O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Telecom cleanup
Sibal starts the process
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal is a man in a hurry. There is no doubt that the mess created by the allocation of 2G spectrum on a first-come, first-served basis by his predecessor, Mr A. Raja, needs to be cleared. But it should be done in a planned manner with inputs from experts.

Tags of embarrassment
US immigration’s heavy-handed action
Over a thousand Indian students are facing a long winter ahead, as they deal with the consequences of the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) shutting down the Tri-Valley University, near San Francisco, accusing it of immigration fraud. A number of them have been singled out and forced to wear radio tags with which the US authorities will be able to track them.

An African triumph
There are lessons from Sudan for South Asia
Secession has so seldom been peaceful that the result of the referendum in Southern Sudan, overwhelmingly in favour of splitting with the North, is being hailed as an African triumph. Africa’s longest and bloodiest civil war in Sudan, which raged from 1983 for 22 long years and is estimated to have taken a toll of 2.5 million lives, was finally brought to an end in 2005.

• Thought for the Day

ARTICLE

Uncertainties prevail
China offers no concessions to US
by G. Parthasarathy
During the years of the Cold War, US-Soviet summits were dominated by discussions on issues like arms control and Cold War rivalries.  Bilateral economic ties were virtually non-existent. The two superpowers had little to discuss on the global economy. With the US and China closely tied together economically, the major focus of attention in Sino-US relations is on trade, investment, market access and exchange rate mechanisms.

MIDDLE

Crossing the threshold
by M.K. Agarwal
AS I undertake to write this piece I am reminded of a scene in the closing part of chapter 11 of the novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” by Thomas Hardy. After pursuing Tess for months on end, Alec, one day, takes her out on a lonely horse ride, when the weather turns nasty.

OPED WOMEN

Widows have faced deprivation since centuries. In Independent India, schemes which can ameliorate their lot do exist, but few reach out to them. Usha Rai thinks that if various programmes are merged into a comprehensive plan, it can address some of their problems
Patchwork relief for widows
Almost every year the central government announces a new scheme for widows, senior citizens and the distressed. Literally crores of rupees are earmarked for the welfare of senior citizens and widows but a very small percentage of widows and the distressed receive their benefits.

Poor, deprived but not hungry
The 2010 study on the deprivation and poverty levels of widows of the Braj area of Mathura district shows that though the widows are extremely poor monetarily, ironically they eat well and there are no chances of their starving.

Corrections and clarifications

EDITORIALS

Telecom cleanup
Sibal starts the process

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal is a man in a hurry. There is no doubt that the mess created by the allocation of 2G spectrum on a first-come, first-served basis by his predecessor, Mr A. Raja, needs to be cleared. But it should be done in a planned manner with inputs from experts. Mr Sibal did not even wait for the report of Justice Shivraj Patil, who was asked on December 13 to probe lapses and give suggestions to streamline policy regarding the sale of spectrum in future. Even though the former judge of the Supreme Court submitted his report on Monday, the minister had announced some policy changes on Saturday, delinking the sale of spectrum from the issue of licences.

Mr Sibal’s latest policy shift makes sense. The spectrum will no longer be tagged with a licence. The government will offer a “unified licence” and telecom operators will have to acquire spectrum through “a market-driven process”. Besides, they will be free to offer any of the wireless services. The telecom firms holding valid licences will have to pay a market price for additional 2G spectrum. This will raise their costs, part of which they may pass on to customers. Of the 157 firms that got licences from Mr Raja 85 have been put on notice. If their licences are cancelled, they would have to acquire fresh licences and pay the market price for spectrum.

This market-driven approach marks a sharp departure from the practice followed by Mr Raja, which, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), had caused a loss of Rs 1.76 crore to the exchequer. Incidentally, Mr Sibal had defended Mr Raja a few days ago and challenged the CAG’s findings. However, he got a dressing down for his stand from various quarters, including the Supreme Court and the Public Accounts Committee. The telecom regulator, TRAI, is also looking into the whole issue and the latest policy changes are subject to its approval

Tags of embarrassment
US immigration’s heavy-handed action

Over a thousand Indian students are facing a long winter ahead, as they deal with the consequences of the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) shutting down the Tri-Valley University, near San Francisco, accusing it of immigration fraud. A number of them have been singled out and forced to wear radio tags with which the US authorities will be able to track them. The bulky transmitters, worn on the ankle, are humiliating appendages normally issued to convicts. In fact, there is a case to be made for those who maintain the INS is covering up its own inefficiency in not detecting such a big immigration scam by now humiliating the affected students who face disruption of their academic careers, financial woes and much more.

There have been some reports that the frauds did involve gullibility as well as a degree of culpability on the part of students. It seems that many students ignored signals that their university did not meet the required academic standards, and focused on the fact that it provided them with avenues to be employed from the time they joined it, and thus work off their debts. Immigration attorneys point out that individual cases will have to be studied to determine the most efficacious course of action for each person who has been affected. Even the INS is not tarring everyone with the same brush: some of the students have been questioned; others have been served with Notice to Appear (NTA), which is often considered a preliminary step towards revoking the immigration status of individuals; and still others have been tagged.

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna is right in maintaining that the students are “not criminals” and that the radio collars put around their ankles must be removed. They were legally admitted to a university that bent US laws. The INS should take a humane approach and help these students, who could, after they finish their studies in more reputable universities, contribute to the US society much as hundreds of thousands of US-educated Indians are doing.

An African triumph
There are lessons from Sudan for South Asia

Secession has so seldom been peaceful that the result of the referendum in Southern Sudan, overwhelmingly in favour of splitting with the North, is being hailed as an African triumph. Africa’s longest and bloodiest civil war in Sudan, which raged from 1983 for 22 long years and is estimated to have taken a toll of 2.5 million lives, was finally brought to an end in 2005. The peace agreement between the African-dominated South and the Arab-dominated North Sudan provided for a six-year long ceasefire before a plebiscite under international supervision. Now that the promised plebiscite has been held and 99 per cent of Southerners have voted for independence, decks have been cleared for the emergence of the 54th African state. But South Sudan will be able to declare independence only on July 9, before which the two sides are expected to settle a host of contentious issues including sharing of debts, river water and oil reserves besides demarcating the border and an agreement on the coveted region of Abyei, where the referendum is yet to take place following the North’s insistence that nomadic Arab tribes be also allowed to cast their vote.

There is, therefore, considerable foreboding and observers have been quick to sound a note of caution. It is too early to celebrate, feel some of them and their pessimism is somewhat vindicated by protests that broke out in Khartoum, where students clashed with the police, demanding the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir. It is also pointed out that while the South has three quarters of Sudan’s oil reserves, the refineries and the only pipeline are in the North. The South’s understandable reluctance to share any of Sudan’s enormous debt and a sobering realisation that a high degree of statesmanship would be required to steer the course of history in the next few months do cast a shadow over the euphoria. What, however, gives rise to hope is the already demonstrated ability of the people to rise above their personal losses and bitterness.

There are lessons for South Asia, where practically every country faces ethnic or religious undercurrents. Success in Sudan will be a turning point that is certain to encourage efforts for a peaceful resolution of more such conflicts.

Thought for the Day

If vice and corruption prevail, liberty cannot subsist; but if virtue has the advantage, arbitrary power cannot be established. — Algernon Sidney

ARTICLE

Uncertainties prevail
China offers no concessions to US
by G. Parthasarathy

During the years of the Cold War, US-Soviet summits were dominated by discussions on issues like arms control and Cold War rivalries.  Bilateral economic ties were virtually non-existent. The two superpowers had little to discuss on the global economy. With the US and China closely tied together economically, the major focus of attention in Sino-US relations is on trade, investment, market access and exchange rate mechanisms.  This is even more necessary now with the ongoing economic crisis engulfing the Western world, the American trade deficit with China in 2010 being estimated at $280 billion and with OECD countries unable to fashion a unified strategy to confront the crisis they face.

The Obama-Hu Jintao summit on January 22 was aptly described as a meeting between a still dominant, but fading superpower and an ambitious rival “with suspicion on both sides”. China’s economy continues to boom, recording a growth of 10.3 per cent in 2010. China has spent over $100 billion in aid to developing countries during the past few years — exceeding the aid given by the World Bank. Chinese aid is ostensibly without strings, but is mercantilist and focussed on acquiring natural resources in recipient countries.

The United States, on the other hand, is mired in an economic crisis with unemployment reaching 10 per cent and a budget deficit estimated at 10.64 per cent of the GDP. Moreover, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have drained the US Treasury, strained its ties with the NATO allies and resulted thus far in the loss of an estimated 5,900 American lives. These conflicts have also resulted in the killings of 6,55,000 civilians and displacement of 4.2 million people in Iraq. The Afghan civilian deaths in the conflict are estimated to be between 14,643 and 34,240. American credibility and prestige have suffered heavily due to these military misadventures.

If the Americans have miscalculated in military adventures abroad, the Chinese also seem to have been afflicted by hubris in recent years.  In 1991 Deng Xiaoping advocated a strategy of “hide your strength, bide your time”.  Ignoring this advice, the Chinese have also been flexing their military muscle in recent years, resulting in their hitherto docile neighbours getting seriously concerned.  China has aggressively sought to intimidate its neighbours, ranging from Japan and Vietnam to Indonesia and India, with strident and unilateral claims on its maritime and land borders. Following the 26/11 terrorist strike in Mumbai the Chinese media went ballistic, threatening to invade and takeover Arunachal Pradesh, if India retaliated against terrorist havens. Assertions of friendship and partnership from the incoming Obama Administration only increased Chinese “assertiveness”.

 With President Obama accepting that Taiwan and Tibet were areas of “core interest” for China during his November 2009 summit, the Chinese went a step further and declared the entire South China Sea as an area of “core interest”. Territorial claims in the South China Sea were enforced using maritime power.  The visiting Commander of the American Pacific Fleet was told that the Americans should recognise the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean as China’s sphere of influence.

The Chinese vehemently opposed joint US-South Korean military exercises in the Yellow Sea after North Korea provocatively torpedoed and sank a South Korean naval vessel. China has behaved provocatively with Japan in disputes in the East China Sea over Senkaku Island and in differences over drilling rights in the contested areas. China even went to the extent of suspending the export of rare earth materials to Japan.

President Obama appeared more than ready to bow to Chinese demands during his November 20009 summit with President Hu in China. Apart from conceding that Taiwan and Tibet were areas of “core interest” to China, Mr. Obama pointedly avoided meeting the Dalai Lama before his visit and avoided a reference to “human rights” while in China. When China became increasingly belligerent, American silence led to US allies like Japan and South Korea feeling abandoned.

President Hu brushed aside American concerns on currency and other economic issues during the G20 Summit in Seoul. In the face of this Chinese assertiveness, ASEAN moved to expand membership of the East Asia Summit by inviting America and Russia. It was only during the AEAN Summit in Hanoi that Hillary Clinton voiced disagreement about Chinese policies in the South China Sea.

With growing domestic criticism of his China policies, President Obama adopted a more assertive stance during the Washington summit. He spoke of the “universality” of “human rights” and religious freedom, compelling an evidently flustered Hu Jintao to concede that “a lot has to be done in China in terms of human rights”.  Mr. Obama is also said to have urged his Chinese guest to enter into a dialogue with the Dalai Lama. The Chinese were persuaded to voice concern about North Korea’s uranium enrichment programme (developed thanks to the exertions of Dr. A.Q. Khan).

After facing severe criticism in India for conceding a special role to China in South Asia during President Obama’s visit to China, which revived concerns of renewed Sino-US collusion directed against India, references to Afghanistan and South Asia were conspicuously avoided in the joint statement on President Hu’s visit. The Americans had perhaps belatedly noted that the Chinese nuclear and missile proliferation to Pakistan was vigorously continuing and that China had no intention of being on the wrong side of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In substantive terms, however, the Chinese made no concessions on monetary or other economic issues, but succeeded in keeping American corporations on their toes, holding out prospects for lucrative deals in future.

It is evident that as Chinese economic and military power grows, the United States is going to be more circumspect and accommodating in dealing with China. The Chinese will, in turn, claim to be a “responsible power” by periodically responding positively to American concerns on issues like nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea. The Russians seem to be prepared to take advantage of this situation by extending selective support to the US on issues like their logistical needs in Afghanistan.

These developments have created a strategic space for emerging powers like India, Indonesia, Brazil and South Africa to work with others to retain their autonomy on global affairs. Japan has already adopted a more assertive, China-specific defence posture. Naval exercises involving India, Japan and the US are scheduled to be held near Okinawa later this year and India is expanding security cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries like Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. Ministerial-level exchanges on economic issues with Taiwan could perhaps be initiated. India has to show diplomatic dexterity in safeguarding its national interests in the emerging multi-polar world order.

MIDDLE

Crossing the threshold
by M.K. Agarwal

AS I undertake to write this piece I am reminded of a scene in the closing part of chapter 11 of the novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” by Thomas Hardy. After pursuing Tess for months on end, Alec, one day, takes her out on a lonely horse ride, when the weather turns nasty. Tess is weary and Alec, desperate. With no escape in view, and unable to offer further resistance, Tess confusedly surrenders, and Alec has his chance. This is the last chapter of Phase the First, called ‘The Maiden’, and thereafter, starts Phase the Second, called ‘Maiden No More’. In one fell moment, the threshold was crossed, and an innocent, peasant girl, untutored in the ways of the world and tricks of the men-folk, lost her virginity.

The word “threshold” is understood to be the boundary beyond which a different state of affairs exists. It heralds the commencement of new experience, behaviour or phase of life. Consider, for instance, puberty in boys and girls, which marks the onset of adolescence. In this period, the young people undergo many body, behavioural and psychological changes. They are on emotional rollercoaster, with swings of mood; likes and dislikes become sharp, and reaction to things, somewhat unpredictable. From a girl the other day, she is on the way to blossoming into womanhood, just as the lad is on his way to attaining manhood. As these traumatic changes are afoot, an environment of empathy and family support are vey crucial.

There are many such watershed moments in one’s life. Like the first kiss, when you abandoned reserve to give expression to feelings of warmth and love, and of which the thrill and joy did not leave you those long years. Or, the first experience of theft or taking bribe; that is, deliberately doing, out of adventure or profit, something wrong, and hoping and praying that you will not be caught. A maladroit step like this is enough to rob you of the title of a gentleman, and push you towards the ranks of thieves and the corrupt.

To give up celibacy and embrace wedlock is another threshold which is the fate of most human beings to cross. It is the harbinger of a new relationship, of a new life, and with good luck, of an opportunity to be productive and useful. However, for the bride, leaving parental home and entering the threshold of her in-laws can be, indeed, cataclysmic. The marriage may turn out to be sweet, or remain only a bargain. It is natural that when two people marry, they carry with them the baggage of their past experience and personalities. Differences, disagreements or quarrels can well arise, and should be regarded as the dowry.

The inevitable threshold, that everyone must cross, is death, which is said to be the dividing line between life this side of the grave and what lies yonder. To the atheist, death is the end; to the believer, the beginning; to the agnostic, the sound of silence. We all know that leaves have their time to fall, flowers to wither, stars to set, and humanity to die. But the long habit of living, somehow, indisposes us for dying. It is widely believed that people are not afraid of death per se, but of the incompleteness of their lives; the more one’s life is complete, the less one fears death.

Truly speaking, the essence of crossing the threshold is change, often irreversible change. This may be ushered in by age, custom, nature, or brought about by us. Wisdom lies in anticipating the change, to be prepared for it, and, when it comes, to accept it and the consequences.

OPED WOMEN

Widows have faced deprivation since centuries. In Independent India, schemes which can ameliorate their lot do exist, but few reach out to them. Usha Rai thinks that if various programmes are merged into a comprehensive plan, it can address some of their problems
Patchwork relief for widows

Widows at a bhajan ashram, Vrindavan

Almost every year the central government announces a new scheme for widows, senior citizens and the distressed. Literally crores of rupees are earmarked for the welfare of senior citizens and widows but a very small percentage of widows and the distressed receive their benefits. The money given as pension to widows is literally a pittance — Rs 200 per month is the Centre's contribution under the Indira Gandhi National Widows Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) for BPL widows of 40 to 64 years. The states then add their share to the pension. But even this small amount does not reach them.

A new study on the Dimensions of Deprivation: Poverty Levels of Widows of Vrindavan done by the Guild for Service, shows that though 70 per cent of the widows had heard of the destitute widow's pension scheme, only a quarter of widows interviewed received pension. Some had applied for pension but hadn't received it yet. Those who had not applied for a pension said they didn't know about the scheme and didn't know how to apply for a pension.

In fact, it seemed easier to get ration cards and voters cards. Of the over 520 widows interviewed, 42 per cent had a ration card and 31 per cent a voter's card, but just 25 per cent were receiving pension. The study report, released by Secretary, Women and Child Development D K Sikri, recommends convergence of services so that welfare money is pooled and the implementation becomes easier.

The poor utilisation of central funds by the states is shocking. There is often a gap between availability of the sanctioned money and its actual utilisation.

According to the data with the Union Rural Development Ministry, utilisation under the Widow and Disability Pension Schemes of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) is just 35 per cent. Utilisation under the Annapurna Scheme, which aims to ensure food security to needy senior citizens, is only 65 per cent.

The NSAP, under whose umbrella are operated the Indira Gandhi National Widows Pension Scheme, the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, National Family Benefit Scheme and the Annapura Scheme that provides free 10 kg of foodgrains to those senior citizens who are not covered by old age pension, came into effect in 1995. There are three nodal ministries —Rural Development, Women and Child Development and Social Justice and Empowerment— looking after the welfare of widows, the old and those in distress and each runs it like a fiefdom. There is little or no coordination between these nodal ministries, nor has there been any attempt to converge the services for widows and the other distressed.

Under the IGNWPS widows are entitled to:

n Financial assistance of Rs 200 per month given by the central government to widows between 40-64 years who are from families in the BPL category, with most states putting in Rs 100-200 more per widow from their own funds.

n While the Centre says there is no quota at any level for this scheme and all eligible widows are covered, in reality the state-wise BPL quota restricts the number of widows entitled to the pension.

n To support her claim the widow must produce the death certificate of her husband.

n She has also to submit her age certificate. In the absence of a birth certificate, there can be a certificate from the headmaster of the school in which she last studied or from a member of her gram panchayat. Even a horoscope would suffice.

n The pension is distributed through bank accounts or post office accounts in the name of the widow in any nationalised /cooperative/ gramin bank.

n Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot recently admitted that only a third of the 1.55 lakh widows of Rajasthan are eligible for the above scheme which is for widows of 40 to 64 years. Due to the prevalence of child marriages, he said many widows were in the 18 to 39 age group.

The guild's study of the widows of Brajdham-Barsana,Gokul, Goverdhan, Radhakund and Vrindavan shows that the widows are illiterate. 71 per cent had not been to school. 55 per cent were widowed before they were 35. For these illiterate, young widows who very often run away from their village homes to escape ill treatment and humiliation, it is virtually impossible to know about widow's pension or complete the requisite formalities for accessing it.

Implementation of the NSAP

While the Centre has advised the states to contribute a matching grant of at least Rs 200 per month for each NSAP beneficiary to supplement the central assistance of Rs 200, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Orissa, Manipur and Daman and Diu do not pay anything on their own. Uttar Pradesh makes pension payments of Rs 300 to the widow/older person by pitching in Rs 100, while Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Lakshadweep pay between Rs 200 and Rs 400 per month to the beneficiaries. West Bengal matches the central grant, thus giving each widow/older person Rs 400.

Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Tripura and Tamil Nadu add exactly Rs 400 per person from the state coffers. The most generous states are Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Goa, Delhi, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Andaman and Nicobar Islands that give pensions between Rs 450 to Rs 1,000 , but the implementation of the schemes in several of these states is below 50 per cent.

With the Centre advising that pension payments be made through bank/post office accounts, efforts have also been made to ensure that the opening of accounts is made easier. The Department of Financial Services has written to all commercial banks to open no frill accounts of beneficiaries. However, most of the administrators as well as the beneficiaries themselves view the welfare programmes as an exercise in state-sponsored charity. Either temporary monetary benefits are conferred on widows or scheme after scheme is designed for them by different government bodies that work in isolation. Instead, the programmes must be converged into a comprehensive plan for all round development of the widows. The traditional protectionist, dole-based welfare approach needs to be replaced by a rights-based approach. Existing resources must be reshaped and linked into programmes that ensure a circle of empowerment so that the widow is cared for at every stage of her life.

The programmes providing essential and emergency services for the immediate needs of widows on shelter, food, medical aid and security (Swadhar Centres, Alpavasa Homes, pension payments, etc) must be combined to provide comprehensive, long-term benefits. Activities must be coordinated to facilitate employment, property and inheritance rights and social freedom for widows. The Vrindavan region could take the lead in implementing such a combination of services for its widows, the Guild recommends.

The convergence of services available for widows will also lead to greater clarity on how they can be accessed. Presently, even administrators and NGOs working on the issue need more information on the plethora of programmes run by different ministries and departments.

It is not clear what per cent of the country's estimated 40 million widows actually receive the pension due to them.

Unable to access the welfare schemes, desperately poor widows channel into Vrindavan and surrounding towns from all over the country. In Vrindavan, widows raise their own meagre finances, either through singing in the bhajan ashrams, seeking alms/ begging on the streets, outside the temples or doing domestic work, tailoring, candle making and singing kirtans. — The writer is a senior journalist

Convergence models

n The deprivation and poverty study of widows has suggested the various schemes for widows, the elderly and the disadvantaged should be converged as has been done by the Delhi government in its Mission Convergence.

n The other option is the gram DRISHTI ICT tool for resource convergence, developed by bureaucrat Aruna Sharma in association with the Mumbai IIT and the Foundation of Resource Convergence.

n Sharma had estimated that a whopping average of Rs 1,200 crore per district is available annually in the form of funds from various development schemes. Yet, without effective planning resources are either thinly spread, unutilised or misappropriated.

n Mission Convergence was launched in 2008 to address the fact that an estimated Rs 8 billion spent annually by the Delhi Government on welfare programmes of 45 different schemes was scarcely being seen on the ground by the poor for whom the funds were meant to be allotted.

n Under Mission Convergence, the benefits of widow pension, old-age pension, PDS and others welfare schemes are available in a hassle-free manner through a single point — the Suvidha Kendras. The programme is run by the Samajik Suvidha Sangam, a society set up for the purpose, overseen by the Chief Minister.

Poor, deprived but not hungry

The 2010 study on the deprivation and poverty levels of widows of the Braj area of Mathura district shows that though the widows are extremely poor monetarily, ironically they eat well and there are no chances of their starving. While almost three fourth of the widows (72 per cent) eat thrice a day and a fourth twice a day, a very small percentage eat over three times a day. However, shelter, sanitation, health and access to the widow's pension, continues to be a problem.

Although widows get money from multiple sources — bhajan ashrams, charity, pension, domestic work, tailoring and candle making— the total does not add up to much. However, whatever money the widows get, they spend with their biggest expenditure being on food, followed by medicine, rent, clothes, travel and pooja. The majority of the widows earn Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 a month, seven per cent less than Rs 200 a month and 10 percent over Rs 1,000 a month. There was little or no financial support from their families.

Shelter was an area of concern with approximately a third of the widows living in the open- that is on streets, ghats, railway stations and bus stops and having to fend for themselves. Although more than half of the widows surveyed live in rented rooms/ spaces and 16 per cent live in ashrams, sanitation facilities are grossly inadequate. Two-fifth said they had no access to toilets.

In fact, 40 per cent squatted in open fields and a seventh of the widows squatted over street nalas occasionally. Though most widows had access to water after going to the toilet, just 68 per cent had access to soap to clean their hands. A third of the widows (32 per cent), who did not have soap, used soil and ash (rakh). However, they all managed to bathe every day, many of them twice a day.

Fortunately, potable water is easily available in the five areas surveyed. But it is difficult to tell how clean or safe it is to drink the water. More than half of those who had fallen ill suffered from diarrhoea. Other medical problems included frequent fever, arthritis, high blood pressure, asthma and diabetes.

Yet, the widows in the Braj area are happier than in their homes in the villages. They seem to be veering away from the traditional beliefs on how widows should live in terms of what they wear and eat. They do not believe in tonsuring their heads and some of the younger widows seem open to the idea of remarriage. They are rebuilding their lives and face less discrimination. Most of them are able to enter the temples and some even attend auspicious ceremonies. However, they have their fears and apprehensions. Seventy eight per cent of the widows, young as well as old, are afraid of sexual harassment; 63 per cent of not getting salvation (moksh), of falling sick, not being cremated with proper rites, of being homeless and hungry. 

Corrections and clarifications

n In the table with the report “Tablet war hots up in India” (Page 1, January 29), the information on the phone capabilities of iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab is wrong. The Galaxy Tab has a phone whereas iPad does not have one.

n The headline “Destitute Punjabis dot London streets” (Page 1, January 28) gives the impression that there are a huge number of Punjabi destitutes on London streets. The body text, however, identified 200 in a total of 60,000 of Indian origin.

n In the report “Eden Gardens loses England game” (Page 22, January 28) the first para has several errors of expression. It says: “Kolkata’s tryst with the ICC World Cup was received a major blow when the International Cricket Council when a venue inspection team ……” The right expression would have been “Kolkata’s claim to hosting the ICC World Cup received a major blow when a venue inspection team of the …..”

Despite our earnest endeavour to keep The Tribune error-free, some errors do creep in at times. We are always eager to correct them.

This column appears twice a week — every Tuesday and Friday. We request our readers to write or e-mail to us whenever they find any error.

Readers in such cases can write to Mr Kamlendra Kanwar, Senior Associate Editor, The Tribune, Chandigarh, with the word “Corrections” on the envelope. His e-mail ID is kanwar@tribunemail.com.

Raj Chengappa, Editor-in-Chief