Dissertation Abstracts
Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM)
2002-04 Examination of Chennai’s Water Problem: Possible Solutions and the Role of Private Sector Anand Balagopalan Chennai city has been facing drinking water problem for the past several decades, with no permanent solution in sight. Unlike Delhi and Kolkata, which are served by perennial rivers, and Mumbai, which is generously blessed by monsoon rains stored in lakes at the foothills of Western Ghats, Chennai does not have any perennial source of water nearby. As the city attracts more and more migrants from the rural hinterlands, the foremost concern of the policy makers is to find a lasting solution for the water problem.
This dissertation is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter gives a general description of Chennai, its topography, pattern of rainfall and the histroy of its water supply over the years; introduces the drinking water problem and then states the research objectives. The second chapter deals with review of literature on the subject of privatization of drinking water supply. The view points of critics, for and against privatization, are discussed along with privatization efforts in other part of the globe, notably in Israel, USA and Argentina.
The third chapter deals with the research methodology. The methodology adopted is an exploratory analysis, largely based on information furnished by respondents to questionnaires. One set of questionnaires were given to the Officials in CMWSSB to gauge their attitude towards unaccounted for water; another questionnaire was given to private players involved in water supply. I have also prepared a questionnaire for the consumers, specifically regarding privatization of distribution, billing and collection. In addition, I have made extensive use of secondary data from files, Annual Reports of CMWSSB, Master Plan for Water Supply, Volumes I & II by Tata Consulting Engineers. I have also conducted in- depth interviews with the policy elite in the Secretariat, CMWSSB, PWD and other offices.
Chapter four contains analyses of the information elicited from the questionnaires. In this chapter I have attempted to arrive at the demand supply gap for water and given the severity of water shortage, suggest suitable solutions, including the participation of the private sector. My focus has been on how the private sector provides services; the quality of their service; the constraints faced by the private sector in its operations and on how these constraints can be overcome.
Chapter five contains policy suggestions and recommendations. The solutions consist of augmentation measures, chiefly from the Telegu Ganga and the New Veeranam Project; and water conservation measures such as rainwater harvesting and reduction of unaccounted for water. Chapters six and seven contain the appendix and the bibliography respectively. I have come to the conclusion that no single solution can solve the water problem of Chennai and we need to have a basket of solutions.
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Designing a New Performance Evaluation System, based on Balanced Score Card for Divisions of Indian Railways
Anil Sainani
“Measurement Matters” and “What is measured gets done” are two widely accepted management principles. However, not all that matters can be measured and not all that is measured really matters. This reality is perhaps what has made the task of performance measurement an extremely difficult and challenging task.
The revolutionary concept of Balanced Score Card, developed by Robert S Kaplan and David P Norton, represents a giant step forward in the field of performance evaluation. The introduction of performance evaluation systems based on Balanced Score Card – both in private and public enterprises, including Governments at all levels (Federal, State and Country) in some of the developed countries like United States and United Kingdom have yielded truly spectacular results. The concept of Balanced Score Card as a powerful tool for productivity enhancement is fast gaining acceptability.
The tool holds tremendous promise for Indian Railways, an institution that is one hundred and fifty year old and is one of the most important institutions of modern India. Today, Indian Railways is in the midst of a watershed period of its history. It is delicately poised and can either continue to play its role as an economic catalyst, while remaining financially and operationally viable, or can accelerate its present decline to the ultimate downfall.
To address the present woes of India Railways The Rakesh Mohan Committee (RMC), appointed by Ministry of Railways, has recommended far reaching structural and policy changes to improve and enhance rail business in this country. This dissertation presents an alternate and yet compatible strategy that can work in tandem with the RMC recommendations – to significantly enhance productivity levels of Indian Railways by introducing a new performance evaluation system based on the concept of Balanced Score Card for the Divisions – the front-end organizational tier of the Indian Railways.
Although it may be surprising to disbelievers, the present study amply demonstrates the fact that railway employees – both officers and staff, have strongly voted for introducing a new and effective performance evaluation system based on Balanced Score Card for the Railway Divisions. An overwhelming majority of the railway employees have agreed that a good performance evaluation system results in better performance and that the existing performance evaluation system on the Indian Railways leaves a lot to be desired.
The introduction of a performance evaluation system based on Balanced Score Card should ideally start from the top end of the organization, where the vision and the strategy
2 | P a g e for the organization as a whole is developed and finalized. Each subsequent tier of the organization then derives its Score Card from the layer above. However, though it is desirable to follow the top down approach, individual units can also build their Score Cards on the basis of organization’s vision’s and strategy. What is perhaps indispensable is the involvement of all key stakeholders in the development of individual objectives, measures, targets and initiatives in the different perspectives of Score Card. Since the Balanced Score Card developed in the present paper is directly based on the needs, ideas and perspectives of two of the three most important stakeholders of Indian Railways – customers and employees, it can be developed further and introduced directly in any Division of the Indian Railways.
The data collected from Railways’ customers and employees have thrown up certain important dimensions of rail business in three of the four perspectives of Balanced Score Card. The individual objectives, measures, targets and initiatives, as developed in the four perspectives of the proposed Balanced Card bring into focus the key drivers for enhanced performance of Railway Divisions.
The adoption of the proposed Balanced Score Card by Railway Divisions holds tremendous potential for performance enhancements. True, the road ahead is treacherous and the journey is going to be difficult. There are a few significant obstacles, nay “ challenges ”, on the way, such as – changing the entrenched bureaucratic culture, establishment of systems for measurement of not so easily measurable indices like customer and employee satisfaction, linking of incentives with performance and a fundamental shift in attitude from internal focus to customer focus. Though these are mammoth tasks, they are mandatory for the successful implementation of the proposed system.
But then as Stephen R Covey, one of the most influential management gurus of modern times has aptly said in his landmark book “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” – “A thousand miles journey begins with the first step and can only be taken one at a time”. The first step in the renewed journey aimed at significant and enhanced productivity of the Indian Railways could start a debate for the introduction of “a new and effective performance evaluation system”. This is the core issue of the present dissertation.
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Indian Environmental Diplomacy Focus and Framework
Arun Kumar Verma
Indian environmental diplomacy made a strong initial mark at the United Nations Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972. Currently there are more than 200 environmental treaties and India has signed or ratified 74 of them.
Environmental issues are not merely scientific and technical subjects but are intertwined with the central issues of world politics such as: international system of resource production and use, principles of world trade, North-South relations, security concerns of India and internal, social and political stability. Being a party to the international environmental regime enjoins national responsibility and the outcomes affect common people. It can also mean incurring higher costs of production, changing consumption patterns, new priorities of investment, need for research and development, and even reforms in governance. Debate over devising a principle for sharing the responsibility is intense and negotiators need to take very informed and tactical positions. Thus, focused approach, comprehensive perspective, and suitable structure of environmental diplomacy are the sine qua non of present-day international relations. Greater responsibility is expected of the policy framers in terms of managing national interests and at the same time protecting global interests.
This study examines the adequacy of existing institutional structures and mechanisms to transact environmental negotiation, inclusion of different stakeholders, and capability to meet present or futuristic needs of multilateral environmental negotiations. It discusses the present focus of Indian environmental diplomacy and suggests changes in the institutional mechanism and principles to make environmental diplomacy more effective.
Indian environmental diplomacy has been characterized by concern for sovereignty; equity, solidarity with the Third World, priority of development over environment, and a high degree of self-esteem and concern for India’s international image. Environmental diplomacy in India is conducted jointly by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MOEA). No environmental functionary works in MOEA. There is no fixed method of coordinating with MOEF. MOEF brings environmental issues into the picture, but the development aspects are taken care of by MOEA. In MOEF, initially the International Cooperation (IC) division used to handle all multilateral environmental agreements, but in the post-Rio scenario, specific conventions and related activities are looked after by different divisions, normally headed by Joint Secretaries (JS). The arrangement has intrinsic problems of lack of smooth coordination and professional expertise, inadequate consultation, exclusion of stakeholders, missing people connectivity, faulty and delayed choice of delegation, ineffective interaction with global bureaucracy, and unprepared negotiations.
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Two of the most important needs of Indian environmental diplomacy are - mainstreaming with foreign policy and turning proactive. Consistency between multilateral environmental agreements (MEA) and the related provision in other multilateral arrangements; closer coordination between trade and environmental diplomacies; reconsideration of Third World Solidarity; integration of China in WTO and MEAs, unilateral policy of US; and Japan’s rising interest in the environment should define the present focus of environmental diplomacy. India can play a role in developing new financial sources by consolidating its old rhetoric of the Planet Protection Fund or advocacy for creation of fund through tax on the flow of capital. India must lead nations in stabilizing the meaning of commonly referred principles of international environment law, reviewing existing treaties, leading new issues of biotechnological developments, and rekindling international debate on production and consumption patterns. India can guide even capacity building of G-77 as a group.
Strengthening the United Nations Environment and Science (UNES) division of MOEA, designating Permanent Missions of India in New York and Geneva and embassies in Bonn, Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Singapore and Canberra as regional centres for environmental diplomacy, strengthening of the IC division of MOEF, constitution of an Advisory Committee on International Environmental Issues, involvement of the Indian National Science Academy to work on science and policy implications of environmental issues, capacity building of state and non-state actors, and establishing a system of environmental review of trade and investment agreements are recommended for improving environmental diplomatic institutions.
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Analysis of the Existing Systems of Accountability in Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) of Karnataka
Bandla Srinivas
For increasing people’s participation at the grass roots level, India adopted democratic decentralization by conferring constitutional status on local bodies in 1993. Accordingly, the government of Karnataka passed the KPR Act, with the noble objective of achieving economic development with social justice, and transferred functions, funds and functionaries to the local bodies. However, various studies have indicated poor participation of people in local governance and lack of transparency in decision-making by the Panchayat Raj Institutions. The system has been plagued by poor accountability.
Literature indicates that proper accountability mechanisms are a must for the success of PRIs. Involvement of citizens in policymaking and implementation, role of media and civil societies and independent audit mechanisms ensure proper accountability of the PRI functionaries to the people and to the government.
In the light of the above, it has been felt necessary to analyze the existing systems of accountability for the public officials in the PRIs of Karnataka and to suggest necessary improvements in the accountability mechanisms. The need for this study was felt, as a comprehensive study of individual schemes at various levels of implementation within the general administrative set-up is required. Accordingly, an effort was made to study the decision-making processes involved in the selection and implementation of both community works and individual beneficiary oriented schemes, implemented across various levels of PRIs in the Bangalore Urban District. Further, there is an analysis of the general accountability and functioning of bodies like the Grama Sabhas, conducting of Jamabandi, the role of Lokayukta as a control mechanism to prevent abuse of power and that of CAG in ensuring an independent and impartial audit mechanism. The Bangalore Urban district was chosen on the assumption that the accountability systems in its PRIs would be well developed because of its proximity to the capital city of the state.
The exploratory method and case study approach were followed in pursuing the research objectives. Government reports, orders files of PRIs and line departments, proceedings and minutes of the meetings of committees of various PRIs were scrutinized for the research, apart from which in-depth discussions were held with citizens and personal interviews were conducted with officers and elected representatives. Further, indicators of accountability were evolved based on the literature review and an expert survey was conducted to obtain the weightage assigned by the experts for each `accountability indicator’ relevant to the schemes studied. Percentage accountability of each scheme was worked out after assigning values to each indicator based on the intensity of its adoption in each scheme.
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It was found that the schemes that were implemented fully at the lower tiers in the decentralized machinery had more accountability than those implemented at the ZP level. This means that decentralization works best when carried out to its logical conclusion.
Among the ills ailing the system, the primary cause for concern was the insensitivity of the functionaries of the local bodies. Rational norms are conspicuous by their absence in the decision-making processes. Collusion between officials and political functionaries has the potential to derail the benefits of decentralization. Acquiring of interests by members of PRIs in execution of works distorts investment decisions and dilutes quality of works.
Based on extensive research, this study proposes two sets of recommendations – the first is to enhance people’s participation and the second is to improve administrative procedures.
People’s participation can be encouraged by conducting awareness campaigns regarding Grama Sabhas and Jamabandi. Infrastructure and demographic databases need to be developed for identifying backwardness of the villages and the socio-economic burdens of beneficiaries for implementing various schemes respectively; these databases have to be whetted by the people. Empowering people in monitoring civil works by demystifying the technicalities also aids public participation. A scorecard of performance appraisal of the PRI functionaries has to be evolved by NGOs and the media can increase public awareness and participation.
Justification memo for each action taken would reduce arbitrariness in decision making. Subjecting funds spent by line departments, on behalf of ZPs to AG audit and relieving the CAO from the control of PRI functionaries to maintain independence would strengthen the audit function. Panchayat Jamabandi needs to be extended to Zilla and Taluk Panchayats. Upa-Lokayukta’s reports need to be made public irrespective of the action taken by the government. These administrative measures would go a long way in improving accountability and bringing transparency to the system.
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Policy Intervention Needed for Achieving 10% Industrial Growth in Andhra Pradesh
J. S. Chandrashekar
Chapter I talks of how the researcher got interested in the topic, as a result of the heavy criticism, on Government of Andhra Pradesh Vision 2020 statement, even by eminent people who said that it was a ‘daydream’, and the goals stated there were ‘not attainable’. As I had the personal experience of working for seven years in the Central Excise department at Hyderabad, and having interacted with the industry I felt that there was a perceivable gap between the goals stated in the policy and the rate of industrial growth.
Chapter II deals with literature review. To get an overview of the industrial growth, I had to do a lot of literature review to gain special domain knowledge on the subject, and get a feel of it before attempting any research. I had also written a policy paper on China’s economic growth at Maxwell. My other assignments in course were also on related issues like TRIMS, VAT, and Service Tax etc. to prepare myself for this research.
The literature provides an insight of industrial growth in India, especially in the reform era. Except for three articles, which are specific to Andhra Pradesh, the rest are reports suggesting what the Government should do and what the industry should be doing. Literature clearly states that the future growth of industry in India is dependent on how the industry copes with improving its productivity, skill levels and innovations to stay in the market, and the role of any Government is to provide good governance and device policies which do not act as bottle necks of growth, so that the industry thrives. Today there is a real fear of Indian capital flying out of the country to places like China. So states within India are not only competing amongst themselves but also with other nations, both for Indian capital investment and FDI.
Chapter III states the research objectives, questions and methodology. The objective was to primarily see whether 10% industrial growth is possible and whether sincere efforts are being made to increase the growth rate from 5 to 10 percent. Another objective was to see the acceptance level of policies being advocated. The next objective was to make practical and useful policy suggestions after interacting with the industry in a different setting of academic research. Questions to meet the objectives were designed in consultation with my guide who gave me a more focused approach. The methodology adopted was both quantitative and qualitative.
Chapter IV is devoted to research analysis and findings and has two components - Quantitative findings, which are explained on the basis of data analyzed in the computer on the SPSS Package; and Qualitative findings that are analyzed on the basis of opinions gathered during interview sessions and discussed with other respondents to know their viewpoint as well. However there is no attempt to correlate the qualitative and qualitative research findings, as the objective of quantitative research was to ascertain all the objectives set forth, and that of the qualitative research objective was to make policy suggestions. 8 | P a g e
Chapter V analyses the findings made through both quantitative and qualitative methods. The growth target of 10%, though achievable, has many hurdles to cross as many policy issues have to be decided by the central government and Andhra Pradesh state can only hope for the best. Finally, the conclusion is that the existing industry should be given the maximum fillip, so that the growth objective can be achieved thus enabling them to become global majors.
Annexure to this report gives all figures and tables.
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Enhancing Revenues of the Indian Railways through Commercial Advertising
Dhananjay Naik
This study explores the means of increasing revenues of the Indian Railways (IR) through commercial advertising. IR’s current earnings from commercial advertising are Rs.41 crores (i.e. Rs.410 million), against a target of Rs.100 crores (i.e. Rs.1 billion). The attempt is to understand why Transit Advertising revenue is a meager 42% of the target. In IR, advertising is generally considered as a peripheral activity. It is perceived to be of little relevance to the Indian Railways, as in percentage terms it represents less than a quarter percent of the total revenues. The poor state of finances of the Railways however implies that every rupee counts. The Passenger – Railways interface has been mapped out in detail, starting from the intention to buy a ticket and ending with the departure of the passenger from the railway station on termination of journey. The opportunities for advertising are primarily an outcome of this interface. At each stage of the Passenger-Railway interface an opportunity has been identified, that could be used fruitfully for commercial advertising. An endeavor has been made to quote an example from a different Railway or a different organization that exploits such opportunity. The focus is primarily on the conventional media that the Railways offer for advertising – hoardings, glow signs, posters etc. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has thrown up a whole range of new options. The scope of profitably using these technologies has been studied.
This study is based largely on secondary data gathered from the Railways. In-depth interviews have been conducted with leading advertising agencies to understand their perceptions of the issue and to find out what they desire from the Railways if they are to buy up the advertising opportunities on the IR and thus contribute to the Railway revenues. A comparison of commercial advertising earnings of the three high earning Divisions of the Indian Railways – Bombay Division, WR; Jaipur Division, WR/NWR; & Bangalore Division SR/SWR has been made to highlight the best practices in this area. A structural flaw exists in organizing this business on the IR. It has traditionally decentralized the entire business of commercial advertising. This implies that if a particular company (desiring to launch a product nationally) wants to buy up advertising opportunities (on the railway stations) in the four metros and in the so-called mini metros, it cannot do so through a single tender. This particular company would have to apply separate tenders to the different Divisions of different Zonal Railways. This is probably the reason that none of the 10 big advertising companies in India own a significant amount of space on the IR. It is clear that the business needs to be restructured. This study recommends that IR segment their advertising opportunities similar to their catering opportunities in terms of ‘Major Units and Others’. Pantry Car Contracts and Food Plazas are awarded centrally while Divisions allot individual stalls. This research suggests a scheme of segmentation for the advertising business based on scale. A study has been made, based largely on secondary sources, of how Transit Advertising business is conducted in the US. Some of their methods are relevant to the
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Indian Railways. A primary difference is in the manner in which their contracts are framed. Their contracts have an inbuilt incentive for the Contractor to expand the area under display and thereby maximize revenues for himself, as well as for the organization. The advertising potential is hence exploited to the maximum extent. Our contracts on the IR are traditionally restrictive in nature, in the sense that they circumscribe the area and the medium that can be used for display - thus the potential cannot be exploited to the maximum. Contract clauses containing these and other points that can be profit IR have been highlighted in the study. The decision making process in the award of contracts has also been examined in detail and improvements suggested. A list of recommendations has been drafted to augment revenues in this area. The assumptions and conditions under which these recommendations will work have also been clearly spelt out. The study explores the sanctity of the figure of Rs.1 billion as the target. Estimated potential earnings are 0.8 billion, and the assumptions made to arrive at this figure have been clearly spelt out.
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Transparency and Disclosure in Indian Capital Markets
S. Gopalakrishnan
Two significant features seen in capital markets are the existence of the principal – agent problem and acute asymmetries of information. The shareholders (principals) entrust the running of their company to the management (agent), which is to be monitored by the Board. The company is also accountable to various other stakeholders. In the wake of various scams and market abuses, it has been realized that better corporate governance would help to avoid the recurrence of such incidents. A critical aspect of superior corporate governance is Disclosure, which would cover the disclosures made by management to the Board for better monitoring and the disclosures to be made by the company to regulators, investors and the general public. Such disclosures could be mandated or voluntary. This paper studies the disclosure scenario in the Indian context. It argues that the markets should be allowed to gauge the disclosure practices of the companies and warns that stringent mandates to effect disclosure may result in emphasis being placed more on the form at the expense of the content. The regulators could play the role of informing the public about what the firms have and have not disclosed. The regulators too have to improve their act and play a pro-active role rather than reacting after the horse has bolted. Technological advances such as XBRL need to be actively encouraged for adoption. With regard to forcing the pace of such disclosure practices on Indian companies, the lead should come from the financial institutions that have significant stakes in most large enterprises, but have so far played a very passive role. Better disclosure and such other effective corporate governance practices have become imperative in view of the following developments. More and more investors are seeking to invest in the capital markets because of the reducing interest rates. Foreign Institutional investors too are increasing their exposure due to the attractive returns offered; and Indian companies may also prefer to raise cheaper capital from foreign markets. To facilitate such developments, it is vital to have more effective disclosure practices.
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Antecedents and Consequences of Job Satisfaction of Government Employees in India
Hasmukh Adhia
Motivation of government employees is the key to increasing overall productivity of India. Employee motives represent what employees’ want and expect from their jobs, while job satisfaction reflects the employees’ reactions to what they receive. In this research, an attempt is made to measure job satisfaction, personality traits, organizational perceptions, affective commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour of government employees in India. Statistical analysis has been used to find the correlations among the three factors - antecedent, job satisfaction and consequence.
The analysis finds that individual personality factors are not significant predictors of job satisfaction, but the three organizational factors – distributive justice, procedural justice and organizational politics are strong predictors of job satisfaction. The study also suggests that higher job satisfaction can lead to better affective commitment, but not better organizational citizenship behaviour. Significant difference is found between the job satisfaction of the Central and State Government employees and male and female employees; however there is no significant difference between job satisfaction of officers and staff.
When asked to rank factors of motivation, the government employees voted “Fairness in Job Allocation” as the most important and “Better Communication” as the second most important factor for their motivation, even bypassing factors such as pay, contingent rewards etc. The two factors which were ranked lowest are clarity of organizational objectives and connection of their job with the process of achieving organizational objectives.
The following specific suggestions are given for improving the job satisfaction of government employees:
• Replacing the existing system of performance evaluation by a quantitatively measurable system of performance evaluation.
• Conscious attempts by heads of offices and supervisors to be fair in job allocation and watching the performance of less skilled workers as well.
• Using psycological techniques for appreciating good work and judicious punishment for non-workers.
• Changing the structure of the government by having less number of class 3 and class 4 posts and more number of officers.
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Evolving a Comprehensive Performance Measurement System for BSNL
Janaki Ananthakrishnan
This dissertation has been undertaken with a view to evolving a comprehensive performance measurement system for my organization, that is, BSNL. As a newly incorporated entity in a highly challenging business environment, BSNL is in need of a forward looking performance measurement system that can provide reliable market signals, both in the short as well as long term, for all the stakeholders concerned. My submission is that the Balanced Scorecard fulfills all these various requirements. In order to design the Balanced Scorecard, the methodology adopted was two-fold. Firstly, surveys were done, using the questionnaire format, of both employees and customers (chosen randomly) of the Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle. Secondly, in-depth discussions/brainstorming sessions were conducted with certain officers and staff to elicit details of the elements constituting the metrics of the Scorecard. These various inputs were analyzed to arrive at the basis of a working Scorecard. Concurrently, the experiences of comparable Indian as well as foreign service-sector companies regarding the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard were studied to get further pointers. The latter part of the dissertation builds on the results and conclusions of the field work and information from primary/secondary data sources, to come up with a prototype Scorecard. In the present dynamic market scenario such a Scorecard, if consistently maintained, will greatly help in the continuous improvement of the performance of BSNL.
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Developing a Model of Total Quality Management for Primary School Education in India
G. Kalpana
This paper examines the concept and strategies of Total Quality Management (TQM), in order to develop a model of TQM - based school education for implementation in primary education in India. It begins with a description of the challenges in the Indian education sector. After defining the concept of TQM, a philosophy developed for the industry by W. E. Deming and adapted to education, it examines its application in the U.S.A. and U.K. A study of the differences between the two nations leads to the conclusion that TQM succeeds best as a local school-based initiative. TQM is adaptable as a generic model suitable to the diversity in Indian education. TQM is an attitude towards school improvement, and is broad enough to encompass the multifarious needs for school reform in India. The paper posits a model for TQM in schools, along with enabling conditions and possible pitfalls. Based on research work in the primary schools of Karnataka, a detailed blueprint for reform is evolved, which incorporates the TQM way of thinking with the major requirements for school improvement. These include: systemic thinking with the school as unit, a decentralized management structure, teacher development, teamwork and collegiality, school-level leadership, involvement of the community, focus on the process of learning, and non-threatening assessment.
TQM is a fairly well established strategy in industry, and has been adapted in many schools in USA and other countries. The contribution of this paper is in weaving the strands of TQM theory into the realities of the Indian school education system. By doing so, it is able to provide a framework within which the largely dispersed individual initiatives in schools can not only be understood but also replicated on a wider scale. The paper concludes by recommending a mindset change that embraces diversity, consistency and realism for success.
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Strategic Management of Medicinal Plants in Tamil Nadu with Special Reference to Conservation of Threatened Medicinal Plants in KMTR (Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve), Tamil Nadu
Manoj Kumar Sarcar
Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants can be done by taking up many types of action. Some of these actions are undertaken directly at the places where the plants grow naturally while others are ex-situ conservation and bio prospecting with a less `direct’ or passive role.
The single most important role for medicinal plants in biological conservation appears to be their use to enable conservation of their natural habitat. It originates from the special meaning the medicinal plants have to people, related to the major contributions that they make to many people’s lives in terms of health support, financial income, cultural identity and livelihood security. Under the appropriate circumstances, these values can be transformed into incentive for conservation of the habitats in which the medicinal plants are grown. Realization of this potential will depend greatly on the existence of assured rights of access to, and use of, the plants by those members of communities whose lives are most closely bound to them.
India is very rich in medicinal plants resource, which is complemented by a fairly widespread traditional knowledge of medicine. With the onset of globalization, there has been an upsurge in the production of plant based medicines, tonics and body care products in the recent years. This has caused export acceleration of crude medicinal drugs in the international market (China and India being the top two exporters), leading to a large number of medicinal plants being placed in the threatened category of plants, as classified by International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN).
Further, in India forests are overwhelmingly State owned (97% of the total forest area). About 85% of the increasing demand for medicinal plants is met through wild collection, mainly from these forestlands. The present study identifies that more than 1000 species of Indian medicinal plants suffer from various degrees of threats, of which 172 plants need immediate attention of the government to protect them from further depletion. Yet, peculiarly, the conservation and management of medicinal plants is not really seen as the mandate of the Forest department. The Forest department – the custodian of the medicinal plants and their natural habitat still has as its priority the protection and conservation of wild fauna, but less or little emphasis is placed on wild flora, including the medicinal plants, which are the critical ingredients of many life saving drugs.
There are several other government departments and NGOs, such as the Indian Systems of Medicine of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, both at the Central and State levels, that control the budget and programme for medicinal plants conservation. Of
16 | P a g e late there have been some attempts to involve the Forest departments in the conservation and sustainable harvest of medicinal plants.
The problem appears to be lack of specific policies and legal provisions in tandem with a management strategy for the conservation of medicinal plants by their custodian – the Forest department which has the major shares of this resource. Thus, the objectives of this study were: 1) To propose a policy framework with strategies for conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants 2) To propose augmentation of the existing legal provisions of conservation to include conservation of threatened medicinal plants. 3) To provide a conservation development model for prioritizing the management prescription of medicinal plants 4) To provide species specific recommendations and action plan for select medicinal plants in the study area, i.e. the Kalakad Mundandurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) – the 17 th Tiger Reserve of the country located in Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari, the southern most districts of Tamilnadu.
With the above objectives, the following research propositions were made: 1) Medicinal Plants resources are getting depleted in their wild habitats. 2) Medicinal Plants do not get the attention they deserve due to lack appreciation of their value, utility and survival status by their custodian - the Forest department 3) The Forest department continues its priority for, a) Protection and conservation of wild fauna but less or little emphasis is placed on wild flora; and b) Promoting excellence of technicalities but placing less emphasis on policy vision with skill competence. To prove the above propositions, systematic methodology was followed by identifying and mapping the shares of various stakeholders of medicinal plants for collection of data in the field by a questionnaire survey, conducting in- depth interviews and a combination of both the questionnaireand interview methods. The collected data from various methods and also from the literature survey and detailed analysis were used to draw the findings of this study.
Based on the above findings, I have developed specific policy recommendations by proposing strategic management for conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants. The recommendations encompass a few other important issues, which need the immediate attention of the Forest department, so that further depletion of MPs can be sealed and propagation starts. I have developed a conservation model for prioritizing the stress level for a few select MPs of KMTR; made a few strategic prescriptions for them along with the suggested action plan to implement a pilot study.
The findings of this study would help the government to frame policies and implement them with clear objectives to stop further depletion of the endangered medicinal plants of our country and to conserve them both for intra and inter generational equity.
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It is likely that a quarter of all species of Indian Plants may either be extinct or on the way to extinction within the next 25 years, and a majority of the species present now are likely to be extinct within a century if proper conservation efforts are not in place in time (Raven, 1990).
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Efficacy of Corporatisation in the Context of Indian Railways – A Study of Konkan Railway Corporation Limited
Mudgerikar Shriniwas Chandrashekhar
The Indian Railways (IR) is going through a difficult financial situation with earnings not keeping pace with the growing expenses. In the new economic context, the share of budgetary support to IR is decreasing and the railways is under great pressure not only to survive as an economically viable organisation, but also to play it’s expected role in the growth and development of the economy. This phenomenon is not unique to Indian Railways, as Railway systems the world over are passing through a phase of restructuring. The privatisation experiences of British Rail (BR) and Japanese Rail (JR) have provided a number of lessons for the Indian Railways. The BR privatisation, based on vertical separation of activities and divided ownership with conflicting accountabilities has brought out sharply the fact that railway operations is an integrated activity, and a difficult one to un- bundle. However, the BR privatisation process, based on the principle of divided ownership of track and trains has been able to bring in competition amongst the train operating companies. The JR privatisation on the other hand, which is based on horizontal separation (regional subdivision), functional distinction, and vertical integration, provides a successful model for privatisation. But the JR privatisation process has been able to provide only benchmark competition among the various area monopolies that are created by the horizontal separation.
Corporatisation in terms of Indian Railways can be viewed in one of the three ways: 1) As a prelude to privatisation, 2) As a method to avoid or postpone privatization, or 3) As a means of taking advantage of the decentralised working. IR has separated some of its non- core activities into corporations like Rail India Technical and Economic Services Ltd (RITES), Indian Railway Construction (IRCON), Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd (IRFC), Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) etc, many of which are performing satisfactorily. The present study on Konkan Railway Corporation tries to draw lessons from this experience on the merits and demerits of corporation and its applicability to the rest of the Indian Railways. Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) formed under the Build, Operate, and Lease Transfer (BOT) scheme was the first public sector company to actually run main line trains carrying revenue earning passengers.
A comparison of the performance of KRCL with the departmental functioning of IR reveals the fact that in spite of a difficult financial situation, KRCL has been able to perform better than many of the IR zones in the following areas:
1. Better operating ration than IR
2. Better employee productivity
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3. Lesser spending on staff costs as % of total working expenses
4. Technological initiatives
5. Innovation in commercialisation of services
The negative features of the KRCL include, among others, recurring losses due to inability to cover finance charges. The comparably better performance of KRCL can be partially attributed to the higher passenger and freight rates that it is allowed to charge, at least in some selected elastic markets, fetching more revenue; and also to its outsourcing of many of the activities, thereby keeping the staff costs low. However, nobody can deny the achievements of KRCL in terms of its new technological initiatives, and innovations in commercialisation of services like RO-RO (Roll On-Roll Off).
There is a lot of scope in IR for corporatisation/privatisation of many of the non- core activities like the running of hospitals, schools, security services, cleanliness services, printing presses, and production units, where competition from the other sectors in the market is possible. However, it is much more difficult to corporatise/privatise the core train running activity of Indian Railways. One approach, as suggested by the Rakesh Mohan Committee, is formation of an Indian Railway Corporation (IRC) managed by the Indian Railway Executive Board (IREB), with the Government of India setting policy direction. This approach to corporatisation suffers from the following drawbacks:
1. The IRC will be a large and unwieldy organization, tending towards bureaucratic ways of functioning, as it happens with most of the large organizations even in the private sector.
2. The aims of decentralized decision-making may not be achieved.
This study has revealed that there is another possible approach for the corporatisation of IR which can provide for regional autonomy and decentralised decision- making. This approach is to convert the existing zones into separate corporations based on the KRCL model, with the Railway Board acting as the coordinator and regulator. The main challenge in this approach will be to achieve coordination between the different zonal corporations. But this challenge is not insurmountable as is evident from the smooth train running operations on the Konkan Railway in coordination with the adjacent Zonal Railways and the Railway Board. If this approach is adopted, then there has to be an effective strategy regarding whether all the zones should be converted into corporations simultaneously, or in a phased manner? And if they are to be converted in a phased manner, which zones should be taken up first?
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Customer Orientation in Health Programmes – A study of the revised National Tuberculosis control programme in Hyderabad and Medak Districts of Andhra Pradesh
MVVS Murthy
Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in India. With annual figures of over two million new cases and nearly 5 lakh deaths, it is a cause for enormous concern. All this is entirely avoidable as TB can be easily cured with proper medicines that don’t cost much. However, since TB usually affects the poorest people, and the treatment is prolonged, most of the patients tend to discontinue treatment before they are completely cured of the disease. Though 90% of the patients seek medical attention within one month of the onset of the symptoms, the health systems, both in the public and the private sectors, are not able to diagnose and start treatment immediately, even after considerable expenditure is incurred by the patients.
The National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP), which has existed since 1962 has been plagued with several problems. The estimated is that on an average NTP has diagnosed that 30% of the patients examined suffer from TB, and completely cured about 30% of the cases registered with the programme. Most of the patients typically approach one of India’s 10 million private doctors as a first choice. However, private doctors usually rely on chest x- ray which is not a reliable tool of diagnosis vis-à-vis the sputum microscopy, and prescribe inappropriate and expensive medicines. They have no mechanism to observe treatment; do not feel that it is their duty to educate patients and do not maintain any records. As a result, it is impossible to say how many TB patients actually complete their treatment with the private doctors. It is in this back ground that the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme was launched in India on a pilot basis in the year 1993 and beginning from 1998 the Programme has expanded rapidly to cover 60% of the population by January 2003, and it is proposed to cover the entire country by 2005. The new Programme follows the principles of DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment-Sort Course Chemotherapy), which have proved effective in controlling TB in many countries across the world.
For my dissertation, I have chosen to study the performance of the DOTS system being implemented in the Hyderabad and Medak districts of Andhra Pradesh for the past seven years. The main findings of the study are: Even though the DOTS programme is in operation in both these districts for a considerable period of time, they have not achieved the targets set, both in terms of cure of 85% of the new sputum positive cases and detection of 70% of the new sputum cases. Relatively speaking, the cure target is much closer to achievement (around 80%) than the detection target, which is only around 60% of the target. The programme managers should take immediate steps to find out ways to achieve both the targets, as failure to do so will result in continuation of the infection in the community and will result in the spread of multi-drug resistant strains of TB, which will be impossible to control even if unlimited resources are spent on it. Effective TB control is also imperative in
21 | P a g e view of the HIV epidemic, which has already spread to more than 4 million people in the country who stand much greater chances of developing active tuberculosis disease.
Other findings of the study are as follows: All the 84 patients surveyed in the sample are satisfied with the supply of medicines, more than 98% of the patients have said that they are satisfied with the DOTS system of treatment of TB. 98% of the Hyderabad patients’ treatment during the intensive period is directly observed whereas only 70% of the Medak patients’ treatment is directly observed. Television is the preferred medium of TB patients as 70% of the urban sample and 30% of the rural sample have television sets, but barely 3% of them have seen any message regarding TB on television – this indicates the total lack of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities in NTP.
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Financing of Higher Education in India: Issues and Prospects
Pranav Khullar
In India, there has been a phenomenal increase in enrolment in colleges and universities over the last several decades. In fact, the number of universities has taken a quantum jump from 28 in 1950-51 to 245 in 2002, including 17 central universities and 47 deemed universities; colleges from 695 to 12,342 including 176 state universities during the same period. The student population increased from 2.5 lakhs to over 75 lakhs, while the number of teachers increased from 12,000 to 3.95 lakhs. It is however interesting to note that while India has the second largest system of higher education, next only to the U.S, the total number of students hardly represent 6 percent of the relevant age group of 18 and 23 years, which is much below the average of developed countries (47 percent), and less than even that of developing countries, which is 7 percent.
Not only are the challenges and constraints severe with respect to the management of higher education institutions, but a major problem is the inadequate provision of budgetary resources to face these challenges. “Since budget resources are limited, and such resources as are available, need to be allocated to expanding primary education, it is important that the universities must make greater efforts to supplement resources from the government” (Draft Approach Paper to the Tenth Five Year Plan). The bulk of the funds received by both central and state universities are from public sources. Private contribution to education in the form of donations and endowments, which were the hallmarks of the pre-Independence period, has dwindled. The internal resources of universities, as a percentage of their annual maintenance expenditure, have been dwindling. Investment in higher education is far too inadequate. Cost recovery from students has not kept pace with the requirements. Most of the expenditure is on salaries, especially of the non-teaching staff, which in some universities number five times the teaching staff. Salaries and perquisites have grown precipitously with no corresponding reduction in numbers.
Faced with financial crises coupled with competing demands for funds for different sectors of the economy, the state and central governments have not been able to allocate adequate resources for higher education. India is far behind the target of spending 6 percent of the GDP on education as recommended by the Kothari Education Commission (1964- 66), and in the recent years the relative share of higher education in the allocation of funds has also declined, primarily due to resource constraints. Although, the overall government contribution has been increasing throughout the plan periods, it has not kept pace with the rapid rise in enrolment and escalation in prices. Often inadequacy of financial resources leads to poor infrastructure and physical facilities and low investment in research and development, which has an adverse impact on the quality of the higher education system. This study intends to articulate a rationale for diversifying funding in higher education and to redefine the role of the government in this sector.
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Performance Measurement System & Transfer Price Model for Manufacture of Cast Wheels, Rail Wheel Factory, Indian Railways
B.M. Prasad
The primary objective of this dissertation is to arrive at a Performance Measurement System for the Wheel Shop of the railroad cast wheel manufacturing unit called the Rail Wheel Factory (RWF); Bangalore. RWF is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways, India. The paper details the manufacturing process in the Wheel Shop and the existing scheme of performance cost measurement of wheel production. Apportioning of labor, material overheads and depreciation to the unit wheel manufacturing cost, is a historical allocation of costs to the finished product on an average cost-plus basis. This is demonstrated as inadequate to uncover the inefficiencies in the production process at this plant.
The research hypothesis is that the cost plus model of performance measurement fails to evaluate the contribution of various manufacturing costs towards the unit total cost of the wheel in a process-based plant. The hypothesis is validated by analysis of the cost sheets of production performance for cast wheels of BOXN wagons, which form the bulk of the production of the Wheel Shop of the RWF. The inadequacy of the cost plus model is highlighted through regression analysis of the independent variables affecting unit total cost of wheel production. The output indicates the maximum significance of material and administrative overhead costs towards unit total manufacturing costs without specifying the precise activities in wheel production that contributes to the higher manufacturing cost.
Detailed review of contemporary literature on performance measurement, including activity based costing and perspectives on the Balanced Scorecard for manufacturing plants is used to postulate the framework of an alternative model of performance measurement for wheel production. The increase in costs is captured by mapping activities involved in production process focused on the activity cost driver in each sub shop of the Wheel Shop. This is based on the Quality Policy to produce low cost quality cast wheels. The research elicited the views of the stakeholders of the plant on the efficacy of cost competitive measures in the production processes at the plant, both from the field and at the administrative office of Ministry of Railways headquartered at New Delhi, India. This led to evolution of a transfer price mechanism to track the cost of the product in the intermediate to final stages of manufacture. The inefficiencies in the manufacturing process, as the product is passed from the upstream to downstream shops, are effectively highlighted in this model. The internal transfer price model is an opportunity for the RWF management to introduce a robust performance based incentive bonus scheme for the Wheel Shop employees. This is based on a two-part (fixed/variable rate) mechanism, based on higher premium for process improvements in the respective sub shops rather than a single incentive piece rate per finished good wheel, as at present.
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The performance measurement and revised incentive bonus scheme should be very effective in the Wheel Shop as research findings corroborate the high levels of employee motivation and learning potential in this shop. The evaluation of the stakeholders’ responses to the questionnaires and interviews confirm the need to adopt a proactive strategy in vendor and cost management issues. Respondents believe that long-term vendor relationships will contribute to value creation in supply management. The importance of performance measurement of the process cycle needs wider dissemination in the organization. A significant percentage (57%) of the stakeholders are satisfied with the internal business processes of the Wheel Shop, but could not confirm the plant’s performance status in comparison to similar plants.
This is the challenge to the plant management to reaffirm that performance measures for wheel production at RWF conform to international benchmarks as such specialized plants are few world wide. The collaboration route with reputed credible manufacturers of similar cast wheels or Joint ventures with global railroad equipment manufacturers is suggested as a method to penetrate the competitive international export market of railroad consumables. Control over wheel manufacturing costs through activity based cost measurement and internal transfer price mechanism with a tie up to a reputed international collaborator will enable the translation of the plant mission to be a world class producer and exporter of cast railroad wheels. The paper has suggested the adoption of Balanced Scorecard for the Wheel Shop with regard to Internal Business processes and Learning & growth Perspectives to enable improvements in the manufacturing processes and enhance employee satisfaction to make the cast wheel product cost competitive.
The research findings of high employee productivity and propensity for growth indicate that even in the existing structure, the introduction of the Performance measurement system and transfer price model for the Wheel Shop, Rail Wheel Factory, India, will be effective to reward employees, control costs and improve the quality of the product. The paper recommends the restructuring of the Rail Wheel Factory, as an autonomous corporate entity or Public Limited Corporation listed on the stock exchanges, with introduction of employee stock options, as the best method to fully maximize the effectiveness of the activity based performance measurement system.
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A comparison of the Customs procedures of India, United States of America and Singapore
Rajesh Nandan Srivastava
International trade has assumed great significance in the globalized world of today. The growth and development of a nation has come to be linked with the extent of trade that it is able to carry out in the international arena. Thus, trade facilitation has become the key to a country’s success in the global arena.
A vital component of trade facilitation is reducing the incidence of transaction costs in imports and exports. Several times, the extent of transaction costs itself determines the industries’ competitiveness in the international market. What is more, high transaction costs are a deterrent to foreign investment coming into the country.
In India, compliance with Customs formalities contributes a large proportion of the transaction costs for importers and exporters. Available literature points out that despite liberalization, Indian industry still faces high transaction costs on account of Customs clearances. These costs arise due to delays in Customs clearances caused by complicated procedures that lead to involvement of considerable time and effort to comply with the Customs formalities.
This study is an attempt to gauge the efficiency of the Indian Customs procedures with respect to service delivery to the trade as well as effectiveness in safeguarding Government revenue. A comparison is also made with the Customs functioning of two of the large trading nations of the world equipped with modern facilities – USA and Singapore, and to see whether Indian Customs can draw lessons from them. Whether the procedures act as a deterrent to FDI is also examined in this study.
The findings of the study indicate that the Custom Houses vary in performance. Bombay and Nhava Sheva Customs take 8-9 days for clearing the import document (the bill of entry), whereas the figure for Chennai is 5.5 days and that for Bangalore is 2.1 days. Further, filing of the Import General Manifest (1GM), is an extremely time consuming activity in each of the ports. Each bill of entry is assessed and the goods covered by the same, physically examined. In the journey of the bill of entry, it is the process of assessment and not, as widely believed the physical examination of goods, which takes the maximum time. In the case of exports as well, there is variation in performance, ranging from less than 12 hours in Bangalore to 2 days in Chennai and 3-4 days in Mumbai and Nhava Sheva. The sanction of drawback takes anywhere between 10 to 18 days at various ports after the Export General manifest (EGM) has been filed. The filing of EGM, however, like the filing of the IGM, is a time consuming activity (17-29 days on average at the sea ports). The performance was found to be much lower than the performance standard which the Central Board of Excise and Customs has set, as evident from the Citizen’s Charter. This adds to the transaction cost of the imports as well as exports. 26 | P a g e
However, an important finding of the study is that while much is made of the delay in import clearance formalities by Customs, it is actually the importer himself who is responsible for nearly a third of the time taken in such clearance because of delay in duty payments.
The study also revealed that the procedures regarding the safeguarding of revenue are inadequate. Results also indicate that the perception of high transaction and `hidden’ costs do deter foreign investors from investing in India. The survey also revealed that the Trade believes that there is significant scope for improvement of Customs procedures.
The study of US customs and that of Singapore reveal that these countries rely heavily on technology to enable electronic filing and system appraisal of entries. Further, information is sought for well in advance and fed in the tracking and analyzing systems to assess the chances of a consignment carrying contraband or evading on duty. Only such shipments that are thus identified are examined or subjected to thorough scrutiny. Further, there are strong deterrents against customs related offences and justice is quick. Of course, the reliance on customs for revenue in these countries is minimal but they have their own threats – the US in respect of drugs and terrorists and Singapore too from drugs.
Based on the international best practices and the realities of the Indian situation, this study suggests the use of risk assessment techniques by Indian customs to identify risky consignments in advance. Only those consignments should be checked and the remaining allowed to be self assessed by the importers. A profiling of importers should be used to further segregate the risky and risk-less or less risky imports. Selective audit of the self- assessed entries should be done to check against abuse of the scheme. Any evasion detected post-audit should be dealt with firmly with exemplary punishment. The study also evaluates the working of such a scheme implemented on a test basis in select Customs formations.
Greater reliance on tools of Information Technology and electronic filing of entries would bring about greater transparency in the system and is also likely to reduce the chances of corruption, thereby reducing the element of hidden transaction costs.
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Poverty Alleviation Schemes in Madhya Pradesh and their impact on Empowerment of Women
Rashmi Arun Shami
The paper looks at the functioning of two Anti-poverty schemes, the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana and the District Poverty Initiatives Project, in Madhya Pradesh, and tries to assess the impact of the two schemes on women’s empowerment. It looks at the assumption that access to financial resources will automatically lead to empowerment of women. Both the schemes being implemented in Madhya Pradesh are working on the assumption that women should be targeted because they are poorer and because they tend to spend more on household well-being than men. Therefore any increase in the incomes of women will lead to improved spending on household well-being and a rise in the income of the family will lead to poverty alleviation. The paper concludes that the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana needs to be implemented in a more focused manner to significantly impact poverty alleviation. Inadequate budgetary allocation, over emphasis on targets and lack of capacity building of the implementing staff, may lead to results that may be far below the desired level. As far as empowerment of women is concerned, there is evidence that women who are members of self help groups, believe that they have more self confidence, and are better able to talk to outsiders. They also reported an improvement in mobility. In some cases, the behaviour of the family, especially that of the husband has improved. Thus, the study concludes that in the case of Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, vibrant, well performing groups are showing progress in the social and psychological empowerment of women.
In the case of District Poverty Initiatives Project, the Common Interest Groups of women seem to be utilizing the grant given to them with care and frugality. The focused approach of looking at only some clusters of villages, lack of targets, flexibility in choice of economic activity and capacity building of staff, is leading to effective implementation of the programme. So far, no evidence of misuse of grant was found. As far as empowerment of women is concerned, the members of the Common Interest Groups also reported an increase in self-confidence, and the ability to talk to outsiders. However, the confidence was less visible in the case of these women. In some cases, the women reported that the behaviour of family members and husbands was improving. However, the male members of the family were controlling the activities taken up by the women. In an attempt to benefit the household as a whole, the Project seems to be careful not to upset the equations inside the family. Therefore, economic empowerment of women is taking place only in a limited sense.
This is an exploratory study based on a survey conducted on women belonging to Self Help Groups and Common Interest Groups, in three Blocks of Guna District and three Blocks of Dewas district in Madhya Pradesh. The data collected was analyzed using simple descriptive statistics.
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Vehicular Pollution Control Strategies for Urban Areas: A Case of Ahmedabad City
Samiullah Ansari
Air pollution has posed a major health hazard to the urban population across the world. Rapid urbanization and linear growth of vehicular population has resulted in fast deterioration of the urban air quality. WHO estimates 3 million deaths every year due to air pollution, accounting for 5% of total annual deaths occurring in the world. Billions of dollars are being spent on air pollution related health issues and the social and environmental cost burden of air pollution is beyond fathom.
Many big Indian cities are on the threshold of a major environmental crisis due to uncontrolled urbanisation and rapid growth of vehicular population. Policy Intervention began in India with the first emission norms for new petrol vehicles in 1991. Emission norms gradually became stringent and other measures were also started, but the air quality in many Indian cities has not improved, possibly because of the ineffective enforcement of abatement measures and incapability of policy interventions to maintain the pace with massive growth of motor vehicles.
Ahmedabad, a medium size city with over 45 lakh population and 12.5 lakh motor vehicles is one of the most polluted major cities in India, with the highest level of annual rSPM concentration level. Abatement measures have not made any significant difference because the level of Nox has doubled in the last 8 years and the annual mean concentration level of RSPM is now four times higher than the limits prescribed by WHO and USEPA. It is necessary to mention that RSPM is the pollutant responsible for a high level of premature deaths and morbidity in Indian and Asian cities.
This study has attempted to understand the nature and scope of the problem of vehicular pollution and analyse the policy instruments applied in India and Ahmedabad. The main purpose of the study is to suggest alternative strategies for vehicular pollution mitigation. Policy framework and strategies are based on learnings from international experiences and understanding the problems in the Indian context in general and Ahmedabad in particular. Feasibility of all instruments in the Indian context, requirements of minimum cost and immediate impact are the main guiding principals for selecting policy instruments and recommending strategies.
The goal of improving air quality of Ahmedabad and other Indian cities can only be achieved by combining all aspects of vehicular pollution management. Fuel quality and vehicle technology improvement may not work if the numbers of vehicles keep on increasing at the current rate, and a large number of old vehicles with high level of emission are permitted to continue on the roads. The policy has to focus on controlling the growth rate of motor vehicles and reducing the total travelled kilometres and emission of every vehicle per kilometre. This requires a combination of fuel and vehicular technology improvement, inspection and maintenance of in-use vehicles, efficient public transport 29 | P a g e system, selected travel demand management measures, traffic management improvements, proper land use, transport management co-ordination and an effective mechanism to implement the policies in combination with abatement measures. Some hard steps have to be taken to identify the gross polluting vehicles and taking them off the roads or convert them to alternative fuels. Lack of immediate and effective policy interventions will soon result into an unmanageable scenario.
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Improving Police Service Delivery: Human Resource Interventions
Sanjeev Shami
Police are the most powerful, most visible, and most feared agency of the government. Police also have to act as agents of social change in modern times. The police system that evolved during the late nineteenth century had the objective to serve the interests of the colonial power rather than being responsive to the people. There has been very little change in the mandate of the police since then.
The present study focuses on the majority constituents of the civil police i.e., constables and head constables (HCs) – approximately 70% and 18% of the civil police respectively. The required education qualification is matriculate (class 10 th ) for constables and HCs, who are referred to as other rank (OR). Accordingly, statutory responsibilities and functions of the lowest order are assigned to them.
A survey, using a specially designed questionnaire was conducted, covering police personnel posted at police stations in six districts of Madhya Pradesh – Gwalior, Indore, Dewas, Jabalpur, Shivpuri, and Bhopal (N=1091). The main variables investigated in the present study include: job satisfaction, job commitment, public service functions, and demographic profiles such as age, length of service, and education. It was postulated that
• Higher education level would influence job satisfaction and job commitment.
• Job satisfaction would affect job commitment.
• Job commitment and public service functions would influence each other.
As constables and HCs are the majority constituents of the police force, the public interacts mostly only with them. Generally this interaction is in non-criminal settings.
In the light of the findings of the study, suggestions were made to fine-tune the policies of police administration. The study suggests organization-wide change interventions focusing on nine-tenth of the civil police strength. These policy level changes are expected to significantly improve the service delivery, which in turn will bring in transformation in the image of the police personnel.
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Protected Area Management Potential of Eco-Tourism in Mudumalai Wild Life Sanctuary and National Park
R Srinivas Reddy
Tourism has emerged as the largest industry in the world with annual revenue of about $ 500 billion. Eco-tourism is of one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry at present. It has attracted increasing attention in recent years, not only as an alternative to mass tourism, but also as a means of economic development and environmental conservation. Eco-tourism was earlier equated with nature tourism or adventure tourism. However, now the distinction is clear and eco-tourism is defined as tourism that is linked to natural resource protection. This is in contrast to nature tourism that involves exploitation of natural resources. True eco-tourism requires a proactive approach that seeks to mitigate the negative and enhance the positive impacts of ‘nature tourism’. Being a nature based tourism; it takes into account natural ecological attractions, their conservation and development. Its main aim is to safeguard the environment, making it beneficial to the local people by generating revenue, education and pleasure for the tourist.
Tourism activity in a national park or any other protected area can be self-financing and so serve as a tool for conservation. India has a network of Protected Areas (P.A.s) comprising 4.7% of the country’s geographical area, which are presently managed by the Wildlife Wings of the State Forest Departments. India’s geographic diversity provides a range of ecosystems that could potentially support eco-tourism activities. Further, successful eco-tourism must benefit local populations economically and culturally to give them incentives to protect the natural resources which create the attraction.
However, the main purpose of establishing Protected Areas was for protecting and conserving fragile ecosystems, which were rich in wildlife. Hence, the conservation goal is supreme while managing Protected Areas.
The increasing interest among the tourists to visit natural areas has put enormous pressure on the Protected Areas. Unfettered eco-tourism has encouraged many large resorts to come up, which pretended to follow eco-tourism policies in order to ensure high rent capture. These resorts tend to cause wide scale ecological degradation, particularly in the fragile habitats. The increasing number of tourists beyond the carrying capacities of the parks has added to the problem. Tourism management in Protected Areas has not always been a success; benefits have been gathered by a few, support services from the government have been poor, often receiving inadequate funds, despite generating considerable funds for the central treasuries. Local people have been adversely affected and relations with the authorities have often been hostile. More than ever, it is now important that efforts to manage tourism in the Protected Areas are coordinated and that participation by key stakeholders takes place.
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The concept cannot work unless it has the support of all stakeholders and the benefits are actually seen flowing to all these stakeholders. Among them, the role of the local communities is critical. Their dependence on the Protected Areas is higher and hence their cooperation can ensure that the eco-tourism policy would be a tool of conservation of the Protected Areas.
The aim of the research is to formulate an eco-tourism policy for the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary of Tamilnadu by evolving the framework for an eco-tourism policy. The aim is also to suggest workable institutional and regulatory mechanisms needed to implement such a policy.
The sanctuary is a biodiversity rich area with easy accessibility and high tourist visitation. It has a sizable human population, including tribals, in the fringes. There is also a private sector initiative in nature tourism related ventures in the periphery of the sanctuary.
Any eco-tourism policy for Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary must have elements of planning with community participation, monitoring and evaluation to gauge the degree of impact of tourism, infrastructural and social capacity building, institutional development, zoning and regulation to manage the tourism on sustainable lines and finally, elements of financial sustainability and promotion. Local management committees need to be created where participatory decision-making can take place. A state level advisory committee and a local level advisory committee need to be constituted. These institutions would deliberate on the institutional and regulatory mechanisms to carryout eco-tourism activities. For example, there can be differential pricing of the park entrance fees, to augment resources for the improvement of the park and may include the regulation of undesirable commercial growth in the fringe areas of the park.
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Levels of Literacy in the Primary Schools of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
Sumit Mullick
The importance of primary education in an individual’s development and in the nation’s social and economic development is well known. It has been argued by several that countries comparable with India, such as China and certain nations of S.E. Asia were able make rapid progress in economic and health indicators because of their prior success in providing universal primary education. This unfortunately has not occurred in India. Now, however, to accelerate the spread of primary education, several initiatives have been taken including the World Bank sponsored District Primary Education Program (DPEP). With the increasing availability of infrastructure, this study emphasizes that it is now necessary to concentrate on the quality of primary education.
It is well known that the quality of education in primary schools, particularly in the rural areas, delivered by the public education system is low. What is not known however is to what extent. This study attempts to quantify the scale of the problem. The issue of quality has been analyzed in eight districts, six in Maharashtra, one in Karnataka and one in Andhra Pradesh. Maharashtra, Karnataka as well as Andhra Pradesh are generally recognized as being among the more progressive and better managed states. This study shows that even in these states, if classroom literacy is as low as 3.95 percent (Kannada medium schools in three blocks of Belgaum District, Karnataka), the official figure for India’s overall literacy rate of around 66 percent (2001 census), is far removed from reality.
The second question that logically follows is that if classroom literacy is really so low, then what are the measures that can be adopted to effect an improvement. In Amaravati Division, Maharashtra, illiteracy had been substantially reduced by measures that emphasized objectivity, accountability, continuity and replicability. This method, while fixing accountability at all levels, also determined the precise areas that the individual student was weak in, thereby allowing for customized remedial measures for individual students or groups of students. Moreover, the method adopted did not require any additional finances, manpower or changes in the statutes, making it eminently suited to serve as a model.
Lessons have been drawn from the role of public participation, the media and the political classes. Issues like primary education which have a wide impact, and which seek to change established systems, require correspondingly wide legitimacy and public support.
The overall malaise in the public education system which results in low literacy levels has been examined. The long term effects of the lack of quality education at the primary level have been shown in the survey of students at the SSC level in thirteen secondary schools. The main conclusion here is that even with adequate resources and trained teachers, the number of schemes to increase attendance and classroom literacy cannot be implemented effectively unless there is a system in place which pinpoints the accountability 34 | P a g e of the teachers and the supervisory staff immediately, accurately, comprehensively and continuously.
Three schools in Belgaum District, Karnataka have been analyzed in depth. This serves to illustrate the nature and extent of the problem at the basic level of the student and the classroom. It also shows that the recently completed DPEP in Belgaum and in Adilabad (AP) has not appreciably increased the achievement level of the students. This observation is reinforced by the evaluation of the achievement levels in Aurangabad District, Maharashtra, which had also completed the DPEP.
A comparative analysis regarding educational standards has been provided between the schools of Belgaum district which had a DPEP program and the schools of Amaravati district, which did not.
Belgaum, as per the DPEP norms has spent Rs.52.84 crores out of a sanctioned Rs.57.84 crores. This strongly indicates that there is no direct correlation between additional finances and literacy, if other factors are not in place. The DPEP is pumping in new resources into the primary education sector - Rs.4885 crores so far and the possibility of another 4000 crores in the future. This will add to the country’s already large public debt burden. The money should be used judiciously. Returns can be assured only if the rate of classroom literacy substantially rises, which is currently not the case. The DPEP approach towards primary education and its lack of success in ensuring quality have been analyzed in terms of the weakness in its evaluation and monitoring methods.
The policy recommendations in this study include the fundamental need to shift the debate on primary education towards the maximization of resources already in place. This maximization can be achieved by correctly evaluating classroom literacy levels and then adopting suitable remedial methods. The entire gamut of schemes currently adopted by the Education Department has to be re-examined to check their effectiveness in achieving the basic objective of literacy. Moreover, universal literacy has to be achieved as quickly as possible, otherwise in the globalized era the gap between India and other countries in the world is bound to widen.
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Widening the Scope of Container Corporation – Indian Railway
Sunanda Arul
India’s transport system is one of the largest in the world. It covers a land area of 3.3 million sq.kms and a population of 1 billion. According to the Rakesh Mohan Committee Report on Infrastructure (1996), the economic losses on account of congestion and poor transport, works out to Rs.120 to Rs.3090 Billion in a year.
India has road network of 3.3 Million kms and a railway network of 63,140 route kms. Only 3,000 kms of roads in India are 4 lane roads, which is just on-fifth of the same in China. The average speed of road vehicles and freight trains is around 30 to 40 kms per hour. This is only one-third of the speed levels in developed countries.
In this paper, I have brought out the need to go in for multi-model (Container) transport. The Kyoto Conference of 1997 highlighted the need for cutting down on the green house gas emission. From the public policy perspective, having a good transport network is necessary both from the social and economic angle. We need to go in for a more fuel-efficient transport system, which will also cut down our expenditure on fuel import.
Container Corporation (CONCOR) is a part of the Indian Railways and is into multi model transport in a big way. They have the backing of the Indian Railways. Unfortunately, of late, the freight earnings of both Indian Railways and CONCOR are on the decline. In this study, I have tried to highlight the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for CONCOR. I have also given some suggestions as to how they can overcome their weaknesses.
International studies have confirmed that Rail Transport is not only cheaper but also more fuel efficient and less polluting. Further, the numbers of train accidents are lesser than road accidents. The maintenance cost of the railways is cheaper as compared to that of roads. By changing the present strategy, both CONCOR and Indian Railways can not only earn more revenue but also contribute to the development of the nation.
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Effectiveness of HIV/AIDS Policy and its Implementation in Karnataka
Suresh K Mohammed
HIV/AIDS is the greatest health crisis the world faces today. The HIV/AIDS epidemic poses an unprecedented challenge to communities and nations, particularly those in the developing world. Where the epidemic has spread unchecked, it is robbing countries of their resources and capacities on which human security and development depend. HIV/AIDS is thus today perceived as a developmental issue rather than as a mere public health problem. With an estimated 4.5 million HIV infections in 2002, India has the second highest number of HIV infections in the world. Since the detection of the first HIV positive case in Chennai in 1986, the virus has spread rapidly and today AIDS has been reported from all the states of the country.
Karnataka is today face-to-face with the toughest challenge of tackling an HIV/AIDS epidemic that is spreading rapidly in the state. With adult HIV prevalence rates increasing rapidly over the past three years the window of opportunity for bringing the HIV/AIDS epidemic under control is narrowing day by day. This study assesses the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS policy and its implementation in Karnataka and suggests measures for improving it. The study takes the state of Tamilnadu, which has been recognized as an effective model in combating HIV/AIDS, as a benchmark for comparing the performance of Karnataka.
The study concludes that while implementation of policy in Karnataka is not satisfactory, it is too early to call Tamilnadu’s model of handling the HIV/AIDS epidemic a success. However, there are several noteworthy features in Tamilnadu’s response, which are different from the response of other states and are worth replicating. The study thus draws several strategic lessons for Karnataka, which like Tamilnadu needs to have visionary leaders at the helm; has to adopt new strategies like enlisting the support of diverse NGOs for a diverse population, should encourage a synergetic partnership with another major player, and should build trust and mutual understanding between all the payers in the field. Several policy recommendations are also made in the study.
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Anti-dumping as a Trade Remedy Measure: Evidence from Three Countries (US, EU and India)
Susanta Sekhar Das
Regulation of foreign trade is one of the most important policy issues faced by national governments. While trade policy regimes the world over have been witnessing progressive liberalisation under multilateral arrangements, demand for trade remedy regulations for protecting domestic producers from unfair competition has been increasing. Anti-dumping, as one of these trade remedy instruments or contingent protection measures, has occupied the center stage, as the instrument of first choice, due to inherent protectionist elements in the GATT code and national regulations. Increasing use of this instrument by both traditional and non-traditional users has been a matter of concern because of the trade distorting effects of such actions.
This paper examines the evolution and spread of the instrument of anti-dumping from economic, legal and political economy angles. It analyses the GATT code of anti- dumping and the national regulation of the three most frequent users of this instrument, i.e. the US, the EU and India. The paper observes that while it is essential to protect the domestic industry from unfair trade practices, it is also important to determine how ‘unfair’ these unfair practices are. Any trade remedy law should separate and distinguish between market distorting trade practices and monopolization attempts from normal price behaviour and competitive advantage of the exporting firms. The paper concludes that while political economy factors might have helped the evolution of this instrument, it is the lack of economic tests for dumping and injury determination, and the in-built asymmetries and discretionary elements in the GATT AD codes that are responsible for the growing use of this instrument world over. The paper recommends major changes in the GATT code of anti-dumping to bring in economic rationality and public interest tests into the code, in order to prevent competition restricting practices under the garb of trade remedy actions.
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People Related Interventions in the Management of Change – A Case Study of the BDA and the BCC
V. Vidyavathi
“He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery”. - Harold Wilson.
Nothing sums up the criticality and inevitability of change better than this statement. As societies and nations race towards their future, change has become an indispensable part of life - something all of us need to initiate and grapple with.
Organizational change is a complex phenomenon. It can be the result, but it can also cause turbulence and resistance. The question then becomes, how do we manage this complexity? What are the interventions that need to be initiated by the change leadership if positive changes are to be brought in and sustained? What human resource related interventions are critical towards managing change?
These are some of the questions I have tried to address in this paper. To understand the complexity and dynamics of change management, I have analyzed changes in two organizations – the Bangalore City Corporation and the Bangalore Development Authority. My research has thrown up certain key insights into the phenomenon of change in government organizations.
Clarity of the objectives of the organization stands out as the critical first step. The interventions in both the BCC and the BDA have emerged out of this understanding. Clarity of objectives orients the organization towards a set of goals and helps initiating those changes, which are a subset of these objectives. Once this is clear, the next step is to prioritize. This would depend on the impact of change, the nature of resistance likely and a host of other factors. Research has brought out the importance of a quick success even if it is a limited one, as it gains followers and sets the tone for positive changes in the organization. Another key learning has been the criticality of strategy, both in terms of initiating as well as managing change in an organization. Communication and building support constituencies make the change process smoother. It is also important to assess the field for potential support or opposition, before initiating any change.
A key insight that has emerged out the research is the fact that human resource interventions have to be a subset of policy and process changes. It is important to attempt a systemic change rather than just tinkering on the periphery. HR interventions then become tools for achieving the stated objectives of the organization. This also brings out the importance of co-opting the employees in the process – through empowerment, training, motivation etc.
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Another crucial learning has been the role played by the stakeholders. The proactive and supportive role played by the stakeholder platform has served a threefold purpose – of acting as a sounding board for new ideas; as a means of resource sharing in terms of skills and expertise as well as being the forum of social audit. This makes the organization accountable and responsive to the stakeholders- both internal and external.
Based on the key learnings of my research, I have attempted to analyze the implications of these learnings on change management. This would involve policy changes in terms of personnel, training, planning and resource allocation.
The government needs to seriously review the issue of the stability of tenure to the top leadership, especially in organizations which deal with issues impacting a large section of the citizenry. Similarly, the training policies of the government have to be attuned towards imparting the skills of management of change across the leadership. Training has to be purposeful and should reflect the felt needs of organization(s).
There is a need for government organizations to reorient their performance indicators to be in tune with their mission and vision. This would mean attuning the appraisal systems in terms of key deliverables of these stated objectives.
Documentation systems in government need to be strengthened, and there should be a mechanism for collecting information on the best practices across the states/countries. These should then be adapted to suit individual organizations.
Ultimately, all change is personal. A supportive environment with stress on accountability would produce results, and it is important that the government harnesses the potential of change leadership in the interest of the public.
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