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With Shiromani Akali Dal leaving the Bharatiya janata party led National democratic alliance (NDA) on the farm bills, this fifty three years long relationship between Akali Dal and BJP/ Bhartiya Jana Sangh came to an end. Temporary or permanent, this remains to be seen. This alliance survived for fifty years under the leadership of Parkash Singh Badal who enjoyed five terms as chief minster Punjab while representing this alliance , first with Bhartiya Jana Sangh and then with BJP. Without Akalis, Jan Sangh/ BJP could never be part of a ministry in Punjab. And without BJP/Jana Sangh, Akalis could never dream of getting a berth in union cabinet. Both remained electorally under achiever in Punjab and it remains to be seen how they survive in electoral politics of Punjab in future days.

FIRST TIME IN MARCH 1967

Shiromani Akali Dal –Jana Sangh alliance came in to existence for the first time on March 8, 1967 while forming United Front Ministry under the leadership of Justice Gurnam Singh. It was first non congress government of Punjab. It was post poll alliance which came in to existence due to Sant Fateh Singh, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, who had projected himself as ambassador of Hindu-Sikh unity.

There were 104 seats in Punjab legislative Assembly in reorganized Punjab. In 1967,Jan Sangh contested election on 49 seats and won 9 seats. Due to its struggle to get a place for Hindi in reorganized Punjabi suba, it had consolidated its position among Punjabi urban Hindus. Dr. Baldev Parkash was the first leader from Jana sangh who became finance minister in this historic alliance.

Bharatiya Jana Sangh entered in to first poll alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal in mid-term elections held in February 1969. Shiromani Akali Dal contested 65 and won 43 while Jana Sangh contested 30 seats and 8 seats. Shiromani Akali Dal emerged as the single largest party in Punjab assembly for the first time in history. Jana Sangh agreed to join government on the condition of recognizing Hindi as national link language. This time, Balramji Das Tandon and Krishan Lal joined as ministers under Justice Gurnam Singh while Dr. Baldev Parkash was the party president in state. Manmohan Kalia first refused to accept ministry as he was upset over the issue of Hindi as medium of instruction in private schools. Balramji Das Tandon too expressed displeasure over the government behaving like a Sikh panthic body. SAD punctured Jana Sangh’s claim to be sole spokesman for Punjabi Hindus while it gave a ministerial berth to Radha Krishan, a congress defector.

GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITY LED TO SPLIT

On March 25, 1970 Akali Legislative party elected development minister Parkash Singh Badal as its leader replacing Justice Gurnam Singh. This is how this grand old man of alliance began to preside over this political alliance for next fifty years. While taking oath as Chief Minister on March 26, 1970, for the first time, Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal started his career as five time chief minister with the help of Bharatiya Jana Sangh. It may be interesting to recall that newly formed Guru Nanak University (original name of GNDU) was the reason behind first split in this alliance.

Punjab government had ordered the affiliation of colleges of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Kapurthala with Guru Nanak University while DAV management did not want to disaffiliate its colleges with Panjab University Chandigarh. Jana Sangh demanded that jurisdiction of Guru Nanak University must be curtailed and a new Dayanand University must be established at Jalandhar. On June 28, Shiromani Akali Dal refused to accept these demands and two days later, Jana Sangh resigned from Parkash Singh Badal Led ministry and continued issue based support to the government.

After this, every government formed under the leadership of Parkash Singh Badal made it sure that BJS/BJP remains integral part of coalition. In 1977, Janta Coalition was the first non Congress government at the Centre. Parkash Singh Badal played crucial role in bringing them together. Morarji Bhai Desai invited Dhanna Singh Gulsahn, a Dalit Sikh and a great scholar to join union cabinet. In July 1979 both Akali ministers of Janta coalition resigned citing Morarji Bhai’s unsympathetic attitude towards the issues of Punjab.

Replace Narendra Bhai with Morarji Bhai and see how history has repeated itself.

Parkash Singh Badal has very often stated that Akali- BJP relation is a husband-wife like relation. History has shown that they can part their ways for sometime, but their separation never culminates in to a divorce. Current walk away from NDA is merely a separation, one should not read it like an end of road for long journey, which began 53 years ago.

TO MINIMISE HUMAN COST OF THE CRISIS

The twin mantra for the Government’s stimulus in response to the unprecedented economic impact of COVID19 has been to first ensure that human cost of the crisis is minimized specially for those at the bottom of the pyramid; and two, to convert this crisis into an opportunity by implementing bold structural reforms that will go beyond repairing the damage to the production capacities and enhance the overall supply response capabilities of the economy. The stimulus (package) announced by the honorable finance minister, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, over the past five days is a carefully crafted a well-balanced yet bold package, that will, in the coming days, achieve both objectives.

It is widely recognized that the present crisis is far worse than both the Asian financial crisis of the late nineties as well as the Global financial crisis of 2008-09 as it has seriously impacted both the supply and demand side of the economy. The government’s response has been to effectively address both these aspects. On the supply side, the government response has been four-fold. First, to ensure that food security and farmers’ incomes were not impaired. The government declared agriculture and all related activities as essential services immediately upon announcing the lockdown . This permitted the successful harvesting and efficient procurement of the critical Rabi crop. It also implied pumping in Rs 78,000 crore as new purchasing power in the hands of the farmers.

PREVENT LIQUIDITY CRUNCH FROM CONVERTING TO INSOLVENCIES

The second prong was to effectively prevent the pressing cash/liquidity crunch from converting to insolvencies and bankruptcies. Immediate moratorium was announced on their debt servicing obligations to commercial banks. This was greatly reinforced for the MSMEs for whom an additional credit line of Rs. 3 trillion without any fresh collateral was extended. MSMEs could also avail of new equity from the Rs 50,000 crore fund of funds and take advantage of the subsidiary debt facility announced by the FM. These measures provided succor to a arge number of businesses, especially those in the services sectors like hospitality, entertainment, retail etc. The Rs 90,000 crore credit package made available to State Discoms, should also be included in this set as it will prevent bankruptcies of State electricity utilities and the power producers, which would have had disastrous results.

The third set of measures were directed to significantly improve the eco-system for private producers both in agriculture and manufacturing. Long pending reforms to give farmers the much needed freedom to choose their clients and for traders and exporters of agro-products to maintain necessary stocks, have now been announced. Defense production and exports will get a new fillip with the liberalization measures. Greater space will be given to private businesses in sectors in which hitherto public sector enterprises had either a complete monopoly or a pre-dominant presence. Finally, in a measure that does not have a large fiscal footprint, but touches the lives and livelihoods of more than 50 lakh families, street vendors all over the country have been given a credit of Rs 10,000 each for re-stocking and use as working capital. Thus, ‘the package’ has guaranteed the survival of existing production capacities andlaid strong grounds for enhancing larger private sector participation by both domestic and foreign players.

RS 40, 000 CRORE ADDITIONAL ALLOCATION FOR MNREGA

Several measures have been announced to lift the sagging demand in the economy. Before detailing them it is important to point out that aggregate demand is made up of consumption, investment and demand for intermediate goods as well. This has to be taken note of by those who consider only the cash in hand of consumers as the sole means for reversing the declining demand in the economy. Therefore, additional credit lines provided to the MSMEs or to the vendors or farmers (Rs two trillion over and above the limits already provided under the KCC) will contribute to the strengthening of aggregate demand.

A significant number of measures were announced to hike consumption demand directly as well. Among these are: Rs. 1.73 lakh crore for (announced in the first package) for improving the incomes and welfare of the most vulnerable, including the 20 crore female Jan Dhan account holders who will receive monies directly into their bank accounts; Rs 50,000 additional incomes in the hands of those whose TDS and TCS were reduced by 25%;

Rs 40, 000 crore additional allocation for MNREGA which will provide jobs and succor to those returning to their villages from metros and cities; Rs 30,000 crore for construction workers; Rs 17, 800 crore transferred to 12 crore farmers; and Rs 13,000 crore transferred to States to finance the costs of running quarantine homes and shelters for migrant workers. These measures, which will directly benefit different categories of individuals, will surely raise the flagging demand, the necessary condition for triggering a fast-paced recovery in economic activity.

As the Honorable Finance Minister emphatically pointed out on Sunday, the size of the stimulus at Rs 20.97 trillion, totaled more than the promise made by the Prime Minister in his address on 12 May. This is more than 10% of the GDP and compares very favorably with packages announced by other emerging economies. Combined with the significant number of bold structural reform measures, which hold the potential to make Indian firms attain global scales and competitiveness and give the much-needed freedoms, flexibility and financial strength to our beleaguered farmers, ‘the package’ promises to promote India’s economic recovery in the post COVID 19 period.

Kanchipuram town is also known as silk city since the main profession of the people is weaving silk sarees. The silk weavers of Kanchi settled more than 400 years ago and have given it an enviable reputation as the producer of the best silk sarees in the country. Its economy is entirely dependent on tourism and handloom industry.

The USP

A typical Kanchipuram silk saree is known for its distinguished characteristics of heavy weight coupled with classic colours and rich zari border and pallu. Two types of warp is used for manufacturing Silk sarees viz. Jari warp of 2 ply 2 fold threads and Jodupuri warp of 2 ply threads. Zari thread consists of coloured silk thread as core wrapped with flattened silver wire with gold plating. These silk sarees are well known for inter woven lace work and its lusture, which is the dexterity of the dyer and weaver in bringing the lusture and design respectively.

THE LOOM

Two types of looms are used in for the production of Kanchipuram silk saree viz. Frame loom and Pit loom. Throw shuttle is invariably used for the production of saree on the two types of loom. The main parts of the loom are: Sley, Treadles, Reed, Healds, Warp Beam, Cloth beam, Shuttle and Lease rods.

The weaving process itself consists of three basic operations viz. Shedding, Picking and Beat-up which form a continuous cycle in the simple handloom either pit loom or frame loom. The picking and beat up operation are fixed no matter what type of fabric is being produced, but the shedding motion is variable and can be described as the heart of weaving as it is here the nature of interlacing, the weave is decided.

RAW MATERIAL

Pure indigenous raw silk is used for the production of Kanchipuram silk saree. Cross breed silk (Bivolltine X multivoltine) variety is used in silk saree production. The Filature/ Multi end fine quality raw silk of 16/18 denier is used in warp preparation and Filature/ Charka coarse quality silk of 22/24 denier is used in weft preparation. The raw silk is twisted as organzine or tram yarn for the preparation of warp and weft respectively. Both warp and weft are dyed at Yarn stage using either acid or metal complex dyes. Thus, the silk saree produced is a loom finished fabric.

ZARI

Zari thread is also extensively used as raw material for the production of silk saree. It is also used as extra warp and or weft in order to produce intricate designs on silk sarees. The main component of zari, which is predominant, is given below.

Silk (Dyed) – 20 – 22 %

Silver – 50 – 55 %

c) Gold – 0.5 – 0.6 %

d) Others – 22 – 29 %

DESIGNS

The Kanchipuram silk sarees are popular for their technical excellence and novelty of their designs. Even though traditional methods of weaving are adopted by weavers, they have tried to keep pace with the changing preferences and tastes. This helped them to cater to the needs of varieties of tastes of young and old, rich and middle class consumers. To reduce the cost of production weavers manufacture sarees with borders on only one side with delicate designs. The popular designs in the border are brick, birds, animals, leaf, mango, nayapaisa, sovereign etc., The colours of the sarees must be pleasing and evoke consumer demand. The most popular colours used are blue, black, green and mustered. However, of late lighter shades are also quite popular.

Some of the popular designs worked into the saree are:

Thandavalam or Parellel Lines: Where the stripes run along the length of the saree.

Kottadi or Check Pattern: With squares or rectangle of various dimensions where the stripes run both the lengthwise and breadth wise.

Puttas: The figures and flowers are independently worked into the saree and joined to the pattern found on the saree.

Tissue Sarees: The entire weft is woven with golden lace.

UNIQUENESS – AN OVERVIEW

The Kanchipuram silk saree is unique in many ways. The main features among them are Korvai and Petni. Korvai is the technique of joining the border to body of the saree [Single/ double sided border]. This technique requires additional manpower, which generally fulfilled by employing

household labourer. More clearly, few ends of body portion of the warp on both sides are interlaced with the border ends resulting as thick diligent stitch, which run parallel to the selvedge [Jamudu] up to the pallu portion. In order to achieve this effect, three shuttles are used, two are handled by the weaver concerned and the third one is handled by the household labourer. Since this process requires additional labourer, who has to synchronize his activity of weft insertion with the experienced weaver, results in enormous delay.

Secondly, the Petni process, which is nothing but mending the Pallu portion of warp with the existing portion of the body in each saree. This involves mending of all the warp threads in the body portion of the saree, which counts to few thousand. Moreover, after mending, the ends have to be cautiously drawn through the delicate heald high as well the tender stalk of Cholam. Also, after drawing the newly mended threads/ ends, one has to care fully weave to certain extent, which requires more skill. This results in homogeneous blend of differently coloured warp yarns as a special effect which runs across the length of the saree.

In most of the silk saree production, the Petni process, which is mending differently coloured end for the production of Pallu/ Mundi portion, has been replaced by tie – dye process. In this process, a single warp is dyed with two or more coloured dyes in order to have different body and pallu hues. This is generally achieved by dyeing one saree warp length [both body and Pallu portion] with body colour first, stripping the Pallu colour by means of bleaching, which is a reduction process and finally dyeing the Pallu portion with different colour.

This uniqueness of the Kanchipuram silk saree especially the Korvai and Petni with its associated disadvantage should be maintained. This should be the main aspiration for any process invention, loom modification and product development in manufacturing of Kanchipuram silk sarees, which is being tried by master weavers time and again.

One may not find anything extraordinary about this young man exuding confidence, who works as Accounts Assistant for a process management firm in Chandigarh and earns Rs. 20,000 per month. However, when you know that he is Munish Kumar, an intermediate pass from a BPL family from Kathua J&K, whose father is a fruit-vendor earning about Rs. 24,000 per year, this seems like an extraordinary transformation. Munish is now happy that he is capable of supporting his family. His life took a turn when he attended a mobilisation drive conducted by a training provider under the Himayat Scheme that provides placement linked training for the youth of Jammu & Kashmir.

Himayat is a placement linked skill training programme, 100% funded by the Government of India, for unemployed youth of Jammu and Kashmir and is being implemented by the Himayat Mission Management Unit (HMMU) of J&K State Rural Livelihoods Mission (JKSRLM), Department of Rural Development, and Government of J&K. The Empowered Committee for DDU-GKY, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has approved a skilling target of 149180 at the cost of 1781.66 crores by the year 2022.

One such beneficiary of Himayat is Parveen Fatima from Kargil. She is among the very few Himayat alumni, whom Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi mentioned during his 27th December, 2019 -Man Ki Baat. The PM was referring a few most successful people, who despite facing critical situations managed to achieve success. Parveen Fatima, hailing from remote village of Goma, Kargil, Ladakh got trained under Shirt, Kurta & Safari Making trade and is now working as Team Leader at SM Garments Tirupura Tamil Nadu. Parveen has become a role model for hundreds of girls in Ladakh, who dream to empower themselves despite facing lot of social and financial constraints.

FREE SKILL TRAINING

Himayat provides free skill training for duration of 3 to 12 months on job roles in various sectors with an assured employment after completion of the training. The Scheme includes youth from both BPL as well as non-BPL categories and from urban as well as rural areas. In general, the target youth are to be in the age group of 18- 35 years of age, except for a few special groups. As a 100% centrally funded scheme, Himayat mandates at least 70% of placement of total trained candidates. “During the first days of my training I was unable to speak in front of class but slowly I got confident to speak up and now in my job I have to deal almost 100 people in a day to speak with them”, says Gunjeet Singh employed in the Healthcare sector as Pharmacy Assistant, about the transformation he experienced through the training he received through Himayat.

SKILL TRAINING TO YOUTH BY PPP

Skill training to the youth is imparted through public-private partnership (PPP) by Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs). These Agencies are also provided training and capacity building by experts in HMMU and NIRDPR, an arm of the Ministry of Rural Development, on the end to end implementation of the programme according to its Standard Operating Procedures. The four pillars of this youth skilling programme of MoRD are mobilization, counselling, training and placement. Robust post placement support is being provided for in the scheme, so that youth need not struggle during the first few months of getting placed. “I am thankful for training and experience I have gone through. My communication skills have improved a lot. It also improved my self-confidence and am able to stand for myself”, says Ms Abida who underwent training in Baramulla and is now earning 18,000 INR a month as Sales Executive in a leading footwear chain store. Hailing from a BPL family with no sustainable livelihood, Abida is now proud of her self-reliance.

Under the scheme, youth are trained in sectors as varied as Retail, Hospitality, Banking and Insurance, IT-ITeS, Healthcare and so on, depending on their aptitude. Youth are also trained in softskills, IT and English. Of the target of about 1.5 lakh set for training and placing youth of J&K by 2022, about 14,956 youth have been trained of which, 6143 (41%) are girls. Of the trained youth, by now, about 6,000 youth have been placed. It is a matter of pride that Himayat-trained youth are not just doing their jobs, but doing their jobs well, to the extent of saving lives; and are able to set an example for others to emulate. Mr. Mohd. Azam 70 years old who suffered a severe heart attack was lifted in the ambulance near Poonch by two EMTs who were trained through Himayat. Under the guidance of the doctor, the patient was given the injection and shock which helped clear the blockage and shift the patient to district hospital for further treatment.

HIMAYAT TRAINEES

Through the uncompromising structured approach adopted by MoRD in Himayat programme, for training youth and placing them, youth are able to find their true worth, and transforming life for self, family and giving back to society. “My message to the youth of Kashmir is that stop whining if you are drop out of school. Himayat can help you as it helped me. You can still earn a livelihood. There are lots of jobs, it is just you need to take a stand and work for it”, signs off another happy, empowered youth who got trained and placed under Himayat.

INDIA DOMINATES GLOBAL GENERIC MEDICINE MARKET

India is a Pharmacy of the world; and is dominating the Generic Medicine market around the Globe. But here in India we remained unable to deliver the fruits of the Pharma revolution as the domestic market is dominated by Branded Products and ironically even the Generic Medicines are also available as branded ones.

VESTED INTERESTS CASTS DOUBT ON QUALITY OF GENERIC MEDICINES

Vested Interests confuse the masses by casting doubts on the quality of Generic Medicines, which are quite economical in comparison to popular branded products in the market. However the Drug Department has not set different standards for Branded and Generic medicines. Medical fraternity terms the prescription medicines as Branded and ethical and all others like promoted or substituted by chemists as Generic. In the present pharmaceutical scenario 2 types of marketing approach is being adopted, Prescriptions by Doctors (Ethical/Branded) and Substitution/Pushing by Chemists ( Generics Marketing ). In both the cases MRP of the medicines is kept quite high to incentivise the stakeholders and to take care of marketing costs.

25% PATEINTS IN INDIA CAN’T AFFORD TREATMENT

In India  around 25% of the patients have to borrow money for hospitalisation and half the patients abandon the treatment because of the high cost of medicines.By rough estimates medicines contribute 60 percent of the total treatment cost in India. To reduce the cost of healthcare, it is necessary to reduce this cost and make affordable medicines available to the general public

For fulfillment of its commitment , various schemes were launched by the Government of India like ” Health Assurance for A, JAN AUSHADHI , AMRIT  and GENERIC STORES etc., were put into play . However the system developed many pitfalls due to faulty pricing and discount policies and as a result desired benefit excluded the end user.
The  Government spending  on health care is just 1.15% of GDP. Private Hospitals provide healthcare to around 70 % of the population so it is impossible to reduce the cost without involving the Pharmaceutical Companies.

DR BEST PIONEERS IN LOW MRP CONCEPT

Dr Best, is the proud pioneer of the low MRP concept in the private sector and makes the life of the patients easier by reducing the treatment cost. Company claims to deliver Quality medicines at Affordable Prices, which are upto 80 % economical in comparison to same compositions available in market. At present there are only 5-6 serious players in the low MRP based Generic Market.

Dr Best has written a new script in the Indian Pharmaceutical Marketing by making people aware about Generics and offering them low MRP alternates so that a patient gets a fair deal without begging or arguing for discounts”. 

Not only lacks in Primary Health Care Service but also has a lower Doctor- Patient ratio than recommended by WHO and fearing CORONAVIRUS many of them have shut down their operations. While this is having a catastrophic effect on the Healthcare system which itself is on ventilator but on other hand puts it on the path of transformation.  Online consultation is a new trend; more and more people are now opting for this service.
Trend for online consultation is finding favour specially in Covid times & the Tele-Medicines platforms are expecting an increased influx of doctors. The Teleconsultation is growing at an avg. of 100% week on week & there is a quantum in the number of doctors joining such platforms.

Ashwini Bhalla , CEO Dr. Best said that the company plans to open 1000 Online Consultation Kiosks upto 2021.He added that Dr. Best stores would have Tele-Consultation & Lab Facility apart from serving the online orders.

Recently Punjab cabinet decided to make changes in Punjab Private University Policy 2010. The purpose was to allow establishment of new private universities with less built area on land lease for 33 years. How did the government arrive at this conclusion that it is the lack of campuses and built area which is obstacle in the growth of higher education in Punjab, is not clear. Punjab has colleges and universities with lands, grounds and buildings with much less footfall. Campuses in Punjab need students, teachers, books and capital. There is no dearth of campuses. There is visible dearth of human resources and capital.

The government must spend some energy in doing building audit of campuses and it will have some idea, how some of its best and oldest campuses have turned into empty nests. This agenda, that government took up with such a seriousness, made us confused. One should smile at the naivety with which the state approaches the priorities of higher education or one should cry at the apathy, the government shows towards ground reality.

What the government is trying to do now in Punjab has happened to a household already. Let us see what happened to the household where head of family thought that buildings more rooms is the first priority and how he ended up building empty nests. The family has father, mother and son. Son asked his father, “Papa get me a text book.”

Father said, “Son, I will get you a text book but where is the roof under which you will read this book? We must build a special study room so that you may read your text book without distraction”. Son was happy at father’s commitment to his education. Father spent all money on building the room. When room was given to son, he reminded father that he had asked for money to buy a text book.

Father was not very amused at this reminder. He said, see son, your grandfather gave me money only for building. I cannot divert fund to buy your text books for you. Go and make your own arrangements for funding your studies. I have built a room and my responsibility to your education is over. Son left home in search of job to fund his studies. He went to Canada. Room remained empty. A couple of pigeons began to build a nest there.

After a few days, son’s mother fell sick and asked her husband to get medicine for her. Husband said,” Only medicine will not work. You need a place where doctor will come and sit and prescribe medicine for you. Let me first build a room for doctor’s visit. The obedient wife began to wait for the day, the building of room was done. Patient was patient but disease was impatient. It worked faster and wife found a better room for herself in the skies above. Husband built the room but found that there was no doctor around, no money left to pay for medicine and there was no need for medicine indeed because the patient was gone. Another room was empty. Another couple of pigeons came and built their nest. They asked how was the owner of house treating them?

“Don’t you see? He is spending all his money for building nests for us”. “Yes, I can see, he is building so many empty nests. He is a great builder of empty nests indeed”.

NINETEEN YEARS OF AGRICULTURE POWER UNDER REGULATORY REGIME) 

Government of India (GoI) initially aimed at providing the agriculture power (AP) subsidy through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) on the lines of highly successful scheme of DBT for cooking gas, through an amendment in the Electricity Act 2003 during the current Monsoon session of the Parliament. Due to operational difficulties in the scheme, protests by state governments and farmer bodies, the GoI has now decided to tone down the amendment and now the state governments shall transfer the AP subsidy in the respective accounts of tubewell motors maintained by the state power utilities. In most of the states including Punjab, AP consumption on each tubewell is not being metered due to opposition by farmer bodies. Thus the DBT may have to be credited by  the respective state Government to the state utility for each tubewell on per kW/BHP AP tariff rather than the overall AP consumption claimed by the state power utility and approved by the respective State Electricity Regulatory Commission. It will help in better audit and identifying the subsidy going into each tubewell account but falls much short of the original aim of regulating the underground water consumption by metering each tubewell. 

Free AP in Punjab

Free AP was introduced by Govt. of Punjab (GoP)  in 1996 and it covered AP connections up to 5BHP costing Rs. 809 crore to the state exchequer for a partial period of that year . It was extended to cover all AP connections during the year 1997-98 costing Rs.1189 crore which later increased to Rs.1659 crore during 2001-02. AP consumption and its cost came under  scientific regulatory audit of  Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) in 2002-03 and it reduced this cost to Rs.1013 crore through its first tariff order for that year. During the period 2002-20, while the AP subsidy bill rose by 5.98 times to Rs.6060 crore , the A.P. consumption has increased  by 1.98 times from 5,820 to 11,521 MU, as PSERC consistently reduced cross subsidization of the AP sector by other categories of consumers as per the mandate of the Electricity Act 2003. While the AP sector’s cross subsidization was plus 30% in 2002-03, it has been consistently brought down and is within 20% for the last few years. 

AP SUBSIDY-QUANTIFICATION AND FUNDING

During 2002-20, the agriculture sector has consumed 1,65,301 MU free power thereby availing AP subsidy of ₨.59,838 crore, equal to 97% of the combined book value of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL)  standing at ₨.61,755 crore. This AP subsidy was funded partly through Rs. 19,865 crore collected as Electricity Duty (ED) levied by the Government of Punjab on metered power consumed by all non-subsidized categories of consumers. The balance Rs. 39,973 crore of AP subsidy was funded through other resources of the state government thereby giving a serious blow to the development activities in the state. 

MEASUREMENT OF AP CONSUMPTION

In Punjab, 5,575 segregated AP feeders (11kV) supply power to14.5 lac tube wells besides 285 non-segregated mixed-load 24 hrs supply feeders catering the Kandi (sub mountainous) area whose segregation is in pipe line. All of these feeders are being metered at their feeding substations end and feeder wise data of pumped energy is being sent by PSPCL to PSERC. This data is being   cross-verified from Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) data of about 1,500 operational meters available on real time basis out of 3,650AP feeders covered under AMR project and extrapolated by PSERC to audit the AP consumption claimed by PSPCL. 

DOES FREE AP HELP PUNJAB AND ITS FARMERS?

As per Punjab Agriculture University, in addition to the rain water, per kg produce of paddy cultivation through method of puddle irrigation needs 2462 litre while wheat needs 700 litre of irrigation water. During 2002-20, Punjab has produced paddy (295 million tonne) and wheat (302 million tonne) using 940 trillion litre of irrigation water comprising 235 & 705 trillion litre of canal and underground water respectively. The AP supply  used to pump out underground water being free, is not counted for deciding the minimum support price (MSP) of the grains since this amount, ‘is not spent by the farmer’, as per criterion of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).Since 85% grain produced by Punjab is sent to other  states through central pool, during 2002-20, Punjab has gifted about 800 trillion litre irrigation water and AP subsidy worth Rs. 50,860 crore to the central pool without getting a penny for its compensation along with 507 million tonne of paddy and wheat. Thus, free AP is neither benefitting the state nor its farmers and is, in fact, their enemy and responsible for the present water and financial crisis threatening the economic survival of the state and the farmers.

THE WAY FORWARD

The severe shortage of migrant labour due to onslaught of COVID-19 and consistent efforts by the agriculture scientists and administrators, the farmers switched over to Direct Seeding of Rice  (DSR) technique to cover 7 lac hectare out of overall paddy area which was reduced to 21 lac hectare due to shifting of 6 lac hectare area to basmati rice, cotton and maize thereby saving 7 trillion litre of water in comparison to that used during paddy season of 2018.

By giving high incentives for paddy being grown with DSR method, introduction of MSP for basmati and  crop diversification, saving of 33% of irrigation water can be attained. This will reduce the annual underground irrigation water extraction from 36 to 24 trillion litre which be equal to annual water recharge in Punjab and thus stablising the water table at current level. The AP subsidy will reduce from Rs.6060 to 4040 crore thereby relieving the Government of this burden partially. Industrial processing for all the crops  grown in Punjab should be ensured within the state to industrialise it.

Although AP feeders in Punjab are metered yet it does not meet the mandate of Electricity Act 2003 for metering each consumer including.  In 2013, PSERC gave a zero cost solution of outsourced AMR-cum-LT capacitor model to meter each AP consumer which needs to be implemented in the interest of state and meet the mandate of the Act. Free AP should be replaced by direct subsidy in farmer’s account based on the bill he pays for 100% of AP consumed as metered. This will make AP charges to be reflected in MSP and thus get recovered from the consumers of the food grains. These can be pooled back to state account through higher market fees.

Over a period of  next seven years, 12 lac (out of 14.5 lac ) electrically driven inefficient pumps (efficiency33%) be got replaced by energy efficient pumps (efficiency 56%) through Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) by creating Rs. 150 crore Agricultural Demand Side Management Revolving Fund (ADRF) under regulatory oversight thereby attracting Rs.750 crore private investment annually. The total investment of Rs. 6,000 crore in this project shall be recovered in nearly three years through annual AP consumption saving of 35,00MU worth Rs. 1,950 crore.

A royalty @13% on food grains sent for central pool by Punjab should be levied on the pattern of royalty being paid by Punjab on coal used for thermal power generation in the state. This shall generate annual revenue of over Rs. 4,500 crore.

These measures will reduce the peak demand of power during paddy season & cross-subsidization of AP, render present power system capacity sufficient for long and take Punjab out of its present water and financial crisis. All political parties and Kisan unions need to support these steps keeping the economy of Punjab above politics.

RESEARCH SHOWS HOW NATURAL LANDS CAN BE PROTECTED AND LINKED TOGETHER TO SUPPORT A GLOBAL RECOVERY THAT BENEFITS BOTH BIODIVERSITY AND HUMAN WELFARE 

A group of scientists and experts produced the first comprehensive global-scale analysis of terrestrial areas essential for biodiversity and climate resilience, totaling 50.4% of the Earth’s land. The report was published in Science Advances entitled “A ‘Global Safety Net’ to reverse biodiversity loss and stabilize the Earth’s climate,” and highlights the importance of protecting and restoring the natural world to address three converging crises – climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and the emergence of novel viruses such as COVID-19. 

The research team was led by the research organization RESOLVE in collaboration with the University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, Globaïa, and others with support from One Earth. The data compiled for the Global Safety Net (GSN1) is available through an interactive web application developed by One Earth in partnership with Google Earth Engine. Users can click on a country, state, or eco-region to see configurations of biologically important land for each region. 

The two-year research effort builds upon multiple global-scale data sets to identify areas that require conservation beyond the 15.1% of land area currently protected. These are compiled into five main layers at a 1 km resolution: Species Rarity Sites, High Biodiversity Areas, Large Mammal Landscapes, Intact Wilderness, and Climate Stabilization Areas. 

The report concludes that an additional 35.3% of land is needed to conserve sites of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services. Fifty eco-regions and twenty countries contribute disproportionately to the total. One immediate priority identified is the protection of 2.3% of land area, which provides critical habitat for the world’s most endangered species. 

The paper presents for the first time a “common but differentiated” approach for area-based targets under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be held next year in Kunming, China. Each of the world’s 846 eco-regions has a unique combination of layers, offering recommended area-based conservation targets for each country. 

The analysis includes estimates of carbon storage by layer, making the same map relevant for government commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement (UNFCCC). It also highlights the vital role of indigenous lands in protecting biodiversity and reversing climate change, which cover 37% of the Global Safety Net area.

A complementary global-scale connectivity analysis was performed by the research organization Globaïa, demonstrating that a relatively modest land area – approximately 350 million hectares – could connect isolated fragments of nature together, increasing the resilience of ecosystems and our biosphere as a whole.

VIEW THE REPORT: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/36/eabb2824 

The report, “A Global Safety Net,” published in Science Advances, highlights the importance of protecting and restoring the natural world to address three converging crises — climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and the emergence of novel viruses such as COVID-19.

The data compiled for the Global Safety Net (GSN1) is available through an interactive web application developed by One Earth in partnership with Google Earth Engine. You can click on a country, state, or ecoregion to see configurations of biologically important land for each region. 

CHECK OUT THE INTERACTIVE TOOL: https://www.globalsafetynet.app/ 

KNOW ABOUT THE NGOs BEHIND THE PROGRAM

RESOLVE is a Washington, DC-based non-profit research organization that forges sustainable solutions to critical environmental, social, and health challenges by creating innovative partnerships where they are most needed. The Biodiversity and Wildlife Solutions Program tackles the most pressing conservation problems of our time – the extinction of endangered wildlife and threats to habitats – through technological innovation, ambitious global agreements, and targeted land conservation.

ONE EARTH is a philanthropic organization working to accelerate collective action to stay below 1.5°C through three pillars of action – renewable energy transition, nature conservation, and regenerative agriculture. One Earth’s mission is to inspire greater ambition and collaboration in the philanthropic sector, and to drive urgently needed resources where they’re needed most – to frontline leaders and organizations working to build a just, vibrant future for all. GLOBAÏA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of planetary stewardship through the advancement of science-based, transdisciplinary approaches to understanding the major socioecological issues of our time. Merging art and science, Globaïa produces cutting-edge research and media to help visualize our interconnected world and the ever-evolving relationship between human societies, living environments, and planet Earth

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

1. Eric Dinerstein
2. Carly Vynne-Baker
3. Anup Joshi
4. Greg Asner
5. Manno França
6. Tanya Birch
7. Karl Burkart

PARTAP SINGH KAIRON AND HIS TIMES

History helps us understand where we stand, it also helps us understand how we got there. In the tempestuous history of India and the even more tumultuous history of Punjab, Sardar Partap Singh Kairon played a major role in pushing Punjab forward. His vision was to rebuild Punjab and India with the same energy and verve as Europe was rebuilding itself after the destructiveness of the World War. As chief minister, he would frequently assert that Punjab would soon outpace Germany in development.

Sardar Partap Singh Kairon entered public life at a time when India was still wondering about the nature of representative government. !e popular mind had been captured by the direct and drastic actions of young men like Bhagat Singh. Young Partap Singh kept in touch with the radicals and revolutionaries in America. His own brother was a Communist. However, his natural tendencies were such that he gravitated towards the Akali Dal, which at that time was identi”ed as a ‘cultural’ and ‘social’ body. Here he witnessed the intense communal interplay that happened over the control of gurdwaras and gurdwara property. As the time for the elections of 1936–37 approached, he decided to contest as an Akali candidate against one of the most senior Congress leaders. The contest was spiced up by Jawaharlal Nehru personally campaigning multiple times in favour of the Congress candidate, Gurdit Singh Komagata Maru.

Yet, it was Partap Singh, the young Akali, who won. Having won the elections, the Akalis joined hands with the Congress to provide a united opposition to the new government that was led by the Unionist Party. He soon made a name for himself as a leader of the masses when he led the Akali–Congress movement against the four agrarian bills that the Unionist Party brought in with the objective of privileging the big landowners. !e Second World War provided yet another opportunity for political action against the government. 

In 1941, when Mahatma Gandhi initiated the individual satyagraha movement, the Congress in Punjab sheepishly reported to the national leadership of the Congress that they were unable to obtain much visible support from the common people. The public apparently was unmoved by the practice of many Congress leaders, especially the senior leaders of the Congress in Punjab, to court arrest in the name of a nominal ‘satyagraha’ and then quickly apply for bail. Partap Singh, now a general secretary of the Pradesh Congress, however, took the idea of satyagraha seriously, organized protests against the state and went to jail. The Quit India movement that followed was a time for making serious choices. The Akali Dal, helmed by Master Tara Singh, chose to support the war effort and keep away from the Quit India movement in the hope of communal aggrandisement. Kairon chose to cease his membership of the Akali Dal, become a member of the Congress, oppose communalism and participate in the Quit India movement. For his opposition to the government he would be incarcerated right up till Independence. From this point onwards, Sardar Partap Singh would condemn communalism constantly and deal harshly with anyone promoting a communal agenda. 

PARTAP SINGH TOOK ACTIVE PART IN THE GOVERNMENT

After Independence, we see a greying Partap Singh take an active part in the government. The resettlement of refugees in Punjab after Partition could be achieved quickly and in a constructive manner to a significant degree because of his initiatives and constant goading. It was at his suggestion that university classes were started in the evening for the refugees and others who needed to work during the day to earn a livelihood. !e refugees were provided with new skills in order to facilitate their rehabilitation. Special efforts were made to provide loans and equipment to refugees to help them regain a healthy economic status.

Under the circumstances, when Sardar Partap Singh noticed that senior Congress leaders in Punjab were dabbling in communalism, he minced no words in condemning them. This eventually led to the unceremonious ouster of Bhim Sen Sachar as chief minister. Kairon took over the reins of government from Sachar.

As chief minister, he insisted on simplicity of life and convinced his ministers to tour extensively to remain in touch with the people. He refused to shift to the palatial palace of the chief minister in which Sachar had stayed, instead choosing to stay in a smaller house where the furnishings were simple and sparse. Nowadays, that palatial building near the Sukhna Lake is the residence of the governor of Haryana. Kairon and his ministers toured for almost “fteen days every month and ensured that any trip made for private purposes was not billed to the government. He did not hesitate to raise a special cess for the construction of houses for the scheduled castes. Confident in the merit of the cause, Kairon ensured that the cess was duly approved by the President of India. It did not matter to him that an upset governor resigned—or at least made a show of resigning—to demonstrate his opposition to the cess for Harijans.

ROLE IN SUPPRESSING COMMUNALISM, IMPROVING THE ECONOMY OF PUNJAB

As chief minister, he squarely faced the twin task of suppressing communalism and improving the economic condition of Punjab. Both required taking multiple initiatives, many of which were relatively unfamiliar to the people of Punjab. !e extensive tour schedules of Kairon and his ministers ensured that people were made aware of the new schemes of growth that the government had initiated. Such frequent contact with people seemed to recharge Kairon’s internal energies and give him heart to always forcefully combat those pushing a communal agenda. He was visibly and openly harsh to those whose political programmes were based on exciting communal animosity. He dealt with those agitating in the name of Hindi quite roughly. !ose agitating in the name of promoting Punjabi and/or the Punjabi Suba were given the same treatment. 

Kairon was of the firm opinion that the greatest strength of Punjab was its large size and tremendous geographical and cultural diversity, with the Punjabi language and culture providing a unifying template. With the towering Himalayas on one side, deserts on the other and extremely fertile agricultural plains in between, he saw a tremendous potential in Punjab. All that was needed was to nurture the land and harvest nature’s bounty that was available in the form of fast mowing perennial rivers. Punjab had the potential to provide electricity and foodgrains to the entire nation. Its boys were already dominating the military. Even the civil population of Punjab had shown a great penchant to protect India’s borders. Punjabis were spread all over the country and had set up strong roots in different parts of the world. Even so, they retained strong connections with Punjab. These energies merely needed to be directed into positive directions and those professing narrow-minded communal interests had to be kept in check. 

KAIRON’S LOVE FOR PUNJABI

Kairon was a leader who primarily worked in the Punjabi language. He ensured that Punjabi became the primary language of government in Punjab, including the courts. His love for the nation was unmatched. This meant that he would not tolerate anyone promoting communal hatred in the name of the national language or in the name of the regional identity. Due to him, Punjab became one of the “first states in India to remove from official lists the column that identified a person’s religion. He also removed religious holidays from the calendar. Either everyone would enjoy a holiday, or no one would. !ere was no place in a secular India for holidays to be given to people on the basis of their religion, he would insist.

At the same time, when the Communists successfully mobilized thousands of people in the countryside to oppose the betterment levy, Kairon and his entire cabinet made efforts to reach out to the people to explain to them the logic underlying the betterment levy and its fairness. That effectively ended one of the largest peasant mass movements in twentieth-century Punjab. A large number of Communist workers and supporters thereafter drifted to the Congress, abandoning the Communist Party. Subsequently, Kairon went out of his way to negotiate with the centre to reduce the charges that had been the reason for the betterment levy, thereby removing the root cause of the farmers’ distress. After all, he reasoned with the authorities at the centre, if Punjab’s agriculture produces more and its waters generate electricity, the whole nation benefits, so there is no point in taxing the farmers of Punjab who ensure that the nation grows rich and strong. The centre was convinced and agreed to renegotiate the terms of the levy, easing o# an unnecessary burden on Punjab farmers.

Hailing from a rural background himself, Kairon had a sharp understanding of the problems of the people, their limitations and aspirations. As he pushed the farmers of Punjab towards modernizing, he found ways and means through which everyone could make use of the capital-intensive machines and tools needed for modern agriculture. He constantly urged groups of farmers to set up cooperatives and provided the utmost help in this regard. His push for research in the basic sciences, medicine, agriculture and veterinary sciences resulted in some of the leading research institutions of India being based in Punjab. Out of these, the PGI at Chandigarh honoured Kairon’s name by naming its Administrative Block after him. 

KAIRON BROUGHT STABILITY TO FACTION-RIDDEN POLITY

The Congress in Punjab was said to be the most faction-ridden party in British India. This factionalism only intensified after Independence to such an extent that Punjab became the first state in India where the MLAs found it impossible to agree on a chief minister. This resulted in almost a year-long President’s Rule in 1951–52 and a quick turnover of chief ministers. By the way, this was the first time President’s Rule was invoked in any of the states of India. Kairon brought stability to this faction-ridden polity. He addressed the grievances of different factions, co-opted them in governance and ensured that probity was maintained. Senior ministers and political leaders were sidelined when it was found that they had indulged in corruption. The central leadership of the Congress, and particularly Jawaharlal Nehru, held him in extremely high esteem as a result. Pratap Singh Kairon had created a vision for Punjab, implemented it to make Punjab one of the most prosperous states of India, ensured the use of Punjabi as the official language of the state, and put in place sturdy secularism that drew upon the indigenous culture of Punjab. At a time when India is dealing with often irreconcilable political differences and the matter of strengthening the integrity of India, it would do us well to remember how Kairon effectively thwarted separatism of any kind, convinced the people of Punjab that the best future for everyone was to have an undivided state and work for the strengthening of India.

IT’S GOD’S OWN LAND

Kerala, popularly known as God’s Own Country is one of the most popular tourist destinations in our country. Flanked by the Arabian Sea in the West, the Western Ghats in the East, sandwiched by green paddy fields in the plains and networked by 44 interconnected rivers, Kerala is blessed with a unique set of geographical features that have made it one of the most sought after tourist destinations in the world. Kerala is blessed with a long shoreline with serene beaches, tranquil stretches of emerald backwaters, lush hill stations with panoramic tea gardens, exotic wildlife with rare flora and fauna, innumerable festivals with caparisoned elephants, accompanied by a musical ensemble with traditional musical instruments, colourful array of folk, temple and classical dance forms are just a few of the wonders that await you once you crossover to the other side.

The Malabar Coast, the northern part of Kerala is very popular in ancient times throughout the world as a land of spices and Black Gold. Many traders from the Arabian and Persian peninsula along with Portuguese, Dutch, finicians, and Englishmen landed in this great coast to explore the spice treasure of the world. This land has fired the imaginations of intrepid travelers and explorers like Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Marco Polo, Fa Hien, et al among others.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, A “MUST-SEE” DESTINATION

Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala has been chosen as a “must-see” destination by National Geographic Traveler. Mahatma Gandhi described Thiruvananthapuram city as the “Evergreen city of India”, due to its vast greenery and architectural beauty of the building situated in every part of the city. The famous Padmanabhaswamy temple, one of the richest temple in the world is located in Thiruvananthapuram.

Kerala has more than 100 beautiful destinations from south to north, includes Kovalam, one of the most beach destination in India; Kollam, the cashew town of India; Alappuzha or Alleppey, the Venice of the east; Kumarakom, one of the iconic tourist destination of our country; Kochi, the queen of the Arabian sea; Munnar, the Scotland of India; Thekkady, the roaring wildlife paradise of India; Guruvayur, the temple town of South India; Thrissur or Trichur, the Cultural Capital of the state; Palakkad, the granary of Kerala; Kottakkal, the birthplace of Ayurveda, the ancient traditional medical system of our country; Nilambur, the famous teak town of the world; Kozhikode, the spices town of India; Wayand, the tribal paradise of western Ghats and Bekal, the village with an ancient fort and religious harmony.

Kerala & Himachal Pradesh, are the pairing states of Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat campaign. The Prime Minister propounded that cultural diversity is a joy that ought to be celebrated through mutual interaction & reciprocity between people of different States and UTs so that a common spirit of understanding resonates throughout the country. Himachal Pradesh is already on the ‘must see’ list of many travellers from Kerala. Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat scheme has manifested the idea of a sustained and structured cultural connection between people of different states.

Kerala has everything to be explored by tourists, except the snow-capped mountains, but the vast greenery and hospitable people of this beautiful land offer you an unmatchable holiday experience with its mouth watering dishes, with its rich heritage and cultural experiences.