New National Manufacturing Policy

Facing criticism over lack of decision making on economic issues, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government has approved its ambitious National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) that seeks to create a massive 100 million additional jobs in the manufacturing sector by 2025 as well as create large sized industrial zones with easier compliance and labor laws.
Enhancing Share of Manufacturing in GDP
The NMP seeks to enhance the share of manufacturing in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 25 per cent within a decade and create 100 million jobs in manufacturing as part of the inclusive growth agenda of the UPA,
The new policy, cleared by the cabinet, seeks to boost the stagnating manufacturing sector to contribute at least 25 per cent of the national GDP by 2025. The policy has been discussed for almost a year but was stuck due to objections from the environment and labor ministries.
The share of manufacturing in India's GDP has stagnated at 15 to 16 per cent since 1980 while the share in comparable economies in Asia like China, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia is much higher at 25 to 34 per cent. Also, the manufacturing sector has a multiplier effect in creation of two to three additional jobs in the allied sectors.
The policy seeks to empower rural youth by imparting necessary skill sets to make them employable. Sustainable development and technological value addition in manufacturing have received special focus.
The policy envisages specific interventions broadly in the areas of industrial infrastructure development and improvement of the business environment through rationalization and simplification of business regulations. In addition, development of appropriate technologies, especially green technologies for sustainable development, and skill development of the younger population are envisaged.
National Investment and Manufacturing Zones
The policy will be a partnership between the central and state governments. The former will create the policy framework, provide incentives for infrastructure development on a public private partnership basis through appropriate financing instruments, while state governments will identify the suitable land and be equity holders in the National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs).
Large scale China style industrial zones will be set up in the form of national investment and manufacturing zones — green field integrated industrial townships with a land area of at least 5,000 hectares. Industrial townships are proposed to be self governing and autonomous bodies and managed by a special purpose vehicle.
Seven regions under the Delhi Mumbai industrial corridor have been identified as NIMZ in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
While the NIMZs have been identified, the proposals apply throughout the country wherever industry is able to organize itself into clusters. The first phase of the NIMZ will be established along the Delhi Mumbai industrial corridor which will see early results in the next few years.
Improving Business Regulatory Environment
A defining feature of the policy has been the endeavor to improve the business regulatory environment by providing single window clearances. In order to protect the interests of labor in the eventuality of a closure of a unit, a suitable mechanism has been devised using innovative job loss policy and sinking fund to insure workers against such loss.
Green manufacturing has received a special attention. Also, small and medium enterprises will be given access to this patent pool up to a maximum of Rs 20 lakh for acquiring patented technologies.

Communal Riots in Bareilly

Communal riots taking place in Bareilly raises several uncomfortable questions before us. The first point is that Uttar Pradesh has been free of communal riots for a long time. There were attempts in the past to increase communal polarization and enmity, and religious sentiments were continuously being used in politics, but this state was spared from communal violence.

Immediate Reasons
The riot that took place in Bareilly started with the skirmish during the procession of Barawafat (birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad), but the ground for it was being prepared for long. No matter what the immediate reasons for communal riots are, preparations for them are made much in advance, and if eyes of the administration and society are sharp, they could see these signs floating in the air.

It is also a strange thing that the riot took place in the city of Bareilly, which has been Ala Hazarat or Ahmed Raza Khan's place of work, and even today his tomb is a place of worship for all.

Culture and Tolerance
Ahmed Raza Khan was a Muslim religious cleric who was the propagator of that sect of Islam, which is known as "Barelavi" sect. As opposed to pure fundamentalist Salafi or Wahabi sect, Barelavi is a liberal and coordinating sect and it is believed that most Muslims in the world believe in this sect. In the Barelavi sect, local culture and tolerance has been accepted. Ala Hazarat was a scholar of Islamic scriptures and Islamic scholars around the world respected him. In fact, Ala Hazarat defined the liberality and peace-loving qualities of Islam on the basis of religious scriptures, which is being easily followed by most of the Muslim community. Therefore, it should be considered as regrettable that communal violence spreads in a city that has such tolerance.

Otherwise also, the path that India is treading now, there should be no scope for quarrels on the basis of religion and caste. But communal riots are taking place in Karnataka in the South and in Bareilly in the North. During riots, none of the parties wins or loses, only those people win whose selfish motives are achieved by inciting communal violence, and common people no matter what community they belong to always lose.

Target of Terrorism
India has continuously been a target of terrorism and terrorists consider themselves as the real followers of a particular religion but despite that there is no tendency of communal polarization and violence among the Indian people. Wherever there have been communal riots, local vested interests have started them in a well-planned manner, be it in Gujarat or Karnataka. In Bareilly too, such elements could be identified and the administration should take strict action against them and the society should boycott them.

Issues like food, clothes, power, water, development, and security are more important to common man, no matter what community he belongs to. While solving these problems, the society should have no time to fight in the name of religion. Let us hope that the spark of Bareilly would be extinguished there itself and this blaze would not spread further.

Passable Budget

In this age of economic challenges, it is difficult for any finance minister to come true on everybody's expectations, but it seems that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tried to do exactly the same, and as a result he restricted himself to someone who presented a passable budget. Indian economy is not going to get any noteworthy momentum through this budget, because there are not even indications of any revolutionary changes in any sector, so much so that steps have also not been taken in the expected direction of economic reforms.

Initiative for Fundamental Change
After all, for how long they would continue to give with one hand and take it away with the other through budget? It is also becoming clear now that if an initiative for fundamental change is made through one budget, it is ignored in the next budget, exactly in the manner as allocation is increased under some heads and reduced under others.
Sometimes, they try to please one class, and sometimes another class. The same exercise was done this time too, but perhaps halfheartedly. Had it not been so, mere Rs. 4 billion would not have been allocated in the name of Green Revolution.

Struggling With Severe Price Hike
It is difficult to understand why Green Revolution has been kept restricted to only the country's eastern part? Is it that other parts of the country apart from Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Orissa are overflowing with food grain?
The question also is what would be achieved with mere Rs.4 billion? This much sum is not enough even for one state. At a time when the country is struggling with severe price hike because of shortage of food grain, making symbolic and limited efforts for green revolution is a matter of concern. Similarly, negligible increase in defense budget is also beyond understanding.

Old and New Programs
The contours of the general budget are telling us that the kind of efforts that should have been made to rein in price rise have not been made. Undoubtedly, we should worry about the present, but not paying attention to the future could prove to be fatal. Is it not surprising that no concrete efforts have been made to control inflation when there is every likelihood of rise in it? The finance minister has made efforts to control fiscal deficit and has hoped that it would be reduced, but the economy is not dependent on honest intentions of rulers.
It is not necessary that the situations take the same shape as is being thought, especially looking at the fact that agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy and agriculture is still dependent on rains. There is no surprise about it that the finance minister wished that the rain gods would shower their blessings. We cannot be pleased with the fact that the allocation for some old and new programs has been increased, because we have not yet been able to create a system that would also properly implement what the government says. This budget provides less relief and causes more concern, because there are some sectors that appear to be neglected, as before.