The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Rahul-speak
RSS shown the SIMI mirror

CONGRESS general secretary Rahul Gandhi seems determined to establish that contrary to his soft demeanor, he is ready for a no holds barred political slugfest. He has laid it thick for the saffron camp by equating Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with banned terrorist outfit Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). That he did so while speaking in Bhopal, the capital of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, carries its own message. Essentially, he has repeated what former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh has been saying for years now, but coming from him, the words acquire added pyrotechnics. Read along with what Home Minister P Chidambaram said about saffron terrorism the other day, it is clear that the Congress is keen to go in for the BJP jugular in a big way.

The goal appears to be two-fold. One aim is to draw the minorities closer to the Congress camp and the second is to enthuse Congress cadres all over the country in general and Madhya Pradesh in particular. He is hanging the allegation on the fact that some persons belonging to the Bajrang Dal, the VHP and Abhinav Bharat have been found involved in terror incidents and the RSS has not denied its association with them.

But tarring the RSS in such a fashion is fraught with risks. SIMI is a proscribed organisation, which the RSS is not. Nor is its top leadership directly involved in terrorism like that of SIMI. Then there are also the social activities of the RSS to contend with, like promoting education and nation-building. To that extent, the statement can be counter-productive. The man on the street might even draw the conclusion that the RSS is being unfairly targeted and the latter may thus get public sympathy. Calling the RSS communal or even fanatical might have passed muster but equating it with SIMI might very well prove to be a case of going overboard.

CM in trouble
Instability haunts BJP govt in Karnataka

THE BJP-led B.S. Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka is in trouble again. The latest crisis is an offshoot of the resentment over the recent Cabinet reshuffle. Apparently, it has been reduced to a minority on Wednesday following the withdrawal of support to the government by 20 MLAs — 15 of the BJP and five Independents. In the 225-member House, the BJP has 117 (including the Speaker), the Congress 73 and the Janata Dal (Secular) 28 members respectively. There are six Independents. To quell rebellion, Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has dropped six ministers from the Cabinet, four on Wednesday and two more on Thursday. Incidentally, the four ministers sacked on October 6 were Independents who had lent crucial support to Mr Yeddyurappa when the BJP had failed to get a majority in the May 2008 Assembly elections. Fearing poaching, the rebel legislators have been hopping from one city to the other — Bangalore to Chennai to Kochi and then to Mumbai.

The Reddy brothers of Bellary — who had spearheaded the revolt against the Chief Minister a few months back — are on his side now and currently engaged in fire-fighting operations to save the government. It is a moot point whether Mr Yeddyurappa would survive the confidence vote in the Assembly on October 11. However, his plan to advise two or three senior ministers to quit office to help him induct five to six new faces into the Cabinet could exacerbate the problem.

Mr Yeddyurappa seems to have failed to enforce his authority and discipline in the party and the government. Ever since the BJP was returned to power in the 2008 Assembly elections, after a bitter coalition experiment with Mr H.D. Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular), instability has been haunting the government. The BJP did manage to woo a few Independents, got them re-elected to the Assembly on the party ticket and made them ministers. However, they were not happy with the portfolios. Factionalism has increased in the party and every legislator is lobbying for ministership or chairperson’s post in boards and corporations. They are also protesting against the appointment of some tainted colleagues as ministers. Worse, reports of too many scams, wheeling dealing and corruption have dented the image of the only BJP government in the South. Needless to say, the BJP has ceased to be a “party with a difference.”

Thought for the Day

Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. — George Orwell

ARTICLE

Systemic flaws in education
Village-level councils can provide remedy
by S. S. Johl

THERE has developed systemic dichotomy in the delivery of education in the country. Wards of some 80 per cent of the total population of the country (about 65 per cent that live in the rural areas and 15 per cent in the urban areas) study in government schools. Wards of only about 20 per cent population, urban and some rural rich, study in private or the so-called public schools. A handsome number of school-going children in government schools belong to the Scheduled Caste and the Backward Classes.

Although logically, giving some margin for favouritism and corruption, the best of the lot of teachers are employed by the government and they are paid handsomely, they do not perform their duties with due responsibility because there is no accountability in government service. These teachers, with a few honourable exceptions, indulge in different types of malpractices such as not holding the classes, confusing the students in classes so that they (students) keep tuitions with them (teachers), and even subcontract their jobs at nominal payments. As a result, these students are left high and dry.

Neither can they compete for admissions to higher education – not to speak of admissions to medical, engineering or other professional courses – nor do they qualify for gainful employment. Thus, 80 per cent of the population does not get access to relevant and quality education and is being left out of the development stream. It can at best get engaged in menial jobs.

On the other hand, private schools, in spite of the various restrictions imposed on them, are flourishing on hefty donations from rich and educated parents, and charge high fees. These schools employ teachers from the left-out stock and pay very low salaries. Yet, ironically, these teachers perform well and train the students to qualify and grab almost the entire seats in the institutions of higher professional education.

An earlier survey by Punjabi University, Patiala, had shown that at the university campus 94 per cent students were coming from urban areas and 6 per cent from rural areas. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, had only 4 per cent students from rural areas. Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, had less than 4 per cent and Punjab University, Chandigarh, only 2 per cent students from rural areas. Many of those classified as rural students come from rich families and have mostly studied in urban private schools.

Although the universities have taken measures to improve the ratio of rural students on their campuses, like admissions after matriculation and opening up of neighbourhood campuses as is done by Punjabi University, the huge imbalance persists. The situation gets further aggravated due to the absence of science subjects at the plus two level in many senior secondary schools in rural areas.

Primarily, it is the lack of accountability that is plaguing education in government schools. This is mainly responsible for the serious dichotomy in the delivery of relevant and quality education at the school level, which in turn is developing the country into an India of the rich and Bharat of the poor. As a consequence, even the high-level growth the economy is registering is being appropriated by the minority upper strata of society, and disparities in income distribution are increasing concomitantly. No wonder, more than 77 per cent of the population in the country is living on Rs 20 or less per capita a day. On the other end, as an example, fancy single-digit and double-digit numbers of cars are being bought in auction in lakhs of rupees.

Unless remedial measures are taken at the grassroots level, no top dressing will be of any help. For instance, many top class business schools are coming up in addition to dozens of elite institutions already in existence. The question is: for whom? The hefty fees, running into lakhs of rupees, charged by these institutions of higher learning are exasperating figures for the rural and poor segments of society, even if a few of their wards reach the level of counselling . These elite institutes can be rightfully labelled as by the rich, of the rich and for the rich!

The remedy lies not in organisational changes at the top, but taking steps that removes the systemic malaise that plagues education in government schools.

With this end in view, there is need for setting up village-level education councils for all schools in the rural areas. These councils should be non-political and honorary in nature and should have five members (one of them chairman). The selection should be out of fairly educated/literate parents, whose wards are studying in those particular schools. Panchayats should have no role to play in the formation of these councils. Two members should retire every year by turn or when the ward of any member leaves the school.

These councils should watch and monitor the content and quality of education as well as performance of the teachers and evaluate the percentage of the students who are made capable of qualifying for higher education or gainful employment. These councils should be the reporting authorities to the Departments of Education, which should take quick action on their reports / recommendations. Funds at the margin for an improvement of the facilities that make the delivery of education more efficient should come to schools at the recommendation of these councils.

The Departments of School Education should remain in monitoring mode on the functioning of these education councils and should not hesitate in removing non-functional and inefficient/ unsuitable members. It should be ensured that there is no interference from the village panchayats in the functioning of these councils. The main thrust of these councils should be on enforcing accountability on the part of the teachers.

Another step that is vital for improving school education is the eradication of the malaise of tuitions being forced on students by unscrupulous teachers. Taking of paid tuitions (not free guidance) on the part of teachers should be declared cognizable offence, punishable by dismissal from service. The organisational changes that are being brought about in the top administration of the education system in India will not serve the purpose of removing this serious dichotomy, but will certainly fiddle with the federal character of our country and will not leave much space for regional diversity.

Even the introduction of EDUSET for the on-line delivery of education will require trained and fully accountable teachers. Village schools at present do not have the needed capacity to benefit from such an improvement. The benefits of all such interventions will again gravitate to the already privileged sections of society. If the delivery of education in the country is to be made inclusive in reality, tackling the lack of accountability on the part of teachers in government schools, especially in rural areas, and an effective check on the system of paid tuitions are the necessary preconditions, rather prerequisites. The question, however, remains: whether the policy makers will ever change their mindset in this direction!

The writer is a former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala.

MIDDLE

Guided tour
by Rajnish Wattas

Much before the scheduled visit of Prince Charles, known for keen interest in architecture — though not exactly modern — the buzz in my neighbourhood was that I would be the chosen one to conduct his city tour. I was a sure bet, they said, ‘no one else keeps talking about the making of Chandigarh in his sleep, in his bath, in his puja or even at a wedding or a funeral....”

But that was not to be. Yet, with my clairvoyance picked up from the friendly roadside fortune-telling parrot, who almost made it to the CWG Inaugural, I can give you a peep of the visit:

“A very, very warm welcome to your Royal Highnessji, Sirji”

“Thanks ol’ boy’

‘But Sirji, I’m not an old boy, I was just retired early ..’

‘Wish Mummy would do that too ..”

‘Anyway where are we going?’

‘Sir, to the great temple of modern India’s democracy, the Capitol Complex.’

‘Democracy? Ok, Ok, something that the bearded hottie Kaalhmaadi too kept muttering about with his baby balloon.’

‘Sir, the building that you see is the Assembly...’

‘Oh! you mean that silly thing with a bowler hat? Who designed it?’ ‘Sir, it’s a work of brutalism art by the famous French architect Le Corbusier.’

‘We’re not amused... we leave you with great classical stuff like the Viceroy’s Palace designed by Sir Edwards Lutyens ... and there you go and get a Frenchman ... they don’t even bathe or change their undergarments ... And you call yourselves as loyal subjects of Commonwealth, whose games you call us to open, in spite of the racing season at Derby!

‘And what’s that aircraft carrier HMS Nelson look-alike?’ ‘Sirji, please don’t be annoyed, it’s the Secretariat, where all the babus, I mean all the worthy superior officers coming in red light Ambassadors, sit Sirji.

‘Oh, that’s your town’s official red light area! Hah hah! You chaps sure got some sense of humour from us, jolly good. ‘And that far out thing near the hills, a weather cock I suppose?’

‘No Sir, it’s our City’s emblem the Open Hand which means “open to give, open to receive.”

‘Must have been our Tony boy’s idea to raise funds for the Iraq war, as Bush’s little poodle. Must tell you we at the Buckingham Palace were not amused!’

And why do you have these huge bloody maidans all over where no one, not even an Englishman on a hot summer day would venture out? Are you planning polo matches.... my friend Bubbles of Jaipur could help.

‘Ok, cheerio, bye, bye.’

Then the cavalcade rushes towards the city’s rehri market, where His Royal Highness was keen to buy some spices and tea, as ordained by ‘mummy.”

In the distant hills I could see the sun setting.

OPED-water

Taming the rivers
If flood storage is made a part of all dam projects, miseries caused by floods and drought can be minimised. The strategy, therefore, should involve integrated planning and management of land and water resources
KS Rana

THE wet season this year has led to a rude awakening, particularly in J&K, Himachal, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. The importance and complexity of water-related problems attributed to several causes is being voiced by a cross-section of society. While normal life in the hills was paralysed by landslides and soil erosion, the plains got inundated for weeks, causing a massive loss of lives, crops and property. On other side, states like Bihar, eastern UP, Jharkhand and parts of West Bengal faced a drought syndrome. In both cases, normal life and socio-economic conditions were affected by a revealing contrast of an excess of and deficiency of the monsoon.

Victims of a flood fury near Patiala. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar

We cannot alter the weather pattern or influence an occasional El-Niño phase controlling it over a period varying from three to seven years. However, distress resulting from such events can be minimised to a great extent by integrated management of the land and river system comprising the catchments, drainage lines, feeding streams, floodplain and the main river channels.

For many years decision-making over land use has paid limited attention to hazards associated with the water environment. Short-term and piecemeal commercial interests are often pushed through in a compartmentalised mode ignoring the fact that the river, its catchments, floodplain and groundwater are essentially a hydrological, geomorphologic and ecological continuum. A holistic approach generally emphasised is not compulsorily translated into a master plan format for sustainable development of the resource.

Guidelines for the preparation of a river basin master plan with a 25-year perspective were prepared by the Central Water Commission in 1990. These can be modified and used as per the local terrain, climatic conditions, basin specific features, including the frequency of floods and drought. A periodic review of the plans is necessary to update and improve them incorporating changes on account of new developments in the intervening period.

While some states and central agencies have already taken the initiative, most others are still pursuing a project-to-project approach with overlapping features and conflicting interests. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are funding projects for the preparation of the master plan for the basin's water resource to promote its integrated development. The states can take benefit of such institutional funding.

Every state should have a master plan for each of the river system within its territory. For inter-state rivers, the master plan prepared by a state for river reach within its jurisdiction may be amalgamated and approved by the central government.

The problem of floods and drainage congestion faced by Delhi is not new. A master plan for drainage was prepared way back in 1976. Its implementation could not keep pace with fast urbanisation. Later, a technical committee was constituted by the Lt Governor of Delhi in 1993 (this writer was its member from the CWC) to find out inherent defects in the existing drainage system and suggest measures for improvement. The committee studied all aspects in detail, undertook field visits, interacted with various functionaries and public representatives in Najafgarh, Barapulla, Shahdara, Bawana and also drainage basins in the neighboring Haryana territory falling into the Yamuna river from its right bank.

Apart from coordination with multiple construction agencies for rigorous enforcement of the drainage standards as well as its pre-approved layout plan, the other important issues requiring the attention of the Delhi government are: pre-monsoon cleaning of drains and removal of obstructions, floodplain zoning and regulation, flood-risk mapping, flood insurance and improving embankments to contain backwater effect of three barrages viz Okhla, ITO and Wazirabad when the Yamuna is in spate. The old master plan for each major drain should be updated every alternate year for incorporating changes in the landscape. The area-wise action plan evolved earlier may also be updated and implemented keeping pace with rapid urbanization.

In case of Haryana, the major river Yamuna flowing along its eastern boundary has two barrages at Dakpathar and Asan in Uttrakand territory upstream. The third barrage at Hathnikund is located in Haryana. None of them has flood storage. Maneuvering of the excess influx due to heavy rain in the upper basin is not possible. Embankments along the river have provided some defence from floods but once breached, inundation of the adjoining areas in Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Faridabad etc is imminent.

The other small rivers in Haryana -- Tangri, Markanda, Ghaggar and its tributaries originating in the fragile shivalik hills, Som and Pathrala -- have sufficient damage potential during the monsoon. NH-1 is often submerged and damaged affecting mobility in the entire region. These rivers are seasonal and carry quasi totality of sediment in a flash flood. It is important to prepare a separate master plan for each of them. Water and sediment yield of these small basins may be assessed for constructing cascade of small dams to intercept sediment and store run-off. The emptying of dams and flushing of sediment before the onset of the monsoon starting from the most upstream are necessary. The filling of the empty dams should start from the most downstream one. When properly constructed, maintained and operated, these measures can moderate floods, enhance water availability in the lean season, recharge aquifers and improve the ecology of the degraded Shivalik ranges.

Three major rivers -- Beas, Ravi and Satluj -- meander through Punjab in their lower stretches. Most of the annual flows to these rivers is contributed from Himachal territory upstream. The monsoon run-off in Punjab area is evacuated by seasonal streams like the Ghaggar, White Bein, Black Bein, Sakkikiran and numerous "choes" carrying debris in flash flood . Ranjit Sagar on the Ravi river is the only dam in Punjab. It is primarily a hydropower project having irrigation as an additional component. All the main rivers in Punjab territory are mostly embanked supported by spurs. When breached, large areas in the Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Phagwara, Nawanshahar and Ropar areas are affected by floods.

Jammu and Kashmir does not have a serious problem of floods except that the Tawi river occasionally inundates low-lying areas before exiting to join the Chenab in Pakistan territory. Flash floods in seasonal streams and landslides are but matters of concern. The Leh region was severely jolted by a catastrophe during the early part of August. Several inhabitations were wiped out and hundreds of lives lost. The state has three hydroelectric projects at Baglihar, Dulhasti and Salal on the Chenab river. Uri-I and Uri-II hydropower projects are on the Jhelum river. Though on the main rivers, none of them has a flood cushion to hold the monsoon run-off.

Before entering the neighboring states, the major rivers originating in Himachal or flowing through it have the Bhakra reservoir on the Satluj river. The Nathpa-Jhakri project on the same river is a run of the river type for power generation and has to be shut down for weeks during the monsoon due to an excess sediment load. In between the Kol dam in the offing is also for hydropower. The Beas river has the Pong dam for irrigation and power generation. The Pandoh dam in the upstream is for the diversion of the Beas water to the Satluj river for supplementing Bhakra irrigation and power generation. The other projects in the Beas basin like Larji, Parbati-I, II, III and Malana are for hydropower generation. In the Ravi basin, the power projects are Baira-Siul and Chamera. All of them are in HP territory.

Each off these major river basins has three or even more dam projects but none with dedicated flood storage. The leverage of extra flood cushion would have given the much-needed flexibility to hold excess water and regulate its release for attenuating the high flow. This at a small cost of the entire project could have also taken care of the peak load of power and irrigation demand in a lean season. In its absence, the inundated areas downstream may have to learn to live with similar floods unless the future projects are designed for flood moderation and their integrated management resorted to by the co-basin states. At present only the empty space out of the designed storage in the Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams can absorb some of the monsoon inflows to provide incidental flood relief, which as already seen, is not enough to mitigate the real problem.

Some sense of flood security is provided by embankments along the rivers in the plain reach and the location specific dykes in the urbanised areas. These structures are generally at risk from floodwaters flowing under, through and over them undermining their stability. It is difficult to protect or reconstruct them during floods Therefore, vulnerability of the structures should be assessed well before monsoon and strengthening measures taken with proactive planning.

River form is the end product of complex fluvial processes and keeps on changing in response to water flows or sediment inputs. It is a proven fact that any kind of obstruction in the natural river domain could lead to serious consequences. There being no mechanism to regulate the floodplains in the country, several industries, habitations and institutions have come up on the river right-of-way and cannot escape the fury of floods.

The antidote to distressful floods and drought has to be pursued with more powerful multi-disciplinary means. Plantation in denuded catchments can be a part of it but not enough by itself due to the inherent saturation limit of the soil. Holding part of the peak flow in storage reservoirs for regulated release is the most effective way for flood moderation. Easier said than done.

Many a time the areas under floods during the monsoon face a drought-like situation during long dry spells in a lean season. If flood storage is made an inbuilt component of all dam projects and a small portion of the net storage dedicated to drinking water and critical irrigation, alternating miseries caused by floods and drought can be effectively staved off. The planning strategy, therefore, should foster integrated planning and management of land and water resources of the basin through legislation.

Local decision-makers vis-à-vis implementing agencies must appreciate the scale and complexity of the river basin as a whole and evolve programs within its carrying capacity to fit in to the approved master plan. Clearance and coordination of projects of multiple agencies directly or indirectly involved with water resources in a basin may be assigned to an independent regulatory body comprising reputed professionals from different disciplines. All stakeholders and even co-basin states for programmes of inter-basin ramifications should collaborate to achieve the objective of holistic development and management of the water resources.

The writer is a former Chairman of the Brahmaputra Board (GOI)