EDITORIALS

Realism in Congress

The Congress has at last realised that it cannot come back to power at the Centre on its own. This inference can be drawn from its keenness on forging a pre-election alliance with like-minded parties as stated by Congress president Sonia Gandhi at Srinagar on Saturday after the conclusion of the two-day conclave of the party’s chief ministers. The Congress will also promote such arrangements in the states as it did in Jammu and Kashmir recently and in Bihar earlier. This is likely to change the political climate in the country. The Congress was the only major party refusing to accept the reality of the country having entered an era of coalition politics, though historically it was the first to accept it. The change has come about after a great loss to the party at the Centre as well as in the states. Today the Congress could have been sharing power in UP if it had extended support to Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. There were, no doubt, major difficulties which came in the way of such a decision. But forming a coalition with the SP as the leading partner in UP could have helped the Congress to revive itself in the state which sends the maximum number of MPs. Those opposed to having any truck with the SP may say that a compromise with this organisation would not go well with the Congress rank and file as Mr Mulayam Singh had refused to help their party in staking its claim to form a government at the Centre, indirectly paving the way for the BJP-led coalition. That is true. But such arguments have lost their validity in today’s political culture. A power-sharing arrangement in UP suited the Congress even as a junior partner and it should have opted for it. Mrs Sonia Gandhi could not remain untouchable for Mr Mulayam Singh forever. This has been proved by the developments after former Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh’s exit from the NDA.

Anyway, it is better late than never. With the Congress having shed its unjustifiable reservations against coalition politics, articulated at the Pachmarhi conclave a few years ago, there is the possibility of a new front coming up to challenge the BJP-led coalition in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. There are, however, two big roadblocks the Congress will have to cross for acquiring strength to dislodge the NDA from power. One is related to Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s leadership and the other calls for the Congress reinventing itself ideologically. Over the years she has grown in stature as a leader, but she has yet to travel a long distance to be able to lead a national coalition. A renewed focus of the Congress on the uplift of the poor and the downtrodden can help her substantially now that she has relented on sharing power with other parties. The Congress will have to accommodate smaller parties even in states where the party is strong and can afford to plough a lonely furrow. That is the price the party will have to pay to compete in the era of coalitions.

Spoilers at work

Rashtriya Lok Dal supremo Ajit Singh does have a quirky sense of timing. He resigned from the Union Cabinet only hours before the May 24 reshuffle-cum-expansion when it was almost certain that his head would be on the block. And a week later, his party has withdrawn support from the Mayawati government when the lady is away on a five-nation tour. He says with a straight face that it is not a toppling game but gives no cogent reason as to what prompted this parting of ways at this stage. To look for any moral reason will be moronic because coalitions have an irrational dynamics of their own. Like amoeba, they form and disintegrate every now and then, not always with any rhyme or reason. Oh, but there is a reason and a big one at that. The former Union Agriculture Minister has found new comrades-in-arms in the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Kranti Dal. Since it is a blatant power game with no holds barred, what really matters is whether the new amoeba - oops, coalition - will be able to bring down the Uttar Pradesh government. The Ajit-Mulayam-Kalyan-Nawal Kishore combine thinks so, although it is yet to reach critical mass. That will require the support of at least seven MLAs. Independents and small parties will be in great demand. The new-found partners also think that there are enough disgruntled horses in the BSP-BJP stable who will find the grass greener on their side.

What Mr Ajit Singh forgets is that his own group is no stranger to the “Aya Ram Gaya Ram” phenomenon and Ms Mayawati is no novice in the cut-and-paste department. An exercise has already been started by the BSP-BJP government to prepare a list of criminal cases pending against various legislators to keep them on the leash. The way Mr Ajit Singh tended his herd in Bhopal is a clear-cut sign of his insecurity. While a change in Lucknow is only a remote possibility, there may be some repercussions beyond the state. The Congress is as desperate for power as the small parties and if the ragtag coalition that is emerging holds, the experiment may be duplicated elsewhere. At this stage, what Mrs Sonia Gandhi may be looking for is a bit role for her party in Uttar Pradesh but a meaty position at the Centre. Mr Ajit Singh wields some influence among the farmers in Uttar Pradesh and some pockets of Rajasthan. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav has similar sway over Muslim votes in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress would not mind playing second or third fiddle to them in the state provided they return the favour in Delhi.

Groping in the dark

As indicated by the recent “Back benchers” series in The Tribune, the state of schooling in the border belt has remained unchanged, if not deteriorated, over the years. Reports of poor results have ceased to surprise anybody who knows about school education in Punjab’s rural areas. The result of Government Senior Secondary School at Tarsikka in Amritsar district marks, perhaps, a new low in school education in the state. Of the 22 students who appeared in the plus two (commerce) examination, only one could get through. The reasons for such abysmal performance of government schools are all too well known. Rural children study in hostile conditions. Their home environment is not conducive to pursuing education. They have to tend to household chores too. The growing unemployment among the educated rural youth dampens the enthusiasm of both children and their parents. The state government has, no doubt, brought primary education within the reach of almost every village except those in far-flung areas. But the quality of education has deteriorated significantly. Most good teachers like to live in cities and towns so that they can send their children to private public schools. Those working in rural schools often do not live at the place of their posting. No wonder that absenteeism and “sub-letting” of jobs are common among teachers.

The mushrooming of government schools has heavily eaten into the education budget, which, instead of keeping pace with the growing needs, has actually declined in the recent years. Media reports point out that 98.5 per cent of the education funds are spent on paying salaries. As a result, schools usually do not have basic facilities like adequate rooms, furniture and laboratory equipment. About 3,000 teachers retire every year, but no replacements are provided. Consequently, the government schools are short of some 17,000 teachers. Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the state government to ensure at least two separate toilets for boys and girls in every school. The government reportedly complied with the order by putting up make-shift toilets. To check the rot, the first requirement is allocation of more funds for education. There is need to make the district education officers, headmasters and teachers accountable for poor results. Better monitoring by involving panchayats and having teachers on contract can be tried. The government can wind up schools in areas where private schools operate in competition and can instead concentrate on providing education to left-out, needy children whether in cities or villages. Punjab still ranks 16th in literacy in the country and is far from achieving the goal of total literacy.

OPINION

Redesigning India’s W. Asia policy
Need for a balance between Israelis and Arabs
S. Nihal Singh

Years ago, before India decided to exchange ambassadors with Israel, Indian leaders and officials were heartily berated by my Israeli interlocutors during a visit I made. High and low Israeli officials told me with bitterness how timid Indians were by refusing to talk to them at neutral venues, much less negotiating with them. One official proclaimed that Pakistani officials were bolder than their Indian counterparts in their behaviour towards Israelis.

To cite my experiences of another era is to highlight how dramatically the Indo-Israeli equation has changed, with a burgeoning two-way trade and an intensifying defence relationship. New Delhi engaged in full diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv after China took the plunge. And senior officials and foreign ministers of the two countries have been toing and froing to each other’s capitals. Ideologically, there was little point in withholding diplomatic recognition after Egypt signed the Camp David accords and the Israeli flag began fluttering in Cairo. Ironically, Egypt was not enthusiastic about New Delhi exchanging ambassadors with Tel Aviv.

Now, we are told, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is to visit India soon. More significantly, India’s National Security Adviser, Mr Brajesh Mishra, has proclaimed at an American Jewish gathering in Washington that it was time to form an India-Israel-USA strategic partnership. True, he placed it in the context of fighting the scourge of terrorism, but the reverberations of a policy very different from India’s traditional approach has invited hostile comments from at least two major parties, including the main opposition Congress party.

Circumstances change, policies change and there is no reason why countries should not chart new paths to protect their national interests. The very concept of non-alignment is a pale and almost irrelevant shadow of its former self. India’s West Asia policy has been based on friendship with the Arab and Muslim worlds not merely in the context of non-alignment but for reasons of Third World solidarity (to the extent it has counted), the country’s vast Muslim population and for guarding against a religious ganging up against India on Kashmir and for hard-headed trade and employment compulsions.

The Oslo accords, indeed, brought about what turned out to be a brief period of hope and promise. Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel and a number of Persian Gulf states – some more openly than others – exchanged trade missions with Israel. Oslo unravelled because Israelis showed bad faith in expanding illegal settlements on occupied land while talking peace and the two Palestinian intifadas vastly complicated the situation. Israelis retained American support to the hilt and the combination of President George W. Bush and Mr Sharon proved deadly for Palestinians, now being fobbed off with a “road map” that is on the way to being erased shortly after it was unveiled.

Mr Mishra’s declaration in Washington raises serious questions and to the extent he has muddied the waters in seeking to align India with Israel on terrorism, he has done the country disservice. The problem India faces in Kashmir on the terrorism front has nothing in common with the terrorist acts Israel is subjected to in Israel or in the occupied territories. In one case, a part of India – doubtless a matter of dispute internationally – is sought to be prised away by foreign-supported elements. In Israel’s case, it is reneging on its obligation to vacate areas it occupied in the 1967 war, thanks to the strong support it has received by a succession of US administrations.

Besides, it is open to question whether it is in New Delhi’s interest to seek a strategic partnership with Israel, even taking into account the clout Israelis enjoy in the framing of Washington’s policies. The Israeli-Palestinian tangle is unlikely to be resolved soon, given Washington’s partisanship, and while Arab governments will continue to pay lip-service to the Palestinian cause, the Arab street will make its voice heard loud and clear. As long as Israel continues to rule over Palestinians, there will be no end to intifada or terrorism in some form.

To argue against a strategic partnership with Israel is not to suggest that India should not have good relations with Tel Aviv. Israel is an innovative and advanced country and there are areas of convergence in defence as in the trade and economic fields. India can learn a lot from Israel in solar energy and in such water-saving methods as drip irrigation. But Indian and Israeli paths must diverge on the latter’s occupation of Palestinian land and its corrosive effect on the whole West Asian region. Unlike India’s stance on the American invasion of Iraq, officially described as “a middle path”, there is no middle path in characterising Israeli occupation.

Except for the United States, the entire world is ranged against Israel on this issue, and while most governments of the Arab world must utter their protests under their breath because America remains their military protector, there can be no such compulsions for India. There are other reasons for caution in rushing into a strategic alignment with Israel. For one thing, India will gratuitously make itself a target of international terrorists outside the hot spots in Kashmir and the North-East. For another, Indian interests are still best served by maintaining a balance between Israel and the Arab world.

Against this backdrop, it would not be far-fetched to surmise that a primary objective of Mr Mishra in floating the trial balloon in a Jewish setting in Washington was to win friends and influence people in the US. If so, it is a fallacy to imagine that the entire American policy in the world, as opposed to the primacy of Israel in West Asia, is determined by the Jewish lobby. There are hard-headed reasons why Washington believes in enhancing relations with New Delhi. But the limits of this approach are equally clear in the distinction made between terrorism per se and American compulsions in giving greater weight to Pakistan’s role against Al-Qaeda over cross-border infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir.

India should build on common interests in promoting good relations with Israel, but it should also reiterate its policy on the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation: only a vacation of occupation can bring about peace.

MIDDLE

The spelling bee
Suchita Malik

Surabhi has been bitten by the spelling-bug these days. She happens to be a member of the “cabinet” of her school in the City Beautiful. Donning the new mantle of authority came as naturally to her as the ensuing innovative ideas to resurrect the sagging and deplorable standard of English language, as she said, among her peers.

Charged anew by her new-found power, she thought of re-introducing the spelling contests for each class with a new gusto and momentum. The new student cabinet, however, chose to do everything in a very methodical manner right from the word go. The Collins, Webster’s, Oxford as well as the Thesaurus came out of the closet, much to the admiration of the parents and the teachers. These consulted; words were chosen carefully, underlined and copied in the notebook with utmost precision for ready reference.

An emergency meeting of the student-cabinet was convened and the words were discussed. It was decided to consult the language teachers concerned also. The teachers’ role was limited to “guidance” only so as to match the selected words with the prescribed language standards of each class level. This done, a fanciful notice, “The Spelling Bee” was promptly put up on the noticeboard. Each member of the cabinet then visited each class so as to acquaint the students with the new rules of the spelling competition. Instructions galore were passed on to the juniors with the tautness of a quivering lip betraying superior knowledge of the school matters.

The D-day finally arrived and the hopeful eyes shone in excitement at the prospects of having either to make or mar their chances of getting into the list of the “chosen few”. Each member of the cabinet took charge of her allotted class and the competition was conducted smoothly, meticulously and successfully.

Next came the onerous task of judging and marking the spelling sheets. This part actually proved to be quite a hilarious experience for them. The spelling instincts and acumen of our school-going children spoke volumes about the ever-widening gap between our modern, help life-style and a terminology to match that only betrays their shrinking knowledge of the correct understanding and usage of the English words. Alas! but for the poor Fowler’s relegation into the depths of anonymity and oblivion and his fading relevance in the field of modern life. A peep into some of the words actually spoken, understood and written down by the students would prove to be an eyeopener for us.

“Archaic” was comprehended and spelled as “Our-cake”, while “vociferous” conveniently became “bossiferous”. “Chaos” was spelled as “Kay-oss” and “Queue” was downgraded as “Que” and also nick-spelled as simple “Q”. “Chronic” was made out to be “Kronik” and “wreckage” became our poor, old, “Reck-age”. “Vital” was spelled as “Whytal” and “Aisle” as “Isle”. The ever popular “Rendezvous” became “Brandey-voo” and poor “pious” was elevated to the more famous “Paes”. “Zealous” was forced to become “jealous” and “melancholy” was understood to be “meloncoolly”. “Juxtapose” had to content with “Yuchs-please” and “wrought” iron came poorly as “rot” iron. Last, but not the least, a large number of students mistook “astray” for a more fanciful “ash-tray”.

Needless to say that many more “faux-pas” were committed and our age-old colonial language was mercilessly massacred and brutally butchered to adjust to the whims and fancies of our trendy teenagers and make way for their modern peek-a-boo into the contours of our revered old Queen’s English. It can at best be a computer-age delight but an old grammarian’s agony!

A foldable mini car now
Rahul Dass

For those who begin to worry about a place to park their car even before they reach their destination, a solution may soon well be in hand.

A group of engineering students have developed a car which can be folded. The problem of finding a parking space will be solved with the foldable mini car.

The car has been given the acronym BAVNR, which stands for the final year mechanical engineering students — Bhupinder Kumar, Ashish Goel, Varun Gupta, Harinder Negi and Ravi Bharti. They developed the car as part of final year project in Shri Krishna Institute of Engineering and Technology, Ratan Dera.

Bhupinder Kumar and Varun Gupta told The Tribune that they were keen to do something different for their project. "We wanted to develop something which would be of utility to the common man," they said.

Keeping that in mind, they hit upon the idea of developing a car for the common man. "We began to conceptualise the project late last year but the actual work started barely two months back," they said.

The students kept certain parameters in mind while developing the foldable mini car. The first was to keep the cost low, the second was to make the car easily foldable and the third was to keep the car size small.

"We wanted to develop a foldable car since we are all aware about the parking problems being faced in big cities. In places like Chandigarh and Delhi, there is hardly any parking space. So this kind of car will be suitable in such conditions. Also, people residing in small houses can just fold the car keep it inside and a large portico or garage will not be required," they opined.

Incidentally, the car takes less than five minutes to fold up. "The process of folding it is simple and anybody can do it. Our group can fold the car in about two minutes time," they said.

The red-coloured car, which looks like a baby compared to other city cars, has a Kinetic Honda engine. The engine was bought by the students from a local mechanic. The car has scooter tyres and a 12 Volt battery, besides the chain of a Bullet motor cycle. Mild steel has been used for fabrication.

"We had to make the chassis ourselves. Also, the steering wheel has been made by us. We had to put foam to reduce vibration. We developed a three-litre petrol tank in which oil has to be mixed directly. The seat of the car is foldable," they said.

The two-seater small car — 5 1/4 feet long and 2 1/4 feet wide — can reach a speed of 50 km/hour and it gives a healthy average of 30 km per litre. The car weighs 93 Kg. "We built the car by pooling in our resources. It has cost us about Rs 40,000. We were guided by our Principal, Mr S.C. Gupta, the department head, Mr Raj Kumar, and the project guide, Mr K.C. Arora," they said.

Building the car has proved to be a challenging task for these students. They had to face several hurdles before the car was ready. A problem faced by them was that the axle of the car had been built by welding two shafts together which led to bending. Therefore, they had to prepare a single shaft axle.

Another problem was that for the chain drive, drilling could not be carried out accurately. Also, the alignment problem were faced as specific tools was lacking. Regarding the steering wheel, there was no proper mechanism, so the students developed it themselves. The students had to overcome the problem of the chassis since the engine foundation had to be set correctly.

To keep the car light, the students decided to do away with the gear box since a gear box is heavy and it would have also taken up space. "Initially we had begun work on a longer car, about 6 feet, but we decided to cut it down and gave it an aerodynamic shape by reducing the length. The car has a self-start and accelerator & a brake system for convenience," they said.

The students are delighted by the response they have received whenever they take it out on the city roads. "Our parents are happy with our achievement. We are keen that the car gains popularity," they said.

But for now, the grand plans of the students for their midget folding car will have to wait since exams are round the corner.

Disabled, not disheartened
Aditi Tandon

Every time hopelessness stares you in the face, a fresh ray of hope emerges to tell you that life is not so miserable, after all. There are countless examples of brave hearts tiding over disability to court success. Chandigarh-based Sunita Dogra’s example is certainly one among the very finest — worthy of being quoted.

Born with dysfunctional hands and a severely deformed spinal cord, Sunita’s case was termed as “medically hopeless” even while she was a child. Born at Kangra in Himachal Pradesh 27 years ago, she grew up with the disability that did not seem as grave as the loss of sight, but was actually even worse than that. Whereas the visually handicapped could at least take care of their basic necessities like eating food, changing clothes, using a washroom et al, Sunita had to entirely depend on her parents for even three meals a day.

The handicap was undoubtedly severe. It still is. The only difference now is that Sunita has trained herself to survive with her share of dignity in the world. Even though her eyes still moisten the moment her mother Urmila Devi reaches for her mouth to make her drink water, Sunita makes sure that after she has consumed water, she uses her strong “toes” to put the glass back into place in her kitchenette.

The girl who was born with a congenital deformity, medically termed bilateral hypopalsia of the upper limbs, combined with scoliosis (spinal deformity) conditioned herself to use her lower limbs to perform almost all functions, but some. By inspiring herself into action, Sunita developed a self-sustaining mechanism, which gave her confidence. She can play the harmonium with her lower limbs, can operate the computer almost perfectly, can iron clothes and can pick up files. "I even help my mother with washing clothes at times, but I can’t hang them to dry. It requires movement of hands, which don’t work at all in my case. We went all over India searching for treatment. My father had to sell off all his land for me. But my case has been rejected by all doctors," says Sunita.

With two professional courses to her credit, Sunita is still working hard, as always. "I could not pursue regular school studies after class V. Till class V, which I completed from Kangra, I used to score very high marks. I had a very sensitive girl as a helper. She would support me emotionally and would go out of the way to see that my examination is well written. But her mother expired when I was in class V. That year I took my last regular exam in school.” After that, no school accommodated her, neither was any helper willing to write exams for her. Sunita recalls, “So I began schooling through correspondence and came to Chandigarh to pursue graduation.”

A graduate in music from the Government College for Girls, Chandigarh and an MA in public administration from Panjab University, Sunita went on to do courses in basic cabin crew training, and global distribution of airfare and ticketing from the National Institute of Technical Education, Chandigarh. She is currently pursuing a course in web designing and software engineering from Aptech. As you watch her use her toes to perform tasks with precision, you are tempted to know how she managed to fight her disability.

“Thanks to the people, I learnt to battle my handicap. Since I had opted for music at college, I wanted to learn how to play the harmonium. But because of my disability, I was constrained. That was also why I could not set my rhythm and tempo right. Once when there was no one in the music room, I started playing the harmonium using toes as fingers. It worked brilliantly, but only till the time a teacher walked into the room and lashed out at me for having offended the goddess of music.” Wondering if she had really offended God, Sunita took a loan from friends and bought her own harmonium, mastered it. She won the first prize in music during the Disability Week celebrations organised by the UT Administration in 2000. Likewise, when she could not practise the computer at the Institute, she secured a SBI loan and got one assembled. She now operates the machine perfectly.

Where determination keeps Sunita’s hopes high, lack of money bogs her down all the time. Her father had to sell off all his property to finance her education. Now when she wants to repay, there is no decent job at hand. Incidentally, Sunita has applied for 35 jobs in various Punjab and UT departments in the past about five years, but has not received a call letter even once. Demoralised, she even sought help from the President, whom she met on April 28 this year.