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Revisit MPLADS
Flight of corruption |
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Graceless Gill Silence scores over the snub WHEN Union Sports Minister M. S. Gill gesticulated and told some wellwishers accompanying Sushil Kumar to stand aside, he obviously wanted some exclusive photographs for the media featuring himself, the World Championship gold medallist and national team coach Yashvir.
Chinese assertiveness
Tryst with Faulkner
Passion must for green cause
Eco students face resistance from parents
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Revisit MPLADS
THE Planning Commission has rightly rejected demands for an increase in the corpus allocated to MPs for development of their constituencies from the present Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore. Under the MPs’ Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), the government provides each member of Parliament Rs 2 crore annually to develop their constituencies. Introduced by the P.V. Narasimha Rao government as far back as 1993, the scheme has been embroiled in many controversies. Several credible studies by both public and private bodies have questioned the very rationale behind the scheme. Interestingly, when New Delhi’s Institute of Social Sciences, in a report on the theme “MPLADS: Concept, confusion and contradictions”, written by former Public Accounts Committee Chairman Era Sezhian, had pointed out that the very concept of the scheme was flawed and called for its withdrawal, the MPs demanded a hike in the allocation of the funds under the scheme. No one should grudge more funds for the MPs to help develop their constituencies better. Indeed, the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of the scheme in its ruling on May 6. But the question remains: to what extent has the scheme lived up to the expectations? Experience with the MPLADS in the last 17 years suggests that the scheme has created more controversies and yielded little results. The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India has time and again pointed out that in many states, funds have either been misused or have lapsed or the unspent money has not been returned. Surprisingly, under this pet scheme, projects not sanctioned by the MPs have also been executed. Significantly, though the Planning Commission has told the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation that in view of the resource crunch, it would not be possible for the panel to spare more money for the MPLADS, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the MPLADS has asked Planning Commission Secretary Sudha Pillai to explore the possibility of pruning the outlays of some big ticket schemes and make available more funds for the scheme. It is heartening to note that the Planning Commission, without buckling under pressure, has boldly put its foot down on the unjustified and unreasonable demand for a corpus hike. Indeed, when there are strong reasons for scrapping the scheme itself, it would be ludicrous for the MPs to demand a corpus hike.
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Flight of corruption
Public money that is illegally siphoned off by corrupt means is quickly moved out of the nation to build illicit hordes in more attractive and distant locations. No, this is not a banana republic we are talking about. It is India, which, according to data published by the Washington-based Centre for International Policy, allowed the flight of over $125 billion between 2000 and 2008. The illicit financial flows of capital have a long history in the nation that is acutely aware of “hawala”. Such money normally does not return to the country of origin, and thus the citizens are hit twice. The flight of money to international tax havens like Switzerland, Bermuda, Bahamas and Cayman Islands hurts the economy and it is well recognised that Western countries do not do a particularly good job of enforcing a rigorous anti-money laundering regime. Thus, the nations that are being robbed must ensure that illicit money is traced and the offenders, be they corrupt government officials or businessmen, criminals, terrorist or a combination of these, are taken to task. A string of “Commonwealth Gains” scandals that have tainted the international sporting event, have also put the spotlight on corruption again, as have the recent attacks on various whistle-blowers, some of whom have paid for their convictions with their lives. Near every election, the bogey of Swiss accounts is raised by the Opposition. India and Switzerland now have signed a revised double taxation avoidance agreement that expands the scope of financial information to be shared between the two nations. Where there is a will, a way can always be found. It is only when the nation, as a whole, exhibits an unequivocal conviction to weed out corruption that the true gains of growth and development will come to India. |
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Graceless Gill
WHEN Union Sports Minister M. S. Gill gesticulated and told some wellwishers accompanying Sushil Kumar to stand aside, he obviously wanted some exclusive photographs for the media featuring himself, the World Championship gold medallist and national team coach Yashvir. He did not want the hoi polloi to hog the limelight. Mr Gill’s photograph did appear in every newspaper the next morning, but perhaps not the way he wanted it. He did not perhaps realise that while craving for publicity, he was being rude to the commoners. Unfortunately, the ordinary folks he waved away included Sushil’s coach, Satpal, revered as a guru, who tried to be with his disciple to share the moment of glory. Some reports suggest that Mr Gill, perhaps, did not recognise Satpal. That is even worse. The Sports Minister of the country does not know the famous wrestler of yesteryear, a gold medallist of the 1982 Asian Games, who was honoured with the Dronacharya award last year! If the slight was unintentional, Mr Gill could have made it up by apologising. That is what Kapil Sibal did when some babus in his HRD Ministry humiliated world chess champion Viswanathan Anand by questioning his nationality. Mr Gill, however, stood his ground and dismissed the reporters who raised the issue without a reply. “A gentleman”, writes Oscar Wilde, “is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally”. There is another saying that “the most effective comeback to an insult is silence”. Compared to the undesirable conduct of the bureaucrat-turned-minister, who regards himself as anything but a servant of the public, both Sushil Kumar and Satpal conducted themselves with dignity by not reacting to the slight, intended or unintended. It was not the occasion for confrontation. But had they given it back to the thoughtless minister, it would have been a sight none would have cherished. Satpal’s reaction was sober: “I did not like it. But this is a happy occasion. So let us talk about Sushil’s achievement”. That is the stuff the real achievers and good human beings are made of.
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Steadfastness cements the road to supreme knowledge. — The Upanishads
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Chinese assertiveness
Barely a few months ago, India’s relations with China looked upbeat, with both sides talking of a new beginning embodying the “Copenhagen Spirit’ of cooperation on Climate Change. It was in keeping with this spirit that President Pratibha Patil visited China. But, shortly thereafter, Chinese actions in Jammu and Kashmir have sent the relationship into a tailspin. Many analysts believe that the current Chinese “assertiveness” may well be the result of the People’s Liberation Army becoming increasingly aggressive at a time when the country is preparing for a change of leadership in 2012. Moreover, it would not be surprising if China has concluded that the political leadership in India has been unable to build a national consensus and confront serious challenges, ranging from Maoist violence to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra has for long had a deep commitment to a friendly and normalised relationship with China. This is not surprising, with his having been the recipient of the famous “Mao Smile” and Mao’s “Let us be friends again” comment, on May 1, 1970. The normally reticent Mr Mishra, however, made some scathing comments to a gathering of distinguished American academics in New Delhi on July 20. Outlining India’s major national security challenges, the veteran diplomat stated: “What has created more problems for us today is the unmitigated hostility of Pakistan and China towards India”. He was strongly critical of the flip-flops on India’s policy towards Pakistan, which he asserted, only encouraged Pakistan to use terrorism as an instrument of state policy. More significantly, he added: “Now, we are facing a situation in which terrorism is going to increase because for the first time China has now come out openly for Pakistan’s position on Kashmir, the issuance of visas on separate pieces of paper, the projects in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and, of course, the military and nuclear assistance which is being given”. When Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visited India in 2005, he agreed to a boundary settlement along “easily identifiable natural geographical features”; adding that in reaching a boundary settlement, “the two sides shall safeguard the interests of their settled populations in border areas”. Our overenthusiastic Sinologists promptly read this as a Chinese commitment to soften their claims on populated centres like Tawang. They were soon in for a reality check, when China upped its border claims, asserting that the whole of Arunachal Pradesh is a part of “South Tibet”. This was accompanied by increasing border intrusions. Pakistan remains a convenient stalking horse for a China bent on “containment” of Indian influence. China joined Pakistan in promoting opposition in the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) to the ending of nuclear sanctions against India. Along with these developments came the introduction of “stapled visas” for Indian nationals from Jammu and Kashmir. While China’s reference to Gilgit and Baltistan as “Northern Pakistan,” may have been inadvertent, the refusal of a visa to India’s Northern Army Commander is clearly unacceptable. All this is very different from the advice tendered to Pakistan by former President Jiang Zemin, who told his Pakistani hosts in 1996 that they should settle the Kashmir issue through bilateral negotiations with India. New Delhi failed to seriously take note of China support Pakistan’s efforts to block American sponsored moves in the Security Council since 2007, to declare Hafiz Mohammed Saeed’s Jamat ud Dawa as an international terrorist organisation. Following the 26/11 terrorist outrage, Chinese “scholars” proclaimed that the Mumbai attack reflected “the failure of Indian Intelligence.” They claimed that India was blaming Pakistan to “enhance its control over the disputed Kashmir” and warned that: “China can support Pakistan in the event of a war,” while asserting that in such circumstances China may have the option of resorting to a “strategic military action in Southern Tibet (Arunachal Pradesh) to thoroughly liberate the people there”. China has since agreed to co-produce 240 JF 17 fighters and supply 30 J 10 fighters, apart from four Frigates, tanks and Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) capabilities to Pakistan. Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and missile capabilities are being upgraded by China. India has to carefully analyse if China is assisting Pakistan to shift its nuclear weapons from the growingly unstable Baluchistan Province, to tunnels in the remote parts of Gilgit-Baltistan. As its maritime power grows, China is becoming increasingly “assertive” on its maritime boundaries, claiming that like Taiwan and Tibet, the entire South China Sea is an area of “core interest”. The Yellow Sea and the East China Sea are claimed to be parts of China’s “sphere of influence”. The simmering differences over maritime boundaries between China and its ASEAN neighbours, particularly Vietnam, came to the fore at the recent Hanoi meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum. The Chinese “assertiveness,” including statements by senior Chinese military officials suggesting that the United States should accept the Eastern Pacific and Indian Oceans as a Chinese “sphere of influence,” has raised eyebrows in Washington. Is China prematurely manifesting hubris, in the belief that the US power is declining relatively and can be challenged? After displaying incredible naiveté in its initial months in office, the Obama Administration officials now acknowledge the China’s global economic policies are “mercantilist” and its export-led growth responsible for exacerbating global economic imbalances. Will China’s rise be peaceful and non-threatening is a question being asked not just in New Delhi but across the world. India does have advantages to exploit. Apart from Pakistan, there is virtually no other country that accuses us of territorial ambitions or of greed in seeking access to their natural resources. Most importantly, major centres of power — the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Union — seek to engage China, but deeply distrust Chinese long-term ambitions. This gives us access to defence, space and industrial technology, not available to
China.
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Tryst with Faulkner
I was in elementary school when my father began writing his doctoral dissertation on William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. My brother and I were both introduced to the Nobel Laureate and also shown his picture inside the cover of the book. My father worked on his dissertation for a few years. All the while the clack of the ‘80s typewriter from his study filled up the afternoons in our house. Until one year when my mother felt intently that we needed to give him time and space to write his piece and get it out of the way — because after all it had been a while — and a long one for that. So when school broke for the summer, my mother packed us both and the three of us went to stay at my grandmothers for a while hoping all along that when we were away, my father would have had a successful tryst with Faulkner. And sure enough, upon our return, and to everyone’s cheer, the dissertation was ready for submission. In later years, I took upon myself to carry forth the tryst with the book at many different times in my life, with varying degrees of success. Each time, I discovered that The Sound and the Fury is ablaze with many layers of meaning and for a reader to expect to unravel it all during the course of a single reading is really expecting the impossible. While Faulkner, himself, chose to call his fourth novel his most ‘splendid failure’, it was clearly his first work of remarkable intellect. And as the cherished book turns 80 years and continues to draw numerous readers, its timeless appeal draws reflection. While the book is replete with many images and symbols, to me its most powerful message is the failure of the Compsons to keep abreast with time. They gaze at the warped clock in the kitchen but fail to tell the time. Quentin’s obsessive relationship with time is especially interesting. Words like ‘clock’, ‘watch’, ‘chime’, and ‘hour’ hover over his consciousness. He enters Harvard with his grandfather’s pocket watch and armed with his father’s belief that ‘clocks slay time’. Failing to win back glory and honour for his fallen aristocratic family, Quentin makes a desperate attempt to stop time by pulling out the hands of his grandfather’s watch only to be reminded by chiming clocks everywhere that time does not stop. Inability to swim with the tide and an even greater incapacity to escape time leads the Compsons to degenerate. Dilsey, the family cook survives because she is the only one who can tell the time from the twisted kitchen clock and moves along with it. Faulkner’s pre-occupation with time rings clear to readers even today as in our everyday race to keep up with time; we perpetually seek to evolve our personal relationship with it. Business schools and time-management gurus step in to reinforce that time itself is vacant and formless and we alone have the power to render it meaningful. Faulkner’s remarkable treatment of this ‘universal truth’ in The Sound and the Fury coupled with his intriguing narrative technique contributes to its abiding fascination. The tryst
continues.
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Passion must for green cause The quantum of youth power would be the largest human resource available for economic development and key agent for technological innovation and social change. “The issue on climate changes started calling for attention in the late 90s. The youth has inherited environment flawed by our earlier generation,” says Anoop Singh Poonia, president for the North India Section of the Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN). The IYCN was established in 2008 and provides an opportunity to the youth to showcase their environmental work on regional and international platforms and is recognised as the largest youth forum with a presence in 16 states. Members of the IYCN are associated with key projects with leading industries. Some of its members were delegates at the Copenhagen summit and the IYCN found mention for its exemplary work by the union environment and forest minister, Jairam Ramesh, in the Lok Sabha. Having been exposed to more formal education on the cause in schools, the youth is undoubtedly better placed to create environmental awareness, simply because it has access to information. With the advent of social network sites, which the generation next is known to make the best use of, it has a resource to go global with ideas, concerns and innovations. Additionally, it is living in an era where environmental issues have loomed large and has also known the ill-effects of environmental crisis like the spill of about 80,000 litres of oil everyday in the Gulf of Mexico. Political leaders seem to have forgotten to draw any lessons from Chernobyl and Bhopal tragedies. Boboton Singh, a co-ordinator for Greenpeace India, states: “The youth has the added responsibility to take appropriate, timely and sustainable steps to ensure that our generation and the subsequent generations have lesser environmental issues to bother about and a greener environment and friendly climate to live in.” Marvelling at the reasoning ability of the youth associated with Greenpeace India, he says: “Youngsters have been able to convince local industrialists to take measures for energy efficiency and e-waste minimisation, besides rigorously involving in creating awareness against the nuclear liability Bill.” Rather than perceiving environmental problems as abstract concerns that can only be addressed by governments or businesses, the youth has a greater role to play in ensuring that various eco-missions have long-term sustainability, feels Navneet Saxena, president of the Rotary Club, Mohali. The club has adopted two major roads for a plantation campaign. In order to make the drive sustainable, the club wants to rope in the youth. “We certainly have to get the youth in for it would go a long way in ensuring the efficacy of a drive and would set an example for the others to emulate. We are working in close coordination with schools and colleges of the town.” The environmental issues need much more than social entrepreneurship. While the youth is best suited for providing sustainability to eco projects, there is a need for a policy framework to stoke the passion that the youth displays for the green cause. It is vital to have in place “green collar” jobs that will over time become the hottest career offering for the youth. “The idea is to get people trained in delivering and applying the right technology,” says Dr N Das, head of the bio-tech and environmental sciences department at Thapar University, Patiala. “Green education should go beyond awareness to address future requirements. Expertise in handling emissions, use of alternative fuels, better waste management, emphasis on research and development to facilitate the absorption of green technologies should be the core competence with budding environmentalists,” he adds. Green collar jobs are at present the fifth largest market sector in the US. In order to sustain a low-carbon economy in India, a large number of green collar jobs need to be created, especially when international environment standard ISO 14001 has become a norm to strive for in order to gain competitive edge. Students have to be given an assurance that their passion can be channelised into a viable profession. “Green economy has started taking shape, bringing with it the promise of well-paying, high-growth jobs in manufacturing, management, marketing and auditing,” says Anoop Singh Poonia. Khusjiv Sethi, executive director of an electronics company, says: “We are all stakeholders in environment and it’s a major responsibility. While the industry needs trained personnel, more dynamic environmental education efforts are needed under which educational institutions need to collaborate with other industries and institutions such as NGOs and national parks. It’s all about channelising the most viable human resource to tackle the biggest challenge facing mankind. The environment moment has tasted success with the inspired youth, empowered through training, communicating environmental solutions by spreading the message of urgency of climate change. The need is to bring in a robust environmental educational and employment policy.
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Eco students face resistance from parents
Leela
Raina, a graduate in Economics Honours, founded PRAGATI, a sustainable development society that works on climate change, rural development and women's empowerment. She did an add-on course in green chemistry from Hindu College and collaborated with students and campuses across India through the Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN). She is associated with the IYCN as the South Asian focal points person.
In Copenhagen, she was one among 12 youths inside the Bella Center where she was also coordinating policy for the IYCN. She is also the lead tracker from India with Adopt a Negotiator, a project supported by the Global Campaign for Climate Action (GCCA) at the UN. Apart from civic media, policy at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) excites her and she wants to pursue climate policy. How did the concept of the IYCN take place? The Sustainable Development Summit 2008 in Delhi inspired me. The summit brought together a large number of students working for environment from all around the world. Most of us hardly had an opportunity to interact at a common platform. The idea of starting a network on climate change for students in India clicked with all and the IYCN came into being. We launched a climate moment in India as a art of an international youth moment which is a youth caucus and youth stakeholder at the United Nations on climate. How effective has been the youth with the environment movement? Almost 50 per cent of the population in India is in the bracket of 18 to 35 years of age and is a huge potential workforce capable of bringing in that change, be it a change in politics, business or environment. Our generation has accepted the concern for environment and some of us have been motivated to join the green force. The youth is more communicative as a social media and can run campaigns globally on Tweeter, Facebook and by blogging. The members of the IYCN are able to learn, share ideas on waste management, recycling, reduction in chemical emission, alternative fuels, eco audit movement and adapt that for implementation in their respective areas of operations. Also, social entrepreneurship among the youth is now gaining firm footing in the form of ideology, with economy taking a new turn to support green collar jobs. Is the course curriculum on environment good enough to prompt youth to take up the green cause? Environment as a subject or career has not been able to break the enthusiasm associated with engineering, medicine or management with elders in the family. Students are opting for environmental studies as it's an effortless subject, yet scoring. But the curriculum is not able to churn the real feeling for environment or related issues. People who have taken up a graduate course in environmental science are the ones who are passionate about the cause because they face opposition from parents as jobs are limited. Field work done under the banner of Eco Clubs could give right direction to the youth to develop a passion for it. Has the youth taken the eco drive beyond creating awareness? Yes. At the IYCN we have a number of documented innovative climate solutions. We post these solutions online at www.indiaclimatesolutions.com so that the youth can use the information. The IYCN has collaborated with the environmental student wing of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Darbari Green Energy Systems Limited, New Delhi, and Shanti Ashram, Coimbatore, for the implementation of a rural energy project that has lit up the lives of 70 households. The IYCN undertook a caravan of alternative fuel vehicles, including three solar-integrated Reva electric cars, a plant oil powered truck, a van running on spent vegetable oil, and a car with solar panels through 15 Indian cities. It highlighted the potential for a clean transport system and also assimilated and communicated solutions for climate changes. The IYCN also trains students to become energy auditors who can contribute to environment by regulating energy consumption.
The writer is a media consultant with a Toronto-based weekly What an individual can do l
Select energy-efficient models when replacing old appliances. Look for the energy star label, which means that the product saves energy and prevents pollution. Buy a size that suits your needs and not the biggest one available. l
Turn your refrigerator down. Refrigerators account for about 20 per cent of household power use. The thermostat should be set as per need. Do you have to mix running water to the very chilled water from the refrigerator? Check the thermostat. l Turn down the heat setting for the water heater. Thermostats are often set at 60 degrees C when 48 is fine. Each 12 degree reduction saves 600 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. If every household turned its water heater thermostat down 20 degrees, we could prevent more than 45 million tonnes of annual carbon dioxide emissions -- the same amount emitted by Kuwait or Libya. l Do not overheat or overcool rooms. Clean or replace air filters as recommended. Cleaning a dirty air conditioner filter can save 5 percent of the energy used. l Switch to energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs for your most-used lights.
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IF ever there was doubt about the contribution that the youth can make for shaping the future of the Earth, it has been put to rest with reports brought forth by the United Nations. It has declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity, International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures and the International Year of Youth. It has highlighted that by 2025, the number of youth living in developing countries is likely to grow to 89 per cent. Half of the population of India is already under 25 years of age. 