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Gun-toting MLAs Agenda for jobs Fly ash can be disposed of safely OFFICIALS ignore directives, act slowly and then deny anything is wrong. This familiar reaction is all too common. The fly ash from a breach in a dyke of the Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant, Ropar, continues to pollute the Sutlej. |
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Quota for Dalits in private sector
Glitzy Ghaggar
More and more women take to crime Delhi Durbar
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Gun-toting MLAs ONE Uttar Pradesh MLC Ajit Singh has been shot dead. A case has been registered against MLA Akhilesh Singh. The line between criminals and politicians seems to have been obliterated. Nearly all the persons whose names figure in this case happen to have a colourful record. Some are mafia bosses, some are gang-lords. All are politicians. Even the slain MLC had more than 16 cases of murder, attempt to murder and rioting against his name. Dr Johnson’s famous line that politics is the last resort of a scoundrel to which Ambrose Bierce added: “With all due respect … I beg to submit that it is the first,” is coming true in a chilling manner. In fact, scoundrels are a dime a dozen. The shining stars are those who are on the history sheets of the police for more serious crimes. How these crooks have enriched the body politic is there for everyone to see. Not too long ago, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had claimed that in his predecessor’s time, MLAs were being shot at the doorstep of the Vidhan Sabha and that he had brought about a sea-change in the situation. Quite a change indeed, considering that they are now being murdered at their birthday parties. Politics should be a great leveller. However, when the criminals enter it, they bring their old rivalries with them. There have been many revenge killings in the past. At stake are lucrative government contracts, which are handed out only to the fiercest. The victim and the accused in the latest killing too had been at daggers drawn over railway contracts. How well such projects have been undertaken by these mafia dons is obvious. Had the accused been from different parties, there might have been a wave of revenge by now. But both of them happen to owe allegiance to the ruling Samajwadi Party. The cupboards of other parties are not any cleaner. Right now, there is a conspiracy of silence because most parties are guilty of bringing criminals into their fold. They must understand that this is being penny wise and pound foolish. Soon enough, these base coins will replace all the genuine ones. Cleansing of politics is difficult today. Once the criminals get a majority, it will be impossible. |
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Agenda for jobs Unemployment is a countrywide serious problem, but in Punjab it has been getting worse. From a 5.6 per cent unemployment rate during the decade beginning 1983, it has risen alarmingly to 7 per cent in the decade starting 1993. The situation will worsen in the Ninth Plan period (2002-07), according to the CII. Corrective action by the Punjab Government to reverse the trend is either missing or inadequate. Although agriculture is the livelihood of most Punjabis, shrinking land holdings and declining returns have forced them to look for alternatives. These include tourism, information technology and the services sector. In its growth agenda presented to the Punjab Government, the CII has identified two sectors — garment making and manufacture of auto parts — for creating jobs. The CII proposal deserves a careful look as these two areas are heading for furious growth. This is due to the expectations of huge outsourcing business and dismantling of the European Union’s garment quota system next year. A study by a global consultancy firm shows that the auto components industry in Punjab can expand to Rs 7,500 crore from its present size of Rs 2,155 crore. Besides, argues the CII, Punjabis are temperamentally suited for both sectors. Employment generation is obviously not the prime concern of any business grouping. Tagged with the job figures is a “to-do” list for the Punjab Government. It expects the government to make available sufficient trained manpower, regular power at cheaper rates and tax concessions. It also wants the state to set up infrastructure to cash in on the opportunities in the two sectors. The industry in India in general and in Punjab in particular still expects crutches to compete. It is yet to learn to be self-reliant. Can’t the industry, for instance, establish training institutes or take over and run ITIs to meet its manpower needs? At best, where feasible, an industry-government partnership can be tried for mutual benefit. |
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River of ashes OFFICIALS ignore directives, act slowly and then deny anything is wrong. This familiar reaction is all too common. The fly ash from a breach in a dyke of the Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant, Ropar, continues to pollute the Sutlej. All the warnings have been ignored. Criminal negligence has resulted in the third incident of fly ash discharge in two years. Obviously, lessons have not been learnt. Provisions have not been made for the effective and environmentally sound disposal of pollutants. Did the problem crop up all of a sudden? No, fly ash is a "fine residue resulting from the combustion of ground or powdered coal, which is transported from the firebox through the boiler by flue gases". Any coal-fired electric generating plant generates fly ash. Thus, there should have been proper thought and planning about the disposal of this waste produce even when the super thermal power plant was designed. In any case, it is the duty of the administration to ensure proper and ecologically sound disposal of waste. There are a number of ways in which fly ash can be constructively used, notably as construction material, since the addition of 30 per cent fly ash makes bricks stronger. A notification issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests last year specified that "every construction agency engaged in the construction of buildings within a radius of 50 to 100 km from a coal or lignite based thermal power plant shall use fly ash bricks or blocks," etc. This is not being done. As a result, thermal plants like the one at Ropar have too much of fly ash, which is stored in the open. It thus becomes an environmental disaster waiting to happen. Fly ash pollutes rivers, affects marine life and makes water unfit for human consumption. It is a vicious cycle which needs to be broken at any cost. |
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The joys of parents are secret, and so are their griefs and fears. — Francis Bacon |
Quota for Dalits in private sector The reservation in the private sector is the talk of the town. There are people who are in favour and against it. The Maharashtra government has got a Bill passed paving the way for the reservation in the private sector for the Dalits and the backward classes, which is being opposed by the Shiv Sena. As amended now, the reservation rule will be applicable to only those businesses which are helped or contributed by the government. In these circumstances, the question arises: why are the Dalits feeling the need for reservation in the private sector when they already have a quota in government jobs? In 1999, there were 481 judges in the High Courts in India out of which only 15 were of a Scheduled Caste background while there were 21 judges in the Supreme Court and not a single judge belonged to the Scheduled Castes. And in 1995, in Group A Central government services, the Dalits’ participation was just 10 per cent. Now that the PSUs are being privatised, where will the Dalits go for earning their livelihood and respect? Reservation is a traditional aspect of life in India. After the invasion by the Aryans, there was a fierce struggle between them and the natives, who are the Dalits of today. The Aryans, outsiders or invaders, finally won. They came to the conclusion though that it would be difficult for them to establish their rule with the sword, they conjured up the idea of reservations in religion, occupations and privileges for themselves. They further coupled it with the miserable way life for the indigenous people of India, attributing it to the sins of past lives, fate, curse and divine will. With the help of reservation in government jobs and education, Dalits have come to participate in the mainstream activities. And in areas where there is no reservation — the media, the judiciary, export-import businesses and highly skilled technical and professional jobs, for instance — they are entirely non-existent for them. The people who speak against reservation are generally from the Sangh Parivar or the BJP. When in 1990 Mr V.P. Singh announced reservation for the OBCs, the BJP didn’t oppose it directly. Instead, Mr. L. K Advani took out the Rath Yatra for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya. During that time there was great anger among the middle class and the so-called upper castes, and all this came out along with the final outcome of the Yatra. The success of Kamandal lied in Mandal and the BJP was able to achieve what it couldn’t till that time. It came to power. The lack of intelligent leaders among the backward classes was a big reason why they failed to see through this strategy. The logic given these days against reservation is that efficiency and meritocracy is adversely affected. There is no reservation in the private sector in India unlike the Affirmation Action practices in the US. Yet why has the Indian economy not been able to throw up a challenge against global companies and products? Indian industrialists consider US businesses as their role model but they don’t want to know a thing or two about the compassionate work done by the Americans towards the weaker sections. In the US, businesses on their own, without any legal necessity, provide employment to Afro-Americans, Hispanics and Red Indians keeping in mind their population. In 1982, it was found out that there were only 2 per cent Afro-Americans in the media. This stunned the editors and owners of big-time newspapers and they started making extra efforts to search for the minority candidates. Finally, they trained them and employed them. This is called patriotism. Last year in Michigan University a white student— who had secured more marks than an Afro-American but who still failed to get admission in a law school—- challenged the Affirmative Action and lost the case in the US Supreme Court by a margin of 5-4. It is to be noted that most big businesses, educational institutions and philanthropic organisations like the Ford Foundation supported the black student and aired their views that under no circumstance should the Affirmative Action be discontinued. Finally, the US Supreme Court gave a verdict in favour of reservation for the blacks. Indian corporates benchmark their business strategies against US businesses but they don’t want to emulate the Americans in fulfilling their societal obligations. In fact, they should take up this wonderful opportunity to right the wrong, which has been continuing for thousands of years. It shocks me that some corporate houses are opposed to reservation for the hard-working Dalits, saying that private businesses are the result of their own hard work and money. I want to know if the flourishing Indian software industry could have done even 1 per cent of what it has achieved had their been no IITs and IIMs around? Certainly, these are not the creations of the rich people in India. In sum, nobody, rich or poor, lives in a vacuum. If Dalits will be employed, they will be paid according to their contributions. It will not be a free lunch. The revenue collection of the Indian government is about 8.5 to 10 per cent of the total GDP. In developed countries it is about 25 per cent and even in less developed economies it ranges from 16 to 20 per cent. The source of government revenues is mostly income tax in foreign countries, while in India, most of it is excise and customs. There are thousands of rich businessmen who have about 15-20 airconditioners in their homes, but while filing income tax returns they show their household expenses around Rs 50,000-60,000. Many do not deposit sales tax, which is collected from the public, and when sales tax officers come calling, they protest and cry foul that they are being harassed. A nation is like a big home. If a person in our home is depressed or not in the best of health, it affects the well-being of the entire family. Similarly, if the Dalits don’t have proper education, decent places to live and proper means of earning livelihood, the country as a whole will not be prosperous, happy and peaceful. In the context of India, it is already true. I hope the verdict of the 14th Lok Sabha teaches us a lesson that how anguish and deprivation of the poor, Dalits and the minorities, threw the National Democratic Alliance out of power. The BJP during its rule was concerned about only one section, the upper caste rich, who wanted to get further rich. And it lost power. Let us think about the weak too. The middle class always complains that there is too much talk of castes in the Indian political set-up. But it does not seem to wipe it out. When there is a caste system in society, it will always affect politics. And always for worse. If Dalits get an opportunity to move forward in life, the nation as a whole will get ahead. Industrialists should help Dalits to become entrepreneurs, or at least they should buy raw materials and services from Dalits so that caste-based occupations are done away with once and for all. The writer is National President, Indian Justice Party. |
Glitzy Ghaggar The havoc wrought by the swollen waters of the Ghaggar river was disproportionate to its inconsequential size and shape most months of the year. Riding on the crest of torrential rains and relying on clogged troughs, any water body would run revengeful breaking banks and barriers. It was a cosmic rain dance. Gokul got a saviour in Lord Krishna who lifted the Goverdhan parvat on his little finger to protect the inhabitants from the rainy wrath of the rain God. Was Shivalik beckoning Him ? Legend has it that Lord Krishna, amazed at seeing Brijwasis making delicacies to propitiate Indra, urged them to rather worship the visible Goverdhan parvat, which was the source of their sustenance. The peripatetic Narad saw this and informed Indra who, enraged and slighted, unleashed rains over Brij. When Lord Krishna came to their rescue, a chastised Indra fell at the former’s feet. The Ghaggar is cast in the role of a rainwater drainage for the Shivalik. The quantum of water is not enough to flow down to the sea, some 1400 km away. The rivulet loses its way in the desert of Thar. Sandwiched between the majestic snow-fed river system of the Indus and the Ganga, the Ghaggar system of rivers consists of, from west to east, the rivers Wah, Ghaggar, Dangri, Markanda, Sarsuti and Chautang. The Sarsuti is distinct from the celebrated Rigvedic river Saraswati. These are formed by a junction of small rivers in the lowly hills of the Shivaliks. Experts opine that the Ghaggar enjoyed a far more dignified existence in the past. Extensive research supported by satellite imagery suggests that at one time the Satluj and the Yamuna flowed into the Ghaggar. Geological and environmental changes over the centuries, it is believed, led to diversion of the Satluj westwards and the Yamuna eastwards. Emergence of a number of braids between the Ghaggar and the Satluj can be attributed to the ecological upheaval down the ages. The Yamuna’s shifting seems to have taken place in phases. The Sarsuti and the Chautang today flow in the old channels abandoned by the Yamuna. One is tempted to identify the Rigvedic Saraswati with the old Ghaggar. Waters from the Satluj and the Yamuna would have made the lower Ghaggar a mighty river but in its upper reaches it would still be as inconsequential as it is today. The Rigvedic hymn (3.33) associates the Beas with the Satluj. Likewise, Mahabharat Adipawan (167.8) narrates a legend that when Rishi Vashistha took a suicidal plunge into the Satluj, the river broke into a hundred channels. These channels might have been in existence already, and were just woven into the legend. Be it as it may, Mother Nature has her unique ways to take care of her children. She caresses them and chastises them too, if need be. She is blissfully bountiful. She pours her heart out at the sight of screaming siblings. If down south, the delayed downpour diluted the dispute over Cauvery waters, the recent rainfall could rekindle hope for Punjab, Haryana and the rest. Hope for the best. Someone wryly remarked India is rich in resources but poor in their management. Don’t we have sick industries galore but nary sick industrialist? Indians do well but India does not. Need one say more. What a pity,
countrymen!
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More and more women take to crime Till now the involvement of women in criminal activities was limited to a few fields only. Women in some tribes like the Pardis, Sahnsi, Bauria and Kalandars used to perform a recce of an area to identify victims and then their male accomplices used to take over. Some women from the Sahnsi tribe used to indulge in chain-snatching, commit small frauds, shop-lifting or thefts in buses or three-wheelers. Now there are tenant robbers. Those doing recce earlier now accompany their males commit a robbery. They even witness gruesome murders of victims. In the past decade or so jails have seen a significant rise in the number of women convicts and undertrials in dowry death or harassment cases. These women, however, have no other criminal record. One can find women indulging in major financial frauds, duping gullible youths as fake NRI brides, conspiring with a male accomplice to kill one’s children or husband to keep an illicit relationship going and, above all, have become members of gangs that loot people on highways. More women are active as narcotics and liquor smugglers. Meet middle-aged Sarbjeet Kaur, a murder convict, who has formed her own gang of liquor smugglers after being released a few months ago in Ludhiana. She was jailed for over seven years for murdering her husband, Sant Ram. After her arrest, she admitted to having two boys as gang members. But the police claimed that her network was quite large. Sarbjeet Kaur earlier used to act as a drug carrier. She used to get Rs 50 to Rs 100 per day. Then she decided to have her own gang. She continues to bring liquor from Chandigarh in buses. From merely seven women arrested for drug peddling in 1998, the figure has gone to 29 in 2003 in Bathinda police district only. Dozens of women have been caught in Jagraon under the same charge. Two women, Charanjit Kaur and Amarjit Kaur, were caught recently smuggling opium from Rajasthan to Jagraon by train. The women used to buy opium at the rate of Rs 9,000 per kg , which they sold at Rs 14,000 to retail opium sellers, who in turn sold it at Rs 40,000. A gang of five women smugglers gave sleepless nights to the state police before being nabbed by the Moga police. The women — Gurmit Kaur, Angrez Kaur, Dhan Kaur, Balbir Kaur and Mohinder Kaur — were quite expert in the field. Ms V. Neerja, SSP, Nawanshahr, had done a study on drug peddlers. She found that parents and circumstances forced women into the drug trade. Many women caught while smuggling in the Doaba region had to take up the work after their husbands were caught. With punishment up to 10 years to the male accused caught in the act, the women take up smuggling as there is no other means to earn bread and butter. The government has no rehabilitation work for them. Over 50-year-old Jagir Kaur, alias Jagiro, of Hoshiarpur has been caught more than a dozen times. Her entire family was into peddling drugs. She was married to Nanju Ram, an alleged thief. After his death in 1980, the burden of bringing up of six children fell on Jagiro’s shoulders. She knew only one thing — drug peddling. In 1997 Jagiro was caught with over 400 kg of opium and imprisoned for 10 years. Five years later she came on parole in 2002, but within a month was re-arrested with a large booty of narcotics. Many women have of late taught men a trick or two about swindling. By playing NRI brides a group of dancing girls of Jalandhar, along with a travel agent and a cloth merchant and his wife from Raikot, has defrauded a dozen youths of Rs 17 lakh each. One of the accused NRI brides was a 38-year-old woman Swaran Lata, who used to arrange dancing girls for fake shows. As more boys fell in their trap, she fell short of dancing girls and went through marriages herself. Then there is a gang of highway robbers. Young women dress up in jeans or even salwar kameej and seek a lift from car drivers, preferably singles. The victims are soon offered something to eat or drink. That is the only thing the man remembers. Next time when he opens his eys he is in some hospital after lying unconscious for two or three days. He has been drugged and looted. There was this girl from Samana, Rano, who allegedly killed five persons, including her grandparents and maternal grand-mother, to facilitate her illicit relationship with a, hold your breath, 74-year-old man and another with a 21-year-old driver. That was some seven years ago. Her case had shook the crime scene. Karamjit Kaur of Gurrhe village, near Mullanpur Dakha, has been arrested on the charge of killing her two children — a boy and a girl — to continue her illicit relation. She strangled her children when she was fleeing the village with her paramour. She did this because her lover just wanted her and had nothing to do with the children. She is now languishing in a jail in Ludhiana. Deepti Arora, alias Kamlesh Rani, alias Jyoti, has been charged with killing advocate Dalbir Singh Turna and a trader, Raj Kumar Katyyar. She was an expert in luring men into relationships and then looting them. The other gang members — Randhir Singh, a paramour of Deepti, another woman Rani and her husband Jogi — were arrested last year. Rani was a police informer and took to crime as her standard of living kept on rising beyond her income from the information supplied to the cops. |
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Delhi Durbar Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy’s ambition of bringing his son into politics was rebuffed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi when she rejected the resignation of the party Lok Sabha MP, Y S Vivekananda Reddy. The signal is clear that be it YSR, as Rajasekhar Reddy is popularly known, or anyone else, decisions cannot be taken on their own and the party cannot be taken as their fiefdom. Vivekananda Reddy, the younger brother of YSR, was compelled to withdraw his resignation after it had been pending with Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for four days. However, in a complete volte-face, YSR welcomed the Congress President’s decision and claimed that Vivekananda Reddy did not heed his advice not to resign. However, sources in the party insisted that YSR had forced his brother to resign on the plea that Vivekenanda Reddy had desired joining his family in the US. Meeting after crisis is over At first sight, the day’s diary for September 2 on the desk of Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed apparently showed an error. The minister’s list of engagements read: “1500 hours: CMG meeting”. When this correspondent asked the minister whether the engagement list was prepared a day before and had been overtaken by the developments, the minister laughed and confirmed that indeed a meeting of the Crisis Management Group on Iraq hostage crisis was very much scheduled. It was a rather unusual meeting of the CMG under the chairmanship of Ahamed. The CMG met without a crisis to tackle because the hostages had been released and were to reach here from Kuwait some 14 hours after the CMG meet. Ahamed clarified that the meeting had been convened as the members wanted a group photo. Besides, the minister had to formally disband the CMG. Kerala CM cuts costs Kerala’s new Chief Minister Oommen Chandy wants to present a new face of his government by doing away with his security cover aimed at cutting costs and being people friendly. Immediately on assuming office, Chandy made it clear that he required no security as there was no threat to his life. With strict instructions issued that no one should be harassed, there was an endless queue of visitors at his office in Thiruvananthapuram. Can Chandy maintain this constant interference or is this one of those political gimmicks, wonder impartial observers. Smooth roads promised Ministers in the national Capital are never short of making pledges at the drop of a hat which are constantly debunked by the opposition BJP. A case in point is that Delhi’s Urban Development Minister A K Walia, who has promised to get the potholed roads repaired. There are virtual craters in the busy thoroughfares of the Capital after the monsoon leading to traffic nightmares and back-breaking drives. On his part, an undeterred Walia stressed that for implementing the projects identified so far, about Rs 70 crore will be required and this amount will be provided from the state budget. Earlier this year, the Central Road Research Institute had submitted a report to the Delhi Government providing a plan of action for the maintenance of 600 km of the 28,000 km of road network in the Capital. Contributed by Rajeev Sharma, Gaurav Choudhury and Prashant Sood |
Prema is like a string in the hands of the devotee, with which he binds to himself that Sachchidananda i.e., God. The devotee holds the lord, so to speak, under his control. God comes to him whenever he calls. — Sri Ramakrishna A word spoken in wrath is the sharpest sword; covetousness is the deadliest poison; passion is the fiercest fire; ignorance is the darkest night. —
The Buddha Deliberate with caution, but act with decision and promptness. —
Colton I know that You are not afar; I believe that You are within and I know Your mansion too. —
Guru Nanak Duty is seldom sweet. It is only when love greases its wheels that it runs smoothly; it is continuous friction otherwise. — Swami Vivekananda |
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Feminists are surely not going to boast about the crumbling of this male bastion. More and more women are becoming proactive in crime. Gone are the days when women were mentioned in crime stories as passive accomplices or more often as victims. Today women are making deep forays into the crime world and giving jitters to the police.