Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 47, No. 5, FEBRUARY 4, 2012

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FEBRUARY 4, 2012 | VOL XLVii NO 5 Economic&PoliticalwEEKLY
Don't Cry for Them India EDITORIALS
10 One does not have to be a Maoist to experience the unlawful conduct of Hope in Pakistan
our law-enforcing agency; it has been its abiding character vis-à-vis the Mental Healthcare
common masses.
'Human Safari' in the Andamans
Pakistan: Frying Pan and the Fire FROM 50 YEARS AGO
12 Politics has moved down to the provincial and sub-provincial levels in

Pakistan and the electoral contest will centre on regional issues rather than
MARGIN SPEAK
national grandstanding. Don't Cry for Them India

- Anand Teltumbde
Censoring the Internet: The New Intermediary Guidelines

COMMENTARY
15 Placing the onus of policing the internet on private intermediaries is
Pakistan:
inefficient and blocking content is an impractical method to Frying Pan and
crack down onthe Fire
- Haris Gazdar
internet crimes.
Censoring t
The Forests and the Palaces The New In
19 A day-long visit to villages in Jangalmahal, West Bengal records the - Rishab

strong Bailey
presence of armed policemen and the absence of the state in providing

The Forests and the Palaces
livelihoods and basic rights. - Debasree De
Reforming
Reforming the Public Distribution System: ChhattisgarhLessons from
21 The revival of the public distribution system in Tamil Nadu, Himachal
- Raghav Puri
Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, is now visible in Chhattisgarh, Orissa and

Srilal Shukla: T
Rajasthan due to reforms in extending coverage, improving delivery and
- Mrinal Pande
increasing transparency.
BOOK REVIEWS
Srilal Shukla: Tribute from a Rereader
Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Political Theor
25 A tribute to Srilal Shukla (1925-2011), a writer in Hindi who bared the black
Mapping the Landscape of Political Theory
comedy of India in the post-Independence years and was one of the most - Sarah Joseph
unique, beguiling and in a funny way, Indian of our writers.
Unruly Hills: N
Northeast - Me
Imperialism for a Cash-strapped Era - Sanghamitra Misra
32 The us' "rebalancing" of its military capacities to the Asia-Pacific is motivated

by the need to engage China deeper while simultaneously tapping intoINSIGHT
the
growing prosperity of the countries of the region. Imperialism for a Cash-strapped Era
- M К Bhadrakumar
Rise of 'New Landlords' in Indian Agriculture

SPECIAL ARTICLES
37 National Sample Survey data on household assets and liabilities in India is
Structural Retrogression and Rise of
used to illustrate the structural change in the rural sector vis-à-vis the role of
'New Landlords' in Indian Agriculture:
the non- cultivating "peasant" households. An Empirical Exercise
- RVijay
Indian 'Commercial Fiction' in English

Indian 'Co
46 The means of production for literature in English have seen significant the Publi
changes in India since the late 1980s. Indian commercial fiction in English
-
isSuman Gupta
perhaps accommodative of the complex contrary pulls in social attitudes

Economic Turbulence in Greece
among Indian youth.
- Rania Antonopoulos,
Dimitri В Papadimitriou
Socio-economic Driver
55 The eu must become an entity with a unified and expanded fiscal policy and
in Assam: A Historical
a central bank willing and able to act as lender of last resort. If austerity and
- Narayan Sharma, M
structural reform continue to be the only options, Greece will bear witness to
AnindyaSinha
a lost generation and a likely end to the euro project in its present form.
CURRENT STATISTICS
Socio-economic Drivers of Forest Cover Change in Assam

64 An analysis of the historical context of forest cover change in the upper LETTERS
Brahmaputra Valley of Assam which harbours wet alluvial grasslands and

lowland tropical evergreen forests and is regarded among the mostSUBSCRIPTION RATES AND
NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

threatened forest types in the world.
Economic&PoliticalwEEKLY
ISSN OOI2-9976
Ever since the first issue in 1966,
EPW has been India's premier journal for Heterodox Economics Egregious Violations
comment on current affairs
and research in the social sciences.
It succeeded Economic Weekly (1949-1965),
which was launched and shepherded While the macroeconomics G Visakh Varma's curriculum
the macroeconomics thoughts isison aa
curriculum The thethecustodial newly formed
newly formed killing Sukhma
Sukhma district of of an adivasi district in of
by Sachin Chaudhuri,
who was also the founder-editor of epw. timely one ("Some Thoughts on the Macro- Chhattisgarh is yet another reminder of the
As editor for thirty-five years (1969-2004)
economics Curriculum in India", epw, lawlessness which prevails in the state's Bas-
Krishna Raj
gave epw the reputation it now enjoys. 21 January 2012) given the recent Harvard tar region. Reportedly, Pudiyami Mada, a
University walkout staged by ec 10 stu- 26-year-old adivasi, died in Sukhma police
EDITOR
С RAMMANOHAR REDDY dents, his portrayal of the economics station on 13 January. The Central Reserve
DEPUTY EDITOR
curriculum at the University of Hyderabad Police Force (crpf) claims that it arrested him
BERNARD D'MELLO (ион) is far from reality. Based on the on 13 January and handed him over to the
WEB EDITOR syllabus available on the website, he police the very same day. The four arrested
SUBHASH RAI
swiftly concludes that there "are too many police personnel, who were suspended, allege
SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITORS technical subjects and little or no hetero- that Mada was arrested on 9 January by the
LINA MATHIAS
ANIKET ALAM
dox or interdisciplinary papers in the cur- crpf, brutally tortured in the crpf custody, by
SRINIVASAN RAMANI riculum" (p 24). However, he fails to pay pouring petrol on his private parts and setting
ASHIMA SOOD
attention to two compulsory courses - it on fire, before he was handed over to them.
BHARATI BHARGAVA
classical political economy and political The crime of Pudiyami Mada was that he
COPY EDITORS
PRABHA PILLAI
economy of development, which are was accused of being a Maoist commander
JYOTI SHETTY taught at the Masters' level and are men- by the police. Such accusation is all that is
ASSISTANT EDITOR tioned on the same web page. These two needed for authorities to sanction custodial
P S LEELA courses introduce students to the Classical/ torture including one which culminates in
PRODUCTION Sraffian and Marxian approaches to death. That this has happened in Chhattis-
U RAGHUNATHAN
economics. In fact, these two courses garh, which is being monitored by the
S LESLINE CORERA
SUNEETHI NAIR have motivated several students to pur- Supreme Court for a number of instances of
sue further research on these lines in human rights abuses by the security forces,
CIRCULATION
GAURAANG PRADHAN MANAGER their MPhil and PhD. lends it a cruel twist. It suggests that where
В S SHARMA
On the same web page, Varma fails to a hyped-up "security-for- development"
ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER
notice the opportunity provided by the becomes the reigning deity, security forces
KAMAL G FANIBANDA
ион to its students to pursue interdiscipli- acquire impunity; egregious violations,
GENERAL MANAGER & PUBLISHER
К VI JAYAKUMAR
nary courses: "The University follows aincluding contravention of the "right to
credit system and a student can opt for alife", then become imminent.
EDITORIAL
edit@epw.in limited number of courses from other dis- The People's Union for Democratic Rights
CIRCULATION ciplines. The students are also permitted has for long campaigned against impunity
circulation@epw.in to do extra courses as either credit or audit provided to the armed forces personnel in
ADVERTISING
courses." A few of us have, in fact, credited areas where military suppression is going
advt@epw.in
courses from history, philosophy, anthro- on. Therefore, we demand a time -bound
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY
pology and other departments. judicial probe in the incident to fix indi-
32O-32I, A TO Z INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
GANPATRAO KADAM MARG, LOWER PAREL The tension between neoclassical and vidual and institutional culpability.
MUMBAI 4OO OI3
heterodox approaches to economics still
Paramjeet Singh, Preeti Chauhan
PHONE: (022) 4063 8282
Secretaries, pudr
continues, with or without the Harvard
FAX: (022) 2493 4515
DELHI
University walkout, at the ион. A glance
EPW RESEARCH FOUNDATION at the research interests of the economics
epw Research Foundation, established in 1993, conducts
research on financial and macro-economic issues in India.
faculty (institutional economics, environ- Instability in Pakistan
mental economics, law and economics,
DIRECTOR
К KANAGASABAPATHY and capital theory apart from the ones

С 212, AKURLI INDUSTRIAL ESTATE already mentioned) is solid proof of the While pittedpitted
the Pakistan's latest government
Pakistan's civilian turn civilian of government events has
KANDIVALI (EAST), MUMBAI 4OO 101
PHONES: (022) 2887 3038/41 department's commitment to pluralism in against its judiciary, the real wrangle is
FAX: (022) 2887 3038 economics education. We think it is rele- between President Asif Ali Zardari, assisted
epwrf@vsnl.com
vant to mention that all of us studied MA by the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani,
Printed by К Vijayakumar at Modern Arts and Industries,
151, A-Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg,
Economics at the ион during 2007-09. and the Pakistan army led by general Ashfaq
Lower Parel, Mumbai-400013 and Tarun Arora (isec, bangalore), Parvez Kayani which, if not resolved im-
published by him on behalf of Sameeksha Trust Nilesh Kumar (ион, Hyderabad), mediately, may result in a possible take-
from 320-321, A-Z Industrial Estate,
Tanya Sethi (paris),
Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai-400013.
Jayrath Shinde (jnu, new delhi), over of power by the army, as is well sub-
Editor: С Rammanohar Reddy.
Alex Thomas (sydney) stantiated by Pakistan's history.
4 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Ш223 Economic & Political weekly
The current cold war tensions between the two has been reminiscent of Pakistan's army appointed a new brigadier to assume
responsibility of the infamous 111 Brigade
the Pakistani government and the army, andhistory of troubled civilian-military relations;
the Supreme Court's (sc) contempt-of-court stationed in Rawalpindi, mostly charac-
the army has developed a routine of openly
notice to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ignoring the civilian authority as corrupt
terised as the coup-making unit because it
for failing to reopen graft cases against Pres-and incompetent politicians have beenhas its proven competence in occupying
important buildings and sensitive places
ident Asif Ali Zardari have, together, aggra-governing since Independence. The latter
during a military takeover and subsequent
vated the ongoing crisis of stability in Paki-have always discouraged democratic insti-
control. Some Pakistani analysts are of the
stan, thereby pushing the country to an un-tution-building and have not had the cour-
certain future. While the prime minister isage to face the army generals head-on andview that Gilani's aggressive posture with
the military is a well-planned scheme to
reminding the army to work within its man-call their bluff. No doubt, the failures of
instigate the army to stage a coup so that
date, apparently to divert its (the army's) civilian governments in Pakistan - most of
attention from the acts of omission and them have had short tenures - have been he may go down as shaheed, martyred by
very significant because of their miserablethe military, although this is unlikely.
commission of the civilian government, the
army is livid at President Zardari for secretlyperformance and involvement in rampant In fact, the sc's intervention has put con-
placing a memo to the us government seek-corruption. Most of them have/had beensiderable pressure on the ppp government,
discredited by their own people in thewhich takes pride in its troubled history
ing protection against an army coup as well
course of the past six decades because theywith the army for getting martyred instead
as from Muslim fundamentalists. Being the
could not help institutionalise democracy. of getting hauled into court on trial for
head of an elected government, Prime Min-
ister Gilani successfully piloted a resolution The eruption of the war of words betweencorruption. That is why the opponents of
the Pakistan People's Party (ppp) govern-the ppp do not want this "martyrdom" at the
through parliament on 16 January reiterat-
ment and the Pakistan army on 18 Januaryhands of army to succeed, which, there-
ing the supremacy of parliament - aimed at
supporting the democratic process and en-was because the government recendy sackedfore, must exercise restraint as per their
retired It general Naeem Khalid Lodhi, saidstrategy. Nevertheless, the prevailing in-
suring the continuity of the parliamentary
system - thereby consolidating his belea-to be close to general Kayani, as defence stability in Pakistan may not get resolved
guered position. secretary as he approached the sc withoutin a peaceful manner due to diverse and
Yet he cannot ward off his involvement seeking prior clearance from the govern-highly contentious issues and interests,
in supporting massive corruption alleged ment, contending that operational mattersinternal as well as external, involved in
to have been committed by President Asif of the army and the Inter- Services Intelli-the complex system of governance in
Ali Zardari and others who had benefited gence are not within the jurisdiction of thePakistan. This may be favourable to the
by the National Reconciliation Ordinance ofcivilian government. The government had army because the remaining political forces
2007 issued by the Pervez Musharraf regime no option but to issue a show-cause noticewill not be able to unite - due to mutual
in that year. Hence, both the key function- to Lodhi and subsequently had to dismiss bickering - in order to force the army to
him from service because that was the
aries, Gilani and Zardari, have been severely remain confined to the barracks. Further,
as the army has always been favoured by
indicted by Pakistan's sc. The sc's move,only suitable action that any self-respect-
the hardliners and also by Washington,
opening another front against the govern-ing government in the world ought to have
ment - as it is already in confrontation the destiny of Pakistan lies in its hands.
taken. But the army, viewing this step as an
with the powerful military over the memooffence and an upping of the ante against The
it army has always been eager to grab
power as is amply proved by its record in
scandal - could push the government into a(army), issued a stern warning of "grievous
deeper crisis because Gilani has now consequences", which carried an all-too-
the six decades gone by.
offered to resign. Yet, this stand-off bet-familiar and ominous ring because Gilani's
Sudhanshu Tripathi
ween the two will ultimately consolidatewords "serious ramifications" must be seen
PRATAPGARH
the army against the government. The in this context. Not only that, the army, con-
Court's ire is particularly with Gilanitinuing with its age-old practice of insubor-
whom it declared a "dishonest" person, dination, has refused to cooperate with the
Corrigendum
having violated his constitutional oath by
new defence secretary. In the article "Nanotechnology: 'Risk Gov-
deliberately ignoring the Courts' directive Against this backdrop, the continuing ernance' in India" published in the issue of
to the government with regard to the re-stand-off between the two over the past week 28 January 2012, Madhulika Bhati was
opening by the Swiss government of theprompted analysts to expect an army coup in wrongly listed as a joint author. The error
the country. Reinforcing these fears, the is regretted.
alleged cases of graft and money launder-
ing against Zardari, thereby catapulting the
civil-militaiy differences to centre stage. EPW at Kolkata Book Fair
The army, as usual, has never cared for
or honoured the sanctity and importance Economic and Political Weekly
of elected governments or even democracy; will be at the Kolkata Book Fair, January 25, 2012 to February 5, 2012.
rather, it has always wielded the upper hand, Do visit us at Pavilion Hall No. 2, Stall No. 3. We look forward to seeing you there.
the bigger stick. A head-on-collision between
Economic & Political weekly ШЕЯ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 5
6 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 1323 Economic & Political WEEKLY
FEBRUARY 4, 2012
Hope in Pakistan
The current political crisis in Pakistan may be an indicator of larger social changes.
judiciary and the political parties/parliament will also assert

Pakistan in the recent past has not been the sabre- their own voice. Even if the judiciary is doing the military's dirty
One Pakistan rattlingrattling
of theofofitsinmilitary
its mostorthethe military significant
clash between recent or past the bits clash has of between not news been coming its the judiciary sabre- from
its judiciary work, it is no longer a mere rubber stamp but rather an institu-
and executive. It is that its president, Asif Ali Zardari, and prime tion with which the military has to deal.
minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, have stood up to the military The present round of crises started a year ago with two poli-
and even taken the political fight into the heart of the military tical assassinations - of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and
establishment. As many observers have already noted, a similar Federal Minister Shahbaz Bhatti by religious fundamentalists.
confrontation with the military a few years ago would have led At that point it appeared that the crisis would lead to an unravel-
to the ouster of the civilian government in a coup. ling of democratic political processes and the strengthening of
The prime minister has termed the actions of Pakistan's army fundamentalism and authoritarianism. However, the us raid
chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and those of the head of the Inter- and killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad appear to have
Services Intelligence (isi), Ahmed Shuja Pasha, as "unconstitu- led to a tectonic shift in power relations. Not only did it shatter
tional and illegal" and has sacked the defence secretary, a the invincibility of the military, it also seems to have weakened
former lieutenant general and close confidant of Kayani, for the political charge of the Muslim fundamentalists.
"gross misconduct and illegal actions". Despite protests and While any weakening or fracturing of the singular power
threats, the military's top brass has largely had to lump the ac- of Pakistan's military is a welcome development, this does not,
cusations and move on. in itself, lead to a strengthening of democracy. As things stand,
This is unprecedented in Pakistan. Irrespective of how events
the ruling ppp is facing accusations of corruption, ineptitude
pan out in the coming days and weeks - whether Gilani and
is a neglect of basic issues of the people. Despite its large
removed from office or resigns, whether Zardari too is forced
mandate, it has done precious little to mobilise the people on
out or whether Pakistan's parliament itself is dissolved - the
political agendas of transformation. The other political parties
past few weeks have shown the world that there has been a appear moribund. While Imran Khan's political challenge
too
is gaining popularity, it is based on unclear policies and
shift in the power structures of the Pakistani state. The military
principles. No one knows for sure where his anti-Americanism
remains the most powerful force. Yet it appears that it is unable
to freely exercise these powers as it did even a decade ago. ends and an alliance with extreme forms of Muslim funda-
Democratic institutions remain weak and underdeveloped, yet
mentalism begins.
political parties and parliament have shown a resilience and Some of the power which has slipped out of the military's
spine which is remarkable. control has been due to the growth of the media, primarily the
television news channels. If anything, Pakistan's media boom
Most important has been the role of the Supreme Court which
has been wild, raucous and at times has fostered views that are
has taken a hard stand against the ruling Pakistan People's Party
(ppp) and its government. The manner in which the top judges
negative to democratic functioning. At the same time, this has
of Pakistan's Supreme Court have targeted its president and
also made public opinion that much more difficult to control via
prime minister has led to some suggestions that the judiciary"assets"
is of the isi and other security and intelligence agencies,
carrying out the coup which the military finds itself unablethan
to had been the case earlier. The explosion of other means of
execute. While there may be something to this allegation, the
communications like mobile phones and social media too have
point is that, unlike earlier, when the military was the only real
to be factored in, though perhaps nobody really has a clear idea
of athe manner and extent of their influence.
power in Pakistan, today it is possible to see the emergence of
triumvirate of power-wielders with the judiciary, the politicalHow will these power contestations resolve themselves?
parties and parliament also coming into play. While the military
While this would be difficult to forecast, what could be argued
may continue to retain control over important parts of statewith some certainty is that this very contestation indicates
policy like foreign affairs and security, it is clear that the
a change in the social classes and their relative positions
Economic&PoliticalwEEKLY Е335Э February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 7
within Pakistani state and society. Has the influence of large being articulated by which political player. Such a significant
landholders and feudal lords waned? Has there been a coalescing shift in state power structures is rarely possible without a
of social classes tied to industry? It would be crucial to find corresponding, or perhaps larger, shift in the social basis of
answers to these questions and to know whose interests are such power.
Mental Healthcare
India pilots a who resolution on mental healthcare, but when will it set its own house in order?
Official recognition of the incidence of mental illness in India

tion on "Global burden of mental disorders and the has been more on paper than in practice. The National Mental
The need tion Worldneed
on for "Globalfor a comprehensive,
Health a comprehensive, coordinated
Organisation burden of mental coordinated (who) response
disorders adopted response a and resolu- the at at Programme (nmhp) was launched in 1982 while the
Health
the country level" in Geneva recently. It was moved by India
Mental Health Act, 1987 came into effect in the early 1990s. The
which was lauded for getting the world to appreciate the needemphasises community-based system of care and the dis-
former
to draw up policies and measures to fight illnesses that lead
trict мир (dmhp) further attempts to take it to the grass roots.
to phenomenal human suffering and loss of productivity. The implementation of the district programme has, however,
India had also successfully argued for mental disorders being
not been satisfactory, the most significant factor being the lack
included in the non-communicable disease list at the first of priority given by the states to it. Psychiatrists and judicial ac-
Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-commu-
tivists have called for an overhauling of the Mental Health Act to
nicable Disease Control in Moscow last year. It is ironical make
then it more patient-friendly and in tune with advances in the
field of mental healthcare. The draft Mental Healthcare Act
that India's mental healthcare scene is dismal, almost border-
ing on the negligent. 2010 needs to be publicised and discussed widely in the public
According to the union health minister, 7% of the population
domain. Suggestions and recommendations from experts and
social activists in the field of mental health have not been lack-
suffers from mental disorders with 90% remaining untreated.
There is one psychiatrist per four lakh people with a similar ing.
abys-
Notable among these is that the dmhp should be incorpo-
mal shortfall in terms of the available psychiatric nursesrated
and in the National Rural Health Mission, inclusion of mental
social workers. The scene is worse in the rural areas. This is not
healthcare in primary healthcare, giving greater attention to re-
surprising considering that India's allocation for mental health-
habilitation in severe illnesses like schizophrenia (there are
care is less than 1% of the health budget. Translated into ground
more than 30 lakh patients in India), increasing the budget for
reality, these figures mean that a huge percentage of the mentally
mental healthcare and greater attention to issues facing women
ill are cared for by their families without even getting a proper
patients, especially that of "guardianship".
diagnosis. The social stigma associated with being mentally sick
A few days before the Geneva resolution, health experts had
means that families can hardly hope for a support network urged
out- the United Nations General Assembly to devote a special
side the home. The caregivers, especially in low-income families,
session to the burden of mental, neurological and substance-
have to manage their jobs and daily lives in addition to looking
abuse (mns) disorders. They said that conflict, displacement,
after a patient in need of exceptional attention whilst alsopoverty,
han- and gender-based violence increase the risk for mns dis-
dling the psychological effect of the situation on themselves. The Their insistence on the need for an urgent strategy has
orders.
lack of awareness associated with these illnesses also results in come not a day too soon. Mental illnesses are only increasing
many of the patients being taken to religious charlatans who along with the other non-communicable diseases, the outcome of
promise to "exorcise" the evil spirit or neutralise the "evil eye"rapidly changing lifestyles that are, in turn, the effect of socio-
cast on the family. political and economic changes at the global level, who estimates
Even among the educated and better-off sections, it is commonthat the global effect of mental disorders in terms of loss of
to see the severely mentally ill being hidden from the outsideeconomic output will reach $16,000 billion over the next two
world, shunned by neighbours and relatives while those suffer-decades. While even in the high-income countries nearly 35% to
ing from less severe forms are accused of being work-shirkers and50% of those with mental disorders do not get treatment, the
malingerers. Women sufferers bear a heavier burden. There isfigure is 76% to 85% for the low and middle-income countries.
also little appreciation of the need for counselling in times ofThe who estimates that mental health costs are the single largest
natural disasters and the attention to be paid to post-traumaticsource of global economic burden, topping cardio vascular disease,
stress disorders in general. On the one hand, there is the stigma cancer or diabetes.
and, on the other, the presumption that stress and anxiety disor- The strategies to fight mental illness then call for a complex
ders are the results of a weak character. The mentally ill are also array that will deal with its multifaceted effects and civil
more prone to suffer violation of their human rights, remainsociety must do its part as much as the government. Mental
unemployed and poor, and more susceptible to the other non-health and its ramifications affect every country and section
communicable diseases. of society.
8 FEBRUARY 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 ЕШСЭ Economic & Political WEEKLY
'Human Safari' in the Andamans
Will the near-extinct Jarawa tribe survive the greed and. insensitivity of the "mainstream"?
reports that some members of the tribe have got addicted to

exposed to a "human safari" by tour operators have drawn tobacco and alcohol, thanks to the tourists.) It recommended that
Recent exposed attention reports
attention to thetourgent
to a theissue"human
of what about
serves urgent
the best Jarawa
inter- safari" issue tribais by of what tour in operators serves the Andamans the have best drawn being inter- the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes)
ests of this group that has survived without contact with the Regulations, 1956 be amended. It took a reminder from Congress
"modern" world. The Jarawas live in a 1,021 sq km reserve on the Party president and nac chief Sonia Gandhi for the government
island of South Andamans in the Bay of Bengal. Numbering barely to talk of amendments. Experts say, however, that these amend-
403 people now, it was only in 1998 that they first made contact ments are inadequate to deal with the situation. The government's
with "outsiders" though their ancestors are said to have been part attitude towards the Jarawas also depends on how one views the
of the very first human migration out of Africa. Recently, the Andaman Trunk Road (atr) built nearly three decades ago and
websites of the London-based The Guardian/Observer carried a on the perennial debate about whether such tribes should be ag-
report about tour operators who arrange the safaris for a tidy gressively encouraged to join the mainstream or be allowed to
sum (part of which goes to the local police) during which tourists live by themselves with minimal contact with the outside world.
can take photographs, shoot videos and "throw" bananas and In May 2002, the Supreme Court had directed that parts of the atr
biscuits to the Jarawa, all of which is prohibited and expressly that go through the notified tribal reserve should be completely
listed at the gate of the reserve. A video of five semi-naked Jarawa shut down. Although the number of convoys allowed to pass
women dancing for the camera on the exhortation of a man through these parts has been curtailed to eight a day, no real action
(allegedly a policeman) was also uploaded. As soon as two Indian has been taken to conform to this directive. Yet, it is not easy to
television channels picked up this story, the predictable reaction close the atr. Closing parts of the road would hamper tourism,
of the Andaman and Nicobar administration was set in motion. which is important to the local economy. Besides, the road is also
Neither the acts described in the report nor what the videoneeded to ferry supplies and an alternative sea route is reportedly
shows are new. For nearly a decade, stories have been reportedimpossible until navigational channels affected by the tsunami
about this kind of incursion into areas that are meant exclusivelyare cleared. There is another complicating factor. A buffer zone
for the Jarawas. What is disturbing this time is the response of
was set up around the reserve in 2007 (five km on land and 10 km
the administration. Claiming it was unaware of these humanfrom the high tide mark in the sea) to minimise the Jarawa's con-
safaris, the local administration went on to state that this was antact with tour operators. However, this has made life difficult for
"old video". Even if that is true, as the foreign publications admit,the thousands of non-tribals who were settled in the Andamans
the report of the safari is a recent one and it states that the tourfollowing Partition. Their livelihood operations - fishing and
operator had the video on his cell phone and shared it with tourists. plantations - have been affected by the buffer zone.
An Indian television news channel also ran a story on how a The nac as well as other social activists have suggested that
complaint about this video and another similar one being shownthe Jarawa should be the final arbiters of their fate. This is not a
to tourists in a travel company's office was filed in Septembersimple issue with black and white solutions. It calls for a great
2011. Is it really possible for tour operators to take foreign tourists deal of sensitivity and careful treading. But before any decisions
into this area without the authorities knowing anything about it?are taken, the local administration and the centre must show that
The overall approach to the Jarawas by the centre is also typi- they are capable of creating an environment for the Jarawas that
cally bureaucratic. Six years ago, the National Advisory Councilwill make it easy for them to participate in processes where they
(nac) had recommended action following revelations that can decide their own future. Treating them like an "exotic" tour-
Jarawa women were being sexually exploited. (There are alsoism attraction is hardly the way to do this.
FROM 50 YEARS AGO considerable argument. PeopleWould

naturally
the enquiry prove as intractable as the
Шгс&ошйсШеМд
& journal of Current economic ani) political affaire
wanted a bigger and better plan one
but instituted
where
were the resources to come from? . .whether
.
by the Government to find out
there has been any noticeable increase
The Planning Commission does not oreven re- in the extent of economic inequality
decrease
view
VOL XIV, NOS 4, 5 & 6, ANNUAL NUMBER, FEBRUARY 1ÇÔ2 over terms,
the working of the plan in physical the last decade of development? At least
leave alone attempting an objective one of the members of the Committee of
evaluation,
EDITORIALS as it does of the Community Projects.
Experts What
appointed for the enquiry has frankly
would be the finding, if the progressconfessed that "the whole subject of pattern of
of the plan
Time-Lags and Targets is subjected to a scrutiny to ascertain why
income the
distribution and economic growth has
rate of growth
When the Third Plan was in the making, the over the last decade
not has been overtones but is not even aca-
only political
size of it was a subject of keen debate.
whatItitwas
is and how much higher itdemically
could have free from ambiguity and capable of
not a countrywide debate in whichbeen, had the performance, sector-wise
the mass- getting a and
clear statistical answer". An enquiry
es took sides or had any firm views to offer.
project-wise, been synchronised overinto time, in
plan projects, surely, could fight free of
the manner
But within a limited circle it did give rise to in which it should have been done? obstructions and casuistry.
such academic
Economic & Political weekly ццш February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 9
commemorate their liberation from the
Don't Cry for Them India Hindu religion. The police story outraged
many sensibilities, which was reflected
in the spate of articles and news items
ANAND TELTUMBDE
that followed, condemning the arrest.
Emboldened by this, some people sought
Arun Power in
Ferreira's to come out openly as "Friends
defense
illegal of of Arun
freed
arres
power in behalf
Ferreira" to campaignof tyrann
for his release
and torture is-Malcoma
X telling exa
until they were threatened by the police
of the unlawful conduct of
with arrest.
police. While
the Maharashtra police as a dreaded he and
In police custody, hea few
underwent all
jailed Arun the Maoist Maharashtra
received Maoist has Ferreira has finally
finally stepped out ofwho police was stepped as painted a dreaded outmedia
by of kinds of torture including petrol being
attent
there the central prison, Nagpur recently.
are many He poured into the rectum. As he revealed at
who are rot
spent nearly five years of his youthful life the press conference in Mumbai on 11 Jan-
in jails, accused of being M
in jail undergoing all kinds of torture that uary 2012, the police had used the tech-
and tortured.
is integral with the Maoist label and two Many of
niques of causing bodily them
pain without
denied controversial narco tests. TheMaoists
being court has leaving any mark. He was but
subjected to th
narco tests, not once but twice, which had
acquitted him in ю out of the 11 cases that
not the point. The Maoists,
were slapped against him and granted created another sensation because he
all, are responding inter alia revealed to
that the Maoistthe
activi- d
him bail in one. Ferreira is not the excep-
and violence of the
tion and the Maharashtra police too acted
state
ties were funded in Maharashtra by Bal in
chosen way. Thackeray. He documented his experi-
true to type. The media picked up the
ence with the narco test in his My Tryst
cases of Binayak Sen and Arun Ferreira
thus letting us know how an innocentwith Narco Test , which exposes the fake
scientific basis of the test and its real
Indian can be harassed merely for his or
character as a method of psychophysical
her dissenting views and incarcerated in
torture. He was charged in nine Naxal-
jail for years by the Indian state. But there
are thousands of faceless people like related crimes, from murder to planting
bombs and of course under sections of
them languishing in Indian jails with nei-
the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act
ther media attention nor money to con-
(uapa). Over four years of legal battle, he
test the false charges against them. They
meekly endure their fate. was acquitted in all those cases and the
Court did not find a shred of evidence
Ferreira's Ordeals
against him.
On 27 September last year, he was freed.
The media driven by the logic of the market
But the moment he set foot outside the
picks up cases which have news (sensa-
tion) value. The cases of Binayak
jailSen,
gate, plain clothes officers pounced
Kobad Ghandy and Ferreira becameon him, covered his face and forced him
news-
into an unmarked car which sped away,
worthy because they belonged to the middle
class but chose to tread very different
all under the gaze of his elderly parents,
who were waiting for him outside the
paths. Ferreira gained media attention
because he was from Mumbai, from the His lawyers tried to intervene but
prison.
middle class dream suburb of Bandra,
wereand
beaten up. Later, they learnt that he
was taken to the Purada police station
educated at the elite St Xavier 's College.
He was arrested by the Nagpur and
Anti-
arrested in a case registered in 2007,
when
Terrorist Squad (ats) on 8 May 2007 he was already in prison. The police
along
wanted
with Ashok Satyam Reddy alias Murli at to keep him in the jail as long as
Deekshabhoomi Nagpur with "deadly"
possible taking advantage of the infirmity
weapons such as a pen drive and of the law.
leftist
literature. To justify their action, the
The Faceless Others
Anand police had concocted a (
Teltumbde story that they
tanandraj@gmail.
writer and were
civilplotting to In 2008, several college
blow up the Ambedkar
rights activist students,
with mostlyth
Committee Memorial
for there onthe Protection
Dassera when Ambed- of Dem
dalits, were arrested on the suspicion of
Rights, Mumbai.
karites congregate in large numbers totheir links with the Maoists in Maharashtra.
10 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Q3S3 Economic & Political WEEKLY
MARGIN SPEÃK
They were implicated in multiple cases. As not Thackeray have been arrested and whatever hopes people had in the state.
in the case of Ferreira, the police did not subjected to investigation? This is the very process that makes Maoists
have any evidence against them. As such out of ordinary people.
Unlawful Police Acts
they were acquitted by the courts one
after another but not before they had Dreaming a Revolution
As regards unlawful rearrests after acquit-
borne their share of torture and jail terms. tal by the courts, there were 27 cases of Ferreira and most others have
Arun
It left a permanent scar on their minds political prisoners in the Nagpurdenied

jail being Maoists. But even if they are
and a blemish on their future. Last year, so, that does not make them criminals. It
alone. It has become the modus operandi
the ATS supposedly busted a Maoist den in is not the issue of Maoists being right or
of the police to hold people they want
Pune, arresting among others one Angela inside the jail as long as they wish.
wrong, and even less so of justifying or
Sontakke, reportedly a very important Nowhere in the Indian Penal Code (ipc) is
condemning their actions. After all, they
Naxal cadre in Maharashtra. Angela, an are people, who are responding to the
Maoism defined as a crime but the police
ex-college lecturer with BSc (Microbio- deceit and violence of the state in their
treat it as such. Even after the Supreme
logy), BEd, MSc (Zoology) and MA (Socio- chosen
Court ruled that mere membership of a way. One may disagree with their
logy) degrees, has as many as 20 cases banned organisation does not make a ideology
per- or methods but one has to admit
against her. By simple extrapolation, she son criminal unless he or she resorts or the horrific conditions, which propel them
could spend at least a decade in jail, if not incites people to violence, the police per- to take a radical path. After six decades of
rearrested or implicated in additional sist with their high-handed behaviour. the constitutional regime proclaimed in
false cases. Among the arrested are also Surely this constitutes contempt of court. the name of people, promising all kinds of
the activists of the Kabir Kala Manch of To commit violence or incite people to lofty ideals, it has only aggravated the
Pune, which had become well known as a commit it is a well-established crime in inherent injustice, inequality, violence,
radical Ambedkarite cultural outfit. Police the ipc, whatever the ideology of the com- corruption, and doublespeak in the soci-
terror has completely decimated this ris- mitter. When the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's ety. While the rich flaunt their opulent life
ing group, sending many of its talented Acharya Giriraj Kishore had publicly justi- styles, a vast majority of people go hungry.
activists into hiding. These people with fied the lynching of five dalits in Jhajjar in The country has the dubious distinction of
their humble backgrounds of course did 2002 for allegedly killing a cow, he was having the largest number of malnour-
not make news. directly inciting people to repeat it but the ished, anaemic, hungry people and under-
The case of Sudhir Dhawale, noted police did not act. In the case of Dhawale, fed, underweight, and stunted children in
writer, editor of Vidrohi (a radical Ambed- they kept repeating that he had links with the world. The ruling classes just rely on
karite monthly), and a social activist how- the Maoists. their deceitful responses using caste and
ever created a stir. Almost the entire who's As the case of Ferreira illustrates what other such divisions. Indeed, the rot has
who of progressive Maharashtra led by the police did is blatantly unlawful. By his gone much deeper than normally imag-
noted socialist leader Bhai Vaidya and vet- illegal arrest they violated his fundamen-ined. All middle class attempts at tinker-
eran activist in the educational, social and tal right to liberty, belief and expressioning with the system therefore appear
political fields N D Patii had come forward guaranteed in the Constitution. This was amiss. In contrast, the alleged Maoists
to press for his release. Dhawale was followed by a series of unlawful acts: in stand apart with their agenda of revolu-
arrested on 3 January 2010 at the railway threatening his friends with dire conse- tion. They are the only ones who appear to
station while returning after attending a quences if they voiced their support, in have correctly comprehended the prob-
literary conference at Wardha. He was torturing him in police custody, in forginglem. It is utterly stupid of the state to think
charged with sedition (Section 124) and his signature on the consent form for the that imprisonment, torture, encounters
under Sections 17, 20 and 39 of the uapa. narco test, in obtaining a fraudulent order and custodial deaths are going to deter
When confronted by the people, all that from the court for conducting the second them from their goal. No revolutionary
the police had to say was that they found narco test, in concocting false charges has ever buckled under these methods
incriminating literature and that his name against him, in making a series of false rep- and shunned revolution.
was mentioned by one Bhimrao Bhoite, an resentations before courts, in kidnapping
alleged Maoist who was arrested earlier. him after his release from the jail, in man-
Style Sheet for Authors
The literature in question was 87 books by handling his lawyers, and much more.
While preparing their articles for submission,
Ambedkar, Marx, Lenin, and Arundhati One does not have to be a Maoist to expe-
contributors are requested to follow epw's
Roy, which were confiscated by the police rience this unlawful conduct of our law stylesheet.
in the raid on his house. As regards their enforcing agency; it has been its abiding
The style sheet is posted on epw's web site at
other charge, if some alleged Maoist's character vis-à-vis the common masses. If http://epw.in/epw/user/styletocontributors.jsp
mere mention of a name is ground enough at the very basic level of its interface with
It will help immensely for faster processing and
for arresting a person, Ferreira had named people, the state conducted itself in such a error-free editing if writers follow the guidelines
Bal Thackeray as funding Maoist activities grossly anti-people manner, the entire in style sheet, especially with regard to citation
in Maharashtra, a serious revelation that constitutional superstructure with its high- and preparation of references.
came out during the narco test. Should sounding phrases just crumbles, crushing
Economic & Political weekly ШШ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 11
issue which refers to the allegation that
Pakistan: Frying Pan senior government figures, possibly even
ppp leader President Asif Ali Zardari,
and the Fire sought assistance from the United States
to forestall a military coup in the wake of
Osama bin Laden's discovery and killing
HARIS GAZDAR
in Pakistan. Mansoor Ijaz, an American
businessman and lobbyist of Pakistani ori-
The ability
gin, claims to have forwarded a memoran- o
dum to former us military chief Mike Mul-
opposition (
Parliamentary
Parliamentary vive challengesbecause
challenges vive
in Pakistanitsbecause in Pakistan
democracy
powerful despite its despite
powerful will serious
serious sur- len's office with an offer of assistance to the
Imran Khan)
opponents are even more politically bank- us in return for help in seeing off the threat
echelons
rupt than its feeble defenders. The smooth of a military takeover. He alleges that this of t
judicial
passage of a number of milestones culmi- and
memo was instigated by Zardari through
nating in general elections within the next Pakistan's envoy to Washington dc. Husain
to act in con
15 months will establish a virtually irre- Haqqani, who resigned his position as
due to their
ambassador to clear his name, denies
versible supremacy of the parliamentary
andsystem over civil, militaryethnic
and judicial involvement in the writing of the memo. p
relatively
bureaucracies. A disruption in the demo- Ijaz's allegations were made in an arti- m
cratic process at this stage can quickly cle published by the Financial Times in
urbanised re
lead to conditions of civil strife along early October, but it was former cricketer
Punjab, trad
regional and ethnic lines. and rising star of the right Imran Khan
political who was instrumental in raising theregi
tem-
Three-Pronged Attack
that is now
perature in Pakistan by publicly naming t
At the end of October last year, the Pakistan
opposition. Haqqani and Zardari as guilty parties. B
People's Party (ppp)-led coalition govern- Echoing the spin of parties like the Jamaat-
parliamentar ment of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani e-Islami (ji) and commentators known to
Pakistan seems more certain now be close to the military, Khan endorsed
became the longest serving elected consti-
than at any time in recent history tutional administration in the country's Ijaz's account of a link with Haqqani, and
it is because the centre of history. Dependent on some mercurial further argued that any approach to a for-
coalition partners for a majority, under eign power for assistance in preventing a
political gravity has moved down
the constant pressure of a recalcitrant military coup was tantamount to an act of
to the provinces and regions, military, checked by an activist judiciary, treason. Khan's shrill rhetoric was quickly
and at the local level it is the and facing the barrage of unfettered pri- followed by a meeting between the army
vately owned media, it is hard to think of a chief Ashraf Parvez Kayani and the prime
Pakistan People's Party that has
single month in the 46 moons of its tenure minister, which the pro -military media
a strong base.
which was without high drama and politi- reported as a face-off on Ijaz's allegations.
cal crisis. While there is much to say about Haqqani tendered his resignation and the
economic management, social policy, government announced the setting up of a
external relations, security, and political parliamentary enquiry into the matter.
reform, in its twilight period the ppp-led Upping the ante, the leader of the main
administration faces challenges which opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-
have little to do with any of these major Nawaz (pml-n) filed a petition in the Su-
areas on which democratic governments preme Court for an investigation into Ijaz's
may be held to account. claims, which the court admitted without
The political opposition is justifiably a view to precedent. The court then be-
gearing up for elections which must be came a stage for the open defiance on the
held within the next year or so, but an in- part of the military leadership of civilian
fluential segment of it has joined the mili- authority. In ominous moves the country's
tary and the judiciary in a three-pronged chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry explicitly
attack which has made the government encouraged and allowed this defiance,
Haris Gazdar ( gasht@yahoo.com ) is with the appear even more vulnerable than usual lending it dubious legal and constitutional
Collective for Social Science Research,
to an untimely termination. At the core of legitimacy. Soon after, the chief judge fur-
Karachi, Pakistan.
this attack is the so-called "Memogate" ther pressed the beleaguered government
12 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Economic & Political weekly
e COMMENTARY
by resuming his pursuit of a 15-year

willold
also be detrimental to any incoming
will be shaped by the province's entitle-
case against Zardari which had been on government.
elected ment to what is regarded as its resources
It is easier to understand the motiva-
the back-burner for the past two years. Ac- on the one hand, and the negotiation of
knowledging that Zardari enjoys constitu- ethnic heterogeneity and urban-rural
tions of ambitious judges and generals in
tional immunity while in office, Chaudhry
trying to destabilise the government. Byduality on the other. Balochistan is in a
is pressing the government to reopen state of civil strife and here the electoral
constantly inserting themselves as guard-
ancient corruption and money-laundering process itself will be a matter of conten-
ians and arbiters of state sovereignty, ideo-
charges against the president in Swiss
logical boundaries, and an imaginary tion. Baloch nationalists, who are increas-
courts. The irony of taking the head ofstructure" of the constitution, theseingly dismissive of parliamentary politics,
"basic
state to a foreign court while at thestate
same employees seek to retain or even ex-have already identified the "Punjabi army"
time denouncing him as a traitor for pand
alleg-their influence in an otherwise func-
as their oppressor.
edly seeking external support to forestall
tioning parliamentary system. The ques- The government's economic manage-
an unconstitutional act is missed, tion
obvi- ment, which might have provided the
still remains as to why they clutch at
ously enough, by right-wing nationalists
straws when the government might be opposition with persuasive talking points,
and pro-military media commentators.
genuinely vulnerable on substantive poli-
has had a similarly fragmented impact.
The political opposition - namely, Nawaz
tical issues. Memogate has yielded to the
Urban voters, particularly in north-central
Sharif's Muslim League along with ji the much coveted scalp of Haqqa-Punjab, are affected by a decline in
military
ni, but the issues involved are obscure,
and other religious parties - presumably growth rates, power shortages and poorly
wants to rattle the government into and
early performing state corporations and high
their successful pursuit depends on the
elections. Imran Khan does not desiremysterious
early Mansoor Ijaz about whom littlerates of inflation. Higher agricultural
polls as his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf
is known except that he is acquainted with
prices, only partly due to government pol-
(pti) needs more time in a bid to replace
important people and is not averse to ap-
icies, have benefited the agrarian econo-
PML-N as the main party of the nationalist
pearing in girlie videos. It would be far-
my across the country with an overdue
right. But he too has something tofetched
gain to make a connection between reversal of the terms of trade between
Ijaz'sasmemo and President Zardari, andrural and urban areas. The performance
from the government's troubles in court
he positions himself as a champion ofeven
fauxmore tenuous to argue that trying to
of public sector companies is also a double-
sovereignty and a crusader againstprevent
cor- a military coup was somehow an edged sword, as the ppp can turn around
ruption. The chief judge's single-minded
act of treason. The court's pursuit of 15-
and argue that it tolerated inefficiency as
focus on the ppp leadership is consistent
year old Swiss corruption charges against a price for protecting jobs. Electricity
Zardari raises an even more obscure mat- shortages are quickly interpreted in re-
with his established pattern of behaviour
which seems driven by a pursuit for execu-
ter which has virtually no chance of lead-gional terms as provinces have become
tive authority. By allowing the courting
to to more conscious of their entitlements to re-
be a conviction. It seems as though the
used as a stage for the military to flex its
generals and the judges are more interested
sources such as natural gas to which Paki-
muscles, Chaudhry effectively presents
in throwing the ppp leadership off-balance
stan's inefficient power sector has devel-
himself as a key power broker. rather than allowing the electorate to oped an unhealthy addiction.
show them the door. Given the fragmented polity, the ppp's
Why Clutch at Straws? credo of political reconciliation and coali-
Fragmented
Elections must be held within the next 15 Polity tion building has emerged as a winning
months. Opinion polls suggest that the
Then there is the possibility that the par-strategy. The party has reinvented itself
government is deeply unpopular. Econom-
liamentary opposition as well as the oppo-
from the proponent of a strong centre to
ic recovery following a major crisis inher-
sition to parliament are not confident that
the backward regions' friend in the cen-
ited from the previous regime hasthe
been tre. Its detractors understand that the
ppp-led coalition can be easily beaten
feeble, particularly in the industrial sector.
by the ballot after all. Politics has moved
widely held impression that the govern-
Inflation rates have come down but down
re- to the provincial and sub-provincial ment has been corrupt and inept particu-
main in double-digits, and inward foreign
levels. This implies that in any particular
larly in economic management - in other
investment has dried up. The opposition
region of the country, the electoral contest
words, the incumbency effect - may not
has been successful in portraying thewill
gov-centre on regional issues rather thanbe enough to defeat the ruling coalition in
ernment as corrupt, inept and supplicant to grandstanding. In southern Pun-
national a fair electoral contest. Nationalist rheto-
foreign powers, and much of the privately-
jab, for example, there is likely to be greatric against the us and other supposed
owned media is hostile to the ppp. On interest in the possibility of creating a new
enemies of Islam, and shrill protest about
paper, the parliamentary opposition should
ethnic Seraiki province, something that the selling out of national sovereignty by
cruise to electoral victory, without involv-
the parliamentary opposition has baulked the corrupt ppp and its coalition partners
at while the ppp-led coalition has backed. also do not travel well outside of north-
ing itself in power play with the judiciary
and the military. After all, providing
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa there will be
central Punjab. Even if the ppp loses the
political space to ambitious judges and gen- next election, coalition politics will re-
sharp divisions along pro- and anti-Taliban
erals to weaken the present government
lines, while in Sindh political discussion
main, and any party leading the federal
Economic & Political weekly Е32Э February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 I3
level of government will have to cast itself in a position to block amendments forbetween the record of the national citizens'
as a friend of the regions. The future of another two years, even if it were to fareregistry and the electoral rolls. The ecp is
parliamentary democracy in Pakistan very badly in the general elections. It iscurrently completing an exercise in prepar-
seems more certain now than at any time widely believed that the parliamentarying new electoral rolls, working alongside
in recent history precisely because the opposition, which hopes to lead the nextthe national registry which needs to issue
centre of political gravity has moved government, as well as the state's militaryidentity cards to the large numbers of citi-
down to the provinces and regions. and judicial bureaucracies, would havezens who do not possess them. According to
liked to prevent a ppp-dominated Senate.the ecp, the procedural and legal require-
Milestones The ppp for its part may not resist calls forments for completing and validating new
There are several milestones which if early elections once the Senate electionselectoral rolls, while ensuring that voters
passed smoothly will ensure that the have
par- been held. The government wouldare not excluded simply because they did
be looking to pass its fifth consecutivenot possess an identity card, are likely to
liamentary system will become virtually
budget in June, before going to the countrytake another five to six months.
irreversible. While general elections must
forofelections.
be held within the next 15 months, half It is not beyond the realm of possibility
The process of holding elections alsothat the Supreme Court starts to become
the seats in the upper house (Senate) are
in- to be negotiated and navigated with more proactive in shaping the electoral
up for election in March. The Senate isneeds
great care by the parliamentary parties asprocess. Its directives to the ecp for can-
directly elected by the provincial assem-
well as the state bureaucracies. The Elec-
blies and has equal shares from all prov- celling "bogus votes" was the result of a
tion Commission of Pakistan (ecp) has beenpetition filed by Imran Khan's pti, which
inces, regardless of population. The cur-
directed by the Supreme Court to discard adoes not currently have any represen-
rent arithmetic of provincial assemblies
large number of entries from the electoraltation in parliament. As Khan tours the
implies that the ruling coalition will obtain
and on suspicion that they were "bogus"country and attracts traditional patrimo-
a comfortable majority in the Senate,rolls
the ppp on its own will have around voters.
40% In fact, these were voters whosenial politicians to his fold, he has also
of the seats. Since constitutional amend- records had a discrepancy - the most com-sounded warnings that any election held
ments require a two-thirds majority inmon one being the absence of a nationalunder Zardari's watch as president will
both houses of parliament, the ppp will beidentity card number, or a mismatchnot be fair, even though the presidency is
ЩВШШШШШ
RE-USE-THE ART AND A HISTORY OF THE JANA
POLITICS OF INTEGRATION NATYA MANCH
AND ANXIETY ■|||i|| Plays for The People
Edited by Julia А В Hegewald Arjun Ghosh
and Subrata К Mitra A History of the Jana Natya Manch
n . . . chronicles the birth and growth of the Jana
n Presented . . . here is a novel approach to Natya Manch (Jana
■■H understanding andpast
theand
thethe
relationship the the
present using between
uniquethe theater
concept 1973Natya group (Janam), which has a been active since
of re-use, wherein elements from the past are
strategically adapted into the present, and Beginning in the early 1 970s, when a
thus become part of a new modernity. The 9rouP of young students in Delhi sought to
book uses this method as a heuristic tool for continue the legacy of the Indian Peoples'
analysing and interpreting cultural and political changes and the transnational Theatre Association, the book takes a close
flow of ideas concepts and objects but critical look at the various phases in the four decades of the theatre
Re-use Re-use iq s a a collection mlMon ot of wpII well researched rrarrhri and and l.iridlv lucidly written writtPn srhnlarlv scholarly attiri articles COlleCtive' The auth0r haS alS0 Captured within theSe pageS the functionin9
Re-use Re-use iq s a a mlMon collection of ot well wpII researched rrarrhri and and l.iridlv lucidly writtPn written srhnlarlv scholarly attiri articles Qf Janam as an organizatjon jts methods of attracting and training fresh
tha apply the concept of re-use to different aspeóte of cultura potai and te|ent Qf Janam the as an organizatjon yof ^ ti jts interactions methods with attracting masys organizations, training the
matenal life- from art, architecture and jewellery to religion, statesmen and «„прирпгр of nprfnrmino almost skin-to-skin with its spectators in the
as I near évoluions this book encourages readers to understand them as a m deve| , and function¡ ¡t ¡s a|so an 4 , t0 throw
continuous modification of the past and a penodic return to earlier forms. fresh light on the practice of theater.
2012 . 368 pages • ? 1,500 (Hardback) 2012 • 328 pages • ? 095 (Hardback)
14 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Е325Э Economic & Political weekly
now a figurehead office with no role in the despite the fact that the us and western which was traditionally a core political
electoral process. As we approach the powers have their own issues with the region of the country, that is now the main
timelines for the Senate elections, the Pakistani military. base of the opposition. The elites of this
budget, and the electoral process, pres- In spite of the "national mood" against region articulate the "national mood" even
sure on the government will continue to the incumbents, however, any overt disrup- though the region represents only around
mount not only from its political oppo- tion of parliamentary democracy will un- a third of the national population. This,
nents, but also on the part of the state ravel quickly. The ability of the political op- paradoxically, also implies that challenges
bureaucracies. While the main goal of position (Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan) to parliamentary democracy will be inter-
these pressure tactics will be to force the and the higher echelons of the state's mili- preted outside the core region as revanchist
ppp leadership to voluntary cede its ad- tary, judicial and civil bureaucracies to act attacks to be resisted, quite likely along
vantage, there is always a danger of a in concert is quite largely due to their shared regional and ethnic lines. If the State's
more open disruption through judicial regional and ethnic power bases. It is the bureaucracies and politicians from north-
fiat. A direct military takeover with or relatively more-developed and urbanised central Punjab are unhappy with the frying
without judicial cover cannot be entirely region of north-central Punjab, with a dis- pan of parliamentary democracy, they had
ruled out given the country's history, proportionate share in public employment, better prepare for the fire outside.
It could however be argued that such a

Censoring the Internet: system aims more at assigning liability to
a particular actor (consequently an easily
The New Intermediary Guidelines identifiable target for damage claims)
rather than trying to address the issue of
the illegal content in itself. This explains
RISHAB BAILEY
why, for example, governments have found
it almost impossible to ban certain websites
- they keep reappearing on other
The g servers
online world brings with it two major or in different countries.
in not
The problems onlineproblems
unprecedented world for -brings law with growth enforcement it two of major the -
for law enforcement As discussed in this article, the aforesaid
Guidel
anonymity and dispersion. In order to line of thought has led to a rather discon-
with
deal with criminal action on the internet, certing global movement of the law to- m
have
since it may be practically impossible to wards privatising what would ordinarily r
physically locate the perpetrator of the be in the domain of the judiciary (or in
of a le
crime, what has come to be recognised as cases, of the executive). This could both
many
the most efficient and/or easiest method increase the costs of conducting business
regula
of regulating the medium is through the over the internet and instances of unwar-
points of access that the public has to
are ranted censorship.
ar There is a need for bal-
any content. ance in the policy infrastructure so as to
arbitr
Between every user of the internet and promote free expression without undue
pose interference while at the same time ensur- a
the content being accessed are numerous
busine
actors involved in the process of bringing ing that criminal offences are dealt with
to the user the desired content. These ac-
in appropriately and without imposing un-
the
tors carry out a differing range of func- due costs on innocent parties.
hampe
tions from uploading the content, host- Indian law regulates intermediaries,
in the
ing/storing the content (either perma- through the Information Technology Act,
public
nently or temporarily) to archiving or 2000 (the "it Act") and various rules made
increa
cataloguing the content or even providing thereunder, notably the Information Tech-
physical access to the internet (as in the nology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2011
and in
case of a cybercafe). Each of these actors (the "Intermediary Guidelines"). As dis-
through which a user can access content cussed further, there has been considerable
on the internet is an intermediary,1 and progress in changing what was an unwork-
effectively without any intermediaries able and inequitable legal regime under
there is no internet. the original it Act, to a more rational regu-
An intermediary can theoretically exer- latory regime in 2009 with the passing of
cise control over the flow of content, pos- the Information Technology (Amendment) B
Rishab
lawyer
sibly making it more efficient for them to Act, 2008. However, the government's recent a
Common
deal with instances of offending material. actions in notifying the Intermediary
Economic & Political weekly ШШ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 *5
Guidelines (together with a set of regula- passed in 1996, which categorically providedwithin two weeks to preserve its statutory
tions governing cybercafes) with minimal safe harbour to intermediaries. As per defence from liability. The content can be
public debate, have resulted in the creation Section 230, no provider or user of an inter- restored if a counter-notice is received,
of a legal system that raises as many prob- active computer service is to be treated as unless the copyright holder files suit.
lems as it solves. The aforesaid regulations the speaker or publisher of any informa- This system moves away from the liability
as presently notified are arguably uncon- tion provided by another information con- regime under the Communications Decency
stitutional, arbitrary and vague and could tent provider. The section further protectsAct in attempting to strengthen online in-
pose a serious problem to the business of service providers from action taken in goodtellectual property rights, but has been
various intermediaries in the country (not faith (thereby allowing service providers tocriticised on numerous grounds3 including
to mention hampering internet penetra- voluntarily restrict access to material deemed as (a) it has the practical effect of incentivis-
tion in the country) and also to the public at by the service provider to be obscene, ing censorship of material as large amounts
large who may face increased instances of lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, of content have been removed by intermedi-
censorship and invasion of privacy. harassing, or otherwise objectionable).2 aries upon mere suspicion of infringement
This article therefore attempts a critical The service provider's only other responsi- or upon receiving false notice, (b) the ease
analysis of the Intermediary Guidelines bility is to inform its users that commer- of censorship through this route has made
taking into account the prevalent standards cially available services exist that can it a worthwhile short-term censorship option
for intermediary liability in the United moderate the content viewed by the user. to use, and (c) the lack of due process and
States (us) and the European Union (eu). This "safe harbour" provision has been in- a judicial role in adjudication.
terpreted fairly liberally to afford service
In the US EU Law
providers with near absolute freedom from
liability
One of the first precedents on the issue is in exchange for voluntary self- The eu extends protection to intermediar-
censorship.
that of Cubby Ine vs Сотри Serv, where a The near absolute protection ies based entirely on function (broadly
district court of New York held that the provided
de- to intermediaries (which is much similar to the Common Law system used
greater than that provided under the law to in England). The Electronic Commerce
fendant was not liable for providing access
traditional media) has however led to deci- (ec Directive) Regulations 2002, which
to defamatory material carried on its web-
sions that could at best be termed againstgive effect to the E-Commerce Directive of
based forum. The court applied the defence
the basis of the enactment itself - for exam- 2000, divides service providers into three
of innocent dissemination by a distributor
ple, that of Doe vs Amerìca Online where the categories and assigns differing grades of
(the general rule that a publisher is subject
to liability unless it knew or had reasondefendant
to was allowed to plead immunityliability to each:
had Section 230, despite having failed to • If an intermediary acts as a mere con-
know the content). As the defendant under
subcontracted for the content, and remove
had content of a paedophiliac nature, duit, it is not liable for third party content
exercised no editorial control whatsoever after notice of the same. Thereafter there that it transmits,
(the court also noted the impracticality ofhave been further attempts to bring in legis- • if the intermediary is involved with host-
expecting a host to exercise editorial control lation to regulate in particular, paedophilia, ing or cacheing, it is not liable for content
over large quantities of information), thethough most such enactments have more that is unknowingly hosted/cached, but if
court classified the defendant as a dis- often than not failed to come into effect. an alleged infringement is brought to their
tributor rather than a publisher. The afore- The us' experience with issues of regu- notice, it may potentially be liable, and,
said decision can be contrasted to that in lating free speech through intermediaries • if the intermediary acts as an author/
Straton Oakmont vs Prodigy Services , where can therefore be said to have returned editor it is liable for third party content so
edited or authored.
the New York Supreme Court held the mixed results. On the one hand, it has pro-
defendant liable as it purported to moderate vided a haven for a huge paedophile market As per Regulation 19, a host may avail of
content posted on its website. while on the other, the regime providing
the immunity offered by the regulations if it
These decisions however lead to the blanket immunity has reduced the regula-• has no actual knowledge of the content
edit burden, lowered costs of business andin question. Upon receipt of actual know-
conclusion that should an intermediary tory
or moderate the content on the website encouraged the freedom of expression. ledge of the illegality, it must act to remove
(even if not playing an active part in the cre- The us regulates intellectual propertyor disable access to the material as quickly
ation of the content) he could open himselfissues through the Digital Millennium as possible;
• is not aware of facts or circumstances
up to liability, so he might actually be better Copyright Act of 1998. In an attempt to
served doing nothing at all and utilising the balance the interests of service providers
from which the illegality of the content in
immunity available under law for distribu- and the copyright industry (music, films,question should have been apparent;
tors (this risk could however be offset by the publishing, etc) Section 512 protects regis-• was not controlling or in authority over
the user responsible for the content.
fact that there may be more public demandtered service providers from claims in the
for moderated content). event that they did follow a notice and take- As in the case of the Digital Millennium
In order to resolve the apparent conflict down policy. Upon receiving notice from Act
a in the us, the notification of the
and to reassure internet service providers, copyright holder, the service provider E-Commerce Directive has also created
a situation where it is rational for an
the Communications Decency Act was must bar access to the infringing material
l6 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 E3353 Economic & Political weekly
rOMMF.TMT ÃRY
intermediary to immediately disable access with a new provision, whereby intermedi-knowledge, it must act to take down the
to content upon receiving any complaint aries5 were not to be liable for any thirdinfringing material within 36 hours and
whatsoever. Further complications have party information, data or communicationwithout providing any notice or hearing to
also been seen due to the diverse nature of hosted by it, if the various circumstancesthe creator of the supposedly infringing
functions provided by intermediaries, mentioned in the section were met. The material. Intermediaries must comply with
which can often be difficult to categorise. amended Section 79 also empowered the government directions to provide infor-
For instance, in the case of L'Oreal vs Ebay , government to lay down "due diligence"mation, etc, as and when required. Every
it has been held that knowledge required criteria for intermediaries to follow. intermediary is required to set up a griev-
for a web host to acquire liability could be Despite some criticism6 the introduc-ance redressai mechanism through which
gained through the host's own "voluntary tion of such a section was undoubtedly users may report violations of the various
research" thereby potentially affecting the conditions mentioned in the Guidelines.
required in view of the nature of the busi-
business of all websites that trawl or cache ness of intermediaries and to protect them The Intermediary Guidelines are clearly
content. Similarly, in Kaschke vs Gray & impractical as they cast obligations well
from undue legal harassment. The section
Hilton it has been held that a blog host who bears a broad resemblance to the Europeanbeyond the means of most intermediaries,
corrects the punctuation of a third party as defined under the it Act. It is to be noted
handling of the issue by adopting a func-
post might convert itself from a "host" to that intermediaries include businesses such
tional approach to intermediary liability
an "editor" and in Twentieth Century Fox (which is commendable in itself). as cybercafes, online websites, etc, and
Film Corporation vs Newzbin it has been compliance with its strict requirements is
To further clarify the requirements to
held that a company that provides index- claim immunity, the government has
likely to be exceedingly onerous. Further,
ing of copyrighted files cannot avail of the the need to regulate cybercafes under such
recently notified the Intermediary Guide-
immunity provided to intermediaries. lines in April 2011. The guidelines how-a law is unclear, given that the govern-
In England and other countries in Europe, ment has simultaneously notified the
ever fail to build upon the framework pro-
while there is no one standard for inter- Information Technology (Guidelines for
vided by the it Act itself and are at best ill
mediary liability (despite the ec direc- thought-out. Cybercafe) Rules, 2011, which cover the
tive), intermediaries continue to enjoy im- As per the provisions of the Intermediary rights, duties and obligations of a cyber-
munity but up to levels far lower than seen Guidelines, all intermediaries must pre- cafe in some detail.
in the us. Of course, more importance is scribe a set of rules and regulations, pri- The constitutionality of the Intermediary
attached to the factual circumstances vacy policy and user agreement for users Guidelines is open to question given that it
to access the intermediary's computer
behind the commission of the offence and empowers and obliges intermediaries to
the possibility of minimalising damage.resources. The terms and conditions must weed out pernicious or objectionable in-
require the user to abstain from creating
Intermediaries are therefore more prone formation on the internet. With the
to block information than in the us. or publishing information that inter alia: amount of information available on the in-
(a) belongs to another person and to ternet, it is impossible for an intermediary

The Indian Position which the user does not have any right to; to ensure that all content made available
(b) is grossly harmful, harassing blasphe-

The it Act, 2000, in Section 79 originally to users is inoffensive as per the criteria
mous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic,
provided all intermediaries with exemp- laid down. The crucial point here is that
paedophiliac,
tion from liability for third party data libellous, invasive of anoth- the Intermediary Guidelines fail to man-
made available by it, if the intermediary
er's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically date any sort of judicial role in the process
objectionable, disparaging, relating or en-
proved that the offence or contravention (the closest concession being a require-
couraging
was committed without its knowledge, or money laundering or gambling, ment of a "lawful order" by an investiga-
that it had exercised all due diligence to
or otherwise unlawful in any manner what- tive agency prior to enlisting the aid of
soever; (c) harms minors in anyway; (d) in-
prevent the commission of the offence. any intermediary).
This provision placed an extremely high
fringes any patent, trademark, copyright or In the normal course, the intermediary
standard of care on intermediaries by plac-
other proprietary rights; (e) violates any law is required to make a judgment on the
for the time being in force; (f) deceives the
ing the burden of proving non-complicity offensive nature of any information and act
addressee about the origins of the mes-
on the intermediary, who had to further to take the offending content offline. This is
sage or communicates information that is
satisfy the court that it had taken appropri- especially noteworthy given that there
grossly offensive or menacing in nature;
ate measures to pre-empt the offence. is no differentiation in the Intermediary
The problem with this section was(g)illus-
impersonates another person; (h) con- Guidelines on the various types of criminal
trated with the Avnish Bajaj 4 casetains
whereviruses or other malware, etc; and acts that may take place and no recommen-
the chief executive officer of an online (i) threatens the sovereignty of the nation, dations on treating differing crimes differ-
auction site was found guilty of distribut-national security, incites commission of ently (for example, a terrorist threat would
ing obscene material as users of the site any cognisable offence, etc. presumably require greater attention than a
had auctioned a pornographic clip online. In the event the intermediary knows blog suspected of maligning a public figure
The amendment to the it Act in 2009, of any infringing material, either based - both are however treated to the same
inter alia replaced the existing Section 79on private complaint or from its own procedure). The intermediary may also be
Economic & Political weekly QEEQ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 *7
required to act upon receiving appropriate expand the scope of the it Act beyond whatof failing to take action on an accurate
requests from the public. This is clearly was originally envisaged. While the govern-complaint. Further, the absence of "a put-
arbitrary and unconstitutional and has ment is empowered by the it Act to frameback" provision, and the fact that inter-
tremendous scope for misuse. It should be guidelines for the process of due diligencemediaries are not required to explain or
noted that normally if any person is aggri- by intermediaries, the present guidelines go provide reasons for taking down content
eved by any information being made public, well beyond the scope of what could nor-(even to the author) is cause for concern.
they may seek remedies - including the mally be considered "due diligence". They
relief of injunction - from courts of law, have widened the scope of the it Act by list-
Conclusions
under generally applicable civil and criminal ing a broad list of information that can beThere appears to be a global movement to-
law. There is no rational reason for the considered unlawful and then requiringwards adopting a "notice and take-down"
inapplicability of such provisions even forintermediaries to act as a policing agencypolicy (the eu regime, the Digital Millen-
information posted on the internet. In theof the state. It is a settled principle that thenium Act, etc). Such a regime passes the
case of search engines and other such inter-conferment of rule-making power by an Actcosts of adjudication on to private parties
mediaries that regularly trawl the net todoes not enable the rule-making authority(who in turn are likely to pass them on to
catalogue and archive information, it isto make a rule which travels beyond users) and may also inhibit free speech.
impractical and unwise to expect them tothe scope of the enabling Act or whichThe lack of judicial oversight can be a
make an accurate and informed decision is inconsistent there with or repugnant problematic issue, especially in the case of
on content that breaches the fairly widethereto. As noted by the Supreme Court,8 asmall businesses or short-term censorship.
wording of the Intermediary Guidelines. delegate who has been authorised to make The Indian law initially took a step for-
The list of information that is barred in- subsidiary rules and regulations has toward with the passing of the it Amendment
cludes vague terms such as "is blasphe-work within the scope of its authority andAct in 2009 but with the introduction of
mous"7 "harassing", "disparaging", "hate-cannot widen or constrict the scope of thethe Intermediary Guidelines, the safe har-
ful", "or otherwise unlawful in any man-parent Act or the policy laid down there-bour provided by Section 79 of the Act has
ner", etc. This is patently in violation ofunder. It cannot, in the garb of makingbeen eroded so as to be practically non-
various fundamental rights protected underrules, legislate on the field covered by theexistent. The Indian position at the moment
the Constitution. The Intermediary Guide-parent Act and has to restrict itself to theseems untenable especially as much of the
lines are therefore ambiguous and conse-mode of implementation of the policy andcontent accessed in India is created abroad,
quently arbitrary in that they fail to laypurpose of the parent Act. which means Indian intermediaries will
down parameters for deciding what is ob- It is to be noted also that the existing pro-bear the brunt of any liability claims.
jectionable, disparaging, etc, and what iscedures involved in interception, monitor- The issue of how to deal with intermedi-
not. Further, intermediaries are requireding and blocking of information (which in-aiy liability is therefore one for which there
to act as an agency of the government involves executive action, coupled with multi-is no straitjacket answer. However, I believe
censoring offending material and may beple stages of review but no judicial role)that any successful system must be built on
liable (or lose immunity under Section 79) under Sections 69 and 69A will be renderedthe following principles that are more com-
for failure to do the same. The list of of- useless if information can be censored patible with the enhancement of the inter-
fensive information is extremely broadthrough the offices of an intermediary. Thenet as a medium of communication:
(more so than in Sections 69 and 69A of current Intermediaiy Guidelines completely(a) Self-regulation by intermediaries ap-
the it Act). Supreme Court dicta make itremove the (minimal?) safeguards con-pears to lead to suboptimal enforcement
evident that if any limitation on the exer-tained in Section 69 and rules framed thereof the law and promotes arbitrariness and
cise of the fundamental rights under Arti-under, and would make intermediariesdecreases transparency by promoting pri-
cle 19(1) does not fall within the ambit ofanswerable to virtually any request from anyvate action in a public sphere.
Article 19(2) or is not reasonable and just,source accusing any website of breaching(b) The law needs to differentiate between
it cannot be upheld. The removal of con-these Guidelines - this could seriously ham-intermediaries on the basis of functionality
tent can only be done if it falls under theper the business of any online website. and should provide immunity where the
reasonable restrictions imposed under In practice what the Intermediary intermediary was not in a position to control
Article 19(2) of the Constitution, and evenGuidelines entail is that any person want- or assess the offence (practically or in law).
then only following a court order. Henceing to block access to certain information (c) The law must differentiate between
the broad list of proscribed informationcan complain of the same to the appropri-various crimes on the basis of severity and
provided by the Intermediary Guidelines,ate intermediary (after ensuring that the damage and deal with each category ap-
together with the absence of any fair pro-complaint falls within one of the fairlypropriately (and possibly through changes
cedure for determining what is offendingambiguous terms used in the Guidelines),in other relevant statutes such as the Copy-
material ensures that the Guidelines are thereby placing the onus of making a deci-right Act, Indian Penal Code, etc). For in-
ultra vires the Constitution of India. sion on the matter to the intermediary. Itstance, in the case of threats to national
The constitutionality of the Intermediary would have to be a fairly brave intermediaiysecurity, commission of cognisable offences,
Guidelines may also be called into ques-to resist the temptation to just block/etc, a notice and take-down regime should
tion on the grounds that they enlarge anddelete content despite the potential costsbe appropriate. This would enable such
lЯ
February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Ш5ВЯ Economic & Political WEEKLY
Claims to be dealt with expeditiously and relief). Such a system would also reduce respect to any particular electronic record, a per-
son who on behalf of another, receives, stores, or
prevent damage. Even in the event execu- false claims, and ensure intermediaries transmits that record or provides any services
tive action is found necessary in extreme are safe from having to make tough deci- with respect to that record" and specifically
includes internet service providers, cybercafés,
cases (say involving terror threats), there sions about matters they cannot be ex- blog sites and search engines.
must be judicial cognisance of the action pected to have expertise in. 9 This is known ая а "<тппН Samaritan" rlansp. ™
within a specified time, failing which the (d) Provision of information regarding in-
attempts to censor must stop. In case of stances of censorship is a must and there-
copyright, defamation and obscenity- fore judicial and government authorities
related claims, there is no reason for a dif- are best suited to adjudicate on instances
ferent standard to be applied compared to where censorship is required. Placing the
uary 2010.
traditional methods of dissemination of onus of policing the internet on private in-
4 Avnish Bajaj vs State , 3 Comp. Law Jou. 364 (Del
information. It would therefore be appro- termediaries is clearly impractical and in- 2005).
priate if any complaints received are put efficient in the long run. 5 The definition of an intermediary was also made
more explicit with this amendment.
through a judicial process prior to censor- (e) Merely blocking content is an impracti- 6 Due primarily to (a) the ambiguous nature of the
ship. In any event, damages in such situation cal and unrealistic method to crack down due diligence requirement, (b) no clarity on what
was meant by "actual knowledge" and the obliga-
are likely to be monetary and as such any on internet crimes. tions this would impose on an intermediary,
small delay occasioned by having to take (c) lack of clarity regarding what constitutes
altering, modifying information, etc.
the matter to court would not unduly
notes 7 Not a violation under the IPC.
harm the parties involved (especially as i The Information Technology Act, 2000, in 8 Agricultural Market Committee vs Shalimar Chem-
courts are empowered to grant injunctive Section 2(1) (w) defines an intermediary as "with ical Works (1997)5 SCC 516.
The Forests and the Palaces

We moved to our next place, Shalukdoba
village, Lalgarh (Silda Bananchal, Binpur-
I block). We met Sandharani Hansda who
said that there have been no improve-
DEBASREE DE
ments of the roads. The small villages are
hardly reachable. She also talked about the
seasonal outmigration in search of liveli-
Villages in
of West Bengal as part of my doctoral hoods. This is called "namal". They all have
region of
I needed ofresearch
researchon tribal
West women.
to BengalI wasonkeen
visittotribal the as women. part Jangalmahal of I my was doctoral keen region to below poverty line (bpl) cards but the
stark pictu
go and collect information from Amlasole rationing system is completely corrupt.
and
village which had been in the news for star- dispo
Chanchala Hansda said no efforts have been
adivasis.
vation deaths and approached a senior of made to help them effectively participate in T
local self-government panchayats. They do
mine who was teaching in a local college for
providing
logistical help. I went on 13 November 2011 not even have time to celebrate their festi-
rights but
with a cousin, Suvojit Sen, who is a journalist vals since it is getting increasingly difficult
armed
with a Bengali daily, and we were met at to even arrange two square meals a day. ava
security
Midnapore station by a retired schoolteacher Sonia Hansda shared her experience f
of Goaltore who was to be our guide and regarding the Forest Rights Act. She said
day-long v
together we left in a car for Jhargram. one day when she went to the forest for
how an ali
collecting minor forest produce the police
to survive.
Everyday Maoists stopped her and demanded Rs 1,000. The
Jhargram block is considered as a strong- police also snatched away her cycle on which
hold of Maoist activities. The village we she was carrying the load. She was forced
visited was Uttarsole (Anchal 1, Jhargram to arrange the money on debt. Fulmoni
block). We spoke with Sonma Tudu, Kormi Soren talked about the poor conditions of
Tlidu, Sumono Soren, Joba lüdu and other the health facilities and education. We then
women. They said they have no land in their met Arjun Baske, the former president of the
names and work on others' fields. They told local unit of the Jharkhand Party. He told
us how poverty prevents them from sending us about their demands which were written
their daughters to school but encourages in Alchiki script. He talked about the poverty,
early marriages. We came to know about deprivation of the adivasi people and the
Debasree
the traditions of bride price still prevalent indifference of the government officials. De (
research
in adivasi society and that rice under the schol
He categorically asserted that there are no
Jadavpur Univ
Rs 2 per kg scheme is very irregular. Maoists, rather it has become the other
Economic & Political weekly B353 February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 *9
COMMENTARY = ^
name that if anything

of water - which
wrong happens to us then
protest inwas in stark order
contrast to the
voices. he would remain answerable

We also to the higherarrogant
did behaviour of the policemen.
not fin
the rural on to add, "Why do stu- From Belpahari we moved towards
employment
authority. He went g
We dents from Jadavpur University
crossed many alwaysJamboni, which has a large,
checkbeautiful, forest.
was come here and want to go to these
neither any Here in Kopatkanta
places?" village (Jamboni block)
police
I was a bona fide researchwe
I explained thatBut,
checking. yes,were again told by weMainu Hansda thatfo
- student with
fairly big, permission letters from
well the amount of rice constr
uni- distributed in the Rs 2
These versity officials. He told me that some

appear to per kg scheme
days be, was insufficient,
in even forfa
a
the back two women from Jadavpur Univer-
existence of four-member family. She also talked to us
"govern
sity had gone
complete to Amlasole and never about witchcraft and how that substitutes
mismatch, the for
and thereturned. medical

"You may also start gossiping with
camps, two explanations. Churamani
compl Hansda
tures ofthem. Is there
life any guarantee thatin said Jangalma
you will she has not been paid any old-age
about acome back?"
crore he asked. I had no answer to ofpension even though
rupees she is in her 70s. Ba-
the his worthless speculations
joint forces but offered tosana Baske talked about the market of sal
every m
adivasisleave my
of identity cards with him till and
Jangalmahal I kendu leaves and how they are sys- g
month,returned but he remained adamant.
under tematically underpaid.
the Rs We came to 2
know pe
the Soon a passenger
hard labour bus came along on the thatthey
an anganwadi worker comes in the
need
in these difficult
way to Amlasole and I offered to travelvillage and talks aboutterrai
the use of contra-
quire at least
alone by 300
it, leaving the car and my compan- ceptives, "Didimoni
gramstalks about the use of o
eryday. The
ions behind. in vain. bori", Lakshmimoni Mandi told us. of
But all my efforts wereamount But
them isIt wasnot suspected me the women are not alwaysto
enough
clear that the inspector convinced byeve
of being a "Maoist sympathiser" only be- her. Nilmoni Soren burst into anger, "All
Police Protection
cause I am a student of Jadavpur University. our houses were destroyed during the
After lunch we set out for AmlasoleAfter
withrepeated
a requests, he asked me to talk monsoon, and we have not even been pro-
new guide, a private tutor living in Belpahari.
to the superintendent of police (sp). vided with a mere tarpaulin". Rangamoni
Our car reached at the Belpahari Police
The sp of Jhargram asked me why I had Soren said, "the government is not wor-
Station where the road turns towards not taken permission from the local police ried about us. We have nothing, just look
for my research! And then he offered to at our huts!"
Amlasole, at which point we were stopped.
send his armed forces with me to Amla-
This was the first time that we got stuck. On the way back, as we were driving
And I felt insecure. sole. While I initially agreed, I was told through the pitch-dark countryside, we
When I had planned this visit I had faced
that if I go with the security forces nobody came to know that the police had called
objections and warnings from family willand talk to me. The adivasis are so scared my cousin's newspaper office and my
friends who were concerned that I would
of the joint forces that they will run away mother asking about us. Throughout the
be caught in the "war" between the Maoists
at their sight. If anybody talks to me he or day, travelling through this supposed
and the security forces. Some thought theshe would hardly reveal the truth. They "war zone" I did not find any hostility
Maoists would abduct me. I was also told will think that I am pulisher lok (policefrom the villagers. Only a fear of the secu-
that the Maoists were manipulating the poor informer). I was in a big dilemma. I realised rity forces among the villagers and my
adivasis in order to sustain their revolution. that it would be unethical on my part to own experience with the police.
But, not a single adivasi complained against bring forces into a peaceful village just for It was late at night when we reached Kol-
them. They talked about the atrocities ofthe sake of my fieldwork. Later, I was in- kata and on our way back home crossed the
the forest guards but not of the Maoists. formed that no forces were available and Eden Gardens being prepared for a cricket
The police inspector asked for our iden- that I would have to go back. test match between India and the West
tity proof. My cousin showed his press Indies the next day, while Nandan was lit
card first. I showed my university student Two Worlds up with the ongoing International Film
identity card and voter id. He took both Despite this disappointment, we were deter-
Festival. Everything seemed so delightful
and got busy with his mobile phone. We mined to visit some other villages.and Wenormal, and so far removed from the
got out from the car and followed him. I arrived at our next place Krishnapur village
world of the adivasis struggling for their
also gave him my permission letters. Sud- of Belpahari (Binpur-11 block). The womendaily meal and buffeted in this supposed
denly four jawans encircled us with guns of this village told us that they have not"war"!
been It was almost as if these two differ-
in their hands. I could not understand provided with the bpl cards. We came entto
worlds, alienated from one another, not
what was happening, we had no arms! know about the absence of any medical one state, one country and one people. We
facility, the prevalence of bride priceeducated
Then the inspector came to me and said, and elites have created this alienation
"Today the Maoists have a programme and
of malnutrition. The people in this village allow the government to keep us sepa-
eat
there. I cannot let you go. Go back". rate to hide all the misdeeds and corrup-
only sak-vat (edible herbs or leaves and rice).
The manner in which we were being Yet they showed us hospitality - pullingtions.
out I am already planning my next visit;
stopped was shocking. The inspector said this
khatiyas (cots) for us to sit on and offering ustime to Amlasole in a public bus.
20 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 BSS3 Economic & Political WEEKLY
Raman sarkar , the Raman Singh-led gov-
Reforming the Public ernment that came to power in the state in
late 2003. Some even felt that it was the
Distribution System: turnaround of the pds that had been re-
sponsible for the Bharatiya Janata Party
Lessons from Chhattisgarh being voted back power in 2008. So what
did the state government do that led to
this remarkable revival of the pds in
RAGHAV PURI Chhattisgarh?
Turnaround of the PDS

Reforms
Act (nfsa) has raised some impor- One of the first steps taken by Chief
system i
The Act tant proposed
tant (nfsa) concerns has National aboutabout
concerns raised Food thethe
some future Security impor-ofof
future Minister Raman Singh's government was
focused
the public distribution system (pds) in passing the Chhattisgarh Public Distribu-
improvin
India. Many have taken this opportunity tion System (Control) Order, 2004, which
to advocate cash transfers or food coupons shifted the management of ration shops
increasin
as a possible alternative
led to to the pds by from private dealers its
to community-based
highlighting the large-scale diversion of organisations such as gram panchayats,
overwhel
foodgrains in states such as Bihar and self-help groups (shgs) and cooperatives.
beneficia
Uttar Pradesh. There are others who feel The impact of this reform was visible dur-
that a reformed pds that extends benefits
with the
ing the survey. Of the 12 ration shops we
to all households irrespective of income, visited, eight were run by cooperatives,
function
such as the universal pds in Tamil Nadu, is three by gram panchayats and one by a
the prop
essential for ensuring food security. To women's shg. All 12 shops were either in a
This
allow for a more informed debate on this arti
pds building or the panchayat bhavan.
ofissue, one that a
draws on recent evidence team
Some respondents remembered how they
rather than obsolete data and precon- had to go without foodgrains for weeks
selected
ceived notions, a survey of the pds in nine when the pds was run by private dealers
and Sarg
states was undertaken in May- June 2011 and said that the new system had led to
Chhattis
(for details on the pds Survey 2011, see better accountability because those run-
Survey 2011. Khera 2011). ning the shops were from the villages.
This article presents the findings of a The second step was addressing the
team that visited 12 randomly selected vil- problem of diversion of foodgrains while
lages in Mahasamund and Sarguja districts they were being transported from govern-
of Chhattisgarh as part of the pds Survey ment godowns to pds outlets in private
2011. Of the 144 households we inter- trucks. To reduce leakages, the govern-
viewed, 97% had received their full entitlement decided to dispense with private
ment of foodgrains in the previous three players and directly deliver foodgrains to
months (March, April and May 2011) and ration shops. To make this process trans-
93% preferred the pds to a system involv- parent, the government trucks engaged in
ing cash transfers (Table 1). These results "doorstep delivery" of pds foodgrains
were surprising considering that in a similar were painted yellow. This, combined with
survey of the Mahatma Gandhi National a government order that made it manda-
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme tory for foodgrains to reach ration shops
(mgnregs) in Sarguja district during the by the seventh of every month, helped
summer of 2008, we found many instances
Table 1: Results from the Survey (%)
of corruption, low levels of awareness and
I thank Megha Bahl, Radhika Lokur and Soheb Type of card Central 36.8
long delays in wage payments (Drèze and
Niazi, and Gangaram Paikra and his team at
Khera 2009). However, the survey of the Utilisation Received 35/1 0 kg
Chaupal for conducting the interviews. I also
thank Jean Drèze, Reetika Khera and Ankita pds in both districts revealed that a majority
Aggarwal for their comments and Saloni (88%) of the respondents were satisfied Perception of the PDS Satisfied
Chopra for helping with the data. with the functioning of their ration shops
Preference between Cash 2.8
Raghav Puri ( raghavpuri@gmail.com ) took and were getting their foodgrains regularly cash and PDS PDS 93.1 "
part in the PDS Survey 2011 and is a graduate at the correct prices.
of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, MKSY: Mu
Most of the people we spoke to attribut- minister's
National University of Singapore.
ed the improved functioning of the pds to Source: Ta
Economic & Political weekly BSQ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 21
Table 2: Types of Ration Cards and Foodgrain Entitlements in Chhattisgarh Table 3: Comparison of Central and State Ration
Type of Card Colour Target Group No of Cards Amount Rice Wheat Cardholders (%)
Central State
Central BPL Female respondents 53.7 56.7

Antyodaya
Illiterate respondents 59 64
Annapurna Scheduled castes
MKSY Scheduled tribes
Households in kacchha homes 70 79

MKSY
MKSY
Semi-pucca 20 19
State handicapped Green

Pucca
Table does not include APL ration cards.

Households owning two-wheelers
Source: http://cg.nic.in/pdsonline/Jilewa
Mobile phones
plug leaks as well

way as ensure
wethe timely
could Have toilets dis-
disti
tribution of rations.
and In interviews
state conducted
Households with
rationno land 50 38
c
colour Less than
of one acre 65 51
their
in the second and third week of June, werati
found that a economic
majorityconditions of most households
of the Have households
MGNREGS job cards
Source: Tabulated using hou

had received in their quota
the sample were very of
similar. The figures foodgrains
during the first
in Table week of with
3 show how households the month,
state gram show-
panchayat re
ing that the ration cards are no different from those
government had not
viewed only
mentioned
mandated reforms, but
identified as bpl by the was that
central government. ensuring that
the state gov
they were actually
For example, implemented.
state ration cardholders reduce leakages and
Third, a are as likely to live in
significant kacchha houses as These
reform initiated by
included inc
the stategovernment
those with central ration cards. was
The pattern the
paid launch of
to ration sho
the Mukhyamantri
of ownership of land and Khadyann
movable assets Rs 30 Sahayata
per quintal
Yojana (mksy, (such
or the chief
as two-wheelers minister's
and mobile phones) food
foodgrains from
relief scheme) insimilar.
is also very April 2007.
This strengthens Under the
the encourage them to
mksy, the government provided
case for a "quasi-universal" pds, which ration
electronic weighin
cards to all households identified
covers a majority of the population, as living
as all ration shops an
below the poverty line (bpl) in
attempts by the central government to tion drivesthe 1991
to iden
and 1997 bpl target
surveys that
poor households through bpl surveyswere
rationexcluded
cards. Howe
from the 2002 bpl
have clearly survey
been unsuccessful. because of
Chaupal, a the
Sarguja-
caps enforced by the Planning
While these reforms have played a Commission
organisation (ngo),
on poverty figures. As
pivotal role in the revival Table
of the 2 shows, in
pds in government's ent
addition to 1.33
Chhattisgarh,million households
ration shop managers and removal ofin
many
Chhattisgarh that were receiving subsi-
dised foodgrains from the central govern-
ment (those Centre
holding central for
bpl, Economi
Antyo-
daya or Annapurna ration cards), the fj Jawaharlal Ne
mksy added 1.9 million households who
could purchase CESP subsidised
foodgrains Young Scholar
by
Seminar Announcement
the state government.
Once again, the impact of this reform
Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University is
was evident during our interviews, as
organising a young scholars' seminar to be held on March 12-13, 2012. All
approximately 63% of households were
current research scholars and young academics are invited to submit papers
receiving subsidised
for the seminar.foodgrains under
The seminar is open for submissions the
in all areas of research
mksy. This state-level initiative helped
including economic theory, political economy, applied work on Indian or
Chhattisgarh make
international the
economy. transition
Each submitted paper will from
be reviewed and a only
targeted to a selected
"quasi-universal" pds, one
papers will be presented in the seminar.
that covers approximately 80% of the
Last date for submission of abstract:
state's rural population. This February
not10, 2012only
helped in improving the
Last date for submission functioning
of full paper: February 20, 2012. of
the pds by giving a majority of the people
The abstract and
in villages a stake the paper
in theirshould be submitted
local in PDF and a document
ration
(.doc/.odt) format by email
shop, but also reduced exclusion errors to cascesp@gmail.com.
that occurreddue to the faulty targeting
All outstation participants will be provided accommodation and train fare as
system by used
the rules.
per university central government.
For instance, during the survey, the only
22
February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Ш53
from the list of ration cardholders. This was Apart from assessing the currentwould
statebe men who travel outside the vil-
a result of these people either not being lage of
of the pds, another important objective to withdraw money from the bank
present in the village during verification and buy things for the house. Many felt
the survey was finding out what respond-
drives or failing to submit the required that
ents felt about replacing the pds with the money intended for buying food
cash
documents, particularly photo identification. would
transfers. At the end of every interview we be spent on non-food items, parti-
Another interesting measure to in- cularly alcohol. According to one of the
asked respondents what they would prefer
crease transparency was signs painted respondents, the pds guaranteed him and
if they had to choose between foodgrains
outside every house, which included the from the pds and a cash transfer to their
his family 35 kg of foodgrains in the first
name of the head of the household, the weekal-
bank/post office accounts that would of every month, but with cash trans-
colour of the ration card and the rate at fers,
low them to purchase foodgrains from thethis food security would vanish.
While proponents of cash transfers talk
which rice could be purchased. This wasmarket. The majority (93%) was in favour
an innovative approach to name andof an in-kind transfer of pds foodgrains.
about the flexibility and choice offered by
shame households that had AntyodayaThis came as no surprise because most cash,of
it is important to realise that large
ration cards but did not belong to thethe people we met in Chhattisgarh numberswere of India's poor live in villages
where
category of the poorest of the poor. In someregularly receiving their full quota ofthe basic institutions and infra-
villages we saw a list of all ration card-foodgrains and were satisfied with the required for availing themselves
structure
holders painted outside the ration shop. functioning of the pds. Further discus-
of such benefits are largely absent. As for
the pds
sions revealed that cash in place of the critics of the pds, Chhattisgarh's expe-
Room for Improvement was not an acceptable option forrience
mostshows that the state government's
firm commitment to reforms, which it has
While a majority of respondents (88%)households as it was fraught with many
were satisfied with the pds, the remain-other problems (Puri 2011). shown by not giving in to the powerful
ing expressed concerns that were gener- A major concern with regard toprivate
cash dealer lobby and financing the
ally local in nature. The most commontransfers was the remoteness of banksexpansion
and of the pds, has not only trans-
complaint came from respondents livingmarkets. Most of the villages we visited
lated into increased food security, but also
far away from ration shops. For instance, were 15 km to 20 km away from theelectoral
block success.
The revival of the pds, which until
in two villages in Sarguja district, headquarters where the post office, bank
respondents had to walk four km to sixand market were. Several respondents recently
told was limited to Tamil Nadu,
Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, is
km to reach their ration shops. When weus that if the system changed to cash trans-
met the sarpanch of one of these villages, fers, they would have to make frequentnow visible not just in Chhattisgarh, but
trips
he told us that the government hadto the bank and market whereas the pds also states like Orissa and Rajasthan
recently approved the construction of annow provides rations in the village itself. (Khera 2011). This can be attributed to
extension counter of the ration shop for a A common reason for the lack of trust in state-level pds reforms that have focused
settlement up in the hills. Extension cash transfers was people's unsatisfactoryon extending coverage, improving deliv-
counters are vital for improving the experiences with government schemesery and increasing transparency. We hope
outreach of the pds as some of the most involving direct transfers of money tothat policymakers and bureaucrats draw
vulnerable groups, such as the so-calledbeneficiaries. Many old people and lessons from the experiences of these
"primitive tribal groups", often live inwidows recounted how they had to waitstates and see the proposed nfsa as an op-
areas that are not easily accessible. for months to get their pensions andportunity to reform the pds.
Even though most respondents werefeared that similar delays would take
satisfied with the current system, theyplace with cash transfers for buying food REFERENCES
did have suggestions on how to further
as well. Some cited delayed payments un-Drèze, Jean and Reetika Khera (2009): "The Battle
Employment", Frontline, 3 January
improve the pds. Many households felt
der the mgnregs as their reason for pre-
Khera, Reetika (2011): "Revival of the Public Dist
that in addition to the foodgrains pro-ferring the pds. A concern voiced by many bution System: Evidence and Explanations", Ec
nomic & Political Weekly . Vol 46. Nos 44-45-
vided at their ration shops, the govern- respondents was that there was no guar-
Puri, Raghav (2011): "Loud No to Cash", Frontlin
ment should also supply subsidised dalantee that rice would be available in the 31 December.
(lentils) and cooking oil. As rice is themarket even if they received the money on
staple food in Chhattisgarh, many house-time. During the lean season, prices of
holds were unhappy with the ю kg offoodgrains in the open market rise due to Economic&PoliticalwEEKLY
wheat that is provided as part of the 35 kgerratic supply and the local ration shop is available at
foodgrain entitlement and wanted it tooften the only hope for many.
be replaced with rice. Finally, households What bothered most respondents was Delhi Magazine Distributors
with more than four members suggestedthe thought of giving up the food security Pvt Ltd
that foodgrain entitlements should beoffered by the pds for unpredictable cash 110, Bangla Sahib Marg
based on the number of individuals transfers. This was particularly true of New Delhi 110 001
because 35 kg was not adequate forwomen,

their who worried that they would lose Ph: 41561062/63
monthly consumption. control over household budgets because it
Economic & Political weekly February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 23
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Faculty Positions
The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies Preference:
invites applications for the following faculty positions: The Centre will give preference to differently abled
Fellows
scholars, women scholars, scholars from the
(scale 37400-67000+AG P9000) Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward
There are a maximum of three regular positions of
Classes and minority communities. If you belong to
Fellow
any of these categories, please mention it clearly
in your CV.
Areas of Specialisation:
The Centre would like to focus on the following
themes: Selection Procedure:
• Urban and environmental studies The candidates short-listed by the Centre will be
• The politics of education asked to appear for an interview with the Selection
• Public policy Committee. The Selection Committee is free to
• Social and political thought consider scholars who may not have applied, may
have applied for a higher position, or may not appear
Visiting Associate Fellow for the interview.
(Consolidated salary)
There is one position of Visiting Associate Fellow
Application:
for a maximum period of one year.
Applications on plain paper, specifying the
Areas of Specialisation: position applied for, should be sent to the Director,
• Ancient & early modern social and political Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, 29
thought Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054 in an envelop marked
• Law & society "Faculty Positions". The application must be
accompanied by:
The Centre will also consider any outstanding
scholar who proposes research on a theme not • Curriculum Vitae including academic record
mentioned above. and a full list of publications (copies of certificates
not required at this stage)
Qualifications: • Two samples (chapters from the book or
The essential qualification for all positions is a research articles) of published work
demonstrated capacity to undertake high quality, • A short statement (of about 500 words) of
independent research in social science. Evidence of
current and proposed research
published work of high quality shall be considered
• Names and addresses of three referees
more important than formal academic record, degrees
or experience.
Last date for receipt of applications:
20 February 2012: E-mailed or faxed application
In addition, the desirable qualifications for the various
shall not be entertained.
positions are:
Fellow. Doctoral degree or equivalent published
work in the relevant field AND research/teaching Enquiries: Ms. Jayasree Jayanthan,
experience of 5 years. Administrative Officer
Visiting Associate Fellow. Good academic record Phone: 23942199, Fax: 23943450
with doctoral degree or equivalent published work. E-mail: csdsmain@csds.in: jaya@csds.in
24 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 E33S3 Economic & Political WEEKLY
E COMMENTARY
in an English translation by Penguin India

Srilal Shukla: and in 15 Indian languages by the Nation-
al Book Trust. It was also made into a seri-
Tribute from a Rereader al for television. His other novel Makan
(about the tragic comic plight of a govern-
MRINAL PANDE
ment official running around to get him-
self the government house allotted to
A ...a
tribute major
which he isSrilal
to reader
entitled), won the prestigious S
reader is a rereader
Madhya Pradesh Hindi Sahitya Samman
2011), the writer
(Vladimir in
Naboko
in 1978. His last novel VishrampurKa Sont
writings held up
(about a lapsed Gandhian of the 1990s) a m
that is lovable
(31 December 1925-28 October and
published in 1999, won the Vyas Samman. r
funny At (31 2011), the December
2011), the passing the
paidtributes
tributesand to the away 1925-28 of Srilal paid October Shukla to the And in 2011, 10 days before his death, he was
alarmin
departed Hindi writer who bared the
democratic in India
presented the prestigious Gyanpeeth award
black comedy of India in the post- on his sickbed by the governor of up. A
in the gigantic Hind
collection of his satirical writings Babbar
Independence years, revealed an enviably
hotbed
large body of rereaders like this writer, of political
Singh Aur Uske Sathi, was published in an
and who could quote chapter and verse from
corruption. English translation Babbar Singh and His
his novels, especially Rag Darbarì. Impa- Friends , by Scholastic Ine, New York in 1999.
tient page turners, shuffling academics, ir-
reverent students, ageing fellow writers, Ganjahas of Sheopalgunj
all have, over the years, come to feel that Shukla's most memorable creation re-
they alone have savoured the real flavour mains the chaotic village of Sheopalgunj
of his writings. Perhaps the most enviable somewhere in up, peopled by a whole mob
way for a writer to be remembered is for of cunning, lovable and needlessly argu-
his readers to consider his claim to his mentative ruffians also known as Ganja-
creation secondary to theirs. For a writer has. With its wily politicians, corrupt bu-
to leave behind such a large body of long- reaucracy, stubborn litigants, terrible
time squatters within the unique world roads and failed developmental schemes,
that he created is indeed both a rare hon- Sheopalgunj holds a mirror to all that is
our and a miracle seldom witnessed today. lovable and revolting, funny and alarm-
Shukla was born in the village Atrauli, ing, feudal and democratic in India, and in
once a famous gharana of classical Hin- particular in the gigantic Hindi belt, that
dustani music and today better known as hotbed of political intrigue, power and
home to several dubious educational insti- corruption. Like the court dwarfs painted
tutions that facilitate cheating in exams by Velazquez, many of Shukla's Ganjahas
and attract a host of students who wish to are handicapped at birth, and each has his
pay their way to a school certificate rather own reason for it. Together all of them
than study. He graduated from the Alla- register a sort of resignation that declares,
habad University and joined the Provincial "we are like this only".
Civil Services (pes) for the Uttar Pradesh The society of Sheopalgunj that Shukla
(up) government and was later inducted watches, recognises and listens to is really
into the Indian Administrative Service a decadent and feudal one. It is a sort of a
(ias). During his long working life astribal
a society that prepares us for much of
what we see around us today in 2012. As a
government official in up, Shukla also
published over 25 books: novels, collec-middle ranking member of up's state civil
service in the 1960s and 1970s, Shukla's
tions of short stories and satires, memoirs
great resource for penning the tales about
and profiles of major Hindi writers Agyeya
and Bhagwati Charan Verma. the emerging independent India is not
Shukla published his first novel Soonimoney but first-hand information. Shukla
reports what happened to Hindustan and
Ghati Ka Suraj in 1957. Next came a collec-
also Hindi as a young government servant,
tion of satirical writings, Angad Ka Paon.
and in each piece he wrote, his sharp,
In 1969 he published his best known work,
ironical sentences pierce the conventional
the novel Rag Darbari which won him the
Mrinal Pande
Sahitya (mrinalpan
Akademi award in 1979. Rag academic Hindi spawned by the Hindi
Dar-
writer and senior journalis
departments of our universities.
bari was published under the same name
Economic & Political weekly Ш February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 ^5
Shukla's sensibility, his memories of Whitman and Hemingway, were wary of I met Shukla in Lucknow when he was
rural north India, his sharply etched the revue-style bonhomie of popular Hindi about to retire from government service
sketches of India's labyrinthine bureau- films like Golmaal (the original one) and and wrote popular columns in Hindi dai-
cracy and its wily politicians are as rich as Half Ticket (that Kishore Kumar classic) lies. He seemed quiet, somewhat preoccu-
his mode for expressing it all - a sparkling and thoroughly disapproving of the bawd- pied, and I felt too overawed by his frown-
idiomatic Hindi sprinkled with the star iness of risque folk songs and theatre forms ing silence to ask impertinent questions
dust of many dialects: Awadhi, Brij and like nautanki and nacha that celebrated, about his contemporaries. His long-time
Bundelkhandi. The suppleness and thrust they said, only love and lust. friends like Kunwar Narayan, Raghuvir
of his language (including popular swear Shukla's Rag Darbari broke through this Sahai and my late mother Shivani spoke
words and terms of affection) sparkle with grim scenario like a refreshing gust of wind. of him in affectionate terms. His predilec-
the age-old wit of India's marginalised His is not the bold humourless laugh of the tion for alcohol (what fellow writer Ashok
ones. The men and women who have al- triumphant atheist or the flag waving Vajpeyi calls Ras Ranjan ) was well known,
ways been patient bystanders to the pa-
political activist who has conquered what as also his contempt for those who solicit-
rade of power and are frequently seen
he calls the bourgeois love for a good life and ed good reviews and flattering mentions
his own fear of it. Shukla's humour is more
playing history's clowns, appeared unique in the halls of fame. He was luckier than
unhinged and unhinging. It arises out of most Hindi writers in that he had been
to my generation that hungrily devoured
Angad Ka Paon, Rag Darbari, Makan,
the despairing realisation of the powerless chosen for some of the most prestigious
Sooni Ghati Ka Sooraj and many others.outgroups in our democracy, and an almost awards, including the Padma Bhushan,
We shared with him our horror of the adulatory highlighting of their home- for his writings, before he passed away.
warts on the body politic of the greatcrafted weapons of countering the beastly And this was when one never heard him
Indian democracy and chuckled over hisbeatitude of the State the real "aam admi" either whingeing to political mentors for
subtle barbs baring the punditry and plati-must encounter every day. His is the truly selection for awards, or celebrating his bril-
tudes of those who had it all. In a time funny laugh of laugh-till-you-cry-variety. liance in his columns. He remained taci-
And his rereaders share with him the aura
when the politicians, instead of exploring turn about himself and his opinions till
the potential of a secular democracy, of survivors, speaking the language of the end and his privacy was protected by
had begun defining and sizing up themutual hard experience: the petty politi- his doting family who looked after him so
national, linguistic and caste identities of
cians and mediocre writers using Hindi to well during his last declining years.
the electorate with an absurd precision,settle scores and make political capital, Among the Lucknowwallahs, tales about
how could the idea of a secular, socialist,clerks and officials barricading access to him are many and keep changing with the
Indian republic or a meaningless prattle what we know to be rightfully ours, the venue, the journalist and sometimes the
about our Gandhian values not have great developmental scams and the fo- mood of the teller. Yet there is no doubt
seemed absurd? menting of a casteist, communal ethos by that he was one of the most unique,
wily leaders feigning the utmost vairagya beguiling and in a funny way, Indian of
Unhinged Humour (detachment) as phony Mahatma Gandhis. our writers.
Then there was our disenchantment with
the Hindi curricula created by Hindi ideo-
logues. Most of our literature, we felt, was
so very traditional even when it was being EPW 5-Year CD-ROM 2004-08 on a Single Disk
called avant-garde. It did not look out at
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FEBRUARY 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 E33S3 Economic & Political WEEKLY
Mapping the Landscape
intervention in contemporary debates on
justice and citizenship. While justice is a
concept of central importance in contem-
of Political Theory porary political theory, citizenship is a pri-
mary identity of members of a political
community. Although claims to citizen-
SARAH JOSEPH
ship are determined according to domi-
nant conceptions of justice there may be
dissonances, "fractures", between the two.
Theory , edited by Mangesh Kulkami, Chatwani explores the possible contribu-
/' is Theoryisnterdisciplinary a collection
a collection of papers delivered, edited
at of by Perspectives papers Mangesh delivered in Kulkami, Political at Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Political tions of feminist theory to the contempo-
a national seminar on "Contemporary Theory edited by Mangesh Kulkami (New Delhi: Sage), rary debate on citizenship and justice and
2011; pp 304, Rs 795.
Political Theory" organised by him in argues that it can provide the resources by
Pune University in 2006. As is the case which the claims for redistribution and
with many seminar collections, especially and emphasised the need to analyse whatrecognition can both be integrated.
a seminar on a theme as broad as contem- exists in terms of what can be. Lele main-
In "Group Identities and Rights: A Case
porary political theory, the articles ad- tains that theory, by engaging in dialogue for a Theory beyond the Nation State",
dress a wide range of issues, concepts, between the two, can act as a catalyst in Arpita Anand presents a study of theories
thinkers, debates and perspectives which promoting emancipatory action. of group rights and identities. She main-
reflect the diverse research interests of the This provides the background to Lele's tains that there has been a tendency in
participants. The authors also come from discussion of two formidable challenges social science to view group identities as
different disciplines which range from which face the world today, i e, economic of purely local and national origin and
sociology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, and cultural fundamentalism. He assesses focus on domestic factors in identity for-
and cultural studies to international rela- the contributions and limitations of three mation even at the cost of neglecting inter-
tions. It would not be useful to try andmajor contemporary thinkers, Rawls, national influences. Few studies discuss
summarise each of the articles here but a Habermas and Derrida towards under- group identities and rights as influenced
brief discussion of some of them will help standing our times and asserts the need
by both domestic as well as international
to map out the scope of the topics dis-for creative and reflexive individuals to factors. She refers to the Indian discourse
cussed in the book. pursue an unfolding notion of truth. on the rights of minorities, in particular
In a long introductory essay titled "Re- In "The Politics of Globalisation: Theo- the Muslim identity, to illustrate her point.
lation between Theory and Practice for retical Debates", Rohini Hensman discus-In the pre-Independence period a debate
Our Times", Jayant Lele addresses the ses the impact of globalisation on national took place among Muslim leaders between
question whether, given the increasing sovereignty, popular movements of resist-those favouring pan-Islamism and those
risks and uncertainties of life today, politi- ance and emancipation, militarism andwho opposed it. This influenced their
cal theory has anything to offer to the citizenship. Writing as an activist as wellpolitical stances vis-à-vis the British and
world. He traces the governing ideas of as political researcher she discusses thethe nationalist movement. In the post Inde-
western political theory to the European impact of globalisation on national sover-pendence period, Indian Muslims have
Enlightenment, ideas such as liberty, equal- eignty and democracy and argues that itlooked to both the domestic and inter-
ity and justice. These concepts emerged does not necessarily lead to loss of demo-national environment while attempting to
during the transition from feudalism to cracy. Though neo-liberal theories wel-construct a political identity for themselves
capitalism, and the accompanying devel- come globalisation because it leads to theand coping with the experience of living in
opment of the natural sciences and the opening up of markets and the globalisa-a secular, liberal democratic state.
understanding of reason as human, not tion of capital flows, globalisation also has Prakash Sarangi, in an article on public
divine, reason. With the growth of capita- emancipatory possibilities. It can generatechoice theories and their implications for
lism and the emergence of the bourgeoisie wider support for human rights and resist-democracy, discusses some of the insights
as the new ruling class, two traditions of ance movements which try to imposeand limitations of using economic metho-
interpretation emerged, the liberal and democratic norms on emerging world sys-dologies to understand democratic proc-
the critical. The liberal tradition whichtems. As an example she points to theesses. Voting behaviour, political opinion
affirmed the virtues of capitalist democ-World Social Forum and the changesformation in civil society, legislative or
racy saw liberty and equality in contradic-which have been introduced in the World judicial decision-making, all involve col-
tory terms while the critical tradition,Trade Organisation. lective decision-making by citizens and
though it recognised the potential of capi- In "Justice, Citizenship and the Politics theories of collective choice can be used
talism for eliminating want and oppres-of Feminism", Lajwanti Chatwani explores to analyse such decisions. He examines
sion, also admitted its inbuilt limitationsfeminist theory for possible points of the assumptions about individuals and
Economic & Political weekly Е335Э February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 27
their behaviour adopted in such theories that ideas which originate in differentChatterjee may have exaggerated the dis-
and discusses some well-known studies, political contexts need to be "translated"tinction between political and civil socie-
for example, Anthony Downs' Economic before they can be of relevance in other con- ty and that in fact both are in complex
Theory of Democracy and the work of texts. In this context he discusses the work interaction with each other. He urges
Riker and Mancur Olson. He concludes by of two contemporary political theorists further examination of such ideas.
saying that we need to go beyond purely who he feels have recognised the problem Mangesh Kulkami, in "Albert Camus and
economic explanations if we wish to without however offering satisfactory an-the Politics of Friendship", discusses Camus'
understand individual behaviour and demo- swers. Gurpreet Mahajan, in a discussion concept of rebellion and its continuing
cratic institutions. of Rajni Kothari's work, has argued thatrelevance for those facing the challenges
In a somewhat discursive discussion of the western trend of upholding civil society of life in the late modern period. He men-
the concept of civil society, Sanjay at the cost of the state could have negativetions in particular its spirit of moderation,
Palshikar ("Civil Society: Alternatives andconsequences if it is transplanted to Indiarelativity of values and the recognition of
Differences") points out that political cir-given the inequalities and diversity which the fallibility of thought. He ends with the
exist in society, and she argues that wecomment that "in an era characterised by
cumstances in different parts of Europe by
the end of the 20th century led to a revivalneed to recognise that in India the state is the 'end of history' impasse it provides
of interest in the concept. It broadly camethe guarantor of individual rights. Whileboth the Utopian energy and the con-
to stand for free association and the pursuit supporting this position Palshikar also ceptual resources needed to reinvent a
of individual interests and objectives incites certain differences with Mahajanhumane sociopolitical order anchored in a
contrast to the coercive state. He main- and feels that she has not given sufficientversion of freedom" (p 148).
tains that although the processes of glo- recognition to the dynamic and changing The philosopher Sayed A Sayeed ("Dis-
balisation have led to conversation amongnature of social reality. With reference to mantling the Political") analyses the con-
intellectuals across the world the western Partha Chatterjee's discussion of political cept of "the political" which forms a part
political tradition continues to enjoy a and civil society and his exploration of the of many different aspects of reality al-
dominant position and the non-westernways in which many people who live out-though all are linked to power transac-
experience tends to be structured by western side the formal, legal structures of thetions. While politics is a process which
theories. He, however, rejects nativism asstate may negotiate certain benefits andpenetrates most human relations so that
a solution to this problem but emphasisesconcessions from it, Palshikar feels thatno escape from politics may be possible it
REVIEW OF WOMEN'S STUDIES
October 22, 2011
Subverting Policy, Surviving Poverty: Women and the SGSY in Rural Tamil Nadu - К Kalpana
Small Loans, Big Dreams: Women and Microcredit in a Globalising Economy - Kumud Sharma
Women and Pro-Poor Policies in Rural Tamil Nadu: An Examination of Practices and Responses - J Jeyaranjan
Informed by Gender? Public Policy in Kerala - Seema Bhaskaran
Addressing Paid Domestic Work: A Public Policy Concern - Nimushakavi Vasanthi
Reproductive Rights and Exclusionary Wrongs: Maternity Benefits - Lakshmi Ungarn , Vaidehi Yelaman
Reinventing Reproduction, Re-conceiving Challenges:

An Examination of Assisted Reproductive Technologies in India - 1 (rinda Marwah, Sarojini
For copies write to:

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email: circulation@epw.in
ry О
FEBRUARY 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 E3S3
EEEêeee BOOK REVIEW
can be directed towards resistance to in the north-east and Justin Clemens and and that political theorists can make a
dominance which can promote freedom
Russell Grigg in "The Crime of Torture". contribution here by drawing on their
as much as towards control and oppres- Given the wide range of topics, perspec- own heritage and engaging in creative
tives, issues and disciplines represented collaboration with like-minded colleagues
sion. To promote freedom counter strate-
gies should be evolved and the life and in the book what, if anything, holds it in the human sciences". These are large
thought of Gandhi can, he feels, provide together? In his introduction Kulkarni aims and I would leave it to the reader to
maintains that the diversity of the articles decide whether, and to what extent, the
us with the tools to do this. Other articles
in the collection include Deepti Ganga- reflects the global and interdisciplinary volume has been able to further them.
vane who writes on Habermas' discourse character of the enterprise of political However, it can certainly be said that the
ethics, Kannama Raman who discusses theory and that such interactions between volume gives the reader an insight into
the debates on protecting traditional political theorists and other colleagues in the lively debate on a wide range of topics
knowledge in the age of globalisation, the social sciences can help to strengthen which characterises political theory in
Shardool Thakur who uses Giorgo Agam- our "collective intellectual and practical India today.
bens' notion of the camp as nomos of the capacity to shape the global configuration
modern to interrogate the imposition of of capital, power and knowledge that is Sarah Joseph (sarahjosephoi@gmailcom) is
Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, emerging in the matrix of late modernity based in Bangalore.
uncomfortable questions - where does

Meghalaya: Abode of Unruly Politics one locate the acquisition and privati-
sation of resources by traditional elites
among hill communities in societies where
SANGHAMITRA MISRA
community ownership was meant to nec-
essarily translate into a protection of
natural resources? Can these important
Unruly Hills: Nature and Nation in India's
ethnography focuses on the appro- Northeast by Bengt G Karlsson (New Delhi: Social shifts in economy and society offer any
В engt priation ethnography Karlsson'
priation of nature s of nature focuses well-researched in on Meghalaya, the appro-
in Meghalaya,
Science Press and Orient Blackswan), 2011; pp 336, Rs 695.
credible explanation for the violent
primarily in the more recent times of glo- politics of identity in north-eastern India?
bal capitalism, and constructs a steady that are at a distance from the centres of Can they provide convincing answers
narrative of transformation in the local regional and global power, mainstream for some?
environment of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, historians have been visibly less inclined While a key objective of Unruly Hills
of the visible deforestation of previously than their colleagues from neighbouring is to look into the conflict over the owner-
verdant forests, the exploitation of rich disciplines to "climb the hills". And the ship and extraction of resources for
local resources including minerals and difficult physical terrain in which these markets outside the state, many of the
water and the accompanying shifts in societies tend to be located offer only a chapters are written as strong unambi-
contemporary environment politics. partial explanation for the lack of suffi- guous indictments of the neo-liberal
This is a product primarily of rich cient histories of these regions. An expla- policies of the Indian state, its exploita-
ethnographic research and hence it is only nation perhaps lies in the rather daunting tive extraction of the rich forest and min-
multitude of their speech practices and eral (coal, limestone, uranium, bauxite)
appropriate that the voice and methods of
a social anthropologist frame the book: (often unpreserved) scripts, but also in resources of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills
interviews with members of local commu- their location on the margins of erstwhile and their decisive impact on local society,
nities, scholars and activists combined with imperial empires as well as of contempo- rupturing ties of community and kinship
the author's observations from long periods rary nation states, and their refusal of and introducing new forms of social
of fieldwork in the region and buttressed and resistance to the state and the market conflicts that have their origins in the
further by archival sources and political (economic choice as political strategy), recent processes of privatisation and
documents. Karlsson's work and method all of it amounting to a powerful rejection commodification of land. In its ability to
is particularly relevant when we move to of a schematic presentation of history sustain this argument quite persuasively
societies where historians have tradition-
from the primitive to the modern and throughout the period of its study (1970s
ally been less able to locate their narratives simultaneously accounting for their exist- until the present) as it proceeds to make
in oral cultures, making little use of the ence being ever so marginally acknow- significant connections between people's
oral research undertaken by scholars of ledged in intellectual universes and movements against the state and the
other disciplines, particularly anthropology. academic realms. market, and the loss of the rights of
In Unruly Hills, Karlsson combines long indigenous people in forests and lands,
Ethnographer's Dilemma periods of fieldwork with the benefits lies the credibility of this work. And it
In parts of Asia, as in the Khasi and Jaintia of documented archival research to pro- does not hesitate to make these connec-
Hills, in researching highland societies duce an ethnography that raises many tions emphatically, as in the following
Economic & Political weekly Q3S3 February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 ^9
analysis of violence and forest resources much contested notion of the "indige-
all of them in perpetuating an extractive
(p 291): economy in the region that "will, of
nous" in north-eastern India. Refusing to
...it is not primarily an environmental con- homogenise the experience of "being" or
course, severely undermine local autono-
dition that generates violence, but rather a "becoming" indigenous, he chooses to ar-
my and perpetuate further environmental
political predicament of marginalised peo- gue instead that degradation". These reflections of sensi-
ple in resource-rich peripheries who are
tivity in the act of "writing up" the results
in situations where people experience a loss
under pressure from outside interests that
of control of the land or the resource base of of individual experience of research
seek to exploit their land and resources. This
is a situation faced by indigenous peoples the community, we can also assume a pro-
assume also a sensitivity to the specifici-
around the world. That such pressure can found experience of ontological insecurity. .ties
. of histories and cultures within which
cause resentment and frustration among (d) espite some of the troubling aspects of
the ethnographer locates his categories
these people which in certain situations can (the) turn to indigeneity - a phenomenon we
and discourses.
translate into armed resistance, can hardly observe among marginalised people around
come as a surprise (p 293). the world - it nevertheless seems to open a Which is perhaps why the disappoint-
critical space for resistance against State
ment is greater than when reading a more
Notion of 'Indigenous' and capital intrusion into the life of the in-
conventional ethnography of north-east-
in the North-East habitants of resource-rich global peripher-
ern India, when the book demonstrates an
ies' (p 21).
This is by no means an isolated paragraph almost persistent refusal to bring in the
in the book which is all the more com- It is then only appropriate that the text contingent and the specific into its read-
mendable because it could be read as a does not hesitate to underline the simila- ing of local cultures; critical as they are
demonstration of the author's comfortable
rity of objectives that bind multinational to the issues in political ecology that it
negotiation and apparent resolution of the
companies such as Lafarge, an important seeks to research. In his Introduction,
ethnographer's dilemma: the ethical and investor in the limestone resources of the the author "hopes through his strategic
political consequences of the translation
region, the Asian Development Bank, which ethnographic intersections in combina-
of experience into text. This is evident, for
is its main financier, and the Government of tion with archival material and a variety
instance, in Karlsson's reading of the
India's Look East Policy together, indicting of sources (to) be able to capture the
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3° FEBRUARY 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Ш Economic & Political weekly
= BOOK REVIEW
central dynamic of the historical process 'independent Garos' in the interior areas community ownership and management
with regard to the appropriation of were pacified and peace was thus secured in of land resources that it offers. Each chap-
the entire Garo Hills (p 139).
nature". By consistently refusing to ex- ter in different ways fleshes out the core
tend his analysis to include an exposition The acceptance of the now much con- argument of the book, about the ongoing
of the historical roots of (such) forms of tested idea of a restricted colonial pres- process of primitive accumulation in the
state appropriation and violence, the au- ence in the hill areas of north-eastern interests of capitalist expansion not just by
thor ensures that the book disappointing- India in the form of a reluctant "light
the state and market, but also by the local
ly falls short of this declared objective. administration" that is implicit in the
elite, rendering thereby the latter's self-
The sketchy reading in the introduction quoted paragraph is surprising, to say the
image as "prudent forest managers" a fic-
of the very intrusive and violent process tive one. The sections on community for-
least. This is because it ignores much recent
that was the British conquest of the hills work on the history of this region that est
are management that draw upon two dis-
is combined with an analysis that sets up explorations in the violent policies of con-
tinct case studies - the regeneration of the
colonialism as an "encounter", and an quest and control of the colonial state, sacred
on grove at Mawphlang and the defor-
equal one at that, reading with empathy the politics of raids, road building and
estation of Cherrapunji - combine local
the writings of colonial officials who are narratives of the loss of forests with a
village burning, and on the forced reori-
presented as pondering on framing less entation of trading practices in the hillsrange
to of reports, interviews and archival
elaborate laws for the inhabitants of meet the demands of a colonial capitalist
documents to offer a fine analyses of the
the hills. expansion elsewhere in the empire. Karls-
tension within communities as they nego-
son's refusal to engage with available his-
The first chapter falls short of the rather tiate with traditional knowledge, both old
ambitious canvas it gives itself, that of research also affects the picture and
torical of reinvented, of the environment and
connecting "nature" and "nation" theor subsequent period that he so carefully
the relentless process of the capitalist
constructs as in the discussion on the
"environment" and "politics" in contem- transformation of the hills. The demon-
porary north-eastern India. An engage-
Land Transfer Act of 1971 (that prohibits
stration of the networks of profit main-
ment with some key dimensions inthethesale of land to non-tribal persons)
tained by the local elite with their inter-
consolidation of the colonial state in the where the absence of any mention of ests
the in mining, land and forests are the
hills - its spatial ideology that sought to predecessors of this Act, as in the Inner
kernel in the book's exploration of proper-
reorganise society "rationally" through Line regulation, makes for an incomplete ty regimes, and most effectively brought
knowledge and technology and through analysis. Similarly, the chapter titled out in the details of the fourth chapter,
violent conquest, the flattening of cultur- "Elusive Forests", which explores debates
"Mining Matters".
al and social spheres as differences were around forest management and rights, Unruly Hills therefore remains an im-
reduced to repetitions - would have been creates a false opposition between a pre- portant book for scholars and activists
a useful approach here. Instead the text colonial "romanticised notion" of the rela- alike, not just because its rich research ad-
fumbles, in a span of three pages, with tionship between tribal communities and dresses the paucity of good ethnographies
a scattering of thoughts of an eclectic nature "that fails to explain how it came and environmental histories of Meghalaya,
mix of philosophers and thinkers on the about as most of India was deforested long but because its concerns are at the heart of
state and sovereignty: Michel Foucault, before the period of British rule", and the political and social movements in north-
Giorgio Agamben, Walter Benjamin, Ar- "tremendous impact" (unexplained) that eastern India in recent times.
jun Appadurai and Achille Mdembe was colonialism, to escape any allusion to
among others. the scale and objectives of the imperial Sanghamitra Misra ( sanghamitramisra@
What appears as ambivalence towards project altogether. yahoo.com ) teaches at the department of
the character of the colonial state in the history, University of Delhi.
first chapter takes on the form of an overtly Insightful Analysis

sympathetic reading, both in its prose and To be fair to Karlsson, the text is inter-
analysis, of British policies in the region spersed with references to a new property Permission for Reproduction of
in the later chapters on land rights and regime that followed the British conquest Articles Published in EPW
forest use, as in the following paragraph of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills and the
No article published in epw or part thereof
on the conquest of the Garo Hills in the accompanying shifts in notions of commu-
should be reproduced in any form without
mid-içth century: nity rights and identity although these
prior permission of the author(s).
The British took charge of the frontier remain perfunctory at best or confined
A soft/hard copy of the author(s)'s approval
markets on which the Garos depended for to the conclusion of the book. This is not
should be sent to epw.
their trade. But things did not work out as to take away anything from the book's
planned (emphasis mine) and after decades insightful analysis of indigenous commu- In cases where the email address of the
of continued raids in the plains, countered author has not been published along
nity rights framed around the debate on
by sporadic punitive expeditions and the
with the articles, epw can be contacted
closing down of the frontier markets, the deforestation (in particular, the Supreme
British finally found it necessary to take Court imposed timber ban) and the for help.
direct possession of the Garo Hills... the last rethinking of popular perceptions of
Economic & Political weekly E33S3 February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 31
Imperialism for
professor who worked on budgets in the
Bill Clinton White House, was spot on:
a Cash-strapped Era
This is a classic resource-driven strategy
document. That's not a criticism, that's just a
reality. It's inevitable. Strategy always wears
a dollar sign.
M К BHADRAKUMAR
Deception
President Barack Obama's new So, is this the end of history? Is the us im-
defence strategy for the United strategy unveiled by President perialism on retreat on the world arena?
The Barack strategy
BarackUnited
Obama Obama unveiledonStates' in Washington by (us) President defence on
in Washington Are the marines packing bags and return-
States involving cuts and
Thursday has been occasioned by the ing home for family reunion and for a life
drawdowns of its military need to slash the spending of the Penta- happily ever after? Actually, the defence
requirements and presence the gon by nearly half a trillion dollars over strategy document is deceptive. The more
world over reflects the the next decade. There is undeniably some things seemed to change, the more they
merit in the viewpoint that this is a strate- would remain the same. The heart of the
superpower's current economic
gy that has been driven by budget woes - matter is that the us is making adjust-
priorities. Yet on close although Obama and the Pentagon chief ments by way of preparing for another
observation, it sets the stage for a Leon Panetta have insisted that it is indeed cold war, and unlike cold war I against the
new form of preparations for a pure strategy. Soviet Union, this will be primarily fought
In Obama's own words, in the Asia-Pacific. But before getting into
asymmetric defence and
The tide of war is receding but the question that, the salience of the national defence
hegemonic designs vis-à-vis west that this strategy answers is what kind of strategy needs to be understood.
Asia, central Asia and the military will we [us] need long after the In a nutshell, the us would prefer not to
wars of the last decade are over.
Asia-Pacific. Despite its ambitions get involved in any massive land invasions
But a harsh contrarian estimation has such as in Afghanistan in 2011 or Iraq in
to formulate a new cold war in
been attributed to the influential Republi-2003 and the priority will be on cyber
these regions, particularly can chairman of the us House Armed warfare and unmanned drones. The us
targeted at China, the economic Forces Committee Representative Buck
forces "will no longer be sized to conduct
interrelationship with that McKeon who said, large-scale, prolonged stability opera-
tions", the document says, and even small
This is a lead-from-behind strategy for a left-
country would necessitate only a
overseas incursions will be rarer, since
behind America. The president has pack-
half-cold war or thereabouts. aged our [us'] retreat from the world in the
"with reduced resources, thoughtful choic-
guise of a new strategy to mask his divest-
es will need to be made regarding the loca-
ment of our military and national defence.
tion and frequency of these operations".
The argument can be settled with someThe us will reduce the number of
certainty only by next month when the us
nuclear weapons in its inventory as well as
defence department spells out the allo-
review their role in the overall security
cations under its proposed 2013 budget
strategy. It is goodbye to the decades-old
and we get to know where the cuts are goal
be- of a unilateral us force that can fight
ing made. Indeed, another $500 billion
two major ground wars simultaneously,
across-the-board "sequestration" cuts and
will instead the objective will be to "fight
also take effect in 2013 unless Congress
and deter" - to fight one-and-a-half wars.
Also, us will as far as possible operate
repeals them. Panetta has already warned
that such a fiscal hit would be a catastro- with allied and coalition forces. In short, it
phe for the us' defence. is boom times ahead for us military con-
Last week, Panetta indicated that the tractors, spies and drones and contractor-
Pentagon would be fielding a "smaller and managed military logistics overseas - and
meaner" military force, while other ad- for close allies like Britain and Australia
This is a revised version of an article that was
ministration officials have been quoted as (unlike France or Germany) who unfail-
first published on the website of the Strategic
saying that the army and marine corps ingly partner the marines as they set out for
Culture Foundation, Moscow.
personnel levels might be reduced by foreign interventions as well as new part-
M К Bhadrakumar ( mkbhadrakumar.orf@ 10% to 15% through the coming decade. ners like Qatar. The plan is indeed to shrink
gmail.com ) is a former diplomat.
On the whole, therefore, Gordon Adams, a the military significantly and to rely much
З2 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 [3353 Economic & Political weekly
ÊEE INSIGHT
more on the capacity of the air and naval extended period lasting at least a decade repeatedly mentions that the trans-Atlantic
alliance and North Atlantic Treaty Organ-
forces to balance a competitor like China orto subjugate a nation with a history of re-
face down an antagonist like Iran. isation (nato) will remain the anchor
sistance and revolution and an ideology-
sheet of the us' global strategies in the 21st
driven power system which enjoys a sub-
Asymmetric Challenges stantial social base. On the other hand,
century. In fact, the criticality of the alli-
The shrinking necessitates downsizingIran also presents an ethnic mosaic. ance is such that nato's role is no longer
cold war-era military presence in Europe. Having said that, the strategy will be confined
to to Europe's territorial limits but
will be on a global scale at a time when
At the same time, the us will "of necessityface down Iran (and China) by projecting
rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific region"us military power in the Persian Gulf the or us gives primacy to future military in-
terventions in foreign lands jointly with
and maintain a big presence in west Asia. South China Sea and deter Iran's (or China's)
the alliance system rather than as a uni-
Without doubt, Asia-Pacific now becomes pursuit of asymmetric means - electronic
lateralist enterprise.
a top priority for the us for meeting theand cyber warfare, ballistic and cruise
challenge posed by the rising regionalmissiles, advanced air defences, mining, etcSecond, the document makes it clear
power of China. Obama stressed to the - to counter the us' power projection capa- that the us is far from withdrawing from
Europe. The drawdown of the cold war-
media that "we'll be strengthening ourbilities. The strategy insists that the us will
presence in the Asia-Pacific, and budget era military presence is advisable since a
ensure its ability to operate effectively in
reductions will not come at the expense of anti-access and area denial enviornments... country like Germany would increasingly
this critical region". Clearly, to build capa- like to be on its own and it is also prudent
[us] must maintain its ability to project pow-
er in areas in which our access and freedom
city in Asia-Pacific, the us will drawdown since Russia by no stretch of imagination
to operate are challenged.
on its deployments in Europe (but not poses any security threat to western
from west Asia) and find savings in benefit Looking beyond that, the us will con-Europe. So the emergent geopolitical real-
and retirement costs, cold war weapon tinue to exercise its global reach as aity is that the us will have "enduring inter-
systems and the nuclear arsenal. ests" in the so-called frozen conflicts in
superpower to "protect freedom of access
The impact of the new defence strategy throughout the global commons - those parts of Europe and Eurasia as well as
on regional conflicts and world politics areas beyond national jurisdiction that other security challenges, which can be
can only be assessed once all answers constitute the vital connective tissue of adequately met with as and when contin-
about direct budget consequences are the international system". gencies arise. In short, Washington pro-
known in another month. But some pre- poses to seize "a strategic opportunity to
The new strategy estimates that Al Qaida
liminary estimation can be made of what has been rendered "far less capable", but rebalance the us military investment in
the us military footprint will actually nonetheless, it remains active and will Europe" so that it can optimally focus on
look like. First and foremost, it must be continue to threaten us interests and fordeveloping "future capabilities" that are
assumed that the us' intention is indeed to the "foreseeable future", an active ap-suitable for a "resource-constrained era".
move away from counter-insurgency doc- proach is needed to countering them. TheThe new mantra is "Smart Defence". Of
course, the us' commitments to Article 5
trines, land invasions and ground opera- "primary loci of these threats" are per-
tions. This should not come as a surprise ceived to be lying in south and in west the Atlantic Charter will remain un-
of
wavering and no one should cast an evil
since the former secretary of defence Asia. This becomes a justification for con-
eye on the us' nato allies.
Robert Gates went public last year thattinued robust engagement by the us in the
any future leader who contemplated a war two regions. With regard to Afghanistan, Russia is mentioned in the document in
the above context en passe as a country
and occupation of a west Asian countrya follow-up to the current drawdown of us
"should have his head examined". That is with which the us will continue to engage
troops, a "mix of direct action and security
to say, Iraq-style military interventions byforce assistance" is contemplated. Byselectively. But no assurances have been
the us can be virtually ruled out in Syria, implication, a substantial presence of usheld out on the deployment of the us' mis-
Iran or North Korea. The "Libya"-typecombat troops and special forces willsile defence system in its periphery or on
intervention replaces classic military ag-remain in Afghanistan for a long time tothe future expansion of nato. The pointed
gression. A fallback could be the "Iraq"- come and the Al Qaida threat is reference to us' determination to involve
expected
in "security challenges and unresolved
type operation to change the establishedto provide the alibi for the establishment
territorial boundaries in a slow-motion of permanent us military bases. conflicts" in Eurasia, on the other hand,
enterprise. The success of the "Iraq"-type puts Washington somewhat at odds with
operation depends on tenacity but it Quiet is Lies the Steppes the Moscow-led accelerating integration
processes under way in the region, espe-
Three core areas in the defence strategy
cost-effective. To be sure, Iran is going to
be a test case where short of an "implo- document merit detailed analysis, sincecially between now and 2015.
sion" (which is next-to-impossible), a re-they have profound implications for the An interesting puzzle is what would
happen if the Arab Spring were to arrive on
regional and international security for the
gime change can only be effected through
the central Asian steppes. All indications
period ahead - us' drawdown in Europe,
a massive ground operation of a sort that
consolidation in west Asia and the "rebal- are that such a scenario is increasingly in
will involve committing far bigger resources
than in the Iraq war in 2003 over anancing" towards Asia-Pacific. The document the us' consideration zone. Ambassador
Economic & Political weekly Q3Q February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 33
William Courtney, who used to be the us' has been magnified out of proportion byprovider of security for the region and so
envoy to Astana wrote an article only last the us commentators, including Courtney.long as Moscow continues to enhance its
week - interestingly, in the leading Arab Thus, it must be concluded that the newpolitical, economic and security interests
daily Khaleej Times - pondering deeply defence strategy unveiled in Washingtonin the region commensurate with its status
over the future of Kazakhstan. "Kaza- draws a deceptively calm picture of Europeas a great power, the us' capacity to work
and Eurasia but beneath the curtain, itself into the "right of history" will remain
khstan at a precipice",1 the title of the arti-
cle, said it all. He underscored "important
storms are brewing. The storms will gatherseverely restricted.
momentum in direct proportion to the
us interests" in Kazakhstan ranging from
"energy production to the eliminationcurrent
of integration processes in central Flashpoint
nuclear and biological weapons to the
Asia leading to the formation of a Eura-This brings us back to west Asia and the
transit of vital nato supplies to Afghani-
sian Union by 2015. In short, the crunchAsia-Pacific as the two principal theatres
stan". (Some us commentators have lately
time probably just lies ahead. where the new us defence strategy can be
begun to cite Kazakhstan as the real "hub"The "colour revolution" will continue to expected to play out in a near term. The
of the "northern distribution network,
be the preferred route for the us in effect- document is quite transparent that the us
rather than Uzbekistan") Courtney wrote:
ing regime change in central Asia. But the intends to pursue robust policies in these
People in Kazakhstan who seek greater free-

limits to the us' capacity to intervene also two regions with the intent to maximise
cannot
dom look to Washington and European capi- but be noted. As a perceptive its influence and the resource constraints
tals for support... Over two decades amid
observer recently noted, the us is a "renter in the Pentagon will not be allowed to
growing wealth and corruption, Kaza- rather than a bona fide landlord of Eura- come in the way.
khstan's soft autocracy has hardened... As I
sian property" - and a renter can always The document asserts the continuance
have seen in recent trips, much of Kaza-
be evicted by the landlord. Second, the of the us' interventionist approach to west
khstan has been starved of public invest-
ment while Nazarbayev has turned the newcentral Asian countries cannot but find Asia and its quest for regional hegemony.
odious the violent regime changes in Iraq,It sees the Arab Spring as posing challenges
capital, Astana, into a mini-Dubai. The privi-
leged few are astoundingly rich. Economic
Afghanistan and Libya and would not to the us strategy but also sees "opportuni-
inequality, authoritarian rule and a highly
want to go through similar experience.
ties" presenting themselves. In the short
personalised style of government have bred
wide resentment. Most important, both Russia and China
term, there might be uncertainties about
Western governments, while carefully bal- are following active regional policies withthe trajectory of developments in the region
ancing their interests, should lose no time in regard to the central Asian countries,but the us can expect a "more stable and
deepening engagement with promising lead- which give the latter much space to with-
reliable partnership" with the new govern-
ers, including younger ones in government.
stand us pressures. ments that have representative character.
Expanded professional and educational ex-
The fact remains that the central Asian Three directions of the us regional strategy
changes and democracy training could help
prepare the way for a new and more open countries are an integral part of thehave been singled out for emphasis: support
generation of leaders. Western defence es- so-called "northern distribution network" of the Gulf Cooperation Council (gcc)
tablishments might step up training on mili- (ndn), which is increasingly gaining in member states; containment of Iran; and
tary roles in a democracy. A new accord with
strategic importance as the main supply "standing up for Israel's security."
the European Union ought to expand pro-
The document underlines that the us'
grammes on the rule of law and the osce route for the us' Afghan war due to the
should increase its stabilising field presence. rupture and distrust in us -Pakistan rela- big military presence in the region will
The west has an enormous stake in Kaza- tions leading to the closure of the transit remain as a priority. All in all, therefore,
khstan, it can do more to help its peopleroutes through Pakistan. Effectively, this the document's main thrust is that us will
shape a democratic future.
means that "Russian policymakers may do whatever it takes to perpetuate its re-
Of course, the bell is tolling not only now take comfort from the fact that nato's gional hegemony in west Asia. The strong
for Kazakhstan but also for Uzbekistan,Afghan mission is hostage to Moscow's affirmation of support for the ruling oli-
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, goodwill", to quote Richard Weitz, direc- garchies in the gcc territory translates as
which the us consider to be rather "low- tor of the Center for Political-Military great determination to go to any length to
hanging fruits" in comparison with Kaza-Analysis at the prominent Washington keep the control over the vast oil and gas
khstan that can be easily plucked atthink tank Hudson Institute. Weitz wrote: resources of the region. The us' differenti-
leisure or will anyway fall down on their ated approach to the Arab Spring - low-key
The ndn cannot function without access to
own when the big tree shakes. Evidently, a
Russian territory or in the face of Russian approach to Bahrain, Jordan or Saudi Arabia
game plan for regime change in the cen- opposition, given Moscow's decisive influ- and high-pitched revolutionary fervour with
tral Asian region is getting ready and ence in the former Soviet republics in Cen- regard to Libya and Syria - drives home
could be set in motion if only Kabul is tral Asia. From the perspective of meeting the point that geopolitics will be the ulti-
nato's logistical needs in Eurasia, Moscow is
brought under a "friendly" Islamist gov- mate detriment of the us approach. To
in a pivotal position.
ernment and the us succeeds in establish- that end, the us will not countenance any
ing its military bases in Afghanistan. In geopolitical terms, this would mean "regime change" in the gcc states. On the
No doubt, the commotion in the westernthat the central Asian states would con- contrary, the us will persevere with the
Kazakh city of Zhanaozen on 16 Decembertinue to look up to Moscow as the main efforts to force a regime change in Syria.
34 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 ШЗСЭ Economic & Political WEEKLY
The approach to the Arab Spring is di- in modern history. In particular, the South with numbers close to 1.3 billion and
rectly linked to the other two templates of China Sea has been an arena of regional which is acquiring bigger disposable in-
the us' regional strategy, namely, contain- unrest where the us has to an extent suc- comes. As China's gdp increases, the
ment of Iran and safeguarding Israel's ceeded in stirring up regional sentiments countries in the region - not only those in
regional pre-eminence. The geopolitical and resistance to an "assertive" China.its periphery but even the outlying coun-
reality is that Iran's quest of regional power tries - cannot resist the attraction of the
Clearly, the us will continue to disregard
and influence puts it at odds with the us China's warnings against the involvement Chinese market and they are being drawn
and Israeli interests. Equally, Iran's rise as into China's economic orbit. The countries
of "external forces" in the affairs of the
a regional power stems from multiple fac- region and the us strategy will be of
to the region are mindful of the growing
tors, which are primarily lying in the do- reality that their huge dependence on the
instigate the regional opinion to mobilise
mestic sphere and over which neither the against China under its leadership. Chinese market could give Beijing over
us nor Israel has any capacity to influence time the leverage to "punish" those who
The us has also been harping on China's
- Iran's indigenous capabilities in science modernisation of its military as lackingwork
in against its interests. In sum, they
and technology, its success in defeating realise that the balance of power in the
transparency, thereby playing up the
the us sanctions, its comprehensive mili- region has changed, while at the same
regional apprehensions of a "revanchist"
tary strength, its nuclear technology, its China. The latest document suggests a the paradox is that they also enjoy
time,
political system with an appreciable social benefit in trade and investment and are
substantial increase in the us' military
base and its unifying ideology. expenditure in the Asia-Pacific so thattapping
its into China's growth, including
The contradiction is, therefore, becom- claim to be the provider of security to Australia,
the which is the us' staunchest ally
ing very acute. For the us, the emergence regional countries gains in credibility. in
Anthe Asia-Pacific.
of an authentic regional power in west arms race in the region will suit the us in-An article2 co-authored by the minister
Asia is unthinkable. The us simply cannot terests and the "China threat" lends itself
mentor of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew over a
allow any dilution of its dominance of the to promote the us' arms exports to the
year ago had suggested,
strategically important region. But Iran's region. The strong likelihood is that the
There is still time for the us to counter
emergence as a regional power threatens us will do its utmost to accentuate the China's attraction by instituting a free-trade
to do precisely that by transforming the contradictions in the relations between agreement with other countries in the
region. This would prevent these countries
geopolitics of west Asia. The us will use the regional states on the one hand - espe-
from having an excessive dependence on
all the tricks in its armoury that it has cially India and Japan - and China on the China's market. . . outlook for a balanced and
employed in the past three decades to de- other. The us initiative to launch a trilat- equitable relationship between the Ameri-
stroy or weaken the Iranian regime. But eral dialogue with Japan and India (whichcan and Chinese markets is becoming
increasingly difficult. Every year China
Iran has remained defiant and is unwilling held its first session in Washington in De-
attracts more imports and exports from its
to give in. Thus, a flashpoint has arisen. cember) can be seen in this light. Equally,neighbours than the us does from the region.
What other option is the us left with other the us attempt to hustle India into anWithout an FTA, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and
than launching war on Iran? Asian bloc under its leadership is apparent the asean countries will be integrated into
from the defence strategy document's China's economy - an outcome to be avoided.
Have Gun, Will Travel pithy reference to India: But this is easier said than done. If any-
The us defence strategy document's most We will also expand our networks of co-thing, the prevailing mood in the us
sensational part is with regard to the us' against any new free trade agreements is
operation with emerging partners through-
"rebalancing" towards the Asia-Pacific out the Asia-Pacific to ensure collective only hardening and protectionist senti-
region. In a way, the document carries for- capability and capacity for securing com-
ments are in evidence all over. Besides,
mon interests. The United States is also in-
ward and expands on the us' National this is also a game that China can play.
vesting in a long-term strategic partnership
Security Strategy of 2010 to renew Ameri- And so far while the Americans and Lee
with India to support its ability to serve as a
ca's global leadership and advance its in- regional economic anchor and provider ofmay see China as an economic threat, the
terests in the 21st century by "building security in the broader Indian Ocean region. countries of the region - like Europeans,
upon the sources of [us'] strength at too - continue to be lured by the promise
home, while shaping an international order Gatecrashing at Interval Time of China as an economic opportunity. In
that can meet challenges of our time". However, the success of the us policy issum, China has been so far about adapta-
The approach principally involves in- predicated on several factors, the princi-tion and creating "win-win" situations
creasing the us' strategic investment in pal among them being the us' ability to
with its Asia-Pacific partners.
the Asia-Pacific by exploiting the fears and offer an economic partnership to the The new defence strategy's overt em-
complexes with regard to China's rise in regional countries that provide them withphasis on a cold war with China aims at
the region among the regional states an alternative to moving into the Chineseneutralising the widespread perception
in the Asia-Pacific, some of whom also economic orbit as is happening today.in the Asia-Pacific that the us' "unipolar
happen to have unresolved territorial dis- China is likely to maintain its high growthmoment" is ending. However, the us'
putes with China (which are intractable) rate for at least another decade by induc-prolonged absence from the region while
or have had military conflicts with China ing greater consumption by its populationengaged in the "war on terror" for the past
Economic & Political weekly Ш35Э February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 35
decade obviously created a new paradigm two countries have no alternative but to while at the same time simultaneously is
where the countries of the region began cooperate with each other. tapping into the growing prosperity of the
pondering over the stability, security and With the us economic recovery provingcountries of the region by playing on their
prosperity of the region without Uncle slower than expected, China's market is ofinsecurities and shepherding them under
Sam's leadership. New regional mecha- the highest importance for boosting theus leadership. Both enterprises are needed
nisms of regional cooperation took shape growth rate in America. Again, China'sfor the recovery of the us economy. The
such as the "10+1" (10 asean member continued purchase of the us treasurynet result is going to be that contrary to
countries plus China) and new approaches bonds is vital for the us' capacity to main-the apparent intention of the us defence
to developing a matrix of political, eco- tain financial sustainability. There is alsostrategy to proclaim a new cold war in
nomic and security ties made substantial a curious convergence of interests latelyAsia Pacific, the high probability is that
headway. In essence, therefore, the us is with regard to sequestering their respec-Washington may end up getting, at the
virtually gatecrashing at the "interval tive economies from the adverse fallout of most, a mere half a cold war. And a cold
time" into an Asian drama that did not en- the eurozone crisis. Against the backdrop war is worthless unless it is comprehen-
visage it as an actor or think it necessary of Geithner's talks in Beijing, the govern-sive and a 100% wholesome.
to cast it as a lead player. ment-owned China Daily took note:3 The harsh reality is that the us can no
Besides, China is not standing idle, Although some officials in the [Barack] longer inspire confidence in the world
either. A powerful instrument in its hands Obama administration have joined the community about its "unipolar moment".
is the unprecedented level of its economic China-bashing game, top China hands with-The latest figures as of last September
interdependency with the us. The fact in and around the White House seem to be show that the size of the us' national debt
more clear-minded, which is why the yuan-
that President Barack Obama has begun has reached a new milestone - $15.23 tril-
related currency bill was shelved in the
the us' diplomatic calendar for 2012 by lion - and it is now as big as the whole of
House of Representatives and the Treasury
deputing Treasury Secretary Timothy Department has not labelled China a 'cur- the American economy. The long-term
Geithner to Beijing as special envoy - so rency manipulator'. . . forecast is that the debt will grow faster
soon after the strident rhetoric on the Prior to Geithner's visit, Assistant Secretary than the economy, and the economy may
sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic of State Kurt Campbell visited Beijing and
need a 6% annual growth merely to keep
discussed recent developments on the Kore-
Cooperation (apec) session in Honolulu an peninsula, and Vice-President Xi Jinping pace with the galloping debts.
and the East Asia Summit in Bali - under- is expected to visit the us in February.
scores Washington's keenness to set a posi- Hopefully, such high-level visits from both NOTES
sides will help make sure that Sino-us rela-
tive tone for the us-China relationship. 1 http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.
tions stay on the right track. asp?xfile=data/opinion/2on/December/opin-
Beijing of course gleefully welcomed
ion_Decemberi32.xml
the opportunity to kiss and make up. In sum, the us' "rebalancing" of its mili- 2 http://www.f0rbes.c0m/f0rbes/2010/1220/0pin-
Geithner's talks with the Chinese leader-tary capacities to the Asia-Pacific has com- ions-lee-kuan-yew-current-events-china-rise.html
3 http://english.pe0pledaily.c0m.cn/90780/7701981.
ship conveyed the message that the
plex motives of engaging China deeper html
З6 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 E33S3 Economic & Political weekly
Structural Retrogression and Rise of 'New Landlords7
in Indian Agriculture: An Empirical Exercise
R VI JAY
1 Introduction
Th
ch
ing changes, largely due to various public policies and
an
Rural ing the consequent changes,changes
the consequent economicin thelargely structures changes
decision-making process due in to in the various India decision-making have public been policies undergo process and
pr
of individual economic agents. During the initial phase, the pub-
lic policy orientation was directed mainly at restructuring agri-
ch
culture through a series of land reform measures followed by
ho
reforms in trade and credit. The attempt was to eliminate the
de
influence of agents who are other than cultivators and who were
Co
perceived to have an adverse effect on the cultivating agents. The
second phase in public policy was to induce changes in the
ho
production function with public provision of the knowledge, the
lan
inputs needed in production and purchase of the output produced.
to
This is popularly known as the green revolution phase. The third
ag
phase of public policy was to encourage industrialisation and
urbanisation. The result of these policy interventions was a grow-
to
ing agriculture sector and the consequent demand for non-farm
on
services in terms of trading of the inputs and output services.
ill
This process can be visualised as a growth-induced generation of
in
non-farm activities.
At the other end, urbanisation and industry encouraged the for-
fr
mation of the informal sector in the economy, as was modelled in
An
the Harris-Todaro models, leading to part-time temporary migra-
st
tion of rural labour to urban areas generating demand for non-
farm activities. In addition, there are certain non-farm activities
like development of dairy and poultry that are gaining in impor-
tance. These processes have changed the rural economic structure
from the traditional/feudal structure that existed earlier. But is the
evolving rural structure conducive for growth or is there a struc-
tural retrogression with the rise of a new class of intermediaries in
the rural economy? This paper is an empirical exercise attempting
to provide evidence of the changing economic structure over time
(based on the National Sample Survey Organisation (nsso)
rounds on assets and liabilities and a village study conducted in
nine villages in Andhra Pradesh (ap)) with the rise of a new class
of intermediaries christened as non-cultivating "peasant" house-
holds (ncphs), i e, households who own land but do not cultivate
land in the rural areas. The rise of the new class of intermediaries
necessitates the importance of tenancy as a method for cultivation.
Hence evidence on the lease market is also provided.
Th
Un
The rural economic structure has two parts: the farm sector
thi
and the non-farm sector. The farm sector consists of individuals
th
who take part in the agricultural production process and the
dis
non-farm sector consists of individuals who might facilitate
R V
production (artisanal community or input traders) or facilitate
Economic & Political weekly 1Ш February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 37
SPECIAL ARTICLE ^еееее
thetonon-cultivators who operate no land or operate land less

transfer of goods over spaces from rural to urban or urban
than 0.002 hectares. The non-cultivators are further classified
rural or between rural sector (output traders) or might be rent-
into "agricultural labourers", "artisans" and "other" house-
iers (landlords). The nature of expansion of the non-farm sector
and its implications on decision-making in the farm sector are In the above classification the cultivators have a relation
holds.1
important for the long-term growth of the agrarian sector. with
For the agricultural labour households as well as with the arti-
sans; in turn, the artisans have a relation with non-cultivators
instance, it is important to know whether the agricultural labour
and also cultivators. This relation facilitates current production
households are migrating from the farm sector à la Lewis (1954)
orare
dual economy models or whether the cultivating households future production. The "other" is a non-descriptive category,
shifting from cultivation to the non-farm sector. which could include different types of agents. They can be tradi-
tional landlords, input and output traders, moneylenders,
In the first case, migration of labour necessitates a reallocation
commission agents and urban workers staying in villages. The
in the farm sector once the surplus labour is absorbed. This proc-
village
ess can generate structures more conducive to growth with the survey conducted by Rao and Bharathi enumerated
concentration of land in the hands of a market- oriented rich all households in the villages and then classified them into
peas-
classes based on their interactions in the labour market. This
antry. If migration is of the second kind, i e, cultivators are diver-
sifying to the non-farm sector, the decisive influence on is
the
used to analyse the nature of rural economic structure at a
structural parameters is whether the cultivators are selling their
point of time.
land and moving to the non-farm sector or continue to own land.
2 Changing Structure of Indian Agriculture:
If the households sell the land and move to the non-farm sector,
there is a reallocation of land resources and potentiallyState-Level
the Picture
One
market- oriented rich peasantry can be the purchasers of land. If of the empirical regularities observed in the developed
these households do not sell land, but instead lease out the countries
land, is the decrease in the share of households dependent
this process strengthens the land-lease market. This set of house-
on agriculture (farm sector) for a livelihood and a decrease in the
holds form the supply-side of the land-lease market. Givenshare
the of income originating in agriculture as income per capita
increases
existence of surplus labour in the labour market, the interest of (Kuznets 1966; Chenery and Syrquin 1975). In the
the agents on the short side of the market, i e, the supply-side,
Indian context, with an increase in per capita income the share of
gain predominance. In the classical model of transition from income
feu- originating in agriculture has witnessed a significant de-
dalism to capitalism, these segments are referred to as landlords.
cline. But the Indian economy has not witnessed a corresponding
The policy of land reforms attempted to eliminate the influence
decline in the share of households in the agricultural (farm) sector.
of this section on agriculture. In this context, there are three issues which are being addressed
in this section. First, has there been a trend decrease in the share
The farm sector, in turn, has two parts: cultivators and agricul-
tural labour households (agl). Agricultural labour households
of households dependent on the farm sector and is the trend con-
sistent
supply labour and form the main component of the supply-side of over all the states? Second, a decrease in the share of house-
the labour market. The other segment are the cultivators who holds dependent on the
Table 1 : Initial Stock and Change in Share of
form the demand-side of the labour market and the interaction
Farm Sector State-wise in the Rural Sector farm sector can imply ei-
between the segments defines the wage rates, a crucial defining
(1981 to 2002)
ther a decline in the orga-
Share of FS Change C
variable which determines the level, nature and extent of produc- in 1981 nisers
inofFSproduction (culti-
(1991 in F
tion. In case the labour market is not self-correcting and inactive vators) or a decline in the
Andhra Pradesh 84.1 -8.5 -11.7
leading to structural unemployment, labour supplying house- share of labour supplying
holds may prefer to enter the production structure viaBihar
the households, or both. The
Chhattisgarh Snf Snf
tenancy market and become pure tenants. At the other end of the implication for growth and
Gujarat
economic structure are the owners of land who own land but do development will differ ac-
Haryana
not cultivate it themselves and are part of the non-farm sector
Jharkhand Snf Snf cordingly. An analysis of
who form the supply-side in the lease market. the changes in the compo-
Karnataka
The present empirical analysis is at two levels. At the aggre-

Kerala
sition of the farm sector
gate level, the nss report on asset and liabilities is used to
Madhya Pradesh 89.5 -6 2.2 over time and space is con-
present some indicators on the changing rural economic struc-
Maharashtra 83.4 -3 -5
ducted to identify the nature
ture over time. These reports provide data for rural and urban
Orissa of households who are
households; here data related to the rural is analysed. At aPunjab
dis- migrating out of the sector.
aggregated level, data from village surveys conducted byRajasthan
Rao A decline in the farm sector
and Bharathi (2010) and assisted by the author, focusing on
Tamil Nadu
would imply a change in
Uttar Pradesh 87.2 -3.2 -2.3
"Land and Poverty" in nine villages in Andhra Pradesh, is used the non-farm sector and an
West Bengal 87.4 -8.4 -7.5
to analyse the internal composition of the agrarian sector. The attempt is made to identify
All India
nss reports give some indications of the changing rural struc- the 1
FS refers to farm sector; occupational
991 over groups
1 981 figures
to change in value over the period 1981 to 19
ture. In all these rounds, rural households are classified over
into in the non-farm sector
1 991 figures refer to change in value betw
two major groups. One, the cultivators who are identified as

1 991 and 2002; Snf
which
refers
are increasing in
to state not formed.
Source: 37th, 48th and 59th rounds of NSSO r
households operating at least 0.002 hectares of land and second,
on Households Assets and Liabilities in India. importance.
38 FEBRUARY 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 QSSSÜ Economic & Political weekly
SPECIAL ARTICLE
According to Nsso (59th round), all the households who are implying an increase in the share of households reported as culti-
neither operating any land nor supplying labour to the house- vators and relative constancy in the farm sector or they might
move to the rural non-farm sector. If the agricultural labour
holds operating land but residing in the rural sector are identi-
households relocate as cultivators either they have to buy or lease
fied as the rural non-farm sector. In the year 1981, the farm sec-
tor constituted a dominant share of households staying in the
in land. Given that agricultural labour households may need land
but do not have the purchasing power, the internal reallocation
rural areas in all the states (Table 1, p 38). At the all-India level,
the farm sector constituted 87.6% of the households staying in the farm sector would result in leasing with its implication for
in rural areas and the share in all the states, except Haryana,
long-term growth. If the labour supplying households move out
constituted more than 80% of the rural households. Interest- of agriculture this might generate labour scarcity increasing the
ingly, Kerala has the largest share of households in the farm wages and also necessitating reallocation of the primary input,
sector (95.05%). Between 1991 and 1981 the share of households land. On the other hand, if there is a decline in the share of culti-
in the farm sector witnessed a decline at the all-India as well as
vating households, these households can join the agricultural
labour households or the rural non-farm sector. If there is a
at the state level. At the all-India level, the farm sector reduced
by 7.3%, with some states witnessing a larger decline, like systematic decline in share of cultivators and an increase in
Punjab (16.8%), Tamil Nadu (tn) (14.1%) and Kerala (13.35%),labour supplying households, this might imply, if exchanges are
voluntary, scale advantages for cultivators who want to expand
and all other states witnessing a smaller extent of decline. In
the period between 2002 and 1991, at the all-India level thetheir scale of operation and establishment. This might imply
trend of declining share of the farm sector continued. The increasing importance of capitalist relations in agriculture if the
share of households depending on the farm sector at the all-decline of cultivators takes place with an expansion in the rural
non-farm sector; again, there has to be a reallocation of land in
India level reduced by 6.2% between the periods 1991 and 2002.
the farm sector. The reallocation can be either a sale of land or
But three states show a different trend. In Haryana, Punjab and
Madhya Pradesh the farm sector has witnessed an increase lease of land.
during this period. Punjab and Haryana are agriculturally At the all-India level, the share of agricultural labour households
in total rural households has witnessed minor fluctuations over
developed states and have witnessed an increase in the share of
households in the farm sector. While the formation of a new time. In 1981, they formed 11.3% of rural households and the
state, Chhattisgarh, after bifurcating the state of Madhyashare of these households in the total rural households in-
Pradesh might have implications for the changes in the farmcreased to 14.2% by 1991 and marginally to 14.4% by 2002. The
sector of that state. share of cultivators in rural households has declined signifi-
A decrease in the share of households in farm sector might becantly in both the periods. By 1991 there was a 10.2% decline in
due to a decline in the share of agricultural labour households orthe share of cultivators and they further declined by 6.4% over
the period 1991 to 2002. The decline in the share of households
cultivators or both (Table 2). These changes will have different
implications on the evolving structure of the rural economy. in the farm sector can be attributed to the fall in the share of
cultivating households at the all-India level with marginal con-
If there is a decrease in the share of agricultural labour house-
tribution
holds, these households can either move to becoming cultivators, by agricultural labour households. At the state level,
Table 2: Initial Stock and Change in Share of Agricultural Labours and Cultivating all states excluding Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, witnessed an
Households in the Rural Sector (1981-2002) increase in the share of agricultural labour households between
Share of AGL Change in AGL Change in AGL Share of CUL Change in CUL Change in
in Rural Sector (1991 over 1991 and
(2002 1981. The
over inshare
Ruralof cultivators
Sector witnessed
(1991 a decline
overin(2002
all the states during this period. Between 1991 and 2002, the
Andhra Pradesh 18.3 1.5 1.1 65.8 -10 -12.8
share of agricultural labour households increased in all
Bihar the states except Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar
Chhattisgarh
Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The share of cultivating households
Gujarat
has declined in all states except Haryana and Punjab. From the
Haryana
trends mentioned above, one can infer that the all-India trend
of decline in cultivators is true for all the states except Haryana
Jharkhand
and Punjab. The decline in the farm sector may not generate
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh 9.5 3.2 6.9

labour scarcity in the rural areas as the share of agricultural
labour households has increased but the decline in the share of
Maharashtra
Orissa
cultivators necessitates a corresponding reallocation of land by
Punjab
either sale or lease.
Rajasthan A decline in the share of the farm sector would imply an
Tamil Nadu increase in the share of either artisanal households or an
Uttar Pradesh 8.8 -1.2 -0.8 78.4
expansion of "other" households in the rural areas. The artisans
West Bengal
and the "others" form the rural non-farm sector. An expansion

All India
AGL refers to agricultural labour
of this non-farm sector is seen as an important source for reduc-
households; CUL refers to cultivating
ho
tion ofoverthe
1981 figures referto change in value rural poverty period
and absorption
1981of surplus labour. In2002
to 1991; 1981, ov
change in value between 2002 and 1991; Snf refers to state not formed.
Source: SameasinTable 1. at the all-India level, the share of artisanal households was
Economic & Political weekly Ш February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 39
1.6% and the share of "other" households was 10.8% (Table 3). able to derive any direct evidence on which of the above proposi-
Over time the share of households in both categories is increas- tions is true. But studies on agrarian structures by Vyas (2003),
ing. The share of artisan households increased by 2.2% by 1991 Basóle and Basu (2011) show that Indian agriculture is not wit-
and further increased by 1.4% by 2002. while households nessing land concentration but has an increasing share of small
Table 3: Initial Stock and Change in Share of Artisan and Other Households in the
and marginal farmers. Nevertheless, a related concern for the
Rural Sector: 1981 to 2002 study of structure is the impact of the decline in the share of
Share of Change Change Share of Change Change
ART in Rural in ART in ART OTHin inOTH inOTH cultivators and corresponding increase in "other" category on
Sector (1981) (1991 over (2002 over Rural Sector (1991the land
over resource.
(2002 over Hereinafter one would like to concentrate on
the rural non-farm sector and their hold on land and the adjust-
Andhra Pradesh 2.9 1.3 4.7 12.97 7.23 7.1
ment in the land market.
Bihar
3 The Importance of NCPH in Rural Households

Chhattisgarh
Gujarat
Haryana
The proportion of non-cultivating households has witnessed a
Jharkhand
systematic increase from 1981 onwards. The non-cultivating
Karnataka
households - agricultural labour households, artisans and "oth-
Kerala ers" - witnessed a phenomenal increase from 23.7% in 1981 to
Madhya Pradesh 1.19 2.11 -1.5 9.23 3.97 -0.7 40.3% by 2002. In this composite group of non-cultivating house-
Maharashtra holds, those classified as "others" witnessed a phenomenal in-
Orissa
crease from 10.8% in the year 1981 to 20.7% by 2002 at the all-
Punjab
India level. These households may own land. One has calculated
Rajasthan
the proportion of non- cultivating households owning land and
Tamil Nadu
also the share in the value of land owned by the non- cultivating
households. To the extent these households hold land and do not
Uttar Pradesh
West Bengal
All India
self-cultivate it, they continue to exert an influence on the land
ART refers to artisan market andhouseholds;
the land-lease market and thus the production
OTH ref
to change in value over the period 1981 t
between 1991 and 2002. structure of agriculture. We had christened these households as
Source: Same as in Table 1.
non-cultivating "peasant" households (ncphs). They are non-
reporting "other" have consistently increased by around 5% incultivators as they themselves do not cultivate the land but are
both the periods. All the states also follow the same trend of
peasants to the extent that they are moving away from cultivat-
increasing share of artisan households and "other" households ing practices to non-farm activities without completely breaking
by 1991. But in the second period, four states (Gujarat, Madhyafrom their peasant origins. The increase in non-cultivating
Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal) witnessed a decline inhouseholds implies a simultaneous decrease in the cultivating
the share of artisan households while only three states (Hary-households. Since the ncphs hold land but do not cultivate it, for
ana, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab) witnessed a decline in thethe purpose of operation the group has to depend on the land
share of "other" households. tenancy market. The lessee can either be a cultivator who owns
land and leases in to enhance production or an agricultural
The general trend over the states is a decrease in the share of
the farm sector which is principally attributed to the decline inlabour household who makes a transition to becoming cultivator
the share of cultivating households who have predominantly
for reasons of reducing uncertainty in income. Thus the existence
of NCPH can lead to an increase either in the pure or the mixed
moved to the "other" category. The share of agricultural labour
households has not witnessed a major change. The non-farm sec-
form of tenancy. The mixed tenancy case depends on the expand-
ing output market while the pure tenancy case depends on the
tor which was seen as a source for the reduction of poverty and
labour households and the nature of labour market.
absorption of the surplus labour from agriculture might not be
playing the role as the share of agricultural labour households At the all-India level, there is an increase in the proportion of
non-cultivating households in the rural areas with a major
are relatively constant in the rural sector and the major source of
increase in the period between 1991 and 2002 (Table 4, p 41).
entry into the non-farm sector are cultivator households. Three
states which do not fall in these broad trends are Haryana,This trend is true for all the states excluding Haryana and
Punjab and Kerala. Punjab and Haryana witnessed a fall in agri-
Punjab. Haryana witnessed a consistent fall in the proportion of
cultural labour households and increase in the share of cultiva- non-cultivating households while Punjab witnessed an increase in
tors, at least in some period. Kerala witnessed a major decrease
the proportion and then a fall in the proportion. In 1981 Haryana
had the highest proportion of non- cultivating households fol-
in cultivators, increase in agricultural labour and correspond-
lowed by Punjab. But by 2002 Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
ingly an increase in "other" households in the rural sector. The
initial conditions are different across states but the evolving
had the highest proportion of these households. In the proportion
of cultivating households one needs to see the share of these
structures are isomorphic. A decrease in the share of households
households owning land in the rural areas. Over the three periods
identified as cultivators might imply land concentration or land
one witnesses an increase in the proportion of non-cultivating
being left fallow or cultivators diversifying out of farm activity.
households owning land, i e, the ncphs. In 1981 only 19.1% of the
From the nsso reports on assets and liabilities in India one is not
40 February 4, 2012 vol XLvii no 5 E32S3 Economic & Political WEEKLY
Table 4: Importance of Non-Cultivating Peasant Households in the Rural Sector (1981 to 2002-03) Keeping in view the specificity of
1981 1991 2002
the year 2002-03, let us analyse the
%ofNC %ofNCPH % Value of Land %ofNC %ofNCPH % Value of Land %ofNC %ofNCPH % Value of Land
nature of land lease arrangements.
Andhra Pradesh 34.2 27.3 Given the constancy in the proportion
Bihar
of agricultural labour households,
Chhattisgarh snf snf
they are potential demanders of land
Gujarat
in the rental market, in addition to
Haryana
landed households who are also
Jharkhand snf snf snf snf Snf Snf 23.9 21.1 4.3
potential demanders of land in the land
lease market. The ncphs form the
Karnataka
Kerala
supply-side of the lease market. They

Madhya Pradesh 19.7 15.7
Maharashtra 32.6 24.8

determine the rent, extent of land
leased and the form of lease. In the
Orissa
Punjab
classical model of transition from feu-
Rajasthan dalism to capitalism, these segments

Tamil Nadu 31.1 21.7 are referred to as landlords. The policy
Uttar Pradesh 21.6 20.6
of land reform attempted to eliminate
West Bengal 21.6 16.0
the influence of this section on agri-
culture.non-cu
But before presenting infor-
All India
NC refers to
Source: Same as in Table 1.
mation on tenancy, here are some
non-cultivating households owned land and this proportionbroad
in- trends and an explanation of the changes in the extent of
creased to 29.6% by 1991 and further increased to 36.7% by 2002.
tenancy. The structural changes in the broader economy have an
This trend is again true for all the states excluding Haryana influence
and on the land rental market. An expanding non-farm
Punjab. In case of Haryana there is a consistent trend of decrease
sector can allow the landowners to participate in the non-farm
in the proportion of ncphs while for Punjab there is an increase
economy without closing the possibility of returning to rural
in the proportion of ncphs and then a decrease in the same. areas
In (World Bank 2007). The households who rent out land have
a higher level of human capital and are much more likely to
terms of value of land, ncphs own 3.8% of the total value in 1981,
engage in salaried employment (ibid). This would imply that
and the share in the total value of land increased to 7.5% by 1991
and further increased to 9.8% of the value by 2002.2 with the growth of the economy, households in the farm sector
with the required human capital and also investable surplus gain
4 Implication of NCPHs on Tenancy Relations access to non-farm opportunities. The very process which generates
At one end of the economic structure are the owners of land who tenancy in the farm sector also generates the non-cultivating
own land but do not themselves cultivate it. These households households in the rural sector.
can either lease the land or keep it fallow. An increase in fallow

For the reference year 1981-82 the land leased in as a propor-
land either implies that agriculture is unviable for these house-
tion to total operated land was 7.18%. This proportion increased
to 8.28% by 1991-92 and decreased to 6.5% by 2002-03. But
holds or the year under consideration is not a "normal" year.
Table 5 provides information on the net cropped area, gross
there is need for caution while interpreting these proportions.
cropped area and current fallows for selected years at Changes
the in the proportion of land under lease depend not only
all-India level. The years for which the data is presented areon
the
the extent of land under tenancy but also the reported culti-
reference years 1981-82, 1991-92 and a band of years around
vable land in the period. A decrease in the proportion of land
Table 5: Net and Gross Cropped Areas and Current 2002-03. under lease in the 2002-03 period could be because of the
The net cropped
Fallows for Selected Years at the All-India Level
area is nearly thedecrease
samein the extent of land under lease with the cultivable
Years Net Cropped Gross Cropped Current Fallows
Area (Million Area (Million (Thousand for the years 1981-82
area and
being relatively constant or due to larger proportionate de-
1991-92 but a decline
crease in
in the land under lease when compared to a decrease in
1981-82 141.93 176.75 13,173
the net cropped area in
the cultivable area. The first represents a case for the resump-
1991-92 141.63 182.24 14,672
the year 2002-03tion
is ob-
of land for self-cultivation by the households and in the
2001-02 140.73 188.29 14,636
served. The year process
2002-provides the cultivators with an incentive for invest-
2002-03 132.47 175.58 21,694
03 also witnessed ment
a phe-
on the land. While the second represents the case wherein
2003-04 140.76 190.08 14,277
nomenal increase in cur- there is a larger proportionate decrease in land leased when
2004-05 141.17 191.55 14,428
rent fallow lands. But if compared to cultivable land.
2005-06 141.49 193.05 13,672
oneof
Source: Statistics released by Government looks at
India, the band of One of the factors for the decrease in the cultivable land could
Ministry of Agriculture.
years starting from 2001- be due to natural conditions. In an agriculturally bad year de-
02 to 2005-06, the year 2002-03 has the highest extent of land
mand for land might decrease in the land lease market leading to
a decrease in the extent of land as land lease is an annual con-
under current fallows. So this year may not be a "normal" year
which will influence the choices of individuals with respect to thetract. Between the first and second period the land operated
contractual forms of using land. increased by approximately 4.5% and the land under tenancy
Economic & Political weekly СЕШ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 41
increased by less than 1%. While between the second and third West Bengal and Andhra Table 6: Proportion of Leased in Area to Operated
Area over Time and for Different States
period there was a 5.4% decline in the area under cultivation and Pradesh are also the
States % of Leased in Area to Total Operated Area
an approximately 2% decline in the area under tenancy. An ex- states which have the
pansion in the area under operation leads to an increase in the highest share of landAndhra Pradesh 6.23 9.57 9
area under lease but a decline in the area under operation leads under tenancy (Table 6).
Assam
to a more than proportionate decline in the area under tenancy. The outlier in this series Bihar
So when there is an increase in the operated land, there is a is Kerala which has a Gujarat
larger proportion of land under owner operation when compared very high share of ncphs
Haryana
Karnataka 6.04 7.43 3.6

to lease, but when there is a decline in the area operated, the but a lower extent of
Kerala
households operating under lease decline at a higher rate (may land under tenancy. One Madhya Pradesh 3.56 6.3 3.6
be) due to the fact that the owners continue to operate but the possible explanation is an
Maharashtra
lease households might not be demanding land in the market alternative adjustment
Orissa
leading to a decline in the proportion of land leased in. But mechanism. The expan-
Punjab
micro village studies show a mixed trend. The studies by sion of plantation crops
Rajasthan
Harris et al (2010) find little evidence of tenancy in Iruvelpattu. with lower demand for Tamil Nadu
Uttar Pradesh 10.24 10.49 9.5

Village studies on Andhra Pradesh show significant evidence of labour could be a substi-
West Bengal 12.34 10.4 9.3
tenancy in the irrigated, agriculturally developed pockets of Krishna- tute mechanism for leas-
All India
Godavari districts. The study of the village Ananthavaram ing out land. Source: 37th, 48th and 59th
Government of India, Repor
(Guntur district) by Ramchandran et al (2010) shows a signi-
ficant increase in the land under tenancy between 1974 and 5 Agrarian Structure in
2005-06. Tenants as a proportion of all households increased The agrarian sector in ap ha
from 18% to 37% and land leased in as a proportion of total land sons. The state has witnessed a substantial number of suicides of
operated increased from 22% to 67%. Subramanyam (2000) cotton farmers. A committee called the "Commission of Farmers
studied the extent of land in three villages in Andhra Pradesh. Welfare" was instituted to look into the crisis faced by the
A village under tank irrigation had 29.1% under lease, a village farming community. The state happened to be a scene of a series
irrigated by canal water had 27.6% of land under lease and a of experiments in changing the forms of agricultural production.
village under pampu reservoir supplemented by borewell had The experiment on "contract farming" with the help of Israel
22.8% land under tenancy. Company is one such experiment. The state is also a witness to a
But there exists large inter-state variations in the proportion long drawn movement initially by the communist parties and
of land under lease. In the reference period, 1981-82, Haryana later by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) seeking a change in
has the highest proportion of land (18%) under tenancy follo- the agrarian structure.
wed by Punjab (16%). The lowest proportion of land under ten- Next only to ты, ар witnessed the highest shift in occupation
ancy was Gujarat (1.9%) followed by Kerala (2.05%). During the from cultivators to non- cultivators. The numbers of non-
second period also Haryana (33%) and Punjab (18%) have the cultivating households are 57% and the proportion of ncphs to
highest proportion of land under tenancy with Kerala (2.85%) total non- cultivating households is 50.8%. They own about 16.2%
followed by Gujarat (3.34%) having the lowest proportion of of the total value of land (Table 4). There is a 4.2 percentage point
land under tenancy. By the third period, the state of Punjab increase in the proportion of cultivators between 1971 and 1981
(16%) leads the states with the highest proportion of land under but there is a 22.8 percentage point decline in the proportion of
tenancy followed by Haryana (14%) with Rajasthan (2.8%) and cultivators between 1981 and 2002. The census also has a similar
Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh (3.6%) having the lowest pro- story. Between 1991 and 2001 the number of cultivators has de-
portion of land under tenancy. The two states, Haryana and clined from an already low level of 27.74% to 25.47%. Interest-
Punjab, have consistently a high proportion of land under ingly, what are considered to be the most developed districts with
tenancy in all the three reference periods. Between these two a history of 100 years of canal irrigation and provision of double
states, Haryana witnessed large fluctuations in the proportion crops shows the lowest proportion of cultivating households. For
of land under lease while Punjab has witnessed fluctuations but example, the East Godavari and West Godavari districts recorded
these are minor. These two states are generally identified as 14.90% and 15.06% households as cultivators and this proportion
the agriculturally developed states with a large extent of land has decreased to 12.92% and 14.20%, respectively by 2001. At the
under tenancy and also the introduction of green revolution in other extreme there are districts like Warangal and Adilabad,
agricultural practices. In the low tenancy states comes Kerala which in fact have witnessed an increase in the proportion of
and Gujarat in two periods and Kerala, Karnataka and Madhya cultivators. Given the extreme diversity, an attempt was made
Pradesh in one period. Kerala with its lower proportion of land to study the agrarian structure by Rao and Bharathi (2010). The
tenancy operation and relatively successful tenancy regulations results of the survey are presented below. The surveyed villages
may be responsible for the lower proportion. Gujarat is generally represent different regions and the method of presentation
identified as a non-agricultural state and so may be witnessing chosen by the authors was a five-class analysis. Presenting agri-
a lower extent of land under tenancy. The states which have culture in terms of class analysis was in vogue during the late
a larger share of ncphs like Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, 1960s and the 1970s. In a sense the report is a revisit to such a
42 February 4, 2012 vol XLvii no 5 Б359 Economic & Political WEEKLY
framework and presents a different understanding compared to Table 7: Distribution of Households and Land Owned across Class Groups
Number of HH Area Owned (Acres) Area Operate

a land-based classification used in identifying structures. The
methodology used in the survey and information on land and Agricultural labourer (AGL) 490 (28.32)
land-related institutions are presented below. In this survey a Poor peasants (PP)
complete enumeration of all households residing in the village Middle peasants (MP)
was conducted. From these households, those who were directly Rich peasants (RP)
Non-cultivating "peasant'
related to agricultural production were classified into five
households (NCPHs)
classes based on their interaction in the labour market. They are: Total
ncphs, the rich peasantry (rp), middle peasantry (mp), poor Figures in brackets are percentages of the to
Source: Rao and Bharathi (2010).
peasantry (pp) and agl.3
Agrarian institutions, including market institutions, have a words, in the lease market to
tendency to undergo changes and transform themselves, and while a considerable extent of
these changes are associated with the level of development of middle peasants.
the region and/or subregion. This is more so when the total Tenancy is important in the
economy is not well integrated within itself. Possibly, it is com- in land is 675 acres (Table
8),
mon to note the existence of the regions, namely, Telangana, ated land. If one considers t
Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra, which can be seen as an forming 11.27% of the total o
illustration of non-integrated regions. However, taking the the extent of land leased in and leased out can be attributed to
levels of development, the state is sometimes grouped into five non-resident households owning land in the villages. These
regions. In the scale of development, south coastal Andhra segments of non-resident households were not covered by the
comprising the Krishna- Godavar i delta regions, namely the dis- survey. The villages witnessing the highest extent of land under
tricts of east Godavari, west Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Pra- tenancy are the irrigated paddy growing districts of the delta
kasam and Nellore, occupies the top place, with a high index of region. The two villages in the delta region constituting nearly
output per hectare. Next in importance comes the region of 45% of the leased in transactions and also the total leased in
north Telangana, comprising the districts of Nizamabad, area. The distribution of leased in and leased out area is pre-
Adilabad, Karimnagar and Khammam. North coastal Andhra sented in Table 8. While the ncphs are the only net suppliers of
comprising Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam land in the lease market, the poor peasants and middle peasants
occupy the third place. Rayalaseema has the fourth place, com- are the net demanders of land in the lease market. While all
prising Cuddapah, Kurnool, Ananthpur and Chittoor and south classes participate in the leasing in and out, poor peasants pre-
Telangana comprising Rangareddy, Hyderabad, Mahbubnagar, dominate in the leasing in operation with 50% of the land leased
Medak and Nalgonda, the fifth place. The regional differences in. Regarding leasing out, ncphs predominate with 78% of the
are partly historical and partly due to differential public invest- land leased out.
ments and complimentary private investments. As the institu- Table 8: Distribution of Area Leased In and Leased Out across Classes
tions are likely to undergo changes with different levels of in- Leasing in Leasing out
No of Area Leased No of Area Leased Net Lease in
vestments and consequent levels of development, and the at-
tempt in the present survey was to distribute the sample vil- AGL
lages of 10 across the five regions. The attempt to cover at least PP 163(59.27) 339.15(50.23) 31(25.40) 36.74(8.56) +302.75
two villages in each region succeeded in all regions excluding MP 82(29.81) 191.50(28.35) 7(5.73) 29.70(6.92) +161.8
Rayalaseema. The paper presents the composition of the agrar- RP
ian sector at the aggregate level and does not dwell on the com- NCPH 3(1.09)
position of the sector at the village level. Total 275(100)

(1) *Net leased in area is defined as (Area leased in - ar
The structure of agriculture, as revealed by Table 7, sends percentages of the total area (leased in or leased out) o
Source: Rao and Bharathi (2010).
mixed signals. If one goes by the classical peasant differentiation
model, the rp should have a dominating influence on agricul- There is another feature worth
ture. However, that does not seem to be the case in ap. They form survey recorded 605 families that do
only 4.45% of the total households with an area owned of nearly mally should have been recorded
16.98% of the total owned land. In contrast, the ncphs have a households, i e, 19% of the househo
slightly higher percentage of households and also a higher share as pure tenant cultivators. 77.39% o
in the land owned. The predominance of pp and agricultural poor peasant households. Another 16
labour households is visible, with 71.44% of the households middle peasants while 1.73% are r
belonging to this category. In terms of landownership also, it land operated under pure tenancy b
is the pp who have a dominant share of 35.20% of the total nearly 70%. In the two delta villag
owned land. If one looks at the land operated, it is the pp and do not own any land. Among the n
mp who have increased their share of land operated. Together, 38.85% of the households operate a
they operate nearly 70% of the operated land. The rp only most of them are poor peasants. T
marginally increased its share in the operated land. In other agricultural labour households join
Economic & Political weekly В2Ш February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 43
Table 9: Distribution of Area Leased in by Pure Table
pure tenants, a path that 10: Distribution of Land Transacted in Land Market across Classes
and Mixed Tenants across Classes Sale Purchase Net Purchase (Area
the households choose to
Mixed Tenants Pure Tenants No of Area Transacted No of Area Purchased -Area
No of Area No of Area hedge against uncertain-
ties in income (Table 9). AGL
AGL 1 1.0 5(4.34) 10.50(3.98) PP 41(37.27) 43.64(24.94) 24(38.70) 19.79(18.67) -23.85

Thus the agrarian struc-
PP 69 133.50 89(77.39) 183.65(69.69) MP 44(40.00) 62.30(35.61) 24(38.70) 27.55(26.01) -34.75
ture of ар presents two
MP 57 121.85 19(16.52) 61.80(23.45) RP 14(12.72) 23.48(13.42) 3(4.83) 6.4(6.03) -17.08
segments outside the
RP 18 87.80 2(1.73) 7.50(2.84) NCPH 11 (11.00) 45.53(26.02) 11(17.74) 52.25(49.29) +6.72
production structure but
NCPH 3 33.5 Total 110(100) 174.95(100) 62(100) 105.99(100) -68.96
Total 148 377.65 115(100) 263.50(100) playing a dominant role 1 Net purchase = area purchased - area sold.
Figures in brackets are percentages of the totals.in the production struc- Source: Compiled from Rao and Bharathi (2010).
Source: Compiled from Rao and Bharathi (2010).
ture. The NCPHS with classes have experienced land alienation. The major pu
their command over land and the landless labour households with land continue to be those by ncphs and they have
their command over labour, through the operation of lease mar- nearly 50% of the land transacted in the market (Tab
ket, play an important role within the production structure. Ifncphs are the net purchasers of land while all the re
one sees the dynamics of the system, given that the rich peasants classes are net sellers of land. In other words, the m
do not have a leading role, the ncphs possibly assume the lead process is facilitating land transfer to the ncphs from
role. The survey has fragmentary data on the land market for avating households.
period of five years. The data is presented in Table 7. Assuming
6 Conclusions
that the data is reasonably representative, the area sold is more
than the area purchased. While 175 acres were sold, the pur- From the above analysis one can opine that the rural econom
chases were only 106 acres. It may not be far-fetched if one pre- structure is witnessing a change. Firstly, there is decline in th
sumes that the difference between the sales and purchase is ac-share of households in the farm sector. Secondly, this decline
counted for by non-resident households. If one takes the net pur- due to a decrease in the share of cultivator households and an
chases, all classes record a negative net purchase, while ncphsincrease in the share of "other" households in the rural sector.
records a positive net purchase, i e, during the five-year period, itThirdly, the ncphs are increasing in importance, both in terms of
is the ncphs, which are accumulating additional land while other their share of households and also share of land owned in the
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44 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Е335Э Economic & Political WEEKLY
process influencing the production structure. This trend is true agriculture or with increased levels of urbanisation/industriali-
for nearly all states.4 It may be noted that the data on assets and sation. The possibility of investment other than in agriculture
liabilities in India used for analysis is based on household surveys can lead to an occupational shift in cultivators. The presence and
- in its classification, therefore, households owning land in rural increasing importance of ncphs with substantial interest in land
areas are only the rural households. Urban households who own indicates such a possibility and also a contradiction. The contra-
agricultural land are not included in this characterisation lead- diction is that the cultivator chooses non-farm activities while
ing to an underestimation of the land owned by ncphs. Fourth, retaining his interests in land, i e, the cultivator chooses to diver-
an increase in share of land owned by ncphs would imply an sify into instead of shifting to other activities. This could be be-
increase in land under tenancy but at an all-India level there is cause of higher levels of uncertainty in the returns on investment
evidence of a decrease in land under tenancy which is counter- in the non-farm sector. Higher returns on investment with a
factual. One reason proposed was that the year 2002-03 for higher uncertainty in the non-farm sector compared to lower re-
which data on tenancy is provided was not a "normal" year. Even turns on investment with lower uncertainty in agriculture could
assuming a decrease in the share of land under tenancy, the mean that investing in non-farm activities is akin to diversifica-
states with a larger share of ncphs have a greater extent of land tion in a portfolio. The cultivators diversify but continue to own
under tenancy. Fifth, the village survey shows that ncphs form land. The certain income of ncphs in farm activity is made possi-
5.49% of the households in the farm sector and own 19.6% of the ble by the demand for land within the agricultural sector, partic-
land. These households are the major players in the land lease ularly from the agricultural labour households. The relative con-
market. The share of these households in total land leased out is stancy in the share of agricultural labour households and their
need to hedge against the uncertainties of living makes land
nearly 77%. These households are also the net purchases of land
in the village. The economic structure is changing with an
lease a very active market. Since the demand for land is reasona-
increasing importance of ncphs who influence decisions related
bly high from this segment, the rent is also likely to be high, mak-
to the production structure. ing sure that the income of ncphs from agriculture is not unrea-
A question that naturally arises in this context, but which wassonable. This explains the decline in cultivators and the concomi-
tant increase in ncphs and the stable proportion of agricultural
not addressed in the paper, is the process that generates ncphs in
labour households. The above hypothesis, if considered a reason-
the agricultural sector. Here some speculation on the conditions
for the generation of ncphs is presented. One explanation forable explanation of the changes in Indian agriculture calls for a
these trends could be derived from the existence of certain non- different approach to dealing with the agrarian crisis. It raises
the possibility of either going back to land reform kind of meas-
farm sectors in the economy, which provide higher rates of return
ures or finding a mechanism of displacing the ncphs through
on investment, higher when compared to agricultural sector.
Such sectors are a result of the already achieved high growth in
market interventions like corporate farming.
NOTES National Sample Survey Organisation (1986): House- Villages inAndhra Pradesh (New Delhi: Hilika Books).
holds Assets and Liabilities in India (as on 30 Rao, R S and M Bharathi (2010): "Comprehensive
1 The 26th and 37th rounds were based on the ma-
Juneiç82), 37th round. Study on Land and Poverty in Andhra Pradesh: A
jor source of income of the household during the
- (1986):
365 days preceding the date of survey. In Some Aspects of Operational Holdings
the 48th Preliminary Report" in Mudunuri Bharathi (ed.), In
and 56th rounds the sub-classification is 1981-82
done ", inNSS 37th round, Report number 331. Search of Method, published by B-i Collective and
- (1996): Operational Holding in India 1991-92: Centre for Documentation, Research and Commu-
terms of principal occupational code of the house-
hold as obtained in the survey. Salient Features, 48th round, Report 407. nication, Hyderabad.
- (1998):
2 The estimate of percentage NCPHs and Households Assets and Liabilities in India Subramanyam, S (2000): "Agricultural Tenancy in
percent-
(as on
age of value of land owned by NCPHs will be30 June 1991), 48th round, Report No 419.
an India: Growth Promoting or Growth Retarding",
- (2005): Households Assets and Liabilities in India
underestimate of the actual as households own- Artha Vijnana, Vol XLII, No 4, pp 360-66.
ing land but residing in urban areas are not (as on 30 June 2002), 59th round, Report No 500. Vyas, V S (2003): Indian Agrarian Structure, Economic
captured here. - (2006): Some Aspects of Operational Land Hold- Policies and Sustainable Development: Variation
ings in India, 2002-03, NSS 59th round, Report on a Theme (New Delhi: Academic Foundation).
3 Details of the method of classification are provi-
ded in Rao and Bharathi (2010). No 492. World Bank (2007): India: Land Policies for Growth
4 The only exceptions are the agriculturally devel-
Ramchandran,V K, Vikas Rawal and Madhura Swami- and Poverty Reduction (New Delhi: Oxford
nathan (2010): Socio-Economic Surveys of Three University Press).
oped states like Punjab and Haryana, which show
no systematic trend.
For the Attention of Subscribers and

REFERENCES
Subscription Agencies Outside India
Basole, Amit and Deepankar Basu (2011): "Relations of
Production and Modes of Surplus Extraction: Part I
- Agriculture", Economic & Political Weekly, 2ItApril.
has come to our notice that a large number of subscriptions to the EPW from outside the
Chenery, Н В and M Syrquin (1975): Patterns oftogether
country De- with the subscription payments sent to supposed subscription agents in India
velopment, 1950-70 (London: Oxford University
have not been forwarded to us.
Press).
Harms, J, J Jayaranjan and N Nagaraj (2010): "Land,
Labour and Caste Politics in Rural Tamil Nadu in We wish to point out to subscribers and subscription agencies outside India that all foreign
20th Century", Economic & Political Weekly, 31 July. subscriptions, together with the appropriate remittances, must be forwarded to us and not to
Kuznets (1966): Modern Economic Growth (New Ha- unauthorised third parties in India.
ven: Yale University Press).
Lewis, W A (1954): "Economic Development with Un- We take no responsibility whatsoever in respect of subscriptions not registered with us.
limited Supplies of Labour", The Manchester
Manager
School of Economics and Social Studies, Vol 22,
No 2, pp 139-91.
Economic & Political weekly IS3Q February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 45
Indian 'Commercial Fiction' in English, the
Publishing Industry and Youth Culture
SUMAN GUPTA
There are two ways in which we can contemplate th

global/local dimension in relation significant changes in India since the late 1980s. A remark- to Indian commerc
The significant ableablemeans proliferation
proliferation of bothof independent
changes production of in both India for independent since literature the late in English and 1980s. international A have remark- seen
and international
fiction in English: first, in terms of processes of
publishers has taken place. In relation to "Indian English" litera-
publication and circulation (the
ture, the current phase of development can be traced back to the means of production
and, second, in terms of the
independent publisher Ravi Dayal's (established in broad
1988) success characteristics an
with Amitav Ghosh's The
reception of such fiction Shadow Lines (1988), and to the setting
(product and consumption)
up of Penguin India in 1985. A corresponding diversification in
This paper discusses Indian commercial fiction in En
categories and genres of such literature has evidently occurred.
since the 1980s and offers
Within the Indian market, Indiansome
"commercial fiction" in English more or less specula
observations on what ishas unquestionably
produced been the principal area of diversification, with the expectatio
while "literary fiction" in English - as much a market category
that it will enjoy a profitable career as in the Indian ma
commercial fiction - and translations from Indian languages
have become more varied and numerous too.
This paper is addressed to Indian commercial fiction in English

since the 1980s, or broadly in the contemporary period. It offers
some more or less speculative observations on the Indian fiction
in English which is produced with the expectation that it will
enjoy a profitable career within the Indian market. Though this
kind of fiction has a significant presence in India, it is little known
and only perfunctorily registered elsewhere. For the purposes of
this paper, commercial fiction is characterised more emphati-
cally by market performance than the intrinsic features of texts,
than the putative generic features, themes and stylistic devices
that can be discerned in specific texts. Here I offer neither read-
ings of particular texts nor a survey of such texts and authors.
The observations here approach commercial fiction tangentially,
in terms of some available evidence of production, circulation
and reception, and the inferences that follow with Indian social
circumstances in view. These could be regarded as observations
which may usefully precede a systematic critical engagement
with contemporary Indian commercial fiction texts.
Commercial and Literary

The Indian commercial fiction in English which circulates pre-
dominantly within the country can be regarded as reasonably
distinct from the "literary fiction" in English which has a larger-
than-Indian presence. Neither are, however, mutually impervious or
exclusive areas. Despite numerous efforts to describe these terms
according to content - as if texts have immanent qualities of com-
mercialness and literariness - both are plausibly understood as
The author is grateful for comments from an EPW referee, in the li
market-led categories (on this point, see Gupta 2009: Chapter 6).
which this paper was revised.
Both make pre-eminent sense in terms of appealing to and antici-
Suman Gupta ( s.gupta@open.ac.uk ) is with the Department of Eng
pating specific sorts of readership, and being designed, publi-
Faculty of Arts, The Open University, United Kingdom.
cised, circulated and discussed or disregarded accordingly.
46 FEBRUARY 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 ЕШЯ Economic & Political weekly
In a general way, literary fiction evidently has greater inter- towards globalisation and the transcendence of the present. When
national visibility and is occasionally regarded as coeval with "Indian the former pronounce on the quality of literary fiction, the latter
English literature" per se. This is so especially outside India but agree and offer disclaimers about the literariness of commercial
sometimes within India too, in academic circles and establish- fiction and point to their market penetration.
ment cultural discourses (to do with prizes, reviewing, literary There is an air of heroism about the authority of the publishing
festivals and events, etc). Naturally, this does not mean that all professional apropos Indian fiction in English. They appear at the
Indian literary fiction has such international visibility; much that cutting edge of literary production, while academic criticism
is published as such, even recipients of Sahitya Akademi awards, appears after the fact. Especially in relation to commercial fiction,
do not go far in the Indian market and travel indifferently abroad. publishing professionals increasingly partake of a sort of greater
But success in literary fiction is measured by texts which have authorship: they seem to speak as authors of a commercial field
circulated well in a wider Anglo-American market, and have of literary production and reception in which the immediate
enjoyed concordant critical attention and cultural currency. authors - the functional writers of commercial fiction - contribute
What is produced and consumed as Indian commercial fiction in in a subsidiary way. Publishing professionals are allocated their
English is generally regarded as matter of internal interest. It own record and narrative as super-authorial figures through
is consumed primarily within India, seen to display a kind of interviews and addresses (some collected, for instance, by Ghai
"Indianness" that Indians appreciate, and is not meant to be 2008a, b), and embody a much-discussed growth industry (much
taken "seriously" or regarded as "literary". Literary fiction is the as call centre workers did for the Indian outsourcing industry
respectable public face of Indian literature in English abroad and recently). Publishers sometimes speak candidly of their stronger
at home, while commercial fiction is the gossipy café of Indian sense of authorship in India than their counterparts may feel
writing in English at home. elsewhere. After moving from Bloomsbury ик to Random House
Numerous academic surveys and commentaries on Indian India, publisher Chiki Sarkar (2009) thus found that she is hav-
fiction in English dwell exclusively on "literary fiction", and ing "so much fun" because she can decide what sorts of books she
establish a canon which functions as both repository and confir- wants to publish and then find authors for them and suitable
mation of literariness. The contemporary canon consists in a roll media coverage. By way of repartee, Aditya Sudarshan (2010)
call such as: Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, opined that "Indian publishing needs to get less fun" because
Arundhati Roy, Amit Chaudhuri, Rohinton Mistry, Anita Desai, "kitsch" (read commercial fiction) was beginning to dominate
Shashi Tharoor, Allan Sealy, Anita Nair, Vikram Chandra, Kiran the Indian English fiction lists - not because readers or writers
Desai, Mukul Keshavan, Rupa Bajwa, Arvind Adiga, Rana Dasgupta, necessarily want it, but "because our editors felt like it".
and so on. Most are mentioned in no particular order, but the At any rate, while the academic expert places Rushdie as progeni-
progenitor at the top of the list is usually Rushdie and the novel tor of contemporary Indian literary fiction in English, the publishing
that sets this phase rolling is Midnight's Children (1981). Rushdie expert appoints Chetan Bhagat, the same for commercial fiction. So,
is (slightly ironically) the "messiah" of the Indian English literary a 2007 report in The Hindustan Times observed: "Why did we stop
"renaissance" from the 1980s in John Mee's survey of novels in looking down on commercial writing? The answer, say publishers,
the 1980s and 1990s (2003: 318); and, similarly, most highly- can be found in two words: Chetan Bhagat" (Gulab 2007). And, sim-
regarded novels over the same period are Midnight's Children's ilarly, an article from The Telegraph (Calcutta) opined:
Children in Naik and Narayan's (2001, Chapter 3) survey covering It's not as if Indian writers never penned commercial fiction before.
1980-2000. As the next decade progresses, we find Chaudhuri [. . .] But this never developed into a body of work. That has changed
(2008: 113-21) concerned about the superlative significance given ever since bestselling author Chetan Bhagat hit the scene (Dua 2009).
to Rushdie's work, and Rajan (2011: 203-30) still charting new Bhagat's role in the recent great leap forward of Indian com-
developments from After Midnight's Children. mercial fiction in English is widely acknowledged. Irrespective of
the aptness of Bhagat's progenitor status (his Five Point Someone
Authority of the Publishing Professional was published in 2004, while Shobhaa De's Socialite Nights, 1989,
It is primarily in a non-academic register that the burgeoning and Anurag Mathur's The Inscrutable Americans, 1991, have
Indian commercial fiction is registered: in claims made by strong pioneering claims for the contemporary commercial fic-
publishers and other professionals and authors in the mass media tion field), the career of his novels does typify the kind of produc-
(particularly newspapers and magazines). Such claims come with tion and circulation that this paper is concerned with.
an alternative-to-academic authority; also a matter of expertise, It is often noted that sales figures set Bhagat's novels apart
but hands-on expertise in production processes and reading mar- from contenders, and these put the scope and scale of the Indian
kets rather than in studied critical understanding. Publishing pro- market for commercial fiction into perspective. By 2008, Five Point
fessionals are apt to be cited as experts. The lines of expertise bet- Someone (2004) had reportedly sold 7,00,000 copies in India,
ween academic and publishing professional discourses are gener- and Bhagat's 2008 novel The 3 Mistakes of My Life (2008) had a
ally fairly clearly drawn. The former are predominantly ensconced first print run of 2,00,000 copies (Mahapatra 2008). Within India,
in scholarly forums and confined mainly to literary fiction, the for English language fictional works, this is equalled only by phe-
latter in mass media forums and devoted to both Indian "literary" nomenally successful international bestsellers: in 2005, J К Rowl-
and "commercial" fiction in English. While the former attend to the ing's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince reportedly sold over
nuances of postcoloniality and (literary) history, the latter gesture 1,00,000 copies on the first day (Ahmad 2005), and in 2007
Economic & Political weekly E33Q February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 47
around 2,40,000 copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows These register a rapid proliferation of commercial fiction along
were pre-ordered in India before release (Raja M 2007). Rowling's the lines of "genre" categories: detective fiction, science fiction
novels were, of course, considerably more expensive; at under and fantasies, chick lit, romances, campus novels, graphic novels,
Rs 100 Bhagat's novels were produced to be affordable. Accord- etc. Differentiations among producers and consumers are noted
ing to Bhagat's publishers Rupa, their other successful books sell in these: for instance, the degree to which both international
40-50,000 copies (Fernandes 2010: 21). However, this success in publishers (with India establishments) and independent publish-
the domestic market is not reflected in the international passages ers are promoting genre fiction, and which categories are selling
of Bhagat's novels. Five Point Someone (2004) did not find a particularly well or are yet to reach their full potential. A grow-
co-publication deal abroad. As a result of news-fuelled aware- ing divide between commercial fiction for Indian readers and
ness of outsourcing in Britain and the United States, One Night literary fiction for Indian and international consumption is occa-
@ the Call Centre (2005) did, and was co-published by Trans- sionally perceived, and sometimes it is suggested that interest in
world Publishers (uk) and Ballantine Books (usa) in 2007. Large producing the latter is perhaps suffering (Ghosh 2011). The great
internet vendors outside India, such as Amazon usa and Amazon majority are sanguine about such a dip in literary fiction and cele-
uk, have consistently shown modest sales rankings for both. bratory about the growth and potential of commercial fiction.
Bhagat's novels have largely escaped scholarly attention. He The celebratory tone is obviously about the economic prospects
gets an incidental mention in a footnote in Rajan's 2011 survey of for the publishing industry in India, but extends also to the
post -Midnight's Children novels; and even in Tabish Khair's 2008 changing sociocultural environment which is evidenced thereby.
(pp 59-74) overview of "Indian pulp fiction in English", Bhagat The key points about the latter were summarised usefully by
fails to make an appearance. Naturally, Bhagat's work has received Claudia Kramatschek, and coincide with media commentary on
prolific mass media attention and numerous reviews in Indian the popularity of Bhagat's novels:
broadsheets and magazines. These are unanimous in doubting Many Indian authors - especially younger ones - will tell you that
Bhagat's "literary" achievement: "with the release of his third book they experience a certain pressure, strengthened by internationally
[. . .] Chetan Bhagat has made one thing quite clear. He really isn't active publishers, to act as cultural ambassadors. In other words, either
to turn out 'spice and curry' in the form of easily-digestible novels of
a great writer. This shouldn't come as news to the Indian literary
the exotic variety, or else elucidations of 'Indianness' as such.
establishment" (Menon 2008: 71). Equally, such reports have
But a younger generation of authors now appears to have emerged in
been continuously struck by the fact that his novels sell quite as the English-language literary sector whose common development
many copies as reported. Bhagat's work has received some mass manifests a kind of caesura. All are between 25 and 35 years of age -
media attention outside India, the tone of which speaks for itself. a fact which in and of itself represents a minor revolution in a country
Bhagat was introduced thus to readers of The Guardian : "He is the where the aura of the senior writer has always shaped the literary
canon. All came of age in an India where access to the wider world
biggest-selling writer in English you've never heard of" (Ramesh
was available via mouse click, and all feel at home within the most
2008); and with the following to Observer readers: "For (Indian) divergent cultures - and they play with this intercultural network
people (of the "outsourcing generation"), there is only one author: in their literary work as well. At the same time, nonetheless, they
Chetan Bhagat, who?" (McCrum 2010). Whether in India or else- are rooted in India to an astonishing degree, and they write about
this sense of connection in new and innovative - and at times surpris-
where, the tone says that it does not really matter to us what
ing - ways. A marked turn toward localism is observable, meaning
Bhagat writes, we would not get much from reading his texts;
toward the micro cosmos of one's own lived world, to the history of
what matters is that they read him prolifically - those Bhagat the individual towns where these authors lead their lives. In literary
readers in India. These other readers are somehow symptoma- terms, this return is associated with an opening toward genre
tised in Bhagat's success, and their reading Bhagat symptomatises literature and toward what might be referred to as the small form
(Kramatschek 2007).
something. They are characterised in literary features as a new
kind of readership. According to a New York Times article: "Mr There we have it again: the condition of English language com-
Bhagat might not be another Vikram Seth or Arundhati Roy, but mercial fiction in India has something to do with the English-
he has authentic claims to being one of the voices of a generation speaking middle-class youth, and something to do with global
of middle class Indian youth facing the choices and frustrations awareness or globalisation processes in relation to a changing
that come with the prospect of growing wealth" (Greenlees 2008). sense of national awareness or local lives. These are obviously
All who have written about Bhagat, in India or elsewhere, agree closely intertwined; arguably it is the youth in question who cul*
on this: the Chetan Bhagat "phenomenon", in brief, has something tivate the local/global awareness, and equally this awareness in
to do with middle class youth in India, and something to do with question appeals to the youth.
India's growing affluence and presence in a globalised world and Some attention to these two entwined factors in relation to
consequently strengthened sense of national/local identity. English language commercial fiction in India seems to be called
Bhagat is, as I have observed above, the tip of the iceberg of for. Two sections consequently follow: on "local/global" India
Indian commercial fiction in English. Much that can be said and Indian "middle-class youth" culture.
about the tip applies to the iceberg generally. Numerous enthusi-
astic reports have appeared around the turn of the 2010s about Local/Global
the continuing "boom" in English language fiction in India There are two ways in which we can contemplate the global/local
(Kramatschek 2007; Kumar 2009, Tarafdar 2010; Dua 2009; dimension in relation to Indian commercial fiction in English:
Khan 2010; Gulab 2010; Ghosh 2011; Pathak 2011; Sarkar 2011). first, in terms of processes of publication and circulation (the
48 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 E33S3 Economic & Political weekly
means of production); and, second, in terms of the broad charac- also be pushed more emphatically into ever smaller niches within
teristics and reception of such fiction (product and consumption). India. The general experience in Britain and the United States
The story of commercial fiction publishing is part of a larger (us) is that independent publishers tend to be consumed by inter-
story about the growth of the Indian publishing sector. In terms national corporations (see Schriffrin 2000; Feather 2003); in
of absolute figures this is an impressively large and diverse sector. India (I gathered from conversations with independent publishers) it
According to Pathak (2011), 12,375 publishers were registered is held that the market capacity is so large that international and
with the ISBN India agency at the end of 2007, with an estimated independent publishers can both thrive in a symbiotic relation-
90,000 titles being produced each year, and with the industry ship. Sometimes Indian independent publishers are able to make
showing an optimistic growth estimate of 30%. The English- useful co-publication deals with their counterparts abroad or
language element in this has superlative visibility because it is with international publishers within.
nationally and internationally accessible. International interest An on-the-ground presence in India offers further advantages
in the Indian publishing industry is evidenced in various ways. for global players which are unavailable to independent publishers.
Most significantly, Indian subsidiaries of international publishing It enables, for instance, exploitation of the uneven flow of com-
corporations enjoy a considerable media and commercial pres- mercial fiction. Not only are international publishers able to tap
ence. The Association of Publishers in India (api), the representa- into the contained circuit of Indian commercial fiction, they are
tive body of such publishers, lists 27 members for 2010-11. Beyond also in a position to regulate the inflow of commercial fiction that
that, international interest is charted through: various market they publish elsewhere - primarily British and American com-
reports commissioned abroad (such as Khullar Management and mercial fiction. The latter have a well-established place in the
Financial Investment Services 1999; Rob Francis 2003 [2008]); Indian market, but whereas much of their distribution worked
particular attention at book fairs (India was special guest at the through the pirated book market (or, occasionally, through cheap
Frankfurt Book Fair, 4-8 October 2006; and featured prominently legal reprints) till the 1990s, now international corporations are
in the Paris Book Fair, 22-27 May 2007); and other initiatives able to regulate the situation to some extent themselves. So,
(e g in 2010 the British Council established the Young Publishing Harper Collins India, Random House India, Penguin India, and
Entrepreneur Award for young publishers in India to network in so on are able to produce Indian commercial fiction in English and,
the uk). The prospects for exporting Indian English-language at the same time, reprint their American and British commercial
publications have been under occasional scrutiny (Pathak 2011), fiction lists for Indian readers, and set up their own distribution
and various economic and legal constraints discussed. mechanisms for both. Further, it seems that the Indian market for
commercial fiction by Indian emigrants in the United Kingdom
A Global Template (uk) or the us coincides with the confined market for Indian com-
These might be regarded as signs of the globalisation (and mercial fiction in English - a presence in the Indian market is a
certainly of a growing global presence) of the Indian publishing useful position for international publishers to promote writings
industry, but that does not mean Indian commercial fiction in by Indian emigrants published first in other territories.
English (the product) has a global presence. That is an important The globalisation of the Indian publishing industry is easily
distinction. As I have observed above, successful commercial charted through the presence of international publishers, but
fiction (such as Bhagaťs) is produced mainly for circulation within that is far from being the central feature of the process. More
India and travels indifferently elsewhere. The international pub- importantly, a global template of commercial fiction production
lishers in India are there to generate profits by entering the Indian and circulation has been imported and adapted for the Indian
reading market, not by opening up Indian commercial fiction to market. To begin with, this has to do with the structure of "genre
an international market. The great bulk of commercial fiction fiction" in terms of which production and circulation of Indian
produced by Penguin India, Harper Collins India, Hachette India, commercial fiction in English is now routinely mediated: the
and so on, is only distributed within India. The international above-noted proliferation of science fiction, detective fiction,
reports and initiatives mentioned above are more so that inter- chick lit, science fiction, fantasy, graphic novels, campus novels,
national publishers are able to mould and exploit Indian products etc, replicates categorisation and packaging and marketing prac-
(commercial fiction) and consumers (the reading market), and tices which have been tried and tested over a considerable period
very much less so as to generate Indian products which can be in the uk, the us, and elsewhere. This entire structure has been
used to exploit the international market. The idea is to set up an imported wholesale into the Indian publishing industry and book
internal cycle of production and consumption which interna- market within a compressed period of a couple of decades. The
tional publishers can tap into, rather than to make Indian prod- precise ways in which this structure has been adapted (rather
ucts a global commodity. From the international corporation's than simply mimicked) for Indian consumers, is matter for con-
perspective, Indian commercial fiction is a gigantic niche market sidered research and analysis - a detailed exposition is beyond
enterprise. It is unclear to what extent the advent of international the scope of this paper. It is possible that certain expectations and
publishers might have affected independent publishing. Inde- experiences associated with older traditions of commercial fiction
pendent publishers in India may have stoked the flames of com- production in Indian languages have been integrated within the
mercial fiction which international publishers have fanned since, global template. Some research has already been devoted to the
may benefit from the large-scale moulding of production and predecessors of these "genres" in Indian languages or earlier
consumption that international publishers undertake, and may English-language productions, themselves often inspired by
Economic & Political weekly S2S3 February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 49
colonial commercial fiction from Britain: e g, Chandra (2008) for English. On the one hand, since the 1990s, cross-border commer-
comics; Roy (2008) for Bengali detective fiction; Mathur (2006) cial enterprise (strongly associated with business process out-
and Orsini (2004) for detective fiction in the colonial period; sourcing) has resulted in an upward revaluation of "standard"
Sengupta (2003: 76-82) for Bengali science fiction; Daechsel English as cultural capital. On the other hand, with increasing
(2003) for Urdu detective fiction; and Khair (2008) gives a history use in everyday life the distinctiveness of Indian English usage
of "Indian English pulp fiction" before Shobhaa De. These are has become more a repository of claims and anxieties about
worth looking at closely in relation to current production and national identity than prior to the 1990s. Unsurprisingly, the use
marketing and circulation. Further, particular approaches to the of a distinctively Indian idiom or of "homegrown English" is
English language, and social themes of specific moment in India, regarded as a key reason for the recent success of Indian commer-
have played their part in the Indian adaptation of the global com- cial fiction in English , i e, "the quick-fire campus English that
mercial fiction publishing template. These have enabled localisa- young Indians use" (Ramesh 2008; McCrum 2010), "English as
tion of the products fitted into the global template, without dis- unpretentious as a call-centre cubicle" (Thottam 2008). A close
turbing the structural coherence of the latter. Brief notes on such analysis of such distinctive Indian English usage in fiction, with
localisation follow soon. its regionally varied enunciations, syntax transferred from re-
gional languages, code-switchings, idiomatic Indianisms and so
Beyond structuring in terms of "genre" categories, the global
publishing template also involves norms of material production on
- (cf Sailaja 2009; Sedlatschek 2009; Sethi 2011) requires more
meeting "global standards" in the physical appearance and shap-
space than this paper has.
ing of the book (on this, see Ahuja 2004: 24-27). The recentlyIn brief, however, the distinctiveness of Indian English usage
in commercial fiction could be understood in terms of its famil-
(post-1990) diversified channels of formal recognition through
corporation-sponsored prizes, mass media-based "bestseller" iarised relationship with the Indian context. This is an oft-mooted
argument in the discussions cited above: Indian commercial
listings, creation of celebrity profiles, adaptations into films, etc,
also concretise the Indian importation of a global template. So do
fiction in English, the argument goes, is geared expressively for
an internal Indian audience and therefore does not need to be
ongoing developments in retailing practices, from such micro-
matters such as how bookshops should be arranged to macro-
explanatory and demonstrative in the way that literary fiction,
matters like establishing book-retailing chains. with a potentially international readership, feels it should be.
The latter is what Kramatschek (2007), quoted above, described
Indian English and the Indian Context as "easily-digestible novels of the exotic variety, or else elucida-
While such globalisation of the Indian book industry unfolds, the
tions of 'Indianness' as such"; or, in Choudhury's words:
commercial fiction products (texts) themselves are designed forAs the Indian novel in English, assisted by India's rising profile in
and circulated within an emphatically contained national or lo-global affairs, finds an audience wherever English is spoken, it often
cal sphere. The discourse that articulates this circulatory matrixseems to sacrifice the particularities of Indian experience for a
is referred to Indian texts by Indian authors being produced inwatered-down idiom that can speak to readers across the globe
(Choudhury 2009: 96).
India for Indian readers. In other words, this is a circuit of Indians
talking to Indians in a closed space, a national space, albeit inThese are descriptions of a defamiliarised relationship between
the most international of languages. Localisation of practice the English language (for literature) and the Indian context.
here is evidently in the service of globalisation for the publish-
Underlying commercial fiction's claim of a familiarised relation-
ing industry; it is the local product and circuit instrumentalised
ship between language and context, we may detect insecurities
for structural globalisation and for the benefit of international
related to some essentialist notion of Indian identity or national-
corporations. Despite the oft-mooted antithetical positioning istic
of protectiveness about India's "image" abroad - both, perhaps,
ultimately anxieties about the status of English in India itself.
globalisation/commercial fiction/popular reception and postcolo-
nialism/literary fiction/academic discernment (discussed ear-
Such anxieties are eloquently expressed in the form of the follow-
lier), there is arguably no significant opposition: no noteworthy
ing questions in a 2010 news feature:
flow away from postcolonial hangover towards globalised-local-
If you write in what's called The Queen's English without the phrasing
ised ("glocalised") aspirations. The geopolitics of transfer andthat may be grammatically incorrect in the ик but is how we usually
exploitation, the structuring of knowledge and know-how, presentspeak English here, are you authentically Indian? On the other hand,
a convergent dynamics in accounts of globalisation-localisationif you write about villages or urban underbellies, are you not catering
and accounts of postcoloniality. Nevertheless, the burgeoningto a western readership with a taste for the exotic, rather than a home-
grown Indian one? (Gulab 2010).
Indian commercial fiction in English is perceivably new and
different from, and even resistant to, the established IndianAt any rate, it appears to be held that writing fiction about
English literary fiction. It makes a claim of local rootedness,
India in English has almost inevitably been an act of defamiliarisa-
of national resurgence, which could be unpacked further tion,- and yet paradoxically English is an Indian language and should
without, as I decided above, immediately undertaking textual
have the capacity of familiarised usage for fiction. Indian commer-
analyses or surveys. cial fiction in English, à la Bhagat and others, has now hit upon it, it
The localisation that plays with the global template could be
is averred: by eliding explanations and an exotic sensibility, by using
described variously. To begin with, the most global of languages
English as if it is habitual within the locale that is described, as if
is itself the site for localisation in Indian commercial fiction in English is "native" to the Indian habitus.
50 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 B2S3 Economic & Political WEEKLY
The tacit drift towards enclosure and "authentic" Indianness, the novels, Sudarshan Purohit, wrote a somewhat sad article on the low
apprehensions about exoticisation and exposure to "foreigners", sales of the translations, wondering whether:
in such arguments seem wholly dubious to me (and possibly We might be in this situation because we've imported the whole busi-
dangerous in the way that religious communalism is dangerous). ness of English books - writing, buying, marketing, even the genre
Perhaps such arguments are after the fact: the fact is that such names on the bookshelves, from the Western books ecosystem. This
includes the reviewing and the top ten lists and the contacts with the
commercial fiction has a predetermined circulation within India -
press - everything that constitutes the hype that sells the books.
it is designed to exploit the Indian reading market in English Publishers in other languages are still waking up to the fact that the
rather than internationalise Indian "commercial literature" in English publishing industry is dominating the literary supplements
(Purohit 2010).
English - and such arguments may well be market-inspired.
Possibly, these sentiments about Indian distinctiveness are
The "western books ecosystem", which is more or less what I
have called the global template for commercial fiction publish-
offered in a spirit of the post-factum affirmation that industrial
ing, allows for a non-regionalised sort of localism to exist within
success is routinely greeted with. If we went along with Graham
Huggan's analysis of homogenisation and othering (exoticisation)
the internal circuit of Indian commercial fiction in English.
These observations raise an obvious question: who takes
in practices of "postcoloniality" that render India as a sort of
possession of this brand, substantiates the circulatory matrix of
brand, India as "more available than ever for consumption" (Hug-
gan 2001: 82), then this need not simply operate at the Indian commercial fiction in English, and actualises the "giocai"
mismatched boundary of the "western" imperialist gaze and the existence and national consolidation it reflects? In the newspaper
diverse interior of India. It could just as well work within India. and magazine articles I have cited above, the answer is pat and
Arguably, the cultivated localisation that operates through English in unanimous: it is the middle-class Indian youth.
Indian commercial fiction, emphatically for internal circulation
Middle-Class Youth
within a global publishing template, involves an internal branding
of India for internal consumption. This could be a kind of internal Two surveys give some indication of the character and attitudes of
branding in much the way that "ethnic" clothing or "vedic life- this reading constituency: a csds-kas (de Souza et al 2009) survey
style" commodities are internal brands for the nation within India. of social attitudes among Indian youth, and a nbt-ncaer (Shukla
By being unlinked to a regional place within India, English's 2010) Indian youth readership survey. The csds-kas 2009 survey
localised and familiarised idiom in commercial fiction provides a uses data collected from around 5,000 respondents, aged between
useful medium for internally branding the nation. Reviewers of such 14 and 34, more or less evenly distributed across the country with
fiction do not approach the texts as regional. They may be identified some booster samples from areas with high population density
with urban locations, as "Delhi-resident authors" and "small town (towns); and the nbt-ncaer 2010 survey covered 3,11,431 literate
stories" and so on; mosdy, they are simply expressions of India per youth (13-35 year olds), across 207 rural districts and 199 towns in
se, their success symptomatises India as a whole, their authors em- India. The latter estimates the youth population of India to be 459
body their Indian identities over their regional identities by dint of million (38% of the total), of which 333 million is literate. Of the
writing in English. Commercial fiction in Indian languages, even literate youth, this survey indicates, about 25% read books for
when translated into English (translations from Indian languages pleasure, relaxation and knowledge enhancement; and English is
into English is also a much-referred "boom" area), however, carry the preferred language for leisure reading of 5.3% of those (Hindi
the weight of their regional identities with them. Satyajit Ray's Pe- is for 33.4%, Marathi 13.2%, Bengali 7.7%). By these figures, the
luda detective stories or Saradindu Bandyopadhya/s Byomkesh Bak- number of readers of an extraordinarily successful English lan-
shi detective stories (both available in several English language edi- guage commercial fiction book is unlikely to exceed 4.41 million.
tions) are strongly associated with their Bengali settings and author- As a proportion of India's youth population this is a minuscule fig-
ship. In some cases, the regional identity of such commercial fiction ure, but as an absolute figure for commercial fiction publishers to
works as a distancing device, so that the English translation is pre- aspire to this is fairly respectable. The actual figure will be consid-
sented not so much as commercial fiction any longer but more as an erably lower when we take into account that fiction is the preferred
object of ethnographic interest for the Indian reader. The Blaft genre for 42% of youth: if that breaks down proportionally for the
Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction (Chakravarthy 2008) is a case in languages, for English that would mean around 1.85 million read-
point: to announce a collection as "pulp fiction" is to take the con- ers (but maybe more English language readers prefer fiction). Fur-
tents out of the circuit of being consumed as pulp fiction and put ther, this is a very wide age group for the survey (13 to 35), and
them in the circuit of being looked at as pulp fiction - with the re- quite possibly a commercial fiction book targeting, for instance,
gional "place" of this phenomenon foregrounded. Reviewers of the any particular group of readers (women, professionals, university
English translations of Hindi thriller writer Surender Mohan Pathak's students, etc) may not appeal to a considerable range here. Inci-
novels (which started being published in 2009) obviously had to me- dentally, according to this survey the internet is accessed by only
diate across considerable internal distances to introduce them to 3.7% of youth, of which a mere 4% use it for reading books online
Indian readers of English language fiction - with observations like:
and a tiny 1.2% use it to search for book titles. We can assume that
the
"One reason why the books are catching on is that they represent a great majority of those with access to the internet have some
different world" (Swamy 2010); "Long labelled lowbrow, these big
level of proficiency in the English language.
sellers of small-town Hindustan have usually been printed on cheapThe csds-kas 2009 survey gives little indication of reading
habits, and focuses more on tv and film viewing. It comes up with
paper . . . and sold for a song" (Raaj 2009). The translator of Pathak's
Economic & Political weekly СШЭ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 51
the figure of 12% of respondents claiming to use the internet, as However, these youths also dialogically acknowledge that interna-
opposed to 3.7% quoted above - but the latter has a much larger tional normalised language practices, and their associated social au-
thority, are not available for local uptake. They critically respond to
sample and is statistically more reliable. The csds-kas 2009 survey,
local speakers who quickly acquire international language practices
however, usefully gestures towards an interesting mix of social
[...]. In India, discourse centres on 'fake accents', which typically
and cultural attitudes among youth in general which may well emerge in high-school and college-age ie speakers who unnaturally
have a bearing on reading habits. The levels of interest in politics acquire an American accent through limited contact with ae [Ameri-
(46% think it is very or somewhat important) is high; significant can English] speakers or travel to the United States. These youths all
had personal favourite stories highlighting the ridiculousness of fake
proportions are well disposed towards other countries (except
accents and their response to such 'wannabes' [...] (Chand 2009: 411).
Pakistan); and more take democratic prerogatives and issues like
gender equality and environmental sustainability, unemployment The success of Indian commercial fiction in English within
and poverty, seriously. However, 71% declare that they have not India has possibly some connection to the anxiety and localised
heard the word globalisation. Ninety-four per cent are believers. defiance that this quotation speaks of. Such fiction evades the
Some strong conservative tendencies seem to be indicated, espe- perception of being fake and is regarded as domesticated and in a
cially in relation to marriage and sexual relations (67% feel that familiar local idiom; at the same time, such fiction appears to be
marriages should take place within one's caste community; 63% structurally linked to global means of production in "standard"
feel dating should be restricted, as against 32% who do not think English (i e, following that global template). Moreover, commercial
so; 65% feel the final decision of marriage should rest with parents, fiction generally has an oft-noted conservative character which can
as against 32% who feel it should be with those getting married), nevertheless be manipulated towards subversive ends apropos
but also in other respects (e g, with regard to the top five friends, the dominant establishment (on this, see Bloom 1996, particularly
52% have none of the opposite sex, 54% none from another reli- p 16, and Gallagher 2006, particularly p 15). Indian commercial
gion, 34% none from other castes; 66% think drinking alcohol is fiction in English - disposed according to the global template
unacceptable). It is likely that these figures are quite different for amidst localisation - offers a similar crossroads, which is perhaps
the minority of English language readers, and very probable that accommodative of the complex contrary pulls in social attitudes
the great majority of these would have heard of globalisation. that the above surveys show for contemporary Indian youth.
The small class-bound scale of this youth readership of com-
Groundwork for Critical Engagement mercial fiction may raise doubts about the class-character of such
What we have then is a complex picture of Indian youth culture fiction and the class-contradictions that their consumption feed.
in general, and a sense of the scale of leisure readership among Such doubts may well be analogous to those expressed feelingly
those proficient in English. It is evidently a small proportion of but impressionistically by Arun Saldanha in a study of affluent
youth, middle-class in a broad way (factoring in affluence, socio- Indian youth (in Bangalore), who cultivate a western lifestyle
cultural background and education in various combinations), (the focus here is on western music): doubts about the "interesting
which engages with Indian commercial fiction in English - and perverse form of exhibitionism/voyeurism" that such cultivation
very likely a much smaller proportion that engages with "literary instantiates, and "othering" of the poor working class "peepers" that
fiction". The breadth of the readership of commercial fiction, is involved (Saldhana 2002: 343-44). But the normative weight of
relative to "literary fiction", is apt to catch more of the complexity such observations would, it seems to me, apply unevenly in rela-
of attitudes among Indian youth in general. Indeed, there tion to Indian commercial fiction in English. True, an increasing
appears to be some evidence that this complexity is revealed in number of such productions revel in the blithe "fun" of a middle-
attitudes to the English language itself. Such attitudes are, it class lifestyle: Penguin India's Metro Reads series, for instance,
seems, pulled between the cultivation of social concerns and seeks to appeal to readers looking for "books which don't weigh
political awareness and the conservative tendencies that are you down with complicated stories, don't ask for much time"
evidenced above; similar contrary pulls are reflected, as I have (http://www.metroreads.in/). However, in the midst of such a
noted in passing above, in cultivating the global cultural capital lightness of import we may find subversive as well as conserva-
of English and making English a site for somewhat defiant locali- tive strategies. And, it is certainly equally the case that Indian
sation. For instance, Vineeta Chand's observations on ideological commercial fiction in English is also an arena for considering the
approaches to English among Indian youth, based on a qualita- unsavoury features of domestic hierarchies, sexual repression,
tive survey of English/Hindi bilinguals in Delhi, are indicative class and gender inequalities, caste oppression (various inde-
here - and may well apply more widely in India: pendent publishers of fiction particularly focus on these, such as
These younger ie [Indian English] speakers [...] are English/Hindi bi- Zubaan, Navayana or Queer Ink). Bhagat has increasingly been
linguals. Their entire education, through college, has been English- striving to become a spokesman for the social conscience of Indian
medium; they use English in intimate domains and with all technology youth (see Ramesh 2008, among many others), and no doubt au-
(texting, e-mail, internet, etc); and their self-professed dominant lan- thors inspired by him have it in mind too. Before any normative
guage is English. And yet they are uncertain of how well their English
pronouncements are offered, the texts in question need to be
meets external, global standards. This insecurity is a direct result of
critically engaged, and these texts are a very mixed bag indeed.
the disparate power relationship between inner-circle nations and
third-world postcolonial outsourcing nations like India, where stand- This paper is intended to set out some of the groundwork
ard language ideologies directly affect individual and societal notions which could lead into critical engagement with the texts, not to
of fluency, competence and nativeness. offer normative judgments.
52 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 ПЕСЭ Economic & Political weekly
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Ghai, S К (2008a ): "Glimpses of Indian Publishing Mexico's Targeted and Conditional Transfers: Between
Today in the Words of Publishing Professionals",
Publishing Research Quarterly, 24: 3, 202-14. Oportunidades and Rights - Pablo Yanes
- ed. (2008b): One to One: Glimpses of Indian Brazil's Bolsa Família: A Review - Fabio Veras Soares
Publishing (Delhi: Institute of Book Publishing).
Ghosh, Amitav (1988): The Shadow Lines (New Delhi: Conditional Cash Transfers as a Tool of Social Policy - Francesca Bastagli
Ravi Dayal). Cash Transfers as the Silver Bullet for Poverty Reduction:
Ghosh, Paramita (2011): "Write Moves", The Hindustan
Times, 27 February.
A Sceptical Note - Jayati Ghosh
Greenlees, Donald (2008): "An Investment Banker Finds PDS Forever? - Ashok Kotwal, Milind Murugkar,
Fame Off the Books", New York Times, 26 March. Bharat Ramaswami
Gulab, Kushalrani (2007): "Desperately Seeking
Writers", Brunch (Hindustan Times Sunday Impact of Biometrie Identification-Based Transfers - Arka
Magazine), 23 September. E Somanathan
- (2010): "Novel Adventures", The Hindustan Times,
24 April.
The Shift to Cash Transfers: Running Better But on the Wrong Road
Gupta, Suman (2009): Globalisation and Literature
(Cambridge: Polity). For copies write to:
Huggan, Graham (2001): The Postcolonial Exotic:
Marketing the Margins (London: Routledge).
Khair, Tabish (2008): "Indian Pulp Fiction in English: Economic and Political Weekly,
A Preliminary Overview from Dutt to De", 320-321, A to Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg,
The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 43: 3,
September. Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013.
Khan, Danyal (2010): "Boom Time for English-Language email: circulation@epw.in
Books in India", The Hindu, 4 March.
Economic & Political weekly 13353 February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 53
EPW Research Foundation (a unit of sameeksha trust)
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C4
FEBRUARY 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Щ53
RANIA ANTONOPOULOS, DIMITRI В PAPADIMITRIOU
The current approaches to

crises that are being pushe
Europe's
Europe's beyond, sideside
of ofthe the with beyond,
crisis Atlantic
Atlanticpond, with
has a highstriking
spread pond, aUnited
highstriking
theprobability probability
States'from offallouta fallout
Greece the of a United
already to Spain, States' totoItaly,the
the alreadyother
other and
European Union are failing
teetering financial system. Greece, a small country of roughly
fatal misdiagnosis.
10.8 million, is in the centre of the vortex. Despite her minimal The cen
spending in contribution
the of only 2% of European Union (eu)periphery,
gross domestic
product (gdp), for more than two years the country's sovereign
European Monetary Union
debt crisis has inflicted instability on the global financial markets
account imbalances within
and threatened to unravel Europe's Economic and Monetary
be self-defeating.
Union (emu) throwing the European financial system into com- Deflatio
heighten theplete disarray. When and how the country's public debt became
debt problem
social ruin. unsustainable
The is not discussed, while the policy
eu response must b
imposed by the European leaders has pushed the country into a
and expanded fiscal policy
deepening recession and led to deep cuts in basic services like
and able to act as
healthcare and education for more than lender
three years. The disturb- of
structural ing social and economic trends emanating from accelerating
reform continu
will bear levels
witness of unemployment, decreasing incomes, daily worker to a lost
strikes and/or stoppages, a jump in suicides among men and a
the euro project in its pres
dramatic increase in crime are all characteristics of a dysfunc-
tional society. Citizen unrest is unparalleled in recent memory,
matched only by events that took place during the civil war in the
mid-late 1940s and the military junta period of 1967-74.
The messages that are being sent on a regular basis from the
European leaders - including the latest one subsequent to the
new rescue package crafted for Greece along with the proposed
expansion of the European Financial Stability Facility (efsf) -
were that the eu can be held together with a combination of bail-
outs and continued austerity that will isolate the highly indebted
countries, and leave the rest of Europe economically intact. This,
of course, has been shown to be pure fantasy. Since then, we are
witnessing a slow-motion train wreck that will dissolve an eco-
nomically united Europe, a union that, despite its many down-
sides, is in the best interests of the continent's countries - rich
and poor - and the global economy (Papadimitriou 2011a).
The need to push forward on Greece's solvency problem is a
positive development, but the current fix basically amounts to
extending the life support for a little longer. Assuming the new
technocratic Greek government passes the programme, with
more austerity measures and structural reforms attached to it,
Greece's payments on its debt principle will be postponed, inter-
est payments maybe lowered by the "haircut" of its debt held by
private sector investors - still to be negotiated and highly resisted
Rania by private banks - it will have a limited impact.

Antonopoulos ( It is possible that
rania@levy.o
Economics in 2013-14, the structural deficit in public finances will
Institute. be brought
Dimitri В Pa
Institute and under control Jerome
also or even eliminated. This is no achievement to be
Levy Pr
The Levy Economics Institute
proud, however, since it will come at the cost of unprecedented an
Hudson in New York state, the U
levels of unemployment and poverty. And, most significantly, the
Economic & Political weekly ОЕШ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 55
underlying problem of an economy with no growth will not have debt and making it difficult for the Greek government to borrow
been addressed (Papadimitriou 2011b). in international markets. The rescue plan called for austerity
Treating the symptom while ignoring the fundamental causes measures and the adoption of neo-liberal structural reforms
behind the crisis has led to the wrong medicine. The misdiagno- along with periodic progress reports as a condition for releasing
sis, however, is not accidental. The eu's neo-liberal thinkers are funds. What, in retrospect, proved to be "mild" austerity meas-
using the crisis not only to impose austerity but also to roll back ures was met with general strikes by public and private sector
social legislation while privatising as much of the economy as workers and professional unions with riot police violently clash-
possible. They, then, move the focus away from the problems ing with demonstrators. Periodic progress reviews by representa-
with the private sector - especially with the excesses perpetrated tives of the troika that followed revealed serious shortcomings in
by financial institutions that created the global financial crisis - meeting deficit reduction targets, necessitating the government
and on to governments' profligacy and "coddling" of the popula- to introduce even more severe austerity measures that were, and
tion in the form of a decent social safety net. still are, met with further demonstrations, general strikes and at
So, "big government" and "inflexible labour markets" have times violent events and uncontrollable civil unrest.
been presumed by European leaders to be the true culprits, de- The rescue package notwithstanding, Greece, as the media
manding immediate deficit reduction and structural reform poli- reported, "fails to reassure investors" that austerity measures are
cies that have proved to be ineffective. On the other hand, the effective and the deficit crisis can be handled, pushing stock
rules set out by the 1993 Maastricht treaty and signed on by all markets around the globe down while the Standard & Poor's cuts
emu members, have recently been made more painful by the the status of Greece's government bonds to the level of "junk".
European Union Parliament that voted to make sanctions more While the omens for the necessity of a debt restructuring were
automatic on countries that exceed the treaty's criteria for debts clear, the Papandreou government's willingness to consider it
and deficits (Stearns 2011). This is ironic since only four of the 27 was absent: it was portrayed from the beginning as anathema
member states meet the Maastricht deficit criteria (Liu 2011). and to the contrary, avoiding any type of restructuring of the
Germany does not meet the criteria and will have to pay the debt and giving assurances against "defaulting" became a matter
fines. And it was Germany that originally had the rules relaxed of national pride according to Papandreou. The calls for reconsid-
when its own slow growth period caused it to chronically exceed eration of the severe austerity measures and labour market
Maastricht limits on deficits and debts. What is more ironic is that reforms by members of the Papandreou party were deemed un-
loosening the rules allowed Greece and Portugal to build to patriotic and were met with expulsion leaving him in Parliament
higher debt ratios that Germany and France now admonish. with a thin majority. For example, speaking up against the strin-
Whether inspired leadership will emerge in Greece in the next gent conditionalities of the eu/ecb/imf bailout, Louka Katseli,
few months or whether the European project as is currently con- the courageous minister of labour, was ousted from her post in
structed will be sustainable are the two key issues that are in the the summer of 2011 only to be expelled from the pasok party by
minds of the players in the financial markets. Papandreou in October 2011 when she voted against Article 37,
which was calling for the elimination of collective bargaining, by
A Chronology of Events1 the eu/ecb/imf bailout memorandum. Even in January 2012,
The new government of George Papandreou, once voted into despite continuing civil unrest, there is little social dialogue about
power in October 2009, announced that it would embark on the future of the country silencing harshly voices of dissent.
severe spending cuts and concentrate on tax evasion and avoid- Austerity measures and reforms, and calls to continue or
ance to increase public revenues as necessary steps to deal with a increase them will not work. Raising taxes in a country known
projected public deficit of 12.7%, much larger than originally esti- for its flagrant tax evasion has only boosted the shadow economy.
mated by the outgoing conservative government. Papandreou, Wage and pension cuts are further lowering tax receipts. Worse,
nonetheless, reaffirmed that he will stand firm to the "commit- these measures are depressing production levels, demand and
ments for more social justice", a pre-election campaign promise retail sales resulting in more unemployment (Papadimitriou
for a social contract that got his party pasok elected. A month 2011b). A little too late, on 26 October 2011, the leaders of
later it was revealed that the Greek Statistical Agency had mis- France and Germany came up with a second rescue package
reported economic data and that the country for the previous for Greece. We will return to the details of this newest European
year, at least, was in recession during which time the deficit gdp rescue later.
ratio had grown rapidly. Declaring the country to be in a finan-

cial crisis and a threat to "national sovereignty", he put forward a The Social and Economic Context
budget proposal that would cut the public deficit to 9.1% of gdp. In the period of mid-1990s to mid-2ooos, Greece's economy was
His administration anticipated neither the financial markets' growing faster than the other eurozone countries and was treated
response nor the tenacious inaction of the eu. By the time the eu as a poster child by the eu. Among other developments, the gov-
responded with a rescue package of € 110 billion crafted in con- ernment capitalised on this advantage and borrowed cheaply.
cert with IMF and ECB (the "troika" plan as it is referred to in International banks and investment houses were happy to oblige.
Greece), the three main credit rating agencies, Fitch, Standard & The government was running a deficit above 3% of gdp but so
Poor's and Moody's, had significantly downgraded Greece's were many other countries, including on occasion Germany, with
sovereign debt, signalling the high risk involved in holding such no penalties enforced and no news reporting about the dangers
56 FEBRUARY 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Ш353 Economic & Political WEEKLY
ahead. Tax revenues, despite pervasive tax evasion and a 30% oligopolistic business behaviour and tax evasion nor condoning
shadow economy, were stable. But, when the world economy the pervasive clientilism and the corruption-prone behaviour of
slowed in late 2007 and early 2008, and when the global financial the Greek state, both of which are often used to secure political
crisis hit Greece, tax receipts declined abruptly. In the meantime, allegiance. Tax evasion for a variety of historical reasons and
government spending did not. This was a proper reaction to the petty corruption of public sector employees (including tax collec-
cooling off of the economy. It is precisely in these circumstances tors) has been disturbingly rampant and Greek citizens are them-
that countercyclical policy is called for. Instead of acknowledging selves complicit. This is an inconvenient truth, because systemic
its necessity, it was branded later "a continuation of the profligate corruption worked for all parties involved. It is clearly preferable
Greek state". The result was that the country's deficit began to to pay lower taxes, including the bribe, than paying the official
grow rapidly in 2008. This was not disclosed as we discussed ear- taxes due. There are historical, sociological and cultural elements
lier and in early 2010, "concerns" about Greece's sustainability of to tax compliance by business and citizens, but a discussion of them
huge national debt became headline news around the globe. is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that tax revenue
Greek citizens found themselves in the midst of a severe struc- problems are multifaceted in Greece and cannot be reduced to a
tural adjustment programme, one that was embraced whole- vague "tax avoidance" culture. The Greek shipping industry, for
heartedly by the ruling elites. The explanation and therefore jus- example, is unquestionably one of the largest and most significant
tification was that the sovereign debt crisis was brought about by in the world, representing 22.4% of eu gross tonnage for vessels
(a) a profligate state and (b) very much below European average under the eu flag and holding 16% of the world's total tonnage.
productivity workers. The prescription? The State must spend Apart from its size, it is also a key component for the Greek eco-
less and tax more; workers must either become more productive nomy as it employs almost 5% of the Greek population. Above all, it
or accept wage cuts and even higher joblessness. Policies and produces 8% of gdp. Yet, it pays zero taxes. Legally, that is. When-
measures were announced, so as to shrink the government's ever an elected government administration has tried to negotiate
share in gdp by firing or retiring early public sector workers and transforming the tax code, the leverage exerted was excessively
suppressing the wages of those who remained. Further measures strong. The response has been that companies and capital are
included cutting appropriations to health, education, infrastruc- mobile and relocation to another country that provides a tax haven
ture maintenance, unemployment insurance, old age minimum would simply result in unemployment for Greece and empty busi-
pensions, and other social protection benefits to low income fam- ness buildings around the main port of Athens.
ilies while simultaneously increasing vat, lowering the tax-
exempt annual income from € 12,000 to € 5,000 and imposing ATraumatised People
special "solidarity" taxes to close the deficit. The result has been Whatever the causes for the rapid increase in the deficit position
incomes of middle class households have come down by 40% and of the country - we will discuss this further in the next section -
there has been a further expansion of the shadow economy. the wrath of the troika on the Greek population was devastating.
Other measures include the sale of public assets to decrease out- In 2011 alone, the cumulative decline in gdp as of the third quar-
standing debt that stood at € 366 billion, together with new legis- ter was a recorded 5.5%, as per el-stat, the Hellenic Statistical
lative changes aimed at improving "labour market functioning" Authority and expected to have hit over 6% for the year. Unem-
and competitiveness via eliminating national collective bargain- ployment has risen to over 18% and in some provinces the 50%
ing agreements and more generally, reducing other kinds of mark. Youth unemployment is over 52% and among young
labour market "rigidities". women (aged 20-24 years of age) it is about 49% (Antonopoulos
A concrete example is instructive here: to transform oligopolis- et al 20011). A recent poll - reported in a respected Greek news-
tic labour markets, the occupation chosen to be transformed was paper - found one in three adults aged 22-34 with a university
that of pharmacists. As a result, new legislation was announced degree migrating or making plans to migrate within the year to
that imposed longer hours of operation of pharmacies and re- Australia or anywhere outside Greece. Negative social and eco-
moval of zoning restrictions that previously prohibited opening a nomic trends are already in sight, with poverty, homelessness
pharmacy within two blocks or so of an existing one. Besides and crime accelerating rapidly. Soup kitchens have been set up
longer hours of work imposed on the owners, the vast majority around Athens and are visited by even well-dressed Athenians,
being women, of the traditional one-to three-person small enter- working adults and those looking for work, who line up early in
prises, increased competition is set to bankrupt these small-scale the morning along with immigrants and the homeless. Combined
establishments, enforcing in effect sector consolidation and capi- with dangerous ideological anti-immigrant sentiments (immi-
tal centralisation. Presumably the system that had worked so grant population in Greece is about 7%) and shifts to the extreme
well until now and allowed for neighbourhood-based close right, such trends threaten to wreak havoc, dismantle social
personal care provisioning of patients by pharmacists, is to be cohesion and destabilise the nation. While the course of policy
restructured because it is holding back market competition. action has been charted - with the very stringent austerity meas-
Multinationals and their franchise businesses will do a better job. ures dictated by the eu/ecb/imf - the question still remains:
This has brought about massive mobilisation and resistance by what will happen to Greece in the years ahead?
the pharmacists' union. On the eve of November 2011, Group of 20 summit, the Institute
To be sure, some changes may be necessary, but not on such a of International Finance's (iif) managing director, Charles Dallara,
wholesale scale. In this regard we are not defending the indefensible wrote to world leaders gathered in Cannes, France (http://www.
Economic & Political weekly E33S3 February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 57
iif.com/press/press4-2i8.php) that the iif believed the summit referendum on the new European rescue deal. The European leaders
"should focus squarely on setting out strong, convincing meas- were stunned and imposed a different dictum. The referendum
ures to revitalise growth". Even this is on record saying so (on should be structured in such a manner so that the question should be
several occasions, including as reported in Kathimerini, 30 Nov- framed as: "Do the Greeks want to remain in the eurozone and meet
ember 2011). They know what "a lost decade" is all about; it hap- the country's obligations or exit the euro"? The overwhelming
pened in the 1980s and 1990s in many countries around the majority of Greeks wants to stay in the eurozone.
globe and Latin America was especially hard-hit. Austerity pro- Papandreou swiftly reversed course as the Europeans lost their
grammes produce deep and prolonged recessions. Indeed it is the nerve and stock markets went into turmoil: What if Greeks cast a
reason they are implemented. They "help" reduce consumer vote of no to the euro? After a rebellion within his own Socialist
spending and trade deficits by lowering incomes and demand for Party over the referendum, the prime minister ignored repeated
imports, reducing both external and internal imbalances by min- calls for resignation and immediate elections, but instead called
imising government spending and shrinking the economy. But for a vote of confidence promising to resign and allow for a unity
the added pressure on Greece and the other eurozone highly in- government representing the main parties to be headed by a
debted nations is that with no sovereign currencies, they are left technocrat. On 10 November 2011, former European Central
with no policy tools to use. No monetary policy, no ability to Bank vice-president Loukas Papademos was named the new
monetise debt, no ability to borrow and no ability to devalue the prime minister. In late 2011, the new prime minister had a new
sovereign currency. With no policy space for monetary policy, budget approved for 2012 showing the budget deficit falling
countercyclical fiscal policy, currency devaluation and no central sharply and even beginning to show a primary surplus. But this,
bank to act as the lender of last resort, what remains? The means as we have argued here, is not a "Euro Success Story" that solves
of "rebalancing" the economy is to restart the engine of produc- Greece's problems and prevents a larger eurozone crisis.
tion in a much smaller size economy, create a fire sale on all sorts Greece lacks both an industrial base and the widespread avail-
of productive assets and land, and lower employment costs that ability of technology. It simply cannot be productive enough to
will make investment profitable. Ultimately, this amounts to compete with neighbours like Germany, France, or the Nether-
internal devaluation: suppressed wages and drastic reduction of lands. The expected "convergence" has not taken place. That it
productive assets' capital value. could have taken place is yet another fantasy based on assump-
This is the trajectory Greece is now on. As we will see, in what tions of allocative efficiency of investment. Without planning
follows, it is the wrong remedy. Besides "socialising" the cost by that was guided by a strong government's visible hand, markets
spreading misery on even the most vulnerable segments of soci- did not invest and did not generate jobs. The state, instead of en-
ety, this is not only a "Greek" crisis but also a eurozone crisis. gaging and renegotiating high value-added agricultural produc-
tion and investment in energy, tourism and green technologies
Greece and the European Monetary Union: A Closer Look kept absorbing surplus labour by adding new public sector jobs.
of What Each Party Contributes to the Crisis
This is a failure of markets and public policy but to argue that the
Following the original rescue plan for € 110 billion, another public sector is "crowding- out" private investment is misleading.
rescue plan of 130 billion for Greece was crafted and approved by The public sector has been making up for deindustrialisation and
the eu economic finance ministers (Ecofin) in late 2011. At the the decline in agriculture. Textile manufacturing has migrated
insistence of Germany, the new rescue plan requires the private on a large scale to Turkey. Cheap imports from China displaced
sector investors (psi) - mostly financial institutions - to accept a small-scale production enterprises, and financialisation has seen
voluntary "haircut" of 50% on their Greek sovereign debt hold- the buy out, chopping up, parcelling out and overall reduction of
ings. The psi holdings of Greek debt is now 40% of the public heavy industrial production. Tourism has been taken over by
debt, representing a possible relief of only 20% (the psi have been global multinational concerns. These are globally-induced trends.
resisting and have yet to agree to the plan). The remaining 60% In a deep recession Greece does not have the resources to grow
not subject to any haircut is or will be on the balance sheets of the out of it, even with an easing of its still- enormous debt level. As
EFSF and the imf. This 20% reduction is not large enough to discussed above, calls for reform and most of the austerity meas-
render the country's remaining debt level sustainable. Our own ures have huge social costs and will continue to remain ineffec-
estimate for its sustainability requires a haircut that will reduce tive from a macroeconomic standpoint.
its total public sector debt by 60% or close to € 200 billion. A As the financial market behaviour has shown, thus far, the
recent article in Kathimerini reports that officials of imf doubt crisis has spread to Italy, Spain and even France unless European
that the proposed 50% haircut of the psi would render the coun- leaders greatly increase the funds available for bailouts. The
try's debt level sustainable. amount of € 3 trillion has been suggested. To put that in perspec-
Ongoing negotiations for disbursements of funds emanating tive, the us collective bailout of its financial system after 2008
from the troika's periodic reviews and the imposition of more aus- came to $29 trillion. The € 1 trillion of the leveraged efsf will
terity have been met with more demonstrations and workers' strikes most certainly prove to be wishful thinking, if sovereign debt
paralysing public administration and creating chaos. Attempting to goes bad. All the major European banks are too closely entwined
reverse the explosive climate of the European leaders' intransigence and will be hit - and so will the $3 trillion us money market
to continued and even harsher austerity, the then prime minister mutual funds, which have about half their funds invested in
(first) Papandreou announced last November that he would hold a European banks. There is other us bank exposure to Europe with
February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Q2S3 Economic & Political WEEKLY
a potential of a total $3 trillion hit to us finance. No wonder the exceeded Maastricht criteria, debts and deficits. Previously,
us administration has taken a keen interest in Euroland, with the although penalties were threatened, they were never actually
us Federal Reserve ramping up lending to European financial in- imposed.
stitutions. This includes the December 2011 coordinated effort The recent higher yields on Italy's sovereign bonds have
resulted in many voices singing the same tune in demanding the
with five other central banks to improve liquidity in the market
country move more quickly to a balanced budget. They also
and bring down interest rates. Critics (of this move) point out that
urged adoption of the favourite neo-liberal package of policies,
despite the temporary infusion of cash into the system on the brink,
the temporary fix fails to address investors' loss of confidenceincluding
in "full liberalisation of local public services", "a thorough
review of the rules regulating the hiring and dismissal of employ-
the ability of Greece, Portugal, Italy, and Spain to payback loans.
The October 2011 initiative of the eu ordered Europe's banks ees",
to "administrative efficiency", and "structural reforms". And
of course what they demanded has come to pass.
recapitalise to prevent this scenario. Are there sufficient private
investors to do so? Or will financial institutions need support
How Did the Euroland Get Into Such a Mess?
from their governments, creating yet a new layer of financial
demands on Europe's taxpayers? There is also a provision While
to the story of fiscal excess is a stretch even in the case of
increase the resources of the eurozone's emergency fund, the
Greece, it certainly cannot apply to Ireland and Iceland - or even
to Spain. These nations adopted the neo-liberal attitude towards
EFSF by leveraging its remaining uncommitted funds of approxi-
banks that was pushed by policymakers in Europe and the
mately € 250 billion (out of € 440 billion) to a multiple reaching
United States, with disastrous results. The banks blew up in a
the order of € 1 trillion. The experience in the us has shown that
speculative fever and then expected their governments to
while leverage is great on its way up, it is painful on its way down.
absorb all the losses.
Thus far, only vague ideas have been offered. The tricky deci-
sions - to say the least - on who will pick up which tab remain toFurther, as Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (2011) argues, even
be worked out. Greece's total outstanding debt (private plus sovereign) is not
high: 250% of GDP (versus nearly 400% in the us); Spain's gov-
In the rest of this essay we want to briefly summarise the situa-
tion in Euroland. The main argument will be that the problem ernment
is debt ratio is just 65%, and together with the private
not due to profligate spending by some nations, and not even by
level of 215% is higher than that of Greece. And while it is true
Greece, but rather with the set-up of the emu itself. We will then that Italy's government debt ratio is high, its household debt ratio
conclude that difficult times lie ahead if all remains as it is and of 105% is very low by western standards. Before the economic
crisis, only Greece and Italy significantly exceeded 60% of the
that there is a high probability that another collapse may be trig-
GDP Maastricht limit. However, the other countries in the euro-
gered by events in Euroland. Finally, we will offer an assessment
of possible ways out. zone had private sector debt ratios above 100% and by the time
the crisis hit, a good number of them including Spain, the Nether-
The View from the Euroland2
lands, Ireland and Portugal had ratios above 200%. To label this
It is becoming increasingly clear that the eu authorities are
a sovereign debt crisis is rather strange. Remarkably, Italy and
merely trying to buy time to figure out how they can save the
Greece have the lowest private debt ratios, which is not consist-
financial system from a cascade of likely sovereign defaults.
ent with the view that consumers in those nations are profligate.
Meanwhile, they demand far-reaching reforms and austerityAsinwe discuss below, it is not surprising that these two nations
the periphery countries. They know this will do no good at all.
have this combination of relatively high government debt ratios
Indeed, it will increase the eventual costs of the bailout while
and low private debt ratios as these are related through the
stoking north-south hostility. Leaders like German Chancellor
"three sectors identity".
Merkel and French President Sarkozy are insisting on theseIf you take the west as a whole what you find is that over the
measures for purely domestic political consumption. If the emupast
is 30 years there has been a long-term upward trend growth of
debt relative to gdp, from just under 180% of gdp in 1980 to al-
eventually saved, however, the rancour will make it very difficult
to mend fences. most 320% today. It is true that government has contributed to
To them, there is no alternative to debt relief for Greece and
that, growing from some 40% of gdp to about 90% - a doubling
other periphery countries. Even though Merkel reportedly told
to be sure. But the private sector's debt ratio grew from a bit over
100%
her parliament that she could not exclude the possibility of a to around 230% of gdp.
Greek default - at the same time warning Greece that the rescue The dynamics are surely complex, but it is clear that there is
package approved last October would not be enacted if Athens
something that is driving debt growth in the developed world
that cannot be reduced to runaway government budget deficits.
failed to agree to deficit reduction targets - all her economic ad-
visors recommended significant debt relief for Greece. But Mer-
The obsessive focus on sovereign debt and austerity also betrays
kel continues to insist that to punish profligate consumption
a lack of understanding of the current account imbalances that
fuelled by runaway government spending and avoid moral
plague the eurozone. There is a nearly unacknowledged identity
that shows ex-post relations (without necessarily saying any-
hazard, austerity is necessary and if that forces default, so be it.
thing about the complex endogenous dynamics): the domestic
Even as Europe's leaders were putting together the latest res-
private balance equals the sum of the domestic government
cue package (the process started last July), the eu Parliament
voted to make sanctions more automatic on countries that balance less the external balance. To put it succinctly, if a nation
Economic & Political weekly D February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 59
runs a current account deficit, then its domestic private balance But if Germany refuses to inflate and if Greece and other
(households plus firms) equals its government balance less the periphery nations cannot depreciate their currencies, then debt
current account deficit. To make this concrete, when Greece runs deflation dynamics become the only way to counter increasingly
a current account deficit of 10% of gdp and a budget deficit of 9% non-competitive wages and prices.
of gdp its domestic sector has a deficit of 1% of gdp (roughly the Those non- competitive wages and prices almost guarantee
balances presently). Or if the current account deficit is 10% of current account deficits that, in turn, according to the identity
gdp and its budget deficit is 3% (the Maastricht limit) then the explored earlier, guarantee rising debt - either by the govern-
private sector must have a deficit of 7% - running up its debt. ment or by the private sector. And if debt grows faster than gdp,
The proponents of austerity see the solution for these deficits the debt ratio rises. Note that these are statements informed by
in belt-tightening. But that tends to slow growth, increase unem- identities. They are not meant to be policy statements. But policy
ployment, and hence increase the burden of private sector debt. cannot avoid identities. Reduction of deficits and debts in periph-
The idea is that austerity will reduce government debt and defi- ery nations requires changes to balances outside the periphery. If
cit ratios, but in practice that may not work due to impacts on we want Greece, Portugal and Italy to lower debt ratios they must
the domestic private sector. Tightening the fiscal stance can change current account balances. That, in turn, requires that
occur in conjunction with reduction of private sector debts and some nations reduce their current account surpluses. For exam-
deficits only if somehow this reduces current account deficits. ple, if Germany was willing to run large current account deficits,
Yet many nations around the world rely on current account sur- it would be easier for periphery nations to reduce domestic
pluses to fuel domestic growth and to keep domestic govern- deficit spending. A way to even out trade imbalances would be by
ment and private sector balance sheets strong. They therefore "refluxing" the surpluses of countries such as Germany, France
react to fiscal tightening by trying to pass it on to the trading and the Netherlands to deficit countries by, for example, invest-
partners - either by depreciating their exchange rates or by ing euros in them. Germany did this with the former East
lowering their costs. In the end, this sets off a sort of modern Germany following reunification.
mercantilist dynamic that leads to a race-to-the-bottom policies
that few western nations can win. Proposed Solutions to the Euro Problem
Germany has specialised in such dynamics and has played its Rather than doing the obvious, Europe's centre insists on under-
cards very well. It has held the line on nominal wages while funded bailouts plus austerity imposed on the periphery. But the
greatly increasing productivity. As a result, in spite of reasonably periphery is left with too much debt and at the same time, it faces
high living standards it has become a low-cost producer in German intransigence on changing the internal dynamics. Given
Europe. Given productivity advantages it can go toe-to-toe these dynamics, debt relief - which might take the form of default
against non-Euro countries in spite of what looks like an overval- - is the only way that Greece, Ireland, Portugal and perhaps
ued currency. For Germany, however, the euro is significantly Spain and Italy can remain within the emu. But it is not at all
undervalued - even though most euro nations find it overvalued. clear that the nuclear option - dissolution - will be avoided. Even
The result is that Germany has operated with a current account the most mainstream commentators are providing analyses of a
surplus that has allowed its domestic private sector and govern- Euroland divorce with a resolution ranging from a complete
ment to run deficits that were relatively small. Hence Germany's break-up to a split between a "Teutonic Union" embracing fiscal
overall debt ratio is at 200% of gdp, approximately 50% of gdp rectitude with an overvalued currency and a "South Union" with
lower than the eurozone average. a greatly devalued currency. In a recent poll, global investors put
Not surprisingly, the "three sectors balances identity" hit the a 72% probability on a country leaving the euro within five years
periphery nations particularly hard, as they suffer from what is and over 75% expect a recession in Euroland within 2012 while
for them an overvalued euro and lower productivity than what piMco thinks the recession has already begun (Kennedy 2011).
Germany enjoys. With current accounts biased towards deficits it A report from Credit Suisse (2011) dares to ask "What if?"
is not a surprise to find that the Mediterranean countries have there is a disorderly break-up of the emu, with the narrowly de-
bigger government and private sector debt loads. If Europe's cen- fined periphery (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) abandon-
tre understood balance sheets, it would be obvious that Germa- ing the euro and each adopting its own currency. The report
ny's relatively "better" balances rely to a large degree on the pe- paints a bleak picture. The currencies on the periphery would
riphery's relatively "worse" balances. If each had separate cur- depreciate, raising the cost of servicing euro debt and leading to
rencies, the solution would be to adjust exchange rates so that the a snowball of sovereign defaults across highly indebted euro na-
debtors would have depreciation and Germany would have an tions. With the weaker nations gone, the euro used by the
appreciating currency. Since within the euro this is not possible, stronger nations would appreciate, hurting their exports. That
the only price adjustment that can work would either be increas- would increase the pressures for trade wars, and for a Great De-
ing wages and prices in Germany or falling wages and prices in pression No 2 (the report puts this probability at an optimum
the periphery. But the ecb, Bundesbank and eu policy, more gen- level of 10%). The report assumes Italy does not default, but if it
erally, will not allow significant wage and price inflation in the did, losses on sovereign debt would be very, very much higher.
centre. Hence, the only solution is persistent deflationary pres- With the assumption that Italy remains on the euro and man-
sures on the periphery. These dynamics lead to slow growth and ages to avoid default, total losses to the core European banks
hence compound the debt burdens. would be € 300 billion and € 630 billion for the periphery
60 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 »a avi Economic & Political weekly
= = SPECIAL ARTICLE
nations' banks (excl

bonds, and
150 billion. This is
forceable se
r
A popular but
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to remainin
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blue bonds
stein 2011). would be
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About A Path to Recovery
half the curr
sues of red bonds;
The proposed solutions, for Euroland and Greece in particular,
their limit on
are difficult because blue
as discussed above, these nations do not b
The
proposal draws
individually have the fiscal capacity to deal with their problems.
mortgages to
So when the signals from produ
the institutions charged with running
ties protected
the eu inspire no confidence, it becomes imperative by to consider "o
securities supposedly
alternative strategies. Greece's exit from the euro either as a tem-
not turn porary
out so
or permanent strategy has been well
suggested by many eco-
issues, since
nomists, both from the left and rightblue
(Roubini 2011; Feldstein b
bonds will pay
2011). The transition would hig
be disruptive, with near-term costs.
that markets are
We should expect an immediate devaluation of the national cur- far
cipline delivered
rency, inflationary pressures, runs on its banks and their nation- pr
tranches alisation
weretogether with perilous economic andunder
social trends
for yield, financial
characteristic of a dysfunctional economy. The benefit would be i
proposalto create
should
domestic fiscal and monetary policy space to deal with no
potential the crisis.
if Default on eurothe full
-denominated debt would be necessary
most importantly
and retaliation by the eu is possible. However, in our view, this is
Economic & Political weekly ЕШЭ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 6l
preferable to the two currency scheme discussed above - which the disintegration of the euro is inevitable. The newest "rescue
would simply tie Greece to another external currency. It would plan" embraced by Greece and now set to be enforced by the
have no more fiscal or monetary policy space than it now has, technocratic prime minister, Loukas Papademos, certainly will
albeit with a currency that would be devalued relative to the euro. not save the system, and it will not save Greece from a sovereign
If dissolution is not chosen, then the only real solution is to re- default. The bailout conditions demanded by the troika that
formulate the emu. Many critics of the emu have long blamed the holds the purse strings include continuous surveillance of the
ECB for sluggish growth, especially on the periphery. But a com- country's adherence of the agreed reforms and austerity meas-
parable analysis of the ecb and the us Federal Reserve interest ures. Their periodic progress reviews will show that Greece has
rate policy showed that the real problem is in the set-up of the no hope of meeting its targets.
emu with fiscal policy constraints (Sardoni and Wray 2005). The Greece's sovereign debt problem is not limited to Greek lenders
eurozone architecture even though it resembles the us states, dif- solely, but it affects the entire eurozone, requiring a eurozone-
fered in two key ways: first, while us states rely on inter-regional wide solution. The immediate problem of Greece can be resolved
redistribution channels to households for social welfare expendi- along the lines of the us programme, buying bonds to calm vola-
tures (health, retirement, poverty alleviation programmes) and tility- as the ecb has been performing but going to pains denying
expenditures for the military from Washington, commanding it - until a bold, permanent solution is crafted. The ecb's message
a budget (from tax revenues) of more than 20% of us gdp, and would quickly calm the financial turbulence and solve the euro-
usually running a budget deficit of several per cent of gdp that zone markets problem. But such a bold approach is not forthcom-
contrasts sharply with the eu Parliament's budget of less than 1% ing from the ecb or from the continuing uninspired leadership of
of gdp. While individual nations tried to fill the gap with deficits Germany and France.
by their own governments, these created the problems we see European Union politicians and the imf are cognisant of the
today. As deficits and debt rose markets reacted by increasing fact that irrespective of the success or failure of the harsh auster-
interest rates, precisely because they recognised that unlike the ity, the country's debt level is increasing while the European
sovereign countries like the us, Japan, or the ик, the emu mem- financial system remains at risk and will, in all likelihood, see the
bers were users of an external currency. unravelling of the euro project. In November 2011, newly revised
Once the emu weakness is understood, it is not hard to see the and updated figures indicated deficit reduction targets are not
solutions. They include ramping up fiscal policy space of the eu met. In the meantime, the proportion to tax revenues dedicated
Parliament - for example, increasing its budget to 15% of gdp to repayment of debt obligations paints a rather grim picture. Ac-
with a capacity to issue debt. Whether the spending decisions cording to the "Public Finance Monitor" semi-annual, the imf fig-
should be centralised is a political matter. Funds could simply be ures tell the story: the debt to gdp ratio increased from about
transferred to individual states on a per capita basis. 122% of gdp in 2009, to 145% in 2010 to an estimated 166% in
ecb rules could also be changed to allow it to buy an amount 2011, and will reach 189% of gdp in 2012.
equal to a maximum of 6% of Euroland gdp each year in the form Notwithstanding these projections, it is remarkable that
of government debt issued by emu members. As the buyer, it can German Chancellor Merkel has not already recognised that, as
set the interest rate. It might be best to mandate that at the the eu's largest exporter, her insistence on fiscal austerity for its
ecb's overnight interest rate target or some mark-up above the troubled neighbours is a losing proposition. Ireland, the poster
target. Again, the allocation would be on a per capita basis across child of the eurozone's austerity drive, saw its economy shrink in
the members. the third quarter of 2011. Yet, Merkel praised Ireland as an "out-
One can conceive of variations on this theme, such as creation standing example" of a country that has fulfilled the terms of its
of some EMU-wide funding authority backed by the ecb that issues bailout (Chu 2011).
debt to buy government debt from individual nations - along the In a climate of denial, the ecb is keeping the show on the road,
lines of the blue bond proposal. What is essential, however, is that but the cascade across the continent of credit downgrades will
the backing comes from the centre. The ecb or the eu stands behind keep yields and credit default swaps increasing. The political fall-
the debt. That will keep interest rates low, removing "market disci- out will quickly become unworkable for both stronger and
pline" and vicious debt cycles due to exploding interest rates. With weaker nations.
lending spread across nations on some formula (i e, per capita) So in sum, the collapse of the euro project will evolve in one of
every member state should have the same interest rate. two ways. First, and looking increasingly likely, and least desira-
All of these are technically simple and economically sound ble, is that nations will leave the euro in a coordinated dissolu-
proposals. They are politically difficult. The longer the eu waits, tion that might ideally resemble an amicable divorce. As with
the more difficult these solutions become. Crises only increase most divorces, it would leave all the participants financially
the forces of disunion or dissolution, increasing the likelihood of worse off. But it will give back sovereignty for charting alter-
eventual divorce and increasing hostility that in turn forestalls a native course of action to countries that needed it badly, includ-
real solution and makes a Great Depression even more probable. ing Greece.
Second, and less likely, but more desirable, would be a major
Conclusions
European institutional and economic restructuring. The doomed
The grand experiment of a unified Europe with a sharedrescue
common
plans we are seeing do not address the central problem.
currency has run its course. If the current trajectory continues,
Nations like Greece are not positioned to compete with countries
62 FEBRUARY 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Ш353 Economic & Political WEEKLY
that are more productive, like Germany, or have lower produc- economic laboratory. It is ironic that it is the absence of political
tion costs, like Latvia. Any workable plan to save the euro has to action by them that makes the union unsustainable. Their refusal
address those differences. to consider eu as an entity with a unified fiscal policy and a fully
The founding of the eu was a political venture that emerged functioning central bank that includes the function of lender of
from the ambitious heads of the two leading continental powers, last resort and its mandate goes beyond addressing the German
Germany and France. Their creation grew into a promising fears of inflation, might turn out to be the eu's endgame.
notes publications/publication-detail/publication/ A Solution?", 8 December.

i Much of the information here can be found in the 509-eurobonds-the-blue-bond-concept-and-its- - (2011b): "The Achilles' Heel of the Eurozone", Los
Financial Times, "Interactive Timeline: Greek Debt
implications/ Angeles Times, 2 November.
Crisis", http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/o/oo3cbb92- Evans-Pritchard, A (2011): "Frau Merkel, It Really Is a Papadimitriou, Dimitri В and L Randall Wray (2011):
4e2d-iidf-b48d-ooi44feab49ahtml#axzzig2 Euro Crisis", London Telegraph Blog, 27 Sept- "Euroland in Crisis as the Global Meltdown Picks
YDOOAO and draws mostly from various issues of ember, http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ Up Speed", Levy Economics Institute, Working
Kathimerini, a daily premier Greek newspaper, ambroseevans-pritchard/100012223/frau- Paper No 693, October.
http://www.ekathimerini.gr/. merkel-it-really-is-a-euro-crisis/ Papadimitriou, Dimitri, L Randall Wray and Yeva Ner-
2 The sections hereafter are drawn largely from Feldstein, M (2010): "Let Greece Take a Eurozone siyan (2011): "Endgame for the Euro? Without Ma-
Papadimitriou and Wray (2011), Papadimitriou Holiday", Financial Times, 16 February. jor Restructuring, the Eurozone Is Doomed", Levy
et al (2011) and Antonopoulos et al (2011). - (2011) : "Italy Can Save Itself and the Euro", Finan- Economics Institute, Public Policy Brief No 113,
cial Times, 30 November. Levy Economics Institute, July.
Kathimerini (2011): "IMF: The 50% 'Haircut' Is Not Roubini, N (2011): "Greece Should Default and Aban-
REFERENCES Sufficient", 30 December (in Greek). don the Euro", Financial Times, 19 September.
Kennedy,
Antonopoulos, R, D Papadimitriou and T Toay S (2011): "Europe Meltdown Seen Converg-
(2011): Sardoni, С and L R Wray (2005): "Monetary Policy
"Direct Job Creation for Hirbulent Times in ing with Recession in Survey", Bloomberg, 29 Strategies of the European Central Bank and the
September, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/
Greece", a report prepared for the Observatory of Federal Reserve System of the US", Working Pa-
Economic and Social Developments of the Labour 2on-09-29/world-recession-seen-triggered-by- per No 431, Levy Economics Institute of Bard Col-
Institute of the Greek General Confederation of europe-breakdown-in-global-investor-poll.html lege, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.
Workers, available on the Levy website, http:// Liu, H С К (2011): "The Eurozone Sovereign Debt Cri- Stearns, J (2011): "EU Stiffens Deficit, Debt Rules to
www.levyinstitute.org/publications/?docid=i458 sis: Part I: A Currency Union Not Backed by Politi- Prevent Further Crises", Bloomberg, 28 Septem-
Chu, Ben (2011): "Austerity Discredited: Ireland Goes cal Union", Henry Liu: Independent Critical Anal- ber, http://www.bl00mberg.c0m/news/2011-09-
into Reverse", The Independent, 17 December. ysis and Commentary, 29 September, http://hen- 28/eu-approves-first-of-six-new-laws-to-toughen-
ryckliu. C0m/page250.html deficit-rules.html
Credit, Suisse (2011): "Global Equity Strategy", Global
Equity Research, 23 September. Papadimitriou, D (2011a): "Greece and the EMU Crisis", Varoufakis, Y and S Holland (2011): "A Modest Pro-
Speech given at the Observatory of Economic and posal for Overcoming the Euro Crisis", Policy
Delpla, J and J von Weizsäcker (2011): "Eurobonds:
Social Developments, INE-GSEE Conference "The Note No 4, Levy Economics Institute of Bard Col-
The Blue Bond Concept and Its Implications", Debt Crisis in Greece and the Eurozone: Is There lege, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.
Bruegel.org, 21 March, http://www.bruegel.org/
Economic & Political weekly Ш February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 63
Socio-economic Drivers of Forest Cover Change
in Assam: A Historical Perspective
NARAYAN SHARMA, M D MADHUSUDAN, ANINDYA SINHA
This article analyses the historical context of forest cover

change in the upper Brahmaputra Valley of Assam
India's biodiversity hotspots, has remained a biological frontier well
India's biodiversity
into theinto21st
the north-eastern 21st hotspots,
century. Recent century. region,intohasthese
explorations Recent remained
forestscounted explorations a biological among into the these frontier world's forests well 34
during the precolonial, colonial and the postcolonial
have continued to yield discoveries of new species and range
periods, locating these changes within the political extensions for many faunal groups (Athreya 2006; Das et al
economy and demographic milieu of each regime. 2006; Datta et al 2003; Mishra et al 2006; Pawar and Birand
In the current context of rising populations linked to2001; Sinha et al 2005). This region's upper Brahmaputra Valley
harbours wet alluvial grasslands and lowland tropical evergreen
immigration from neighbouring regions, dwindling
forests, regarded among the most threatened forest types in the
share of agriculture in the state's gross domestic world. The valley also encloses, within its folds, a large human
product, and recent incentives to small tea growers landscape
in of agricultural fields, human settlements, historical
risk-prone agricultural landscapes, serious challengestowns and one of the world's largest stretches of tea gardens. As a
result, these lowland forests and alluvial grasslands are today
remain to securing forests in this region. Empowering
broken up by vast tracts of tea plantations and human habitation
local communities and institutions, understanding tea
into isolated fragments that are still very rich in biodiversity.
plantation dynamics and managing the causes andThese remnant habitats act as the last refugia for many of the
region's 1,200 birds, 430 mammals, 520 reptiles and between
consequences of recent demographic change are crucial
to the conservation of forests there. 10,000 and 20,000 plant species (Anonymous 2007). For instance,
seven species of wild cats occur in the forests of Jeypore-Dehing
alone (Hance 2010) while threatened floodplain habitats like
those of Kaziranga protect several endangered mammals such as
tigers and their prey at densities that are amongst the highest
anywhere on earth (Ahmed et al 2010).
Once a vast stretch of contiguous forests less than a quarter of
the upper Brahmaputra Valley remains under forests today (For-
est Survey of India 2009). These far-reaching ecological changes
are the consequence of major historical upheavals in the region's
economy and polity. Indeed, even today, the forests of this
region continue to experience widespread fragmentation and
rapid degradation. Serious conflicts remain over land and natu-
ral resources, raising questions about the future of its forests
and their wildlife.
Threats to the forests in this region stem from three broad

causal factors. First, although predominantly an agrarian state,
Assam's agricultural economy is in serious transition. In recent
years, the share of agriculture - still the mainstay for 53% of the
state's population (Government of Assam year unknown) - in the
state's gross domestic product has declined from 35% in 2000 to
24% in 2010. A lowered per capita agricultural production pushes
We thank Arupjyoti Saikia for illuminating discussions and the Rufford
Small Grants Foundation and Conservation International for financial
Assam's cultivators, especially the most marginal, onto the state's
support during this project.
remaining forests to mitigate risk in agriculture. The recent ex-
Narayan Sharma ( narayansharma77@gmail.com ) is with the Nationalpansion of tea, almost exclusively by smallholders (Singh and
Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. M D Madhusudan is with Ghosal
the2011), is a good example of this threat. Second, Assam is a
Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore and Anindya Sinha works
state rich in natural resources such as forests, oil, and coal and
at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore.
natural gas, all vital ingredients in the economic growth not only
64 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 ЕП35Э Economic & Political weekly
of the region but of the entire country. Growing economic the forest cover of the valley. We also consider these changes
opportunities for extractive industries dependent on natural against the backdrop of episodic geological events like earth-
resources have compounded threats to the region's forests, espe- quakes and periodic events such as annual floods that have and
cially in areas that continue to remain relatively pristine, such as continue to work, together with anthropogenic factors, to sculpt
the Jeypore-Dehing forests. Third, in comparison to Bangla- this remarkable landscape.
desh, Nepal and other eastern Indian states, Assam continues to Our study draws heavily on secondary sources, including
offer livelihood opportunities that promise relatively better scholarly articles from peer-reviewed journals, books, old and
prosperity. As a result, the state has seen a heavy influx of im- new working plans and manuals of the Assam forest department,
migrants, who have increasingly turned to the remnant natural travelogues by British travellers, newspaper and magazine arti-
habitats for cultivation for their livelihoods as well as to meet cles and the worldwide web. Interactions and discussion with
scholars, historians, social scientists, ecologists and social activ-
their other daily resource needs. Besides adding to social con-
ists from non-governmental organisations from the regions also
flict, most of these settlers have also added to the human foot-
greatly enhanced our understanding of this landscape, its history
print on the region's remaining forests and grasslands. Thus, the
and present-day challenges.
ecology of this region remains strongly entwined with the state's
political economy.
The Precolonial Period
Any analysis of the prevalent threats to the forests of Assam -
Although the native vegetation across most of upper Assam was
which also hold the key to conserving them - is therefore incom-
perhaps forest, alluvial grassland and marsh, the frontier bet-
plete without considering the wider sociopolitical and economic
ween farmland and forest has shifted considerably over its
causes and consequences of changes in Assam's natural habitats.
human history. Pollen of Areca catechu , a domesticated species
Examining the history of forest cover change in this region, for
example, would help us to understand the dynamic nature of associated
its with settled agriculture, for example, was recovered
from a sediment core dating back to 1,000 years bp in the
landscapes and provide a useful frame of reference to assess con-
temporary patterns and processes (Swetnam et al 1999), parti-
Lekhapani reserve forest of Tinsukia, where no such trees can be
found today (Bera and Basumatary 2008). This thus suggests the
cularly in the light of past data and insights. Only such an inquiry
into the past can help us learn how we came to this turnhistoric
in presence of human settlements in areas that, today, are
the road and, perhaps more critically, what options lie ahead
entirely forested.
(Rangarajan 2001). The prehistoric accounts of this region are largely based on
classical texts such as the Mahabharata, Puranas and the Tantras
Study Area, Period and Sources (Gait 2005). The history of this region between the fifth and 13th
centuries, largely reconstructed on the basis of copper plate
The upper Brahmaputra Valley is enclosed by the hills of Naga-
inscriptions
land, Karbi Anglong district of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. It (Guha 1984; Lahiri 1984, 1990), provide clues to the
rather sparse human populations in the valley and to landhold-
comprises the erstwhile undivided district of Sibsagar (current
districts of Sibsagar, Golaghat and Jorhat) and of Lakhimpur
ing by a powerful class of brahmins. Since the 13th century, the
arrival of the Ahom - a Shan tribe of upper Burma - into the val-
(current districts of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh and Tinsu-
ley and their history have been well-documented in their buran-
kia), and covers an area of over 20 lakh ha. We retain the old dis-
trict status, unless stated otherwise, in order to facilitate the
jees (historical chronicles). After successfully establishing their
kingdom with Garhgaon (presently Sibsagar) as their capital, the
comparative analysis across different historical periods. As our
Ahom expanded their territories in the valley and, by the year
thrust was mostly towards the region south of the river Brah-
1700, had conquered regions, earlier included within the king-
maputra, supported also by its well-documented history, the dis-
tricts north of the river - Lakhimpur and Dhemaji - are not dom
as of Kamarupa. In upper Assam, they expanded their territory
thoroughly represented in our analysis. by either assimilating the native Moran and Borahi communities
of Sadia or by annexing the Chutia and Kachari kingdoms of
We present the history of the upper Brahmaputra Valley over
Dimapur. As a result, the once-scattered and independent politi-
three broad periods - precolonial, colonial and postcolonial. We
cal centres of the valley were unified under the single power
define the period from the fifth century to the first quarter of the
structure of the Ahom kingdom. Much later, however, a long-
19th century as precolonial, dominated largely by the six centu-
term civil conflict - the Moamoria rebellion (1769-1806) - led by
ries of Ahom rule until the region's annexation to the East India
Company in 1826. The period under British rule, from 1826 the to Moran, the adherents of the Moamara Sattra (Assamese
Vaishnavite monasteries), weakened their roots and led to the
1947, has been defined as the colonial period whereas the period
after 1947 has been treated as the postcolonial period. downfall of the kingdom. Subsequent Burmese invasions (1824-
26) and eventually the annexation of Assam under British rule,
The rationale behind choosing these periods, instead of centu-
following the Yandaboo treaty with the Burmese in 1826, ended
ries, was to facilitate a comparative analysis of three distinct
600 years of Ahom rule in the valley.
political regimes. Transitions between these periods mark a major
shift in the political economy, social order as also, rather impor- The major production system during the pre-Ahom period was
tantly for our purpose, their ecological fallouts. In this study, shifting
we cultivation, which made a transition into largely settled
agriculture during the Ahom rule when wet rice cultivation was
will analyse how broad changes in socio-economic order during
these political periods influenced the survival and dynamics introduced
of in the valley. There, however, exist ambiguities
Economic & Political weekly EEE3 February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 65
amongst historians on the major mode of production during this and that of the native states of upper Assam, 2,20,000 (Gait 2005).
time (Guha 1984; Lahiri 1984, 1990). Although the nature of These demographic changes have had significant effects on the for-
institutions, taxation, regulation and incentive structures of pre- ests in the valley. While the population growth during the peak of
Ahom period are largely rather vague, the inscriptions found the Ahom reign decreased forest cover through the process of
during this period established the role of kings and the powerful agricultural expansion and intensification, agriculture was badly
class of brahmins in land regulation and taxation. While consoli- affected when populations declined in the aftermath of the
dating their power through territorial expansion, the Ahom also Burmese invasion and forests were able to reclaim abandoned agri-
transferred the technology of wet rice cultivation to other tribes cultural lands (Butler 1855; Shakespear 1914).
of the valley (Guha 1966). Agricultural expansion was aggressively
promoted and tax incentives offered to open up any forested land The Colonial Period
for agriculture (Saikia 2005). With such a mode of production Assam was annexed by the British East India Company after the
(Gadgil and Guha 2008), forests, marshes and natural grasslands Yandaboo treaty with the Burmese in 1826 while upper Assam
were soon replaced by cropfields. The main motive of this expan- continued under the Ahom kings until 1839. When tea was dis-
sion, however, was to produce surplus yield in order to sustain, covered in upper Assam in 1823 and successfully produced in
besides other non-agricultural populations, a formidable naval in- 1837, the British sensed an enormous economic opportunity and
fantry - the main agents of state formation under the Ahom. formally annexed this region too. Many colonial policies favour-
The Ahom kingdom had complete control over forest re- ing European investors were promulgated to encourage tea plant-
sources. Besides opening up the forests for agriculture, collection ers to establish new tea gardens and occupy vast expenses of for-
of items like agar wood and ivory also attracted taxes. There ested land in the valley. Due to the scarcity of local labour forces
were administrative officers such as Kathkatiya Barua who over- to work in these tea gardens, however, indentured labourers
saw the harvest of forest products and Habial Barua who super- were brought from central India from 1859 onwards (Jha 1996).
vised the extraction of forest timber (Handique 2004). Vast tracts This marked the beginning of a demographic watershed in the
of forests were exploited heavily in order to build numerous history of this region. In 1874, Assam was upgraded to a chief
boats, important components of naval warfare, particularly bet- commissioner's province and a provincial forest department
ween the rivers Dikhow and Dhansiri. This region, located strate- established. Subsequently, many forested areas were mapped.
gically for boat building, lost so much of timber in its adjoining Armed with several regulations and taxation laws, the forest
forests that, in 1881, the colonial forest department could barely department went about its mandate of exploiting forest resources
find quality forest patches in northern and central Sibsagar to systematically. In the meantime, coal and mineral oil, discovered
create reserve forests (Talukdar and Barua 2005). In a settled culti- beneath the forests of upper Assam during the 1880s, enriched
vation mode of production, local resources from the forests were the British crown. In order to transport these commercial materi-
used as fuel, fodder, manure, building timber and in implement- als to tea factories and to remote markets, an extensive network
making (Gadgil and Guha 2008). As the population in the valley of railways was established along the length of the valley from
congregated increasingly in villages and opened up forests for 1881. These linkages ensured that the region was no longer eco-
agriculture, it maybe speculated that the natural vegetation sur- nomically isolated and its natural resources began to service
rounding settlements were gradually depleted over time. Mar- demands from national and global markets. During the first half
kets were largely local (Guha 1983) although the Ahom had of the 20th century until Indian Independence, upper Assam wit-
established trade ties with adjoining tribes and indirectly with nessed continuous expansion of tea gardens, increasing human
China and Burma through the Bhutanese and the Singpho (Misra density and escalating conflict over the use of its natural re-
2005). The materials traded were restricted to rice, tussar (coarse sources. Many forests were brought under the reserve forests net-
silk) woven by Assamese women, iron and lac, buffalo horns, work and a few were also denotified, to implement the colonial
pearls and coral (Misra 2005). Markets for forest produce were, policy of agricultural expansion through colonisation.
however, not well-developed and hence, the forests and their Under the Ahom, the main economic thrust was surplus pro-
produce could not be fully commodified. The localised market, duction to sustain a military-led state formation. However, the
with limited linkages outside the valley, ensured that the region's colonial period saw the emergence of two distinct variants of the
natural resource economy could not yet establish linkages with a production system, a commerce-driven system based on planta-
wider, external market system. tion economy as well as the extraction of natural resources, and
From the sparsely-populated pre-Ahom period, human popula- another based largely on settled subsistence agriculture. The
tions are likely to have increased during the Ahom period as agri- main motive of both of these production systems, at least in
cultural societies tend to maintain high population densities Assam, was to maximise revenue. In the upper Brahmaputra Valley,
(Gadgil and Guha 2008). During the reign of the Ahom king commercial plantations were encouraged as its topography and
Rajeswar Sinha (1751-69), the population of Assam was 24,00,000 climate were highly conducive for this form of land use while set-
(Guha 1966). The population of upper Assam, however, declined tled agriculture was promoted in the low-lying regions of central
from the mid-i8th century because of internal conflicts and was and lower Assam. The cultivation of tea was promoted through
reduced by two-thirds during the Burmese invasion in the first many attractive incentives (Guha 2006). Two sets of rules per-
quarter of the 19th century (Bose 1993). Much later, in the year taining to the tea sector, in particular, are worth mentioning, as
1835, the estimated population of the entire valley was 7,99,519 they brought about significant changes in the landscape. The first
66
February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Ш223
were the Wasteland Rules of 1838, under which areas categorised proper and Sylhet) was 1,79,137 ha, which steadily increased
as wasteland (grassland, marshes and forests) were leased at even further after Independence (Figure 1). The Assam Tea Com-
nominal prices to planters. These terms were further liberalised pany was the sole company in 1858 but, by 1865, as many as 62
in 1861 under Charles John Canning's fee-simple rules to facili- companies had been registered in India; there were only nine tea
tate further expansion of tea in the valley. To increase revenue gardens in 1853 but this number had reached 51 in 1859 (Rungta
through agriculture production, settlement and agriculture poli- 1970). The tea industry of Assam had finally come of age.
cies that encouraged peasants to colonise and transform forested Since 1881, many saw mills were established to supply storage
lands into agriculture fields were devised (Saikia 2005). Of these chests to the tea industry (Sen 1995) and, by the end of 1901, 14
policies, the Assam Land Revenue Settlement, 1886 and the saw mills were functioning in the valley (Guha 2006). The ply-
Assam Forest Regulation of 1891 were particularly important in wood industry started in the Dibrugarh district of upper Assam
Figure 1: Total Area under Tea in the Upper Brahmaputra Valley (1860 to 2007) for this same strategic reason. The first plywood factory was
(Area in ha) established in 1914 and subsequently, the Assam Railways and
Trading Company opened its factory in 1924 to supply tea chests,
2,50,000
and sleepers to the railways. The forests adjacent to these indus-
2,00,000
tries began to disappear to fulfil this prolific need for timber.
In order to transport tea, coal, timber and oil out of the valley,
a railway network was established. The first railway was started
Uppe
"1,50,000
in 1884 from Dibrugarh to Makum (Anonymous 1981) but had in-
creased from 114 miles in 1891 to 715 miles by 1903 (Guha 2006).
Each mile of railway required 860 sleepers and the average effec-
1 ,00,000
tive life of each sleeper was calculated between 12 and 14 years
(Gadgil and Guha 2008). To lay 400 miles of railways in the val-
•**
50,000
ley would have thus required approximately 3,44,000 sleepers
(Handique 2004) and most of these sleepers came from forests
such as those in Nambor (Saikia 2008a). The railway system in
° I860
Assam thus exerted enormous pressure on the forest resources of
the province.
their
The penetration of the market into the valley and its linkages
colon
with global markets meant that, to some degree, the fate of the
profe
local economy was linked to the uncertainty of international a
the
tracts
markets. During the first world war, the demand for tea increased
in Europe and the existing gardens were expanded or new gar-
mated
dens established, all at the cost of the local forests. After the war,
appro
however, the global depression of the 1930s hit the tea industry
eratio
heavily and the demand for tea dropped sharply. In order to re-
they
duce production, the planters laid off many plantation workers
proce
and most of them moved into adjacent government forestland
furth
ment
and in the char (river islands) areas of the river Brahmaputra to
begin agriculture in a clumsy imitation of local cultivation, and
landle
inin their economic desperation,
th seriously damaged forests even
areas
more (Tucker 1988). The extent of government lands taken up by
such labourers for cultivation increased from 45,325 ha in 1906 to
the s
1,06,028 ha by 1921 (Guha 2006).
mate
Increased connectivity, employment opportunities and vast
distr
alone (ibid). fertile lands along the riverine tracts and islands, coupled with
Riding on the back of liberal colonial policies, tea planters now the state's policy of colonisation, also began to change the demo-
attempted to grab more land than they required or could manage graphic composition of the valley. In 1872, the population densi-
(Behal 2006; Guha 2006). Although about 2,83,280 ha of land ties of Lakhimpur and Sibsagar districts were 47 and 15 persons
had been with the tea-planters in Assam during 1870-71, the area per square kilometre (Waterfield 1875), increasing by 46% and
under tea was only 22,662 ha or 8% of the total area (Guha 2006). 24%, respectively, in 1901 (Risley and Gait 1903). The rate of pop-
The industry grew phenomenally during the last quarter of the 19th ulation increase can be gauged by the fact that, during 1901-51,
century with the total land area under the industry doubling and the population growth rate of Assam was second highest in the
covering around one-seventh of the entire settled area in the Assam world (Figure 2, p 68), exceeded only by that of Brazil (204%;
plains (Guha 2006). By the end of 1920, one-fourth of the total Dass 1980). Intensive cultivation of tea and agriculture also
acreage settled with planters had come under actual cultivation demanded the input of labour in these production systems. The
while, by 1938-39, the area under tea in Assam (including Assam scarcity of the local human resources, particularly in the tea
Economic & Political weekly ШШВ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 67
Figure 2: Demographic Trends in the Upper Brahmaputra Valley (1901 to 2001) for example, that in "the late 19th century Assam
Human population density (individuals per km2)
witnessed nothing short of an economic revolutio
450
LakMiTtpur companied by massive ecological destruction". H
- _ Dhemaji ever, this economic prosperity did not translate i
400
overall development of the valley and a century l
the region still remained underdeveloped, a phe
enon which the economic historian Amalendu Guha
350 •• _ - Dibrugarh y,
(1974) aptly termed as "a big-push-without-a-take-off".
-
300 - ///
- < ♦ - Jorhat Л Л The population of the valley began to increase during
the late 19th century resulting in escalating conflicts
250 .... - Golaghat over resources as these were now under the complete
control of the British. The large-scale deforestation,
200 // syf //
. / // which had started in the late 19th century, increased
in intensity and acquired a new feverish pace in the
next century, particularly during the 1940s, when
amidst complex politicisation of the land problem in
Assam, the provincial government decided to distribute
1001 „,<*• ' land from the reserved forests to landless peasants
(Saikia 2005).
50 " - - '
The Postcolonial Period

"""""*"""*7 -
0 -
The land-distribution movement, which started dur-

1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
ing the early 1940s, continued to grip the region and
sector, due to "unwillingness" of the native populace
gained newto workafter
fervour in 1947. Since then, the issues of escalat-
the tea gardens, however, forced the colonial ing rulers
conflictsto bring
over land and resources have dominated the socio-
indentured labourers from central India to work innarratives
political various oftea
the region. However, the major earthquake
gardens of the valley. These labourers transformed the
of 1950 and thedemo-
equally devastating floods of 1954 changed the
graphic composition of the valley and also exerted serious pres- to a great extent. Post-independence, the
landscape of this region
sures on the forest.
population of the region rose exponentially in the valley, with
The provincial forest department took over the control
migrating of the
people from adjoining regions contributing signifi-
forested land and curtailed the rights and cantly
privileges of the
to its growth. The Assam Movement (1979-85), a mass agi-
natives and restricted the usage of resources through regulations
tation, was fought on the issues of this sharp rise in the popula-
and taxation. Although established as the state's
tion of apparatus to accompanied serious economic under-
migrants, which
systematically exploit forest resources, the forest department
development. in
The agitation culminated in the signing of the Assam
Assam has also played a significant role in buffering
Accord in 1985. Theof
the effect year 1979 also marked the emergence of
planters, imported labourers and migrants armed
on the
civilforests
unrest in of
the valley that has had an important bear-
Assam. Nevertheless, the forest department, being a part of the and political history as well. The eco-
ing on its socio-economic
provincial government, was bound to give priority
nomy in land alloca-
of Assam has traditionally remained stagnant and, despite
tion to meet the need of the peasants (Ribbentrop 1889,
being in Tucker
the largest producer of tea, oil, plywood and forest prod-
1988). It, however, soon realised that, in the long run, such priori-
ucts, it continues to be a relatively underdeveloped state in India.
tisation would threaten the supply of timber andTherehence, extensive
have, however, been several small initiatives that have
surveys and mapping exercises of the forests were undertaken
made attempts to
to improve the local economy in different parts of
particularly delineate the important sal Shorea robusta
the valley. forests
In order to mitigate the risk of agriculture production,
belts. Most reserved forests were establishedfor
post-1874
example, aandnew re-
economic initiative began in upper Assam
markably, continue to survive even today (Saikia
during2005). During
the 1970s and took momentum during the 1990s with a
1925 to 1929, the acreage under the reserve forest increased
huge increase byindependent tea growers who currently
in small,
400%, largely in the sal belt area of the states. contribute
The second world
one-fourth of the total production of Assamese tea.
war, however, brought major changes in forest production
But such as also taken their toll on the local forests.
initiatives have
demand for timber grew with their use in warfare and for infra-
Sensitivity to conservation issues became stronger following
structure. Between 1939 and 1945 therefore timber production
our independence in colonial rule. The Wildlife (Protection)
from
the reserves more than doubled while fuelwood cutting
Act, 1972 in-
was implemented in Assam in 1977 and conservation
creased more than thrice (ТЪскег 1988). concerns began to permeate public discourse. With the 42nd
In conclusion, the drastic change from a quasi-feudal
Amendment economy
of the Indian Constitution in 1976, forests came on to
to a market economy under the British colonial rule was marked
the concurrent list, and the centre assumed key law and policy-
by an unprecedented and unparalleled ecological degradation
making functions in the forest sector. The Forest (Conservation)
across the upper Brahmaputra Valley. Baruah (2001) haswas
Act, 1980 observed,
implemented to restrict dereservation of forests
68
February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 E33S3 Economic & Political WEEKLY
and conversion of forestland for non-forest purposes, which segments of the population, socio-economic pressures clearly
again brought the issue of land rights to the fore. This legislation shifted to the land and its resources.
was followed by an order from the Supreme Court in 1996 The growth of small tea plantations, mentioned above, exerted
whereby a blanket ban on tree felling was imposed in the entire immense pressure on the forest cover, which can be gauged by
north-eastern region of the country. the sharp increase of area under plantations since 1992 (Figure 1).
The main thrust of independent India was on economic growth The Assam government promoted the expansion of small tea gar-
and nation building, and hence, agriculture expansion and in- dens by opening up patches of forested lands, primarily from un-
dustrial growth occupied top priority in the agenda of successive classed forests, to prospective tea planters (Saikia 2008b). Small
central and state governments. Even the National Forest Policy of tea growers currently contribute approximately 29% of the total
1952 clearly asserted that priorities of forest management must tea production of the state and 14% of that of the country.
be made subordinate to the larger national goal of industrialisa- The plywood industry that developed in the state also clearly
tion (Guha 1983). These development strategies, adopted by the affected the forests until 1996, when the Supreme Court slapped
Indian state, are critical in comprehending the forest cover an order on tree felling in north-eastern India. Until then, the in-
change in upper Brahmaputra Valley in association with the dustry had heavily exploited the lowland rainforests of upper
socio-economic and political issues of the region. Assam. The growth of this industry was rather slow till 1950-51
but made steady progress subsequently; indeed, it was the fastest-
Assamese Economy in the Post-Independence Period growing industry in the state then (Sen 1995). The nature of pro-
One of the major economic thrusts in Assam, immediately after duction also changed from during this period. There were thus
Independence, was on increased productivity in the agriculture only two units producing about 1.5 million cubic metres of tea
sector. This is reflected in the total outlay allocated to agriculture chests while other sophisticated, commercial plywood units were
in successive five-year plans of the state: 23.7%, 26.8% and 17% absent in 1950-51. By 1985-86, however, there were 14 units that
during the First Plan (1951-56), Second Plan (1956-61) and Third were producing only 0.55 million cubic metres of tea chests but
Plan (1961-66), respectively (Sarma 1966). In Assam, there was 38 units that produced 41.2 million cubic metres of commercial
greater expansion of activities under the grow more food cam- plywood (Sen 1995).
paign as a result of attaching the highest priority to agriculture The landscape change in the valley was also significantly af-
by the state government under the First Five-Year Plan, begin- fected by the demographic changes and the related sociopolitical
ning 1950 (Government of Assam year unknown). Assam was, developments that swept the region since Independence. Central
however, beyond the purview of another major agriculture inten- amongst these were the issues of the growing populations of
sification drive - the green revolution. There was neither agricul- landless peasants and migrants in the valley, many strongly
tural intensification nor expansion, with a mere 2% increase in affected by the periodic floods and erosion that were a mainstay
the arable land during 1950-70 (Richards and Hägen 1987). The of the valley. The impact of human emigration into Assam can be
resident and immigrant population (from East Pakistan, cur- assessed by the fact that approximately 1.5 million hectares of
rently Bangladesh, and other Indian states) increased by 84.4% natural vegetation (roughly 19% of the state's area) were con-
during the same period, largely driven by economic and political verted to croplands and human settlement in just a century, from
factors (Dass 1980). Consequently, the per capita holding of arable 1870 to 1970 (Richards and Hägen 1987). The sustained move-
land reduced from 0.299 to 0.165 (Richards and Hägen 1987) ment of such migrants over the land and the exploitation of its
putting tremendous pressure on the land. The net sown area in resources, often with political patronage has thus profoundly
Lakhimpur and Sibsagar districts increased by 18% and 31% from affected the forest cover of the region. In Dibrugarh district of
1960-61 to 1996-97 with a concomitant decrease in forest cover Assam, many forest villages were established under the rehabili-
by 11% and 45%, respectively. Sibsagar has also experienced a tation programme for people affected by floods as well as those
steep growth rate in urbanisation and industrialisation, with the affected by the devastating Assam earthquake of 1950 (Sonowal
relatively highest share (about 29%) of its area under the non- 1997)- This policy resulted in considerable land clearing within
agricultural sector (Goswami 2002). the confines of reserved forests (Richards and Hägen 1987). By
Industry was another sector that was given priority after the early 1970s, successive state governments had surrendered
Independence, particularly those components that focused on for cultivation and settlement most of the publicly-owned un-
tea, coal and oil. However, the region witnessed an acute eco- occupied lands not included in the reserve forest system (the "un-
nomic underdevelopment post-Independence, as some sub- classed state forest system"; Richards and Hägen 1987). Recur-
nationalist narratives have argued (Sarma 1966), due to the con- rent natural calamities, particularly those related to annual
tinuation of the colonial extractive tradition by the Indian state floods in the Brahmaputra, also led to the proliferation of land-
and Indian capitalists. Moreover, these sectors failed to facilitate less people, thereby aggravating the already enormous pressure
the growth of the necessary ancillary industries (Misra 1980). on existing forest lands.
Although one could expect that the pressure on forestland Under this backdrop of economic slowdown and rising migrant
would not have significantly increased under these circum- populations, the region plunged into civil unrest that virtually
stances, such an effect, even if present, was masked by the crippled the region politically and economically. Social unrest
growing population of the region. Coupled with the marked can have severe consequences on the forest, as exemplified by
inability of the industrial sector to absorb local, unemployed western Assam that witnessed large-scale deforestation during
Economic & Political weekly 0Ш February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 69
1980s when the region was under civil unrest (Horwich et al forests in the long run. It is possibly most pragmatic to set
2010). Many of the forested tracts of the valley also served as aside as inviolate certain forested tracts which are critical for
ephemeral bases for insurgent groups and this has created prob- biodiversity while resources in other areas should perhaps be
lems for the protection and management of many of these tracts. used sustainably.
The long-term civil strife in the region, for example, created op- The agriculture sector of the state, which has traditionally sup-
portunities for the unscrupulous exploitation of forest resources ported a large population, is in decline. The natural resources of
in areas that were now poorly protected. The interstate boundary the state have been mined for over a century and its economy
disputes that Assam has had with Arunachal Pradesh and espe- continues to be dependent on these resources, but clearly unsus-
cially Nagaland has certainly also added its share of problems to tainably in the future. Moreover, this sector supports only a
the exploitation of forests. During 1972-99, therefore, the valley minuscule of the population in terms of employment and liveli-
areas bordering Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh were observed hood. This social inequity could have serious repercussions on
to be highly dynamic in terms of forest cover change (Lele and the state's natural resources, given the presence of a large
Joshi 2009), possibly due to conversion of forests to agriculture migrant population which depends on agriculture for its liveli-
and human settlements. hood. A closer inspection of the underdevelopment of the region
At the same time, the creation of legal and governmental
points towards a phenomenon known as the "resource curse"
machineries to administer large stretches of forest (Rangarajan
or the "paradox of plenty", where areas rich in non-renewable
resources tend to have less economic growth and worse develop-
2001) not only brought the issue of forest conservation to the fore
but, at the same time, escalated conflict with the local people in-ment outcomes than do regions with fewer natural resources
cluding tribal groups, whose rights and privileges over the land
(Auty 1993). Assam seems to be such an example within India,
were curtailed. The role of the forest department in controlling
where, in spite of abundant non-renewable resources like oil and
the impact of these processes on the forestland and to check
coal, the state remains economically underdeveloped.
large-scale degradation of forest resources, under the existing Economic development of a region is necessary and justifiable
legal framework, have been limited, given the continuous pres-
not only for the overall development of the region but also to
release the pressure on its land with its forests. In Assam, how-
sure from political regimes to open up forested lands for landless
peasants. During the colonial period too, it may be recalled, the
ever, the recent support provided by the state government to
department had facilitated the settlement of landless immigrants
small tea plantations in the region, although hailed as an impor-
in the fringes of reserved forests, although the motive then
tant step in alleviating widespread unemployment and rural
was to fulfil the regular supply of labour for the exploitation of
poverty, could accelerate the rate of deforestation in the valley.
forest resources. That land and its ownership remains a contentious issue in the
state is evident from the growing discontent over it in the recent
Current Challenges and Opportunities past. In 2002, for example, an eviction drive carried out by the
We thus see that, by the end of the 20th century, considerable
forest department, following the direction of the Supreme Court,
forested areas in upper Assam have either been converted to
had attracted statewide protests and condemnation from social
other land-use forms or have been severely degraded. In spite of scientists
a and human right activists (Gohain 2006). More recent
long history of deforestation in the region, however, one-fourth
conflict over forested land in the Rajiv Gandhi (Orang) National
of the area continues to remain forested though highly dynamicPark, initiated by the settling of alleged migrants, and the local
in nature (Lele and Joshi 2009). Moreover, there are encouraging
peasants' movement for rights over forestland in Tengani, adja-
trends in terms of forest cover gain between 1972 and 1999 and cent to Nambor forest, in the Golaghat district (Saikia 2008a)
the fact that over 60% of forested areas of the state has remained
have exemplified the intensity of emotion and action that these
unchanged during the same period (ibid). Although this may, at
issues raise. If not curtailed, these contests could potentially have
least in part, reflect limitations of remote sensing techniques inserious ecological ramifications as has been seen in similar inci-
detecting qualitative change in forests, there continue to be press-
dents in this region in the past. In the Sonitpur district of Assam,
ing challenges to conserve the remaining forests of the region. an unprecedented loss of approximately 23,000 ha of forested
The remaining parcels of forested land in the upper Brahma-
land from 1994 to 2001 (Srivastava et al 2002) starkly exemplifies
putra Valley must be managed efficiently as these are critical for
the possible consequences of such conflicts.
future biodiversity conservation and livelihood issues. Many of With the implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other
the extant reserve forests and protected areas in the valley wereTraditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act,
established over a century ago indicating that strict protection of
2006 in the state, this debate is likely to become even more seri-
these forests may have resulted in their continuous existence in
ous in the future. The border issue with Nagaland and Arunachal
spite of systematic logging, pressures from the tea industry and
Pradesh has intensified over time and reports of clear-felling and
burgeoning population growth. However, such a protective and, establishment of settlements in the reserve forests along the
hence, exclusionary approach has led to severe conflict over
border areas are appearing regularly in the media.
these resources between the local people who have utilised these
The Road Ahead
resources over centuries and the self-appointed guardians of
the forest, represented by the state machinery. It is, therefore,The biggest challenge to biodiversity conservation in upper
unlikely that such strict protection would help sustain these
Assam is to find ways that can incorporate social justice, and
70 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 B222 Economic & Political weekly
SPECIAL ARTICLE
(Singh 2008). Such a move could, however, be challenging in the

political and economic objectives into conservation planning.
We argue that such an approach should be pragmatic and light of the existing contentious issues of whom to empower:
native residents or recent immigrants? It is critical that further
well-planned as decisions resulting from such dialogue would
immigration into the valley be discouraged and effective mecha-
carry greater legitimacy and wider acceptance. We have, there-
nisms instituted to empower resident populations who have tra-
fore, identified three major threads, derived from our historical
analyses, that can provide useful insights in understandingditionally
the relied heavily on the existing natural resources. It
should, however, be noted that while executing such processes,
genesis of contemporary issues of forest conservation in upper
Assam and we hope that these observations would be useful marginalisation
in of the already-present migrants does not lead to
designing effective conservation strategies in the future. the severe retaliatory exploitation of natural resources and esca-
lated conflict over land.
Empowering Local Institutions: Large centralised institutions

Understanding Tea Plantation Dynamics: Labour and markets
such as forest departments may be effective in bringing about
are important components of plantation economies and these
change in land/resource use over relatively short time horizons,
invariably tend to affect natural resources. Currently, a significant
but sustainability of change is always in question without partici-
population of tea garden labourers in the valley rely heavily on
pation of local stakeholders. Historically, in upper Assam, people
have been excluded from decision-making processes, particu- the forests adjoining their settlements for their daily resource
larly those concerning access to natural resources under needs.
the This is particularly accentuated in the case of temporary
or retired labourers. Neither the Plantation Labour Act of 1951
three broad power regimes studied so far. These resources were
nor individual tea estates have been able to guarantee their
either under the jurisdiction of the royalty or an exclusive prop-
erty of our colonial rulers, and under the control of the state,proper
fol- rehabilitation. A proper settlement policy would certainly
help in releasing the pressure that this labour force exerts on the
lowing Independence. Such an all-pervasive exclusionist policy,
unchanging over time, has resulted in accentuated conflictsadjoining forest resources. The uncertainty in markets usually
through the ages leading tó severe ecological consequences drives
be- the nature and intensity of production, which, in turn,
cause when communities are not involved actively in managing often translates into a potent force of forest destruction. As local
institutions would be unable to check the invasive force of the
their resources, they use them destructively (Sponsel et al 1996).
market economy, the state should play a proactive role in regulat-
An attempt was made to decentralise and involve communities
under the Joint Forest Management Programme but, so far,ing
thethe functioning of the tea economy in an effort to protect
existing habitats in the land-use mosaic of the valley.
progress has not been encouraging. In a given region, with multi-
ple interests and actors within communities, empowering local
institutions rather than communities would constitute ideal Mitigating the Effects of Demographic Pressures: Demo-
mechanisms for resource management (Agrawal and Gibson graphic factors have adversely affected natural resources
1999). Such a model of natural resource management is likely throughout
to the colonial and postcolonial history of Assam and
continue to be a dominant cause of deforestation in the valley. In
effective in upper Assam if local institutions are empowered
against the backdrop of the existence of diverse communitiesa landscape where agriculture production is risky and employ-
and decentralised institutions such as autonomous councils ment opportunities limited, growing populations will always
RELIGION AND CITIZENSHIP
January 7, 2012
Plural Societies and Imperatives of Change: Interrogating Religion and Development in South Asia - Surinder S Jodhka
Religions, Democracy and Governance: Spaces for the Marginalised in Contemporary India - Gurpreet Mahajan, Surinder S Jodhka
Religious Transnationalism and Development Initiatives: The Dera Sachkhand Bailan - Gurharpal Singh
Social Constructions of Religiosity and Corruption - Vinod Pavarala, Kanchan К Malik
Buddhist Engagements with Social Justice: A Comparison between Tibetan Exiled
Buddhists in Dharamsala and Dalit Buddhists of Pune - Zara Bhatewarajamsin Bradley
In the Name of Development: Mapping 'Faith-Based Organisations' in Maharashtra - Surinder

Welfare Work and Politics of Jama'at-i-lslami in Pakistan and Bangladesh -MasoodaBano
For copies write to:

Economic and Political Weekly,
320-321, A to Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013.
email: circulation@epw.in
Economic & Political weekly EH3S3 February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 71
remain a potent force of destruction. The production systems in demographic and socio-economic pressures away from threat-
a landscape characterised by floodplains provide limited ened natural resources.
options for agricultural intensification and flood control has Protected areas and inviolate forests are critical for the
always been a formidable task in Assam, given the highly conservation of regional biodiversity while many of these tracts
dynamic nature of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. Promo- have historically supported the livelihoods of local human
tion of non-extractive industries, those that are not based on the populations. To find ways and mechanisms that conserve our
region's natural resources, will certainly be able to improve the threatened biodiversity but also protect the livelihoods and
livelihoods of certain sections of the local population and, at the aspirations of these people so as to make our forests ecologi-
same time, release pressure on natural resources. Rural deve- cally and socially sustainable is the biggest challenge for the
lopment programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural conservation of the last remaining rainforests of the Upper
Employment Guarantee Act (mgnrega) would be useful such Brahmaputra Valley.
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7^ February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Щ35Э Economic & Political weekly
EPW Research Foundation
The year-on-year growth in the index of industrial production, after decelerating from a peak of 9.5% in June 2011 toa low of negative (-) 4.7% in October, showed a turnaround in November 2011, registering
growth of 5.9%. Mining has been showing consistently negative growth rates since August 2011. Manufacturing, after a negative growth of (-) 5.7% in October, reversed in November 2011 with 6.6% growth rat
The infrastructure index also showed a robust 6.8% growth in November 201 1 . Growth in capital goods continued in the negative zone since September 201 1 .
Macroeconomic Indicators
....
....
. .....
Index
, , Variation
Numbers
(in .
%):
of
Point-to-Point
..... Wholesale , , Prices
(Base Year- 2004-05 = 1 00) л Weights January 7 Over Over 12 Months Fiscal Year So Far
Primary Articles 20.1 199.1 0.7
Food Articles 14.3 190.9 -0.1
Non-Food Articles 4.3 182.6 2.9
Fuel & Power
Manufactured Products*
Food Products* 10.0 152.9 0.7
Food Index (computed)* 24.3 175.3 -1.8
All Commodities (point to point basis)* 100.0
All Commodities (monthly average basis)*
* Data pertain to the month of December 2011 as weekly release of data discontinued wef 24 Oct 2009. AThe date of first release of data based on 2004-05 series wef 14 September 2010.
Cost of Living Indices Latest Over Over 12 Months Fiscal Year So Far
Industrial Workers (IW) (2001=100)
Agricultural Labourers (AL) (1986-87=100)
Note: Superscript numeral denotes month to which figure relates, e g, superscript 11 stands for November.
Money and Banking (Rscrore) 30 December Over Month Over Year Fiscal Year So Far
Money Supply (M3) 7198680 125419(1.8) 973500(15.6) 699190(10.8) 622480(11.1) 896817(16.0) 807920(16.8) 776930(19.3)
Currency with Public 977990 5531(0.6) 109320(12.6) 63790(7.0) 101170(13.2) 146704(19.1) 102043(15.3) 97040(17.1)
Deposits Money with Banks 6218400 120210(2.0) 865460(16.2) 636770(11.4) 521550(10.8) 750239(15.5) 707606(17.2) 683375(19.9)
of which: Demand Deposits 709390
Time Deposits 5509010
Net Bank Credit to Government
Bank Credit to Commercial Sector
Net Foreign Exchange Assets
Banking Sector's Net Non-Monetary Liabilities 1322500
of which: RBI 623240
Reserve Money (1 3 January 201 2) 1420050
Net RBI Credit to Centre 493180
Scheduled Commercial Banks (30 December 201 1)
Aggregate Deposits 5827910
Demand 638670 66152(11.6)
Time
Investments (for SLR purposes)
Bank Credit 4365640
Non-Food Credit 4281100
Commercial Investments 169620
Total Bank Assistance to Commi Sector
Note: Government Balances as on 31 March 2011 are after closure of accounts.
Index Numbers of Industrial Production November* Fiscal Year So Far Full Fiscal Year Averages
(Base 2004-05=100)
General Index
Mining and Quarrying
Manufacturing
Electricity
* Indices for the month are Quick Estimates
it 3 I M 3 rk e t Fiscal Year So Far 2010-11
3 I M 3 rk e t
BSE Sensitive Index (1978-79=100)
BSE-100 (1983-84=100)
BSE-200 (1989-90=100)
S&P CNX Nifty (3 Nov 1995=1000)
Skindia GDR Index (2 Jan 1995=1000)
Net Fll Investment in (US $ Mn Equities) - period end 102782(1.4)
. November* Fiscal Year So Far Full Fiscal Year

oreign ra e
Exports: Rscrore 113520 893094(35.1) 661056(24.3) 1118823(32.3) 845534(0.6) 840754(28.2) 655863(14.7) 571779(25.3) 456418(21.6) 375340(27.9)
US $ mn 22322 192694(33.2) 144660(30.7) 245868(37.5) 178751(-3.5) 185295(13.6) 163132(29.0) 126361(22.6) 103091(23.4) 83536(30.8)
Imports: Rscrore 182689 1435305(32.2) 1085781(26.3) 1596869(17.1) 1363736(-0.8) 1374434(35.8) 1012312(20.4) 840506(27.3) 660409(31.8) 501065(39.5)
US$ mn 35922 309530(30.2) 237664(32.7) 350695(21.6) 288373(-5.0) 303696(20.7) 251654(35.5) 185749(24.5) 149166(33.8) 111517(42.7)
Non-POL US $ mn (* Provisional figures) 25615 215414(25.5) 171696(36.6) 249006(23.7) 201237(-4.2) 210029(22.2) 171940(33.5) 128790(22.4) 105233(37.1) 76772(33.2)
Balance ofTrade: Rscrore -69169
* Provisional figures.
Foreign Exchange Reserves (excluding
gold but including revaluation effects) 13Jan 14Jan 31 Mar Fiscal Year So Far
Rscrore
US $ mn
Figures in brackets are percentage variati

[Comprehensive current economic statistics
Economic & Political weekly ЩЗСЗ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 73
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74 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 E33S3 Economic & Political WEEKLY
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Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 47, No. 5, FEBRUARY 4, 2012

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Pakistan: Frying Pan and the Fire FROM 50 YEARS AGO

12 Politics has moved down to the provincial and sub-provincial levels in

national grandstanding. Don't Cry for Them India

Censoring the Internet: The New Intermediary Guidelines

19 A day-long visit to villages in Jangalmahal, West Bengal records the - Rishab

presence of armed policemen and the absence of the state in providing

Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, is now visible in Chhattisgarh, Orissa and

32 The us' "rebalancing" of its military capacities to the Asia-Pacific is motivated

Rise of 'New Landlords' in Indian Agriculture

Indian 'Commercial Fiction' in English

perhaps accommodative of the complex contrary pulls in social attitudes

Socio-economic Drivers of Forest Cover Change in Assam

Brahmaputra Valley of Assam which harbours wet alluvial grasslands and

NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

К KANAGASABAPATHY and capital theory apart from the ones

4 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Ш223 Economic & Political weekly

Economic & Political weekly ШЕЯ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 5

judiciary and the political parties/parliament will also assert

Official recognition of the incidence of mental illness in India

8 FEBRUARY 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 ЕШСЭ Economic & Political WEEKLY

reports that some members of the tribe have got addicted to

FROM 50 YEARS AGO considerable argument. PeopleWould

Economic & Political weekly ццш February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 9

10 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Q3S3 Economic & Political WEEKLY

It left a permanent scar on their minds political prisoners in the Nagpurdenied

Economic & Political weekly ШШ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 11

12 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Economic & Political weekly

by resuming his pursuit of a 15-year

Economic & Political weekly Е32Э February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 I3

14 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 Е325Э Economic & Political weekly

It could however be argued that such a

Economic & Political weekly ШШ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 *5

(a) belongs to another person and to ternet, it is impossible for an intermediary

(b) is grossly harmful, harassing blasphe-

Economic & Political weekly QEEQ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 *7

The Forests and the Palaces

Economic & Political weekly B353 February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 *9

name that if anything

voices. he would remain answerable

These versity officials. He told me that some

and thereturned. medical

20 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 BSS3 Economic & Political WEEKLY

RAGHAV PURI Chhattisgarh?

Turnaround of the PDS

Economic & Political weekly BSQ February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 21

Central BPL Female respondents 53.7 56.7

MKSY Scheduled tribes

Households in kacchha homes 70 79

State handicapped Green

Table does not include APL ration cards.

plug leaks as well

Source: Tabulated using hou

because 35 kg was not adequate forwomen,

monthly consumption. control over household budgets because it

Economic & Political weekly February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 23

24 February 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 E33S3 Economic & Political WEEKLY

in an English translation by Penguin India

Economic & Political weekly Ш February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 ^5

FEBRUARY 4, 2012 vol XLVii no 5 E33S3 Economic & Political WEEKLY

Economic & Political weekly Е335Э February 4, 2012 vol xlvii no 5 27

Informed by Gender? Public Policy in Kerala - Seema Bhaskaran

Addressing Paid Domestic Work: A Public Policy Concern - Nimushakavi Vasanthi

Reinventing Reproduction, Re-conceiving Challenges: