PUBLIC HEALTH CARE AND 12TH FIVE YEAR PLAN

The National Health Policy 2002aimed at achieving an acceptable standard of health for the people, especially the poor and the under privileged. To achieve the objective, a comprehensive approach was advocated, which included improvements in individual health care, public health, sanitation, clean drinking water, access to food and knowledge of hygiene and feeding practices.

The Annual Report to the People on Health, which was published in September 2010, lists the achievements of the Indian government in the health sector. It however, calls attention to the wide variations across the country in the improvement of key human development indicators, and to the "inequities based on urban divides, gender imbalances, and caste patterns." The National Rural Health Mission(NRHM) has been described as one of the largest and most ambitious programmes to revive health care and has many achievements to its credit. The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana(RSBY), the health care scheme meant for Below Poverty Line(BPL) now being extended to the above poverty line section, provides Rs.30000/- per family to cover treatment charges. Several States have evolved their own distinctive health insurance schemes.

In spite of the laudable efforts, thousands of rural India’s poor patients have to go without even a semblance of medical care when they desperately need it. Appropriately, the Supreme Court of India, recently, directed government hospitals in Delhi to refer poor patients to private hospitals. The Court also directed the private hospitals to provide necessary treatments, free of cost, pending the preparation of a scheme that would involve private hospital in treating the poor.
Prof. K.S. Jacob, who is on the faculty of the Christian Medical College, Vellore and Member of the Mission Steering Group of the National Rural Health Mission(NRHM), in his presentation at the Dr. Chandrakant Patil Memorial Eastern India Regional Health Assembly, Kolkatta, recently, highlighted the gross inequality in health care in India, and strongly argued for universal health care as a democratic priority. The conference also stressed the bidirectional relationship between economic development and health, which justifies much greater financial input to improve the health of populations.

Despite the increase in the country’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP), its ranking in the Human Development Index(HDI), its indices for maternal and infant mortality and its rates of under-nutrition of its people tell a completely different storey. The burgeoning incomes of the wealthy increase the indices of growth; yet these averages hide much poverty, suffering, loss of livelihoods and life.

The Integrated Child Development Scheme(ICDS) a crucial centrally-sponsored scheme launched in 1975, to address maternal as well as child health and nutrition issues, has not been very effective in tackling the high rate of malnutrition in children. India has 42%, one of the highest in the world, of malnourished children in the 0—6 age group.

Though India has achieved significant gains over the last decade, it has failed to eliminate some of the "world’s most dreaded tropical diseases." A recent report in The Lancet reveals that 205000 people in India, die annually from malaria, mainly in Orissa and the surrounding States of Chattisgarh and Jharkhand, with almost one half of those deaths in children. The State of Bihar alone account for a large percentage of the world’s cases of VL, a serious parasitic infection also known as kala-azar that affects the bone marrow, liver and spleen and is associated with high mortality.

Dr.K.D. Ramaiah of the Indian Council of Medical Research in Pondicherry, has estimated that India suffers almost $ 1 billion in annual economic losses as a result of the neglected tropical diseases. Peter Hotez the author of Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases has observed that chronic hook-worm infection occurring in over 70 million Indians stunts the growth and intellect of children to the point where a child’s future wage earning is reduced more than 40 per cent. World Health Organisation in its first-ever comprehensive report on neglected Tropical Diseases, released in October 2010, stated that the economic burden of dengue, costs India $ 30 million annually.

Diabetes, hypertension, stroke and cardio vascular diseases, all of which are disabling and life-threatening, have increased in India, silently and relatively unnoticed. Today, they constitute a growing threat to national health and national healthcare systems. As these diseases are costly in terms of long-term care, India need to reprioritise its efforts and funding, says N. Balagopal executive chairman of the Confederation of NGOs of Rural India(CNRI) . Balagopal who also represents NGOs in the Planning Commission, said rural health-care providers and nongovernment organisations working together on a common platform would be a great help in improving the health-care system of the country.

Prof. K Srinath Reddy and his colleagues note that the Indian public health system spends less than 1 per cent of GDP, and 80 per cent of the health expenditures are incurred out of pocket. They called on the government to increase spending to six per cent of GDP by 2020 and out-line actions needed to strengthen the system.

In India, high spending on health is a major reason for people sliding into poverty. The Hindu in a recent editorial said :"If the central government is sincere about building a strong health care system during the 12th Five Year Plan(2012—17), it must accept the primacy of public-funded provision, invest heavily in both preventive and curative spheres, and introduce strong regulation."

Dr. Kuruvilla FRCS, who held faculty position in Indian and foreign universities observed : "Health service in our country is in bad shape. The withdrawal of the government from the service sector has created havoc. Private enterprises and corporate bodies have grabbed this sector. The hardest hit in this game are the poor."

India has the highest number of children under five dying every year due to the shortage of over 2.60 million health workers that the country has according to a study released by the International NGO Save the Children. According to the report, India falls below the WHO health worker threshold of 2.3 health worker per 1000 people. The shortfall of health workers at present is around 2.60 million, which includes doctors at primary health centres, nurses, midwives, anganwadi workers and male multipurpose workers. The report says over 55 per cent children under the age of two do not receive basic immunisation in the country while about 2.7 million children under the age of five receive no treatment for diarrhoea, a major killer of children.

According to Ernst and Young, as of April 2010, there are only 7 beds per 10000 population in India against the world average of 39.60. It is woefully inadequate. The WHO recommend that India increase beds by 100000 every year for the next 10 years, and double the number of doctors and nurses, which are currently 700000 and 800000 respectively. A mere 3 per cent of India’s specialist physicians live in rural areas. Hence, rural areas with a population approaching 700 million, continue to be deprived of proper healthcare facilities. According to a report of the National Rural Health Mission only 10per cent of Indians have some form of health insurance.

Kerala with best public health indicators, is now facing a serious health emergency from communicable diseases. Typhoid, jaundice dengue, leptospirosis, and viral fever, had claimed several lives in different parts of the state. A two member team from National Centre for Disease Control visited the state to study the situation. Dr .B. Ekbal, public health activist and neurosurgeon called for an urgent people’s movement for the clean-up of the state. Meanwhile, the state Health Department has started a month long tour campaign across state to raise awareness about communicable diseases.
A book titled "Morbid Symptom—Health Under Capitalism" edited by Leo Panitch and Collin Leys, convey the message that mindless privatisation of the health care delivery system in various countries, which is the result of neoliberal globalisation is counter- productive to achieving a reasonable level of health.

Aman Gupta, Principal Advisor, India Health Progress, in a newspaper article explained how the "telecom model" could be profitably used to spread health insurance culture to rural areas. Innovative products and pricing strategy would help to make health insurance "really inclusive," he argued.

"Instead of depending heavily on provate health care, we need to strengthen the public health care system at the secondary and tertiairy levels as well, through higher resource allocation and better training an deducation formore health professionls," observed health economist, Dr.Sukumar Vellakkal of the Public HealthFoundation of India. Expert Group on Universal Health Coverage, headed by Dr.K.Srinath Reddy has important task for prioriitising the initatives to betaken up duringthe 12th Five Year Plan.

COM.GURUMURTHY'S CALL TO DEFEND PUBLIC SECTOR GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANIES

AIIEA Standing Committee Secretary(General Insurance) Com.Gurumurthy was the key speaker at the state level study camp organized by the Kerala State General Insurance Employees Union(KSGIEU) at CSI Retreat Center, Kottayam, recently. The topic was “Public Sector General Insurance and Two Decades of Free Market.”

In his one and a half hour presentation Com.Gurumurthy dealt with various aspects of general insurance industry in India, beginning with pre and post nationalization periods. Prior to nationalization there were 106 general insurance companies and with the amalgamation, GIC and four subsidiaries were formed, he said.

With the introduction of liberalization policies in 1991, he said, a series of measures to open up the insurance industry began. The R N Malhotra Committee constituted in 1993, in its report recommended reduction of the government stake in the insurance companies to 50 per cent, through disinvestment. He said the struggle spear-headed by the AIIEA could delay the government efforts to open up the sector, for a decade.

Com.Gurumurthy observed that with the passage of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act in 1999, India abandoned public sector exclusivity in the insurance industry in favour of market-driven competition. This shift, he said, has brought about major challenges to public sector general insurance industry. The government was giving in to the incessant demands of foreign capital. The justification for opening up the insurance sector was the lack of penetration of insurance and non-availability of new products.

Analysing growth of general insurance sector, he said, general insurance penetration has stagnated at 0.60 per cent. As for the improvement of penetration in life insurance from 1.60 per cent to 4 per cent, he felt that it was due to general buoyancy in the economy.

With the opening up of the insurance sector, Com.Gurumurthy pointed out that lots of unhealthy developments started afflicting the sector. The de-tariffing resulted in “massive under-cutting” in the fire portfolio, to the extent of about 80 per cent. The delay in revision of motor tariff and “selective underwriting” by private players also were challenges faced by the public sector general insurance companies, he said. In the post de-tariffed environment, he said, the intense competition would drive down insurance rates, a development which could ultimately impact solvency margins.

Com.Gurumurthy felt that on the regulatory side, IRDA should take a professional approach in the matter of outstanding issues concerning solvency regulations, further liberalizing of investment rules as well as the enforcement of price tariffs in the general insurance sector. In the liberalized environment, he cautioned against potentially higher incidences of unhealthy market practices.

Com.Gurumurthy expressed satisfaction at the performance of public sector general insurance companies and said New India Assurance Company’s loss of Rs.421 crores, during the last financial year, was due to technical reasons. Natural disasters have adversely impacted the performance of the company having direct offices in Japan, Australia and New Zeland. He deplored the deliberate attempt to show the public sector in bad light, in the context of the developments in the New India. He said the performance of the four companies in the competitive environment was extremely good. The solvency margin of the public sector companies was satisfactory. He said the public sector companies were financially sound, with investment value totaling Rs.1 Lakh crore.

Over the years, the public sector general insurance industry might be making underwriting losses but the companies have huge investment income by which they have been able to cover up those losses and have been able to show reasonably sound balance sheet over the years, Com.Gurumurthy said.

According to Com.Gurumurthy, as India continues to revamp its infrastructure, the flow-on effects will ensure ongoing growth of commercial insurance. He suggested drastic alteration in the process-oriented approach in the matter of claim settlement through motor third party adalalth. The public sector insurance companies have adopted upgraded insurance solutions system, but that has also created technical snags and the expected speedy delivery of products has not materialized, he said.

He stressed the need to have a proper assessment of the asset base of the public sector general insurance companies, since the balance sheets of these companies reflect only the” depreciated value of buildings situated in metros and major cities.” Moreover, as the shares of these companies are not listed in the stock exchanges, there is “considerable hidden value” for these companies as the same is not reflected in the books of accounts. Excess amounts paid to tax authorities, in some parts of the country, and now being challenged in the tax tribunal courts, would also help some companies, if the cases are favourably settled, he felt.

He said, the four public sector general insurance companies jointly set up Third Party Administrator to check excess mediclaim bills by private hospitals. This move, which is expected to help insurance companies to control both health insurance premium and claims, he observed.

Com.Gurumurthy expressed serious concern about the GIPSA management’s attitude towards new recruitment of staff in the public sector companies. He said several thousands of employees had left the industry and lack of recruitment was seriously affecting the service at the branch offices. He said the Standing Committee meeting proposed to the held in September 2011, at New Delhi, would discuss the matter for further action.

He said, the AIIEA has demanded the consolidation of the public sector through merger of the four companies and the benefits of such a move had been explained to the government and a campaign among the public was also under taken on the issue.

In the context of opposition to the LIC and the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill 2008, AIIEA has opposed the government move and has placed its views effectively before the Parliamentary Committee that is scrutinizing the Bill, he said.

Growing Dimensions of Money Laundering

Faced with the rising twin threats of money laundering and terrorism, financed by illegally amassed wealth, India recently sought increased mutual assistance among countries in areas like extradition of those involved in such criminal acts. Inaugurating the 14^th annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Group(APG) on Money Laundering at Kochi recently, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said laundered money has become an important source of funding of international terrorism, and this menace cannot be contained by any nation along.

Estimates have it that the quantum of money generated from criminal activities and laundered throughout the world ran into several billions of dollars—up to as much as two to five per cent of the global GDP. Beneficiaries of money laundering are acquiring enough muscle to threaten political stability worldwide. Their cross border linkages demand collective efforts in dealing with money laundering ruthlessly, the minister said.

Annual Report of the Financial Intelligent Unit of India explains money laundering as “the process by which criminals disguise the illegal origin of their wealth to avoid suspicion of law enforcement authorities and to wipe the trial of incriminating evidence.” Money laundering impacts a nation’s economy as ‘dirty money’ moves rapidly across borders to obscure the audit trail and affects interest and exchange rates.

Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND) is the central national agency of India responsible for receiving, processing and analyzing and disseminating information of suspect financial transactions. FIU-IND is also responsible for coordinating and strengthening efforts of national and international intelligence, investigation and enforcement agencies in combating money laundering and related crimes.

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002(PMLA) forms the core of the legal frame work put in place by India to combat money laundering. PMLA and the Rules notified there under came into force with effect from July 1 2005. The PMLA and rules notified there-under impose obligation on banking companies, financial institutions and intermediaries to verify identity of clients, maintain records and furnish information to FIU-IND. PMLA defines money laundering offence and provides for freezing, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of crime.

Section2(1)(g) of PMLA Rules defines suspicious transaction as a transaction whether or not made in cash which, a person acting in good faith: (a) gives rise to a reasonable ground of suspicion that it may involve the proceeds of crime; or (b)appears to be made in circumstance of unusual or unjustified complexity; or (c) appears to have no economic rationale or bona fide purpose; or (d) gives rise to a reasonable ground of suspicion that it may involve financing of the activities relating to terrorism.

At the APG meet here, Mr.Mukherjee disclosed that India was in the process of suitably amending the PMLA to make those legislations more effective in dealing with money laundering and terror funding. These amendments will be in line with the key recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force(FATF) formed by several countries way back in 1989 to evolve a global policy response to the threats posed by money laundering.

The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering(APG) is an international organization consisting of forty members and a number of international and regional observers including United Nationals, IMF, Asian Development Bank and Financial Action Task Force(FATF), whose secretariat is located in the OECD headquarters in Paris(http://www.apgml.org/). All APG members are committed to effectively implementing the FATF’s international standards for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, referred to as the 40+9 Recommendations. Part of this commitment includes implementing measures against terrorists listed by the United Nations in the “UNSC 1267 Committee Consolidated List.”

The APG has a number of functions including:(1)Assess APG members’ compliance with the global AML/CFT standards through mutual evaluations (2)Co-ordinate technical assistance and training with donor agencies and APG members/observers to improve compliance with the AM L/CFT standards(3)Co-operate with the international AML/CFT network(4)Conduct research into money laundering and terrorist financing methods, trends, risks and vulnerabilities(5)Contribute to the global AML/CFT policy development by active membership of FATF.

The engagements at the APG conference included meetings of Working Group, Group dealing with Implementation Issues, APG Steering Group and mutual evaluation meeting. Delegates discussed and adopted mutual evaluation reports. As part of the FATF’s policy of protecting the international financial system from money laundering and terrorist financing, working groups took a number of important steps including publishing reports on(1) Organised money laundering (2)Terrorism Financing (3) Maritime Piracy (4) Human Trafficking.

During the current session of the APG, six nations were subjected to mutual evaluation. The countries were Afghanistan, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Maldives, Marshal Islands and Lao PDR. Mutual evaluation progress reports of 30 members were also reviewed. India underwent the process last year and fared well enough to secure admission to the FATF. The APG has a 49 point evaluation system, which the member-states have to undergo. Those found not complying with this regime will be assisted in bringing out amendments to their legal system and adopting international standards of security against money laundering and funding of terrorist activities according to the APG briefing.

Repeated non-compliance can lead to blacklisting of the member-state, which will affect foreign investments to that nation. One of the key recommendations was the formation of Finance Intelligence Units, which will collect information regarding financial transactions and look into suspicious deals. India has already set up the FIU and this is working effectively according to K.Jose Cyriac, APG co-chair and Secretary to the Union Government. “The deliberations in the meeting were very fruitful and ended with reiteration by all members and observers of their commitment to deter money laundering and terrorist financing,” he said.

The APG meet discussed a suggestion that crime committed by the money transactions should also be brought under the purview of the FIU. The suggestion was to provide information from police stations to the FIU so that details of criminals were with it. This would enhance the value of information regarding suspicious transactions of money, it was suggested. Ever since India passed legislations to check money laundering, as per the norms of the FATF standards, the number of cases registered shot up from 50 to 1300.

Corruption As A Catalyst to Social Decay

Corruption As A Catalyst to Social Decay

In India, corruption has become a way of life. The 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, released by the Transparency International ranks India at 87 in a list that consisted 178 countries. A study conducted by the Transparency International found that more than 50 per cent of the Indians had the personal experience of paying bribes or using brokers to get work done in government offices. State borders which see most of the commercial traffic in India are frontiers of corruption.

At the Transparency International—India’s 2^nd annual lecture on “The Supply and Demand of Corruption”, Dr.Bimal Jalan, former Governor of Reserve Bank of India warned:”I believe that we have now reached a point where it poses a serious threat to the security, freedom and well being of the ordinary citizens of our country. The ‘governance deficit’ and ‘ethical deficit’ are two areas of rising public concern, and are intimately inter-related. Corruption breeds mis-governance, for example in respect of NREGA, PDS and food security for the poor people.” (http://www.transparencyindia.org/news.php)

In the Financial Times, Indian business dynasties have been described as “robber barones.” The alleged loss of a staggering 1.76 lakh crore rupees in the government’s sale of the telecom spectrum has convinced many Indians to the corrupt nexuses between corporate and political power. The alleged of pay-off to members of parliament, surfaced in the India-U.S. nuclear deal, disrupted the Indian Parliament on several occasions. The details revealed by the Wiki-Leaks shocked one and all.

Mr.Arun Kumar Chairperson of the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning , School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and the author of The Black Economy in India, observes :”since 1971, when the highest tax rate was 97.5 per cent, tax rates have fallen but the black money has grown from 7 per cent to 50 per cent of the GDP. Controls and regulations have been drastically eliminated after 1991 but the size of the black economy continues to rise.”

A report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on the 1997 voluntary disclosure scheme pointed out that the same people who declared their black incomes earlier took advantage of the 1997 scheme—becoming habitual tax offenders.

The Vora Committee report pointed out that foreign investment through Mauritius route allowed round tripping of funds. This has facilitated accelerated black income generation. Investigators have alerted the nation about terror fund entering the stock markets to destabilize the economy.

The Vigilance Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General and media have done much to expose corruption at many levels. But the procedures for investigation and prosecution—such as the “single directive” requiring superior bureaucratic or ministerial sanction to proceed—have stymied progress.

The powerful UN Convention on Corruption of which India is a signatory has not been ‘ratified’ and incorporated in Indian laws because few want such a mechanism to thwart their designs.

The Supreme Court of India, while convicting former Kerala Minister R.Balakrishna Pillai for graft in the Idamalayar dam corruption case, directed that special courts should be set up to dispose of all corruption cases against public servants, expeditiously. The fact that it took two decades after initiation of prosecution prompted the Court to direct that “High Courts to even call for a quarterly report from the court concerned for speedy disposal.”

Opposition leader in Kerala Assembly, Mr.V.S.Achuthanandan, in a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the reports about the disclosures made by businessman Hasan Ali Khan during his interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate were shocking. The reports said deposits to the tune of Rs.36000 crore, which included money from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh were made through Mr.Hasan Ali. He wanted the Prime Minister to take immediate action if the reports were correct.

Criticising the Government for focusing the probe on black money only on businessman Mr. Hasan Ali Khan, the Supreme Court, recently sought to know from the Government whether it had information on all the others who have parked, illegally obtained wealth, abroad.

The intervention of Supreme Court in the corruption investigation has put enormous pressure on the central government. Setting up of multiple entities to study the black money has raised several questions. Many see this as a ploy to buy time and to stall questions on the subject since the government can claim it is waiting for the report. In an editorial comment, The Hindu Business Line observed:”Cracking under the relentless pressure from the Hazare-Ramdev campaigns over the last eight weeks, the Government is making one mistake after another as it desperately tries to divert public attention away from corruption.”

While addressing a public function at Kochi, eminent jurist and former judge of the Supreme Court Mr.V.R.Krishna Iyer said the Prime Minister, MPs and the judiciary should be brought under the purview of the proposed Lokpal Bill. In his lecture at the International Media Centre, here, Janata Party Leader Dr.Subramanian Swami said greed has become the driving force in the country and greed lead to corruption. He said India is the only country which did not ask for the names of the persons who have deposited black money in foreign banks though Germany was willing to share the list. It was estimated that around 1.4 trillion $ was there in the foreign banks and the government could bring it back, he said.

Dr.Swami said India has changed from a slow progressing socialist model society to one of the fastest growing economy where pure materialism based on greed prevailed. The number of billionaires was growing in the country but they were not doing anything for society. Hardly any industrialist diverted a portion of the profit for the welfare of society.

Ordinary citizens in India are outraged and disgusted by the procession of major corruption scandals. Social activist, Anna Hazare’s fast unto death has caught their imagination. The government was forced to drop the anti-corruption bill it had drafted and to agree to prepare a new and stronger draft in consultation with civil society activists.

While delivering a lecture on “The Decay in Society” at Kochi, historian Dr.K N Panicker has said that an anti-corruption law without a strong social base will not succeed. “Any such bill should be discussed at the panchayat level. A situation where the people’s voice is heard should emerge. Decentralisation of power, with its distribution at various levels in various forms, holds the key,” Dr. Panicker said, in reference to the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill.

In a separate critique, Dr.Panicker pointed out that the aim of the bill is not to prevent corruption, but to punish the corrupt. In this respect, the draft does not provide an approach that is qualitatively different from that of the existing institutions of the state. Experts have argued that the vigilance set-up in government agencies should be strengthened and made completely independent, reporting only to the Central Vigilance Commissioner.

“When affluence spreads to a small section of society, it begins to regulate the course, and value, of the entire spectrum of social activities. The capital-driven society, symbolized by malls, creates a kind of modernity and persuades us to believe that it is impossible to live without this. The programs proposed by the ruling class are not related to the issues faced by the public. They are, in fact, ideas to further the decay.” Dr.Panicker said.

Kerala Model to Fight Neo-liberal Policies

The Left Democratic Government in Kerala, which is nearing its tenure, has through its people-oriented policies and development programmes, has set an alternative model for the country. A press release issued by the Government said:”The four years of the LDF government was marked by steady progress, based on a sustainable development model implemented with vigor. The State won several awards at the national level, during this period. It also became a model at the national level, in health care, devolution of powers and decentralized planning.”

The special press release further said that the State had achieved considerable progress in poverty alleviation. Starvation was eliminated by supplying rice at subsidized rate to the poor. The welfare pensions were increased three fold.

A study by the National Council for Applied Economic Research(NCAER) reveals that Kerala along with Tamil Nadu and Hariyana are the least hungry States. In Human Development Index also Kerala tops the list. The study was based on statistics complied from NSS, RBI, deprivation data presented by Sachar Committee and the annual survey of the NCAER.

State Planning Board Vice-Chairman Prabhat Patnaik, recently, said the state has set an alternative trajectory to development against the neoliberal economic policies of the Central government. He said:”The neoliberal economic policies implemented by the successive central governments, served only the interest of the finance capital. These policies are anti-people and cause disempowerment of farmers and small producers.”

In a statement Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan described the welfare measures, the development initiatives and the proactive interventions the government had made during the last four years. At the top of the list of achievements was stemming the tendency among the farmers to commit suicide due to indebtedness. The government had given them handsome prices for commodities through procurement programme.

State Governor R.S.Gavai, while addressing the State Assembly, recently, said the double digit inflation imposed severe pressure on the state and the government considered controlling of the price rise as the fore-most important task. In spite of being a consumer state, the state government’s inflation controlling efforts produced results, which can be had from the fact that Kerala’s cost of living index was 549 while the all India average was 567.

The state’s PDS consisted of a network of around 20000 distribution centres which included 14400 ration retail depots and around 3000 ‘Supplyco’ outlets with basic facilities for supporting them. Even though Kerala’s PDS is considered as a model for the rest of the country, the Centre is continuing its indifference towards it according to Food and Civil Supplies Minister C.Divakaran.

The Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme(CHIS), the State Government’s modified version of the Centrally sponsored Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, which is entering its second year of implementation, will be expanded to provide health insurance cover to 35 lakh families. In its first year, the scheme had covered 22 lakh families. The CHIS this year offers several additional benefits. All farmers, coir, cashew, handloom, beedi, khadi and plantation workers, regardless of their APL/BPL status will be included in the scheme. Also all those who worked for 50 days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Ashraya families, fishermen and SC/ST families are also being included in the scheme.

This year, free medical treatment worth Rs.70000/- is being offered additionally for the treatment of heart diseases, cancer and renal diseases. The money that is being offered to a family in the event of death of the head of the family or his wife has been enhanced from Rs.25000/- to Rs.50000/- this year.

Another special benefit is an additional aid of Rs.50000/- for the treatment of serious burn injuries. No health insurance scheme in any state was offering these facilities according to an official release issued by the Comprehensive Health Insurance Agency, Kerala(CHIAK), the agency in charge of the implementation of the scheme.

The LDF government has worked several of its own innovations into the health insurance scheme, reworking its emphases and operational dynamics to make the Central scheme more in line with the ideological perspective of the ruling alliance in the State. What is being implemented in Kerala is not the RSBY as conceived and implemented country-wise by the UPA government with sufficient width for the private insurance players and private healthcare industry, but one that places emphasis on the public healthcare infrastructure and a public insurance company.

Another release noted that the government had written off housing loans of the poor and taken steps for renovation of houses built under the one-lakh housing scheme. Hundred per cent of the target was achieved in schemes for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. About one lakh poor families were given land. Health infrastructure was improved.

Kerala has offered a new model for the whole country in rejuvenating public sector undertakings to spearhead economic progress. Public sector units had run up a loss of Rs.69.65 crore in 2005-06, while it had brought in a profit of Rs.169.45 crore in 2008-09. The number of profit-making enterprises increased from 12 to 28 during this period.

Notable at the grassroots level, is the Akshya programme that seeks to take e-literacy to the village by making at least one member of every family computer-literate. It is stated that every village has broadband connectivity and the State’s e-governance initiatives may well pave the way for responsive governance. The results of these initiatives have already started showing. During 2008-09, the year badly hit by financial recession, the IT industry in the State posted a growth of nearly 45 per cent, as against the national average of 17 per cent, with the value of the exports standing at around Rs.3000 crore.

The pro-labour policies of the state government is characterized by lifting of ban on recruitments and appointment of 125000 unemployed through PSC and created 24000 posts. On May 1, 2010 Kerala became the first State in India to institute a welfare scheme for migrant labourers. The Migrant Labourers’ Welfare Scheme, 2010 provides every migrant labourer who joins the scheme paying an annual fees of Rs.30, among other things, Rs.25000 as health-care assistance, Rs.25000 as terminal benefits if he has worked in Kerala for a minimum period, up to Rs.3000 every year as education allowance for their children, Rs.50000 as compensation to the next of kind if the labourer dies in an accident Rs.10000 in case of natural death and up to Rs.15000 for transporting the body to their hometown, in case of death in Kerala.

Minimum wages in the traditional industries sector were increased to decent levels and the State government also introduced two special schemes in 2010-11:an income support scheme and an urban employment guarantee scheme to help workers in the petty production sector and the urban workers who cannot access the benefits of the MGNREGS of the Union government.

The neo-liberal policies are bringing about massive inequality in the country. However, the State government, by continuing to support the working class with incentives, subsidies and insurance schemes, has set an alternative development model according to development economists, academics and experts.

The Economic Review for 2010 prepared by the State Planning Board and presented in the Assembly during the recent session, describes the steps the State government has taken to put purchasing power in the hands of workers and petty producers who gain very little even when the terms of trade in the world market move in favour of the commodities they produce.

For a long time ‘Kerala Model’ of development is characterized by low level of industrial and economic development and high rate of literacy, health indicators and standard of living. The United Nations came out with “Human Development Index(HDI) from 1990. This is a composite statistics used to rank countries by level of “human development” in terms of life expectancy, education and per capita GDP. Kerala showed a high level of HDI, comparable with developed countries and received international attention.

Amartya Sen attributed Kerala’s excellent social indicators to the State’s role in education, which also resulted greater involvement of civil society, in political decision-making. High literacy, high life expectancy, low infant mortality—all despite low income. That was seen as a miracle and a model for the rest of India.

The state also set its mark in decentralized planning and governance and retained its prime position in the country. The Union Panchayat Raj Department selected Kerala for its remarkable achievements in devolution of powers and funds to local self-government institutions.

The proud Finance Minister of the state T.M. Thomas Issac, says Kerala which is currently in the fourth position, in terms of per capita income, will become the state with highest per capital income, by the end of this decade.

In a memorandum submitted to the 13^th Finance Commission(FC), state government said the previous FCs had tended to penalize Kerala for the progress it had made in the social sectors. The 10^th FC had allocated 3.875 per cent of the total share of the Central resources transferred to the States. This came down to 3.057 per cent in the 11^th FC award and 2.665 per cent in the 12^th FC award. The criteria being followed for deciding relative share of the resources to each State was weighed heavily against Kerala according to the memorandum.

One analyst has observed that the federal structure in the country is such that no State government can hope to overturn the policy prescriptions of the government of the day at the Centre if it wishes to have its rightful share of Central government funding, especially so, in the case of Centrally-sponsored schemes which are accompanied by detailed prescriptions on how to go about implementing them. Very often, the State governments are left with little leeway to either alter such schemes substantially to suit their needs and regional specificities or look out for alternative implementation methodologies. While in most cases, the State governments have been giving in to the Centre’s diktats, the government in Kerala has chosen to tread a different path to protect ‘aam admi’.

Cultivating an Everyday Lesson with Vegetables

When the residents’ association asked us to participate in a meeting, addressed by the agriculture officer from the state government department, we attended it out of curiosity. The meeting took hardly an hour. The officer explained to the participants, numbering fifty, how to cultivate common vegetable at home-stead, having limited space.

We were shown containers, specially designed to cultivate cow-pea, bitter guard, tomato and ladies finger etc. Seeds, manure, literature and some simple implements were also distributed at the meeting. My home-maker wife was very enthusiastic about the venture. Finding soil was the difficult part of our exercise. We got the soil from a local nursery. Using the limited space around our house and roof-top, we began our venture.

Our limited success in cultivating common vegetables, was taken note by the officer and advised us to keep in touch with her. This gracious officer favored us with seeds and timely advice. We were a bit skeptical when she asked us to try a dozen cabbage plants. In a short time, to our surprise, vegetable garden rewarded us with quick yields. Soon we realized that our vegetable bill has come down. A small pit was also dug, to make compost from kitchen waste.

Sky-rocketing prices of vegetables, prompted us to take up this venture on a better scale. The number of vegetable items grew in number. Amarath, brinjal, snake-guard all sprouted in a jiffy. Cabbage was a big surprise, as we thought it belonged to cold region.

Visitors came calling to study the new venture. Curious neighbors came first. Parrots and squirrels too came during early morning, to steal their share of cow-pea. As creepers spread their wings, a variety of birds made their presence felt, with their unique and deep throated calls.

It was not a cake-walk. A variety of pests and worms landed on the plants, from no where. We won the battles with bio-pesticides and weedicides Every morning, a thorough inspection is done to find out any fresh infection. Eternal vigilance ensured healthy growth of vegetable plants and yield. A seminar organized by the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council, helped us to try better seeds and cultivation methods.

Joy of finding sprouts of bitter-guard, snake-guard and tomato, at the day break, is a special reward of this venture. A lone, beautiful parrots’ intransigence, ignoring us and flying down to snatch a tender cow-pea, too is memorable.

The magic effect of the new venture was palpable in many ways. Throughout the day, we have lots of topics to discuss. Seeds to be sworn, manure to be applied, pesticides to be sprayed and ripe vegetable to be picked. Quality of the family relations improved. My better half, who suffered a persistent migraine, felt relieved and stopped taking medicine. Children enjoyed the visits of birds and other creatures.

These days, work-pressure, busy schedules, waning interpersonal relations at home and work-place, are taking a heavy toll on one and all. Perhaps the best way to cure the ills of modern life is to get close to the land and soil.

By caring the plants and devoting time, you also learn to build a special relation with nature and people. It is the best way to change a monotonous life. With best seeds, manure and advice, there is no challenge in cultivating common vegetables. But the lessons we leant from this venture are really worth it. It also gave us a new perspective about the agrarian crisis and tragic plight of the Indian farming community.

Natural Disasters Need Better Reponse

Earthquakes, tsunami and the nuclear accidents have inflected unprecedented damages in Japan.

Insurer AIG in a report said "the catastrophe in Japan has affected people, their homes, infrastructure, and business both in and outside of Japan, and our industry is working hard to quantify the complex impact of the devastation, a process that will take some time."

A release issued by the UN News Centre said a UN disaster team has reached Japan to assist the local authorities. International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) experts and technical support teams from other countries have also joined the local teams.

Several countries have sent specialized search and rescue teams to help authorities mount emergency efforts in the wake of the quake and tsunami, which have killed thousands of people and left many more missing or unaccounted for.

Efforts are on to assess the health consequences as a result of the release of radioactivity from the reactors. World Health Organisation(WHO) has stated that the Japanese Government has taken necessary precautions by distributing potassium iodine to those at risk and evacuating residents of areas close to Fukushima Daiichi.

The earthquake sparked widespread tsunami warnings across the Pacific that stretched from Japan to North and South America. According to the US Geological Survey(USGS), the shallow quake struck at a depth of 20 Km deep, around 125 km of the eastern coast of Japan, and 380 km northeast of Tokyo. It was reportedly the largest recorded quake in Japan's history and the fifth largest in the world since 1900.

Key concerns, according to Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, are:

*Spreading of radiation and exposure

*Lack of transportation to affected areas

*Some 500000 people are in emergency shelters and are in need of additional food, water and blankets

*Some 6 million households are without electricity and more than 1 million households are reportedly without water.

Media reports said radiation from Japan’s stricken nuclear plant has been detected 160 km to the northeast, over the Pacific Ocean, by the US military.

A dramatic increase in the number of natural disasters, in recent years, has sparked calls for more funding and cooperation from UN agencies. 2010 saw many major disasters, including five which were assigned to the UN's top category of 'great natural catastrophes': the earthquakes in Haiti(12 January), Chile(27 February) and Central China(13 April), the heat-wave in Russia(July to September), and the floods in Pakistan(also July to September).

A report by Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance firms, says 2010 saw 950 natural disasters--the second highest number since 1980 - and 295000 people died as a result. The fact that 90 per cent of the disasters were weather-related provided "further indications of advancing climate change," the report warned.

Global losses from floods, heat waves, earthquakes and hurricanes in 2010 reached 99 billion Euros of which just 28 billion Euros was insured. In the European Union, just one disaster, storm Xynthia, a gale which hit France and Spain, caused a 4.5 billion Euros of losses, of which 2.3 billion Euros was insured.

A Western news agency report quoting an insurance sector analyst said :”After the floods in Australia, the quake in New Zealand and now in the one in Japan, the bill for reinsurance is already looking expensive this year.” A Geo Risk Research report says the reinsurance companies, which act as insurers of last resort for general insurers, would be making up for majority of the losses. These companies usually take up the cost associated to an event when the claim to be settled is too high.

The 2010 World Disasters Report released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, details both the economic and the human cost of major disasters over the last decade. The report warns that the world's 2.57 billion urban dwellers living in low and middle-income countries are particularly exposed to disaster risk.