|
|
|
|
|
No longer a secret |
|
|
|
Faith in numbers Sikh demographics not independent of sustainability THE Akal Takht Jathedar, supreme temporal head of one of the youngest religions of the world, has called upon the members of the faith to adopt a ‘four-child policy’ to counter what he sees as a decline in their numbers. Given the sway his position holds, it is expected he would have made such a pronouncement after due consideration.
Unending scourge of rapes
It’s a small world
Why, or why not, farmers will diversify
|
No longer a secret THE Henderson Brooks Report on the 1962 Sino-Indian War posted online by an Australian journalist has revealed what is already well known in government, defence and academic circles - a saga of political and military blunders which almost 52 years ago had cost the lives of over 3,000 soldiers and, even more significantly, had resulted in a serious loss of both face and territory of a nation that aspires to be a power to reckon with. The report, which the government has declined to authenticate, has been posted online by Neville Maxwell, a former correspondent with The Times, London, who in 1971 had published his landmark book India's China War. It has been known all these years that the book was based on the Henderson Brooks Report, which was first submitted in May 1963, i.e. six months after India's debacle in the Sino-Indian War. In addition, books authored by a number of retired Army officers who had fought in this war have either endorsed or further added to what Neville Maxwell has written, thereby leaving little to imagination. Yet, for over half a century the government has declined to declassify this 'operational review', which incidentally was limited to examining the state of preparedness, conduct and shortcomings of the Army formations involved in the war. For, Lieutenant-General Henderson Brooks was not mandated to examine the functioning of either the Army Headquarters or the Ministry of Defence. The government should have declassified the Henderson Brooks Report in 1993, which is when the 30-year secrecy clause lapsed. It is a matter of dismay, if not insult, that the Indian public should be furnished a report examining India's military debacle by a foreign national living in faraway Australia who has had access to it for over four decades now. South Block's knee-jerk reaction to block Maxwell's website hardly reflects a progressive mindset. The government must now declassify the entire report considering that there are some portions that are missing in Neville Maxwell's website. The government owes it to the public which has every right to know about India's humiliating defeat from a country with which New Delhi continues to have a disputed border even 67 years after Independence.
|
|
Faith in numbers THE Akal Takht
Jathedar, supreme temporal head of one of the youngest religions of the world, has called upon the members of the faith to adopt a ‘four-child policy’ to counter what he sees as a decline in their numbers. Given the sway his position holds, it is expected he would have made such a pronouncement after due consideration. It would serve everyone's curiosity if he were to explain how he reached the conclusion that the Sikh population was declining. A thorough study of the community's demographics worldwide would be required. As per the national census, the Sikhs were 1.47 per cent of the Indian population in 1941, which had gone up to 1.9 per cent by 2001. Historically, Sikhs have been open to new and rational thought, ready to travel and adapt. The entire Punjabi community - in which the Sikh religion has its roots - has been known for its industriousness and survival instinct. If Sikhs readily adopted the two-child norm promoted by the government, it must have been because they saw sense in the approach, both economic and social. Nonetheless, the number of children has been a very personal choice, and should remain as such. The temporal head also needs to explain in economic terms how his advice would serve the community; how sheer numbers are more important than sustainability. It is the Jathedar's right and duty to ensure the spread of the faith and the well being of the faithful. The Sikh religion has yet to realise in full measure the Gurus' ideal of a casteless society, a factor that has kept a large number of potential and willing numbers out of the fold. In fact, this is seen as one of the factors responsible for the rise of deras in Punjab. The Akal Takht as well as the SGPC would do well to provide people positive reasons - such as a modern yet spiritual outlook, education facilities, and equality among all humans - to flock to the religion and adhere to its tenets once taken in the fold.
|
||
|
Thought for the Day
Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me. —Carol Burnett
|
||
Why Indians emigrate MR. Saint Nihal Singh, writing in the “Fortnightly Review” on the Indian immigration crisis in South Africa, points out the Indian is naturally very conservative and would not consent to emigrate but for the fact that he would have to starve at home. It may not be actual starvation in most cases that induced workers to emigrate but absence of remunerative and continuous employment. The prospect of finding remunerative and certain employment outside the home is undoubtedly the strongest bait and the bulk of the Indian emigrants that go out to Ceylon or the distant colonies do so for this reason. But we notice that an Anglo-Indian paper is disinclined to believe this reason and says that it is more likely that caste disputes at home or some domestic trouble invariably drives the people to accept the offer of the recruiting agents without even examining the terms. High percentage in female education ONE noticeable fact in the recently published educational statistics of British India is that while the percentage of girls under instruction to girls of the school going age is 5 for all India, the highest figures 17.4 per cent and 9.0 per cent are returned from Coorg and Burma. In all the provinces of India generally there is a certain drawback, due to the social restraints mostly, to the progress of female education. But it is apparent that in the small district of Coorg and in Burma, these social drawbacks are absent. The high percentage is probably due to the comparative freedom of the people of these areas from the social and religious restraints of the Hindus. The Burmese are Buddhists and it is undoubtedly more akin to the rationalist's creed. The Coorg people are described as Hindus, but their isolated position has secured them remarkable freedom from the more conservative influences of Hindu social practices.
|
Unending scourge of rapes SEVERAL weeks ago I had an occasion to write on this page about the growing number of gang rapes of Indian and foreign women in large parts of the country, especially in cities like Delhi and Kolkata. The timing of the article was determined by an excruciating coincidence. Tens of thousands of people were out on the main roads of Lutyen's Delhi to observe the first anniversary of the harrowing rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by protesting against the outrage. At the same time, however, some gang rapes, including one of a Danish woman who had lost her way to her hotel, were taking place in the nation's capital, apparently with impunity. The luckless lady from Denmark was being savaged at a spot where the mandatory visit of a police van every half an hour never took place. A recent survey showed that in West Bengal 61 per cent women feel that they are unsafe while their percentage in Delhi is 46. Barring places like Chennai, other cities and towns figure between Kolkata and Delhi. Is it any surprise therefore that, despite the high court's directive to the West Bengal government some months ago, no one in authority there has been able to help a traumatised family whose daughter disappeared without a trace after being gang-raped by some goons? In New Delhi in January a Manipuri youth died after a brawl with a group of shopkeepers who had mocked him for his hairstyle. Except for the fatality there was nothing surprising about the way Delhi-ites treat the young people from the Northeast who come to the capital for education or employment. It was a pleasant surprise, therefore, that there were strong protests against "racialism". But sadly, there wasn't even a whimper of protest when a Manipuri girl was abducted and raped allegedly by the son of her landlord, according to the police. Something blood-chilling happened in Delhi on two consecutive days in February. On the first day a neighbour raped a baby girl of two. The next day a drunken labourer did the same to a baby girl a year younger. It is needless to add that a vast majority of victims of gang-rapes are minors. Around the same time came the news from Srinagar that the state's Health Minister, Shabir Ahmed Khan, had had to resign because of the complaint of sexual harassment by a doctor working under him. A minister he no longer is. But nobody has arrested him or filed a case against him. Even more horribly, in a tribal village the tribal council “sentenced” a girl to be “gang-raped” by the entire male population of the village. The sentence was carried out in broad daylight, and on an elevated stage. On the Women's Day a court in Odisha sentenced three men for gang-raping a Roman Catholic nun in 2008 to various terms of imprisonment. Nine others were acquitted "for want of evidence". According to activist groups and the Catholic Church, the police did not investigate the case properly nor did the subordinate judiciary take the matter seriously. A day later the Delhi High Court delivered its judgment on the barbaric crime in the moving bus on December 16, 2012, awarding the death sentence to three of the accused. The two other accused are minor and the sixth had committed suicide in jail. The Supreme Court has stayed the death sentence until March 31 when the apex court will fix a date for hearing an appeal against the high court's verdict. What lessons can we draw from this bleak scenario? The first is that although a stringent law was quickly enacted on sexual crimes against women — for which we have to thank the late Chief Jusice of India, J. S. Varma, who worked day and night to draft the new law - it is obviously not stringent enough. For, no rapist has been deterred by it. Secondly, investigations into crimes against women continue to be shoddy and slow and, at times, are deliberately botched. This is so because a very large number of officers and men in the police force share with the backwoodsmen of the country stupid views that by coming out after dark in western clothes women provoke men to rape them. Among politicians and administrators there is a reprehensible reluctance to take any action against kangaroo courts such as khap panchayats in Haryana and Western UP that believe in "honour killings" of girls that marry outside their caste. They also impose on their women restrictions of which the Taliban of Pakistan and Afghanistan would be proud. To expect the Union Government that is almost certainly on its way out to take the necessary action would be futile. But whatever the composition of the new government, it must give the protection to, and empowerment of, women the same priority as to the strengthening and reforming of national security so badly neglected during the last ten years. It does say something about the rulers of this country that not a word is being said in the current election campaign about the Bill to reserve for women one-third of the seats in Parliament and state assemblies. This measure was passed by the Rajya Sabha on the last day of 2012 but was never taken up by the Lok Sabha.
|
|||
It’s a small world HE walked into my clinic - ramrod straight - a dignified elderly fit man. I knew immediately that he was from the armed forces. He was a retired Wing Commander. “Doc, I need to have a bypass surgery”, he said in a no-nonsense way. I went through his records. He had suffered a major heart attack and his angiogram showed critical blocks. His heart functioning was labored. We took him for a triple bypass. The surgery went well. His heart bounced back to normal. He was "fast-tracked" in the ICU. Armed forces men hate to be tied down. Action and discipline are in their blood. These qualities stay for life. On Day 1 he was sitting in a chair reading a newspaper. On Day 2 he combed his hair and tidied himself up. He had to look smart to the nurses, you see! He went home on the 6th day. On his 1st post-op visit he was smartly turned out. “I tied the turban myself”, he proudly told me. All systems were good. In my office his eyes alighted on my father's photo. “Huh, I know this guy”, he said pointing to the third man in the standing row. "I flew him in my Dakota with a bunch of paratroopers in December 1971". Armed forces men have an unwritten code of mutual respect. I knew he was referring to the war of liberation of Bangladesh. I was in school then —somehow we found it fun, although I knew that Dad was in the thick of the battle. There was a curfew in Dehradun, we dug trenches in school, had mock drills and had a total blackout at night while preparing for the school exam in candle light. Dad was a paratrooper in the SFF of India (the then secret and decorated Establishment 22) and had been parachuted behind enemy lines in Chittagong with his men. They were part of the brave effort by the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini in getting the Pakistani forces to surrender. Anyway the Wing Cdr (then Flt Lt) flew the DC3 popularly called the Dakota which was used in the 1971 war. According to his memory, it was a twin prop piston engine aircraft which could seat 28 fully armed paratroopers. It had a cruising speed of 150 mph and range of over a1,000 miles. Thus it could fly non-stop from Delhi to Bombay! He said that he remembered the sortie where he dropped Dad and his troops! On recalling that day he looked at his wife, twirled his moustache and smiled. When I got home I told my Dad about this incident. He squared his shoulders, looked at my mother, twirled his moustache and smiled. A small world — no?
|
|||
Why, or why not, farmers will diversify PUNJAB, the granary of India, faces an agrarian predicament which can potentially lead to an imminent food crisis in the country. A muted agriculture growth in the recent years exacerbated by agriculture non-sustainability due to the depleting water table and degradation of soil has envisaged a substantial crop diversification from paddy and wheat, a monoculture cropping system that farmers in Punjab have been practising for decades now. Figures suggest that as the cultivation of paddy increased from 3.9 lakh hectare in 1970-71 to 28.2 lakh hectare in 2011-12, the ground water level in a span of 30 years (1980-2010) has declined by more than 16 metres in the central areas of Punjab and 8-12 metres in other pockets of Punjab (Sekhri, 2013).
Besides other factors, this has led to a continuous decline in agriculture growth. Agriculture in Punjab has grown at a meager 1.7 per cent on an average from 2005-06 to 2011-12 with a negative growth rate of 0.05 per cent in 2011-12. Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have registered growth rates at 3.22 per cent and 5.08 per cent respectively in the same period (Ministry of Agriculture). Though there are a lot of counter-arguments that these growth numbers cannot be compared with those of Punjab’s since the latter has already achieved high-productivity levels, yet the bone of contention rests with the dwindling water-table and deteriorating soil fertility in Punjab. All this has further led to excessive fertilizer use in contravention of “responsible agriculture practices” which are economically rewarding apart from being environmentally sustainable. Agriculture policy- 2013 With near stagnation in agriculture growth, dwindling farm incomes and non-sustainable practices manifesting in an agrarian crisis, severe in nature and magnitude, a holistic policy framework aiming at improving productivity, sustainability as well as profitability is highly warranted. The Punjab Government has been contemplating diversification of a major chunk (almost 40 per cent) of its cultivable area under paddy to maize, oilseeds, pulses, fruits and vegetables over a time span of 5-7 years through the proposed Agriculture Policy for Punjab-2013. However, this draft policy has remained a topic of debate among agriculturists and subject experts primarily because of missing recommendations which could focus primarily on the creation of assured markets and remunerative returns of the small land holders of Punjab. In chalking out the diversification strategy the proposed policy has primarily been based more on water conservation and less on market forces. It has been reiterated in clear terms that the draft policy is overambitious in advocating a new cropping culture that the state should adopt but without changing the existing system which is conducive for the rice-wheat cropping pattern only. There is a dearth of new initiatives, say for instance, for infrastructure development that represents a market-oriented approach auguring well with the proposed diversification strategy. Given the fact that cultivating alternate crops involves a substantial price and income risk, this makes it imperative to provide economic support to the resource-constrained farmers who are in majority in the state for an effective diversification strategy. A proactive participation of farmers needs to be sought by assuring lower income risk and higher levels of profits by creating efficient markets.
Agriculture summit Road to diversification The diversification policy, which keeps the water conservation at its core, will be very effective for conserving the water table in the state. However, if we view this policy, or for that matter various other policies of the last 15-20 years in terms of economic feasibility for a small farmer, the policy recommendations may not be implemented ever. The approach to effect diversification should be much broader, keeping water and agriculture sustainability as the core objectives but economic returns and the assurance for those returns for a small farmer must be accorded due consideration. The farmer, as a rational agent, will always take ‘informed’ decisions based on two parameters: profitability and price risk. Profitability is the earnings from a crop. Price risk is how assured are those earnings Small/marginal farmers need both income certainty and more profit: So what are the options? (1) Creating more volume alone may or may not result in higher profits (owing to price elasticity) and will not lower price risk either (2) The farmer adding more value to the produce would result in products that provide both higher profits on average and more certainty of income. For implementing the diversification policy, various Punjab government departments and agencies have lately given much importance to economic returns perspective for a small farmer, especially the Punjab Mandi Board, which has taken into account the importance of investigating the most profitable way of implementing diversification. In this context a joint study was conducted by the Indian School of Business and the Mandi Board wherein the concept of ‘Value Chain Analysis’ has been used for the first time in detail for agriculture diversification on a sample of five crops. The report was also released at the Punjab Agriculture Summit by the Chief Minister.
The ‘Value Chain Analysis demonstrates the need for improvements and value addition at each node of the value chain so as to encourage farmers to diversify to alternate crops. For a farmer to change to a new crop the price risk should be low and profitability should be high which can only happen if all the nodes in the above value are taken care of.
Research and development Since the focus has been on wheat and paddy in Punjab for so long that the majority of our R&D energy and expense has been focused on these two crops. For any alternate crop which needs to be promoted in big numbers, the R&D focus should be given to that crop. R&D which focuses upon Punjab-specific varieties and varieties that are use-specific must be encouraged. For instance, R&D should focus on maize varieties that are suitable for Punjab’s agro-climatic conditions.
Training outreach To promote the cultivation of alternate crops and replace the water-guzzling crops, farmers must be provided with adequate training and extension programmes. Such programmes should target effective knowledge dissemination on the best practices, methods and techniques of large varieties of crops. For example, for kinnow farmers must be provided with training to use the facilities available in the state like citrus estates, which have state-of-art soil and leaf testing labs. These labs provide pesticides and insecticides on a no-profit basis to kinnow farmers that in turn help in ensuring better yield and quality. Besides, farmers must be imparted training in best practices as regards to the inter-cropping methods. For instance, if ginger and turmeric are grown alongside kinnow, then it results in higher productivity and yields better returns than when kinnow is grown independently.
Post-harvest management (PHM) As a vital node of the value chain, PHM is crucial for maintaining or enhancing the quality of produce and making it readily marketable through value addition. Presently, owing to the wheat-rice monoculture, PHM infrastructure has been skewed towards them while completely neglecting the other crops, ultimately resulting in minimal value-addition and a negligible market. Therefore, PHM infrastructure for commodities other than wheat and rice is the need of the hour: sorting and distribution facilities based upon demand, provision of mobile facilities that reduce both cost and time while adding to convenience and processing models to be based on cooperative or self-help group pattern. The level of aggregation, especially for perishables like kinnow and turmeric, needs to be established at pre-mandi level (say at 10-20 villages) of what we call it as a PMAP (Pre-Mandi Aggregation Point) so as to protect the farmer from low price-locks in mandis. For instance, the optimum size PHM infrastructure for maize; drying facilities should be small to medium i.e. the capacity of individual dryers should be around 50 quintals instead of 160 quintals. Therefore instead of making massive investments in setting up huge capacity dryers that are likely to remain unutilised for a major part of the year and under-utilised while operating, a smaller portion should be invested for the same.
Distribution At present there are no well-developed distribution channels in terms of commodity-specific mandis and “mandikaraan” for commodities other than the traditional ones. The entire distribution channel from the farmer/producer to the consumer is plagued by the presence of middlemen who charge exorbitant market fees. Therefore, there is need for establishing alternate distribution/marketing channels near the primary processing facilities, besides establishing bulk and retail markets for alternate crops. At well-established distribution channels like the state-of-the-art vegetable market in Mohali big players like Markfed and retailers (both small and big) can directly procure from farmers, thus reducing the role of middleman.
Sales and marketing Crops other than wheat and rice have a trivial market presence both within the state as well as pan India. Therefore access and acceptability in the market would depend upon the brand building and management of Punjab’s local produce and marketing the use-based varieties like baby-corn, sweet-corn and corn for popping. Here rural marketing initiatives such as “Kisan Haats” can play a crucial role in sales and marketing. As a rational agent, a farmer will accord priority to making a living by earning sufficient income from his farming practices which at present is wheat and rice cultivation primarily. Ideas of diversifying will only be a feasible option for him if that makes him ‘better-off’ or at atleast not ‘worse-off’ to begin with. Therefore sustainability both in economic as well as environmental aspects urge preponderance and concerted efforts need to be made in this direction. It can be concluded that ‘diversification which takes the farmer along will be the way forward in true sense and not merely diversification proposed’. The writers work at the Munjal Institute for Global Manufacturing at the Indian School of Business.
Brand building * If Nagpur can have its own brand of kinnow i.e. Nagpur Mandarin, then why can’t Punjab have its own “Punjabi Kinnow” or perhaps “Punjabi Turmeric with curcuminoids”? *
The demand for popcorn in India is so high that despite a 56% customs duty on imported popcorn (sourced mostly from the American continent), the two major popcorn players -- Agro Tech Food, which has India rights for American company ConAgra's Act II brand, and Banaco Overseas -- import around 23,000 tonnes annually. *
Extensive R&D is required in the complete maize value chain : mechanisation, fertilisers, etc.
|
|
| 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 | |
Having given vent to my disgust and fury and then calmly suggested what should be done by the government and civil society activists without further delay, I had thought that there would be no need to return to the subject any time soon. How wrong I was! For since then not a single day has passed when multiple cases of heinous rape have not reported from various places. Strangely, there is little horror over even the most horrific circumstances in which the dastardly crime is committed. For instance, it has become difficult to keep count of the victims of gang rapes that are routinely killed, often by setting them on fire.
“Just fix me up good” was all he said. No questions about risks, complications etc. His wife, a graceful lady, maintained a brave, stoic front, though I could make out that she was very worried. 
In the backdrop of the agriculture policy contention and ineffectiveness of the diversification strategy, Punjab hosted its first Agriculture Summit at Mohali, according priority to the discussion of crop diversification whose implementation has till now been devoid of any achievement. Possible solutions to end the deepening agrarian crisis brought out in the deliberations with various experts and scholars during the summit, focused on a balanced and holistic approach rather than the populist policies being followed by the Punjab Government at present. The recommendations from the summit were perceived as a way forward for agriculture, helping boost the diversification plan and the conservation of natural resources, besides ensuring farm productivity and increasing farmers’ income. It was discussed during the summit that in order to rejuvenate the stagnated agricultural growth and productivity, which has reached a plateau, huge investments in Punjab-specific research and development activities is required which calls for public-private sector collaboration. Similarly, to replenish natural resources, crop rotation in the form of inter-cropping was sought out to be the best solution for making the existing highly intensive systems ecologically sustainable. The efficacy of the summit deliberations, however, can only be accessed by the implementation of the proposed outcomes deliberated throughout the summit by way of effective policy changes.