E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

RBI’s urgent warnings
AS a source of authentic data on all aspects of the economy, the annual report of the RBI has only one rival, a poor one at that, in the economic survey traditionally presented before the annual budget. Unlike the survey which is a bland collection of information, the report offers a perspective and insights. Of late it also highlights the grey areas and suggests urgent correctives.  

Centre-state tug of war
THE eighth meeting of the Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council was not expected to achieve any breakthrough in the devolution of powers. As such, there is not much room for disappointment. The few “concessions” that have been made may be cosmetic but are a step in the right direction.

 Sapru House under govt control
WITH the smooth takeover of the historic Sapru House complex, housing the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), through an Ordinance, the government has brought to an end the common complaint that nothing concrete was being done to arrest the continuous decline of this institution of great significance. 

OPINION

CONCEPT OF UNIFIED COMMAND 
Strategy to win the proxy war
by P. C. Dogra
IN his article carried on August 3, Lieut-Gen Harwant Singh (retd) has suggested that all the security forces and the intelligence agencies should be brought under the unified command, which virtually means the Army, as in the absence of the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, the GOC, 16 Corps, or the GOC, 15 Corps, preside over the meetings of the command. These senior officers have been designated as Advisers to the Chief Minister.

Pushing up growth of service sector 
by Vinod Mehta
THE latest sector-wise data on the composition of national income shows that the percentage contribution of the agricultural sector has gone down by about 10 per cent while that of manufacturing and service sectors has declined correspondingly. This is a very healthy sign. With increasing urbanisation, the service sector grows at a relatively faster pace than either the manufacturing sector or the agricultural sector. 

Violence and victims 
by J. L. Gupta
SOME years back, a golf ball hit me. On the head. It was X-rayed. Had gone through even a computerised tomograph. The doctor reported — “Nothing detected”. Years later, I got a headache. I was again advised X-ray. The radiologist repeated the earlier report. I felt concerned. Is there nothing between my two ears? The nagging thought was causing anxiety. Giving me a depression.

The teacher as facilitator
by Lata Vaidyanathan
THERE are just two occasions in a year when the entire nation debates about the state of education. The first, on the day when the Union Budget is presented with the Finance Minister generously allocating less than 5 per cent of the GNP towards education and the second on Teachers’ Day.

RBI’s urgent warnings

AS a source of authentic data on all aspects of the economy, the annual report of the RBI has only one rival, a poor one at that, in the economic survey traditionally presented before the annual budget. Unlike the survey which is a bland collection of information, the report offers a perspective and insights. Of late it also highlights the grey areas and suggests urgent correctives. In a manner of speaking, part of it is a report card on the government’s financial performance. This year too there are those expected plus points, the challenges and the remedies, but the tone is a bit shrill. Monsoon has been normal promising good crop harvest, although the growth rate in this sector is falling; exports are surging by nearly 25 per cent in the first three months; invisible foreign earnings are also increasing; foreign exchange reserve is still healthy at over $ 36 billion and, finally, the capital flow is reasonable. Given these favourable factors, the economy should grow by about 6.5 per cent. Then comes the list of challenges. Interest rate is rising as is inflation; stock market continues to be in a bearish grip; fiscal deficit of both the Centre and the states has grown by 2.5 percentage points to 9.9 per cent of the GDP and the expenditure on the government has mounted to 28 per cent of the revenue receipts. What is more, pay and allowances of the government employees are going up on an average by nearly 15 per cent. This also provides the starting point for suggestions. The government should be downsized and the outgo pruned. With the introduction of computers the manpower need in all establishments has come down and so the number of workers too should come down. Simultaneously, tax collection should go up; this can be achieved by taxing the services which at present contribute much less than what they can. Over the past 15 years, tax collection has declined to 14.1 per cent of the GDP from 16.4 per cent.

The report does not ignore the huge stock of foodgrains or the widening disparities among states. But it favours doing away with the minimum support price and introducing food stamps for the underprivileged sections to reduce the overall subsidy. This way, the government will dismantle the public distribution system (fair price shops) and hence the Food Corporation of India but assist the poor by distributing food stamps which will partly cover the cost of foodgrains. Andhra Pradesh has a modified system to subsidise purchase of grains by both urban and rural dispossessed families. Another area of worry is the fall in investment in infrastructure. The supply does not meet the demand and in the years to come, this can retard growth. During the previous financial year, the economy grew by 6.5 per cent but it was led by a sharp rise in consumption; which cannot be sustained. Bank credit to industry has increased but this is not reflected in higher industrial output. One explanation is that a part of it has gone to buy foreign exchange in the wake of the falling rupee. The RBI wants the Centre to enact a tight fiscal responsibility law so as to maintain fiscal prudence. The curious thing is that the government has rejected the draft prepared by secretaries preferring to water down all those clauses that called for belt-tightening by itself. Obviously, it does not believe in the efficacy of medicine it had prescribed to the states through the courtesy of the Eleventh Finance Commission.

Centre-state tug of war

THE eighth meeting of the Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council was not expected to achieve any breakthrough in the devolution of powers. As such, there is not much room for disappointment. The few “concessions” that have been made may be cosmetic but are a step in the right direction. For instance, the Union Government has agreed to bring about a constitutional amendment to make it mandatory for the Centre to consult the state governments before appointing Governors. This has been a long-pending proposal and it is in the fitness of things that it has been brought into force at long last. The significant rider in this is that the Centre would have the overriding powers while deciding on who should be chosen for gubernatorial posts. Similarly, the Centre has accepted the committee’s view that consultations must be held with states while framing legislations on subjects in the Concurrent List. The Commission of Inquiry Act will be amended so that the Centre consults the states before appointing an inquiry committee against a state minister. These comprise minor irritants but add up to generate tremendous friction, which can at times reach flashpoint. What is noteworthy is that there has been no noticeable progress on crucial issues. As it normally happens, everybody agreed to disagree on several points. There was no consensus on placing residual powers of legislation other than taxation in the Concurrent List and the matter would come before the full council where the Chief Ministers’ views would be available and a final decision would be taken. The critical issue of the Centre’s emergency powers in respect of deployment of the armed forces in the states was referred to a subcommittee under Defence Minister George Fernandes, as were the other recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission on public order duty.

Many of the vital proposals got sidelined mainly because there was no unanimity among the states. That has been the bane of such confabulations all along. The Centre and the states not only look at various issues from different ends of the telescope, but also insist on bringing in their own telescopes! The problem boils down to the necessity of mature governance. If there are statesman-like qualities in those holding reins of power at the Centre and in the states, many of the obstacles can be eliminated even under the present dispensation because the Constitution has enough resilience to take care of divergence. If not, even a major rewriting of the Constitution cannot yield the desired results. Take, for instance, the appointment of Governors. If those selected for the exalted posts are men of merit, there should be no occasion to resent their induction. But since many of them happen to be active politicians in mufti, they are seen as a destabilising force rather than be constitutional heads. If only the rules framed by the Founding Fathers are followed in spirit and not just in letter, the states can be empowered without weakening the Centre. All that is required is the removal of political blinkers.

Sapru House under govt control

WITH the smooth takeover of the historic Sapru House complex, housing the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), through an Ordinance, the government has brought to an end the common complaint that nothing concrete was being done to arrest the continuous decline of this institution of great significance. Since 1986 it had been virtually under the control of one individual, Mr Harcharan Singh Josh, who held the position of the ICWA President. It was alleged that he used legal loopholes to continue his control over Sapru House. In the process the institution was suffering a serious damage. It had nearly lost its old reputation of being a major centre of research on world affairs.

There is no substance in the allegation of Mr Josh that the government action is an attempt to "saffronise" the institution, as he has a Congress background, not liked by Mr Jagmohan, Union Urban Development Minister, who has been on the forefront of the drive to save Sapru House from its total decline. Though the Ordinance was followed by a Union Cabinet decision on the subject, the President could not have given his assent to it so easily if the exercise concerning Sapru House would have been politically motivated, as Mr Josh says. The President has proved through his actions in the past that he values his conscience and could not be used by the government for playing political games. Moreover, the Parliamentary Standing Committee constituted for the purpose had members from a number of political parties, including the Congress, the CPM and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and its recommendations for the government takeover were unanimous. Among those who favoured this drastic step were former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral, Dr Karan Singh, Mr K. Natwar Singh and the CPM's Mr Nilotpal Basu, none of whom could have gone the way the BJP-led government wanted had it not been in the interest of the ICWA. Why has no leader of substance spoken against the government's action? This clearly shows that the Ordinance was needed as the necessary first step to end the rot at the ICWA and to enable Sapru House to grow into a centre of world repute in the area of international relations and diplomacy. The annual grant that the government had discontinued to Sapru House was not enough to take it to international heights. The institution should be allocated substantial funds, more than what it was getting as a grant under the earlier set up. The administrative committee constituted under the chairmanship of Mr Jagmohan to help the newly appointed Director-General of the ICWA should create a mechanism so that the institution remains free from any ideological colour. This is essential to ensure that it commands the desired respect at the world level. 

CONCEPT OF UNIFIED COMMAND 
Strategy to win the proxy war
by P. C. Dogra

IN his article carried on August 3, Lieut-Gen Harwant Singh (retd) has suggested that all the security forces and the intelligence agencies should be brought under the unified command, which virtually means the Army, as in the absence of the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, the GOC, 16 Corps, or the GOC, 15 Corps, preside over the meetings of the command. These senior officers have been designated as Advisers to the Chief Minister.

Whenever the Army is inducted for counter-insurgency/ anti-militancy operations, it starts with the basic premise of a unified command and rightly so. It is imperative to pool all the resources to combat the nefarious designs of disruptive forces. This set-up is required all the more in J&K where we are engaged in a very difficult situation of the advanced stage of the proxy war. But it should not be designed in such a way that it kills the initiative of senior officers of the security forces other than the Army.

This opinion is based on my personal experience as Inspector-General, BSF, Jammu, IG, BSF, Srinagar, and Additional DG, BSF, J&K, from 1988 to 1993. Incidentally, I was the IG, BSF, Jammu, when General Harwant Singh was the GOC, 15 Corps. He has referred to the unified command experiment in the Rajouri-Poonch area. To the best of my knowledge, it was an uncodified arrangement where the Divisional Commissioner, the Range DIG of Police and the local BSF Sector DIG would meet in the office of the GOC, Rajouri Division, exchange latest intelligence inputs and plan further operations. It was a success because all the officers were dedicated and committed to thwarting the designs of the enemy. Every Monday used to be a stock-taking exercise and further line of action planned. There was no such thing as who was under whom. Everyone was working on his own initiative and there was no day-to-day monitoring by the staff officer of the Divisional Headquarters or by the Brigade Major.

As regards J&K, the unified command is functioning quite smoothly. There is a proper and regular exchange of information among the Army, other security forces, intelligence agencies and the state administration, and fresh operations against militants are deliberated upon. What the Army wants is the total command and control over all the security forces and intelligence agencies. I am of the view that the Army is unnecessarily obsessed with the idea of command and control. Let there be fresh thinking in this respect. The new Army Chief-designate, General Padmanabhan, has been the GOC of 16 Corps at Srinagar. He is very practical and down-to-earth soldier with a lot of poise and fortitude. I worked with him as Additional DG, BSF, J&K. When terrorism was at its peak in Punjab, Mr K.P.S. Gill, the then DGP, Punjab, never asked for the command and control of all the security forces which were operating in the state at that time. He never even once expressed his wish to write the annual confidential reports of the officers of these security forces. Yet he achieved the spectacular success. He took everybody along.

In 1993, a meeting was held by the then Minister of State for Home, the late Rajesh Pilot, which was attended by the Governor, J&K, the then Union Home Secretary, the Adviser ((Home), J&K, and the DG, BSF. It was decided that except for the BSF units deployed in Srinagar town, all other BSF units in J&K would be placed under the operational control of the Army. The Corps Headquarters issued the orders. Units were taken out of the BSF sectors and attached with various Brigades, and even one-odd BSF company was placed under the operational control of the Army unit. I was asked to implement these orders. I was not against the over-all operational control of the Army, but wanted that the following issues should be taken care of:

It will dilute the command and control of senior officers of the force. All ranks of the BSF look up to their superiors in the organisational hierarchy for rewards and appreciation of their work. The BSF set-up as a whole should be involved in the anti-militancy operations. There should be operational accountability of the senior officers of the force. We should not make them redundant, thus affecting the anti-militancy operations adversely.

The BSF had independent intelligence units at the level of battalion, sector and frontier headquarters. They were doing excellent job. In 1990 when all sister intelligence agencies had collapsed due to the killing of their field operators, it was the BSF intelligence units which held the ground and provided very useful inputs, and the operations against the militants continued unhindered. I stressed the point that we should allow these intelligence units to operate independently and not blunt their initiative. We may accept it or not, at the ground level every officer wants to take the credit for the good work done by him.

Similarly, it may not be appropriate to place the Intelligence Bureau or RAW under the operational control of the Army because of the sensitivity of the operations and the level at which they are handled. However, it has been a practice to share the operational information with the security force concerned. These agencies hardly give any actionable intelligence, which may immediately result in any seizure or capture. Only the grassroot-level police functionaries, whom we are not trusting in J&K, can collect the grassroot-level intelligence.

In the prevailing situation in J&K, the Army has to be in overall command. But it should be done in an imaginative manner. Our efforts should not give the impression of subjugation of one force by another. The civil and police administration must be kept on the front. It must appear to be responsive to the aspirations of the people. It is a hard fact that unless the state police is totally involved in the task with the spirit of do or die, we cannot win this proxy war howsoever large the number of Army and paramilitary units deployed in the valley.

What the Army did in Punjab to wipe out terrorism should be replicated in J&K. In Punjab, the Army allowed the police to take the credit for all the captures/ liquidation and seizures. It deliberately allowed the Punjab Police to steal the limelight. Similarly, in J&K, the Army should allow the local police to play the front role in the capture/liquidation of foreign mercenaries. Paramilitary forces should be made available to the SHO of every police station. He should be encouraged to collect information about militants and launch raids on their hideouts with the help of the paramilitary forces.

The unified command should be a source of inspiration for all the participating units, a cooperative endeavour to fight the proxy war unleashed by the enemy.

The writer is a former Director-General of Police, Punjab.

Pushing up growth of service sector 
by Vinod Mehta

THE latest sector-wise data on the composition of national income shows that the percentage contribution of the agricultural sector has gone down by about 10 per cent while that of manufacturing and service sectors has declined correspondingly. This is a very healthy sign. With increasing urbanisation, the service sector grows at a relatively faster pace than either the manufacturing sector or the agricultural sector. The growth of employment in the manufacturing sector tends to be slower after a particular stage of development.

It has also been observed that the service sector generates the largest number of jobs and has the capacity to absorb a larger labour force — it has relatively the largest potential of employment generation. The Ninth Five Year Plan has projected that by the year 2000 employment opportunities in trade and transport will be around Rs 56.68 million, finance and insurance Rs 5.52 million, social service Rs 44.46 million against Rs 49.15 million in the manufacturing sector and Rs 16.98 million in the construction sector.

Again, in the service sector, the role of imported inputs like machinery, equipment, etc, is very limited and most of the equipment needed can be easily procured from within the country for a large number of service sub-sectors. This would require the import of a few specialised equipment or some latest equipment which will not be a drain on foreign exchange. And the equipment once imported will have less wear and tear compared to the use of the equipment in the manufacturing or agricultural sector.

Moreover, the service sector has a very good potential of earning foreign exchange, especially that related to the tourism industry like hotels, travel agencies, restaurants, specialised transport of all kinds, services of guides and so on. In fact, the foreign exchange used to import certain equipment to modernise the service industry would be only a small proportion of the potential hard currency earnings.

The experience of South-East Asia here can be quite illustrative. The tourist industry of South-East Asia is the top foreign exchange earner today. For instance, compared to Thailand, India is a vast country and there are a large number of places of historical interest to foreign tourists — beaches to spend their holidays; India being the birthplace of the Buddha, etc. Yet a large number of Buddhist pilgrims go to Thailand and rarely come to India. This is because the tourist infrastructure facilities are not well developed; good hotel accommodation is limited; taxis are rickety; domestic flights seldom keep the schedules; facilities for converting foreign exchange are limited and so on. In Thailand, all tourist facilities — be it hotels, restaurants, taxis or exchange bureaus — are of a high standard compared to India. For this reason tourists arrive in Bangkok by hordes.

This is just an example of one service industry where both foreign and domestic tourists expect something much better. The service industry in the wider sense of the term would include the services of law advisers, artistes technical consultants and health clubs, the tourism sector, the financial sector including banking and insurance, the transport sector covering rail, road, air, river and sea transport, telecommunications and medical services.

It is high time attention was paid to the expansion of this industry in the country. It will also serve the wider purpose of creating more jobs as well as earning more foreign exchange. As a first measure, there is need to have a comprehensive investment policy with regard to each sub-sector of the service sector, and wherever necessary it should be supplemented with fiscal concessions, etc. The development of the hotel industry in Bodh Gaya for Buddhist pilgrims or the development of tourist infrastructure in the North-East can be given as instances.

Almost all modes of transport are in need of modernisation, some more than others. The air sector has been opened up to the private sector and private investment, yet the quality of service leaves much to be desired. The ground services are not up to the mark — sometimes the weighing machines are not working, sometimes the luggage belt is not working and sometimes the bags are mixed up. The behaviour of the ground staff towards passengers, whether domestic or international, is far from courteous. Therefore, what is needed in this sector is the upgradation of the ground support facilities and proper training of the ground staff in human relations. This will attract more people which in turn will generate more employment in various sub-sectors of the tourism industry.

Surface transport — whether intercity or intracity — is really in a very bad shape. Buses are rickety, seats are uncomfortable and doors are missing. The same is true of taxis and other means of transport. This is an area in the service sector which requires the upgradation of technology either through import or through the development of indigenous technology.

The situation is much worse in the health sector. One, there is a real shortage of hospitals and medical care centres relative to the number of patients. Two, though the country can boast of a large number of good doctors, we do not have enough of technical personnel to run and maintain those machines which are invariably imported. Three, because of the shortage of funds the cleanliness of hospitals has become a casualty. All this calls for big investments in this sector.

The infrastructure of the financial sector is also outdated. Even though nationalised banks and insurance companies have decided to go in for computerisation of their work, they are much behind their counterparts in other countries of the world. Moreover, the mindset of the banking personnel is not changing to keep pace with computerisation.

Taking an overall view, time has come to give an all-round big thrust to the service sector. This way we will be generating more employment than we would be generating employment together in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. — INFA

Violence and victims 
by J. L. Gupta

SOME years back, a golf ball hit me. On the head. It was X-rayed. Had gone through even a computerised tomograph. The doctor reported — “Nothing detected”. Years later, I got a headache. I was again advised X-ray. The radiologist repeated the earlier report. I felt concerned. Is there nothing between my two ears? The nagging thought was causing anxiety. Giving me a depression.

But God is kind. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. A charming young lady had come. To invite me for a function. The ladies in town were organising a — “Chat Show”. To discuss “Violence against Women”. During the weekend. The opportunity was godsent. My wife was not in town. I had nothing much to do. There would be some food for thought. It should help me get over my blues. So, I decided to say yes.

I went. There were some old friends. Some new faces. All very pretty. Graceful. And my God! They could really talk. For hours. On anything. More than that. They had too many complaints. Of the worst kind. All against men. They rape young children. Beat their wives. Have no morals. No ethical standards. It sounded as if all men are bad. Cruel, callous and cunning criminals. Violent beasts. All “nicotine stained, beer besmirched, whiskey greased, red eyed devils.” Nothing more.

Has no man ever done any good to a woman? The question was baffling. Sitting quietly, I recalled old stories. The words of Addison in “Female Orators — this little instrument of loquacity, and conveying into it a perpetual affluency of animal spirits”. Then of John Milton. He was once asked — “Are you sending your daughters abroad to learn a foreign language?” The reply was short and straight — “No! One tongue is enough for a woman”. This happened long back. But it was obvious that things had not changed.

My fears were beginning to take the better of my logic. And suddenly, I heard my name being announced. I was expected to say a few words.

Next moment I was on my hind legs. In front of the microphone. Facing a belligerent gathering. All the charming faces appeared to have vanished. Only their anger and complaints were ringing in my ears. Loud and clear. The molestation of helpless young girls. The indifference of the police. And many more complaints.

I was for a moment inclined to ask like the good old English Judge — “How can any man thread a moving needle?” How can you accuse a young man merely because a girl says so? Despite the fact that there is no indication of resistance? Not a scratch anywhere? And the medical evidence clearly belies the charge? Is police to be blamed merely because it does not arrest every accused without verifying facts? But I realised that in moments like these, when passions run high, discretion is the better part of valour. I decided to be only good and polite. To talk in general terms.

Now it felt easy and familiar. In a moment I was comfortable. Virtually soliloquising. Wanting to share. Everything. Freely. I was telling my own tale. That I have been married for almost 36 long years. Actually, these years seemed even longer. My wife is a strict vegetarian. Nothing non-vegetarian can enter the kitchen. Ever. Yet, I get two non-vegetarian dishes every day. A cold shoulder for lunch. A hot tongue for dinner. And despite all the tongue lashing, I am happy. Indeed comfortable. Have never felt any cause for complaint. Life is wonderful. A bliss.

When I put the ring around her finger, I knew that she would put one through my nose. Thus, I am very agreeable. I have learnt to always agree. I concur on every issue. In the elusive hope that one day I shall conquer. There is complete harmony in the house. The secret of this harmony? I have learnt to say. “Haar Manni”. And she believes it. Readily. Thus life goes on. Merrily runs my marriage.

I thought I was doing alright. But no. They were wanting to hear about violence.

Yes! Even I had some questions. Are all mothers-in-law bad? Are all allegations regarding demand of dowry correct? Are people not falsely named in cases of bride burning? Are all women good? If yes, how can all men be bad? Do we not have cases where women (the Sitas and Savitris — the holy Indian cows) join hands with their paramours to eliminate their husbands? To brutally and crudely hack them to death? When they are in deep sleep. Is the kettle calling the pot black? Are all men violent? Are some even victims?

There are two sides of the issue. No categorical answer can be given. We must distinguish between fact and fiction. Always. In every case. Have no mindset.

The teacher as facilitator
by Lata Vaidyanathan

THERE are just two occasions in a year when the entire nation debates about the state of education. The first, on the day when the Union Budget is presented with the Finance Minister generously allocating less than 5 per cent of the GNP towards education and the second on Teachers’ Day.

Budgetary allocation at even 5 per cent of the GNP looks astronomical and beyond the comprehension of a primary school student (therefore a big smile from the Finance Minister), but the per capita availability of funds for each child in the school-going age group is micro-minimal in relation to the basic requirements. Needless to say, this affects all — government run, aided and unaided private educational institutions. The wafer - thin spread of the funds earmarked for education effectively prevents the creation of basic physical infrastructure.

The school children in hilly states like Himachal Pradesh, continue to trudge long distances to the nearest school. Classes sans blackboards in tents or in the open air are common even in urban and semi-urban areas. Even in the NCR, it is not uncommon for some schools to close down during monsoon due to inaccessibility of the classroom.

Some of the private institutions do boast of adequate infrastructure but the attempts to curb unabated growth of commercially exploitative teaching shops effectively nullify the efforts of such institutions to raise funds to maintain or upgrade the existing infrastructure. The statutory and legal restrictions prevent augmentation of resources for maintaining playgrounds, engaging the services of professional sports coaches, upgradation of computers, building up of a CD-ROM library and so on, expenditure which cannot be met from the normal generations of revenue.

As a consequence the oft-proclaimed lofty objective of education as ensuring allround development of the child remains a mere slogan, impossible of transformation into reality. No wonder we still talk of eradication of illiteracy and not of universal education.

The ever-widening base of the population pyramid, lack of infrastructure, paucity of funds for creation of infrastructure, mushroom growth of teaching shops, packed classrooms etc have all contributed to the continuous increase in the gulf between the teacher and the taught. As a corollary the importance of teacher-facilitator in the learning process, more often than otherwise, is talked of in deprecating terms.

The educational system, more than the teacher, is to be blamed for this continuous dilution in the role of the teacher and the constant erosion in traditionally cherished values. The present system aims at ensuring the ability of the student to reproduce prescribed textbooks for the purpose of qualifying in the examination where again the format is designed to facilitate and perpetuate the system. The success of a teacher is evaluated by the performance of students in these examinations and the schools bask in the glory of such achievements. The practice of entrance examinations for admissions to institutions of higher professional learning and the incompatibility of the existing school curriculum system to cater to requirements of such entrance... examinations to further depreciate the role of the school teacher. There is no incentive for the teacher to learn to teach. Our teacher is forced to comply with the requirements of the exam-oriented system.

The revolution in the computer age has led many to mistakenly question the relevance of the teacher in the learning process. While the adaption of IT presupposes the existence of a high degree of intra-personal intelligence, one tends to forget that the information has always been available — in libraries, in audio-cassettes and in video-cassettes. Many Delhiites may amusingly recall watching precipitation of silver iodide on black and white TVs. It would be appropriate to recall the Keynesian adage “you can take a horse to water but you can’t make him drink”.

The prospect of being in a “virtual classroom” through video conferencing technique, listening to someone like Prof A.K. Sen lecturing a class at L.S.E. or Harvard sounds exciting. On the other hand one should realise that they are schools in interior Himachal Pradesh, where students have not tasted a laddoo or seen a train.

The impact of the revolution in information technology can only be experienced by a microscopic minority. Considering the dismal infrastructure in the education system it would be foolhardy to think of adopting modern technology on a universal scale even in the far distant future.

Every generation has to learn that fire is hot; honey is sweet. It is these classroom experiences which make the teacher indispensible in the learning process. Technology can only supplement the teacher’s efforts.

Anyone would appreciate and applaud the exemplary endeavour of the Indian school teacher. Yet everyone, including those remotely connected with education, remembers the teacher on Teachers’ Day — not necessarily with a sense of gratitude. The teacher is reminded of the nobility of the profession and is called upon to make sacrifices and help in nation-building. No one spares a thought for the retrograde working environment or offers any constructive suggestion for improving the system or alleviating the pitiable condition of the teacher.

Let me also join the bandwagon. My only appeal to the teachers is “just don’t teach”. Before I enlarge upon my appeal, I must share an experience that I had early in my career. Relatively fresh from college, I had just taken up my assignment as PGT (biology) in a school where the students were mostly progenies of I.I.T professors whose ambition in life was pursue further studies in I.I.Ts. As I reached for the prescribed text book, after finishing the “roll-call“, one of the students had the courage to tell me that they had no interest in biology and if the ambit of my lecture was to conform to the prescribed textbook, they may be permitted to leave the class/attend to their I.I.T tutorial work, since they had on their own finished with the text book. Impetuously, I threw the book aside. Going beyond the text, I started experimenting and innovating with methodology to teach my subject. Unconsciously I was catering to the requirements of “Multiple Intelligence”.

I am proud of the fact that some students of that class went on to become doctors/bio-technologists by choice.

A teacher should never feel fettered by the syllabus. Besides being a role model, a teacher should be a constant learner, innovating ways and means to make the subject interesting. In doing so a teacher automatically keeps himself abreast of technological advancements, which go to supplementing his efforts in the facilitating process. The teacher should inspire, kindle and imbibe in his students an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. In the short run, such an approach may not yield spectacular results in the exam-oriented system but in the long run it may help produce a Nobel laureate. One should remember that “a thirsty horse will always lead you to water”.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Man may possess everything: health, wealth, wife and children, knowledge and skill, power and glory; but still he can be the most miserable creature if he is lacking that gift of the Gods which does not depend on any other gift, and on which all other gifts depend if they are to be real blessings for man; peace.

—Raimundo Parikkar, The Vedic Experience, Mantramanjri

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Peace is energy, a qualitative energy which emanates constantly from the One imperishable source. It is a pure force that penetrates the shell of chaos, and by its very nature automatically puts things and people into balanced order. The self is a reservoir of vital resources, one of which is peace. To recognise the original quality of the human soul as peace is to stop searching outside for peace. Through connection with the One eternal and unlimited source of peace, our own reservoir overflow with silent strength. In its purest form, peace is inner silence filled with the power of truth.

Peace consists of pure thought, pure feelings and pure wishes. When the energy of thought, word and action is balanced, stable and non-violent, the individual is at peace with the self, in relationships, and with the world.

—Living Values: A Guide Book, section I

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Give a little time, in energy, to silent moments, because only in silent moments will you know what peace is.

—Osho, Guide Spiritual.

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The way of peace is the way of truth.

—Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, May 20,1926

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The sense of “I-ness” and “My-ness” is an obstacle in attaining peace and bliss.

— Baba Hardev Singh, Game of Truth

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Man is Divinity humanised. In him is concentrated vast power awaiting manifestation. But man condemns himself into poverty, disease and despair.

—From the discourses of Sri Sathya Sai Baba