HISTORY IN SPICES & SPICES IN HISTORY IF you’ve read histories of the colonial period then you’ll know that European traders first came to India because they were looking for spices to take back to their countries. In those days, any Indian spice was so highly valued in Western markets that traders found it worth their while to spend years at sea in inhospitable conditions just to return with a consignment of cloves or nutmeg. And Europeans, in turn, prided themselves on possession of the spices of the East. If a man had a fistful of nutmeg, he was probably a millionaire! To serve any kind of Indian spice was regarded as a mark of great prosperity and social accomplishment. As we all know, the Spice Route became the stuff of legends (and the subject of many contemporary books) and led, almost entirely; to the birth of colonialism. The Europeans first came here as traders (as in the case of John Company; better known later as the East India Company), then settled down to wage war with the local rajahs and nawabs and then took over great swathes of land. In most colonies, the traders were then replaced by governments themselves and 19th century imperialism was created: In India, for instance, the East India Company ran the show till 1857 when the violence of the Mutiny/Revolt/First War of Independence (pick your option according to your political perspective) led the Crown to intervene and Queen Victoria proclaimed that her government would administer India henceforth. Why am I giving you a history lesson? Well, because two things about this story have always intrigued me – more so, now, as we celebrate the anniversary of the battles of 1857. First of all, do we realize that the foundation of Imperialism – and certainly; of British rule in India – was food? If the East India Company had not arrived here in search of spices, there would have been no British Empire. But it’s the second thing .If the British came here looking for spices and the ones they took back to their country were so valued, then why is all European food (and English food in particular) so lacking in spice? Think about it. When you consider the diet of the average Brit, or even the rich Brit, in that era, do you imagine him eating anything other than joints of lamb, meat [...]
Archive for August 2nd, 2007
Posted in 
PRIVATISATION
August 2nd, 2007 
Deepak PRIVATISATION For the last four decades, India has been pursuing a path in which the public sector was expected to be the engine of growth. But now, it is accused to have failed miserably in achieving its goal and so disenchantment is growing. THE PRINCIPAL CHARGES AGAINST THE PSU’s: The principal charges against the public sector are: low rate of return on investment, declining contribution to national savings, poor capacity utilization, over-staffing and bureaucratization leading to excessive delays and wastage of scarce resources. Performance of PSU It was stated in various plan documents that PSUs should earn a rate of return of 12 per cent per annum. But gross profit as a percentage of capital employed ranged between 4 to 8 per cent till 1980-81. During the seventh plan period the gross profit was 12 to 13 per cent. This was because the petroleum sector which accounted for 18.4 per cent of capital employed provided 40.5 per cent of total gross profit earned by all public sector undertakings. The performance of all other sectors was well below the targeted level of 12% gross rate of return. The operational efficiency of state government enterprises revealed that they were perennial loss makers. The chief culprits among them’ were: State Electricity Boards, Irrigation Works and Road Transport Corporation. The situation is distressing and is the cumulative result of the poor performance and absence of any remedial action taken to alleviate the situation. The failure of public sector is glaring in respect of savings. After 39 years of planning, the public sector contributes only 8% of the- nation’s saving: that also in part, through heavy taxation and semi-fictitious profits of reserve bank. The remaining 92% of the nation’s saving came from the private sector. The PSUs show a mixed record judged by the criterion of capacity utilization. There are high performates like Indian Oil Corporation, National Textile Corporation and in news-print who can equal any private sector undertaking in terms of efficiency, absorption of advanced technology and even in surplus generation along with a better deal for its employees. There are of course scores of low performates who bring the overall standing of PSUs down. Causes of non-performance: The major problems faced by public sector enterprises could be summed up as under: The freedom for decision-making by PSU managers was extremely limited because of political interference. Consequently inordinate delays resulting in inefficiencies, lack of [...]
