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Newspaper Analysis and Summarry– 25th February 2015

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States’ share of Central tax kitty to see huge jump – The Hindu

Walking the talk on its agenda of “cooperative federalism,” the government on Tuesday

said the share of States in the Centre‟s net tax receipts would go up by Rs. 1,78,000 crore in

2015-16. This will be 45 per cent more than share for the current financial year.

The higher devolution is in line with the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission

(FFC) headed by former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy, for a 42 per cent share to States in the

divisible pool of Centre‟s net taxes. The Union Cabinet accepted the recommendations on

Sunday.

The previous Finance Commission had pegged the States‟ share at 32 per cent.

The FFC has made a fundamental shift in the pattern of financing revenue expenditures.

There is a shift from scheme and grant-based support from the Central government to a

devolution-based one.

The premise is that total transfers as a percentage of gross tax revenue remain the same,

said a FFC source.

“It remains to be seen if the Centre will have the courage to reduce Centrally sponsored

schemes in line with the FFC report premise,” the source said.

BEL’s ‘future’ soldier is wired and smart – The Hindu

A gun-toting soldier, “fully loaded” and wearing an ultra-thick vest, an “electronic”

backpack and an unusual wrist band and helmet, stood prominently during the recent Aero

India exposition here.

The life-size early model of the “intelligent soldier” is kitted out with a dozen

communication and intelligence devices. Put in a war zone, he can connect with

commanders in real time and is fully aware of his own moves and those of his team and

enemy.

e-enabled, intelligent

Such an e-enabled intelligent soldier has no market on its own, but can eventually be part of

a complete system for battle or security forces, said S.K. Sharma, Chairman and Managing

Director of Bharat Electronics Ltd, which is its developer.

Future battlefield programmes, Mr. Sharma said, will need the smart soldier as a crucial

entity.

BEL started developing the soldier elements two years ago and has demonstrated the

prototype to potential users.

Battlefield management

The defence electronics company has also bid for a comprehensive, networked Battlefield

Management System (BMS) for the Army, along with software company Rolta India,

http://www.indiancivils.com/

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Bengaluru. Evaluation is on for the project, which is worth several thousand crores of

rupees, and which involves half a dozen contenders.

The BMS is a „Make‟ project funded up to 80 per cent by the government. It may be a

couple of years before we know who will get to do it.

Corals feeding on plastic debris – The Hindu

Corals in the Great Barrier Reef are eating small plastic debris in the ocean, Australian

researchers said on Tuesday raising fears about the impact the indigestible fragments have

on their health and other marine life.

The scientists found that when they placed corals from the reef into plastic-contaminated

water, the marine life “ate plastic at rates only slightly lower than their normal rate of

feeding on marine plankton,” the study published in the journal Marine Biology said.

“If micro-plastic pollution increases on the Great Barrier Reef, corals could be negatively

affected as their tiny stomach cavities become full of indigestible plastic,” Mia

Hoogenboom of James Cook University in Queensland said.

Micro-plastic is defined as particles smaller than half a centimetre. The scientists found the

plastic “deep inside the coral polyp wrapped in digestive tissue,” and expressed concern

that the substance could then hurt the creature‟s ability to digest normal food.

They sampled waters near inshore coral reefs in the World Heritage-listed site and found

micro-plastics, including polystyrene and polyethylene, in small amounts, study co-author

Kathryn Berry said.

Climate change, poor water quality from land-based run-offs, coastal developments and

fishing all threaten the biodiversity site.

As much as 88 percent of the open ocean‟s surface contains plastic debris, findings

published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last year found.

Risk along food chain

The small pieces — from mass-produced plastics such as toys, bags, food containers and

utensils — make their way into the sea through storm water run-off, raising concerns about

the effect on marine life and the food chain. The United Nations Environment Programme

estimated in 2012 that around 13,000 pieces of micro-plastic litter were found in every

square kilometre of sea.

— AFP

INTERNATIONAL Eurozone approves Greek reform plan - The Hindu

Greece secured a four-month extension of its financial rescue on Tuesday when its

eurozone partners approved a reform plan that backed down on key leftist measures and

promised that spending to alleviate social distress would not derail its budget.


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Finance Ministers sealed the decision in a one-hour telephone conference convened by

Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem after the new leftist-led Athens government sent

him a detailed list of reforms it plans to implement by July.

“Following Eurogroup teleconference decision, national procedures for extension of the

Greek programme can begin,” Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission vice-

president for the euro, said on Twitter.

The Ministers reviewed a six-page document signed by Marxist Finance Minister Yanis

Varoufakis.In a statement, the 19-nation Eurogroup urged Greece to develop and broaden

the list of reform measures. The Greek letter pledged not to reverse ongoing or completed

privatisations, and to ensure that the fight against what the government calls the

humanitarian crisis caused by austerity “has no negative fiscal effects”.

The six-page document, seen by Reuters, contained few figures but promised to improve

tax enforcement, fight corruption and “review and control spending in every area of

government spending”.

BUSINESS Sustainable turnaround still elusive: survey - The Hindu

Ahead of Budget, an industry confidence survey shows that a sustainable turnaround

remains elusive on investments, profits and exports, while another study urges the

government to „walk the talk‟ and take steps to improve ease of doing business.

The results of the Business Confidence Survey, conducted by the Federation of Indian

Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), show a marginal dip in the proportion of

respondents anticipating „moderately to substantially better‟ performance over the near-

term at economy, industry and company level.

While the situation is certainly better when compared to last year, the change in quarter-on-

quarter numbers is yet to indicate a firm turnaround, the FICCI survey says.

According to FICCI's poll, measures announced by the government over the course of last

7-8 months did have a positive impact on the sentiment of the business community.

However, to sustain this buoyancy, it will be important that the process of implementation

of these reforms continues with momentum.

The survey results come within days of eminent banker Deepak Parekh stating that industry

remained optimistic but impatience had begun creeping in among the industrialists as to

why not much had changed on the ground on the ease of doing business front in the last

nine months that the new government had been in power.

The FICCI survey also finds that industry is confident about the government pursuing its

broad economic agenda to push reforms.

In another survey, consultancy major Grant Thornton says that more than half of the Indian

businesses expect radical tax reforms as well as more clarity on certain taxation measures

in the Budget.


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“There is political stability, markets are at a high, everyone is talking about „acche din‟, the

Prime Minister has spoken about „Make in India‟, he has stressed on our desire to attract

FDI, and has reassured global investors a non-adversarial tax environment but India still

ranks 142 out of 189 countries in the ease of doing business,” Grant Thornton Advisory

Director Pallavi Bakhru said.

“Now is the opportunity for the government to walk their talk. India Inc is waiting with

bated breath!,” Ms. Pallavi added.

Another survey, conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), also finds that

industry is pinning high hopes on the Narendra Modi-led government‟s first full Budget, to

be unveiled on Saturday.

Both FICCI and CII surveys show that majority of the CEOs believe that a framework for

Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be announced in the Budget, which will tilt the balance

in the interest of revenue neutrality.

Besides, India Inc wants Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to simplify taxes and step up action

on ease of doing business.

Most CEOs, polled by the CII, expect the revenue deficit target for the coming year to be

between 2.6 and 2.8 per cent, while they believe the fiscal deficit will be set between 3.7

and 4 per cent of GDP.

The participants say that they are also looking forward to labour reforms and incentives for

sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure and real estate.

CEOs, participating in the CII survey, point out that sustained GDP growth was essential

for tax revenue buoyancy, and growth recovery needed a capex stimulus.

Capital expenditure was budgeted at Rs.2.30 lakh crore in 2014-15, and is still falling short.

According to CEOs polled, a majority believe that an increase in capital expenditure outlay

in 2015-16 will be budgeted at Rs.70,000 crore.

To fund this capex, they suggest that apart from subsidy rationalisation, revenues can be

augmented through aggressive disinvestment of government holdings in public sector

enterprises. While the disinvestment target in 2014-15 was Rs.63,000 crore, CEOs expect

this to be Rs.75,000 crore and above in 2015-16.

On GAAR, the CEOs are unanimous in their expectation of a two-year deferral.

The FICCI survey polled responses from about 150 companies with a turnover ranging

from Rs.3 crore to Rs.10,000 crore and belonging to a wide array of sectors — chemicals,

steel, paper products, textiles, automotive, electric machinery, pharmaceutical, food

processing and hospitality.

The „Pre-Budget Corporate Expectations‟ survey of Grant Thornton found that 66 per cent

of the firms was optimistic about reduction in personal income tax rates. At the same time,

most of the companies (79 per cent) feel that corporate tax rates will largely remain


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unchanged, while another 57 per cent feels that the rate of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT)

will remain constant.

About 56 per cent corporates say that the upcoming budget will usher in radical tax

reforms.

On corporate tax amendments, 60 per cent of the firms anticipate clarity from the Finance

Minister on 'indirect transfers' and deferment of General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) in

the upcoming budget.

The pre-budget survey also finds that corporate India expects maximum thrust on the

infrastructure and defence sectors, followed by manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

About 41 per cent of the companies also expect that the budget would provide indirect tax

incentives to make „Make in India‟ campaign a success.

“Given our demography, we need to generate employment in the country not just to become

an economic giant but also to make sure that we do justice to our youth,” Ms. Bakhru said.

— PTI

EDITORIALS Food insecurity and statistical fog - The Hindu

An odd silence has surrounded the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in the last few

months — as if food insecurity were a thing of the past. It may be recalled that the

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), far from opposing the Act, vociferously demanded a more

comprehensive law when the NFSA was being discussed in Parliament in 2013. In some

States, notably Chhattisgarh, the BJP had taken the lead in guaranteeing entitlements that

were later included in the Act, and also in showing that the Public Distribution System

(PDS) can be reformed. Today, however, the Modi government‟s urge to “get things done”

does not seem to extend to the NFSA.

Step towards food security

This is unfortunate because the nutrition situation in India remains critical. Very few

countries if any, had higher levels of child undernourishment in 2005-6, the last time India

collected reliable nutrition statistics at the national level (under the third National Family

Health Survey). What happened since then is hard to tell. Some surveys, including a

government-sponsored UNICEF survey, suggest significant improvement. Others, notably

the second India Human Development Survey, point to very limited progress. This

statistical fog, largely due to the failure of the fourth National Family Health Survey, does

not help matters. What is clear is that even if substantial progress took place since 2005-6,

undernutrition levels in India remain higher than almost anywhere else in the world.

It is no one‟s claim that the NFSA is an adequate answer to this problem. The Act has

serious flaws, and leaves out some important requirements of good nutrition (e.g.

sanitation). Still, effective implementation of NFSA would make an important contribution

to food security and improved nutrition. Recent experience shows that a well-functioning

PDS makes a big difference to people who live on the margin of subsistence. The Act is

also an opportunity to strengthen valuable child nutrition programmes such as school meals

and the Integrated Child Development Services.


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Central and State governments are jointly responsible for the tardy implementation of the

Act. In some respects, the blame clearly lies with the Central government. For instance,

ever since July 2013, all Indian women have been entitled to maternity benefits of Rs.6,000

per month under NFSA. It is the Central government‟s responsibility to design a scheme for

this purpose and to fund it. Yet, this critical provision of the Act does not seem to figure in

discussions of the forthcoming Budget.

A new PDS

In other respects, the State governments also have much to answer for. This applies in

particular to food entitlements under the PDS. The Act provides for the PDS to cover 75 per

cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the urban population at the national level —

the corresponding ratios are higher in the poorer States and lower in better-off States. Every

eligible household is entitled to 5 kg of foodgrain per person per month at a nominal price

(Rs.3, Rs.2 and Rs.1 per kg for rice, wheat and millets respectively). This would mean that

the PDS takes care of about half of the foodgrain consumption of eligible households.

This “new PDS” does not require any increase in public procurement of foodgrains, beyond

the levels achieved in recent years. It is mainly a restructuring of the system, with broader

coverage, lower issue prices and clear entitlements. Recent experience shows that these

steps, along with bold PDS reforms, can lead to drastic improvements in the system. This

experience is not confined to leader States like Tamil Nadu or Chhattisgarh, but now

extends to some lame-duck States as well, e.g. Odisha. Even Bihar, one of the worst-

governed States, has achieved remarkable PDS improvements in recent years.

The NFSA is an opportunity to consolidate these achievements and extend them across the

country. The main stumbling block is the identification of eligible households. When the

Act was being drafted, it was assumed that the identification process would be based on the

Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC). The idea was to use simple and transparent

“exclusion criteria” (e.g. having a permanent government job or owning a motorised

vehicle) to weed out relatively well-off households — everyone else would be eligible.

SECC is the best available database for this purpose.

The SECC saga

Alas, the release of SECC data has been excruciatingly slow. According to the official

SECC website, a “draft list” has been released for about three fourths of India‟s districts.

However, data are missing for at least some districts in half of India‟s major States. Where a

draft list has been released, a “final list” is supposed to be prepared after giving every

household an opportunity to appeal for corrections — this could take a long time.

Meanwhile, for better or worse, some States have gone ahead and issued ration cards based

on the draft SECC list.

Aside from the delay, there are other shortcomings in the SECC process. Even in districts

for which data have been released, the draft list has important gaps. Also, it is displayed in

an odd format (pdf) that does not lend itself to computer searches or tabulations. This is an

embarrassing muddle, considering that the Central government spent some Rs.5,000 crore

on this exercise.

In the absence of SECC data, some States have resorted to shortcuts such as expanding the

old “BPL list”, instead of preparing a new list of eligible households. These shortcuts tend


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to be fraught with problems. The BPL lists, often as old as 2002 or even 1997, are highly

unreliable. In some States, a well-defined BPL list does not even exist — there are different

lists in different places (e.g. on the net, at the district level, and at the gram panchayat

level), inconsistent with each other. The SECC approach is an opportunity to clean this

mess and prepare a single, transparent, logical, digitised list of eligible households.

Bihar‟s recent experience shows the benefits of using SECC data to identify eligible

households, based on the exclusion approach. The outdated, elusive and often arbitrary BPL

list has been replaced with a far more reliable list, transparently linked to SECC data that

are available online. Since the SECC‟s household listing corresponds to the 2011

population census, the coverage of SECC data is close to universal. There are, of course,

inaccuracies in the SECC data, but judging from a recent survey of 1,000 households in

four districts of Bihar, the errors are rarely such as to exclude a household that would

otherwise be eligible under NFSA. The main shortcoming of the Bihar process, as things

stand, is that the list of eligible households is yet to be placed in the public domain.

Nevertheless, this approach is a real breakthrough compared with the BPL census. West

Bengal is now following a similar approach.

Committee recommendations

Many other States, however, are unable or unwilling to follow this lead due to delays or

gaps in the SECC data. Rajasthan, the first State to implement NFSA, made a mess by

relying on an extension of the BPL list to identify eligible households. Odisha, frustrated

with the delays, embarked on an entirely separate identification process based on self-

declaration — a very risky venture. Jharkhand, lagging behind in these matters, has not

moved beyond a series of vacuous announcements.

Just to add to the confusion, the recent report of the Shanta Kumar committee recommends

a reduction of the coverage of NFSA from 67 per cent to 40 per cent of the population.

How this is supposed to be done, halfway through the implementation of the Act, the report

does not explain. Aside from threatening to cause havoc in States that are already

implementing the Act, the report has created crippling uncertainties for other States. How

is, say, Jharkhand supposed to follow Bihar‟s lead if there is a possibility of the expansion

of PDS coverage being rolled back any time?

On a more positive note, PDS reforms have made remarkable progress in many States —

even Jharkhand — as they prepared for the Food Security Act. It would take little to

remove the roadblocks, starting with the release of SECC data, and ensure that the Act

serves its purpose. This process, however, requires a sense of urgency that is wholly lacking

as things stand.

The return of Father Alexis – The Hindu

The details of how exactly India secured the release of Father Alexis Prem Kumar remain

unclear. From the little that has emerged, the Afghan authorities had managed to establish

contact with the priest‟s kidnappers within days of his abduction in the Herat province

where he was working as part of the Jesuit Refugee Service, an international Catholic

advocacy group for forcibly displaced people. The priest was the country director of the

group, and at the time he was seized, in the first week of June 2014, he was visiting a

school run by the JRS in the western Afghanistan province, where a month earlier, the

Taliban had mounted an attack on the Indian consulate. Considering that the missionary


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spent eight months in captivity, there might have been protracted, even on and off,

negotiations that led to his release. Publicly, no ransom demands were made nor other

conditions laid down by the abductors for handing over the 47-year-old priest from Tamil

Nadu, but it is not unknown for militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan to have taken

hostages and demanded money for their release. Though the Taliban have targeted and

killed many Indians in Afghanistan, it has been suggested that the priest‟s abductors may

have been one of the many splinter militant groups that operate in the Afghan countryside.

It is conceivable too that Iran on the other side of Herat‟s border and with not a little

influence among some groups in Afghanistan may have played a role in obtaining the

release. All that can be said with certainty is that a combination of India‟s contacts in

Afghanistan, diplomacy and patience won the day. New Delhi was clearly involved at the

highest levels.

The safe return of Father Alexis from what must have been a traumatic eight months for

him, his family and his community is a cause for celebration and relief, so too that he

appears unharmed, at least outwardly. Less than two years ago, an Indian was killed in

Paktika province, and in 2010, six Indian workers were killed in a targeted attack in Kabul.

Away from Afghanistan, the fate of 40 Indians captured by Islamic State (IS) remains

unknown. Father Alexis‟s return has highlighted that Afghanistan remains dangerous

territory, and that New Delhi needs to be ever mindful of the safety of the 3,000 or so

Indians working there on infrastructure projects, especially as India‟s involvement in these

projects is a matter of strategic choice. With the departure of the United States' and other

international troops from Afghanistan ongoing, India‟s role in Afghanistan is bound to

come under greater strain and scrutiny than before. It is now up to the Indian government to

ensure that civilians do not become the collateral casualties of the Great Game in the

neighbourhood.

A budget for women – The Hindu

The coming Union budget is significant for at least two reasons: first, this will be the new

government‟s maiden full year budget. Second, with the NITI Aayog replacing the Planning

Commission, the government is likely to abolish the distinction between plan and non-plan

budgets.

This year‟s budget is also an opportunity for the government to demonstrate its

commitment to gender equality. Gender issues have found consistent mention in official

fora, including in the speeches of the Prime Minister. Ensuring adequate allocations for

policies and programmes for women will help translate those commitments into action.

Development challenge

Gender inequality poses a significant development challenge in India. The Global Gender

Gap Index 2014 ranked India at 114 out of 142 countries. The ranking is based on a

country‟s ability to reduce gender disparities in four areas: economic participation and

opportunity, education, political empowerment, and health and survival. Violence against

women and girls persists, both in private and in public spaces.

As a response to these challenges, India adopted „gender-responsive budgeting‟ (GRB) in

2005. Put simply, GRB is a method of planning, programming and budgeting that helps

advance gender equality and women‟s rights. It also serves as an indicator of governments‟

commitment to meeting those objectives. So far, 57 government Ministries/departments in


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India have set up Gender Budgeting Cells — a major step that could potentially impact the

lives of crores of women. An analysis of GRB in India, 10 years after it was adopted, will

be a crucial pointer to the way forward.

The quantum of allocations for schemes relating to women — out of a budget of nearly

Rs.18 lakh crore (2014-15 budget estimate) — can be assessed by examining the Gender

Budget Statement (GBS) which was first introduced in the 2005-06 budget. The analysis

shows that over the last eight years the allocations for women as a proportion of the total

budget have remained constant at approximately 5.5 per cent. Further, only about 30 per

cent of the demands for grants, or estimates of expenditure, presented by

Ministries/departments to the Union government are reported in the GBS.

Further, allocations to the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), the nodal

agency for women in the country, show a marginal increase over the last three years —

from Rs. 18,584 crore in 2012-13 to Rs. 21,193 crore in 2014-15. With respect to „Women

Welfare,‟ the allocations actually show a downward trend — from approximately Rs. 930

crore in 2011-12 to around Rs. 920 crore in 2014-15. And almost 87 per cent of the 2014-15

budget of the MWCD was allocated for the Integrated Child Development Services

Scheme, leaving only five per cent for schemes exclusively meant for women.

The UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women has emphasised the

need for increased investments for the MWCD and for gender budgets across Ministries. In

2014, following its review of the fourth and fifth periodic reports submitted by the

Government of India, the Committee — which monitors States‟ implementation of the UN

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

— also reiterated the need to strengthen institutions such as the National Commission for

Women and the State commissions.

Schemes focussed exclusively on women either received reduced allocations or were not

implemented, as seen from the revised estimates for 2013-14 vis-à-vis the budget estimates

of the same year. Revised estimate figures are presented for the ongoing fiscal year based

on the performance in the first six months of that year. The Domestic Violence Act is a case

in point. The legislation, enacted a decade ago, received an allocation of Rs. 20 crore in

2012-13. Revised estimate figures for 2013-14 show zero allocation, which indicates that

the scheme launched to operationalise the Act did not take off that year. Renamed

SAAHAS, the scheme was allocated Rs. 50 crore last year. The coming budget will reveal

how much of this was actually spent.

Other schemes such as restorative justice for rape victims have also seen a decline in

allocations. The recent launch of the „Beti Bachao Beti Padhao‟ scheme by the new

government is commendable. Equal attention must now be paid to better implementation of

laws and special measures for the most marginalised women, as highlighted in the election

manifesto of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

It will also be important to ensure increased spending on all social sectors such as health,

education and sanitation, given their impact on women. Women bear the greatest burden of

unpaid care work — which includes looking after children and elderly or sick family

members, cooking and cleaning. The call to recognise, redistribute and reduce women‟s


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unpaid care work has gained momentum globally. This is therefore an opportune time to

increase the quantum of allocations to the social sector.

Positive trend

A positive trend over the past couple of years has been the pre-budget consultations

organised by the Ministry of Finance, aimed at ensuring that the voices of women are also

heard in the budget making process. This year, in addition to meeting women‟s rights

organisations, the Ministry also held a dialogue with UN Women along with the MWCD to

discuss key issues pertaining to GRB.

In conclusion, the coming budget can serve as a timely course correction. The emphasis

must be on the strengthening of key institutions, adequate investments for schemes that

address gender concerns and the effective implementation of those schemes.

The coming months will see a greater focus on development issues in general, and gender

issues in particular, with the adoption of the post-2015 global development agenda and

reviews of countries‟ performance vis-à-vis the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

(Beijing+20). The stand-alone goal on gender equality and women‟s empowerment in the

Sustainable Development Goals is an achievement for women‟s rights advocates across the

globe. It will, however, remain elusive if not backed by adequate investments. The

government‟s first full year budget is an excellent chance to recognise missed opportunities

and take corrective action.

German thalidomide survivors continue fight for compensation – The Hindu

Christiane Seifert takes a visitor around her ground-floor flat in Hamburg. She opens a

window with her shoulder, the patio door with her bare foot. At her computer, she uses her

toes to type her emails. The 54-year old deftly demonstrates just a few of what she calls the

“tricks” she uses to manage her everyday life.

Born without arms in January 1961, Ms Seifert is a thalidomide survivor. Her mother was

prescribed the drug, which was first marketed in the late 50s in West Germany under the

name Contergan, to counteract the effects of morning sickness, with devastating

consequences. Ms Seifert was one of up to 7,000 born in Germany with phocomelia, or

malformation of the limbs, 60 per cent of whom died. More than half a century later, she is

still struggling for recognition for her plight.

“If even one person had ever come to visit me in that time to see how I cope with lif,” she

said. “But no one has ever even asked.”

After years of neglect by authorities and by Grünenthal, the company that manufactured the

drug, which worldwide left 10,000 infants without limbs, half of whom died, the German

government‟s decision in 2013 to considerably raise pension payments to the victims was

widely hailed as a victory. Grünenthal had paid an additional €50million into the fund in

2009.

“My monthly pension rose from €1,150 to €4,700,” she said. “It was the equivalent of

winning the lottery.”


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Future needs

But 18 months on, her triumph rings hollow, because she believes that there has been

woeful consideration of her or other thalidomide survivors‟ future needs.

Survivors‟ groups have even alleged that the government is actively hindering victims from

accessing the full amount of money they were promised in the run-up to the 2013 election.

Depending on their level of disability, Contergan survivors in Germany now receive an

annual pension of between €7,300 to €83,000. They are also able to tap into a €30million

“special needs” fund for crucial investments such as dental operations or specially

commissioned furniture, controlled by the government-controlled Contergan Foundation.

Yet in reality, survivors say they are hindered from accessing the fund.

“To get the Contergan Foundation to pay for even small investments like a dressing stick to

help victims with short arms to put on their clothes, applicants need to show a medical

prescription as well as proof that the cost cannot be carried by their health insurance

provider — an unwieldy process which discourages many from applying in the first place,”

Andreas Meyer, the president of Germany‟s association of Contergan victims (BCG), said.

The Guardian has learned that only €2million was used out of the €30million fund in 2014.

“€28m was simply returned to the government coffers at the end of the year,” said Gernot

Stracke, chairman of the Aid Organisation for Contergan Victims.

Crucially, survivors are unable to apply for money to pay for assistance services — such as

cleaning and cooking, — the single biggest concern for Contergan survivors who are now

in their 50s and 60s and who are going to more help in the coming years.

Further, health complications, such as pains in Ms Seifert‟s legs and feet, or a problem with

her pancreas which her doctor fervently believes is connected to the thalidomide, have not

been recognised by the Contergan Foundation.

“They simply say complications or „secondary failures‟ are not recognised, but refuse to

accept medical testimony that might persuade them otherwise,” she said. The severity of

her disability, measured according to a points system, from 1 to 80, is relatively high, at 63.

“But they made that assessment when I was 11 years old and it has never been reviewed.”

Oliver Tolmein, a Hamburg lawyer specialising in disability rights, criticised also the lack

of pressure on Grünenthalto care for its victims. “In effect, this time bomb has been taken

away from Grünenthal and placed into the taxpayers‟ hands,” he said.

Victims‟ organisations say the government is deliberately blocking access to the funds to

save money.

“I can only conclude that the process is so complicated because it‟s in officials‟ interest that

the victims don‟t claim the full amount,” Mr. Meyer said. Why can‟t the €30m be

transferred directly to the victims, when they so clearly need the support?”


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The Contergan Foundation denies having intentionally tried to obstruct bids for support.

But its new board chairwoman, Marlene Rupprecht, said the foundation had not always

ruled in the best interest of the victims since the new fund was set up. “We‟re currently

looking at making a number of changes to ensure that caseworkers will in the future act

more in the citizens‟ interest,” she said.

Ms Seifert said she is tired of the fight. “Many thought, like many other Contergan babies, I

would die,” she said. “But over 50 years on, I‟m still here, even if many people had wished

I and others had long since died.” — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2015


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CURRENT AFFAIRS Newspaper Analysis and Summarry · 2015-11-02 · CURRENT AFFAIRS An Online IAS Academy Page 1 Newspaper Analysis and Summarry– 25th February 2015 NATIONAL States’