Early in December, nearly 30,000 people from across the country held a massive protest march in Delhi, crying out a slogan directed at the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre: “Ab ki baar, hamara adhikaar”.
Organised by a range of social rights groups, the rally was a protest against the government’s plans to dilute rights-based laws, such as the Land Acquisition Act, the Contract Labour Act and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, in favour of industrial growth.
The activists of Rajasthan, however, had a particular cause of worry – Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s decision to fill the state’s advisory council for planning with a large number of representatives from the corporate sector, while leaving out social organisations.
They say it is a portent of the government prioritising industrial development over critical social welfare.
Not a fine balance
The advisory council, constituted in March and broken into sub-groups in September, comprises 19 fixed members. They are responsible for bringing in their experience and expertise to advise the state government on planning policies in various sectors, such as infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, tourism and growth.
Much like the national advisory council for the prime minister, it is common for state governments to consult experts from various organisations while formulating policies on social welfare.
Rajasthan’s latest advisory council, however, has just a handful of representatives from grassroots social organisations that actually work with the poor – most prominent among them are Ramesh and Swati Ramanathan, the founders of Bangalore-based non-profit Janaagraha.
More than half of the council members are corporate executives. They include big names like Uday Kotak, (managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank), Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (chairman of pharmaceutical firm Biocon), Naina Lal Kidwai (group general manager of HSBC India), Anand Mahindra (chairman of the Mahindra group), and Harshvardhan Neotia (chairman of the Ambuja Neotia group). Also on the panel are economist Bibek Debroy and civil servant Mira Mehrishi.
Cause of worry
The council’s composition has left several grassroots activists worried about its impact on policy-making in Rajasthan. Their fear is that industry benefits might be given priority over social welfare.
“There is very little diversity in the advisory panel,” said Reetika Khera, an economist and professor in the humanities and social sciences department of Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi. “The chief minister of a state should be running the show for all citizens, and everybody’s interests should be represented on her advisory council – not just one section’s.”
While Raje’s previous advisory panel – during her first term as chief minister from 2003 to 2008 – did include a few corporate representatives, most of her advisors were social sector representatives, economists and civil servants. This time, Khera points out, the proportion has drastically changed.
“The alarming message being sent across is that the voice of the industry needs to be amplified,” said Nikhil Dey, a member of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, a rights organisation based in Rajasthan that participated in the Delhi protest march on December 2. “The reality is that the corporate sector already has a lot of access to governments, whereas it is the grassroots organisations, who actually know the situation on the ground, who need to be heard.”
Employment not guaranteed
The biggest concern for activists is the fate of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. At the Centre, there have been talks to scale down the Act to just about 200 of the poorest districts in India, something that economist Arvind Panagariya has been keenly in favour of. Panagariya is one of the members of Raje’s advisory council in Rajasthan.
“Raje is the first chief minister to write to the Union rural development minister to suggest that NREGA be made into a scheme instead of a law,” said Dey. “She also diluted labour laws in the state in a move clearly meant to put the corporate sector at ease.”
With corporate representatives forming the majority of Raje’s advisory council, Dey fears that NREGA will be jeopardised. In 2008-’09, he says, Rajasthan spent more than Rs 3,000 crore on rural jobs. “The Act has been very helpful in a drought-prone state. If NREGA is diluted, Rajasthan will face terrible consequences,” said Dey.
View from the other side
The corporate leaders in the Rajasthan advisory council, however, believe they have plenty to bring to the table when it comes to recommending social policies.
Manish Sabharwal, the founder of employment company TeamLease and a member of the council, claims that activists resentful of the corporate sector have been out of touch with India’s “checks and balances”.
“The last 10 years have seen crony capitalism in India peak; this was a period when corporate representation on the National Advisory Council was close to zero,” said Sabharwal in an email to Scroll.in.
“Making Rajasthan a fertile habitat for job creation needs all three sectors to work together because they have individual birth defects,” he said. “The government has an execution deficit, the private sector has a trust deficit, and the non-profits have a scale deficit.”
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Organised by a range of social rights groups, the rally was a protest against the government’s plans to dilute rights-based laws, such as the Land Acquisition Act, the Contract Labour Act and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, in favour of industrial growth.
The activists of Rajasthan, however, had a particular cause of worry – Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s decision to fill the state’s advisory council for planning with a large number of representatives from the corporate sector, while leaving out social organisations.
They say it is a portent of the government prioritising industrial development over critical social welfare.
Not a fine balance
The advisory council, constituted in March and broken into sub-groups in September, comprises 19 fixed members. They are responsible for bringing in their experience and expertise to advise the state government on planning policies in various sectors, such as infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, tourism and growth.
Much like the national advisory council for the prime minister, it is common for state governments to consult experts from various organisations while formulating policies on social welfare.
Rajasthan’s latest advisory council, however, has just a handful of representatives from grassroots social organisations that actually work with the poor – most prominent among them are Ramesh and Swati Ramanathan, the founders of Bangalore-based non-profit Janaagraha.
More than half of the council members are corporate executives. They include big names like Uday Kotak, (managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank), Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (chairman of pharmaceutical firm Biocon), Naina Lal Kidwai (group general manager of HSBC India), Anand Mahindra (chairman of the Mahindra group), and Harshvardhan Neotia (chairman of the Ambuja Neotia group). Also on the panel are economist Bibek Debroy and civil servant Mira Mehrishi.
Cause of worry
The council’s composition has left several grassroots activists worried about its impact on policy-making in Rajasthan. Their fear is that industry benefits might be given priority over social welfare.
“There is very little diversity in the advisory panel,” said Reetika Khera, an economist and professor in the humanities and social sciences department of Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi. “The chief minister of a state should be running the show for all citizens, and everybody’s interests should be represented on her advisory council – not just one section’s.”
While Raje’s previous advisory panel – during her first term as chief minister from 2003 to 2008 – did include a few corporate representatives, most of her advisors were social sector representatives, economists and civil servants. This time, Khera points out, the proportion has drastically changed.
“The alarming message being sent across is that the voice of the industry needs to be amplified,” said Nikhil Dey, a member of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, a rights organisation based in Rajasthan that participated in the Delhi protest march on December 2. “The reality is that the corporate sector already has a lot of access to governments, whereas it is the grassroots organisations, who actually know the situation on the ground, who need to be heard.”
Employment not guaranteed
The biggest concern for activists is the fate of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. At the Centre, there have been talks to scale down the Act to just about 200 of the poorest districts in India, something that economist Arvind Panagariya has been keenly in favour of. Panagariya is one of the members of Raje’s advisory council in Rajasthan.
“Raje is the first chief minister to write to the Union rural development minister to suggest that NREGA be made into a scheme instead of a law,” said Dey. “She also diluted labour laws in the state in a move clearly meant to put the corporate sector at ease.”
With corporate representatives forming the majority of Raje’s advisory council, Dey fears that NREGA will be jeopardised. In 2008-’09, he says, Rajasthan spent more than Rs 3,000 crore on rural jobs. “The Act has been very helpful in a drought-prone state. If NREGA is diluted, Rajasthan will face terrible consequences,” said Dey.
View from the other side
The corporate leaders in the Rajasthan advisory council, however, believe they have plenty to bring to the table when it comes to recommending social policies.
Manish Sabharwal, the founder of employment company TeamLease and a member of the council, claims that activists resentful of the corporate sector have been out of touch with India’s “checks and balances”.
“The last 10 years have seen crony capitalism in India peak; this was a period when corporate representation on the National Advisory Council was close to zero,” said Sabharwal in an email to Scroll.in.
“Making Rajasthan a fertile habitat for job creation needs all three sectors to work together because they have individual birth defects,” he said. “The government has an execution deficit, the private sector has a trust deficit, and the non-profits have a scale deficit.”
