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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 9:59:04 pm

Marathi Matters

A basic knowledge of the local language should not be an unreasonable demand for someone earning a living by serving the public in that state. The perfectly reasonable proposition put forward by the state government that commercial passenger-vehicle drivers should possess a working knowledge of Marathi has been unfortunately recast by some taxi and autorickshaw drivers as an assault on fundamental rights. Four Mumbai-based Uber drivers have approached the Bombay High Court, challenging the...

Marathi Matters

A basic knowledge of the local language should not be an unreasonable demand for someone earning a living by serving the public in that state. The perfectly reasonable proposition put forward by the state government that commercial passenger-vehicle drivers should possess a working knowledge of Marathi has been unfortunately recast by some taxi and autorickshaw drivers as an assault on fundamental rights. Four Mumbai-based Uber drivers have approached the Bombay High Court, challenging the state government’s notification making working knowledge of Marathi compulsory. Their petition invokes constitutional guarantees of equality, the freedom to practise a profession and the right to life, while arguing that the Motor Vehicles Act does not prescribe a language requirement for badges or permits. There is nothing inherently oppressive about expecting a worker who operates in a particular linguistic environment to learn enough of its language to perform his job. A driver does not need to become a Marathi scholar, pass an examination in medieval literature or abandon his mother tongue. He needs to understand a passenger, ask where he wants to go, give basic directions and deal with an emergency. That cannot be cultural assimilation by force. It is, in fact, basic occupational competence. The principle is hardly peculiar to Maharashtra. Indians who move to another state for work routinely encounter a different language and, sensibly, make an effort to acquire at least its basics. A Bengali worker in Tamil Nadu, a Marathi worker in Karnataka or a Hindi-speaking migrant in Kerala cannot reasonably expect the surrounding society to reorganise itself entirely around his linguistic preferences. Learning the local language is one of the simplest forms of adaptation and, ideally, the beginning of acculturation. The irony in Mumbai is particularly rich. Drivers protesting the requirement have reportedly been turning up at language classes, armed with handwritten Marathi phrases. What passengers actually need is rather more prosaic, basic yes or no and questions on destination from their prospective drivers. The state’s decision to establish 161 training centres, provide a helpline and allow drivers who fail the test time to improve is therefore welcome. Enforcement should be transparent, proportionate and free of vigilantism. A language requirement certainly should never become an excuse for extortion or intimidation. But the answer to an imperfectly administered rule is better administration, not the rejection of the principle itself. Those who choose to earn their livelihood in Maharashtra should not be encouraged to regard Marathi as an imposition simply because it is inconvenient to learn. Mumbai has always absorbed outsiders. It has not required them to surrender their identities. It can, however, reasonably ask them to learn how to say “yes, please sit” before they learn a dozen ways of saying “I want to go home.”

Lateral upgrade to ailing annihilation

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

Lateral upgrade to ailing annihilation

Being the first person from the private sector to be appointed as chairperson of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as part of the government’s lateral initiative, Madhabi Puri Buch also holds the honour of being the first woman to hold the top post as capital market regulator.

But the laurels that the former private sector banker enjoyed in her earlier stint with ICICI Bank, was marred with allegations that she and her husband were having a stake in offshore entities, which were used to artificially inflate shares of Adani group companies.

Terming the allegation as `character assassination, Buch clarified that all disclosures have already been furnished and the fund in question did not invest in any securities involving the Adani group.

When it rains, it pours. This allegation was subsequently followed by Congress Party allegation that Buch had received salary and post-retirement benefits from ICICI Bank after she quit the private sector bank.

In its clarification to the stock exchanges, ICICI Bank asserted that the payments made to Buch were purely retirement benefits after her exit from the bank and they were neither salary nor employee stock options.

Prior to these allegations, Buch tenure at SEBI was all about bringing in quick reforms on operational issues by changing the format of consultation paper to bring in larger responses digitally. Being data savvy, the rationale of her decisions were democratic based on big data analysis derived from the responses received to the consultation papers.

Further she bifurcated the duties of the SEBI staff between operations and enforcement, which were done by the same persons earlier. Having worked for the private sector in the capital market domain space, Buch had a better understanding of the subject compared to officers from the administrative service in the past that reflected even in her orders as a whole-time director at SEBI before becoming the chairperson. As a whole time director at SEBI, her orders on adjudication issues were more directional to the capital market space, according to experts in the compliance space. She was also quick to revamp the old provisions of the 90s at SEBI.

Being tech and data savvy, Buch enhanced regulatory surveillance and detection of market manipulation, insider trading and fraud while also emphasizing on strengthening corporate governance by introducing stricter rules for independent directors and enhancing disclosures for related-party transactions.

To put in perspective, the annual report of the capital market regulator in the just concluded financial year revealed that the number of investigations related to insider trading jumped to 175 in 2023-24 from 85 in the preceding year while probes related to front running jumped over three times to 83 from 24 in the preceding year.

Transparency in mutual funds by implementing measures to protect retail investors along with tightening norms for initial public offers, particularly in the SME platforms were some of her other positive initiatives including confirmation of denial of any market rumours within 24 hours for the top 100 listed companies which will be extended to top 250 companies from December 1. However increased transparency and compliance with tightening regulations led to increased operational costs for the market participants and hence faced resistance from certain quarters. Born in 1966, Buch completed her primary education in Mumbai and graduated with specialization in Mathematics from Delhi and later obtained a management degree from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. In between, she got engaged to Dhawal Buch, a director at a consumer goods multinational at the age of eighteen and got married at the age of 21.

Besides ICICI Bank, Buch also worked as a lecturer at a college in England, worked at Greater Pacific Capital in Singapore and ICICI Securities as its CEO. She also worked as executive director on several private sector companies and as a consultant for New Development Bank (Brics Bank).

What now remains to be seen, is whether Buch, who survived the 26/11 terror attack when she along with her husband, was attending a meeting at Taj, be able to overcome the current ordeal. Keeping fingers crossed for the times to come.

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