Dissertation Abstracts

Post Graduate Programme in

Public Policy and Management

(PGPPM)

2008-10

1 | P a g e

Proposed Roadmap for E-Governance Implementation in India by Building Takers

Ms. Alpana Shukla Rao

E-governance has become a popular focus of government efforts in all the countries. India has also

taken e-governance initiative through National e-governance plan (NeGP).

The studies which have focussed on e-governance implementation have identified the benefits,

barriers and individual case studies of projects with reasons for success and failures.

India is a developing country. Coupled with size and population India has myriad socio-economic

problems. Under these circumstances in order to fulfil the vision of NeGP, i.e., “ensuring delivery of

government services to the common man in his locality” it is highly desirable that we think of

developing an inclusive society.

The aim of this study was to build adequate takers for e-governance. A possible roadmap has been

suggested for e-governance implementation by building an inclusive society.

Finding of this research suggests that progress in e-governance implementation in India is very

minimal, it is not matured, as the takers i.e. the citizens are not sufficiently ready. Thus we have to

generate demand among citizens for e-governance. In the light of NeGP philosophy demand can be

created for e-governance by developing citizen awareness, bringing in business potentiality, changing

the outlook of government bodies, bringing affordable infrastructure and financial inclusion among

citizens.

The impact of various factors on the above mentioned areas is shown through systems design. It

helps in identifying the positive and negative effect on the development of these areas.

The value of this study lies in the fact that it considers holistic e-governance implementation in

India. It indicates ways to bring in inclusive growth in the country. One of the outcomes of this

study is to encourage policy makers in India to study the areas for building takers for e-governance

and make different policy and regulatory changes to facilitate increase the possibility of future

success of e-governance implementation.

2 | P a g e

Towards A National Security Policy

Anjana Sinha

The 20th century witnessed incremental use of systematic violence as a form of political action to

fight and espouse a multitude of political causes. Violence which emanated from "clash of wills";

now locates itself in a distinct political discourse of Terror- as the most viable means to achieve any

political objective. Hitherto; nation states had contended with violence/terror, terrorists and

terrorism. In-fact, history is witness to these nomenclatures and this research is seized of the "one

man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

But its contemporary proportions, purpose and collateral damage to the neutral has since become

unprecedented and minatory to the human civilization in the history of world politics.

The coordinated attacks of September 11, 200 I in the US - on the World Trade Centre and the

Pentagon were stridently striking in their audacity and the shock and it generated across the world. It

signalled the reach, both - financial and organizational as much as the strength and striking

capabilities of this new face of terror and form of politics. And most certainly it resulted in

formalization of the much warranted changes in the perceptions, contemplations and definitions of

what constituted security and the renewed focus and initiatives required to address it.

In the realm of political strategy, the traditional distinction between the internal and the external

spheres, and between internal and external security which was long under discussion, virtually

crystallized overnight. In this transformed international context which emerged after the terrorist

acts in New York and Washington, security policies of nations across the world have been revisited

to be conceived and analyzed essentially as a continuum, stretching from ground level to macro-

strategic balances. The blurring of distinctions between internal and external security, the connected

impulse towards better coordination between the correspondent policy fields, are among the

fundamental structural changes that have occurred in national politics, international relations, and

therefore policy making- across the world.

Coincidentally, the spate of events in India; particularly in last decade and a half have emphasized

the urgent need for a comprehensive review of National security. And as if to shake the system out

of its inertia; the happenings of 26/1 I brought to fore the glaring gaps in the security matrix of the

country and the dire need for a renewed approach to addressing national security; if not a defined

doctrine.

3 | P a g e

Study of Indian Telecom-Sector and its Challenges in Rural Areas

Ashok Kumar

All over the world, governments, international agencies, and academics have recognized telecom as

an enabling infrastructure – allowing the people it connects, to reach out and communicate, seek

business, and grow their knowledge. The Indian telecommunication sector is the second largest

telecom network with over 400.04 million telephone users as on January 2009 (source: TRAI)

however the rural connectivity remained a critical dimension of the massive growth achieved in the

recent past and the divide between urban and rural is increasing (only 27.6% of total connections are

from rural though it constitutes 70% of population). Though the government of India has taken

many initiatives to improve rural connectivity including creation of USOF however the rural

connectivity is still very low. In this dissertation an attempt has been made to study and find out

what are the shortfalls in the design and implementation of various policies followed by the

government of India, study of policies adopted by other countries specially USA and how the rural

connectivity can be improved within a fixed time period. The research is mainly based on the Focus

Group Discussions and personal interviews with key stakeholders such as Telecom regulatory

authority of India (TRAI)- the regulator, Department of Telecom (DoT) –the policy maker,

Universal service obligation Cell, Various Telecom Service providers ( both private and public

sector). Beside this a survey has also been conducted in the rural areas in few districts of U.P., West

Bengal and Chhattisgarh to find out the possible factors for early adoption of mobile and also to

know the perception of the people in rural areas regarding services being provided by mobile

operators. Both the primary and the secondary data have been used for analyzing and supporting the

findings.

As USO is main policy followed by DoT to improve rural connectivity thus the detailed analysis of

various schemes of USO has been done regarding its effectiveness, whether it was really required or

not, how each policy has fared vis-àvis its objectives. Analysis of the various schemes shows that

most of the money has been used for operation and maintenance of old projects. That is it has not

gone towards increasing the telecom networks further. Also out of the total amount of subsidy

disbursed so far from 2002-03 to 2008-09 , 77.6% of the money has gone towards providing RDEL

, which shows lack of direction of USO that what it wants to achieve as it’s objective was

accessibility. Analysis shows execution by USOF is very poor to what is planned and also seeing the

dismal state of utilization of fund it can be said that rural telephony is lacking concentrated efforts.

There should be separation between “rural” and “remote” areas so that policies for remote areas

could be taken up separately. Thus there is need of complete restructuring of USO and giving it

more power and increasing its scope. From Focused group discussion with telecom service

providers it was found that there are many challenges which they face in providing services in rural

areas like shortage of power, Right of Way permission, Low ARPU, high maintenance cost and lack

of backhaul connectivity etc. In order to deal with problems which comes under state government

there should be a mechanism of coordination with state government so that delay can be avoided

4 | P a g e

and in turn cost can be reduced .The survey carried out shows that teledensity is not the correct

measure for rural areas instead we can use “household coverage” to know the true picture of rural

areas as still in rural areas people share their phones. It was also found people are willing to spend

about 7-8% of their income on mobile irrespective of absolute income. Another important factor

was level of education. Thus if people can be educated about the benefits of mobile and relevant

content is provided other than voice than people will adopt mobile. Also still a lot is to be done to

increase the geographical coverage as many areas are still uncovered and for that infrastructure

sharing of both active and passive will have to be encouraged as it reduces the cost considerably. It

has been seen that teledensity in urban as well as rural areas has grown mainly due to competition

and effective regulation. The competition in rural areas as compared to urban area is still very low

which needs to be enhanced through incentives and supportive regulatory mechanism. Thus

Universal Service Mechanism alone will not serve the purpose of fulfilling demands of the people

and it should be seen in totality with other programmes .In the long run it is the fair competition

and effective regulation along with incentive provided by USOF which will deliver the desired

results of providing affordable and quality service in rural areas and regulators should play carefully

with USOs since they tend to be used by market players to extract too many concessions.

5 | P a g e

An Analysis of Inter Jurisdictional Issues Involved in the Implementation Of Goods

and Services Tax In India

Balamurugan

Goods and Services Tax is ‘value added tax’ (VAT) levied on the consumption of

goods and services. It is an indirect tax on the value addition at each stage of supply of

goods or services up to final consumption.

In India, Union government levies and collects CENVAT (Central Value Added

Tax) on manufacture of specified goods and Service Tax on provision of taxable services. At

state level, VAT replaced State Sales Tax from 2004 in phased manner. At present, there is

2% CST (Central Sales Tax) levied by Union government and collected and retained by

originating states on inter-state sales. In addition to the above, various indirect taxes are

levied by the Union government or State governments such as cess, entry tax, entertainment

tax, purchase tax, etc.

The present system of domestic indirect taxation, due to many reasons like

cascading, exemptions, multiplicity of taxes and rates, interferes with the free play of the

market forces and competition, causes economic distortions, and entails high costs of

compliance and administration. In an effort to have smart tax administration, indirect tax

system in India has been undergoing paradigm changes. It has been accepted that a

comprehensive Value Added Tax at both national level and at state level could provide a

solution to most of the ills of the present system. If levied on a comprehensive base at a

uniform rate, GST would help restore neutrality, simplify the laws, reduce litigation and

provide elastic and stable source of revenue. Two of the most important challenges India

faces, in its journey of implementing a comprehensive GST at national and sub national

level, are the levy and collection of GST on interstate trades within India and input tax credit

mechanism in respect of interstate trades. This paper analyses the inter-jurisdictional issues

that are involved in GST implementation in India and examines the internationally available

models and the efficacy of these models in addressing such inter-jurisdictional issues in the

respective tax jurisdictions and how should these issues be resolved when GST is introduced

in India.

6 | P a g e

Strategic Positioning of BSNL in the Telecom Space

Bijoy Kumar Nath

The telecommunications industry has evolved at a rapid pace throughout the world. Liberalization

of Telecom Markets around the world in many countries has converted the erstwhile government

monopoly operators into corporations who have to run their operations on business lines and profit.

However, organizations like BSNL, by virtue of being public sector units, cannot ignore the social

aspect. They have, not only to generate profits for their survival, but also take care of the social

sector objectives set forth by the Government. Almost all private operators who have been given

telecom licenses to operate have established themselves in the metros. Only now they have started

moving into the rural areas because the operations in cities have reached saturation. In this report an

attempt has been made to understand the various strengths and weaknesses of BSNL using the well

known Porter's Framework. It is also attempted to understand the newly developing and the high

growth business areas in telecom and to predict how the markets will take shape in the future and

what will be the position of BSNL in such markets. I have used various concepts related to S-curve

techniques for analyzing trends and using those trends to predict the future. New and upcoming

technologies like NGN and IPv6 are also discussed and what BSNL ought to do in a changing

technological environment. Finally at the end a set of recommendations are made for securing the

position of BSNL in the telecom space.

7 | P a g e

Taxation of Intellectual Property in Cross Border Transactions within Multinational

Groups

Chandana Ramachandran

A significant portion of the global profits earned by multinational enterprises (MNE) gets attributed

to the Intellectual property such as technology and brand name owned and deployed by them. As

globalization signalled the fragmentation of production processes leading to spreading out of

production bases, there has been a significant spurt in the cross-border movement of IP. Taxation

of IP is a difficult proposition even under static circumstances as IP, being an intangible asset, is

difficult to locate, quantify and value. The difficulties increase manifold in a cross border transaction

involving overlapping taxing rights of multiple countries.

The present paper analyses the question of taxation of IP against the economic and legal context of

international tax regime. Tax incidence on licensing and transfer of IP has been studied within the

framework of domestic law as well as global tax conventions such as OECD and UN Model tax

conventions. Special focus is on the Transfer Pricing Issues regarding use and transfer of IP. The

three methods, namely CUP method, TNMM and Profit Split Methods are chosen as most suitable

for IP transfers. The challenges in implementing these methodologies for assessing the contribution

of IP towards the profits generated by an MNE are highlighted.

The paper also points to the silent but grave issue of migration of IP leading to erosion of tax bases.

Such migrations happen during the course of business restructurings wherein IP owned by different

group concerns get centralized with earmarked IP companies located in “tax friendly” jurisdictions.

Similarly IP generated by Research & Development units located in developing countries like India

gets routinely transferred to affiliates without ever being acknowledged let alone remunerated.

The paper contains two case studies one on attribution of profits to different types of IP and

another on structure and dynamics of cross border supply chains.

The paper concludes with certain suggestions for protecting our indigenous tax base by improving

organizational efficiency and strengthening legal frameworks.

8 | P a g e

Impact of Private Medical Educational Institutions on the Quality of Students Entering

Medical Education in Tamil Nadu

Chandra Sekar

Health care is very important to any country and that too for a Country like India with more than

one billion population having 70 percent (Census of India) of the people in rural, the distribution of

quality health care and its affordability is very important for the people to have a minimum standard

of living. Individual’s life and well being is also at risk if the quality of treatment is below the best.

Hence it is imperative to the government to ensure that the best quality health care is available to the

people at large. It is essential to have good quality of the doctors coming out of the government and

private medical institutions in order achieve best quality health care. The arms under the government

is not sufficient to produce required number of doctors for the nation, also government cannot

invest heavily for increasing government colleges to meet this gap. Hence the private organisations

have been roped in to the medical educational field to meet the gap. At the same time it is essential

to ensure that the private organisations produce good quality doctors. With the mushrooming of

private medical institutions in our country whether the regulatory authorities are able to ensure that

the government guidelines are followed by these college is highly debatable. If the regulatory

authorities are able to regulate properly why the press and medias are coming out with reports about

the capitation racket in the private medical colleges. Even there were lot of court cases on this

capitation fees issue and the Supreme court has given a verdict in one of such case that the

education institutions cannot be run as a business unit and it should not make profit. In this

background the need for study the private medical institutions was taken up and lot of data has been

collected from government and private authorities through Right to Information Act 2005. It has

been brought out that the private medical colleges are not having proper evaluation procedure for

admitting students in their colleges and most likely the admissions are carried by way of capitation

fees. This paper has come out with lot of recommendation for reforming the medical education field

so as to ensure that quality doctors are coming out of the Medical colleges in addition to the

recommendation for the access and affordability to the quality healthcare.

9 | P a g e

Social Impact of Community Radio Stations in India Enhancing Participatory Development

and Women Empowerment

Esther Sakuntala Kar

Community radio stations across the world have come up as a third tier of broadcasting, in reaction

to both public radio stations and commercial radio stations. In India community radio started at the

turn of the century when Government opened up the radio sector. The present study seeks to

analyse the social impact of community radio in India by studying both models of community radio:

educational institutions supported as well as NGO supported institutions. In assessing these two

models through both qualitative and quantitative analysis established research methodologies like

survey questionnaires as well as face to face interviews and focus group interviews have been

adopted. A representative sample of nearly 500 citizens in the listener areas and 91 community

volunteers were administered questionnaires while general information on the 3 radio stations was

gathered through face to face interviews.

The study has established that although in terms of ownership and operation the educational

institution supported campus radio and the NGO supported radio may be different this genre of

radio indeed empowers the poor and the voiceless women by giving them social recognition and

also endowing economic power through knowledge and skill development. The degree of

empowerment depends on the level to which the community is involved. The study finds that

Community radio is the best suited communication medium for addressing development issues and

bringing empowerment because of the high involvement of the community in the life of the radio

station, but the government needs to address issues of capacity building and financial sustainability

and put in place mechanisms to ensure greater participation of the community representatives in the

operation and management of such stations.

10 | P a g e

A Comprehensive Data Policy for Government of India - Analysis and Frame Work: A

Broadband Perspective

D.M. Ezhil Buddhan

The telecommunications scene has been changing all across the world for the past two decades.

India also has progressed for its contribution to the world statistics. The digital and information

revolution has changed the way the world learns, communicates, does business, and treats illnesses.

New information and communications technologies offer vast opportunities for progress in all walks

of life� in all countries - opportunities for economic growth, improved health, better service delivery,

learning through distance education, and social and cultural advance. (World Bank Report, 2008).

Though there has been an exponential growth on the telephone connections both on wire line and

mobile, the progress has not been remarkable on the data front including the broadband services

(TRAI, 2009) (World Bank Website - External, 2008). The broadband penetration has not reached the level

which is comparable to other countries, with all the potential and resources of India. This is due to the non- availability

of a suitable policy for Data and farther to the shortcomings of the existing policies.

The project views this lapse seriously and aims at working out a comprehensive data policy in the

broadband perspective for the country. The policies implemented across various leading countries of Asia

Pacific Community (South Korea and Japan) and USA are studied and analysed to understand their policies, their

strategy & methodology of implementation. The suitability of the approach is analysed and appropriate

lessons for India has been chosen from the learning of the International arena. Identifying the

shortcomings of the existing policies, this paper suggests a framework for India. It also focuses on

implementation measures for achieving the higher rate of Broadband penetration on the lines of

support required from the regulator and the models that can be adopted for successful penetration

of this service. The project also paves the way for the working on a comprehensive data policy in

future apart from the Broadband Services as this paper primarily focuses on the Broadband

perspective rather than concentrating on the wide and vast area of Data Policy.

11 | P a g e

Augmenting Civil Nuclear Energy in India-Private Articipation

S Goverdhan Rao

The Integrated Energy Policy in its endeavour to achieve energy independence and sustainable

development ensuring inclusive growth has mandated the Department of Atomic Energy to

formulate programmes for increasing electricity generation from 4120 MWe to 30,000 MWe by 2020

and 63,000 MWe by 2031-32. The Indian nuclear power programme evolved and achieved a sort of

maturity in setting up small and medium sized Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, scaling up from

220 MWe to 540 MWe reactor units and is planning to build 700 MWe in future. As a part of second

stage 500 MWe Fast Breeder Reactor is under construction and designs are being made to take up

Advanced Heavy Water Reactors, towards utilization of thorium, which is abundantly available in

the country. The progress as above, in the midst of limited fuel available in the country and in the

face of technology denial regime is remarkable.

Consequent on Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement, Waiver of sanctions by Nuclear Suppliers Group

and India Specific Safeguards Agreement with IAEA, India is poised to take a quantum jump to

augment electricity through nuclear power. While NPCIL has ambitious plans in this direction, in

order to take advantage of financial and other capabilities available with private sector, opening up

of the nuclear industry to private may bring in healthy competition and a higher degree of

accountability. This paper attempts to study the constraints for private participation in the existing

policy arena, issues involved and makes recommendations, which may be useful for formulating a

comprehensive ‘Nuclear Policy’ covering legal, regulatory and operational requirement.

12 | P a g e

Developing a Service Culture in the Income Tax Department in India: A Study of Employee

Perceptions

Jahanzeb Akhtar

Global trends in tax administration have been towards supplanting an exclusive ‘command and

control’ model with one where enforcement and tax payer services operate in tandem to facilitate

voluntary compliance by the tax payer. In the latter paradigm the treatment of the tax payer as a

valuable customer/ client, whose satisfaction is a key concern for the organization, has been a

foundational purpose. The transformation, however, has been beset with conflicts of values and

cultures, not to mention the legacy systems of revenue administration built around antagonistic

relations with the tax payer.

The Income Tax Department in India is in the throes of a similar metamorphosis. As its business

processes, technology and organizational structures change at different paces the necessity of

understanding its level of preparedness to deliver quality services to its tax payers was felt. The

present study has, accordingly, focused on employee perceptions of the existence of an

organizational service orientation and an employee orientation in the Department, the latter on the

understanding that satisfied and happy employees can deliver the best service to the client. The

variations in perception by the biographic dimensions of gender, age, service experience, designation

and educational qualification have been noted and discussed.

The broad results of the employee perception survey indicate that the norms of service are no longer

an alien value to the organization, although the Department is yet to define clear cut standards and

measures for the same or factor service performance into its employee appraisal or training

programs. In fact, it is still largely perceived as a service deficient organization. The lingering

mistrust based perceptions about tax payers are still widely prevalent, although the canvas of change

is enlarging gradually.

The survey also highlighted the need for the department to move up personnel management higher

in the organizational agenda as, in the perception of the employees, it was not sufficiently employee

centered. An important element of this shortage arises from the ownership or lack of discretionary

authority. The mutually accusatory notes on which relations between the discretionary authority

wielding officers and the frontline staff appear to be built inhibit the creation of a robust service

culture.

The existence of a strong organizational commitment amongst the employees was emphatically

revealed during the study. This is the strength of the organization around which the management of

change is to be strategized for development of a vigorous service culture in the Department.

13 | P a g e

A Critical Look at the Handloom Industry in Kalna Sub-Division in West Bengal:

Suggestions for a Change in Outlook

Jayanta Kumar Aikat

The weaving of handlooms as an industry in our country has a long history. In vastly spread areas of

the country, like Punjab in the north, Maharashtra, Gujarat in the west, Tamil Nadu and Andhra

Pradesh in the south and West Bengal and Assam in the east handlooms are the second largest

employer in the country following agriculture. Cotton fabrics spun by Bengali weavers have become

a legend worldwide for their fine textures and lightness. Known as muslin or mul mul the

featherweight textiles were celebrated in the international market as the ‘woven wind’ and the

‘wonder gossamer’.

The marvel of muslins and of the Dhakai Jamdani (needle embroidery), however, ended in the 18th

century with the British seizing control of Bengal under the East India Company. It is said that to

protect the interests of the textile mills of Manchester, the muslin weavers of Dhaka were persecuted

and coerced to stop weaving. The art-heritage of fine weaving so remained crippled for nearly 200

years.

However, with the departure of the British, many skilled weavers of Dhaka gradually settled in West

Bengal around Shantipur in Nadia district and Ambika Kalna of Burdwan, both traditionally

renowned centres for hand-woven fabrics. Encouraged with government aid and other incentives,

these talented weavers soon revived their ancestral occupation and the art of exquisite weaving once

again flourished.

Like agriculture, handlooms have been saddled with a very high degree of problems not the least of

which includes resistance to change by the workers, exploitation by middlemen and Governmental

apathy. However, unlike agriculture, these problems have never been highlighted much and the fate

of weavers is left pretty much to themselves. This paper looks at the present condition of the

handloom industry in Kalna subdivision of West Bengal, roughly an area of 1000 sq kms. where a

100,000 strong community of handloom workers reside. It also looks at the various reasons of the

non-flourishing state of the industry in spite of there being success stories in the private sector and

even the public sector in states like Tamil Nadu. Finally, it tries to offer some suggestions which if

adopted may somewhat change the profile of the industry.

14 | P a g e

Proactive & Reactive Measures to Combat Cyber Terrorism and Misuse of Internet by

Terrorists

Krishna Sastry Pendyala

Terrorism is one of the complex issues faced by Governments, analysts, and public-policy

makers. Tighter border and physical security controls forced terrorists, to look for other types of

tools and weapons to attack the enemy country. Terrorist organizations of different categories,

ethnic, ideological or religious have found in the internet an ideal tool for facilitating the pursuit of

their objectives. Today post-modern terrorism has a new face called “Cyber terrorism”. Terrorists

are using the internet and cyberspace for two purposes: to support their activities and to attack the

critical information infrastructure. Currently terrorists are using Internet for communication, fund

raising, recruiting, training, coordination, planning attacks etc., Almost all terrorist organizations are

active today on internet and established their presence on internet by successfully running more than

8000 websites serving their members, supporters and sympathizers to achieve their “goals”. For

concealing their internet activities terrorists are using various techniques and technologies.

Cyberterrorism in India has now grown into an extremely dynamic phenomenon which is

not easy to track. As India increasingly going online, the dangers posed by internet terrorism are

beginning to escalate. Lashkar-e-taiba (LeT), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (HuJI), Indian Mujahideen’s

terrorists who are behind the recent blasts in Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and

Jaipur and “26/11 attack” demonstrated the internet and communication technology use by the

terrorists. Almost all the terrorist attacks on the Indian soil in recent past have established an e-

connection, a dangerous nexus between the virtual world and the real terrorists. The irony is despite

real threat India does not have a national strategy, policy or framework on countering terrorism in

the cyberspace.

Our dependence on information systems that are inherently insecure, the broad diversity of

potential sources of attack, and the international dimension of cyber terrorism raise a host of

complicated policy questions for Governmental security institutions. These include how best we can

improve the state of cyber security and what are the various dimensions for an effective cyber

security framework; what are the current major cyber security weaknesses and where we can

anticipate in future; what are the major means of leverage for addressing those weaknesses; what

roles government and private sectors should play; is a proactive or a reactive approach, which is

ideal, in preventing and responding to cyber terrorism, etc.,

Historically Government of India has been reactive on finding solutions to terrorism. To

fight against terrorism in general and cyber terrorism in particular, requires the law-enforcement

agencies to find new methods and techniques for intelligence gathering and analysis. The use of e-

mail messenger Services, social networking, real time communications over chatt Rooms by the

terrorists to discuss their plans and to convey instructions poses difficulties to the Indian Law

enforcement agencies in their collection of Technical Intelligence (TECHINT). In this study,

initially I reviewed the topic of cyber terrorism with reported incidents of cyber attacks and also

15 | P a g e

reviewed the international measures and best practices initiated in this area by governments in

general and Law enforcement agencies in particular. This study concludes with certain

recommendations the law-enforcement agencies should adopt and follow, to combat cyber terrorism

and misuse of internet by the terrorists.

16 | P a g e

Containing Corruption By Way Of Denial of Opportunities:

The Role of E-Governance

G. Lakshman

The command model of governance has failed miserably to address the grievances of market

participants and securing the property rights. The paradigm shift of recognizing the significance of

market friendly processes and need for dynamic reforms, security market regulatory agency (SEBI)

has been set-up in the country to ensure a predictable regulatory environment and participatory

decision making. The Supreme Court in one of its judgments relating to SEBI has observed

“Integration of power by vesting legislative, executive and judicial powers in the same body, in future, may raise several

public law concerns as the principle of control of one body over the other was the central theme underlying the doctrine of

separation of powers”. The JPC Report (1992) had found serious fault for lapses on the part of Ministry

of finance in supervising the securities markets. The JPC (2001) Report had made many

observations relating to functioning of SEBI and regretted that a full decade after the establishment

of SEBI, its performance has fallen far short of the expectations reposed in it. This suggests that

the constitution of regulators need close re-examination.

These concerns raise issues regarding the factors and dynamics which explain the functioning of the

regulator - whether the regulator has expertise, whether it is autonomous in taking decisions, is

accountable for its actions, has adequate powers and resources for its effective functioning. This

study is an attempt to investigate these issues in relation to SEBI. The methodology adopted has

been, primarily a study of the securities legislation both in India, the US, UK and Canada; a study of

the framework of institutional design of independent regulatory authorities by IOSCO and OECD;

and focus group interviews with officials concerned. The study concludes that the SEBI Board lacks

independence; the prescribed accountability measures for the regulator are ineffective, lack of penal

authority over all those connected with the market, lack of deterrent enforcement despite the

provisions, failure to do surveillance and proactively prevent the market integrity issues etc. It has

adequate authority and financial resources but lacks skilled human resources. Accordingly,

recommendations have been made to amend the statutes, since it is the statute which establishes a

regulator and is the weapon for efficient and effective governance of securities markets.

17 | P a g e

A Study of Touch Screen Usage in Bangalore Division of Indian Railways

Madhavi

The role of information technology in effective delivery of public services cannot be underestimated

.In the context of Railways effective delivery of transport services includes delivery of accurate and

up to date information about the services to passengers. With tremendous increase in passenger

traffic volume over the years alongside downsizing of railway staff it has become difficult to cater to

the information needs of passengers by the conventional face-to-face enquiry counters. Indian

railways have thus increasingly come to rely upon a variety of delivery systems to disseminate train

related information to passengers. These include web portals, POET (Passenger operated enquiry

terminal), Video enquiry, IVRS (Interactive voice response systems) and touch screen kiosks at

railway stations. This study focuses on one particular mode of information delivery i.e., the touch

screen kiosks. Twenty nine touch screens are provided at nineteen railway stations of Bangalore

division of South Western railway. Using a combination of primary data collected from manual

enquiry counters and through. questionnaires from users and online data stored in the touch screen

data base an attempt is made to find out the demographic profile of users, preferences of users for

other modes of information delivery as well as for different types of information and compare the

performance of touch screens visa manual enquiry counters. A total of 675 users were surveyed as

to their use of touch screen kiosk. As the touch screens are provided at stations on different routes

and spread across three different states the study also examines regional variations in demography

and user preferences.

18 | P a g e

Risk Analysis in Railway Projects

Narendra

This paper seeks to examine the role and importance of Risk Analysis techniques in Railway

Projects, with particular reference to New Lines, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects.

According to Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation’s report for September 2008, there

were a total of 155 Railway projects, each costing over Rs. 20 Crores, with cost escalation of 217%

(from 31907 Crores to 80000 Crores) and 66 Projects with time overruns from 1-161 months. In

this backdrop the ambitious plans of the Vision 2020 document, for major capacity enhancement

through capital expenditure of Rs. 14, 00,000 Crores by 2020, including 40% funding via PPP,

appear doubtful. And yet it cannot be denied that IR will continue to be one of the Prime movers in

transportation.

The inability of Railways to meet the public expectations, both with reference to its passenger

commitment and freight mover has led to growing criticism of Indian Railways (IR), with demands

of search for alternative management and ownership structure.

It is in this backdrop that a case is being made for adoption of Risk analysis and risk management

techniques for Railway projects. One of the major fallacies of present project appraisal and selection

techniques on IR is that projects are frequently selected under political/administrative compulsions

with one point cost and time and estimates that do not capture the project risks. To compound this

error, costs and time lines keep getting revised incrementally so that all notions of accountability and

relevance of project objectives disappear.

A formal mechanism of risk analysis and risk management would have resulted in the decision

maker being presented with the broad range of values that the project variables such as completion

schedules, cost etc. might take. This would lead to a more prudent and better project selection and

adoption of suitable risk mitigation techniques for efficient project management.

This paper seeks to point out that identification of potential project risk factors is not in the realm of

the “Unknown”. The sources of Risk stem from three areas- “Organizational Risks” emerging from

within, “External Risk” such as Legal and Regulatory environment and financial risks and lastly,

“Project specific Risks”. Based on surveys carried out, an attempt has been made to identify a ready

list of such factors and quantify their impact on the Project. Also, based on the same, a Risk Analysis

Matrix has been proposed, for initiation of Project Risk analysis. The theoretical findings in this

regard are sought to be validated with the help of a case study of the Patna Ganga bridge where it is

noticed that the risk weighted costs of the project closely approximate real life situations.

The survey also highlighted the need for adoption of modern project management techniques and

the urgent need for jettisoning the present administrative approach to project management. As a

corollary it emerged that currently the Organization suffers from lack of clarity and common goals,

as far as project management is concerned. Responses to essential project related requirements are

typically procedural, where the futility of action proposed is evident but continues to be adopted.

19 | P a g e

This highlights another related aspect of Railway Project management: “There is need for adoption

of modern project management techniques and creation of an empowered Construction

Organization as the first step towards risk mitigation in Railway Projects”.

Tools for Risk Analysis and risk mitigation techniques, including certain suggestive measures that IR

can adopt, are also specified, as the basis for policy initiative. The paper also mentions certain best

practices regarding Risk Analysis as followed by the World Bank, UK and Federal department of

Transportation in USA, to highlight that Government of India in general and IR in particular is

lagging behind in this critical activity and must play catch up. An adequate Risk Analysis mechanism,

if adopted as a policy tool, will greatly improve the quality of projects selected, reduce the present

subjective judgments exercise in initiating a new project, increase the accountability of the Project

executing agency and reestablish the faith of the public at large in Government’s ability to deliver

quality products at least cost.

20 | P a g e

Procurement Strategies and Issues in Project Based Procurement

Naresh Kumar Gupta

Efficient procurement is one of the most important factors in enabling an organization achieve its

goals be it private or a governmental agency. With the advent of the cutting edge information

technology and widespread globalization, the environment has become more challenging. What

organizations buy has increased in importance, size, and complexity, and thus the buying

methodology itself has changed. Leading procurement organizations are exploiting several

opportunities to leverage and optimize the supply base, minimize linked costs in the supply chain,

and maximize the value of goods and services for the users. These opportunities can be described in

a systematic framework of strategic sourcing that is applicable to services as well as materials. With

the emphasis on enhancing shareholder value, industry leaders are turning to new business designs

to capture and sustain profitable growth. Strategic sourcing can be taken to new levels and applied to

the business designs that will shape corporate revenue realization and competitive cost position as

well as the governmental agencies to achieve their goals in general and strategic areas such as nuclear

field in particular. By building sourcing process excellence and aligning capabilities with the

requirements that the organizations buy, procurement can have a key role in goal attainment and

organizational growth.

Efforts have been made to study some procurement frameworks researched by procurement

specialists with special emphasis on project based procurement. Primary data, obtained from the

procurement agency DPS of BARC and some other constituent units of the DAE, has been

subjected to indepth study and anaysis and efforts have been made to identify the areas of weakness

requiring strengthening. Based on the study carried out of relevent literature conclusions have been

drawn on as to what methodology could be adopted towards modifications in the existing system

leading to efficient and timely procurement for critical and sensitive establishments such as BARC.

It needs to be borne in mind that any delay in procurement for such units has a tremendous

demoralizing effect on the scientists and the project managers besides entailing time and cost

overruns. The role of the purchasing department attached to such units thus assumes special

significance and they need to adopt and implement purchase strategies ensuring timely and quality

supplies. However, it is equally important that the 3 Ps i.e. Policy, Process and Procedure are also set

in harmony not only within themselves but with the emerging external environment. The approach

adopted in this dissertation has thus been guided by a holistic principle under which the entire extant

system has been subjected to a detailed scrutiny and analysis. The conclusions drawn together with

the empirical evidence gathered by way of primary field data has thereafter been used to form the

basis of recommendations for effecting improvement.

21 | P a g e

Project Management: Risk Investigation in Railway Projects

Neeraj Agrawal

Globally, sound infrastructure is considered as a stepping stone for development and global

competitiveness. Planning commission of India has also recognized that to sustain GDP growth of

9% per annum, about US $514 billion investment is required in various infrastructure projects in 11th

five year plan (2007-2012). The demand for transportation in India has been rising- reflecting

growth of economy- and it is expected to continue its upward trend with projected growth of Indian

economy. Railway plays an important role in nation’s economy as a mainstay of transportation.

Throw forward of various railway projects at the end of tenth five year plan is 8300 Km, 6700 Km

and 2800 Km for new lines, gauge conversion and doubling projects respectively. Yearly rate of

accomplishment is only 250 Km, 1300Km and 350 Km respectively. There is an urgent need to

execute pending and upcoming projects on priority.

Risk management is fundamental for the success of a major project. The role of risk management is

to identify and evaluate the risks faced by professionals and to monitor and manage these risks.

Impact of improper risk management extends beyond straight forward financial damage to

operational disturbance, loss of service or amenity, user dissatisfaction and disruption of strategic

planning process. Too often, risks are under estimated and allocated to parties without the

knowledge, resources and capabilities to manage them effectively. Failure to manage risk may lead to

serious consequences- poor quality, prolonged delay, budget overrun, environmental problem and

prolonged contractual dispute.

The aim of this dissertation is to provide an overview of a project risk management process adopted

in construction industry. This is my humble attempt to understand the various key risks and their

mitigation measures in construction projects of Indian Railways. This dissertation provides the

results of data regarding various risk factors and their mitigation measures collected from the

executives involved in railway project.

Conventionally, risk management process in construction projects in Indian Railways is subjective

and unstructured. Factor analysis of survey results suggest that the risk factors vary with the type of

project. These results can be utilized for adopting appropriate mitigation techniques depending on

importance and risk appetite of the management. I feel this research would help reader to handle a

project in better perspective.

22 | P a g e

Taxation of International Transactions a Critical Assessment of ‘Permanent Establishment’:

Concept to Convenience

Rakesh Bhaskar

POST World War II due to certain historical events, such as beginning of an era of interdependence

and cooperation in war ravaged European countries; lowering of tariff barrier by many nations to

open up their hitherto closed economies and integrate with world economy; encouragement which

private initiative received for economic development on failure of communism in USSR; the process

of ‘Globalization’ started. Globalization facilitated unprecedented flow of international trade,

investment, and capital across historical borders of Sovereign States. For Sovereign States, growing

international trade came as an opportunity for enormous revenue collection by taxing international

business transactions in variegated ways.

All sovereign States have ‘residence based’ and ‘source based’ taxation rights, which are overlapping.

Due to taxation of same international transactions by two or more States, having overlapping taxing

rights, double taxation takes place and it discourages the international trade. Therefore, to avoid

double taxation and for fair distribution of taxing rights International Tax Treaties were entered into

between the sovereign countries. The basis of most of these tax treaties has been two internationally

acceptable Tax Treaty Models, which are namely OECD and UN Models. Most of the Multinational

Enterprises (MNEs) are residents of the developed countries and therefore, OECD model is more

favorable to Developed countries as it supports residence based taxation. As against it UN Model,

which supports source based taxation, is more favorable to Developing countries as MNEs earn

profit using resources of the developing countries. Interestingly, in both the Models ‘Permanent

Establishment’ (or PE in short) is a very important concept and it has been the basis of tax

distribution rights between the residence and the source countries. PE, as per basis definition, is a

fixed place from where business is done. If PE exists in source state, then the source state has right

to tax business activity. However, in absence of PE, rights to tax the business activity remains with

the resident state.

In the dissertation after discussing relevant provisions from domestic tax law, International Law, its

relevance in International Taxation, fiscal jurisdiction of sovereign states and how it leads to double

taxation, detailed discussion has been made on the concept of PE on its various aspects, such as

what is the basic definition of PE in OECD and UN Models, what are difference between the two,

why developing countries prefer UN Model, why developed countries prefer OECD model, what is

Dependent Agent PE and what about PE in Case of E-Commerce. Based on the discussion, it has

been found that the basic definition of PE found in OECD and UN Models has not sufficient in all

emerging situations. To take care of changing business paradigms due to advancement in

technology, especially in the field of communication, and new ways of doing business, there was

need to change the basic definition from time to time. Therefore, PE ‘Fictions’ have been included

23 | P a g e

in Article-5 of Model Tax Conventions to take care of new business situation. Thus PE has been

retained in Model Tax Conventions as PE is the basis of entire tax treaty law.

In fact, PE principle is so important in tax treaty law that unless there is a PE, business income

cannot be taxed in source country. With the help of recent Indian Court cases it has been seen that

in most of the cases non-resident person is taxable in India as per Income Tax Act 1961, but in case

tax treaty with the contracting state of which he is the resident is applicable it is absolutely necessary

that there should be a PE and the business is wholly or partly carried on from the PE. Otherwise,

Non-Resident will not be taxable in

India. It results in no tax on the non-resident in India as per tax treaty law. In spite of so much

importance attached to the concept of PE, still it may be said that it is an archaic concept, which in

the changed situation is not working satisfactorily. It could not adapt to changing business

paradigms. It is surviving due to PE fictions which have been added from time to time. In this

process PE, defined as fixed place of doing business, has almost lost its identity. It has been

subjected to all kinds of innovative interpretations in different countries by the courts and tax

authorities. Due to ecommerce in which cross border commerce at any level is possible without any

need for PE, has proved the inefficacy of PE. Further PE has been found favoring the Developed

Countries and therefore, works against the developing countries. I have therefore recommended that

Permanent Establishment should be removed from Tax Treaty Models. It should not be the basis of

allocating tax jurisdiction between the Source and the Residence States. In its place it has been

recommended that the ‘Tax Base Erosion Method’ should be adopted. In this method low

withholding tax will deducted from all those transaction in which payment made to non-residents is

claimed as deduction in computation of income by the residents. Some of the tax treaty law experts,

whose opinion I have take, have appreciated the idea that PE should be done away with and be

replaced by ‘Tax Base Erosion Method’. Some others have said that PE should be retained as the

consensus has been achieved for PE with great difficulty, and yet some others have suggested that

PE as an alternative may be retained, along with tax base erosion method, as an attractive alternative

in case of those contracting states to whom it suits and who adopt it willingly. In the end, I have

also discussed the fact of non-availability of data on taxation of Non-residents in the Income Tax

Department in India. Every year huge data is generated in the department on Non-Residents

assessments which have been centralized in Directorates of International Taxation. But it is not

captured using soft ware serving the needs of the department. This aspect deserves to be taken care

of. In absence of relevant data in support, it may be said that PE is responsible for revenue loss but

how much is the loss cannot be said.

24 | P a g e

Innovativeness in Indian Railways

V. Rama Manohara Rao

Indian Railways (IR) is a mammoth and complex organisation with twin objectives of commercial

viability and social responsibility. Innovativeness is indispensable for IR to achieve these objectives

simultaneously. On the contrary, repetitive nature of train operations and stringent safety mandates

demand higher levels of standardization and systematisation. Despite this contradiction Indian

Railways innovate. Introduction of UTS, e-ticketing, destination to destination nonstop Duronto

trains etc are few examples of innovative services introduced by Indian Railways. On policy level

also innovation receives due importance in the organisation which recognises innovation as

‘important pillar of management.’ Efforts of Indian Railways to promote innovations are evident

from the measures taken by the organisation like establishing Innovation Promotion group and

innovation incubation club.

Existing literature on innovativeness in Indian Railways is limited to occasional references in official

reports like Railway Budget, Vision 2020 document. Few academic studies analyse some cases of

innovation in Indian Railways. But there is a dearth of empirical studies to understand

innovativeness in Indian Railways in a rigorous academic manner. The purpose of this study is to fill

this gap.

This study adopts multi dimensional approach. Comprehensive understanding of innovativeness in

Indian Railways is attempted by approaching it from behavioural, process and strategic

innovativeness constructs (Wang & Ahmed, 2004), (Dobni, 2008). Sample space is chosen covering

three layers in vertical hierarchy of Indian Railways for representative outcome. Survey questionnaire

on 250 railway officials resulted in 193 usable responses. Officials across hierarchy, years of service

and departments are covered in the survey. Hypothesis testing and factor analysis are conducted

using survey data. A case of innovation is analyzed and the results of case study and empirical study

are juxtaposed.

Employees in different functional units of working think significantly different in considering the

organisation as innovative. Individual proclivity to be innovative is conditioned by the organisational

culture. Factor analysis buttresses this result. IR is inclined towards continuous changes in process

against reactive correction to failed processes. But efficiency of processes to facilitate innovativeness

is wanting. Strategic innovativeness in Indian Railways is more of process oriented in nature than

target oriented and is positively related to innovativeness.

25 | P a g e

A Study of Mobile Payments: Policy Issues

N. Ramesh

Mobile Payments is a new way of paying for any transactions. It is similar to paying by Debit/credit

card or through Internet Banking, i.e. without using cash, except that payment is done through the

Mobile phone of a customer. It is a easier way of paying Utility bills, regular purchases, Ticket

purchases etc. It offers the convenience of payment 24X7, anywhere, anytime, without carrying any

cash or cards, and by using mobile phone. Presently there are two ways to pay using mobile phone;

Mobile Banking and prepaid mobile payment instrument or more commonly called mobile wallet.

This study is treats mobile payment as a n innovation, which is going to be adopted. It considers all

the stakeholders in mobile payment services, classified in to supply side (banks, mobile service

providers, mobile payment roviders), demand side(customers and merchants), facilitation

side(regulators, govt organizations, industry bodies).

This study aims to find out various concerns of different stakeholders. Analysis is done through the

theoretical framework, available in innovation theory and earlier studies in mobile banking and

mobile payments. Various attributes of a adoption of innovation are examined, in light of the data

collected from different stakeholders. After, analysing the responses, policy issues encompassing all

the sectors are discussed.

26 | P a g e

Orissa Power Sector Reforms - Promise VRS Performance - Lessons for Policy Making

Rasmi Ranjan Das

Orissa pioneered the power sector reforms in the country in 1996 amidst lot of hope and

enthusiasm. However, 13 years down the line questions are being asked about the sustainability of

reforms. Though even today there is overall support for the reform process, it is not uncommon to

find suggestions or plea for scrapping the reforms on account of the alleged failure of privatised

distribution utilities to provide quality service or in carrying out rural electrification.

Most studies on Orissa power sector reforms have centred on the model and the process of reforms

rather than on any empirical analysis of the performance of the sector after the reforms or any

analysis of where it succeeded and where it failed and the reasons for such success or failures. The

present study intends to fill this gap in research.

The objectives of the power sector reforms were the following: (i) making the sector financially

viable by improving efficiency and aligning tariffs with the cost of supply, (ii) increasing access of

electricity and improving service delivery, (iii) ensuring accountability in performance of the utilities

and (iv) attracting private investment to the sector. The present study tries to find out as to what

extent the reforms have achieved the above objectives. For this purpose using the efficiency and

equity frame work the study examines various quantitative variables relating to financial and

operational parameters and level of increase in access and consumption of electricity and compares

performance of the sector after reforms with the pre reform situation. It also compares the

performance of Orissa utilities with the performance of utilities in neighbouring state and the

national average. The quantitative analysis was buttressed by in depth interviews and discussions

with stake holders across the spectrum.

The study finds that while the financial performance of utilities has improved, there has not been

any major improvement in the loss reduction levels of Orissa Discoms. Rural electrification and

consumer load growth in LT category have suffered thus limiting the access of electricity. The study

argues that unless substantial government and regulatory interventions are made at this stage,

whatever benefits have accrued because of the reforms may not be sustainable. Accordingly the

study recommends several policy level interventions to make the reforms successful.

27 | P a g e

Channel Relationship: A Study of Franchisees of BSNL Mobile Business in Karnataka

Ritu Pande

The role of distribution channels in marketing of products is critical as they not only serve market

but also make them. (Anderson and Coughlan, 2001). This study tries to examine channel

relationship in the context of a large public service provider in the telecom domain (BSNL) and its

franchisees in the state of Karnataka. More specifically this study tries to understand the perspective

of the franchisees towards BSNL from the dimensions of trust, support and satisfaction. Besides,

this study tries to examine whether the level of trust and satisfaction of BSNL franchisees of

Karnataka is positively reflected in their performance. The results suggest that franchisees are

dissatisfied with BSNL but consider BSNL to be a trustworthy partner. The reason for this could be

BSNL being a public sector company, transparency in its approach and little incentive to cheat its

franchisees. Our results could not statistically demonstrate that increase in trust or satisfaction level

is reflected in performance. The study suggests that BSNL needs to focus on providing better

advertising support, addressing the service and financial concerns of franchisees along with setting

reasonable targets in consultation with franchisees.

28 | P a g e

Development and Implementation of Information Systems Projects in Central Government

Organisation in India: The Role of Power And Politics

Sandeep Sarkar

In India (as in most developing countries) the Government/ public sector has been on the path of

reform. One of the key constituent of this reform process has been the development and

implementation of Information Systems for achieving the larger goal of managerialism of public

services.

However there are instances of failures of IT & IS implementation in Government and public

organizations not only to India but also in most developing and certain developed countries too.

Amongst the various reasons given for such failures, one related to people and organization emerges

strong.

The central question that the study attempts to analyse is why there is resistance in the development

and implementation of an Information systems project in the Government of India in the context of

the power and politics equation unleashed due to it and how can the positions and interests of the

stakeholders be examined and addressed within the contours of the implementation strategy.

The study uses, as a case study, the IT renewal initiative of a Central Government Department and

analyses the interplay of power and politics in the implementation of Information systems in the

Government. It brings out the important analyses and lessons for managers and implementers to

consider potential political activities, the formal and informal power structures and decision rights in

the Government department when designing and implementing an Information system. The paper

also provides suggestions for protecting structuring the IS development and implementation efforts

in a way that is acceptable to most stakeholders.

Traditional IS literature with regard to the power and politics interplay in IS implementation,

specially the works of Lynne Markus, Peter Weill and Silva and Hirschheim, provide the lens

through which this case study has been examined. The study examines the ‘fit’ of such theories to an

Indian setting and that too in the public sector. It finds that the explanatory powers of such

literature are somewhat restricted. Two new aspects have emerged out of this study. While the study

is not easily given to over generalization, its exploratory efforts can pave the way for further research

on this subject.

29 | P a g e

Financing Requirements Of Micro Small And Medium Enterprises - Does The Size Play A

Role? A Study of Textile and Auto Ancillary Industries

Sarada Prasan Mohanty

Worldwide, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been accepted as the engine of

economic growth and for promoting equitable development particularly because of their

employment intensive in nature. The major advantage of the sector is its employment potential at

low capital cost.

In India the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector contributes significantly to the

manufacturing output, employment and exports of the country. As per available statistics (4th Census

of MSME Sector), this sector employs an estimated 59.7 million persons spread over 26.1 million

enterprises. It is estimated that in terms of value, MSME sector accounts for about 45% of the

manufacturing output and around 40% of the total export of the country.

However, this sector has a major bottleneck which curtails its growth. That is problem of access to

finance. Despite the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India and

Reserve Bank of India forming several institutional mechanism as well as policies to finance this

sector, still after six decade since independence this bottleneck is yet to be addressed.

In this study we have attempted to analyse the different financial parameters that have undergone

changes over a decade for the small enterprise sector and their consequent effect on availability of

finance to these sector by the institutional mechanism.

Within different credit facilities available to the MSME segment we tried to analyse and interpret

their access to Term Loans vis a vis working capital loans. And whether, the policies to ensure credit

flow to this sector has identified this weakness and formulated policy in this regard.

Further, several global organizations demanding for opening of banking sector in India to foreign

banks, allow them at par with Indian banking industries and issue licenses to open several branches

in India. , we tried to evaluate the financing pattern of the existing foreign banks in India. And how

they behave in their approach to smaller units vis a vis domestic banks in India.

30 | P a g e

Globalisation of Textile Trade in the Post MFA Period and Its Impact on Environment

Standards - Case of Tirupur Textile Processing Units

Shanmuga Selvam

Trade growth for a relatively poor country is thought to shift the composition of industrial

output towards dirtier products, aggravating environmental damage. India’s rapidly growing textile

trade and serious environmental degradation appear to be no exception. However, much of India’s

trade growth is attributable to the international fragmentation of production. This kind of trade

could be cleaner, if fragmented production occurs in cleaner goods, or industries specialises in

cleaner stages of production within these goods. Using data obtained from Tiruppur Textiles

Processing units, I present evidence that Tiruppur Textile Processing has become cleaner over time

while witnessing increase in international trade. Then I explore the reasons towards cleaner trade.

The regulatory role assumed by the higher courts in making the textile processing units to adopt

cleaner technology is the most important factor for the industry to move towards cleaner

technology. Data obtained from the textile processing units at Tiruppur support the view that

regulatory role assumed by the courts has contributed positively to the decline in the pollution

intensity of textile processing.

31 | P a g e

Study of Commodity Cooperatives as Institutions to Address Rural Poverty

Sibabrata Choudhury

Majority of poor people are concentrated in rural areas that are characterized by dependence on

agriculture and forest produce for their livelihoods. Poverty reduction strategies in most developing

countries are focused on the provision of basic services and improving effectiveness of peoples'

institutions for gaining sustained incomes and livelihoods. Commodity cooperatives can be essential

institutions in rural areas in poverty alleviation programmes in ensuring social equity. However, in

spite of its century long heritage and remarkable achievement in creating the largest cooperative

network in the world cooperative scene in India is perceived to have been largely ineffectual in

translating its vision into reality. A bird’s eye view of cooperatives in India gives the impression that

cooperatives have enjoyed outstanding success only in a few isolated pockets of the country, while

they are of marginal significance in the rest of the country.

The paper draws lessons from the stages of evolution of Cooperatives and related legislations in

India and particularly examines the operations and experiences of members of three Cooperative

Federations/Unions located in the tribal concentrated districts of Anantapur and Adilabad in

Andhra Pradesh and Sambalpur in Odisha. These commodity cooperatives have been promoted as

per the provisions of the “progressive enactments” that provide scope for independent functioning

bereft of Government and political interference. As cooperatives play a pivotal role of safety nets for

disadvantaged groups thereby protecting their interests, it is imperative to address some of the

pertinent problems faced by them. This paper adopts a case study mode and attempts to provide a

lead in identifying such crucial policy issues concerning commodity cooperatives. The aim is to

outline some of the thrust areas that would constitute a comprehensive reform package in the

domain of cooperative policymaking. The study reflects that rural producers and gatherers can own

and operate an enterprise provided they are given the initial support and guidance by facilitative

organizations that believe in the “principles of cooperation”. It is felt that well targeted reforms

would certainly facilitate the process of cooperative repositioning, thus enabling the cooperatives to

retain their competitive advantage in the changing scenario.

32 | P a g e

Radio Frequency Spectrum Pricing For 3G Telecom Licenses - A System Dynamics

Modelling Approach

Tarun Choudhary

With the liberalization and opening of telecom market, telecom industry has been growing at a

tremendous pace. This new telecom revolution is largely because of the innovations and

development in wireless communications. The first and foremost requirement for wireless

communication is the availability of radio frequency spectrum. Critical issue regarding the awarding

of radio frequency has been the allocation mechanism and its pricing. Different countries have

adopted different mechanisms for awarding spectrum, of which some have been successful and

some have been failures. This study attempts at figuring out the factors influencing the pricing and

allocation mechanism for 3G telecom licenses in India. Since the award of 3G telecom licenses have

been already made in various countries long back, it becomes necessary for India to award 3G

telecom licenses at the earliest and try to be competitive and provide better and additional services

to the users.

The potential role of the government and regulations, with significant uncertainties and complexity

in the nature of the interaction of large number of interrelated players makes it difficult to determine

the valuation of the spectrum. Since the policies cannot be static in nature, it is important that timely

and prudent policy interventions are needed to increase and sustain the number of 3G users and

hence the revenues from it. Since there is so much interrelation between the players, System

Dynamics approach seems to be the best approach as it takes into account the feedback nature of

various policies to draft a policy framework. System Dynamics based modelling approach is more

suitable in dealing with the complex interrelatedness and to develop a policy model.

In this study, it has been attempted to develop System Dynamics based simulation models based on

various policy model, user perception and average revenue per user (ARPU). This model will help in

determining the influence of various policies and help policy makers to influence those factors that

can foster both technology, business in India for public good.

33 | P a g e

Containing Corruption By Way Of Denial Of Opportunities: The Role of E-

Governance

G. Venkataraman

Prevention of Corruption is a major challenge to almost all the countries in the world. Governance

is a process by which institutions, organizations, companies and societies interact amongst

themselves and with the public. In the process of Governance, Government officials enjoy a certain

degree of discretion. This, coupled with the Monopoly nature of Government functions, and the

anonymity and the opaqueness attended to the procedures adopted by the Government, provide an

ambient environment for the abuse of entrusted power by the Government officials in the discharge

of their duties. This has led to rampant administrative corruption. The opportunities for corruption

can be denied to a great extent if these attendant ambient circumstances and environment can be

avoided. Information Technology can “informate” the underlying processes of administration, i.e.,

visualize (making transparent) the otherwise opaque organisational processes. This sort of

visualization (transparency) itself is an effective Anti-Corruption tool. Though a number of e-

Governance programmes have been implemented in India and elsewhere in the world, the anti-

corruption benefits of such programmes are only incidental, even if some of them are significant, as

prevention of corruption was not considered as one of the primary objectives in designing the e-

Governance Programmes. However, the OPEN System (Online Procedures Enhancement for Civil

Applications), implemented by Seoul Metropolitan Government, is an exception, where containing

corruption was one of the primary objectives of the initiative. Similarly, a number of e-Government

initiatives, though, not designed explicitly to contain corruption, have contributed significantly in

addressing the issue of corruption, by way of re-engineering of the processes involved, by increasing

transparency, by simplifying the procedures, by facilitating citizen participation, etc. In this Paper, a

number of such successful initiatives have been studied and the learning points from them have

been compiled, which will be of great use in fine-tuning e-Governance to contain corruption.

34 | P a g e

Cross-Border Trading In Electricity among the South-Asian Countries

Vishnuvardhana Reddy

This study examines the opportunities and potential for Cross Border Trading in electricity. The

data available and the studies undertaken so far indicate that there is a good potential for such

electricity trade among India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. There are several historical factors

which have been impeding the growth of a strong trade relationship among these countries. Several

initiatives taken in SAARC forum and the adoption of SAFTA have so far made a limited impact in

improving the trade climate in the region. However, the emerging story of strong economic growth

fundamentals of the South Asian countries has provided a positive back drop for the renewed

interest in the subject of Cross Border Trading in electricity. It has been recongised by the countries

of the region that the economic growth cannot be sustained and accelerated without achieving

energy security and expanding additional sources of energy availability on a long term basis.

The study also analyses the data on electricity trading within the country and concludes that there is

a healthy development of electricity market within the country. The successful functioning of

electricity exchanges and the trades carried on by the trading licensees has improved the volumes

and the depth of the short term electricity market in the country. The trading platform is mature

enough to be extended for trading of short term electricity for imports and exports.

The impact of Electricity Act, 2003 and the role of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission

(CERC) are also analysed in terms of their impact on development of electricity market in the

country. The assessment and expected response of various risks associated with this segment of

business are also analysed. The study concludes by making several recommendations in terms of

investor expectations of governmental policies and that of the role of the Regulatory regimes in

these countries.