FOCUS
INDIA @ 62
"The country is like a huge tree with fruits. There are a bunch of powerful monkeys who have taken over the branches on top where all good stuff grows. The tiny monkeys are getting crushed and all they want is just to survive" said Himanshu Kumar of Vanvaasi Chetna Ashram of Raipur in Chattisgarh.
Looking back over the labyrinth that the free nation has travelled for all these 62 years, the above observation is the stark statement of reality. This country has grown undoubtedly. Some areas have grown as Manhattan in the U.S. and some have remained like Eritrea, representing the shoddy development of the country. The country has produced Billionaires, probably the highest in whole of Asia, but there are millions going to bed half belly or empty. If some are wearing Christian Dior, there are millions who are living half naked. If some are enjoying Maharaja Bathrooms, there are millions of Indians who shit in open. After 62 years, we as a nation, having visions of becoming a super power, could not provide even the basic safe drinking water to its people.
Commenting on the budget former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha writes "If after 6 decades of independence people have to live without housing, sanitation, electricity, roads and healthcare, clearly it is not for want of slogans but because of lags in implementation". Meaning thereby, its not the resources, but the governance that failed, reminding us the famous observation of late Rajeev Gandhi, that it is 15 paise in a rupee that reach the target group and 85 paise gets lost in transit. There are hundreds of leaches living off the system. They are the day light robbers, masquerading as middle men, intermediaries, systemic managers. They are most of the time, sons, relatives and well heeled friends of politicians and bureaucrats. They are like mercenaries. They do not mind siphoning money meant for anganwadi kids. These kids belong to the lowest strata of Indian’s needing nutritional support. There are hundreds of instances where these well connected men and women derailing the delivery. They steal rice ment for public distribution system and sell in open market sometime with the active connivance of officialdom.
We tom-tom about our democracy, but except holding periodic election there isn’t much to sing-a-song. Democracy has not been able to address the poverty. In all the 62 years, only rich have become richer and poor poorer. Yes as the adage goes ‘India is rich but Indians are poor.' No doubt there is a section of Indians who have prospered and prospered very well. Mostly because of individual initiatives, rather than the governmental intervention. It is true, liberalisation has led to some dramatic change in the fortunes of many people. But only of those who were ready for the opportunity could enjoy the benefit. There are some 400 million Indians who are outside the development mode.
Yes, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a man committed to the welfare of the nation, but there are systemic problems. While there are good intentions, the translation of good intention is laborious, patchy and uneven. We have laws, some of them very good, but they are applied according to the situation and the status of the people involved. Money power, political power and socio/ political connections decide the course of law many a time. There are lakhs of pending cases, held up in the portals of judiciary for all kinds of reasons. People with means sabotage the system and it drags. An advertisement appearing in TV channels regarding the longivity of a plywood says it all. It says 'Chaltaa Rahey Chaltaa Rahey'. Litigations simply drag and keeps dragging.
Thus there’s always a question, when shall the deliverance come to our Mera Bhaarath Mahan!!!
"The country is like a huge tree with fruits. There are a bunch of powerful monkeys who have taken over the branches on top where all good stuff grows. The tiny monkeys are getting crushed and all they want is just to survive" said Himanshu Kumar of Vanvaasi Chetna Ashram of Raipur in Chattisgarh.
Looking back over the labyrinth that the free nation has travelled for all these 62 years, the above observation is the stark statement of reality. This country has grown undoubtedly. Some areas have grown as Manhattan in the U.S. and some have remained like Eritrea, representing the shoddy development of the country. The country has produced Billionaires, probably the highest in whole of Asia, but there are millions going to bed half belly or empty. If some are wearing Christian Dior, there are millions who are living half naked. If some are enjoying Maharaja Bathrooms, there are millions of Indians who shit in open. After 62 years, we as a nation, having visions of becoming a super power, could not provide even the basic safe drinking water to its people.
Commenting on the budget former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha writes "If after 6 decades of independence people have to live without housing, sanitation, electricity, roads and healthcare, clearly it is not for want of slogans but because of lags in implementation". Meaning thereby, its not the resources, but the governance that failed, reminding us the famous observation of late Rajeev Gandhi, that it is 15 paise in a rupee that reach the target group and 85 paise gets lost in transit. There are hundreds of leaches living off the system. They are the day light robbers, masquerading as middle men, intermediaries, systemic managers. They are most of the time, sons, relatives and well heeled friends of politicians and bureaucrats. They are like mercenaries. They do not mind siphoning money meant for anganwadi kids. These kids belong to the lowest strata of Indian’s needing nutritional support. There are hundreds of instances where these well connected men and women derailing the delivery. They steal rice ment for public distribution system and sell in open market sometime with the active connivance of officialdom.
We tom-tom about our democracy, but except holding periodic election there isn’t much to sing-a-song. Democracy has not been able to address the poverty. In all the 62 years, only rich have become richer and poor poorer. Yes as the adage goes ‘India is rich but Indians are poor.' No doubt there is a section of Indians who have prospered and prospered very well. Mostly because of individual initiatives, rather than the governmental intervention. It is true, liberalisation has led to some dramatic change in the fortunes of many people. But only of those who were ready for the opportunity could enjoy the benefit. There are some 400 million Indians who are outside the development mode.
Yes, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a man committed to the welfare of the nation, but there are systemic problems. While there are good intentions, the translation of good intention is laborious, patchy and uneven. We have laws, some of them very good, but they are applied according to the situation and the status of the people involved. Money power, political power and socio/ political connections decide the course of law many a time. There are lakhs of pending cases, held up in the portals of judiciary for all kinds of reasons. People with means sabotage the system and it drags. An advertisement appearing in TV channels regarding the longivity of a plywood says it all. It says 'Chaltaa Rahey Chaltaa Rahey'. Litigations simply drag and keeps dragging.
Thus there’s always a question, when shall the deliverance come to our Mera Bhaarath Mahan!!!
MY TAKE OF SIX DECADES
I was fortunate to be born before we got Independence,because I have experienced the difference Independence has brought into our lives.Some happy,some not so happy- a bag of mixed feelings during the past six decades from 1950 onwards.While we have made tremendous progress in the field of agriculture,technology,education and enterprise, we also have gone downhill as far as fair play in politics,good governance,law and order,criminalisation of politics and then finally corruption! In the fifties and sixties,during our school and college going days,we knew of only three main religions - Hindu,Muslim and Christian.
We never felt the impact of religion or caste divide in our growing years.We were like just one Indian family.But as we grew,politicians brought in the religious/caste divide to exploit their vote banks.Politicians were ready to go to any length to get power to rule! The India which was united during the Independence struggle got divided on the basis of religion/caste/sub caste/language and,all such factors which made inroads into our political system and administration.Corruption is rampant in our Nation and is growing unabated and eating into the vitals of our economy.No more you feel proud of being an Indian,because we are a nation ruled by criminal and corrupt politicians.
There are quite a few exceptions to this quality but they are a minuscule minority! Where do we go from here?It is up to the ‘Gennext’ to take up the challenge,clean the system,and bring in fresh ideas and dynamism to our politics and administration,and bring back the glory of Independent India.This can best be summed up by saying: H_NDU,MUSL_M,CHR_ST_AN,S_NDH_,GUJARATH_,........See how we lose our identity when we forget "I" of INDIAN......Think for a while and pass on this message to everyone.Let us be Indians first,and Indians always. JAI HIND.
-BNR RAO
(Author is a mechanical engineer/
entreprenuer in Mangalore)
I was fortunate to be born before we got Independence,because I have experienced the difference Independence has brought into our lives.Some happy,some not so happy- a bag of mixed feelings during the past six decades from 1950 onwards.While we have made tremendous progress in the field of agriculture,technology,education and enterprise, we also have gone downhill as far as fair play in politics,good governance,law and order,criminalisation of politics and then finally corruption! In the fifties and sixties,during our school and college going days,we knew of only three main religions - Hindu,Muslim and Christian.
We never felt the impact of religion or caste divide in our growing years.We were like just one Indian family.But as we grew,politicians brought in the religious/caste divide to exploit their vote banks.Politicians were ready to go to any length to get power to rule! The India which was united during the Independence struggle got divided on the basis of religion/caste/sub caste/language and,all such factors which made inroads into our political system and administration.Corruption is rampant in our Nation and is growing unabated and eating into the vitals of our economy.No more you feel proud of being an Indian,because we are a nation ruled by criminal and corrupt politicians.
There are quite a few exceptions to this quality but they are a minuscule minority! Where do we go from here?It is up to the ‘Gennext’ to take up the challenge,clean the system,and bring in fresh ideas and dynamism to our politics and administration,and bring back the glory of Independent India.This can best be summed up by saying: H_NDU,MUSL_M,CHR_ST_AN,S_NDH_,GUJARATH_,........See how we lose our identity when we forget "I" of INDIAN......Think for a while and pass on this message to everyone.Let us be Indians first,and Indians always. JAI HIND.
-BNR RAO
(Author is a mechanical engineer/
entreprenuer in Mangalore)
V @ 62
J. N. BHAT
Wow !
we have celebrated our 63rd independence day for having got it through our elders’ sacrifice and timely intervention with their far - sightedness. Well we all feel happy to celebrate it once a year , only once a year.. The very next hour we forget we have to be responsible while we have the freedom.
NO FREEDOM CAN BE ENJOYED WITHOUT ADDED RESTRICTIONS THAT COME WITH THE FREEDOM. For example while all of us ride or walk on the road we have the freedom to do so. But at the same time there are certain restrictions pertained to it. Like walking on foot path or crossing on the zebra cross. Even when we drive our own vehicle with an authentic license on high ways if we are careless there is a fear of coming on others' way ! So obey the law to enjoy the freedom.
Have we really progressed after the independence. We have overcome the oppression of the British. Yes in many ways we have picturised our image at global level, with our softwares , multiplexes , multimillionairs. But we have wonderful vehicles plying on wider rough roads . Our five year plans all implemented definitely made a few hundreds richer. We have wide spreading slums and increasing poverty in spite of sensex figures touch high levels. Our newly built metro rails and fly-overs fall either just before inauguration or soon after. While the British built buildings and bridges are still stable.
Have we earned our freedom a little prematurely???
If not so why we are not able to sustain ourselves better than before? We are the third highest in corruption all over the world. The efforts of governmental decisions act like polishing the crooked pebbles while the real diamond fades to dullness. The real growth is yet to start from its grass roots which is possible when we overcome the following impediments with all honesty. As SatyaSai baba puts it : Politics without principle. Education without character, commerce without morality and freedom without lawfulness are not only having degenerating affect ; but also potentially dangerous. It is a process of cultivation without harvest!
As someone said: Value has value only when the value is valued. What is our measuring scale of VALUE? You may guess many. But truly it is HUMAN VALUE IN OUR DAILY ACTIVITY which is declining at a faster pace with the drastic westernization. We have copied the drinking and dancing but not the discipline. We wanted to be affluent without affable manner in us.
Let us look around us. Where is the freedom? We have to walk without fear, talk with ease of honesty. Together we are gripped holding loosely for survival craving for liberation from all these entanglements.. Possibly yes if divine intervention takes place to avert the calamity of people falling apart with the simultaneous programmes of world welfare and world working for warfare.
Keep our fingers crossed; let's hope next year will be better than this. If not the next decade then at least the next generation will be enjoying the real FREEDOM on earth when the evil around us may die off and PEACE PREVAILS. As BABA puts, it is here we live with Unity in Diversity
(Authour is Medical Superintendent,
Omega Hospital Mangalore)
A two-pronged development strategy is called for
-T. R. Bhat
Can urban centres be India’s engines of growth? In the recent years efforts are being made to focus on development of cities as the right model of growth for our country. It is contended that urbanization in its wake generates more employment, adds to the revenue of the state and to the gross domestic product of the country. As there is stagnation in the growth of agriculture and there is a tendency for the new generation to move into the cities a migration from the countryside to the cities will be a welcome development, it is argued. A comparison is also made between the productivity of Indian agriculture with its US counterpart to underline the need to shift the emphasis from the villages to the cities.
In the Indian context, it is true that the agricultural productivity is low and a larger number of people depend for their livelihood on agriculture. There is constant migration of the people from the villages to the cities in search of jobs and the comforts of the city. This migration to the cities has accelerated the process of urbanization. But the question is: will such urbanization help address the basic issues of development namely, employment, accessible education and health care, housing and social security to the vast mass of people?
A deeper thought into the issue of employment generation in the urban areas would reveal that the increased job availability is for the highly educated and qualified young graduates who are absorbed by the new economy companies like IT and BPO companies. These jobs need skills that the migrant labour hardly possesses. The traditional industries also need qualified youngsters to handle various new responsibilities. The people migrating from the rural areas do not generally fit into such jobs. They have to be content with very casual jobs. And to supplement the family income children are sent for jobs instead of education. In such a situation a migration from the villages where they would not have had regular job would not bring stability into their earnings. The benefits of
rural-urban migration will be available only to those who have specific skills.
The second issue of serious concern is the accessibility of quality education for the ordinary people in the cities and the migrant labour. While government schools do not have the basic amenities like the teachers—due to progressive abdication by the state of its responsibility—the private schools are not accessible to the aforesaid people. Beyond the school level also, the higher education today remains very expensive to ordinary citizens.
The third issue of importance from the society’s point of view is the availability of cheap but reliable health care for the ordinary citizens in the city. Once again, while the public hospitals are left to tend for themselves making it risky to seek medical attention there, the private hospitals are meant only for the wealthy. Who will take care of the health of an increasing number of migrant labourers who come into cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai?
Another serious problem that has emerged these days is housing. The entry of multinational corporations, the tendency of Indian companies to acquire large areas of land to develop world-class facilities, the influence of the real estate developers on land prices have all made it almost impossible for even salaried middle class to own a house or a small apartment in cities. How will then the lakhs migrating to such cities hope to find a shelter there with the small earnings made through casual jobs or contract labour?
One more serious problem, which cries for attention, is availability of drinking water in most of the cities. While the current supply of water in most cities is unreliable, what will happen in future, when the population expands, has not received the attention it deserves. If more people migrate into the cities the system could collapse.
For those who have been living in such cities, life has already become a nightmare with serious traffic bottlenecks, poor public transport, unreliable public health service and erratic power supply. We will be making the life more miserable by allowing the cities to grow further.
When we allow more people to migrate into the cities in search of livelihood and the issues related to housing, education, health, transport and water supply are not taken care of we allow slums to develop as it happened in Dharavi in Mumbai with all its adverse social and economic fallouts. At a later date when rehabilitation of slum dwellers assumes gigantic proportions society tends to be merciless on the victims of its own faulty priorities.
Two other serious social problems also deserve to be addressed: taking care of the aged and the orphans in the cities is one and, the other is effectively handling increasing incidence of crimes. Both are the inevitable consequences of growing urbanization. If they are not taken care of at the right time the society is condemned to degenerate into one without respect for human values.
What is the alternative before us? That is in adopting a two-pronged development strategy. One part is in developing the smaller towns and cities by providing the required infrastructure and ensuring a planned development. This will ease the already jinxed metros of their burden and make the lives more tolerable. The smaller towns do not need huge investments unlike the bigger ones. One can plan their growth carefully with the future requirements in mind.
The second part is to provide basic amenities in the villages in terms of safe drinking water, sanitation, quality education, motorable roads, public transport and power. If these are provided in the villages the life there will become more comfortable. Along with the amenities it is necessary to extend support for agriculture and allied activities in myriad forms and also for employment generating small enterprises. These measures will generate more employment, increase the productivity in agriculture and strengthen the villagers’ bond with the land reducing the propensity to migrate.
Unrestricted urbanization is an attempt to oversimplify the problems. At best it will be an exclusivist model; what the country needs today is a model of growth that encompasses all sections of the society and the regions. We need to remember that a development. the benefits of which do not reach large sections of the people could be counterproductive in the long run.
Author is a board member
of Corporation Bank
representing officers
Where is the "voice" of citizens?
:-Addoor Krishna Rao
A teacher retires in March 2007, after serving at a highschool in Mangalore for 40 years. Two years after his retirement, in June 2009, he receives a letter from the Block Education Officer (BEO) Mangalore. Its an order for recovery (in 40 monthly instalments) of "excess salary" paid during his long service.
What is the fact? His salary was correctly fixed as evidenced by his "service register". In spite of that the BEO sends the "recovery notice". No one is raising the voice against this injustice!
You may say that this is an individual’s case. What about cases affecting lakhs of people?
1) Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) started issuing "Monthly Water Bills" from April 2009. Is it for the benefit of the consumers? Earlier, Water Bills were issued once in 6 months. So, the citizens were going for payment of the Water Bills only two times in a year. Now, they have to go 12 times in a year and each time stand in a Q. The fee paid by MCC for reading each "Water Bill" is said to be Rs.6.70. And, there are about 50,000 "water connections" in Mangalore. Now, you can understand for whose benefit "Monthly Water Billing System" is introduced. No one is raising the voice against this harassment and questionable practice!
2) In Bangalore, IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) for booking LPG refill cylinders was set up about 5 years ago by HP (Hindustan Petroleum) Gas. It is a people-friendly initiative. In IVRS, customers can book refill cylinders 24x7 (at any time). The booking can be done in Kannada, English or Hindi language. As soon as the booking is done, the bill is automatically generated. Further, the data is transferred to the dealer and the customer will get the cylinder as per the date of the bill.
The number of HP Gas customers in Bangalore is more than 5 lakhs. Only 3% of them are booking through IVRS because the dealers are discouraging the consumers from booking through IVRS. No one is raising the voice against this exploitation!
Whether we have lost our "voice" as citizens? Look at these reports:
In Karnataka, out of the cases of electricity theft detected in 2008 – 2009, 40% cases were that of domestic consumers.
In Karnataka, 30% "Bogus Ration Cards" were detected (out of 1crore 60 lakh total Ration Cards). In one district, 50% of the Ration Card holders are "not eligible" for the Ration Card.
In 62 years of democracy in India, whether we have degenerated so much that we have lost our voice to question and protest? What type of India we are leaving for our children? Whether they will pardon us?
(Author is a faculty with Corporation Bank officer's Training College and a Social Activist)
:-Addoor Krishna Rao
A teacher retires in March 2007, after serving at a highschool in Mangalore for 40 years. Two years after his retirement, in June 2009, he receives a letter from the Block Education Officer (BEO) Mangalore. Its an order for recovery (in 40 monthly instalments) of "excess salary" paid during his long service.
What is the fact? His salary was correctly fixed as evidenced by his "service register". In spite of that the BEO sends the "recovery notice". No one is raising the voice against this injustice!
You may say that this is an individual’s case. What about cases affecting lakhs of people?
1) Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) started issuing "Monthly Water Bills" from April 2009. Is it for the benefit of the consumers? Earlier, Water Bills were issued once in 6 months. So, the citizens were going for payment of the Water Bills only two times in a year. Now, they have to go 12 times in a year and each time stand in a Q. The fee paid by MCC for reading each "Water Bill" is said to be Rs.6.70. And, there are about 50,000 "water connections" in Mangalore. Now, you can understand for whose benefit "Monthly Water Billing System" is introduced. No one is raising the voice against this harassment and questionable practice!
2) In Bangalore, IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) for booking LPG refill cylinders was set up about 5 years ago by HP (Hindustan Petroleum) Gas. It is a people-friendly initiative. In IVRS, customers can book refill cylinders 24x7 (at any time). The booking can be done in Kannada, English or Hindi language. As soon as the booking is done, the bill is automatically generated. Further, the data is transferred to the dealer and the customer will get the cylinder as per the date of the bill.
The number of HP Gas customers in Bangalore is more than 5 lakhs. Only 3% of them are booking through IVRS because the dealers are discouraging the consumers from booking through IVRS. No one is raising the voice against this exploitation!
Whether we have lost our "voice" as citizens? Look at these reports:
In Karnataka, out of the cases of electricity theft detected in 2008 – 2009, 40% cases were that of domestic consumers.
In Karnataka, 30% "Bogus Ration Cards" were detected (out of 1crore 60 lakh total Ration Cards). In one district, 50% of the Ration Card holders are "not eligible" for the Ration Card.
In 62 years of democracy in India, whether we have degenerated so much that we have lost our voice to question and protest? What type of India we are leaving for our children? Whether they will pardon us?
(Author is a faculty with Corporation Bank officer's Training College and a Social Activist)
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