O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Split verdicts 
Judges’ differences come into focus again 
Close on the heels of a split verdict by Justice Markandey Katju and Justice S.B. Sinha of the Supreme Court on awarding death penalty to a self-styled swamy, Shraddananda, for the gruesome murder of his wife in Bangalore, another ruling by the same Bench assumes significance. 

Dowry deaths in Punjab
Greedy in-laws must be tackled
A scientific study of causes behind unnatural deaths of 1,000 married women, aged 18 to 35, by the Punjab State Chemical Laboratory has revealed that on an average one woman falls victim to dowry every week. Earlier, there were frequent reports of bride burning; according to the study, poison was used in 85 per cent of the cases between 2002 and 2006 and 71 per cent of the dowry-related deaths were reported from villages.

• Thought for the day

ARTICLE

Neglect of agriculture
Focus on small, marginal farmers needed
by Jayshree Sengupta
THE UPA government is seriously concerned about revamping agriculture and a package of Rs 4000 crore is being worked out to come to the aid of the states which are willing to undertake matching investments with their own resources towards agricultural expansion.

MIDDLE

Developing the senses 
by Raj Kadyan
I do not know about other husbands but I am grateful to the wife who has been a great help in developing my senses. Invariably, while talking on the phone, she would cover the mouthpiece and ask: “You remember the movie we saw last year?” Before I can register the query, she throws a helpful hint, “where the heroine wears a short pink dress and has cropped hair.

OPED

State-specific health policy must for Punjab 
by Rajesh Kumar Aggarwal
A state-specific Health Policy is the basic pre-requisite for health planning in the state. Health is a state subject and health care requirements differ from state to state, district to district and groups within a district.

Europe’s shame: the killing seas of the Mediterranean
by Peter Popham in Rome
ON the narrow walkway that runs around a tuna pen – a fishing boat – being towed across the Mediterranean, 27 Africans cling to life. They had been hanging on, with practically nothing to eat or drink, for three days and nights.

Delhi Durbar

• Middle path

• Pandits’ return

• House of ghosts

REFLECTIONS

EDITORIALS

Split verdicts 
Judges’ differences come into focus again 

Close on the heels of a split verdict by Justice Markandey Katju and Justice S.B. Sinha of the Supreme Court on awarding death penalty to a self-styled swamy, Shraddananda, for the gruesome murder of his wife in Bangalore, another ruling by the same Bench assumes significance. This is important in the light of the current debate on the limits of power between the three organs of the Constitution — the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. In this case, both judges held diametrically opposite views on the courts’ powers to issue directives to the Centre and the states in matters relating to implementation of the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act. Justice Katju held that the judiciary must exercise restraint and eschew its temptation to encroach into the domain of the legislature and the executive. By doing so, the judiciary will “enhance its own respect and prestige”, he ruled. Justice Sinha, however, held that the judiciary had the power to issue necessary directions to the government “for proper and effective implementation” of the constitutional provisions.

The Allahabad High Court had directed the Uttar Pradesh government to set up at least five consumer courts, fix the salaries for the judges and amend the Act suitably for the purpose. The state government, however, filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court’s authority in issuing such directives. In view of the split verdict in the apex court, this case (as also Shraddananda’s) has been referred to a larger Bench for adjudication.

Despite the separation of powers among the three organs, the Supreme Court remains the final interpreter of the Constitution. Through its power of judicial review, it can quash any law passed by Parliament or the state legislatures (like, for instance, the Central law on the OBC quotas) if it is not in conformity with the constitutional provisions. The OBC case too has gone to a larger Bench as it raises several important questions of constitutional law. While the judiciary cannot abdicate its main responsibility of protecting the Constitution from any legislative or executive excess, it has also to bear it in mind that it has to follow the doctrine of judicial restraint, as emphasised by Justice Katju. Ideally, no organ should overstep its limits to maintain the delicate balance of the Constitution. 

Dowry deaths in Punjab
Greedy in-laws must be tackled

A scientific study of causes behind unnatural deaths of 1,000 married women, aged 18 to 35, by the Punjab State Chemical Laboratory has revealed that on an average one woman falls victim to dowry every week. Earlier, there were frequent reports of bride burning; according to the study, poison was used in 85 per cent of the cases between 2002 and 2006 and 71 per cent of the dowry-related deaths were reported from villages. Add to this other crimes against women, especially the killing of unborn daughters and sexual harassment, Punjab presents a nasty picture of a women-unfriendly society.

Despite the spread of education, the establishment of organisations like the National Commission for Women, greater awareness about women’s rights and the passing of legislation like the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, crimes against women have been on the rise. The basic reason is: human greed has multiplied. In the race for material goods, basic family values often are sacrificed. Even laws are ignored. For instance, giving and taking dowry is an offence under the Dowry Prohibition Act, but no one complains until demands for dowry go beyond the financial capacity of the girl’s family. Besides, the dividing line between dowry and gift has got blurred.

While efforts at the state level are still inadequate to meet the unfortunate situation, the Centre has proposed to amend the Dowry Prohibition Act to remove the limit of seven years after the wedding for the registration of a case if a married woman dies under suspicious circumstances. This comes after reports from the National Commission for Women of cases where women have been harassed for dowry even 25-30 years of marriage. While legal protection for women is fairly adequate, it is because of police laxity, economic dependence on the husband and his family as well as social pressure that women hesitate to seek justice. The parents should invest in their daughter’s education and financial empowerment instead of going in for lavish weddings to please the greedy in-laws.

Identity question
Make multi-purpose cards a reality for all

THE multi-purpose national identity card has finally become a reality with the Registrar-General of India, Mr D.K.Sikri, releasing the first set in North Delhi on Saturday. The card, based on an imported micro-chip, will have 16 personal details of an individual, including his name, date of birth, parents’ names, fingerprints and photograph. Special machines will have to be installed at vital locations across the country to scan the cards. It is not yet clear whether this card will make other proofs of identity like the voter’s identity card, the credit/debit card and the driving licence redundant. At the initial stage, some 30 lakh persons residing in 20 selected locations in about a dozen states will be issued these cards.

Questions are bound to be asked why the government should spend so much on establishing a citizen’s identity, especially when the exercise of providing voters’ cards has been completed in some parts of the country and is still underway elsewhere. The multi-purpose card will instantly provide information about a citizen’s health, help in avoiding and settling property disputes and check the misuse of the public distribution system. In troubled areas and at border check-posts it will become a lot easier to establish an Indian’s identity. Its use in obtaining driving licences, bank loans, credit cards, passports and airport clearances without the usual delays can be well imagined.

However, much depends on the implementation of the scheme. If the voter cards are still in the making after so many years, the fate of the multipurpose card is not difficult to gauge. Despite the delay, the idea of providing citizens national identity cards is commendable for more than one reason. Given the government’s leaky, corruption-riddled delivery system, the micro-chip card will check the syphoning of money earmarked for welfare schemes and compensation given at times of natural calamities. Besides, a national database of Indians will help the government in better targeting its policies.

Thought for the day

Parliament itself would not exist in its present form had people not defied the law. 
— Arthur Scargill

ARTICLE

Neglect of agriculture
Focus on small, marginal farmers needed
by Jayshree Sengupta

THE UPA government is seriously concerned about revamping agriculture and a package of Rs 4000 crore is being worked out to come to the aid of the states which are willing to undertake matching investments with their own resources towards agricultural expansion. The government has reasons to be worried because even though there is occasional good news on the agricultural front, most of the time the news is bad. Farmers’ suicides continue to appear in the newspapers on account of their high indebtedness and crop failures. The prices of atta, dal, rice, vegetables and fruits are neither falling nor stabilising in a significant manner and aam admi is not happy.

Public investment has been declining in agriculture over the years and rural India is in need of better irrigation facilities, roads, seeds and credit availability. The mostly untold stories of small and marginal farmers are sad (marginal and landless households account for 63 per cent of rural households) and many are daily surrendering their small parcels of land in order to join the army of landless labour.

Despite so many problems, India managed to become self-sufficient in food and there was a time that India had a mountain of foodgrains in its stock. But today very little is left of that stock which stands around 4.5 million tonnes only and is a far cry from the buffer stock norm of 20 million tonnes for India’s 1 billion people. The government is aware of the dangers of depleted stocks with the Food Corporation of India and is proposing to import wheat from abroad to build it up.

It hopes that with adequate food stocks, food prices would be stabilised. In the past, foodgrain prices did stabilise with the help of buffer stocks because the government released supplies in times of crisis. Today, the government has to think of importing foodgrains to bring down inflation and also to build adequate stocks!

The procurement of wheat by the FCI, however, this season has been around 9.6 million tonnes which is more than the wheat procured last year. Perhaps, it will be around 11 million tonnes at the close of the season, enough to add to the building of a small buffer stock. Clearly, wheat production is not steadily improving and productivity continues to be low as compared to other major wheat producers in the world. Every cropping season it is a gamble as to how much wheat will be procured. The declining rate of agricultural growth over the years has manifested itself in an alarming form.

The worst news is that foodgrains availability is much lower today than a decade ago which is very disturbing because less foodgrains consumption has not always meant more eggs, milk, fruits and vegetables in the diet as in the case of richer countries when people switch over to better quality food as income rises. In India, no such shift has been evident for the poorest of the poor (around 260 million people).

The production of pulses is still not enough to meet the demand, and the government has already placed orders for the import of 1.5 million tonnes of pulses. Something is definitely wrong with agriculture as the average growth is far lower than the targeted 4 per cent growth and we are not able to satisfy the domestic demand for pulses or edible oils. Yet around 60 per cent of the population depends on agriculture. In many parts of India, farmers are extremely poor and vulnerable to crushing debts and lack of proper irrigation facilities.

What are the ways in which the government is thinking of tackling the problems of agriculture? Just as it has goaded the states to invest more, it has also decided to give incentives to big corporate bodies to become engaged in the development of arid areas. On the domestic front, the government is acting tough with farmers, urging them to produce more but not with higher minimum support prices. The emphasis is on public-private partnership (the new mantra of the World Bank and the UPA government) for solving the problems of low productivity, low capital formation, inadequate marketing, irrigation and storage facilities.

Agreed that the government’s erstwhile policy of giving more and more subsidies has not worked either and these are often cornered by rich farmers. But who is to help the small and marginal farmers to produce more, keep off from incurring heavy debts and also spend more on their farms? For millions of farmers who are small cultivators, at the time of a crisis, the only resort is the moneylender. Easier farm credit thus has a very important role to play for the small tiller who is also an aam admi just as his or her access to good seeds, irrigation, storage and markets. The states and the Centre have to help in this regard and not the private sector.

The corporate sector, however, is interested in contract farming and in many states it has worked but very few marginal farmers are being roped in for such farming. It also means going for less crop diversity that is dangerous for the eco-system and for the economic security of farmers. What happens when the produce is damaged or is not able to meet the specifications? Who compensates the farmers?

On the seeds front, the government seems to be interested in ushering in the genetically modified seeds which may have special, though untested, properties (like being disease resistant) and also have high yields. The Supreme Court has allowed the testing of these seeds. Do farmers need these types of seeds that are expensive and may or may not be so disease-free (resilient to pest attacks) but which could enslave them to the multinational corporations like Monsanto? The government also has allowed direct purchases by private and multinational firms from farmers. This could encourage hoarding and speculation by farmers who would be tempted to withhold large quantities of produce from the market in the hope of better prices in the future.

Unfortunately, the government is focusing on big- ticket items in a bid to bring about another Green Revolution. But before it does so, it needs also to focus more on small and marginal farmers who are most vulnerable and whose fates may have worsened over the years. They would immensely benefit from active interventions by the state and central governments. Small things can make a lot of difference to the millions of farming families that are engaged in small and marginal farming in India, considering that it means their basic survival.

MIDDLE

Developing the senses 
by Raj Kadyan

I do not know about other husbands but I am grateful to the wife who has been a great help in developing my senses. Invariably, while talking on the phone, she would cover the mouthpiece and ask: “You remember the movie we saw last year?” Before I can register the query, she throws a helpful hint, “where the heroine wears a short pink dress and has cropped hair.” I am required to accompany her to so many movies that it is difficult to remember even their names.

Besides, in this age of convenience, most females wear short hair, and even shorter apparel. Rightly, I should ask, “Which one?” But experience had taught me the advantages of keeping the ball in my court. I look her way with a pensive brow to give her the illusion that I am trying to recollect. In due time the subject passes.

“You remember the lady we met at a restaurant dinner?” The question comes out of the blue. I don’t, and wonder if this is the whole query. She helpfully adds, “Who had a big solitaire in the nose?” I still don’t. In public eateries I habitually prefer to focus on my plate. My silence earns me a retort, “You never notice anything.”

“You remember your friend whose house smelt like a dog that has just returned from a stroll in the rain?” she asked another day, interrupting her fabric painting. This is a test of my olfactory senses. I generally avoid being nosey when visiting friends, particularly canine owners. I remain unspeaking and get branded as a gone case.

One is busy doing the su/do/ku. She shouts from the kitchen and asks if I remember that good old song we heard last year. Admittedly I am fond of music and there are many melodious songs of my teenage era that spur my blood. But which one is under the wifely query? She realises my predicament and adds, “The one sung in a female voice.” That narrows down the field of inquiry but not enough. “You are becoming forgetful,” I am told.

On another occasion at the dinner table, “You remember the soup we had at a wedding reception?” comes the query. “It tasted like a dead cockroach”, comes the helpline. I have no special food preferences and eat everything. But I do confess I have never knowingly chewed at a cockroach, dead or alive, and cannot compare its taste. After a gap of silence, I am told my taste buds are gone.

Her queries have helped sharpen my senses — of sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Regretfully, she does not test my sense of touch.

As Groucho Marx said, “A man’s only as old as the woman he feels.”

OPED

State-specific health policy must for Punjab 
by Rajesh Kumar Aggarwal

A state-specific Health Policy is the basic pre-requisite for health planning in the state. Health is a state subject and health care requirements differ from state to state, district to district and groups within a district.

The recent announcement by the Punjab Government regarding the formulation of a state health policy on the pattern of the national health policy, in order to upgrade the health delivery system in the state, is thus a welcome step.

It is heartening to note that the job of preparing the blue-print for the policy has been assigned to Prof. J.S. Bajaj, Deputy Chairman, State Planning Board, who is not only a renowned physician but has been associated with policy planning for a long time.

There are some areas of concern. The state government apparently wants a health policy only for the up-gradation of infrastructure in the state medical institutions and hospitals. But a health policy should capture a holistic view of the state’s health, identify requirements and priorities, set-up objectives, and ensure optimal utilisation of the allocated resources, given the capacity and constraints of the health system. It should result in a qualitative improvement in health services for the people in general and vulnerable groups – weaker sections, women and children – in particular.

Punjab requires several things. Firstly, it requires a proper health management information system which is the backbone for immediate access to information on different health indicators such as birth rate, death rate, neo-natal, peri-natal, infant and child mortality rates, method-wise contraceptive prevalence rate, disease patterns, etc. at the district level. New information technology can play a vital role in this regard.

Punjab should focus on promoting more effective utilisation of public health infrastructure. It is a major concern that despite the availability of a vast public health infrastructure, the overall share of public sector in outdoor and indoor treatment (16 and 18 per cent in rural and urban areas respectively for outdoor health services and 29 and 26 per cent in rural and urban areas respectively for indoor health services) is much lower than expected.

Most health institutions, particularly the rural ones, continue to focus excessively on immunisation and family planning activities, ignoring the curative aspects. Health policy should give due care to the curative aspects along with the preventive aspects. Some of the suggestions for improving curative services pertain to easy, queue-less accessibility, service-availability for longer duration (if 24 hours is not feasible), clean premises (enabling people to visit government health facilities like a private health facility), provision of medicines, diagnostic services under one roof on no-profit no-loss basis with appropriate subsidies for economically weaker sections.

The policy should ensure regulation of both the public and private sector. At present, the state government is not even aware about the exact number of private clinics/hospitals/nursing homes and practitioners working in the state. While mandatory registration, service monitoring, fees regulation, and rating are must for private health sector facilities, rationalisation of postings, strict guidelines for deputations, and priority settings in rural postings are must for public sector. Further, rising costs of treatment, in both the public and private sector, warrant a viable health insurance policy.

Health policy should make efforts to provide diagnostic equipments at all referral hospitals from Primary Health Centres (PHCs) onwards. In order to meet the financial limitations, such services may be outsourced to the private sector at government approved rates. This will promote public-private partnership, smash the nexus between doctors at public health facilities and owners of diagnostic centres, and would result in stoppage of certain malpractices akin to fee-splitting, uncalled for diagnosis, referral etc.

The disease patterns have changed over the years. The growing incidence of life-style diseases such as cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes, gastroenteritis, urology, and newly emerging diseases such as HIV/AIDS, dengue, and bird flu are posing new challenges for the state. The policy should examine the feasibility of setting up special clinics at the district hospitals to deal with some of these problems.

Anaemia still continues to be rampant in the State with 37 per cent of women and 80 per cent of children being anaemic. The health policy may consider starting suitable nutritional awareness programme, initially at the school and Anganwadi level. Rising number of suicides in the state signify need for more mental health specialists.

Punjab’s health policy should take into account the district-wise future health care requirements (preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative) considering rising population, inward migration, urbanisation and industrialisation. It needs to spell out area-wise prevalence of tropical and other diseases, ensure optimal utilisation of health manpower and resources; enhance availability of primary health care/para-medical staff; set out strategies to cope with rising pressure on tertiary health care institutions; and bring about awareness for a better quality of health care comprising environment and occupational health, adequate availability of drinking water, hygienic living conditions, nutritious food, removal of drug addiction and other health hazards.

The author is a Senior Research Fellow at CRRID, Chandigarh

Europe’s shame: the killing seas of the Mediterranean
by Peter Popham in Rome

ON the narrow walkway that runs around a tuna pen – a fishing boat – being towed across the Mediterranean, 27 Africans cling to life. They had been hanging on, with practically nothing to eat or drink, for three days and nights.

The Maltese tugboat towing the pen, the Budafel, refused to take them on board. Malta and Libya, from where they had set sail, washed their hands of them. Eventually, they were rescued by the Italian navy.

In the island of Lampedusa the 27 young men – from Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan and other countries – told of their days of terror.

As their flimsy boat from Libya floundered adrift for six days, two fishing boats failed to rescue them. On Wednesday the Budafel allowed them to mount the walkway but refused to have them on the boat.

This is the latest horror story from the killing seas of the southern Mediterranean, the stretch of ocean at the EU’s southern gate that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says “has become like the Wild West, where human life has no value any more and people are left to their fate.”

Last week a Maltese plane photographed a crazily overloaded boat in this area carrying 53 Eritreans, several of whom telephoned desperate pleas for help to relatives in London, Italy and Malta. The boat disappeared with all hands before anything was done to save them. They died, not because help was unavailable, but because no-one wanted to do anything.

Malta is full up. Libya, where these voyages begin, takes no responsibility. One might think that the EU’s new frontiers agency, Frontex, had a part to play. But its “rapid response team” remains on the drawing board.

Frontex is expected to begin joint patrols in the Mediterranean shortly, following a brief pilot programme last year. But the critical stretch between Malta and Libya is to be controlled by Malta and Greece, and the hard-nosed attitude of the Maltese in recent weeks does not inspire optimism.

The Maltese captain of the Budafel refused to land the men, he later explained, because he had $1m-worth of tuna in the pen. If he had taken them to Malta, the trip would have taken 12 days, given the tug’s slow speed. There, he would have found himself in the middle of a diplomatic wrangle. “I couldn’t take the risk of losing this catch,” he said.

The captain informed the Maltese authorities. The Maltese phoned the Libyans – the Africans were about 60 miles from the Libyan coast, within Libya’s area of competence for search and rescue. Libya said they would send a helicopter to the spot and throw down a life raft. Malta – by this point Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had become directly involved – said that was unacceptable. They gave Malta’s armed forces the task of persuading the Libyans to pick the men up.

The 27 had by this point spent three days and nights standing on the walkway, which is 18 inches wide. The Budafel’s captain said he wouldn’t mind being on the walkway for an hour. Any longer – under the fierce sun, or in the chill of the night – no thanks.

The Libyan government eventually sent a fax saying they would pick the men up. But no help arrived. The Maltese steadfastly refused to take the initiative. In the past five days, 157 illegal immigrants have come ashore on the Maltese coast. The small island is full to capacity.

By a stroke of luck an Italian navy vessel, Orione, was not far away: last week Libya had given Italy permission to search for the 53 doomed Eritreans, and it was still in the area, still searching.

The Italian navy dispatched first a plane and then the Orione. In the past five days, sources in Malta say four other boats have gone down, with the loss of about 120 lives. As Laura Boldrini of the UNHCR puts it, “setting off across the Mediterranean in these boats is a game of Russian roulette”.

Up to 10,000 people are believed to have drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa. The passage from western Africa to the Canary Islands is no less perilous. In Spain, where shocking images of a dozen dead would-be migrants in their boat were published in newspapers last week, estimates of the total number of dead run as high as 7,000.

By arrangement with The Independent

Delhi Durbar
Chastened scribes

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati took a dig at journalists who had come to attend her press conference in the Capital last week. She told them to undertake a soul-searching exercise about the numerous poll surveys and exit polls on the recently held Assembly elections.

At the very start of the session, when over a dozen journalists suddenly sprang up shooting questions simultaneously, she interjected: “I thought you would manage the session yourselves, but since you cannot, I will direct the show and decide who should ask a question”.

Middle path

The middle-path being the preferred choice for the Congress, it has been sitting on the fence on various demands from its UPA partners and allies, that require sailing in unchartered waters. Despite vehement demands by Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan to extend reservations to the private sector, the Congress has maintained that persuasion and not legislation is the best way to get the corporates on board.

On the suggestion by Uttar Pradesh CM and BSP chief Mayawati to extend reservations to the poor among the upper castes, the Congress avers that the idea should be discussed further as no single party can take a decision on it. While such positions help gain time, it is the regional players who tend to gain maximum political capital.

Pandits’ return

Union Water Resources Minister Saiffudin Soz has been working behind-the-scenes on issues concerning Kashmir. On a recent visit to the Valley, the Minister met a group of Kashmiri Pandits in Sopore in Baramulla district who had returned to their villages after 18 years. In his public meetings, the minister congratulated the local population for welcoming the Kashmiri Pandits, saying that they were an integral part of the state’s culture and the Valley was incomplete without them.

Having talked to the returned families to learn about their difficulties, the minister has decided to write to the Prime Minister and state Chief Minister, on how the process of the return of the Pandits to the Valley can be consolidated.

House of ghosts

While the Election Commissioners has been emphasising the need for a “none of the above” column in the ballot paper, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has now suggested that the electorate should have the “right to recall” if they feel that their representative was not doing justice to the mandate.

The Speaker was concerned about the number of hours lost during the session, without any productive work, due to adjournments. Chatterjee’s remark however evoked a political observer to comment tongue-in-cheek that if the people were to exercise such an option, then the Speaker will be presiding over a House of ghosts.

Contributed by Satish Misra, Prashant Sood and R. Suryamurthy

REFLECTIONS

For the man of God reflection on the Word is the Nada and Veda. His ablution and code of conduct are also based on this.
— Guru Nanak

But those who are pure in heart, who practice. Mediation and conquer their senses And passions, shall attain the immortal Self, Source of all light an sources of all life.
— The Mundaka  
Upanishad

God loves us with a tender love. That is all that Jesus came to teach us: the tender love of God.
— Mother Teresa