Let's be honest about Jyoti Basu

Sutanu guru gives 5 reasons why india cannot afford his ideology, politics, economics and legacy

It is a peculiar trait we Indians share: even those we love to hate acquire such a halo after death that we hate to deny we love to hate them. The death of former Prime Minister V.P. Singh was simply crowded out by the traumatic 26/11 attack in 2008. Yet, even then, we preferred to praise the man who should easily be ranked as the worst Prime Minister that India ever had. Something similar seems to be happening with the allegedly best Prime Minister India never had. Yes, I am talking about Jyoti Basu, the bhadralok Marxist whose death seems to have triggered paroxysms of naïve nostalgia and hypocritical hype. The passing of an era is a term that is being bandied about even by his former opponents who hated his guts and ruthlessness. If you go by media reports after his death, Jyoti Basu should be up there with the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru; in fact, some have even compared him with Mother Teresa. Typically Indian, and so typical of our habit and tradition to praise those who have passed on and carp about people who don’t want to hide uncomfortable things under a dusty carpet.

But really, let's face some uncomfortable facts before we pronounce Jyoti Basu as the best Prime Minister that India never had and one of the greatest political figures of modern India. If you think Basu was a leader who cared for the poor and the downtrodden, here is what Magsaysay Award winner, author and activist Mahasweta Devi has to say, “Jyoti Basu did very little for the adivasis of the state. I met him on several occasions and appealed to him. My entreaties fell on deaf ears”. Sure, you might think that the respected Mahasweta Devi is prejudiced because of her single-minded devotion to adivasis and tribals. Sure, you can put blinkers and prefer to ignore opinion. But, can you ignore facts? Here are some facts that even die-hard believers of the ‘Left is Always Right’ dogma need to mull over:

l From being one of most industrialised states till the late 1960s, West Bengal is now one of the most backward. Close to 30,000 industrial enterprises were closed down and more than 27,000 units became ‘sick’ in the hey days of the Basu era of ‘Marxist Pragmatism’.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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An MBA for PM?

Politicians would have been the least expected to have mba qualifications. B&e’s priyanka rai found out quite a handful...

Lawyers have dominated national politics since at least the days of the struggle for Independence. A look at the educational qualifications of the new council of ministers shows the first signs of a culture change in Indian politics. Today, we have many with a black cap showing off their MBA degrees – at least three ministers from the young brigade, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot and Jitin Prasad are MBA graduates. In fact, many young MPs like Deepender Singh Hooda, Naveen Jindal, Milind Deora and P. D. Rai also belong to the not expected MBA brigade.

Deepender Hooda, son of the Chief Minister of Haryana and a Member of Parliament from Rohtak constituency believes that his MBA degree helps in adding value to his political career in many ways. “It helps you definitely; it trains your mind to adopt a particular approach to deal with situations in a more organised way. You get the bigger picture of the situation and you know then how to approach [the problem] in what way and solve it in very organised manner,” says Hooda. However, Jitin Prasad, Minister of State for Gas and Petroleum, also an MBA, though not denying the benefits an MBA degree has in politics, tales a different perspective, “I would like to see this in a different way that whosoever is entrusted with the responsibility in the electoral politics, a good education background always helps – whether it is a Law Degree or a Management Degree or some other qualification.

To take a conscious and judicious decision, a mix of your education as well as a sense of ground reality is always helpful.” But then, if contemporary politics is all about leadership skills and decision making abilities, wouldn’t having an MBA degree really help? “You start thinking in terms of projects not profits. There are many politicians I know with good intentions. They want to work but fail to deliver because I believe, they get engrossed in the process. Their approach, thinking is more process oriented whereas the other approach is deadline oriented (result oriented),” explains Hooda, who has worked with Reliance Industries Ltd, Infosys Technologies Ltd. (as a Software Engineer) and with Sabre Holdings, Dallas (USA) for two years. Hooda admits that he gains by applying the MBA strategies learnt in work to his constituency as well: “I apply the knowledge I have gained from my education, apply the strategies and I get the work done on time in my constituency.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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“Timely availability of seeds at convenient place is very important”

Dr. LK Pandey, National Sales Head, Sungro Seeds talks about the industry in an exclusive to B&E

Good seeds means a good crop. Sungro Seeds, which has been associated with the industry has tried to come up with high yielding seeds. In an interview with Vikas Kumar, Dr. LK Pandey, National Sales Head, Sungro Seeds Ltd. talks about the challenges faced by the seeds industry and what is Sungro trying to do to solve them

B&E: Scarcity of better quality seeds at required time and place discourages farmers from replacement of their own saved seeds with good quality seeds? How do you view this trend?

LKP: Timely availability of seeds at a convenient place is a very important factor in seed business. However, it hardly deters farmers to use high quality hybrid seeds. In fact competition has made a different scenario where seeds of more than one brand are present at any seed retail counter. Therefore, it is a matter of particular brand choice which farmer has to take rather than non-availability of products of any crop. Sungro like any other system oriented company has an annual planning system broken into monthly requirements and weekly requirements of all important segments or growing regions. It accordingly makes logistical arrangements for timely seed availability at every place of requirement.

B&E: Seed Multiplication under National Agriculture Research System needs major strengthening. How do you view this policy?

LKP: The seed industry has become customer driven where product features and quality is decided by customer preferences. As of now various choices are available in the market which helps customers to choose the best. The present NARS System should involve private sector also to make available right product at right time.

B&E: What are your views on prices of seeds particularly of hybrids and affordability among farmers?

LKP: Traditionally, farmers used to do maximum savings in seeds, though it makes only a fraction of total investment on inputs like fertilizer and pesticides. When we talk about the seed price in terms of kilogram then it appears exorbitant. However, if we think about total amount of seed required in one acre area then it looks reasonable and affordable.

B&E: What are the major achievements of Sungro Seeds till date? And what will be the next area for you?

LKP: In the year 2008-09 Sungro achieved sales turnover of Rs 45 crores by marketing almost 150 products of 26 crops throughout the country. We are market leader in cauliflowers, radish, cabbage, carrot, brinjals, okra, bitter gourd, chilli and tomatoes. Its products are demanded by vegetable growers all over India and overseas due to high quality and affordable price. Now, by mapping all the districts and every market segment, Sungro is planning to reach out to all vegetable growers in the country with the help of a large distribution network. We also export our products in many countries.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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The Transporter: reloaded

High speed railway systems can change the fortune of the third world

By now, the fact that the Copenhagen meet added around 46,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide, most of it from flights, has become a cliché. Studies have proved that air travel is now the fastest-growing contributor to global warming. In simple words, avoiding air travel can, to some extent, limit its harmful impact on the environment.

Furthermore, many countries are readily investing in environment-friendly mode of transport. In this long list of green transport, countries are fervent about the high-speed railway systems a.k.a HSR. As per a recent Eurostar research, the train to Paris (instead of flying) cuts CO2 emissions per passenger by a jaw dropping, literally, 90 per cent. Going beyond numbers, the environmental benefit due to HSR is more than what any empirical research can reveal. As airlines emit their CO2 directly into the upper atmosphere, thus the impact on environment is much severe. The Manchester City council, in UK, has revealed its interest on "high speed rail revolution" – precisely to tap on the increase efficiency and its environment-friendly attribute. Most of the developed countries like France, Spain and Germany are supporting the HSR concept. A few European countries have also decided to join HSR network linking the UK and Europe.

Besides reducing the amount of CO2, HSR, to a large extent, solves traffic congestion and air pollution problems. Traffic congestion not only pollutes the environment, but also waste fuel and waste productivity time. It indirectly hits the economy of the country by adding to the cost of doing business. Realising this fact, Japan has extended its Bullet train network by 76 per cent, thus linking almost all its cities. Even Europe has decided to add an extra 1,711 more miles by 2010. The air travel frequency between Paris-to-Brussels has almost disappeared after opening up of HSR links.

Undoubtedly, HSR can do more wonders in the third world. The third world countries will not only benefit from technology-leapfrogging but also will see a heave in other sectors too. They will obviously have an advantage of second mover and therefore, can reduce loss (by analysing the success model of HSR already in place) and customise the HSR model as per their requirement. Implementation of HSR in African and Asian countries will augment their infrastructure and employment. Beside this, if HSR links the urban and rural areas, it will also decrease urban migration and bridge the gap between rural-urban divide. With proper planning HSR can give rise to mid-size cities and satellite towns. Obviously, implementation of HSR model is not an overnight job and would require huge investment. But then proper planning and a good business model can surely make high-speed railways a success business model cum social initiative in the third world too. And if it seems a next to impossible task, then one must learn from China. China has launched the fastest HSR (CRH3) with an average speed of 217 mph covering a total distance of 663 miles connecting over 20 cities (connecting less developed regions to the metros) and is planning to expand it to 42 more HSR lines by 2012. Does it sound like a case in point?

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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“Similar to ‘Sanskritisation’

“Similar to ‘Sanskritisation’ in the socio-cultural sphere, ‘Congressisation’ is the most uncalled-for phenomenon in politics and it is the epidemic from which the TDP is suffering most from,” said political analyst Chakradhar Mukkamala, while referring to the burning issue of Telangana agitation as a testimony to the final decadence of TDP.

TDP was founded by the late N. T. Rama Rao (NTR) and came to power invoking insult to Telugu pride because Congress chief minister Anajaiah was berated by Rajiv Gandhi on the tarmac of the Begumpet Airport. NTR was the belated manifestation of the egalitarian dream of the Justice Party of 1910s and 1920s. An advocate of federalism, custodian of underdogs and messiah of the lumpen proletariat, NTR also filled the political void where the Left had failed. ‘Andhra Pradesh politics, till then, was ‘Congressised’, with pampered sections like Reddys and Malas monopolizing political power,’ another political observer Ravinder Durgam says.

The Reddy strongholds, spread over the southern region of Rayalaseema, Nellore and most of Telangana, produced most Congress chief ministers till the TDP was formed. Incidentally, the current CM Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy is also from the Reddy community only. NTR and his successor Chandrababu Naidu demolished Reddy domination, particularly in Telangana by fielding and successfully electing non-Reddy castes. Thus, the backward castes of Andhra Pradesh, particularly of Telangana, were swayed by NTR's egalitarian, socialist vows. But, after NTR’s demise and during the decade-long reign of his son-in-law, Chandrababu Naidu, his caste (Kamma) monopolised political power.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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