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Copycat freebies Administrative perplexity |
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Lahore, Friday,
January 2, 1914
Stabilising
volatile borders
Life’s many ifs
and butts
PNDT Act needs more
transparency
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Administrative perplexity For
the past four years residents of 15 villages located on the periphery of Karnal have been left to manage their civic problems on their own. The ‘stinking’ scenario has come to pass because of an administrative decision aimed at improving the lot of the villages. That the so-called improvement plan has landed the villagers in muck is another matter. When the villages were brought under the Municipal Corporation (MC), Karnal, they lost their benefits and entitlements under the panchayat and other rural development schemes. Since they were not accorded the proper rights to pursue their demands with the MC due to certain technicalities, these villagers are forced to act as scavengers in their own homes. Ironically, one of the 15 villages,
Uchana, used to be a model village before this administrative confusion destroyed its model fabric. In the age of communication, when things can be pushed for speed, it is amazing how such a large number of villages are left in the lurch for so long. The technical reason cited for the present state of affairs is that MC elections were not held till June this year, since the villages were merged with the corporation four years back. Why was the matter not sorted out by the newly elected members in the past six months? Someone should be made accountable. On the one hand the newly elected AAP government is trying to sort out major issues in 10 days, while on the other an elected MC of a rich state like Haryana cannot offer basic civic amenities in six months. This reflects lack of sincerity and accountability. The tendency to treat the rural population differently from the urban results in such botched up affairs. Added to it is the complex bureaucracy involved in the urban civic administration. Villages should be provided with the support they need to improve civic amenities on priority. Instead of clubbing villages with urban areas and turning them into stinking fields by neglect, it’s better to strengthen the existing
panchayats. The civic stink of the 15 villages is reason enough for the government to have a rethink.
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Thought for the Day
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
— Albert Camus
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IN December 1911 the Punjab Government notified in the Gazette under section 6 and 7 of Act I of 1894 that about 113,600 acres of land were required for the new capital at Delhi in 126 villages in the Tahsils of Delhi and Ballabhgarh. It appears from the Chief Commissioner's notification in the latest issue of the Gazette of India that out of this an extent covering some 13,700 acres in 17 villages of the Delhi Tahsil has been released from the operation of the above notification as being no longer required by the Government. Roughly about 100,000 acres may be said to have been acquired by the Government. Whether the value of the released lands will rise depends on the demand for sites inside the area acquired by the Government. Muslim League and the Press Act ONE of the resolutions passed at the All-India Muslim League on Wednesday was the repeal or the modification of the Press Act. A similar resolution was also passed at the Congress at Karachi. But the importance of the Agra resolution lies in the unqualified manner in which the speakers condemned the Act. One of the speakers observed that the Mahomedans were not aware of the exact nature of the Act till their community were hit by it. He thought that the law was meant only for papers like the Yugantar. But he was mortified to find that many Mahomedan papers were injured for no fault of theirs. This is a remarkably candid view of the speaker, but in fairness to the Mahomedans it must be observed that even if the Press Act did not hurt the Mahomedans papers and affected only the Hindus, they could not in principle, allow a harsh measure of this type without attempting to have it repealed.
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Stabilising volatile borders
The
return of Nawaz Sharif to power in Pakistan was marked by pious statements by him on peace and stability on the one hand and by inflammatory rhetoric describing Kashmir as Pakistan’s “jugular vein” on the other. Whether it was at the UN in New York or at the White House, Sharif chose to return to his stale rhetoric of Kashmir being the “core issue” between India and Pakistan, implicitly asserting that there could be a nuclear holocaust unless Pakistan reached a satisfactory solution to the issue with India. This rhetoric was accompanied by the unleashing of an old Sharif family retainer Hafiz Mohammed Saeed to spew venom, threatening conflict against India not only on Kashmir, but also for allegedly diverting and depriving Pakistan’s people of their vital water resources. The Pakistan army has augmented this diplomatic effort, by claiming that it will use tactical nuclear weapons in the event of Indian retribution to future 26/11 Mumbai-style terrorist attacks. Sharif’s apologists in South Block, of course, claimed that he cherished nothing more than peace and harmony with India. Yet, Sharif’s return to power was marked by 195 cease-fire violations, with the Lashkar-e-Toiba even choosing to attack an Army officers’ mess in the Jammu sector and with Indian jawans being beheaded elsewhere, by infiltrators crossing the LoC. South Block did not do its credibility any good by misleading the Defence Minister A.K. Anthony to first claim and then retract from a statement he made, absolving the Pakistan army of its sins. It was against this background that it was agreed at the New York summit that the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs), would meet and devise measures to deescalate tensions across the LoC. Given their desire for a civilian shield, behind which they like to avoid responsibility for their actions on the LoC, the Pakistan army stalled on the proposal, by insisting that delegations should by headed by civilian officials. But, they ultimately had to yield when India insisted that the talks should be between DGMOs as agreed to in New York. Firmness pays and the DGMO talks held on the Wagah border yielded some positive results. The most important part of the Joint Statement issued at Wagah on December 24 was agreement between the DGMOs to “maintain the sanctity (of) and ceasefire on the Line of Control”. They also agreed to make the existing hotline between them more effective. Two flag meetings between Brigade Commanders on the LoC were also agreed to, for maintaining peace and tranquillity across the LoC. The successful meeting of the DGMOs was followed by a meeting between Commanders of the Border Security Force and the Pakistan Rangers in which there was forward movement on issues like effective use of existing communications and on illegal constructions close to the border. Most importantly, people who cross the border inadvertently, do not, hopefully, have to spend months incarcerated. While some tend to link these developments to the exit of the hardnosed General Kayani, this ignores the reality that there is nothing to suggest that there is any change in the Pak army’s long-term policies of supporting radical groups like the Afghan Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Toiba, for promoting violence across Pakistan’s borders with India and Afghanistan. It also now appears that there are differences between the army and the political establishment on using force against the Tehriq-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan’s Tehriq-e-Insaf, which rules the Pakhtunkhwa Province and Islamist Parties like the Jamat-e-Islami are all opposed to the use of force against the TTP. But, the army has, interestingly, commenced operations against the TTP, in North Waziristan. This development appears to suggest that after TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in an American drone strike, the Sharif government has acquiesced in the military operations in North Waziristan, as Maulana Fazlullah, the TTP’s new leader, is known to be a fundamentalist hard liner. There also appears to be a deal between the military and its long-term assets, Jalaluddin and Sirajuddin Haqqani, that the operations against the TTP will not challenge the Haqqani hegemony in North Waziristan, or reduce ISI support for their operations in Afghanistan. This complex arrangement involving deals within deals, could well fall apart, in which case, border management across the Durand Line will become a nightmare. Thus, while Pakistan may find it expedient to observe the “sanctity” of the Line of Control if things get out of hand on its north-western borders, it could also revert to its old ways, if things cool down in the tribal areas. India would be well advised to be prepared for both eventualities. The meeting of DGMOs now sets the stage for India to insist with Nawaz Sharif that it expects him to reaffirm his government’s commitment to the “sanctity” of the Line of Control. He personally pledged to respect the “sanctity” of the LoC to President Clinton when he rushed to the White House on July 4, 1999. During this visit, Sharif implored President Clinton to bail him out, as Pakistan’s Kargil misadventure was becoming a national and international disaster. How should India judge whether Sharif is going to respect the “sanctity:” of the Line of Control? Sharif’s first term as Prime Minister was marked by using his handpicked ISI chief, General Javed Nasir, to stage the Mumbai bomb blasts in March 1993. During his second term, Sharif not only emboldened and gave respectability to Hafeez Mohammed Saeed, but also set up a “Pakistan Gurudwara Prabandak Committee” headed by General Nasir, to incite and subvert Sikh pilgrims from India. “Khalistan” flags were fluttering in Sikh places of pilgrimage in Pakistan, just after Prime Minister Vajpayee’s Lahore Bus Yatra. A close watch is also imperative on Sharif’s approach towards these pilgrimage groups and efforts to incite and revive militancy in Punjab. A policy of wait and watch, with dialogue, if any, confined to terrorism, infiltration, trade and economic relations and people-to-people contacts with Pakistan should suffice, till a new government assumes office in India, after the coming General Election.
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Life’s many ifs and butts The brothers Rupak and Deepak owned Automotives, a service garage in Delhi. They prepared cars for competitors, plus their own. They were national champions more than once. They made a fantastic team, Rupak the driver, Deepak co-driver. So what if they bickered endlessly like a happily married couple! I must admit that I learnt a lot about automobiles under the auspices of Rupak. He was my guru, mentor and just as often, dementor. One year, Rupak and Deepak did not have a sponsor. So alas and alack, No Himalayan Rally. Unexpectedly we got an offer to provide service for Rod Millen. Rod raced for Mazda. His cars were factory prepared. He was the Asia Pacific Champion, twice. That year he had won the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. It runs up to 4,300 meters in the Rocky Mountains. The 19.99 km road has 156 corners. He was ready for the mighty Himalaya! We were ecstatic to be his service team. Rod Millen being a Mazda factory team had one very specific demand. The service vehicles had to be Mazda. No problem! Mazda had just set up a factory near Ropar. They gave us the names of three owners who had collected their spanking new Mazda trucks only a week ago. All were in Himachal. We rented all three. Rupak and I met up with our truck driver in Narkanda and set out to provide petrol and tyres to Rod. The chain-beedi smoking driver drove at a leisurely pace. No good! Rupak had the window seat; I was sandwiched in the centre seat. Rupak and I whispered our concern. We needed to move fast. Another couple of kilometres and I said to the driver. “Driver, my friend would like to drive.” The driver agreed. Rupak took the wheel. He is a highly accomplished driver and in no time he had the Mazda truck flying on the winding hill road. The driver was impressed. He had probably never moved so fast. To help him concentrate, as was Rupak’s habit, he lit a cigarette, and threw the packet onto the dashboard. The driver eyed it, longingly and suspiciously. Finally he said, “Sahib, can I try the angreji beedi?” I handed him the packet. He took out a cigarette, inspected it, sniffed it, and rolled it between his fingers. Finally, he lit it. After half a dozen puffs and carefully inspecting the cigarette, he handed back the packet to me. Before putting it down, I read the warning on the packet “Driver”, I said, in a dramatic tone, “if you smoke you will die!” He thought about it, looked a little pensive, even spiritual, gazed into infinity, took his last puff and threw the cigarette stub out the window. The driver sat deep in thought, finally he cleared his throat, spat out the window and looking at me said, “Sahib, you don’t smoke, you will also die!”
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PNDT Act needs more transparency Conventional wisdom and experience has shown that as communities became more educated and wealthier the indicators for social change are positively impacted. Hence better off communities have healthier and smaller families and enjoy better life styles. This logic however does not hold when it comes to the gender ratio. For instance, of the 7 parliamentary districts of Delhi, South Delhi, the wealthiest and the most educated, has the worst gender ratio. Similarly, in the last national census in Haryana, Gurgaon emerged as the district with the highest literacy rate but the lowest gender ratio (854 girls for every 1000 boys). This trend cuts across communities and geographies. Evidence suggests that technology, wealth and education are working against the girl child necessitating a fundamental rethink in how we address the challenge.
Failure of the Act
Whilst we tackle the many social and cultural aspects that impact female disadvantage we need urgent action on the legal front where technology combined with law is doing serious harm to the chances of saving the female foetus. In an attempt to protect the female foetus we enacted the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act, 1994 banning prenatal sex determination. The main aim of the act was to disallow the disclosure of the sex of the unborn child during ultrasonography. It did this by putting legal prohibitions and invoking legal actions against anyone who disclosed the gender of the foetus. The act in fact prescribed criminal action against anyone who disclosed the sex of the unborn child, the crux of the argument being that by prescribing secrecy the female foetus would be protected from harm. Sadly however, the reality has been quite the reverse. All communities who can afford ultrasonography are the very communities where knowledge of the sex of the foetus has been the highest as has been the incidence of female foetus abortion. Clearly secrecy has not worked and the irony is that no one can take any other form of protective action as doing so would mean being in contravention of the law which requires your not knowing the sex of the foetus. As we approach the 20th anniversary of the Act, I believe, that while well intentioned, the act may well have in fact enabled the killing of the female foetus. Clearly, the time has come to rethink the strategy. One significant move would be to move from secrecy to transparency. We need a change in the law and to create economic conditions in favour of protection. But first, let's see how the evidence stacks up.
Shocking data
As UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) points out, despite legal measures sex selective abortion by unethical medical professionals has today grown into a Rs. 1,000 crore industry. Non-enforceability of the act is one of the major causes of its failure - according to the latest data available till May 2006, as many as 22 out of 35 states in India had not reported a single case of violation of the act since it came into force. Delhi reported the largest number of violations - 76 out of which 69 were cases of non registration of birth. We know that expecting parents and ultrasound clinics devise remarkably creative ways of knowing and telling the sex of the foetus after an ultra sound test with the objective of evading legal provisions. So while it remains illegal, it is near impossible to establish when the offense is committed and to in turn convict the offenders. This has led to a lopsided situation. Whilst on the one hand, the world renowned medical journal The Lancet claims that four to 12 million girls were aborted because of their sex between 1980 and 2010 in India, at the same time in a state like Punjab,(which has the worst gender ratio in the country), there have only been 5 convictions under the act in the past two decades. The same study by Lancet indicated that selective abortion of female foetuses accounts for two to four per cent of female pregnancies in India, roughly 300,000 to 600,000 per year out of 13.3 to 13.7 million carrying a girl in 2006. Disturbingly, from 2001 to 2011, the practice increased at an astounding rate of 170 per cent. A knee jerk reaction, as some have suggested, of closing down diagnostic clinics, to my mind, is short sighted if not ill conceived. Sonography is an important technique to ascertain the health of the foetus and the mother during pregnancy and its availability is a medical necessity. What we need is a change in the law that ensures transparency instead of secrecy.
Transparency
In a dramatically different approach, what is required is that since confidentiality has not worked, it is time we change the approach to one of complete disclosure and transparency. All ultra sound clinics must now be required to inform the parents (which they are in any case doing) the sex of the unborn child. They must also inform parents that they carry the risk of criminal action should they indulge in any actions to abort the child if it is a girl foetus. In rural India this information must be fed to the village leadership including the head of the panchayat placing on them the responsibility of ensuring that the community collectively acts to protect the female foetus by providing all help and assistance to expectant mothers. By disclosing the sex of the child, the family, the community and the administration would have to accept responsibility for ensuring that the child is protected, particularly, if it happens to be a girl. Let penal provisions then be activated whenever female foetuses are lost and it can be proven that it is because of intentional action by the parents or by the family. A significant aspect of this change would be the ability of the community to take preventive action instead of attempting to establish criminality post the commitment of a heinous crime. With this change from secrecy to transparency we will use the power of technology to protect the health and well-being of children and mothers in general and girls in particular. Before penning this viewpoint the author has had lengthy discussions with social reformers and thinkers including senior members of the judiciary and was overwhelmed by the positive response to this proposal in favour of transparency. Can the policy makers please take note and more importantly act to enact a change in the law! In the meanwhile, a longer term solution to changing the mindset must also move with equal vigour. Greater awareness about rights of the girl child and of women and the benefits that would accrue to society in general if their condition is improved cannot be overstated. The national debate on abuse against women including around the dastardly acts of rape is timely and will no doubt move the envelope. One critically important arena is through a structural and content related change in our educational system as well as in our administrative setups. Gender neutral laws and legislations, strict implementation of the same, coupled with economic empowerment of women at the grass root levels will ensure their long life. Finally, our inability to change the adverse movement in the gender ratio cannot but bode serious societal problems in the future. We must change our attitude towards girls and women unless we want to see a growing incidence of sexual violence, abuse against girls and women, trafficking and many other ills associated with the serious imbalance between the two sexes across many dimensions. A real beginning can be made by ensuring that we provide every girl child the most basic of all rights - the right to live. It is time to change track. Let's make that our abiding resolution for 2014.
Silent observers Historically, the killing of newborn girls has been documented as far back as the 18th century. The infanticide was done presumably to save women from invaders. In modern times, the only enemy - one's own outdated value system and cruelty - has caused death of over 30 million girls even before birth in the past 50 years. Killing the female foetus liberates the parents from the guilt and taking the trouble of killing their own child. The onus is shifted to medical practitioners for the unlawful use of technology. In a country where governments would fall over the price of onions, losing 30 million girls did not stir society's conscience. The writer is Chairman of the Nanhi Chhaan Foundation and of Save the Children, India.
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A few state governments, including Maharashtra, have ordered civic bodies to give an identification number to every ultrasound machine in use in their jurisdictions to bring them on the surveillance radar.