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A Tribune Special
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Meeting the challenge of food security by Harender Raj Gautam THE world is grappling with the crisis of food security. Global recession, climate change, conversion of foodgrains to bio-fuels and rising prices of foodgrains are the major contributing factors for the crisis. The G-8 leaders’ announcement to raise US$ 20 billion in L’Aquila, Italy, for food and agricultural aid to the most impoverished countries is a major step forward to improve the world food security. This will particularly help the poor nations where people are more vulnerable to such crisis.
Stop the blame game
On Record
Profile
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A Tribune Special Politicians talk about it without setting their own house in order, says Pushpa M. Bhargava
His point — with which he knew this writer would agree — was that different standards were being used for granting approval to various seed companies, with a clear preference for multinational companies. He had filed a police complaint and also another complaint with the Central Vigilance Commission saying that a very senior person of a scientific department of the Government of India, involved in granting of such approvals, was delaying or denying approvals because the complainant company was “not meeting his illegal and unfair demands in cash or kind”. Familiar! Isn’t it? On July 18, after a talk this writer gave, a young man working for a multinational major health-care company told him that, recently, he was invited to give a talk by a new pharmacy college that was awaiting approval by the Pharmacy Council of India. After his talk, he was asked if he would, for Rs 25,000 per day, make an appearance at the college for a few days, when the inspection team comes for granting recognition to the college. He refused and reported this matter to the members of the inspection team who listened to him carefully. He then had the courage to tell the college management of what he had done. The management was unperturbed, and said that there was no cause for worry. Every member of the inspection team had been bribed adequately! The recognition was granted. On July 19, one of the most ethical medical doctors this writer has known, who runs one of the finest and highly ethical hospitals for women and children anywhere, called on us totally distraught. The problem was that either she pays a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh to the Nursing Council of India, or the recognition of her nursing college shall not be renewed — which would mean a terrible loss to the students. She wanted this writer’s advice. Keeping in mind the interest of the students, this writer’s advice was: “Pay up.” On July 29, Deccan Chronicle (DC), published from Hyderabad, had three interesting reports. The first, report, on Gammon India – the construction company whose lapses have been responsible for accidents leading to deaths recently, during construction of the Metro in Delhi, said that “in the Rs 295-crore Galeru Nagari Project second package in Nellore district, though Rs 14 crore was taken by Gammon as advance, no work was done”. Many other examples of lapses by the above company were given. No action was ever taken by the Andhra Pradesh Government. In fact, the company was recommended to the Government of India. The reason is obvious. The second DC report talked about 30,000 teachers obtaining jobs and promotion “by submitting fake certificates issued by unrecognised universities”. It is widely recognised that education and health are amongst the most corrupt departments in the country (exceptions granted!). The third report says : “Qualified pharmacists ‘rent’ out their certificates for Rs 3,000-5,000 per month to traders who set up retail shops. Though the practice is fairly widespread, the AP Pharmacy Council has not cancelled or suspended the registration of a single erring pharmacist to date. While pharmacies must employ qualified pharmacists, many employees have not even passed their tenth standard.” All this happened in the second half of July 2009. Shall we choose, again randomly, June 15 to July 15, 2009? The New Indian Express (NIE) of June 24, 2009 talked about schools in Hyderabad charging a fee under every possible head, even under heads that don’t exist. What about “Rs.2,000 towards infrastructure fee and PRB fund?”. Can any reader tell this writer what is PRB? The DC of June 25, 2009 said: “More than 25,000 students who (are supposed to have) joined various higher and professional courses under the scheme (of the Government paying their fees) did not attend their classes”. False teachers, fake students, false education. And no one is held responsible, for everyone in the ladder of hierarchy is involved. True private-public partnership! And what about charging Rs 10,000 lab fees for a class I student (NIE, June 26, 2009)? Or the school giving a receipt for only a fraction of the amount charged (NIE, July 6, 2009). As reported in DC of July 18, 2009, a parent said, “while we get books for Rs 150 in the open market, they (the school) are charging Rs 800”. DC, NIE and The Hindu of July 30 report employees of the AP State Housing Corporation apparently swindling Rs 2.29 crore of Government funds; and the suspension of the Chairman of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), Prof Yadav, for alleged corruption, which means granting affiliation to underserving engineering colleges for a consideration. No surprise, therefore, that as of July 29, there are 69,568 B Tech degree holders amongst the 17,61,913 unemployed educated persons in AP alone which has 2.4 lakh seats in its 645 (mostly commercial) engineering colleges (DC, July 30, 2009). NIE of July 30 also reports that Ch. Subramanyam, a gazetted instructor at the Extension Training Centre in Bapatla (Guntur District), swindled Rs l.3 crore from the treasury within a period of four months. What this writer has narrated is everyday experience of citizens of our country. Corruption, corruption everywhere — from the Chief Minister to the lowly person — is common knowledge. Exceptions granted, there is no court of appeal. Many in power, like the AP Chief Minister, talk against it, but without first setting up their own house in order, which reminds this writer of a story that his grandmother told him 70 years ago. Once upon a time, there was a little boy in a village who would be eating jaggery all the time. His parents could not relieve him of this habit. One day, a holy man came to the village. The father took the son to him, and requested him to talk to the boy so that he would leave his bad habit. The holy man thought for a while and then asked the father to bring his son back to him two weeks later. The father complied. And lo, behold after the holy man talked to the boy, the boy left his bad habit. The perplexed father went back to the holy man a week later and asked him why didn’t he talk to the boy on their first visit. The holy man answered, “My son, when you first came to see me, I had the same bad habit. I had to get rid of it first, before I could talk to your son, and that took two weeks.” Where are such holy men today who could be an example? We are fortunate that our Prime Minister is honest, but he doesn’t have much company, and we need a critical mass of honest and courageous people at the top to bring about a revolution of honesty and transparency. How to create that critical mass is the million-dollar question. It is fortunate that new parties like the Lok Satta of AP are at least trying to achieve the above objectives, but it is an uphill battle. Till such efforts succeed, honest people like Binayak Sen will be in jail and dishonest and corrupt people like – well, whom do I name: AM, BM, CM, DM, EM, FM, GM, choose whichever you prefer –– will rule our cities, states and the country. As of today, corruption is the basis of public-private-partnership — be it in business or politics, education or health. Our leaders should read a bit of history: for example, what happened in France in 1789. They must know that there are limits to tolerance, even of corruption.
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Meeting the challenge of food security
THE world is grappling with the crisis of food security. Global recession, climate change, conversion of foodgrains to bio-fuels and rising prices of foodgrains are the major contributing factors for the crisis. The G-8 leaders’ announcement to raise US$ 20 billion in L’Aquila, Italy, for food and agricultural aid to the most impoverished countries is a major step forward to improve the world food security. This will particularly help the poor nations where people are more vulnerable to such crisis. Food crisis was brought to the forefront of the global development agenda when representatives from 181 countries including 43 heads of state and government and over 100 ministers participated in the high-power conference on world food security from June 3-5, 2008 at Rome. Agriculture has to be able to double global food production by 2050, when the current population of the globe now stands at 6 billion, will reach 9 billion. According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), rising prices have plunged an additional 75 million people below the hunger threshold, bringing the estimated number of undernourished people worldwide to 923 million in 2007. FAO estimates reveal that at least 37 countries reeling under food crisis presently require external assistance. Of these, 21 countries are in Africa, 10 in Asia, five in Latin America and one in Europe. After many years of stability, world food prices have increased by 83 per cent since 2005, prompting concerns of a food crisis in many countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where the majority of the world’s poor people are found. Food prices are expected to remain high through 2009 and then decline as supply and demand respond to high prices. However, for most food crops, they are likely to remain above 2004 levels through 2015. Current high food prices are a short-term emergency for millions of people, especially the poor, but they also signal longer-term failures in the functioning of the world food system. Climate change is also showing its effect on the food security. Climate change will affect availability of land, water and biodiversity. Changes in temperatures and precipitation as well as more frequent extreme weather patterns are expected to result in agriculture production shortfalls with negative impacts on access to food. Climate change affects everyone but the poorest regions are already its first victims. Their situation is likely to worsen in the next decade. The worst hit will be hundreds of millions of people who are already vulnerable to food insecurity, particularly small-scale crop and animal producers, fishers and foresters. India is well placed in meeting the challenge of food security. It is one of the largest producers of food grains in the world, feeding 17 per cent of the world’s population on only 3 per cent of the world’s arable land. In 2007-08, foodgrain production took a quantum jump to 230.8 million tonnes as a result of series of measures and good monsoon. However, due to late onset of monsoon in 2009, the foodgrain production in 2009-10 is predicted at 229.9 million tonnes. The targets may be hit as the monsoon continues to be erratic in the north-western regions of the country, which is the main grain bowl. However, our foodgrain buffer stock is enough to feed our people for 13 months. In the beginning of this year, there was 180.6 lakh tonnes of wheat in the Central Government’s pool, which is more than twice the buffer stock requirement of 82 lakh tonnes. Similarly, there was 173.4 lakh tonnes of rice, which is far more according to the buffer stock requirement of 118 lakh tonnes. The total foodgrain stock stood at 354 lakh tonnes which is way above the buffer stock requirement of 200 lakh tonnes. The Central Government needs to procure 40 lakh tonnes each of rice and wheat to maintain the Central foodgrain buffer but the procurement was more than 50 lakh tonnes of each. As regards sugar stock, the country had a carryover stock of 100 lakh tonnes at the start of the 2008-09 season and the production was 155 lakh tonnes. The total sugar stock is 255 lakh tonnes and the domestic consumption is 220 lakh tonnes. To tackle the food crisis, the immediate food needs of the poor people must be addressed. It also requires correcting previous failures in the agricultural policy by investing more resources into research and food production, establishing reliable systems for assisting vulnerable populations, and setting up a fair global trading system and an attractive investment climate for the private sector to become more engaged in agriculture production and food value chains. Addressing the challenges of global food security requires a renewed effort on developing agriculture in India. Improving agricultural productivity in India would help mitigate global food shortages and volatile pricing. In the Union Budget this year, more allocation has been provided in the existing Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, the National Food Security Mission and the National Horticulture Mission which helped to boost the production of agriculture and horticulture in India. The target for agriculture credit has been raised to Rs 3,25,000 crore in 2009-10. The Centre has also provided an additional allocation of Rs 1,000 crore for accelerated irrigation projects which will help bring sustainability to the food security. The FAO plans a World Food Summit of Heads of State and Government in November to try and reach a broad consensus on eradicating hunger, better governance of the international agricultural system and on ways to ensure world food
security.
The writer is Scientist, Dept of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Dr Y.S.Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni
(Solan)
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Stop the blame game
I
did not celebrate Independence Day on August 15 in 1947 because I was a refugee at that time. With my parents and two brothers I had taken shelter in the safer cantonment of my hometown, Sialkot. Nor did I celebrate Independence Day of Pakistan on August 14, a day earlier, because the shadow of Partition had already cast gloom all over. News of killings and migration of people from their homes had spread to Sialkot itself. We too were leaving the house. And many outsiders, who were living in India, were pouring into the city, polluting its atmosphere. Yet I felt a strange feeling of elation and depression. Elation was because we had freed ourselves from the clutches of the British after the 150-year-long rule of authoritarianism and untold atrocities. Depression was due to the uncertain future that confronted me as a refugee. I did not know what to do next. I had just passed out from the Law College, Lahore. Indeed, I heard Jawaharlal Nehru’s midnight speech on All India Radio — one could still catch it in Pakistan — “Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially...” I had earlier listened to Pakistan Radio broadcast of Qaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s speech, entirely opposite of what he had been saying before for emphasising that Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations. In his address, Jinnah said: “You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan…you may belong to any religion or caste or creed…that has nothing to do with the business of the state…” Both speeches evoked hope but sounded like distant beats of drums, heralding a new era at a time when Hindus and Sikhs from the Pakistan Punjab and Muslims from India’s Punjab were in the midst of proceeding from the places they had lived for generations to the other side of the border. Loud cries of their suffering at the hand of assailants had muffled the drumbeats. In fact, they rubbed salt on the wounds of the refugees. One million of them died and 20 million left their homes and hearths, friends and neighbours to reconstruct a new life in new environments. Was the “tryst with destiny” or “freedom to go to temples” meant a fresh start or destruction of our identity? Were the promises made by the leaders on both sides false? A new dawn was supposed to herald. People, particularly women and children, were victims of the fury of those who saw people of other religion as their enemy. How and why did the leaders imagine a peaceful transfer of population when the venom of hate was injected many years before Partition? I do not know on what grounds the proposal of transfer of population was rejected. But records show that at the time of Partition the proposal was seriously discussed and discarded. It would have made sense if the two countries were to follow democratic and secular policies. But even before the advent of Independence, the fanatics and criminals came to occupy key political and administrative positions with the sole purpose to exterminate members of the opposite community. It would have been ideal if the people had stayed back at their homes. But could they have? There was no visionary in both the countries to tell them — millions of them — that you should prepare yourself to leave your homes because bias and alienation had gone too deep in the marrow of bones. Still when we left, we thought we would return after things had settled down. They never did. Even after 62 years they have not. People were earlier pitted as Hindus and Sikhs against Muslims. Today, they confront each other as Indians and Pakistanis. The same enmity is there. Was independence the real independence? This is what Urdu revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz said. I translate it in English: This stained light, this night-bitten dawn/ This is not the dawn we yearned for/ This is not the dawn/ For which we set out so eagerly. Tragedies can never be treasured. Nor should they be. They scratch wound every time it begins to get crust, to heal. Peace and friendship are important, but they do not have to blot out the memories. Can we give the whole thing a new, positive turn and consider what happened during Partition as a lesson for the next generations that religious bigotry can blind people to the basic values of respecting a human life and make them barbarians? It happened in 1947. It can happen again. The case in point is the joint statement which the Prime Minister of the two countries has signed in Egypt. The hostility that Manmohan Singh has faced in his own country may well be because of the Oppositions’ joint criticism of the statement. Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Gilani is only making a mess of things by stoking fires of differences and playing up to the gallery in Pakistan. Coming back to Partition, certain steps need to be taken to stop the blame game that each one is playing on the 1947 holocaust. My proposal is to have a museum on Partition. This is not to glorify the killings but to stir the conscience of people in the subcontinent to seek forgiveness from one another. I do not want the museum to show the killings by one community of another, but to highlight the loss of one million people and the disruption of the life of 20 million. I expect Pakistan to participate in this venture. People controlling the board jointly should be eminent in their country, above the pull of politics or religion. The main purpose of the museum is that to make the people on both sides feel humble and humane. Both have seen murder and worse; both have been broken on the rack of history; both are
refugees.
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On Record
The Delhi High Court judgement on July 2 decriminalising consensual sex in private between two adults is a milestone in the long struggle of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the country. India Naz Foundation International played a major role in making this possible. It also played a pivotal role in the intervening years to build an enviornment where society could accept that even the LGBT community had certain constitutional rights which the state had to guarantee. Arif Jafar, the low profile Executive Director of India Naz Foundation, is himself a vicitm of Section 377 IPC. He along with his three colleagues had to spend 47 days in a Lucknow jail while doing his official duty. He speaks to The Sunday Tribune in Lucknow. Excerpts: Q: Most sections of society are not familiar with the work of your Foundation. Will you please explain your work briefly? A: The India Naz Foundation (NFI) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation registered in the UK working for the rights of MSM (Men who have sex with Men). We have been providing technical, institutional and financial assistance to MSM networks, groups, collectives and organisations in South Asia since 1996 along with some countries in South-East Asia. We seek to empower these groups and organisations so that they may develop and deliver their own sexual health and HIV prevention, support and care services. This regional programme office in Lucknow provides policy and advocacy services across South Asia and elsewhere, undertakes research on relevant issues, mobilises resources and provides technical assistance and support to its country partners. Q: What do you think of the Delhi High Court judgement? A: It is a great leap forward. Let me begin by saying that the judgement itself is very well argued and in the rights framework. For the first time it declares that sex between two consenting adults in private is not an offence. It frees MSM from the fear of the police that misused the law to harass people in many ways including blackmail, earning money or even sexual gratification. The sword of Damocles was always hanging over everyone’s heads. Q: What happened in 2001 that lead to the movement to legally challenge Section 377 that has finally bore fruit after a eight-year-long legal battle? A: On July 7, 2001, the Lucknow offices of Bharosa Trust which is our service provider unit and our own liaison office was raided and HIV/AIDS prevention material including educational brochures videos and condoms seized. The police arrested me along with my three other colleagues charging us with conspiring to commit “unnatural sexual acts” under Section 377. Q: How have things changed post Delhi High Court judgement? A: Since then, we are getting many requests through email and otherwise from people who want to work with us as volunteers. This is a very welcome step as there is always a shortage of human resource in this area. Q: Who are these people? A: They are young men: students, research scholars, even working men who now want to come forward and help in our service providing section, Bharosa, as there is no fear of the law now implicating them as accomplices. Q: Is it just the judgement alone or the enabling environment from long years of raising awareness that has made the difference? A: Till now the main fear was law. One could have faced up to 10 years of imprisonment. This was keeping many people from coming forward. This hampered health promotion and HIV/AIDS prevention work amongst this vulnerable section. Q: What is your opinion regarding the appeal in the Supreme Court against the High Court ruling? A: It is such a well-crafted judgment giving these rights on constitutional grounds. It does not go into the moral sphere. So I don’t see the Supreme Court or even the government trying to argue against it. Q: What about the backlash from the religious leaders? A: Contrary to expectations, till now the response from society at large has been very positive. It will take some time and effort to bring the religious and moral leaders around to our point of view. |
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Profile Were Naxalites an obstacle in the work of Joshi and his team? Not at all, says Joshi. On the contrary, some of them asked “villagers to cooperate with us as we are trying to do some meaningful work”. His activities were spread over the Naxalite-affected belt of Jharkhand, Bankura and Purulia regions of West Bengal and the Maoist-dominated Chhattisgarh and Orissa. Convincing educated young men and women holding degrees from prestigious institutions to work in remote villages was a difficult task for Joshi. “When a young person wants to work with us, we say, we can offer you position in Jharkhand immediately”, he has been quoted as saying. But the question comes from his parents: is it safe? There have been cases where youngsters chose not to join Joshi’s set up as they felt threatened. There is also the example of Joshi himself. Having acquired double masters degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and in Management from the Sloan School in the US, Joshi never thought of taking a government job. He joined an NGO in Pune which worked for public health in rural Maharashtra. A chance meeting with a doctor couple — Raj and Mabelle Arole — changed the course of his life. The couple worked for community health and educating villagers with utmost dedication. This opened his eyes to what a professional can do. The idea took root and Joshi founded in 1983 the Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), an NGO, along with one Vijay Mahajan. The NGO recruited university-educated youth from campuses across the country and groomed them for grassroot work through a rigorous year-long apprenticeship which combined formal training and guided practice in the field. Living and working directly with India’s poorest communities, PRADAN staff empowered village groups with technical, project implementation, and networking skills that increased both their income-generating capabilities and their actual family earnings. The staff of PRADAN, combining their professional expertise with local knowledge, also trained villagers as para-veterinarians, accountants and technicians who supported their fellow villagers in building collective livelihood projects. It is claimed that in its twin programme of training development professionals and reducing rural poverty, PRADAN has transformed the lives of about one lakh families. While Mahajan moved to microfinance and banking sector in early nineties, Joshi remained active in PRADAN for 30 years until his retirement in 2007. Among work at other places, Jharkhand remained Joshi’s karmabhoomi. He initiated a white revolution in the Naxalite-affected regions of Jharkhand. He has been quoted as saying, “I have learnt a lot while working among tribal women in the Naxalite-hit areas”. PRADAN concentrated on Jharkhand’s Naxalite zones of Lohardaga, Gumla and Chaibasa and in Bankura and Purulia in neighbouring West Bengal. It was in December 2005 that PRADAN began the campaign to convince tribal women to take up dairy as a commercial venture. Tribal women, till then, considered it a sin to deny a calf of its mother’s milk. Joshi’s NGO changed this belief and tribal women raised funds to buy superior breed of cows and formed a milk co-operative modelled on ‘Amul’. About 500 women are now part of this movement. They can manage co-operatives and maintain their accounts with user-friendly software enabling them to issue
passbooks. |
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ALL this happened in the later half of July 2009. On July17, the owner of a major seed company came to see this writer (as the nominee of the Supreme Court on the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee) about the problems he has been facing in getting approval of the appropriate committees of the Government of India for marketing his genetically manipulated (GM) seed, in spite of his being acutely aware of this writer’s opposition to GM crops in the existing set-up. 
Transforming the lives of over a lakh families covering as many as 3,000 villages, many of them in Naxalite-affected areas, is not an easy job. Sixty- three-year-old social activist Deep Joshi has done it and for this achievement he has been decorated with the 2009 Ramon Magsaysay Award, known as Asia’s Nobel Prize. He has been recognised for “his vision and leadership in bringing professionalism in the NGO movement in India”, says the citation of the prestigious Award.