April 12, 1999

VIP day trippers are the disaster after Garhwal's earthquake

In an ideal world, any natural disaster would be followed by a strict regimen: a comprehensive relief operation would begin almost automatically. The recent earthquake in the Garhwal region of Uttar Pradesh is yet another indicator of how far India is from an ideal world. True, it would be too early to dismiss the disaster's management as a disaster in itself. True, it would be unfair to mock the efforts of dedicated officials -- some of whom have walked miles to reach desolate villages. Nevertheless, the one picture that the rest of India will retain about this shock from the underground is of rubble -- and of visiting politicians, those who arrived almost as easily as vultures dive for carrion. The past week has seen ministers, sundry jobless politicians and even the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission in the earthquake-hit area.

It will be said that at least the ministers had a supervisory role to play. Even this specious argument would not be put forward if a streamlined calamity response system existed in India. It is mooted after every earthquake, drought, flood and then forgotten. In typical bureaucratese, the Government insists "the Comprehensive Disaster Management Policy or CDMP" is on the anvil. In India, rescue operations are defined by either crocodile tears or sombre abbreviations. There is empirical evidence to suggest that vip day trippers actually hamper salvage work. In Garhwal, for instance, the dignitaries have confined their visits to villages alongside motorable roads.

Obviously, they have avoided the more damaged interiors. Yet, to pay court to the Union ministers and the chief minister, the district officialdom has to be present in full strength. The result is wasted hours -- for some victims, the crucial hours between life and death. Agreed, for politicians to be seen as sensitive to suffering citizens is an occupational imperative. Even so, muddling up a rescue operation is never going to win them votes.

Trade Winds

Why even a good exim policy may not rescue India's exports

The annual review of the 1997-2002 exim policy is unusual in that for the first time a government has done more than it was under obligation to do. The country's agreement with the World Trade Organisation requires it to remove, in phases, all restrictions on imports by 2003. Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde has, in this year's policy review, liberalised import of many more commodities than was scheduled. This is a bold step because governments in India usually reform only when it is long overdue. It is also radical because imports have been liberalised in a year in which the country's trade deficit has doubled to over $7 billion. Hegde has also done well to recognise -- in an emphatic statement -- the real problems confronting Indian exports: harassment and arrogance of a cussed customs officialdom, high transaction and infrastructure costs and rigid labour laws. In another first, the exim policy has also recognised the growing importance of services export -- software, consultancy, health services, legal expertise. As many economists have pointed out, this could be the springboard for India's great leap forward.

Like everything, Hegde's endeavour has a debit side. The commerce minister has been realistic in admitting that the ability of an exim policy -- indeed, of his ministry -- to boost exports is today limited. Most factors shaping India's export fortunes -- poor quality products, extreme price sensitivity, unreliable supply schedules -- are really beyond the Commerce Ministry's purview. Of the two critical components of a healthy trade policy, a conducive customs duty structure is the Finance Ministry's responsibility and a stable but favourable rupee value the Reserve Bank of India's. But in putting his best foot forward, the commerce minister has set a precedent that will hopefully be matched by others. Or else India will have another year of stagnant exports.

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