|
|
|
|
|
After tragedy, callousness
Setback for Cong in Delhi |
|
|
Sun power
Defence preparedness
A ‘Madhushala’ in Z security zone
India completed a year free of polio, despite the fact that it is one of the toughest places to be rid of the infectious virus. However, the war against the disease is still to be won
|
After tragedy, callousness
Reactions
to the collapse of a factory building in Jalandhar on Sunday night were quite revealing. Relatives of the victims, mostly from Bihar, were pained at the slow rescue operation. Their sense of loss was aggravated by the indifference of residents who chose to stay away from the site. Quite appalling was the way some industrialists dismissed the tragedy as “a minor incident” and even threatened an agitation if cases registered against the factory owner were not withdrawn immediately. The district administration first ruled out the arrest of the owner before the inquiry commission report was received but then better sense prevailed. Though Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal made it a point to visit the site on Tuesday, his response to a media query about fixing responsibility for the tragedy made headlines: “Our focus should be on saving lives and offering prayers for their safety. A ‘paath’ should be organised at the site of the mishap”. He did order a safety audit of all industrial buildings in the state. The audit would serve little purpose if undertaken by those very officials whose duty it was to ensure that the building bylaws and rules were enforced in the first place. The blanket-making factory operated without a licence, a building plan and clearances, engaged child workers, was often raided and witnessed frequent fires. And it is not an isolated case. Though jawans of the National Disaster Response Force did commendable rescue work, the fact that the state does not have a disaster management centre was strongly driven home. In 2010 the National Disaster Management Authority offered to set up a centre in Punjab but the state government could not arrange land and lost the project to Himachal Pradesh. Punjab is generally tolerant of violations of safety norms. Tragedies occur because the laws and rules are not enforced. Government and media interest in the mishap will last a while and soon everything will be forgotten. We, in the land of law-breakers, have learnt to live with disasters.
|
|
Setback for Cong in Delhi
The
Congress did all it could to ensure its victory in the municipal corporation elections, but the results tell a different story. The ruling party in Delhi has fared badly in almost every area. The national Capital now has three corporations --- North, South and East — and all have been captured by the BJP. Though trifurcation of the Delhi Municipal Corporation was a Congress idea, it did not help the party in electoral terms. The logic behind trifurcation was that Delhi is now a state, not just a mega city, and hence it must have more than one civic body for people’s convenience. The decision was also described as the right step needed for evenly promoting development activity in Delhi. The Congress naturally expected people to vote for it in large numbers, but that was not to be. The reasons are not far to seek. The voters in Delhi have a different outlook than those in other states. For them national issues are as, if not more, important as the local ones. So, the price rise and corruption issues like those related to the 2G spectrum allocation and the 2010 Commonwealth Games influenced the voting pattern considerably. Though the BJP controlled the unified Municipal Corporation, it exploited the people’s sentiments to win the municipal polls again. The incumbent party repeated its 2007 performance and captured all three municipal bodies. However, the victory in the municipal elections should not be interpreted as an indicator of what may happen in the 2013 Delhi Assembly and 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP fared badly in the 2008 assembly elections despite having won the 2007 Municipal Corporation polls. This is what happened at the time of the 2009 parliamentary elections also. The only difference this time is that during the previous polls local factors like the regularisation of unauthorised colonies and the poor state of civic amenities were more powerful than national issues. It is a very tricky situation in Delhi. It will be interesting to watch the next moves of both the Congress and the BJP.
|
|
|
Sun power
It
is heartening that soon the Golden Temple at Amritsar will have a sophisticated solar cooking system to cook meals at Sri Guru Ram Das Langar Hall. Since this langar serves thousands of devotees every day, this move would influence those who partake of the food cooked using solar energy, besides resulting in a significant saving of hydrocarbon-based energy consumption, and cut the consumption of liquefied petroleum gas cylinders currently used for cooking at the langar. Solar heaters are already in use at various places in the Golden Temple complex, including the langar, although the new project will eclipse all of them once it is commissioned. Institutional use of solar energy is on an increase, religious complexes like the Tirupati temple, Sai Baba temple at Shirdi and Brahma Kumari Ashram at Mount Abu already boast of similar systems. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has taken various steps to encourage the usage of solar devices, but they have found more acceptances in remote areas rather than urban spaces, which consume far more energy. The sun supplies barely 1 per cent of the total energy demand in the country. Thus, there is ample scope to expand the use of solar energy. The main thrust will have to come by installing solar heaters of higher capacity, since India is ranked among the top nations of the world in terms of solar energy production per watt installed. Indeed, many of the remote villages in the nation are bereft of electricity simply because they are too far away from the electricity grid. Solar energy programmes provide them with light for their homes, and solar water pumping systems provide them with water that can be used for drinking and irrigation. An issue that crops up from time to time is the high cost of maintenance of such devices. The government must come up with measures through which it would help to maintain the solar panels and other parts of these systems, so that more people start using solar electricity. Abundant sunlight is our natural resource, and given the shortage of energy in the nation, we should not be found wanting in utilising it to our maximum benefit.
|
|
|
A prudent question is one-half of wisdom. — Francis Bacon
|
Defence preparedness
The
Army Chief's leaked letter to the Prime Minister and the CAG's recent report have revealed that the state of defence preparedness is a cause for serious concern. The Chief's letter has brought into the public domain what has been known for long to army officers in service and those who have retired. What has happened will certainly have an adverse impact on national security as it has given undue advantage to India's military adversaries by publicly disclosing sensitive information about the deficiencies in weapon systems, ammunition and equipment in service in the Army. Now that these facts are in the public domain, surely these will help to focus the nation's attention on the need to speedily make up the shortages and give the Army the wherewithal that it needs to fight and win future wars. General V.K. Singh is not the first COAS to have apprised the Prime Minister about the poor state of preparedness; his predecessors had done so as well. Gen K.M. Cariappa had gone to Pandit Nehru to ask for additional funds for military modernisation and was reported to have been told, "India does not need an army; it needs a police force." Well, the ignominy of 1962 followed. The late Gen Bipin Joshi had written to Prime Minister Narasimha Rao to urge him to help the Army to make up for the long-standing large-scale shortage of ammunition. While the shortage was worth over Rs 10,000 crore, Army HQ had reportedly identified a "bottom line" figure without which the COAS said the Army would remain unprepared for war. Perhaps the country's precarious financial condition in the early 1990s did not allow Narasimha Rao to provide the necessary funds to immediately handle the shortage. A few years later the Kargil conflict took place and the whole nation heard the COAS, Gen V.P. Malik, make the chilling statement on the national TV, "We will fight with what we have." It is well known that India had to scramble to import 50,000 rounds of 155 mm ammunition for its Bofors guns, besides other weapons and equipment. Stocks of tank ammunition and that for other artillery and air defence guns were also low, and it was just as well that the fighting remained limited to the Kargil sector and did not spill over to the rest of the LoC or the plains. Approximately, 250,000 rounds of artillery ammunition were fired in that 50-day war. The government has authorised the stocking of sufficient ammunition to fight a large-scale war for 50 to 60 days. This is known as the "war reserve". As the Army Chief's letter and the CAG report bring out, not enough new stocks were apparently procured to make up for even the ammunition expended during the Kargil conflict. Stocks of several critical varieties of ammunition for tanks and artillery guns have fallen to as low as less than 10 days' war reserves. Also, ammunition has a shelf life of about 12 to 15 years, at the end of which it is no longer usable for combat but can still be used for training. Hence, the shortages continue to increase every year if action is not taken to constantly remove the deficiency. The other major issue highlighted in the letter written by the COAS pertains to the continuation in service of obsolescent weapons and equipment and the stagnation in the process of military modernisation aimed at upgrading the Army's war-fighting capabilities to prepare it to fight and win on the battlefields of the 21st century. While the COAS has pointed out several operational deficiencies, the most critical ones include the complete lack of artillery modernisation since the Bofors 155mm Howitzer was purchased in the mid-1980s, "night blindness" of the Army's infantry battalions and mechanised forces, and the fact that the air defence guns and missile systems are 97 per cent obsolescent. The inadequacy of the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, with an adverse impact on command and control during war, adds to the Army's difficulties. This sorry state of affairs has come about because of the flawed defence planning and defence acquisition processes in existence, a grossly inadequate defence budget and the inability to fully spend even the meagre funds that are allotted. Funds are surrendered quite often due to bureaucratic red tape — civilian as well as military, scams in defence procurement and the frequent blacklisting of defence firms accused of adopting unfair means to win contracts. Long-term defence planning is the charter of the apex body of the National Security Council which meets very rarely due to the preoccupation of the Prime Minister and other members of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) with day-to-day crisis management. As such, the 15-year Long-Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP) and the five-year Defence Plan do not receive the attention that these merit. The 11th Defence Plan, which terminated on March 31, 2012, was not formally approved by the government and hence did not receive committed budgetary support that would have enabled the three Services to plan their acquisitions of weapons and equipment systematically, rather than being left to the vagaries of annual defence budgets. Consequent to the leakage of the Army Chief's letter and the major uproar in Parliament that resulted, the Defence Minister is reported to have approved the 12th Defence Plan 2012-17. While this is undoubtedly commendable, it remains to be seen whether the Finance Ministry and, subsequently, the CCS will also show the same alacrity in according the approvals necessary to give practical effect to these plans. The defence budget has dipped below 2 per cent of the country's GDP despite the fact that the Service Chiefs and Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence have repeatedly recommended that it should be raised to at least 3 per cent of the GDP if India is to build the defence capabilities that it will need to face the emerging threats and challenges and discharge its growing responsibilities as a regional power in South Asia. The government will do well to appoint a National Security Commission to take stock of the lack of preparedness of the country's armed forces and to make pragmatic recommendations to redress the visible inadequacies that might lead to yet another military
debacle. The writer is a Delhi-based defence analyst.
|
|||||||
A ‘Madhushala’ in Z security zone Ordinary
mortals like scribes come under radar when the security of our national leaders is involved. They bear it all — going to a police thana to get the mandatory photo IDs, to wait passively for hours. Which also proves that all other IDs, including the ones provided by our esteemed organisations, are of no use when security issues are involved. It's a different matter that cursing-under-the-breath, bound-to-deadline scribes do not question the veracity of the process. The IDs are delivered like they were doles, without even verifying the credentials of the scribes involved. But we keep mum. We don't want to hurt the government. Well, last week, after passing through this ordeal, a drooping-eyed policeman further checked us at the venue's first entry gate followed by three more, at different points. Women's bags were thoroughly searched and water bottles, if any, were confiscated. A water bomb could be scary! We want security of our leaders, don't we? Only from the same gate, where scribes were given a thorough search, people carrying invitation cards with 'red print' were allowed entry without any ID proof. Nay, they wore their ID — white khadi. And they were allowed entry along with their friends and family. Security is a painstaking business; it involves time, two hours worth of wait before we could be blessed with the darshan of the VVIPs! But life has strange ways of compensating all the pains and inconveniences with the most unexpected of rewards. Next to the massive stage built at a cost of close to Rs 3 crore, where the VVIPs were to descend, the sun choreographed a spontaneous show of colours, fading all that neon light extravagance to insignificance. The sky was willing to reveal itself in all its glory. A silhouette of a leafless tree against this backdrop accentuated the breathtaking view that the eyes refused to pluck away from. It was, as though, nature was showing its hidden trump cards with a vengeance! Mercifully, the sun decided to withdraw its evening show before the 'event' began and the VVIPs arrived. One could look at the stage and listen to their speeches after the great articulation of silence had already stolen the show. But there was more in store to startle and shock the ordinary mortals with a photo ID. I heard the sound of something being poured. I had been hearing some voices talking about arranging a water bottle and I empathised, in a way, since I too was thirsty and missed my confiscated water bottle. But, as usual, I was wrong. I saw a ‘quarter’ appear from the pocket of a white khaddar kurta and the gurgling sound of its contents being poured. Wasn't there a security check for everything? After all, the security of our national
leaders was involved! We are a polite democracy, and we don't see, hear, and talk bad. We follow what the Father of Nation told us, when it suits us. The police ignore many things for their own share of politeness. And while everyone else around is maintaining politeness, a polite scribe takes down notes, ignoring Madhushala (a tavern) in a Z security
zone.
|
|||||||
India completed a year free of polio, despite the fact that it is one of the toughest places to be rid of the infectious virus. However, the war against the disease is still to be won
After decades of lacklustre performance across several public health measures and persistent disappointing news of the rise of infectious and non-communicable diseases, we had, at the start of 2012, something to cheer about.
The whole world stood up to applaud the massive efforts of the government and thousands of volunteers who have made this possible, and rightly so, considering the challenge. Until, less than a decade ago, India had thousands of new polio patients each year, more than 50 per cent of the world’s reported cases. All but four countries in the world became polio-free — only India, with Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan, continued to be polio endemic. The war against the disease is still not over; India needs two more years without a polio case to be certified polio-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Efforts need to be sustained to prevent a comeback of the virus and to ensure that all children are well protected. Vigilance and preparedness is essential to make sure that the virus does not re-enter India; if detected, it must be targeted and destroyed forthwith. The polio Summit 2012, organised by the Government of India and Rotary International was testimony to the fact that India would soon join the list of polio-free countries and not be the last to do so. The concept of the summit and its preparation had started months back and there was a possibility that a few polio cases could occur. But there was confidence that the monumental striving would surely yield results and it would be the right time to the recommit the nation to the challenges ahead. The efforts were finally rewarded with zero case in one full year. This called for celebrations but the event was not designed just for that, it was for seeking the original objective — to serve as a platform for all key players in the strategy for polio eradication — government, partners, donors and frontline workers. The Indian success story India’s success against polio was not achieved easily — it required focus, tremendous dedication, cooperation at all levels and huge resources. Above all, it required a strategy and advocacy with the policy makers. With the initiative of Rotary, the WHO and Unicef, when the World Health Assembly, in which all the nations of the world were party, took the decision to eradicate polio from the face of the earth, 3,50,000 polio cases were recorded globally. Of these 200,000 cases were estimated to be from India.
The Indian Government joined the decision but lacked focused policy and action during the initial period. High population and lack of adequate infrastructure were the main hurdles. Malnourishment and poor sanitation added to the various constraints. Social and cultural resistance against the vaccine was a serious roadblock. It was quite apparent that political commitment and some radical change in the direction were needed as a policy for the polio eradication programme to get a head start. Rotarians in India were all geared up but it was clear that the programme would only succeed if the Central and state governments in the country would be in the driving seat. Advocacy with and sensitisation of the political and administrative leadership started showing results. The successful single-day immunisation programme, known as Pulse polio, in started in October 1994 in New Delhi by vaccinating all children up to the age of five. It led to the meeting of health ministers of all states of the country. Simultaneously, the Government of India adopted the strategy of National Immunisation Days (NIDs), which was launched in action in 1995. Thereafter, there has been no looking back. To keep the tempo at a high-pitch continuously year after year was not easy but thanks to the efforts of the administrative authorities, volunteers, NGOs and professional bodies, the programme moved ahead with enthusiasm and optimism. The National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP) of the WHO, through effective surveillance, strengthened the polio programme and type-2 polio virus was eradicated in 1999. Introduction of the monovalent polio virus vaccines helped to reduce the number of cases but the see-saw between type 1 and type 3 polio virus continued to play a knotty game. By this time, most of the country became polio-free but Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, particularly, were becoming the seat of polio transmission. Even with massive efforts of door-to-door vaccination, vaccination in-transit by teams at railway stations and bus stands and highways with intensification of immunisation in remote areas, the desired results remained evasive. In 2009, India accounted for 741 out of 1,600 for total cases in the world.
Despite the programme fatigue, the Indian Government continued to play a sterling role to reach out to every child, especially in high-risk areas, and administering the required doses. State governments of both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh provided full support. And this was the time when bivalent oral polio vaccine was developed and introduced. Newly-born babies were covered and vaccinated with special emphasis on washing hands, clean water for drinking and better sanitation. Migrants to other places were identified and immunised. Religious leaders and opinion makers were taken on board to overcome resistance. With these endeavours India recorded only 42 cases in 2010. The last reported case was on January 13, 2011, in West Bengal. Role of humanitarian bodies It would have been impossible to achieve this milestone without the support of humanitarian organisations. Rotary International has been the pioneer in the polio eradication initiative. With the success achieved in immunising all children of the Philippines in 1979; Rotary started aiming for a polio-free world. In 1985, Rotary approached the WHO and Unicef to launch PolioPlus programme and make it the biggest public health activity of the world. Rotary became the spearheading partner with governments across 209 countries. It has contributed over a billion dollars to the campaign, much through WHO and Unicef towards the implementation of polio-eradication activities. A fundraising milestone of $ 200 million was reached by Rotary International in response to $ 355 million donated to The Rotary Foundation by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support polio immunisation activities in affected countries. India became the third (currently fourth) leading contributor to Rotary funds. These were raised by Rotary clubs through their own members as well as by appealing to people to contribute towards the fight against polio, even in countries where polio has been a thing of past for many years. The writer has been awarded Padma Shree for social work and was president of Rotary International
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Overcoming the well-known difficulties presented by our large population, expansive geography and poor information, January 2012 came with the welcome news that India had completed 12 polio-free months. Not a single case had been reported during the previous year — a vital milestone indicating that we are nearing victory in a hard-fought battle.
