NEW DELHI: - MEDICOS DISABILITY NORMS
There was this report in the print media “NMC’s disability norms to focus on ‘What student can do’.”
With disabled medical students going in circles not only while studying medicine, but also once they clear the degree level to keep themselves usefully occupied, this development is very positive empowerment of disabled medicos.
Acting on directions from the Supreme Court, NMC (National Medical Commission) is set to review the disability guidelines for both admission to medical college, so also to perform as medical practitioner, once disabled person is qualified as a doctor.
To begin with NMC has renamed the Disability Assessment Boards as Ability Assessment Board, to recognize the ability of the disabled student to learn, clear the exam and then start medical practice. Here emphasis is clearly on what the student can do or perform rather than the degree of disability aprisal.
According to the proposed review there will be no rigid disability percentage, instead focus on functional ability of the person. How much students with disabilities can be accommodated reasonably has to be identified is another aspect under consideration. There must be clear definition of which medical competencies are essential and non-negotiable for safe practice. Demarcate clearly, who can be given license to practice medicine with MBBS and those who can do research, training, medical education and medical administrative roles, thus defining full clinical competency requirement including clinical skills.
These latest inputs from NMC is definitely an improvement on earlier guidelines drafted by Medical Council of India in May 2015. Hope the new guidelines are framed, approved and legalized to empower all disabled medical students, so that it would not only address the problems faced by disabled students but there will be more medicos available to serve the nation
MAHARASHTRA: Rs 7 Lakhs Per Month
Badlapur child assault case has been an important piece of news, ever since it happened in the Badlapur school in August 2024. It was a case of a sweeper of the school, Akshay Shinde, was accused of physical assault of girl children. It had sparked widespread protest when the incident happened.
Akshay Shinde was arrested by the police, soon thereafter. However, on September 23, 2024 police had him shot dead, claiming he had snatched an officer’s gun and injured him, prompting retaliatory fire.
Bombay High Court had taken a suo-moto notice of the killing and ordered a one-man judicial commission to go into the entire episode of assault on school children in Badlapur school. Accordingly retired High Court Chief Justice Dilip Bhosale was appointed on Oct.1.2024 to head the commission, who is also probing the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse case of May 2024, in which 17 people had died.
Now who is this Dilip Bhosale! He is the former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court retired in 2018. He also happens to be a son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Babasaheb Bhosale. He had served as a judge in Bombay High Court, Karnataka High Court and Hydrebad High Court between 2001 and 2016. In 2016 he was made the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court and retired from there in 2018.
What is interesting is the news of Justice Bhosale’s appointment was highlighted as “Honorarium of Rs 7 lakh per month for probe: Badlapur shooting”, in the Mumbai print media, clearly implying without being specific, that its pretty high. Here we need to realize that the same Justice Bhosale is already heading Ghatkoper hoarding collapse case one-man commission. Surely he is not doing the job for free. So between these two commission assignments, how much justice Bhosale is taking home as pay pocket is question making its round in the public space.
Public is not aware what is the progress of both these cases under the commission. But reportedly, since Justice Bhosale’s appointment was notified on October.1.2024 he will be receiving the monthly honorarium from that date. So he has probably received a lump sum of Rs 42 lakhs, payable upto 31.3.2025, during the current month for Badlapur shooting incident case. Then there is Ghatkoper Hoarding collapses case one-man commission that he heads. The honorarium for this assignment shall be in addition to the above sum, the amount of which is not known in the public space. Strange are the ways of government.
UTTARAKHAND – GOVERNMENT APATHY
There is this report in the print media “After 19 years, SC clears way for government jobs for villagers lost land”.
Its clear, the government in question simply dodged their duty towards people in general and those who sacrificed in particular.
Dehradun is a city in Uttarakhand, wanted to develop an airport, the construction of which was started in 1992. Naturally for any airport huge tracts of land is required and the required land was acquired from six villages. Reportedly this acquisition affected some 600 villagers. It is generally an accepted norm that every time land is acquired by government for development purposes, either the land losers are compensated with the loss of the land or in lieu, government jobs are given to the family members of those who lost the land. This did not happen until 2006 when villagers staged protests. As a result of the protest the state government agreed with locals that villagers will be provided employment in the airport in exchange for the land. From the 600 villagers of 6 villages, the government provided for only 6 persons, jobs on contract basis, and left others without any jobs and that was in 2006.
Tired of waiting for government help, Gramin Vikas Samithi was formed to agitate for their rights. In 2014, the Samithi approached the Uttarakhand High Court. Having heard the petition, HC directed the state government in 2018 to provide jobs within 10 weeks. Sadly the government in its anti-people approach, knocked the door of apex court challenging the HC order.
It was only in early April this year that Supreme Court dismissed the government petition and cleared the way for the long pending employment opportunities with the state government.
Thus, the promise of the government in 2006, appears likely to be fulfilled in 2025, that is after 19 years but truly speaking, villagers have waited from 1992 to 2025, that is some 33 years not 19 years.
Here it is interesting to note the observation by the court. “Despite the categorical assurance held out to the villagers, they have not been offered any employment. The state has devised a very unique method to deprive the poorest of poor villagers of their land by holding out the promise and then not keeping their assurance. The gullible villagers have been taken for a ride”.
This is Yeh Mera India.
TAMIL NADU: GOVERNOR RN RAVI
Controversy thy name is Ravindra Narayana Ravi, or RN Ravi, a former IPS of Kerala cadre and the present Governor of Tamil Nadu.
All news savvy Indians are aware that, ever since RN Ravi (RNR) has become the Governor of Tamil Nadu, there has been a running battle between Raj Bhavan and Tamil Nadu government led by MK Stalin of DMK.
RNR was governor earlier in Nagaland as well as Meghalaya, from Aug 2019 to September 2021, prior to these assignments, he was Deputy National Security Advisor of India. During these responsibilities RNR was not much in media circulation. However since he was made the Governor of Tamil Nadu in September 2021, its been a long story of some or the other issues becoming staple of public consumption. Reportedly he has held up many of the bills passed by the Tamil Nadu assembly from giving the assent as needed by all legislations cleared by the legislature. Having experienced difficulties in getting their legislations cleared by the Governor RNR, Tamil Nadu government approached the Supreme Court.
We are all aware that Supreme Court came down rather heavily on RNR and ordered that these legislations are cleared forthwith prescribing some time limits for any clearance. In fact Supreme Court has gone as far as to remark “It’s difficult to trust Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi”.
And now comes a fresh controversy “Jai Shree Ram, chant in college”.
Reportedly RNR, the Tamil Nadu Governor was invited to a government aided college in Madurai, as Chief Guest to distribute prizes to the winners in a literary contest. Delivering his address on 12th April, Governor RNR had asked the students to chant “Jai Shree Ram” three times.
Now, a Governor of any state in India is a constitutional head of the state. He has to abide by the constitution, and therefore it is incumbent on the governor to go by the norms of secular state. He cannot take a stand, which supports a particular religion, when he should be supporting no religion at all. This stand of governor RNR in asking students of this Madurai College is patently wrong. He prima facie cannot ask students to chant “Jai Shree Ram”. If State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN), has demanded that he should be removed as Governor of Tamil Nadu, they are only doing what is right. Period.
NEW DELHI: BURNING CASH & JUSTICE VARMA
Justice Yashwant Varma, the 2nd senior most judge of Delhi High Court is in the centre of the alleged 15 crores cash found in his outhouse while it was being doused of fire that engulfed it sometime mid-last month.
There are visuals of burnt currency notes going all over the place to become a staple of public consumption. But who counted the cash to arrive at this ’15 crores’! Fire brigade people who came to extinguish the fire did not inform the income tax department, or even police did not let income tax department take over the cash under its charge. So how the sum ’15 crore’ was arrived at? Strange but true. In whose custody as of now these currency notes are there, is not clear.
The version of Justice Varma is that, he is ignorant about the existence of these currency notes in his outhouse. Surely no one would keep such ‘large sum’ in an outhouse, implying if there could be any mischief, as he alleged of him ‘being fixed’ by some inimical factors. Since he was the 2nd senior most judge at Delhi High Court, he was in line to become the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court when need arises. So was it to get him out of the way, now that he has been transferred to Allahabad High Court, post the burning currency episode?!
The Supreme Court, having seized of the unexpected incident, tried to play the ball to protect the interest of the judiciary rather than the justice. The least the apex court could have done was to ask Justice Varma to go on leave, until the matter is sorted out.
The transfer of Justice Varma has raised the expected hackles from lawyers of Allahabad High Court. No wonder Allahabad HC Bar Association issued a strong statement that High Court in Allahabad ‘is not a trash bin’.
The 3 member Committee appointed by the Supreme Court, to go into the controversial episode consisting of judges has invited the media wrath, ‘judges sitting on judgment on judges’. Prima facie, the media response is logical. The least the SC should have done, while deciding the 3 member committee, it could have included an outsider, may be from CBI or ED to make it more representative and to make it more transparent to avoid any charges of favoritism of judges helping judges to come clean.
Indeed it leaves many questions unanswered. But then this is another dimension of Yeh Mera India, take it or leave it!
KARNATAKA: SANATHANA DHARMA!
There was this report datelined Belagavi, or former Belgaum, “Elderly parent abandoned at BIMS dies”.
According to the report, a 62 year old with burn injuries was admitted at the hospital attached to Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS) by his son. The name of the patient is Satishwar. However there appears to be no details of the son, who admitted his father and vanished after admission. There is no historyof how the burn injuries have happened. He was admitted on 22nd March, but for whatever reasons, he succumbed to his injuries after 10 days on 31st March, with nobody to claim his dead body.
Report informs after several attempts by BIMS authorities to locate his whereabouts, from whatever details they could gather, they apparently managed to locate the daughter of Satishwar who lives in Goa. The concerned daughter that she is, she arrived the same night and took charge of the body to consign it to flames at Sadashiv Nagar graveyard, informs the report.
The report further informs about some 152 such cases, where patients were admitted and abandoned by their wards, during the past two years.
This is a very tragic development in a country which boasts about Sanathana Dharma. From the details in the report, it appears to be from some Hindu community. So here is a case where the Sanathana Dharma was hit for a six by its own members, wards abandoned their parents in the midst of nowhere, when they needed the care and protection, the most. Fortunately Satishwar’s daughter was the saving grace.
NEW DELHI: UPPER CASTE JUDGES
There was this report in the print media, “78% HC judges appointed since 2018 belong to upper caste”.
Replying to a question raised in the Loksabha some weeks ago, Union Law Minister Meghwal had stated about the state of appointments in High courts. Reportedly out of 715 high court judges appointed since 2018, 38 belonged to SC/ST, 37 to minorities and 89 to OBC, leaving 551 with upper caste judges, which works to 78%, with OBC at 12% and minorities and SC/ST at 5% each In other words 4/5th of HC judges are from upper caste, leaving only 1.5 to OBC, SC/ST & minorities. That’s rather sad and bad after 75 years of ‘welfare oriented’ free India.
Directive Principles of State Policy makes all kind of noises on the welfare of our masses, but only classes get promoted. The state of appointment of judges speaks volumes of our disparity between words and actions, like crying with the poor and siding with the rich. It’s a story we have heard over and over again. While it is true that the appointment of judges to higher courts is made under those articles of the constitution which do not provide for reservation for any caste or class of persons, the picture as is visible apparently makes a case for reservation, which is primarily due to the iniquitous attitude and unfair assessment of those involved in the appointment of judges.
According to the law minister, the government has been requesting the Chief Justices of High Courts that while sending proposals for appointment of judges, due consideration be given to suitable candidates belonging to SCs, STs, OBCs and Minorities besides women to ensure social diversity”. But then, ever since the SC collegium took over the recommendatory power to appoint judges, government’s hands are tied and apparently government is helpless, although there is scope for constitutional intervention by the Union government.
So it’s not the government that failed SC/ST, OBC and minorities but it’s the apex court which has primarily failed our people. There has to be greater debate on this dimension of judiciary within the portals of parliament to make a strong case to return to the involvement of Union Law Minister, Prime Minister and Leader of opposition within the selection process of judges to both High Courts and Supreme Court.
KARNATAKA: - MINIMUM WAGES
Report datelined Bengalooru “Industries threaten to close down operations to protest wage hike proposal”, was on expected lines.
Every government, politics apart, tries to show to the public that it is concerned about poor people, about their welfare, wellbeing etc. More often than not, they are noises, rather than anything substantial. And Karnataka government is no different. The government in Bengalooru has recently issued a draft notification revising the minimum wages for laborers of all categories from unskilled to semi-skilled to skilled to highly skilled. There should be no complaints about it. But the way the government has gone about almost doubling the minimum wages, is a matter of serious concern.
According to the notification, government proposes to revise the minimum wage from the present Rs 12,000/- to Rs 21,000/- at the lowest level, that’s a whopping 75% rise.
It’s all very well to revise the minimum wages for industries and commerce, but how would the industry and commerce pay it? The government without discussing with the industry who are the true stake holders has raised it unilaterally when its own hands are not clean. Ask Anganawadi workers working for Government. Or ask ASHA workers also working for government. Then there are hundreds of contact workers on any kind of wage.
Clearly, the intention of the government is not welfare of laborers or aam admi. It wants to score in the public space. It wants to tell public, that the government wants to increase the minimum wages of laborers, but industry and commerce is opposing it. So that it tries to win the sympathy of people.
Prima facie the government cannot increase the wages of laborers working in commerce and industry without bringing stake holders on board to discuss the matter thread-bear. Labor cost is a very important part of the total cost the industry has to invest, which has to be recovered with the sales price of their products and services. With just Rs 2/- diesel price hike, there is so much noise from truck operators, what can happen when you increase 75% of minimum wage of the labor component of the finished product!
Government perforce should withdraw the draft notification of the increase in minimum wage, and call for a meeting of representatives of trade and industry, so also labor representatives to discuss the issue in all its angles. Hope wisdom dawns on the political class within the government.
WEST BENGAL: TEACHERS APPOINTMENT
West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), in 2016, had appointed some 24,000 teaching and non-teaching staff for its schools across the state. We all know that any appointment in government sector is on a premium for the security and high pay scales and therefore corruption in its appointment is an essential concomitant. No wonder appointments of such huge number had left some unhappy for varieties of reason and challenged it for the propriety in selection process.
Calcutta High court (CHC) having heard the matter thread bare cancelled the entire 24,000 appointments. The CHC concluded that appointments were vitiated by manipulation and fraud leading to cash changing hands on a massive scale. Taking a serious note CHC felt constrained to cancel the entire 24,000 appointments. However CHC failed to distinguish those who were eligible according to the required qualification and experience and those who were not qualified but treated on par with qualified ones. If the money has changed hands, most likely it could be those who were not qualified and therefore tainted. CHC in its hurry to do justice ended up punishing all, tainted and untainted. In all fairness CHC should have left the issue open for all the qualified teachers appointed to get organized and approach CHC with their petition to consider their appointment as valid, which CHC failed.
Now even the apex court left it without interfering with the CHC judgment. That was clearly an opportunity lost by the Supreme Court to rise to the occasion to do justice to those who deserved the appointment.
If only belatedly the highest court of the land realized that something should be done about those who are not untainted and allowed them upto 31.12.2025 to work as teachers.
However the question is if these teachers who were allowed to continue as teachers upto 31.12.2025 are good enough, why their appointments should not be confirmed to eliminate both the mental and physical suffering of these untainted teachers by clearing at least their appointment! This intervention by the apex court will not only reduce the administrative hassles of the West Bengal Government but also help those unfortunate victims of circumstances to breath easily. Hope some wisdom dawn on the power that be and those innocent teachers are saved from their hardship.
NEW DELHI: PENDING SCHOOL FEE
There was this print media report datelined New Delhi, “Barred from appearing for exam over Rs 800/- school fee, girl ends life”.
Can you imagine, in an India, after 75 years of political freedom a girl students’ value of life is not even Rs 800/-!
According to the report, a 17 year old 9th std girl from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh has committed suicide after the school allegedly stopped her from taking annual school examination on 29th March, since there was Rs 800/- fees was pending to be paid. Reportedly the school manager one Santhosh Kumar Yadav, Deepak Saroj, an officer and the school principal Rajkumar Yadav and others humiliated the teenage student publicly. Clearly it looks to be a private school, but report conceal the name of the school for whatever reasons.
Upset over the public humiliation, the teenager comes home and ended her life, informs her mother in the police complaint, who was away in the fields for work at that time.
What can be more tragic that a young life of a 17 year old was snuffed out for a mere Rs 800/- in school fee. What can you take home from such schools as lessons for life and we say Mera Bharat Mahaan. And this has happened in the land of Mahant Yogi Adityanath, the Uttar Pradesh proving it to be not UTTAM PRADESH.
Besides, there have been umpteen reports from different parts of India where schools have been behaving rather badly with students and their parents for delay in payment of fees. Department of Education in state governments should be alive to such situations happening in schools to evolve measures to curb such incidents from school authorities. Surely some innocent lives will be saved.
KARNATAKA: RISK OF TUNNEL ROADS
There has been clamour from politicians especially, about constructing tunnel road from Gundya to Sakleshpur, passing through the Ghat sections on NH75 of both Dakshina Kannada and Hassan districts. The stretch is about 25 kms, which is like having a tunnel from say Surathkal to Ullal via Mangalooru. So one can imagine the distance.
Since construction involves boring the dense Western Ghat which is wet round the year, how much it can interfere with the water flow on other side of the Ghat, more importently towards Coastal Karnataka is an important factor to be considered. Of course, the cost of such a tunnel is likely to be in thousands of crores. However funding may not be a constraint with Centres Highway funding mechanism.
Of course, it is likely to ease the traffic, since thousands of vehicles pass through the Gundya/Sakleshpur stretch everyday travelling to Bengalooru and Mangalooru and other coastal destinations. It can be a development boon as Karnataka ministers and MLAs keep talking about. Reportedly UT Khader, the Karnataka speaker, PWD minister Satish Jarkiholi, Puttur MLA Ashok Kumar Rai with former PWD minister HD Revanna throwing weight, Union government may afterall give a hearing and order a feasibility study to know all the dimension of this highly capital intensive project.
Prima facie, the project is important both from economic and socio-political development angle. But there is a human angle that none seem too have thought about.
No project is worth considering, if there is risk of loss of human life. We have the recent experience of tunnel collapse in Telangana in February this year, where 8 workman have perished while being on the job. This is also a long tunnel like the proposed Gundya/Sakleshpur tunnel on Western Ghat. This is a very important development, which all should take into consideration and in the interest of our own men and materials, its best that we maintain status quo and try to improve the life of motorists using NH75 from Mangalooru to Bengalooru and vice versa. It is very pertinent to note that with the accident in Telangana where 8 workmen have died, the work faces uncertain future with a huge cost already expended gone for a toss. Some serious food for thought.
WORLD: PAKISTANI RANA OF 26/11/2008
After close to 17 years, the master mind remote operator of 26/11 carnage Tahawar Hussain Rana is in India as a guest at the NIA headquarters in New Delhi in a 14x14 feet cell. He is expected to be in the cell until the end of April, monitored 24x7 with CCTV surveillance and guarded by elite paramilitary personnel.
The high profile Rana a Pakistani of Canadian nationality who evaded the arrest for all these years tried all tricks in the book, but fortunately for India, the authorities managed to get him to answer the inevitable question under whose instruction he worked to kill close to 200 innocents on the streets of Mumbai over 16 years ago!
He was, for the record, extradited from Los Angeles after the court there cleared government of India’s request for extradition. He was, according to NIA, (National Investing Agency), accused of being a planner, facilitator and active collaborator with Pakistan’s ISI in commiting one of Indias deadliest terror attack, on 26 to 28/11/2008. In the case registered against him, includes the name of Dravid Coleman Headley urf Dawood Gulani. Criminal conspiracy, waging war against India and facilitating terrorism are the charges against him according to the NIA dossier. According to NIA this Rana, a Pakistani-Canadian businessman-knowingly offered logistical and operational support to ISI backed terrorists. NIA has evidence of Rana having travelled across India between Nov 13 and Nov 21 in 2008, less than a week before the 26/11 carnage. Rana a former Pakistani military doctor turned immigration consultant in the U.S. is believed to have provided intelligence inputs to Lashkar-e Thoiba handlers, funded and facilitated David Hedley to travel within India as a tourist without any suspicion.
Now that he is here in India, after a tenuous chase in U.S. courts, he will face the might of Indian anti-terror law in all its ferocity. But the legal processes being what it is, in India may not travel as fast as the survivors of the attack in India would want it happen. But however slow, the justice will be done. That’s for sure and hopefully will answer many unanswered questions hither to, of involvement of both Pakistanis and Indians, if any.
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