The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDITORIALS

Capitation fee a punishment
The Supreme Court has rightly banned it

THE Supreme Court's latest judgement on capitation fee is commendable as it removes the confusion created by the judgement in the T.M.A. Pai case. The situation had come to such a pass that several petitions were filed in various high courts seeking elucidation. And in one particular case in Kerala, the A.K. Antony government found itself facing a barrage of criticism from the management of a medical college, which refused to concede the government's point that it was obligatory for it to fill 50 per cent seats with those selected by the government. Hopefully, all such controversies have been put to rest by the new verdict. However, it is unlikely to give any relief to those students and their parents who have suffered on account of wrong interpretation of the previous verdict. This is because the court does not want to go into the admission process which has been completed in most of the medical colleges by now.

Even so the judgement is significant as it enforces a total ban on capitation fees. It needs to be pointed out that some private managements have been charging exorbitant capitation fees from the students in the name of development. The reality is that the practice of charging capitation fees had degenerated into profiteering, much to the dismay of the parents who could not dish out such large sums of money. In other words, medical education had become a preserve of the rich. While accepting the principle that the minority institutions had certain special rights, the court did not approve of their interpretation of the earlier verdict under which they were entitled to admit 100 per cent students by evolving their own methods of admission. It reaffirmed the point that while under no circumstances should the government's control or intervention lead to their closure, they cannot admit more than 50 per cent of the students from whatever minority community they belonged to. Except, perhaps, the management themselves, nobody in the minority communities would grudge this decision.

There is merit in the argument that the private colleges should have the freedom to decide the kind of fees they should charge from students. The fees announced by most of the medical colleges are so hefty that it is impossible for parents to afford such education for their children. It is in this context the court's decision to allow a properly constituted committee with representatives from various sections concerned to decide fees in such colleges should be seen. What is significant is that the fees once decided will remain in force for three years. This will free the parents from jolts every year. Ideally, the fees should remain the same for the entire course period so that the parents are not in the dark about the financial burden they will eventually have to bear when they admit their wards. One can only hope that the verdict will restore a semblance of order in professional education.

Govt must not play games
Religious bodies should be kept free from meddling

THE Amarinder Singh regime has egg on its face, now that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed its ill-advised notification issued last year through which it had sought to restore a previously constituted Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission (SGJC). The whole ugly episode is a bitter reminder as to how various parties and governments try o hijack institutions which ought to be autonomous. There is always a bitter struggle for filling such organisations with men loyal to a particular party or leader. The facts of the case are rather convoluted. The SGJC is a wing of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, an elected body. Initially Dara Singh, Kashmir Singh and Raghbir Singh were functioning as SGJC members. The commission was reconstituted after the SGPC elections through a notification of January, 1999, and Manmohan Singh Brar, Ajwant Singh Mann and Amrik Singh were appointed its members. On coming to power, the Amarinder Singh government issued another notification last year rescinding the earlier notification regarding their appointment and restoring the earlier commission. The SGPC and another petitioner alleged that the July 5 notification was politically motivated so as to sharpen the divisions within the SGPC.

The court has not questioned the power of the government to issue such a notification in the light of the enunciated law, but has underscored the fact that the fairness of a state action is open to judicial scrutiny. While quashing the notification, the High Court has said that it “patently suffers from the element of non-application of mind”. It has rightly pointed out that if the government was indeed of the opinion that the members were not competent or had violated the conditions or were not eligible, it could have taken action for their removal. Not only that the notification was issued when the matter was pending for a decision before a larger Bench of the court.

Now that the propensity of leaders of various hues to use religious bodies for their own personal ends stands exposed and discredited, it is necessary to scuttle their powers to interfere in such a brazen manner. The job of appointing members to such august bodies should be left to a collegium of eminent jurists and personalities who are above the influence of career politicians and governments, whatever their dispensation.

Net-age Mata Hari
A mom by day, a spy by night

MRS Galt could turn out to be a CIA invention for motivating what media reports call the "new breed of cyber-savvy ordinary citizens" into "doing their bit" for America by putting their computer skills to use against terrorism. Mrs Galt is, of course, not her real name. But is she herself real? If she is, she deserves to be recognised as the cyber-age Mata Hari. She is an unremarkable mother of two children by day and "Lady Hyde" by night, walking the www in search of terrorists and their plans of action. Why leak out the news if mama spy is indeed helping intelligence agencies smoke out terrorists before they turn their targets into ash?

A flesh and blood Mrs Galt has much in common with the celebrated Mata Hari. The first similarity is that both changed their names. Mrs Galt goes terrorist-hunting on the Net after putting her two children to bed. Whether Mata Hari was as responsible a mother to her two children is not known. A divorcee and a courtesan who seduced her male patrons into parting with their money and war secrets is an unlikely candidate for the "great mom" honour. Anything that is positive in this strange new world has to be exclusively American. Mrs Galt cannot be anything but a caring mom and conscientious citizen for realising President George W. Bush's dream of a terrorist-free society.

The American war of independence (from whom?) saw a long list of moms running errands as spies for both the "enemy" and the "liberators". But none of them could match the popularity of Princess Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan, GC, MBE, CdG. She was a highly decorated heroine of the French Resistance in 1943. Noor's American connection came through her mother who was a niece of the founder of Christian Science.

Mrs Galt can learn a thing or two about the delicate art of spying from the charming Miss Marple . Agatha Christie's celebrated spinster spy used to solve the most complex mystery through observation, a few polite questions and a bit of knitting. Mrs Galt is a mixture of Mata Hari and Miss Marple. Like the real spy she seduces her chatroom terrorist friends, who occasionally ask her to join the jehad against America and the West, to part with information that she believes is true. As a Net spy she, like Miss Marple, does not use physical force for bringing the crooks to justice.

Thought for the day

Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but rather memory.

— Leonardo da Vinci

OPINION

Thou shalt not strike
Prohibition is of 40 years’ vintage
by K.N. Bhat

THOU shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house.Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour’s.”

These were the commands of the Holy Bible — Old Testament. However, during all these two thousand plus years there surely have been killing, adultery and coveting and all the rest, even by the Christians. Let me hasten to add that all religions have such commands — in any case I have not come across a religion that encourages or espouses adultery or coveting. The people who have been disobeying them belonged to one or the other such religions.

“Thou shalt not strike” will also, like the Biblical commands, remain part of the declared law of the country, as indeed has been, “thou shalt not smoke in public places”, to be revered but not necessarily observed. Those who are alarmed by the recent judgement of the Supreme Court in the Tamil Nadu Government employees case appear to be under an impression that the court for the first time on August 6, 2003, pronounced that the government employees have no right to strike. The prohibition against strike is of at least 40 years’ vintage. The verdict under reference only followed binding precedents as the two-Judge Bench was bound to. Despite the high priest of lawyers, the Attorney General himself, offering to lead the protesters, a reading of this piece would assure you that there is no need to be alarmed

In the year 1962 unions of bank employees were challenging a statutory provision that permitted the management to withhold some financial information even from the industrial tribunals. Their contention was that their right to form unions guaranteed under Article 19 includes all the concomitant rights that are necessary to make the unions meaningful instruments; hence they were entitled to get the secret data. In the course of repelling this argument the court incidentally observed that the right to strike is not a part of the fundamental right. Note that the bank employees then were not government servants. Again in 1962, while striking down a rule made by the Government of Bihar prohibiting any form of demonstration, a Constitution Bench repeated that no government employee has a fundamental right to resort to strike. The position was reiterated in the context of an ordinance prohibiting strikes by employees of Post and Telegraph department in the year 1964. In 1998, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Kerala High Court banning bandh.

During all these long years after the first categorical pronouncement, strikes, as we are painfully aware, have been going on just as killings, coveting or adultery and the like. Being envious of the potent weapon of strike possessed by the trade unions, new categories of people have started resorting to what they call “strike” — not knowing against whom they strike. For example, doctors keep going on strike for a variety of reasons compelling patients to suffer and even to die. It has happened practically everywhere and more often in Bihar. Airlines pilots, ground staff like those manning air traffic control, railway employees and you name them, every class of employees, both well and ill paid, has gone on strike on some pretext or the other. During the last decade or so, a new category, namely lawyers who are self employed professionals, also have been going on “strike” for no greater reason than a policeman manhandling one among them who allegedly jumped a red light. There were more worthy reasons for lawyer strikes like bifurcation of a district or shifting a court-house or varying the jurisdiction. In fact, lawyers have been preventing courts from functioning in the name of strike in protest against another section of lawyers getting some extra benefit. In the year 2003, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court categorically pronounced that lawyers have no right to go on strike. The Supreme Court said:

“The law is already well settled. He (a lawyer) cannot refuse to attend court because a boycott call is given by the bar association. It is unprofessional as well as unbecoming for him to refuse to attend court even in pursuance of a call for strike or boycott by the bar association or the bar council. ...If a resolution is passed by bar associations expressing want of confidence in judicial officers, it would amount to scandalising the courts to undermine its authority and thereby the advocates would have committed contempt of court. If the lawyers participate in a boycott or a strike, their action is ex facie bad in view of the decision in Mahabir Prasad Singh case, (1999) 1 SCC 37. The advocates would be answerable for the consequences suffered by their clients if the non-appearance was solely on grounds of a strike call...

“It is the duty of the bar councils to ensure that there is no unprofessional and/or unbecoming conduct. Therefore, no bar council can even consider giving a call for strike or a call for boycott. In case any association calls for a strike or a call for boycott the state bar council concerned and on their failure the Bar Council of India must immediately take disciplinary action against the advocates who give a call for strike and if the committee members permit calling of a meeting for such purpose, against the committee members. Further, it is the duty of every advocate to boldly ignore a call for strike or boycott.”

However, even before the ink on the judgement could dry, the Bar Council of India, the apex statutory body that controls the legal profession and on whom the court leaned for support, gave a call for all-India strike by lawyers. The provocation was a provision of a parliamentary law ending lawyer-monopoly in some fora. If the law was bad in law, the lawyers could have challenged it before an appropriate court. If it was good, like good citizens they should obey it. Instead, lawyers throughout the country abstained on that day from appearing before courts. An old saying is that a barber need not feel helpless if the mirror is broken; he can go to another one of his tribe.

The moral of the story, therefore, is that there is nothing alarming in the recent pronouncement of the Supreme Court. The court has said it before. And it has been violated times without number by practically everybody against whom the prohibition should apply. If the trend continues, a time may come when the higher judiciary itself may have to resort to strike in protest against consistent disobedience of their rulings. Incidentally, showing no respect to the verdict of the court is not necessarily contempt of court. Equally it is true that like all religions that prescribe right conduct, which are generally ignored, the Supreme Court also should continue to be held in high esteem because, some day anyone of us may need its protection.

The writer is a Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India and former Additional Solicitor General of India

MIDDLE

Political bug
by Shivalli M.Chouhan

WE often come across persons around us whose systems are completely infested with the political bug. This bug breeds in a human being by birth and acquires age during idle listening to political gossiping by the fatherly-motherly generation.

My neighbour, Mr Sattu Ram, is the classic example. During his school days, he may not remember the names of the vegetables but would not miss even a single name while listing the cabinet of ministers, along with their portfolios.

He never harboured the dream of becoming a doctor or engineer. Whenever asked, he would promptly tell about his career plans, “Bara hoke Morarji Desai banunga”. His mother will retort, “Khub juttiyan padengi”, but it neither altered Sattu Ram’s plans nor dampened his spirit. The regular diet of newspapers and development of media further nourished this bug. Sattuji would listen to the same political news repetitively and would not miss even a single panel discussion or “exclusive” on each news bulletin of every channel.

Political bug has an inbuilt trans-receiver to locate the position of other nearby bugs. The bug-group of Sattu Ram has full control over the activities of all the politicians, whether of “desi” variety like Vajpayee, Laloo, Behenji or the imported kind like Bush, Blair, Saddam etc. None of the members of the group may be able to acquire even a small job for livelihood, but everybody will have a sureshot plan for the parties to come to power. They would not miss any political meeting of their chosen party. As per their theory, their absence might affect the performance of their party. The only segment in the country ignored by this group is their families.

For the Indian variety of bugs, the holiest shrine is New Delhi. Mr Sattu Ram may have to hitchhike (as he is often short of money) or may have to spend the night in the railway waiting rooms, but he has to make at least two trips a week to Delhi religiously. Senior bugs allure resourceful junior bugs by promising to arrange their meetings with senior leaders at Delhi, for using their vehicles or accommodation. By the time, juniors realise that seniors themselves have yet to meet those leaders, they graduate into being the seniors and follow the same course. In short every problem has one solution — “Dilli Chalo”.

The social scientists must never ignore the bug for its far-reaching good implications for society. Initially, the bug compelled Mr Sattu Ram to be polite and courteous to everyone in the locality. His hands will always be glued in a Namaste pose. In the advanced stage, Mr Sattu Ram even without recognising a person, will wave his hand and say, “Kya hal hain ji—bade dino se dikhayee nahin diye”.

The bug is against any discrimination based on caste, colour or creed. It recognises only one class of human beings, the voters. Therefore, Mr Sattu Ram has high regards for every human being, alike. Now he is a senior in his class. People in the locality come to him with their problems. Mr Sattu Ram has one answer for all, “Apni sarkar ane do sab theek ho jayega”.

IN FOCUS

State of universities — 3
PAU is showing signs of fatigue and stagnation
Most of the money is spent on paying salaries, not on research
by P. P. S. Gill

The Punjab Agricultural University at Ludhiana

THE Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) at Ludhiana has been an inalienable part of the life of the peasantry. In 1995, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research had adjudged it as the “best” state university in the country.

Since its inception in 1962, it has made significant contributions to production and protection technologies. It has released 492 high-yielding, nutrient-responsive crop varieties. It also helped in re-introduction of hybrids and introduction of mechanisation in farm operations and for providing veterinary services.

Of late, it has been showing signs of fatigue and stagnation. If there is frustration in the ‘devoted’ faculty, which is in a minority, the element of accountability is absent in the ‘work-shirkers’, who are in a majority. This imbalance has adversely affected the faculty's morale. The PAU needs surgical treatment, as much for its own sustainability as for the future of agriculture, which is at the crossroads.

Expectations from the PAU remain as high as these were in 1960s. If the seventies was an era of expansion, the nineties was a period of consolidation. Farmers, who had earlier adopted production and protection technologies, today demand qualitative shift in techniques and technologies.

The PAU has never thought of establishing “model” villages in each zone to demonstrate integrated approach to farming systems, covering crops, vegetables, animal husbandry, home science and business management. It is yet to galvanise its vocational training programme to make the rural youth self-employed.

The Director, Extension Education, Dr J.S. Kolar, says the Punjab soil is of “poor texture”. Even deficiencies of nutrients and minerals are now more pronounced in animals, which are likely to affect human health. Therefore, animal welfare camps are also being held to educate the youth.

The white-collar students and scientists, at present, have an edge. At least 90 per cent of these middle-level scientists, who are lab-centric, have no links with the villages. It is a sad reflection on the “poor standards and quality of education in rural schools” because for the past several years, there has been negligible intake of students at the undergraduate level in any of the 47 departments in the PAU’s five constituent colleges, revealed the Head of the Agronomy department, Dr Lal Singh Brar.

The PAU has not yet taken any concrete steps to correct this distortion. Only recently, it got engaged in a dialogue with the Punjab School Education Board to include agriculture and home science subjects in the regular school course curriculum. To this, PAU Teachers’ Association President, Dr A S Joshi and agronomist Prof. J. L. Kaul, who is associated with the School Board said, “the PAU, too, has to make appropriate changes in its own admission norms to attract rural students to its agriculture, agricultural engineering, basic science and home science colleges. It could fix a certain percentage of seats for rural students”.

The PAU is yet to re-prioritise its objectives in consonance with the changing agricultural scene. Old-timer Dr Johl recalled, “There was a time when stalwarts like Partap Singh Kairon visited the campus every two months for cross-fertilisation of ideas with the heads of departments. How many chief ministers, ministers of agriculture or bureaucrats have followed in Kairon’s footsteps?

At PAU, teaching methods are still primitive. Computers, though available, have inadequate Internet connectivity. Use of power point presentation, application of information technology, assigning project-specific or library tasks are still at a nascent stage. An undergraduate student said, “Practical training is missing. The students are dissatisfied with the teaching methodology and modes, as there is more dependence on charts, photographs and models than on field training. There is more of lab-centric and less of field-oriented teaching”.

Vice-Chancellor K.S. Aulakh, may feel “pleased” having inculcated “discipline” and “attendance” culture among the students and the faculty. This has stifled the academic atmosphere. His policing has not improved efficiency. “When a meagre 35 per cent faculty is seriously involved in teaching or research goes unrewarded and the laggard and shirkers unpunished, where is the academic atmosphere?” rued a woman scientist.

A visit to labs and offices of the constituent colleges revealed that in the name of austerity, even air-conditioners have either been removed or switched off. One saw faculty members sweating it out under moaning and groaning fans in the swelter, humid weather.

The Dean, Post-graduate Studies, Dr K.S. Sekhon, said in view of the changing world scene, the country’s needs and Punjab’s problems, the PAU’s focus is on genetics, biotechnology, microbiology and biochemistry. If food technology and food processing are getting attention, so are post-harvest technology, veterinary surgery, gynaecology and medicine, plant breeding, soil science, agro-meteorology and market intelligence gathering.

The PAU has now adopted an inter-disciplinary approach as an austerity measure and networking of departments, explained Dr Avtar Singh of the Communication Centre. This would help check duplication of research and throw open the labs, equipment and land experiments to next-door research workers and departments.

At least seven departments have already been merged, said Dr Darshan Singh, Additional Director Research. At present the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. Scientists are possessive about their research and shy away from sharing their experience with their colleagues.

Such cloistered functioning has hampered collaborative experiments and research. Reportedly, the Soil Science department rarely allowed use of its “nutrient magnetic resonance machine”, used for testing percentage of oil and minerals in soil and plants, to other departments. Similarly, “outsiders” are denied access to the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. To overcome such problems, it is now proposed to set up a natural resources management wing, involving departments of soil science, agronomy, water management and engineering etc.

A young scientist, requesting anonymity, disclosed that there are no qualified technicians to operate the costly equipment and that the scientists are not trained to operate this. Now a central instruments cell is proposed for coordinated working.

A research worker lamented that the PAU’s own research results are seldom applied or practised at its own farms. Also, it has not done any research on handling plant residues. Since animal sciences have an important role in agriculture, the Veterinary College Dean, Dr M S Oberoi, said that research is prioritised to focus on animal production and management. But the college has been facing shortage of staff. The colleges of home science and agricultural engineering are engaged in introducing people-friendly concepts to save on energy as also on human resource development through better diet for women and children.

Despite institutional misgovernance over the years, many PAU scientists are credited with pursuing their goals and winning prestigious awards and recognition. These included award of Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Memorial Prize to 51 scientists, Fakruddin Ali Ahmed Prize to one, Hari Om Ashram Trust Award to 11, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award to two and Team Research Award of ICAR to 37. Besides, elite faculty has also been honoured with Padma Bhushan (three) and Padmashri (one). Several PAU students and faculty today head prestigious institutions.

The Vice-Chancellor said there is a financial crunch. Of the PAU's total budget of Rs 150.60 crore for 2003-04, the contribution of the state and ICAR was 77 per cent and 14.5 per cent respectively. The rest is made up from the PAU’s own resources and other agencies. Of the total budget, 53.07 per cent is for research, 26.75 per cent for teaching and 9.7 per cent for general administration.

Recently, the PAU received Rs 25.35-crore of the sanctioned funds for 102 schemes under the ICAR's National Agricultural Technology Project, funded by the World Bank. Dr Aulakh said that nearly all the state funding went into payment of salaries etc. “Out of every Rs 100 received by the PAU, salaries consume Rs 93. Therefore, one of our priorities is to rightsize the teaching and non-teaching staff strength bringing it down to 21 per cent by 2005. It would mean a saving of Rs 14 crore per annum”'. The PAU is expected to generate its own income. It has increased it from Rs 4.87 crore in 1996-97 to Rs 9.46 crore in 2002-03.

The PAU is conscious of the dilemma that agriculture faced. It has catalogued the future challenges and constraints. These include the declining farm size: at least 46 per cent small and marginal farmers own up to 2 hectares. Their economic condition is dismal. The annual income of these farmers is lower, Rs 57,672, than the minimum salary level of an unskilled worker, Rs 65,220 and skilled worker, Rs 79, 800.

There is increasing rural indebtedness. The debt burden on farmers is Rs 9,000 crore. There is, thus, overinvestment and declining profitability due to overmechanisation. The uncertain market and pricing have further accentuated the situation.

As the soil health deteriorate and sub-soil water deplete, the scientists are also confronted with mineral and nutritional deficiencies in the soil that are now travelling to plants and to animals and pose a threat to people. If there is deficiency of copper in the cattle, affecting their milk production, the high content of nitrates in sub-soil water, due to high doses of nitrogenous fertilisers, has resulted in the “blue baby syndrome”, which could prove fatal for babies up to five years of age. They first become anaemic.

Neither milk nor animal and poultry feeds are pure. Formalin and urea are regularly added to the milk supplied and sold in cities. New pests, insects and diseases too have emerged.

The economists and research scientists at PAU said that with India’s population estimated to grow at the rate of 1.8 per cent, every year, the foodgrain requirement would be 260 million tonnes for 1.3 billion population by 2030. Thus, the challenges before the PAU are numerous and urgent.