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Braving the odds Blot on UT administration |
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Don't axe the future
Towards free and fair polls
‘Wife-washed’ husbands
She quit civil service for social work Abortion clinics
victimise women Beat the heat — Laloo way
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Braving the odds IT is unfortunate that violence has marred the polls in some of the constituencies in the first round of the elections on Tuesday. Several people were killed and many more injured in various incidents reported from Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur and other states. The Election Commission will have to order repolling in several booths from where snatching of electronic voting machines and attacks on the polling staff were reported. Given the enormity of the electoral exercise, it might not have been possible for the EC to provide foolproof security arrangements. Even so, the scale at which violence occurred is a matter of grave concern, particularly when the affected areas are notorious for it. In view of the determined bid being made by terrorists in J&K to obstruct elections, what happened in the state could easily have been anticipated. Much the same can be said about areas in Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur and Andhra Pradesh where Naxalites and other extremist forces have been active. Obviously, security arrangements were inadequate to cope with the situation. The presumption that electronic voting would obviate chances of booth-capturing has been proved wrong. It might not have sunk into the minds of the booth-capturers that it was no longer possible to stamp ballot papers and stuff them into the boxes as was the practice in some areas in undivided Bihar. In any case, a violence-free poll will remain a dream for some more time. However gruesome the incidents may be, they are unlikely to affect the final outcome of the polls. The Election Commission has in place systems which will take care of such exigencies. The turnout of the voters in the constituencies, which went to the polls in Jammu and Kashmir, shows that they paid no heed to the threats held out by the terrorists. Ditto for the Naxalite-affected areas where too voters were warned of consequences if they took part in the polls. The overall turnout would certainly have been better if the polls were held in less trying climatic conditions. That millions of voters, young and old, braved the scorching sun to go to the polling booths shows, if anything, the vibrancy of democracy in the country. |
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Blot on UT administration THE report of the R. S. Gupta committee looking into the sensational Burail jailbreak case is a reiteration of what the media has been saying all along through independent investigation: that the jail was literally being run by these three prisoners while the jail officials were acting as mere facilitators. All this was clear from the way mandatory inspections were dispensed with, prisoners were allowed various luxuries and they were allowed to meet visitors for hours. But the report throws no light on the motive of the jail officials for this abdication of responsibilities and non-performance. Nor does it clear the mystery as to what tools were used for digging the tunnel. The report confirms the police investigation that the senior jail officials colluded with the escapees, but at the same time goes extremely easy on the police and administration officials. In fact, the Chandigarh police has been praised for doing an "excellent job" and achieving an early breakthrough and unravelling the whole mystery. How can there be a breakthrough unless the prisoners who fled have been caught? Also, supervisory officials of the Chandigarh Administration have been let off in the report. Instead of taking the IG (Prisons) to task for dereliction of duty, the report turns an apologist for him, saying that the DC as ex-officio IG was overburdened with the task of managing several important departments in the Union Territory. Strange logic, indeed! What has also been glossed over is the fact that another tunnel was found two years earlier. A Chandigarh Administration official conducted an enquiry and gave a clean chit, saying only a flower bed had collapsed. If the digging of a 92-ft tunnel can be overlooked, surely it is wrong to blame only the prison staff. The report makes several suggestions to prevent the recurrence of such collapse of jail functioning. These include appointment of a whole-time IG (Prisons) and also one AIG/DIG or Assistant IG (Prisons), amendment to the jail manual, abolition of B and C categories of prisoners, laying down proper inspection formats, etc. The suggestions are relevant, but they can all come to naught if the jailers connive with the prisoners the way they did before the January 21 escape. |
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Don't axe the future WHENEVER so-called developers and builders take over a particular piece of land, it is usually the one that has been used for agriculture till then. Bulldozers move into an area that was once lush, alive and breathing and put out an artificial concrete jungle there. Even before they begin, men with axes move in to cut off the limbs of environment-sustaining trees. There have been many incidents of trees being chopped to either make way for commercial properties or roads, which is unfortunate, since the environmental damage caused by such wanton destruction is immense. That it is happening in a nation where trees have been held sacred since time immemorial is a telling comment on the perversion of our value system. Often those involved in such acts enjoy protection from high quarters, since the legal provisions against illegal felling of trees are quite stringent. A tree census should be carried out to get an accurate picture of the number and kind of trees that are our national resource. In order to protect our trees, we must know more about them. Developers should be given a floor-to-tree ratio which must be maintained. Such measures would ensure that some semblance of environment restoration takes place to compensate for the proliferation of concrete jungles. Efforts also have to be made to educate children about environmental protection. They are the future, which to a large extent also depends on how well we protect our environment from being ravaged by human greed. As the pressure on land increases with more urbanisation and burgeoning population, the temptation to give short shrift to environmental concerns increases. To succumb to such a temptation would be to sell the future to the devil. |
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You won the elections, but I won the count. — Anastasio Somoza |
Towards free and fair polls THE Supreme Court judgement on the telecast of political advertisements and Attorney-General Soli J. Sorabjee’s advice to the Centre against imposing a ban on opinion and exit polls till the completion of the final phase of polling need a close look. Both issues deal with the citizens’ freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 (1) of the Constitution, but with a difference. While the Supreme Court ruling underlines the fact that the fundamental rights of the citizens can be subordinated to larger public good in the case of offensive and surrogate ads, Mr Sorabjee’s interpretation of Article 19 (1) runs counter to this as regards opinion polls. The apex court, as the sentinel and watchdog of the Constitution, has rightly expressed its anguish and indignation at the offensive ads, which were causing incalculable damage to the system and the polity. Surely, there are limits to the citizens’ freedom of speech and expression. It is a common principle of constitutional law and practice that liberty does not mean licence. And a citizen or an organisation, in the name of freedom of speech and expression, cannot indulge in mudslinging and character assassination of top political leaders through a smear campaign on television. The Andhra Pradesh High Court had erred in lifting the ban on the telecast of ads under Section 7 (3) of the Cable and Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1994. True, Article 19 (1) (g) guarantees the right to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business. However, under Article 19 (6), the state can make a law imposing, in the interest of the general public, reasonable restrictions on the exercise of this right. The ban on television ads under the Act cited above should be viewed in this context. Over the years, the Supreme Court has refused to characterise many activities as trade for purposes of Art 19 (1) (g). Some of these include prize chits, gambling, adulterated foodstuffs and money-lending to poor villagers. Under this Article, the court has laid greater stress on social control and public order and, in the process, subordinated the individual interest of the trader to public good. The Supreme Court has held that a reasonable restriction is one which is not in excess of the requirements of the case. Naturally, this test involves a drawing of balance between the interest of the trader and the exigencies of public order. Mr Sorabjee’s advice to the Centre against promulgating an Ordinance imposing a ban on opinion and exit polls has given a new twist to Article 19 (1). Even though the Election Commission has proposed such a ban, backed by an all-party consensus, Mr Sorabjee has said that this would infringe upon the citizen’s freedom of speech and expression. Constitutionally speaking, the arguments adduced against offensive ads apply in the case of opinion and exit polls as well, though in a different context. The argument that Article 19 (1) is sacrosanct and forms a part of the basic structure of the Constitution, though technically correct, does not exactly apply in the case of opinion and exit polls. One has to see the ground realities objectively and impartially and look at the adverse implications of these polls. Four questions arise in this context. First, won’t opinion and exit polls conducted after the first phase of polling influence the voters during the four subsequent phases? Secondly, how credible and authentic are the random sample surveys being conducted by the pollsters? Thirdly, can the pollsters guarantee political neutrality of the opinion polls so conducted? There are genuine apprehensions of political bias in these polls as some of the channels like Jaya TV and Gemini TV are owned by political leaders. And finally, what about the extent of the margin of error? Suffice it to mention that after making all kinds of forecasts in the opinion polls, there has been a tendency on the part of the psephologists and pollsters to play safe at the end with a note of caution — a lot of factors may change between the actual survey period and the polling date and that could alter the prospects of political parties and individual candidates. Clearly, opinion polls have a baneful effect on the general interests of the public. The issue in question is the damage these polls would inflict on the electoral system as a whole. They are bound to act as stumbling blocks on the citizens’ right to make an informed choice. When the Representation of the People Act bans all kinds of campaigning (including door-to-door canvassing) before 40 hours of polling, how can the Election Commission allow the telecast of opinion and exit polls round the clock? The question here is not infringement (or even temporary abrogation) of Article 19 (1) but to help citizens make an informed choice while exercising their franchise. They should be enabled to cast their vote in a free, fair and fearless manner, without being influenced by opinion and exit polls. Moreover, the Constitution does allow the government to impose reasonable restrictions on the citizens in the exercise of fundamental rights. One has to see the real intentions of the Election Commission. It is not the case of an overzealous commission trying to muzzle the electronic media and throttle democracy by imposing a ban on opinion polls. It is just the case of the commission trying to substitute individual interests (opinion polls) with overall public good (ensuring free and fair elections). Another issue that merits attention is the Supreme Court’s query to the Attorney-General as to why the expenditure on TV ads being incurred by political parties has not been included in the election expenses of the candidates. Such a reform would not only make the ceiling on the expenditure prescribed under the Representation of the People Act — Rs 25 lakh for a Lok Sabha constituency and Rs 10 lakh for an Assembly seat — realistic and meaningful but also reduce the role of money power in the elections. Campaign finance reform is a strong and recurrent theme in American politics. However, while campaign financing is fully accounted for and disclosed in the US, it is not so in India. Election expenses here are five times of those in the US, making our per capita expenditure higher than in the US. This is certainly avoidable in the light of India’s low per capita income. The Supreme Court’s suggestion to the Attorney-General should be viewed against this background. The Election Commission has taken some measures to scrutinise the candidates’ expenses and make them accountable. But this is not enough. Since advertising in the electronic media is big business and has a powerful impact on the people, the expenditure incurred on it needs to be included in the election expenses of the candidates. Under Article 324 of the Constitution, the Election Commission has untrammelled powers with a view to ensuring a level-playing field and conducting free and fair elections. The Representation of the People Act and the Model Code of Conduct also empower it to take decisions which are binding on the Centre and the states. The concerted efforts by the Supreme Court, the commission and all those involved in the electoral process are aimed at achieving one goal — ensuring free and fair elections. It is, therefore, the duty of the governments at the Centre and in the states, all political parties and candidates to follow the rules of the game scrupulously and extend unstinted support to the commission in achieving this goal. |
‘Wife-washed’ husbands AN instrumentalist met a music director for a job in his orchestra. The latter asked: “What instrument do you play?” The former replied: “Sir, at home, I play the second fiddle.” This seemingly off-the-cuff reply reveals two things: one, this man has a sense of humour. Two, he is straight and honest that he is hen-pecked. Another is credited with this gem: “I am the boss in the house, and I have my wife’s permission to say that.” Men who strut about with inflated chest cower before their domineering wives. It is a different matter that only a few have the honour or humour to own it manfully. Albert Einstein, a blend of oddities, was an affable husband, very easy-going at that. He was so wife-washed that he even let her cut his hair as she desired. I have a sneaking feeling that this practice of being yes-wife has descended from the chivalry of the past when men went down on the knees to woo or propose to women of their liking. Hen-peckism is a symbolic spillover. I am foxed that man who has been grudgingly or generously treating woman his equal still finds it necessary to wine and dine her, lavish gifts on her to win her nods. Though equals, they are not like two peas in a pod. Recall. It was late actor Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor’s husband, who wanted to buy the Taj Mahal to gift it to his then already many-times divorced and re-married wife. Men have built memorials in memory of their wives. Classic example is of Shah Jehan building a “poem in marble” for his beloved wife. As far as my poor information goes, no wife has done a similar grand job in the memory of her husband. Not even Elizabeth Taylor! One sane and sound advice dished out to a prospective husband is: before marriage keep both your eyes open; after marriage keep one shut. I suspect this also has something to do with hen-pecking the husband has to do after tying the “sacred” knot. It symbolically says: forewarned is forearmed. There are two “funda” reasons for this universal marital phenomenon. First, women are supposed to be expert knitters. After marriage they become super knitters — of eyebrows! Husband, a poor knitter, thus has to fawn to unknit fair brows. Second is deeply rooted in the biology of the sexes: the call of the bed is stronger than any other call devised by Nature. It is the peacock that fawns on the hen with his spread-out ornamental fan studded with a hundred eyes!
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She quit civil service for social work
OMITA PAUL believes in the hand of destiny. Perhaps the reason why this senior civil servant fell in love with a village, enough to give up her rise in the echelons of power to take a plunge where most would fear to venture. From an envious position in the government to setting up the Aravali Vikas Sangathan, Ms Paul says it has been a plan well drafted. She recalls the idyllic setting of Alipur village, barely a few kilometres from an ostentatious address in Gurgaon. “It was so beautiful with trees all over and clouds in the sky, I just loved it”. There was a streak of ugliness too. “The villagers began complaining about the shortage of drinking water”, recalls Omita, who was then with the Planning Commission. “I will never forget what one woman had told me then. She said if our water woes are taken care of, I will live, otherwise I have just about a couple of more years to go. To get drinking water, village women had to struggle so much. And when we began talking of revenue generation and vocational training, the villagers almost shooed us away. All they wanted was water”, recalls Omita. “But I had no empty promises to make. I told them that if they needed water, they would have to get it for themselves. No one would bring them water from Delhi or elsewhere. They had to become self-reliant”, she says. A second trip to the village, the next day saw Ms Paul taking a test, she is glad she passed. “They took me to the village temple and I was appalled to see the temple compound littered with not just garbage, but human waste. It was sacrilege. And worst still, no one came forward to clean it”. Omita began sweeping the compound. “Gradually others joined me and within an hour the villagers had helped me clean up the place”. One step taken. The village fabric, painted with the ghastly shades of caste bias, was looking up to Omita for the next bidding. “It was a tremendous work. We began to bring people together, coaxed women to join in and soon had the village water bodies replenished. The roads were made pucca,” says Omita. Alipur’s success story laid the foundation for the setting up of the Aravali Vikas Sangathan (ARAVIS) in 1996. A body that caters to about 45 villages in Haryana, covering about 90,000 people. “We have got villagers together and formed Gram Vikas Samitis, which are confederated into ARAVIS”. And ARAVIS has taught effective intervention to the rural people for preservation of the environment and conservation of natural resources, especially water. “Once we helped people solve problems of water, they began showing interest in our training programmes”, says Omita, who is also a senior adviser, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, an ICSSR recognised research institution. Excited about the ongoing work, Omita, an alumnus of Panjab University, Chandigarh, points out, “we are currently involved in the making of eight model villages. We teach farmers income generation schemes, how to get maximum returns from their small land holdings, about medicinal plants and self-help groups. We tell them about growing crops that require less water, apart from the traditional wheat and mustard”. Adolescent health and education are also top on the priority list. “The adolescents in the village are being exposed to a life which they cannot lead in villages. They don’t like working in the fields, they are becoming addicted to vices and suicide is fast becoming a problem. We want to reach out to youth. They are catalysts of change”. ARAVIS now plans to educate villagers about concepts like vermi compost, health and education issues, role of women, hygiene, institution building, nutrition, naturopathy and social mobilisation. “At the vocational training centres we teach women sewing and stitching, also preventive health. We have trained about 100 women and girls in each village. Midwives are given kits ”. ARAVIS has also started a radio programme “Chetna” in which callers express their views on topics ranging from gender equality to the role of the panchayats. ARAVIS has helped set up Gandhi Chetan Kendras, an IT education centre and vocational training centres. “Education and health are the most neglected sectors in the rural areas and we are trying to change that”. Apart from accomplishments like building a road in Khor village and a school in Sarmathla, there are projects like rainwater harvesting. “There were times when I would be depressed. The villagers would not see eye to eye on issues as insignificant as the direction of a drain, but our perseverance paid off”, says Ms Paul, adding that “we have to deal with people who are ready to fight at the drop of a hat”. Having steered clear of politics, Omita claims her tenure in the bureaucracy has been a fruitful lesson. Being the wife of the Commissioner of Police of Delhi, Dr K.K. Paul, she asserts, has also not affected her work. “I have never relied on my husband’s name nor has he ever relied on mine. I have stayed away from the red-tape”. For Omita, whose decision to quit the civil services was received with scepticism by all, including the family, it was a moment for introspection. “I felt the time has come for me to give back to society. I live a good life, I have worked hard for it, but I have to do my share of work for society. I told them that if I take the call after 60, I may not have enough zeal or strength. I took the plunge then and now I can look forward to many more years”. Omita’s next target is “garbage” and “the expansion of the Police Foundation for Education”, which she has helped set up and currently heads. “We are looking at expansion, there will be more schools and provisions for higher education. Police family welfare work also takes time. There is so much that needs to do for police personnel and their families. They work in such strenuous environs”. The agreeable tone suddenly turns agitated, as she begins talking of garbage and dirt, “It is shameful, these heaps of plastic dumps. We have to do something about it very soon”. Tenacious as she is in her other pursuits, for this one too she declares her intentions: “I cannot tolerate garbage”. |
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Abortion clinics
victimise women ILLEGAL abortion clinics thrive in India - often with disastrous consequences for women - almost 33 years after the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act came into being. The Act was meant to set basic standards for induced abortions, but experts say it is flouted only too frequently by doctors, nurses and quacks in search of a quick buck or under pressure from the patients themselves. According to a nationwide study by social workers Ravi Duggal and Vimala Ramachandran, legal abortion facilities account for only 24 per cent of private abortion facilities in India. Around 69 percent of the uncertified centres had not even attempted to obtain certification because they did not want to be accountable, studies reveal. These centres flourish at the expense of naïve people who are attracted by their low costs and absence of lengthy formalities. "There are centres that are known to insert rods, and make patients drink corrosive liquids that burn the stomach. They administer medicines that are usually given to animals," said Niti Sehrawat, a doctor who works at a private clinic. "Due to superstition and lack of awareness, mothers-in-law drag their son's wives to tantriks who claim to know quick remedies for an unwanted pregnancy." In a country known for its male preference, these clinics flourish at the cost of women and, often, their unborn female children. A doctor who works with an NGO said: "We very often see women who come to us with post-MTP complications." She recounted an incident where a woman who had gone for MTP to an unqualified centre came to the clinic with severe bleeding and abdominal complications. "Her uterus had been irreparably perforated, rendering her unable to conceive for life. Her intestines were hanging out of her vagina and we had to perform a six-hour operation, removing her uterus and attaching a separate bag for the passage of stools," she said. The doctor disclosed: "There are cases of unmarried girls being forced to shell out as much as Rs.5,000-Rs.6,000 on condition of keeping their names and addresses confidential. "If a young, pregnant woman shows any urgency in getting an abortion, the centres blackmail her and charge her exorbitantly." Poor people prefer to flock to these centres because some of them charge only Rs.250 in contrast to the fee of Rs.1,500-2,000 at authorised places. Ranvir Solanki, who runs Sidhant Clinic in Dwarka in southwest Delhi, said: "I have heard of even local chemists making money out of the business. They sell the contraceptive pill Mefipristone to patients for high costs. "The drug, which should be given only on prescriptions till 14 weeks of pregnancy, can otherwise cause grave problems, including uterine rupture." Niti Sehrawat said: "There are clinics run by some nurses too. The nurses who worked at an MTP centre for a few months feel they have the expertise to handle MTP cases and attempt operations they are not trained for, and cause a lot of damage to patients. "We see almost five to 10 cases every month of complications that arise from incomplete abortions and perforated uterus. There have also been cases when the mother has died due to improper MTP," the doctor said. India today, according to statistics, has the fourth largest maternal mortality rate in the world. Female foeticide too is rampant, with studies saying that India is short of 35 million girl children, even in urban areas. Sex-selective abortions are proliferated by the lack of ethics in the business of MTP, say experts.
— IANS |
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AS the mercury soars, Bihar strongman Laloo Prasad Yadav and his supporters have turned to traditional coolers like 'amjhora' (mango juice mixed with salt), 'bel sherbet' (wood apple juice) and 'sattu sherbet' (ground gram juice), sugarcane juice and lassi to fight the heat wave. Some RJD workers in rural Bihar, however, favour toddy, a homemade drink that is regarded as the poor man's beer. "We are taking sattu and bel sherbet to keep fresh during the hot summer days," said Shivanand Tiwari, the RJD candidate from Buxar. For generations, people in Bihar have used these drinks to quench their thirst and keep at bay the intense summer heat. In markets across Bihar, the drinks are available for as little as Rs.2 to Rs.5 a glass.
IANS |
May we obtain wealth by our own exertion. — The Vedas What the whole Hindu race has thought in ages, Shri Ramakrishna lived in one life. His life is the living commentary to the Vedas of all nations. — Swami Vivekananda God’s name is the purest wealth. Man gets it only if He, the giver, is so disposed. — Guru Nanak Meditation is the gateway to self-realisation. It is the art of maintaining the mind in sharp focus upon a chosen thought to the exclusion of all other thoughts. — Swami A. Parthasarathy If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. — Voltaire |
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