Don’t Over-Read or Under-Read
Neerja Chowdhury | Political commentator
The Economic Times
Chowdhury argues that “it is important to not over-read the Jharkhand result, which the Opposition will be tempted to do”. Additionally, “it is equally important not to brush aside the loud and clear message that the tribal-dominated state has delivered the BJP,” she adds.
Parties are “known to become complacent in their second term” and this seems to be happening to the BJP, writes Chowdhury. She maintains that the “message of Jharkhand goes beyond the state” and shows that PM Modi “may no longer be able to make up for the lack of popularity of BJP’s state leaderships”.
Chowdhury argues that the attempt to change tenancy laws by Raghubar Das “in Santhal Parganas and Chota Nagpur for commercial use of tribal land created a backlash”. Another message coming out of Jharkhand is the “criticality of alliances”. It is “clear that had the BJP gone with All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), its ally of 20 years, it would have fared better,” she adds.
Furthermore, “the more the party strengthens, the greater the insecurity of its regional allies at the state level, as they begin to fear for their existence, and look to the other side for survival.” Economic slowdown is also “impinging on people’s lives” and is “determining electoral choices,” concludes Chowdhury.
Is IBC in ICU?
Jaimini Bhagwati | Former ambassador and World Bank treasury professional
Business Standard
Bhagwati focuses on the “need to raise long-term lending from current levels to get economic growth back on track”. According to RBI’s Report on Trend & Progress of Banking in India 2018-19, the “gross stock of non-performing assets for PSBs” was about “12 per cent of total advances”. Thus, for “better oversight India should have just two well capitalised PSBs,” he writes.
The “current cautious posture of PSBs indicates that there are continuing concerns about credit risk and ex-post indictment of bank managers by government’s investigative agencies,” argues Bhagwati. Furthermore, “several promoters after overstating their borrowing needs, complicate resolution processes through never-ending legal challenges.”
Bhagwati maintains that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code “is no longer in intensive care but it is still in hospital and needs close attention to return to robust health.” This would involve “reducing interminable delays in CoCs [committee of creditors] coming up with an agreed framework for accepting write-downs on loans and the squabbling about the credentials of RPs [resolution professionals].”
Moreover, he writes that it is “abundantly clear from recurrent cases of bankruptcies due to misjudgements and outright fraud that financial intermediation in India needs to be regulated better and instances of insolvencies resolved faster.” Bhagwati suggests that “RBI should prod banks and NBFCs to act with greater probity and urgency”. Additionally, the Supreme Court “should reinstate” the RBI circular “which decreed shorter deadlines for creditors to take instances of default to NCLTs”.
Hyderabad rape-murder exemplifies patriarchy’s revenge. It is primarily government’s responsibility to save our daughters
Zakia Soman | Women’s rights activist
The Times of India
Soman writes that Thursday marks one month of the “ghastly gang rape and murder of the veterinary doctor in Hyderabad”. She argues that while the four suspects were shot down in an ‘encounter’, issues of women safety remain unaddressed. While several MPs voiced their concern, Soman writes, “It is shocking that they could not think beyond death penalty”. It is evident that “ending sexual violence is not a political priority of the government or the opposition,” she adds.
Soman writes that “women venturing out alone have become easy targets of sexual violence,” and “men are just not able to cope with the presence of unaccompanied women on streets”. There needs to be a collective consciousness about women’s equality through public awareness programmes backed by effective policing, implementation of laws and speedy justice, argues Soman and writes that “effective implementation of laws cannot take place without sensitisation and empathy.”
CAA: Pursuing process and protest
Chintan Chandrachud | Lawyer and author
Hindustan Times
Chandrachud argues that there are two ways of viewing the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. One is through a “formalistic reading of rule of law” and the second is a meaningful understanding of it.
He writes that the second approach is the preferred one since the protests and the constitutional challenge to CAA are not mutually exclusive but run along parallel tracks. He highlights three reasons for the protests to continue on the sidelines while constitutional litigation is going on. First, “it is always open to the government to amend the law while litigation is ongoing, so long as its amendments do not exacerbate the very reason for which the law has been challenged.” Second, the Supreme Court’s record to intervene in legislation which is against constitutional provisions is patchy. Third, “even in those instances where the SC does make a robust decision, legislative change is often more effective and easier to implement on the ground.”
Protests and After
Naman Pugalia | Founder, First WalkIn Technologies
The Indian Express
“We have been furious often, but have failed consistently in harnessing our rage for sustainable change. Hopefully, the current clamour over citizenship is different,” writes Pugalia. He goes on to give examples of previous movements that started strong but lost steam as the news cycle changed, such as the agitation for and against the Mandal Commission, the self-immolation of Tunisian Mohamed Bouzazi that triggered the Arab Spring in 2010, the India Against Corruption movement in 2011 and the protest against the December 16 rape-murder case in 2012.
Pugalia argues that there were two kinds of people in these movements, “Those who were impacted by the event and those who were sympathetic to the cause”. He notes that in most cases, the former continue to suffer and persist, while the latter moved on.
In light of the anti-CAA protests, he questions whether the movement will have enough votaries to sustain it when the news cycle changes. He writes that “seeking legislative answers as magic bullets is the surest way to prematurely lose our battles” and adds that “real remedies may be above and beyond the political and institutional realms”. The current uprising points to a growing national consciousness but does it have the strategy and stamina to persist, asks Pugalia.
Compensating for the growth slowdown
Sanjeev Nayyar | CA & founder, esamskriti.com
Financial Express
Nayyar writes that the last GST Council meeting was “a stormy affair… with an increasing number of non-BJP ruled states and delays in disbursement of the compensation to the states”. The states were “assured a 14% growth in revenue collection under GST on the 2015-16 base” he writes and adds that the intent was to “create a GST compensation fund that would fund the estimated revenue losses for the first five years of GST”.
Nayyar cites a study by Sacchidanananda Mukherjee and writes that “the benefits of 14% assured growth in revenue collection under GST will differ across states”. For instance, states like Punjab and Gujarat “have had low rates of growth and the assurance of 14% would imply augmentation of revenue while states like Bihar might not get the same deal”.
Nayyar maintains that “promising 14% was a political necessity in 2016″ and “there is nothing in the law which states that the Centre has to dip into its revenues to pay the states assured revenue”. The states “want revenue growth insurance” and any “reform takes years to stabilise”. Therefore, “the cost of change must be borne by the Centre and the states”. Finally, Nayyar argues that “effecting a reform as significant as GST requires one to be patient, [and] stakeholders must have a give and take approach”.