Tag: #urban

INS SUNAYNA ENTERS DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA

 INS Sunayna entered port of Durban, South Africa on 21 Aug 23. The ship undertook passage exercise with South African Navy Ship SAS King Sekhukhune I off Durban. Post exchange of pleasantries at sea, the ship entered Durban harbour. The ship was received by Cdr Kenneth Singh officiating Flag Officer Commanding Naval Base Durban and HCI Pretoria Officials.

The visit apart from commemorating 30 years of diplomatic partnership between India and South Africa is aimed at enhancing interoperability, jointness and mutual cooperation between both Indian Navy and South Africa Navy. During the port call, the two navies will share best practices and experiences through professional interactions, subject matter expert exchanges and cross deck visits, additionally social interactions with senior military and civil dignitaries are also planned.

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VM/JSN                             

LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

                                                               (Photo: ClearIAS)

According to D. Lockard, local government may be loosely defined as a public organization, authorized to decide and administer a limited range of public policies within relatively small territory which is a subdivision of a regional or national government.

A nation develops from its roots and for a nation to develop we need a strong base and in a country like India, the base is the local self-government like municipalities and panchayats, etc. These are the grassroots of a democracy in our country. It gives a good amount of exposure to the people who participate in the governance and running of these institutions, in both political and social aspects, making our democracy more participative as well as substantive. In rural areas, the self-governing bodies are the Panchayats and in urban it is the municipal corporations, etc. Local self-government consists of rural local self-government and urban area local self-government.

In India, villages are always considered as strength of this country. It is said that the soul of India lives in villages and a majority of 60% of the total population currently lives in rural areas. The exponents of the local self-government institutions hold the view that such local self-governments are the basis of democracy and the best way to develop political consciousness among the people. Through the local self-government, the regional and local interests convert into national interest. The Rural Local self-governments are the result of most landmark year 1992, when the 73rd amendment was incorporated in the constitution. Necessary related provisions were added in 1992 by the way of the 74th amendment act, 1992. It bifurcated the urban local self-government system.

Gandhi Ji also emphasized local self-government. To him, development meant a fuller participation of people in the achievement of essential goals. Village is the primary unit of government and from the village upwards, units of government with residuary powers, are to be established. And at each level, complete democracy and freedom are to be guaranteed.

Thus, the local self-government holds a vital role when it comes to the strengthening of democracy. It encourages local, political, and social leadership, thus making people more participative. It makes democracy substantive with its very own existence. These have to shoulder manifold and complex responsibilities. Hence, they are the grassroots of our democracy.

Indian Sugar Industry – Key driver of Rural India and job provider for Urban India

Sugar has been produced in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times and then it spread to other parts of the world. Sugarcane is a native of tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. In India, sugarcane is planted thrice a year in October, March and July depending on part of the country. Most of the sugar production in India takes at local Cooperative Sugar mills. After gaining Independence, India made serious plans for overall industrial development of sugar industry.

Indian sugar mills association has estimated around 24 million tones sugar production in 2012-13 seasons. Indian sugar industry is highly fragmented with organized and unorganized players. The unorganized players mainly produce Gur and Khandari, the less refined forms of sugar. The government had a controlling grip over the industry, which has slowly yet steadily given way to liberalization. The production sugarcane is cyclical in nature. Hence the sugar production is also cyclical as it depends on the sugarcane production in the country.  

At present, the government controls the sugar industry right from fixing the support price of sugarcane and allocating the monthly quota for mills to sale in the open market. The government levies a fee of Rs.240 per ton of sugar produced by mills to raise a Sugarcane Development Fund (SDF), which is used to support research, extension, and technological improvement in the sugar sector. The SDF is also often used to support sugar buffer stocks operations, provide a transport subsidy for sugar exports, and provide an interest subsidy on loans for the installation of power generation and ethanol production plants.  

Moreover, currently, sugar mills are obliged to sell 10 per cent of their produce at a regulated price for the government’s public distribution system. Currently, the average open-market price of sugar is Rs 36,000 a tonne, while the government pays only Rs 19,050 a tonne to the mills for levy sugar. This does not even cover the cost of sugarcane, the raw material, above which mills have to incur processing costs, interest cost and wages Moreover; cane price has been going up sharply year-on-year, while there has been no corresponding increase in levy price. While imposing a levy obligation, the government also follows a hawkish strategy towards open market sugar prices. Every time prices go beyond a certain level, the government intervenes with additional sale quota. Under release mechanism, it is the government that decides the quantity each mill can sell every month.  

So, on the one hand the central and state governments increase sugarcane price every year, on the other the Centre does it bit to keep sugar prices under check even though several studies have pointed that more than 60 per cent of sugar is consumed by bulk buyers like beverage manufacturers, pharma industry and confectioners.   

Not just the price of sugar, but the price of sugar-cane is also regulated by the government through Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) which mill owners pay to the farmers. Thus, neither the price of sugar cane nor the price of sugar is determined by market forces leaving a very little elbow space for the industrialists. Since SMP determines the level of income of sugar-cane farmers, too low price of sugar cane may risk the lives of farmers, but somehow government may determine the price of sugarcane on the lines of minimum support price where if the market price of a crop falls below a certain level, government will buy any amount of crop at MSP. Though it may provide additional fiscal burden on the government but it may be instrumental in reforming the sugar industry.   

India is located close to major sugar deficient markets. The Indian Ocean countries of Indonesia Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE and some East African countries are sugar deficient and import sugar regularly. India has a natural freight advantage to these countries due to its geographical proximity. Historically, India has exported sugar to the identified deficient countries. In case of surplus domestic production, India can expect to export to these geographies. At present, these countries import primarily from Brazil, Thailand, EU and Australia. Thailand, Australia and South Africa are present in only a few of the target countries, while Brazil and EU supply sugar to most of these deficient markets. These geographies would be the key competitors for India in the future.  

At the current cost of production and world raw sugar prices, the Indian exports of raw sugar looks unavailable. However, the reduced cost of production and a sustainable cane price can improve India’s competitiveness for global trade. To be able to export to the target markets, India would need to improve its cost structure through productivity and efficiency improvements in the long term. In addition, to export raw sugar, mills would need to make the necessary investments.  

Currently, India only produces plantation white sugar. Considering that export demand for raw sugar and refined sugar will increase going forward, India would need to develop the capability to produce these varieties in order to leverage the export opportunity.