Countering Terrorism in India: Major Political Parties Fail To Break Logjam Over Proposed NCTC

The one-day meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram and the Chief Ministers, representing virtually all the major political parties, was held in New Delhi on May 5. The meeting that was organized on the setting up of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) remained inconclusive after steadfast opposition from chief ministers, including those from the Congress, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and those of regional parties.

The opposition to it in the present form leaves the federal government with no option but to go back to the drawing board to redraft the NCTC, probably give it a new name. It will have to prune some powers of the proposed body and, in all possibilities, remove it from the ambit of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

With chief ministers strongly opposed to the NCTC in its current form, the Home Ministry has no option but to remove the antiterror body outside IB and to have a mechanism for mandatory coordination between central agencies and state police forces.

Home Minister P Chidambaram made it abundantly clear that his ministry would work on removing the biggest hurdle in forming the anti-terror body in his concluding remarks at the chief ministers’ conference that were released officially on May 6.

Emerging Key Sticking Issues

Two key sticking issues emerged after the meeting. One that the anti-terror body should not be under the control of IB. Two, the counter-terror body - in whatever shape it is formed - should not carry out independent operations in states.

The NCTC, an anti-terror body proposed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on February 3, is not acceptable to chief ministers in its present form. 

The states which did not agree on the NCTC in its present form include a couple of Congress-ruled states, all BJP-ruled states and the states ruled by regional parties like the Akali Dal in Punjab, the National Conference (Jammu and Kashmir), the Trinamool Congress (West Bengal), the Biju Janata Dal (Odisha) and the AIADMK (Tamil Nadu). Many chief ministers questioned the logic of putting the NCTC under the IB.

Possible Options

One of the possible options is splitting the work of the NCTC-type body. A counter- terror body with central command could have access to IB databases on suspects, informers, friends of suspects and financiers for analysis. Operations could be handed over to the National Investigative Agency (NIA) formed after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Since the NIA was formed under an act of Parliament, Chief Ministers would have no objections to it.

The second contentious issue is of having only joint operations of central forces and state police forces. The chief ministers, even those of Congress and UPA allies-ruled states, made it clear that the NCTC type-body could not carry out independent operations -- arrests or detentions of suspects -- in states without prior information to the state DGP.

One of the options being studied is the possibility of forming small nodes of the NCTC type-body in states. These would have a dedicated unit of the state police force attached with the central agency team. As most state capitals already have a small central agency team, staffing the nodes would not be problem.

The joint team would be kept in the loop on all information and would simultaneously keep the state DGP informed. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was among those who suggested joint training of state and central forces at the meeting.

Instrument of Subversion

When Manmohan Singh says the NCTC is not meant for facilitating the federal government’s intrusion into the domain of the State Governments and Chidambaram seeks to allay the States’ apprehensions that this is yet another instrument of subversion of the Constitution, they do so in the hope of softening the tough stand taken by the chief ministers, especially of those States where the Congress is not in power. But the fact that their protestations have failed to move hearts and minds reaffirms, though not for the first time, what has been known for long now: Neither commands credibility.

There can be an endless debate on the need for an over-arching Central authority to deal with counter-terrorism across States. Those who argue in favor of the proposed NCTC have made points that cannot be entirely ignored. However, those opposed to the idea of erecting such a super-structure have raised issues that cannot be brushed aside. But much of the debate has been based on theoretical precepts that are borrowed from others’ experiences and are not necessarily rooted in the Indian reality. As Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi says, a robust, well-trained and well-equipped local police force is the best weapon to counter terrorism; after all, it is the local policeman who is, and shall remain, the first respondent. Second, to nibble away at the States’ constitutional rights, in this case maintenance of law and order, can never be acceptable, more so when the intentions of the federal government are questionable.

Pleas and Assurances

Undoubtedly, it is not a positive sign that despite the prime minister and the home minister’s impassioned pleas and assurances to dissenting states, the deadlock between the federal government and some states on the setting up of the NCTC could not be resolved. This should not, however, come as a surprise because the 10 dissenting states had made their stand clear beforehand. While most of the dissenters were non-UPA-ruled states and had a stake in keeping the pot boiling, the steadfast opposition of Trinamool Congress’s Mamata Banerjee and to a lesser degree Mulayam Singh Yadav and Omar Abdullah cannot but be deemed to be a blow to the Congress which spearheaded the move to set up the NCTC.

The scathing criticism of the federal government on the issue by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was along expected lines but while it was reassuring to the opposition, it was a reminder for the Congress that it was up against a wall.

However, the Manmohan Singh government, on its part, merely restated its earlier position and made no efforts to address the specific provisions which the dissenting states were objecting to. For instance, the argument that the NCTC would undermine the states’ police powers was denied by both the prime minister and the home minister but there was no indication that the Centre was prepared to clothe the state police with greater powers to deal with terrorists while building up the NCTC as an apex body to coordinate action.

Assessment

Clearly, some of states chief ministers do not sufficiently appreciate the sophisticated features of international terrorism which has targeted India for three decades; its reach, resources and swiftness of mobility of its deadly practitioners who flit across boundaries; the ultra-modern nature of communications and fighting equipment it employs; and the enormous funds at its disposal, not to mention ideological, political and occasionally ground-level support that becomes available to it. All of this was encapsulated in the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

51% FDI in Multi-Brand Retail: Boost to Jobs and Investments

The federal government has approved a proposal to allow 51 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, and decided to scrap the 51 per cent cap in single-brand retail, where 100 per cent FDI will be permitted.
The government also cleared the Companies Bill, 2011 that seeks to tighten norms on insider trading, prevent corporate frauds and introduce new concepts like class action suits. Once approved by Parliament, it would replace a 55-year-old legislation.
The Bill has introduced ideas like Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), class action suits and a fixed term for independent directors.
Among other things, it also proposes to tighten laws for raising money from the public. The Bill also seeks to prohibit any insider trading by company directors or key managerial personnel by treating such activities as a criminal offence.
The objections to it have centered around foreign multinationals swallowing up mom-and-pop stores, which have on the whole functioned rather inefficiently but do provide a living to large numbers of people. It has also been argued that in time leading foreign brands — that dispense a range of goods of everyday use — would come to enjoy near monopolistic advantage in price negotiations with farmers. There may well be something in these suggestions, but all things considered there appears to be a fear of the unknown in the political class in regard to foreign investments.No proper calculations are made in gauging the employment effect of the entry of foreign capital, but it is evident foreign stores will hire Indian hands to run retail chains supplying quality goods at better prices to consumers. Some of these are likely to be the present family-run stores in which workers are poorly paid. In any case, it is hard to foresee a complete end to small family-run kirana stores.
Creation of Jobs and Investments
The present decision would lead to creation of 10 million jobs and billions of dollars in investments during the next three years.
Brushing aside the criticism by the Opposition parties, including from key UPA ally Trinamool Congress, that necessary guidelines and press note would be issued by next week giving details of the approved policy. “Our initial estimates are that it will create over 4 million jobs in the small and medium industries and another 5-6 million jobs in the logistics sector in the coming three years.
Significant Gain
Undoubtedly, a significant gain from the entry of global retailers could be the strengthening of supply chains. Because of poor storage, air-conditioning and transportation a huge amount of food grains and perishables like fruits and vegetables go waste. This may stop.
The FDI will help build infrastructure apart from providing support to the rupee. Farmers will be able to access world markets too. Effective producer-seller linkages will eliminate middlemen like arhtiyas, who exploit small farmers no less. If an effective monitoring mechanism is put in place, prices too may fall since waste and inefficiencies in supplies will get eliminated.
Advantage Small Farmers
The operations of domestic fresh food supermarkets in India have not made any difference to the producer’s share in the consumer’s rupee so far (one of the arguments of the DIPP discussion paper for permitting FDI in retail) other than lowering the cost of marketing of the producers as supermarkets have collection centers in producing areas unlike the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) markets (mandis) which are in distant cities.
But these supermarkets will buy only ‘A ‘grade produce, that too on open market-based prices, and only a part of the output of farmers, who end up going to an APMC mandi to dispose of the remaining/rejected produce. The chains procure from “contact” farmers without any commitment to buy regularly as they do not want to share the risk of growers. Thus, the involvement of supermarket chains with producers is low and there is no delivery of supply chain efficiency as many of them have already wound up e.g., in Gujarat.
Supermarket Expansion
The supermarket expansion also leads to employment loss in the value chain as compared to 18 jobs created by a street vendor, 10 by a traditional retailer and eight by a shop vendor in Vietnam, a supermarket like Big C needed just four persons for the same volume of produce handled. Metro Cash & Carry employed 1.2 workers per ton of tomatoes sold in Vietnam compared with 2.9 persons employed by traditional wholesale channel for the same quantity sold. The spread of supermarkets led to 14% reduction in the share of “mom and pop” stores in Thailand within four years of FDI permission. In India 33-60% of the traditional fruit and vegetable retailers reported 15-30% decline in footfalls, 10-30% decline in sales and 20-30% decline in incomes across the cities of Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh, the largest impact being in Bangalore, which is one of the most supermarket penetrated cities in India.
Rate of Inflation
So far as the role of FDI-driven food supermarkets in containing food inflation is concerned, the evidence from Latin American (Mexico, Nicaragua, Argentina), African (Kenya, Madagascar) and Asian countries (Thailand, Vietnam, India) shows that the supermarket prices for fruits and vegetables and other basic foods were higher than those in traditional markets.
Also, the lower procurement prices through direct procurement from farmers need not lead to lower consumer prices in supermarket chains as procurement prices are more about the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers. Even if it is accepted that supermarkets are able to offer lower prices, the low-income households may face higher food prices because of reasons of distance from supermarkets, and higher prices charged by supermarkets in low-income areas. Thus, there is no direct correspondence between modern retail and lower food prices and, thus, better food security of the poor consumers. Therefore, the inflation containment logic for FDI in food retail does not stand ground given the empirical evidence from across the globe.
India has put out its own policy on FDI in multi-brand retail with 51 per cent limit. China, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, South Africa, Argentina and Chile have allowed 100 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail. We are not following any nation but guided by national interest.
Cash and Carry Trade
Until now only 51% FDI in single-brand retail and 100% FDI in wholesale cash and carry trade was allowed. The paper put up by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) for public discussion and comments in mid-2010 and the Economic Survey for 2010-11 had argued for FDI in food retail trade in India. In mid-2011 an inter-ministerial group also recommended FDI in retail to control food inflation. The following policy initiatives can be taken to safeguard the interests of local stake-holders:
* Slow down food supermarket expansion through mechanisms like zoning, business licenses and trading restrictions.
* Strengthen competition laws and regulation of supermarkets
* Give legal protection to farmers and suppliers as is done in Japan
* Permit only formal contract farming, not ‘contact’ farming
* Set up an independent retail commission to supervise and regulate supermarkets to protect interests of suppliers, consumers and labor and support to local retailers and farmers
* Establish multi-stakeholder initiatives in food value chains and provide support to small producers and traditional food retailers.
* Producers’ organizations and the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) need to monitor and negotiate more equitable supply contracts with the supermarkets.
* The government should encourage producer companies and farmers’ co-operatives for collective bargaining with supermarkets

Campaign Launched
The government has launched a campaign to sell advantages of FDI in multi-brand retail. The Commerce and Industry Ministry said that FDI in multi-brand retail will help farmers, create more jobs and benefit consumers.

On the other hand, the reality is that domestic retailers will benefit from sourcing their requirements from wholesale cash and carry store at a discount, it said.
The government said in countries like China, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil and Singapore, where there are no caps on FDI, small retail stores have flourished.The government advertisement said that there is another myth that FDI in multi-brand may result in job losses.

Assembly Election Results To Change India's Political Scenario

The assembly election results of four states and one union territory have been declared. These results can be harbingers of things to come. The results have proved to be good for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), but they can prove ominous for the Congress. From the looks of it, except for Assam, the results of other states have not proved to be very good for the party, and not very successful. If this trend continues and the results of the coming elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) turn out to be as disappointing, then it will be very difficult for the Congress to remain a major party. The reason for this is to maintain its strength in the states and have sufficient numbers.
Prestige Issue to Congress
The results of today's elections have given a blow to the Congress. This has been especially true of Andhra Pradesh (AP). Rajashekhara Reddy's wife and son have given a nasty shock to the Congress government and have exposed its tall claims. Only until yesterday the Congress was claiming that it will win the two seats in AP hands down. It was claiming these seats as theirs, especially the Cuddappa seat had become into a prestige issue to the Congress. But today, the election results have shattered its image. Keeping in mind to win these seats, Jagan and his mother Vijai Lakshmi played many tricks. They got many candidates with similar names of Jagan and Vijai Lakshmi to stand so that the voters got confused, and the Congress took full advantage of this confusion. But Jagan's immense popularity led to a large margin victory for Jagan and his mother.
In West Bengal, where the Left Front had been ruling for over three decades, the Trinamool Congress of Mamata Bannerjee sent Left parties packing and laid the foundation of a new history. Bannerjee, winning with a comfortable majority, has assured for herself the Chief Minister seat. She made a pact with the Congress. But for 90 percent of seats, the credit goes to her. Here also, the Congress was in the fray but it could not get much success.
Change in South
There has been a change in the administration in South India also, in the state of Tamil Nadu. Here Jayalalitha, by ensuring her victory over Karunanidhi, has made sure she becomes the chief minister. Here, A. Raja of the Dravida Munnetra Kazahagam (DMK) had to pay the price of being involved in the biggest scam of independent India, the 2G scam and other scandals. Otherwise also, Tamil Nadu had a trend of changing the government every five years, and the DMK and All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (AIADMK) take turns in running the government every five years. While in West Bengal, the Left had to face defeat because of the mistake they have made in Nandigram and Sangrur, Left leaders have acknowledged the mistakes they have made.
In Assam, the Congress put up a good show, while in Puducherry, the party's record was not very good. In Kerala, the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) did not get any significant majority. In these elections, the most amazing aspect was that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been wiped out completely from these states and could not get even a single seat, except in Assam. The BJP has been wiped out clean from all these states though it proudly claims that it was the country's largest opposition party. This is a very embarrassing and shameful situation for the BJP. The biggest proof of this defeat is that people of this country have stopped thinking in communal terms in their agenda.
Constructive Opposition
Tamil Nadu took the blame for the defeat of the DMK and Karunanidhi's son, Abhigyan, resigned from the union government and has presented his resignation to DMK Chief Karunanidhi, the Left Front acknowledged its defeat and promised to work as constructive opposition.
During the elections, Mamata Bannerjee's fixation for the figure 13 was at its height. Coincidentally, this is the 13th year of the formation of the Trinamool Congress. Also 13 is the figure of Mamata's name numerological. She considers 13 to be lucky for her. Even the announcement of the election date was 13. All other predictions, except for West Bengal, turned out to be disappointing and the political scene changes. In such a situation, how all this would affect the federal government remains to be seen.

Assembly Elections 2011: Five States Vote Against Corruption, Bad Governance

The results of elections held in five states could not be unexpected; yet the results provide an opportunity to introspect to those political parties, which, once in power, disregarded people's welfare and interests. They easily forget that in a democracy, they have to be accountable of their performance to people after every five years.
The results of Assembly elections declared on 13 May signal a vote for change and a vote against corruption and poor governance. The spectacular rout of the Left in West Bengal and of the DMK in Tamil Nadu, however, overshadowed an equally spectacular vote for continuity in Assam.
Four of the five governments seeking renewed mandate in the states were tossed out by the electorate, with only the Congress government in Assam returning to power for the third consecutive term. And barring a photo-finish in Kerala, where the Congress-led United Democratic Front barely secured a majority, the voters dished out clear and decisive mandates in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry.
Of the five states where elections were held, only in Assam and Puducherry the ruling party, the Congress, secured enough seats to form government yet again. In Assam, the Congress is in better position than after the election held in 2006, and now it can form government on its own. During the last election, it had to seek the help of other groups to form government. In Puducherry, the Congress is in a position to form government yet again. It is, however, a different issue that the Congress had to lose several seats from its earlier tally. In addition to these states, people have discarded the ruling groups and dethroned them from power in West Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Voters, thereby, conveyed a clear and sound message that they have the power and the authority to punish those who, in a democracy, strive to do whatever they want and indulge in corruption.
West Bengal
In West Bengal, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Bannerjee juggernaut steamrolled the Left Front in West Bengal, dislodging the longest communist government in a democratic country after 34 long years. With her call for ‘Poribartan’ (change), Mamata (56) swept everything before her. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee became the first Chief Minister since 1967 to lose his seat in the Assembly.
Barring Tamil Nadu, the Congress has benefited in two assemblies by way of returning to power. In two other assemblies, West Bengal and Kerala, its ally the Trinamool Congress and the party itself have made the ruling clans to bite dust. In West Bengal, election results are more than expected, but even better. Mamata Bannerjee has succeeded in dismantling the strong bastion of the Left in West Bengal. The Left has lost power in the state after several decades. The way the firebrand Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Bannerjee carried her electoral campaign in the state and the huge support she received during electioneering, made even the Left to accept indirectly that it is almost difficult to retain power.
The election results make it clear that people want a change. They want that the state should come out of the grip of politics of bandhs (strikes), and implement the development agenda. They want that new industries be set up in the state, and the state economy stabilized. Going by this people's mandate, Mamata Bannerjee faces a formidable challenge. This is because despite having been vanquished, the Left is not without strength. By the percentage of votes the Left has secured, they are in a strong position to pose serious challenges to Mamata Bannerjee. Also, she would have to maintain more cordial relationship with its ally, the Congress, so that she may take the state to the path of progress and development with the full support and assistance from the central government. This would make her task easier.
Tamil Nadu
The defeat of the alliance headed by Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu is not entirely unexpected. Cash and caste also took a tumble in Tamil Nadu, where J. Jayalalithaa and AIADMK proved poll predictions of a hung house wrong. So comprehensive has been the victory of the Puratchi Thalaivi (Revolutionary Sister) that the AIADMK ended up winning as many as 151 of the 160 seats it contested. While Chief Minister M Karunanidhi won his seat, most of his cabinet ministers including son and chosen successor Stalin lost. The revelations being made almost every day in the 2G Spectrum scam makes one understand how some people indulge in plunder of national wealth. It, certainly, did cast its shadows on the results in the states. Moreover, the ever-increasing influence of members of his family in government affairs because of Karunanidhi's old age added fuel to fire in deteriorating the situation in the state. Traditionally, Tamil Nadu never returns the same ruling clan for a second term, and people handover power to the opposition every five years. The same has happened now. Almost the same, generally, takes place in Kerala. Yet, the Congress' victory this time assumes significance in that the party that was floated by Karunakaran could have played spoilsport for the Congress.
Assam
In Assam, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi reaped the rewards for a slew of populist welfare measures. The Congress government in Assam had offered computer laptops to each student who passed the class X examination in the first division. It had announced cash incentives for girls born in government hospitals and offered working capital to widows to start their own small enterprises. “Good governance” and peace initiatives aimed at reconciling insurgents seem to have helped Gogoi reap the harvest.
Though the Congress has succeeded in returning to power, the most pertinent aspect of the election outcome is the remarkable performance of the All India United Democratic Front. The Front led by Badruddin Ajmal has not increased its earlier tally of 11 seats, but in other constituencies it fought neck-to-neck with its rivals, including the Congress. In sever al constituencies, it secured the second place. This situation rings alarm bells for the Congress that Muslims in Assam are distancing themselves from the Congress, and their confidence in the party headed by Badruddin Ajmal is on the rise.
Andhra Pradesh
In Andhra Pradesh, another breakaway group of the Congress, the YSR Congress formed by Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, has jolted the ruling party by the enormous margins of its victory in the by-elections to the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly constituencies. The rise of the YSR Congress threatens to destabilise the demoralised Congress regime in South India's largest State, as many YSR loyalists might see political advantage in switching sides early.
Kerala
In the closest electoral battle Kerala has seen in recent decades, the Congress-led United Democratic Front has scraped past the Left Democratic Front in the 2011 Assembly elections. In the House of 140, the UDF bagged 72 seats, four more than the LDF led by the Communist Party if India (Marxist).
The UDF had scored massive wins in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and the 2010 local body elections, but has now had to satisfy itself with a modest win.
In the nine-party UDF, the Congress has won 38 seats, the Indian Union Muslim League 20, the Kerala Congress (M) nine, the Socialist Janata (Democratic) two, and the Kerala Congress (B), the Kerala Congress (Jacob) and the RSP (Bolshevik) one each.
The CPI(M), heading the seven-party LDF, is the single largest party with 45 seats in the House. The CPI has won 13 seats, the Janata Dal (Secular) four and the RSP, the Nationalist Congress Party and LDF-backed independents two each. In the outgoing House, the LDF had 98 seats to the UDF's 42.
Setback for BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nothing to cheer about the outcome of the five Assembly elections. The only consolation for the party is the victory of its nominees in the by-election to the three Assembly segments in Karnataka and the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency in Chhattisgarh.
The biggest disappointment for the party is in Assam where it had hoped to improve on its tally of 10 seats in the last Assembly poll. The party's strength in the State is down to four and the BJP attributed it to ‘disunity' in the Opposition ranks.
AssessmentOn the whole, people in three out of five states have given their verdict for a change. It is also clear that those indulging in corruption and ignoring people's interests would not be spared. It is a matter of conjecture how political parties take the message conveyed by people in their verdict.