The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Mid-day tragedy
It's criminal negligence

THE incident in Bihar, where more than 20 children died after consuming mid-day meals, is a tragic reminder of much that can go wrong with the flagship programme of the Ministry of Human Resources and Development. The tragedy that occurred in the primary government school at a village in Saran district of Bihar, in which innocent lives were lost for no fault of theirs, calls for a thorough investigation and swift apprehension of the guilty persons. What is more shocking is that this is not an isolated case. Earlier too there were reports of children dying after eating poisonous mid-day meals.

In fact, launched in 1995, the world's largest school-feeding programme has often come under a cloud. Irregularities have been reported across the country. Dead snakes, worms, insects and much more have found their way into the food being served to the poor and hungry children studying in government and aided schools. It's not the quality of cooked food alone that has been found suspect. Scams, siphoning off funds, exaggerated attendance and below par nutritional requirements are some ills that have dogged this ambitious scheme. Meant to boost school attendance and cater to the nutritional requirements of needy children, the mid-day meal programme covering lakhs of schools is by all accounts a well-meaning endeavour.

The experience of states like Tamil Nadu has proved that, if an earnest effort is made, the scheme can work. However, the track record of other states, including Bihar, has been at best lackadaisical. The CAG report has indicted many states on several counts. Actually, incidents like the one in Bihar not just expose the lacuna in the system of implementation but, more significantly, the apathy of the authorities in question. Merely ordering a probe as the Bihar Chief Minister has done will not suffice. The responsibility has to be fixed and those found guilty should be punished. The scheme, benefiting 12 crore children, can't be allowed to play havoc with the health and life of even one child, let alone scores being ‘sacrificed’ in the name of a laudable initiative.

Ban on dance bars
Women have the right to livelihood

Whenever a society feels threatened about its moral decay, it curtails the freedom of its women. Women are pushed to be the custodians of cultural values. It's a different matter this very society pushes thousands of women into prostitution to maintain its façade of civility. Banning of the dance bars of Mumbai in 2005 by the Maharashtra Government was one such act that deprived 75,000 women of their livelihood. In a study conducted by SNDT University, Mumbai, it was found that 60 per cent of these dancers were single mothers who had no other skill or education to support themselves and their children. Many of them turned to prostitution when the bars were closed. Only the Maharashtra Government could explain the logic of restoring the dignity of these women by closing the dance bars, since the government did not have any rehabilitation plan for them.

The art of dance has been a means of livelihood for men and women for centuries. We have a Lord of dance, Nataraja, and an entire shastra, a treatise written on the art of dance. An enchantress like Urvashi entertained gods and enjoyed tremendous power over the lords of the universe in heaven. For the earthly abode of gods, there were devdasis; they were the only women in Indian patriarchy who could own property in their name. For the ordinary mortals there was the nartaki, tawaif, nautankiwali etc. who eked out her living by dance, without compromising on her dignity. The Maharashtra Government seemed to be inspired by the same elitist system since it banned dance only in the bars that catered to the lesser privileged classes. Dancing in 3-star and above hotels and bars continued.

Therefore, the apex court was apt in its observation that the ban on the dance bars was supposed to be “the cure worse than the disease.” The disease that the government should try to treat is poverty, lack of security apparatus, education and fair opportunities for the livelihood of poor women.

Thought for the Day

Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.
—Anthony Burgess

ARTICLE

America's exit strategy
Uncertainties grow over Afghanistan
by G Parthasarathy

Bruce Reidel, arguably one of the best informed and most experienced American analysts on the Afpak region, recently wrote an interesting analysis entitled “Battle for the Soul of Pakistan”. Reidel noted: “Pakistan also remains a state sponsor of terror. Three of the five most-wanted on America's counter-terrorism list live in Pakistan. The mastermind of the Mumbai massacre and head of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafeez Saeed, makes no effort to hide. He is feted by the army and the political elite, and calls for the destruction of India frequently and Jihad against America and Israel”. Reidel adds: “The Head of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Omar shuttles between ISI safe houses in Quetta and Karachi. The Amir of Al Qaeda Ayman Zawahiri is probably hiding in a villa not much different from the one his predecessor (Osama bin Laden) was living in, with his wives and children, in Abbotabad, until May 2011.”

Despite these realities, a new narrative seems to be creeping in, as uncertainties grow in Western capitals over how the much-touted "end game" will play out. American combat operations are progressively ending and Afghan forces assuming full responsibility to take on the Taliban. There is uncertainty over whether Afghanistan's Presidential elections scheduled in April 2014 will be free and fair and whether the new President will enjoy support cutting across ethnic lines, as President Karzai, a Durrani Pashtun currently enjoys. As Pakistan remains an integral part of Western efforts to seek "reconciliation" with the Taliban and for pull-out equipment by the departing NATO forces, there appears to be a measure of Western desperation in seeking to persuade themselves and the world at large that there has been a “change of heart” on the part of the Pakistan army, which is now depicted as having given up its larger aim of seeking “strategic depth” in Afghanistan through its Taliban protégés, led by Mullah Mohammed Omar.

As Reidel notes, Mullah Omar remains an ISI protégé housed in ISI safe houses in Pakistan. Pakistan's real aim as a “facilitator” of “reconciliation” in Afghanistan became evident when Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz suggested to the Afghan Ambassador that the Taliban should be allowed to take control of provinces in Southern Afghanistan, as the process of “reconciliation” commences. The Americans have only encouraged such thinking and added to the confusion by their over-anxiety to directly engage the Taliban, discarding earlier conditions for dialogue. Such obvious over-anxiety prompted the Taliban to up the ante and infuriate President Karzai by converting their premises in Doha to the office of a virtual Government in exile.

The Americans and their NATO allies are evidently looking for scapegoats in case their “exit strategy” fails as it did in Vietnam. India now appears to be the new scapegoat in the event of such failure as the US and its NATO allies seem to be bent on blaming India, for any failures by them, to deal with the Pakistan army's support for the Taliban, which could lead to an ignominious exit for them from Afghanistan. In this effort, British writers like the self-styled “historian” William Dalrymple seem to have become willing and enthusiastic accomplices. In a recent paper published by the Washington-based Brookings Institution Dalrymple avers: “While most observers in the West view the Afghanistan conflict as a battle between the US and NATO on the one hand and the Taliban and Al Qaeda on the other, in reality the hostility between India and Pakistan lies at the heart of the conflict in Afghanistan”.

As a self-styled historian, Mr. Dalrymple conveniently forgets that the present Afpak tensions flowed from British colonial policies advocated by imperialists like Lord Curzon, whose "forward policy" aimed to check growing Russian influence in Central Asia and also give the British undisputed and unchallenged control over the oil resources of the entire Persian Gulf. It was Imperial Britain that changed historical borders, depriving the Pashtuns of moving across their historical homeland by the imposition of the Durand Line in 1893. The problems between Pakistan and Afghanistan since the birth of Pakistan have been primarily because of past actions of Imperial Britain, as no Afghan government has ever recognised the borders imposed by Imperial Britain. It is this border dispute that has bedevilled relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan since August 14, 1947, when Pakistan was born.

India has never taken sides on this Pakistan-Afghanistan dispute — a creation of British imperialism. The Afghans, in turn, have never taken sides on differences between India and Pakistan, except during Taliban rule. In a recent paper I received, written by a former Director General of the ISI, the author noted, while referring to past Pakistan-Afghanistan relations: “The message from Kabul both in 1965 and 1971 (India-Pakistan conflicts) was that we could move all our troops from the Durand Line to the Eastern borders, where we needed them. We did precisely that and the Afghans ensured for the duration of the crises there was all quiet on the western front. The two countries have their good neighbourly troubles, but their stakes in each other's security and stability are so high that neither would do anything deliberately to hurt the other's interests”.

The likes of Dalrymple and his American and European friends should remember that the religious extremism-violence that ails and afflicts Pakistan and Afghanistan today, is a direct outcome of the backing given by the ISI, joined by the CIA and MI 6, to armed fundamentalist groups, to wage jihad against the Soviet Union on Afghan soil and beyond. This, in turn, encouraged the ISI to believe that the promotion of “militant Islam” is the ideal means to build influence within Pakistan, “bleed” India and carry the forces of “radical Islam” to Afghanistan and beyond. The US and the CIA paid the price for their earlier follies in Pakistan and Afghanistan, when attacks like those of 9/11 and the London bombings were planned and executed from safe havens in Afghanistan and along the Durand Line.

India will have to keep these realities in mind when fashioning its policies in Afghanistan. While we have played along with the Americans and complemented their policies in Afghanistan, there is need for New Delhi to be prepared to build new bridges in relations with its old partners like Russia, Iran and the Central Asian Republics, given the uncertainties and unpredictability in emerging American policies. We should also remember that while China has inked a Strategic Partnership Agreement with Afghanistan, it has retained, with Pakistani facilitation, its links with the Taliban's Quetta Shura.

MIDDLE

A home coming
by J.S. Grewal

IT was on a breezy evening of September 1971 at Srinagar when two stalwart officers of 18 PUNJAB had spotted me as the new entrant to their fold. The hearty, warm welcome which I had received from them on that chilly evening is fresh in my mind, as if it happened yesterday. A soldier's youth, day in and day out, is spent with his unit; presence at home is only for short periods. Over the years, this bondage with each other gets strengthened and even continues during the post-retirement years. Past generations of a unit serve as common linkages with the bygone era and history of the unit, and their achievements inspire the next generation. Entire families comprising wives and children get deeply associated with each other, having lived together in a unit from one station to another.

It is this spirit and nostalgic memories of bygone days which bind us veterans of yesteryear with each other and with our battalions. In our case, this bondage gets strengthened with the greeting and war cry, 'Har Maidan Fateh', which has become synonymous with the name and fame of 18 PUNJAB, and serves as a common linkage with past and present generations of the battalion.

During August 1971, as a young lad of 20 years, and having been commissioned to join 18 PUNJAB as a Second Lieutenant, I reported for duty at the transit camp, which was just opposite Pathankot railway station. Pathankot was the rail terminus then; the rail track to Jammu was laid much later. The arduous road journey to Kargil commenced from Pathankot the next day, with breakfast at Samba, and lunch at Jammu, it took nearly half a day up to Jammu on the narrow, pot-holed road, travelling in the Army's three-tonner load-carrying vehicles, which were fitted with passenger seats. The road scene was much different from the present four-laned stretch up to Jammu. The night halt was at Udhampur transit camp.

On the second day, the convoy reached Srinagar. I was in a new environment, completely forlorn, shattered, inexperienced and home-sick, with no friends. It was a chance encounter with two officers of 18 PUNJAB, who were much senior to me, but strangers then; that all feelings of home-sickness evaporated. They were Major Sarjit Singh Sahota, a tall and burly personality, nick-named 'Shorty', and Capt Tarsem Singh, known as 'Terry', which suited the Army's flair for brevity and precision. Shorty, who later became our Commanding Officer, was returning from leave, and Terry, who had been a Services hockey goal-keeper (but, alas! is no more), was returning after a tenure as Range Officer at the Infantry School, Mhow. Both officers were engrossed in a conversation, animatedly exchanging notes after a long separation, when I entered the transit camp officers mess and extended the customary salutation. Noticing the single stars of a Second Lieutenant with 'PUNJAB' embroidered on my shoulder epaulettes, both officers beckoned me to come over, and gave me a good hand-shake. After having enquired about my battalion, and realising that I was joining theirs, I had received a thunderous applause of greetings and welcome, accompanied by back-thumping and many bear hugs, revealing sheer joy on their new find. "Welcome home", they told me. It assured me that I had been accepted to their fold, and indeed felt at home.

The next day the convoy took off for Kargil on the serpentine, mountainous narrow road. It reached Drass, after crossing the famed Zojila Pass, and by evening we were at Channigund, just short of Kargil, where the battalion base was located.

18 PUNJAB was then deployed in a barren, rocky, high-altitude terrain, in extremely chilly and adverse weather conditions. But that was 18 PUNJAB, my home to be, whether in difficult, in-hospitable areas or in the environment of a peace station. Now, after having lived our best years with the unit we cherish, even after retirement, we, the veterans, promise that we shall return!

OPED-ENVIRONMENT

Combat changing climate, and fast
Industrial greenhouse gases are commonly blamed for global warming. But agriculture too contributes 10 per cent of the load, of which 74 per cent comes from low-income countries. Punjab and Haryana can do their bit by taking up low-carbon-footprint practices.
Manjit S Kang

US President Obama’s June 25 speech at Georgetown University in Washington DC and US Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech on June 23 in New Delhi — both involving climate change — have put forth the challenges posed by climate change. Obama indicated that his climate change strategy included enhancing engagement with emerging economies such as India and China while Kerry emphasised that combating climate change and reducing poverty were intrinsically linked challenges. Putting things in an Indian context, he remarked: “When Himalayan glaciers are receding, threatening the very supply of water to almost a billion people; we all need to do better.”

Trees, such as the poplar help to sequester carbon. Zero tillage and precision farming can cut agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Tribune file photo: Himanshu Mahajan

The concerns are justified because in May 2013, the concentration of the major culprit of climate change, carbon dioxide, in the Earth’s atmosphere passed the worrisome 400 parts-per-million mark, as recorded at the Mauna Lao Observatory in Hawaii. The consequences of global warming caused by carbon dioxide emissions include increase in mean temperature, unfavourable changes in precipitation (e.g., erratic monsoons), more frequent occurrence of extreme climatic events such as drought, flooding and coastal storms, and sea level rise. These events have cascading effects on food and livelihood security, shelter, and human health.

Emerging economies

There is fear that the economic growth of emerging economies will be constrained by limiting carbon dioxide emissions because increases in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are positively linked with economic growth. Total gas emissions decline in times of economic downturn. This was witnessed in western countries in the 1930s and 1980s, in eastern countries in 1990s, and internationally in 2009. On the contrary, in the 1950s, 1960s, and initial years of the 21st century, greenhouse gas emissions increased tremendously as during these periods, rapid economic development occurred.

Agricultural contribution to the GDP is much higher in developing countries like India and China. According to the World Bank, in 2010, the contribution of agriculture to the GDP in the US was only 1.2 per cent while in India it was 17.2 per cent. Agriculture provides livelihood to 40 per cent of the world’s population that is able to work. In India, this proportion is around 60 to 70 per cent.

Agriculture contribution

Agriculture impacts global warming directly and indirectly. In developing countries, in addition to the production of carbon dioxide through the burning of fossil fuels, it is generated by the burning of agricultural biomass or stubble, farm yard manure usage, and aggressive tillage operations. Methane and nitrous oxide, the two other greenhouse gases, also cause global warming. Methane is produced through digestive activities of livestock, rice cultivation via flood irrigation, and heaps of farm yard manure. Nitrous oxide is produced from microbial activities and nitrogen fertilisers, especially when used in excess of requirement. Agriculture directly contributes 10-12 per cent of all greenhouse gases that are attributed to “human” activities.

Indirectly, these gases are produced via change in land use; for example, bringing forest land or wetlands under cultivation. The amount of gases thus produced is equal to that produced directly. Therefore, total agricultural contribution is about 24 per cent. A portion of the agriculturally generated carbon dioxide is used up in photosynthesis. At the global level, 74 per cent of all agriculturally generated greenhouse gases are contributed by low-income countries.

Food production

Research has shown that every 1°C increase in temperature would cause a 5 to 15 per cent yield reduction in maize in the US and Africa and in wheat in India. Shifts in geographic boundaries and frequency of crop insects, weeds, and pathogens are expected to occur. If atmospheric temperature were to increase by 5°C, food production in most countries would be expected to decrease and food grain prices expected to double. Increased temperatures could be beneficial for a few heat-loving crops such as melons, sweet potato and okra.

Effects of climate change on commercial forestry will be similar to those on crop production and natural forest ecosystems. Heat stress reduces milk yield, weight gain and reproductive activities. Production of meat and milk is projected to decline with increases of above 3°C.

Indian scenario

With the increasing population and climate change, demand for water will increase for agriculture, and other uses to meet food, fiber and energy-security needs of society. Sustainable supply of fresh water will likely to be adversely affected because of the rapid melting of major glaciers.

Research has shown that to maintain a good standard of living, renewable water resources capacity of 1000 m3 per capita per year is required for thriving economies. India’s planners are using 250 m3 per capita per year to sustain its economy — half of what China plans.

In India, the heartland of Green Revolution (Punjab, Haryana and western UP) already face a serious ecological crisis because of exploitative and unsustainable use of natural resources, especially land and water. This agriculturally most productive area has been contributing almost 100 per cent of the wheat and around 67 per cent of the rice towards national food grain reserve in India. Punjab, merely 1.5 per cent in area of India, alone has been consistently contributing between 40 and 60 per cent wheat, and around 30 to 40 per cent rice to the national pool. Punjab (0.03 per cent global area) even figures prominently at the global level as it produces world’s 3 per cent wheat, 2 per cent rice, and 2 per cent cotton.

The ‘food bowl’ states have paid a heavy ecological price in that they have severely depleted their underground water resources. Punjab alone has 13 lakh tubewells while China has 35 lakh and US 140 lakh for irrigation. In 2010, at the prodding of the Central Ground Water Authority, the Punjab Government had to ban tubewell connections for 300 villages in Sangrur, Moga and Ludhiana districts.

Scientific studies from Punjab Agricultural University have shown that combined availability of water from canals and rainfall and seepage is 3.13 million hectare metre per year, whereas water demand is 4.33 million hectare metre per year. The 1.20 million hectare metre per year deficit is met by overexploitation of water resources. Predictions for central Punjab are that mean water-table depth, which was 22.8 metres in 2006, will increase further to 34.2 m in 2016 and 42.5 m in 2023. Withdrawal of water from deeper layers requires increased amount of energy, which results in increased amounts of greenhouse gases and infrastructure.

A satellite study conducted by NASA during 2002-2008 estimated that underground water in Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana was being depleted at a rate of 17.7±4.5 km3 per year. During the six-year study period, the total net reduction in water was 109 km3, which is twice the capacity of India’s largest water reservoir on land.

In addition to receding water table in northwest India, soil health has been adversely impacted and air pollution has been rampant because of open burning of crop residue. Most of these problems can be attributed to a lack of suitable land-use and water-use policies.

A sophisticated WORLDCLIM-DIVA system has predicted Ludhiana’s average annual rainfall to decrease by 75-100 mm (11 per cent) from the current rainfall of 600-800 mm between 2000 and 2050. Predicted change in average temperature of Punjab is more than 2.5°C between 2000 and 2050.

India’s increasing population (166 crore in 2050) will put further stress on natural resources. To feed this population, India will need to increase its food grain production by 80 per cent from its current 253 million tonnes.

Adaptation strategies

The major options available to manage agricultural and livestock systems to reduce emissions are changes in feed and feeding practices, manure management and more efficient fertiliser application. Carbon footprint of agriculture can be reduced by sequestering soil carbon, shifting to crops with higher carbon storage potential, and reducing forest clearing for agricultural expansion. Conservation agriculture (e.g., zero tillage) and precision farming should reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Efforts must be made to control population growth. Use of renewable energy (solar energy, wind energy and nuclear energy) must be incentivised. Much carbon can be sequestered by growing trees, along with crops, i.e., practicing agroforestry. Wetlands must be preserved as they can store three to five times more carbon than forest trees. Currently, Punjab only has a handful of natural (12) and man-made (eight) wetlands. Efficiency of water use must be enhanced by introducing innovative irrigation systems, such as drip irrigation.

Biochar (carbonisation of biomass) can be used to sequester carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. India could produce 309 million tonnes of biochar annually to offset 50 per cent carbon generated by the burning of fossil fuels.

Funds should be made available to strategically set up research centres of excellence for climate change to advance innovation and implement crop-adaptation strategies sustainably. Scientific grain storage is needed to prevent gas emissions from rotting grain.

Agricultural universities should focus on climate-resilient cultivars and crop-management systems. Adaptive traits with stress-resistance genes must be identified quickly through biotechnological techniques. Germplasm should be identified that can tolerate expected future biotic and abiotic stresses.

Most economists and policy analysts agree that putting a sufficiently high price on carbon dioxide emissions (carbon tax) would be the least costly remedy for significantly reducing emissions and the most effective incentive for bringing about innovation in technology.

— Former Vice-Chancellor, PAU, Ludhiana