May 1st. That’s when the supreme court will hear the proceedings of the Narmada valley controversy. Here, I think like the Delhi students, Aamir khan has played a stellar role in bringing the issue to attention of the national media... (Unintentionally perhaps, even he wouldn’t have thought of the implications of his visit to Jantar Mantar to visit Medha Patkar when she was on a hunger strike).
Aamir's stand was simple, He was not a member of the NBA (Narmada Bachao Andolan), nor did he claim that he was speaking for them. In fact he even confessed to the media that he did not have the bandwidth to understand about the dam or about the intricacies involved in raising its height.
The only question that he ever asked was ' Now that the height of the dam is about to be raised, what will happen to the lakhs of people who will be displaced because of this?'.
A very uncomfortable question for the politicians to answer I suppose, who decided that vandalizing theatres showing his latest movie Rang de basanti and burning his effigies is a easier way out and politicized the issue.
I say, what was wrong with the question that Aamir asked.
For one, Aamir is a refreshing change from other film stars who take part in processions that are arranged by the political parties………. correction, who are paraded by the political parties during election rallies. Does it then come as a surprise that none of the political parties supported his stance?
Aamir does not belong to any political party, perhaps he will not enter politics even if he wanted to, like most of us. I mean none of the political parties have an ideology in the first place to begin with. Get the kursi is the only ideology they seem to live by. They will go from flip to flop to flip on any issue based on their convenience. That is the reason why perhaps most of the youth tend to stay away from politics.
And I think that's where Aamir has had a kick start. Being a prominent member in the society and by giving voice to a just cause, He has done his bit. Over to the Supreme Court now.
And here is the status of what actually happens on the ground in the name of rehabilitation.... Outlook reports: http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20060501&fname=Narmada+%28F%29&sid=1
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Dilli Chalo....
Medical students from the top institutes of Delhi including the AIIMS took out a rally protesting against the new reservation policy initiated by the HRD minister and have set off a spark among youth elsewhere too. To see young boys and girls come out, speak and express themselves was indeed gladdening. The overall message given was 'We are not going to take this lying down.’
And they are getting support from all over the country. Last heard, medical students from Bangalore, Kolkota and Amritsar have joined the fray. When the Mandal commision had announced the reservation policy under the VP Singh government in 1990, it was the image of the Delhi university student Rajeev Gowswami immolating himself which became a metaphor of anti-reservation protests in India.
Did make me wonder though as to why the youth of this generation (including me) were so thanda..... Of course this issue was being widely debated in various forums on the internet and television chat shows, But as they say, Beheron ko sunane ke liye dhamake ki zaroorat hai..... These students went ahead, took to the streets, shouted slogan against the HRD minister Arjun Singh and the lathi charge that the Delhi police carried out to drive them away only made sure that this was reported prime time in the news channels and as headlines in the newspapers and got the attention of the entire nation.
All this negative publicity forced the HRD minister to grant an audience to the protesting students and it has now been decided that the issue will be up and open for discussion after the assembly polls are over in the 5 states on may 12th.
I think it's now that the government is seriously reconsidering its opinions on actually implementing the policy. Come May 12th and we all will come to know what happens next.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Update: Reservations in private sector
It's happening!!!!!
http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/14quota.htm
If Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar has her way, then there will be reservations for jobs in the private sector too. And Soon.......
http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/14quota.htm
If Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar has her way, then there will be reservations for jobs in the private sector too. And Soon.......
India Everywhere?
India Everywhere......
This was the theme of the extravagant branding exercise that was carried to hard sell India at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, early this year, reports India Today.
(One needs to be a subscriber to view the online contents of India Today)
It set me thinking....the achievement of 7.5 per cent growth in the Indian economy was very well advertised there. But Hey, Look around.....the outstretched hands of little children/Young mothers begging for alms at traffic signals, Coffee day outlets( I've started feeling guilty about going to these places now)...Do we look like a nation worth emulating as of now?
The Hindu reports' A large proportion — 26 per cent or about 260 million (193 million in rural areas and 67 million in urban areas) — of Indians are still below the poverty line, according to India's first Social Development Report released in New Delhi on Friday. '
Now these 2 reports provide such a contrasting view of India. I decided to probe further and came across a startling statistic.
Let us for a moment consider the GDP as a growth indicator of a nation's economy. 60.8% of the India's GDP was contributed by the services sector (IT sector, Banks, Insurance, Hotel Industry), 19.5% by the Manufacturing sector and 19.7% from Agriculture. (Source: ICRA)
Further, most of India's population resides in rural areas, Close to 66% infact. The share of agriculture in GDP may be a little less than 20 per cent, but the percentage of the working population that earns a living primarily out of it is still around 57 per cent.
In simple terms, about 40% of the population contributes close to 80% of India's GDP. And close to 60% of the population contributes around 20% of GDP.
If 80% of the GDP is to be contributed by less than 40% of the population, It would be reasonable to assume that the Urban brethren, who have a greater stake in the services sector and the Manufacturing sector would be much much better off when compared to their rural counterpart, who would having less disposable income and thus less savings.
And if you taken into consideration the rural rich and trust me there are some really really rich people in our rural areas, contrary to the popular perception, the situation of the landless labourer is hardly enviable.
How can India shine with this situation? And pray tell me what the hell is our Agriculture minister doing about it? Oh I am sorry I forgot, Mr. Sharad Pawar is busy running the world's richest cricket board. It is only natural that He gives higher priorities to issues of national importance such as whether Saurav Ganguly should be in the squad or not. And the minister of Agriculture (state) was seen in the award ceremony for the final encounter between India and England yesterday!!!! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawd….
Thankfully there does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel.
Mr.Sunil Mittal (The Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Group/Airtel) presents some startling facts in an article for outlook:
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20060403&fname=5Col+Mittal&sid=1
(One needs to register/sign up at outlookindia.com before viewing the articles, But Its for free and hardly takes a minute, so what the heck!!!!)
How many of us knew that 'India is the second largest grower of fruits and vegetables…… However, its horticulture exports are less than one per cent of world trade in fresh produce and the wastage is almost 30 per cent of the total production.'!!!!!!!!
Sunil also proposes various solutions such as about how corporate participation can bring about 'expertise in terms of good agricultural practices, research and development on pest control, irrigation equipment, financing back up.....' and also the need for 'infrastructure support such as cold chains, roads and transport facilities, perishable centres at the airports to ensure that the fresh produce reaches its intended markets on time'.
If only there was a political will to actually implement these things on the ground, can the whole of India shine. Else there will be two India's. India (for the urban folk) and Hindustan (for the rural folk). And all that the politicians of the day are doing is pit them, one against the other. IT Vs Agriculture. Urban development Vs Rural development etc etc...... Whereas at the end of the day, they do nothing about either. It must be understood that Urban and rural development are not mutually exclusive. They can co-exist and infact are essential for each other. Else there will be a mass migration from the rural areas to the urban ones and the urban areas will be bursting at their seams, causing a thousand other problems, such as water, electricity, traffic woes etc.
India shining……India will shine when India and Hindustan are both prosperous and learn to co-exist in harmony….
This was the theme of the extravagant branding exercise that was carried to hard sell India at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, early this year, reports India Today.
(One needs to be a subscriber to view the online contents of India Today)
It set me thinking....the achievement of 7.5 per cent growth in the Indian economy was very well advertised there. But Hey, Look around.....the outstretched hands of little children/Young mothers begging for alms at traffic signals, Coffee day outlets( I've started feeling guilty about going to these places now)...Do we look like a nation worth emulating as of now?
The Hindu reports' A large proportion — 26 per cent or about 260 million (193 million in rural areas and 67 million in urban areas) — of Indians are still below the poverty line, according to India's first Social Development Report released in New Delhi on Friday. '
Now these 2 reports provide such a contrasting view of India. I decided to probe further and came across a startling statistic.
Let us for a moment consider the GDP as a growth indicator of a nation's economy. 60.8% of the India's GDP was contributed by the services sector (IT sector, Banks, Insurance, Hotel Industry), 19.5% by the Manufacturing sector and 19.7% from Agriculture. (Source: ICRA)
Further, most of India's population resides in rural areas, Close to 66% infact. The share of agriculture in GDP may be a little less than 20 per cent, but the percentage of the working population that earns a living primarily out of it is still around 57 per cent.
In simple terms, about 40% of the population contributes close to 80% of India's GDP. And close to 60% of the population contributes around 20% of GDP.
If 80% of the GDP is to be contributed by less than 40% of the population, It would be reasonable to assume that the Urban brethren, who have a greater stake in the services sector and the Manufacturing sector would be much much better off when compared to their rural counterpart, who would having less disposable income and thus less savings.
And if you taken into consideration the rural rich and trust me there are some really really rich people in our rural areas, contrary to the popular perception, the situation of the landless labourer is hardly enviable.
How can India shine with this situation? And pray tell me what the hell is our Agriculture minister doing about it? Oh I am sorry I forgot, Mr. Sharad Pawar is busy running the world's richest cricket board. It is only natural that He gives higher priorities to issues of national importance such as whether Saurav Ganguly should be in the squad or not. And the minister of Agriculture (state) was seen in the award ceremony for the final encounter between India and England yesterday!!!! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawd….
Thankfully there does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel.
Mr.Sunil Mittal (The Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Group/Airtel) presents some startling facts in an article for outlook:
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20060403&fname=5Col+Mittal&sid=1
(One needs to register/sign up at outlookindia.com before viewing the articles, But Its for free and hardly takes a minute, so what the heck!!!!)
How many of us knew that 'India is the second largest grower of fruits and vegetables…… However, its horticulture exports are less than one per cent of world trade in fresh produce and the wastage is almost 30 per cent of the total production.'!!!!!!!!
Sunil also proposes various solutions such as about how corporate participation can bring about 'expertise in terms of good agricultural practices, research and development on pest control, irrigation equipment, financing back up.....' and also the need for 'infrastructure support such as cold chains, roads and transport facilities, perishable centres at the airports to ensure that the fresh produce reaches its intended markets on time'.
If only there was a political will to actually implement these things on the ground, can the whole of India shine. Else there will be two India's. India (for the urban folk) and Hindustan (for the rural folk). And all that the politicians of the day are doing is pit them, one against the other. IT Vs Agriculture. Urban development Vs Rural development etc etc...... Whereas at the end of the day, they do nothing about either. It must be understood that Urban and rural development are not mutually exclusive. They can co-exist and infact are essential for each other. Else there will be a mass migration from the rural areas to the urban ones and the urban areas will be bursting at their seams, causing a thousand other problems, such as water, electricity, traffic woes etc.
India shining……India will shine when India and Hindustan are both prosperous and learn to co-exist in harmony….
Monday, April 10, 2006
Paint me Yellow
Rang De Basanti...
Perhaps the most widely discussed Hindi movie in recent times. The ending, wherein the protagonists resort to violent ways, was a topic of much heated debate. People questioned if the director was suggesting violence as the solution to many of this country's problems.
Many were also skeptical about the scene wherein the police is called to disperse a largely peaceful crowd assembled in front of the India Gate. 'Not in Democratic India in 2006', 'Maybe possible in Bihar, Not Delhi....The director has taken too much cinematic liberty' were some of the criticisms.
Well here is some thing to chew on: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=65622
The online version of Indian Express reports,'Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, who was forcibly removed from the spot of her indefinite hunger strike, was under observation at the AIIMS while 27 of her supporters were arrested by the police in an overnight swoop. '
Now check this out:' Police sources said an FIR has been lodged against Patkar on charges of attempt to suicide. She is likely to be arrested after her health improves.'
Now I am disturbed by this and have a couple of questions to ask:
1. The people who were manhandled by the police were silently registering their protest at Jantar Mantar,Delhi and not blocking traffic or train tracks and disturbing the normal life of common citizens as is the case with most of the strikes called by the political parties. So what prompted the police to take hostile action against these people, some of whose houses are at the risk of being submerged if the proposed plans to increase the height of the Narmada dam were to be implemented?
2. An FIR against Patkar for attempt to suicide? How ridiculous? Well going by that logic, since many people die in India due to Hunger/Cold and since the welfare of its citizens is the responsibility of the state, the government on India, the Prime minister and his cabinet should be held culpable for the thousands of starvation deaths that happen throughout the year.
Well who am I asking these questions? The laws are meant only for the common citizens. Politicians are above the law,You see.
Yet it must be understood that if you take away avenues where in people can peacefully register protest; they will react in the only way left: Violence.
Democracy seems to exist only on paper.
Rang De Basanti..... I don't think so? Give Me Red!!!!!!
p.s: I hope the police doesn't register an FIR against me for inciting people!!!
Perhaps the most widely discussed Hindi movie in recent times. The ending, wherein the protagonists resort to violent ways, was a topic of much heated debate. People questioned if the director was suggesting violence as the solution to many of this country's problems.
Many were also skeptical about the scene wherein the police is called to disperse a largely peaceful crowd assembled in front of the India Gate. 'Not in Democratic India in 2006', 'Maybe possible in Bihar, Not Delhi....The director has taken too much cinematic liberty' were some of the criticisms.
Well here is some thing to chew on: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=65622
The online version of Indian Express reports,'Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, who was forcibly removed from the spot of her indefinite hunger strike, was under observation at the AIIMS while 27 of her supporters were arrested by the police in an overnight swoop. '
Now check this out:' Police sources said an FIR has been lodged against Patkar on charges of attempt to suicide. She is likely to be arrested after her health improves.'
Now I am disturbed by this and have a couple of questions to ask:
1. The people who were manhandled by the police were silently registering their protest at Jantar Mantar,Delhi and not blocking traffic or train tracks and disturbing the normal life of common citizens as is the case with most of the strikes called by the political parties. So what prompted the police to take hostile action against these people, some of whose houses are at the risk of being submerged if the proposed plans to increase the height of the Narmada dam were to be implemented?
2. An FIR against Patkar for attempt to suicide? How ridiculous? Well going by that logic, since many people die in India due to Hunger/Cold and since the welfare of its citizens is the responsibility of the state, the government on India, the Prime minister and his cabinet should be held culpable for the thousands of starvation deaths that happen throughout the year.
Well who am I asking these questions? The laws are meant only for the common citizens. Politicians are above the law,You see.
Yet it must be understood that if you take away avenues where in people can peacefully register protest; they will react in the only way left: Violence.
Democracy seems to exist only on paper.
Rang De Basanti..... I don't think so? Give Me Red!!!!!!
p.s: I hope the police doesn't register an FIR against me for inciting people!!!
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Not a "Reserved" guy
Thank God!!!!
That’s what I said to myself when I saw the newspapers about the new reservation policy declared by the HRD minister Arjun Singh.
http://origin.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?fromtimeline=true&id=86737&callid=1&template=Assemblypolls2006
I mean what are these jokers up to?
Now that our last bastions of educational excellence, the IIT's and IIM's have also fallen prey to the quota system, It wont be long before they introduce Job reservations in the private sector too. And maybe I will blog again then...Thank God...I am not a fresher in the job market else....
I work in the private sector too, When I had to fill in my application form here before appearing for the entrance test, I do not remember any field enquiring about my caste at all... and I am sure that same must have been the case with the IIM's and IIT's as well. So where does the question of discriminations arise?
Merit and Merit alone should be the sole criteria for getting a job or even for admissions into institutes of higher learning.
The only kind of reservation that I would support is the one that should be given to those who are economically disadvantaged. And these opportunities should be provided independent of the caste, irrespective of whether one belongs to a lower middle class Brahmin family or a lower middle class OBC family. And here too, I support the reservations only up to the point of education and not jobs. Make sure that everyone has had the opportunity to good education and then, to each his own, based on his/her talent and merit. Remove the equation of caste completely.
The premise that the Government is trying to bring about social equity in the society by bringing about these reservations is completely illogical; it is only going to further divide the society.
That’s what I said to myself when I saw the newspapers about the new reservation policy declared by the HRD minister Arjun Singh.
http://origin.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?fromtimeline=true&id=86737&callid=1&template=Assemblypolls2006
I mean what are these jokers up to?
Now that our last bastions of educational excellence, the IIT's and IIM's have also fallen prey to the quota system, It wont be long before they introduce Job reservations in the private sector too. And maybe I will blog again then...Thank God...I am not a fresher in the job market else....
I work in the private sector too, When I had to fill in my application form here before appearing for the entrance test, I do not remember any field enquiring about my caste at all... and I am sure that same must have been the case with the IIM's and IIT's as well. So where does the question of discriminations arise?
Merit and Merit alone should be the sole criteria for getting a job or even for admissions into institutes of higher learning.
The only kind of reservation that I would support is the one that should be given to those who are economically disadvantaged. And these opportunities should be provided independent of the caste, irrespective of whether one belongs to a lower middle class Brahmin family or a lower middle class OBC family. And here too, I support the reservations only up to the point of education and not jobs. Make sure that everyone has had the opportunity to good education and then, to each his own, based on his/her talent and merit. Remove the equation of caste completely.
The premise that the Government is trying to bring about social equity in the society by bringing about these reservations is completely illogical; it is only going to further divide the society.
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