FDI in multi-brand retail to harm Indian workers: Global report

It is absolutely true that FDI in multi-brand retail without adequate safeguards will lead to widespread displacement and poor treatment of Indian workers in logistics, agriculture and manufacturing. Moreover, it will be impossible to implement the safeguards because once allowed to set up multibrand retail shops the multinational retail giants will have scant respect for law. Wall-Mart and other global retail giants are waiting for Government node to enter India’s retail market. In fact they are relentlessly pressurizing the Indian Government to open up FDI in Multi-brand retail. They want to reach the Indian retail market not due to concern for the welfare of the people, but because of sheer greed; i.e. the desire to expand their empire and to earn extra profits. In fact, it is the brazen self-interest that drives western mega retail corporations to look for gullible markets in developing countries. Wall-Mart already has a joint venture with Bharti. Once the permission is given for 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail trade, Wall-Mart and other global retail giants will swamp the Indian retail market and within a few years much of the unorganised retail traders will be forced to quit business and thereby lose their livelihood. It is alleged that Bharti-Walmart is illegally carrying out multi-brand retail trade despite being permitted only to carry out wholesale cash-and-carry or wholesale trade in the country. On the basis of the suit filed by environmental activist Vandana Shiva, the Delhi High Court sought replies of the Centre, Bharti-Walmart and Bharti Retail on a plea for a probe against the firms for allegedly carrying out retail trading in the multi-brand sector in violation of India's existing FDI policy. Thus, even before getting permission to operate multi-brand retail stores, Wall-Mart has violated Indian rules and regulations unlawfully involved in multi-brand retail trading. Now the question is, will Wall-Mart and other multinational retail giants respect Indian laws once permission is granted to operate multi- brand retail stores?Dr.C.Murukadas, The Times of India, August 22, 2012

Mosquitoes Continue to Bite the City

Mosquito borne diseases are prevalent all over the country. Mosquito borne diseases are malaria, filaria, dengue, brain fever and yellow fever. The deadliest and one of the most endemic diseases in the world today is Malaria. This disease is actually caused by a mosquito bite. In Chennai, in addition to malaria, dengue and   is the most prevalent diseases spread by mosquitoes. Certain parts of the city are also prone to filaria. Reports form various parts of the city show that there is an increase in mosquito borne diseases due to tremendous increase in mosquitoes. There are various reasons for the increase in mosquito menace.  Of course, the polluted waterways and canals such as Coum, Adyar river, Buckingham Canal, Otteri Nullah and others which cruise around the city are the main cause      for the spread of mosquito .The mosquito borne diseases are also the result of low hygiene and sanitation, particularly in the slums and low income settlement areas, and poor insect control in the high income settlement areas. It is distressing to note that poor quality of recently constructed/renovated storm water drains is an added cause for the spread of mosquitoes. Everybody knows that the quality of construction by the Chennai Corporation is abysmally poor. There is now worthwhile quality control for the construction undertaken by the Corporation as well as Metro Water. Widespread corruption and gross inefficiency are the reasons for the poor standard of construction. Stagnation of water in unoccupied plots is also a reason, besides improperly maintained overhead tanks, accumulated garbage, etc. Of course inadequate mosquito control and paucity of staff are also reasons for growing mosquito menace in the city. Unless the Corporation initiates definite steps control   malaria and other mosquito borne diseases will continue to cause sufferings to the people.

 Dr.C.Murukadas, The Hindu, August 16, 2012

Unhealthy at 65: India has 76% shortfall in government doctors

 “Health is wealth;” it s an old adage. Somehow our politicians and the planners failed to realise the value of health. It is a naked truth that majority Indians lack proper health and the number of maydays lost due to sickness runs to millions. Reports suggest that at any time one or more members of a family are afflicted by ill –health. The situation is worse in the case of the poor, both in the urban and rural areas. A recent study of slums in the million plus cities of Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai) supervised by this commentator, serious health problem exist in slums everywhere. According to this study, “58.6 percent of the households had one or more members suffering from some kind of diseases or other during one month prior to the investigation. Malaria, dysentery, diarrhea, asthma, bronchitis, tuberculosis, chicken guinea etc. were among the most common diseases that affected them. The incidence of disease was also relatively high in their case and the frequent occurrence of diseases had affected their families. The respondents reported that in case of common illness like cold, fever, dysentery, etc., they did their own treatment or they approached nearby medical practitioners. They stated that they had to depend upon government and corporation hospitals and dispensaries for illness requiring medical attention. However, they were quite unhappy about the cumbersome procedures, long waits and poor medical attention in the government hospitals and corporations dispensaries. Quite a few respondents opined that the general rush in the outpatient departments of the hospitals was so heavy that the doctors found no sufficient time to attend all the patients with due care. The availability of doctors, medicines and chances of treatment were erratic. Seldom are the doctors or medicines available. Moreover, many respondents stated that they had to grease somebody’s palm to get proper treatment.” The situation is not different among the poor in rural areas. The reason is meager investment in public health. India's spending on health care continues to be very low. Not enough public health centers are there. Where there are hospitals, doctors and nurses are available, particularly in rural areas because of their shortage. Where doctors and nurses are available medicines will not be there. Government should take a bold decision on the issue and find ways to spend more money for public health. All the more, care should be taken to spend money spend in a proper way without any misuse. Medical education should be made easy and affordable for all sections of the community. Dr.C.Murukadas, The Times of India, August16, 2012.

Black money
Black money is one of the serious scourges facing India, which is acting as a stumbling block to unsure inclusive growth and development of the country. It is the root cause of growing inequality and deprivation. Any body who takes up the issue genuinely should be supported by all. It is interesting to note that Baba Ramdev's protest against black money found supporters across political parties, with many of them including Nitin Gadkari, Sharad Yadav, Mayawati, Nitish Kumar and Mulayam Singh Yadav backing the movement. Estimates about black money are largely conjectural. The estimate of black (unaccounted) money held by Indians, both in India and abroad is estimated to be around $1000 to $ 3000 billion. The estimated black money stashed abroad by Indians and Indian entities varies between $500 and $1,500 billion. This huge amount has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them. If this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India, the entire foreign debt can be liquidated. And after paying the entire foreign debt, India will have huge resources to invest in development programmes and welfare measures. Dependence on FDI can be substantially reduced. If corruption is controlled, generation of black money can be controlled to a large extent. Of course, for significant dent on corruption and black money there should be change in the mind set of politicians, bureaucrats and the public. Dr.C. Murukadas,The Economic  Times (Chennai), 13Aug,2012

The collapse of auditorium in Jeppiaar Institute of Technology leading to death of 10 migrant workers and arrest of J. Jeppiaar has exposed the violation of law by the managements of self financing engineering colleges and the extent of corruption in AICTE and Anna University. As per reports building plan was not obtained for not only the collapsed auditorium but also for other buildings already completed or under construction. Jeppiaar has indeed taken law unto himself and grossly violated rules and regulations in seeking permission to start the college. It is rather intriguing to note that the Panchayat admn. had kept a blind eye to illegal construction activities in the College. How that is the AICTE granted approval for the college without adequate approved buildings? On what basis Anna University has granted affiliation to the college, which did not have adequate approved buildings and reclassification of land? Action should be taken against the culprits.

  Dr.C.Murukadas, The Hindu,  Aug 13, 2012

Chennai homes, a tall order

The rise in demand for high-end housing in the city is not the effect of increase in overall development of the city; it is rather an indication of growing inequality. In Chennai Metropolis, like other big cities in India, economic growth has not resulted in prosperity for all. This has led to wealth being overtly concentrated in a few hands.That is greater part growth has gone to proportion of the people. But majority of them have access disproportionately higher income mainly through illegal means such as tax evasion, corruption, money laundering, mis-invoicing, capitation fees, smuggling, profiteering,capitation fees,etc. These high net-worth individual are prepared to pay any price for a higher end dwelling unit in a posh locality. The pity is that low income people are completely left out, particularly in the past decade or so when the government has withdrawn form the construction of dwellings for the poor (low income)As a result majority of the urban poor are forced to live in slums and squatter settlements in poverty and destitution without access to basic amenities and essential services. Business Line

PM concerned over Moody's forecast on economy

Many of the economies around the world are in an unstable situation. It is feared that   continued recession in Europe and other parts of the world would be felt around the world. India can’t completely insulate its economy from the crisis in other economies because  of the integration of its economy with the rest of the world due to liberalisation and globalisation. Therefore, the reports that growth rate of the country may be below the anticipated level is not surprising. Nevertheless it has to be borne in mind that the impact of world economic crisis is not severe in our country compared to European nations. That is not to sate that we can be complacent. However, we have to move cautiously with neo-liberal economic reform. That is, there is a strong   case for India to abandon neo-liberal policies and for continuing an interventionist policy, which would insulate the country to a larger extent from external shocks.  It has to be noted that for the common people, who form the bulk of the population, growth rates have no meaning or any relevance because they are seldom benefited by higher growth rates. It is a fact that a greater proportion of the benefits of higher growth goes to only the upper strata of the society. But what is a worrisome phenomenon is the possibility of widespread drought, which will not only bring down the growth rate but also affect severely the downtrodden sections of society, especially the farmers and landless agricultural workers.  Widespread drought will affect the industrial sector also because fall in rural incomes will have a negative impact on effective demand, especially for consumer durables. Therefore, the government has to concentrate on drought relief measures by ensuring income generation activates in drought affected areas.  More over corruption and black money are the serious scourges facing India, which are acting as a road block to ensure inclusive growth and development of the country. Corruption and black money are also the root cause of growing inequality and deprivation. Huge amount has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them through corrupting and money laundering. If this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India, the entire foreign debt can be liquidated. And after paying the entire foreign debt, India will have huge resources to invest in development programmes and welfare measures. Dependence on FDI can be substantially reduced. If corruption is controlled, generation of black money can be controlled to a large extent. Of course, for significant dent on corruption and black money there should be change in the mind set of politicians, bureaucrats and the public.The government has  take determined efforts to root out corruption and black money, besides taking steps to  reinvigorating the economy. 

Dr.C.Murukadas, Hindustan Times, 12 Aug, 2012