P A G E
Wednesday, August 11, 1999
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E D I T O R I A L P A G E |
Wednesday, August 11, 1999 |
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Absurdity
of plenty
ATTITUDE
TOWARDS ARMY LIFE |
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Need
for national security vigilance panel
Dogged
by problems
Youth’s
susceptibility to leprosy |
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Absurdity of plenty AN insensitive bureaucratic mindset is at play in the government’s latest problem of mounting wheat stocks and no buyers, forcing it to announce a distress sale. It holds a stock of more than 30 million tonnes of both rice and wheat. Procurement last season was very good — rice 10.4 million tonnes and wheat 14.1 million tonnes. That totals up to more than 24 million tonnes and adding last year’s unsold stocks, the FCI silos are naturally bulging. The public distribution system (fair price shops) under different names normally lifts not more than 12 million tonnes and the country should have a minimum of 8 million tonnes as buffer to take care of any adverse situation. That approximately leaves an “unwanted” surplus of 10 million tonnes. Now the government is desperate to spot buyers and not many are coming forward. Holding on to stocks which the food security system just does not need brings in triple burden. Bank interest on the loans taken to buy and stock the foodgrains keeps going up and comes to reflect in the total food subsidy, even though the money does not subsidise any one. There is an element of a scandal in this sheer waste of public fund. Two, the storage system is often not scientific and the grains tend to rot; this apart, rodents and insects damage the stock and often there is pilferage glibly attributed to loss in storage. This has been happening for the better part of this decade — good procurement, comfortable carryover stock, stagnating offtake and steadily increasing subsidy. Is there a way out? Maybe there is, and to put it in place, one has to grapple with another problem. Poverty is endemic in the rural areas of certain backward states. Latest surveys indicate that more people are slipping under the poverty line, particularly since the start of the liberalisation drive in 1991. With some imagination and faith in democratic institutions, the mountains of “unwanted” foodgrains can be carried to the hungry millions and in the process capital assets can be created to sustain the tempo of increased food production. The basic idea is to resurrect the old food-for-work programme in a modified form, involve the panchayat system in both identifying the work and the needy and also take the responsibility for seeing the plan through. In fact, a leading expert has more or less drawn up a blueprint to convert two idle assets — stored grain and jobless villager — into concrete farm-related assets. In a passionate article, he points out that the food-for-work scheme offers 100 days of employment with a kilo of grain as the daily wage for those under the poverty line and thus the beneficiary will get a quintal of wheat or rice a year, enough to crawl out of the perennial poverty trap. If the government spares
10 million tonnes, 10 crore of villagers will gain and
that will reduce abject poverty by an impressive 25 per
cent in one year! True, foodgrains alone cannot be the
sole capital; sizeable cash is needed to take care of
related aspects. But the point is the money can be found
with sincere efforts. As the experts wearily warns, there
is very little chance of any consideration of such a
project, much less allowing it to take off. The
philosophy of the ruling classes, rather the absence of
it, will militate against any pro-poor policies. Slogans
win elections and the urban elite win concessions in
terms of cellular telephone bailouts. If equity and
social justice were to determine the election,
work-for-food programme would be the masthead of every
political party and Prof Amartya Sen will be king. |
Was Kargil the beginning? ON Saturday the Indian security personnel arrested two field officers of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and two Harkatul Mujahideen activists near Guwahati. What they revealed to the security forces during interrogation prompted Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta to declare that the ultimate objective of the militants was to engineer a “jehad” against India. According to him, Pakistan wants to provoke the local Muslim population into fighting for the creation of an independent Muslim homeland in the North-East. However, the more credible story was that the explosives recovered from the militants were meant for blowing up the Manali-Leh highway. Before the import of the revelations made by the ISI agents and the so-called mujahideen could sink in, the militants struck again on Monday and blew up the railway bridge in Kokrajhar district of Assam virtually cutting of the North-East from the rest of the country. Mercifully, no human lives were lost in the latest act of sabotage by the militants who seem to have acquired the “right of way” to virtually every part of the country. The official explanation is that the scale of violence has been stepped up to spoil the Independence Day celebrations on August 15. Thereafter the objective of the various militant outfits would be to disrupt the Lok Sabha elections spread over a period of one month! It is evident that the agencies charged with the duty of intelligence gathering, instead of admitting their incompetence, are trying to master the art of giving daft explanations. A more credible theory
doing the rounds is that the Pakistani intrusions in the
Kargil sector were meant to divert the attention of the
security forces from the points which seem to have been
effectively used by the ISI for smuggling into the Indian
territory well-armed militants and agents.This may indeed
have been the case going by the scale of violence and the
audacity with which the militants attacked well-guarded
police and military establishments at about the time the
intruders were reported to be withdrawing from Kargil.
Since the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies have
decided to take political advantage of the successful
“Operation Vijay”, they should also take the
blame for the sudden spurt in Pak-sponsored acts of
militancy across the country. Investigations may reveal
that Kargil was just the opening chapter of the devious
agenda which Pakistan has prepared for causing communal
tension and civil strife in India. There is also
circumstantial evidence to support the thesis that the
agenda was already in place when Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee undertook the much-publicised bus journey
to Lahore. Mr Nitish Kumar resigned as Railway Minister
not because the latest accident gave him sleepless nights
but because he wanted to show to the electorate that he
belongs to the rare species of politicians who believe in
owning moral responsibility for the lapses of the
ministry under their charge. The Union Home Ministry is
responsible for the maintenance of internal security. The
incidents which have occurred over the past few weeks
show that no one in the Home Ministry has any clue about
the reach of the ISI and Pak-trained militant groups.
However, Home Minister L. K. Advani will not do a Nitish
Kumar because such a morally correct gesture was likely
to cause serious damage to the electoral prospects of the
BJP-driven National Democratic Alliance. However, there
should be no doubt that he has embarrassed those among
his followers who saw in him the making of another Sardar
Patel. |
Sign of the rot A BAD workman fights with his tools. If he happens to be occupying as exalted a position as that of the President of Russia, he tries to prove his efficiency by kicking out his Prime Ministers every now and then. President Yeltsin has earned the dubious distinction of sending four Prime Ministers packing in just 18 months. The purpose of the latest unusual exercise that took place on Monday is twofold. One, he wants to ensure somehow that the Communists do not come to power, and two, he is keen to deflect attention from his own failures, which are legion. To hang on to power, Mr Yeltsin picks up absolutely trusted and loyal men to occupy the high post but that is no guarantee of the political longevity of the incumbent. He had gushed about the qualities of Mr Sergei Stepashin three months ago in the same manner in which he is now showering praise on Mr Vladimir Putin. In fact, he has named Mr Putin as his successor as President when elections are held in July next year. But there is no certainty that the honeymoon will last. There are reasons to suspect that Mr Yeltsin wants to stay in power beyond 2000. Mr Putin might only prove to be a stopgap arrangement. Soon enough, he may be turned into yet another scapegoat. Just as Mr Stepashin was eased out as soon as he shed his low profile and showed flashes of ambition. Mr Yeltsin was also reported to be angry with him because he failed to prevent an electoral alliance between Mr Yuri Luzhkov, the Moscow Mayor who is a bitter critic of Mr Yeltsin, and some powerful regional leaders. The tieup can pose a serious challenge to Mr Yeltsin in the days to come. Theoretically, the Duma can scuttle the elevation of Mr Putin but such are the Russian laws that Mr Yeltsin can dissolve the Lower House in that eventuality. Duma members do not want to risk that loss at this stage when parliamentary elections are only four months away. What is more important is whether Mr Putin can continue to enjoy the confidence of the President. He has the experience of serving changing masters but might still find the going tough. Monday's switchover can
be ruinous for Russia. As it is, nothing seems to be
going right for the once-great country. Economy is a
shambles. The rebellion in Russia's southern province of
Daghestan has reached alarming proportions with Islamic
rebels seizing several villages over the weekend. In
fact, it was Mr Stepashin who had been overseeing the
operation against the armed militants who are demanding
unification with the separatist republic of Chechnya next
door. A bit of political stability in Moscow might have
eased matters somewhat. But that was not to be.
Naturally, the rouble has lost nearly 4 per cent of its
value and the stocks have tumbled. That will make life
even tougher for the man on the street. Only bad times
can be predicted for the hapless country. |
ATTITUDE TOWARDS ARMY LIFE A SOLDIER during the course of a war is a great hero but is looked down on in piece time in our society. When a soldier returns to civilian life after retirement, he is a lost soul. There is some discipline, some norms and a system to regulate Army life. But civilian life is all chaotic and messed up. If there is any system that governs it, it is Darwin’s dark law of the survival of the fittest. And a soldier finds himself out of place in such a social order, and those who control the levers of civilian life often treat him as a dispensable nuisance. Thus, the term “fauji” conveys the feeling of contempt and derision, connoting a dim-witted fellow. This is because of lack of professional attitude towards Army life. During the course of war the whole nation is arrayed behind the Army. A soldier is a national hero, a saviour and a martyr if he dies in action. Once the fighting is over, life is back to normal; the war widows, orphans and disabled soldiers are left to fend for themselves. This has been the pattern so far, and there is no evidence to suggest that the situation is going to change in the aftermath of the Kargil war. There is a great upsurge of patriotic feelings during a war but the euphoria observed during the battle in the Kargil sector has been unprecedented. The Kargil war was made into a great spectacle, a gigantic display of fireworks. And this spectacle was enacted into every drawing room, thanks to TV. There were shots from the war front and the effusive downpour of patriotic feelings all over the country. There were all kinds of snippets to sway the sentiments — beggars emptying their bowls of change for the defence fund, poor women with no cash to donate going on fast to save on food for the war effort, and so on. A maudlin sentimentality was let loose upon the nation. A medal has been designed with the motto “For our tomorrow, they gave their today” embossed on it. The next of kin of soldiers who died in action would wear the badge. Now the widows, the orphans and the elderly parents of the deceased soldiers are expected to act as vectors of patriotic fervour. Does it not occur to our policy makers that this kind of attempt to romanticise and glamorise the death of a soldier in such a vulgar fashion is to trivialise his supreme sacrifice? So long as a soldier’s life remains shrouded in the haze of patriotic fervour, he will never get his due place in society. His dead body may be venerated but when alive he is paid a measly “high altitude allowance” on the icy heights of Kargil. Those who join the Army do so in search of employment, and Army life is a profession. Take the case of Haryana. As per the census conducted by the Haryana State Sainik Board, the total number of Army personnel in the state — ex-Army men and serving soldiers — as on 31-12-97 is 3,92,200. Out of the 19 districts of Haryana four — Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani and Rewari — have the highest share, 1,62,065 Army personnel. Other four districts — Karnal, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Sirsa, have the smallest number of 28,565. How do we explain this wide variation in the contribution of the two sets of four districts to the Army while the variation in terms of population is small? Does this mean that the people of the last four districts are less patriotic than those of the first four ones? The question might startle the self-styled patriots. Its answer has to be sought in the economic structure of the districts concerned. Haryana is known for its Green Revolution. The last four districts are its greatest beneficiaries. There is plenty of irrigation water — an essential input along with hybrid seeds, fertilisers etc, for higher agricultural production in these districts. The first three districts in this group — Karnal, Kaithal and Kurukshetra — constitute the centre of the rich paddy belt in the state and they contribute 47.6 per cent of the total rice yield in the state. The fourth district — Sirsa — is the heart of the cotton-belt in the state and it alone contributes 43 per cent of the total cotton production in Haryana. Wheat is another cash crop in these districts. Thus, agriculture is a paying profession in these four districts, and the landed households are comparatively affluent. It is no surprise that Army life has no attraction in these districts. In comparison, the first four districts that contribute the largest share of the Army personnel in the state constitute the arid zone of Haryana, and the effect of new agricultural technology is minimal there. These four districts contribute only 6.1 per cent of the total cotton production in the state while their share in the rice production is only 7.7 per cent. Farming in this zone is largely rain-fed and the production of the traditional coarse foodgrains is still the order of the day. This belt is marked by a high level of unemployment and economic distress, and an entry into the Army provides a good escape. Thus, it is the economic hardship and mounting unemployment and not the abstract appeal of patriotism that drive the people in this zone to the Army. The recruitment centres in this belt overflow with the mass of unemployed youth at the time of recruitment to the Army, and money too changes hands if the recruiting officer happens to be corrupt. Thus, Army life is a profession and not a badge of patriotism, and any professional lapse involving an avoidable loss of life pinches the people most. This feeling was abundantly evident in Haryana’s countryside during the Kargil war. Haryana, a small state of the Union of India, was a major player in the Kargil war. Perhaps the largest number of casualties fell to its share. Till the writing of these lines as many as 76 cremations/burials have taken place in the state. This author has attended a number of them. Invariably, there was a huge crowd in the funeral processions. In Haryana, women never go to the cremation site. But in this case the age-old tradition was broken and women in large numbers joined the men folk at the cremation site. The frenzy calmed down soon after the cremation was over and the realisation of the harsh reality dawned on many of the mourners. What has pained Haryanvis most is that about one-fourth of the soldiers from the state who died in action were in their early twenties. Most of these simple young men had not seen mountains in their life, and they were pushed to fight in the most difficult hilly terrain soon after their training was over. There are all kinds of nagging questions. How and why did so many intruders happen to occupy Indian territory? Could so many precious lives not be saved if those who run the system had been a little more alert? Professional lapses at different levels in our system alone could lead to this kind of a catastrophe. The lack of professional angle in tackling the fallout of the Kargil war is another serious lapse. There is no policy change in the matter of rehabilitation of war widows, orphans and disabled soldiers. As many as 17,000 soldiers have lost their lives in action, 30,000 have been wounded and 2,500 disabled since 1947. But till 1993 there was no policy of giving ex gratia grants to the families of those killed. Adhocism still rules the roost. An amount to Rs 300 crore is needed for the rehabilitation of Kargil victims. Two funds specifically set up by the Ministry of Defence for this purpose — the National Defence Fund and the Army Central Welfare Fund — have together got about Rs 26 crore. The bulk of the money raised for this purpose has found its way to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. And how much from this fund will actually flow to defence headquarters is anybody’s guess. The one-time munificence for the war widows, a bit generous this time, is likely to become a bone of contention among the covetous members of the family. Financial security alone is not going to improve the status of the war widows in a patriarchal society like ours. Public donations tend to reduce the bereaved families to beggary. The social security of the dependents of the soldiers who die in action should be the complete responsibility of the state, and the money needed for this purpose should be a part of the defence budget. The super-rich of the country can be taxed for this purpose, if need be. This would go a long way towards lending dignity to a soldier and making Army life an attractive profession,which is not the case at the moment. Our Army is currently faced with a shortage of 14,000 officers. A strictly professional outlook needs to be cultivated if the situation has to change for the better. It is a part of the profession of a soldier to lay down his life in action if need be. And no soldier worth the salt would grudge it. After all, Army life is no picnic, and war is no invitation to a tea party. But if a single life is lost which could be saved, it is a crime not only against the Army but also against the nation. The controversy on the issue of lapses at the level of the intelligence set-up or the political leadership in the context of the Kargil war is to be seen in this light. The nation must debate the issue thoroughly to get at the truth, and learn proper lessons for future guidance. (The author, who
teaches English at Dyal Singh College, New Delhi,
specialises in Haryana affairs.) |
Managing states’ finances MORE and more states are getting into financial problems. This is the case with supposedly prosperous states too. Apparently, something is wrong with the management of finances. Any state’s budget is the reflection in miniature of problems of the Indian economy, particularly at the state level. The complexion of the government does not make much of a difference. The issue is of change in structure and discourse. Here development stands equated with government expenditure under an arbitrary plan head, leading to a competitive and fictitious increase in the plan size, distorting the priorities and financial control. The income is overestimated and expenditure underestimated. Increased expenditure needed to meet inflationary requirements is touted as increased development. Committed establishment expenditure is reclassified as plan expenditure. Since the works of boards and corporations, excepting electricity boards, are not counted in the state plan, the state appropriates to itself their resources to show a higher plan, distorting the priorities and regional balance. The sanction of a higher-than-justified grants by the legislature puts a lever in the hands of the bureaucracy to arbitrarily starve some areas of funds in the name of economy, and wastefully overfund others on the whims and fancy of the powerful. Legislative controls have weakened, and legislators have become beggars. This has led to overcentralisation resulting in delays and inefficiency. The inability to gather local resources has made us pathetically dependent on external resources irrespective of the slogans of “Swadeshi” or self-reliance. Vulnerability has increased to an extent that it seems difficult for any government to survive without external assistance. This explains the moves to go all-out to woo foreign capital and international loans irrespective of rhetoric to the contrary. The debt-trap, at the state level at least, is a reality and even the best of the states are in imminent danger of default. Unfortunately, in spite of clear danger signals, there is no attempt at rethinking, particularly among the states. Finance Ministers’ speeches continue to be banal statements of so much of additional funds for such and such scheme. No schemes are dropped, no new introduced. There is no attempt at redeployment of resources, no promise of any structural or procedural reform. There is no commitment of achievement in real terms. Time stands still. Let us take Haryana as an example in the above context. Haryana’s Plan revenue expenditure was Rs 645 crore last year. Of this, at least 75 per cent — Rs 480 crore — was on salaries. Salaries and allowances have doubled since then. Therefore, Rs 1125 crore is required to retain the same level next year against which Rs 1176 crore is provided. Actually, the provision is only Rs 1030 crore as the staff expenditure of the PWD of 147 crores has been shifted from non-Plan area to the Plan area showing a fictitious increase in the Plan size. This shows gross underestimation of committed expenditure, a fictitious increase in the Plan-size, a distortion in classification and under-provisioning to be met from the diversion of loans and grants to be received for other purposes. The state has a gross fiscal deficit of Rs 2,900 crore next year without any significant income generating expenditure. Its interest burden will be Rs 400 crore. Capital expenditure is planned at Rs 1223 crore. This is mainly on externally assisted projects for which assistance is assumed at Rs 1020 crore approximately. However, since revenue expenditure is underestimated by about Rs 250 crore (including non-Plan) the income overestimated (both from revenue and central transfers) by a minimum of Rs 400 crore, the state has either to divert external assistance to meet committed expenditure, or transfer funds from boards or corporations or default. This shows pathetic dependence on external aid, determination of our priorities by the availability of aid, nearness to the debt-trap and the imminent possibility of default. Even if the estimates of a larger revenue gap made here prove wrong, the calamity can be postponed only by a couple of years in view of a large fiscal deficit. Canal irrigation involves an expenditure of Rs 450 crore against the realisation of Rs 30 crore. Power subsidy on tubewells is about Rs 600 crore. Of this subsidy of Rs 1000 crore 80 per cent goes to about four lakh holders having more than two hectares of land, and rest goes to eight lakh holders having less than two hectares. Three lakh holders get no benefit receiving no irrigation. If these 10 lakh poorest families were to receive a grant of Rs 10,000 per annum each from this amount, poverty will be banished from Haryana. Planned development of India has been the major instrument of transfer of incomes from the poor to the rich. International financial institutions have been willing partners in this scheme. This is in line with the massive loan write-off, high tariff-protected rent incomes, securities scams to loot poor small investors, and various tax incentives, etc, provided by the Centre to the rich at the national level. This is not to put any particular government in the dock, but to point out the dead end that we have reached. We have to rethink. Dominant Nehruvian discourse must be replaced. The budget should become the concern of all and debated in our schools, colleges and universities. Our media and opinion makers have to go into these things in depth. The deprived have to understand the issues. They have to decline the crumbs of minor subsidies not to allow the rich to run away with the cake. The government has to withdraw. Power must go to the people. They should decide their own future at the lowest possible decision-making level. (The writer is a
former senior bureaucrat.) |
Dogged
by problems LIFE, for a man of my temperament, is an endless procession of vexing problems. If one day it is a leaking faucet in the bathroom that gets on my nerves with its incessant drip-drip-drip, the other day it can be the fluorescent tube in my study that starts winking when I am reading an interesting book. Then, in recent weeks I have noticed that there is something wrong with the doors and windows of our house. Maybe it is their wood that keeps expanding or contracting according to the state of the weather. Reminds me of the waxing and waning phases of the moon. When the doors and windows are passing through the waxing phase, they are difficult to shut, and if shut, impossible to open, Napolean Bonaparte notwithstanding! The other day, when I wanted to go to the station to receive a friend, the door of our bathroom refused to open. In short, it required the combined strength of the whole family to open the jammed door, an attempt in which, alas, I hurt my hand badly. Normally, “raddiwalas” pass by our door at the rate of one every other minute, but when our accumulation of old newspapers starts climbing to the roof and we want to dispose it of soon, I have to go around looking for a “raddiwala” with a lamp in hand, so to speak. The entire tribe then seems to have vanished into the blue. I have a penchant for the reposeful pursuits of life, such as reading books and listening to soft, soothing music. But sometimes it seems as if the whole world is conspiring to keep me away from these pursuits. Why, I have seldom completed one chapter of a book or listened to one song of my liking without being disturbed by someone ringing our doorbell. And when I come out to see who has called, I find it is a salesman of some fly-by-night company who wants to foist on me a vacuum cleaner which I don’t need. When I get rid of this fellow, I hopefully return to my reading or music, but hardly have I taken a breather when the telephone starts ringing with importunate insistence. I attend to it only to find that it is a wrong number. Sometimes I wonder why
my life is always peppered with petty problems. A friend
says that some people have it in their genes — to
attract problems, like a magnet attracting nails. Of
course, he is just being facetious. I don’t take
such observations seriously. But I do sometimes believe
that there is indeed some mantra for leading a smooth,
hassle-free life. If anybody has it and does not object
to sharing it with me, I shall gladly get in touch with
him or her. |
Need for national security
vigilance panel BOWING to persistent demands in the country in the wake of the two-month-long Kargil war, the government has appointed the four-member K. Subramanyam committee to review the events leading to the conflict. Chairman Subramanyam’s team comprising journalist B.G. Verghese, Lt-Gen K.K. Hazari and member-secretary Satish Chandra, who also heads the N.S.C. Secretariat, has been also term-referenced to recommend measures that will help safeguard national security in the future. The committee has been asked to turn in its report by October 31. First, a closer look at the Subramanyam committee’s charter, composition, legal status and general look. I am afraid in all these departments, little confidence is instilled in many of us old soldiers, who find it extremely difficult to accept this committee which remains still-born. What can one say, for example of a charter which earlier on, promises a “comprehensive review” of events that led to the intrusions (as if that was all that mattered), and then keeps on adding terms of reference as days go by like the enunciation of recommendations of “measures considered necessary to safeguard national security against armed intrusions.” There can only be one single or a two-line mission clearly set out for any committee of this kind, with the terms of reference (these can be any in number), appended alongside to channelise or guide the members within certain specific parameters, to arrive at the truth or the factual position, that the inquiry panel has been tasked for. As one sees it, the non-statutory nature of the committee, with no teeth provided to muster anything or anyone worthwhile to its deliberations, could further end up in the production of a lukewarm, half-cooked, middle-of-the-path report, based more on hearsay and the individual perceptions of the members, and not be acceptable to a majority, who happen to be well-versed in military and diplomatic matters. The third area of my concern, is the composition of the committee itself. No offence is meant to any of the members concerned, but it has to be said in the interest of a worthwhile report that everyone wants that the country could well have done with a different list. Firstly, what we required here were members who were not even remotely connected to the government in any way, and yet leaving aside the General, the other three are all members of the National Security Advisory Board, a body nominated by none else but the government. Secondly, and more importantly, is it not funny that the N.S.C., is now being tasked to legislate on its own performance, and then go on to recommend measures for bettering the country’s national security? Thirdly, as they say an Army is as good as the General leading it, what, might one ask, would be the special qualifications of the chairman who heads this committee, monitoring one of the country’s most important military probes. Have any of the four, with the possible exception of the General who too retired long ago, got any in-depth or practical personal knowledge of the ways and the working of the armed forces and the psyche of the Indian jawan and the officers who lead him to battle? Surely when the most important question of the whole inquiry — the operational and intelligence preparedness of the Indian Army — was about to be looked into, would it not have been better to have at the helm in place of civilians, serving bureaucrats and journalists, security-related military professionals possessing a deep knowledge of the Indian Army, as also other armies of the world facing similar situations today, and ask them to find out what went wrong and why. Is there then a case for the setting up of a “national security vigilance commission”, for the geo-political environment in the country, to advise the government on all security-related issues that will confront the country from time to time. A three-member, statutory, constitutional body like the Election Commission, comprising eminent former servicemen, who will interact directly with the Prime Minister on any and every matter concerning the security of the country. In the Kargil conflict, the professionalism and restraint of the Indian armed forces stood out in stark contrast to the adventurism and brinkmanship of the Pakistani Generals. At the same time institutes like the IDSA, the U.S.I. and other think-tanks, have not been able to contribute much to the understanding of the right kind of security-related concerns. It has to be said for the record, that this writer was perhaps the only one who had said at the very start of the conflict, that crossing of the LoC would be unwise, and that the LoC could be “restored” to its original configuration without having to cross it. That has come to pass exactly as we have all seen. Very few of the spokesmen in the think-tanks agreed with me then. Today, it is time to cut
across party lines and all the biases and red-tape, and
set up a , “national security vigilance
commission” at the earliest. This will help us
safeguard the territorial integrity and sovereignty of
the nation better. |
Time to say no to genetically
engineered food LAST year activists led by Prof Nanjundaswamy burnt genetically engineered (GE) crops in Karnataka to show their resentment against US multinational, Mon-santo, the world’s biggest herbicide producer, for conducting field trials on GE cotton. They gathered in hundreds to secure their future against genetic engineering in food and crops. The farmer’s anguish and anxiety brings to focus the threat genetically propagated crops are carrying to humans, animals, vegetation and environment as a whole. The concept promises to eliminate the natural milieu and offers us an era of dire consequences. There is much hide and seek involved in the process of developing genetically engineered seeds. Though it is presented as something that could save the world from poverty and hunger, there is no guarantee of it being misused to serve industrial purposes. Genetic engineering in agricultural biotechnology patronises new characteristics in crops such as resistance to diseases, pests, insects, droughts and frosts. The benefits multiply to increased yields with low cost on sprays as some of the engineered crops will produce natural pesticides. The crops produced shall carry higher nutritional value than its traditional counterpart, thus bashing malnutrition. Is this reason enough to hold the whole civilisation to ransom? Altering genes or combining different kinds of DNA to produce the unnatural is the biggest blunder humanity can inflict upon itself, cry scientists. They claim that once the crops hit the fields there is no way to control the spread of genetically engineered epidemic. It shall pave the way for destruction of good insects, pollinators and kill beneficial soil fungi. Multinationals in their attempt to raise profits and expand horizons have opened Pandora’s box and until and unless they are hit below the belt there is no stopping them. The ‘Ecologist’ in its September, 1998, issue brought to focus the detestable designs of Monsanto. The company is the largest seller of Round-Up, a herbicide with a salt known as glyphosate. Currently Monsanto holds patents on half of the 36 genetically engineered food products. It has created Round-Up ready seeds of cotton, soybean, canola, corn and beet. Simultaneously it launched a £ 1-million advertising campaign in UK promoting its GE seeds with a philosophy — “We believe food should be grown with less pesticides and herbicides.” The social message of the proclamation is in resonance with modern thinking but ironically with Round-Up seeds there is no better benefactor than the company itself. The farmer when indulging in traditional farming applied Round-Up only before sowing, to kill weeds. With the new Round-Up resistant seeds he can use the herbicide throughout the year as it will have no effect on the standing crop, thus increasing the sales of the herbicide. Furthermore, researchers indicate that the seed will mix with the weeds and make them herbicide-resistant. Normal dosage of Round-Up will have to be shunned and double or triple the present portion will be required to kill the same weeds. With this, the profit of Monsanto knows no bounds. Excessive dose of Round-Up has endangered many precious herbs and is toxic to many species of fungi which are vital for nutrient recycling. Dr Vandana Shiva, Director of Institute of Science, Technology and Ecology, points out that the spread of Round-Up ready crops is a recipe for soil erosion and an end to diversity. It is not a method of soil conservation. Greenpeace in its bid to mobilise society against genetically engineered crops brings to focus another startling fact about ‘transgenic maize’ engineered by Novartis, a Swiss multinational. The transgenic maize contains an antibiotic resistance gene against ampicillin and a series of other penicillins. This fact holds to penance the future health of over 12 million people who are prescribed ampicillin and penicillin for cure every year. Genetic modification the world over has received resistance from various science researchers, organisations, NGOs, social groups and private lobbies. Moratoriums, prohibitions and cessations have been clamped by various countries to the entry of GE foods owing to the fear of unascertained phenomena. Today the threat of genetically modified foods entering into India looms large on our heads. The pressure of the western world and its hesitancy in accepting GE foods for future makes the Third World countries most vulnerable target for the giants of biotechnology industry. They see India as a potential market and are all set to spread their tentacles in the Indian market. The threat is so serious that the Karnataka episode has left observers high and dry for the way Monsanto made inroads amongst our power-brokers and managed permission to conduct field trials whereas the world is heavily debating the merits and demerits of genetically modified foods. It is for us to rise in solidarity against the onslaught of multinationals who see India as means of swelling their pockets. There seems to be no place for complacency. Farm reforms are what we must strive for and there is enough available technology to boost our food production levels to meet our demands. Knowing the
multinationals paying capacity and with the elections
round the corner, one never knows which side the tide
might sweep. |
Youth’s susceptibility to leprosy THE problem of successfully eradicating leprosy is complicated by the extreme susceptibility to infection of persons of tender age. Half the infections occur in those under 20 years of age and three fourths in those under 30. After that age, the susceptibility is slight. In the Cullion Settlement, where not separated from their infected parents, 38 per cent and 44 per cent of two series became lepers, although the infection rate of adults living in the same dwellings as lepers is only 5 per cent. In iceland a law forbidding children under 15 to live in the same house as a leper, together with segregation of the infected, reduced the incidence of leprosy by two-thirds in twenty years. Research has proved that
leprosy is very rarely hereditary; in India, hundreds of
the children of lepers, separated from their parents at
an early age, have grown up as healthy children. If
children and adolescents could be saved from contact with
lepers, the disease would decline to an extraordinary
degree within two generations. |
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