Editorial 1 : The Hathras questions
Introduction: The horrific stampede in Hathras on July 2 was avoidable. The failures need to be examined in depth. But even preliminary reports indicated that the district administration has a lot of explaining to do for the tragedy, which claimed 121 lives, mostly of women and children.
How the event transpired?
- It all began with an innocuous application seeking permission from the district authorities.
- Approximately 80,000 devotees were expected to attend a samagam (a congregation of devotees).
- The officials approved this as a routine procedure.
- It seems that they did not take into account how crowds in such assemblies are known to swell beyond the sanctioned numbers.
- But more than three times the number of sanctioned devotees of Bhole Baba gathered at the site of the event.
Who is the infamous baba?
- The Baba is a former constable of UP police, Suraj Pal Singh.
- He was accused of multiple cases of misdemeanour in his official position.
- He was placed under suspension, but on bail, he opted for voluntary retirement and reinvented himself as a godman.
- He worked on a business model, which it is alleged, mobilised people vulnerable to misinformation.
- The Baba’s supporters spread the message that his photographs have curative qualities.
The crowd management at the event
- A crowd of 2,50,000 does not descend from the heavens.
- It would take about seven to eight hours for such a huge number of people to filter in.
- More so when the venue is next to a national highway.
- It’s very likely that the news of the traffic jams caused by the influx of devotees would have been relayed to the city and district control room.
- A contingency plan was imperative but it is obvious there was none.
- CCTVs should have been in place and the site should have had proper exit and entry points per the district’s internal security scheme.
- Duty cards should have been issued, and duties assigned.
- There seems to have been a delay in giving medical aid to the injured.
- Any such negligence must also be probed.
The aftermath of the incidence
- The post-mortems indicated that most deaths were caused by broken rib cage, crushing, asphyxia and/or haemorrhage.
- A First Information Report has been lodged against the sevadar volunteers.
- However, the Baba has not yet been named in the FIR.
- A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to investigate this sensitive case.
- Its functioning should be transparent and the investigating team must give utmost urgency to submitting a report.
Way forward
- Godman like Bhole Baba can be prosecuted under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
- Anyhow, the ill-gotten wealth of these babas belongs to the nation.
- Notably, Section 14(1) of The Uttar Pradesh Gangsters And Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 gives the law the authority to attach all such properties after due scrutiny.
Conclusion: More importantly, there are elaborate instructions on crowd management in gatherings such as the one in Hathras. There are also scholarly studies on earlier tragedies and there is always a best way of doing everything. Unfortunately, the worst possible way of implementing the rule book was obvious in this case.
Editorial 2 : Data uninterrupted
Introduction: On July 1, the Ministry of Finance marked seven years of the shift to the Goods and Services Tax regime. About the same time, the government reportedly decided to discontinue the practice of publishing detailed GST data on a regular basis. This is an unwelcome departure from the past.
The constituent on monthly GST data and recent delays in publishing official data
- The monthly GST data, which contains information on gross tax collections, revenue from levy of the compensation cess as well as the state-wise tax collected, serves several purposes.
- As data on many other economic indicators tends to be released with a considerable lag, the GST data works as a timely barometer to gauge the state of the economy.
- For instance, the quarterly GDP data comes with a delay of two months — data for the first quarter of the ongoing year (April-June) will only be released at the end of August.
- Similarly, data on industrial production is also published with a lag — data for April was published on June 12.
- The GST data also provides an indication of whether the government (it includes both Centre and state collections) is on track to meet its budgeted revenue projections, and as a consequence its fiscal deficit target.
- This has implications for its market borrowings.
Other instances where government has not released official data
- This is not the first time there has been controversy around the release of official data.
- For instance, the 2017-18 consumption expenditure survey was not released by the government due to “quality issues”.
- There was a sharp debate over the employment and unemployment survey of 2017-18.
Government’s course correction regarding release of official data
- Over the years, the government has taken steps to address the concerns raised over the growing gaps in data, and strengthened the statistical system.
- The employment surveys have been carried out and released at regular intervals.
- The fact sheet on the latest round of the household consumption expenditure survey was put in the public domain before the general elections.
- And recently, the government has released a fact sheet on the two rounds of the annual survey of unincorporated sector enterprises that provides information on how the informal sector has fared during 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Government must be transparent about official data
- The government should strive to maintain data transparency, it should resume the practice of releasing granular GST data at regular intervals.
- Alongside, it must move quickly for conduct of the much-delayed census.
- While in the initial years of the decade, the delay on account of the pandemic was understandable, three years later, it is difficult to justify the continued stalling.
- This is more so since several official surveys have been carried out and released during this period.
Conclusion: Considering that data, whether on household consumption expenditure, employment or tax, provides an understanding of various facets of the economy, the absence of data has critical implications for policy.