Author: Harini Calamur

Isn’t it time we pay for quality news?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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There is a story about the early days of news broadcasting on BBC radio. It was customary to have a news programme, fifteen minutes long,  that told the British population about the goings on in their country, and the Empire.

One day in April 1930, the news presenter made a startling announcement “today, there is no news”, and proceeded to play piano music. Today, the world has changed. A star child calling his father ‘papa’ makes it to the headlines.

Ever since CNN launched the first satellite news channel in 1980, there has been an explosion in the number of news outlets bringing us the news.

News, until this time, was run primarily as a public good, by private individuals, governments, and trusts. The activity of delivering news was subsidised by the State. Competition was regulated by the State, and there were clear-cut guidelines on who could deliver news to the citizen. This entire activity was aided by the fact that the barriers to entry, were high, because of the costs associated with gathering and distributing news. But, new technologies changed the scenario.

As Moore’s Law kicked in, and the microchip began getting smaller, and being able to carry more data,  the costs associated with gathering and disseminating news began dropping drastically. News transformed from being a public good, that citizens needed to make informed choices, to becoming a commodity that we used, consumed, and disposed – like any other fast moving good.

With the dawn of the digital era, this glut of news increased organically. Now, anyone with a digital device, and an opinion or two, can technically start a news brand, and deliver ‘news’ to their limited audience. And, that has pretty much what has been happening.

When news was a public good, it was clear – no matter what the editorial bias of the publication- that there was a certain responsibility to deliver accurate news and views on important happenings to the audience. Because of the nature of the good, and the costs involved, news was rationed. Once a day in a printed form.

Once a day, in each language, as video. Maybe a few times a day as audio. Also, there was a very clear hierarchy of what was news, and what was not. For example, two decades ago, the only time film stars would make it to the front page of a respected newspaper was if it were a death announcement.

Relationships, divorces, movie releases and the rest would be confined to gossip magazines. However, as news moved to a round the clock format, it became commoditised, and the need for new forms of ‘news’ came up.

The moment news became a commodity, the rules under which news operated changed. It was no longer about informing, educating, and making the audience aware of issues. News goals were now audience acquisition, market share, revenues, and profits.

None of them are bad terms in themselves, when applied to soap or tea. But apply it to a public good, and all hell will break loose, because of the nature of the good.

This year, as per the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, there are 388 news channels. The number of newspapers and magazines, in 2017 was 1,14,820 – around 17,000 newspapers, and 98,000 magazines. There is no estimate – accurate or otherwise – of digital news sites. While the numbers are impressive and can be used to depict a diverse, thriving, democratic nation with a plethora of choices, it also denotes massive oversupply.

Most news organisations in India earn their revenues in three ways – advertising, subscription, and advertiser funded content. In print, subscription rates are the highest – between Rs 2 and Rs 10 per day per publication. Most publications charge around Rs 4.

TV comes second with rates ranging between Rs 1 and Rs 2 per month. That is works out to between 3-5 paise a day. And, digital content is mostly free – there are a few sites that have tried to go subscription based, but it is an uphill climb.

There are two reasons why the subscription rates are so low. The first is to maximise the number of readers, it is assumed that lower the cost, more the readers. The second is to act as a barrier to entry for new entrants. At these subscription rates, it would be difficult for a new entrant to make profits. Given these, the only option left for news organisations is to turn to the advertiser for revenues. And, the advertiser is not interested in the ‘public good’ nature of news, they are interested in pushing their own agenda.

Whether we look at fake news, or we look at planted news, be it paid news, or celeb plugs – one thing is clear we get what we pay for – in this case we pay for next to nothing and get slightly more than that.

If we want news that informs us, that enlightens us, and enables us to make the right choices, maybe we need to avoid free, or almost free, content, and look at organisations that are investing in news gathering and providing genuine value to their readers on issues that impact them.

With the issue of ‘paid news’ looming large, in India and elsewhere, it is clear someone has to pay for news – if it is not the reader, it is the one setting the agenda. What would you prefer?

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Does India have a public-safety problem?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Last week, a three-storey building collapsed in Jodhpur. There were many injuries. I couldn’t ascertain whether there were any casualties, as media stopped covering the story, after the inditial announcement. About a fortnight ago, a flyover collapsed in Varanasi. 15 people lost their lives. The structure was under construction, when blocks of cement fell right below, on the road which was under use.

But, for the fact that Varanasi is the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency, the incident, possibly, would have not even made it to the news cycle. In the first week of May, the Bomikhal overbridge collapsed killing one in Bhubaneshwar. Just a few days later, a bridge across a drain, collapsed in Bengaluru, leaving 4000 people stranded. There were no casualties, but there was a tremendous loss of time.

A simple google search on construction related accidents in India, will throw up a great many results. At the top of it, is collapses of structures, that crush people to death. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data looks at death due to collapse of structure, as a separate head for reporting deaths. In 2015 there were 1885 deaths due to collapse of structure, or a shade over 5 deaths a day.

If you deep dive into the data, and look at the breakup this is how it looks

What is interesting is that none of these were caused by natural hazards like earth quakes. Those are recorded under a different had by NCRB. These deaths are on account of poor safety standards in operation.

In most developing nations, it is assumed that there will be a certain safety standard insofar as new constructions are concerned, and people will not die from structures collapsing on them. They also ensure that older structures are repaired on time, and structures that cannot be repaired are condemned for demolition. Also, there are very clear ‘under construction’ safety protocols in place – that cordon off areas right below the construction zones, to minimise damage.

Public officials, paid by the taxpayer, are supposed to consistently monitor safety procedures, revise them when required, and ensure that they are ruthlessly administered to guarantee the lives and limbs of citizens. Which is why you rarely hear of building or bridge crashes in developed countries, and even when they do, the casualties are once in a decade or so. It is not as though these kind of safety protocols are alien to India. We have seen them in operation when the metros have been constructed right through busy thoroughfares. It is just that there is no systematic application of safety at workplace rules.
The construction sector in India is governed by the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, and is supposed to govern the safety and welfare of approximately 4.4 crore construction workers(NSSO 2009-10). But given that much of the employment in this sector is temporary, unstructured, and unskilled – the incidence of casualties and fatalities is high.

The Occupational Health and Safety Profile – India, 2017 report states that the maximum number of fatalities due to ‘maximum accidents occurred in construction industry due to fall from height which was about one third of the total accidents occurring in this industry followed by electrocutions.’ If any of you have been to a construction site, and seen people climb up the tied together bamboo scaffolding, without safety harness; or seen the way naked wires are plugged into power points, these numbers will not surprise you.

While safety at the workplace needs to be strengthened, and existing rules imposed – given the rapid pace of construction in India, it is likely that the workforce to check on violations is spread thin. Also, given the rampant corruption associated with this sector, most inspections are possibly paid off before they suggest any remedial action.

But, there is another part to this entire problem, and that is the impact of lack of safety on the public. Every time a building collapses, or a bridge falls – people are impacted. And, these kinds of incidents aren’t rare. They are everyday occurrences across India. However, as citizens, we don’t take the lack of safety very seriously. A construction that obstructs pedestrians or traffic, is just seen as one more thing we have to overcome. We don’t see it as impacting us, till it does.

At the core, there is a lack of safety culture in India. Be it the way we construct buildings, or the way we cross our roads; be it the way we refuse to wear helmets, or the way we drive – there is very little concern for personal safety, and the safety of others. In fact, there is an almost devil may care “it won’t happen to me” attitude when dealing with safety. This solution to the lack of safety culture is not just legislation.

While rules will make some of us more compliant, the need of the hour is inculcating safety in everyday life. And, that will only happen when we start valuing human life. Not just ours, but the lives of everyone.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Time for India to think of her own data protection law

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Privacy means different things to different people. And in today’s world dominated by social media, the definitions have mushroomed like weeds on an unattended farm.

Most of us on social media live lives of an exhibitionist. Sharing what we eat, where we go, where we holiday, what we buy, who our friends are, and what our political preference is.

We are window-shopping in a mall and casually write our email address or mobile phone number in guestbook of a store, a stranger selling credit cards or for the lure of a lucky-draw prize at the mall itself.

Clearly, most of us don’t cast a fleeting glance at the concept of privacy.

And therefore, it is left to the paranoid amongst us to take action that prevents others from misusing this data we put up for people and machines to see and learn about us.

The ink on the Cambridge Analytica saga has not dried yet. The company, although now shut down, was profiling Facebook users and pointing them towards sophisticated political propaganda that may have influenced voting patterns.

It is now believed that this kind of sophistry may have had some role to play in how the UK voted for Brexit, and the surprise victory of Donald Trump in the USA.

Data, as some now say, is the new oil. There is a difference, though. Oil is a finite resource we are running out of at an alarming, pace but production of data seems infinite.

Oil does not create more fossil fuel. Data creates more data.

Given this, the question honestly is quite simple.

How do you regulate who controls your data, who uses it and for what purposes?

For example, is it ethical for a fitness tracker to share my daily fitness progress with someone who would then use it to suggest a diet plan to me, without my explicit permission?

On the face of it, this does not seem like a ‘major’ invasion of privacy; after all, who doesn’t want to try something new to lose weight.

Who then is to decide what a reasonable amount of invasion of privacy is, and what is not?

This is why there are calls for regulation of our data.

With an aim to put a user’s data in her hands, Europe has introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is the strongest data protection law the world has seen so far.

At the core of this new law is the ability for ordinary citizens to ask to see the data that companies, or governments, have on them. The law takes a step further and allows the citizen to demand deletion of this data. The law even outlines firm guidelines on how data is to be collected and used.

This seems years ahead of what we are grappling with in India at the moment– Aadhaar.

As we struggle with the privacy issues surrounding the programme that was conceived as an instrument to efficiently distribute subsidies among the poor, it is now being linked across ecosystems – be it banks, mobiles, rent agreements, and even payments.

It is in this context that one has to look at a structure of the GDPR.

As the country’s apex court discusses Aadhaar, it is time India also began a debate on the regulation of all data.

While the Information Technology Act of 2000 has a framework regarding the collection, collation, and use of data, experts believe that the sophistication of online platforms and data scientists leaves our privacy on shaky grounds.

With the Supreme Court asserting the right to privacy as being a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution, it is time to relook at the IT Act, and it is also time to look at regulating data and how it is being used.

Who owns our data? Who controls it? Who monetises it? Who benefits from it? What do we do to get out of this, and most importantly, how do we get out of this.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

The battle for artificial intelligence domination

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Artificial Intelligence is the technology that is supposed to cause the most disruption to the way in which we live and work. At its most basic level, Artificial Intelligence is getting machines to think, act, and make decisions like human beings. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines it as

1: a branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behaviour in computers

2: the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behaviour

In recent years, there has been much written about the impact of Artificial Intelligence on jobs, and society. At the core, is the great fear that machines, robots, enabled with AI will take away human jobs, making corporates more profitable, but leading to massive unemployment. Luminaries such as Bill Gates have proposed a tax on the use of robots with AI, to mitigate the impact of tax revenue losses by the state. For example, if a worker earned Rs 6 lakh per annum, and paid tax on it; the value of the tax on the robot would be the value paid by the human it replaced. This would ensure that state would continue to have a stream of taxes with which to undertake social welfare. It would also slow down the replacement of humans by machines. Or so goes the theory. Bill Gates is not the only tech billionaire to sound the warning cry on AI and jobs. Elon Musk believes that machines would be better than human beings, and job losses aren’t the worse things that can happen to humanity. Musk believes there should be regulation on the development and implementation of AI. Both Musk and Jeff Bezos sound warning bells on the use of AI in weaponry, or autonomous weapons.

The Big Believers

Everyone is not pessimistic about the rise of Artificial Intelligence. China, for example, is extremely gung-ho about the prospect. In a policy document released last year, China talks about the vision to dominate the field of AI by 2030.  They plan to build a 150-billion-dollar industry by this date and are investing heavily in Artificial Intelligence. About 22% of all patents filed worldwide, in Artificial Intelligence, are Chinese. Some of the things they are doing is extremely advanced and with immediate application. Their facial recognition systems, used for surveillance, take less than a second to recognise a face among millions.

In India, the Future of Jobs from 2017 has an almost cheerful outlook on Artificial Intelligence, and what they label Industry 4.0 technologies. It predicts that 9% of jobs in 2022 would be jobs that do not exist today, while 37% jobs will have radically different skill sets. But, where are the skills for this new market? And, what is the aim?

With the tech giants in the United States already dominating the Artificial Intelligence Space, and the Chinese Government seeming to put its considerable weight behind the country’s giant leap forward in the field of Artificial Intelligence, what are India’s priorities? and how does the Government of India ensure that these 9% jobs predicted, have people trained to deliver, and the 37% jobs that need ‘radically changed skill sets’ have people who have reskilled?

The Government of India had set up a task force to look at the broad area of Artificial Intelligence. The report acknowledges India’s lack of expertise in AI technologies, and fears that policy decisions may end up being a function of opinion rather than technical consensus. The report also calls for a thrust in AI in 10 separate domains from manufacturing, to healthcare delivery, from agriculture to defence, from PDS, to education. It also sees the collection, collation, and sharing of data as being a major issue, vis-à-vis privacy. Unlike the Chinese government that can trample on individual rights; the Government of India must work within a democratic framework, where individual rights are protected.

Rise of the Machines

And, in the years to come, this is what is going to define the battle for AI domination. How do countries, and companies that work in countries with citizens’ rights guaranteed, however flawed that guarantee maybe, compete with a nation and companies working in nations, with no safeguards for human rights? Can this battle be won keeping all those rights intact, or to compete do we handover our rights? After all, technology does not know international boundaries. How do you plan for tanks or missiles that are controlled by AI? For now, when we look at AI or robots enabled with AI, we see those cute things that make us smile. It doesn’t take much to convert a robot garbage picker into a robot that lays mines. The United Nations is worried enough about the potential of autonomous AI weaponry to start a conversation about it as well as call to discuss governance of AI and robotics.

Right now, it is the proverbial wild west. The question is whether AI should develop further before regulations kick in, or should regulations kick in before it is too late. The window of time is very small – and it might be better to have a broad agreement in place before Skynet takes over.

Harini Calamur works at the intersection of digital content, technology, and audiences.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

What the rise of protectionism means for world order

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Second World War, in many ways, marked a watershed on the international stage. Many of the developments that we see today are an outcome of circumstances that led the world to go to war, and cause unprecedented death, destruction, and devastation. The fallout of the war was manifold.

The starting point was decolonisation. While individual colonies had robust independence movements going, the post-war trend was a world where people were equal. And equality could not be achieved with colonization. The second major trend was international institutions – such as the United Nations, the IMF, the International Court of Justice – that helped resolve either the issues of sovereign nations, or issues between sovereign nations.

The third cornerstone was globalisation and trade. It was believed that the closed economies that preceded the period of the Second World War, increased the hostility between nations, making war easier.

In 2018, all three seem to be in various degrees of peril, the most impacted being the principal of free trade.

Last week, China instructed western airlines to refer to Taiwan as a part of China and not an independent nation, on their promotional material. While it might be a stretch to call it colonization, it is apparent that the right of the Taiwanese to remain independent is under threat.

Chinese Imperialism

China has a modern version of imperialist ambitions.  China’s claims on lands, be it Arunachal Pradesh, be it the way it has swallowed up Tibet, be it the way it is nudging its way into the South China Sea – paves the way for other nations to flex their muscles vis-à-vis their not so strong neighbours. So, while colonies prima facie no longer exist, it is also because the nature of colonisation has changed. Be it the Middle East, or Afghanistan, African nations or Southern America – there are periodic bouts where outside control on the nation increases, primarily to control the nation’s resources, leaving the countries in a perpetual state of economic, social, and political instability. Another aspect contributing to this newer form of colonization is sovereign debt.

Recently China (yes, them again) took charge of the Humbantota port in Sri Lanka, after Sri Lanka could no longer service the debt that was undertaken, for China to build the port. The projected traffic to the port never materialised, and Sri Lanka found it too expensive to continue servicing the loan and run the country.

Unrest Everywhere

The real damage, to the global order, is however, the rise of protectionist tendencies especially in the west. Both the United States, and the United Kingdom were extremely gung ho about international trade when they were the exporters, are now looking at ways to pull up the drawbridge and restrict imports, now that they have become markets that consume rather than produce. In the last quarter of a century, the tide has turned. The Asian giants are the exporters, and the west is importing.

The jobs in the west have moved eastwards. And, this is causing political and social upheavals in the west. The United States has already imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, ostensibly to protect its workers and markets from cheap Chinese imports – but it is impacting the rest of the steel producing world as well. Both India, and the European Union have asked to be exempted from the tariffs, but it is early days yet. India, has also used protectionism to safeguard the Make in India Initiative. Tariffs on smart phones are 20%, to encourage the manufacture of smartphones in this very large market. While tariffs offer a momentary respite, and give the impression that something is being done – the cost of an escalating tit for tat tariff regime will hurt all economies. But, to look at the tariff issue in isolation may provide a temporary solution without any long-term impact.

What the world leaders really need to do is sit down and have a conversation. The international world order is still determined by the outcome of the Second World War. The winners of that event still call the shots. The problem is that that world doesn’t exist anymore — it has moved on. The new world order is a lot different from what existed in 1945.

The problem is that the institutions and processes built, remain the same. Unless those are fixed, there is going to be greater economic and political chaos.

Harini Calamur works at the intersection of digital content, technology, and audiences.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Why marijuana should be legalised in India

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s geographic position is unique – a gateway between the giant landmasses of Eurasia, and Africa on the west, and the entire South Eastern part of Asia.  Historically, it was this geographic position, in addition to the natural resources of the country, that made India so attractive to merchants, traders, colonizers, and corporations. The geographic location that is the landmass of India, with her own rich internal markets, and the gateway to two markets on either side of the peninsula.

In recent years, this geographic position has been of great advantage to another set of traders – altogether illegal – the traders of illicit drugs. India is the bridge between the golden crescent to the west, and the golden triangle to the east which together produce, 90% of the ‘world´s illicitly produced opiates’. While there are no formal estimates for the total value of drug trade in India, we can hazard a guess from the amount of narcotics that have been seized. In 2011, the value of the drug trade in India was estimated at being between $2.2  Billion and $4.5 Billion (Rs 10,000-20,000 crore), though experts say there is no way of really telling. It isn’t as though the drug traders are filing tax returns, with detailed accounts on what they purchased, and what they sold.

Source: wikimedia

Worldwide, it is the same story. It is estimated that the value of the illegal drug trade is around half a trillion dollars. And, it is the one industry that cuts across boundaries, and flourishes, whether it is boom time or recession. According to the World Drug Report, over a quarter billion people consumed illegal drugs in 2015, nearly 5% of the world population – the biggest chunk of this were the consumers of Cannabis – 183 million users. The War on Drugs, by all accounts, has failed, and governments across the world must try new tactics to curb the use and abuse of drugs.

Source: World Drug Report, 2017

Along with the trade in drugs comes a whole host of other issues, that threatens the very nature of state. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) believes that there four other equally important issues associated with the illicit drug trade. The first is corruption, as drug dealers pay vast amounts of kickbacks to secure their supply chain, and their markets. The second is organised crime, as underground organisations are set up to deliver a product to a waiting market. And, this organisation works with muscle, with guns, and bribes. The third important area is illicit cash flows – the process of converting ill gotten gains, into legitimate business, real estate, banks, start ups and more. And to do this they hire services of lawyers, accountants and bankers who do the necessary ‘black to white’ conversion. And, lastly you have the problem of terrorism. If you look at the drug map of the world, what you will see is the unvarnished truth – the drug trade thrives in areas beset by civil war, and terrorism. In India too, the areas with the most organised terror, sees the most drug trade.

Across the world, governments are trying different things to address the problem. And, the common thread that runs through them are the attempts to legalise cannabis, also known as marijuana, while keeping the rest on the banned list. This has three major advantages, the first is that it decriminalises the largest chunk of drug users and brings the thriving business above board. There is a clear demand for the product, and 5% of the world – mostly ordinary people will no longer worry about doing something illegal, or paying bribes to get clear of the charges. The second more important thing is that the moment it is legal, it can be regulated, and it can be taxed. The money earned, can go to paying for the burgeoning healthcare requirements that India has. And, lastly it cuts off a major revenue source for the those who trade in illicit drugs. They will be forced to cut back operations, reduce armed men who protect the cargo, and reduce the amount of illicit money transfers. Terrorism funded by the drug trade would decrease.  There are a variety of emotional reasons to keep marijuana banned, but there isn’t a rational reason not to legalise it . It is about time the Government of India took a long and hard look at the narcotics policy, and legalise marijuana, while cracking down hard on all other drugs.

Harini Calamur works at the intersection of digital content, technology, and audiences.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

What the debate on gender pay gap is really missing

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Last fortnight, I had the opportunity to visit two villages, in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, where the focus was on women’s livelihood. The one is Rajasthan is piloted by Gramodaya Samajik Sansthan, which works in the area of sustainable development, and one of the projects that they had backed was a small unit that manufactures sanitary pads for the local community. The unit was run as an enterprise. It employed women, who made the pads, and earned from their sale.

The women had a noticeable spring in their step. A confidence brought about by generating economic value. The second project was on the outskirts of Pune, and it is a project in which Google trains women in becoming digitally literate – the Internet Saathi programme.

Part of this is teaching women to use the internet to generate revenue. I saw women source the latest design of saris to procure and sell locally. Women were using Youtube to learn new recipes and produce different types of potato chips. Once again the quiet confidence among the women impacted by economic inclusion, was very visible.

A Vital GDP Booster, Yet …

There are many studies that talk about how the economic inclusion of women would add to the overall GDP of a country. A no-brainer really. If even 50% of the working population of women earned a living wage, India would see double digit GDP growth. If you look at the statistics, India has a lot of catching up to do, as far as participation of women in the formal economy is concerned.  The labour force participation rate (LFPR) is 28.6%, which means that 71.4% of women are not in the formal labour force.

There are three major issues issues associated with getting women into the workplace. One is that in many parts of India, even within states considered progressive, a woman simply does not leave the home to go out to work.

This trend is repeated in countries to the west and east of India.  Many believe that a woman plays a far more important role in running the family and bringing up children. The second is that even when a woman begins her post education life with a job, marriage and children make a job or a career second priority. This is not just the case in India, but in many western economies too. The household comes first. The third is women, who manage to run both a household and their work life – they are likely to get paid less than a man doing a similar role.

The Pay Gap Is Glaring

On an average, an Indian woman in the formal workforce is likely to earn 36% less than a similarly qualified man performing a similar role. Hopefully, these will get fixed over time as more equality legislation steps in. For example, earlier this year Iceland made it illegal for men to be paid more than women for the same work (given similar qualifications, and experience).

However, there is an elephant in the room, and it is a rather large elephant. And that elephant is the value of a woman’s unpaid work in the house or even the family business. On an average, Indian women put in almost 10 times more time on unpaid work than men. For example, what economic value would you place on the woman cooking or cleaning. Or washing clothes, or taking the vegetables to the market to sell? All of these, in most households are unpaid chores.

Those of us privileged enough to outsource these chores know the economic cost of these activities – it is what we pay as wages. But, what does the woman who does this for her own household get for this? And, the larger question is how you unlock the value of this both for the woman at the household level, and for the nation at large.

One is not suggesting a price tag on a mother or a wife’s love. One is suggesting a price tag on the work, and an economic transfer that will move the woman from being an economically dependent entity who earns no money, to an economically empowered individual who does.

Harini Calamur works at the intersection of digital content, technology, and audiences.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

How to solve the North-South conundrum

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Do a quick Google search for the term “North-South” divide, and you will find that India is not the only one where there is a clear income and development gap between the two.

In some economies and nations, such as the United States and Italy, the North is more prosperous than the South. There are countries like the United Kingdom, and Nigeria, where the South is more prosperous than the North. In China, it is a East-West divide – the western coastal parts are more prosperous than the inland provinces. There are a variety of reasons for this.

Some are geographic – one part was more adept at exploiting natural resources, including fertile land. The other more adept at industry.  But it exists. And, coupled with an economic divide, there is often cultural and historical differences – all of which make for a complex mix in the 21^st century.

The Gap Is Showing

In India too, the North-South divide is pronounced – in terms of culture, language, cuisine, and development. In the years post-independence, right up to liberalisation, it was neither uncommon, nor anti-national, to read columns on a united south as a utopian entity – separate but equal to the North.  In the post liberalisation years, that murmur all but subsided.

But, in the last year or so, the chatter on this issue is back in full force. And, at the core of it is the terms of reference of the 15^th Finance Commission’s decision to use the 2011 census instead of the 1971 census for distributing tax revenues among the states. And, the Finance Commission has a point.  In 1971, the population of India was around 548 million. By 2011, the figure had more than doubled and touched 1.21 billion people.  If we look at the central budget being allocated on a per basis , it is more prudent to go with the 2011 figure than the 1971 figure (see below).

Need More Attention and Allocation

On the other hand, the southern states believe they are being penalised for following policies that have reduced population, increased per capita income, and brought development. And, these are valid concerns that need to be addressed, but not at the cost of depriving the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar the allocation of funds.

However, this demographic divide is something that this and future central and state governments will need to be cognisant about, in the years to come. And, the core is the fact that the people in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar a – 25% of Indian population  – are living on approximately Rs120 and Rs 86 per day respectively (see below).

While this may seem like a threatening gap, it is also an opportunity. As the world slows down, and India gears up to be hit by this slowdown, the government of India needs to make lifting people in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar out of poverty. A threefold time jump in the living income of the poorest in India is going to be beneficial for India as a whole. What Uttar Pradesh and Bihar need is not less funds, but more. To jump-start industry, to revitalise agriculture, to create new business, to generate employment.

To  achieve this the states need to focus on two things. One is population control, and a lesson is to be learned from how Bangladesh used door to door contraceptive delivery, to empower women with contraception. The second is sectoral growth in key areas. The government needs to look at the states as key industry zones and develop them in tandem with rolling out a massive skilling programme.

It isn’t that the talent doesn’t exist. What is lacking is a 360-degree policy from the state governments that is focused on one and only one goal – how do you raise the per day income of the state three-fold in the next ten years. Whether chief ministers Adityanath and Nitish Kumar are up to the challenge is yet to be seen.

Harini Calamur (@calamur) works at the intersection of digital content, technology, and audiences.

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