Serving the interests of crony capitalists

Creation of CCI amounts to circum-venting democratic process in favour of big industrial lobby.

Last week about one thousand people gathered in Kumta, a coastal town in Karnataka to participate in a public hearing on the proposed expansion of four-lane highway along the West Coast.

They forced the deputy commissioner of Uttara Kannada to cancel the meeting due to inadequate space for the large gathering.

The people were up in arms against this large infrastructure project that would destroy their livelihoods.  Ironically most of them, even the lawyers who were leading them were not aware that a day before the public hearing the cabinet had passed the formation of the National Investment Board (NIB) or Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI).

This had sealed the fate of four lakh people in the 190 km stretch on the fragile west coast.

The proposed project if implemented would violate the Forest Conservation Act, Coastal Regulation Act and Wild Life Conservation Act. Nevertheless, the CCI, as the supreme body has been vested with powers to over-rule these violations and grant permission to implement the project.

The prime minister and the finance minister were precisely worried about such infrastructure projects being delayed due to the long bureaucratic process of the ministry of environment and forests. To boost economic growth and generate the much-needed jobs for the rising unemployed people in the country the cabinet has created this super body to fast track about 100 mega projects that costs above Rs 1,000 crore.

Tonic and extra tonic

The sagging economy of the  country was first served with the tonic of FDI in retail and now another dose of extra tonic, the apex body that has the ultimate powers to overrule all ministries to give clearances to big ticket investment in power, infrastructure and mining that are usually stuck due to procedural delays and especially environment clearance or land approvals.

This might enhance the confidence of investors, but will it deliver the results? Will these tonics boast higher economic growth and create jobs for the people whose numbers is constantly increasing? Is this worth sacrificing the overreaching democratic processes that address the concerns of the marginalised communities and fragile ecological regions like forests and the coastal ecosystems?

The PMO, Planning Commission and the finance ministry are together in propagating the myth that the perpetual growth in the Indian economy is possible only through the free play of markets, especially aligning the local with global capital. It is obvious that the CCI will facilitate the appropriation of the natural resources, in the name of big infrastructure projects assisting the corporate houses.

The reality is that the growth story for last two decades in India is devoid of generating employment for the jobless in the country. With the capital intensity of the high profile projects the net investment may raise but conversely the net employment may likely to fall.

This is being reinforced by several studies including by the ILO (International Labour Organisation) that show the jobless growth in formal sector. In fact in most of the cases, like the one stated above, the net value addition may fall, as it is bound to destroy the livelihood opportunities of the people who depend on the common property resources like forests, rivers or coastal ecosystems that are destroyed.

A recent study concludes that “Between 2007 and 2011, labour productivity increased by 6.4 per cent on an average, while employment expanded by just 1.0 per cent, where total employment grew by only 0.1 per cent during five years till 2009-10.”

The PMO and finance ministry are deliberately ignoring the share of the unorganised sector in the economy, which is almost 58 per cent. But the CCI is least bothered to address their concerns, despite their major contribution to generate employment.

This is because the formal economy is dominated by the monopolies or oligarchies that perpetuate the ultimate control of resources through the support of the political and bureaucratic establishment. The only dissenting voice against CCI was from the environment ministry and the ministry of tribal affairs, who voiced their concerns that it will overrule the existing laws that protect the natural resources and the tribals who live in midst of forests. However, these concerns have been ignored by the cabinet in favour of enhancing faster economic growth.

The creation of the CCI is circumventing the democratic process in favour of big industrial and investment lobby. It ignores the needs of marginalised communities who do not have any say in decision making. The UPA-II government is speaking of ‘aam admi’ whereas its policies are cutting through the survival base of the poorest groups. It is a fallacy if it thinks that cash transfers would get them their support, whereas it allows the plundering of the nature’s capital favouring few who are able to influence the government’s decision through CCI.

The CCI is defiantly going to be an agent for crony capitalist Investment that will have long term negative implications for the future generations, reinforcing the jobless growth at the social and ecological costs.