8 ISSUES AND INSIGHTS | THURSDAY 24 JANUARY 2019 >

ister Sheila Dikshit to say, “I don’t want required to bring in a radical change and > CHINESE WHISPERS the ugly box in my drawing room”. to stimulate the market to provide choice 2003 redux The CAS politics was unfolding too of viewing”, Trai had said in 2004. close to the upcoming 2004 Lok Sabha The latest Trai order may not meet Trai's latest intervention in the cable and DTH market has created more elections and it had to end. The best the vision with which it started regulat- All in the family option before the government was to roll ing the broadcasting industry. For Nakul Nath's confusion than it has solved it back. It did that, while getting Trai to instance, growth and competition of (pictured) expand its role so that it could manage businesses could be stifled through the appearance the mess after the government-ordered way a broadcasting company would like broadcasting along with telecom. The diktat on à la carte pricing, as packaging in the social conditional access system or CAS went to do business, all hell has broken loose, first thing that Trai did was to cap prices holds the key to success in the broad- media and completely out of hand in 2003, this time threatening a blackout if the companies at the existing level, while saying it was casting industry where content offered with state the regulator itself has triggered a situa- in question don’t comply by February 1. a temporary measure. The regulator did- across platforms is mostly similar. Where Congress tion that is no less messy. This is not very different from what hap- n’t want to lose any time in sending a packages and bouquets will be allowed, leaders has Trai, originally just a telecom super pened when the government believed (or message across — that consumers those must come with transparent pric- fuelled regulator, has set a February 1 deadline did it?) CAS — watching channels of wouldn’t be hurt. It was necessary ing. The catch lies there. What exactly rumours that for broadcasters and platform owners choice through a set top box — was the because while trying to bring transparen- would be transparent pricing of pack- the son of the new Madhya Pradesh such as direct-to-home (DTH) and cable only way to bring order to the unorgan- cy into the system, it was found that get- ages? The second point is about afford- chief minister, Kamal Nath, may contest services to comply with its new tariff ised broadcasting industry . The entire ting pay channels through CAS was ability. Just like in the case of CAS, a con- from Chhindwara in the coming Lok order. The essence of that order is that a Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, includ- pushing up the monthly bill for a large sumer wanting a host of pay channels of Sabha elections. The seat is held by his NOT FOR PROFIT consumer should get the channels of her ing the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), number of consumers. That’s the reason, her choice would shell out a large sum, father, who will vacate it and contest an choice and pay for only that, instead of was at work for months trying to put Chennai — predominantly a free to air possibly much more than she would get Assembly seat. Nath Junior resides in NIVEDITA MOOKERJI her being charged for a package or a bou- together a policy that would streamline market at that point — was the only city in a package tailored by a DTH or a cable Delhi but many local Congress leaders quet tailored by a DTH or a cable com- the sector, which was at the mercy of a to roll out CAS rather successfully. operator even if it means getting a bun- have been demanding his candidature t’s the 2003 syndrome hitting us all pany. The idea is to reduce the monthly handful of cable sharks and thousands On the whole, regulation in broad- dle of irrelevant and silly channels with from the seat that his father had won over again 15 years later. The idiot TV bill for a consumer by offering every of small corner shop operators who got casting, through Trai, was meant to pro- some good ones of your choice. nine times. He has started visiting I box is once more under attack and channel à la carte, with the price dis- us hooked to those prime time soaps. mote growth and competition in the sec- The regulatory intervention was sup- Chhindwara regularly since campaigning so is our TV viewing habit, whatever is played on the electronic programme Needless to say, the government tor so that consumers have affordable posed to stimulate the market, but the for the seat kicked off last November. He left of it post Netflix and Facebook. guide. If there are packages, the prices failed miserably even after much brain- prices for their home entertainment and latest order seems quite on the contrary. can be seen on social media, promoting Ironically enough, while the Telecom must be published in a transparent man- storming with all stakeholders including can choose between alternative plat- Ahead of another Lok Sabha election, various state government initiatives Regulatory Authority of (Trai) got ner too, rather than camouflaging things state governments. By this time, the set forms and channels. This was stated in should the government allow another including loan waivers, grants on additional mandate for managing the in the fineprint. top box for cable TV had become a dirty the Trai preamble for the broadcasting CAS like confusion when it can be very purchasing agricultural instruments, and television broadcasting sector to settle Since the order has gone against the word, prompting then Delhi chief min- sector. “Regulatory intervention is well avoided? so on.

Digital farmers native in the form of an Employment The Congress government in Madhya Index created out of the Labour Bureau’s Pradesh is taking the digital India quarterly surveys after significant campaign to a wholly new level. To bring Missing the jobs for the data improvements. farmers on the digital platform, the On the EPFO’s payroll data, the government is planning to allot them Anant panel said the database needs sig- real time wallets. With a fund of ~15,000- The government has scrapped existing job surveys nificant changes by bringing the data in 45,000, these wallets will help farmers to tune with the National Industrial buy seeds and fertiliser even if they don’t but has moved slowly on creating replacements Classification (NIC) standards. Besides, have money in their bank accounts. EPFO, which covers enterprises with Farmers will also get a smart card with SOMESH JHA the government had stopped making more than 20 workers, is proven to be real time update of their acreage, crop public the result of quarterly enterprises unstable as the figures get revised every and livestock data. The card will be he National Democratic Alliance survey (QES) of the Labour Bureau. month retrospectively because of linked to the Google Map as well. This is (NDA) has been combatting crit- A panel, led by former chief statisti- delayed filings by employers. expected to help government officials T icism of poor job creation with a cian TCA Anant and set up on the rec- Mukherjee said an area frame survey know about the possible bumper counter-narrative that the country lacks ommendations of the Prime Minister’s of the Labour Bureau, of units that production or shortage. proper employment statistics. Office (PMO), recently recommended employ less than 10 workers, would offer But the conundrum is this: The exist- doing away with the Labour Bureau’s a perspective on the larger informal sec- ing exercises to collate official jobs statis- QES and replacing it with either a first- tor employment. The survey may be tics have been discontinued and of-its-kind Employment Index or an commissioned by the end of this year. Message and messenger replacement surveys are still to begin. improved version of the EPFO data. REAL SCENARIO The government’s promise to create millions of jobs cannot be But, as a government official pointed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's appointment The result: Whether Narendra Modi has Before that, towards the end of 2017, verified considering the existing exercises to collate official jobs statistics have been out, the most important step in reform- as Congress national general secretary fulfilled a 2014 campaign promise to cre- the household surveys of the Labour discontinued and replacement surveys are still to begin ing the country’s statistical framework in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh on ate millions of jobs cannot be verified. Bureau were discontinued and the is to frame a schedule for release of sur- Wednesday has enthused not just The critics contend that, National Sample Survey veys establish the employment-unem- ogy. But it agreed, a monthly household veys — a key missing element when it party leaders close to her but some with official and private sur- Organisation’s quinquennial ployment rate and the establishment survey in a country as large as India may comes to jobs statistics. like Janata Dal (United) Vice-President veys indicating a sharp rise (once every five years) sur- surveys give a better idea of various sec- take some time. For instance, the Labour Bureau’s Prashant Kishor. In his earlier avatar in unemployment, alterna- veys have also stopped. But tors of the economy and employment “Household surveys are the best way sixth employment-unemployment sur- as an election strategist, Kishor had tive methodologies are it is planned to be replaced policies are sector-based.” of capturing the employment situation. vey of 2016-17 — the last in the series — managed the Congress' assembly poll meant to counter an embar- by a more comprehensive This led the government to initiate Enterprises-based surveys are mainly has been withheld, despite Labour and campaigns in Uttar Pradesh and rassing narrative on jobs and Periodic Labour Force an overhaul of the employment statisti- threshold-based. For instance, it will only Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Punjab in 2017. "One of the most open to interpretation. Survey (PLFS) by the NSSO cal framework, for which the PMO, no cover firms with at least 10 workers Gangwar’s approval last month. An awaited entries in Indian politics is In January last year, an for period 2017-18. It will be less, took the initiative. whereas a majority of the establishments extract of the survey, reviewed by Business finally here!...," Kishor tweeted. The exercise by two researchers an annual household survey Arvind Panagariya, who was then the employ less than 10 workers. For estab- Standard, showed the unemployment former election strategist would under the government’s country-wide and a quarterly Niti Aayog vice-chairman, was asked to lishment surveys, the Economic Census, rate at a four-year high of 3.9 per cent. consult her frequently during the UP aegis interpreting monthly survey in urban areas. suggest solutions. He submitted a report which is planned to be released this year, The NSSO’s PLFS was supposed to Assembly poll campaign, but found payroll data released by the Explaining the core issue, in August 2016. The draft report was may become a base for further employ- be released late last year but hasn’t been himself out of favour with Congress Employees’ Provident Fund Standing Committee on Labour Force made public but the final version was ment studies,” Chief Statistician of India made public. Sources said it is unlikely President Rahul Gandhi after the Organisation (EPFO) in 2017-18 showed Statistics Chairman S P Mukherjee, for- never disclosed. Pravin Srivastava told Business Standard. that the findings of the household sur- polls. Kishor, however, might find a job creation of 7 million — much high- mer professor of The final Panagariya panel report, Srivastava said the Economic Census vey, which was supposed to be the most rehabilitation with the Congress first er than any other estimates available. mathematics, said there is no mecha- reviewed by Business Standard, has rec- will be a much improved version, as it comprehensive one in recent times, will family difficult after Chief That finding created controversies on nism to get a comprehensive picture of ommended that a monthly household will be GPS-mapped allowing real-time be released before the general elections. Minister Nitish Kumar revealed earlier the veracity of the interpretation. employment in the country. survey is the ideal way of mapping job capturing of data on factories which are “The government is going to town this month how appointing Kishor That study, however, inadvertently So what is the solution? creation. The task force had recom- functional and those that have become complaining about the lack of data. The party number two, and his deputy, put job creation and data front and cen- The answer is to capture two kinds mended a shift to a monthly household defunct. But relying on the Economic data is there but the government is not was not entirely his decision. "I got tre of the debate, causing the govern- of data, with one verifying the other. survey, similar to the Current Population Census 2019 would mean that a quar- releasing it. It has to be honest about the calls from (BJP chief) Amit Shah twice ment to discontinue or halt temporarily “Both household and establishment sur- Survey of the United States, in the long terly enterprises-based survey on jobs data and the compulsions which have to give him a post in the party," various official surveys on grounds that veys need to be conducted simultane- run, and suggested experimentation may come only by the end of next year. led to withholding it,” former chief Kumar said. they contained flaws. In April last year, ously,” said Mukherjee. “Household sur- with data collection via mobile technol- The Anant panel has suggested an alter- statistician Pronab Sen said.

INSIGHT > LETTERS

Recipe for change Improve capacity This refers to “How insolvency is reshap- If India has to have a globally competitive ing steel” (January 22). It is true that ownership of a few steel companies has industry, the government must emulate changed, thanks to insolvency proceed- ings under the Insolvency and China on creating the right ecosystem Bankruptcy Code (IBC), but the annual steel output of our country needs to go but reductions in tariffs and non-tariff up if India has to develop faster. Though barriers have not sufficiently boosted the IBC is helping major Indian steel pro- manufacturing. The share of manufac- ducers consolidate their capacity by tak- turing in India’s GDP hasn’t budged ing over the stressed assets, the total capital adequacy, prompt corrective much since 1991. In fact, in the last steel capacity, nationwide, has not action framework, level of reserves to be decade, the signing of ambitious free changed. What we need now is a few maintained etc. These statements con- trade agreements with ASEAN, Japan greenfield steel projects to significantly fuse the banks, markets, investors and and Korea, all manufacturing power- augment the capacity, thereby giving a the public about the level of operational houses, has caused industry further much-needed fillip to economic growth. autonomy enjoyed by the central bank. distress — imports have surged and Sanjeev Kumar Singh Jabalpur While the RBI is accountable to the exports have stagnated. With China, it government, these avoidable public DHIRAJ NAYYAR hasn’t even taken a free trade area to Perception & reality statements create the perception that its see the balance of trade deteriorate ability to perform its stated functions is he next big disruption in India’s from under $1 billion at the turn of the HISTORICALLY SPEAKING India’s trade policies have never succeeded in This refers to “Jobs, tolerance, protection being slowly eroded. These issues need trade policy may happen by the century to over $60 billion almost two creating a globally competitive industry of institutions key issues: Rajan” to be quietly discussed between the gov- T end of the year if the 16 mem- decades later. (January 23). Often perceptions about ernment and the RBI rather than be bers of the proposed Regional Given continued stress on the issue ready to compete. Arguably, Indian set right policies in a time-bound man- the degree of autonomy enjoyed by aired in public. This is important since Comprehensive Economic Partnership of creating better jobs for more people industry also had almost two decades ner. The commerce ministry’s negotia- important institutions is as important as the RBI has set up committees with the (RCEP) reach a final agreement. The as well as periodic bouts of serious between the start of trade liberalisation tors will drive a bargain and commit to the reality. Over the years, there has been permission from the government to look potential of the world’s largest free trade worry on the current account deficit, in 1991 and the signing of the first FTA liberalisation in different categories an increasing tendency on the part of into many important issues. Nothing area, which includes the world’s two the consequences of signing on to one in 2010. However, there is one big dif- across different time frames (immedi- the mandarins of the North Block to should be said or done that creates the most populous and fastest growing more free trade area are non-trivial. ference in the India and Chinese expe- ate, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years). stray into the Reserve Bank of India’s perception that these committees will major economies, China and India, is The government could argue, and rience. In China, not only did firms Industry will be directed to prepare. So (RBI) regulatory domain. In the UPA II merely echo the publicly stated views of tantalising. That this may happen when does argue, that it is industry’s job to become competitive, but so did the gov- should ministries, with time deadlines. period, the then secretary of Department the government. the West, led by the United States, is become more competitive rather than ernment. In fact, it was because the gov- The ministries of coal and power must of Financial Services (DFS) used to issue Arun Pasricha New Delhi turning its back on openness is signifi- to ask for protection. In theory, it is pos- ernment got many of its policies right sign on to a plan for cheaper tariffs; circulars to public sector banks (PSBs) cant. Given trade’s close link with pros- sible to argue that trade liberalisation — building world-class infrastructure, finance must commit to a structural containing instructions that often con- Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to: perity and indeed geo-strategic leader- is one way to nudge greater competi- cutting red tape, opening up to FDI, pro- reduction of capital costs; mines and tradicted the regulatory instructions of The Editor, Business Standard ship, RCEP could well be the beginning tiveness in the economy. The example viding cheap and plentiful land, inex- steel must open the mining sector for the RBI on those subjects. In the present Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg New Delhi 110 002 of a decisive shift in economic power of China is instructive. The doomsday pensive power, flexible labour laws, low raw materials which will enable steel context, the DFS mandarins are given to Fax: (011) 23720201 · E-mail: [email protected] from the West to the East. And yet, at prophets had forecast that Chinese capital costs — that industry in turn and aluminium to compete. making public statements on issues that All letters must have a postal address and telephone least in India, there is deep skepticism manufacturing would collapse once became competitive. Agriculture must reveal its plan for fall in the regulatory domain — that is, number about what RCEP might lead to. the country acceded to the “free trade” In India, industry has had no internal market reform; industrial pol- Leading the pessimists are wide sec- World Trade Organization in 2001. On option but to improve competitiveness icy and promotion must tell us whether tions of the manufacturing industry. the contrary, China’s exports (and GDP in order to survive trade liberalisation. India will be in the top 10 in the world > HAMBONE Historically, India’s trade policies have growth) took off into the stratosphere But it has been let down by the gov- in the Ease of Doing Business by 2030. never succeeded in creating a globally precisely after it joined the WTO. ernment’s failure to be “competitive” The list goes on. competitive industry. Before 1991, tariff Clearly, China gained from the addi- in the domain of policy. The reality is If the performance of ministries is and non-tariff barriers protected infant tional market access it got and min- that if India has to have a globally com- tied in with RCEP commitments, industries that never quite grew up, imised losses from import competition. petitive industry, the government India may actually be able to create fleecing consumers while producing Of course, it is possible to argue that must emulate China on creating the world beating industry. For real trans- substandard products that would not by the time China signed on to the WTO, right ecosystem. formation, RCEP needs to disrupt pol- have withstood any degree of interna- it had already gone through two decades RCEP may actually provide an icy, not industry. tional competition. Post-1991, the nar- of internal reform (from 1978 to 2000). opportunity, if it provides a peg for rative of trade liberalisation took over And so, its manufacturing industry was every ministry of the government to The author is Chief Economist, Vedanta OPINION 9 > STAY INFORMED THROUGH THE DAY @ WWW.BUSINESS-STANDARD.COM.

Volume XXIII Number 116 ILLUSTRATION BY AJAY MOHANTY MUMBAI | THURSDAY, 24 JANUARY 2019 Good on paper But direct income support for farmers tough to implement ney-man benefit. Students learn how to do research he NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog has rec- by working alongside their professors. The graduates ommended direct income support of ~15,000 per hectare per annum industry hires come trained in doing research. to farmers. To prevent this from becoming a fiscal nightmare, the Second, the industry-institute linkage issue is imme- Aayog has suggested scrapping all subsidies for agriculture, includ- diately drastically reduced: every university has an T automatic, costless and strong linkage with industry ing fertiliser, electricity, crop insurance, irrigation and interest subvention, and through students. Each time industry hires a grad- transfer an estimated saving of around ~2 trillion directly to farmers. There are uate, a new link is formed. Third, not only does two reasons why this proposal makes sense. One, the existing subsidies are teaching benefit from combining research and often inefficiently disbursed and a direct transfer to a farmer’s account will be teaching, but research benefits too. A steady flow of a more efficient alternative. The other reason is that unlike minimum support bright young students keeps the research environ- prices, a direct income support does not accentuate market distortions and ment constantly refreshed. the associated efficiency losses. This method is far more acceptable globally The critical point, though, is that research is not the key output of doing research in universities —it and in line with the demands of the World Trade Organization, apart from is the flow of talent. Stanford University is often held being more inclusive and equitable. up as a poster-child for doing great industry-relevant There is also growing evidence that such direct income support schemes research. Whether it is biotechnology, computer sci- may also provide rich political dividends. A case in point is the stellar suc- ence or semiconductors, Stanford has been the cess of the Rythu Bandhu scheme, promoted by Telangana Chief Minister source of great break-throughs. But a clear-eyed K Chandrasekhar Rao. Telangana has a higher proportion of workforce in How to reform Indian assessment of Stanford would say that the world would not be markedly poorer without its research agriculture than the national average. Much like other states, it too was in output. But the world would be markedly poorer the habit of giving a whole host of subsidies and farm loan waivers. Rythu without the output of its graduates — who founded Bandhu provides all farm owners ~4,000 per acre of land owned. In the case Google, Hewlett Packard, Varian, Yahoo, Biogen and of double cropping land, this transfer was doubled. The scheme played a public research a hundred other great companies, which have pow- leading role in the Telangana Rashtra Samithi winning the elections with ered the research done in a thousand other compa- nies, and who lead the world in so many fields. The a huge mandate. There were two key aspects of this scheme. One, these Freeze budgetary allocation to national laboratories in nominal terms same holds true for any other leading Research transfers did not come at the cost of existing subsidies. Two, by design, it and allocate the annual increase to the higher education sector University. The purpose of a Research University is benefitted land owners and left out landless labourers. Odisha is another articulated as both education and research, but the state that is proposing to use this template, albeit with some tweaking. The talent produced far outweighs the research pro- KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Assistance) scheme n India’s R&D imperative, in an earlier column one-quarter of global R&D is funded by government, duced in impact. By doing public research in in Odisha provides ~5,000 per acre per season to all small and marginal (Business Standard, 06 December, 2018) we amounting to around 0.5 per cent of global GDP. autonomous laboratories, we completely miss the showed that India is an outlier in global R&D, India is no exception. Our first Prime Minister, essential benefit of doing public research. farmers as well as tenants and share-croppers. both in the proportion of national R&D done in Jawaharlal Nehru, took a keen interest in Science, However, there is one huge hurdle that targeted income support I How should we reform Indian public research? industry (44 per cent vs a global average of 71 per and our first two decades as an independent coun- schemes face in India. That has to do with the political reality of the prob- cent) and in the small proportion of try saw us establish many of the The current level of investment in public research lem in rolling back existing subsidies. An income support scheme can work national R&D done within the public laboratories that to this day is around ~80,000 crore (the exact figure is hard to efficiently only if all such subsidies are withdrawn. Given the acute pover- higher education system (4 per conduct much of the publicly- get at, as it needs to be extracted from the budgets ty in India as well as the reluctance of politicians to do away with existing cent vs a global average of 17 per funded research in this country. By of several line ministries). This increases by approx- cent). We argued that India needs the late ‘70s, India was investing imately ~7,000 crore each year. We have a modest subsidies, it is more likely that an income support scheme will only be in to increase its investment in in- 0.6 per cent of GDP in Public proposal: Freeze the current budgetary allocation addition to the existing subsidies. That leads to the question of the finan- house R&D by industry by a factor Research, uniquely for a develop- to the national laboratories at their current level in cial viability of any such scheme. Governments, both at the Centre and in of 5 (to go from 0.3 per cent of GDP ing country, and matching govern- nominal terms. Allocate the annual increase in pub- the states, are stretched and it is likely that targets of fiscal deficits and over- to the global average of 1.5 per cent) ment investment in R&D of the lic research funding to the higher education sector. all public debt to gross domestic product will not be met. The other draw- and increase public research done richest countries. This share has We will, at a stroke, almost treble the research done back of the scheme is that India does not have digitised land records and within the higher education sys- remained at about this level for the in the higher education system — increasing the tem by a factor of 10 (to go from last 40 years. But while India’s over- current ~4,000 crore by ~7,000 crore. And we can without them the scheme is almost impossible to implement. While the 0.04 per cent of GDP to the global all public investment in research add ~7,000 crore more each year. Universities — debate goes on, the government should rather think of alternatives such as average of 0.4 per cent). This article INDIA’S WORLD is very healthy, the location of this public and private — should be forced to compete investment in marketing infrastructure, storage and food processing, allow- is about public research. How is it NAUSHAD FORBES research is heavily skewed. The for these extra funds by writing proposals for new ing direct purchases from farmer producer organisations instead of requir- best done to maximise social wel- world does most of its public centres of excellence, recruiting leading faculty and ing farmers to sell their produce at registered markets. fare? Even more, where is it best done to maximise research within the higher education system; we do researchers working worldwide to come and teach social welfare? over 90 per cent in autonomous R&D laboratories. and do research in India, investing in new disci- This skewed investment starves the higher educa- plines. We would at a stroke transform the research Governments world-wide invest in public tion sector of funding for research. The consequence environment in our education system, and direct- research — and India fits in well is an order of magnitude gap: India invests 0.04 per ly impact the quality of education provided. This The temptations of dynasty Policy-makers worldwide have long argued that left cent of GDP in research done in the higher education one act — which costs us nothing — would have a entirely to private initiative, society underinvests in system, against a global average of 0.4 per cent. greater impact on the country’s innovation system Priyanka Gandhi’s entry shows politics remains a family affair research as the benefits that flow are either too than any amount of extra funding for our national uncertain or not fully captured by the investor. Why do public research in the higher laboratories. uried in the third paragraph of a press release from the All India Seminal papers 60 years ago by Richard Nelson education system? Congress Committee about an internal reorganisation of party office- (1959) and Kenneth Arrow (1962) provided a strong Most observers place America’s research universities The writer is co-chairman of Forbes Marshall, past bearers was a big political news story. The party president, said the theoretical basis for state subsidy of public research. at the core of its successful innovation ecosystem. president of CII, and chairman of the Centre for Technology, Brelease, has appointed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra AICC general secre- Consequently, even the most free-market of gov- There are manifold advantages to doing public Innovation and Economic Research (CTIER). tary for Uttar Pradesh East, with effect from the first week of February. The ernments invest heavily in public research. Around research in universities. First is the apprentice-jour- Email:[email protected] Congress in Uttar Pradesh was reeling from the decision of the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party alliance to effectively ignore its claims to any more Lok Sabha seats in the state than the two Gandhi family satrapies of Amethi and Rae Bareli; this news might conceivably enthuse the party cadre Marketing a political leader not only in India’s most populous state, but across the country. The larger question, however, is whether one member of the Gandhi family appointing hilip Kotler is to marketing professionals what the planet in their deliberations. and medium enterprises; those who lost jobs during  another to a significant political post is good news for a party that has long Peter Drucker was to management gurus. That sincerely and wholeheartedly works for the demonetisation, the families of those who were is why his decision to bestow an award in his Common Good. lynched; the Muslim community; . been accused of being reluctant to hold internal elections and remaining P name to Narendra Modi can best be described as On these criteria, Prime Minister Modi stood the Or how about: “Believes that a good society will hereditary property. odd. So odd, in fact, that it prompted media houses highest. He has improved his country’s image and build a healthy business climate”? Many business- Dynasties are not good for democracy. The spread of dynastic politics pre- to investigate. The Wire came up with a carefully- visibility on the global stage. A committee in the people may agree with that judgement, but what vents the creation of genuine mass leaders. It is not a coincidence that the only researched piece [https://www.thewire.in/busi- WMS voted on possible leaders given the above cri- with demonetisation, the hurried rollout of the major national mass leader to have emerged in the past 30 years — Prime ness/exclusive-the-saudi-connection-behind-modis- teria.” He does not identify, nor is he asked to, name Goods and Services Tax and rising import tariffs, Minister Narendra Modi — was neither a dynast nor has a family to which he first-ever-kotler-presidential-prize] linking the award the other leaders in contention. Then came the just as many may not. to a Saudi government-owned petrochemical group emphatic addendum: “The final decision was As for “encourages businesses to practice the can bequeath his political following. Mr Modi’s appeal lies in his ability to posi- with a unit in Gujarat that is hoping mine.” (italics in original). triple bottom line, namely to balance profits, people, tion himself as a man of and from the people. He has often, and expertly, to expand its presence in India. And All this stuff speaks directly to and the planet in their deliberations”, the evidence attacked dynastic politics, and the elevation of Ms Gandhi Vadra is only like- it turned out, two of the jury mem- Mr Modi, who revels in corporate that Mr Modi has exhorted corporations thus is ly to give him one more piece of evidence in this attack. Mass leaders invig- bers, ad industry veteran Walter phraseology (such as the leader of slim. In fact, the former government, with its absurd orate and revive the democratic spirit. The visible possibility that leadership Vieira and Gautam Mahajan, did the nation being the “brand mandate on corporate social responsibility spend- is open to all ensures that the inclusive character of liberal democracy is pre- not take part in the judging process guardian of the nation”) and, like ing, would probably qualify better on this count. for the award. Chandrababu Naidu, fancies him- And it was former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh served, and that disillusionment does not build up across the electorate about Eventually, the issue generated self a CEO-type politician. The haz- who urged senior managements to cut back on their a closed system. It also reduces the chances that the political class forms a self- enough controversy to compel Mr ards of this approach can be seen in pay and perks, a statement that earned him no serving, exclusive elite that is out of touch with the real problems of society. Kotler to issue a clarification via an Donald Trump, who claims his kudos from the business community. While the Congress receives a lot of justifiable flak for its tolerance — and, “interview” in The Marketing business acumen gives him a spe- Also, Mr Kotler’s observation that Mr Modi “has in this case, promotion — of a dynasty, it is far from being the only offender. Journal, to its editor Christian cial insight into running the world’s improved his country’s image and visibility on the In fact, dynastic politics is more the rule than the exception in India. While the Sarkar. His answer to the question SWOT largest economy. global stage” is open to question. Suppressed figures on who exemplifies model politi- A cursory reading of the four on the latest Foreign Direct Investment top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the communist parties have cal leadership by his definition KANIKA DATTA Kotlerian criteria reveals not just [https://www.business-standard.com/article/opin- been by and large exempt, the second rung of the former has several dynasts deserves some space (actually, the the weakness of the marketing ion/losing-credibility-119012200038_1.html] suggest in it. And many regional and caste-based parties have now become little whole interview from about the third question guru’s arguments but the hazards of linking corpo- quite the opposite. Is he referring to World Yoga more than family-run concerns — literally from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. The onwards has an entertainment value that neither rate standards of judgement to politics and politi- Day, maybe? Or the rock-concert-style turnouts by two parties of the Valley are family-run, as is the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Mr Kotler nor Mr Sarkar must suspect). cians. More so when the exercise is applied to an an energetically mobilised NRI fan club in his ear- He said: “The concept underlying the award is to insanely complex and diverse polity such as India. ly days? All of this ignores Dr Singh’s carefully nego- in Tamil Nadu. Karnataka has a chief minister who is the son of a former prime honor a major public leader who has given new life The four points Mr Kotler lists above are boilerplate tiated nuclear deal with George Bush, which played minister; the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh is the son-in-law of a prede- to democracy and economic growth in that nation. attributes to which any politician in a functioning a far bigger role in bringing India in from the cessor; the CM of newly-formed Telangana is setting up his own dynasty. A Kotler Leadership Award leader is one who: democracy would lay claim. Equally, in the rowdy, global cold. Odisha is ruled by a dynast, and Punjab by a royal. The “socialist” OBC par-  believes in representative government and in argumentative political theatre that is India, all four To be strictly fair to Mr Modi, no other national ties of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are similarly now controlled by families. This social justice. points could be disputed with just as much facility. Indian politician would qualify for the award on is revealing of a deeper malaise within Indian politics. Until more vibrant and  believes that a good society will build a healthy Let’s consider point four first: “Sincerely and any criterion listed by Mr Kotler either. But given the business climate. wholeheartedly works for the Common Good”. At yardsticks applied to the first one, you really won- inclusive party structures are put in place, Indian democracy will not achieve  encourages businesses to practice the triple the time of writing, there is a whole raft of people der who will win the second Philip Kotler its full potential. bottom line, namely to balance profits, people, and who may dispute that: farmers, for instance; small Presidential Award.

in one magazine didn’t publish in the oth- rivalries is difficult, and Ms Bhattacharjee the labels the writers er. Ms Bhattacharjee Chowdhury correct- Chowdhury must be congratulated for her had proclaimed for themselves, and not India’s Beat Generation ly points this out. In page 64, we learn that effort, but one wishes such questions are taking them at face value, would have an editorial by in answered more pointedly. worked better. readers will be left with more questions have felt when he was visiting the big city Krittibash had admonished the Hungry The Hungry Generation has often been The book does have flashes of Ms than answers after reading the book. for the first time as she sets the social and Generation movement. Ms Bhattacharjee labelled an-establishment group, but what Bhattacharjee Chowdhury’s lyrical narra- One reason for the recent interest in political context in which Ginsberg visited Chowdhury says that this was because of a constitutes the establishment often gets tion. Here is an example: “The winds would the Hungryalists is a renewed interest in India. We are gripped by the narrative even letter , another muddled in the course of the book. Ms often while they were in Chaibasa, the Beat Generation. met as there is a diversion. As the book pro- contemporary writer, wrote while declaim- Bhattacharjee Chowdhury points out some scream like a widow losing her hair.” Her the poets when he visited India, but, unlike gresses, the narrative meanders into two ing the state of contemporary literature, biographical details: the bohemian lifestyle inclusion of letters exchanged among the BOOK REVIEW him, one of the Hungryalist writers, Malay separate streams and her control over which named Sunil and other writers. After of the writers, their attempts at changing various people embroiled in the tumul- SOURADEEP ROY Ray Choudhury, was arrested and jailed structure is seldom seen again. 20 pages, on page 84, we see an episode their upper caste food habits, the inclusion tuous period in this literary history, are the for obscenity. Ms Bhattacharjee Her choice of narration, as well as some where and his of writers in their fold. Literature, how- best parts of the book. The reviewer, how- This is the first book in English on a gen- Chowdhury relies on Ginsberg’s India of her claims, can be called more accu- brother Samir Roy Choudhury, visit Sunil ever, primarily concerns itself with lan- ever, was particularly disappointed to see eration of writers in the 1960s who called Journals among other sources, but the rately a reimagining of the Hungry Gangopadhyay’s house. In spite of the ten- guage, and we get the impression that it almost all the names in the Bengali script themselves the Hungryalists. They were singular attention in following Ginsberg’s Generation movement. The reviewer sions between the Hungryalists and the was the Hungryalists’ use of language that were misspelt, editing errors that could self-proclaimed “anti-establishment” writ- journey in India— his fallout with his lover would advise against reading the book as Krittibash group, Malay Ray Choudhury’s offended the establishment. Early in the have easily been avoided. ers and wrote mostly in Bengali. Some of Peter Orlovsky, for instance — makes for literary history, or even, as an introducto- first poetry collection is published by book, Buddhadev Bose is described as their publications, which were bulletins, unnecessary deviations. Midway through ry history to the Hungry Generation move- Krittibas Prakashani in 1963. Ms “’s premier literary figure”. Later on, The reviewer is a research scholar at the School of were also published in English and Hindi. the book, one wonders whose story is being ment. The book, of course, does not claim Bhattacharjee Chowdhury reasons that this we learn that Bose’s novel Raat Bhore Bishti Arts and Aesthetics, JNU. He tweets at In the “Epilogue”, Ms Bhattacharjee told. But Ms Bhattacharjee Chowdhury to be an authoritative history but even as was because Samir was close to Sunil. But (Rain Through the Night) had also been @souradeeproy19 Chowdhury acknowledges that the handles the two narratives deftly in the popular non-fiction, there are too many how can one explain why Malay’s book was censored. What happens when a novel by Hungry Generation never made a come- beginning which alternates between Malay jumps in the narrative. The book, for brought out by the same publication that a “premier literary figure” also gets cen- back in , but “recent years Roy Choudhury’s train ride to Calcutta in instance, claims there was a rivalry had publicly stated in an editorial that the sored? How is he different from Malay Ray THE HUNGRYALISTS have seen a better understanding of the October 1962 and an exposition of between those who published the Hungry Generation literature has no liter- Choudhury — anti-establishment’s The Poets Who Sparked a Revolution movement”. While interest in the poets Ginsberg’s visit to India in Bombay in Hungryalist bulletins and the editors of ary worth? Or why Sunil had testified for favourite child? Ms Bhattacharjee Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury has certainly piqued in recent years — and February 1961. She convincingly imagines another cult magazine, Krittibash. This Malay Ray Choudhury in court in the Chowdhury does not attempt to probe Penguin India this book is certainly a result of that — the anticipation Roy Choudhury would does not mean that writers who published obscenity case? Finding reason in literary these questions. Looking through some of Pages 187; Price: ~599