Sickness of SMEs

In recent years, the small scale (SME) units have been put to cruelty and grave hardship because of the introduction of scheme of classifying accounts into non performing assets (NPA). In 1997, NPAs of micro, small, medium, large industries put together stood at 15.8 percent of bank loans. In the same year, while the SSI sector was responsible for nearly one-half of the total number of NPA accounts, its share in the absolute amount of NPA accounts was about 20 percent. Thereafter, the proportion of NPA accounts started to decline due to the introduction of very stringent norms. It declined to 10.7 percent 1999-2000 and thereafter it showed a continuous decline and stood at to 2.4 percent in 2008-09. But recently there has been an enormous increase in the number and volume of NPA accounts. The NPAs of the Indian banking sector increased to 2.40 percent in 2010-11 and increased further to . 2.94 in 20011-12. In absolute figures NPAs have almost doubled during 2009-2012, i.e. it increased from about Rs.56,300 crore in March 2008 to about Rs.117,262 crore in March 2012. And assets under reconstruction had trebled during the same period. But for the restructuring of corporate sector bad loans amounting to Rs.2.0 lakh crore in the last two years the banking sector would have witnessed an enormous surge in the volume of NPA. According to figures provided by RBI many corporates have gone for second restructuring, which shows that the situation is becoming more serious. Experts feel that applying certain common norms to classify the accounts as NPA for all categories of industries, viz. large, medium, small, and micro units, is illogical and unreasonable. To treat a micro industrial/business unit together with large scale units is sheer imprudence and ramification of neo-liberalism. The current practice of classifying industrial units as “non- performing,” if interest or installments of principal due remain unpaid for more than 90 days has caused grave hardship and untold sufferings to the small scale entrepreneurs across the country. So they have been clamoring for relaxation of norms for NPAs and extension of time limit for repayment of loans from the present 90 days to at least 180 days, following the ongoing global recession.5It has resulted in more and more SME units becoming sick and ultimately NPA in the absence of proper rehabilitation or restructuring of the SSI as in the case of the corporate sector. As a result, the SME units all over the country are in a fix, anticipating closure of their units any time either by themselves or by the banks.Reports show that sometimes the bank officers harass the borrowers even for flimsy and unorthodox reasons.

Vendors Relocated in Pondy Bazaar Hawkers' Complex lose patrons

Obstruction of traffic and pedestrians and causing hindrance to shops by roadside/pavement vendors have become contentious issues in cities and towns all over the country. In Chennai city also thousands of street vendors/hawkers have set up roadside/pavement shops all over the city encroaching upon pavements and roadsides with political patronage and connivance of corrupt officials. The encroachment of roadsides and pavements by hawkers/vendors also cause obstruction to the shop keepers leading to clash between regular shopkeepers and hawkers. Sometimes road-side stall owners also fight over occupying a space. In some cases they become law unto themselves with political patronage and as a result regulation becomes difficult. In many cases, the local authorities have removed the encroachments by hawkers. But after some days they return to the same spot. Even intervention by the Courts has produced nil results. In the busy business centre of Pondy Bazaar in T.Nagar, Chennai, hawkers had set up business on roadsides and pavements causing obstruction to the shopkeepers, besides causing traffic problems and inconvenience to the pedestrians. Pavement on both sides of the entire stretch of Pondy Bazaar was occupied by hawkers obstructing traffic, pedestrian movement, besides causing great inconvenience to shopkeepers. The pedestrians invariably were edged out. The shops encroached upon the space meant for pedestrians, thereby forcing them to use the carriageway. Based on complaints from shopkeepers and pedestrians, the corporation authorities removed the encroachments with police protection on many times, but the hawkers used to return with redoubled vigour. Finally on November 7, 2013, the Chennai Corporation implemented a Madras High Court order and evicted 96 hawkers who have been on the road for decades. The traders were forced to vacate the pavement and move into the three-storey shopping complex built for their benefit by Chennai Corporation on Thyagaraya Road. The complex  was built for the hawkers in March 2011  remained under lock and key until recently, as hawkers were not  interested to move into the complex, built on a budget of about Rs 4.5 crore. The complex was designed to have 629 shops, including 100 on the ground floor that were to be occupied by flower, vegetable and fruit vendors. The buildings corridors are rather narrow but it has good lighting and toilets. But there are no security guards or any system to lock the complex at night and drunkards use the building as a shelter.

Actually a plan for re-locating the hawkers came up in 2003, after a Madras High Court-appointed Committee came out with its report. The building has provision for the 650-odd hawkers identified by the Committee. The hawkers were unimpressed by the size of the shops because each shop has an area of 5 x 5 feet as against the 10 x 10 feet demanded by the hawkers. According to the hawkers, here are no facilities for them to store their wares and there is no guarantee that their things will be safe at night. Recently, this commentator, made a study of the business prospects of the resettled hawkers. The hawkers occupying shops in the second and third floors were found to have not much business. Most of the shops remained shutting even during peak hours. The general complaint of the hawkers resettled in the complex is that customers patronage has declined considerably compared to their pavement shops in Pondy Bazaar, where they were vending for more than two decades. Most of the hawkers resettled in the complex said they were planning to move elsewhere than suffer in doing business in the complex. Some of them have already shut shop and moved elsewhere after their business took a severe hit but the others remain clinging on with the hope that their customers will follow them to the complex sometime soon.

Employment aspects of FDI in retail trade.

The argument that FDI in multi-brand retail will lead to the creation of  10 million of jobs is fallacious and misleading. It is true that a few thousands of literate/educated youth will get job in retail chains and get attractive salary too. Most of those jobs will be generated at the front-end, in positions such as sales associates, cashiers, customer services staff, security guards, in-store security personnel, IT and systems for retail staff, customer relationship associates, loaders/ unloaders, merchandise refilling staff, department managers, store managers and regional and national managers. Some of the new jobs will be in warehousing and logistics-related areas. The rest will come in manufacturing services such as pre-processing and processing. But what is the guarantee that the displaced persons belonging to the unorganised retail sector will find employment in the multinational retail outlets. A few corporate brokers will also get opportunity to earn considerable amount of brokerage. Coming to reality, the creation of  millions of jobs is unachievable even in the long-run, leave alone in just three years. Various studies on the impact of global retail giants setting up retail stores confirm that job losses have occurred everywhere and as a result disrupted the livelihood of the people. The study by David Neumark of the University of California and his colleagues in 2007 revealed that for every job created by Big Box retail, 1.4 jobs are lost from smaller retail stores in the neighbourhood. Other studies have found that the entry of Wal-Mart into a county reduces both average and aggregate earnings of retail workers and reduces the share of retail workers with health coverage on the job. The impact is not only one of substitution of higher wage for lower wage retail jobs, but also a reduction in wages among competitors. As a result of lower compensation, Wal-Mart workers make greater use of public health and welfare programs compared to retail  workers as a whole, transferring costs to taxpayers. Another study on opening of retail shops by the global giants in Jakarta (the capital city of Indonesia, found that 2 jobs were lost in the unorganised retail sector for every one job created by the Big Box retail). For argument sake, if four or five big global retail giants decide to open stores and each one of them set up 10 shops on the average in each of the 53 million plus cities, on the whole 530 shops will be opened by them over a period of time. If each of the retail shop employ on the average about 200 persons directly, the 530 shops put together will employ only 0.53 million persons; equal number of persons might be employed indirectly.

Moreover, the employment situation in the country is quite annoying. Recent data provided by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) on employment and unemployment conditions in India disclosed that during the five year period between 2004 and 2009 only 2 million jobs were created in the country, even as and 2012. Moreover, the record of employment generation during the economy witnessed   an average annual growth rate of 8.43 percent. This is in stark contrast to the Planning Commission’s target of creating 58 million jobs in the five years between 20072004-2009 (2.0 million) that was   far below that recorded during 1999-2004 (60 million). NSSO data also show that employment rate has actually declined in the five year period ended 2009-10 to 39.2 per cent from 42 per cent in 2004-05. If the growth of population is taken into account, there has actually been a decline in employment in absolute terms. When NSSO data are   compared with that of Census of India projections, it appears that during 2004-2009 only 2 million jobs were added against the addition of 55 million persons to the workforce (aged between 15-59 years).⁶ NSSO data also indicate an increase in the number of casual workers by 21.9 million during 2004-05 and 2009-10. But the growth in  the number of regular workers halved during this period compared with the previous five year period. This means that there has been  a substantial shift in the structure of labour force in the Indian economy during the period in question. Actually, the retail trade sector has acted as a cushion to many of those who could not find employment opportunities and for those who were displaced from their jobs for various reasons.  Therefore, opening up of the retail trade sector to multinational retail giants will pierce the cushion thereby leading to increase in crime and violence.

Lack of skills among Indian youth

India has the largest reservoir of economically active age group population in the world.  But due to unemployment a large proportion of this age group is not economically active. According to a recent report (October 2010) by Labour Bureau, in the 28 States/UTs surveyed, the total  population is estimated at 1182 million with 63.5 per cent population (751 million) in the working age group of 15-59 years. The worker population ratio is 325 persons per 1000 population at the overall level and 465 in the working age population (i.e. 15-59 age groups). Thus, out of the total estimated population of 1182 million, 384 million constituted the working population (employed persons). The unemployment rate in 2009-10 is estimated at 9.4 per cent at the overall level as per the usual principal status. In the rural sector, the unemployment rate is around 10 per cent, while in the urban areas the unemployment rate is about 8 percent persons out of 1000 persons in the labour force. Moreover, according to National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), over half the country's workforce is self-employed and women receive less pay than men for similar jobs. While 51% of the country's total workforce is self-employed, only 15.5% are regular wagers or salaried employees and 33.5% casual labourers. The number of people self-employed is higher in rural areas at about 54.2%, against 41.4% in urban areas. Moreover, according to National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), over half the country's workforce is self-employed and women receive less pay than men for similar jobs. While 51% of the country's total workforce is self-employed, only 15.5% are regular wagers or salaried employees and 33.5% casual labourers. Moreover, many of those in the economically active age group lack skills.

It is quite distressing to know only a part of the manpower in India is properly educated and trained; only about 12% of the youth get opportunities for higher education. Even today, a large  number  children India either do not  get enrolled or drop out at the primary level.   This is more evident in  in rural areas and urban slums. As a result, a larger proportion of youth lack proper education and training.The opportunities for skill development is insufficient and thinly spread over the country. The children belonging to the  downtrodden sections   of society, particularly the SCs,STs and BCs,  fall considerably below the middle, upper-middle  and richer sections of society. They fall short in opportunities for  education and skill development.  Moreover, in many areas the children of the down trodden sections, particularly  in rural areas, fail to enroll for education due to  nonavailability of schools within reach.  They are not in a situation to enroll in private unaided schools due to lack of  ability to pay the fees.

 Similarly only about 1/3 of the students passing out of institutions in India  are directly employable. However, it should not be construed that the rest are unworthy. The main reason for skill deficiency is due to the pattern and content of our education system. A study conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), surveyed 102 firms in 2012 based on survey small and major firms from the manufacturing, construction, IT, pharmaceuticals and FMCG sectors in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore revealed that 65 per cent of the firms surveyed had skill-shortage vacancies. Fifty-seven per cent had vacancies they could not fill because of the high costs involved, says the study. The highest incidence of vacancies was seen in Hyderabad and the least in Bangalore a majority of the units surveyed reported job vacancies. So skill development is the need of the hour. All out efforts should be made to impart skill to the youngsters, particularly to those who are found to be directly employable. Most of such persons can be fit into jobs with short and low cost training programmes. The curriculum should be suitably modified with provision to impart skills development programmes.

The educational set up in India needs to be revamped. Education in no other country in the world is as much commercialized as in India. During the past two decades or so the central as well as state governments have slowly withdrawn from their responsibility to provide quality education to the people. For nearly four decades, people with philanthropic  considerations entered the educational arena and set up Universities, Colleges, Professional Colleges, Technical Institutions, Schools, etc. with the motive to serve the society. But in the recent past a new type of educational institutions have come into existence, namely self- financing (unaided) educational institutions. Thousands of unaided / self-financing schools and colleges (in engineering, medicine, paramedical sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, and arts and sciences) as well as polytechnics and industrial training institutes have come into existence during this period primarily based on profit motive rather than service to the society. Admittedly the growth of such institutions has led to the commercialisation of education.  These institution woefully lack infrastructural facilities and qualified teachers. While they collect huge amount as capitation fees and as tuition fees, the salary paid to the teachers (including fully qualified teachers) is often a pittance compared to those employed in government and aided educational institutions. These teachers are not only denied proper salary but also security of service and other benefits. As a result, a kind of informal system of employment has emerged in the field of education also, which has resulted in poor skills development of students. Therefore, such institutions should be  made to improve the quality of teaching and infrastructure  facilities.
Business Standard, February  9, 2014

India is home to one-third of world illiterates

Literacy and education are means of socio-economic progress of any country. There has been considerable improvement in literacy in India since Independence, particularly during the past decades. India’s literacy rate  rose to 48 per cent in 1991 from 12% at the beginning of Independence; it further increased 74.04% in 2011. Although this is a greater than six-fold improvement, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%, India at present has the largest illiterate population. Analysis  of data indicate that literacy rate increase only  sluggishly. As per Population Census of India 2011, the Literacy rate of India has grown only by 9%, which is slower than the growth witnessed during the previous decade. There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India:  male literacy rate stood at  82.14% and female literacy rate remained at 65.46% in 2011. However, the census indicated a positive  trend as the  growth in female literacy rates (11.8%) was substantially faster than in male literacy rates (6.9%) in the 2001–2011 decadal period, which means the gender gap appears to be narrowing. The gap of 21.59 percentage points recorded between male and female literacy rates in 2001 census has been reduced to 16.68 percentage points in 2011. Kerala with 93.9% literacy rate is the top state in India. Lakshadweep and Mizoram are at second and third position with 92.3% and 91.06% literacy rate respectively. Bihar with 63.08% literacy rate is the last in terms of literacy rate in India. Every census since 1881 has indicated rising literacy in the country, but the population growth rate has been high enough that the absolute number of illiterates rose with every decade. Today, there are about 270 million adult illiterates in the country, which is more than one-third of the illiterate adults in the world. The bulk of Indian illiterates live in the country's rural areas, where social and economic barriers play an important role in keeping the lowest strata of society illiterate. Government programmes alone, however well intentioned, may not be able to dismantle barriers built over centuries. Major social reformation efforts are sometimes required to bring about a change in the rural scenario. The consequences of being illiterate can lead to social awkwardness and not being able to find a job to support one’s lifestyle or family. The most important effect of illiteracy on society is that, it works as an inhibitor. The achievements made in the past decades are due to various schemes and programmes implemented by the Central and State governments. More vigorous steps have to be undertaken to boost literacy rates, particularly in those states with low literacy rates. Nevertheless, steps will have to be made to intensify fertility control programmes. Otherwise such efforts to reduce the number of illiterates will not be successful.

Global economic crisis

The global economy today is at  crossroads. Most economies of the world are in crisis due to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s. The United States is said to be the epicenter of the crisis. Although the causes of the current world economic crisis are numerous and varied, and in a way rooted in the inherent weakness of capitalism, the financial crisis which emerged during 1988 or so is supposed to be immediate cause. Actually what began as a bursting of the U.S. housing market bubble and a rise in foreclosures had ballooned into a global financial crisis. Since then nervous investors have fled from stocks, corporate bonds and municipal bonds, run to the safety of the U S Treasury bonds, and transferred vast capital resources into stronger currencies such as the Japanese yen, the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc. By September 2008 the crisis became prominently visible with the failure or merger of several large US financial firms such as investment banks Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, and insurance giant American International Group. Some of the largest and most ‘venerable’ banks, investment houses, and insurance companies have either declared bankruptcy or have had to be rescued financially. The crisis evolved rapidly into a global disaster resulting in a number of European bank failures, sharp declines in global stock markets, and large reductions in the market value of equities and commodities worldwide. By the end of 2008, credit flows froze, lender confidence dropped, and one after another the economies of countries around the world dipped into recession. The crisis exposed the fundamental weaknesses in financial systems worldwide, and it continues despite coordinated easing of monetary policy by governments, trillions of dollars in intervention by governments, and several support packages by the International Monetary Fund. In due course the financial crisis metamorphosed into world economic crisis. Most of the economies in the developed world continue to reel under economic crisis. UN has warned that the world is on the brink of another recession, projecting that global economic growth will slow down further in 2012 and even emerging powerhouses like India and China, which led the recovery last time, will get bogged down. The UN 'World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012' report has warned that following two years of weak and uneven recovery from the global financial crisis, the world economy is teetering on the brink of another major downturn. The failures of policymakers, especially in Europe and USA, to address the jobs crisis, prevent sovereign debt distress and escalation of financial sector fragility pose the most acute risk for the global economy in 2012-13.Many believe that unregulated capitalist greed is the root cause of the crisis. As a result they have unwittingly eschewed from required regulations and controls which are crucial for the smooth functioning of an economy.

Many believe that unregulated capitalist greed is the root cause of the world economic crisis. In the past two decades or so a powerful lobby has been espousing and promoting the concept unfettered freedom of enterprise as the sine qua none of economic growth and prosperity. Truly, many governments all over the world have knowingly or unknowingly acknowledged the perceived benefits of unfettered freedom of enterprise. As a result they have unwittingly eschewed from required regulations and controls which are crucial for the smooth functioning of an economy. Moreover events and shifts in the early 1990s—the collapse of centralised planning, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the market orientation in the economies Eastern Europe, the important role assigned to market in China, the wave of liberalisation and privatisation taking place in many Third World Countries, and the establishment of World Trade Organisation—have been viewed by many as visible signs of the emergence of global capitalist order. Nevertheless the events and crises in the past few years, particularly in the latter part of 1990s—the frequent currency crises, the growing volatility of the stock market, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the increasing concentration of wealth, the menacing expansion of multinational corporations, the rising incidence of unemployment, the spiraling of prices, the spurt in crimes, violence and terrorism, the upsurge in frauds, the spread of corruption and growing inequality —have been regarded by many as the indications of the imminent downfall of capitalism and as signs of the emergence of socialism. Still others believe that neither capitalism nor socialism will triumph in the present century. For achieving sustained development with attendant benefit to the masses, activities of the governments and private markets will have to effectively complement each other. In short, government policies will have to play a useful economic role in order to sustain development and prevent further concentration of wealth.

Corruption in European Union

Today corruption remains one of the biggest challenges for all societies. The straightforward definition of corruption is the abuse of public office for private gain. Bribery occurs in the private sector also, but bribery in the public sector, offered or extracted, is   a matter of serious concern. Public office is abused for private gain when politician or official accepts, solicits, or extorts a bribe. Whether corruption takes the form of political corruption, bureaucratic corruption,  corrupt activities committed by and with organised criminal groups, private-to-private corruption or so-called petty corruption, the abuse of power for private gain is not acceptable and has awful consequences. It harms the countries whole by lowering investment levels, hampering the fair operation of the internal market and reducing public finances, besides leading to concentration of wealth and rising inequalities. Corruption is one of the particularly serious crimes with a cross-border dimension. It is often linked to other forms of serious crime, such as trafficking in drugs and human beings, money laundering and other shadow economic activities. Its roots lie deep in bureaucratic and political institutions, and its effect on development differs with country conditions. But while costs may vary and systemic corruption may coexist with strong economic performance, experience shows that corruption adversely affects development and well being of the people. Simply speaking, the causes of corruption are always contextual, rooted in a country's policies, bureaucratic traditions, political development, and social history. Still, corruption tends to flourish when institutions are weak and government policies generate economic rents.

While corruption is universalized and institutionalized in most of the developing countries like India, it has also become deep rooted in many developed countries, including European countries. The Transparency International's corruption perception index 2013 that warns that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world. More than two-thirds of the 177 countries in the 2013 Index score below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean). In the case of India and many other developing countries embezzlement of funds by public servants is rampant in central and state governments, local bodies, public sector undertakings, cooperative societies and banks, the private sector is not free from such a scourge. Corruption and bribery are found in all wings of the administrative machinery of central and state governments as well as local administration. Reports show that most of the officials who have some authority to show favour in one way or other indulge in corruption and bribery.  According to World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, corruption is public enemy number one n the developing world. Kim describes the pernicious effects corruption can have in developing countries as follows : “Every dollar that a corrupt official or a corrupt business person puts in their pocket is a dollar stolen from a pregnant woman who needs health care; or from a girl or a boy who deserves an education; or from communities that need water, roads, and schools. Every dollar is critical if we are to reach our goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to boost shared prosperity.”

It is quite revealing to note that corruption has become a scourge even in developed market economies, including European Union. It is also disturbing to know  from  the first ever report on graft in the 28-nation European Union by the executive European Commission, corruption costs Europe 120 billion euros a year, or around one percent of economic output. Although the nature and scope of corruption may differ from one EU State to another, a rising number of EU citizens think i