August 3, 1998

Will politics save even utterly useless land ceiling legislations?

The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act (ULCRA) of 1976 is a vestige of the Emergency, born out of the desire of the regime of the day to perpetuate its draconian rule in exchange for a few populist sops. The stated object of the law was to prevent concentration of urban land in the hands of a few and thus ensure an equitable distribution of property in the cities. But thanks to the socialist trappings characteristic of all authoritarian regimes in the '70s, the ceiling limits were put so low -- 500 sq m for class A cities -- that land for urban housing projects became elusive. Real estate prices shot up, in utter defiance of the laws of gravity. Further, the law provided for exemption in the "public interest", a typical excuse for the executive to turn discretion into lucrative opportunity. Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani was rightly decided to have the law repealed, thus going a step further from the previous United Front (UF) government's bid to amend the act by making it applicable only to cities with a 10 lakh-plus population and by raising the ceiling limits. It is clear, therefore, that the UF too had recognised the growing irrelevance of the Act.

After moving into the opposition benches, the UF has suddenly discovered ULCRA's virtues. It is not willing to support Jethmalani's move to repeal the patently useless law. The Congress too has refused to back its repeal. Their reluctance cannot be anything but political because state legislatures have the authority under the Constitution to enact land ceiling laws of their choice should the states concerned really miss this archaic piece of legislation after it is junked. The stalemate over ULCRA is in keeping with similar resistance from the Opposition on a slew of bills -- on women's reservation, abolition of FERA and the constitution of Prasar Bharati. On ULCRA at least, the Government should press ahead regardless and force the Opposition to take a stand. Parties which swear by economic reforms should put their money where their mouth is.

Running on Empty

Usha has fought off the years. Indian sport may not have too many left.

P.T. Usha's four medals at the recent Asian Track and Field Championship came with all the ingredients of a fairy tale. A mother aged 33 recapturing timings of a decade ago: Usha's achievement is a tribute to her extraordinary athleticism and work ethic. She was at her peak when she missed a medal by a hundredth of a second at the 1984 Olympics. Most of her contemporaries have long retired. So have, in fact, succeeding generations of sprinters. Yet, if Usha has shrugged her shoulders at chronology, she's also made excruciatingly clear to India its paucity of achievers. In the years Usha was missing from the track, the throne she had abdicated remained unoccupied. So while celebrating this woman's enduring success, it is impossible to miss that Indian athletics has nothing else to celebrate.

It is not just Indian athletics that has this empty feeling in the pit of the stomach. In cricket, there is Sachin Tendulkar -- and after him, well after him, the deluge. In tennis, there is little beyond Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Football, hockey and almost anything else is a joke. Even the stray successes are the result of an individual's struggle against unbelievable odds. The reasons India is the perennial also-ran in the comity of sporting nations are not difficult to seek. Politicised administration and antiquated training have played their part. So have the remorseless statistics of sociology which say the Indian working class is positively malnourished compared to that in advanced or even many developing countries. Worldwide, it is the working class which throws up sporting heroes -- who use their calling to make that leap from indigent obscurity to affluent celebrity. India, of course, is the exception to every rule. Ultimately, however, it will run out of excuses. What can animate even a rickety sporting system is that intangible but steely will to win. In India, the Ushas apart, nobody's heard of it.

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