O P I N I O N S

PERSPECTIVE

Partisan Governors won’t  preserve dharma
by A.N. Barowalia
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s observations at the All-India Governors’ Conference on the Governors’ role assume significance in the wake of the controversial role of the Governors of Goa, Jharkhand and, more recently, Bihar. His advice to the Governors to preserve the light of “dharma” by rising above day-to-day politics needs to be appreciated.

On Record
Lifestyle cause for rising heart cases, says Dr Lal
by Parmindar Singh
DR Purshottam Lal, Chairman of Metro Group of Hospitals in Noida, is a renowned cardiologist. Dr Lal, who hails from Hoshiarpur in Punjab, has successfully performed more than 5,000 operations.

What ails Haryana schools?
by S.K. Kaushal
DISMAL performance of government schools at the middle, matric and +2 examinations held this year by the Haryana Board of School Education is a reflection of the falling academic standards in the state. The school system in Haryana is on the verge of collapse. The number of failures in the three examinations has touched 4 lakh!

OPED

Comments Unkempt
Surgery deserves due attention
by Chanchal Sarkar
Whether it is at the Capital’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital or at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), there are a lot of rejected instruments to be looked over. Dividing the looking over, there are many new instruments to be taken over and they are from many new racks.

Profile
Treating cancer with yoga 
by Harihar Swarup
Medical science has made amazing progress over the years. One of its facets is the rediscovery of the miracle of Yoga. Practiced and advocated over centuries by sages and rishis, Yoga directs and regulates the subtle life force, the very essence of our life.

Diversities — Delhi Letter
Kalam cheers up Kargil students
by Humra Quraishi
Let’s take off from the very beginning of the week. On Independence Day, the President of India hosted a reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan lawns where some invitees did stand out. No, I am not talking of New Delhi’s who’s who, but 32 students who had been invited by the President from Kargil — from the Army School situated in the Nubra Valley — and another 25 blind students from the Blind School in the Capital.

 

REFLECTIONS

PERSPECTIVE

Partisan Governors won’t preserve dharma
by A.N. Barowalia

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s observations at the All-India Governors’ Conference on the Governors’ role assume significance in the wake of the controversial role of the Governors of Goa, Jharkhand and, more recently, Bihar. His advice to the Governors to preserve the light of “dharma” by rising above day-to-day politics needs to be appreciated.

However, unfortunately, Dr Kalam himself had to dissolve the Bihar Assembly in a hurry from his camp in Moscow. Governor Buta Singh, known for his loyalty to the Gandhi family and who also had a stint in the Union Home Ministry, was fully aware of his role during a Bihar-like crisis. Dr Kalam’s advice to preserve “the light of dharma” would have been hailed in the Lal Bahadur Shastri era during Sixties and not in the 21st century when we have leaders like Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mr Ram Vilas Paswan.

Similarly, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s advice to the Governors to rise above partisan politics while discharging their constitutional obligations surprised many. For his own government took hasty action on the Governor’s report and recommended the House dissolution. Why didn’t the Governor and the Centre wait for the resolution of the Lok Janshakthi Party legislators that might have facilitated the Janata Dal (United)-BJP combine to form a popular government in Bihar?

Mr Buta Singh knew what the Centre expected of him. Surely, he must have consulted the Centre and acted on its guidelines. In the present political scenario, had this writer been the Bihar Governor, he would have also felt lucky that both Mr Lalu Prasad and Mr Paswan had given him an opportunity to use his experience in protecting and preserving the interests of the ruling party to the best of his ability and judgement.

In Bihar, it was not the alleged “horse trading” but the personal jealousies of the RJD and LJP chiefs that blocked the formation of a popular government after the elections. For the survival of democracy, the Governor should have been able to differentiate between alleged “horse-trading and use of money and muscle power” and the “voice of two-third LJP legislators” who did not approve of the anti-democratic and egocentric attitude of Mr Paswan and favoured a popular government by enabling the JD(U)-BJP combine to form a government. But this was not to be. Before Bihar, it was perhaps in Kerala that the Assembly was dissolved in 1965 soon after the elections as no party secured an absolute majority and no party was in a position to form the government.

Surprisingly, no political party has ever appreciated the Sarkaria Commission’s recommendation: “It is desirable that a politician from the ruling party at the Union is not appointed as Governor of a state which is being run by some other party or a combination of other parties”.

The principles that should be followed by the Governor in choosing a Chief Minister, when there is a hung Assembly, have been clearly mentioned in the Commission’s report. It has also cautioned the Governor that he should not risk determining the issue of majority support, on his own, outside the Assembly.

Having appreciated the fact that the Governors’ role under Articles 164 (i) and 174 (ii) had often been criticised by the affected political parties, the media and legal luminaries, the then President, while addressing the Governors’ Conference in November 1970 said: “The Constitution seems to have come under heavy strain, and there is wide discussion about the precise scope and content of some of its fundamental provisions. Divergent views are expressed and conflicting options freely given”.

He further observed that a harmonious working of the Constitution true to its spirit would require the evolution of healthy conventions; and if in the different states these conventions could, as far as circumstances permit, be uniformly followed, it would go a long way in inspiring confidence in the minds of the public and giving strength to the Constitution.

Accordingly, the President appointed a Committee of Governors, under the chairmanship of Mr Bhagwan Sahay, ICS, the then Governor of Jammu and Kashmir to study in particular the provisions relating to (i) Articles 163 and 164 (Appointment of Council of Ministers); (ii) Article 174 (Summoning, prorogation and dissolution of a Legislative Assembly); and (iii) Article 356 (failure of constitutional machinery in a state). The committee submitted its report in 1971 without any concrete suggestions. Its members might have experienced that whenever there had been political crisis in the states, the Governors had no other option but to act on the Centre’s advice.

Since the Supreme Court has referred the petition against the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly to a Constitution Bench, which will hear the case on September 6, 2005, the Union Government as well as the learned counsel of the petitioners may please plead before the court to consider the following points in public interest:

First, the Bihar Governor should be directed to disclose, in public interest, the source of his report. In case he has acted on the advice of the intelligence agencies, they should be questioned about the authenticity of their reports.

Secondly, whether the ‘voice of majority’ of LJP legislators should have taken precedence over the ‘personal interest and ego’ of their leader, who was not even a member of the newly elected State Assembly. (Since LJP supremo Ram Vilas Paswan is a Union Cabinet Minister, he apparently did not bother about the constitutional obligations, aspirations and feelings of his majority legislators).

Thirdly, whether the elected representatives have a constitutional right to take oath and participate in the formation of a popular government even if no party had secured an absolute majority.

And finally, whether the Governor has the powers to dissolve the State Assembly without giving an opportunity to the single largest party or pre-election/ post-election alliance to form the government and prove its majority in the House within a specific period.

The President of India may like to refer the above points for the Supreme Court’s consideration immediately before the hearing of the case by the Constitution Bench on September 6. n

The writer is a former Officer on Special Duty to the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla

On Record
Lifestyle cause for rising heart cases, says Dr Lal
by Parmindar Singh

DR Purshottam Lal, Chairman of Metro Group of Hospitals in Noida, is a renowned cardiologist. Dr Lal, who hails from Hoshiarpur in Punjab, has successfully performed more than 5,000 operations. In the field of interventional cardiology, he has introduced a number of new interventions and revolutionised heart surgery in the country. He is the first interventional cardiologist of India to have received both the Padma Bhushan and Dr B.C. Roy National Award in the last 20 years.

What ails Haryana schools?
by S.K. Kaushal

DISMAL performance of government schools at the middle, matric and +2 examinations held this year by the Haryana Board of School Education is a reflection of the falling academic standards in the state. The school system in Haryana is on the verge of collapse. The number of failures in the three examinations has touched 4 lakh!

There is an urgent need to enforce discipline in the schools. Non-performing teachers and heads will have to be identified to stem the rot. The Education Department must ensure that the teachers teach and the students learn. Reforms will have to emanate from the grassroots level and classroom is the only proper place for this. A regular system of pre-induction training and in-service education for teachers and the heads of schools can help them upgrade and update their professional knowledge.

The State Education Board in collaboration with the Directorate of School Education could plan and organise need-based training programmes to keep teachers abreast of the latest developments in their areas of work. The working of SCERT and DIETs should improve to ensure better quality training.

Most heads of schools are unable to deal with the problem of absenteeism and the teachers’ tendency of not taking classes. Make them accountable for their performance. At present, there is no institutional check on the non-performers. The Education Department should strengthen inspection and supervision. The inspection plan should clearly indicate every month the names of the schools to be visited/ supervised with the help of inspection panels consisting of subject specialists. Surprise visits could help improve the functioning of schools.

The government’s recent decision to restructure and reorganise the Education Department may help achieve tangible results, but much will depend on the strategy to implement the newly launched programmes. Experience has revealed that we fail at the implementation stage. This fact has to be kept in view.

There is need to introduce accountability in the system to make both the teachers and the educational supervisors and administrators responsible for their performance. The school system in Haryana has been a victim of frequent transfer of teachers and their supervisory officers. Even the Directors have a very short tenure. They are shifted before they get to know and understand the Department.

During the last 10 years, for instance, the Primary Education Directorate has seen 14 Directors. Consequently, all schemes and programmes get derailed, giving a jolt to continuity and accountability required to improve and raise academic standards. There should be an embargo on transfers for four years. n

The writer is a former Director of Primary Education, Haryana

OPED

Comments Unkempt
Surgery deserves due attention
by Chanchal Sarkar

Whether it is at the Capital’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital or at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), there are a lot of rejected instruments to be looked over. Dividing the looking over, there are many new instruments to be taken over and they are from many new racks.

Dr Samiran Nandi is a great surgeon in general surgery and also in reproductive surgery who is at his best in writing about surgery for the middle classes. He has written about queries for investigation or when an X-Ray machine or scanner or automaglast is not functioning.

The waiting time may be from one month for obstructive jaundice due to cancer or six months for hernia repair. In the dirty surgical wards, patients may have to share a bed with one or two others or sleep on the floor. At critical points, instruments are waiting to be used.

In small hospitals, a general surgeon will have to face hernia repairs and appenicetomics, drains of soft-tissue abscesses and removal of bladders and kidney stones. With probably one nurse in a ward of about 30 patients, much of the nursing care is provided by relatives who also have to go to pay not only the patient’s food but also medicines, intravenous fluids or anything else that is in short supply.

The operation theatre is only slightly cleaner than the ward. If power cuts occur during the operation, the surgeon may continue by torchlight. Major surgery will be avoided in public hospitals even if life saving because of a shortage of blood, because anaesthetists and surgeon have to go to private hospitals or a surgeon does not want to deal with the possible post-operative complications.

In wards recently, I watched surgeons like Dr Nandi encounter problems he has not often faced. To do hernia repair and appendicetomics, drains of soft-issue abscesses or removal of bladders, and kidney stones he will baulk at having to do caesarian sections, uterine curettage and teebal legations. Expatriate surgeons seem to have adopted better to such circumstances and even produced research papers that have influenced methods worldwide.

However, patients in developing countries have access to surgical care in five-star private hospitals that advertise international standards — all done by highly paid surgeons trained in the UK or the US. Those hospitals are also patronised by politicians whose bills are paid out of public funds or who are treated on a quid pro quo basis.

The training in surgery is completely inappropriate to needs. It follows outdated western patterns and produces surgeons who are happy to work only in large city hospitals or in richer countries. There is precious little research into indigenous surgical problems because research is not recognised for promotion and because the dialectical teaching methods and strict hierarchical systems discourage independent thinking. Thus, less than 5 per cent of the grants given by the Indian Council of Medical Research are given to surgeons who publish fewer than 10 papers a year in an advanced journal.

The main reason for the sad state of affairs is the lack of political will to improve matters in the health sector. The poor are not organised enough to complain. The under-funded people pay servants a pittance.

Surgeons working in the Indian Government earn about US$ 400 a month, a twentieth of what their colleagues in a private hospital can earn. Health should receive substantially more than 20 per cent of the national budget. But even with that increase, there should be a rethinking of the kind of surgeons that developing countries need.

General physicians and surgeons would, in addition to dealing with medical (non-surgical) problems, should be able to repair a hernia, do a caesarian section and set a simple fracture. General surgeons for district hospitals would be able to do hysterectomics, gastroenteritis and open surgery. The new surgeons get enormous gratitude from patients and a feeling of being wanted, also training from elder practioners. The gratitude alone makes work in developing countries worthwhile despite problems.

The dialogue between physicians and surgeons in hospitals and medical seminars and clinics is not as interesting as it might be. This is partly because of a want of new instruments and new thinking. There are some perspective studies by people like Dr Samiran Nandi which are innovative but these are not followed up much. This is why, the middle class hospitals in India are not exciting places and function mainly on imitation.

Surgery and doctors are imperfectly trained, man scrabbling for a new position either abroad or in better paid local ones. There is the Union Finance Minister’s Budget statement announcing the grant of a special Rs 100 crore to the Indian Institute of Science, a world class institution, and setting up of a special fund of Rs 200 crore for the development of nanotechnology. Apart from these two announcements, a number of proposals have been made by the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Prime Minister (SAC-PM) and the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C). All this show a flurry of proposals, none of which is properly adjusted or tested.

Earlier, the five National Institute of Science were proposed on the model of the Indian Institute of Technology. This number has now been modified to two by the (SAC-PM) to be located at Kolkata and Pune. These changing numbers are especially baffling considering the fact that there is a high degree of continuity involved in the scientists in their committees.

The underlying rationale for some of the other proposals is equally unclear. Increasing the number of new Ph.Ds five fold over 10 years by the Union Human Resource Development Ministry’s Task Force is, undoubtedly, a laudable goal. But will there be a sufficient number of qualified students to enter Ph.D programmes without significant upgrading of undergraduate and post-graduate education?

The same criticism applies to the Task Force proposal for the induction of 1,000 research scientists in universities over the next five years. All over the pattern for science policy, there are mistakes in the numbers given to policy making just to a few eminent scientists or to a few secretaries. Science policy is uneven.

Profile
Treating cancer with yoga 
by Harihar Swarup

Medical science has made amazing progress over the years. One of its facets is the rediscovery of the miracle of Yoga. Practiced and advocated over centuries by sages and rishis, Yoga directs and regulates the subtle life force, the very essence of our life.

Its regular practice activates and harmonises many biological rhythms covering brain, heartbeat and mental and emotional faculties. One of the top medical persons, Dr Vinod Kochupillai, India’s best known cancer specialist, teaches her patients Pranayam and Sudarshan Kriya. She says the two yogic exercises work wonders for the human body, ridding it of all depressive energy and body tensions. An agitated mind triggers chemical changes in the body that may eventually lead to many physical disorders such as heart attacks, infections, high blood pressure and even cancer.

Heading the Department of Oncology of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Prof Kochupillai’s achievements as an “ art-of-living” teacher is a major step in the trinity mission of education, research and patient care under one roof. In recognition of her accomplishment, Prof Kochupillai has been honoured with Dr B.C. Roy National Award. Established under the aegis of the Medical Council of India, the award is given every year to eminent persons who have achieved distinction in medicine, philosophy, science and arts.

Dr Kochupillai has experimented on herself the wonderful effect of Pranayam and Sudarshan Kriya. The two breathing exercises, she has been very often quoted as saying, work wonders on the human body, ridding it of all depressive energy and body tensions. Breathing techniques establish a positive body-mind relationship. Removal of negative thoughts and tensions leads to a positive and healthy physiology.

Seven years back, her colleagues say, she was temperamental, a workaholic and rarely smiled. Even her patients were sometimes scared of her short temper but there were valid reasons for it; she was overworked. In her 27-year-long association with AIIMS, Dr Kochupillai had started the Department of Oncology and Ph.D programmes in Medical Oncology.

Besides teaching work, her most challenging task was developing six floors of the Institute of Rotary Cancer Hospital. A cousin of her led her to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living (AOL), where she learnt the Sudarshan Kriya, a rhythmic breathing process among other breathing techniques and she is a changed person now.

The experiment transformed her. She felt happy, began to smile and work smoothly. Enthused by the energy coursing through her body, Dr Kochupillai decided to became an AOL Basic Course teacher herself. She completed her training course in 1999. Since then, she has been teaching the six-day course to a batch a month, soothing the frayed nerves of an average of 40-80 students each time. As many as 400 AIIMS doctors, nurses and students have already learnt under her watchful eyes.

Pranayam is the more ancient yogic breathing technique. It involves taking deep breaths to regulate and direct one’s inner strength (Praan Shakti). With regular Pranayam a lot of body, mind and emotional activities start getting harmonised”, says Dr Kochupillai.

Sudarshan Kriya is relatively a new yogic exercise. It was introduced in early eighties. It has three different breathing rhythms that follow a cyclical fashion. The first rhythm is slow with 7-8 breaths, the second is medium with 15 breaths, and the third is fast with 30 breaths.

Dr Kochupillai says: “Recent scientific studies indicate a close relationship between the mind, body and emotions. An agitated mind triggers chemical changes in the body that may eventually lead to many physical disorders such as heart attacks, infections, high blood pressure and even cancer. A mind that is totally relaxed is the most efficient.

The Art of Living offers just that. It enables us to be fully active in the modern world while remaining joyful, enthusiastic and full of love”. Bangalore’s National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) has testified this conclusion. Practitioners of Allopathy too have come to increasingly believe that Pranayam and Sudarshan Kriya can prevent the onset of serious ailments. Yogic breathing exercise such as Sudarshan Kriya has been found to achieve results as good as the best drugs in treating depression patients as well as alcoholics. Sudarshan Kriya is part of the stress management package offered by the Art of Living Foundation.

The two breathing exercises have even helped the cancer patients as they have reported symptomatic improvement. According to Dr Kochupillai, drugs treat the symptom and not the root cause of the problem. She is now researching the effect of the breathing techniques on reducing the side-effects of chemotherapy and recurrence of cancer.

Diversities — Delhi Letter
Kalam cheers up Kargil students
by Humra Quraishi

Let’s take off from the very beginning of the week. On Independence Day, the President of India hosted a reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan lawns where some invitees did stand out. No, I am not talking of New Delhi’s who’s who, but 32 students who had been invited by the President from Kargil — from the Army School situated in the Nubra Valley — and another 25 blind students from the Blind School in the Capital.

In the midst of interacting with them, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam stressed on his favourite one-liner to them — chant ‘dream, dream, dream and that would lead to thoughts which would result in action’.

Moving on, the same evening, I went to the cosy little birthday party that Khushwant Singh’s daughter Mala Dayal had hosted on his 91st birthday. Simplicity being the key word at their home, it was a simple, no-fuss party where this grand man of literature cut a chocolate cake and chatted during that set one hour — 7 to 8 pm. When the clock struck 8, it was time to move for those close friends of his who had come over to wish him.

First Sajjad Zaheer Memorial Lecture

On Aug 16, Javed Akhtar delivered the first Sajjad Zaheer Memorial Lecture at the Centre for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia. He spoke of the ‘Role of progressive writers’ movement’ in the context of literature and social responsibility.

So brilliant and compact was this 45-minute-long lecture that External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, who presided over the function, said that he would have it translated from Urdu to English and have it sent to all our missions and embassies the world over.

Natwar Singh should have copies of this lecture distributed to educational institutions, colleges and schools within the country too. For few of us actually know what a glorious role the progressive writers played in the entire movement for our freedom and thereafter, for various reasons, they faded out.

Of course, Javed Akhtar traced the entire build up and he remarkably conveyed so much in that tight framework.

Including the fact that almost 20 years before women’s empowerment movement had begun in Europe we had a woman writer right in our midst, Ismat Chugtai. She wrote along the strain of women’s empowerment.

People’s action for job guarantee

On Aug 18, academics and activists under the banner, ‘People’s action for employment guarantee’, staged dharna at Jantar Mantar. Activists included Aruna Roy, Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Anuradha Chenoy and many others who had assembled there to reaffirm the demand for a full-fledged Employment Guarantee Act (EGA).

Earlier, during the entire summer stretch, May to June, they had undertaken a Rozgar Adhikar Yatra and travelled through 10 states, campaigning for a “full-fledged EGA with these essentials — universal guarantee (every adult should be eligible), irreversible guarantee (no possibility of withdrawing the guarantee), assured payment of statutory minimum wage, time-bound extension to the whole of India, equal opportunities and wages to women and men...”

An amended version of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill was tabled in Parliament this week, but as these activists point out, “The Bill tabled on Aug 18 does not meet all those demands and has some significant flaws...”

REFLECTIONS

Jiva is Shiva (all living beings are God). Who then dare talk of showing mercy to him? Not mercy, but service, service. For man must be regarded as God.

— Ramakrishna

Health is the greatest gift, contentedness is the best riches, trust is the best of relationships. But the highest happiness of all is Nirvana.

— The Buddha

No man can judge us more harshly than our own conscience. Only true repentance can assuage our conscience of our sins.

— Book of quotations on Hinduism

It is not the going out of the port, but the coming in, that determines the success of a voyage.

— Book of quotations on success

True religion and virtue give a cheerful and happy turn to the mind; admit of all true pleasures, and even procure for us the highest.

— Book of quotations on religion