16 hindustantimes
WE DNESDAY, JANUARY 3 1, 2018
e sta b l i s h e d i n 1 9 24
Delhi­Kabul ties The budget must catalyse start-ups
must not waver
Pakistan’s hand is evident in the
spate of attacks in Afghanistan
A
fghanistan has now experienced four major Tali-
ban and Islamic State (IS) terrorist attacks in 10
days and seven such attacks in the past month.
What has triggered these latest assaults? At a time
when they are either in control of or contesting
nearly half of Afghanistan, the Taliban
and their backers in Rawalpindi see the
geopolitical environment beginning to
turn against them. One, United States president Donald Trump
has reversed his campaign pledge to end US involvement in the
war. The US has now committed to massively increasing air sup-
port for the Afghan army. Two, after initially wooing the Paki-
stani military, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has become a
fierce critic of Islamabad. The Taliban response seems to have
two goals. One, rattle Mr Trump’s resolve. This seems to have
failed with Mr Trump saying he is no longer interested in talks
with the Taliban. Two, undermine the legitimacy of the Afghan
government by showing it to be incapable of defending its people
from such attacks. This has had some impact. Afghans on the
street are as critical of their government as they are of Pakistan.
Behind all this are the machinations of the Pakistani military.
The Taliban number two is the head of the Haqqani network, an
organisation whose allegiance to Rawalpindi is not in question.
Afghan intelligence has long argued that even IS in Afghanistan
has at least covert support from Pakistan. Whatever the actual
chain of command, it’s evident Rawalpindi has urged the Taliban
and its affiliates to step up the pressure on Kabul and possibly
force the US to reconsider its decision.
India must continue its steadfast support for the Kabul
regime and a revived US war effort. The last Pakistan-backed
Taliban regime existed concurrently with the worst unrest India
has suffered in Kashmir. The Kabul regime has received pledge
after pledge of Indian support and these cannot be tossed aside
lightly. Lastly, an uneasy Afghanistan keeps Pakistan focused
on its northwest rather than its southeast. The present wave of
terror should be seen as a psychological weapon. And the com-
mitment to supporting Kabul must not be allowed to waver.
§
Cancer takes a toll on
both health and economy
Tobaccocontrol,vaccinationsand
screeningcanhelpcombatthedisease
T
he BRICS grouping of countries — Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa — are losing billions of dollars in
productivity owing to cancer, says a research paper pub-
lished in the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology. India recorded a
total productivity loss of $6.7 billion in 2012 because of cancer,
representing 0.36% of our GDP. While the cost per death of pro-
ductivity lost in India was less than $20,000, the lowest among
BRICS countries, the highest productivity losses – $0.74 billion –
because of the lip and oral cancers are a cause for alarm. Taking
the loss of productivity owing to premature death into considera-
tion can provide policymakers additional perspective when they
chart out strategies for prevention and control of the disease.
Doctors say close to 60% of cancers in India can be prevented.
Around 40% of cancers in the country (such as lung cancer and
cancers of mouth) are caused by tobacco use and another 20%
from infections such as hepatitis B that cause liver cancer and
human papillomavirus, which can lead to cervical cancer. Can-
cer cases in India are rising not just because of better diagnostic
facilities but also owing to the shift in the way we lead our lives.
Tobacco and alcohol use, consumption of processed food, air pol-
lution and obesity are among the biggest triggers of the disease.
Indian Council of Medical Research estimates say India is likely
to have more than 17.3 lakh new cases of cancer and more than
8.8 lakh deaths due to the disease by 2020.
But the silver lining is that the risk of cancer can be slashed
significantly by curtailing tobacco use, getting vaccinations for
certain types of cancer and adopting a healthier lifestyle.
Changes that reduce the burden of cancer will also have a posi-
tive effect on the economy. A combination of tobacco control,
alcohol control, vaccination programmes and cancer screening
will lead to significant gains for both the physical and the
economic health of India.
R. N. I. No. 530/1957 ● Postal Reg. No. DL(ND)-11/6058/2018-19-20 ‘Licensed to post without prepayment’ LICENCE No. U(C)-113/2006-08, AIR SURCHARGE: Raipur and beyond by Rail or Road - Re 5/-, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Chennai, Cochin, Goa, Hyderabad, Khajuraho, Mumbai, Trivandrum, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and beyond by Rail or Road - Rs. 10/-;
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§
India’s primary development challenge is to
re­skill and train more than a billion young adults
VarUn
GanDhI
I
ndia officially has 18 million unem-
ployed (ILO, 2017), with the majority of
them young people. According to 2017
estimates from the of Labour and
Employment,organisedemploymentis
ourtake currentlyjust10.1%oftotalemployment,with
the majority of our more than 600 million
workforce employed in informal jobs with
limited social security.
Thedemographicgrowthcontinues–we’ll
havethelargestworkforceintheworldwithin
adecade,withasurplusofworkingageyouth
(more than 47 million) compared to a global
deficit of 56.5 million.
At present, average daily wage rates
remain low in rural and urban India. Typi-
cally,afarmernowearns₹2,400permonthper
hectare of paddy and about ₹2,600 per month
per hectare of wheat, while farm labourers
earn less than ₹5,000 per month according to
IndiaStat 2016. Average daily wage rates in
agriculturaloccupations continue toremain
significantly low — ploughing would have
earned an able-bodied labourer ₹280.50 in
daily wages in 2016, while a woman would
earn just ₹183.56. Consumer inflation eats at
this, with agricultural and industrial labou-
S I Z E M AT T E R S
n A family planning clinic at a government hospital in Hajipur, Bihar. More than 40% of the
money allocated for reversible methods remained unutilised
Quality care will boost
family planning efforts
Despite population stabilisation being a critical area,
budgetary allocations have been skewed and insufficient
POOnaM
MUttrEJa
A
positive for the health sector in last
year’s Union Budget was the stated
goaltoincreaseIndia’shealthsector
spending from the current 1.15% of
GDP—oneofthelowestworldwide—to2.5%
by2025. Oneneedstolookatbudgetaryprovi-
sionsfromtheperspectiveoffamilyplanning.
According to the 2015-16 findings of the
National Family Health Survey 4, the total
demandfor familyplanning(FP)among cur-
rentlymarriedwomenbetweentheagesof15
and49is66%.TheunmetneedforFPservices
is 13%, declining by just 1% over the last dec-
ade.Lessthanhalf(48%)ofcurrentlymarried
women aged 15–49 years use modern contra-
ceptives. Despite evidence that family plan-
ning is a critical area from the perspective of
reducingmaternalandinfantmortality,allo-
cations have been skewed and insufficient.
Examining the budgetary allocations and
expenditure offers some insight into the rea-
sons for the tardy pace in India’s progress on
familyplanning.TheFPcomponentgetsabout
4% of the total budget available under the
National Health Mission’s reproductive and
childhealthflexi-pool.Analysisofdatashows
thatinthefinancialyear2016-17only60.7%of
the funds available for family planning were
innervoice
INCULCATE THE HABIT OF
READING AND SHARING THE
WISDOM WITH OTHERS
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MANAGING EDITOR: SOUMYA BHATTACHARYA
comment
rers affected by adoublingofconsumerprice
indexnumbers(332in2004to764in2014)inthe
past decade. Marginal farm economics is dis-
couraging the youth from greater participa-
tionintheagriculturallabourmarket,under-
lining the need for better quality jobs.
Historically,thegovernmentaccordedpri-
ority to this issue. A National Youth Policy
was first formulated in 1988, while the Youth
Policyof2003soughttoencourageyouthskill
development – further strengthened by the
creation of the National Council for Skill
Developmentin2005.TheNationalYouthPol-
icy of 2014 had the government promising to
spend ₹90,000 crore on youth through a vari-
ety of yearly targeted schemes. However,
much remains to be done.
Our primary development challenge is to
educateandre-skillmorethanabillionadults
in the next few decades, helping transform
themintoproductivemembersofoursociety.
We have historically spent a pittance on
reforming our education system by adapting
innovations (the current financial year 2018
spend is just ₹275 cr).
Given our population, we should ideally
haveatleast50world-classmultidisciplinary
research universities.
In reality, our research universities han-
ker for funding. Budgetary allocations for
education have been piecemeal, without a
focusonbuildingtotalannualtrainingcapac-
ity(currentlyat4.3millionstudentsannually;
as opposed to 12 million people entering the
workforce every year).
There are ways to resolve this:the upcom-
HINDUSTAN TIMES
spent.Thenatureofallocationsandspending,
whichcurrentlyfocusesdisproportionatelyon
terminalmethodsratherthansupportingthe
policyobjectivestopromotespacingbetween
children and improvingthe quality of care, is
amatterofconcern.Forproperspacingofchil-
dren, women need reversible contraceptive
methods.In2016-17,64%oftheFPbudgetwas
allocated to terminal and limiting methods,
whilejust3.7%wenttowardsspacingmethods.
Therearealsoseriouslimitationsinthecapac-
itytoutilisethefundsavailableforfamilyplan-
ningattheimplementationstage.Forinstance,
40%ofthemoneyallocatedforreversiblemeth-
odsremainedunutilised. Adecentralised,par-
ticipatory planning process that factors in
actualneedsandresourcerequirements ofdis-
tricts,andsystematictrackingandmonitoring
of the spending will improve utilisation.
In2016-17,almost81%oftheFPbudgetwas
spent on compensation to beneficiaries, and
incentives to frontline workers and health
careprovidersofterminal methods offamily
planning. The skewed emphasis on targets
defeats India’s declared policy of population
stabilisationthrougharights-basedapproach
to family planning and reproductive health.
There is evidence on the ground to show
that when there are improvements in the
qualityofcare,they’veresultedinadramatic
riseinuptakeoffamilyplanningservices.The
governmentneedstoincreaseallocationsand
strengthenthesystemsthatwouldenablebet-
ter utilisation of family planning budgets.
Poonam Muttreja is executive director of Population
Foundation of India.
The views expressed are personal.
Bidyut Kumar Sanyal
There is a strange connection between
homes and books. While books enrich us
with knowledge, our home is the comforta-
blecornerwherewecanalwaysreturn.And
when a home is filled with books, it’s noth-
ing short of a heaven on earth. In our spare
time, books are our best friends, giving us
joy and enlightenment.
While books nurture our souls and make
us feel extremely happy, the loving bond
among family members keeps us together.
HINDUSTAN T IMES, NEW DELH I
n Graduates queue up to register their
names at an employment office
ing budget should seek to encourage the pri-
vate sector to utilise the Pradhan Mantri
KaushalVikasYojanatoenhanceemployabil-
ityskills,especiallyinaworkenvironmentin
whichrisingautomationcouldputmorethan
69% of Indian jobs at risk. The National Skill
Development should be providedsignificant
budgetary support.
An employment guarantee can help. In
early 2013, amid a financial crisis, the Euro-
pean Union was beset with rising unemploy-
ment among young people. This was
addressedbytheenunciationofayouthguar-
antee.TheYouthEmploymentInitiativewas
funded to the tune of €3.2bn for FY15 and had
an immediate impact – the average rate of
youth unemployment fell to 16.9% within
When citizenscandictate
theirterms topoliticians
The forthcoming elections in the Northeast will shape
both the politics of the states and the national parties
Prashant
Jha
I
nDelhi’spoliticalimagination,thereal
political battle of 2018 begins in Karna-
taka.Itthenendswiththethreestatesof
Rajasthan,MadhyaPradeshandChhat-
tisgarh, setting the stage for the Lok Sabha
polls of 2019. But before that, in February,
threekeyNortheasternstates—Nagaland,
MeghalayaandTripura—gotopolls.Andto
underestimatetheimportanceoftheseelec-
tions for either the people of these states or
the national polity would be a mistake.
Itisimportantbecausethethreadofelect-
oral democracy within the constitutional
frameworkbindsNagaland,hometoAsia’s
oldestinsurgencyandwithastrongconcep-
tionofitsownuniquenessandclaimsofsov-
ereigntywithIndia.Electionshavecreated
and sustained a Naga political elite which
stands at the forefront of defending the
Indian system and is ready to unfurl the
Indianflag.Itmaynotaddressthealienation
of its people entirely — which is why the
peaceprocesswithrebelgroupsissoimpor-
tant — but a democratic government pro-
vides a channel to articulate some of their
concerns.Thistime around,electionshave
becomecontentious.Asignificantsectionof
Naga civil society and political opinion,
tiredofthelongdrawnpeacetalksandseek-
ing closure, wants a ‘solution before elec-
tion’.ButtheCentreisclearthatthiscannot
beareasontopostponepolls. BJP’sgeneral
secretary, Ram Madhav, has said the state
needs ‘elections for solution’. As the peace
talks enter the final lap, Delhi feels having
an elected legitimate government in
Kohima strengthens its hands.
It is important because it has provided a
democraticplatform totribalsin aBengali-
dominated polity like Tripura to articulate
theiraspirations.This,amongotherfactors,
has weakened the militancy that used to
engulf the state till a decade and a half ago.
It is important because democratic
NAGALAND, TRIPURA AND
MEGHALAYA MAY BE SMALL
STATES. BUT THEIR ELECTIONS —
LIKE ELECTIONS ELSEWHERE —
PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO
CITIZENS TO NEGOTIATE WITH
THEIR POLITICAL ELITES.
It is a good habit to acquire and share our
knowledge with our family members. The
best example of such togetherness is seen
when elderly people in joint families impart
knowledge to the young ones. This practice
creates stronger bonds and also helps
develop communication skills between
friends, society and even with our neigh-
bours. So while we enrich ourselves with
bookish knowledge, our mindset ought to be
rich and evolved too.
Books also help us maintain a congenial
atmosphere at home. Therefore, books and
three years.
Thegovernmentshouldaimtocatalysethe
creation of start-ups. While the existing
“StartupIndiaFund”isapromisinginitiative,
fund deployment remains a significant issue
– with only ₹605 crore committed by SIDBI
and with just ₹337 crore invested across 75
start-ups. The budget can explore making it
easy for entrepreneurs to launch start-ups,
administerthemandexitcleanly,ifrequired.
Telanganahassoughttohelpstart-upsbypro-
viding them with a working space and an
encouragingenvironmentinT-Hub,anincu-
bator for start-ups. It is now associated with
more than 835 start-ups.
Articulating a National Employment Pol-
icyisimportantinsuchtimes–recentreports
that the government is moving in this direc-
tion are heartening. It should also attempt to
offeraroadmapforthecreationofqualityjobs
across sectors, with fiscal and tax incentives
to encourage entrepreneurs and private sec-
HT torfirmstohiremoreintheorganisedsector.
Weshouldfocus onreducingregulatorybur-
den of sectors such as textile, construction
andinfrastructure that have ahighpotential
of generating employment in the millions.
Withrisingtradetariffbarriers,andapolit-
ical landscape hostile towardsglobalisation,
the window for scaling up light manufactur-
ing is closing. India must ensure it is the pri-
mary target for the migration of job generat-
ing light manufacturing industries from
China and the West. In pre-colonial times,
India had millions working to manufacture
muslinwhichclothedtheworld.Theprimary
Indianbudgetarychallengeistoincreasethe
employability of India’s labour force.
Varun Gandhi is BJP national general secretary and a
Lok Sabha MP
The views expressed are personal
churningandelectionshavegivenMeghal-
aya’s diverse social groups — across the
Khasi,JaintiaandGarohills—aplatformto
arrive at a power-sharing arrangement.
This has brought stability, allowing the
state to focus on economic opportunities.
But besides the significance these elec-
tionshavefortherespectivestates,thethree
pollsarealsoimportant forthethreelarger
parties and national politics. Take the Left.
The CPM, already a pale shadow of its past
after losing Bengal, is reduced to being in
powerin onlyKeralaandTripura. InAgar-
tala,barringaperiodoffiveyearsfrom1988-
1993, it has been in power for 40 years. But
today it confronts an aggressive BJP
machinewhichhas deployeditsresources,
andisdisplayingitsabilitytoco-optleaders
andallywithdisparategroups.Alossforthe
Left will mark the end of its hegemony in
Tripura ; it will leavethe CPM with no state
acrossNorth,Central,WestandEastIndia;
it will deprive the party of resources to
recover; and it will generate despondency
across its ranks and sympathisers.
The Congress is fighting to retain power
in Meghalaya. It has a strong CM in Mukul
Sangma. But it is saddled with anti-incum-
bency, factional feuds and confronts both a
strong BJP and a stronger local challenger
in the National People’s Party. Retaining
power will be a morale booster. But losing
powerandseeingBJPentergovernment,in
thisChristian-dominatedstate,willreduce
the Congressto onlythree states acrossthe
country. The Congress will then only have
MizoramintheentirebeltfromDelhiallthe
way to India’s eastern-most borders.
For the BJP, the polls represent another
opportunity to shed its tag of being a Hindi
heartland party. It hopes to continue its
questforbotha‘Congress-mukt’and,inTri-
pura’scase,a‘CPM-mukt’Bharat. Entryin
government in these states will take the
BJP’s national tally to 21 states. A spike in
numbers in Nagaland and Meghalaya will
allow the BJP to claim it is not just a Hindu
party.Butadefeatoradismalperformance
will show to the party that heartland Hin-
dutva will extract its costs in other pockets
ofIndia.TheelectionswillshowiftheBJP’s
momentofsupremepoliticaldominanceor
as Yogendra Yadav terms it, political
hegemony, persists or whether cracks are
beginning to appear. Nagaland, Tripura,
Meghalaya may be small states. But their
elections provideanopportunitytocitizens
tonegotiatewiththeirpoliticalelites.Their
specific geographical locations, with spe-
cifichistoriesofpoliticalviolence,lendthem
greater sensitivity. The outcome here will
shape not only the politics of the states but
the fortunes and political strengths of
India’s national parties.
prashant.jha1@htlive.com
n
homes are very similar and at times, can be
treated as two sides of the same coin. Inside
our home, we look for peace, happiness, and
while reading books, we seek knowledge
and wisdom. Without both these elements,
life would become boring and disgusting.
Inculcate the habit of reading books and
also share the gained knowledge with oth-
ers.
Inner Voice comprises contributions from our read­
ers.
The views expressed are personal
n Innervoice@hindustantimes.com
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