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Showing posts from July, 2018

Central govt seeks excessive powers through RTI Amendment Bill

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Central Government’s proposal to amend The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) to vary the salaries and allowances payable to and the tenure of Information Commissioners, at will, is being hotly debated across the country. Even before the Draft RTI Amendment Bill is tabled in Parliament, the nodal department for RTI- Dept. of Personnel and Training has issued an advertisement to fill up vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC) under the presumption that these amendments will receive Parliamentary approval. This is why the advertisement says that the salaries and tenure of the new appointees will be as may be specified by the Government, instead of the current position which is- salary and allowances equal to that of the Election Commissioners and a tenure of five years. The Amendment Bill has not been tabled in Parliament yet, although it is on the list of legislation that the Government seeks to introduce in the Rajya Sabha. Latest reports

Need to put development back into public sector banks’ agenda

By Moin Qazi* Despite what is being purveyed in the media, banks are keen on venturing into the hinterlands to set up accounts. Getting people on board is a different story. It is true that both government-owned and private sector banks are not getting compensation of any kind for promoting the financial inclusion agenda. In fact, banks are suffering an additional cost burden of 250 rupees to 500 rupees per account annually and can’t expect profits from them for at least two years a majority of bank accounts that were opened over the last few years for the poor are dormant due to inactivity and insufficient fund. Indeed, the current crisis in the Indian banking sector has led to calls for privatisation of public sector banks (PSB). However, the private sector is no paragon of great virtue. Moreover, the faithful advocates of privatization are ill-informed of the real issues. The huge crowds that throng PSBs and put up with various inconveniences indicate the enormous faith that the pub

Supply side challenges reason for financial exclusion of poor

By Moin Qazi* Finance is the glue that holds all pieces of our life together. Ideal financial societies are those which provide safe and convenient ways of managing these simple monetary affairs. This philosophy is known as financial inclusion. It is providing financial tools to people — tools they can afford, are safe and properly regulated, that people can access conveniently from formal institutions. These tools enable people to save, insure and to responsibly borrow — allowing them to build their assets and improve livelihoods. The term most buzzed in this respect is “the unbanked” — usually defined as people who don’t have a traditional savings account. These are the people who have to be brought into the orbit of formal finance. Financial services are like clean water and electricity. But for making successful use of these services, people need to be literate enough to understand the basics of managing money. This skill is known as financial literacy. It is a combination of finan

Significant CSR expenditure comes with strings attached, impacts talent

By Moin Qazi* In a free enterprise, the community is not just another stakeholder, but is in fact the very purpose of its existence. — Jamshedji Tata When we flip back through the business history of the world, we find that all large mercantile communities were great patrons of the art of philanthropy. They regarded it a divine tradition. The world is witnessing a growing realization in businesses of an important need for playing an active role in improving the world for the better. Hence, a great deal of money has been flowing into the social sector. Like individual citizens who have moral and social responsibilities, businesses are being perceived as corporate citizens who need to commit a part of their time, talent and resources for the welfare of the society as they draw their sustenance from it. This idea has now been corporatised under the appellation, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ or better known by its acronym, CSR. It is a business approach that aims at managing a business

Bridging the skills gap: Less than 5% of workforce is formally trained

By Moin Qazi* Globalization and the Fourth Industrial Revolution have increased the pace of change in labour markets, putting a premium on right skills and adaptability. Public policies should now shift to empowering and enabling workers to cope with transition, via income support, and also support incentives and opportunities for deskilling and upgrading skills. This is critical for addressing job displacement. Unemployment is a global problem with more than 73 million youth unemployed worldwide. In India, the unemployment rate among youth is almost 13 percent (compared to 4.9 percent overall). Underemployment is even higher. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), there are currently nearly 31 million unemployed Indians. The missing link is skill development, which is the key ingredient to robust economic growth. With the dilutions of the old “iron bowl” of employment protection, the idea of lifelong secure employment has now been shattered. . The 2016-17 annual