Memo To WSJ

What the Wall Street Journal Can’t See in India’s Forests

And so, understand this before you colour victims as perpetrators, and perpetrators as the saviours of India’s forests: it is not indigenous communities that are razing India’s canopy to the ground. That is happening, instead, because the Indian government refuses to recognise/continues to violate customary rights and every progressive law in the book to favour an economic policy that puts profit over people and their environment.

Remorseless Progress

Kerala's traditional chips losing to other snacks

Kerala's traditional snacks industry, dominated by banana and tapioca chips, is losing market share to the invasion by outside varieties, according to Mr Alex Thomas, Managing Director, Tierra Food India Pvt Ltd.

Multinational as well as large Indian companies have lured customers to the potato chips and corn-based extruded snacks sold by them, he said here on Thursday.

Banana and tapioca are two major crops cultivated in Kerala by small and medium farmers, and a fair share of the produce earlier went towards chips production. Owing to falling demand, the produce is now largely consumed as fresh fruit, which is subject to volatile prices compared to the fair and consistent prices fetched by the processed product.

MISSING ‘COOL' FACTOR

Increasingly restricted to festivals such as Onam and other functions such as marriages, potato and tapioca chips are no longer seen as ‘cool' by the younger generation, which prefers the potato chips or extruded snacks available in small and trendy packages, he said. 

 One really doesn't mind old habits dying and new habits being formed, but in this case two things:

1. The extruded snacks are the closest to poison for the kids.  High-sodium, high-salt, and I believe totally lacking in any nutrition whatsoever.  When kids eat these frequently, they develop a taste for such high-salt/sodium food junk food.  Not good.
2. The small trendy packages.  They are choking the environment.

So, can someone turn back the clock please?

Mr Tata, How To Buy Myself An Aquifer in the Himalayas?

For he must surely know the procedure, owning one himself.  How cool is that - an aquifer all to oneself in the Himalayas, the water from which can be sold for the same price as diesel without all the hassle that the latter entails.  I believe diesel can be a bit more difficult to source and all, though I may be mistaken.  

These big industrialists hold all the aces, don't they?  

Hear it from the man in charge, R. K. Krishna Kumar, a Director in Tata Sons: 

We want to partner PepsiCo to distribute Himalayan widely. They have the liquid bottle distribution strength. We don't have that. We can tap that strength to take Himalayan to international markets. Hopefully soon, we will take it to one or two countries. A product like Evian is a source product. Given the uniqueness of the water sources, there is no reason why Himalayan can't be taken to other markets and compete with brands such as Evian. The source, our aquifer in the Himalayas, is a unique source. We have vast reserves. We can tap it, bottle it and make it a global brand.

(Emphasis mine)    So how do I get hold of an Himalayan aquifer?  Once I do that, the next steps are so simple: tap it, bottle it and sell it for a song after entering into a Joint Venture with a global giant:

Tata Global Beverages and PepsiCo India have joined hands to make a foray into nutritious beverages space.

The two have already floated a new company by the name and style of NourishCo.

The joint venture rolled out its first product, Tata Water Plus, on Thursday here at a press conference. Claimed to be the country's first nutrient water, Tata Water Plus is priced at Rs.16 for a 750 ml Pet bottle.

...

“It is taste neutral. It looks and tastes like normal water but with added goodness of nutrients that are bio-available,” says a release.

It had also brought the top-end natural mineral water brand Himalayan (priced at Rs.40 a litre) into the NourishCo fold.

Note the Rs.40 a litre in the last line.  Now, about that nutrient water.  Bio-available doesn't mean what it sounds like.  It does not mean that it comes naturally in the water.  It basically refers to how much of the nutrient can be absorbed by the body.  So I now get a sneaking suspicion that the water is "taste neutral" and "tastes like normal water" because that is what it is - normal water.  Swindle anyone?

Anyway, it is nice to know that our largest industrial conglomerates are on the job of lifting the country out of poverty.  Rs 1L+ nano and Rs.40/litre water and so on.  Hang on, a more affordable tractor would have helped more, you say?  I think you're just jealous of the Tatas.

Car Manufacterers Pushback Against Diesel Car Tax

Additional tax on diesel cars will further impede industry growth: M&M

Terming the calls for imposing additional tax on diesel vehicles as “retrograde”, homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra today said such a move will only further impede growth of the industry which has had a difficult year in 2011.

Reacting to issues raised from various quarters over usage of subsidised diesel fuel for “luxury” and seeking imposition of additional tax to the tune of Rs 80,000 on diesel cars, the company said use of diesel fuel for luxury personal vehicles is less than 0.2 per cent.

“In my opinion to consider an additional tax on diesel vehicles is a retrograde step...” Mahindra & Mahindra President (Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors), Mr Pawan Goenka, said.

Urging the government not to consider such a move, he said: “In the upcoming Union Budget, this is perhaps the most critical item for the automotive industry which will have a significant impact on the growth of the industry in the upcoming fiscal year.’’

Explaining why such a move would prove counter-productive, Mr Goenka said: “A tax on diesel vehicles will further impede growth of the industry which has had a difficult year in 2011.’’

Of course, the industry estimate of the percentage of diesel used by diesel cars is flawed :Press Release: CSE trashes contention that diesel use by cars is very low.  Got to keep those profits rolling in.

Dump Water Privatisation

Dump the idea says Deccan Herald.  

The idea of privatising water has been assiduously peddled by the World Bank, NGOs that receive funding to implement its agenda, business corporations, consultants and so on. Profits motivate their marketing of this idea but these proponents of privatisation have sought to sell their agenda on the principle of efficiency. They have held out privatisation of water as the solution to India’s shrinking water resources and mounting needs.  

It is a pity that the government has bought into this specious argument. The new water policy envisages the government’s withdrawal from acting as a service provider in the water sector. The government’s voluntary abdication of its responsibilities in a sector as crucial to life as water is shocking. 

Proponents of privatisation argue as if this is a magic bullet, a cure-all for all our water woes. 

Nothing is further from the truth. Privatisation will not only fail to address our existing water problems but also it will trigger new ones.

Growth? What Growth?

Lop-sided growth

If food, primary education and primary healthcare are the issues which go unanswered, what ‘growth’ are we talking about?

For the past several years Indian economy has been growing at about 8.5 per cent. Even the current projected rate of growth for 2012, despite global recessionary trends, has been put at over 7 per cent. Businessmen and elite have flourished. More businesses have blossomed and more opportunities have opened up for the elite. Frankly, even for several of the working ‘middle’ class population, the last decade and a half -- post-liberalisation -- has been economically beneficial. For all those of us who are on this gravy train, it has been good enough to put us in a slumber and therefore not see the ominous signs. Has it been good for those of our citizens who are at the lower end of the economic spectrum? Has the so-called growth touched the poor? The answer is a clear ‘no’. 

More than a quarter of the entire world’s hungry people are in India. We have 230 million hungry people. 2011 Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report places India at a high 15th rank in ‘hunger’. It is also significant to note that between years 1996 and 2011, the hunger index actually went up for only India, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo. So, the ‘hunger’ has increased over the last 15 years – years which have seen rapid economic ‘growth’. The World Bank estimates that the percentage of underweight children in sub-Saharan Africa is 24 per cent, while India has almost twice the amount at 47 per cent. About 72 per cent of our infants are anaemic. While this news should really be alarming, we seem to be gloating over our economic marvel. 

India Faking It

Dazzling images do not a shining nation make

Each year, since then, India has had a major visual presence at Davos through cleverly pitched campaigns designed by highly creative advertising agencies.

The India visible in the branding images primarily exists in the consciousness of the elite. It is a world of neat shopping malls, expensive branded products, happy, prosperous consumers, skilled scientists and engineers, white coats, headphones, smooth highways, high rise buildings, glass facades and green grass that paves one's vision. The images could be from anywhere in the world, while the Indian setting is presented through cultural icons such as bindis, colourfully decorated elephants, Gandhiji's spectacles and Taj Mahal. In short, India is transformed into a global place while still retaining its cultural authenticity and ethnic appeal.

While this vision is a powerful tool to attract investors and tourists, it is also its biggest weakness. The images conjure a world that does not really exist outside the limits of the visual frames. Absent from the frames is the “other” India — the poor, the untouchables, the minorities, and all that is un-beautiful — the ruptured body of the nation that has not only failed to “catch up” with the progress, but in fact is seen as holding the nation back in its journey towards prosperity and global power.

It is not uncommon to hear stories of shock and disappointment upon arrival from the very members of the privileged global class that the Indian state so wants to attract. 

...

As the novelty of dazzling image campaigns levels out, India might need to rework its agenda — to focus on the actual production of a prosperous and equitable nation, rather than producing merely images of it.

Energy Crisis: ‘Replace, Improve, and Reduce'

Handling the energy crisis

However, in some other cases, moderating the extravagant lifestyles of the rich is essential, because certain activities consume much greater energy than others. A two-way flight from Delhi to Washington, once a year, consumes as much energy as 35 km of daily car driving round the year! And one 35-km journey by car consumes as much energy as running an LED tube-light for four hours every day for an entire year!

TOUGHER CHALLENGE

The Indian economy faces tougher energy challenges than some other large economies because a majority of the population has started using modern energy only recently, and their need for energy to lead a dignified life is bound to increase the demand substantially. However, our domestic energy resources are limited, and we are already importing 85 per cent of our oil and 15 per cent of our coal requirements.

These energy imports amount to 8 per cent of the national income, and are poised to claim a share beyond 10 per cent soon. This percentage is twice that of China, the US, and the EU. For every rupee of tax paid to the government, we give half a rupee to other countries which goes out of our economy — this certainly isn't a happy situation. If energy imports are reduced by half, 4 per cent of GDP would remain within our economy, increasing GDP growth by 1 per cent.

The failure to understand this phenomenon is a primary cause for concern. The sale of air-conditioners and air travel is doubling every four to five years, while the sale of cars is doubling every seven to eight years. This rapid increase in energy-guzzling activities by a small section of the elite is unsustainable and cannot be simply seen as a sign of development.

"Rights groups fronting for Maoists, says IB"

Rights groups fronting for Maoists, says IB

Indian intelligence agencies have suggested that the Union government take steps to limit activities of leading human rights organisations.

In their advice to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the agencies have alleged that some rights organisations are “actively helping spread the Maoist ideology.”

... 

The activities of rights groups raising issues of illegal detentions, custodial tortures and death, and fake encounters have extended their reach to those areas which help spread Maoists ideology, intelligence agencies preparing a fresh dossier on the issue said.

Can't they see it?  A lot of people who are against "illegal detentions, custodial tortures and death, and fake encounters" may be in "those areas" to stop those things from happening there.

And this is interesting too:

The IB has prepared a database of individuals and organisations. The database has been submitted to the Home Ministry.

The IB data base has some known names, which, according to the intelligence agency, not only helped “the ideological spread to spread but also functioning as the points persons for Maoists”. This allegation is similar to that been made against noted rights activist Binayak Sen in Chhattisgarh.

Big brother watches.

What Will The Food Security Bill Actually Cost?

The cost varies from Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 3.5 lakh crore(Food Security Scheme to cost Rs 3.5 lakh cr) depending on the source.  And the latter figure counts the current food subsidy plus an increase of around Rs 25,000 crore on account of the Bill, though the cost should just count the latter.  And then it also counts approximately Rs 1 lakh crore for 'boosting farm production'.

So, what is the real cost?

Maoists Losing Tribal Support

A turning point

There are signs of tribal support for the Maoists dwindling in Orissa. Tribal voters recently ignored a Maoist call for boycott of by-elections in the Umarkote constituency in Nowrangpur district and showed up in record numbers, with 75 per cent voters exercising their franchise. 

The Maoist call for a bundh to protest the killing of Kishenji too was ignored by the state’s tribal population, which has hitherto been regarded as a reservoir of support for the Maoists. Tribal children went to school braving Maoist threats. The message that tribals have sent out is clear and unambiguous. 

They are turning their backs on the politics of the gun that the Maoists espouse and instead putting their hopes in ballot box politics. However, it is too early to interpret the developments as signaling the decline of the Maoists. Whether it results in the defeat of the politics of violence will depend on how the government responds to the opportunity that has opened up. 

If the government uses the space to initiate dialogue with the Maoists and to kick-start socio-economic programmes to benefit the tribals, then it could prove to be a game-changer. However, if authorities interpret the tribal despair with the Maoists as a victory for ‘Operation Green Hunt’ and persist with exploitative development it could end up being a lost opportunity.

Interesting developments.

Indian Occupations - 2

As Mr Anna Hazare tilts at windmills in the national capital, other movements happen in the hinterlands and meet the brute force of the state, to be heard but faintly by the hyperventilating TV heads and the national press.

A letter from the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti dated yesterday:

Dear Friends, 

We are in terrible shock and disbelief having faced more than 500 armed goons engaged by one Mafia don Bapi Circle under the banner of Paradip Industrial development Council and patronized by the police and administration who forcefully entered the sile of our peaceful and non-violent protest around 1.30 pm today and started attacking us by using bombs and weapons. 

As a result, at least eight villagers of PPSS were injured and one of them has got serious injury. From the morning onwards, more than 2000 villagers were making a peaceful demonstration against the construction of a coastal sea road for POSCO. The private goons who had created a scene of terror yesterday did a repeat show today. Their own bombs apart from injuring our villagers did also result in killing a member of their own team.

We strongly condemn the conspiracy hatched by the Nabin Patnaik government to engage private militia in order to create a situation of crisis which would demand police intervention. We consider the act as cowardice and no democracy worth its name should tolerate such an act of violence perpetrated by hired goons. 

Though the situation is grim and our people are shocked, we are waiting with the same determination to protest peacefully even if the police after creating such a scene tries to enter the village to bulldoze our peaceful and democratic movement. 

We request you to please stand up and expose the unethical, unjust and undemocratic means that the state has been using to crush the movement and to make the movement discredited in the eyes of public who don't have a chance to know the real truth behind any act of conspiracy the police and the mafia are hatching everyday. 

Please join hands with us, stand by us and support our cause. Please circulate the message as widely as possible. We shall inform you the ongoing development here. 

Hoping for more solidarity from you.

Prashant Paikary

Spokesperson,

POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti

A bit dated (July 2011) report from NDTV.

Largest democracy indeed.

Relatedly:  Indian Occupations, FDI - Takes Away More Than It Gives?

Millets - Back To The Future for Dharwad Farmers

Magic of Millets

Till the late ‘80s, millets were a crucial part of agricultural produce in the Dharwad region before cash crops like maize, improved varieties of cotton and soya bean took over. Today, farmers and consumers of Dharwad district are rediscovering the importance of millets, writes Anitha Pailoor 

Angadi says, “When we got a month’s income as a day’s wages, we forgot all about millets in our daily diet. Cooking rice was an easy and quicker way out. Now we have understood that the time saved is now spent in the waiting lounges of clinics.” 

It may just be me, but even the names sound musical:

He explains, “Jowar, little millet (saave), foxtail millet (navane), pearl millet (sajje) and to a certain extent, finger millet (ragi) and proso millet (baraga) formed a key part of the agricultural produce in Dharwad district till the late Eighties. When cash crops like maize, improved variety of cotton and soya bean were introduced, the tricky post-cultivation processes of raising millets turned out to be tedious and cumbersome for farmers.

FDI in Multi-Brand Critics are Retail Luddities

Says the FICCI Secretary-General, this sorry piece:  Beat back the retail Luddites.  He would, wouldn't he. 

A mere 10 million owners of traditional and self-organised retail and wholesale trade have held the country of 1.2 billion people to ransom and thwarted progress. 

No, it wasn't them.  Most political parties barring the Congress put up a front to get it suspended.

It is yet another demonstration (like ‘central planning is more efficient than a regulated market') of how untruth can triumph when repeated often and loudly enough. The retail sector is destined to almost double in size in the next 10 years by simply keeping pace with growth. By 2022, the size of the unorganised retail sector is estimated to reach nearly $1,000 billion. Of this, the ‘mom and pop stores' are expected to have a market share of 84 per cent, giving them a business volume of $840 billion — a huge expansion from their current market of $450 billion!

Note the almost subliminal reference to a certain ideology which starts with 'S'.  Also note the numbers he throws with such gay abandon to prove a point.  $1000 billion in ten years!  84% of this will still be claimed by 'mom and pop' stores.  If 84% is guaranteed to be cornered by the local shops, then what exactly is the need for FDI in multi-brand retail?  Isn't there an assumption that the local shops will still be around?

These are the only other criticism of the FDI decision he addresses : India becoming re-colonised by foreign powers.  Bah!  Who in their right senses makes that argument?  

Then this:

This reflects a very low opinion of our abilities and indeed very poor self-esteem. Can a country whose people have such a poor opinion of themselves really rise to assume global responsibilities? ... We have to show to the world and more importantly prove to ourselves that we can determine our own destiny. This is to be achieved not by denying ourselves the progress that is possible by working with foreign investors but by acting with sagacity, foresight and resolve when and if foreign investors diverge from our national priorities.

Exactly.  We should do that.  Why assume that we can determine our destiny only with foreign investors?  Isn't it possible otherwise?

Fix things like the APMC laws, local taxes, and the transport infrastructure first.  Then lets see if things improve or  not.  Then we can think of FDI in multi-brand retail.

Adieu UID?

UID future bleak as House panel knocks down bill.  

Sources said the Standing Committee on Finance, while rejecting the bill, cited several reasons, including lack of privacy protection laws, security features, using private agencies to enroll citizens by UIDAI, the huge cost of the progrmme  and its  “unreliable” technology for grounding the project. 

"Market economy? Or, market society?"

Market economy? Or, market society?  S Gurumurthy takes on the FDI in multi-brand retail question.

"Underground Metro more prone to terror attacks: Sreedharan"

Says E Sreedharan.  Underground Metro more prone to terror attacks: Sreedharan

The terror card.  But how could that be?  The overground Metro stands exposed to all and sundry.  Just yesterday Namma Metro was stopped for 30 minutes because someone from one of the high-rise houses (three-storeyed I guess) right next to the elevated track seems to have thrown a bag of garbage on the track.  Underground stations have fewer access points, so should be easier to monitor.

That wasn't the reason for having it overground apparently.  Cost was the reason for that.

'An underground metro rail will have five times more security risks when compared to an elevated metro,' Sreedharan said at the Urban Mobility India (UMI) conference-cum-exhibition here. 

... 

Sreedharan said that it would be his dream to give Delhi an all underground metro but it would not be financially viable. 

'As an engineer and a planner, it would be my dream to give Delhi a metro which is all underground... it is just not affordable for a developing country like India. We have been able to leverage limited resources making the metro financially viable,' he said.

Yes, $5 billion is OK, anything more is a bit of a problem.

"India's income inequality has doubled in 20 years"

India's income inequality has doubled in 20 years

NEW DELHI: Inequality in earnings has doubled in India over the last two decades, making it the worst performer on this count of all emerging economies. The top 10% of wage earners now make 12 times more than the bottom 10%, up from a ratio of six in the 1990s.  

Moreover, wages are not smoothly spread out even through the middle of the distribution. The top 10% of earners make almost five times more than the median 10%, but this median 10% makes just 0.4 times more than the bottom 10%.  

... 

Wage inequality has driven more general income inequality in the country. India has got more unequal over the last two decades-India's Gini coefficient, the official measure of income inequality, has gone from 0.32 to 0.38, with 0 being the ideal score. In the early 1990s, income inequality in India was close to that of developed countries; however, its performance on inequality has diverged greatly since then, bringing it closer to China on inequality than the developed world.

There is evidence of growing concentration of wealth among the elite. The consumption of the top 20% of households grew at almost 3% per year in the 2000s as compared to 2% in the 1990s, while the growth in consumption of the bottom 20% of households remained unchanged at 1% per year.  

In comparison, the income of the bottom 20% of households in China grew at double the rate in the 2000s as compared to the 1990s, while the increase for the top 20% of households was much slower. In Brazil, household incomes have been growing faster among the poorest households than among the richest for the last two decades.  

Builders Selling Foreign Fantasies

Of global dreams and local angst

What helps fortify the fantasy, and for the sceptic a sense of disbelief, is the usage of language itself. Developers of residential complexes eating up rich farmlands for lifestyle homes have begun reinventing English. 

One can still find residential complexes with indigenous names such as “Samarth Nagar” but the globalisation bug has bitten deep; developers cannot resist adding the suffix, “Heights” or “Residency”. But the more adventurous ones invent in a way that would have made Shakespeare, no mean coiner of new words, wince. 

Hoardings beckon you to “Capriccio”, “Apostrophe”, “Mont Vert”. The developers of “Wisteriaa” are taking no chances with the name of a flower. The extra letter of the alphabet could change fortunes. The creator of “Euthania” stops short of mercy killing. If that phonetic resemblance rattles the sensitive home-buyer, “Invicta” should compensate. 

At a surface level, this play with the English language appears crude and the work of demented builders. But it expresses the way globalisation transforms itself into a new creature of post-modernity that at first sight seems obviously syncretic.

Those are some surreal names.  May not be as bad in Bengaluru, though it may be that I'm not paying enough attention.  Some I can think of, with a little help from Google : more than three flavors of apartments named 'Gardenia'.  Venezia, Parkridge, Passiflora.  The following, while not torturing English, nonetheless are a bit on the fantasy side.  For instance, we have our own choice of Elysium's and one 'Manhattans' (yes, it is the plural.  Buy one get some free!) and our own Riviera.  We have transplanted Knightsbridge, Notting Hill, Kensington Gardens, Wellington Park here.  We have an apartment named 'perfumed toilet water' ('Canopy Cologne'),  one named after peafowl ('Confident Pavo').  And much before all that we got our own historical 'Acropolis'.  

For a country reputed to have that has 30 crore gods and goddesses and more than a few languages, we are running short of names for our apartments!  Then again, selling dreams requires that we go beyond the familiar.  Familiarity, contempt...

After Trade Unions, NGOs

From the corporate paper: NGOs vs India Inc: How are companies gearing up for the face off?.  Some nuggets:

"With trade union leaders, one could at least talk," says Gulabchand. "They stood for the interest of the workers and their cause was always clear. Medha Patkar, on the other hand, refuses to sit down at the table and talk. She wants to destroy Lavasa and every other such project. She's an anarchist." 

That is the CMD of Hindustan Construction Company saying that.  The job of trade union leaders is to talk with management.  Otherwise how could they solve problems?  But  why would Medha Patkar sit down at the table to talk with him if she is taking up the issue of violation of environmental laws? Or is it something else he is implying?  

"The corporate sector needs to press for more transparency in the NGO sector. They should publish their accounts and state their sources of funding. Secondly, Indian NGOs need to have more focus. Right now they are rent-a-cause activists, with no deep knowledge or experience in any one issue." 

Well, well, well.  Shoot the messengers.  Next up, it is Monsanto's turn:

"From NGOs, our interactions have widened to universities, academia, media and end-user industry, like poultry feed, starch industry and ginning mills. Relationships are built on creating awareness and we realise that Vandana Shiva was successful because she had an ignorant audience. We are building an ecosystem of knowledge to counter the next tirade, if any," says Bhatnagar. 

Italics mine.  In other words, she was just exploiting ignorant people for her own nefarious reasons and Monsanto whose very existence depends on selling GM seeds is doing the righteous thing.  Then, this story whose point escapes me from Vedanta:

When Felix Padel, English anthropologist-activist and great grandson of Charles Darwin touched down to espouse the cause of East Indian tribals in 2003, Jitu Jakasika, then all of 15, joined the chorus. A Dongria-Kondh tribal from Lanjigarh in the Kalahandi district of Orissa, Jakasika was entranced by Padel's vision of a denuded community if Vedanta were to be given a free run to mine bauxite from the nearby Niyamgiri Hills. The only school-goer from his village, Jakasika became a conduit convincing his villagers and community about the pitfalls of bauxite mining and even set out to gather support across the political spectrum. Gradually, global non-profits such as Amnesty International and Survival International made a beeline to him, as did Action Aid and the local NGOs.  

But innocence also has its intransigent heroes. All along, Jakasika had a burning desire to be a civil servant. He had friends from his community serving Vedanta and in 2006-07, and on their request, he went to the nearby NALCO bauxite mines, for a demo. He subsequently took his villagers to the NALCO mines and got so convinced about the 'misguided path' he had taken, that he met up with Sanjay Kumar Pattnaik, a senior vice-president in Vedanta. When he asked Jakasika what he wanted to do for his people, the reply was: "I want education so that I can work for my people; so that there will be 100 people in the community like me." Vedanta executives immediately took Jakasika to Bhubaneshwar, where he's now pursuing a Bachelors' in Business Administration sponsored by the same company he once loathed. 

 Corporates should learn that they can't do as they please rather than blame the NGOs.