DEENDAYAL UPADHYAY SWANIYOJAN YOJANA

In News
 Deendayal Upadhyay Swaniyojan Yojana (DUSY) will soon be launched by Ministry of Rural Development to promote rural entrepreneurship under Start Up India campaign.
Salient features
 The main objective of Swaniyojan Yojana is to provide incentives such as financial assistance to the rural poor looking for self-employment options.
 The scheme will be integrated with MUDRA Bank Loan Yojana, innovative credit linkages and self-help groups.
 it will be funded by the existing National Rural Livelihood Mission
 It will provide the basic skill set required for self-employment in fields like driving, plumbing, agriculture, dairy farming, grafting and horticulture among others.
 The Ministry will also coordinate with other government departments such as textile, animal husbandry, and food processing to help rural poor setup their own business in these fields.
Way Ahead
DUSY is a rural avatar of Start Up India, It will not only provide an opportunity for gainful employment to rural youths, but it can also solve various problems associated with rural economy such as disguised unemployment in agriculture, reducing poverty, mitigate migration etc.

तुम्हारी तस्वीर के नीचे 'एक खोई हुई लड़की' लिखा है.

तुम्हारे कपडे देख पीली गेंद याद आई
उसी रंग के कनस्तर में घी रखा था
उसी रंग के निशाँ सड़क पे, मेट्रो पे हैं.

मुझे रंग खास पसंद नहीं.

टन्न से कुतुबमीनार बजी
क़त्ल हुए सारे कास्तकार जमा हो गए
तुम्हारी फोटो पे पीछे के खम्बे
बुत नहीं, ज़िंदा है आकृतियां उसपे.

दफ़न कास्तकार हमें निहार रहे थे.

तुम्हारे बालों में फेर के उंगलियां
देवदूत सम्हाले रहे धरती
मैंने छुआ और चूमी गर्दन.

वहां होंठों के निशाँ ज़िंदा होंगे.

दो पोरों में समा गया चेहरा
आँखों में सागर है, नमक है
चूमता हूँ, खारे हो जाते हैं होंठ.
सीने से लगो तो, भींग जाता है दिल.

सिर्फ तुममें हुनर है
प्रेमी की गोद में सर रख सिसकने का.

छूने की तमन्ना लिए
तुम अपने हाथ पीछे खिसका लेती हो
जैसे ज़िन्दगी पार्क की बेंत हो
और सारी दुनिया मॉर्निंग वाक करती हमें घूर रही हो.

मेट्रो के डब्बों पे ऐड हैं
तुम्हारी तस्वीर के नीचे
'एक खोई हुई लड़की' लिखा है.
गालों पे वैसी ही दमक है
पहली दफे चूमा था, तब थी.

गर्भ में पलते रिश्ते को
नागरिकशास्त्र की उस किताब ने मारा
जो कभी लिखी नहीं गई.

अब तुम्हारे पिता अपने अर्थशास्त्र से
पति खरीदेंगे.

तलाशे से नहीं मिले

तलाशे से नहीं मिले
जिनको ढूंढा गया
वो वे आदमी नहीं थे
जो वो बनना चाहते थे बचपन में.
वो निकले बहत्तर प्रतिशत, नब्बे प्रतिशत, हायर सेकेंडरी, बी ए, बी ई.

घास बो दी
कहा फल दे दे
पेड़ बन जा.
खूबसूरत घास, जिससे बगिया महकनी थी
सिमट सहम पीली पड़ गई.

बैठो यहां
डिग्रियां भूल सिसको
बनो जो बनना है
या कुछ भी न बनो.

जो हो बस रहो.

मई डे लव

तुम इतने छोटे लगते हो

चूमने के बाद
कि सीने से लगाने पे
मेरे में ही समा जाओगे कुछ क्षणों में.

चमकती आंखें, मुस्कुराते होंठ
कातिलाना कॉम्बीनेशन हैं.

टेबल पे गिलास आधा खाली, आधा भरा
अधूरा सा सपना
सीने से चिपको
बालों में उंगलियां फेर
फेंक दो गिलास,
तमाम प्रश्न. -Office Love

कविता शरबत नहीं.
पत्थर तोड़ पड़े फफोलों पे
उंगलियां फिरा
पीली पड़ती आंखों से मुस्कुराती हो,
फिर पूरी औरत लगने लगती हो.

खम्बों पे चूमती औरत के इश्तेहार हैं
हाथ गाड़ी पे सम्हालते ईंटें
दो सौ ईंट, दो पहियों के बीच
चार आंखें हंस जाती हैं,
ईंटें और साड़ी इक साथ सम्हलती हैं
मुस्कान और गाड़ी इक साथ ढुलकती हैं.
इश्क चुम्बन से परे
हवा में बिखर जाता है.              -Labourer's Love

दीवार पर फैज़
'बोल के लब आज़ाद हैं तेरे...'
लबों को लबों से सीं देता हूं
देखो! फेमिनिस्ट तुम झटकती भी नहीं मुझे.

चेहरे पे झुर्री, पेट पर स्ट्रेच मार्क्स आने तक
उतने ही इश्क का वादा कर
स्टेशन पे गले लगा
अकेला छोड़ आता हूं.              -Intellectual's Love

आखिरी बार देख, अगली बार की ख़्वाहिश लिये
अॉटो चलाता हूं
जिसमें आखिरी दफ़े चूमा था.

पलायनों के शहर में
मर्द-औरत सड़क किनारे सोते
इश्क फरमाने कहां ओट पाते होंगे?

मेरे कमरे में 'गुलज़ार' अब
फुटपाथ से चांद में महबूबा ढूंढता है.     -Migrant Worker's Love

'अक्षरधाम- किनारे लगे ईश्वर
बीच में कोई महामानव'
दुनिया की सबसे खराब जगह
तुम्हारे साथ का सुख
जैसे फलवाले-सब्जीवाली का
तपती दोपहर का अंगूरी प्रेम.

तुम्हें महसूस करते
शरबती हो गई कविता.
नितान्त अकेले में पढ़ सकोगे तुम
उजले क्षणों में मैं...

खुद को क़त्ल करना आसान है
दस नींद की गोलियां,
या इक पंखा,
दो पटरियां
या इक बार सीने से चिपक
फिर तुमसे कभी न मिलना.

फ़िरोजशाह ज़िन्दा
क़त्ल लोग बस संख्या
तारीख़ों में आम लोग शून्य रह जाते हैं.

पांच फुट की लड़की
पांच मिलीमीटर की किसी कविता में
एक अहसास पिरो
ज़िन्दा कर देती है
तारीख़ों में इक आम सा लड़का,
जिसे अबतक कार रिवर्स करना भी नहीं आता.      -Poet's Love

Liberate the legislator

Recent disqualification of 9 rebel MLAs in Uttarakhand under anti- defection law has once again brought back discussions surrounding the law to the fore.

What is Anti-defection law?

The anti-defection law was passed by parliament in 1985 strengthened in 2002. The 52nd amendment to the Constitution added the Tenth Schedule which laid down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection.

• A member of parliament or state legislature was deemed to have defected if he either voluntarily resigned from his party or disobeyed the directives of the party leadership on a vote. That is, they may not vote on any issue in contravention to the party’s whip.
• Independent members would be disqualified if they joined a political party. Nominated members who were not members of a party could choose to join a party within six months; after that period, they were treated as a party member or independent member.

The law also made a few exceptions:

• Any person elected as speaker or chairman could resign from his party, and rejoin the party if he demitted that post.
• A party could be merged into another if at least two-thirds (Initially one-third) of its party legislators voted for the merger.

However, the law has had some unintended consequences too:

• The law succeeded in checking the regular phenomenon of unstable governments and horse-trading due to floor crossing by legislators. However, it played a huge role in encouraging the centralisation of India’s political parties.
• Legislators in India now cannot take a stand against party leaders or defy the party whip, and use their conscience to vote on a Bill in the House due to fear of losing their seat under the provisions of the Anti-Defection law.
• This has also the effect of disincentivising lawmakers from seriously thinking, researching or even rifling for best practices to incorporate into legislation that is before the House for consideration and focus their energies on procedural matters.
• Also, a legislator cannot question the sweet deals or alliances between top party leaders.

Does the law impinge on the right of free speech of the legislators?

This issue was addressed by the five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in 1992 (Kihoto Hollohan vs Zachilhu and others). The court said that “the anti-defection law seeks to recognise the practical need to place the proprieties of political and personal conduct above certain theoretical assumptions.” It held that the law does not violate any rights or freedoms, or the basic structure of parliamentary democracy.

What changes can be brought in?

• The disqualification of a member of a House should be only on the grounds that if he votes or abstains from voting in the House with regard to a Confidence Motion, No-confidence Motion, Adjournment Motion, Money Bill or financial matters contrary to the direction issued in this behalf by the party to which he belongs to and in no other case.
• Whips can be issued only for those legislative items that threaten the stability of government.
• As recommended by the Goswami Committee, the government should consider giving the power to decide on disqualification under the Act to the President or the Governor, who shall act on the advice of the Election Commission.
• The rationale that a representative is elected on the basis of the party’s programme can be extended to pre-poll alliances. The Law Commission proposed this change with the condition that partners of such alliances inform the Election Commission before the elections.

Conclusion:

The evil of political defections has been a matter of political concern. If it is not combated it is likely to undermine the very foundations of our democracy and the principles that sustain it. However, after 30 years of the enactment of the Tenth Schedule, it needs certain adaptations and further strengthening so as to be of greater relevance to our democratic process today.

Rebooting India’s agricultural policy

The agricultural sector in India has entered a new low since 1988, when India faced severe drought. Presently, India is facing its worst moment in the last three decades. The severity of the situation is evident from the stories of migration and severe water crisis in Maharashtra and elsewhere.

Why the government is to be blamed?

• It is because the response from the government to these expected shocks has been delayed and inadequate in most cases. In some cases, the delay in response has certainly aggravated the crisis. This has been reflected in government’s responses to the collapse of commodity prices and to the drought this year.
• Despite having prior information about the impending drought, the government was not prepared. Required relief efforts were not undertaken on a scale larger than a normal drought.
• Also, most states have not been given their share of the drought relief fund that was promised by the central government.
• Besides, the actual increase in this year’s budget for the agricultural sector was a modest 27% against a claim of 127% by the finance minister in the 2016 budget.

Policy concerns:

The real problem, however, with the policy of this government on agriculture is not just the financial allocation, which remains inadequate given the enormity of the situation, but also the lack of a coherent policy for achieving the objective of doubling farm income. There has not been a clear road map to revive agriculture.

Need for a new policy:

The old policy lacks a clear understanding of the problems facing today’s Indian agriculture. The reason some of the old prescriptions are less relevant in the current context lies in the changing nature of agricultural production, which has seen a rising share of horticulture, floriculture and livestock.

• Although grown in an area smaller than food grains, horticulture production is now higher than the total output of the food-grain sector. It now accounts for almost one-third of total agricultural gross domestic product (GDP). So is the case of livestock and dairy, which have seen rapid growth in recent years.
• These sectors are more vulnerable to weather shocks and hence they require a different kind of support, including marketing and processing support. These are also more vulnerable to price fluctuations, as has been witnessed recently, than traditional crops such as food grains.

Way ahead:

What is required is to insulate these sectors not only from the risk and vulnerability which arise from production-related factors such as weather but also from risks in the price and output market.

• Most of the farmers (more than 80%) engaged in production of these crops are small and marginal farmers with little support from traditional agricultural policies such as insurance, marketing infrastructure, support prices and subsidies. Hence, our agricultural policies should be geared towards supporting and protecting these farmers.
• Years of neglect of natural resource management have put enormous stress on the land and water resources of the agricultural sector. In this context, traditional approaches of input intensification are now yielding limited returns—in some cases, negative returns. The focus of the agricultural strategy has to move towards developing new technologies, agricultural practices and crop varieties which are not only less resource-intensive but also environment-friendly.
• A sustainable agricultural policy requires efforts to not only support and protect farmers from the vagaries of the monsoon and market forces but also to create an enabling institutional framework. The roles of agricultural universities, extension services and cooperative institutions have to be redefined.
• In the short run, efforts to augment the income of farmers suffering from the drought are needed. This not only requires supporting and strengthening livelihood programmes and safety nets such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) but also implementing the much-delayed National Food Security Act.

Conclusion:

The current crisis in agriculture has forced the government to respond to the challenges facing the agricultural sector. The government should not only respond to the immediate challenges facing the farmer and the agricultural sector but also reboot the agricultural policy to create an ecosystem for the future of Indian agriculture. The ambition of doubling the farmer’s income in the next six years may be difficult to achieve but is not impossible.

क्राइसिस और कविता | Crisis aur Kavita

किताबों में पढ़े कवि
नक्शों में ढूंढे उनके देश,
गूगल किया इतिहास.
अच्छे कवि मुल्क की यातनाओं में जन्मे हैं.
जैसे क्राइसिस ज़रूरी तत्व हो अच्छी कविता का.

क्राइसिस = Crisis

रेखा और मध्यमवर्ग

फसल की तरह तुम्हारे चेहरे पे
छुर्रियां उग आई हैं.
सींचने जिनके पास खूब पैसा है
उनके चेहरे पे नहीं उगती ऐसी फसल,
छुर्रिओं की फसल उलटी धुरी से उगती है.

पचपन पार रेखा
तुम जितनी पैतीस की लगती है.
ये सबसे बड़ा उदाहरण है मेरे मध्यमवर्गीय होने का.

Tax Avoidance | Panama Papers | BEPS | Tax Evasion

Recent Panama leaks have exposed various loopholes in India’s tax regime. It is widely being assumed that tax havens are used only for illegal activities. However, tax havens are more likely to be used not just for illegal activity but even for legitimate businesses.

• People prefer tax haven for the sake of avoiding taxes. But there are very thin lines between the legal and the illegal. The difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance is one such line.
• Tax evasion involves not paying taxes on your income and is illegal. Tax avoidance, on the other hand, is about managing your taxes across different tax jurisdictions to take advantage of differences in tax rates, such as corporate tax rates, in tax treatment of different kinds of income, such as capital gains, and in tax treaties among countries.
• Tax havens such as Panama, the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas try to attract business by offering low tax rates and easy compliance.

Problems with Indian tax regime:

In India, tax rates are higher, the system is complicated and capital controls restrict foreign financial transactions.

• Various tax laws have made compliance more costly in India. India is ranked 157 in the ease of paying taxes.
• Further, the effective tax on profit is higher: The corporate tax rate and the dividend distribution tax put together make the tax rate on profits nearly 50%.
• The capital gains tax makes financial transactions even more unattractive. This regime is made more tortuous by an onerous set of capital controls.

Tax avoidance as cheating:

Some countries, including OECD countries, consider even tax avoidance as illegal.

A number of OECD initiatives have been taken to reduce tax avoidance:

• An agreement on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (Beps) aims to prevent companies from choosing low-tax jurisdictions to book profits in.
• The Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) framework will facilitate information flows among signatories.
• The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) targets non-compliance by US taxpayers and compliant countries have to provide customer information to the US government.

However, there are some cases in which the actions are clearly illegal-

• First, when the underlying activity is criminal, say, drug or arms trade. These activities are covered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. As a member of the Financial Action Task Force, India works with other member countries to prevent the use of the proceeds of crime.
• The second is when there are cases of tax evasion: A person does not declare to the tax authorities in her home country her income, which is paid into a bank account of her company in Panama, and no taxes are paid. Here, a distinction between tax evasion and avoidance is relevant. If taxes have been paid in the tax haven at its lower tax rate, then there may be no illegality. When India introduces the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (Gaar), some of these activities may become illegal.
• The third case is if there is a violation of capital controls. This is an India-specific issue. Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), every Indian resident is allowed to invest $2,50,000 abroad every year. In 2004, the limit was one-tenth of this. Money remitted abroad is from income on which tax has already been paid. If the amount invested abroad exceeds the amount allowed by the RBI, it is a violation of the law.
• Fourth, the illegality may be the non-declaration of assets held abroad. A provision in the Finance Bill introduced in 2015 made it criminal not to declare foreign assets in annual tax returns. If the assets held in tax havens have been declared, then it is not illegal to hold them.

Why be concerned about these issues?

There is a widespread perception that offshore companies are conduits for money laundering, illegal transactions, tax evasion or parking unexplained wealth. Hence, it is necessary to keep an eye on such activities and prevent them.

What’s needed?

• First, rationalisation of capital controls should be a top priority. Many government reports have laid out the path forward.
• Second, India must move to a simple tax regime with lower compliance costs. The blueprint is ready in the Direct Taxes Code.

Conclusion:

The new government at the Centre has the opportunity to simplify our tax laws that reduce the scope for disputes between taxpayers and revenue authorities. The objective should be to encourage voluntary compliance and severely penalise tax evasion. This, along with clarity on introduction of a new Direct Taxes Code and a roadmap for the implementation of a nationwide Goods and Services Tax, will go some way in creating a non-adversarial tax climate conducive to growth and investment. In the long run, this is the only sustainable path to revenue generation.

दोराहा | जावेद अख़्तर

अपनी बेटी ज़ोया के नाम
 
ये जीवन इक राह नहीं
इक दोराहा है

पहला रस्ता बहुत सरल है
इसमें कोई मोड़ नहीं है
ये रस्ता इस दुनिया से बेजोड़ नहीं है
इस रस्ते पर मिलते हैं रिश्तों के बंधन
इस रस्ते पर चलनेवाले 
कहने को सब सुख पाते हैं
लेकिन
टुकड़े टुकड़े होकर 
सब रिश्तों में बँट जाते हैं
अपने पल्ले कुछ नहीं बचता
बचती है बेनाम सी उलझन
बचता है साँसों का ईंधन
जिसमें उनकी अपनी हर पहचान
और उनके सारे सपने
जल बुझते हैं
इस रस्ते पर चलनेवाले
ख़ुद को खोकर जग पाते हैं
ऊपर-ऊपर तो जीते हैं
अंदर-अंदर मर जाते हैं
 
दूसरा रस्ता बहुत कठिन है
इस रस्ते में कोई किसी के साथ नहीं है
कोई सहारा देनेवाला हाथ नहीं है
इस रस्ते में धूप है 
कोई छाँव नहीं है
जहाँ तस्सली भीख में देदे कोई किसी को
इस रस्ते में ऐसा कोई गाँव नहीं है
ये उन लोगों का रस्ता है
जो ख़ुद अपने तक जाते हैं
अपने आपको जो पाते हैं
तुम इस रस्ते पर ही चलना
 
मुझे पता है 
ये रस्ता आसान नहीं है
लेकिन मुझको ये ग़म भी है
तुमको अब तक 
क्यूँ अपनी पहचान नहीं है