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Towards social security Afghans get a constitution |
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Speared wedding!
Making peace with Pakistan-I
On having complex dreams
Jalandhar sports industry in turmoil Delhi Durbar
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Towards social security THE social security scheme approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday is being described as a pilot project. This has caused some confusion and is being viewed by some people as an election-eve, vote-catching measure. The scheme is actually an experiment to be carried on a limited scale to benefit the workforce engaged in the hitherto neglected unorganised sector. Based on its experience, a broader social security network will, hopefully, be provided later by the new government at the Centre. The Union Labour Ministry had earlier proposed legislation to make social security cover available to some 37 crore workers in the unorganised sector. That would have required the imposition of a cess on petrol and diesel to finance the project. Such an unpopular measure was obviously not advisable in an election year. So the government has resorted to a short-cut. The pilot project is free from administrative hassles and delays, and what is more, imposes no additional burden on the common citizen. Critics may ask, quite justifiably, why the government has waited for so long to initiate the scheme. Though belated and possibly announced with electoral considerations in mind, the scheme does make an important beginning in providing a social safety net to the unorganised labour. The workforce in the unorganised sector is scattered with no association and no bargaining power. The employees in the organised sector have had secured maximum benefits for themselves, including legal provisions for job safety, provision of a provident fund and pension. But they constitute a small section of society. A vast majority badly needs a social security cover. The need for such a measure was stressed at the time of launch of economic reforms by the then Finance Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh. But since then little had been achieved. A lack of money has been the biggest hurdle, no doubt. But political will too has been missing. Now that a step, even if a little one, has been taken, one hopes an effective social security scheme will be put in place sooner than later. |
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Afghans get a constitution AFGHANISTAN’S Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) has approved the constitution prepared under the directions of President Hamid Karzai. Now the country has to prepare for elections in June, as scheduled, to get its first democratically elected regime. Women’s rights activists have nothing to complain about as they have been accorded equal rights with 25 seats in the Lower House reserved for them. It will be a presidential form of government with a strong Centre, needed to run the affairs in a male-dominated society like that in Afghanistan. But how to translate all this into practice is a difficult task when the Kabul regime’s writ hardly runs beyond the national capital. The warlords and the remnants of the Taliban, who together largely control the country, pose a serious threat to the entire scheme. The situation in Afghanistan remains as uncertain as it ever was, despite the presence of US-led international coalition forces in substantial numbers. Those against the constitution ----- the Taliban and many warlords ---- on Monday gave an indication of how they will welcome the statute. They exploded a powerful bomb in Kabul near the place where the Loya Jirga was about to conclude its crucial session. There was another blast at Kandahar the same day, killing at least 12 civilians. This prompted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to warn that violence could jeopardise the June election programme. The Pashtuns, who have the majority, were initially happy with the installation of Mr Karzai as President, but now they hardly trust him. His government is seen as an agency of the US. The slow pace of the reconstruction programme has added to their disenchantment. This is helping the Taliban to keep their support base among the Pashtuns intact. That is why an effort has been made through the new constitution to wean them away from the Taliban. There are arrangements to honour the sensitivities of the powerful minority tribes like the Uzbecks and the Tajiks. Yet the authorities in Kabul do not know how to go about preparing the voters’ list. As they rightly say, if one can bring order among the Afghans, one can do so in any society in the world. |
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Speared wedding! THIS is the age of instant everything. Well, almost. The range of instant options now go beyond the outdated "coffee, tea or me". Pop diva Britney Spears last weekend gave it a completely new dimension. Instant love resulting in instant marriage is possible. But who could ever have imagined that instant marriage, instead of leading to moments of intimacy, would be followed by instant divorce? Ripley would have hesitated in including the strange event in his famous book. On Saturday morning Britney married her childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander and before the sun could set on their new status it was all over. Her music company tried to cover up the perhaps fastest known divorce by saying that she "took a joke too far by getting married". Joke? Of course, Britney's ex lacked the mystique of the mythical Greek hero Jason or the daring of another Greek, Alexander the Great, to make the joke last forever. Scientists have confirmed that hypothetically it is possible to break the speed barrier which could create the absurd situation of arriving even before having started? If they ever go looking for volunteers, they would find a worthy candidate in Britney Spears. She overtook events before they overtook her. So far Allen has not complained about his childhood friend’s fickleness or sense of humour. Even if he does, who is interested in a story that is full of sobs? There is no data of the average life-span of marriages that are made in heaven. But those that are made in Las Vegas, notorious for treating life itself as a big gamble, are not supposed to last forever. |
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A man in love is incomplete until he has married. Then he’s finished. — Zsa Zsa Gabor |
Making peace with Pakistan-I THERE is a great deal to be said for the summit-level meeting between leaders of India and Pakistan in Islamabad last week. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf at last decided to experiment with a bit of history and place the two countries on a track which, if pursued with care and political will, can lead to peace in the subcontinent. Apparently, some exchanges had taken place during the last few weeks between the two governments, but till the last minute there was trepidations on both sides how the two leaders, who had viewed each other with considerable suspicion, would react to each other and work out something that could bring to an end a history of hatred, bitterness, three wars, Kargil and nearly two decades of terrorism and violence. Their labours in Islamabad were fruitful, much to the relief of the people of the two countries. The two leaders’ own instincts, perhaps, the fatigue a long strife-torn relationship can bring about among people or the sheer force of circumstances and realities on the ground, and international pressures had all together led them to agree that Pakistan will not allow the territory under its control to be used by terrorists and India will accept talks on Jammu and Kashmir, as part of a composite dialogue which would begin next month. That something could come out of the meeting was perhaps the assessment before Mr Vajpayee decided to board the plane for Pakistan. He had an easy excuse for not going to Islamabad. Two serious attempts had been made on President Musharraf’s life only a few days earlier in the vicinity of his official residence in Rawalpindi. It was clear that spoilers were at work to assassinate the Pakistani President. Many in the Vajpayee government and the country were worried whether the Prime Minister should at all go to Islamabad and land himself in a situation where its own President’s life was in serious danger. Even Mr George Bush or any other world leader would have called off a visit were he to go to Islamabad in a similar situation. That Mr Vajpayee insisted on going to Pakistan, despite advice to the contrary, shows that he was keen to pursue his peace-with-Pakistan project irrespective of the uncertainties. May be, behind-the-scene contacts had thrown up some possibilities of reaching an accord with Pakistan and he did not want to miss these. Already, he had begun saying that this could be his last attempt to make peace with Pakistan. Possibly, the emotion and thought Mr Vajpayee had invested on his peace project and the ups and downs it had already gone through during the last few years had made him impatient for results. He could also be worried that India would soon get busy with elections and picking up the thread afterwards would take a long time. The assessment of the Prime Minister and his key advisers, although it remained tentative until the last, must have been that despite a difficult situation, it was better he flew to Islamabad to attend the SAARC Summit and meet General Musharraf and see whether the two could set into motion a process that ultimately would abolish war from the subcontinent. Also, it would have been imprudent to let President Musharraf down by not going to Islamabad and meeting him. After all, he had been responding positively to the peace moves India had been making since Mr Vajpayee gave a call in Srinagar in April last year for peaceful and tension-free relationship between the two countries. The unilateral and unconditional ceasefire Pakistan had announced all along the Line of Control, the reduction in infiltration from Pakistan, the resumption of flights, and the agreements on bus and train services were the signs that tended to build some confidence in President Musharraf’s intentions and wash off the bitter memories of the Agra Summit over two years ago. The international opinion also favoured a Vajpayee-Musharraf meeting on the sidelines of the Saarc Summit. Not going to Islamabad would have earned India a bad image all over the world. Also, by going to Islamabad, the General would be spared of what would have definitely been regarded as a snub. It would also mean missing the opportunities that may be there to be availed of. Whichever way the meeting may be described, its outcome has been received with a sense of great relief on both sides of the subcontinental divide, among the Saarc countries and in the rest of the world. The way congratulatory messages have poured in from President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Putin and leaders of China and the European Union shows how worried they had been about the continuing deadlock between India and Pakistan. It would be presumptuous to say that the Vajpayee-Musharraf meeting has sorted out all the problems that have caused hatred and wars on the subcontinent all these years. The joint press statement that was issued at the end of the talks has tried to meet immediate concerns of the two nations, given a momentum to normalisation of their relationship and put them on track for securing a durable peace on the subcontinent. Essentially, the joint statement, which required fine-tuning and meeting core demands of both sides until the last moment, commits President Musharraf to ensure that he “will not permit any territory under Pakistan’s control to be used to support terrorism in any manner”. Pakistan’s gain out of the exercise is that India has agreed to “a composite dialogue” to begin in February 2004. “The two leaders”, according to the joint statement, “are confident that the resumption of the composite dialogue will lead to peaceful settlement of all bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, to the satisfaction of both sides”. India is happy as it has at last got the commitment from President Musharraf that Pakistan will not encourage cross-border terrorism, nor allow the territory under its control to be used by terrorists. Pakistan is happy that it has made India accept its demand for a discussion on Jammu and Kashmir as a part of “the composite dialogue” and that these talks will begin as early as next month. Whether some private assurances have been given by both sides to each other is not known, but the joint statement does not provide for a framework or a deadline for the composite dialogue on all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir. The level at which these talks are to begin is yet to be worked out by the two countries. Essentially, the two leaders have agreed that “the constructive dialogue would promote progress towards the common objective of peace, security and economic development for our peoples and for future generations”. This could be a general proposition, but it seems the two nations have come to the conclusion that it is better to work for peace and normalise relations than live in an atmosphere of distrust, hatred and violence. How far the two countries are able to travel along this track remains to be seen. (To be continued) |
On having complex dreams SOME 10 years ago, I wrote a long article on the nature and patterns of my dreams. In fact, since then, I have been writing down whatever fragment of a dream remained lingering in my consciousness when I woke up after a troubled sleep. Briefly, my dreams from my early youth described a certain distinct pattern. Some recurring dreams hovered around the question of drowning and desperate efforts for the far shores of the river which ran close to our stream in Jhelum (Pakistan). It was based on an actual fact, an accident of drowning when as a child of 9 or 10, I was pulled out of the fast-flowing waters by my elder sister. Another dream that continued to plaque me far years was the fear of missing trains, and the fear of being late for the annual examinations. Now, in reality, I had had no such experience, but these dreams persisted with a tenacity beyond my understanding. Still, they could perhaps be good meat for the psychoanalysists, as I learnt when I read Freud’s theory of dreams during my early college career. I remember to have taken down in a notebook all those dreams which then occupied the spaces of my unconscious, and made my notebook a veritable warren of woes and anxieties. However, there were also dreams of love, heavily erotic and entrancing. And one day, when I re-read the notebooks, I was deeply disturbed, and soon consigned the “hot” stuff to the burning tandoor in our yard. I trust, the patterns of the dreams then and earlier remained a part of my night-sleep for several years. As a matter of fact, I can hardly record a night when I did not sleep without one dream or another. Nearly all my dreams were about places I had never visited, or thought of visiting. I ran into persons I had no idea of. I always was struggling to reach, to find my path, and always something derailed me. My helplessness was clear to me, but I couldn’t express it. Tongue-tied, as it were. In the middle years of my life, I did dream heavily and frequently of a young woman I loved, but for years and years now, all dreams connected with love and women have vanished. One other dream which, I trust, has almost been with me since my younger days continues to erupt in my sleep — a search for my father who was killed in the communal frenzy of the 1947 Partition holocaust while defending his mohalla in the city of Jhelum. I guess, the father-quest motif is so universal that Freud has said a great deal on the subject. But one kind of dream that has also been a part of my dream-world relates to my meetings with some eminent world leaders and rulers includes Hitler (whom I abhor and dread otherwise), Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru whom I did meet once meet in 1960 along with my young daughter Anita and son, Manoranjan. Anita, I remember, was affectionately taken out by the Prime Minister to his back garden where he had a couple of tiger-cubs for his sport. That’s an impression, but I’m not so certain now. In fact, a critic writing on my poetry volumes has taken a special interest in the dream imagery and metaphors. Poetry, being partly an unconscious process, has, no wonder a heavy load of the dream element.
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Jalandhar sports industry in turmoil
IN recent months, hundreds of sports manufacturing units in Jalandhar have closed down, resulting in a large floating unemployed workforce. Not long ago, Jalandhar’s sports goods industry had a name in international sport circles. On its relocation from Sialkot in Pakistan after partition, second-generation entrepreneurs consolidated, expanded and diversified much of the industry. They transformed small cottage ventures their fathers migrated with into thriving factories, employing thousands and earning valuable foreign exchange. All this is now changing. Lowering of trade barriers and reduced import tariffs in accordance with WTO obligations have thrown this industry into turmoil. Once flourishing producers are quickly shutting manufacturing facilities and turning into traders. They now market inexpensive Chinese or Taiwanese sports goods flooding the market. Then skewed government policies over the years have meant in some items like footballs, Pakistan is scoring over the Jalandhar-made product. The sports goods industry, with a turnover of Rs 500 crore, used to export around 60 per cent of its production. About Rs 180 crore worth was sold in the domestic market. No longer. According to data compiled by the Sports Forum, Jalandhar, around 40 per cent of Jalandhar’s 3000-odd big and small manufacturing units have closed down in the last three years. Units particularly hard hit are those manufacturing badminton and tennis racquets, basketballs, shuttlecocks, tennis balls, boxing equipment and, more recently, hockey sticks. Around 35 per cent of formerly manufacturing units are now surviving by trading imported sports goods. Consequently, thousands previously engaged in large and small units in different manufacturing processes are on the street. Mr Sanjay Kohli, President of the Sports Forum, reckons that the Indian market for badminton racquets alone is worth about Rs 1.5 crore. Much of this has now been captured by cheap and better quality Chinese racquets. As a result those who used to manufacture badminton racquets now prefer to import racquets directly from China, and market them under their own label. Harish Kumar of Optima Sports says that Indian racquets selling in the range of Rs 100 and above are virtually finished. Much superior ones are available from China for the same cost. Piles of Chinese racquets with aluminium rims and steel shafts, lie in his shop. He imports them for Rs 100 each, and sells for upwards of Rs 110. In fact, Harish is a more relaxed man nowadays. He claims he is free of the “hassles of labour problems and ever fluctuating raw material prices.” His laid-off staff of 11 is not so happy. They have taken to making cheap shuttlecocks on contract. But as one Surinder Mohan said, “The speed and manner in which this market too is declining, it is a matter of time when we will be out of work.” Some big manufacturers of badminton racquets such as Kumar Sports and Silvers used to make upper end graphite racquets. They too have cut down on production, and prefer to market Chinese ones. The high 25 per cent import duty on graphite has made import of this raw material unviable. Coupled with high labour charges and electricity, the market price of these racquets works out to be much higher than that of imported ones. It’s the same story with shuttlecocks. Venod Sharma, an adviser to the Association of Indian Sports Goods Industries, has been manufacturing shuttlecocks since 1954. Till a couple of years ago, he used to make 200 boxes a day. This is now down to around 60 boxes. He has begun importing 4000 shuttlecocks a month from China and Korea. “Importing raw material like goose feathers and cork used for the base of the shuttlecock, both of which are available from China, now works out to be costly due to the high import duty,” he explained. ‘Earlier, we used to import the cork bases from Spain or Portugal. But then China developed a synthetic alternative, which is pretty good. Besides, Chinese shuttlecocks have a better finish as they are machine made.’ The ones made in Jalandhar, however, are still hand-made, no match in quality and finish, and more expensive due to higher labour inputs. Chinese shuttlecocks are available in the range of Rs 130 to Rs 200 a box. Indian made ones of comparable quality cost the manufacturer Rs 150 a box, which he sells for around Rs 190 to Rs 230 a box. Director of the Sports Goods Export Promotion Council Kuldip Mahajan’s firm has been manufacturing hockey sticks since 1927, originally in Sialkot. Earlier his firm used to make wooden hockey sticks, and then switched to using graphite. But now the cost of an imported stick is Rs 500 to Rs 600, while those made in Jalandhar cost Rs 1,100 each. Six months ago he stopped making hockey sticks, and has now diversified into protective sports equipment. “My buyers from Holland, US and Australia are now getting their hockey sticks from Pakistan and China,” he conceded. Stitching leather footballs is a household industry in and around Jalandhar. Hundreds are engaged in this activity from houses in narrow lanes of the old town, and slums like Bhjargo camp and Kabir Nagar. Now that footballs are being made of PVC, many of the roughly 80-odd exporters of leather footballs from Jalandhar are struggling to survive. Sports goods MNCs like Adidas and Puma were keen to send PVC raw material from Taiwan to Jalandhar for stitching and finishing. “But government restrictions at that time prevented us from exploiting the opportunity.” said exporter Anoop Madan. “The work went to Pakistan.” When polyurethane (PU) became the accepted material for footballs the world over, contracts for the manufacture of this too began going to Pakistan. Now China and Vietnam have emerged as major manufacturers of footballs and Indian exporters are in the dumps. “Even for the domestic market, PU leather attracts a 56 per cent import duty,” lamented Mr Mahajan, “whereas an imported football attracts a 25 per cent duty.” Predictably, the old leather-stitching work is on the wane. A look at the import figures for various sports goods since 1996-97, compiled by the Sports Forum, Jalandhar, is revealing. Badminton racquet imports have leapt from Rs 15.14 lakh in 1996-97 to Rs 438.04 lakh in 2002-03; tennis racquets from Rs 57.29 lakh to Rs 207.33 lakh; basketballs from zero to Rs 65.78 lakh and footballs from Rs 0.83 lakh to Rs 50.47 lakh. One reason Jalandhar’s sport industry has failed to keep pace is its small-scale units, where resources are limited for technology upgrades. It is also highly labour intensive. Then labour laws here are more liberal than China, which relies on prison labour. Other inputs like electricity, water and loans are also more expensive than the competition. However, after six years of working in a liberalised economy, most large sports goods manufacturers are of the view that open markets are not too bad for business, if the government removes artificial constraints and provides a level-playing field. But, as usual, the smaller manufacturers and labour are the hardest hit. And in the fast changing sports goods industry, they are likely to fall by the wayside.
— Grassroots Feature Network |
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Delhi Durbar CONGRESS President Sonia Gandhi’s speedy moves at gaining allies for the Lok Sabha poll has caused some surprise within her party. In the past fortnight, Sonia Gandhi has called up DMK chief Karunanidhi, met Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan and CPI (M) leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet, besides “sending” bouquet greetings to Rashtriya Kranti Party chief Kalyan Singh on his birthday. There was apprehension within the Congress that Sonia Gandhi’s meeting Paswan may not go down well with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal with whom the Congress is sharing power in Bihar. Congress relations with the DMK had been bitter in the past and going together may not be easy. But accosting Kalyan Singh, who is still seen by many in the Congress as a conspirator in the Babri mosque demolition, was perhaps the biggest surprise. The Congress had expressed reservations over Kalyan Singh’s role in the demolition even at the time of supporting the Mulayam-led alliance in UP. As elections approach, Sonia Gandhi seems to be in a mood to forget and forgive. More poll-eve
petitions expected Levelling charges of corruption against politicians in power seems to have become a part of the poll “strategy” by opponents if the filing of petitions in the Supreme Court for a CBI probe
against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and his Himachal counterpart Virbhadra Singh on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections is any indication. While an IAS officer of Himachal, known for his closeness to the BJP, has sought a CBI probe into the land ceiling case against the state Chief Minister, two Congress leaders had alleged that Naidu had acquired assets worth Rs 76 crore since he came to power in the state in 1988. Whatever may the fate of these petitions, legal luminaries are of the view that by the time the election dates are announced, many more such petitions are likely to be filed in the high courts or the apex court. Unreliable
mobile phone service Hardly has the euphoria of getting connected at a nominal cost via the CDMA
technology sunk in, mobile phone subscribers are beginning to realise the flip side of inconsistent service and inflated bills. While the company is claiming that it has the largest number of mobile phone subscribers in the country, many of its hassled
subscribers are making frantic calls to anonymous customer care executives who are woefully short in skills and information in addressing grievances. The latter complain about various troubles, including the unavailability of signals. To rub salt into the injury, the company has sent inflated bills to many subscribers accompanied by threatening calls and messages to pay up or face disconnection. That they have already made payments well on time does not interest the service provider, who is more concerned about displaying the total number of subscribers in screaming ads rather than providing quality service. Children walk for road
safety Alarmed by the rising rate of road accidents in the Capital, the Delhi Police organised a road-safety run for children on Wednesday. Thousands of school children, carrying banners and placards, marched through the Capital’s streets spreading awareness about traffic rules. R.S. Gupta, Delhi Police Commissioner, said targeting children was a novel idea as they are quick learners and such drives would help them become responsible citizens. "We want those people who are directly related to road safety, and those who use the road daily, to participate in this programme. We want to induct good road safety rules in children, they are the future citizens of this country. We also want to remind the drivers of commercial vehicles about safe traffic rules. Basically provide safety to people on roads," he said. Gupta added that his department would further plan to establish a network that studies the impact of unsafe roads, reckless and drunken driving and poorly maintained vehicles and use the data to research accident prevention measures. The "Road Safety Run" aimed at creating awareness about observing traffic rules and safe driving, is part of the annual Road Safety Week observed by traffic police over the years. Contributed by Prashant Sood, S.S. Negi, Girja Shankar Kaura and ANI
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I salute him whose cry is frightening, who stamped heavily on the earth, who soared above the clouds while flying, whose ornaments became the stars, whose head is crowned, who encloses his wives (Jay and Sree) in his hands. — Shri Adi Shankaracharya Ninety per cent of thought-force is wasted by the ordinary human being, and therefore, he is constantly committing blunders; the trained man or mind never makes a mistake. — Swami Vivekananda Follow the footprints of great men. Give up your petty attachments. Harbour pure love. You become a benefactor of humanity. — Swami A. Parthasarathy |
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