Our nation boasts of being the largest democracy in the world. The four pivotal pillars which buttress our democracy are: a proactive judiciary, an impartial media, an accountable legislature and a vigilant bureaucracy. But these very pillars have been weakened by the tentacles of corruption. The 2G scam and the subsequent release of the Nira Radia tape have given valuable insights into how deeply these pillars of democracy have delved into the quagmire of corruption.
To start with the judiciary, the former CJI KG Balakrishnan has been accused of multiple charges of misdemeanor. He has been accused of deliberately hiding the name of Mr.A Raja in a case of influencing a High court judge. Now a new complaint of having disproportionate assets has been lodged against Mr. Balakrishinan. Though the veracity of all such claims is yet to be proved, the very fact that finger has been pointed at the position considered the epitome of justice in our nation, is a mater of grave concern.
In the field of journalism, eminent media persons like Vir Sanghvi and Barkha Datt have been found to be working in cahoots with the corporate lobbyist Radia.
The least we talk about the legislature, the better it is. The 2G scam has embroiled the highest echelons of power and the PM himself is accused of being a mute spectator to the entire drama. The Adarsh Society scam has already taken its toll with sacking of former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan. The Karnataka imbroglio in which the CM BS Yeddyurrapa was implicated but refused to budge from his position is known to all.
The bureaucratic goof ups are very common and we have seen manifold number of cases relating to graft hitting headlines this year. But the icing on the Cake was the entire episode involving the Chief Vigilance Commissioner PJ Thomas. Perhaps India is the only nation where a tainted person is entrusted with the task of keeping corruption at bay in the society. All Hail my sweet nation!
We, as a nation have become so inured to cases of corruption that any new instance of graft fails to rouse interest or reaction in us. We have grown to accept it as part of the society and the mindset. In fact any act of generosity or uprightness evokes a response of awe and surprise. A similar incident occurred with me a few days back. On my way back from college, I somehow lost my mobile (SONY ERRICCSION C510).When I reached hostel and realized the gravity of the situation, I started panicking a lot. My friends advised me that I need to come to terms with the situation and since I have lost it somewhere on road, my dear mobile would already be on its way to be sold at a handsome price in the Chor Bazaar of Delhi. But still I kept believing that some friend is playing a prank with me and thus with this false hope I kept calling to my number. Finally after 1 hr of failed attempts, some one picked up my phone. The voice on the other end appeared to be of some guy speaking coarse Hindi and he said me that he picked up the mobile on the road and that it is safe with him. He identified himself as Vivek and that he was a trainee at the Police training Centre, New Delhi. I listened intently to the voice with disbelief and shock. Do we still have such persons in India who after getting hold of a Rs 10000 cell would be willing to return it back? Or some one is playing a bad joke with me? In a state of confusion and despair I set out with one of my friends to the destination he referred to. During our auto travel we had some difficulty in finding the address and this fuelled my apprehension that someone is playing a bad joke with us. Finally I arrived at the address and I apprised the security guard there of the situation. The security guard started laughing loudly and said” What? You lost your mobile on the road? And some one wants to give it back to you! No dear, go back. Some felon is playing with you. No one is going to give you back your lost mobile.” Again this statement raised my apprehension.
So I finally had to call Vivek and request him to come near the gate. He readily agreed. And after 10 minutes he was before me. The guy appeared to be very friendly and what he said is clearly etched in my mind,” Dear, I knew that this mobile set is currently priced at 8000 but I could not have filled my stomach with money from selling this”. I stood there dazed and dumb struck. I thanked him profusely and returned to my hostel. I had a perception that the police personnel in our nation are the most corrupt lot –that it is most easy to grease their hands. But this magnanimous action by a potential police recruit forced me to change my beliefs.
This incident gave me notions that still some shreds of morality are left in our national DNA. It gave me a hope that we have not yet crossed the irreversible line of dishonesty .Though a large part of our nation has succumbed to the robust tentacles of graft, still a small part have been able to resolutely keep themselves immune to the scourge. It is the responsibility of upright people who constitute this immune part to endeavor in freeing their fellow countrymen from the strong shackles of corruption. On the eve of this New Year, let’s take a pledge to lend our helping hand to this noble cause.
Tamaso ma jyotirgmaya.-May we rise from darkness (Graft society) to light (Moral Utopia).
Monday, May 23, 2011
Scourge of Child Labor
Indian express(20th May, 2011)
http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/op-ed/scourge-of-child-labour-in-india/276016.html
When I ponder over the recent Assembly election results in four states, I observe a piquant irony in the common themes on which they have been fought. Most of the elections in the recent past have been fought on the corruption or economic growth planks. The economic growth plank encompasses growth of infrastructure, better employment, etc. While there is nothing wrong in focusing on economic growth, I am of the view that in this noise of economic development the need for social growth has taken a back seat or has been forgotten. It is understood that economic growth indirectly paves the way for social development, but there is a sinking feeling that some pressing social problems, which deserve proper, urgent attention, are not getting their due. One such issue which is on the top of the list is child labour.
Daily, we see hundreds and thousands of children working in small hotels, platforms, small vendors or as domestic help in houses. We are also aware of small children working in different industries and factories, some even under inhumane conditions. Work place abuse is common in these places and very often we hear of the atrocities committed to such innocent children by their masters. Even government bureaucrats, who are entrusted with the task of checking such malaise in society, are seen to employ child labour themselves.
The society appears oblivious because they believe that the employers are doing charity by giving employment to these otherwise destitute children. It is widely believed that these children are orphans and have no one to care for them. But this is not necessarily always true. Many poor parents send their child to do odd jobs just to earn that extra rupee which will make ends meet. Some people who are capable of earning enough to feed themselves and their children are also seen sending their children to earn an extra buck. The answer to why the government is oblivious is very obvious: for the simple reason that the society, which comprises of an unfortunate political creation called vote bank, is oblivious to this issue and thus pursuing this doesn’t earn any political brownie points for a party. The media often ignores this issue because the government and society are oblivious to this issue.
The biggest beneficiary would be the society and thus it should start taking the initiative to reduce child labour in our country. The media and government would automatically follow suit. To achieve this the misconception about child labour should be eliminated. The government can chip in here to segregate working children into two distinct groups: Those whose parents can provide for their food, education and health and the those whose parents are not capable of providing a square meal a day or those who are orphans. To tackle the first group, a combination of stringent punishment for errant parents and good subsidies/freebies for compliant ones could be a starting point. For the second group of children, a greater effort will be needed on the part of the government. It would entail forming of private-public partnership to adopt impecunious children and take care of their entire food/education expenses till a certain age. Another feasible solution to tackle the second group would be to allow the children to continue working in their respective work places for lesser hours and simultaneously making arrangements for them to attend schools and receive proper food and access to healthcare.
There would be of course a lot of implementation issues, but for eradication of such a deep-rooted social malaise a sincere effort is needed. India is projecting itself as a growing economy and as a rising superpower. But what use of a double-digit GDP or superpower status if the system within is rotten and its children do not have an opportunity to grow up with dignity? The scourge of child labour needs to be targeted and eliminated quickly.
http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/op-ed/scourge-of-child-labour-in-india/276016.html
When I ponder over the recent Assembly election results in four states, I observe a piquant irony in the common themes on which they have been fought. Most of the elections in the recent past have been fought on the corruption or economic growth planks. The economic growth plank encompasses growth of infrastructure, better employment, etc. While there is nothing wrong in focusing on economic growth, I am of the view that in this noise of economic development the need for social growth has taken a back seat or has been forgotten. It is understood that economic growth indirectly paves the way for social development, but there is a sinking feeling that some pressing social problems, which deserve proper, urgent attention, are not getting their due. One such issue which is on the top of the list is child labour.
Daily, we see hundreds and thousands of children working in small hotels, platforms, small vendors or as domestic help in houses. We are also aware of small children working in different industries and factories, some even under inhumane conditions. Work place abuse is common in these places and very often we hear of the atrocities committed to such innocent children by their masters. Even government bureaucrats, who are entrusted with the task of checking such malaise in society, are seen to employ child labour themselves.
The society appears oblivious because they believe that the employers are doing charity by giving employment to these otherwise destitute children. It is widely believed that these children are orphans and have no one to care for them. But this is not necessarily always true. Many poor parents send their child to do odd jobs just to earn that extra rupee which will make ends meet. Some people who are capable of earning enough to feed themselves and their children are also seen sending their children to earn an extra buck. The answer to why the government is oblivious is very obvious: for the simple reason that the society, which comprises of an unfortunate political creation called vote bank, is oblivious to this issue and thus pursuing this doesn’t earn any political brownie points for a party. The media often ignores this issue because the government and society are oblivious to this issue.
The biggest beneficiary would be the society and thus it should start taking the initiative to reduce child labour in our country. The media and government would automatically follow suit. To achieve this the misconception about child labour should be eliminated. The government can chip in here to segregate working children into two distinct groups: Those whose parents can provide for their food, education and health and the those whose parents are not capable of providing a square meal a day or those who are orphans. To tackle the first group, a combination of stringent punishment for errant parents and good subsidies/freebies for compliant ones could be a starting point. For the second group of children, a greater effort will be needed on the part of the government. It would entail forming of private-public partnership to adopt impecunious children and take care of their entire food/education expenses till a certain age. Another feasible solution to tackle the second group would be to allow the children to continue working in their respective work places for lesser hours and simultaneously making arrangements for them to attend schools and receive proper food and access to healthcare.
There would be of course a lot of implementation issues, but for eradication of such a deep-rooted social malaise a sincere effort is needed. India is projecting itself as a growing economy and as a rising superpower. But what use of a double-digit GDP or superpower status if the system within is rotten and its children do not have an opportunity to grow up with dignity? The scourge of child labour needs to be targeted and eliminated quickly.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The sham called" Sarva Siksha Abhiyan"
Published : Indian Express(5th Aug 2010)
http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/time-out/sarva-shiksha-abhiyan-is-a-farce/195759.html
During my recent visit to Kanyakumari, while I was returning from the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, a little girl (aged not more than 3 years) approached me. The girl looked frail and emaciated and wore a torn, dirty dress to camouflage her skeleton. She was trying to sell polythene bags to me at Rs. 2 per bag. Well I can’t explain the glum and dejection which shrouded her innocent visage. I was moved by her condition and promptly handed over a crisp Rs. 10-rupee note to her. Her smile was worth watching.
I had initially assumed that she was the only small girl there peddling bags to tourists. But as soon as I handed over the note, a dozen more children like her surrounded me. I had to pacify them by giving a two-rupee coin to each child near me and then I stealthily ran away to avoid being further accosted by more children. This is a mockery of our “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan”.
This incident made me ponder over the sorry state of primary education and child care. Just when these innocent ones should have been learning in schools and playing with their peers, they are busy peddling polythene bags to tourists to earn a living. The budgetary allocation to improve primary education has seen a steady rise over the years. We even pay a special 2 per cent education cess from our pockets to fund the education of the deprived ones. The number of primary schools has increased manifold and the enrolment rate has increased. But change seems to have come only on paper.
Let us start from the enrolment process itself. Once the school authorities get poor children enrolled in their school registers, they assume their role to be over. No one is bothered about how many enrolled students actually attend school. We have a much hyped mid-day meal scheme in the schools whose only purpose is to ensure that enrolled students attend school regularly. But the scheme has failed to achieve its purpose. It is because the huge amounts of rice and other vegetables procured for the scheme are embezzled by the school authorities. Even in schools where a perfunctory meal is arranged, the quality of food is extremely bad. And there is no one to whom the poor children can complain.
What the entire school learns depends upon the whims and fancies of the teacher. And we expect these poor children to compete with top-notch English medium school students who get individual attention and care. As the functioning of the school depends on the whims of teachers, let us analyse the quality of teachers themselves. The payment for primary school teachers is so meagre that it only attracts the least talented. While the top brains go for medicine and engineering and the average ones opt for bank jobs, other clerical posts or high school lectureship, the worst lot are selected as teachers for primary schools. And we expect those who have flunked in their exams many a times to educate our children.
Thus our primary education system is replete with bottlenecks and flawed in every aspect. Investments in agriculture, industries, infrastructure, etc., yield returns only in the present. But investment and improvement in primary education yields returns in the future. We are deliberately jeopardising the future of our country by neglecting the sentinels of our future. We can’t expect ill-educated citizens to lead us. We have to change the present education scenario if we want to secure a top place for India in the evolving world order.
http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/time-out/sarva-shiksha-abhiyan-is-a-farce/195759.html
During my recent visit to Kanyakumari, while I was returning from the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, a little girl (aged not more than 3 years) approached me. The girl looked frail and emaciated and wore a torn, dirty dress to camouflage her skeleton. She was trying to sell polythene bags to me at Rs. 2 per bag. Well I can’t explain the glum and dejection which shrouded her innocent visage. I was moved by her condition and promptly handed over a crisp Rs. 10-rupee note to her. Her smile was worth watching.
I had initially assumed that she was the only small girl there peddling bags to tourists. But as soon as I handed over the note, a dozen more children like her surrounded me. I had to pacify them by giving a two-rupee coin to each child near me and then I stealthily ran away to avoid being further accosted by more children. This is a mockery of our “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan”.
This incident made me ponder over the sorry state of primary education and child care. Just when these innocent ones should have been learning in schools and playing with their peers, they are busy peddling polythene bags to tourists to earn a living. The budgetary allocation to improve primary education has seen a steady rise over the years. We even pay a special 2 per cent education cess from our pockets to fund the education of the deprived ones. The number of primary schools has increased manifold and the enrolment rate has increased. But change seems to have come only on paper.
Let us start from the enrolment process itself. Once the school authorities get poor children enrolled in their school registers, they assume their role to be over. No one is bothered about how many enrolled students actually attend school. We have a much hyped mid-day meal scheme in the schools whose only purpose is to ensure that enrolled students attend school regularly. But the scheme has failed to achieve its purpose. It is because the huge amounts of rice and other vegetables procured for the scheme are embezzled by the school authorities. Even in schools where a perfunctory meal is arranged, the quality of food is extremely bad. And there is no one to whom the poor children can complain.
What the entire school learns depends upon the whims and fancies of the teacher. And we expect these poor children to compete with top-notch English medium school students who get individual attention and care. As the functioning of the school depends on the whims of teachers, let us analyse the quality of teachers themselves. The payment for primary school teachers is so meagre that it only attracts the least talented. While the top brains go for medicine and engineering and the average ones opt for bank jobs, other clerical posts or high school lectureship, the worst lot are selected as teachers for primary schools. And we expect those who have flunked in their exams many a times to educate our children.
Thus our primary education system is replete with bottlenecks and flawed in every aspect. Investments in agriculture, industries, infrastructure, etc., yield returns only in the present. But investment and improvement in primary education yields returns in the future. We are deliberately jeopardising the future of our country by neglecting the sentinels of our future. We can’t expect ill-educated citizens to lead us. We have to change the present education scenario if we want to secure a top place for India in the evolving world order.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Nobel Just for "Audacity of Hope"??
The awarding of this years Nobel peace prize to the American president Barack Obama is a travesty of the unparallel prestige of the award. It seems Nobles are now being awarded only for “Audacity of hope” rather than audacity of action.
The Nobel Prize is the highest honor that can be conferred on a person on this planet.They are considered as a recognition of one’s lifetime achievement and dedication. But in Mr. Obama’s case no such criterions have been fulfilled. He has just embarked upon his arduous task as the American president to convert into reality what he hopes of achieving. I am not questioning his sincerity to bring an end to violence or his endeavors for nuclear disarmament. But it will take many years before these endeavors are transformed into a reality. And the coveted prize would have been very appropriate at that juncture when his hopes began to materialize.
I would like to stress that a person, however magnanimous and great he might be, can never be judged in a few months time. A person has to stand the test of time before he receives kudos for his work.Won't it be ludicrous to confer a lifetime achievement Oscar award on a debutant actor, however splendid his performance might be? This analogy very aptly applies to Mr. Obama getting Nobel.
What makes this Nobel more incongruous is the fact that Mr. Obama as the American president is currently spearheading a gory war in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are still reports of rampant violence and huge number of civilian causalities in these areas. I think this award brings to fore a piquant irony and best describes the word oxymoron-the president of a country engaged into two violent wars is awarded the highest peace prize. As if war and peace have become synonymous.
I believe that there were many other strong contenders for this coveted awarded. There are hundreds of NGO leaders who are working selflessly in war zones and endeavoring tirelessly to make our earth free from violence. These faceless philanthropists receive no recognition for their earnest efforts. I think a Nobel for any of such philanthropists would have sent a good message at the present scenario where the scourge of violence and terrorism has endangered world peace.
The Nobel Prize is the highest honor that can be conferred on a person on this planet.They are considered as a recognition of one’s lifetime achievement and dedication. But in Mr. Obama’s case no such criterions have been fulfilled. He has just embarked upon his arduous task as the American president to convert into reality what he hopes of achieving. I am not questioning his sincerity to bring an end to violence or his endeavors for nuclear disarmament. But it will take many years before these endeavors are transformed into a reality. And the coveted prize would have been very appropriate at that juncture when his hopes began to materialize.
I would like to stress that a person, however magnanimous and great he might be, can never be judged in a few months time. A person has to stand the test of time before he receives kudos for his work.Won't it be ludicrous to confer a lifetime achievement Oscar award on a debutant actor, however splendid his performance might be? This analogy very aptly applies to Mr. Obama getting Nobel.
What makes this Nobel more incongruous is the fact that Mr. Obama as the American president is currently spearheading a gory war in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are still reports of rampant violence and huge number of civilian causalities in these areas. I think this award brings to fore a piquant irony and best describes the word oxymoron-the president of a country engaged into two violent wars is awarded the highest peace prize. As if war and peace have become synonymous.
I believe that there were many other strong contenders for this coveted awarded. There are hundreds of NGO leaders who are working selflessly in war zones and endeavoring tirelessly to make our earth free from violence. These faceless philanthropists receive no recognition for their earnest efforts. I think a Nobel for any of such philanthropists would have sent a good message at the present scenario where the scourge of violence and terrorism has endangered world peace.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
FLAWED ANTI-NAXAL POLICY OF INDIA
The menace poised by naxalites and Maoists in ours country is assuming colossal proportions. As the centre and the state governments get engaged in protracted recriminations the innocent citizens are left in the lurch. The nonchalance and the desultory approach of our government in handling this scourge has allowed it to fester.
Let me explicate our government’s perfunctory response to this problem. First the centre earmarks huge funds (currently its more than 1000 crore rupees) for tackling naxalism. It may go further to ban the naxal outfits whose atrocities become too notorious and arrange anti-naxal co-ordination committees once a year with state governments. After this the central government assumes its role to be over. The state governments utilize the huge funds to deploy more and more security forces who get little or low standard training for antinaxal activities. But deployment can’t be in each nook and corner of the affected areas. So the naxals strike at will and kill innocent security personnel who are very ill equipped .And as the number of naxal cadres continues to increase exponentially, the government finds itself more helpless in dealing with the problem. It can’t go on recruiting security forces commensurate with the exponential growth of naxals. Now to woo away the naxal cadres, different state government announce rehabilitation packages. But the local administrations have so awkwardly bungled with these rehabilitation programs that, even the few felons who had returned back to mainstream society feel helpless and discriminated. They are forced to relapse into their previous violent stints. Evidently it won’t be wrong to say that the government stratagem in dealing with the naxals has proved to be a complete failure.
Sincerely
I don’t think that proscribing naxal outfits or use of force and perfunctory rehabilitation packages are going to prove effective in any way. For subverting this menace we need to understand its roots and genesis. It is very much apparent that the most naxal affected states namely Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and some North-east states are also the most underdeveloped states in the country. Bihar is an exception because it had its home grown naxals in the form of goons of Lalu-Paswan duo. But developed states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Gujurat have not reported any incidents of naxalism. It can be interpreted from these facts that the sole reason spurring Naxalism is unemployment, penury, lack of education and infrastructure in underdeveloped areas. It is because uneducated and unemployed youths are easy targets for being inveigled as naxal cadres. We can say that every impecunious, uneducated youth is a potential naxalite. So we have to consider these things when we attempt to adopt any anti-naxal strategy.
A pivotal point in this context is that naxals are not same as terrosists.They don’t kill innocent people indiscriminately. We have only heard of naxal attacks against security personnel, naxals abducting government officials or naxals vandalizing police posts but we never hear of naxal opening fire in a busy market place to kill innocent people. So, clearly their grudge is against the government and its apathy. Their only complain is that why are they treated so unfairly and callously. In Moa’s words, only the language of bullet is universally understood. So, the Maoists are trying with the help of bullet to make the government understand the problems they face, the hunger they bear and the agony they live with. If we want to rein in naxals we have to heed to their problems.
If we go by statistics our Central government spends more than 1000 crore annually on anti-naxal operations but all these expenditures goes into drain as there is little success rate of such operations. If we simply distribute this fund among all the naxal cadres(a total of 10,000 approximately) each will receive a sum of 10 lakhs annually and I am sure on receiving this sum they will renounce their violence path. Ofcourse , this is a bizarre proposition , but what I intend to say is that rather than wasting 1000 crore for abortive anti-naxal operations, if the government invests this huge sum of money for generating employment opportunity for the naxals or for envisaging concrete rehabilitation packages , then the naxal problem will automatically cease to exist.
The medical dictum “Prevention is better than cure” becomes very pertinent here. That is rather than proceeding to exterminate naxals, it would be much effective to prevent its further spread and to woo away as many naxal cadres as possible by implementing fool proof welfare schemes and investing in education, employment and infrastructure. Well educated youths ingrained with ideals patriotism cant be coaxed away by Mao’s ideals. Furthermore, the help the Naxals receive from beleaguered unemployed youths in the form of tacit support will also vanish.
It is high time the government wakes up from its slumber, shuns its “only rhetoric, no action” attitude and changes its flawed naxal policy. Otherwise our peaceful country will delve abysmally into the quagmire of anarcy, bedlam and violence created by naxalism.
Let me explicate our government’s perfunctory response to this problem. First the centre earmarks huge funds (currently its more than 1000 crore rupees) for tackling naxalism. It may go further to ban the naxal outfits whose atrocities become too notorious and arrange anti-naxal co-ordination committees once a year with state governments. After this the central government assumes its role to be over. The state governments utilize the huge funds to deploy more and more security forces who get little or low standard training for antinaxal activities. But deployment can’t be in each nook and corner of the affected areas. So the naxals strike at will and kill innocent security personnel who are very ill equipped .And as the number of naxal cadres continues to increase exponentially, the government finds itself more helpless in dealing with the problem. It can’t go on recruiting security forces commensurate with the exponential growth of naxals. Now to woo away the naxal cadres, different state government announce rehabilitation packages. But the local administrations have so awkwardly bungled with these rehabilitation programs that, even the few felons who had returned back to mainstream society feel helpless and discriminated. They are forced to relapse into their previous violent stints. Evidently it won’t be wrong to say that the government stratagem in dealing with the naxals has proved to be a complete failure.
Sincerely
I don’t think that proscribing naxal outfits or use of force and perfunctory rehabilitation packages are going to prove effective in any way. For subverting this menace we need to understand its roots and genesis. It is very much apparent that the most naxal affected states namely Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and some North-east states are also the most underdeveloped states in the country. Bihar is an exception because it had its home grown naxals in the form of goons of Lalu-Paswan duo. But developed states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Gujurat have not reported any incidents of naxalism. It can be interpreted from these facts that the sole reason spurring Naxalism is unemployment, penury, lack of education and infrastructure in underdeveloped areas. It is because uneducated and unemployed youths are easy targets for being inveigled as naxal cadres. We can say that every impecunious, uneducated youth is a potential naxalite. So we have to consider these things when we attempt to adopt any anti-naxal strategy.
A pivotal point in this context is that naxals are not same as terrosists.They don’t kill innocent people indiscriminately. We have only heard of naxal attacks against security personnel, naxals abducting government officials or naxals vandalizing police posts but we never hear of naxal opening fire in a busy market place to kill innocent people. So, clearly their grudge is against the government and its apathy. Their only complain is that why are they treated so unfairly and callously. In Moa’s words, only the language of bullet is universally understood. So, the Maoists are trying with the help of bullet to make the government understand the problems they face, the hunger they bear and the agony they live with. If we want to rein in naxals we have to heed to their problems.
If we go by statistics our Central government spends more than 1000 crore annually on anti-naxal operations but all these expenditures goes into drain as there is little success rate of such operations. If we simply distribute this fund among all the naxal cadres(a total of 10,000 approximately) each will receive a sum of 10 lakhs annually and I am sure on receiving this sum they will renounce their violence path. Ofcourse , this is a bizarre proposition , but what I intend to say is that rather than wasting 1000 crore for abortive anti-naxal operations, if the government invests this huge sum of money for generating employment opportunity for the naxals or for envisaging concrete rehabilitation packages , then the naxal problem will automatically cease to exist.
The medical dictum “Prevention is better than cure” becomes very pertinent here. That is rather than proceeding to exterminate naxals, it would be much effective to prevent its further spread and to woo away as many naxal cadres as possible by implementing fool proof welfare schemes and investing in education, employment and infrastructure. Well educated youths ingrained with ideals patriotism cant be coaxed away by Mao’s ideals. Furthermore, the help the Naxals receive from beleaguered unemployed youths in the form of tacit support will also vanish.
It is high time the government wakes up from its slumber, shuns its “only rhetoric, no action” attitude and changes its flawed naxal policy. Otherwise our peaceful country will delve abysmally into the quagmire of anarcy, bedlam and violence created by naxalism.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Scrapping of Xth board exam an unwelcome move
The recent proposals of the HRD ministry envisaging to make the Xth board optional and replacing the marking scheme with grade system is an unwelcome move. Let us analyse the logics given by the HRD minister in this regard. Firstly, the logic is to reduce the tension of students and their parents .But even with grading system the students would be pressurized and traumatized to secure good grades(if not good marks).No student would want to get a D or E grade. So essentially the very aim of alleviating the tension and trauma of students is not addressed in this proposal. The second logic is that a child need not attend board in class Xth if he is continuing in the same school till XIIth. But how many schools offer classes till XIIth level? None of the schools under state boards have facilities till XIIth. Most of the good intermediate level colleges are autonomous bodies which consider Xth mark as basis for admission. With Xth board scrapped , these prestigious colleges could conduct their own entrance for admission into intermediate level courses. This would in turn aggravate the trauma of students rather than alleviating them. Another logic given by the minister in favour of his proposal is the absence of formal exams in different western countries. Then he should consider the ramifications of such absence also. Studies reveal that the students in many western countries are very poor in maths and analytical abilities owing to such lax assessments.Even 18 year old students are unable to solve basic problems.This is clearly reflected in results of international tests like GRE. Indian students score brilliantly in the aptitude sections while the western students falter badly.
Without examinations , students would lack a competitive spirit and the zeal to perform better .Apparently by relaxing the exams at Xth level we will be inducing a peculiar ineptitude and lethargy in our students . Students lacking proper basics will face huge difficulties when they approach higher and technical education.Well educated students with sound mental and analytical skills form the backbone of our country’s development. Implementation of the proposed education policy would spur a pool of educated fools which will essentially break the backbone of our country.I hope the ministry foresees the negative ramifications of such a proposal and decides against it. Rather than wasting its time and energy on changing a well established exam procedure , the ministry should cogitate on how to provide a good education to the ill fated children’s who are hitherto denied such privilege.
Without examinations , students would lack a competitive spirit and the zeal to perform better .Apparently by relaxing the exams at Xth level we will be inducing a peculiar ineptitude and lethargy in our students . Students lacking proper basics will face huge difficulties when they approach higher and technical education.Well educated students with sound mental and analytical skills form the backbone of our country’s development. Implementation of the proposed education policy would spur a pool of educated fools which will essentially break the backbone of our country.I hope the ministry foresees the negative ramifications of such a proposal and decides against it. Rather than wasting its time and energy on changing a well established exam procedure , the ministry should cogitate on how to provide a good education to the ill fated children’s who are hitherto denied such privilege.
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