tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21904628339445212482024-03-14T10:03:05.188+05:30From Words To Void..Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.comBlogger128125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-33751792224517052742019-03-14T13:05:00.001+05:302019-03-14T13:05:56.338+05:30Is neutrality still desirable?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When hate becomes institutionalized</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And love is forced to look for places to hide</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If such a scenario you encounter, is neutrality still
desirable?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With cries for war all around</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And the feeblest voice for peace also drowned</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If such a scenario you encounter, is neutrality still
desirable?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When lies are awarded generously </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And truth just looks on helplessly</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If such a scenario you encounter, is neutrality still
desirable?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the world is reduced to mere boundary lines</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To guard which, humans pay the biggest fines</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If such a scenario
you encounter, is neutrality still desirable?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When lives are freely sacrificed</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the altar of a false sense of pride</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If such a scenario you encounter, is neutrality still
desirable?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When frivolity is worn as a badge of honor</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And decency has lost all its power</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If such a scenario you encounter, is neutrality still
desirable?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When blind faith is placed on a pedestal</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And every question is turned into a scandal</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If such a scenario you encounter, is neutrality still
desirable?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When ghastly fiction displaces facts</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And facts are terrorized into oblivion</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If such a scenario you encounter, is neutrality still
desirable?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When poor are abused but poverty is used</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When dead are mere fodders for juicy news</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If such a scenario you encounter, is neutrality still
desirable?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My response would be a vehement ‘NO’</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For in such a scenario neutrality may lead you to
silence, somewhere you shouldn’t want to go</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today you may be rooting for war but remember tomorrow it
may destroy you</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today you may be filling yourself with hate but remember tomorrow
it may engulf you</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today you may be feeling an instant gratification that
frivolity brings but remember tomorrow it may openly shame you</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today you may be feeling safe in your lies but remember
tomorrow these very lies may trap you</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today you may be feeling secure in your blind faith but
remember tomorrow it might be just too late to cure you</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today you may be valuing the lifeless over the living but
remember tomorrow this choice may lead to an end of your life too</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So No, neutrality is not a choice anymore, silence is no
longer an option</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You need to awaken what has been forcibly buried inside
you, you need to re-ignite that passion</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The passion and conviction to openly embrace reason</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The passion and conviction to openly question, and make
it your life’s mission</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The passion and conviction to think and reflect and be
your own person</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The passion and conviction to not create demigods but to
lead your life with your own vision </span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-40980392870130349232019-03-13T11:13:00.001+05:302019-03-13T11:13:27.316+05:30Social media and the emerging crisis of lynching in recent times<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Following closely on the heels of cow vigilantism,
mob-lynching - pursuant to fear-mongering spread by social media posts - has
quickly become the new bane that modern India is having to grapple with. Of
late, rumours of child lifters spread through Whatsapp have resulted in
lynchings at various places in the country. Two of the latest incidents of
lynchings, however, have compounded manifold the seriousness of the issue at
hand. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In one of these incidents, Sukanta Chakraborty, was lynched
by a mob on June 28 in a crowded market in Kalachchara area of South Tripura (</span><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/four-policemen-suspended-over-lynching-of-anti-rumour-campaigner-5245989/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://indianexpress.com/article/india/four-policemen-suspended-over-lynching-of-anti-rumour-campaigner-5245989/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
Incidentally, he was a part of a government announcement team that was hired by
the authorities to dispel the rumours related to child abduction. He was killed
in broad daylight in a crowded market area with the presence of policemen
nearby, who were, however, unable to prevent the mob from carrying out the
heinous act.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the second such incident (among the several that have
taken place throughout the country), five nomads of the Dongrinathpanthi Gosavi
community were lynched by a mob at Rainpada village in Dhule district of
Maharashtra (</span><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/maharashtra-dhule-lynching-mob-thumbed-nose-at-police-they-are-dead-take-them-away-5243288/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://indianexpress.com/article/india/maharashtra-dhule-lynching-mob-thumbed-nose-at-police-they-are-dead-take-them-away-5243288/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
All these five men had registered with the local police and had valid Aadhaar
cards. At the time, they were locked inside a room by some good Samaritans so
that their lives could be saved. This, however, could not prevent the mob from
killing them. The most alarming aspect of this gruesome act, though, was that
the murders were completed by the mob in the presence of police personnel, who
were handed over the dead bodies by the mob only after ensuring that there were
no signs of life remaining in the victims.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The common factor among these lynchings has been the spread
of a certain kind of rumour through social media, mostly Whatsapp, which is
circulated and re-circulated multiple times without anyone bothering to check
the veracity of the message being circulated. In no time such messages go viral
and create a pressing feeling of immediate panic and fear among the recipients
who then indulge in such unthinkable violence. The monster that has been
unleashed has now grown to such proportions that no amount of counter-efforts
by the authorities seem to be working. On the contrary, those involved in
spreading awareness are themselves becoming victims of these murderous mobs.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mob psychology, also called as herd mentality, has been an
area of interest for various scholars in multiple fields. The idea of a “group
mind” or “mob behavior” was first put forward by 19<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century French
social psychologists Gabriel Tarde and Gustave Le Bon (</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_mentality"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_mentality</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
The results of one of the researches conducted by Leeds University demonstrated
that it only takes 5% of confident looking and instructed people to influence
the direction of the 95% of people in the crowd (</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_mentality"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_mentality</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
Taking another example, the functioning of share markets, the world over, has
always been susceptible to the vagaries of mob behavior.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With known and proven dangers of mob mentality, is there
anything that could have been done or can now be done to discourage this
dangerous behavior that is being observed with increasing frequency? I, for
one, think the answer to the above question is in the affirmative.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of the reasons for the fast-growing trend of mob
violence that is being witnessed in our society, first in the case of cow
vigilantism and now the lynchings based on rumours spread through social media,
is the deafening silence of the authorities in power. The raging mobs enjoy a
kind of impunity that encourages them to take the law in their own hands. One
reason for this might be the sheer strength of numbers and the security that
facelessness and namelessness guarantee. But the primary reason I think is the
latent knowledge that this behavior might not have remained as condemnable as
it should have been, that somehow it will eventually be accepted, after a few
cursory noises are made, forgotten and even condoned. This belief is an
indication of the kind of society that we are turning into, a society that
attaches a minimum value to humanity and human lives.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The rampant misuse of social media is surely the immediate
cause of the rise of this lynching phenomenon yet banning its use or trying to control
it may only turn out to be temporary stop-gap solutions. The bigger requirement
and challenge today is for us to think about the deeper values that we choose
to cherish as a society. Do we want to repose our trust and faith in the
time-tested values of humanity, empathy and inclusiveness or do we want to
continue our march on the path of symbolism, divisiveness and sheer untruth? If
we choose the former values, we might still be able to retain a hope of a
future world that is livable, though we would have a lot of work to do towards
achieving this aim for the sheer reason that we have come very far away from a
society that cherishes such values. However, if we continue our march on a road
that is built on the second set of values, it is very likely that we may not
even have a world to live in for much longer. The choice is ours, and only
ours, to make and the time is now. Hope we choose fast and wisely, lest we will
have only ourselves to blame.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-83621514513309419442019-03-13T11:12:00.001+05:302019-03-13T11:12:45.120+05:30Palliative Care<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was recently introduced to the term ‘Palliative Care’
through the book authored by Dr. Kathryn Mannix, titled ‘<i>With the End in
Mind: Dying, Death and Wisdom in an Age of Denial</i>’. I may be sounding very
ignorant or uninformed to many when I say that this was the first time when I
was introduced to the concept of palliative care. However, I am sure, many may
also be riding in the same boat as me. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The book mentioned above is a collection of first hand
experiences of Dr. Kathryn Mannix, who has an experience of more than three
decades as a practitioner of palliative care. On her reasons for writing this
book, she states, ‘</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s not an easy conversation to have, but one I feel we must. That is
why I wrote my book, </span><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">With the End in Mind: Dying, Death and Wisdom in an Age of Denial</span></em><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,
which is now on the Wellcome Book prize shortlist. During my 30-year career in
palliative care it became increasingly clear to me that someone had to tell the
world what normal dying is like. Only, it started to dawn on me that no-one was
going to do that - and I felt compelled to try. I took early retirement to make
time to speak out, in an attempt to reclaim public understanding of dying<b>.’ </b>(</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/family/kathryn-mannix-lost-art-talking-death-must-revive/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/family/kathryn-mannix-lost-art-talking-death-must-revive/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">). </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dr. Mannix has been one of the foremost palliative care practitioners in
Britain and understandably so the book is written in a British context.
However, after reading this book, the concept of palliative care struck me
enough to make an effort to search about its practice in the Indian context. I
had assumed this aspect of patient-care will be totally absent in India, but I
was pleasantly surprised to find that, though, still at nascent stages, this
concept has been in existence in India as well. I came across a journal article
by Divya Khosla, Firuza. D. Patel and Suresh. C. Sharma, published in the
Indian Journal of Palliative Care in 2012, titled, ‘Palliative Care in India:
Current Progress and Future Needs’ (</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573467/"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573467/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">). As the title suggests, it
talks in sufficient detail about the trajectory of palliative care in India,
mostly in the context of palliative care for cancer patients.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Palliative care has been defined by WHO as follows, </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">“an approach that improves the quality of
life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with
life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by
means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain
and other problems, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual”</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573467/"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573467/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">). It is thus clear from the
definition of palliative care itself that this is a multi-dimensional and
inter-disciplinary field of research comprising of various professionals like </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">doctors, nurses, counselors, social
workers etc. and other volunteers. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The very idea of palliative
care is grounded in the inherent value of every single human life. It is based
on the internalization of the fact that prolonging a human life might not
always be possible, and in some cases, not even desirable. It also stems from
the belief that an individual is the owner of his/her body and mind and thus
must have the first voice in any decision that needs to be taken regarding
his/her body or mind. This aspect is least understood, at least in the Indian
context, where the patients have the least say in the trajectories that their
treatment should follow. They are seldom asked about their preferences and
choices. Key aspects of the illness are often even hidden from them. There is
nobody to help them with the immediate concerns that might be plaguing their
minds. There may be no-one to even share these concerns. Additionally, the
primary care-takers and the families of the patients are also undergoing a lot
of stress, which is seldom considered worthy of further exploration, at least
in the Indian context. It is treated as a natural course of action for the
family members to ably care for the patient. Their worries, concerns,
frustrations, feelings etc. – none of these are thought to be of special
importance. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">It is a matter of
common-sense that any illness, however big or small it might be, is never
solely physical. It is always multifaceted – touching physical, mental,
financial, spiritual, social and such other facets of a human life. Thus, any
course of treatment must also not be unidimensional. Palliative care has the
potential of filling in these gaps. It has the potential of providing voice to
the patients and their caregivers and families. It has the potential of
centering the entire concept of patient care around the needs of the patients
and their families, which is how it should be. It is an area which should be
encouraged and graciously funded so that more and more research comes out of
this area. Its education and awareness need to be spread on a mass level. MCI
has recognized MD in Palliative Medicine, which is a positive step and which
will help in developing dedicated professionals in this area (</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573467/"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573467/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">). </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is thus the need of the hour and a desirable objective for the future
that we recognize palliative care for the huge potential that it has and take
steps towards unlocking the same. The ideas of life, death, illness, treatment
and care need to be thoroughly unpacked and viewed through a different lens – a
lens that values and champions the dignity of each and every human life and,
hence, leaves no stone unturned in ensuring that same dignity to each and every
death.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-40327452220298564812019-03-13T11:09:00.002+05:302019-03-13T11:09:43.543+05:30Mumbai face to face with endless rains and the lack of city planning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have been a resident of Mumbai for close to ten years now.
So, I can safely claim to be sufficiently experienced to comment on the monsoon
preparedness of this city. Ten years may seem to be a long time, however little
seems to have changed in terms of how the city administration deals with the
copious amount of rains that lash this city year after year.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before getting into the city planning with respect to the
rains however, I would like to share a bit about the general geographical
layout of this city. The city of Mumbai, including the suburban areas, is
structured in a fashion that majority of the office spaces are situated in
certain pockets of the city, separate from the residential areas which are otherwise
scattered far and wide. For this reason, people might have to travel even for
2-3 hours daily (one side) to reach their workplaces. This humongous task is
made possible by the huge network of local trains that crisscross the city,
with trains scheduled to run at impressive frequencies. This train network is
rightly termed as the lifeline of the city. Even so, thousands still commute by
roads daily to and from their workplaces. Additionally, Mumbai being the
commercial capital of the nation, there are thousands and lakhs of individuals
who must travel daily as a part of their jobs.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The abovementioned geographical distances, as it is, ensure
that life is never easy for Mumbaikars. The local trains, even though, keep the
city up and running, however, their physical condition leaves a lot to be
desired. These are Non-AC trains, whose doors do-not close automatically; as a result,
one can find hundreds of individuals hanging from the doors of every local
train that passes by, sometimes even resulting in fatalities. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The train stations, especially, the low-lying ones often get
filled up with water to such an extent that is possible even to swim in it.
Hence, whenever the rains are beating down mercilessly, one will start
experiencing frequent delays or cancellations of these trains. To add to the
abovementioned infrastructure woes, the city also experiences one, or often,
multiple building/bridge collapses every year leading to loss of lives and
further inconvenience to the commuters.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The condition of the roads is no better, in general, and
particularly during the long rainy season (incidentally the monsoons in Mumbai
stretch from June to September). The size of the potholes invariably widens,
and the newly built roads start to appear potholed after the first rains
itself. Year after year, deaths are reported of people accidentally falling
into manholes, or getting electrocuted, while walking during rains. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As if all this was not enough, during certain years when the
rains are particularly unrelenting and Mumbai experiences heavy flooding, the
city infrastructure completely breaks down. In recent history, the year 2005
was a particularly difficult one for Mumbai. I, personally, was not a witness
then, but I certainly got a flavor of it last year, on 29 August 2017. Rains
were particularly heavy and unrelenting on that day. By noon, people had
started realizing the severity of the situation, however, prior to it there
were hardly any warnings that could have been helpful to people. At about 2.00
PM that day, I also started for the station from my office, amid pouring water,
in the hope that I might just be able to catch a train to reach home. However,
the trains had stopped running much prior to that. Consequently, I had to
return to my office and spend the night there. I reached back home the next
morning and took the day off from work. The day was, incidentally, mostly sunny
and bright. However, the day after that when I reached the train station to
catch a train to my office, I observed that the trains were still being
cancelled and the ones that were running were delayed. At the time, certain
questions troubled my mind, which I am reproducing below:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 21pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why is it that
almost 30-36 hours of no rains and hence, availability of ample recovery time,
the trains services had still not normalized?</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 21pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why is it that
there was a complete absence of timely warnings about the impending heavy rains
prior to Tuesday (the day of heavy rains), so that people could have been
warned well in advance, and could have stayed at home?</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 21pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why is it that
all the advisories started pouring in only post noon on Tuesday, when the
maximum damage had already been done, and the trains had already stopped
functioning? How could the people stranded at workplaces be expected to reach
back in such a scenario and of what use were these advisories then?</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 21pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why is it that
there were predictions of continuous heavy rains for 24-48 hours after Tuesday,
and then there was no, or little rain recorded? Who is accountable for this
absolutely off the mark forecast?</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 21pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why is it that
the authorities are as helpless in handling the rainfalls in Mumbai, as they
were in 2005? Why is it that the financial capital of the nation came to a
standstill with only one-third the amount of rainfall that had fallen in 2005,
and that too 12 years later? Who is accountable for these lost 12 years of no
preparation to handle such a situation?</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 21pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why is it that
the people of Mumbai had only each-other for their help and support, somehow
trying to grapple with the crisis? Who is accountable for the non-existent
disaster management system in a city which experiences 4-month long monsoons
every year?</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt 3pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One year down the line, I still don’t have
any answers to the above questions. However, ironically, Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC) has been magnanimous enough in announcing this year that in
case people are stranded at their workplaces or such other places due to heavy
rains, they will be provided with food and water by the Corporation. I leave it
to you to decide if Mumbaikars must be grateful for this grand offer.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-76742319287603920162019-03-13T11:08:00.005+05:302019-03-13T11:08:58.676+05:30Mulk : A review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mulk – an important film to be made, for the important
things it has to say, the things that require re-iteration every now and then,
and especially so in today’s times. For instance, if a Muslim family chose to
stay back in India in 1947, it did so because it believed in the promise of
secularism that India had to offer, or that the definition of terrorism includes
not only Islamic terrorism, but violence of many kinds, like the practice of
untouchability, or the exploitation of Adivasis etc., or that the entire
narrative needs to be shifted to a discussion around how “We” need to
collectively think about moving forward rather than getting buried under the
shrill noises of “Us” vs. “Them”. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yet, there are some places in the movie which left me
wanting more, places where I felt certain stereotypes had been maintained
without indulging in a deeper analysis of the same. Firstly, the whole premise
of the “Good Muslim vs. Bad Muslim” around which the movie is centered, leaves
me a bit uncomfortable, because this whole distinction has been conceptualized
only for the Muslims and for no other religious groups. We never talk about a
“Good Hindu vs. a Bad Hindu”, a “Good Sikh vs. a Bad Sikh”, a “Good Jain vs. a
Bad Jain”, and so on and so forth. I am not sure of the reason for the same but
maybe it is because, traditional terrorism, the world over, has come to be
linked with Islam, and hence this need to conceptualize these categories to
counter the resultant Islamophobia. The movie, here, does a praiseworthy job
though, by offering a reconceptualization of what we are accustomed to
considering as terrorism. It gives ample examples of what may also qualify as
acts of terror in the Indian context, like, untouchability, exploitation of
Adivasis and the weaker sections of society etc. To this list, if the inherent
and inbuilt structural terrorism with regard to how the whole world functions, is
added, we may be forced to look at terrorism with completely new perspective
altogether. By structural terrorism I mean the terror that a common person
feels while dealing with someone in position of authority, the terror that a
‘less developed nation’ (in common usage of the term) feels on dealing with a
superpower; or the terror that all kinds of power imbalance (which is the basis
on which the modern world is built) invokes.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Secondly, leaving aside the widening of the definition of
terrorism, even if we talk in terms of terrorism as is understood in the
traditional sense, enough examples of Hindutva terrorism are available to
corroborate the fact that terrorism is not always Islamic. The film, however,
does-not choose to dwell on this aspect much.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thirdly, the film somewhere chooses to support the narrative
that anti-Muslim hysteria is the work of fringe elements in society and hence,
sharing a copy of the Preamble of the Constitution of this country may be
enough to silence such misguided elements. However, in the times when a new law
to counter mob lynching is being discussed, it might be a bit naïve to continue
to treat such elements as fringe, or to believe that such elements would give
due respect to a copy of the Preamble of the Constitution of India, and not
treat it as just another piece of paper. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fourthly, the film talks about the usual stereotypes of low
literacy rates among Muslims or their propensity to have larger number of
children. Though it questions people making a mockery of this scenario and
beseeches them to consider it as a ‘problem’ of the entire nation rather than a
‘problem’ of a particular section of society, yet it stops at just that. It
forgets to mention that in the decade from 2001-2011, Muslims have led the
improvement in literacy rates, with an increase of 9.4% points (</span><a href="http://www.indiaspend.com/making-sense-of-breaking-news/muslims-lead-minority-literacy-rate-improvements-over-decade-58184"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.indiaspend.com/making-sense-of-breaking-news/muslims-lead-minority-literacy-rate-improvements-over-decade-58184</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
It also does-not mention that according to latest religion-wise data from the
National Family Health Survey (NFHS) of 2015-16, the fertility rates of Muslim
households have fallen from 3.4 (in 2005-06) to 2.6, which is more than the
fall in Hindu fertility rates over the same period (2.6 to 2.1) (</span><a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/fertility-rate-below-replacement-level-for-all-but-hindus-muslims/articleshow/62465588.cms"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/fertility-rate-below-replacement-level-for-all-but-hindus-muslims/articleshow/62465588.cms</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
More importantly though, it fails to dwell into the reasons that may be behind
Muslims having the lowest literacy rates and highest fertility rates (which are
themselves co-related). For instance, research has also shown that work
participation rates among Muslims are the lowest among minorities, even though
their share in population is the largest among the minorities (</span><a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/specials/story-in-numbers-muslim-literacy-rates-rising-faster-than-work-participation-116080100018_1.html"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://www.business-standard.com/article/specials/story-in-numbers-muslim-literacy-rates-rising-faster-than-work-participation-116080100018_1.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
It has also been observed that Muslims have the lowest rates of enrolment in
higher education in India (</span><a href="https://scroll.in/article/812272/muslims-have-the-lowest-rate-of-enrolment-in-higher-education-in-india"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://scroll.in/article/812272/muslims-have-the-lowest-rate-of-enrolment-in-higher-education-in-india</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
Why is this so? Is it because of some inherent flaws in the people born as
Muslims? Or because of some inherent flaws in the Islamic religion? I feel that
there is a need to shift the narrative from viewing these as ‘problems’ with
the mindsets of the Muslim community. Rather there is a need to engage in a
more researched and nuanced root cause analysis of the same. Just as the poor
cannot be blamed for their own poverty, similarly the Muslims cannot be blamed
for their lack of educational or job opportunities. These are structural and
cultural issues that have ended up acquiring the nature of a vicious circle
that is, unfortunately, only gaining in strength day by day. Further, an “Us
vs. Them” mindset, that the film rightly points at, further exacerbates the
problem rather than solving it. It creates a false sense of insecurity and fear
where none exists.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fifthly, the Muslim family in the film is duly chastised by
the judge for their lack of knowledge about what might have been going on in
the minds of the youth of their family. This exchange appears to convey a
message that the parents belonging to Muslim religion need to be more vigilant
and observant with their kids, as Muslim kids may be more susceptible to
adverse influences. However, I would like to believe that such an advice, if
true, is equally applicable to all parents and families and singling out Muslims
for the same is a bit too simplistic and presumptuous. Further, we need to try
and move towards a society in which Muslim children feel such warmth and
belongingness that they seize to be more susceptible to such kind of negative
influences.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lastly, the whole exchange with some sections of society still
bursting crackers on a Pakistani win in a match, has often been used in the
discourse around nationalism and patriotism, and has been repeated in the movie.
This complete discussion altogether seems too trivial to me to be a part of any
serious discourse on religion, nationalism or India-Pakistan relations. It
could have been entirely done away with in a movie that is trying to send out
an important message.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All in all, the movie is a brave attempt at trying to shift
the narrative, again, towards harmony and humanity. The irony, though is that, this
attempt is having to be made in a civilization that thrives on the richness of
its diversity and has always been proud of it. This was the unfortunate feeling
with which I left the cinema hall after watching the movie. To end on a
positive note, however, “Fortune”, they say, “favors the brave”. Amen. </span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-84636924602167573212019-03-13T11:08:00.002+05:302019-03-13T11:08:19.100+05:30Institutes of Eminence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The UGC
(Institutes of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2017, were
notified in the Gazette on August 29, 2017. Recently, the not-yet-established
Jio Institute, which has been selected as one of the ‘Institutes of Eminence’,
qualifying itself in the greenfield category, has landed itself into some
controversy. However, my purpose here is not to dwell on this controversy, but
to discuss the ‘Institutes of Eminence’ concept in general.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The
objectives of Institutes of Eminence deemed to be universities, as notified in
the Gazette, are stated as follows:</span></span></div>
<br />
<ol style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: decimal;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">to provide for higher education
leading to excellence and innovations in such branches of knowledge as may be
deemed fit at post-graduate, graduate and research degree levels and award
degrees, diplomas and other academic distinctions;</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">to engage in areas of specialization
to make distinctive contributions to the objectives of the university education
system wherein the academic engagement is clearly distinguishable from programmes
of an ordinary nature and is tuned to developing the capacity of the students
and the researchers to compete in the global tertiary education marketplace
through the acquisition and creation of advanced knowledge in those areas;</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">to provide for high quality teaching
and research and for the advancement of knowledge and its dissemination through
various research programmes undertaken in- house by substantial number of full
time faculty and research scholars in diverse disciplines;</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">to pay special attention to teaching
and research in unique and emerging areas of knowledge, including
interdisciplinary areas, which are regarded as important for strategic needs of
the country but are not being pursued by conventional or existing institutions
so far, and award degrees, diplomas and other academic distinctions.</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">to aim to be rated internationally
for its teaching and research as a top hundred Institution in the world over
time.</span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Although
some of the concepts listed as a part of the above objectives are not very
clear to me, for instance, the meaning of ‘programmes of an ordinary nature’ or
‘teaching and research in……regarded as important for strategic needs of the
country….’ etc., however, whatsoever may be the intentions behind by these
objectives, there is a more fundamental question that is of concern to me. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What is it
among the abovementioned objectives that qualifies them as fit for being the
objectives of an ‘Institute of Eminence’? Should the ‘conventional or existing
institutions’ which are being made to offer ‘ordinary programmes’ not be
striving for higher education that ‘leads to excellence and innovations’, or should
they not be engaging in ‘high quality teaching and research’? If one would go
by the general aims and objectives of education, or higher education (as is the
case here), these aims seem to be equally valid and relevant for all higher
educational institutes. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The
conception of these Regulations and the idea behind granting the status of
‘Institutes of Eminence’ to certain universities appears to assume that to achieve
and maintain quality standards and attain excellence, universities need to have
sufficient autonomy. As a result, one of the ‘characteristics’ of these
Universities, that has been notified is ‘existence of academic, administrative
and financial autonomy’. These universities have been granted all the above.
They have been kept outside the existing regulatory framework in terms of
setting of academic standards, deciding courses and curricula, or deciding on
the fee structures. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One would
thus feel that if provision of autonomy is a sine qua non for excellence and an
assurance of quality, then why is it necessary to create only certain subset of
institutes that will be allowed to move towards this excellence and try to meet
these quality standards? What wrong has been committed by those other
‘ordinary’ institutes that they do-not deserve this opportunity? </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This
‘Institutes of Eminence’ concept once again deepens the discriminatory
character of our education system. It favors ‘the few’ to the neglect of ‘the
many’. The Government owned and controlled institutes that shall be selected as
‘Institutes of Eminence’ will also be infused with additional funds of Rs. 1000
crore each. It would have been much more beneficial for ‘the many’ had this
corpus been used for the physical upkeep and maintenance and improvement of
academic standards of the ‘ordinary’ institutes. That is also the onus of the
government and it cannot turn a blind eye towards it.</span></span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-52438738453681654972019-03-13T10:59:00.002+05:302019-03-13T10:59:05.324+05:30Towards an alternative perspective<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Indian banking system is
passing through a rough phase. With the banks already grappling with unusually
high instances of non-performing assets (NPAs), a myriad of scams have
unfolded, questioning the functioning of the banking system as a whole. The
issues involved therein, have however, been widely discussed and debated and
more and more analysis of the same is being added to the table daily. My
purpose here, therefore, is not to contribute further to the same, but to dwell
on something different. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I just started reading the epic
novel written by John Steinbeck which was published way back in 1939, titled,
“The Grapes of Wrath”. I would just like to quote a passage from this novel,
which is a conversation between the owners and the tenants of some piece of
land:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“The owner men went on
leading to their point: You know the land’s getting poorer. You know what
cotton does to the land; robs it, sucks all the blood out of it. </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The squatters nodded – they
knew, God knew. If they could only rotate the crops they might pump blood back
into the land.</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well, it’s too late. And
the owner men explained the workings and thinkings of the monster that was
stronger than they were. A man can hold land if he can just eat and pay taxes;
he can do that.</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yes, he can do that until
his crops fail one day and he has to borrow money from the bank. But – you see,
a bank or a company can’t do that, because those creatures don’t breathe air, don’t
eat side-meat. They breathe profits; they eat the interest on money. If they
don’t get it, they die the way you die without air, without side-meat. It is a
sad thing, but it is so. It is just so……..When the monster stops growing, it
dies. It can’t stay one size.</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">….The squatting men looked
down again. What do you want us to do? We can’t take less share of the crop –
we’re half-starved now. The kids are hungry all the time. We got no clothes,
torn an’ ragged. If all the neighbors weren’t the same, we’d be ashamed to go
to meeting.</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And at last the owner men
came to the point. The tenant system won’t work anymore. One man on a tractor
can take the place of twelve or fourteen families. Pay him a wage and take all
the crop…..</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But you’ll kill the land
with cotton.</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We know. We’ve got to take
cotton quick before the land dies. Then we’ll sell the land. Lots of families
in the East would like to own a piece of land. </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The tenant men looked up
alarmed. But what’ll happen to us? How’ll we eat?</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You’ll have to get off the
land…..</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And now the squatting men
stood up angrily. Grampa took up the land…..And Pa was born here….Then a bad
year came and he had to borrow a little money….An’ we was born here. There in
the door our children born here. And Pa had to borrow money. The bank owned the
land then, but we stayed and we got a little bit of what we raised. </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We know that – all that.
It’s not us, it’s the bank. A bank isn’t like a man. Or an owner with fifty
thousand acres, he isn’t like a man either. That’s the monster. </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sure, cried the tenant men,
but it’s our land. We measured it and broke it up. And we got killed on it,
died on it. Even if it’s no good, it’s still ours. That’s what makes it ours –
being born on it, working it, dying on it. That makes ownership, not a paper with
numbers on it. </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We’re sorry. It’s not us.
It’s the monster. The bank isn’t like a man. </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yes, but the bank is only
made of men. </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">No – you are wrong there –
quite wrong there. The bank is something else than men. It happens that every
man in a bank hates what the bank does, and yet the bank does it. The bank is
something more than men, I tell you. Men made it, but they can’t control
it……You’ll have to go……You’ll be stealing if you try to stay, you’ll be
murderers if you kill to stay……”</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What is it that I am trying to
drive at, by quoting the above longish passage? This novel is written in the
context of the developments that took place in America in the third and the
fourth decades of the twentieth century. The above passage provides glimpses of
the beginning of the modern world of industry and finance. A world that is that
is considered to be a non-negotiable way of life today. The growth of industry
and finance have been cited as a proof of the very growth and development of
humankind. Purportedly, these systems were devised for humankind. Then, when
and why did it so happen that these systems were allowed to grow into monsters
bigger than humankind itself? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Oxfam report on the extent
of inequality prevailing in the world released in January, 2018, titled,
“Reward Work not Wealth”, provides some stark facts. To put things in
perspective, the report states, <i>“Last year saw the biggest increase in
billionaires in history, one more every two days. Billionaires saw their wealth
increase by $762 billion in 12 months. This huge increase could have ended
global extreme poverty seven times over. 82% of all wealth created in the last
year went to the top 1%, while the bottom 50% saw no increase at all.”</i></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the systems of industry
and finance were being envisaged, allowed to grow and develop, was the above
the end result that was being visualized? I doubt. But this is what it has come
to. This is the situation that we have landed ourselves in. So while some
individuals are able to defraud the entire system for billions of dollars and go
scot free, some others die every second for want of food. While the entire
world is being turned into a concrete jungle, there are places where water is
already on the verge of drying up. Pieces of paper decide destinies in a world
which has long forgotten to value human life.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We may be faced with crisis
situations in almost all walks of life today, be it financial crisis,
environmental crisis, food crisis, water crisis, and so on and so forth. But
the solution doesn’t lie in making efforts to plug the immediate leakage. The
pressure of water is so strong that it will soon create another hole and flow
out anyway. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, to arrive at even the
semblance of a solution, the problem needs to be understood and accepted first.
The entire culture of worshipping systems, machines and money, of letting them
rule over humankind, of ensuring that no alternative that talks of holistic
structural and systemic shifts in ideologies is allowed to even make it to the
table, needs to undergo an urgent transformation. Newer and completely different
frame of references will have to be created to look at issues, not in a
disjointed manner, but in a manner where co-relation is possible. But before
any of this has to take place, there has to be a willingness to accept that
there definitely is something wrong with the current state of affairs, a
willingness to at least start the debate on what can be done about it, and to
follow that up with focused, meaningful and directed efforts. Only this can
ensure that our future generations are able to even survive on this planet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We owe at least that much to those we are
ourselves bringing into this world.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-50767868829497973542019-03-13T10:58:00.000+05:302019-03-13T10:58:00.847+05:30Education and the death of Humanity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The gruesome rape and murder of an eight-year old girl in
Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir has elicited unexpectedly interesting responses
from various cross-sections of our society. Although each of us would like to
believe that the only possible natural response to such an abhorrent incident
could be one of angst, anger and anguish, yet, what unfolded this time was much
different, unexpected and unbelievable. This incident, rather than uniting the
country against the death of humanity, split it midway along communal lines.
Certain members of the society, incidentally, in the profession of upholding
the law of the land, emphatically put their weight behind the accused. They
were joined by other such members of the society, and thus what was witnessed
was an unprecedented protest march in support of the accused. Efforts were made
to cast aspersions on the credibility of the police officers investigating the
case, based on their religion. Multifarious attempts were made to hide the
crime, negate it, misrepresent it and delegitimize it. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So much has been said and heard regarding this case that it
would be useful to recapitulate the undeniable specifics of the case, lest we
forget what actually happened.</span></div>
<br />
<ol style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: decimal;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
An 8 year old girl, named Asifa, of the predominantly
Muslim tribal nomadic Bakarwal community was abducted, raped by multiple people
multiple times (in a temple), and finally murdered.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
The inhabitants of the neighboring villages,
predominantly occupied by Hindus, refused to allow Asifa’s family to bury what
remained of her dead body, in their villages.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
Although this happened in January, the hue and
cry that happened around the case was only in the month of April.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
The rape and murder was carried out by the
perpetrators in order to drive out the nomadic Muslim Bakarwal community from
the vicinity of Kathua, such that they never dare to come even near that area.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
It was thus a well thought out and pre-planned
act against a particular religious and tribal community.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
A powerful section of the society including some
MLAs and ministers of the ruling dispensation and lawyers of the state openly
sided with the accused, trying to block the filing of the charge sheet against
the accused, by the state police, demanding a CBI enquiry instead. The reason
was that they did not trust the J&K police investigation, because of the
religious affiliation of the police officers. </div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1;">
Some of the strategies that were used by those
in power and by certain sections of society as a response to this incident
included silence, trivialization, comparison to other rape incidents, attempts
at de-legitimization of those expressing their anguish, obfuscation of the
facts and the intent behind this gruesome act, etc.</div>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While we are trying to come to terms with the viciousness
and gruesomeness of the incident, it is imperative that we not forget the
intent behind this incident. This rape and murder was not an unadulterated act
of lust, but a pre-planned attack aimed to strike a fear in the minds of
certain community, that community being a tribal Muslim nomadic community. The
support that the perpetrators generated from the dominant Hindu community
further underlined the deep communal schisms existing in the state of Jammu and
Kashmir. The response by the rest of the nation clearly displayed a
strengthening of a communal mindset in our society, and a growing increase in
the acceptable limits of our tolerance to inhumanity. There have been concerns
raised in the recent past about the increasing levels of intolerance in our
society. In fact, my belief is to the contrary. I strongly believe that we are
increasingly becoming a more and more tolerant society. Today, we are ready to
tolerate a lot more that we would have even thought was humanly possible for
us, and this includes the brutal rape and murder of an 8 year old girl, for reasons
as shameful as her belonging to a certain religious community. During
Partition, women, including children, were raped and murdered because of the
religion they belonged to, and Partition remains the darkest of times that we
have faced as a society. The memories of Partition only bring with it feelings
of anguish, remorse and guilt. In this case, however, we have been able to
create a memory that juxtaposes the face of an eight year old child, raped and
murdered for belonging to a particular community and religion, and the sea of
faces of those who marched in support of the rapists and murderers of this
child. How are we going to look back at this memory in the time to come? How
are we going to explain it to our children in the future, who may today be as
young as Asifa was, to understand any of it in the present? I hope each of us
has posed this question to ourselves.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As responsible citizens of this nation, as parents,
teachers, educators, politicians, administrators, social workers, intellectuals
etc., all of us have strong opinions on how are society should be and what kind
of education system we should have in order to achieve that ideal society that
we desire to create. Does all of the above figure in the dreams that we have
dreamt for our society and our beloved nation? Are we prepared to routinize
such kinds of incidents? Can we, in any way, do something about it? I, most
definitely think we can. I wish to illustrate with a few examples, how.</span></div>
<br />
<ol style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: decimal;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2;">
By unequivocally accepting ‘Humanity above all
else’.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2;">
By unequivocally embracing the inherently
diverse character of our nation and choosing to make this our strongest
characteristic rather than our weakest link that can any day threaten to break
our nation into pieces.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2;">
By unequivocally propagating the abovementioned
principles through every means possible and most importantly, through our
education system. </div>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I wish to elaborate a bit on the last point that I have
mentioned above. Any education system in any society does not exist in a vacuum
but exists because it serves a purpose. On the broadest of levels, one of its
major aims is always to fulfil the visions of the kind of society that one
desires to build and inhabit. At the time of formulation of India’s
Constitution, the contours for the kind of society that we wanted to be, were
laid down. The broad vision that was arrived at was that of a democratic and
secular nation that believed in the ideas of justice, equality and fraternity.
These ideals were not randomly chosen based on the whims and fancies of a few
individuals, but there was a reason for their being chosen and enshrined in our
Constitution. This was done because it was understood that India was, by its
very nature, a diverse nation. Since ages and eons, it has embraced this
diversity and made it its biggest strength. It is the only natural way of
existence that is known to this nation. Homogenization does-not come naturally
to our country and its people. Though various attempts at homogenization have
been made by various vested interests, and though they might have seemed to be
temporarily successful, yet they have definitely failed in the long run. The
makers of the Constitution had realized this long back. Yet, it seems we
continue to harbor our misgivings to this day. However, it is imperative that
we realize that in the long run, it is futile to try and tinker with the inherent
natural character of any society and its people. To the shortsighted it may
seem that one has succeeded, however, such success can only be short-lived.
Thus, when we decide to teach our students and our children about the values
enshrined in our Constitution, it is necessary that we first remind ourselves
and truly understand, accept and embrace the reasons for which these values
were enshrined. Such an education may actually help in building a society whose
individuals shudder at even the thought of committing such a gruesome act for
the fear of reprisal that it is bound to unleash from the society, for a
society that is built on the principle of Humanity as the most inviolable
principle can definitely not sanction the death of humanity.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-44126252701024689062019-03-13T10:56:00.002+05:302019-03-13T10:56:57.889+05:30Public Universities: In a state of flux<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The recent strike by the students and the faculty of Tata
Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) against the institute’s decision to
withdraw financial aid to students from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe
communities, who were eligible for the Union government’s post-matriculation
scholarship, is only a grim reminder of the state of flux that the higher
education sector, especially the public universities are in. Even globally,
there have been visible signs of tremors, with faculty and students alike, having
to struggle for those very rights that were once ensured to them (</span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/12/striking-lecturer-slow-death-public-education"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/12/striking-lecturer-slow-death-public-education</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The rationale behind the establishment of public
universities can be traced to the consideration of education, including higher
education, as more or less a ‘public’ good. In fact, there can be said to be a
global consensus around the fact that education is nothing less than a ‘Human
Right’. The United Nations definition of the term ‘Human Rights’ confirms the
same. It states, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Human Rights are rights
inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity,
language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life
and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and
expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is
entitled to these rights, without discrimination.” </i>(</span><a href="http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/human-rights/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/human-rights/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Various countries have tried to guarantee this right to
education in their own manner and capacities. In India, the Constitution had
mandated the state to guarantee to all, the right to education till the age of
14 years within a time period of 10 years, under Article 45 of the Directive
Principles of State Policy. This mandate was only fulfilled in 2009, in a
fairly diluted form, with the enactment of the Right to Education Act,
guaranteeing free and compulsory education to children in the age-group of 6-14
years. The status of its implementation is worthy of a different write-up
altogether.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would like to argue here that a right to education only
till the upper primary level is rendered more or less meaningless if there is
not an adequate provision and guarantee of public colleges and universities for
the students to continue their education in. Whereas the purely ‘public good’
character of education might be challenged when it comes to higher or
university education (</span><a href="https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/is-education-a-public-good-or-a-private-good/28329"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/is-education-a-public-good-or-a-private-good/28329</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">),
it cannot be debated that a suitable higher education for the maximum possible
numbers is the most desirable state of affairs. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Right to Education Act, 2009, not only provides for
compulsory education for children in the age group of 6 to 14 years but also
provides for this education to be free. With almost universal enrolment having
been achieved, it can be ascertained that majority of the children can be
assured of a schooling at least till Standard VIII. However, this achievement
in itself only has a symbolic value. This is because it is not possible to
completely divorce education from work and view them as independent entities,
isolated from each-other. Although, I believe that to be able to earn a
livelihood cannot be the sole aim of any education system, however, it is
equally true that a good education sufficiently enhances the chances of an
individual to be able to earn a livelihood. Schooling till upper primary level
is of course not that desired level of learning which can enhance the prospects
of an individual to be able to earn a decent livelihood. Herein lies the first
major importance of higher education. Even though it might not be possible to
guarantee a universal and free higher and university education, it is still
essential that the opportunity to undertake good quality higher education be
available on chargeable but ‘not for profit’ basis to maximum number of
individuals, and thus the key role of public universities in this context.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">India’s expenditure on education has been consistently lower
than the world average. India has decreased its spending on education from 4.4%
of GDP in 1999 to around 3.71%, as per the latest budget estimates (</span><a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/budget-2017-spendeducation-sector-seen-falling-short-1004364.html"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/budget-2017-spendeducation-sector-seen-falling-short-1004364.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
Although the 2017-18 budget has increased the allocation for higher education
by about 10% as compared to the previous budget (</span><a href="http://www.qs.com/indian-budget/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.qs.com/indian-budget/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">),
a third of the budget allocation for higher education sector will solely benefit
the IITs and the NITs, whereas the budget allocation for certain other
institutes of national importance like the Indian Institutes of Science
Education and Research has been reduced (</span><a href="http://www.qs.com/indian-budget/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.qs.com/indian-budget/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The above budget allocations are indicative of a worrying
trend in the way higher education is increasingly being viewed and treated by
the state. There are a few salient features that can be discerned in this
regard:</span></div>
<br />
<ol style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: decimal;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
An increasing trend towards privatization and
education being treated as ‘for profit’ business activity.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
The establishment of a truly graded and
hierarchal higher education system with some institutes being created as
‘islands of excellence’ to the complete neglect of the others.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
A shift in priorities towards technology and
away from academic research within the sciences.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
An overall shift away from humanities towards
the sciences.</div>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">These abovementioned trends do-not augur well for the future
of higher education in India. As discussed above, good education is essential
for an individual to be able to earn a livelihood. However, again, it is not
and cannot be the sole purpose of education. Education plays a major social
function in society. And herein lies the second major aim or purpose of
education. These two major aims, I believe, need to co-exist and be given equal
importance in any good and desirable education system.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Society is a collection of individuals and is built by
the interactions of those individuals among themselves. Hence, we can establish
that under no scenario can a society be completely unmindful of the behaviours
of the individuals forming a part of it, because at least a subset of those
behaviours will definitely affect the society. As a result, it would definitely
be concerned with the kind of actions/behaviours its members are indulging in. Thus,
a major aim of any education system has to be the nurturing of an individual
who has a sense of life, a capability of realizing one’s potential, of </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">defining a purpose for oneself
and equally importantly recognizing others’ rights to do the same. This would
require the development of an ability in an individual to </span><span lang="EN-IN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">define rights and wrongs for himself/herself, reason based on these
rights and wrongs, make judgements according to them and finally act according
to them. </span>By their very nature, social sciences and humanities are better
placed than core sciences, technology etc. to cater to the abovementioned major
purpose of education, i.e., its social role.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, the recent trends in the direction that our
education system is taking, clearly indicate that the social role of education
is being constantly relegated to the background and being increasingly looked
at with contempt even. The authoritative manner in which the state has tried to
bulldoze its way into changing the institutional character of Jawahar Lal Nehru
University is a case in point. An institute that is the best exhibit of the
social role of education, with its culture of discussions, debates and
dissents, its core strength of egalitarianism and inclusion, the unparalleled
academic research that it produces, the freedom of thought and expression that
it provides to all the stakeholders in its system, is being repeatedly and
continuously targeted for these very reasons, for questioning and dissenting,
for debating and discussing, for actually offering equal opportunities to all,
irrespective of their social, caste, religious or any other such status in
society, for being the fore-runners in understanding what education is and
should be all about.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The unrest that is today clearly visible across public
universities cannot be cut and divided into individual and isolated issues and
then addressed accordingly. This unrest is a symptom of the bigger malaise that
has set in the system. It is an indication of the even deeper malaise that
inflicts the society at large and that is the global vision that the society
has chosen to adopt for itself, a vision wherein human rights can be casually
trampled upon, where egalitarianism is considered as a relic of the past and where
economics trumps humanity, by an unbridgeable margin.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-56525413544405668052019-03-13T10:55:00.003+05:302019-03-13T10:55:40.626+05:30I Am Not Hungry Anymore…..<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I knew the alphabet from A to Z</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I could also recite it in reverse right from Z to A</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But I didn’t know so many combinations of the alphabet
were possible</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When joined together they could form such big meaningful
words</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">ICDS and ICPS – the difference of but a letter yet two
big independent things they say</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One meant for my development and the other one for my
protection – maybe they think I may go astray</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is a PDS, something called an NFSA also, I gather</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am always bad at short forms and full forms, these are
things I can never remember</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But one of these words I admit I am particularly fond of </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Because it is not a collection of ominous words forced to
fit into an abbreviation</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is rather a sweet and short word, something the sound
of which I like, and I can easily remember</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is called Aadhaar and it is supposed to be the end of
all our strife</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, my mother and I we have dutifully got enrolled</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I remember I had held on to her hand tightly on the way
to the Centre, lest she sun away, our roles are mostly reversed</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was delighted when we had got the cards shiny and
colorful with our pictures and names on it </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We didn’t have any extra food on our plates that day, it
was just as usual, scraping by a meal a day</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yet I was feeling big and important somehow, for the
owner of something so important I had become now</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was also feeling a sense of responsibility on my
shoulders, so I remember I had put a share of my food on the plates of my two
younger sisters</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the coming few days and months I remember feeling a
bit confused though</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had the card alright now but its magical qualities it
had not begun to show</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most of the days still went by scraping for one meal a
day and most nights were spent lying awake in the hopes of the magic occurring
the next day</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then suddenly my father came home one day drunk much more
than usual</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">His rickshaw had been stolen and naturally we got a
little more thrashed than normal</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our one square meal a day of course had to be dispensed
with </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There were other important things to be taken care of and
soon nothing remained important any longer everything became normal just to be
lived with</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had informed in the school that I am going to my
village</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Somehow, I felt that it was my duty to do so otherwise
they just might be worried</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then a day passed two days three four five six and then I
lost the ability to count further</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My younger sisters had become silent long back, unable to
cry anymore</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They were also younger so may be their energies lasted
that much lesser</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I remember having a dull pain always in my stomach</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t know I was asleep or awake, but I remember
dreaming of parathas and samosas and jalebies often</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had seen them being cooked on the way to my school
almost daily</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had longed to eat them so many times but still never
dreamt of them before, but now I was thinking of them solely</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then one day suddenly I vomited, I don’t know what came
out of me, may be my dreams had caused me indigestion I thought</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After that I only remember waking up now, that dull pain
is gone and so are my dreams</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I can’t see my sisters anywhere, want to ask them if
their pain is also gone</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I only see so many people talking to my parents, such big
cameras in their hands I had never seen before</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But I will search for my sisters some other time for I am
just feeling happy right now</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am no longer hungry, I am no longer hungry, I have
never felt so full before….</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-5903194221852142192019-03-13T10:55:00.000+05:302019-03-13T10:55:02.319+05:30व्यक्ति में शहर होना<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">सच
कहते हैं</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
शहर व्यक्तित्व का ही एक हिस्सा होता है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">बाकी
पसंदीदा या नापसंदीदा व्यक्तियों या फिर वस्तुओं की तरह</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> शहर भी पसंद या नापसंद होता है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">पर
कभी कभी शहर रूप</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
रंग और आकार बदलता है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">वास्तविकता
में हो न हो</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
व्यक्ति के मानस पटल पर या तो सिकुड़ता है या हर तरफ फैल जाता है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">और
वो शहर गर बंबई हो तो जाने अपना प्रभाव किस किस प्रकार छोड़ जाता है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">मुझसे भी ऐसा ही कुछ रिश्ता इस सपनों की नगरी ने जोड़ा है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">दस वर्षों से इसके दिल में अपना घर बनाकर रहते रहते अपने दिल में इसकी अनगिनत
यादों को मैंने सँजोया है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">लोकल ट्रेन के सफर से भयभीत मेरे मन ने</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">आज उसी ट्रेन के सफर के उन पलों को जीवन का अटूट हिस्सा बनते देखा है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">बारिश की एक बूंद भी न भाती थी जिस दिल को</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">आज उसी बारिश के कुछ दिन न होने पर उसकी याद में व्याकुल होते उसको देखा
है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">ट्रेन के डिब्बों में मित्रों के असंख्य गुटों को देखा है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">बातें करते</span><span style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">,</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> गाने गाते</span><span style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">,</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> हँसते</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">-</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">खेलते</span><span style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">,</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> तो कभी लड़ते</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">-</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">झगड़ते</span><span style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">,</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> घंटों का सफर पल भर में तय होते देखा
है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">समुद्र की विशाल अंत</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">-</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">हीनता को महसूस किया है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">मनुष्य के निरंतर आगे बढ़ते रहने के जज़्बे को जीया है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">ऊंची बहुमंज़िला इमारतों की चकाचौंध के नीचे </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">बस्तियों को जीवित होते और भरसक ज़िंदा रहते देखा है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">हर प्रकार की कला का यहाँ सम्मान होते देखा है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">हर त्योहार को लोगों के उत्साह से जीवित होते देखा है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">बड़े से बड़े मॉल से लेकर छोटी से छोटी दुकानों को</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">निरंतर विकसित होते</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> </span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">ही मैंने देखा है</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">ये सब देखते देखते</span><span style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">,</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> इन पलों को जीते जीते</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">इस शहर को अपने व्यक्तित्व का अंतरंग हिस्सा बनते देखा है </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">आज नहीं तो कल जाना तो होगा इस शहर से दूर</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">पर अपने अंदर इस शहर को समेटकर ही वो सफर तय हो पाएगा</span><span style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">,</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">यह भी अभी से ही मैंने देखा है</span><span style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;">,</span><span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Mangal; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Mangal;"> यह भी अभी से ही मैंने देखा है </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="HI" style="font-family: "Mangal",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> </span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-7748373483804815172019-03-13T10:53:00.002+05:302019-03-13T10:53:47.391+05:30Love and Liberation Or Hate and Repression?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Liberation or repression? Love or
hate? Which is the better political strategy if the goal of a certain
individual’s life is only acquiring power? Pure, sheer and naked power? In
other words, the individual wants to become an all-powerful being. Something we
associate in common parlance with ‘God’. The Almighty, The All-Powerful. So, if
an individual’s sole purpose in life is to acquire power akin to God, can that
individual be convinced that love and liberation are better strategies towards
meeting these goals than hatred and repression? Are they really? If so, why?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Through the history of the human
civilization, the concept of ‘God’ has been the most sustained one. Yet, suppose
that I am an atheist and vehemently deny the existence of ‘God’. Now suppose I
come across a news report about a brutal rape and murder of a 2-year old child.
This incident further strengthens my atheistic beliefs as I am convinced that
in a world where such an incident could occur, there is not even a remote
possibility of there being an All-Powerful entity termed as ‘God’. Since ‘God’
has not been able to provide me the answer to my question of why this had to
happen to a 2-year old child, I turn to reason. But again, I draw a blank. I am
unable to attribute any reason for the occurrence of this ghastly act to a
2-year old child. Then, what do I have left? Where is the explanation? I next
come to the theory of karma. This must have happened to this child as a
consequence of the actions of her previous birth. Does this thought explain the
inexplicable? Does it comfort me? I have conveniently turned the victim into
the criminal. I have even more conveniently and easily explained away and
justified every wrong that happens in this world. So, whatever I do from now on
or whatever happens to me is my own responsibility. I have obviated the need of
a Supreme Being. I don’t require an All-Powerful ‘God’. I am myself the one. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Is this theory enough to explain
away all the questions that I may have about existence? What happens after
countless such cycles of births and rebirths, actions and their consequences?
Where and how does it all begin? Where and how does it all end? I don’t know. I
don’t have an answer. But the question troubles me. I am not comfortable with
turning the victim into the criminal. I am not comfortable with justifying all
the wrongs in this world. Yet, I am also not comfortable with the existence of
a ‘God’ who allows injustice and unfairness to prevail and thrive. Then what do
I do? What do I believe in? How do I reason? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I have concluded that I am
neither sure of ‘God’s existence, nor its non-existence, I then choose to
believe in none of these. I don’t have the means to prove either of it to be
true. This is because I am limited by my birth and death. I am limited with
this life which I have been given, that exists between my birth and my death. I
don’t have the wherewithal to know anything beyond these, so I will now
function within these boundaries. Operating within these boundaries, I know for
certain that whatever happened with the 2-year old girl was wrong and not her
fault. Suppose, the perpetrator of the crime in this case has stated that the
only reason he targeted this girl was because she belonged to a religion other
than his own. This crime is thus born out of a hatred of all human beings that
belong to some other religion. This is a crime born out of a triumph of hate
over love. This is a crime born out of a need to repress the other in order to
liberate one’s own. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now suppose the individual we
discussed earlier, whose sole purpose in life was to acquire insurmountable
power believes in the above strategy of hatred and repression. He strongly
believes that hatred and repression are much better strategies towards achieving
his goal rather than love and liberation. So, the individual continues to
propagate hatred and brutally represses anything to the contrary. He chooses
religion as his tool in this game of thrones. He chooses to side with the
majority as the minority don’t matter if he has the support of the majority.
And then he embarks on his mission of spreading hatred and inducing repression.
The majority are led on the path of hatred by a combination of various
strategies. They truly and deeply start believing in this hatred of the other.
They are convinced that this is the ultimate truth. Through the twin strategies
of hatred and repression, a totalitarian state of all people following a single
religion is created. The individual now has become the All-Powerful ruler of
the state. Now since this individual firmly believes in the strategy of
repression, he continues to follow the same in this new-formed state. Every
thought or action by any individual that differ from his own thoughts and
perceptions is repressed. This continues unabated and with much success for
some time but slowly and gradually some cracks start to appear. It becomes
impossible for every individual to think and act like that individual all the
time. They start getting tired of the repression when they are personally
affected by it. And there comes a day when each one is personally affected.
That day, it becomes impossible for the individual to survive. He is overthrown,
and people trump liberation over repression. They also now start having second-thoughts
on the strategy of hatred that they had followed till now. What would have
happened had they followed the strategy of love? They would still have been
living in a state that belonged to people from various religions, in a rich and
diverse culture, celebrating that richness and diversity in every moment. Had
the expulsion of these extra number of people led to any substantial difference
in their lives that was for their betterment? They were still struggling with
the same problems they were struggling before. Many of them were still poor,
they didn’t have jobs. They had developed their abilities to hate to such an
extent that they had completely lost the ability to love. So, now they were
incapable of loving even those they thought as their own. Devoid of love, they
had become mere zombies breathing their lives away as they were incapable of
doing any better. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They now realized how utterly
wrong they were. They now realized how love was always a much better strategy
than hate. The most surprising thing was however that the individual who had
strategically chosen the strategies of hate and repression over love and
liberation, now realized his folly. He still dreamt the same dream – of
becoming the All Powerful. But this time, he swore to choose the strategies of
Love and Liberation. </span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-84828259296285012772019-03-13T10:52:00.002+05:302019-03-13T10:52:52.982+05:30Crisis of public education and scarcity of jobs in the government sector in the light of the new reservation bill<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Constitution (103<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup>
Amendment) Act, 2019 has been notified in the gazette on January 14, 2019,
having been passed by both the houses of Parliament and after receiving
Presidential assent. The Act seeks to grant 10% quota to economically weaker
sections of the general category population in government jobs and education.
The Act also amends Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution, by adding a clause
which allows states to make “special provision for the advancement of any
economically weaker sections of citizens.” (</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/10-reservation-for-economically-weak-in-general-category-comes-into-force/articleshow/67527553.cms"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/10-reservation-for-economically-weak-in-general-category-comes-into-force/articleshow/67527553.cms</span></a></span><span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">).
It has been further clarified that this reservation would be “in addition to
the existing reservations and subject to a maximum of 10 percent of the total
seats in each category.” (</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/10-reservation-for-economically-weak-in-general-category-comes-into-force/articleshow/67527553.cms"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/10-reservation-for-economically-weak-in-general-category-comes-into-force/articleshow/67527553.cms</span></a></span><span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">).
</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Without going into the
constitutional validity of the Act, and whether it will stand judicial
scrutiny, let us have a look at a few statistics:</span></span></div>
<br />
<ul style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It is interesting to note that
the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India has discontinued the
annual surveys that were conducted to find out the actual data of employment in
the country. The Labour Bureau had conducted six such surveys from 2010 till
2016 and reports of five rounds have been released till date (</span><span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-survey-discontinued-centre-clueless-about-unemployment-2591121"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-survey-discontinued-centre-clueless-about-unemployment-2591121</span></a></span></span><span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">).
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the Report on Fifth Annual
Employment-Unemployment Survey (2015-16), “At the All India level, 46.6 percent
of the workers were found to be self-employed under the Usual Principal Status
Approach followed by 32.8 percent as casual labour. Only 17 percent of the
employed persons were wage/salary earners and the rest 3.7 percent were
contract workers.” (</span><span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://labourbureaunew.gov.in/UserContent/EUS_5th_1.pdf"><span style="color: #0563c1;">http://labourbureaunew.gov.in/UserContent/EUS_5th_1.pdf</span></a></span></span><span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">).
</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It is also estimated that over
94% of India’s working population is part of the unorganized sector (</span><span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_in_India"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_in_India</span></a></span></span><span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">).
Further, of the organized sector, it is estimated that 2.7% to 3.7% of the
population is employed in the government sector (</span><span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-percentage-of-government-jobs-and-private-jobs-in-India-in-2018"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-percentage-of-government-jobs-and-private-jobs-in-India-in-2018</span></a></span></span><span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">).
</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">According to Centre for
Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd. (CMIE) data, the GDP growth estimates are
at odds with employment estimates. According to CMIE, India’s real GDP grew by
an impressive 8.2 percent in the first quarter of 2018-19. However, so did the
unemployment rate, which rose to 6.4% in August 2018, which was higher than 5.6
percent in July (</span><span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.cmie.com/kommon/bin/sr.php?kall=warticle&dt=2018-09-04%2009:50:22&msec=020"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://www.cmie.com/kommon/bin/sr.php?kall=warticle&dt=2018-09-04%2009:50:22&msec=020</span></a></span></span><span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">).
</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">According to LB-EUS 2015, the
rate of unemployment among youth and higher educated has reached 16% (</span><span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://cse.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Executive_Summary.pdf"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://cse.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Executive_Summary.pdf</span></a></span></span><span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">).</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">According to the Report on Fifth
Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey (2015-16), at All-India levels, about
40.4% of the households belong to Other Backward Classes category followed by
29.9% under the others category, 20.3% under the Scheduled Castes category and
the rest 9.4% households belong to the Schedules Tribes category (</span><span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://labourbureaunew.gov.in/UserContent/EUS_5th_1.pdf"><span style="color: #0563c1;">http://labourbureaunew.gov.in/UserContent/EUS_5th_1.pdf</span></a></span></span><span style="color: #555555; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">).
</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In view of the above-mentioned
statistics, in tandem with the fact of the enactment of another reservation
policy, a few salient observations can be immediately made:</span></div>
<br />
<ul style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify;">
First and foremost, it is not understandable why
official data collection regarding unemployment needed to be stopped in a
country like India, where unemployment is one of the major issues facing the nation.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify;">
Secondly, it is also beyond explanation that
there is no official government data available on job creation in the nation.
Various people or organizations who try and work out approximations thus arrive
at highly varying numbers as they do it based on various assumptions. As a
result, these reports can never be completely reliable. </div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify;">
Thirdly, from whatever data that is available
and some relevant portion of it that is stated above, it is clear that the
reservation benefit that has been announced, shall cater to only 2.7-3.7% of
the total working population of the nation that is employed in the government
sector, as of now.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify;">
Further, it has been announced by Union Minister
for Human Resource Development that a 25% increase will be effected in higher
educational institutions to ensure that 10% reservation recently given to the
Economically Weaker Section (EWS) does not disturb existing quotas for the
scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes (<span><a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/25-hike-in-college-varsity-seats-to-allow-centres-weaker-section-quota-1978175"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/25-hike-in-college-varsity-seats-to-allow-centres-weaker-section-quota-1978175</span></a></span>).
Coupled with the increasing rate of unemployment especially among youth and
higher educated where the rate has reached 16%, according to the
above-mentioned statistics, the reservation provision seems to be nothing more
than a recipe for disaster.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is distressing that in a
nation with a substantial youth population, where education and employment should
be the most pressing and important issues, such cavalier measures are being
taken, only with an eye on immediate political gains. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The provision for Reservations was
introduced in the Constitution of India, in view of the socio-cultural context
of the newly independent nation. With rampant caste prejudices resulting in
centuries of discrimination against certain sections of the society, it was
felt that a special impetus was essential to be able to bring these sections on
par with the rest of the society. With this rationale in mind, the necessary
provisions were introduced, at the same time, envisioning that these special
provisions should no longer be necessary after a period of 10 years, if
suitable policy measures were taken, and hence that outer time limit was
prescribed in the Constitution. However, unfortunately, since then, this time
limit has been repeatedly renewed by the Parliament. at the end of every
decade, for yet another decade. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Somehow any serious and in-depth
discussion on the complex and nuanced issues of education and employment has
not really been allowed to be taken-off or sustained for long in our nation.
The Reservation gimmick, in various forms and flavors, has been the standard
response of the political class to these issues. The Courts have been kept busy
by having to then rule on the constitutional validity of such political promises.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Multifarious trends are today
visible in the domains of education and employment. The present dispensation
has made unrelenting efforts towards propagating their own world-view through
the education system. All scientific temper and rigor has been completely
thwarted. Education has either become a means of instilling ‘patriotic fervor’
(which was somehow felt to be seriously lacking in all of us till date), or a
feeding ground for the industrial-capitalist societal structure of today. The
nature of jobs, on the other hand, has shifted more towards ad-hoc, temporary
and contractual. The ‘State of Working India, 2018’ has highlighted certain
other discernible trends, some of which are (</span><a href="http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/State_of_Working_India_2018.pdf"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/State_of_Working_India_2018.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
):</span></div>
<br />
<ul style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify;">
A 10% increase in GDP now results in less than
1% increase in employment, whereas in 1970s and 1980s, when GDP growth was
3-4%, employment growth was around 2% per annum.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify;">
82% of male and 92% of female workers earn less
than Rs. 10,000 per month.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify;">
Contract workers are nearly 30% of all workers
in organized manufacturing.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify;">
Labor productivity in organized manufacturing
increased by six times over the past three decades but wages increased by only
1.5 times.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify;">
More than 50% of service sector employment is
still made up of petty trade, domestic services and other types of small-scale
and informal employment.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify;">
Women are 16% of all service sector workers but
60% of domestic workers. Moreover, overall, women earn 65% of men’s earnings.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The above-mentioned issues are
only indicative of various other such complex issues that still effect our
education and employment sectors. The complexity of the issues at hand and the
nuances involved deserve an in-depth discussion among various intellectuals,
experts, policymakers and the society in general. There needs to be a long-term
vision based on which focused work needs to be done in order to address the
challenges of education and employment facing our nation. Unfortunately, what
we get instead is yet another election gimmick. And not just this once, but
time and time again. It is high time we sit up and not only take notice but
also make efforts, in whatever possible manner, towards developing and ensuring
the propagation of the ‘scientific temper’ that our Fundamental Duties direct
us to develop and propagate, as a responsible citizen of the nation. This
essentially means developing a spirit of enquiry, a rational outlook towards
life, having a vision and goal, an inclination to discuss, give and accept
ideas, and a willingness to deconstruct situations in order to analyze them and
work towards resolving them. Our battered education system and the unemployment
situation in the nation, deserve this approach rather than empty promises that
may be detrimental to the long-term well-being of the entire society.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-91260683985824785522019-03-13T10:51:00.002+05:302019-03-13T10:51:47.765+05:30The Charter of Fundamental Duties and Nationalism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am a citizen of India of India.
I consider it my duty to abide by the 11 Fundamental Duties that are laid down
in Part IV-A, Article 51-A of the Constitution of India, because India is a
constitutional democracy, where the Constitution of our nation is the supreme
authority and we, the people of India, have given to ourselves this
Constitution, thereby agreeing to abide by it. Let us go through this list of
Fundamental Duties one by one:</span></div>
<br />
<ol style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: decimal;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<b>Abide
by the Constitution and respect National Flag and National Anthem:</b> I
consider myself as a Constitution abiding citizen and have utmost respect for
the National Flag and the National Anthem. I may staunchly believe that every
time I go out to watch a movie in a cinema hall, it is not required that I be
forced to display my respect for the National Anthem, yet I do it every time.
This use of force and fear to put my love and respect for my nation on display,
does-not in any manner impact the inherent feeling of respect or love I have
for my nation, yet the use of force and fear continues.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<b>Follow
ideals of the freedom struggle:</b> The foremost ideal of the freedom struggle,
to my mind would be to cherish and guard the freedom that the freedom fighters
vehemently fought for. They had fought for the freedom from oppression,
tyranny, poverty, greed, divisiveness and the ignorance that allowed a fistful
of people to rule over such huge masses for almost 200 years. I realize how
invaluable this freedom is. I cherish it with every breath that I take and
consider it my utmost duty to fiercely guard it from all kinds of external and
internal oppression and divisive attitudes. I consider it my constitutional
duty to remain mindful of any overt and covert attempts that may be made by
divisive forces to threaten this freedom.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<b>Protect
sovereignty and integrity of India:</b> I consider it my duty to protect the
sovereignty and integrity of India - the land and its people. I consider it my
duty to stand up for the dignity and honor of each and every Indian, to protect
the wholeness and unity of this nation.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<b>Defend
the country and render national service when called upon to do so:</b> I
consider it my duty to defend this nation from all divisive forces – external
or internal. I consider it a service to my nation, and thus my foremost duty,
to speak against injustice, inequality, oppression and attempts at creating and
perpetrating divisiveness and ignorance.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<b>Promote
harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India
transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to
renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women:</b> I consider it my
foremost duty to promote peace and harmony among all, irrespective of any kind
of diversity in any form whatsoever. </div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<b>Value
and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture:</b> The rich heritage
of our composite culture has guided me to value the spirit of humanity above all
else. I thus consider it my foremost duty to follow the ideal of humanity and
make every attempt possible towards preserving this rich heritage of our
composite culture.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<b>Protect
and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, wildlife
and to have compassion for living creatures:</b> Not only do I consider it my
fundamental duty to my nation, to try and safeguard the environment to the best
of my abilities, but also to the world community and the future generations
whom we are responsible to.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<b>Develop
scientific temper, humanism and spirit of enquiry and reform:</b> As a proud
citizen of this nation, I consider it my first and foremost duty to never let
my spirit of enquiry die. I consider it my duty to always be informed in my
demeanor and make a conscious effort in developing my critical thinking and questioning
abilities. I consider that it is my utmost duty to be able to think, analyze
and question so that I can contribute towards the progress of this nation and
its people. I also consider it as my duty to never forget the ideal of humanity
and humanism towards not only the citizens of this nation, but also the world
community.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<b>Safeguard
public property and abjure violence:</b> I consider it as my duty to never turn
towards violence, be it physical, mental, emotional, or in any other form, as a
solution to any situation, whatever be the provocation. I consider it my duty
to never forget that violence can only beget violence and lead to nothing but
destruction.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<b>Strive
towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that
the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavor and achievement:</b> I
consider it my duty to strive daily towards becoming a better version of
myself, so that I am able to give my best to this nation.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">
<b>Who
is a parent or guardian, to provide opportunities for education to his child,
or as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years:</b> As a
parent, I consider it my utmost duty to ensure a good education for my child so
that he turns out to be a responsible and humane individual.</div>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a
responsible citizen of this nation, I strive daily to fulfil the
constitutionally mandated fundamental duties towards my nation. This is what
nationalism means to me – to love, to live, to unite, to spread peace and
harmony, to empathize, to abjure violence, to enquire, to reform and to strive
to become a better human being with every breath. Any other definition of
nationalism is not only misleading but against the very fabric of the nation
that it purports to define.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-86212157235120257012018-06-27T17:22:00.001+05:302018-06-27T17:22:24.684+05:30Poverty estimation: A mockery of the unprivileged<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As reported by The Times of India, according to a study
published in the ‘Future Development’ blog of Brookings, Nigeria has overtaken
India in terms of the highest number of extremely poor people (</span><a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-no-longer-home-to-the-largest-no-of-poor-study/articleshow/64754988.cms"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-no-longer-home-to-the-largest-no-of-poor-study/articleshow/64754988.cms</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
The study estimates that at the end of May, 2018, Nigeria had about 87 million
people in extreme poverty compared to India’s 73 million. The poverty line in
the estimations is defined at $1.9 per person per day. So, a time to gloat and
celebrate? Far from it I think.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">First and foremost, I have serious problems with this entire
business of poverty estimation, and the way it is done. There exist a plethora
of methodologies to arrive at a poverty line, which, according to Cambridge
Dictionary is defined as, “the official level of income that is needed to
achieve a basic living standard with enough money for things such as food,
clothing and a place to live” (</span><a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/poverty-line"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/poverty-line</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
If we consider the global standard as stated above, i.e., $1.9 per person per
day, it can be roughly translated to about Rs. 130 per person per day, which
would mean about Rs. 4000 per person per month. Within the definition of
poverty stated above, I am at a loss to understand the kind of ‘basic living
standard’ that this amount will be able to provide to any individual. How ‘basic
living standard’ is even defined here? Is this money even enough to fulfil the
daily calorific and nutritional requirements of an individual, leave alone
clothing and shelter? If it is, do these calorific requirements take into
account the kind of lifestyle of the people that are involved? The diet charts
that are prepared by nutritionists provide minimum quantities of fats,
carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins etc. that an individual should consume in a
day. Will it be possible for an individual to consume the same, day after day,
with this meagre amount? Or are such diet charts not relevant for the so called
‘poor’? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Coming to clothing, what is the definition of ‘basic’ in
terms of clothing? When does one feel that certain amount of clothes are now
sufficient for a decent standard of living? Certain individuals have the means
that they can wear even five different outfits in a single day (and they will
never repeat these again in their lifetime) whereas for certain others five
outfits may be deemed to be enough for five years, at the rate of one new
outfit a year, and they may still qualify in terms of meeting the requirement
of ‘basic’. Why so?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lastly, coming to the shelter part of it or a ‘place to
live’. What is a decent enough ‘place to live’ for an individual? For some
people a ‘place to live’ may consist of a multistoried mansion for a family of
four to five individuals, whereas for some others one small room for a family (that
may or may not be ‘pucca’) of ten may be deemed to be fulfilling the
requirement of ‘basic’.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What happens when the number of people below this ‘basic
standard of living’, as explained above, declines? It is deemed as a great
achievement for the nation. It is worn as a badge of honor, used in speeches
after speeches to garner votes from the electorate. It is considered as the
final proof of the success of the policies that the nation has been following.
Why is this so? Because it has been drilled into you that the first goal has to
be to move maximum number of people above that sacrosanct line and only then
should we talk about anything else. No one stops even for a second to wonder
what is so sacrosanct about that line? What difference will crossing that line
make for those whose lives are being discussed here? What is anyone going to
achieve even if the entire population is officially declared to be above this
line? What are the goals that we would have then fulfilled as a society?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At this juncture, I would like to also share some other
data, which I think should be considered as extremely relevant by all. Following
data has been thrown up by the World Inequality Report, 2018 (</span><a href="https://thewire.in/business/rising-inequality-india-insight-world-inequality-report-2018"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://thewire.in/business/rising-inequality-india-insight-world-inequality-report-2018</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The total cumulative real income growth per adult from
1980-2016 for India is as follows:</span></div>
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-image: none; border: currentColor; margin: auto auto auto 58.25pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-image: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Income group</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: none; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Value in percentage</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Full population</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">223</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bottom 50%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">107</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Middle 40% (between top 10% and bottom 50%)</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">112</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Top 10%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">469</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Top 1%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">857</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Top 0.1%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1295</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Top 0.01%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">2078</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 8; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Top 0.001%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">3083</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Further, share of national income growth captured by income
groups from 1980-2016 is as follows:</span></div>
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-image: none; border: currentColor; margin: auto auto auto 58.25pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-image: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Income group</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: none; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Value in percentage</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Full population</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">100</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bottom 50%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">11</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Middle 40% (between top 10% and bottom 50%)</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">23</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Top 10%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">66</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Top 1%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">28</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Top 0.1%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">12</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Top 0.01%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">5</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 8; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 175.5pt;" valign="top" width="234">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Top 0.001%</span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0) windowtext windowtext rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: 0px 1pt 1pt 0px; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 121.5pt;" valign="top" width="162">
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">3</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After going through the above tables, it is amply clear who
is actually gaining from the so-called miraculous growth story of India. Whereas
the accumulation of wealth at the top is growing at an exponential rate, the
bottom-most are just being handed down a change in their status and
nomenclature. The ones earlier counted as extremely poor below the poverty line
are now poor above the poverty line. What this actually means for them is
anybody’s guess. But it does mean a lot for the policy makers and their
apologists. It means that they can add another feather to their cap, howsoever
meaningless it actually may be. However, any amount of self-congratulation will
not be able to suffice in answer to some ‘basic’ questions: What differentiates
those at the top from those at the bottom? Have all those at the top earned
their right to be there? Does the accident of their birth does-not have
anything to do with it? Have they not been treated favorably at the expense of
others at every step of the way that is in case they have not inherited their
wealth and status? Should the so-called ‘poor’ feel gratified, obliged and
thankful if they succeed in crossing a line which they might not be even aware,
exists? Do they not have any right to have a life beyond the ‘basic’ needs of
food, clothing and shelter? Why are they more unequal than the others? Why
should they not feel mocked if their entire lives are reduced to just numbers
and statistics? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If we are to ever consider ourselves a ‘civil’ society, we
will have to answer these questions. Otherwise, let us just simply forget about
all of the above and join in the celebrations of losing our number one spot in
terms of the numbers of ‘extremely poor’. Let us be proud that we have been
displaced by some other unfortunate nation who has now acquired this coveted
spot. Because again, as far as the modern philosophy of nation-states goes, it
should not be our concern if the hungry belong to some other nation, even if
such extreme hunger, poverty and deprivation is a consequence of the very
policies that the world has decided to openly embrace.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-75151054673213030562018-06-25T14:31:00.001+05:302018-06-25T14:31:29.869+05:30Regulation at the cost of human lives?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A life-saving medicine for pediatric heart patients, namely,
Furoped, or Furosemide, more commonly known as Lasix (a diuretic that is
prescribed in babies with heart ailments to drain the body of fluids, to reduce
the load on heart), has recently gone out of market (</span><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/price-cap-squeezes-out-key-drug-for-children-with-heart-ailment-5229669/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://indianexpress.com/article/india/price-cap-squeezes-out-key-drug-for-children-with-heart-ailment-5229669/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
This is after The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) set the
ceiling selling price for the drug at Rs. 10 in the month of November. The
manufacturer of the drug, Samarth Pharmaceuticals, has stated that the price
was reduced by 92% since the drug was brought under price control and they were
being forced to sell at less than the cost price. They have stated that they
were still trying to maintain supplies, but were unable to do so in large
quantities.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The NPPA has, in turn, stated that the matter had been
brought to their notice and they were looking into it. They also said that they
had called for certain information from the manufacturer which has now been
received and the issue will be taken up in the next meeting of the authority to
be held on June 28.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hapless parents are meanwhile, and as usual, struggling with
the situation to their best possible individual means and capacities. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Situations like the above have become so common in the
Indian scenario that they fail to attract much attention, other than passing
references and a few concerned voices that may be raised. The acceptance of
administrative apathy and incompetence, and the devaluation of a human life has
become so complete and systemically entrenched that coming across such
situations and incidents fails to elicit even a minor reaction from the
majority of the population. They seem to be routine, run-of-the-mill matters
which do not deserve any special attention.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, such a situation is neither routine nor
run-of-the-mill for the parents who are daily watching their children suffer
and at the same time struggling to arrange for the medicine they know can save
or at least prolong the precious lives of their kids. The reason for this
struggle, however, may not be understandable to these parents. It is not clear,
for instance, what data was collected and analyzed by the Pricing Authority
before bringing the drug into price control. What was the basis of taking the
decision? Was the shortage of the drug apprehended? What were the measures that
were taken to avoid or tackle such a situation, if it occurred? When was the
information that the Authority says it has now received from the drug
manufacturer, called for? If this information was essential for arriving at the
decision to control the prices of the drug, then how was the decision taken in
the absence of such information? If the Authority now realizes the gravity of
the situation, why is it important to wait for the next regular meeting scheduled
for June 28, to discuss the situation? Are there no contingency plans on the
table? Is the situation not serious enough to warrant the implementation of
such contingency measures, if at all they are in place? What is the wait for? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Questions galore, but alas, no answers! May be the situation
is dire for only a few members of the society as of now. May be it is not
happening to us to be overly concerned with it. But till when will be able to
sustain such kind of an apathetic attitude? Till when will we able to survive
in such a callous world? In fact till when will a world which harbors such an
apathetic society be itself able to survive? Not very long, I think.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-38546716142816006712018-06-22T16:57:00.001+05:302018-06-22T16:57:19.399+05:30The curious workings of the Sedition Law in India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code states the following:
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by
signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring
into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards,
the Government established by law in India, shall be punished with imprisonment
for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to
three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine. </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Explanation 1 – The expression “disaffection” includes
disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Explanation 2 – Comments expressing disapprobation of
the measures of the Government with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful
means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or
disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section. </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Explanation 3 – Comments expressing disapprobation of
the administrative or other action of the Government without exciting or
attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an
offence under this section.”</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Indian Express has recently reported that sedition
charges were imposed on five minors for dancing to ‘anti-India’ song. The FIR
has been registered at the Nisarganj police station in Rohtas district of
western Bihar (</span><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/five-minors-face-sedition-charge-for-dancing-to-anti-india-song-5224928/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://indianexpress.com/article/india/five-minors-face-sedition-charge-for-dancing-to-anti-india-song-5224928/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).
As reported, the incident occurred when about 150 people aged between 10 and 22
years took out a “channd julus (moon procession)” a day before Eid, after
hiring a DJ, named Ashish Kumar, a local resident. The FIR was registered
against eight people – the event’s organizer, DJ, his driver and five minors who
were found dancing to the song – this is apart from 20 other unidentified
people. According to the FIR, a person named Chandan Thathera shot the video
and later handed it to a local Bajrang Dal leader, Manoj Bajrangi, who gave the
video clip to the police. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The lyrics of the contentious song, which was played in
between other songs being played, if roughly translated, go as follows – <i>“We
are Pakistani mujahids, protectors of Earth; if you challenge us even by
mistake, we will cut you up.”</i></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Without going into the legitimacy of invoking Section 124-A
in this case in general, it is pertinent to examine the same at least with
respect to its invocation against the minors, who danced to the song. It will
be interesting to see how these charges against the minors are sustained and
substantiated, in view of what Section 124A defines as sedition, which is
stated above. First and foremost, these individuals were not the ones who
played the song. Secondly, it was one among the many songs to be played and the
accused happened to dance to the song in the flow of things. If such is not the
case, then it needs to be proved that the steps that were used by the accused
while dancing to this song were different from the ones they were using while
dancing to the other songs and that these specific steps were such that they
could fall into the category of <i>‘attempting to bring into hatred or
contempt, or exciting or attempting to excite disaffection towards the
Government established by law in India’. </i>If such is not the case then all
those who happened to listen to the song may be held equally responsible for
sedition, which sounds laughable.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The above conjectures sound completely implausible,
far-fetched and imaginary. However, the truth is that the invocation of this
law has more often than not been done on such flimsy grounds. As much as the
presence of the law in the Penal Code of an independent and democratic India
itself, has been questioned and condemned vociferously, its casual invocation,
in almost all the cases, has been repeatedly brought to light. Yet, no government
of independent India has ever attempted to scrap this contentious law, although
it is nothing more than a relic of a colonial past. Rather, this law has often
been clandestinely used to impose the authority of the state or may be to
settle scores on some other front.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Incidentally, in this case, it will be useful and
interesting to go through some of the statements of the relatives of the
arrested minors. The elder brother of one accused, who studies in class VI,
said, <i>“The children were dancing in joy. Most of them realized that some
objectionable and controversial song had been played only after the ruckus
following police intervention.”</i> Father of another boy said, <i>“Sedition
charges against these little boys have hurt us badly. There has never been any
communal riot in Nisarganj’s history. In this town you can still hear azaan
(call of prayer from a mosque) and Ram dhun (Hindu devotional song), going on
simultaneously.”</i></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Food for thought. Isn’t it?</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-54138192290233010392018-06-21T17:24:00.001+05:302018-06-21T17:24:50.575+05:30Trump backs down on one of the most inhumane policies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The world has, of late, been grappling with the worst kind
of humanitarian crisis. As a part of its ‘zero tolerance’ approach to illegal
immigration, the United States of America, had, in May, allowed the filing of
criminal charges against undocumented immigrants. This led to separation of
nearly 2000 children of these immigrants from their parents in a matter of just
six weeks. (</span><a href="https://scroll.in/latest/883477/united-states-president-donald-trump-signs-executive-order-to-keep-migrant-families-together"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://scroll.in/latest/883477/united-states-president-donald-trump-signs-executive-order-to-keep-migrant-families-together</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Horrified by the implementation of these completely inhumane
orders, there has been a wave of protests throughout the world. The protests
intensified further after an investigative news website, ProPublica, released
an audio recording on Monday, of the separated immigrant children crying
inconsolably for their parents, at a detention centre on the US-Mexico border.
President Trump’s wife and daughter joined in the protests to end this
humanitarian crisis. President Trump has now signed an executive order to not
separate the detained immigrant families. Although this comes as a major
immediate relief in the present circumstances, however it still leaves many
questions unanswered. The status of the children who have already been
separated is still unclear. Further, it is still not known that for how long these
immigrants can be held up and detained pending the ongoing proceedings against
them. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The United States has recently also withdrawn from the
United Nations Human Rights Council charging the organization of hypocrisy,
since it had condemned the abovementioned US policy and charged it of gross human
rights abuses because of this policy of separating the children of immigrant
parents from them. As ludicrous as this denunciation of the UN Human Rights
Council sounds, coming from the United States, whose human rights records have
never been a matter of pride, it remains to be seen how the accountability of
the human rights excesses that have already been committed in this matter, will
be fixed and by whom. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, looking at the macro issue of illegal immigrants
throughout the world, it will be beneficial to all if a framework is arrived at
through mutual discussions and negotiations among the world community on how to
approach this issue in a humanistic manner. Illegal immigration is not a
country specific problem and cannot be seen in isolation, by removing it from
its context and completely overlooking the reasons for it. The root cause here
is again the growing inequalities in the world which lead to such dire living
conditions for substantial population of the world that they resort to any and
every means possible to simply be able to continue to survive. This issue is
not simply a mathematical issue of numbers, wherein nations start to drive out
excess number of people from their soils without paying any heed to the social
realities that force these people to resort to such practices in the first
place.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Illegal immigration is a systemic as also a system and
policy driven issue. The victims of the system are portrayed as criminals and
punished harshly for their alleged crimes. Such harsh measures as adopted by
the United States of America may appear to be a solution in the short term but
are completely unsustainable on a long-term basis in view of the humanitarian
concerns. Whenever one faces a dilemma of a choice between humanity and
maintenance of the boundaries of the nation-state, or in other words, a dilemma
between what the choice should be – humanity or patriotism (one’s commitment
towards maintenance of the sacrosanct nature of one’s nation), it will not be
difficult to arrive at the right decision if Rabindranath Tagore’s words are
kept in mind:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge
is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never
allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, this is an adage which has been long forgotten. In
today’s world, patriotism trumps humanity by a huge margin.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-80293755302680453372018-06-20T17:15:00.003+05:302018-06-20T17:15:39.347+05:30The Scourge of Manual Scavenging – Unacknowledged and Perpetuating<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A recent inter-ministerial task force has estimated the
number of manual scavengers as 53,000. This survey includes data from 121
districts (spread over 12 states) out of more than 600 districts in the
country. This number, though is a four-fold increase from 13,000 odd workers
recorded in 2017, it is also pertinent to note that following surveys that
outlawed manual scavenging in 1993, the central government had counted 7 lakh
manual scavengers by 2004.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Another significant aspect of the latest survey is the very
definition of manual scavenging. The abovementioned estimated number does-not
include those involved in cleaning sewers and septic tanks, and also does-not
include the data from the Railways, the largest employer of manual scavengers.
It also does-not include data from urban areas. Sewer and septic tank cleaning has
also not been included, as according to an official of the Ministry of Social
Justice, “it can’t be completely done away with but can only be regulated with
the use of protective gear, which is allowed under the law”.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It is not very difficult to draw certain common-sense
conclusions from the above description of the state of affairs. Firstly, the
evident reluctance of the states to participate in the exercise of collecting
data on the number of manual scavengers present in the states displays the
amount of concern they have towards the plight of these workers. Since manual
scavenging was outlawed in the year 1993 itself, the states have devised
innovative ways of staying at the right side of the law. These include refusal
to participate in the enumeration exercise itself, refusal to officially verify
figures and so on and so forth. Similarly, central ministries like the Ministry
of Railways and the Ministry of Urban Affairs do-not think it significant enough
to part with the numbers, or for that matter, arrive at them in the first
place.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Further, the central government and the states have very
strategically and conveniently redefined the scope of what constitutes manual
scavenging itself. So sewer and septic tank cleaning does-not even form a part
of manual scavenging for the superb reason that ‘it cannot be done without’. As
a result, sewer and septic tank cleaning is very much lawful, albeit if carried
out with ‘full protective gear’. It is not of much significance however that
such protective gear, which includes 43 kinds of protective equipment and 11
mechanical equipment, is seldom if ever made available. This farcical situation
would have been quite hilarious had it not been so unbelievable, unfortunate,
dangerous, sad and disgusting. The excuse of protective gear is conveniently
use to keep a certain activity out of the purview of law and at the same time
no-one bothers to actually provide that gear. So, in the end, these helpless workers,
continue to indulge in a lawfully prohibited activity, working with their bare
hands and bodies, drinking heavily to be able to tolerate the stench and many a
times losing their very lives in the process. On top of that, they are not even
counted as manual scavengers because, on paper, cleaning of sewers and septic
tanks is allowed because it is supposed to be done with full protective gear
(so what if it actually never is). Unbelievable, but true!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Next, if we look at the practice of manual scavenging in
light of the caste hierarchies prevalent in our nation, it will be amply
evident that manual scavenging has traditionally and even today been relegated
to those present at the bottom-most step of this caste ladder. So, even among
the Dalits, manual scavengers are one of the lower-most sub-groups, and are
treated as such, even by the Dalits who occupy a higher place than them in the
caste hierarchy.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Every death of a manual scavenger momentarily succeeds to
find a place in the news of the day. It results in some token gestures, some
intellectual analysis, some laments, recommendations etc. Then something more
pressing like may be the death of a celebrity, or some unpatriotic act by some
citizen, comes to the fore and these deaths are very easily forgotten. With the
strengthening of the caste hierarchies in the present day scenario, and gradual
dilution of Dalit rights, it is not very difficult to forget those who are at
the lowest rung of the hierarchy as they are neither a significant part of the
vote bank, nor a part of a powerful lobby. In fact had they not been essential
for doing all the dirty and menial work, they would have been quite
dispensable. When such are the sensibilities of the nation that we together
form, then is there something better that can be expected?</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-61706351119504142432018-06-20T17:15:00.001+05:302018-06-20T17:15:02.253+05:30The field of Education: Political Playground<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The NCERT curriculum and textbooks were revised following
the recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework, 2005. Additionally,
National Focus Groups were formed, which presented Position Papers on the
teaching-learning of specific subjects in schools. This entire exercise was a
very comprehensive one. The experts in the field of education and policy-making
were involved who undertook wide consultations with various stakeholders in the
field of education, like teachers etc., and came out with impressive and
path-breaking recommendations and Position Papers. These recommendations were
duly incorporated in the NCERT textbooks that were formulated post NCF-2005.
Even a cursory look at these textbooks is enough to understand the massive
difference between these revised textbooks and their previous versions.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Although theories based on research in the field of
education have repeatedly advocated for textbooks to be considered as only one
among many resources in teaching-learning, yet in the Indian education
scenario, these continue to be the primary and only resources that are used in
the classrooms. In such a situation, their importance and significance
increases all the more.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">As much as the above is true, it is equally true that
education has also always been a battlefield on which ideological battles have
been fought. It is well understood and internalized by the political community
that control over what is taught to students in schools is akin to ideological
control over mass-level thought process and is essential for long-term
political viability. The political right and the organizations affiliated to it
have been in the forefront when it comes to the use of this ideological tool of
control over educational content imparted in schools. The vast network of RSS
schools throughout the nation, propounding its ideology on a mass scale, is
ample testimony to this. The coming into power of a government affiliated to a
politically right-wing ideology has invariably been accompanied with a
tinkering with the NCERT textbooks prescribed in the schools, especially those
dealing with social science subjects, like History. The same is being witnessed
now, over the last two-three years. However, there is a definite difference in
the approach towards implementation of the same. In line with the way the
present political dispensation has been functioning, the latest series of
revisions, big and small, that have been implemented and are scheduled for
implementation, have been carried out single-handedly by the political
dispensation, without even a semblance of consultation with experts or
institutions who have been established for this very purpose. The trend of
undermining of institutional autonomy, thus, continues unabated.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">As also expected, the revisions that have been undertaken,
aim at providing a much larger space and one-sided depiction of personalities
considered to be icons of ‘Hinduism’, like Shivaji, Maharana Pratap etc. At the
same time, such changes also aim at delegitimizing the role and contributions
of those considered to be ‘outsiders’ like the Mughals. The changes are solely
an attempt to portray a non-existent polarized history of the nation, thereby
trying to rewrite history in the language of ‘insiders’ vs ‘outsiders’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The other kind of revisions that are being undertaken are
the insertions of all the good work that the present dispensation has been
doing, like bringing in demonetization, implementing schemes like Swachch
Bharat Abhiyaan etc. These insertions are aimed at blatant eulogization of the
present dispensation without paying even the minutest of attention to the
realities and the facts of the situations. Such insertions are a testimony to
the fact that not only has the spread of ‘fake news’ become the greatest menace
to the Indian democracy, the spread of fake propaganda through the blatant
misuse of the education system of the nation has become the single-most biggest
threat to the existence of our great civilization.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The abovementioned falsification of historical truths in the
school textbooks and presentation of one-sided story of the tremendous
successes and achievements of the present dispensation, without any
consultations whatsoever with the institutions that are responsible for the
curriculum, not only undermine the strong fabric of institutional autonomy
inbuilt in the governance structures of the Indian democracy, but also threaten
to destroy the centuries old rich and diverse Indian civilization. Not to
mention the false propaganda being spread far and wide, and the complete
undermining of the desired scientific and secular nature of the education
system. The only thought that can offer any succor in this bleak environment is
a flicker of hope for this to be only a temporary phase in the long history of
our nation and its education system.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-64677939973831040672018-06-20T17:12:00.003+05:302018-06-20T17:12:55.031+05:30Erring teachers to be penalized<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Gujarat Education Department has decided to take strict
action against over 2300 school teachers who were appointed as evaluators for
Class X Board exam. (</span><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/education/higher-fine-gujarat-education-ministers-rebuke-in-store-for-2300-teachers-who-erred-in-giving-marks-5225039/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://indianexpress.com/article/education/higher-fine-gujarat-education-ministers-rebuke-in-store-for-2300-teachers-who-erred-in-giving-marks-5225039/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">)
This is after the Department was appalled by the kind of mistakes the teachers
were found to have committed while evaluating the exam papers. Some of these,
as stated by the Department, include errors ranging from simple addition,
omitting decimal to even awarding marks higher than the total marks for the
paper. As reported by Indian Express, apart from a higher than before fine
amount, these teachers are also set to be personally reprimanded by the
Education Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, who shall also,
however, grant them a hearing before taking ‘appropriate’ action against them.
It is further felt by the Minister and the Department that mere fines are not
punishment enough for such egregious errors of commission and omission.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All of this sounds very reasonable. The kind of errors
mentioned above seem to be too basic to have been committed by school teachers
and thus an initial opinion about the utmost lack of responsibility, or
ability, or the sheer carelessness and casual attitude on part of the teachers
may well be formed. The proposal of the government to hand out strict
punishments to such errant teachers may also not seem unreasonable.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, when such incidents come to light, it is also
essential to look past the immediate issue and follow it with a knee-jerk
reaction. Instead, it is necessary to try and arrive at the underlying reasons
and the long-term remedial measures so that such incidents can be altogether
avoided in the future. On the surface, such incidents, may seem to be a result
of a lack of commitment on the part of the teachers and hence an attitudinal
problem with them. But if we will try and look even a bit deeper, we will
ourselves realize the flaws in the above argument. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The number of teachers who have been identified to have made
these errors is around 2300, which is by no means a small number. And this
excludes the teachers who have made minor errors. I think it will be agreeable
to all that such type of errors cannot be attributed to a lack of ability on
the part of teachers. If that is ruled out, then next comes the question of
their attitude towards work. I believe that 2300 is again a huge number to
attribute the errors to the general careless attitude of the teachers. There is
no reason to believe that such huge number of teachers would not take the work
assigned to them seriously and hence end up committing such basic errors. What
can then explain the situation?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It might be pertinent here to go to the root cause of the
problem. Such an analysis will lead us to the long-present structural problems in
our education system and the role of teachers within it. Time and again it has
been highlighted that for the effectiveness of the teaching-learning process,
it is essential that teachers are accorded their rightful place in the
education system. Henry Giroux has very rightly advocated for teachers to be
considered as ‘transformative intellectuals’. Yet, our education system treats
them in the shabbiest of manners possible. They are considered as lowermost
wrung of administrators whose job is to impart the prescribed curriculum, along
with discharging the multifarious other administrative responsibilities thrust
upon them. The trainings, if any, provided to them are abysmal. In such a
scenario, the general motivation levels and a sense of pride in work cannot be
expected to be particularly high. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the abovementioned scenario, although one may agree that
committing of the kind of errors that have been listed is not acceptable by
qualified school teachers, however, the resolution of the problem, should avoid
yielding to knee-jerk reactions and piece-meal solutions. Instead, attention needs
to be focused on addressing the structural issues inherent in our education
system. As much as it is the responsibility of teachers to perform their duties
diligently, it as an equal responsibility of the system to ensure that they are
able to do so, to the best of their abilities, by creating enabling conditions
and infrastructure for them to do so. Anything short of this, is not going to
yield any result.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-18263615928419414972018-06-20T17:12:00.001+05:302018-06-20T17:12:10.132+05:30Trans genders – The stigmatized gender<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Suchitra Dey, formerly known as Hiranmey Dey, underwent a
sex-reassignment surgery last year. She has an MA degree in Geography as well
as in English and has also done her B.Ed. She teaches in a private school in
Kolkata. In a recent interview, she talked to The Indian Express about her job interview
experiences with some schools around Kolkata. Recounting her shocking
experiences, she stated, “One of the interviewers at a well-known Kolkata
school asked me to wear male outfits because all my mark sheets and
certificates say that I am a man. In each of these interviews, I faced the
worst kind of humiliation. The male principal of one of these schools asked me
whether I can bear a child. He also asked me if my breasts are real. Would
these questions be asked if I wasn’t a transgender woman?”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With a series of such harrowing experiences and no answers
to her questions in sight, she filed a complaint with the West Bengal Human
Rights Commission on June 11. In her written complaint, she wrote: “I couldn’t
handle the humiliation anymore. The things I have been asked by authorities at
“reputed” schools of Kolkata shows the kind of mindset people still hold about
our community. If someone like me, who is educated and experienced, has to face
this then imagine the plight of those who don’t have the opportunity to go to
school, or the ones who have been ostracized.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Just as a reminder to the readers here: the Supreme Court
has, in 2014, lawfully recognized trans-genders as the third gender. However,
we are sufficiently aware that such minor legalities do-not make a difference.
No matter what the law says on paper, practically the realities of the lives of
every Indian citizen are defined by the socio-economic milieu one is born in.
Context, most often, determines the content of an individual’s life. It is an
open secret that even after the abolition of untouchability with the enactment
of the Constitution, the ground realities for the people belonging to the
lowermost castes, who are also devoid of any political and economic clout, has
hardly taken a turn for the better. Similarly, although recognition in law of
the transgender community is itself a big step, however it is far too
insufficient. If the promise of a dignified life for the transgender community
has to be fulfilled, it requires massive transformation of the societal
mindset. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Commonly, education is associated with bringing about
positive changes in mindsets and in steering the society in a progressive
direction. However, ironically, our education system either exists in isolation
of the society or alternately is used as a political mouthpiece to steer the
society in a direction that the political dispensation of the day desires.
Apart from the above, the aims of education have been completely reduced to
just instrumental and material aims. The meaning of education, as commonly understood
today, is something that is required for getting a decent job and nothing more
than that. The essential aims of education - to help an individual develop a
sense of right and wrong, to enable and strengthen the faculties of critical
thinking, introspection, decision-making, feelings of humaneness, empathy and a
sense of responsibility towards one’s own actions and towards the world – have
been diluted to such an extent that they have become non-existent. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In such a scenario, it is but apt that even those who claim
to be well educated, and not only that, have been further endowed with the
massive responsibility of educating others; should have such mindsets. The most
unfortunate part, though, is that this repulsive state of affairs does-not
bother enough members of the society, so that a societal change could be
brought about. </span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-62101093847235969402018-06-20T17:09:00.003+05:302018-06-20T17:09:55.089+05:30The mandated voluntary use of Aadhaar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In an organizational structure, it is understood that two
separate channels of communication exist. One is the formal channel of
communication which follows the line of hierarchy of the organization. Second
is the informal channel, in the popular parlance, termed as ‘grapevine’. As the
name suggests, the formal channel is the established, legitimate and verifiable
channel of communication. However, communications still mostly happen through
the informal channel, and though not having the formal backing of the
organizational structure, such communication is more relied upon, sought after
and followed.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The above analogy holds good for the way the process of
Aadhaar implementation has unfolded in India. As far as formal communication
goes, Aadhaar has always been portrayed as being ‘voluntary’ in nature.
However, the government has left no stone unturned in mandating its use if one
wants to interact with the government using any existing interface of
communication between itself, or even the private service providers, and the
people. So while the apex court of the country is yet to decide on the legitimacy
of government’s actions that have intended to make Aadhaar mandatory for
availing of entitlements, the government has yet again conceptualized the new
National Health Protection Scheme revolving around Aadhaar as the primary
document to be relied upon in order to identify beneficiaries. Whereas
provisions have been made for the use of other documents if Aadhaar is not
available, however it is also provided that a time limit will be advised to the
patient for registering with Aadhaar, and treatment without Aadhaar will be
given only for the first time.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We have already been a witness to a number of policy induced
deaths, wherein people have died of starvation as they have been refused their
entitled ration in absence of valid Aadhaar number. This is despite the
maintenance of the recurrent narrative by the government and the courts alike
that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory, especially for identifying beneficiaries
in case of entitlements. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Herein comes the crucial role of ‘grapevine’. Despite
mandating of Aadhaar being illegal, the government and its agencies have
created such a strong informal communication channel that it has been made
practically impossible to avoid Aadhaar registration. For instance, recently I
shifted into a new rented accommodation. I was very casually informed that the
system itself would not allow registration of the rent agreement if I did-not
provide my Aadhaar number. Similarly, I was being heavily pressurized by my
telecom operator, a private company, that it was mandatory for me to provide my
Aadhaar details if I wanted my services to continue. In such cases it becomes
irrelevant to argue on the legality of such actions as firstly, there is no
hearing given to you and not even the slightest amount of energy is invested by
the counterparty in understanding the facts of the situation. In the present
times, no-one wants to be seen being on the wrong side of the government.
Secondly, even if you maintain your stand steadfastly, then you would have to
be ready to either forget about availing of the service in question or be ready
to fight long court battles, which is not a very viable option for many. Much
worse, however, is the condition of those whose daily existence depends on
their entitlements. The state has proven that it does-not shed even a false
tear for those who are losing their lives even in the process of having to
prove their legitimacy as Indian citizens.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is amply clear that even court directions and legalities
are not a concern when the executive decides to have its way. There are
numerous ways and means through which the intended actions are carried out,
while at the same time paying lip-service when it comes to obeying the law, and
hoodwinking it in the process. The implementation of Aadhaar has been a case in
point, where, despite contrary court directions, reports of misuse, security
threats, even deaths of common people, the government has continued on its
mission to make its use universal and mandatory. The new National Health
Protection Scheme, in spirit, follows the same trajectory.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-69668843368197872692018-06-20T17:09:00.001+05:302018-06-20T17:09:21.666+05:30Mob lynching – a convoluted form of justice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mob lynching in the name of
‘gauraksha’ continues unabated throughout the nation, with two more ‘suspected
cattle thieves’ lynched to death in Jharkhand. Following in the footsteps of
the self-proclaimed cow protectors, certain other types of lynching have also
been recently witnessed, with the latest being the beating to death of Nilotpal
Das and Abhijit Nath in Assam, fearing misapprehensions of their being child
traffickers amidst child trafficking rumors circulating on social media.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The lynching of the ‘suspected
cattle thieves’ in Jharkhand followed allegations on them for stealing
buffaloes from a village and sneaking out. The investigations are on to establish
the veracity of the allegations.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In all such cases of mob violence
leading to deaths, there are certain complex issues that need to be thoroughly
understood and discussed. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Firstly, it is well-established
that the foremost function of any state is to ensure the prevalence of law and
order. This essentially means that the responsibility for administering justice
in case of a violation of a law also lies only with the state and its legitimate
institutions. Howsoever gruesome an alleged crime may appear and howsoever
strong the instincts to take the law in one’s own hands in order to punish the
alleged perpetrator of that crime, it still remains prohibited and an unlawful
act. However, to take this argument a little further, it also becomes the
responsibility of the state to induce confidence, among the citizens, towards
its law and order machinery. This would essentially mean the strengthening of
and just and fair working of the organs of the state, i.e., the Legislature,
Executive and the Judiciary and the institutions like the police force etc. We
need to closely look at the increase in the incidents of mob lynching, on
extremely frivolous grounds, and understand the motivations behind the same.
Such incidents cannot be brushed aside and taken in the stride, as they are a
threat to the very idea of a civilized state.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Secondly, this is also the time
to pay attention to another paradox. The alleged crimes for which these people
are beaten to death, even if proved in a court of law, would have yielded much
lesser sentences, going by the law of the land. Isn’t then the act of lynching
itself much worse and much more illegal? Are namelessness, facelessness and
societal sanction excuses enough to indulge in collective murder and infliction
of a punishment that is much more than that prescribed in the law of the land?
If not, then allowing such a state of affairs to continue is nothing but one of
the biggest failures of the state.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thirdly, in times when we have
surrounded ourselves with gadgets and technology of all kinds, we need to take
a moment and pause to understand the effects that these may be having on our individual
minds and on the society as a whole. It is high time that we dissect and break
down all the aspects of this increasing presence and effects of technology and
social media, and prepare for the same.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lastly, in the prevailing
circumstances, it also becomes imperative to give a serious thought to the kind
of society and culture that we would like to be a part of. India has always
been a developing and growing economy and as yet has not found a place among
the developed nations, economically. Yet, one aspect in which we have always prided
ourselves and considered ourselves to be the leaders of the world, is the
richness and the syncretic nature of our ancient civilization. We have worn our
diversity and our harmonious co-existence despite this diversity, as a badge of
honor. This is something that distinguishes us from the rest of the world and
provides us our unique and enviable place among the comity of nations and the
civilizations of this world. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cows have as such never felt
threatened in this civilization, for them to feel any need of protection, for
this is the nation where they have been equated with mothers and worshipped
accordingly. The sudden aggressiveness in the name of ‘cow protection’ anyway
seems entirely unwarranted and unjustifiable. Such aggressive antics are solely
attempts at polarizing the nation and trying to impose a culture on it that is
completely against all its natural sensibilities. On the one hand where it is
well-established that no individual or nation can continue to function against
its natural sensibilities for a large amount of time, it is also essential to
ensure that the road towards normalization of the state of affairs does not
become so long that it loses all its meaning, for that road is essentially being
built by the blood of numerous legitimate, equal and innocent citizens of this
nation.</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2190462833944521248.post-79873942513211321202018-04-12T15:35:00.001+05:302018-04-12T15:35:00.608+05:30We are all dead, my child<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In this land of the dead</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You are the only one who is alive my child</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Don’t look askance at these faces with those horror stricken
eyes</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For how will they answer you, they are nothing but corpses
themselves</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They died the day they traded your pain with their own false
insecurities</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They died the day they killed the God inside them to keep
religion alive</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They died the day they looked at you and saw not a child but
a pawn to be used in their dirty games</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They died the day when they shed those tears and raised
those voices out loud….not to mourn the death of humanity but the indictment of
those they thought were their own</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They died the day they chose hatred and death over love and
life</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They died the day chose to hide behind their gods in defense
of their murder of humanity</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They died the day they searched the faces of their children
and could not find you there</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They died the day they walked their most dishonorable walk
and chose to wear it as a badge of honor</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And when they died, they didn’t do it alone</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They killed all of us for they held us witness to their acts</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They tied our tongues and dared us to speak</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They trampled on our consciences and challenged us to weep</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They teased us and taunted us and badgered us with their
unrelenting questions</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What will you do now? What did you do till now? What can you
do? Come on! Answer us!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And we struggled and struggled and struggled and struggled
unable to find our voice in the face of their vicious laughs</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For we had already mourned the death of humanity with the
customary two-minute silence</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And it was too huge a risk to openly distance ourselves from
the powers that be</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To stop them in their deadly and shameful march, to shout
out loud that this will not be allowed to be</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For no religion can thrive on the dead body of a child</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And the worst disgrace a national flag can suffer is to be
waved proudly by the apologists of the rapists and murderers of a beautiful and
promising life</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So here on this land where some have died and some have been
killed and no one is now alive, whom do you look for? What do you crave? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The answers to your unasked questions, child, are dug up in
this mass of unending graves</span></div>
</div>
Nivedita Dwivedihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441300370612696235noreply@blogger.com0