THE HINDU – CURRENT NOTE 19 APRIL
Met dept. expects a ‘normal’ monsoon but doubts loom
Threat of El Nino phenomenon adds element of uncertainty
•India is likely to get ‘normal’ monsoon rains, according to the first official forecast of the season by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
•Rains are likely to be 96% of the 50-year average of 89cm for the monsoon season of June to September. They are expected to fan out favourably and “help agriculture.” There is, however, a significant element of uncertainty in this forecast.
•For one, there’s the looming threat of El Nino. Secondly, the IMD has adopted a new weather model this year, and it is still a work-in-progress. Officials told The Hindu that they would be more confident by June, when the IMD updates its numbers. The IMD’s estimate of 96% rains falls at the bottom edge of what it considers ‘normal’ monsoon rains. Every number forecast by the IMD has a built-in 5% error margin. India saw drought years in 2014 and 2015. As for 2016, it received 3% less than the 89 cm average, despite an IMD forecast of ‘above normal’ rains.
Respect for national flag, anthem non-negotiable, Centre tells SC
Court exempts more categories of persons with disabilities
•Even as the Centre asserted that respect for the national anthem and flag is “a matter of national pride and non-negotiable”, the Supreme Court questioned the need to expressively define ‘respect’ for the two national symbols when such a feeling of reverence is already inherent in the Constitution. A three-judge Bench of Justices Dipak Misra, A.M. Khanwilkar and M.M. Shantanagoudar modified the court’s November 30, 2016 order, making it compulsory for all to stand up in cinema halls when the national anthem is played.
•On Tuesday, the court exempted persons “who are wheelchair users, those with autism, persons suffering from cerebral palsy, multiple disabilities, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, leprosy cured, muscular dystrophy and deaf and blind” from the ambit of its November 30 order.
•Earlier, in December 2016, the court had exempted physically challenged persons from standing up for the anthem.
‘Define respect’
•At the centre of the legal battle is a petition filed by Shyam Narayan Chouksey in October 2016. It wants Parliament to apply its mind and define ‘respect’ for the national anthem and flag under Article 51A (a) of the Constitution. If not, it alternatively wants the Supreme Court to issue a mandamus to the government to frame guidelines.
•“The national flag and the national anthem is a matter of national pride. It is non-negotiable. It is unfortunate that somebody had to move the court seeking respect for the national flag, anthem,” Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre, submitted.
•Meanwhile, the SC issued notice to the Centre on a petition filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay to make singing or rendering of national anthem and song compulsory in Parliament, Assemblies, public offices and all schools.
Modi, McMaster discuss security
Afghanistan, West Asia and Korea figure in talks, but date of PM’s U.S. visit not announced
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held talks on Afghanistan, the West Asian region and the Korean peninsula with the visiting U.S. National Security Adviser, Lt. General H.R. McMaster.
•Lt. Gen. McMaster, the first high official of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to visit India, met Mr. Modi after completing his trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Challenge of terrorism
•“Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster shared his perspective with Prime Minister on the security situation in the extended region, including in Afghanistan, West Asia and the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea]. During the conversation, they exchanged views on how both countries can work together to effectively address the challenge of terrorism and to advance regional peace, security and stability,” a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office stated.
•The meeting, however, did not yield an announcement of a date for Mr. Modi’s visit to Washington. The meeting held at the Prime Minister’s official residence was attended by India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and a few other officials. The formal meeting was preceded by a meeting between Mr. Doval and Lt. Gen. McMaster.
•Earlier, the U.S. NSA and Mr. Doval held detailed discussions on India-U.S. relations, especially the security aspect of the ties, sources said. Lt. Gen. McMaster arrived here on Monday evening from Pakistan, where he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and top officials of the Pakistan government.
•The relations between India and Pakistan figured in Lt. Gen. McMaster’s discussions with Mr. Sharif. The Sharif government also briefed the U.S. official about the situation in Kashmir and ties with India and Afghanistan.
•During his stopover in Kabul, Lt. Gen. McMastertold an Afghan TV channel that Pakistan should deal with terror “less selectively” than it had done in the past.
Major defence partner
•A U.S. Embassy statement issued after the departure of Lt. Gen. McMaster later in the day said that the bilateral talks “emphasised the importance of the U.S.-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed India’s designation as a major defence partner”.
•The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counter-terrorism cooperation, it said.
India opposes ‘genocide’ charge
Jaitley tells Canadian Defence Minister that the charge by provincial parliament has caused disquiet
•India has registered a strong note of protest before the visiting Canadian Defence Minister, Harjit Singh Sajjan, against a provincial Assembly legislation which had accused India of “genocide” in the events of 1984. According to Defence Ministry sources, Arun Jaitley made this the focus during their bilateral discussion.
‘Unwarranted comment’
•Calling the Bill an unwarranted comment on India’s internal situation, Mr. Jaitley conveyed that there was considerable “disquiet” in India and the language was “unreal and exaggerated” which did not conform to reality.
•“It was conveyed that as another liberal democracy, it is not in the spirit of India-Canada relations and did not help in furthering the relationship,” a Ministry source said.
•In response to Mr. Jaitley’s comments, Mr. Sajjan dissociated himself from the situation, and said it was a private member’s Bill and moved in the context of the local elections. “He said it did not reflect the position of the Canadian government,” the source stated.
•Early this month, Harinder Malhi, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from Brampton-Springdale, near Toronto, moved a private member’s motion in the Ontario Assembly.
•The motion was passed after debate with 34 members voting in favour and five against of the total strength of 107.
•Introducing the Bill, Ms. Malhi had said, “The Legislative Assembly of Ontario should condemn all forms of communal violence, hatred, hostility, prejudice, racism and intolerance in India and anywhere else in the world, including the 1984 genocide perpetrated against Sikhs throughout India, and call on all sides to embrace truth, justice and reconciliation.”
•In their discussions, the two ministers had agreed to deepen the defence cooperation.
Official visit
•Mr. Sajjan is on an official visit to India from April 17 to 23 during which he is scheduled to travel to Amritsar, Chandigarh and Mumbai apart from his meetings in Delhi.
•Responding to questions on the Khalistan issue at a public event later, Mr. Sajjan said he did not want to “get sucked into internal politics of any province or nation”.
•“I don’t promote the breaking up of any country… My job is to build relationship with India,” he said.
•Ahead of his visit, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh said he would not meet him as he is a “Khalistani sympathiser”.
New data safety regime from TRAI by Deepavali
Framework to ensure protection online, Centre tells SC
•The Centre informed a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is working on a new regulatory regime to ensure online data protection, and it will be ready by Deepavali.
•Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi submitted before the five-judge Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra that with online transactions and presence increasing by the day, data protection needs to be fortified.
•“Data protection and privacy is all the more important now because the less literate use apps like BHIM and PayTM for cash transactions. So, government has been actively mulling on an overarching data protection framework. TRAI has started work,” Mr. Rohatgi submitted on Tuesday.
•Mr. Rohatgi illustrated that the Internet has a tendency to gauge the pattern of our online searches. “If you search for a Taj in Bhubaneswar, Google will give you other options of hotels similar to the Taj,” the Attorney-General submitted.
Right to be forgotten
•The AG explained the need for online privacy in the light of 'right to be forgotten' of an individual. This right, also called the 'right to be erased', is one of the major casualties in the Internet age, Mr. Rohatgi said. It deals with the person's right to wipe out his past demeanours for which he has already suffered punishment.
•“The 'right to be forgotten' is practised in the U.K., the U.S. and the E.U. A person commits a minor felony and is punished at the age of 20. But if a search is done on him in the Internet, the information about this felony is the first to pop up on the screen despite the fact that in the real world it is long past and forgotten,” Mr. Rohatgi submitted.
•The debate was part of a Constitution Bench hearing for a declaration that a 2016 policy of instant messaging app – WhatsApp – to give Facebook access to information and personal details shared by millions of its users was a violation of their privacy and free speech.
•The Bench also comprised Justices A.K. Sikri, Amitava Roy, A.M. Khanwilkar and M.M. Shantanagoudar.
•Mr. Rohatgi said the hearing should be deferred for another two months, by which time there may be new laws on online privacy.
•Appearing for the petitioners, who are two students, senior advocate Harish Salve argued that the 2016 policy formulated by WhatsApp is unconscionable and unacceptable.
•The Bench scheduled the next hearing by April 24.
Lonely and disinterested
Excess focus on bilateralism is leaving India isolated in its larger neighbourhood
•Picture this: China is steadily increasing its geostrategic presence in South, Central and West Asia; there is a China-Russia-Pakistan axis on the rise in Southern Asia; China and Russia are revelling in a new-found rapprochement and aim to fill the geopolitical vacuum bound to be created by the U.S. withdrawal from the region; and, a retired Pakistan army chief is all set to take over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Saudi-backed Islamic Military Alliance (IMA). Now ask yourself: Which regional power has been missing from these significant developments on the regional geopolitical landscape?
•New Delhi’s foreign policy establishment and its national security team are either clueless about what is happening in its broader neighbourhood or seem to lack the wherewithal to anticipate, engage and shape geostrategic outcomes in the region and beyond. Or are they simply disinterested? Either way, New Delhi is increasingly looking like a grumpy old man constantly whining about age-old fears, stubbornly unwilling to explore new opportunities and face new challenges.
China-Russia-Pakistan axis
•Alliances are natural to international politics and friend-enemy binaries and historical hesitations are often cast aside when such alliances take shape. While China and Pakistan have been allies since the 1960s, China and the Soviet Union weren’t the best of friends during the Cold War, nor did they have a great relationship in the post-Soviet days. Pakistan and the Soviet Union were Cold War rivals, and Russia did not, until recently, share a close relationship with Pakistan. All that is changing now, with them ganging up to undo American dominance in the region, among other things.
•The Afghan reconciliation process is a major focus of this new partnership. In a December 2016 meeting in Moscow, they highlighted the importance of seeking a “flexible approach” to dealing with the Afghan Taliban. This is over and above their ongoing individual engagements with the various parties to the Afghan conflict.
•Clearly, this new axis of a resurgent Russia, ambitious China and opportunistic Pakistan, in combination with other related developments, will not only diminish U.S. power in the region but could also potentially constrain Indian influence. Sino-Russian relations, through joint military exercises and the Russian sale of advanced weaponry to China, for instance, could hurt India’s strategic options globally.
•Beijing has traditionally been a reluctant dealmaker, preferring to stick to business instead. Of late, it has overcome this pragmatic inhibition, first by joining the Afghan peace process and now increasingly focussing on West Asia. In a sense, its engagement in regional conflicts is a logical extension of its One Belt, One Road (OBOR) project. Having committed huge sums to the project, Beijing realises that some of its inherent political risks should be reduced by engaging in regional conflict resolution processes, a lesson well learnt from the playbook of great power diplomacy.
•Both China and Russia have been active in the West Asian theatre. Having vetoed U.S.-sponsored sanctions against Syria, they believe that it is necessary to nudge the warring Syrian factions to negotiate. Beijing has also been reaching out to and balancing the various adversaries in the region such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and even Iran, and increasingly talking the language of reconciliation. Also, recall while New Delhi buckled under pressure from Washington to take sides on Iran, Beijing refused to do so.
•Compared to the thornier West Asia, engaging South Asia is easier for China given that the smaller countries in the region see it as an infrastructure provider, with deep pockets and without the usual moral science lessons. Bangladesh, one of India’s close allies in the region, is likely to attend the OBOR summit in May and may even sign up for it. Chinese interest in Afghan reconciliation stems not only from a security/terrorism angle but also more significantly to ensure the sustainability of OBOR given its importance in providing access to Central Asia.
Russian U-turns
•Make no mistake, Russia is looking beyond a reluctant India in South Asia: President Vladimir Putin has no time for diplomatic subtleties and tales about the long history of Indo-Russian relations. Ignoring Indian sensitivities, Moscow has gone ahead with forging strategic ties with Islamabad: from lifting the arms embargo, selling weaponry, discussing the future of Afghanistan, to joint military exercises.
•When Russia formally joins OBOR, it will have indirectly taken a position on Kashmir which is not necessarily in keeping with the Indian stand on the issue. If the Russian envoy’s remarks at the Heart of Asia conference in December are anything to go by, Moscow is also taking a pragmatic stand on terrorism in South Asia.
The Pakistan pivot
•The ‘global outcast’, Pakistan is today an inevitable lynchpin of Southern Asian geopolitics. In a world of realpolitik, norm regress and opportunistic bandwagoning, Pakistan is the new regional favourite. Whether we like it or not, now that Pakistan’s generals have waited out the Americans and NATO from Afghanistan, the outcomes of the Afghan conflict will largely be determined by Rawalpindi. This fits well with the Chinese and Russian regional grand strategies. Gone are the days when Islamabad was currying favour with Washington; today, Moscow and Beijing are actively courting it. Normative considerations apart, it is this sense of the big picture that prevents Beijing from acting against Pakistan-based terror groups; irritating India is a side benefit.
•For sure, Pakistan has consistently used terrorism as a tool of statecraft, and yet there is a recognition today that it is a pivotal state in addressing terror. Moreover, while the IMA is still in its infancy, we need to look closely at its potential. Will it emerge, even though it is at a moment an overwhelmingly Sunni sectarian force, as a potent regional military alliance in the years to come? What role would Pakistan play in this ‘Islamic NATO’? What implications would it have for India?
Head-in-the-sand approach
•Amidst such geopolitical reshaping of the region, New Delhi has done precious little to counter them or to propose a collective regional future. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which should have been the central plank of India’s ‘neighbourhood first’ policy, is in doldrums today. Having jettisoned SAARC and unwilling to promote other regional initiatives, institutional or issue-based, India continues to prefer unilateralism towards neighbours. The shortcomings of bilateralism in a world hungry for institutions and structures should be evident to us.
•The External Affairs Ministry’s reactive diplomacy — its unfailing institutional hallmark — is unable to see the wood for the trees in its relations with Beijing. How does, for instance, designating Masood Azhar a terrorist become India’s core interest vis-à-vis China? Should we allow a terror-monger to determine our relationship with one of our biggest trading partners?
•While it is true that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will pass through Pakistan-controlled territory that India has claimed, we should find a via media with China on the issue rather than publicly dismiss the initiative. Given that OBOR is a futuristic mega-project, its benefits as well as cross-national and inter-continental linkages, all of which would eventually bypass India, will only become clearer in the years to come. To base our analysis on current cost-benefit calculations in terms of immediate returns and short-term sustainability is missing the big picture. Moreover, our ability to create regional infrastructural arrangements, excluding China and Pakistan, remains limited. In short then, a few decades down the line, India could end up far more isolated: the logical conclusion of an inward-looking political class.
•It’s time New Delhi focussed on the big picture and avoided puritanical positions while addressing the emerging fault lines on the global geopolitical landscape.
Lines of defence
The inclusion of paper audit trails to the EVMs is costly but perhaps unavoidable
•In the face of extreme and unreasonable complaints against Electronic Voting Machines by a number of political parties, the Election Commission perhaps had no choice but to have the working of the machines corroborated by a paper audit trail. To have such a facility ready for all constituencies by the 2019 Lok Sabha election is expensive (an estimated Rs. 3,174 crore) and also unnecessary (paper trails are at best required in a few constitutencies to corroborate results). Its request to the Law Ministry to release funds for the procurement of voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines for the 2019 Lok Sabha election should be interpreted in this context. As many as 16 lakh VVPAT machines will be required and only an urgent release of funds will allow the machines to be ready in time for 2019. It was possible for the EC to brush off the complaints from the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Aam Aadmi Party following their defeat in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab respectively, but it clearly became increasingly difficult for it to ignore the clutch of parties that joined the chorus, some demanding a return to paper ballots.
•The EC has repeatedly assured voters that there are enough procedural and technical safeguards to prevent large-scale tampering or manipulation of EVMs. Since 2006, elections have witnessed the use of upgraded EVMs — Model 2 machines, with security features such as dynamic coding of key codes on ballot units and their transfer as messages to the control unit in an encrypted manner. EVMs feature encoded software that is burnt one-time on to programmable chips, enabling them to be used as stand-alone machines rather than computer-connected units, thus preventing any hacking by remote devices. Model 3 machines produced after 2013 have additional features such as tamper detection. The EC has laid down procedural rules of locking and storing EVMs before and after polling, besides functional checks and tests in the presence of representatives of political parties. The addition of the VVPAT machine to the process is to allow for cross-checking of EVM results through a paper audit, completing another layer of accountability to the indigenously produced machines (only the microchip is manufactured outside the country with the machine language embedded on it). Contrary to glib claims about tampering, studies show the introduction of EVMs has resulted in a drastic reduction in electoral fraud (rigging, stuffing of ballot boxes, etc.) and allowed for greater voter participation. Since reverting to the older paper ballot system will be regressive, the only option in the face of the protests is to have a back-up in the form of a paper trail — something that will hopefully put a quietus to the controversy.
Equity in debt
The expert panel’s recommendation to review the fiscal responsibility law is timely
•The advice of the expert committee to review the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act of 2003 requires attention, given India’s track record. This is all the more so given the born-again political conviction that promises of random largesse to voters is just fine. Excessive and unsustainable borrowing by the government is obviously perverse as it entails a cost on future generations while crowding out private investment. In the past, fiscal irresponsibility has cost jobs, spiked inflation, put the currency in a tailspin and even brought the country to the brink of a default. The possibility of default may have resulted in the liberalisation of the economy in 1991, but the key trigger was irrational public spending on borrowed money in the late-1980s. Less than a decade later, with fiscal discipline faltering and the deficit shooting up to 10% of GDP, the FRBM law was enacted to ‘limit the government’s borrowing authority’ under Article 268 of the Constitution. But the target to limit the fiscal deficit to 3% of GDP (by 2009) was abandoned after the 2008 global financial crisis as a liberal stimulus reversed the gains in the fiscal space, creating fresh macro-level instability. The FRBM Act’s deficit target is now only likely to be met next year.
•Such damage transmissions from the political economy to the real economy need to be checked forthwith. The committee’s proposal to maintain the 3% target till 2019-20 before aiming for further reduction is pragmatic, as the ‘extraordinary and unanticipated domestic development’ of demonetisation happened during its tenure. Such an event, the committee has said, could trigger an escape clause from fixed fiscal targets in its proposed rule-based framework. Instead of focussing purely on the fiscal and revenue deficit numbers, which should be brought down to 2.5% and 0.8% of GDP respectively by 2023, the panel has called for paring India’s cumulative public debt as a proportion to GDP to 60% by 2023 — from around 68% at present. The latter, a simpler measure for solvency purposes, should inspire confidence among rating agencies. Though this has put paid to the government’s hope that a fiscal deficit range could be targeted instead of absolute numbers, the Finance Minister has committed to the 3% target for the next two years, from the 3.2% target for 2017-18. A clear fiscal policy framework in tandem with the monetary policy framework already adopted could act as a powerful signal of commitment to macroeconomic stability. The Centre must swiftly take a call on the panel’s recommendations — including for a new debt and fiscal responsibility law, and the creation of a Fiscal Council with independent experts that could sit in judgment on the need for deviations from targets. It is equally critical that States are brought on board, as the 60% debt target includes 20% on their account. Their finances are worsening again even as the clamour for Uttar Pradesh-style loan waivers grows.
RBI red flags banks’ telecom exposure
Lenders asked to increase standard provision on loans
•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised a red flag over banks’ loans to telecom players and asked the lenders to increase their standard asset provisioning more than what is prescribed so that they can built ‘necessary resilience.’
•“The telecom sector is reporting stressed financial conditions, and presently interest coverage ratio for the sector is less than one,” according to a circular issued by the central bank to the lenders.
•Interest coverage ratio of less than one means the company’s EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is not sufficient to repay interest, let alone principal.
•Telecom players are reeling under a huge debt — estimated to be about Rs. 4.2 lakh crore — amid a tariff war and a consolidation among some of the players.
Sector review
•Asking the bank boards to review the telecom sector latest by June 30, the central bank said: “Consider making provisions for standard assets in this sector at higher rates so that necessary resilience is built in the balance sheets should the stress reflect on the quality of exposure to the sector at a future date.’
•Banks have to make 0.4% provision for standard advances.
•Jaideep Ghosh, partner, telecom at consulting firm KPMG said: “Debt accumulation and potential NPAs have been on the rise across a range of sectors including telecom. Alarming debt levels in the backdrop of recent declining revenues increase debt serviceability risks for the telecom sector.”
•Banks have also been asked to closely monitor their exposure to the sector.
•RBI governor Urjit Patel had earlier said five sectors, including telecom, contributed to 61% of the stress in the banking system.
•While the industry’s market cap is shrinking, the return on capital deployed has dipped to low single-digit return in markets like India, making it unviable.
‘Play golf’
•Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, in a recent interview to The Hindu , had said, “We may as well keep our money in the bank and go out to play golf,” adding that return on investment has been falling sharply.
•Banks are reeling under asset quality pressure amid sluggish economic growth as their gross non-performing asset rate rose to 9.1% in September 2016, from 5.1% a year ago.
•RBI has also asked banks to increase standard asset provision in other stressed sectors.
•Banks have been asked to put in place a board–approved policy for making provisions for standard assets at rates higher than the regulatory minimum, based on the evaluation of risk and stress in various sectors.
•“The stress is a result of a couple of things such as debt position of the industry, hit on the revenue in the last several months and increasing overall cost,” Rajan Mathews, Director General, COAI told The Hindu .
•“And because of the competitive nature of the industry, we have not been able to pass the costs to the consumers. As a result, the margins of the industry have slipped considerably,” he said.
•“At the time when RBI is talking about increasing NPAs ...this should send a clear signal to the government to urgently address the financial condition of the telecom industry.
‘Financial oxygen’
•“The recommendations from TRAI such as reducing SUC (spectrum usage charges) fees to 1%, reducing licence fee payment to 3% and adopting revised definition of adjusted gross revenue… these are 3 big ones. They would really provide financial oxygen to the industry and help them tide over this very stressed period,” he said.
Railways seek aid for unviable routes
Finance Ministry used to subsidise losses on operating strategic rail routes prior to merger of budgets
•The Railway Ministry has sought compensation for operating railway lines of strategic and national importance — a practice discontinued following the merger of Railway and Union Budgets.
•“We have sent a proposal for approval of the Union Cabinet to reimburse operational losses on national projects, projects of national importance, uneconomic branch lines, border area projects and all strategic lines,” said a senior Railway Ministry official, on condition of anonymity.
•The Railway Ministry’s proposal has already faced opposition from the Finance Ministry, the official said.
•Every year, the Indian Railways used to get subsidy from the Finance Ministry for losses incurred on railway operations on strategic lines. After the Budget merger, the Finance Ministry had discontinued the practice of providing annual subsidy to the Railways for operating loss-making strategic routes as the Railways was no longer required to pay an annual dividend.
•Recently, two Parliamentary bodies — Standing Committee on Railways and Estimates Committee — recommended that the Finance Ministry should continue compensating the Railways for losses in operating strategic lines.
‘Nation-building’
•“Considering the role of Railways in nation building, reimbursement to Railways on their operating losses on strategic lines is justifiable,” the Standing Committee on Railways said in a report.
•The subsidy provided to the Indian Railways by Finance Ministry for non-profitable routes stood at Rs. 4,024 crore and Rs. 3,723 crore in 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively. However, in 2016-17, the Railways had budgeted subsidy of Rs. 4,301 crore on unviable routes which it didn’t receive from the Finance Ministry as its annual dividend was waived off.
•“As these lines mainly cater to defence movements on border areas and development of social and backward region, the Committee recommends that reimbursement of operational losses on strategic lines and railway lines in hilly, coastal and backward areas should be continued and desires the Ministry of Railways to pursue the matter with Ministry of Finance in this regard,” the committee added.
•The panel felt that compensation helped the Railways in providing relief towards “socially desirable projects” which are usually loss-making projects.
•The Estimates Committee, chaired by BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi, in its report on Structural Changes in Union Budget had also said that the Railways should “continue to get reimbursement of losses on operation of strategic lines.”
‘Common duct policy’ soon
To reduce operational costs and frequent digging of roads
•The Centre is likely to soon come out with a new policy under which a common duct will be laid across a city and service providers such as telcos and digital TV players can lease these ducts to pass their fibre through it to offer services to consumers.
•The ‘common duct policy,’ for which Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is carrying out pilots in Deoghar in Jharkhand, could reduce operational cost of firms, remove right of way challenges, while eliminating the need for frequent digging up of roads.
•“We are talking about a common duct for all. Any service provider who enters a city digs up the city… we wanted that at least for fibre and power, we can make a common duct and whichever entity wants to offer services can use that duct to pass their fibre,” Trai Chairman R.S. Sharma said.
•He added that this will also result in additional revenue for the municipalities and remove issues related to right of way.
•“A common duct will be created for about 20 years. Once the duct is made, no service provider will be allowed to dig the road,” he said.
‘Proof of concept’
•“Common infrastructure has a lot of advantages… We are doing a proof of concept… At the end of the exercise, we should be able to come to a conclusion on whether such a proposal is replicable in other larger and smaller cities. Based on experience in Jharkhand, we should be able to give our proposal to the government.”
•He said that the concept of common shared infrastructure had dispelled the myth that each service provider must individually own the entire backbone.
•“Because of the tower sharing policy that myth has been broken.”
