmaputra and the Barak, which are the main sources of surface water. The Brahmaputra river system is the larger and more important of the two. Many big and small tributaries meet the river at different places of its course. The tributaries of the Brahmaputra can broadly be classified into the northern-bank tributaries which are largely perennial, and the southern-bank tributaries. The Brahmaputra river system has immense potential for development of surface water irrigation in the state.

The Barak river system has numerous tributaries joining it

from both north and south banks. The total available annual run-off of the Barak and its tributaries within the state will be about 26.5 million acre feet. The total area of the Barak basin in the state is 6.96 lakh hectares. Thus, the irrigation potential of the surface water resources is abundant and can cover the whole Barak Valley.

Although there is abundance of surface water resources in the state, topographic limitations and reduced flow condition in the winter months, makes it necessary to explore the possibility of utilization of ground water resources for irrigation in some areas within the state. The state has rich underground water resources due to the occurrence of heavy rainfall and advantageous soil formation. The piedmont terraces on the north banks are highly permeable in nature and ground water prevails at a depth of about 30 metres below the ground level. This belt is analogous to the ‘Bhabar’ belt of Ganga Valley. Also, depending on techno-economic feasibility, conjunctive use of surface and ground water resources may be adopted which will also help in restricting the drainage problems along with increase in cropping intensity.

Status of Irrigation Development in Assam

Prior to the First Five Year Plan, a few minor irrigation schemes were executed covering an area of 810 hectares only. An important minor irrigation scheme in the pre-plan period was Jingia Irrigation Scheme in present Sonitpur district. Mention may also be made of the C. M. Dutta (Minor) Irrigation Scheme

in Mangaldoi during the First Plan period, which can be cited as a success story in the private sector.

The irrigation achievement in the state upto the end of Third Five Year Plan was 46.627 thousand hectares in the minor irrigation sector at an outlay of Rs. 984.30 lakh. Thus, upto the third Plan, the emphasis was only on the implementation of minor irrigation schemes. No major or medium irrigation scheme was constructed upto this period.

Subsequently, three medium irrigation projects, viz, Jamuna Irrigation Project, Patradisha Irrigation Project and Horguti Irrigation Project (both in the hill district of Karbi-Anglong) were taken up. These projects have been completed and are under operation. Between 1970 and 1974, another three medium projects viz, Sukla Irrigation Scheme, Longa Irrigation Scheme and Kaliabor Lift Irrigation scheme were taken up for execution. Since 1974-75, the Planning commission has approved another 9 schemes including one major viz, Dhansiri Irrigation scheme. The Sukla Irrigation Project was started in 1964-65. However, it was completed only in 1978-79 at a total cost of Rs. 300 lakh.

Like other leading states in India, the programmes for development of irrigation in Assam have been launched under two heads, viz., Major & Medium Irrigation and Minor Irrigation. While the Irrigation Schemes are classified as Major, Medium and Minor, they are categorised as Surface Flow, Surface Lift (For Major / Medium and Minor) and Ground Water Lift (for Minor only). The Irrigation Department, which is the Nodal


Department for development of irrigation in the state, executes and maintains Major, Medium and Minor Irrigation Schemes whereas the Agriculture Department and Panchayats maintain Minor Schemes. I t may further be mentioned that the Assam State Minor Irrigation Development Corporation (ASMIDC) Ltd. was also earlier closely associated with the development of Minor Irrigation in the state by installing Private Shallow Tube Wells (STWs) and Low Lift Points (LLPs) through provision of institutional finance upto 1992-93. But its field works have since remained suspended due to stoppage of institutional finance.

The present status of irrigation development in the state is not very encouraging. Out of the total geographical area of 78.43 lakh hectares, almost one-third (31.74 percent) is under net cultivation covering an area of 24.90 lakh hectares (excluding all plantation crops). The gross cropped area occupies about 38.43 lakh hectares. The cropping intensity is 154.34

per cent (195 per cent in STW installed area). Against this, the ultimate irrigation potential i.e. the ultimate Gross Irrigation Potential (Annually Irrigable Area) to be created is assessed at 27 lakh hectares, which constitutes 67.77 per cent of the Gross Cropped Area. The potential created by the department upto March 2006 was 6.95 lakh hectares and out of this approximately 2.22 lakh hectares created by Major/Medium Irrigation Scheme and 4.73 lakh hectares by Minor Irrigation Scheme. The overall irrigation development in the state is 25 per cent of the ultimate irrigation potential of the state against 50 per cent to 90 per cent in case of other states of India. The poor development in Assam is mainly due to late start of these activities and inadequate plan allocation under irrigation sector provided in subsequent plans, along with absence of storage-based irrigation projects to support Rabi crops.

The most discouraging aspect of irrigation development in the state is the decreasing trend of

utilization of created potential from the government Irrigation S c h e m e s . T h e c u m u l a t i v e irrigation potential created and utilized during the last six years are furnished in Table-1

It is evident from the above data that the overall percentage of utilisation is only 22.84 per cent. The under utilization could be attributed to a number of factors like farmers not adopting the required cropping pattern, lack of awareness, a state of disrepair of the facilities due to paucity of funds, non-energisation of pump sets and erratic supply of electricity in case of electrical lift irrigation schemes etc. The imposition of Irrigation Service Charges has also made farmers reluctant to avail the benefits of irrigation facilities. The urgent need, therefore, is to educate the farmers about the benefits of irrigation for better cultivation and to motivate them to make optimum use of the available irrigation potential and pay the Irrigation Service Charges for their own benefit and for improvement of the economy of the state.

TABLE-1: IRRIGATION POTENTIAL CREATED AND uTILISED(Potential/Area in thousand hectares)

year Cumulative irrigation potential created upto the year

Irrigation potential utilized during the year % utilization of created potential

kharif Rabi&pre-kharif

total kharif Rabi&pre-kharif

total

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 82001-02 348.82 164.52 513.34 99.74 13.74 113.48 22.112002-03 353.65 166.39 520.04 71.91 7.46 79.37 15.262003-04 359.00 168.00 527.00 61.79 7.61 69.40 13.172004-05 361.91 169.28 531.19 52.22 8.55 60.77 11.442005-06 365.55 169.66 535.21 52.56 14.58 67.14 12.542006-07 367.25 179.11 546.36 103.74 21.10 124.84 22.84Source: Irrigation Department, Assam


Furthermore, the bulging gap between irrigation potential created and utilized in Assam can be narrowed down by seriously implementing an elaborate programme of Command Area Development having well-designed and constructed On-Farm- Development (OFD) works in the irrigated agricultural area. Besides these measures, there is an imperative need to undertake consolidation of land holdings along with related land reform measures.

Irrigation development is of special interest for a predominantly agricultural state like Assam where about 85 per cent of the population

depends on agriculture and allied activities for their livelihood. To meet the rising demand for food and to provide employment to the growing population, it is imperative that Assam goes for intensive irrigated agriculture in a bigger way. However, due care needs to be taken for adequate and proper drainage arrangements in order to tackle the resulting water-logging problem as encountered in Punjab and Haryana. Effective irrigation development of the state is also imperative from the point of view of employment generation, poverty reduction as well as economic development of the state. As such, promotion of participatory

approach towards implementation of irrigation schemes is an urgent need of the day. To narrow down the gap between irrigated potential created and utilized, there is a need to undertake vigorous command area development programme along with related land reforms. Last but not the least, a paradigm shift in the irrigation planning strategy is required by switching over to storage-based irrigation projects from the existing diversion schemes. This will facilitate rapid increase in the rabi irrigation area, giving the much required boost to the agricultural output of the state. q

(Email :[email protected])

BOTANICAL GARDEN TO BE CONVERTED INTO TOuRIST SPOT

Plans are afoot to convert the botanical garden within Jokai forest reserve in Assam into an ideal eco-tourism destination in the district. The Forest Department has already extended the existing 4 hectares of the botanical garden to 30 hectares by attaching the forest land, while revamp and conversion

works are going on. Until recently, the botanical garden, located some 20 kilometres from the city, was in a pitiable state. The orchidarium and the greenhouse of the garden is now getting a total facelift under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme. At least 22 workers have been engaged under the scheme for various works in the forest reserve. As part of the tourist attraction measures, the department has restored the interpretation center, residential quarters and toilets and a generator has been installed for power supply. Jokai forest reserve is endowed with varieties of aromatic plants, medicinal trees, oil-bearing plants, fruits trees, leopards, black panthers, flying squirrels, various species of butterflies, pythons and number of other reptiles. In addition, the Forest Department has taken up plantation of all species of trees, herbs, plants archids and indigenous medicinal plants within the extended botanical garden.

The Forest Department is also arranging biogas chulhas for the families surrounding the forest reserve under National Biogas and Manure Management Programme. The idea is to provide alternative fuel to the neighbouring villagers who otherwise engage in felling of forest trees for firewood.Conservation works are also going on to protect the Erakhuti (beels) within the forest. Plan is also under way to create a habitat for gibbon (long-armed anthropoid apes). The Forest Department is now contemplating to introduce elephant and horse rides, besides trekking events in the forest reserve. It is learned that in order to convert the botanical garden into a complete and attractive eco-tourism destination, the divisional forest office and the district administration is jointly preparing a project worth Rs. 3.5 crore. The officials feel that the richly endowed forest could become an important learning spot and environmental monument for the students and general people of the district.

(Courtesy : The Assam Tribune)


The Bamboo Hub

bEST PRaCTiCES

AHUL GOGOI, a 43 year old farmer from Jorhat district of Assam, does not regret the fact that he took up bamboo

cultivation in a portion of his four acre agricultural land five years back. Not only has this given him an additional source of income, it has also freed himself from the trap of local money lenders on whom he used to depend for taking up rice cultivation. He now grows enough rice in half his land to meet his food needs, and finds himself capable of meeting any financial emergency. Similar is the story of Mukul Metei, a bamboo farmer from Manipur who has been growing bamboo since the last five years. Due to its rising economic value and relatively maintenance free nature, this wonder crop, has managed to strike a chord with a large number of farmers in the north eastern states.

RSandip Das

India has the largest bamboo forests in the world. About 10 million hectare or 13 % of the forest area of the country is under bamboo cultivation. Two-third of the growing stock of bamboo in the country are sourced from the northeastern states. The region has 67% of the country’s growing stock and sustains 70% of rural work force in the region.

In northeast India bamboo is traditionally used as construction material, for making household ar t ic les , in handicraf ts and papermaking, agriculture, fisheries, transportation etc. According to official records of Tripura Government, bamboo covers about 834 sq km, or approximately 15% of the state’s forest cover. It is estimated that about 3 lakh poor people depend on bamboo cultivation. According to an estimate Tripura has a bamboo trade worth

The author is a Delhi based journalist.

Both centre and state

governments are working together for promotion of bamboo trade

and the next few years would be crucial for the farmers of the

region


Rs. 25-30 crores annually, and the State Bamboo Mission has a target to increase this to 75.85 crore during the next few years.

As per the United Nation’s I n d u s t r i a l D e v e l o p m e n t Organization (UNIDO), the bamboo business in the Northeast region would be worth Rs. 5,000 crores over the next one decade. National Mission on Bamboo Technology and Trade Development envisages expansion of India’s bamboo market to US $5.5 billion by 2015.

Farmers associated with bamboo say that this is an achievable objective as the bamboo economy is largely unorganized and therefore will respond quickly to systematic improvement as envisaged under the mission. The mission aims to implement an action programme with the objective of placing bamboo as a key component for generating employment , mitigating environmental degradation and strengthening the process of bamboo based industrial development including handicrafts, particularly in the north-east. Earlier this year, UNIDO had pledged $2-million, four-year project for promoting bamboo industry in the north east, including its use in handicraft, cons t ruc t ion mater ia l s and exports.

Despite having more than 30% of the world’s bamboo resources, Indian contributes only 4% share of the global market. The low productivity (around four tonne per hectare) compared to much higher yields in Japan , China and Malaysia is attributed to lack of technological

development and unorganized nature of farming. Japan, China and Malaysia contribute about 80% to the world’s bamboo market.

UNIDO is leveraging the resources of the Assam based Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre, which facilitated the pact, to offer other specialized services in areas like renewable energy and leather processing to create incomes in the region.

The demand for bamboo has increased in recent years within the country and abroad as a raw material for furniture making, as panel boards substituting wood, as agricultural usage, construction related uses and as a vegetable. China’s focused intervention to harness bamboo’s potential has led to increase in its productivity by more than 10 times since 1970 when the yield was only 2-3 tonne per hectare per annum. At present, China’s total annual export value of bamboo products is more than $ 550 million.

The National Bamboo Mission (NBM), a centrally sponsored scheme has allocated more than Rs 84 crore during 2008-09 to states out of which more than RS 44 crores have been sanctioned to north eastern states. The focus of the mission is to address the needs for areas specific cultivation, promotion of marketing efforts of bamboo based products, generating employment opportunities and skill enhancement.

A fifteen year master plan, named North Eastern Regional

Bamboo Mission (NERBaM) was also launched by the North Eastern Council (NEC) last year with the objective of poverty alleviation and conserving the forest resources of the region.

As bamboo cultivation grows in the north-eastern states, agriculture experts have warned against the gregarious or synchronized flowering of Bamboo. Bamboo rotting over many acres in north east and the growth of the rat population may devastate the jhum (slash and burn) cultivation on which a majority of the rural folk still depend, thus affecting the already precarious food security.

With the impact of climate change being discussed globally, bamboo cultivation could provide an answer to the growing green house gas concentration. Bamboo can be a good carbon sink . Many reports have also suggested that bamboo can sequester up to 12 tonnes of carbon from air per hectare which is definitely a huge potential. Again, more than 90% of bamboo carbon can be sequestered in a range of durable products which are obviously long lasting and can store carbon for a long term. It can also be used as an alternative to fossil fuel.

The advantages of cultivating bamboo are many, and with the both centre and state governments working together for promotion of bamboo trade, the next few years would be crucial for the farmers of the region. q



Dynamics of Child Labour in India

ChilD RighTS

N A l i f e f u l l o f contradictions, we watch unmoved, the extreme exploitation of l i t t le children - "the flowers of the garden of God', and

"tomorrow's citizens', Some of us would even be party to the exploitation.

ILO (1997) has defined child labour as "work that deprives children of their childhood and their dignity, which hampers their access to education and the acquisition of skills, and which is performed under deplorable conditions harmful to their health and their development." ILO estimates that there are about 250 million child labourers in the world .Of these, 61% live in Asia, 32% in Africa and 7% in Latin America . India has upto one crore child labourers as per estimates of NSSO, NCAER, upto 2 crores as per Planning Commission, and above 4 crores as per ORG Baroda, Ministry of Labour, Human Rights Watch. In reality, it is very difficult to enumerate child labourers because

I

The author is Secretary, Border Roads Development Board (BRDB), Delhi.

Subhash Sharma

most parents do not consider their working in agriculture and allied activities as labour.

Nature of Exploitation

Child labour constitutes more than 5% of total labour force in India. A large percentage of these is in hazardous occupations, as shown in Table-1. This is despite the fact that the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986- prohibits the employment of children below 14 years in some hazardous occupations and industrial processes , and regulates their employment in non-hazardous activities. It does not make provisions for the total eradication of child labour. The Government of India has banned employment of children below 14 years in thirteen hazardous occupations (like working in railways, slaughter house, garage, minting workshop, toxic materials and explosives, looms, mines, plastic and fibre glasses) and fifty-seven industrial processes. More

aNalySiS

Making free and

compulsory education a fundamental right of every

child is a landmark

legislation, and one hopes this

would be a step in the right direction


Table 1: Child Labour in Major Hazardous Activities in India

SI. No.

Activities No. of Child Labourers working

% of Child Labour to total labour working

I. Match industry Shivkashi (Tamil Nadu) 45,000 N.A.

2 Carpet weaving, Mirzapur, Bhadohi (U.P.) 1,50,000 75%

3 Carpet weaving, J & K. 1,00,000 25%

4. Jari works (Banares, Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai) 3,00,000 N.A.

5. Beedi works (all India) 3,27,500 10%

6. Glass works, Firozabad (U.P.) 50,000 25%

7. Brass works, Moradabad (U.P.) 45,000 30%

8. Lock Industry, Aligarh (UP) 10,000 11%

9. Ceramics, Khurja (U.P.) 5,000 25%

10. Silk industry, Banares (U.P.) 4,400 37%

II. Textiles, Banares (U.P.) 1,100 31.5%

12. Knife-making, Ram pur 3,000 N.A.

13 Handicrafts, J & K 26,478 29.4%

14. Silk cloth weaving, Bhagalpur (Bihar) 10,000 NA.

15. Brick kilns, West Bengal 35,000 N.A.

16. Slate pencil, Mandsaur (M.P.) 1,000 8%

17 Slate-making, Markapur (A.P.) 3,750 25%

18. Diamond-cutting and processing, Surat (Gujarat) 15,000 15%

19. Gem-polishing, Jaipur (Rajasthan) 13,600 22.6%

20. Power loom, Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) 15,000 5%

21. Cotton hosiery, Tiruppur (T.N.) 8,000 33.30%

22. Carpet-weaving, (Rajasthan) 12,000 40%

23. 40 big circuses N.A. 12%

24. Handloom, Trivendram 10,000 N.A.

25. Handloom, Tripura 8,000 N.A.

26. Handloom, Bhiwandi 15,000 N.A

27. Coir, (Kerala) 20,000 N.A

28. Fish Freezing, Quilon (Kerala) 20,000 N.A

29. Glass mines, (Meghalaya) 28,000 N.A

30. Quarrying, (Kerala) 20,000 N.A

31. Wood craft, Saharanpur (U.P.) 10,000 N.A

32. Beedi-making

a) Sambalpur 54,000 N.A

b) Trichirapalli 7,000 N.A

c) Trichur (Karnatka) 7,000 N.A

d) Bihar,U.P.& A.P 200,000 N.A

33. Fireworks, Bhavnagar (Gujarat) 13,000 N.A

Source: Adapted from Neera Burra (1997); Subhash Sharma (2006)


significantly, Article 23 of the Indian Constitution specifically provides for prohibi t ion of children's employment in mines, factories and other hazardous activities.

Often the child labourers get injured, lose limbs permanently or even die during the course of their work. Serious tragedies often expose that the hazardous activities that employ children are being carried on illegally. For instance, in September 2005, at Khushrupur in Patna district (Bihar) a huge fire broke out in a factory of explosives killing sixty workers, including thirty child workers. .It was found later the factory license had not been renewed for half a decade, and the highly dangerous work was actually being done illegally.

Table 2 gives an overview of the different forms of exploitation of child labour.

Strategies for Eradication of Child Labour:

The early government policies have focused on ameliorating the lot of the child labourers rather than eradicating child labour . The Gurupadaswamy Committee of 1979 defined 'child labour exploitation' as a condition where a child has to work beyond his capacity; his working hours interfere in his education, entertainment and leisure; wages are not in accordance with his work; occupation or production-process is hazardous . The committee recommended seven measures to be adopted by the govt., which include stronger enforcement machinery for labour laws, seeking cooperation of voluntary agencies and trade unions; expediting prosecution of guilty, with a minimum punishment of one year's imprisonment and a fine of RS.2000/- ; creating an institutional structure for working children , strict enforcement of

the law for minimum wages, and effective implementation of primary education for children along with a programme for non formal education.

T h e G u r u p a d a s w a m y Committee did not recommend the eradication of child labour. The Ministry of Labour, in its economic report in 1983-¬84, took the stand that though child labour was a harsh reality but, considering the level of economic development in India, to prevent the children from working is neither practical nor appropriate. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 was also enacted with the same intention of regulation, not eradication of child labour, hence it has proved a toothless tiger.

Social scientists like Myron Weiner are of the view that the issue of child labour is too complex to be left only to the government. A lot needs to be done

Table II: Profile of Different Forms of Exploitation of Child LabourersSI. No. Dimension Forms of Exploitation

Low Moderate HighI. Wages Less than market rate for

adults Half of adult wage rate No wages (only one

or two meals) 2. Working hours 9-10 hours (with a break) 12 hours (with a break) More than 12 hours

( w i t h / w i t h o u t a break)

3. Freedom of mobility Relatively less freedom than adults

Limited freedom (semi- bonded labour)

No freedom (bonded labour)

4. Place of work Child worker's home Separate from employer's home

Employer's home

5. Organisation of sector Organised sector Semi-organised sector Unorganised sector 6. Risks/hazards Non-hazardous Semi-hazardous Highly hazardous 7. Mode of payment T i m e - r a t e ( w e e k l y /

monthly) Piece rate (quantity/number)

Monthly payment at piece rate

8. Torture Mental (symbolic-scolding) Physical (beating) Sexual 9. Production sector Service (tertiary) Agriculture (primary) Industry (secondary)10. Working conditions/facilities Wo r k a b l e c o n d i t i o n s

(relatively hygienic) Nominal facilities (less hygienic)

No facilities of work (highly unhygienic)

Source: Prepared by author


to eradicate child labour not only in hazardous occupations but also in other activities which deprive the children in various ways and deny them the right and opportunity for a wholesome development.

The first step in the direction of eradicating child labour would be the launching of a comprehensive and intensive survey of all working children- those working within families, employed locally or outside, paid or unpaid, full time or part time, working in hazardous or non-hazardous works, visible or invisible (out of school) or the 'nowhere children' (neither in school nor at work). While conducting a survey certain points should be kept in mind, like all children of a village upto 14 years of age should be enumerated, and it should be verified from schools as to how many are actually attending classes. Those not attending school should be considered prima facie as working formally or informally. The details of never-enrolled and dropouts should be taken seriously. One should not rely totally on official figures. Direct questions like Where are you working? Who is your employer? How much wages you get, are best avoided, at least initially, the cooperation of local NGOs, Nehru Yuva Kendra, NCC/N.S.S., Scouts and guides, clubs, teachers, priests, shopkeepers, adult labourers, panchayats should be sought for the enumeration, he survey staff should properly trained in collection and analysis of data, workshops in information campaigns should be conducted to create public awareness on the issue.

Secondly, the freed child labourers need to be sent to school. Though some would argue in favour of

sending them to non formal or special schools, the option of sending them to regular schools after a bridge course according to their level of knowledge seems to the most appropriate in the Indian circumstances. Participation of the local community is essential to make this schooling effective.The quality of teaching should be improved in govt. schools, the curriculum should be made child-centred, and interesting, support needs to be provided in terms of books, stationery and other necessary equipments. In June 2006, INDUS Child Labour Project was launched in Allahabad, Moradabad, Kanpur. Ferozabad & Aligarh.districts of U.P. which had a high concentration of child labour. This project, supported by US and Indian govts has a budget of 40 million dollars and impacts about 20,000 child labourers . More such schemes should be launched in the country.

As unemployment, poverty and hunger are associated with child labour, it is essential that adult members of poor families are provided full wage employment throughout the year. When the adults earn sufficient wages for the wellbeing of their families, they will not push their growing children to work.. Land reform laws should be effectively enforced and schemes like NREGA strengthened. Mass awareness should be created on the issue through concerted efforts by govt. officials, NGOs, panchayats, activists, intellectuals and civil society institutions. Then Child Labour Act 1986 should be amended to prohibit labour of any kind by children below the age of 14. The penal provisions for violation should be made more stringent.

In the case M.C. Mehta versus the State of Tamilnadu and others,

the Supreme Court of India had ordered in December 1996 that the survey of all children working in hazardous works should be completed in all states within 6 months, the employer will have to pay a compensation of Rs. 20,000/- for each child labour working in prohibited hazardous work; child labour rehabilitation-cum-welfare fund is to be created under the aegis of District Magistrate in every district where the above compensation is to be deposited and from whose interest child labour is to be paid every month; at least one adult member from the family of the child labour is to be provided wage¬ employment near his residence, otherwise the government must pay RS.5,000/- per head in the corpus fund; For children working in non-hazardous works, the working hours would not exceed six in a day, and for their education for two hours daily the expenses would be borne by their employers.

T h o u g h v a r i o u s s t a t e governments have reportedly complied with this order, it has not been implemented in true spirit. Children continue to be employed in various kinds of jobs when they should ideally be studying. The task of eradicating child labour and educating all our children is gigantic, but not impossible. Kerala has shown the way by achieving 100 % enrolment of children in primary schools. The recent Right to Education Bill making free and compulsory education a fundamental right of every child is a landmark legislation, and one hopes this would be a step in the right direction. q

(Email: [email protected])


DO yOu KNOW?

The first discussion paper on Goods and Services Tax (GST) was officially

released recently. The paper sets out the background and the context for the introduction of GST, its nature etc. Let us find out what is GST .

what is the Goods and Services Tax ?

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a comprehensive value added tax (VAT) on the supply of goods or services. Through a tax credit mechanism, GST is collected on value-added goods and services at each stage of sale or purchase in the supply chain. GST paid on the procurement of goods and services can be set off against that payable on the supply of goods or services. The existing indirect tax structure consists of a multiplicity of taxes imposed on various transactions by the central and state governments. No single levy covers the entire value addition in the supply chain. Most taxes are also not exchangeable against each other. This creates a burden of double taxation and triggers a cascading impact making the effective tax, cost of goods and various services extremely high. Thus, tax compliance and administration is complex and onerous. There has hence been a long pending need for recalibrating the entire regime. The first phase of reform entailed introduction of a comprehensive VAT system. A comprehensive Goods and Services Tax (GST)

cross-utilisation within each tax across goods and services would be possible.

This dual GST model would be implemented through multiple statutes (one for CGST and SGST statute for every State). However, the basic features of law such as chargeability, definition of taxable event and taxable person, measure of levy including valuation provisions, basis of classification etc. would be uniform as far as practicable.

How will inter-state transactions take place under GST ?

Inter state transactions would be charged an Integrated GST (IGST) which would be CGST plus SGST. The inter-state seller pays IGST on value addition after claiming available credits of IGST, CGST and SGST on his purchases. The purchaser, in turn, can claim the IGST while discharging his output SGST liabilities. This is expected to maintain the un-interrupted chain of input tax credits while ensuring that no upfront payment of tax or significant block-age of funds occurs for the inter-state seller or buyer.

what goods and services would be covered under GST ?

The Central GST and the State GST would be applicable to all transactions of goods and services made except the exempted goods and services, goods which are outside the purview of GSTand the transactions which are below the

GOODS & SERVICES TAX

was then proposed and the Centre and the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers have been in discussions for the past 3-4 years to achieve a consensus on the model to be implemented. The first discussion paper on GST was released the 10th of November.

what are the key features of GST proposed for India ?

India proposes to have a dual GST whereby a Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and a State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) will be levied on the taxable value of every transaction of supply of goods and services. Thus, two taxes, one at the central level and the other at the state level, will apply, at rates yet to be decided, on every single transactions of goods and services. The Centre and the States would have concurrent jurisdiction for the entire value chain and for all taxpayers on the basis of thresholds for goods andservices prescribed for the States and the Centre The exception to this general rule is with regard to inter-state supply of goods and services which will be charged just one tax-to be called the inter-state GST (IGST), which will be the aggregate of the CGST and SGST payable on such supplies. Appropriate input tax credit offsets will be available against each such tax. Thus, the CGST on inputs will be eligible to be set off against the CGST on outputs and the SGST on inputs will be eligible to be set off against the SGST on outputs. No cross-utilisation will be possible across the two taxes. However,


prescribed threshold limits. The proposed threshold limit below which GST will not apply, in case of SGST is a turnover of Rs 10 lakh . For CGST it is much higher at a turnover of Rs.1.5 crore.

what goods and services are not covered under GST ?

Taxes on alcohol, certain petroleum products (viz. fuels); octroi and similar levies will be charged at local authority level, hence these are not covered under GST. Also, it is not yet decided whether GST should cover purchase tax levied by some states on identified goods (such as agricultural produce), natural gas or indirect taxes on real property.

which Central and State taxes are proposed to be subsumed under GST?

Among central taxes, Central Excise Duty, Additional Excise Duties, The Excise Duty levied under the Medicinal and Toiletries Preparation Act, Service Tax, Additional Customs Duty, or Countervailing Duty (CVD), Special Additional Duty of Customs, Surcharges, and Cesses are proposed to be subsumed under GST, to begin with. Among the state taxes, VAT / Sales Tax, Entertainment tax (unless levied by the local bodies), Luxury Tax, Taxes on lottery, betting and gambling, State Cesses and Surcharges in so far as they relate to supply of goods and services, Entry tax not in lieu of Octroi. are proposed to be subsumed in GST

what is the proposed GST rate structure ?

For goods, the SGST would have a two rate structure (a lower rate for

converted into cash refund schemes after collection of taxes. For Special Industrial Area Schemes, such schemes will continue until their legitimate expiry. Any new exemption or continuation of earlier exemptions not will take place proposed. In such cases, the Centre or state could provide reimbursements after collecting GST.

what legislative steps are being taken for GST ?

A Joint Working Group has recently been constituted comprising of the officials of the Central and State governments to prepare a draft legislation for Constitutional Amendment. The amendment is required to allow states to levy taxes on services. The Working Group wi l l a lso draf t legis la t ion for CGST, a suitable Model Legislation for SGST and rules and procedures for CGST and SGST, as legislation for IGST and rules and procedures. The Working Group will also address the issues of dispute resolution and advance ruling.

What would be the benefits of a dual GST system ?

T h e d u a l t a x s t r u c t u r e is expected to result in the reduction in the number of taxes at the Central and State level, decrease in effective tax rate for many goods, removal of the current cascading effect of taxes, reduction of transaction costs of the taxpayers through simplified tax compliance and increased tax collections due to wider tax base and better compliance. q

necessary goods and a standard rate for others) with a possible special rate for precious metals and a list of exempted goods. The Centre may also have a two-rate structure for CGST with some conformity with SGST rate levels. For services, a single rate structure is proposed for both CGST and SGST.

what are the implications of GST for exports and imports ?

Exports are proposed to be zero-rated (waiver from payment of CGST/SGST on export transactions, with possible refunds of proportionate input credits). Similar benefits are also proposed for special Economic Zones (SEZ), limited only to their processing zones. Transactions from an SEZ to a DTA customer will not carry any rate benefits. GST is proposed to be applied to import transactions as well.

what is the composition and compounding scheme under GST?

A Composition/Compounding Scheme will be an important feature of GST to protect the interests of small traders and small scale industries. The proposed scheme will have an upper ceiling on gross annual turnover and a floor tax rate with respect to gross annual turnover. In particular there will be a compounding cut-off at Rs. 50 lakhs of the gross annual turnover and the floor rate of 0.5% across the States. The scheme would allow option for GST registration for dealers with turnover below the compounding cut-off.

How will existing incentives be treated under GST ?

Tax exemptions now available as industrial incentives may be


Insurance Ombudsman

CONSuMER Day

NSURANCE IS a matter o f so l i c i t a t i on . The individual has considerably less knowledge about a product than the agent

or financial advisor. Individuals, therefore, rely heavily on the insurer, agent or advisor or for guidance and support. Proposal papers are generally completed by agents but the insured or claimant has to face its implications. The insured is always exposed to many kinds of risks such as failure of the product to meet its forecast, or the promises made by the agent about the product and its benefits, delay in services, non attending to the customer’s request. The insured therefore needs an independent regulatory mechanism for redressal of his grievance.

Insurance Ombudsman

‘Ombudsman’ is a Swedish word, meaning ‘legal representative’.

I

The author is Associate Professor, Department of Commerce and Convener, Consumer Club, Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi. (December 24th is observed as National Consumer Day).

Sheetal Kapoor

Worldwide it stands for an official appointed by the government to investigate individuals’ complaints aga ins t pub l i c au thor i t i e s . Ombudsman was initially started in Sweden in 1809 and adopted in many countries thereafter e.g. Finland, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, Mauritius, Guyana and United Kingdom.

The Ombudsman scheme in the financial sector was initially introduced in banking with RBI Notification in 1995, subsequently amended in 2002.

The Govt. of India introduced the Insurance Ombudsman Scheme in the Insurance Sector through a notification of “Redressal of Public Grievance Rules 1998” (RPG Rules) under Section 114 of the Insurance Act 1938. At that time, IRDA had not come into existence. Insurance Ombudsman handles complaints of aggrieved

gRiEVaNCE REDRESSal

It is hoped that through

healthy competition

the insurance sector would

meet the requirements

of the consumers


insured persons. This institution is of great importance and relevance for the protection of interests of policy holders and also in building their confidence in the system. The institution has helped to generate and sustain the faith and confidence of the consumers and insurers.

Appointment of Insurance Ombudsman

T h e g o v e r n i n g b o d y o f I n s u r a n c e C o u n c i l i s s u e s orders of appointment of the insurance Ombudsman on the recommendations of the committee comprising of Chairman, IRDA, Chairman, LIC, Chairman, GIC and a representative of the Central Government. The Insurance Council comprises of members of the Life Insurance Council and General Insurance Council formed under Section 40 C of the Insurance Act, 1938. The governing body of Insurance Council consists of representatives of insurance companies. Ombudsman are drawn from insurance industry, civil services and judicial services.

Terms of office

An insurance Ombudsman is appointed for a term of three years or till the incumbent attains the age of sixty five years, whichever is earlier. Re-appointment is not permitted.

Territorial jurisdict ion of Ombudsman

The governing body has appointed twelve Ombudsmen across the country allotting them different geographical areas as their areas of jurisdiction. The Ombudsman may hold sitting at various places within their

area of jurisdiction in order to expedite disposal of complaints. The o ff i c e s o f t he twe lve insurance Ombudsmans are located at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Cochin, Guwahati, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad,) Lucknow, Mumbai, and Hyderabad.

Power of Ombudsman

Insurance Ombudsman has two types of functions to perform

(1) Conciliation

(2) Award making

The insurance Ombudsman is empowered to receive and consider complaints in respect of personal lines of insurance from any person who has any grievance against an insurer. The complaint may relate to any grievance against the insurer i.e. (a) any partial or total repudiation of claims by the insurance companies, (b) dispute with regard to premium paid or payable in terms of the policy, (c) dispute on the legal construction of the policy wordings in case such dispute relates to claims; (d) delay in settlement of claims and (e) non-issuance of any insurance document to customers after receipt of premium. Ombudsman's powers are restricted to insurance contracts of value not exceeding Rs. 20 lakhs. The insurance compan ies a re r equ i red to honour the awards passed by an Insurance Ombudsman within three months.

Manner of lodging Complaint

The complaint by an aggrieved person has to be in writing, and addressed to the insurance Ombudsman of the jurisdiction

under which the office of the insurer falls. The complaint can also be lodged through the legal heirs of the insured. Before lodging a complaint the complainant should have made a representation to the insurer named in the complaint and the insurer either should have rejected the complaint or the complainant have not received any reply within a period of one month after the concerned insurer has received his complaint or he is not satisfied with the reply of the insurer. The complaint cannot be made later than one year after the insurer has replied. The same complaint should not be pending with before any court, consumer forum or arbitrator.

R e c o m m e n d a t i o n s o f t h e Ombudsman

When a complaint is settled through the mediation of the Ombudsman, he shall make recommendations which he thinks fair in the circumstances of the case. Such a recommendation shall be made not later than one month and copies of the same sent to complainant and the insurance company concerned. I f the complainant accepts recommendations, he will send a communication in writing within 15 days of the date of receipt accepting the settlement.

Award

The ombudsman shall pass an award within a period of three months from the receipt of the complaint. The awards are binding upon the insurance companies.

If the policy holder is not satisfied with the award of the


Ombudsman he can approach other venues l ike Consumer Forums and Courts of law for redressal of his grievances. As pe r t he po l i cy -ho lde r ' s protection regulations, every insurer shall inform the policy holder along with the policy document in respect of the insurance Ombudsman in whose jurisdiction his office falls for the purpose of grievances redressal arising if any subsequently.

Steady increase in number of complaints received by various Ombudsman shows that the policy-holders are reposing their confidence in the institution of Insurance Ombudsman. During 2007-08, 10865 complaints were lodged with the Ombudsmen against the insurers, both life and non-life. Of these, 5565 were against life insurers and remaining 5300 were against the non-life insurers. As on April 1, 2007, there were 1947 complaints pending

with the Ombudsmen for disposal. Of these, 603 complaints were pending against the life insurers and the remaining were against the non-life insurers. As such, complaints outstanding with the Ombudsmen for disposal as on April 1, 2008 were 1419; of which 390 were in the case of life insurers and 1344 were against non-life insurers.

Need for Consumer Guidance and Education in the Insurance Sector

There is need for sustained consumer education programmes and various initiatives to inform consumers about how to seek redressal and also to ensure high-level service from insurance companies for customer satisfaction. Consumer care for versatility and wide ranging products to make the choice through more independent

professional force and a common service standard are required. Non-transparency and lack of empathy towards the policyholder on the part of the Insurer have been the main irritant factors, coupled with vague policy conditions. Ignorance of the rules and conditions of the policy contract on the part of the insured public is another major factor for grievance. The policy terms and conditions are not explicit and in simple language. Thus, in a contract of insurance, there is a requirement of good faith on the part of the assured and the contract is likely to be construed against the insurance company in case of ambiguity or doubt. The insurance sector is now open to both private and public entities. It is hoped that through healthy competition the insurance sector would meet the requirements of the consumers. q


SuKHOIS IN NE SKIES

Sukhoi fighter jets will start flying in the skies of the North East very soon.

According to defence officials, around six aircraft of the warplane’s MKI variant have reached Tezpur air base and a full complement of the warplanes is expected to arrive by the year end.

Flight training and operational sorties of the aircraft are likely to begin very soon and preparations are on in this regard. Besides Tezpur, a full squadron of Sukhoi fighter jets would also be deployed at Chabua base subsequently.

The IAF was also contemplating to deploy another squadron at Bagdogra air base in West Bengal. The Su-30s had operated from Tezpur air base when they were formally inducted in the base on June 15. Since then, the air base which has been upgraded to house the jets was also opened for civil aviation.

Four Su30s had landed at the base on June 12 for a symbolic induction and a fighter aircraft operated from the airbase after a gap of more than a year since MIG fighters were moved out of it. Having aerial refueling capability, the Su30 MKI multi-role combat jets have a combat radius of 1,500 km.

The MKI variant of the warplance which was inducted into the IAF in 2002 are said to have an impeccable safety record. The IAF already has three squadrons of Su-30 MKIs at Lohegaon and Bareilly.


J&K WiNDOW

Bangus Valley to become eco-tourism spot

The beautiful Bangus valley in Kupwana District of J&K has great potential for becoming Asia’s biggest golf course spreading over 300 sq km..The government has accorded top priority to the development of Bungus Valley so that it becomes a permanent destination on the tourism map of

the state. Efforts would be made to provide better road connectivity as well as creation of tourism related infrastructure. The project would also generate employment for the local youth. In the first phase of the project, Rs. 2.32 Crores have already been released to provide basic infrastructure. A comprehensive project worth Rs. 4.77 crores has also been formulated for the second phase. The tourism department plans to develop the spot as a biosphere tourist destination to maintain its ecological balance and natural beauty. There would be no construction within the 300 sq. kilometers of Bungus Valley. Tracking paths would be constructed from Wader Bala via Zachaldara side and Nildoori via Nowgam Langate side and foot bridges would also be constructed on this track. The government has launched an ambitious project of tourism development in the state and identification of new scenic spots like Bungus is a step in that direction. The government would soon promote expedition package tours to attract tourists to the Bungus and Lolab valley.

Man-made glaciers

Chewang Norphel, a retired engineer from Leh, ‘builds’ artificial glaciers as natural ones retreat. Elders in Stakmo, a highland village an hour’s drive from Leh, say they miss a lifeline—glaciers. When they sow in April and May, these slow moving masses of ice no longer feed their streams, as

they used to do in the past. So, they are now making their own ‘glaciers. Uphill, Chewang Norphel, a 74 year old retired government civil engineer from Leh, and his team of hardy men are busy cutting channels and building pools lined with stacks of stones. Norphel is trying to harvest and freeze the water that flows down a stream from the cold mountains. He recalls a time when there were more glaciers in the area. He says there was one in Khardung La as well. By mid April, the fields would get the much needed water from these glaciers. But with the global rise of temperature and receding of glaciers, the fields were getting water only by June, which was too late. To ensure that fields get water by mid April , Norphel and his men are making glaciers.

Norphel explained his technique, jumping from rock to rock across his ‘glacier’ field. The stream water is diverted at a slow pace into three pools, built one above the other in the shadow of a hill on its slope. The trick is to cut down the volume and velocity of the water, so that it freezes. By the peak of winter, the ponds resemble a glacier, brimming with solid white layers of ice and snow As temperatures rise by April, there will be enough water flowing for the village. In just Rs. 10 lakh, they get their own backyard ‘glacier’—two million cubic feet of ice.

About 25 men work for about five months with shovels on mud, rocks and metal pipes. Norphel is testing out three different designs: tweaking the slope, the shade and the depth of the pools. Earlier, he tried freezing water in metal pipes. “I learned the technique when I had to keep the water flowing in the garden pipe from freezing during the winter,” Norphel said. Experimenting since 1987, Norphel has built 10 ‘glaciers’ till now. Five more are in the pipeline, with funds from the ‘Sadbhavana’ initiative of the Army and a central government project.


Unethical Food Marketing to Children

ESSay COMPETiTiON

HE WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 2.3 billion people, almost 1/3 of the global population, will be

overweight by 2015. The pervasive marketing of unhealthy food to children by the world’s leading food and soft drink manufacturers threatens to undermine efforts to tackle obesity. Overweight and obesity in children was considered a phenomenon confined to the rich and developed nations. Now the numbers are increasing quickly in Asia Pacific and many developing nat ions a lso . Mult inat ional companies have been able to exploit the lack of controls and regulations on marketing and advertising in developing countries and have been using a range of techniques to promote foods, which are high in fat, sugar and salt to children. WHO also found out that the marketing is overwhelmingly for energy-dense, micronutrient-poor foods that

T

The author is Director and Senior Fellow at the Institute of Small Enterprises and Development, Cochin. (The Essay Competition was organized jointly by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Yojana.)

C Sajith

undermines recommendations for a healthy diet.

Marketing ethics

Marketing ethics is the area of applied ethics that deals with the moral principles behind the operation and regulation of marketing. Some areas of marketing ethics overlap with media ethics. Marketing ethics can be analysed under the following three frameworks:-

1) Value oriented framework- analysing ethical problems based on the values, which they infringe like honesty, autonomy, privacy, transparency etc.

2) Stakeholder oriented framework- analysing ethical problems based on who they affect e.g. consumers, competitors, society as a whole etc.

3) Process oriented framework- analysing ethical problems in terms of the categories used

ThiRD PRiZE

by the marketing specialist e.g. research, price, promotion, placement etc.

Children as Stakeholders

The ethics of marketing to children has fallen under the scrutiny of various health institutions across the country as never before. Recent researches show that children are now not just mute spectators in the household purchase decisions. From buying white goods to cars, cell phones to groceries and even in items not concerning them directly, children have their say nowadays.

Children represent three different markets. In addition to the direct money they spend and their parents’ money they influence, children also represent a third major market that is the future market. The influence that the children have on their parents’ spending is formidable in this era of technological advancement. Children are apprised of the entire


gamut of product range through various advertising media like television, internet, mobile phones etc. Children are a vulnerable target audience mainly for food products, fashion ware and entertainment goods.

Children are a valuable target audience to every marketer. Marketers have two sources of new customers; those who can be persuaded to change from their competitors and those who have not yet entered the market. Those who switch from one brand to another are less likely to be loyal than those who are nurtured from childhood. Marketers recognise that brand loyalties and consumer habits formed when children are young and vulnerable will be carried through to adulthood. Thus, every marketer wants to jump on to this bandwagon of target marketing children.

Cashing in on Pester Power

Children are known to be extremely nagging and bleating about to get their parents buy them what they want, which they would not get otherwise. This is often referred to as the Pester Power of the children. This is perhaps the strongest of all tactics adopted by the child to which the parents also succumb ultimately, especially as regards food. At times like now, where quality time spent with kids is on the decline, parents commensurate it by yielding to their pressures. Often this takes the golden route of buying them their favourite food above gifts and novelties. Thus, what best opportunity could the marketer get than this to promote fatty,

sugary, salty and unhealthy food to children. There are many reasons cited for this behaviour of the parents, like: - parents having few children tending to spend more on each child, parents postponing child-bearing to a stage of life when they are financially stable etc.

Marketers often create pester power and exploit it. Nowadays, children spend most of their time watching TV and surfing the internet. They are chased by variety of advertisements enticing them to buy a whole range of food items, which end up doing more harm to their health than good. Children are lured into buying soft drinks containing artificial flavours and no natural fruit contents, food that is high in fat, sugar and salt, energy drinks etc. by associating popular personalities, television cartoon characters, freebies etc. with it. There is no dearth of commercials showing celebrities from all walks of life endorsing food items. One can find majority of the cartoon characters liked by the kids being printed on food wrappers. Few fast food chains even giveaway toys and miniature models of kids’ favourite cartoon characters free. No wonder why children pester their parents to get it for them.

unhealthy food & marketing gimmick

Children are made to believe the tall claims associated with these unhealthy foods like power of becoming tall, strong and intelligent, which are sheer market ing gimmicks. Marketers even create fear in the minds of children about matters like homework, projects and examinations and

deceive them by associating their products to overcome it. Though children are aware of a great many number of brands, they do not have the capacity to differentiate the marketing gimmick from reality. Children often fall prey to the marketer’s trap. As consumers, the children’s as well as teenage youths’ decision-making skills can directly influence their dietary choices and eating habits. Inability to make wise purchase decisions and the pressure of advertisements has serious implications on children’s health. Fast foods, aerated soft drinks, snacks with high salt and fat contents are driving children’s and teenage youth’s nutritional disorders to unprecedented levels. These unhealthy food items make children addicted to them and lead to disorders like childhood obesity, which is a growing menace in the western countries as well as ours. However, most of the parents inform their children about the harmful effects of unhealthy food, the addictiveness delays or even encumbers the children from getting rid of it.

It is this marketing attention-grabber tact ic that is to be held responsible for bringing up the present youth generation as unhealthy adults who would be a big burden on the society who would be spending a lot on health.

Advertising which is a part of marketing has created a sense of insecurity among the children and it also puts pressure on them to conform to group behaviour. Conforming to group standards makes children hang out mostly at fast food chains. The


fast food chains inundate children with endless variety of unhealthy food and offers that make children visit them often.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Not all marketing practices are unethical. Sometimes there is only a thin line of difference between ethical and unethical marketing practices. Aggressive marketing of foods high in sugar, fat, salt etc. and low in essential nutrients is unethical at all times. Exploiting the innocence of children by alluring them to use unwanted, very modern and fashionable products by the marketers goes a long way in contributing to the children’s desire to become rich and amass wealth quickly. As a result, we often find teenage youths falling in bad company and indulging in anti social activities.

Marketers should integrate an element of social responsibility with the marketing strategy, which not only sells foodstuffs but also educates consumers on a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. Corporates selling foodstuffs should market their products responsibly and ensure that unhealthy food are not being marketed to children. They should not be advertised on TV programmes that target children. Similar steps should be taken in advertising in other media as well.

Concerns and the need of the hour

Overall, the WHO concluded that advertising has an adverse effect on children’s understanding of food knowledge, attitude, purchase behaviour and consumption.

According to Professor Gerard Hastings in The extent, nature and effects of food promotion to children: A review of the evidence for WHO concluded that children in developing countries like India may be more vulnerable to advertising of unhealthy food because:

l They are less familiar with advertising in general

l They are a key entry point for companies as they are more responsive than their parents are

l They may associate Western multinational company brands with a des i rable modern lifestyle

National governments, aware of the scale of the issue of growing obesi ty-related diseases, in some countries are taking some measures. However, it should be the responsibility of the WHO to show leadership and produce policies that can be implemented by national governments easily and swiftly while providing a benchmark for responsible food industry practice. The international code prepared by CI and IOTF provides a model framework on how this can work. It would provide protection from advertising of products high in fat, sugar and salt for children up to 16 years old and include:

l A ban on radio of TV ads promoting unhealthy food between 0600hrs and 2100hrs

l No marketing of unhealthy food to children using new media (such as websites, social networking sites and text messaging)

l No promotion of unhealthy food in schools

l No inclusion of gifts, toys or collectible items that appeal to children to promote unhealthy foods

l No use of celebrities, cartoon characters, competitions or gifts to market unhealthy food

National governments should implement national legislation based on the International Code to restrict the marketing of food to children. More importantly, the multinational food and beverage companies should voluntarily comply with all the provisions in the International Code.

Conclusion

Marketing can be a wonderful tool to educate children as well as youth in becoming responsible and well-informed consumers, who understand alternatives and makes a wise decision. While personal responsibility for maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle is important, governments and the consumer industries must also be held to account for the significant role they need to play. Consumers expect businesses to be pro-active and adopt a socially responsible approach to food marketing especially when it comes to children. Parents feel that the government must bring in regulation on what the advertisements can show and whom the marketer can ta rge t . Adver t i sements should not exploit individual insecurities, create false needs and offer fake solutions. q

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