[lg policy] India:States must reiterate to the Centre where its homework assignment stops. “Thus far and no further.”

[Harold Schiffman]

 What should be the demands from the southern Finance Ministers’ meeting? A
draft charter
<https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/what-should-be-demands-southern-finance-ministers-meeting-draft-charter-79156>
States must reiterate to the Centre where its homework assignment stops.
“Thus far and no further.”

   - Tara Krishnaswamy
   <https://www.thenewsminute.com/author-articles/Tara-Krishnaswamy>
   - Friday, April 06, 2018 - 19:28

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charter>

The Terms of Reference of the 15th Finance Commission have evoked strong
protests from leaders of the southern states. They realise that they are
subject to dipping central resource allocations due to their relative
economic and social well being.

Southern states with their better per capita incomes, lower fertility
rates, increased education levels and health outcomes, are complaining due
to penalties in fiscal distribution, but that is not their only complaint.
Delhi high handedness interferes with their political empowerment and
social equity.

Karnataka, a state that is among the top tax contributors to the union, has
been left waiting on the demand for a state flag – as if being of Karnataka
and of India is an either-or existence!  Tamil Nadu, with its unparalleled 44%
female enrolment in colleges <http://aishe.nic.in/aishe/reports>, is under
siege for opposing NEET as the criteria for state-funded medical colleges
that produce doctors to serve in Sivagangai and Ariyalur! Andhra Pradesh is
reeling from central betrayal on Special Category Status, while the most
socially developed Kerala, is being dictated its menu like a juvenile.

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has called for a meeting of his peers
from the southern states on April 10.

So when the leaders of the south meet as a collective, what should they
demand?

Here is a charter of demands which could be the foundation for the Southern
Collective in their arbitrations with the Centre. These demands must be
framed not from a position of superiority or victimhood. They must be
framed from the recognition that a massive development effort is still
pending in the south, even as it finds itself ahead of the average Indian
curve.

The objective of this charter then, is to delineate the functions of the
collective, not exhaustively but as a draft that evolves. All of the agenda
cannot be accomplished on day one, nor is it meant to be. However, it does
put the wheels in motion in a federal direction, and sets up a framework to
leapfrog development in the face of asymmetry.

*Charter for the Southern Collective (Draft)*

*Credo: Federalism at the Centre, autonomy for the states.*

*1. Political Representation*

The Rajya Sabha must be treated as a genuine Council of States. A minimum
number of seats from each state must be guaranteed for in-state
representatives and untied to population, and then it can have a multiplier
for population. Today, it is a dole for good behaviour, graceful retirement
and seats are donated to non-state representatives. This defeats the
strength of the state lobby in Parliament.

2026 is coming, and delimitation will be revisited for alignment with a
more current census than 1971. It is conditional upon India achieving
population stability, and this is quite likely, with the total fertility
rate (TFR) of the most populous BIMARU states showing a trajectory of
decline <http://niti.gov.in/content/total-fertility-rate-tfr-birth-woman#>.
This is both good news and bad news for the south.

The good news is that this is likely to uncap the ridiculously low ceiling
on the total number of seats in both Houses of the Parliament,
<http://eci.nic.in/delim/Procedure/Delimitation_of_Constituencies.pdf>
frozen now for decades, and the total number of seats may increase or even
double. India is hugely under-represented compared to other democracies and
this means more representatives serving the people. A good thing.

The bad news is that the south stabilised its fertility levels around
2000-2005, two decades ahead of some of the most populous states in the
Hindi belt. So its population is a fraction of those states, unlike in 1971
when it was quite comparable. This implies a dramatic fall in proportion of
southern seats in the State Assemblies and the Lok Sabha.

This is a penalty for better governance, education attainments, health
outcomes and gender parity, these being the pivotal factors for fertility
rates to stabilise.

State Assembly and Lok Sabha seats are directly correlated to population,
and cannot be manipulated to avoid a south-side blow. A Southern Collective
must instead,

1. deliberate on how to ameliorate this;

2. push for increased Rajya Sabha representation; and,

3. pressure for increased South Indian elected representatives in Union
Cabinets ongoing.

Given development directions and decisions have led to improved outcomes in
the South, this should be a natural choice. Plus, India can benefit from
these positive experiences.

*2. Electoral Rights*

No simultaneous elections. States must keep their time tables.

Parties with regional focus err in the interest of their state. National
parties can always throw a given state under the bus for their electoral
compulsions, but state parties have no choice except to cater to voters in
the state. State parties are thus the only ones with the sole goal of
growing the state and its people.

State and central elections with the same timetable reduces primacy of
state-level issues, state political leaders and local parties. It muddles
voter focus on local issues and paves the way for a more unitary
government. As a collective, they must propose moving towards electoral
practices that can be customised per state, like voter enrolment, direct
election of Chief Minister, or NRI voting. State elections can be run by
states themselves with oversight by GoI to ensure compliance to the
principle of free and fair elections.

*3. Economic Charter*

Review the 15th Finance Commission Terms of Reference
<http://www.egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2017/180483.pdf>, and issue
recommendations to minimise the Deccan penalty.

   - Weightage for the 2011 census in the calculation must be decreased.
   Propose use of annual statistics for migration and increased weightage for
   in-migration in fiscal devolution. Use state human development indices as
   reward.
   - 42% devolution recommended by the 14th Finance Commission must not be
   reduced.
   - Centrally sponsored schemes must go. Commensurate funds must be
   devolved across states, not Centre.
   - Revenue deficit compensation as per Constitution must continue, not to
   be tampered.

States must be rewarded, not punished, for economic progress that leads to
better HDI. Instruments to increase revenues and jobs must be in states'
hands, not centralised.

Terms of Reference issued to the 15th Finance Commission may increase
weightage of the 2011 population census. This is one of the parameters that
decides how to divide funds between states. There has been a hue and cry
about this due to the resulting heavy penalty on the southern states with
their low fertility rates. This concern is real.

It is also true that some central transfers are proportional to the number
of people needing public services, and it is also fallacious to stick
entirely to a dated 1971 census eternally.

That said, the south will suffer from drastically reduced funds, and hence
an acceptable weightage must be negotiated to be fair and equitable. Southern
states are net receivers of migrants due to job opportunities.
<https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/es2016-17/echap12.pdf> The collective could
counter some of it by asking for increasing weightage to migrations into
states. In addition, better human development indices should be rewarded
with more devolution to promote such policies and programs.

The ToR also proposes that the Finance Commission relook at whether as much
as 42% should go to the states. The Centre should not be allowed to claw
this back and the Southern Collective must oppose this vigorously. Existing
revenues must be protected, and increased, for states to grow, not vice
versa.

Another red flag is that it rewards states to propagate centrally sponsored
schemes. Each state's needs are distinct, best assessed by the state, and
citizen services are almost entirely delivered by state governments.
Central schemes, distant from local realities, not only encourage states to
direct sparse resources to lesser or perhaps nonexistent problems but also
distracts from addressing graver matters. Why should a Smart City or
Digital India take precedence over the tragedies that befall the children
in the public hospitals of UP?

Centrally sponsored schemes must be scrapped and residual funds must not
get diverted into the union kitty. Further, revenue deficit grants that are
constitutionally enshrined to make up for basic development needs of people
that the state is unable to resource, must also be protected.

*4. States' Rights*

We must divest subjects from concurrent lists to state list. State
administrative services must take primacy.

Inherent diversity calls for balance of power between states and Centre.
States must be supreme in internal matters, preserving the spirit of the
federal constitution. Review any GoI proposed policies leading to
centralisation, prevent arbitrary anointing of powers to GoI. States should
serve as federal watch dogs.

The Southern Collective must refute any central interference in state
matters like examinations, language, food, socio-cultural mores and
customs. It must assert a clean separation of powers between the Centre and
state, via separate subject lists. This makes accountability for delivery
of each service crystal clear, benefitting citizens.

Take the example of education, where enormous resources from infrastructure
to teacher salaries are spent by states for creating knowledge and skills
for doctors, engineers, bankers and social scientists across the cities,
towns and villages of the states. Yet, the Centre dictates what the
admission criteria must be? Or sets co-operative bank examinations in Hindi
or English for a banker who serves the hinterlands of Karnataka? This is
how education and socio-economic needs get disjointed and attainments sink
even while enrolments and literacy levels rise.

All public services that are of consequence to daily lives of citizens are
delivered by the states not the Centre. Also, many administrative issues
are complex and require domain expertise - improving ports, or agricultural
productivity or public health. Even law and order. And yet India's
bureaucracy is centrally controlled and rotated relentlessly.

Administration efficiencies of states can be ignited via a power-packed
state civil services. The collective must recommend to reduce power and
 jurisdiction of All India Services; the best talent should be deployed in
states where most of India's administration needs exist. Building of domain
expertise of administrators must be prioritised to match each state's
distinct needs. Ditto for law and order and the police service. No cadre,
or controlling authority must exist at all India level.

*5. Cultural diversity*

States must argue for a non-negotiable two-language policy of state
language plus English.  English to be the only link language across India.
There must be no discrimination against non Hindi speakers, no privilege
for Hindi in any union funding or public services. The unique and ancient
southern heritage must be explored and preserved.

On the socio-cultural front, a centralised approach could undermine
uniquely southern cultural elements. Languages, local mores, customs and
food habits. For instance, imagine the hegemony that overrules Tamil Nadu's
demand to use Tamil in the Madras High Court, in addition to English and
Hindi, so that defendants and witnesses get a clue of the proceedings!

The fact is that the southern states share a common ancient Dravidian
cultural and linguistic history, and they are the only ones that can
preserve, enhance and celebrate it.

The Southern Collective must ensure that:

   - All articles privileging Hindi in the constitution are eliminated.
   - All public services are available in local languages. Nationalised
   banking, courts, roads, transport signage, application forms etc.
   - National jobs, army to have English and all Indian languages over time.

*‘Thus far and no further’*

In democracy, demography is economic and political currency, and asymmetric
development is a double edged sword.

Central government approach and policy needs to encourage socio-economic
attainments, rewarding growth states that not only achieve higher GDP by
creating jobs but also translate that into improved human development
indicators (HDIs.)

That – empowering states to realise their potential – along with its own
responsibilities of defence, foreign affairs, common currency, nationwide
market and some physical infrastructure, is where the homework assignment
of the Centre stops. Thus far and no further.

Local issues addressed at local levels makes people more responsible for
their votes. They reap what they sow; that connection is self evident to
them. It also transfers accountability to the lowest and most local level,
forcing outcomes to improve. Similarly, when local development is enabled
through locally generated revenues, it makes governments more fiscally
responsible, as opposed to looking to remote financing.

Indeed much of the Charter of the Southern Collective, is simply federalism
at the Centre, autonomy for the states. Some of it could well apply to all
of India. Unfortunately, the states of the Hindi belt may not champion
these due to their extraordinary dependence on the Centre, and the politics
of those states.

This charter is not only an abstract governance structure, it attempts to
harmonise the diversity in governance required for the many-hued union of
states that is India.

This charter is but a beginning; if adopted, refined and implemented, it
can make India a more robust and mature federal democracy that is truly
"of" the people.


-- 
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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