The under-achieving real estate market and under-utilized mass transit systems in Indian metros forcing unhealthy sprawl

ABSTRACT

'Kada veedi’ or 'Street of shops' is the traditional middle-class Tamil market-place. Ranganathan Street, Mambalam; Shanmugam Road, Tambaram; Main Road, Pallavaram; Main Road, Chromepet are just some examples that epitomize this concept, not to mention the Pondi Bazaars, Luz Corners and other such commercial centers in the city of Chennai, India.

Small shops lined up along un-motorable roads, providing economic opportunities and goods at low cost mark the making of these markets. At best, these markets can be described as disorganized, underachieving and an obsolete form of business operation. The efficiency of such economies is very low, and, does not help the cause of a city and a nation knocking on the door of development. Significantly, these markets are linked by the metro rail network and occupy prime real estate in close proximity to these metro lines.

The density of the built form is high, which in turn causes a high density of pedestrian traffic, thereby creating the illusion of saturated development. However, the actual built-up area is very low and does not utilize the full potential of the location. Most importantly, the illusion of saturation and the resultant premium price tag has caused new development to move outside the city.

Unfortunately, this new development represents the IT economy and employs a large number of urban dwellers. Companies operate buses from and to the city, and apart from straining the narrow roads and gasoline based fuel resources, the time spent in traveling between home and work directly affects the productivity of the economy and the quality of domestic life for future generations.

This paper studies the development pattern of Chennai, the resultant pattern of land-use, current trends in development and how these effect the environment, the built-environment and quality of life in the city. The paper also proposes a different development pattern based on mass-transit for sustainable development of the city, and the feasibility of such a solution in the context of Chennai. The hope for this solution is that it reduces redundancy in economic investment, development footprint and fossil fuel dependency while increasing quality of life, economic efficiency and addressing a host of issues currently faced by the city.

Keywords: transit based development; urban sprawl; mixed-use community; Chennai; India

INTRODUCTION

A low-rise built-form, unplanned organic morphosis of the built-form and a few misplaced development decisions in the middle of excellent infrastructure (in the form of an ideal road structure, metro network, first class bus network, abundant power supply, highly educated inhabitants and international connectivity) is creating an interesting phenomenon in the city of Chennai. This excellent infrastructure is driving many new investment opportunities into the city, but due to the above mentioned phenomenon caused by the current built form, it is increasingly finding its way out into distant suburban locations.

As a result of the suburbanization of economic investment, the city has been subjected to a splurge in the ownership and use of automobiles and an unhealthy real estate bubble. Development of satellite towns in now imminent and widespread sprawl powered by the expanding Indian economy is almost inevitable. This paper takes a close look at the master plans developed for Chennai, the implementation of the goals identified by it (which have led to this pattern of development), the land-use pattern around one major metro rail station in the city of Chennai - Mambalam, which illustrates the above phenomenon in its full bloom with fragmented, unplanned land use and organic built-form causing the illusion of congestion. Finally, this paper discusses an image of transit based development in the city, the road blocks to achieving that vision and a possible solution to the problem.

City of Chennai

Chennai is India's 4th largest city and the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the east coast of India along the shores of the Bay of Bengal. It is the second largest sea-port, 3rd busiest airport (with daily flights to Europe and the rest of Asia), has the largest inter-state bus terminus in India, is part of the golden quadrilateral of India (which is a network of national highways connecting the four major cities of the country) and, accommodates the headquarters of Southern Railway. Three stations serve as entry points to Chennai on the railway network. With a population of 7.5 million including the wider metropolitan area and an overall area of 1180 square kilometers, Chennai is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The density figure for the city is 24,418 per sq. km. and 5,847 per sq. km. in metropolitan areas. For a benchmark, the density of Manhattan Island is 29,706 per sq. km.!

Infrastructure in Chennai is considered world-class, except for its water supply and drainage systems. Abundant power supply, without much interruption, comes from the Kalpakkam Atomic Power Plant and Neyveli Lignite Power Plant. The main roads form a radial structure with three major arterial roads (Mount Road, Poonamalle High Road and Rajaji Salai). The main chord roads are NH Road, RK Salai and SP Road. With the construction of the ring roads, connectivity between the arterial roads is much improved. The city is served by three metro lines, and a first class bus network. Educational institutions in the city are considered top notch, with the world renowned Indian Institute of Technology, Anna University, Madras Medical College, Madras Veterinary College, MG Ramachandra Medical University and Loyola College serving as premier educational institutions in the country.

Dubbed the 'Detroit of India' for the prevalence of the automobile and automobile spare parts industry, it is home to auto manufacturers Ford, Hyundai, GM and BMW. Other major industries in Chennai include IT, hardware manufacturing, biotechnology, petrochemicals, garments and financial services. The Madras Export Processing Zone, Ambattur Industrial Estate, Siruseri Bio-tech Park, Mahindra Industrial Park and Tidel Park are some of the consolidated industrial zones in the city. It was ranked as the most attractive Indian city for off shoring services per A.T. Kearney's Indian Cities Services Attractiveness Index (2005). With the increasing importance of IT services to Indian GDP, Chennai is seeing an increasing trend towards creating hi-tech corridors for development.

DEVELOPMENT PATTERN OF CHENNAI

Fig 1 illustrates the metropolitan agglomeration of Chennai. The city and the surrounding areas are the 34th largest agglomeration in the world, and the 4th largest in India. The area shaded in red is the city of Chennai, and the orange area depicts the metropolitan boundaries of the city. The yellow lines mark the metro rail network and the pink lines mark the major roads in the city. The green areas indicate a National Park. Chennai is one of the very few cities in the world to house a National Park within its boundaries. Thanks to the Indian Institute of Technology and the Governor's residence being housed within it, the Guindy National Park has remained oblivious to the land movers that have ploughed around the rest of the city.

Apart from the city, population in the metropolitan areas is distributed among the areas shown shaded in cyan. The rest of the region is either sparsely populated or uninhabited. A closer look at the areas shaded in cyan shows the metro network running through them. The clue to this pattern of growth can be found in the first master plan developed for Chennai in 1976. George Town (shown in light pink) was the Central Business District (CBD); Kothvalchavadi near George Town was formerly the central market and all development radiated out of this area. The majority of the jobs were located in the CBD, and all public sector offices were located on Mount Road and NH Road. The majority of the manufacturing industries were located to the north, west and south-west of the CBD. Growth of the city radiated along the mass transit corridors of the west and south-west. The division of land-use between the industrial centers and residential corridors meant the land-use surrounding the metro rail networks, along which the residential corridors developed, is predominantly residential, with small shops lining the main roads of the residential areas. [CMDA]

As a result of the economic liberalization policy of the Indian Government in 1991, the public sector started to contract and the private sector then gathered momentum. With this shift, and with the arrival of IT as a major player in the Indian economy, the focus of the economy shifted from being predominantly based in the secondary manufacturing sector to increasingly being one based in the tertiary services sector. Consequently, land-use and growth patterns have shifted to new areas that were hitherto not developed. The new IT economy needed contiguous office space, abundant power supply and easy accessibility, and of course cheap land to build vast IT complexes on. The current focus is on new developments along Old Mahabalipuram Road, M. M. Nagar and Sriperumbudur. [CMDA] Apart from M. M. Nagar, the other development areas are situated away from the metro rail network.

The main goals of the first master plan were to restrict density and population growth in the city, restrict industrial and commercial developments within the metropolitan area, encouragement of growth along the metro rail transportation corridors and creation of urban nodes at the termini, dispersal of certain activities from the CBD and development of the satellite towns of MM Nagar, Gummidipoondi and Thiruvallur. [CMDA] Of these goals, only the growth along the metro rail corridors, with a predominant growth along the south-west corridor [CMDA] and dispersal of the bus terminus and central market from Kothvalchavadi to Koyambedu, completed in the 90's, were successfully implemented. The concept of satellite towns failed miserably from the start, and if it had not been for Ford and the Mahindra Industrial Park, MM Nagar would have been categorized as a complete failure.

The major criticism of the first master plan is that the implementation was so slow that the issues were very different by the time the projects were completed. For example, Koyambedu bus terminus and central market are so far away from the radial network of roads and completely out of sync with the metro rail network that reaching the area is an ordeal, given the traffic conditions of today. The Inner Ring Road that connects to Koyambedu is only 100' wide, and with all the encroachments and break in continuity in Ashok Nagar, the road is not suited to take in additional truck and bus traffic. The construction of the Chennai By-pass to serve the developments in Koyambedu seems an ad-hoc decision to alleviate modern day traffic issues for an obsolete solution. There is no reference of such a road in the first master plan, while the decision to develop Koyambedu was a direct result of a goal set during the first master plan. [CMDA]

Recent development projects in the city have included the construction of flyovers, the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), construction of the Chennai by-pass, developing the IT Corridor, development of the various technology and industrial parks in MM Nagar, Siruseri, Poonamalle and Sriperumbudur and passing a proposal for an Outer Ring Road. There is also a proposal to construct an underground metro line network to supplement the existing metro rail network.

The MRTS was constructed as an overhead metro rail system, and the 3rd phase of development is currently in progress. The MRTS rail network was constructed along the banks of the Buckingham Canal (erstwhile inland waterway, now a giant open drainage line) due to the lack of contiguous space needed to construct an overhead rail system. In a survey done by this author in 2001, it was found that some of the stations were inaccessible from the main roads. In addition, the stench from the canal and the narrow alleys that lead to the stations are major deterrents for the use of the MRTS system. Also, the lack of inter-modal transfers between different modes of transport has been identified as one of the key issues in the latest draft of the second master plan by CMDA.

Development of residential areas in close proximity to these new technology parks is currently in full swing, which, when populated will create satellite towns around Chennai. [CMDA] Though this is a development which aims to alleviate the traffic issues of people living in the city and working in the suburbs, it shows an eerie similarity to the development of single-use American suburbs in the latter half of the last century. This is urban sprawl at its worst, and as Albert Einstein put it so aptly, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is nothing but insanity."

The environmental impact of creating this residential development close to the technology parks could affect the ecological balance as far away as Siberia. As shown in Fig 2, a large part of the area between the IT corridor and the south-west corridor of the city is wetlands, and not suited for development in their virgin form. By treating them as urban landfills, the area is being reclaimed for residential development. A large part of the area of Velachery which is now a thriving locality in the city (the majority of its development taking place during the last decade), was developed on identical land in a similar manner. Siberian migratory birds pay an annual visit to the Vedanthangal bird sanctuary near Chennai, predominantly to breed in the marshy wetlands of the area, and this pattern of development could adversely affect their sanctuary.

The perils of suburbanization and ‘Satellite Town’ development

What is referred to in the Master Plans of Chennai as ‘Satellite Town’ is referred to as ‘Edge City’ in ‘New Urbanist’ theory. According to Leinberger, the development pattern that brings such developments to the fore move on to engulf more land, and new development is continually pushed to an ever-expanding fringe to cause ‘Edgeless Cities.’ The reason suburban developments are preferred to existing urban fabric is for want of clear space that is cheap, and hence the ‘more is worse’ is true with such developments. From the perspective of a developer, a suburban location provides short-term profitability. But as more and more development is brought into the area, the idea of cheap land and clear space is long gone, and value of the development flags off. Statistics show that the values of suburban developments in the US peaks between seven and ten years, and the development wagon moves on to different locations, thereby creating a continuous sprawl. [Leinberger]

Developing industrial estates and technology parks in Chennai mimics the single-use suburban developments in America. The graph shown in Fig 3 illustrates the difference in value propagation of developments in single-use suburban locations to that of a mixed-use, urban location with walkable urbanity. [Leinberger] It is very clear that such a development cannot sustain its value over time, and hence, is not a long-term solution. Moreover, situations such as the current housing crisis in America are a detriment to the entire economy, and the drop in value of homes is a significant factor in this crisis. This is not sustainable development, and worse is the fact that such development causes significant damage to the environment.

The built-environment and underutilized resources in the city

As previously stated, Chennai's population density within the city is 24,418 people per sq km. Per the Development Control Rules (rules) for Chennai, building heights were restricted to 20 stories. Up until 2000, the LIC Building with 14 stories was the tallest building in Chennai. With such a low rise built-form and a high density of development, demand for space is high while supply is saturated. Away from the main business districts of Mount Road, NH Road and RK Salai, the development pattern in Chennai is best illustrated by the pictures in Fig 4 and Fig 5.

The area shown in Fig 4 is Mambalam, and as can be clearly seen, the common thread in all of the images shown is organic, unplanned and unregulated growth. One tell-tale image is that of the electric transformer adjacent to a residential building with its window opening into the transformer! The lack of regulation, lack of a localized planning body and failure to enforce development control rules, mainly due to widespread corruption in building plan approvals, has created a built-environment that is haphazard, hazardous, dense and lacking in basic civic amenities, apart from creating increased stress on the city's water supply and drainage lines due to the larger than planned for demand.

The land on which the multi-family dwelling units shown in Fig 4 and Fig 5 below (Fig 5 shows the relatively less developed area of Tambaram Sanatorium) are built on, were previously used to house single family residences with front and back yards. Increased equity, providing for retirement capital (especially with the increase in non-pension paying private sector jobs) coupled with the sociological peculiarity of property inheritance divided ‘equally’ between all children have in turn caused the development of multi-family dwelling units on such plots, which causes further fragmentation in ownership of property in the city.

At the time of the first master plan, India was a predominantly socialistic country with a dominant public sector. Automobile ownership was low (less than 600,000 in 1991 compared to more than 1.6 million in 2005 [CMDA]). The radial pattern of growth for residential development along the transit corridors and development of industrial zones away from the rail network were facilitated by the first master plan. Mambalam was the area that was best connected to the industrial zones by bus. The ‘kada veedi’ being at the centre of the dynamic created by the pedestrian movement between the residence connecting railway station and the work place connecting bus network, created the opportunity for an evening market that sells vegetables, flowers and fruits.

Street hawkers, like the ones shown in Fig 5, are still a significant part of the 'kada veedi' or 'street of shops'. This informal economy has been essential for the development of the country, as identified by the Planning Commission of India. Such economies tend to thrive in pedestrian dominated neighborhoods, and with the increased density of pedestrian traffic, the success of these markets improved as well. As is seen in the images shown in Fig 4 and Fig 5, the organic growth of the economic status of the small vendors mirrors the organic growth of the built-form in the city. This stands testimony to the need for more walkable urbanity and less automobile based sprawl. The concept of 'kada veedi' still holds good, and was recognized in the First Master Plan as the 'Main Road' in every residential locality.

Also, at the time of the First Master Plan due to India’s socialistic past, Urban Land Ceiling Act meant that land ownership was limited; marking the origins of widespread fragmented land ownership. Information Technology was unheard of and the current open-market, technology-driven development was a political impossibility. However, despite the vast change in development drivers, the pattern of growth continues, and land-use surrounding the metro rail networks continues to be predominantly residential and increasingly fragmented in ownership.

The fragmented land ownership pattern causes resultant growth to be organic in nature. Individual owners expand their property based on their specific needs, and the result is what is seen in the photographs in Fig 4 and 5. This pattern is typical in all of the residential areas surrounding the metro network. Mambalam happens to be the busiest and 'most-developed' of all such areas in the city that surround the metro rail station.

In this scenario, it is very difficult for the new generation of IT empires like Infosys to accumulate the space necessary for basing their operation within the urban fabric, and is forced to move out to the greener pastures of the suburbs where they can build the required space without the hassles of going through the political red-tapes. That the increasing automobile based sprawl is causing the metro rail system to be underutilized is reflected by the trend in respective percentage of trips by bus to that by trains, 41.5 to 11.5 in 1970 changing to 45.5 to 9.0 in 1984 and finally 37.9 to 4.1 in 1992. [CMDA] With the ten-fold increase in automobile population mentioned earlier, this trend is set to continue causing the redundancy in public infrastructure.

TRANSIT BASED DEVELOPMENT IN CHENNAI - A RENEWED IMAGE OF MAMBALAM

The answer to this conundrum lies in transit based development. Chennai has the structure and the infrastructure in place to make this transformation in development pattern at a relatively low up-front cost. The time has come for a major overhaul of the mediocre built environment in the city. It is time to do away with all of the unplanned and unhygienic organic growth and make better use of the metro rail network. A mixed-use mid to high rise development with plenty of opportunity for cultural interaction, a cargo processing and garbage recycling unit well connected by the rail network, rain water harvesting and plenty of green space would foster the seeds of sustainable development in the city. Such a model can be implemented through the city in a number of locations.

The idea presented by this concept is not to cannibalize the street hawkers or the 'kada veedi' concept, and even less a crude attempt to alter the social patterns of the area, but is instead a plan which will maximize organized space for the street hawkers and small businesses to thrive in and an honest attempt at making provision for an environment that enhances social exchange. Hence, it becomes an exercise of consolidating and organizing the space and built-form in a manner that capitalizes on the sustainable development potential presented by the existing infrastructure.

"What got you here will not get you there," is a famous book that illustrates why a different approach is needed to climb higher on the ladder to success, and India is at such a juncture in its development at this time. India will need more space and more development to sustain its economic growth rate, but it is imperative that India not travel along the same route taken by America and China in catering to similar needs. This model has not worked and is a strain on the environment in more ways than just automobile based development. Eventually, the strain on the environment would be catastrophic if the three largest nations on the planet were to follow similar patterns of urban development, and end up making the same mistakes.

The image presented above is similar to development plans already undertaken in Canary Wharf in London and Moscow City in Moscow, with a few additions to facilitate true eco-friendly transit based development. With such a development pattern, services and opportunities are decentralized, and the community moves towards self-sufficiency. When goods are transported by train to local cargo processing units, the need for centralized markets is deemed redundant. Efficiency in the operation of the market is increased, and dependence on fossil fuels to power the economy is reduced to a great extent. Sprawl ceases to be a necessity, and the decentralization of economic opportunity to other urban centers along the rail network enables true sustainable development in the country.

Road blocks in achieving transit based development and the role of Indian Railways as a catalytic developer

Consideration of any major development project is not possible without significant roadblocks, especially a radical change such as this one. The principal stumbling block is the ability to accumulate the required land for the development of such a concept. Convincing businesses and politicians to think in terms of a long-term strategy with potential for short-term losses goes against current business principles, and this is especially true in the current political climate of coalition governments. Politicians playing for survival and businesses more worried about their profitability than the sustainable development of the community as a whole are not congenial team players in realizing this vision. The profitability of such a plan would need to be proved before this vision could become a reality. Frequently, in similar projects, this is the role of a catalytic developer. The catalytic developer invests slow capital in the project with the aim of absorbing short-term losses for long-term gains. They typically carry the project until a critical mass is reached, after which the development effort can only move forward.

The Indian Railways own vast tracts of land in close proximity to the railway stations. The railway colonies that are under the scanner in this discussion were developed more than thirty years ago as single family residences, with standard material specifications and are badly in need of redevelopment. By undertaking the redevelopment of the railway colonies as model transit towns, the Indian Railways are in the best position, either as a single entity or through public-private partnerships, to absorb a short-term loss in order to create the ubiquitous benefit sought in the long-term. If transit towns were to become the predominant development pattern, the railways could recuperate the small losses easily. Currently, the operational model of Indian Railways needs a revised strategy due to its financial crunch. Being part of the Central Government, the Railways are forced to subsidize popular passenger services by increasing the price on its freight services. This practice has meant that the trucks are the predominant freight handlers in the country. Such a business model is unsustainable, and it is in the best interests of the country that its railway system functions in good health. If transit towns were to become the predominant development pattern, the Railways benefit the most from it as the trains would be the life-line of the economy. The Railways have identified this approach to be beneficial to them, and are in the process of identifying ways to serve the Special Economic Zones in the country. [Indian Railways]

CONCLUSION

Transit based development provides the city of Chennai a sustainable and relatively cheap alternative to meet its growing needs. Within the structure of the city, and the excellent infrastructure that is the main draw for the city, there are immense possibilities for such a pattern of growth. Not only will this resolve the growth problems of the city, it will help resolve a number of existing issues in the city not limited to traffic congestion, extreme density of population, water supply and drainage issues, pollution and a messy built-form. Hitherto underutilized land and transit resources can be fully utilized, reducing the need for redundant development, and increasing economic efficiency.

REFERENCES

Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), 2005, Draft copy of The Second Master Plan for Chennai, CMDA
Calthorpe, Peter and William Fulton, 2001, Planning for the end of sprawl - The Regional City, Island Press
Cadman, David and Geoffrey Payne, 1990, The Living City: towards a sustainable future, Routledge
Hardroy, Jorge E., Diana Mitlin, David Satterthwaite, 1992, Environmental Problems in Third World Countries, Earthscan Publications

Leinberger, Christopher B., 2005, Turning Around Downtown: Twelve Steps to Revitalization, The Brookings Institution

Planning Commission, 2006, Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth – An Approach to the 11^th Five Year Plan, Government of India

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Lehmann, Steffen, 2007, Towards a Sustainable City Centre: Integrating Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) Principles into Urban Renewal, Journal of Green Building - Volume 1, Number 3, pp. 85 - 104
Hammond, William F. and Larry Peterson, 2007, Developers address new challenges in the planning and implementation of very large scale developments as self-sustaining communities, Journal of Green Building - Volume 2, Number 4, pp 73 - 99

Activists need urgent rehab

Activists need urgent rehab

Swapan Dasgupta

Viewers of English-language TV news channels will have noticed the frequency with which a mysterious community called "activists" has begun popping up. On subjects as diverse as education, health, industrialisation and religion, the utterances of politicians, officials, corporates and the man in the street are invariably countered with views of "activists" presumed to have profound expertise on all subjects. There is also an implicit suggestion that the "activists" are detached, selfless and not burdened by the baggage of interest groups. In short, they are a superior and pious voice in the rabble.

It may be unfair to lump "activists" into the umbrella category of NGOs. There are many non-profit organisations that perceive themselves as philanthropic bodies, charities, religious trusts and even social organisations which occasionally dabble in "social work". They raise their own resources, have nothing to do with the Government but hate being clubbed with "activist" NGOs. What distinguishes normal NGOs from "activist" groups is funding, political involvement and what the Americans call attitude. The "activists" tend to be globally funded, politically Left-liberal or worse, and blessed with the conviction that they know best and everyone else is garbage.

At the 1999 Seattle summit of the World Trade Organisation, The Economist estimated some two million NGOs in the world; of these, about a million were in India. The numbers have increased over the past nine years, more so because a growing number of entrepreneurs have discovered business potential in NGOs. To be fair, most activists are not racketeers, though they have an insatiable appetite for publicity, business class travel and endless conferences in exotic places. Activists from the so-called Third World which, tragically, still includes India, have also developed considerable skills in guilt-tripping angst-ridden Western liberals and UN-sponsored bodies into doling out lavish grants. The grants are ostensibly aimed at facilitating "people's empowerment", a euphemism for good salaries, many conferences, media lollipops and sponsorship of agitations that impede national progress.

The activists ostensibly want to "help people help themselves". Some genuinely try to help the informal sector get legal protection and end up getting thrashed by goons. Others, rope in starry-eyed TV reporters from privileged backgrounds and gap-year radical tourists to give legitimacy to movements that seek to prevent steel plants in Orissa and dams in Gujarat.

"Activists" have different priorities but what binds them together is a passionate desire to keep alive the problems that justify their existence. In recent years, for example, activist bodies have been accused of grossly exaggerating the incidence of AIDS in India. The unstated reason: The massive availability of international funds to fight AIDS. In Gujarat, the "activists" have also been accused of keeping riot victims in a state of permanent dislocation because it helps score political points.

In the old days, the "activists" were derided as harmless but over-zealous jholawalas and relegated to the margins of civil society -- despite their bogus claims of actually representing civil society. In recent times, thanks to lavish global patronage, some deft "advocacy" and strategic political interventions against the former NDA regime, the activists have inveigled themselves into the decision-making making process. The inclusion of "activist" icons in the once all-powerful National Advisory Council chaired by Sonia Gandhi was a signal to the UPA Government to accommodate seemingly radical concerns in the development process. The results have been catastrophic.

Take the case of urban planning in Delhi. The sudden collapse of all systems of traffic management in areas outside Lutyens' Delhi is widely blamed on the construction of the High Speed Bus Corridor. Billed as a system favouring cyclists and bus commuters and flaunted as the success story of Bogota (Columbia), it is likely to be a major factor behind the Congress' near-certain electoral defeat in Delhi later this year. Yet, as is now apparent, this hare-brained, regressive scheme was sold as a progressive pro-poor measure by activists who have no stake in the future of India.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was the greatest triumph of the "activists". Now operational in 330 districts at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore, it was supposed to do for the Congress what Operation Barga did for the CPM in rural Bengal: Make it electorally invincible. The interim results point to a monumental disaster and CAG's draft report speaks of a 97% under-performance.

In normal parlance this means unmitigated disaster but "activists", egged on by a mindless section of the political class, now want Rs 30,000 crore from this year's Budget to make this profligate, corrupt and unproductive scheme national. They want a dedicated bureaucracy and membership of a so-called Employment Guarantee Council to run NREGA as a form of parallel Government. They want to turn disaster into calamity. A distraught Government, afraid of admitting its Italian blunder, may well oblige.

Finally, "activists" have poured into sensitive bodies like the Minorities Commission. Established as a well-meaning talking shop for those who couldn't be accommodated in Parliament, it has become a malignant influence on society. From giving predictable template reports on "attacks on minorities" by a despicable majority, it has moved into tampering with national security. The interference of Minorities Commission activists in the arrest and interrogation of terror suspects in Andhra Pradesh is a warning. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile.

Democratic societies operate on the principle of indulgence. However, when minuscule unaccountable "activists" start holding the nation to ransom on the strength of misplaced certitudes, it is time for correctives. An urgent rehabilitation programme for "activists" is overdue.

Needed, a renewed socialist concern - The Hindu

Needed, a renewed socialist concern

V.R. Krishna Iyer

India needs democracy, development and a distributive strategy to salvage the lives of its have-nots.

Indian Independence is a political phenomenon that has the sovereignty of the people enshrined in the paramountcy of a Socialist Secular Democratic Republic created by the Constitution. Our administration comprises triune instrumentalities that are accountable and transparent. We, the People of India, who are over a billion strong, not you, the multinational corporations, the corrupt mafia, the freebooter billionaires and the imperial controllerate over the state’s r esources, are the final authority, since we are no colony. We are a rich nation albeit with poor people, a marvel of culture and rare talent, never to suffer submissive status and foreign pressure. We are a globally glorious jewel, the Kohinoor, but shine no longer as brave new Bharat. We are great, not under the shadow of another giant of the unipolar world but as a peer partner of a grand quadrilateral alliance of China, Russia, India and the U.S.

This vision was projected at a recent conference. Yes, India is no satellite but the co-author of Panch Sheel (the five principles of peaceful co-existence). Ever for non-alignment, never an international mendicant, our nation was allergic to the Soviet pattern of proletariat dictatorship. We also rejected as anathematic Western mega-industrial capitalism and surely regarded U.S imperialist disregard for other sovereign nations as bete noire. Feudalism was our curse and agrarian backwardness the symbol of a fossilised economy. Swaraj was a struggle against these savage vices as well as British imperialism. Thus, inevitably, compassionate humanism and democratic socialism became our socio-political culture without an alternative.

Globally powerful corporate privatisation of industries may make us a satellite and a banana republic unless we dare to defend our people’s tryst with destiny. But the state must run industries and services of strategic significance for the people’s survival. It should ensure non-exploitation, fair employment and workers’ participation in management, sound marketing facilities with community concern, and price control sans rackets. Cornering of land, real estate terrorism, mafia manoeuvres, business and trade corruption and professional lawlessness must be abolished by state authority. A planned economy and public morality with the common good of society are crying needs today.

We made a tryst with destiny upon awakening to Independence. Operation Swaraj was a wake-up call to abolish oppressive inhumanity and establish economic democracy. In substance, our pledge was not to create a creamy layer of wealthy industrialists, latifundists or toxic technologists, or to invite foreign investments and duty-free imports that will wipe out swadeshi. A socialistic pattern of society has been our dire desideratum. That “cyclonic sadhu,” Swami Vivekananda, declared: “I am a socialist because half a loaf [for the hungry Indian humanity] was better than none.”

Jawaharlal Nehru voiced in the Constituent Assembly the fundamental national proposition when he argued: “We have given the content of democracy in this resolution and not only the content of democracy but the content, if I may say so, of economic democracy. Well, I stand for Socialism. I hope India will stand for Socialism and that India will go towards the constitution of a Socialist State.”

The generation of Professor Harold Lasky; the political peers of Nehru and Subash Bose; Left intellectuals like E.M.S. Namboodiripad; P.C. Joshi, Jayaprakash Narayan, Dr. Ambedkar; and all leading British thinkers such as Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, Sydney Webb, belonged to the socialist fraternity. Small wonder, cadres and leaders of the nationalist movement were comrades against imperialism and capitalist ideology. Socialism was strengthened by that phenomenal expounder of dialectical materialism and Communism, Karl Marx.

Swaraj, that epic march for Indian liberation, had a crimson hue and the Constitution that our Founding Fathers forged spelt economic democracy. This tall goal was proclaimed by Nehru, the first Prime Minister, on Independence Day. But what has since found expression is a culpable reminder of our guilty, greedy ‘growth’ ideology that is unapproachable for the larger, weaker masses.

Nehru did organise basic institutions and instrumentalities such as the Planning Commission, public sector enterprises, strategic state-managed industries and river projects. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did more: she nationalised key industries, abolished the privy purses, and set urban land ceiling. By means of an amendment to the Constitution she declared the Republic to be Socialist. This terminological transformation stood the test of time, despite parliamentary and Cabinet changes. Even today, under the Constitution India is a Socialist Republic, and every Member of Parliament and Minister, the President and the Governors, are oath-bound to uphold the Socialist mandate.

A cartoon recently pictured the status of the republic with sardonic veracity. Two hungry Indians hold the peels of a banana but the banana itself has been already eaten by the rich Indian and the alien. If we jettison the nation’s resources to be consumed by capitalists, the people below the poverty line will have to hold the peel. The fruit, euphemistically described as ‘growth’, would have been craftily consumed by corporate capitalists.

The glory of Bharat can be regained only if the democratic socialists of India unite without factions and divisions. They have to win, without discrimination, distributive justice by full and fair use of its resources. They should give a just opportunity for all to share its work, wealth and happiness. The latest technology should be geared to maximise the common people’s economic worth, and the educational facilities, in order that the needs of the underprivileged are met as the state’s first charge, far above the pampered seven-star pleasures of the millionaires. The health, egalite and income of “We the People of India” should desiderate socialist concern.

The patriotic, truly crimson comrades of India, the Communists of plural parties, will you listen to the noble command of Karl Marx as still relevant to India: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.” The pathology of class-caste-creed communalism wrapped in fossil feudal socio-economic thralldom finds its finest pharmacopoeia in a democratic socialist diversity planned with sociologically scientific dialectical materialism, inspired by a moral-spiritual value glory.

Speaking generally, since 1991 the national economy has become noxiously contra-constitutional, anti-people and dollar drug-addicted. Let me cite Shashi Tharoor: “India annually gets richer by $200 billion. India’s foreign resources have exceeded $140 billion. Remember, the country had to mortgage its gold in London because the foreign exchange coffers were dry! In the list of the world’s billionaires, 27 of the world’s richest people are Indian, most of them staying in India. A large portion of the world’s poorest people live in India too and you don’t need to go to Davos to meet them. Our country’s poor live below a poverty line that seems to be drawn just this side of the funeral pyre. 250 million people living in conditions that are a blot on our individual collective consciences is too grave a matter to be lightly dismissed.” (The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cellphone: Reflections on India in the 21st Century, 2007)

The world is moving fast but the have-not humanity waits. The wake-up call given by President Pratibha Patil is timely to overcome the tragedy and travesty of today’s Bharat. In her Republic Day-eve address she said that the disadvantaged “too should find a place to enjoy the sunshine of the country’s growth and development.” The President added: “Our efforts and our commitment, while pursuing the goal of high growth rates, should be to ensure that all people of our country benefit from it. Our pledge will remain unfulfilled until, as Gandhi had said, ‘we have wiped every tear in every eye’.”

Will Dr. Manmohan Singh assert, as Nehru did, “I am a socialist?” Will Sonia Gandhi, as Indira Gandhi did, swear for nationalism or emphasise the Republic as being Socialist? Will President Pratibha Patil swear by the Gandhian conviction, “I have believed and repeated times without number that India is to be found not in its few cities but in its villages?”

Sky-high concrete jungles, five-star hotels, lunatic traffic, foreign-addicted luxury life, terrorism and sexism, robbery and privatisation everywhere: this corruption has assassinated all that Gandhi, Nehru and Indira represented. There is an anti-Gandhian crypto-terrorist campaign for globalisation and privatisation, which is a force for creative destruction and submission to colonialism. The finest capital of a country is its creative humanity, not lavishment in luxury and star-culture — which is but a negation of swaraj and socialist, secular, democratic constitutional sovereignty.

Indian humanity ought to battle afresh for swaraj.