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| Wednesday,
December 27, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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PM’s birthday gift Spending
on education |
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Calcutta
to Kolkata Bombay, Madras and now Calcutta! The name-changing spree is going further and further. After Mumbai and Chennai, the world will have to get used to Kolkata. Mind you, this is over and above smaller cities like Trivandrum. The Centre has finally accepted the demand for a change in the name of the third metropolis. This has been a pet theme of the Chief Minister for long and he is all set to present it as a victory of sorts over an "anti-Bengali" Centre.
CHALLENGES
FROM CHINA Economic policy sans
transparency
On the export fast
track!
Kashmiris
fed up with violence: Jagat
Focussing attention on
young adults
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THERE is something inexplicable about the three central government schemes announced on Monday. First is the feudal timing, like emperors of yore giving away costly gifts to celebrate the birth of a son. In the present case it was to mark the birthday of Prime Minister Vajpayee, his first in the new millennium! This may be in tune with the spirit of a section of the BJP but not of the 21st century. The second is intriguing. The sale of foodgrains at one-fourth of the FCI’s economic cost met with bitter opposition of the Finance Ministry and it was reported that it had been shelved. Earlier Food Minister Shanta Kumar had explained that there was no authentic count of the poorest of the poor and also there was no mechanism to identify them and deliver the grains. The latest buzz is that the plan was on the anvil for more than two months and has been incidentally unveiled on the birthday. It does sound like an
afterthought. However, the idea itself is very sound and has two merits. It should prove very effective in reducing hunger and also in reducing the mounting stock of foodgrains with the FCI by about three million tonnes. The hurried calculation of an additional subsidy burden of Rs 2,300 crore is misleading; it does not take into account the savings of about Rs 660 crore by way of the carrying cost in a full year. As has often been stressed in the past, the very poor are mostly concentrated in what is pejoratively called the “Bimaru” states which have a notoriously undeveloped public distribution system. How is this structural handicap to be overcome? This fact too lends support to the suspicion that some fawning leader has played on the sentiment to join in the birthday fun to come up with half-baked schemes. The problem will be compounded in a poor agricultural year or if the whole thing comes unravelled in a sea of corruption and inefficiency. A very good plan will then die in its infancy. Similar weaknesses mark the Rs 60,000 crore rural road proposal. Funding will pose insurmountable difficulties. Remember, there is another road scheme, the quadrilateral one, which is likely to cost Rs 80,000 crore and should be ready by 2003. The private sector has so far entered only seven small stretches and the average cost works out to more than Rs 6 crore a kilometre. The government has a puny amount of Rs 2500 crore collected by way a cess of Re 1 a litre of diesel. But that is for highways and not rural roads. Even before a paise is sent to the states, which will have to lay the roads, the Centre has come out with elaborate rules imposing demeaning conditions. The highway project does not involve building new roads as much as upgrading existing ones as acquiring land is proving to be a major headache. The same will be true of link roads in rural areas. The Prime Minister hopes that a rural network of all-weather roads will bring the villagers into the development process, help them get better healthcare and create wealth. What he has left unsaid is that a road links both ways — the village with the town and the town with the village. City slickers will use the same strip of land to penetrate into the until inaccessible areas. The colonial rulers set up the railway system not to enable Indians to get better medical facilities but to step up exploitation. All this is not to question the need for good communication but to question the
feasibility of the plan. The government should ensure that the sadak yojana does not peter out as sadak natak. |
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IN India, as in any developing country, people in general spend a negligible part of their annual earning on education, though it is the key to economic growth, according to Nobel Laureate Prof Amartya Sen. A major part of the income goes into buying food items. This uncomforting situation prevails because even today over 33 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line despite the introduction of the much-publicised economic reforms in 1991. However, the new economic policy has brought about a significant change in the consumption pattern of the middle classes and those in the higher income group. According to the data carried in a financial daily, quoting the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), the total private consumption expenditure on education in five years (between 1993-94 and 1998-99) has gone up by over 50 per cent. Education has now become a priority item so far as household expenditure is concerned. Though the increase in education's share as a result of the shift in households' priority was only. 0.25 per cent (from 1.75 per cent to 2 per cent) during the five-year period, the development has its own significance. It shows growing awareness about education among certain sections of the population, including the salaried classes. The main reason is believed to be the popularity of computer-related courses. Most of the salaried class people do not hesitate to send their offspring to institutes offering computer education, available in almost every part of the country. They are not deterred by the expenses. The increased awareness about education is indeed heartening news despite the fact that certain sections of Indians still find it difficult to make both ends meet. The change in the consumption pattern of the classes benefited by the new economic policy shows another significant development. It relates to healthcare. Since 1993-94 there has been a rise of as much as 65 per cent in the aggregate household expenditure. Health care's share in 1998-99 in the total expenses went up to 4.25 per cent from a little more than 3 per cent in 1993-94. The figures prove that the beneficiary classes have become highly conscious of health and medical care. In fact, the experience of the developed countries reveals that there is a direct correlation between an increase in the people's earning and their expenses on education and healthcare. So, the whole thing boils down to the percentage of the economic reforms' beneficiaries. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee the other day hinted that the fruits of growth since the change in the economic climate in the country were yet to reach the India that lived in villages and urban slums. This vast majority of our population deserves special care. Unless their household expenditure pattern shows a clear shift in favour of education and heath care, any good news about the beneficiary classes will not be worth rejoicing at. |
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Bombay, Madras and now Calcutta! The name-changing spree is going further and further. After Mumbai and Chennai, the world will have to get used to Kolkata. Mind you, this is over and above smaller cities like Trivandrum. The Centre has finally accepted the demand for a change in the name of the third metropolis. This has been a pet theme of the Chief Minister for long and he is all set to present it as a victory of sorts over an "anti-Bengali" Centre. The acceptance has come at such a time that the West Bengal Government (or should it be called Pashchim Bangla Sarkar?) can project it as a New Year gift. If pseudo-nationalism can be suitably whipped, it can even pay dividends during the forthcoming Assembly elections. Since it has been converted into quite an emotive issue, nobody is going to ask what the city actually gains from it? Will poverty, pollution, agitations and filth which are an integral part of the so-called City of Joy vanish or at least diminish? Perhaps not. The change will not make any difference whatsoever, except for massaging the Bengali ego. That is why a wag has pointed out that now that the absence of civic amenities of Calcutta has become notorious all over the world, the government wants to change the name and start with a clean slate! There is a small problem though. Many streets of the city continue to have their old, colonial names. What will the government do about them? And how about Calcutta University and the Calcutta High Court? Are they also in for a change or the same stratagems that were applied in Bombay will be tried out in Calcutta as well? When Bombay changed its name, the Bombay Municipal Corporation remained the BMC. It was only re-christened the Brihat Mumbai Corporation. The campaign for name change was conducted in the name of Bengali intellectuals. Some of them have indeed welcomed it but there is an equally large section that has questioned its wisdom. For instance, noted filmmaker Mrinal Sen has wondered what the Bengali culture will stand to gain by this re-christening. Veteran intellectual Anand Sankar Roy says: "I am opposed to this decision which will make a mockery of the history behind the name of Calcutta." Of course, there are others who consider this change to be a fulfilment of their dreams and aspirations. Even if it is, this wish-fulfilment is meaningless and rather dangerous, because the contagion seems to be spreading. Ironically, when the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu were agitating for such a re-christening of Bombay and Madras, many Bengali bhadralok were aghast at such "parochialism". If one may ask, what name would they give to the Calcutta switchover? Well, whatever it is, one can think of at least one positive spin-off that will accrue. Hundreds of signboards will have to be repainted and thousands of official papers will have to be reprinted. That will provide jobs to quite a few people. Isn't that quite an achievement for a government of the proletariat? |
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Opinion IT will be an opportunity for India to take stock not only of its own differences with China, but also of China’s regional and global aspirations when Mr Li Peng, the former premier who chairs the National People’s Congress and ranks second to President Jiang Zemin himself, comes calling next month. The suggestion that Mr Zhu Rongji, the premier, might follow, only confirms that China is on a peace offensive. The strategy is not restricted to India. Mr Zhu recently plunged a perplexed Association of Southeast Asian Nations into a quandary with his offer of a free trade pact. The Dalai Lama has confirmed the possibility of a fresh round of Sino-Tibetan negotiations, and Beijing hints at accepting a code of conduct on the disputed Spratly islands where it has so far preferred strong-arm methods. I would not be surprised if the sudden mellowing of North Korea’s Mr Kim Jong-Il towards capitalist, democratic South Korea were part of the same carefully-planned strategy to counter lingering misgivings about Beijing and its proteges. Even India has been offered the sop of an end to the flood of cheap Chinese goods that is threatening to swamp the market. These are synchronised moves in a multi-pronged campaign to reinforce China’s new image of sweet amiability. When New Delhi overruled the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Mr Mukut Mithi, and denied any incursion by Chinese troops, it was seen as an attempt not to provoke Beijing. This may have been tactful, but in the drive to compose our border and other problems, India cannot afford to forget that Beijing more than Washington whipped up global opposition in the aftermath of Pokharan II. China is anxious to seal its understanding with the USA and join the World Trade Organisation. It is determined to thwart American plans for an anti-missile shield. It wants Taiwan. It is seeking assurances of its economic and military security. Above all, it hopes to project itself as a benign great power that will champion Asian causes and outlast the West and Russia, as Mao Zedong predicted long ago in the context of a nuclear holocaust. The context changes, not the purpose. Economics has replaced arms as the instrument of achieving national goals. In the fifties, sixties and even later, China aided if not fomented communist insurrections in several Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The war in Vietnam was in a class by itself. Then, as China seized the Paracel islands and established its authority in the disputed Spratlys, Vietnam warned of the “common fear of Chinese policy in the South China Sea.” Today, China wants Thai rice which is cheaper than its own. Indonesian palm oil is essential for its food processing industries. Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei could meet the oil and gas requirements of a burgeoning industrial economy. A free trade union with ASEAN, which also includes Japan and South Korea, would create a huge market for cheap Chinese goods and challenge the global supremacy of the European Union and the North American Free Trade Area. In pursuing these aims, China has a staunch ally in Chinese-dominated Singapore which is the fifth largest foreign investor in China and whose Prime Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong, welcomed Mr Zhu’s free trade initiative as “a challenge, not a threat.” For one reason or another, other Southeast Asian countries are more wary. This is a region in disarray. It is still reeling from the crisis of 1997. Unable to agree on abolishing intra-regional tariff barriers, it even shows signs of sliding back on economic liberalisation. The number of people below the poverty line in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines has gone up by 50 per cent in three years. They now number 85 million out of the combined population of 350 million. The Philippines growth rate might be nearer 2 per cent than the officially claimed 3.5 per cent. Singapore is probably the only ASEAN country with a vigorous economy and whose companies still receive foreign capital. There are other problems. Apart from his legal entanglements at home, President Joseph Estrada cannot forget how Chinese troops rode roughshod over Filipino claims on Mischief Reef. Indonesia’s President Abdurrahman Wahid, who admits to accepting $2 million from the Sultan of Brunei, also faces possible impeachment as well as political dissidence and a raft of violent secessionist movements. Moreover, Indonesia which has a problem Chinese community, small in numbers but exceedingly rich, at home is at loggerheads with Singapore. Thailand will wait for the outcome of its January 6 election, the first under an idealistic new constitution, before taking any decision. Japan, which sees rice as almost a religion, would be loth to give up agricultural protection. China, on the other hand, is emerging as one of globalisation’s big winners. In 1999 ASEAN’s share of the foreign investment in Asia was a poor 17 per cent while China accounted for a handsome 75 per cent. A 33 per cent rise is likely this year, with Chinese companies, including those in Hong Kong, expecting to raise $20 billion. Not being hampered by either the disruptive trade unionism or the political commitment to an unviable small-scale sector that hobbles India’s industrial growth, China leads in manufacturing. The labour-intensive goods that it produces cheap have swamped Southeast Asian markets, partly explaining why the region’s currencies are falling. Another contrast with India — exports are growing by an annual 30 per cent precisely because they are accorded a much higher priority than the domestic market. Most of Southeast Asia legitimately imports these goods. They are smuggled into India, and if Beijing does try to prevent the flow of contraband it will be further to increase its own Customs revenue which rose by 38.9 per cent to $24.28 billion in the first 11 months of 2000. China is the world’s biggest violator of intellectual property rights. Though it responded to American urgings to impose some control on the production of illicit tapes, CD-ROMs and digital versatile discs, this was only as a quid pro quo for WTO entry. If principles mattered, the Chinese would not have allocated the same patch of ocean bed for prospecting to several parties. They would not have turfed out the legal lessee of a plot of land in Beijing to favour a more influential customer. Nor would they have surreptitiously undercut the Suzhou Industrial Park, heavily financed by Singapore, China’s best friend abroad, in order to promote their own nearby Suzhou New District. Even a determined apologist for China like Mr Lee Kuan Yew found the sleight of hand distasteful. China cuts corners. “The riskier the investment, the more Chinese people want to invest in it,” according to Mr He Xiaoyong of Shanghai Shenyin Securities. There are no uncertainties, however, about China’s political goals, and that is what India must be careful of when Mr Li comes bearing gifts. India must ensure peace along the Line of Actual Control until the border dispute is resolved, seek an amicable solution to the problems of Tibet and the Tibetans, improve economic cooperation and enlist China’s support for its nuclear status. But Indian diplomacy must always remember that China sees itself as a global player rather than an Asian equal. The writer is a former Editor of The Statesman. |
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Economic policy sans transparency THE contours of the second, presumably final, phase of “economic reforms” are still hazy. The Prime Minister and the Union Finance Minister have, however, chosen the annual session of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry as the appropriate occasion to pledge their political will for its implementation. They have not found it advisable or convenient to present them to even the Union Cabinet so far, let alone Parliament and the people. This has been characteristic of the introduction of the “market-friendly economic reforms” in India. The fact is that these “reforms” were and still are a subversive operation lacking in transparency and democratic sanctions. The process of socio-economic development after gaining political independence was launched after a full and frank debate-based political-policy commitment of the national movement for freedom from foreign rule. This process, in spite of shortfalls in achieving its objectives, enjoyed national consensus for four decades. But even a short-term political consensus has eluded the market-friendly economic growth policy. It is not surprising that this policy is tending to be a grave subversion of not only economic and social but also political and strategic objectives of independent India. The votaries of the so-called reforms belong to a coterie which has developed in the small upper crust in society with a cosmopolitan outlook which is alienated from the sentiments and aspirations of the mass of the people in India. The second stage of this policy as proposed by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee is frankly intended to divest the government in India of any socio-economic development role. Reliance is placed by him entirely on the profit-maximisation motive for the private corporate enterprise to achieve the economic growth rate of 9 to 10 per cent without any consideration of equity. It is planned as a primitive accumulation of capital by brutal exploitation of working people and the mass of the consumers in India by business corporations with the backing of the state apparatus. This is what crony capitalism is all about. While the management and, in due course, ownership of public sector industrial and commercial undertakings will be handed over to transnational corporations and their native collaborations, attractive returns to private investors, Indian and foreign, will be ensured by raising “user charges”, that is the prices of goods and services that the business corporations, especially foreign, may be pleased to place in the market in India. The workers are proposed to be deprived of bargaining power to claim fair wages by “reform” of labour laws to give the employers unbridled right of retrenchment and lay-off of workers. The second stage of economic reforms is based on expectations of massive inflow of foreign capital at attractive rates of return which are to be guaranteed by the government. Any meaningful effort based on domestic investment and technological inputs is openly derided and practically ruled out. The official economic policy and political agenda are evidently guided entirely by these expectations and assumptions. A serious and honest initiative to build a consensual policy on economic and social development too is missing in the delineation of the second phase of the market-friendly economic growth policy. The claim voiced by Mr Vajpayee himself and his colleagues from time to time that in the matter of “governance”, the prime ministerial prerogative transcends the policies and commitments of even his own party, let alone democratic sanctions of the people. This is indeed remarkable. He does not seem to care that the process of realignment of social and political forces in India has not come to a stop with the NDA coalition forming the Central Government. He also seems to give precedence to the confidence of foreign investors and their political leaders to buttress his leadership of the Indian government. His admirers in India seems to place their hopes in his ingenuity as well as willingness, to override popular sentiments and aspirations by manipulating politics and policies. But growing popular opposition and dissent within the NDA are increasing and questioning his inordinate ambitions in policy-making and governance. The second stage of economic reforms, as is being delineated, especially its privatisation-globalisation dimensions, is becoming a more and more contentious issue. The opposition parties have perked up and are finding opportunities to regain their lost ground in the political-electoral arena on that basis. The self-serving individuals who are trying desperately to advance their personal careers in politics cannot be relied upon by Mr Vajpayee to secure his position as the head of the coalition government. What is overriding in political contention in a democratic order are policy commitments for building effective political alliances and not the pretensions of individuals alienated from the mass of the people. The familiar scenario for a mid-term electoral contest is again developing for the NDA government. Mr Vajpayee and his associates seem to have become so far helpless prisoners of false policy dogmas handed down to them by foreign experts that they are neither willing nor able to search for the right alternatives. Even though foreign experts may be brilliant in their fields of study, they do not, indeed cannot, address, and on the contrary tend to aggravate, economic and social ailments of India and all underdeveloped countries. It is not surprising either that when official policy-making is based on faulty assumptions and false premises, policy makers stubbornly ignore the fact that their market-friendly policy preferences naturally provoke anger and spontaneously arouse resistance of the mass of the people whose access to the market is limited or totally barred. There is talk of taking “hard decision”. But their discernment of the sentiments and needs of those who do not have access to the market is poor. Their tendency is cavalierly to disregard the fact that hard decisions, after all, hurt the people. The credo of the market-friendly reformers being supportive of those who have means to operate in the market, their policies must bypass and hit those who do not have access to the market. Foreign investors, on their part, are playing a deft cat and mouse game in the Indian market. While direct foreign investors are holding back, institutional investors have stepped up speculative trading on Indian stock markets. Foreign capital inflows are no longer reliable nor do they add to the strength of the Indian economy. On the contrary, they expose its vulnerability. |
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WITH the country’s overseas trade deficit spinning out of control, I was feeling despondent about its economic prospects when a boxed item on the commercial pages caught my eye. It said that India had exported frogs’ legs worth Rs 50 million — an all-time record. So things were looking up, after all and I decided to talk to the Chairman of the Frogs’ Legs Export Promotion Council (FLEPC) about this notable milestone in India’s stepped up export drive. I found him sitting by a noxious pond formed by stagnant sullage water and surrounded by wicker baskets chock full of severed frogs’ legs and holding a spear in his hands. “I’m delighted to give you this exclusive interview, my boy,” he said, deftly spearing another frog and remorselessly dismembering its legs, “you can ask any question you like.” “Do you think it’s morally right and defensible to subject dumb creatures like frogs to inhuman cruelties and dismember their legs and export them?” I asked. The chairman looked up surprised. “Why not?” he said: “You must understand that India is an ancient land of the Buddha, Ashoka, Mahatma Gandhi and ahimsa and what-not and exporting frogs’ legs comes naturally to us.” “I see what you mean,” I said, “but why not export something else like computer software or commercial vehicles which will enhance the country’s prestige?” “You forget, my boy,” said the chairman gravely, “that the country’s foreign exchange and balance of payments position have become critical and if India is to survive in a competitive global economic environment, it has to export frogs’ legs or perish as a nation. The choice is as stark as that.” “You must also remember that collecting frogs’ legs is a labour-intensive industry and that over a million youngsters in the tender and impressionable age group 5 to 12 are engaged full-time in catching frogs alive, dismembering their legs and preserving them in vinegar.” “So these youngsters, while earning their pocket money, are learning thru’ practical, hands-on experience non-violence and compassion towards gods’ creatures so dear to the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi.” “Another important point. Only by exporting frogs’ legs can India hope to leap-frog, if you will pardon the expression, into the 21st century as envisioned by the Prime Minister.” “What’s overseas markets like for Indian frogs’ legs?” I asked. “Well,” said the chairman, “it’s quite buoyant and for 2002-03, the Frogs’ Legs Export Promotion Council has set for itself an ambitious target of Rs 200 million worth of exports.” “Rs 200 million!” I gasped, “you’re pulling my (frogs’) legs!” “Honest,” said the chairman, “during the Uruguay round of WTO negotiations, India was given the Most Favoured Nation status with regard to frogs’ legs exports and France alone has agreed to import from India frogs’ legs worth Rs 50 million. I’m confident that frogs’ legs will emerge as the country’s top traditional export earners, besides mica, shellac and jute.” “I suppose you’ve a well-defined scheme of incentives to push up the export of Indian frogs’ legs in the face of strong international competition?” I said. “That’s right,” said the chairman, “every year, we honour top three exporters of frogs’ legs.” “How?” “We nominate them for life membership of
SPCA.” |
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On Record GURBACHAN JAGAT, who took over as Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) on December 1, has tremendous experience of anti-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations by virtue of his postings as DGP Jammu and Kashmir for nearly four years and in Punjab when militancy soared amid the call for Khalistan. He has also had extended spells in the intelligence setup and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1987 for his excellent performance in the Pre-“Bluestar” and Post “Bluestar” periods. “The people of Kashmir are fed up with violence perpetrated by Pak-backed militants and are longing for peace in the Valley... and this is the right time for us to take advantage of the mood of the people to crush terrorism for ever,” the seasoned Mr Jagat said in an interview to S Satyanarayanan. Excerpts from the interview: Q. What is the ground reality in Jammu and Kashmir now, especially after the ceasefire announcement? A. The most positive factor is that people want peace. When you talk to them you will find that the 10 years of violence has left everybody tired and hurt. They have also been financially wrecked because there is only one industry - Tourism - which is severely affected due to militancy. Another noteworthy factor is that local militancy has declined after the announcement of the ceasefire. Many of the local Hizbul Mujahideen militants are just waiting to somehow get out of militancy. These are the factors on which we have to build up. I think for the first time in 10 years people of Kashmir are dictating terms to the militant organisations and to the Hurriyat. Q. Has the ceasefire announcement resulted in halting BSF’s anti-terrorist operations in Kashmir? A. In fact, the word ceasefire has not been used by the Prime Minister at all. It was only suspension of combat operations. On our part, soon after the Prime Minister’s announcement, we stopped the seek and destroy operations, cordon and search operations and initiating of any combat operations on our own. But as far as Line of Control (LoC) and international border are concerned if anybody is trying to infiltrate or smuggle arms and ammunitions it will be checked. Similarly, in the hinterland, if there is any attack we will be retaliating. So, we have not become totally inactive. We are only more careful that we do not launch largescale operations which would seem to alienate or inconvenience the people. Q. How many BSF jawans were killed or injured in militant attacks after the ceasefire announcement? A. We have not had too many casualties. There were about two dozen militant attacks on the BSF, including IED, grenade and fire attacks in which one jawan was killed and 14 others were injured. Q. How different is the militancy in Jammu and Kashmir compared to militancy in Punjab in early eighties? A. The border in Punjab is an easy one. It was not a difficult border to protect and when the fencing of the borders was completed infiltration was almost impossible. In Jammu and Kashmir the borders, with high mountains and dense forests, are very difficult to guard. Secondly, the general terrain in Punjab was easy, while in J and K it was mostly mountainous and covered by forest. The third and the most important difference is that in Punjab what happened was a local problem although Pakistan gave some arms and ammunition to terrorists...it was totally a local militancy and there was no involvement of foreign militants. In Jammu and Kashmir in my opinion if the infiltration stopped completely today then the militancy will collapse in 10 to 15 years time because now it is mainly foreign militants who are involved. Q. The morale of the BSF jawans appears to be sagging because of prolonged postings on the front? A. The morale is very high. I had gone to Manipur, Tripura and I had been in Jammu and Kashmir. There is no problem of morale. Yet, it is difficult to continue for long years on the same hard job. But we try to compensate it through other welfare measures. I intend to concentrate on housing, that is one very weak area. Our men in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts live in very bad conditions as we do not have adequate houses. Houses don’t mean only family accommodation but administrative building and barracks for men, etc. Then, have a look at the general promotion policies. For example, the BSF had a system where a Constable would become a Lance Naik, a Naik and then a Head Constable. So he got a promotion after every five to six years. But the latest Pay Commission did away with the posts of Lance Naik and Naik and now a Constable will probably have to wait for about 15 years to become Head Constable. That is one thing I would like to take up with the government. Similarly, I would like to take up other welfare measures after I have a detailed look. Q. Isn’t lack of modernisation another grey area in the BSF? A. There are already proposals in the pipeline for upgrading the arms and equipment because the BSF has a role on the borders also. Some have been sanctioned while others are in the process of sanction. There is also a proposal to raise new battalions and improve training facilities. |
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Focussing attention on young adults A National Policy for Young Adults now available has been a felt-need for a long time. It is the recognition of the importance of young adults in nation building. This segment constitutes 37 pr cent of the total population as per the 1996 census projections. The policy is a blueprint for the young adult (14 years to 21 years), a segment of youth (15 years to 35 years) facing an “identity crisis”. It is not homogenous. There are differences in physical and socio-psychological conditions and variations in the development needs. The policy is the reiteration of a nation’s commitment to the all-round development of the youth through the establishment of a framework to meet their needs. The principles that govern the policy arch from democracy to secularism, development with social justice to participatory development, self-reliance to unity in diversity, accountability to humanism, social integration to decentralisation and sustainable environment. A young adult’s concerns are education training, alternative and distance education, pre-vocational and vocational training and training with the purpose of employment. The other concerns the policy identifies are health and nutrition, empowerment and participation, sports, leisure, arts, culture, recreation, civic, citizenship and national integration. The policy accords priority to young adults with disabilities, rural youth, the unemployed, out-of- school youth, students, street and working children. The policy initiative came from a non-government organisation, the Urivi Vikram Charitable Trust (UVCT). In collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Research, Mumbai, and a dozen-odd organisations, it enabled the drafting of the document. A Planning Commission member, Mr Balasubramaniam, released it in New Delhi recently. The policy has the support of the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports acting as the nodal agency for its implementation. The state governments are expected to make appropriate budget allocations for programmes drawn up under the policy. The UVCT is one man’s passion to ensure the welfare of the young adult. He is Mr U.N.B. Rao, a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Mizoram, who lost his only son. Urivi Vikram (21), in an accident. To overcome the grief, Mr Rao remembered what an “elderly person” once wrote in his autograph book decades ago: “Learn to reverse the arrow of sorrow”. Mr Rao reversed that by forming the trust in 1991. The trust has conceived two projects, Prerna and Shakti. The former relates to the counselling of students and providing career guidance. The latter focuses on channeling the enormous energies of school dropouts by giving them a direction in life through personality development and aptitude assessment. A United Nations group of agencies has adopted the Shakti project on personality development and career orientation with some modifications. The UN’s Inter Agency Working Group on Population and Development supports the project and the WHO provides technical as well as financial assistance, over and above the total project cost. Why is a policy for the young adult needed? The policy document itself provides the answer. Rapid physical change and sexual maturity mark the transition from adulthood to manhood, so crucial to the life of an individual in the 14-21 age group. This group is of strategic importance to the nation. It is the age when notions and emotions are formed, eventually determining a country’s future. The nation, perhaps, has had no time to pay attention to this group. It is projected that the percentage of this group will go up to 40 from the present 37 of the total population by 2016. Young adults constitute a massive resource of social change, technological advancement and national development. They require a matching infrastructure, a comprehensive and progressive agenda to fulfil their growing needs and aspirations. There have been plans earlier for the youth, broadly classified between 15 years and 35 years. Plans also exist at the international level, the International Youth Year, 1985, and the UN General Assembly resolution, 1983, asking the member-states to set up national coordination committees to plan and monitor special programmes. Experts say there are sub-groups within the 13 years to 35 years range — 13 years to 19 years and 20 years to 35 years. It is the young adult (14 years to 21 years) group that has attracted the policy-makers. The national policy is expected to be a priority agenda for the country. Even the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Constitution provide “protection and opportunities” for the development of young adults and others under Articles 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45. The background note in the policy document is a telling comment on the young adult in India. It is estimated that 500 million people were born after 1969. Almost 50 per cent of the country’s population is in the age group of 0 to 30 years. As the institution of marriage is well established, a child is expected out of every wedlock. It means the continuous growth of population. The policy argues logically about the urgency to accord a “distinct status” to young adults (14 years to 21 years) who, on the one hand, are “over-regulated” and, on the other hand, “neglected” in national policy and planning. Here are some disturbing statistics: As many as 20 per cent of the young adults dropout of school between Classes VIII and X. Another 50 per cent dropout of school at the primary class level before the age of 12 years to 13 years. And 50 per cent to 60 per cent of those appearing for the Class X examination fail. About 35 per cent to 45 per cent appearing for Class XII fail and fall out of the education system. Thus, at the end of 17 years or 18 years, at least 90 per cent of the young adults are “direction less”. They are the “push-outs, dropouts and fall-outs,” knowing nothing of their future. They have fanciful ideas of their future career, picked up from the media and magazines. They pick up misleading bits of information and form perceived notions of the world of work and their own capabilities. When their dreams shatter they feel cheated by their family and society, making them bitter and aggressive. Deviant behaviour sets in. It is here that policy intervention may become imperative for the young adult and the nation. Even the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s statistics from de-addiction centres show that in 1993-94, 4.54 per cent of the drug abusers were in the age group of 12 years to 17 years and 13.8 per cent in the 18 years to 23 years group. Young adults, thus, are not only affected by social evils but also are exploited by society and subjected to violence. Rape victims and sex workers also belong to the young adult group. A recent survey by the UVCT of 1,900 adolescents and students of Delhi schools (government as well as public) reveals that 73 per cent could not talk to their parents about their personal problems and 56 per cent could not mention personal problems to friends. About 31 per cent did not understand much in the classroom and 28.5 per cent did not know how to study effectively. While 40 per cent failed to concentrate on studies, 37 per cent suffered from examination fear and the fear of failure. The policy lays stress on converting this perceived “burden” of the young adult into an “asset” of human resource. The young adult can be neither allowed to get lost because of the increase in population, social and psychological constraints, increasing number of school dropouts, lack of quality education, drug addiction and exploitation nor left out of the mainstream at this age and stage. That will affect their own life pattern and of the next generation. That will also be against the national interest. |
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Not to offend any creatures on earth is the highest duty of man. All meritorious actions are in vain if even one person is offended thereby. *** Forgiveness is the highest strength. To conquer one's self is the highest knowledge. *** There is no religion higher than Truth because God himself is Truth. To speak the Truth is the surest way to blessedness. But to utter only what adds to the real welfare of humanity is indeed higher even than truth. *** What apparently is Truth but not wholesome to the creatures of the world is merely a phantom of Truth and not Truth itself. *** Those who are seekers of Truth should cut off all attachment, should forsake all desires and hopes and should never waste a moment in acquiring and preserving world pleasures. *** He alone is pandit who has renounced his all. To him people of the world who are awfully enamored of its luxuries and pleasures are fools... *** A man can attain the highest bliss and be released from the bondage of birth and death for ever, if he has conquered his self, maintains equanimity in all circumstances and whose mind is not disturbed even after seeing the... celestial Apsaras. — Devarishi Narad. From Kalyan Kalpataru, Vol. I, No. 12, December 1934. |
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