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Wednesday,
March 26, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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A mixed bag Kalam to Punjab farmers Test case for Antony |
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Government versus private colleges
Farewell to Dusty
Combating TB: a social & medical problem
Britney Spears’ new love
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A mixed bag Punjab has actively tried to woo influential lobbies such as farmers, employers, traders and industrialists through sops in the Budget presented by Finance Minister Lal Singh on Monday. Small wonder that it shows a deficit of Rs 682.60 crore. In the process, the government has even overturned some of its earlier decisions. For instance, the LTC facility for the employees which was suspended with great fanfare is proposed to be restored from April 1. This and other similar concessions are to cost a packet. The Budget makes a conscious effort to please the farmers who were sitting in dharna in Chandigarh till recently. While the sales tax on fertilisers has been brought down from 4 per cent to 2 per cent, the purchase tax on milk is also being reduced from 4 per cent to 2 per cent. These concessions are part of a package for sustainable and profitable agricultural and allied services. Similarly, “kutcha arhatiyas” will be pleased that pending cases against them will be disposed off and they will have a self-assessment scheme. The government has also decided to abolish octroi from July and replace it with the local area development tax at the rate of 2 per cent on all goods coming from outside the state. Similarly, owners of cinemas and amusement parks will have to pay less tax. Clearly, there is not much scope for economic reforms in this scheme of things. The commitment to bring about a Rs 200-crore cut in government expenditure is going to be a tall order. It is not exactly a please-all exercise either. User charges on social and economic services have been increased. For instance, there will be 12.5 per cent tax on telephone (both landline and mobile) rentals, which will fetch Rs 100 crore. The government has also been indicated that there will be a gradual increase in user charges for drinking water, irrigation and sewerage disposal etc. Health and education stand to lose their subsidies and these two services will become costlier. So, the common man will soon realise that the budget is not quite as soft as it is made out to be. The next fiscal year has been dedicated to development and the priority areas are industrial revival, infrastructure development, rural development, uplift of weaker sections and a special attention to state highways. Increased allocations for these have been proposed all right but the state's record in these fields is none too encouraging. It has also spoken of “aggressive disinvestment” in public sector undertakings (PSUs). If what happened in the case of PUNCOM is any indication, the government will have to re-interpret the word “aggression”. |
| Kalam to Punjab farmers President Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam’s advice to the farmers to adopt new methods of agriculture is indeed timely and correct. Punjab has long been the grain bowl of India and it has been the cradle of Green Revolution, but it is no secret that agriculture in Punjab has reached a plateau and that the wheat-paddy rotation has done immense harm to the ecology of the state, adversely affecting the soil health, depleting the water table and having a negative impact on the economy as well. The Johl Committee had also advocated diversification and said that for growing non-conventional crops, contract farming was the only solution. The farmers could get good quality seeds and the produce could be directly sold to industries concerned at a pre-determined price. There is no doubt that diversification is necessary with emphasis on hi-tech nurseries, and scientific diary farming. The President, who is also the nation’s top scientist, also gave a call to the state’s farmers to initiate a “new soil-to-market” green revolution. It underlines the urgency and the importance of the issue. No doubt, a global market for agro-products exists but quality control and proper transportation and marketing are necessary to exploit it. For this the government has to show flexibility in helping the farmers with infrastructure, and provide them guidance through the agriculture universities and other official agencies. At the same time, the farmers too have to change their own mindsets and take some risks. The President was quite right in stressing that modern science and technology make it possible to adopt new methods. It is a multi-disciplinary approach. The total value chain, including post-harvest handling, distribution and processing for value addition has to be taken care of. What will allow this to happen is not government initiative alone. Such change can only come about once the market forces make it a remunerative proposition not only for the farmers, but also others involved in the agro business. For this, the infrastructure and marketing facilities have to be developed. The farmers must be assured of a proper return for their crops, and there has to be a market for these items. Incentives and initiatives have to come from the government. Punjab has a number of examples of farmers who have done well once they took the road less travelled and took to non-conventional crops. But often they have not been able to realise their true potential because of lack of support, warehousing facilities and marketing failures. Punjabi farmers are dynamic and given proper direction and necessary assistance, there is no reason why the Presidential prediction that Punjab will rise to the challenge and surpass the productivity and quality levels set by countries like Israel and Australia in five years cannot come true. |
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| Test case for Antony Kerala Chief Minister A.K.Antony should blame himself for the mess he has created on the issue of Muthanga tribals. His decision to order a CBI probe into the police firing that reportedly led to the death of 16 people at Muthanga range of the famous Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary comes too late. The firing took place on February 19, 2003. Since then, despite repeated demands for a judicial probe, the Chief Minister has been dilly-dallying over the issue. The State Assembly session was paralysed for days because of the Opposition’s insistence on a judicial probe and its refusal to allow the normal proceedings of the House. The incident rocked the last Parliament session too. Despite widespread protests against the police action, the state government has been defending the firing on some 1,100 families that had gathered to protest police atrocities and relocation of tribals. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) does not buy the version of the state Chief Secretary. It suggested a CBI probe and rejected the official argument that the people of Muthanga had murdered a policeman in cold blood by taking him hostage. To make matters worse, the government claimed that only one tribal died in the firing as against the alleged 16 deaths. Things would not have taken a serious turn had the Chief Minister appreciated the sentiments of the legislators and ordered a judicial probe promptly. In any case, now that Mr Antony has followed the NHRC’s advice in ordering a CBI probe, he should cooperate with the CBI to ferret out the truth. More important, he should try all possible ways to rehabilitate the displaced tribals. In fact, the NHRC has directed the state government to reply in 10 days about the action taken in this regard. It has also sought a report, within four weeks, on the rehabilitation of tribals in the forest. Though people — tribals or non-tribals — cannot be permitted to stay in the forests or areas demarcated as sanctuaries under the Forest Conservation Act (1980), the affected tribals in the Muthanga forest range have appealed to the Centre for justice. Reports suggest that Union Environment and Forests Minister T.R.Baalu is willing to consider the plea for providing land to the tribals if the state government had not already made a commitment on this or provided there were records to show that the government had allocated land to them elsewhere. Consequently, it should not be difficult for Mr Antony to understand Mr Baalu’s statement and proceed accordingly. The Opposition is bound to take political mileage over the incident. However, was it proper for the Chief Minister, his Cabinet and UDF colleagues to observe a day-long fast at Thiruvanthapuram on Monday? Mr Antony would do well to attend to the urgent affairs of the state instead of indulging in populism. Over the years, he has cultivated a clean image. His leadership will be put to test if he does not keep his promise of providing five acres of land to landless tribals.
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Government versus private colleges Reckoned in terms of the all-India percentages, the proportion of government colleges is between one-fourth and one-third of the total. The situation varies from state to state. In certain states, the percentage of government colleges is fairly high. In certain others, it is distinctly low. To take two examples, the number of government colleges in Punjab is higher than, say, in Haryana. Similarly till recently, UP had only one or two government colleges and these are not even one dozen in number even today, the rest belong to the private category. Why this should have happened can be explained in terms of the social and political development of each state. In some parts of India, the Maharajas took initiative to set up colleges and by virtue of their involvement, these colleges came to be government controlled. Wherever public participation was high and different groups and communities were interested in promoting higher education for their own members, the percentage of government colleges was seldom high. All this was before 1947. Since then, the pattern of growth has not undergone much change except that there has been widespread growth of colleges everywhere with the result that more and more colleges came to be established. In terms of proportions, the situation did not undergo any basic change. Having said this, however, it is time to ask what is the future of government colleges? Will they continue to survive and flourish? The brief answer is that they will continue to survive but to assume that they will do better than privately-funded colleges would be to assume too much. This is not only an individual impression. Certain recent developments in the south of India have underlined this point. In respect of autonomous colleges, a pioneering role was played by Tamil Nadu. Some 30 years ago, the University of Madras became the first university in the country to establish autonomous colleges as recommended by the Kothari Commission a decade or so earlier. Even today, out of the total number of autonomous colleges which is not more than 150, the largest proportion is from the state of Tamil Nadu. Something like one-third of them are autonomous in character, if one may add. Recently the UGC-sponsored NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) based in Bangalore carried out an evaluation of the colleges in Tamil Nadu. About 20 per cent of them have already been visited and evaluated by the NAAC. Going by this data, it has become abundantly clear that while only 30 per cent of the government-controlled colleges are in the higher range of performance, it is the privately-funded colleges which are doing really well, they are around 70 per cent. Why should that be so? The answer is not difficult to find in government-controlled colleges, decisions are generally taken by the DPI rather than the Principals. In the case of privately-funded colleges, it is primarily the Principals who take decisions. Sometimes managements too are involved. But since everybody is on the spot and there is close interaction between the Principal and the management, decisions are seldom delayed. That is one reason and an important one. At the same time there are also other reasons. For instance, privately-funded colleges are motivated by the desire to overtake others. The impulse may come from the community or the social group supporting that college though quite often there are other factors also at work. What applies to colleges applies equally to schools. Only this kind of analysis that has so far been undertaken in respect of colleges and not the schools. Were it to be undertaken, the outcome would be more or less along the lines indicated above. A quarter century ago, most states did not have a DPI (Colleges). To start with, there was one DPI to look after the entire range of education i.e. from the elementary to the college level. With the passage of time, the post of DPI (Colleges) was created. Generally speaking, DPI (Schools) came later. As of today, in most states there are three DPIs, one each dealing with primary, secondary and college education. In regard to their functioning and future performance, it is not too difficult to guess. Both the political masters and the bureaucracy stand for what obtains today. This status quo suits them. But then the situation is changing. It is changing for instance in the state of Tamil Nadu. About half a year ago, the State government decided that while the state exchequer would continue to finance the government-run colleges, their management should be handed over to the university concerned. There are something like 8-9 universities with affiliated colleges in that state. As a result of this decision, the colleges located within the jurisdiction of each university have been turned over for purposes of management to the university concerned. It is a matter of time before the post of the DPI (Colleges) would get abolished. Since this decision was taken in Tamil Nadu, there is a certain amount of discussion in different southern states whether they too should do what Tamil Nadu had done. Opinion is divided but it should not come as a surprise if within the next couple of years, a decision to this effect is taken. In a sense, what is holding up the decision is that the states are not clear as to what should be the alternative system of management. Should the colleges be turned over to the respective universities within whose jurisdiction they are located or should they be treated as individual units and each one of them should be allowed to function on its own? In plain words, should the colleges be like privately-run colleges or should each state government run colleges with the help of a locally sponsored Board of Management? The matter is under discussion and as already hinted, some kind of a decision is likely to be taken shortly. In Northern India, the situation varies from state to state, J&K has a majority of government-run colleges. So does Himachal Pradesh. In the case of Haryana also this is the predominant pattern. It is mainly in Punjab that the proportion of the privately-run colleges is high. The government colleges too are not all that small in number at the same time. The issue whether management of colleges is to be controlled by the university or by a locally sponsored Board of Management requires to be discussed in some detail and would be discussed separately. Meanwhile this much needs to be noted that the situation is changing as far as the South Indian states are concerned. It is mainly the North Indian states which are still wedded to the past. This indicates a certain indolence of thinking on the part of those who are vested with the power to decide. It also suits the bureaucracy. No one else would be affected adversely were a different decision to be made. The privately-funded colleges would have no problem and were the system to be changed they would be happy to compete on somewhat equal terms. In this connection, it may not be out of place to refer to what happens in regard to the management of schools in U.K. All schools are managed by the local bodies though the entire funding comes from the government. There are very few private schools and those are mainly self supporting. For the rest, the entire job is handled by the local bodies. The point of referring to this model is that, if in India, the British did something which suited them, that was not enough reason for us to have continued this system. We have done so for over half a century it is time for reconsideration. In any case one thing is clear. Funding and management are two different things. Funding can come from the government if so required. In quite a few states, colleges have upscaled their fees and there is no problem as far as they are concerned. By and large, college education — mainly at the professional level — is patronised by the comparatively affluent middle class. Some of the other colleges can and do charge somewhat higher fees. This has become possible because a certain number of colleges have already acquired the freedom to decide on their own. Since the government-run colleges are slow to act, even to react, it is the non-government colleges which are beginning to assume the role of leadership. An analysis of what is happening in Tamil Nadu points in this direction unambiguously. Do these developments have a message for colleges located in the North? The writer is a former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala. |
Farewell to Dusty His name matched the colour of his coat, fawn to almost pure white on the underside. He was huge, larger than any Labrador we had seen and he had an endearing habit of dipping his massive head and taking his choker between his teeth, which is what he did when we went to see him and his “parents”. It was his way of telling you that he wasn’t going to bite. His master and mistress were off to Australia. Apart from the air freight — he turned the scales at 72 lbs. — there were the quarantine restrictions, pretty strict in a sheep-breeding country. We fell for him, my wife and I, and gladly offered him a home. More so since we already had Elsa, also a yellow Labrador though smaller and darker. Considering that he was four years old when he came to us we were pleasantly surprised at the short time he took to settle down in his new home. Perhaps the freedom of a large compound after being cooped up in a flat had something to do with it and, there was Elsa, a few years his senior. In the middle of a bitterly cold Delhi winter night Elsa produced her litter, four pups, of which two died. The two that survived, both were females. One was dark like her mother, the other had her father’s light colouring. Elsa was as delighted as we were, and fiercely possessive conscious, no doubt, of the two that she had lost. Rusty, the darker of the two “girls” we gave away to a college boy who had begged us for her. In his “hols” he took her away to his home in Assam. Justine, the fair one, we decided to keep so that we could carry on the strain of her parents. The problem was her father. It wouldn’t have done to have him around when Justine grew up. A friend came to our aid. He was in the Army and lived on the road to Palam. The day we left Dusty with him I said to my wife that I was quite sure that he would be well cared for and loved but knowing his propensity for wandering off of on his own, I hoped that he wouldn’t be run over by a truck or bus. The telephone rang early one morning a fortnight later. My Army friend could hardly keep his voice from breaking down as he gave us the tragic news. “Was he in pain?” I asked. “No, thank heaven,” he said. “There wasn’t even a mark on his body. The truck hit his spine. He must have died instantaneously”. I told Justine that she had lost her father. She didn’t seem to understand. She just wagged her tail and grabbed my ankle with her small, sharp teeth. |
Combating TB: a social & medical problem Tuberculosis (TB) is the oldest and the most adamant disease. Its spread and magnitude led to the dedication of a day called the “World TB Day” which is observed on March 24 every year. It is one disease that does not attack only the hapless, poorest of the poor but everyone. It was Dr Robert Koch, who had discovered the bacteria, Tubercle bacillus that caused TB to human beings. This young German doctor had announced on March 24, 1882, before Berlin’s Physiological Society that he had discovered a microbe that was the cause of “White Death”. TB is responsible for one-seventh of deaths in Europe in the later part of the 1800s. Dr Koch came on an expedition to India and Egypt in 1883 and discovered the cause of cholera. As he could not reproduce cholera in animals, rules had to be modified. But Dr Koch brought a new order to medicine and the study of the disease. He lived at a time when people were superstitious and attributed disease to punishments from God or other strange occurrence. However, the world remains indebted to him for having diagnosed the TB bacteria. No wonder, he has dedicated the same day to TB, the day he had announced his discovery. In India, the Union Government conducted the first National Sample Survey of TB in 1950. A cross-section of the general population (2 per cent) was tested throughout the country. Shockingly, one-fourth of those tested were found to be dangerously infectious and in the last stages of TB. Based on the survey, the government started the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTCP) under which all the patients were given free medication. This did make people aware of the disease; the treatment also reached the needy. However, the NTCP was riddled wit drawbacks for various reasons. First, it was noticed that the drug resistance had increased. Secondly, HIV had only added fuel to the fire. There were many other loopholes in the programme. Eventually, the Union Government revised the NTCP policy in 1993-94. Though the revised plan promises to reach out to the entire country by 2005, the target is likely to be elusive. Under the revised version, TB patients are to be treated through Directly Observed Therapy (DOT). The Union Government runs DOTs in the country through World Bank assistance. They are supposed to be located every 5 km where patients are administered doses in the presence of the doctors for six months, specially, the initial two months to avoid any relapse. According to PGI’s Professor and Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Dr S.K.Jindal, “The revised NTCP has undertaken one very important step. It has involved all the medical colleges in the programme implementation. All the medical colleges register a large pool of TB patients. Hence, it was most appropriate to involve these institutions. Besides starting the treatment centres, the medical colleges have played an important role in teaching and training of doctors and other health personnel. The medical teachers are also extending help in advocacy and sensitisation activity. Moreover, further research requires to be done by these institutions.” He says Chandigarh’s PGI has been assigned the task of a nodal centre in the northern zone for the implementation of NTCP. The startling picture of TB is that every one minute one person develops TB. It means that of the 1 billion Indians, 20 million are infected with this dangerous disease. If not treated early, we will have infectious patients everywhere around us. However, it gives a great sense of relief to know that TB can be diagnosed, treatment is available and, last but not least, it is not expensive. Dr Jindal says, for every 1,200 TB patients, only 30 are diagnosed. Of these, only one-third continue with the treatment for an adequate period. “It is, therefore, rather unfortunate that a mere 8 of the total of 100 TB patients in the country get cured with prescribed treatment. This leaves a huge balance of patients, who are either undiagnosed or inadequately treated”. PGI alone receives 15 to 20 cases of TB in a month. Most of these patients come to PGI only at the last stage. In Chandigarh, TB claims one life every day. The ignorance about TB treatment is overwhelming. No wonder that the relapsed cases of TB are always competing with the new ones being detected. Dr Jindal points out that though TB control is almost entirely a government programme, the disease continues to be managed in both the private and the non-programme government sectors. “The patient-pool is enormous and treatment-compliance is poor. There are significant variations and pitfalls in the treatment strategies and regimens of TB. Further, innumerable errors are committed by medical personnel in drug prescription. Added to these errors are problems caused by the drug confusion due to multiplicity of preparations and marketing policies. The failure rates under both programme and non-programme treatments are rather alarming”. In addition, there is a surprising lack of social awareness and participation in the TB control programme though the disease is as much a social as a medical problem. Obviously, enhanced social participation shall help control the problem more effectively through the involvement of various groups and voluntary associations. With millions of HIV patients in India, the number of TB patients has only added. It is time we joined hands to face the challenge. |
Britney Spears’ new love LOS ANGELES: US Pop Princess Britney Spears is dating MTV host Mike Kasem. Mike is the son of Casey Kasem, the legendary US radio DJ who used to host America’s Top Ten show during the 1980s. Though the two have known each other since last November, things started getting serious only in the past few weeks. In fact, Britney and Mike have been seen enjoying romantic dinner dates near Britney’s home in Louisiana. “She (Britney) was going out night after night. Then Mike stepped into her life and he has been a positive influence on her,” one of Britney’s friends said. The relationship was also confirmed by Casey (70) who said, “Britney is a super talent and my son thinks she’s a great girl.” sify.com World’s oldest man eats thrice daily TOKYO: The world’s oldest living man, retired Japanese silkworm breeder Yukichi Chuganji, celebrated his 114th birthday on Sunday. Born on March 23, 1889, Mr Chuganji became a silkworm breeder and bank employee after leaving school. He later served as a community welfare officer in his native Fukuoka
prefecture on Kyushu island. He inherited the mantle of world’s oldest man from Antonio Todde, an Italian three months his senior, who died in January, 2002. Local Government officials say, Mr Chuganji still eats three solid meals a day but has been largely bed-ridden in recent years because of poor eyesight. Reuters Sound of music from beyond earth LONDON: A great occasion to be celebrated with a strange but fascinating event. At a concert hall, new music in the shape of whistles, chirps and hisses from the outer space is to be presented to mark the silver jubilee of the Voyager space missions. The NASA is making this audible entertainment possible. The credit also goes to its mixing desk. Some of the crackles and explosions recorded by the association as its probe missions hurtled past Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will be heard, according to The Independent. Other phrases and rhythms in the piece, called Sun Rings, are inspired by the sounds retrieved from millions of miles away by Dr Don Gurnett, an American astrophysicist. The resulting fusion will be performed by the Kronos Quartet and a choir in its European premiere at the Barbican here. The NASA has sponsored artistic projects for more than 30 years, commissioning works from artists including Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Laurie Anderson. Sun Rings was composed by Terry Riley.
ANI |
The Lord is the Mother of all mothers, the Father of all fathers, the one Friend behind all friends. If you always think of Him as the nearest of the near, you will witness many wonders in your life. “He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own.” And God will talk with you, also, if by meditation you make definite inroads “with unperturbed pace” into the Divine realm. —Paramahansa Yogananda, How to Talk with god |
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