1991 all over again.doc corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending rule.doc FIGHTING CORRUPTION.

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1991 all over again

India needs a dose of the urgency for reform that marked the last time it faced an economy this troubled. With the value of the rupee plunging to new lows, the current account deficit at an alltime high and inflation running at nearly a ten-percent annual clip, India is in serious economic trouble. Indeed many are beginning to wonder whether the country is edging toward a replay of the events in the summer of 1991. Back then, an acute balance of payments crisis forced New Delhi into the indignity of pawning its gold reserves in order to secure desperately needed international financing.

At a small public event the other week, Duvvuri Subbarao, the outgoing head of the central bank, pointedly referred to a recent book, This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, and conceded that policymakers rarely learn from their mistakes. He conceded that:

in matters of economics and finance, history repeats itself, not because it is an inherent trait of history, but because we dont learn from history and let the repeat occur.

This is a theme that policymakers have been pondering for a while. More than a year ago, at what was ostensibly a celebration of an updated book on the economic reforms catalyzed by the 1991 debacle, Subbarao warned that the dangers sparking that crisis ballooning fiscal and current account deficits were once again lurking. At the same time, a high-ranking commerce ministry official told a group of business leaders that economic indicators were provoking a sense of dj vu. Worried that conditions were ripe for a replay of the 1991 crisis, he exclaimed:

Why are we dodging these [policy challenges]? In 1991, we were candid enough to take these decisions. The quicker we take these decisions, the better it would be, instead of acting like ostriches.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flatly rejects the comparison, however, stating that There is no question of going back to 1991. He is basically right, since the country is in a much more resilient position than two decades ago. That said, it would do wonders if the political class were once again seized with the sense of urgency that gripped New Delhi back in 1991. Perhaps then a

solid determination will emerge to push forward with a new round of economic reforms that have been put off for years.

Shoddy management of the economy has been a hallmark of Singhs second term, which is highly ironic given that he and his current economic team are widely credited with pulling the country out of the fire 22 years ago. Then serving as the newly appointed finance minister to Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, Singh famously inaugurated the reform era by quoting Victor Hugo: No power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come. These days, however, he gives every sign of being trapped in Samuel Becketts absurdist play, Waiting for Godot.

Still, whatever Singhs merits as a policymaker, he hardly deserves all of the criticism he receives for Indias travails. A good part of the fault lies in New Delhis peculiar structure of decision-making. Singhs diarchal arrangement with Sonia Gandhi, the Congress Partys riskadverse, redistributionist-minded matron, has been a recipe for policy inertia and inconstancy, prompting one Western diplomat to exclaim a while back that Even the power structures in North Korea are clearer than those in India.

Officials also argue, with some justification, that Indias immediate problems are not of its own making and other countries are in the same leaky boat. The proximate reason for the current crisis can be traced back to three months ago when the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted that it would begin curtailing its ultra-expansionary monetary policy, which has kept global liquidity at an artificially high level in recent years. That signal caused foreign investors to begin pulling their money out of a number of emerging markets. India has been hit most severely, but the repercussions have also been felt in Indonesia and, to a lesser extent, Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, Turkey and Brazil. Indeed, some analysts (here and here) are warning of calamity redux something similar to the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis that triggered months of global economic distress.

Its likewise true, as Indian leaders point out, that much of the deteriorating trade balance is due to the countrys dire energy shortages and the consequent need to import copious supplies of dollar-denominated foreign oil.

Moreover, as Singh argues, India is in a far stronger place than it was two decades ago. The economy has more than quadrupled since then and according to the World Bank the country has

now overtaken Japan as the worlds third-largest economy (measured on the basis of purchasing power parity). In contrast to 1991, the Indian central bank today has a large buffer of foreign currency reserves (around $270 billion) and, since the rupees value is now determined by market forces, the bank does not need to deplete those holdings trying to prop up a fixed exchange rate. Nor is New Delhi today buried in external debt like it was in 1991 when the servicing of sovereign debt consumed 30 percent of export earnings.

Another key, largely unremarked difference regards political stability. Indias problem today is policy stasis, as opposed to the political turmoil raging two decades ago. As parliamentary elections approached in mid-1991, the country had seen three governments, each with a different prime minister and finance minister, in 18 months. The campaign was marred by greater violence than witnessed in previous elections. Then came the assassination of the election frontrunner, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, whose death followed by just seven years the assassination of his mother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Major insurgencies in Kashmir and Punjab were also blazing. By the summer of 1991, many observers believed the country was on the brink of tragedy. The New York Times Magazine published a long article detailing Indias descent into confusion and despair, while the newspapers editorial writers advised readers to pity India because the country was in danger of fragmenting along sectarian lines.

Nonetheless, the echoes of 1991 are easy enough to discern. First, the trade imbalance is at a level nearly five percent of GDP much higher than it was two decades ago and almost twice what the central bank says is sustainable. And while the government itself is not encumbered by external debt, this is not the case for the corporate sector. India Inc. carries a relatively high level of non-rupee-denominated debt and its capacity for repayment on foreign obligations coming due is obviously abraded by the rupees precipitous decline. Private-sector strains also could easily spill over into a state-run banking system already burdened by a rising share of non-performing loans. Finally, there is talk of New Delhi needing to take out a loan from the International Monetary Fund, just like in 1991.

Adding to the sense of dj vu is that, in an attempt to stanch the outflow of money, the government is reverting to actions reminiscent of an earlier era. A case in point is the controls that have suddenly been instituted on domestic capital. Overseas investments by Indian businesses are now face new restrictions, as do outward remittances by households; personal investments in foreign real estate are now prohibited. The central bank says it is willing to grant waivers for legitimate personal outflows that exceed the new caps, but this mechanism bears an unfavorable comparison to the license raj that was supposedly laid to rest two decades ago.

Higher duties have also been slapped on gold imports, which drain the economy of foreign currency. Singh chides Indians for investing in unproductive assets, even though one reason they import so much gold is to hedge against the high inflation rate. The higher duties are also spurring increased levels of gold smuggling, an activity that led to the expansion of criminal networks in Mumbai in the 1970s.

But the most basic similarity to 1991 is, as The Economist noted last year, the Brezhnev-grade complacency that afflicts New Delhi, especially the top ranks of the Congress Party. The problem is that, since economic reforms were born in the crucible of intense crisis two decades ago, there exists no intellectual tradition underpinning them nor has a political champion emerged to galvanize public opinion. As one commentator argues:

the original sin of 1991 is the fact that reform was pursued in crisis mode, with the underlying rationale never fleshed out or articulated once the moment of immediate crisis had passed.

Both Gurcharan Das, business leader turned public intellectual, and Nandan Nilekani, one of the famed co-founders of Infosys, observe that reforms have been pushed more by technocrats like Singh than by political leaders, a condition that ensures narrow and limited support. The word reform, Nilekani notes, remains conspicuously absent from the election manifestos of Indias parties. Singh flagged the consequences in a newspaper interview last year:

The logic of an open economy and its benefits are still not widely understood among the general public. Public discourse still sees markets as anti-public welfare. The instinctive reactions of many, both in the political class and in the public at large, is to revert to a state controlled system. There is no realisation that a reversal to an earlier era is neither possible nor desirable. Even a neighbour like China has understood the logic of an open economy and is developing the institutional framework which is required for this.

This broad ambivalence, if not hostility, accounts for a great deal, including the perceived necessity in New Delhi of reform by stealth, a mode that one observer describes this way:

Faced with politically unpalatable proposals, Indian politicians and bureaucrats often go quiet, enact reforms in the dead of the night and then pray that the opposition is either too lazy or preoccupied to react.

The difference also explains the glaring silence in New Delhi two summers ago at the twentieth anniversary of the 1991 reforms even Singh himself remained mute as well as Narasimha Raos erasure from the Congress Partys institutional memory. Ironically, the economic transformations that Singh set in motion two decades ago have only reinforced the status-quo orientation of his party colleagues. As a result, Congress has spent much of its time in power instituting expensive, market-distorting social welfare schemes instead of productivity-enhancing measures. This attitude tolerated Pranab Mukherjees disastrous stint as finance minister in the critical years of 2009-12. Even now, party leaders are ambivalent about the modest reforms that Singh and his new finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram are championing.

Some contend that the upside of the rupees rapid depreciation will be a large export surge. But the undersized manufacturing sector, along with the countrys decrepit infrastructure and the alienation of multi-national corporations, put strong limits on whatever bounce can be expected. Indias famed information technology sector will benefit from the lower rupee but, with an employment base of just two million, it is much too small by itself to lift India onto a higher economic trajectory. And as a new report by the Asian Development Bank makes clear, no emerging market can transform itself without developing a significant industrial base. Indeed, the report highlights India as a prime example of an agriculture-based economy that bypasses the industrialization process and tries to leap-frog into a services-oriented economy. Such a strategy, the ADB warns, generates only low-quality service sector jobs.

So, lets hope that the specter of 1991 lingers long enough to galvanize New Delhi elites especially Congress Party leaders who are now in populist election mode with the courage to implement game-changing reforms. Taking a cue from the ADB, they can start by dismantling the anarchic laws governing labor markets and the acquisition of land for industrial projects which have stifled the growth of labor-intensive manufacturing. This should be a huge comparative advantage, though worrying signs are emerging of Indian manufacturers shifting to other countries. But until some hard measures are enacted, all of New Delhis talk about building the country into a global manufacturing hub will continue to ring hollow.

Niti Srivastava

Date : 12 September 2013

Obligatory CSR: Making companies responsible for Government's functions.

Recently new Companies Bill 2013 is passed in the parliament replacing age old Companies law. This is a good move by the government. But one particular provision of making spending on CSR activities compulsory to companies is very unjust and absurd in its very nature. By implementing CSR spending the government is gradually shifting its core responsibilities over to companies. In alternate way it implies that it is parting away from its duties and forcing companies to focus on non-core business activities. Why supposedly shift social responsibility on companies because they are already carrying out social responsibility by giving jobs to people, in which government has reasonably failed, the presence of large number of unemployed youth corroborates this argument. The companies are doing this duty very well in spite of paying requisite taxes and adhering strictly to numerous regulations and compliances imposed by government. This recent compulsion on CSR spending is only an new addition to already existing huge list of compliances. And the treatment the companies get from each government official right from approval authorities to tax officials is so harsh and inconsiderate. As if they are committing some offence by doing business. While carrying out government's responsibility are companies going to receive considerate treatment by all government authorities of which they truly deserve. Company has to spend considerable amount to consultants in order to avoid any non compliances because they feel that this spending is better than paying hefty fines arising from non compliances. Are tax officials going to stop suspicious view towards companies? This new rule is total cowardness and a clear depiction of self inefficiency on part of government in formulating proper policies and there implementation framework. A subtle question here arises is - why should government collect taxes if carrying out social work is company's responsibility. Then what is government's responsibility?. Excluding defense, in what other way the payment of taxes helping companies. Take for e.g. roads, nearly every single road in this country is filled with toll booths. Consider education, why no one form middle class and upper middle class wants to educate there children from municipality schools. Is government not responsible for giving conducive business environment to companies. I doubt this because of the recent harsh policies of the government retrospective tax amendments, high pricing of communication bandwidths and 3G licenses , hoarding of coal reserves to itself and many more. The new rule will only add to the existing agonies of companies. I suspect if government is hiding its own lethargy and laziness . It is hypocritical to make companies responsible towards society covering the fact - what responsibility is government carrying out towards society. Why children are suffering from malnourishment in spite of
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bumper harvest . Why are we importing coal and iron ore in spite of huge coal and iron ore reserves. Why are youth unemployed in spite of securing degrees and diplomas? Take for e.g. passing of powerful and efficient lokpal bill in parliament. It itself don't want to be answerable but want others to be answerable towards there secondary functions. The purpose of this article is not to demotivate CSR spending of companies neither to stop it. But only raise genuine concern of companies that CSR spending should not be made compulsory. Social responsibility is a collective responsibility of all citizens and not of companies alone. Already many companies are spending chunk of there profits towards it. Why to enforce such unrequired rules, creating a negative image in investor community. Such policing only depicts government's harsh intentions. Why to clutter the minds of entrepreneur with excessive rules. It only creates one more harsh regulation on companies. My point is if government wants reason from companies if they fail to comply the minimum CSR spending, is government ready to give reasons for its own failures in a clear and understandable way. Because by the way CSR is company's secondary responsibility but social responsibility is government's primary and most core function. Government is only boasting of self claimed achievements of inclusive growth with its own unrealistic poverty reduction figures. Further some ministers are justifying these claims by saying a individual can survive a day in 32 Rs only. A harsh joke on poverty. And if UPA or any party in that matter fails in two successive periods of 5 years with what face it is again going among voters to ask for another chance in each subsequent elections. Rather than pointing out silly mistakes of companies, the government should focus on self introspection and be more efficient in its own functioning. The need for Food Security Bill (FSB) is itself a shame on government. In spite of two consecutive terms it has failed to keep its promises and it still feels that poor are unable to feed themselves and so it is necessary to feed them. Thus contradicting its own claims of achievements. Isn't this an grave failure of social responsibility that it failed to reduce poverty. How many more years it will take to eradicate poverty. If social spending is made compulsory to companies now , tomorrow government will make it compulsory to individuals and further it will make compulsory to entire population but itself. What is the use of electing a government? If at all CSR spending is a plausible compulsion then why give it name as social responsibility alone give the name Corporate National Responsibility. Give entire responsibility of education, roads, electricity, etc. to companies and close all the ministries related to it. Because any way they will be reduced to watchdogs. And finally make defense of entire nation companies responsibility. Then why to collect taxes if companies are themselves spending in these matters. Question arises is government's function only to make laws and leave its implementation on companies. Slowly a need will arise to give such names as Corporate Education Responsibility, Corporate Health Responsibility, Corporate Police Responsibility, etc. for specialized spending by companies. Honorable ministers, please consider this plea and avoid creating such absurd and unrealistic rules and regulations on companies.
2

Do we elect government for diverging of their responsibilities to other entities or for accepting the responsibilities themselves?
Sujeet Patil

FIGHTING CORRUPTION

MORAL VALUES MUST PREVAIL A World Bank defines corruption as use of public office for private profit. When the world was divided between the two superpowers and the Cold War was on, the World Bank did not focus on the issue of corruption as a significant issue. The reason is obvious. So long as the Cold War prevailed, what mattered was the ideological orientation of the country receiving the aid. It used to be said by the superpowers, "We know that so and so is a son of a bitch, but he is our son of a bitch". This approach underwent a massive change when the Cold War ended. The taxpayers in the aid-giving countries started questioning whether the aid given was reaching the beneficiaries in the recipient countries. That the issue of checking corruption and thereby ensuring good governance was an important pre-requisite for development and removal of poverty in developing countries is now widely recognized. Corruption, therefore, has become an issue of global concern. It is not only in the area of public governance that fighting corruption became a central issue. Even in the area of global business, thanks to the scams in the year 2000, when Fortune 500 companies like Enron and universally reputed companies like Arthur Anderson were exposed as having indulged in financial engineering and window-dressing of accounts misleading the market and the investors, the issue of corporate governance assumed equal importance. Honesty is the best policy, is a discovery the world made once again in the 1990s. Stringent legal steps, like the Sorbonne Oxley Act in the United States, were taken.

Matter of concern As we look ahead, the question before us is will corruption continue to plague the country? Corruption is anti-poor. In a country, where 26 per cent of the population is below the poverty line, corruption hits the poor very badly. Many of the development schemes meant for the weaker sections do not benefit them at all. Rajiv Gandhi remarked that only 15 paisa out of every rupee meant for the anti-poverty programme reaches the beneficiaries. In fact, the major point of criticism about the Government of India's Employment Guarantee Act, which visualizes a Rs 1,50,000-crore scheme - to ensure that all citizens in the rural areas are assured of a minimum 100 days of work with a daily wage of Rs 60 - is seen as a tremendous opportunity for corrupt elements among the bureaucracy and politicians to siphon off huge funds. Even the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Scheme, on which the Central Government's scheme has been modeled, also offers no hope. Even in that scheme, there are false muster rolls. Aruna Roy through her Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti brought home in Rajasthan the extent of leakage in development funds. As we look ahead to the next 10 to 15 years, what is it that we can hope for on the corruption front? It is very easy to be pessimistic. The pessimist can always argue that corruption has always been with us like the poor and it is a global phenomenon. Nevertheless, the fact is that while corruption is a global phenomenon, we have seen countries which were corrupt, reforming themselves and getting the benefits of corruption-free, good governance in our own lifetime. Singapore is a classic example. Botswana has also been quoted by the World Bank as a good African country, which has done well on the issue of fighting corruption. If we look at history, thanks to the highly ethical William Gladstone, four times Prime Minister of

Britain, the UK which was a corrupt country in the 19th century became a well-governed country by the be-ginning of the 20th century. Begin with schools In India, this whole concept of good behaviour got crystallised in dharma, or the set of duties every person has to perform. In the Bhagvadagita, Lord Krishna says in Chapter 3 "swadharme nidhanamshreya paradharmo bhayapaha". Doing one's own duty is the most desirable and if one cannot perform duty, death is a better option. This inculcation of values in the educational system is possible. This, in turn, would mean referring to the sources of tradition which will involve a reference to some religion. Today, for example, these values of good conduct, based on Hindu traditions, are taught in the DAV and the Ramakrishna Mission schools. In Christian missionary schools, the moral lessons are drawn on the basis of Christian teachings. But our government having been secular, it has been remarkably successful in totally eliminating any induction of values in our educational system. We have, there-fore, a whole lot of students coming through the schools where they do not learn any values. This big defect has to be rectified. I am happy that this seems to have been realized especially after the scams of 1997 and 2000 in global business. In the institutions like Anna University, engineering ethics has been introduced as a separate subject. But what about other streams of education? If we want India to become less corrupt, if not corruption-free, we must start with the educational system and ensure that moral values are inducted.

Role models The second factor which decides the level of corruption is a set of social values. Here, opinion makers in society have to become role models. Unfortunately, our politics has become criminalized. Law-breakers are lawmakers today. The only people the youth probably look upon as role models are politicians and media stars who collectively represent what is called the Page Three culture. So far as professions are concerned, every professional association can uphold ethics and codes of conduct, and thereby build role models and benchmarks for guiding society. The third important factor is the system. In any society, from the ethics point of view, 10 per cent may, by nature, be ethical and 10 per cent will, by nature, be corrupt, and 80 per cent will modify their behavior depending on the system. One simple example of this is how, while an Indian may throw rubbish on the streets without batting an eyelid, the same Indian, when he reaches Singapore, is on guard and may not commit nuisance or throw rubbish on the streets. We must redesign our system of governance to check corruption. Corruption today is a game in which five major players are involved. They are the corrupt neta, the babu, lala, jhola and dada-the corrupt politicians, the corrupt bureaucrats, the corrupt businessmen, the corrupt NGOs and criminals. For tackling each of them, I would suggest the following: Political corruption is at the root of all corruption in our country. Our politics is corrupt because it is based on black money. Every political party collects cash, which is black money. Black money is oxygen for corruption and corruption is oxygen for black money. Therefore, we must focus on electoral reform and reducing black money. Simultaneously, we must also bring greater transparency in the raising of funds by the political parties. Some steps have been taken for removing restrictions on political contributions. We should try to create a situation similar to that of the United States or Britain in

so far as fund-raising is concerned. This would provide an opportunity to reduce corruption. Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, a very committed IAS officer who resigned and set up an NGO, Lok Satta, in Andhra Pradesh, has highlighted the need for changing our electoral system itself. Instead of the British system of first past the post, which only nine out of 47 countries have adopted, we should opt for a system of proportional representation. He also suggests direct elections for the post of chief minister, who can then appoint a cabinet of talent. It is an interesting idea and worth trying. To begin with, it is necessary to build a consensus in the country on this idea. Winning formula So far as bureaucratic corruption is concerned, the following three-point formula must be adopted. Simplification of rules and procedures to reduce the scope of corruption; Transparency and empowering of public, and Effective punishment. There is an urgent need to bring a sense of accountability in bureaucracy. Article 311 provides so much protection to the public servant that it is very difficult to take action effectively and in time against corrupt officials. Fighting corruption is a hard task. There cannot be a single-point approach to the task. We have to adopt a multi-point approach, some of which I have indicated above. We then come to the basic question. The powers that be, whether in politics or bureaucracy or business, are benefiting from the corrupt system. Can there be a situation where these beneficiaries of corruption will initiate action to check corruption? That may amount to causing hara-kiri. My perception is that as far as our politicians are concerned, they act only under two circumstances: One, where the TINA (There is no alternative) factor prevails; and two, where there is a vote bank advantage. The TINA factor can be created in our country by broadly two methods. One is by using the route of the public interest litigation and activating the Supreme Court so that the persons concerned have no alternative but to implement it. The enactment of the CVC Act and the practice of the candidates declaring their criminal record while filing nominations are examples of this type. However, there are also limits to judicial intervention. The second instrument that can create the TINA factor is technology, particularly information technology. We have seen how in the railway reservation system, the use of IT has brought down corruption. I understand that even in the issue of passport, computerization has helped in bringing down corruption. So greater use of IT and reforming and simplifying the procedures can be the second broad strategy to help create the TINA factor. Finally, we have to practice the advice given in the Taitreya Upanishad to arrive at constructive solutions to our problem: Sahana vavatu Sahanau bhunaktu Saha Viryam kara va vahai Tejas vina maditha vastu Ma vidh visha vahai Om Shanti! Shanti! Shanti (Let us come together. Let us enjoy together. Let our strengths come together. Let us move from darkness to light. Let us avoid the poison of misunderstanding and hatred. That way lies progress.) Adopting this strategy, we can definitely see India becoming a less corrupt, progressive and developed country in the next 10 to 15 year

PRAVIN KAUSHAL Ref: The Hindu, ET, HT, CNN-IBN, Lok Sabha Channel Choice: aptitude>polity>disaster

India needs federal foreign policy? (Since most state share an international boundary, they need to be involved and external affairs that affect them) The people of any country have a right to advocate and push for particular foreign and security policy. But in India much diverse environment, since our linguistic, ethnic, religious , ideological division of every state and region. This diverse country must have a single foreign policy and its execution must be the responsibility of federal government.

Why India needs federal foreign policy? Since from last 2-3 decades, there was no one party government at the center level. Therefore union government has been taking the form coalition with regional or state parties, they have become vulnerable to party or sectional pressure which often takes the form of pure blackmail. Some recent examples: 1) DMKs withdrawal from UPA government Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam wanted the UPA government to pilot a resolution in the United Nations demanding an international probe into alleged war crimes tantamount to genocide in Sri Lanka. 2) AIADMKs proposal- The Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa joining a fray, the demands escalated :

a) A boycott of the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit to be held later this year. b) A ban on Sri Lankan players in IPL. c) An assembly resolution asking the union government to get the UN to create a separate Eelam in Sri Lanka. d) To retrieve the decision of Kachchatheevu Island, this was given to Sri Lanka with a special accord in 1974. 3) In 2008 left pulled out from UPA-I coalition it opposed the Indo-U.S civil nuclear deal because : a) its belief that nothing could come out of an agreement with imperialist America. b) As its attempt to clock the decision in the grab of attacking America for its anti- Muslim policies. 4) West Bengal CM and then UPA coalition partner, Mamata Banerjee, opposed the river water agreement with Bangladesh in September 2011, on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs visit to Dhaka; the Union Government was forced to call off the signing of a pact that would have ratified a formula for sharing the waters of the Teesta with Bangladesh. 5) Narendra Modi suddenly jumped into the Sir creek on the eve of Gujarat election. In letter to PM, Mr. Modi said that not only should India hand over the Creek to Pakistan, it should stop any dialogue.

Consequences of above issues: 1) In Sri Lanka, the government of India has had to balance its policies to ensure that Colombo does not drift towards Beijing and Islamabad. There also is the question of

pushing resolution on the territorial issue of other countries, having burnt our hands on the Kashmir issue. 2) As for the Teesta issue, there were expectations that in exchange for the river waters treaty, Bangladesh would sign an agreement giving India transit to its landlocked northeastern state. Clearly, while West Bengal may have notionally given up something, there was advantage of the greater good that would accrue, not only for the north- eastern states but West Bengal as well. 3) In the case of nuclear deal, too, the net gainer was India. It was the US which had to abandon its sanction regime against us and agree to allow civil nuclear commerce to resume with India. Given the balance of power in the international system, it was a deal only the US could pilot not Franc, China, or Russia through all of them had to finally put their stamp on it through the Nuclear Suppliers Group. 4) In Gujarat, the boundary between India and Pakistan on Sir Creek remains disputed and, as a result, the maritime boundary between two countries has yet to be finalized. In this sense, India and Pakistan are both losers, not only because no one will invest in exploiting the natural resources from a disputed area, but also because they will lose out on the extended exclusive economic zone they can get under UN convention on the laws of seas. Some small issues: 1) We have seen how the politics of Kerala has impinged on a foreign affairs issue relating to two Italian marines.

2) There is Jammu and Kashmir which still complains about the shrift it got on the matter of river water when Union government signed the Indus Water treaty with Pakistan. 3) As for waters, the chief ministers of Bihar and Assam too have important issues which impinge on our relation with Nepal and China. Take example of U.S.: Among the various governmental system, the US is one in which the interests of its federal constituents are taken into in the formation and exercise of foreign and security policies. This was part of the large and small State compromise that resulted in its constitution. This enables its upper chamber, the senate to be the lead house on foreign policy issue ratifying international agreement, approving appointment of envoy and so on. Intersection: Barring Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, all Indian states share borders with other countries, or with international waters of the sea. In that sense, they have intersect or issue that may intersect with the foreign and security policies of the country. Conclusion: If India wants to be a leader in the world, then it should lead the region first, increase cooperation in region and maintain peace and tranquility in border areas irrespective the state.

Sources: 1. Self-written notes from The Hindu. 2. URL of a special article : http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/india-needs-a-federalforeign-policy/article4591675.ece 3. News analysis from The Hindu and Indian Express. Declaration: I hereby declare that the information given above is true to the best of my knowledge & belief and not copied from any Magazine or coaching class except newspapers. : Dashrath Hembade .

Name and Address: Dashrath Laxman Hembade,

SCHEDULE NINE : APPRECIATIONG DEMONCRACY AND SUPPRESING DEMOCRACY

Post independence we wrote our constitution whose spirit and aspirations flows from the struggle of indian heros of independence and philosophies of ancient cultures which once able to establish an egalitarian and just culture . satyamev jayte truth alone triumph is the legacy of ancient indian society and culture around which wheels of our constitution moves .Our constitution starts with the preambular text as we the people of .......give ourself this constitution explicitly adores and puts in place democratic spirit as we the people and give ourself manifest the same .going by the conventional definition its a kind of social contract where some elected few are entrusted with the responsibility to look after the better interest of the society in a comprehensive and wholesome manner schedule nine of indian constitution which was added as first amendment of constitution is in contrary to these basic principles of wisdom and fair sense of justice .schedule nine explicitly validates some rules laws on its own which is ultra vire because only judiciary is recognised as the custodian and interpreter of indian laws and its boss the constitution(article 141 and 142) . anything which is under schedule nine is immune from judicial scrutiny and review ,how come this kind of system exist in a society where democracy prevails .administrative scholars puts in place a system of check and balance for the proper functioning of the state which is technically comprised of legislatures , executives and judiciary .truncating power of one organ can ultimately catapult into anarchy , dictatorship and ultimately on the edge of mayhem . from the time of keshvananda Bharti to date judiciary has experienced an organic growth towards meeting the demands of society .a new paradigm of judicial activism has evolved which takes care of its citizens as citizens and not merely as its subject thereby upholding the prembular text and appreciating democracy .recently judiciary has announced that sitting MP,MLA facing criminal charges are disqualified and must not be acquitted because they have not exhausted their appeal in the higher courts .this decision of judiciary is contrary to whats there in section 8 of representation of peoples act 1950(this legislation is under ninth schedule).this decision created turbelance in political fraternity and once again raised the question of validity of schedule nine.judiciary in reaching to its decision interpreted article 324 of constitution which says that election commission has the responsibility to carry out transparent and fair elections .if a person in prison has no right to vote then how come he can get vote ,if he/she does so then its not fair election and hence doctrine of eclipse can be invoked wrt section 8 of RPA1951.ultimately schedule 9 came under scrutiny . there are many such legislation like interstate water dispute act 1956, tamilnadu reservation policy 1995 , land acquisition act 1894 which find their locus within schedule nine but judiciary from time to time reviewed them and questioned the locus standii of legislature. Tamilnadu reservation policy of 69pc is contrary to the scale of 50 pc

reservation decided by supreme court because of this existing rule even meritorious guy having 95pc was not able to get admission . Well it would be less than logical to understand that its not democracy as people cant approach for their grievance redressal arising out of any such practise which is under schedule nine. IT IS NOT DEMOCRACY INSTEAD DEMONCRACY

THEN COMES THE OBVIOUS QUESTION WHY SCHEDULE NINE After independence india embarked on the socialist philosophies of lenin and Russia made plans for its socioeconomic development in line with Russian socialist culture .under socialism state the ultimate creator of wealth and driver of economy ,keeping this in mind schedule nine was added so that growth must not get litigated. After 42nd amendment socialist term was explicitly added to manifest the eminent domain inherent within socialism .this is nothing but the hangover of colonial period where executives are not accountable for most of their actions, which is against the very basic principle of democracy.

Because of development of new paradigm of judicial activism many of the rules within schedule nine which are contrary to basic structure doctrine are declared void and null .judiciary has stretched its locus standii which is unquestionable but this is not good indicator of any healthy system .the running climate of conflict between judiciary and executive must not happen as it would plaque the system of governance and create a logjam in administration .

In short three organs of society must function freely and judiciously ,which is possible only when no ones power is truncated or strained.schedule nine explicitly withdraws the power of judiciary to interpret law existing in ,therefore this schedule has lost its relevance in our democracy and must go otherwise this schedule be used as a political tool to get political scores and fidelity.

THE NEW EMERGING WOMEN POWER, THE GROUND REALITIES

INTRODUCTION: Gone are the days when Frailty, Thy Name is Woman!, and now Its Masculine Women. Women, the noblest creation of God, has been gifted with compassion, tenderheartedness, caring nature, concern for others. One woman can change anything! Many women can change everything! In recent times women have absolutely been firm, determined, excelling in all sphere of life and they are unstoppable from administering the country to setting their footprints in International space station. However prevalence of certain social factors still continues to threaten their progress. Let us examine the new emerging women power and its ground realities in various dimensions of the society. EMERGING WOMEN POWER: In early western society, women are mainly looked as an object of sexuality and treated as second rate citizens. In India, women (such as Maitreyi, and Garg) are actually held in high positions until later vedic period and thereon suppression of women emerged and its worst form continue to exist till our independence from British. Reformist like Rajarammohan Roy, Eishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and others contributed significantly for women empowerment during this period. At its inception, our constitution have assured the equality for women(Art. 14) and prohibits the discrimination based on gender (Art. 15) and give them freedom to participate in the social, political, economic and cultural life of the nation. Women are playing an all-enveloping character of a mother, daughter, wife, sister, friend, nurturer, guide and partner. History have always teaches us about the potential of women and her contributions for the welfare of society. The present day women are outstanding in many fields such as education, administration, corporate governance, R&D, scientific inventions, defense, classical dances etc., such as Mrs.Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Srimavo Bandaranaike, Benazir Bhutto etc., in politics; Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa in social services; Chanda Kocchar, Indra Noyi in the field of business; Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams for their peculiar work; Kasturba Gandhi for her moral support to Mahatma Gandhi for his struggle for Indian independence. Women have also given a very good account of themselves in sports. Modern day women are characterized with selfindependence. Present day women participate actively in administration. They have shown effectiveness and balanced approach and discharge their duties in the best possible way. Women are holding high position in various countries including India. In India, 33% reservation has been mandated in Panchayat raj and municipalities for women have paved the way for their active participations. At present, many of the political administrators like lokshaba speaker, CMs of Delhi, Tamilnadu, Westbengal, leader of opposition party in loksabha, and many number of civil servants etc., are women. Globalization have widened the employment opportunity for women and provided the financial stability. This financial support has empowered women to lead an independent life,

and thus reduced their age-old tradition of financial dependence on men. Women contribution in service sector is commendable and the same in reflected in respective countries GDP. In developing countries like India and Bangladesh, women involvement in self-help groups especially in rural areas have contributed for their financial inclusion and sustainable development. In India, various government social sector schemes such as ASHA, SABLA etc., have contributed to better health prospects for women. Benefits like maternity allowances and leave, less taxation, flexible work timings and women associations etc., has increased number of working women. As per census 2011, increase in the literacy level is attributed more by women than men. Ground Reality: In reality only a meager proportion of women enjoy the empowerment. The so called empowered women on an analysis shows belong to the section having better economic conditions over other oppressed class which in turn enabled them to get educated, qualified and empowered to come up in life. This kind of women empowerment, we can see getting satiated or saturated very soon rather than getting propagated throughout the women society. The need of another earning member in city based nuclear families for better living opportunities has become a pivotal force to get women professionally qualified. This motive should not restrict them from realizing their potential and to come up as the beacon lights of social empowerment. Atrocities against women are increasing at an alarming rate. Women has come a long way and still facing issue of gender bias, human rights, rape, participation in development processes, portrayal in the media and trafficking, harassment at workplace. An UN statistical report shows that more than 250,000 cases of rape or attempted rape were recorded by police annually in 65 countries. Extreme social stigma cast on women who have been raped, or the fear of being disowned by their families, or subjected to violence, including honour killings. Economic independence has exposed women to sexual exploitation in offices and other working places. In fact, domestic violence against women has increased. When it comes to vulnerable to violence, women in power are also not an exception. Australia's first woman Prime Minister, Julia Gillard is a victim on misogyny. Reflection of masculine attitude can be seen in Southafrican Oscar Pistorius murder of Reeva Steenkamp. Pakistani child activist Yousufiz Malala has been shot by Taliban, recent horrific incidents such as gange rape in delhi are few other shameful act to mention. In every corner of the globe, there goes many incidents unnoticed of the similar kind over the feminine folk. Poor health care facility for pregnant women leads to maternal mortality rate. Globally, there were an estimated 287 000 maternal deaths in 2010, yielding a MMR of 210 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births among the 180 countries. Even though Census 2011 has indicated an increase in women literacy rate, but overall women literacy is still comparatively low. Media uses women as attractive factor for their advertisements.

The representations of women are considerably less in Indian politics. Women reservation bill is not yet passed in India parliament due to lack of political will. Due to rampant corruption and poor administration in social sector schemes, benefits are not reaching the needy women. When it comes to sacrifice, women are considered to lead. The leaders emerged at the national level from women folk, at times do not succeed to empower the women population to be aware of their political rights, free will and upliftment to the national political arena. Empowering measures: Women must be given a fair chance to come up in their life. To promote women participation in the society, UNO declared March-8 of every year as International Womens day. The theme for 2013 is A promise is a promise. Let us end the violence against women. Women have to be assured of safety in the society. In India, implementation of Verma committee recommendations will be the step in right direction. Stringent laws have to be adopted for crime against women in workplace. Reporting of crime should be made simple for women and should be handled in fast track court. Emergency services like 103 to check crime against women and children has to be improved. Use of technology for the safety of women has to be explored. Providing martial arts training to women for self-protection would provide her physical and mental strength. Ethical and moral education has to be imparted to change the mindset of male dominant society. Sex education can be also being imparted in the curriculum. Education has to be provided to women for their empowerment. Improving Basic amenities for women in schools, colleges, work place, etc., could help them better. Social acceptance of Victim has to be improved. Womens reservation bill would usher in empowerment for women in India. Constitutional enforcement of strict laws against proxy practices will help women in administration. Women reservation policy has to be extended to other constitutional bodies. Facilities like health services for pregnant women, adolescence women have to be improved. Facilities like crche in workplace would help to increase work life balance which in turn reduces the women dropouts. Women role in house hold activities has to be properly recognized. Women should be assured of more financial independence and provided with equal share in ancestor property. Provisions exclusive for women such as all-women recruitment drive by MNCs like Microsoft, women reservations in railways travels, all women administrator in Trissur district of Kerala, all women aircraft in AirIndia, and all women bank (Budget 2013) should be encouraged. CONCLUSION: The ground reality shows that new empowering women power is like a drop in ocean and there is a lot of scope for improvement. Women have been subjected by the society to inequality, injustice and oppression through the age; nevertheless, they succeed against all odds. Society has to be educated morally to accept women as equal to men and her dignity

and freedom has to be respected as envisaged in our constitution. Lets strive hard for a greater women emancipation and empowerment! Its not just India and China, its women who are the emerging power of 21st century.

NAME: V. Bharathiraja Reference: We formed a group of four. Took two days of time. Compiled the ideas of all four members(Devanadan,Ajay.Jeyaprakash ). We just referred Quotes from internet. Rest all ideas are from brainstorming process.

A hole in Pain : POPULATION

ANWAR ALI One of the most serious problems that India faces today is the problem of overpopulation. In our country, a baby is born every two seconds i.e., more than 40,000 children are born everyday. If the present tread continues, our population might touch the fantastic figure of a thousand million at the turn of the century. The uneven distribution of population in the world has severely affected the fragile ecological balance in many countries. The unbridled growth of human population has also brought problems like unemployment, urbanization, pollution, etc. Here, in India, it is necessary that the problem of population growth is attacked on a war-footing. The masses have to be motivated and not coerced to adopt family planning. And the best method to motivate is to educate. The education of women, in particular, should receive greater attention of our planners. Television can play a very useful role in this area. Living standards of the people should be raised and health care and educational institutions should be actively involved in the family planning drive to supplement the efforts of the Government. We should not spare any attempt to educate our people and convince them of the benefits-both social and individual-about the check in growth of population as well as calculated steps towards health and prosperity. The statement that our teeming lions have set at naught decades of developmental efforts, overcrowded our cities and rendered living conditions appalling has become trite. Yet, the fact remains that in the face of such obvious chaos all around, population growth continues to be unrelenting. Therefore, any development policy in a developing country must encompass the problem of population growth as also the social, environmental and technological phenomena. This could be done in respect of a country as a whole or on an inter-regional basis within the country. So far, demographic issues have not yet been integrated in our scheme of life. To most of us, vitalism is dominant and life is sacred. It is not yet appreciated that any population strategy will serve in a more effective manner if it is combined with achieving a better quality of life. For the economic planners, an understanding of the socio-economic determinants of population trends is essential in the formulation of appropriate measures and strategies to raise the levels of living. In the primitive societies, where resources were abundant, the rearing of many children into healthy and useful adults was not overtly difficult. The community and the family did not have to count the cost of institutionalized health care and education, for instance. On the other hand, the child contributed to the welfare of the family and community by the work he or she learnt to do at an early age. This still holds good in some parts of the world. In India too it is not easy to counter the poor peasant's argument that the more children he has. The better-off he is. But as we move inexorably towards more development, the investment per child inevitably becomes much greater both for the family and the community. By and large, the biggest increase will be in the poorest countries which are the teast able to support them. As a result of this increase, the availability per person of critical resources such as water, fuel wood and crop land will drop at an unprecedented rate. Even without increased per capita consumption in developing countries, the projected doubling of world population in the next century is likely to further degrade the critical-support systems of the planet. In many areas, population densities by far exceed the carrying capacity of the physical environment and could ultimately threaten the very eco-system on which human survival and economic development depend. Even though the number of children per woman has decreased, the number of women of childbearing age has increased more rapidly. On a national scale, the age structure of a country's population is crucial to development planning efforts. On an international scale, the implications of this rapid population growth are enormous for regional and global environmental issues such as climate change. A very

youthful population such as in most developing countries or an aging population like in many industrialized countries has different implications for future population growth and for social needs. The youthful age structure of the population in much of the developing world would mean that the absolute number of births and the total population will continue to rise rapidly for the next 20 or 30 years, if present trends continue. There is hardly any issue on the global environmental: agenda unaffected- by population growth- Poverty, demographic dynamics, human settlement, fragile ecosy6tehis. Agriculture, biodiversity, pollution of rivers and oceans, and others. Just to survive, burgeoning populations place ever-larger burdens on water, farmland, forests and coastal habitats. As those natural resources deteriorate, "environmental refugees" flee to urban areas, where sanitation and other basic services are overloaded. Already, the beginnings of environmental disasters are being felt. They range from air pollution, faecal contamination of drinking water and hazardous waste pollution, to depletion and degradation of freshwater resources, occupation of high-risk land, and damage to ecosystems and cultural property. Family planning has played an integral role in reducing fertility throughout the world. At present, the total fertility rate (TFR) is thought to stand at 3A children born to the average woman. The situation is worse in India, which has had a family planning programme since 1951. Its population of about 882 million is growing at about 2 14 percent per year, compared to 1.5 per cent per year for China's population billion. India is expected to replace China as the most populous country by 2035. It has a new model plan for improving family planning services, but still has to convert it into action in hundreds of thousands of villages. Its official goal is to reduce the TFR by 50 per cent by the year 2000. In India, due to rampant illiteracy and widespread ignorance a large majority disbelieve that less children are hindrances to their economic interests because, for them it means less work hands. However the reality is that high population growth rates have a negative effect on economic growth rates, especially in developing countries. But there is also the more significant plane at which the output itself is affected by the rate of population growth. This is essentially because of a reduction in savings for investment and diversion of larger amounts of resources to welfare and to indirectly productive investments such as health and education needed to support a shooting population. The Indian state has to sponsor and heavily subsidies these projects not only because it is a welfare state, but also because, if some of these investments are withdrawn, the speed and structure of economic expansion could be impaired by the resultant lower productivity of an uncared labour force. India being a democratic welfare state is committed to provide jobs for as many people as it can. This has lead to over staffing and thereby under employment. Both together synergistically lead to gross inefficiency. This has contributed to both the public sector and the government being in the red. Health conditions around the world have improved more over the past 40 years than in all of previous human history. However the conditions are still bad in the developing countries and they have an adverse impact on family planning (FP). Complications of pregnancy and childbirth claim the lives of about 400,000 women each year in developing countries where maternal mortality ratios are up to 30 times higher than in the highincome nations. According to the World Development Report, while India spends $ 18 billion on health against $ 13 billion in China with a much larger population, health in China is better than in India. While the IMR (Infant Mortality Rate) is 29 per thousand in China, it is as high as 90 per thousand in India. Even the under-five mortality rate is as high as 142 per thousand in India while in China it is just 42 per thousand. In countries with a high IMR couples do not tend to accept contraceptive or sterilization methods, as there is no guarantee for their children surviving. This is one of the three health challenges before the world now, the other two being AIDs and drug resistant strains of disease. It has been estimated that the world will he inhabited by 1.2 billion people above 60

years of age by 2020 AD. And 71% of these are likely to be in the developing world. The older elderly (80 years of age and above) will increase twice as fast as the younger elderly (between 60-8( years. This has happened in Thailand and in Kerala India). In Kerala, the number of people who will be 70 years old in 2020 AD. Is expected to rise to 5.8 per cent from the present 3.2 percent. Indeed, Kerala has the largest number of old age homes in the country. At the national level the figure will jump from 3.3% in 1980 to 5.3% in 200() AD; and 13.3% in 2025 A.D. The basic point that needs to be made is that we are in a disaster situation a far as population is concerned and, therefore, have to make urgent and concerted efforts to bring down the increasing rate of population. The first thing that is needed is a breakthrough in contraceptive technology. If we can put up our own satellites, if we can develop missies that can carry various elements with them, why have our scientists not been able to affect a break-through in contraceptive technology? Western pharmaceutical companies seem to have lost interest in contraceptive technology. This is an area where we must have a major break-through. What we really need is either an anti-pregnancy vaccine, on which Professor Pran Talwar has been working for the last 20 years or a pill which is available like a pill of aspirin. We are still dependent very largely on operative techniques, on vasectomies and tubectomies which are very effective. But they do impinge physically and psychologically upon the most sensitive elements of the human anatomy. If we can get a break-through in non-invasive techniques, it could make a vital difference. The welfare of children, maternal and child health care are absolutely essential for ensuring lower fertility. It may appear to be a contradiction in terms, but the lower child mortality rate, the lower is the growth rate. Where the mortality rate is high, the family tends to have many more children because they are not sure how many are going to survive. Wherever children are well looked after and the mortality rate of the child falls, the fertility rate also falls. Therefore, the integrated child health care programme is extremely important. This involves immunization to pregnant and nursing mothers; nutritional inputs to infants; and a whole gamut of medical and child care facilities up to the age of five. Thirdly, we have to develop some kind of old age insurance or pension. It is all very fine for intellectuals sitting comfortably in cities to say that everybody should have only two children, whether it includes a boy or not. But when we talk of the villages and of poor people, when the girls get married and go away who is actually going to look after those people when they are old? This may not be a fashionable question to ask, but is a valid question, not something which can be dismissed as an outmoded form of thinking. The only way one can deal with it is to develop gradually some kind of an old-age pension for people who, after 60 to 65 years, cannot work, so that they are convinced that there is some sort of a 'safety net' even if they do not" have a male issue. The fourth point is that population control is not something than can be done merely by government or by adopting policies in Parliament. What is required is a mass movement, a National Movement for Population Control. This must involve the Central government. State governments, local bodies, corporations, municipalities, Zila Parishad, and panchayats, because unless these bodies are deeply associated, the nation is not going to get the desired results. It is no use simply talking in urban areas, because in any case small family norms are much more popular there. It is the rural population which must be involved. We should involve not only the Chambers of Commerce and Industry but also the entire industrial sector, the working class sector and organised labour. Labour could be an extremely effective instrument for motivating the working class in view of the concentration of people who can be easily reached. Some progressive and enlightened industrial houses have already started paying attention to population control. We must also invoice nongovernmental organizations, particularly women organizations. For example, the Family Planning Association, of India, which has not branches all over the country, could play a very meaningful role in this context. Women are the key to the whole problem. Apart from these, youth organizations. Trade unions and co-operatives must be associated. We should also put population values into our

educational system. Indeed we should not leave anybody out, including religious leaders. One of the problems faced in the earlier experiment was that a feeling developed, rightly or wrongly, that some communities were deliberately opting out of the family planning process. That feeling, unfortunately, had a very negative impact on others. Actually, the statistical figures did not prove that conclusively, but nonetheless there was a feeling. So if we are really now going to have a second try at the population policy, we have to involve the religious leaders of all communities together. Even in a Roman Catholic country like Italy, the growth rate has fallen despite the strong attitude taken by religious leaders of a certain community there therefore once you get to the people and explain to them that it is in their own interest that they should adopt the small family norm, and if we can go through the religious leaders, the message will be result oriented. In the first few decades since Independence, the slow pace of economic growth ironically ensured a fast rate of population growth. However, in the eighties, there was it significant upswing in growth rates, poising the economy on the threshold of a higher rate of growth in the Eighth five year plan. The acceleration of economic growth has also been accompanied by the launching or fruition of a whole series of programmes of direct poverty alleviation and social development. A Minimum Needs Programme, Rural Employment Guarantee Programmes and family asset creation programmes for those below the poverty line have resulted in a sensible decrease in absolute and relative levels of poverty. In fact, population control should be a subject of national consensus. The damange that has been -done to the national interest by making population control a subject of political controversy is absolutely impossible to compute. Hundreds of billions of rupees have gone to create all the infrastructure that is necessary, but we have already reached such a huge figure that even if our population growth rate begins to fall, it will at least take 25 years before our population begins to stabilize. So the country must realise that it is facing a disaster situation. It is a difficult path, but there are no soft options. We are going through a multi-dimensional crisis in India today. It is an economic crisis, a social crisis, a political crisis, a spiritual crisis. It seems that the great vision of those who led our freedom movement is disappearing, and we seem to be caught in a welter of negative thinking. Many people have virtually given up hope. They may be right, but if we lose hope, then any chance of making it is also lost. We need not only a renewal of interest in population control but also a renewal of faith in ourselves, in our cultural heritage and in the capacity of democracy. The whole world is moving towards democracy, and in our country we find democracy itself is under tremendous pressure.

Date: 19 September 2013 Economic Reforms of 1991 in India: Reasons, Timing and effects. The current write up is a try to answer the question : Why economic reforms had to be implemented in the year 1991 ? Why the need arised after 40 yrs of independence and not immediately after the independence or 10 yrs after the independence? The main reason for this is the huge dependency on imported products, in particular oil. From 1947 to 1985, Indias oil demand was very low because of low industrialization. Also the government policies didnt helped to improve it. The numbers of oil dependent products like cars, bikes, automobiles, trucks, etc. were very less. Also because companies related to these products were also very less and due to inferior technology the prices of these products were very high and beyond the reach of common man. So except rich people, no one purchased these products. So India had always sufficient foreign currency with it to pay for imported oil. India earned its foreign currency from export of goods like coal, iron ore, agricultural products, etc. So during this period from 1947 to 1990, the crisis of balance of payments never arised. From 1980s onwards slowly the technology in mass production of cars and bikes increased. Number of companies manufacturing these equipments like Bajaj, etc increased. Indian government itself started its own company Maruti Suzuki in collaboration with Japanese company Suzuki with the intention of serving the objective: A car affordable to common man. For this it launched its first and most popular model Maruti 800. The government itself sowed the seeds of economic crisis of 1991. During the period between independence and 1991 the class of export products more or less remained same coal, iron ore, etc. These are primary articles and less valuable as compared to electronic gadgets,etc. India never enhanced the class of export items. So the number of cars, bikes, trucks, started increasing from 1985 onwards. Slowly Indias demand for oil started rising. The policymakers were never able to anticipate that, due to increase in oil demand we will face a economic crisis in near future, so we should take steps now in order to avert the crisis. Also political environment was also unstable during this period due to events like Indira Gandhi death and then unstable government in 1989 and 1990. So initial problem of balance of payments that was small in nature and unnoticeable in 1985 onwards started converting into a big crisis year on year. And in 1991 it resulted into a complete collapse of our balance of payments situation. A condition so grave arised that we didnt had a single penny of foreign currency remaining to buy oil. To understand why this situation arised lets understand Indias economy prior to 1991. From 1947 to 1991 Indias politics and so its government was very much of socialist mindset. Because of recent independence from British empire. And so it feared for any foreign interference in domestic economy. It was very much a closed economy. The government adopted this policy because it wanted to protect Indian companies from competition of foreign companies. So very less foreign companies were allowed to do business or start factory in India. This too was also not easy. There were tremendous

government restrictions and barriers. So India had very few sources of foreign currency. This created a crisis situation in 1991. To overcome this situation , then finance minister Manmohan Singh had no option but turn towards IMF and world bank for help and demand for loan. Also he had to keep quite a big amount of gold from RBIs custody as a security with IMF. IMF was ready to give loan to India but like any banker, was skeptical and non confident that India can repay the loan easily. IMF didnt had confidence because India had not many sources of foreign currency to repay the debt. Also the growth of Indian economy was not so convincing such that tax collection by government would have increased in order to repay the debt. So IMF put conditions and restrictions before Indias finance minister. The main conditions were : to allow foreign companies to invest in India, reduce trade restrictions and barriers, reduce subsidies, adopting flexible currency system, etc. These measures would ensure IMF that India will be able to repay the debt. Now considering the grave situation and to meet its oil demand, our then finance minister had no other option but to accept the rules and restrictions of IMF. Also our finance minister was not confident of current tax collection rate and that it will increase at the optimum desirable rate, such that future debt repayment installments will not affect growth of our economy adversely. So to ensure steady growth of our economy our finance minister accepted the rules and restrictions of IMF. So it resulted in so called Economic Reforms and Manmohan Singh was glamorized in India as a successful and efficient finance minister. He was revered as savior of Indian economy from grave crisis. His image was created as that of a messiah. In this way from 1991 Indias economy became a so called free market economy and slowly it started shifting towards being more a capitalist economy than socialist economy. Initially only few sectors were restricted to foreigners, but slowly more sectors were allowed for foreign investment. In this way crisis situation was averted. By taking lesson from this situation, which we faced because of our own mismanagement and lack of foresight, we (India) now keeps that much foreign currency in RBIs custody, which will be enough to pay import bills of upto 6 months. And RBI now keeps constant watch on these foreign currency reserves and also on the exchange rate of rupee, such that its extreme volatility does not affect the quantity of reserves. Though exchange rate of rupee is dependent completely on market conditions, but in extreme and rare conditions, like current situation when current exchange rate has surpassed 60 Rs. mark for one dollar, RBI intervenes to stabilize the fall of rupee. This intervention is necessary because our external debt is in dollars and if RBI doesnt intervene and exchange rate reaches to very low level, then we will need more rupees to convert them into required dollars to pay the required installment of debt repayment. This will increase already existing huge fiscal deficit and thus less money will be left with government for development. Or else government will have to increase the tax burden or reduce its expenditure, either way affecting growth of our economy negatively.

Of the many options available the two main options to avoid the crisis similar to 1991 are : either to reduce our imports by decreasing our dependency on foreign oil if possible or improve the class of our export products from agricultural based to manufactured products.

By, Sujeet Suresh Patil,

The Depreciating Rupee & India Figures of 8% growth rate , implausible figures of below 3% CAD rate, these are I think frivolous figures estimates of government. With GDP at 20 year low, meager IIP, Rupee at record low and performed one of the worst in this year, these are exacerbating the soundness of our economy. India is recorded at 132nd rank out of 185 countries in Ease of Doing Business, 173rd for Ease of starting business, 182nd for getting construction permit, 152nd for paying taxes, 127th for trading across borders, 184th for Enforcing Contracts. Scarce situations: The rupee has lost more than 13 per cent in a quarter and the investors in stock markets are poorer by 25 per cent in dollar terms. The GDP growth of 4-5 per cent is almost half of what the country has enjoyed during the recent boom period. That jobs become scarce when the economy is down is obvious. The current situation can be compared with the post-Lehman phase of 2008. Auto sector sales are down by 13 per cent compared with the same period last year, which has resulted in adjustment in staffing levels. There are reports of layoffs in sectors such as auto ancillary, hospitality and investment banking, among others.

Trade Deficit Problem On the one hand we dont have enough exports due to bad economic condition of foreign economy, due to ban on iron ore export. And on the other hand we are importing around 76% of oil requirements from outside, we are importing coal to feed our power plants, we are importing natural gas from outside, importing Gold in unprecedented manner even after import curb measures taken by RBI. With some global factors and depreciating rupee the burden on the OMCs are rising & they in turn increasing the fuel prices adding to inflation & this in turn affecting the rupee badly. These are the factors which are directly worsening CAD.

Another problem is of Fiscal Deficit. Due to bad shape of the economy there government is not getting enough revenue out of the corporates in terms of taxes which is their largest source to fill their coffers. And due to election

is approaching government is bound to expend more. And the recent announcement of Food Security Bill will worsen the coffers of government. So the expenditures are increasing & revenue are not increasing at that pace. Another problem is due to slowdown & mood of the market is not good there is no divestment is happening in PSUs & also the spectrum auction last time didnt successful due to high prices of bids. So this source of revenue is also absent. Due to interest rates are still high & economy is still not out of woods & fear of downgrade, mood of the industry & FII is not good. With not enough reforms by government industries are not investing enough, their capex plans are still on hold. And so IIP numbers are not so cheering. Even after announcing some reform measure in different sectors, there is not enough FDI or investment is coming because government is not able to not clear picture for long term growth & related to tax related issues& other bottlenecks. They have announced these short term measures to curb the rupee depreciation & change the mood the of the dalal street. Deterred to the mood of the economy, comes the rupee shocker which touched all time low against US dollar. Some of it happened due to the announcement by Federal Reserve of QE taper as US economy is showing some revival & FII pulled out from its coffers.

Problem of External Debt. Indias short term debt maturing within a year would seem to be a matter of concern against the current backdrop of the declining rupee & US Feds possible change of stance on easy liquidity in future. Short term debt maturing in a year is considered as a real index of a countrys vulnerability on the debt servicing front. It is the sum of the actual short term debt with one year maturity and longer term debt maturing within same year. Indias total external debt ballooned & causes the real problem. The rise was mainly due to increase in short term debt, commercial borrowings & NRI deposits. India has accumulated a lot of short term debt due the hot money from outside. When the developed economies were at laggards in last 4 years, the easy money came to India & with that easy money the short term debt ballooned. If capital flows were dry up due to some unforeseen events & NRI stopped renewing their deposits with India, then 60% of the countrys forex reserves may have to be deployed to pay back foreign borrowings due within a year. A lot of the surge in external debt maturing within next year is on account of big borrowings by big corporates during boom years after 2004.

Corporate Crisis The continuing economic weakness and plunging rupee is only worsening the situation. Indian firms hold nearly $225 bn of dollar denominated debt, half of which is estimated to be unhedged, leaving those firms badly vulnerable as rupee depreciates alarmingly. The corporates in last 5 years had accumulated large amount in their right hand side of balance sheets which now becoming stale with interest rates are are not serviceable. Their interest rate coverage ratio has ballooned. With the help of easy money they entered in different verticals & now they are creating problem for them as they are not performing due to slowdown or the execution plan was not correct. Banks are most vulnerable situation, as many corporates had taken debt, especially in infrastructure, power sector they are facing blues due to bad situation of the economy. The projects are not commissioning & in turn banks NPAs are rising. With all these things India is facing some depreciating situation & facing the fear of downgrade by some credit rating agencies.

Solution So, the government at least have to wake up right now to take some credible steps to shore up the economy. Its not enough to announce some forex measures, announcing some ECB measures, raise duty on gold imports, raise duty on LCD TVs coming from outside. Government must consider from the root cause of the problem. First of all reduce the CAD & also Fiscal Deficit unless & until it cant be curbed there is nothing which can save the economy. So for that start some export oriented measures as some of the western economies are improving so export will get some boost, waive the ban on iron ore export, strengthen the tie up in terms of trade with South East Asian economies to shore up the trade. Need to reduce Trade Deficit which has been ballooned from 2004. Second there must be some more FDI announcement in credible manner in which there must come some FDI amount so that we can get inflow of dollar, FDI should not be for showcasing by government that we are announcing reforms. It should not be like that FDI in multi brand retails have been reduced but still we are waiting for some amount to come. Those happened because the root problem & causes was not cleared by government & those were not clear to those retailers. Ensure that the FDI that are coming they must be of long term nature & not for the time being by Venture Capitalists, Hedge Funds. There are also cases of round tripping investments where the investment is coming from overseas for the benefit of taxation & the n flown back to the country.

So government must be committed to its policies & not to become lame in their policy decisions to take the economy out of the woods.

Name : Abhijit Roy

CHILD LABOUR PROBLEMS AND PANACEA As a very rough weather destroys the buds of the spring, so does to early an experience of lifes hard oil blight the younger promise of a childs faculties, and render any true education impossible. How true these words of Pope Leo XIII sound in the context of children being forced to work. Despite planning , welfare programmes, legislation and administrative action in the past few decades , a large majority od children of the age group of 5-14 years continue to remain in distress and turmoil. Child laboures are exploited, exposed to hazardous work conditions and paid a pittance for their long hours of work. They are forced to leave schooling ,shouldering responsibilities for beyond their years. But no one steps forward to this. On june 17, 1999 the member states of the ILO unanimously voted to adopt convention 182 on the world forms of child labour. It was recognized that ending the commercial exploitation of children must be one of the mankinds to priorities. NGOs trade unions and various social service organization have launced innovative programmes to crub the problem of child labour. Definitional Inadequacy There is a definitional inadequacy of child labour. The conventional definition of a worker adopted by National sample survey organization and population census lead to an under enumeration od child workers as these data sources do not count the unpaid workers in the family enterprises. Although certain work can be benefical and can enhance a childs physical, mental, moral and social development without interfering in schooling and recreation. Studies have shown that helping parents in their household activities or other activities after school in their free time contributes positively to the all round development of a child. When such work is truly a part of the labour, either paid or unpaid and is working within or outside the family; basically, a child who is deprived of the right to education and childhood. Child labour is a nrgative concept. It hampers the normal physical, intellectual and emotional development of a child. UNICEF classified the problems of child labour inti three categories, namely (i) Physical (ii) cognative (iii) Emotional, social and moral. ILOs Recent Survey There are 5.59 million child laborers toiling in the Philippines and almost all of them are working in hazardous conditions, according to a survey financed by the ILO. The 2011 survey on children conducted by the National Statistics office (NSO) abd released Tuesday showed that out of the 29.019 million Filipino children aged 5-17 years old, about 18.9% or 5.59% million, were already working.

This is higher than the 4 million Filipino working children registered in a 2001 survey conducted by the ILO and the US Dept of labour. Of those 5.59 million children at work, 3.028 million were considered as child laborers and 2.993 million were reported to be exposed to hazardous child labour. Worst forms of labour The regions which had the highest incidence of child labour were central Luzon, Bicol, western visayas, Northern Mindanao, and Central Visayas, the survey showed. Ericta said the 2.993 million child laborers exposed to hazardous conditions could include those involved in the worst forms of child labor- the sex trade, drug trafficking, other illicit activities and armed confilict. They could be include but they re not labeled as such. This is because when you ask them where they work, they could say theyre waitresses when they are actually prostituted children. These (2.993 million) are the ones exposed to chemicals biological hazards like bacteria that cause diseases or physical hazards. The Philippines has pledged to reduce by 75% all worst forms of child labor by 2015, which is anchored on the united Nations millennium development goal of achieving universal education. Child Labour in India It is difficult to say an exact figure for the number of children engaged in childs labour in India. This difficulty is attributed to the fact that the Indian Government has been negligent to collect and analyze the relevant data regarding the incidence of child labour. Census data shows an overall child work participation rate of 12.69% in 1961 and 7.13% in 1971. This data is misleading because the difinations of child labour are different in the two censuses ( unpaid workers are not included in the 1971 census), thus a comparision cannot be completely valid. The 1981 census reports that there were 13.6 million child labourers in India. Government extrapolation of this 1981 data place the current number od child labourers between seventeen and twenty million (Human Rights watch 1996). This extrapolation seems highly unlikely as the official National sample survey of 1983 of India reports 17.4 million child ladourers, while a study sponsored by the labour ministry, concluded that the child-labour force was 44 million in 1983. A universal difficulty in obtaining accurate data may be that individual fail to report child labour participation during survey, for fear of legal action. Moreover, all these estimates fall short of the actual figures for a number of other reasons like multiplicity of definations, different methods of computation, diverse sources of data, lack of information on the vast unorganized sector of the economy. These estimates of the magnitude of child labour in India vary

13.6 million The 1981 census 17.36 million The planning commission, 1983 44 million The operation research group, Baroda, 1983 20 Million Labour Ministry, August 1994 12.5 million The 2001 census.

Shocking Revelation Acc to 2001 census, the states where child worker population is more than one million were Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh , Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh ,while the ratio of working children to the total workers was highest in Andhara Pradesh followed by Karnataka ,Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan. Several studies indicate that a majority of the working children are concentrated in the rural area. About 60% oh them are below the age of 10 years. The surveys of the meteropolitan and Megacities make shocking revelations. Mumbai has the largest number of child labourers. The number of children in urban areas who work in the canteens and restaurants or engaged in picking rags and hawking goods is vast but unrecorded. Among the most unfortunate ones are those who are employed in hazardous industries for instance, the fire works and match box units. Pencil industry, glass industry and so on. Most of these children work in dhabas, tea stalls and restaurants on a meager daily wage basis. Perferences for the child workers are most common in unorganized sector because here it is easy for the employers to circumvent laws. Children especially girls are trafficked each year across international borders. They are deprived of the most fundamental human victum and are subjected to thread of violence. Victums trafficking are made to toil under horrific conditions in sweatshops, on construction sites, in fields and in brothels. Women and children some as young as seven to eleven years old, are forced to become sex workers where they suffer physical and mental abuse and are exposed to disease, including infection by the HIV virus. Poverty and child labour Poverty has an obvious relationship with child labour and several studies have revealed a positive correlation, child labour is a source on income for poor families in India. Childrens work is considered essential to maintaining the economic level of households, either in the form for wages. Or to help in household enterprises or in household courses on order to free adult household member for economic activity elsewhere. For the same type of work children are paid less than their adult counterpart. What was apparent is the fact that child labourers are being exploited, evident by the pay that they receive.

Besides poverty one major factor which has a strong relationship with child labour in India is caste. If the data on child labour are compared with the caste structure of the country, it would be evident that a comparatively higher proportion of schedule caste children work at a younger age for their own and their families. Lower caste children tend to be pushed into child labour because of their familys poverty. The combination of poverty and the lack of a social security network is also responsible for bonded child labour. For the poor, there are few credit sources, and even if there are sources like cooperative loan, bank loan etc available, only few poor families manage to satisfy the essential criteria released to access those. Here enters local moneylender, with ex-orbitant high interest rates. Most of the times if is not possible for the poor to return back these loans and the parents exchange their childs labour to local moneylenders. Since the earnings of bonded child labourers are less than the interest on the loans, these bonded children ate forced to work, while interest on their loans goes on accumulating. Even if bonded child labourers are released, The same conditions of poverty that caused the initial debt cause to slip back into bondage. Lastly but not the least, the attitude of parents also contribute to child labour, some parents feel that children should work in order to develop skills useful in the job market, instead of taking advantage of a formal education. Some scholars even argue that the economic justification cited for child labour must be seen less a phenomena of poverty and more of social attitudes and sensibilities. But these arguments are weak in themselves as they seek to compare the growth stages of developing countries to that with the developing countries. Government efforts Non-availability of accurate and up-to-date on child labour has been a major handicap in planned intervention for eradication of this social evil. However, from the time of independence, India has committed itself to contain child labour and has stood through constitutional, and development measures that are required to eliminate child labour. Article 24 of the Indian constitution clearly states that No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory on mine or employed in any hazardous employment. Article 39 (e) directs state policy towards securing : the health and strength of orkers and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter a vocation unsuited to their age of strength. The Indian government implemented the child labour act in 1986. The purpose of this act is to prohibit the employment of children who have no completed their 14 years in specified hazardous occupations and prosesses. Besided this govt has announced the National policy on child labour in August 1987. The Action plan under the policy included: Focusing of general development programmes for benefiting children whenever possible. Project based actions plans in areas of high concentration of child labour engaged in wage/ quasi wage employment.

August 1994, when Prime Minister Narasima Rao announced his proposal of the elimination of child labour programme. This program was designed to end child labour for two million children in hazardous industries as defined in the chilf labour act on 1986, by the year 2000. The programme revolves around an incentive for children to quit their work and enter non-formal schooling: a one hundred rupees payment as well as one meal a day for attending school. Conclusion Despite a plethora of laws and regulations to check this evil, the real problem is in implementation .it is clear that unless overall economic conditions in the country improve, the problem cannot be solved. Coupled with economic growth, there should also be an awareness drive to educate the middle class, entrepreneurs and other employers about taking measures to see that they do not in any way encourage this ugly phenomenon. We have to accept the truth that we, the citizens of this country , are equally responsible for perpetuating this social evil. We have to extend a helping hand to the gonernment agencies, NGOs and other voluntary organizations that are involved in the mission to eradicate this menance.

Bibliography- News papers, Latest ILO websites. Bibhash kumar sharma article related to child labour NAME- ROHIN KOTWAL

Corruption in India:
Introduction Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is not easy to define corruption. But in a narrow sense, corruption is mostly concerned with bribe and it takes several forms. Corruption is a global phenomenon and it is omnipresent. Corruption has progressively increased and is now rampant in our society. Now corruption become complete cross matrix and difficult to get its end. National scenario Corruption in India is a consequence of the nexus between Bureaucracy, politics and criminals. India is now no longer considered a soft state. It has now become a consideration state where everything can be had for a consideration. Today, the number of ministers with an honest image can be counted on fingers. At one time, bribe was paid for getting wrong things done but now bribe is paid for getting right things done at right time.!!! Effects of corruption Indian administration is tainted with scandals. India got 94th rank with 36 score among 174 countries according to the Corruption Perception Index 2012 Report released by Transparency International India. Corruption in India leads to promotion not prison. It is very difficult to catch big shark. Corruption in India has wings not wheels. As nation grows, the corrupt also grow to invent new methods of cheating the government and public. Causes of corruption the causes of corruption are many and complex. Following are some of the causes of corruption. Artificial scarcity created by the people with malevolent intentions wrecks the fabric of the economy. Emergence of political elite who believe in interest-oriented rather than nationoriented programs and policies. Corruption is caused as well as increased because of the change in the value system and ethical qualities of men who administer. The old ideals of morality, service and honesty are regarded as an achromatic. Vast size of population coupled with widespread illiteracy and the poor economic infrastructure lead to endemic corruption in public life.

 In a highly inflationary economy, low salaries of government officials compel them to resort to the road of corruption. Graduates from IIMs with no experience draw a far handsome salary than what government secretaries draw. Complex laws and procedures alienate common people to ask for any help from government. Tolerance of people towards corruption,complete lack of intense public outcry against corruption and the absence of strong public forum to oppose corruption allow corruption to reign over people. Election time is a time when corruption is at its peak level. Big industrialist fund politicians to meet high cost of election and ultimately to seek personal favour. Bribery to politicians buys influence, and bribery by politicians buys votes. In order to get elected, politicians bribe poor illiterate people, who are slogging for two times meal. Measures to combat corruption Corruption is a cancer, which every Indian must strive to cure. Many new leaders when come into power declare their determination to eradicate corruption but soon they themselves become corrupt and start amassing huge wealth (one of the most important agenda of Election 2014!!!). There are many myths about corruption, which have to be exploded if we really want to combat it. Some of these myths are: More and more courts(Evening courts in Gujarat and fast track courts in delhi) should be opened for speedy & inexpensive justice so that cases donate linger in courts for years and justice is delivered on time. Foolproof laws should be made so that there is no room for discretion for politicians and bureaucrats. The role of the politician should be minimized. Application of the evolved policies should be left in the hands of independent commission or authority in each area of public interest. Decision of the commission or authority should be challengeable only in the courts. A new Fundamental Right viz. Right to Information should be introduced, which will empower the citizens to ask for the information they want. Barring some confidential information, which concerns national and international security, other information should be made available to general public as and when required. Stringent actions against corrupt officials will certainly have a deterrent impact.

 Cooperation of the people has to be obtained for successfully containing corruption. People should have a right to recall the elected representatives if they see them becoming indifferent to the electorate. Corruption is a way of life and nothing can be done about it. Only people from underdeveloped or developing countries are prone to corruption. We will have to guard against all these crude fallacies while planning measures to fight corruption. Funding of elections is at the core of political corruption. Electoral reforms are crucial in this regard. Several reforms like: State funding of election expenses for candidates; strict enforcement of statutory requirements like holding in-party elections, making political parties get their accounts audited regularly and filing income-tax returns; denying persons with criminal records a chance to contest elections, should be brought in. Local bodies, Independent of the government, like Lokpals, Lokadalats, CVCs and Vigilance Commissions should be formed to provide speedy justice with low expenses. Responsiveness, accountability and transparency are a must for a clean system. Bureaucracy, the backbone of good governance, should be made more citizen friendly, accountable, ethical and transparent. Conclusion Corruption is an intractable problem. It is like diabetes, can only be controlled, but not totally eliminated (For india its like an AIDS)!!!! It may not be possible to root out corruption completely at all levels but it is possible to contain it within tolerable limits. Corruption is become cross linked matrix so difficult to break that matrix. Honest and dedicated persons in public life, control over electoral expenses could be the most important prescriptions to combat corruption. Corruption has a corrosive impact on our economy (1 $=68 Rupees!!!). It worsens our image in international market and leads to loss of overseas opportunities. Corruption is a global problem that all countries of the world have to confront, solutions, however, can only be home grown. We have tolerated corruption for so long. The time has now come to root it out from its roots.

References: 1. http://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results (time:12.39 pm 25/9/2013)

2. http://www.narendramodi.in/liveevent/social/index.html(time:1 pm 25/9/2013)

3.http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-20/delhi/42251613_1_fast-track-courtsmore-courts-disposal-rate(time:04.30 pm 24/9/2013) 4.http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-20/news/42252741_1_cash-componentindian-placement-reporting-standards-pgp-abm(time:05 pm 24/9/2013) 5. http://www.referencer.in/PayCommission/PayCalculatorPlus.aspx(time: 09.30 am 23/9/2013) 6. White smoke software for language proficiency and correct grammar error as well as spell error. 7.Gala dictionary,2009 8.http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/indian-rupee-vs-us-dollar-at-forex-markets-on-aug-282013/1/198156.html

Address: Dabhi Jayendrakumar Bharatkumar

Disability The culture, prejudices and environment have a great bearing on the meaning of such words, if the word is meant to describe an aspect of human conditions. The words handicapped, disabled, retarded have various meanings and carry the potential for prejudicial stereotypes, discrimination and abuse. The most acceptable definition of disability is provided in UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRP) which states that persons with disabilities include those who have long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. The major cause for disabilities is deficiencies in the management of the environment in which we live. Though constitution of India guarantees equality of all citizens, persons with disabilities have been, in reality, facing stigma, discrimination and neglect due to sociopsychological and cultural reasons. The persons with Disabilities (Equal opportunities, protection of Rights and Full participation) Act1995 and UNCRPD have legislated on making education, employment, access to buildings, transport and information systems available to persons with disabilities. There are nearly 2crore persons having disabilities in India includes persons with visual, hearing, speech, loco motor, intellectual disabilities and multiple disabled. Disability not only affects individual and family but also society and the nation. Non- inclusion of persons with disabilities in the developmental process has several implications, as it may result in loss of income and additional cost to the person with disability, for their care providers and other family. This results in loss of education and social exclusion to them and their family. Our constitution ensures equality, freedom, justice and dignity of all citizens of the country including persons with disabilities without discrimination, which implies an inclusive society for all. Article 14 of the constitution of India relating right to work, education and to public assistance in certain cases, states that the state shall within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases of undeserved want. Disability also appears in the 11th and 12th schedules (pertaining to panchayats and municipalities) of the constitution in this manner. 11th schedule: social welfare, including welfare of the handicapped and mentally retarded, and 12th schedule: safeguarding the interests of weaker sections of society, including the handicapped and mentally retarded. In this sector, there are four legislations namely, Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992, persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full participation) Act, 1995; National Trust for the welfare of persons with Autism, Cerebral palsy. These three are dealt in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 and Mental Health Act, 1997 is dealt in the Ministry of Health and Family welfare. For the empowerment of persons with disabilities, the Department of Disability Affairs has been created in May 2012 under the ministry of social justice and empowerment to give greater emphasis on their policy issues and implementation. The National Policy for persons with Disabilities 2006 seeks to create an environment that provides those equal opportunities, protection of their rights and full participation in society. The policies are based on principles of equality, freedom, justice and dignity of all individuals that are enshrined in the constitution.

Central Government schemes1) Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS) - it envisages financial assistance to NGOs for providing education, vocational training and rehabilitation of PwDs. 2) Scheme of Assistance to Disabled persons for Purchase/ Fitting of Aids/Appliances (ADIP Scheme)- it provides various implementing agencies(NGOs/National Institutes/DDRCs/ALIMCO/State Handicapped Development Corporations/other local bodies) for purchase and assistance devices for the physical rehabilitation of PwDs. 3) Scheme for Implementation of Persons with Disabilities Act(SIPDA)- it provides to state governments , organizations of central/ state governments, including autonomous bodies and universities, for creating barrier free access to their buildings; making websites accessible, and for early detection and diagnosis of hearing impaired. 4) Scheme of Incentive to Employers in the Private Sector for Providing Employment to Persons with Disabilities provides employers. 5) National Scholarship schemes under National Fund as well as Trust Fund, provide financial assistance to students to pursue post-matriculation, professional or technical courses and various skill development courses for their empowerment. 6) The scheme, Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship has been introduced to enable students with disabilities to pursue M.Phil/PhD courses. Governments policy on job reservation in Government sector: 1) 3 percent of the vacancies in case of direct recruitment in all groups posts shall be reserved for PwDs of which 1 percent each shall be reserved for persons suffering from a) blindness or low vision b) hearing impairment and c) locomotors disability or cerebral palsy in the posts identified for each disability 2) 3 percent of vacancies in case of promotion to Group D, and Group C posts in which the element of direct recruitment, if any, does not exceed 75%, shall be reserved for persons with Disabilities of which 1 percent shall be reserved for persons suffering from a) blindness or low vision b) hearing impairment, and c) loco motor disability or cerebral palsy in the posts identified for each disability. Cross-disability movement in India: In 1993, with the creation of Disable Rights Group (DRG), Indias first cross-disability advocacy organisation, that the idea of all rights of all people with disabilities gained currency. Five Year Plans1) 10th Five Year Plan- It focused on effective implementation of various provisions of legislation and National Policy for Persons with Disabilities. 2) 11th Five Year Plan- It aimed at inclusive growth. The plan mandated a firm approach to main stream disability: 1) delineate clear-cut responsibilities between the concerned Ministries/Departments; 2)concerned Ministries/Departments to formulate detailed rules and guidelines within six months of approval of Eleventh plan; 3) ensure that each concerned Ministry/Department shall reserve not less than 3 percent of their annual outlay for the benefit of disabled persons as enjoined in the PwDs Act 1995; 4) Set up monitoring mechanisms at various levels and develop a review system so that its progress can be monitored on a regular and continuing basis. 3) 12th Five Year Plan- main strategy is service delivery and generation of public awareness about disability rights.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)CRPD is the first human rights treaty of 21st century. CRPD underlined the need to look at the human rights of people with disabilities who comprise some of poorest and most vulnerable section of society. It established disability as a cross cutting human rights issue. The Government ratified the Convention on October 1, 2007. India became the 7 th country in the world to ratify CRPD. There are four categories of developmental disability 1) Autism- it is complex condition that appears during the first three years of life. It has been classified as Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), it meant to indicate severe and interrelated impairment in several areas of development. 2) Cerebral Palsy (CP)- it means damaging to maturing brain. 3) Mental Retardation (MR)- it is a delay, or slowness, in a childs mental development 4) Multiple Disabilities (MD)- it means combination of two or more disabilities defined in clause (i) of section 2 of PwDs Act 1995. The disabilities defined there are blindness, low vision, leprosy cured, hearing impairment, mental retardation, mental illness. The Ministry of health through its flagship programme Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram is now setting up massive operations for screening and early intervention. Education- India has the second largest education system in the world, with more than 200 million school aged students. While national average of enrolment in schools is over 90 percent, less than 5 percent of children with disabilities are enrolled in schools. Initiatives and schemes of inclusive education: 1) The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan- it is programme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. It has set goal of providing 8years of elementary education for all children including children with disabilities in the age group of 6-14 years. 2) Integrated Education for Disabled Children- children with disability in the age group of 4 14 years are provided free education. Although government is the primary stakeholder, a number of NGOs and private institutions are playing major role in the promotion of inclusive education like Amar Jyoti School in Delhi and Gwalior Primary goals of inclusive education a) To bring out best in the child without alienating him. b) To assist child in developing basic skills to cope with day to day challenge. c) To develop skills that will enable the child to become self reliant. d) To help the child develop a desirable attitude towards society. Portrayal of Disability in Literature and CinemaOur mythology and puranas also contain examples of differently-abled individuals like Dhristrashtra, Manthara, Ashtaavakra etc. Films too have given space to representation of disability in various artistic forms. Barfi, a film by Anurag Basu became the Official entry of India for Oscars. Sanjeev Kumar was appreciated for playing the disabled in the legendary film Sholay although we do know that his disability was incidental rather than being from birth. In the film Koi Mil Gaya (2003) Hrithik Roshan played a mentally challenged whose mental age was that of eight year child although his biological age was twenty years. The Oscar winning movie The Kings Speech is classic example of a beautiful portrayal of disability. Tare Zameen Par (2007) is a sensitive movie based on deep insight into the grim based realities of our day-to-day life. And many more movies dwelling upon disabilities.

by M.Tejaswi

ESSAY Topic: - Is the criticism Indian tribes merely gaud and albatross to countries economic development justified?

Introduction to people of fourth world-The Indian Tribes India, country with Brobdingnagian collection of different racial, ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. With an agenda to safeguard, replenish and uplift immense diversity of its entire nation it phrases, adopted and enacted The Constitution of India. Securing to its all citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity via declaring herself as sovereign, secular, socialist and democratic republic. Among its large population of different social group Tribes form a major portion that are still in dark light of countrys fast growing economic development post 67 years of independence.

Brief Introduction to Tribes Tribe forms a major portion with 8.2% of countries total population and sharing 15% of total countrys land. They live in distinct climatic, hilly and forest land condition called as area of isolation and people of fourth world. Main areas of concentration of Indian tribal The north eastern region (NER):-Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The central tribal belt :- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, and West Bengal. Other States and Union Territories: - Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Gaps between tribals and general population Inadequate infrastructure and development facilities in tribal areas for education, roads, healthcare, communication, drinking water and sanitation. Characteristic of Tribes Indigenous and their own distinctive culture. Importance to traditional values and social ethos. Geographically isolated and low in socio-economic conditions.

Reason behind Socio-economic backwardness Past and present colonialism. Their habitation in forests and hilly tracts resulting in the bypassing of general developmental programs. Poverty, unemployment, displacement, indebtedness, lack of opportunities, accessibility. Non homogeneous social-economic level among different tribal communities.

 Truckload of Govt. scheme for Tribal development Government of India has National Commission, 5th and 6th Schedule for the protection and administrative dispensation of tribals in the Central Indian States and North-Eastern Region States providing them with special provisions for their welfare and development. The Provision of Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 which confers special powers to Gramsabha in 5th Scheduled Areas. The National Tribal Policy covering various issues like alienation of tribal land, rehabilitation, displacement, tribal forest interface, resettlement etc. Tribal research institute providing planning inputs to state related to problem of tribes in respective states. The Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) to raise economic and social status of tribals via integrated development effort to develop their agriculture, animal husbandry, irrigation, forestry, education, health and employment- Policy framework and administrative implementation strategy.
Albatross to countries economic development

To manifest the need of economic development planning commission in India initiated big development projects. Majority of them fall up in tribal areas and on the lands owned by tribals. Number of projects often called as economic development projects are as follows:(i) Irrigation and Power Projects (ii) Industries Projects (iii)Mining Projects (iv) Forest and Wildlife Projects These projects are taken up in areas rich in natural resources like water, minerals and ores and forests. These areas mostly inhibited by tribal people who called them a whammy to their society. Vast tracts of minerals wealth in India lie in tribal areas and on the lands owned by tribals but govt. complain that they rarely reap any benefit due to difficulties in acquiring land and tribals susceptible nature towards their land. Recent example a project in a joint venture between Sterlite Industries, a unit of Vedanta, and the Orissa Mining Corp, a state government enterprise wants to begin mining in Niyamgiri Hill, Orissa to feed Lanjigarh Aluminium refinery located in mineral rich state of Orissa which has stop its operating due to a shortage of bauxite. Niyamgiri Hill and its adjoining forest area, the house of the 8,000-strong Dongria Kondh tribal group who opposed this step to mine their land.

Govt. stand Want to create jobs in an improvised region and bring tribal people into the economic mainstream. Private Company stand Promised to fund school, clinics and engage in income generation projects in the area. Dongria Kondh tribes stand Niyamgiri Hill a sacred mountain to them. They rely for their crops and livelihood for nearly a decade Mine would destroy the forest and disrupt the rivers in the Niyamgiri hills which are central to the livelihood and identity of 8000 strong tribes.

Real Consequences of these mining projects Extensive displacement of tribals, loss of livelihood and identity and turn them to destitute. With the hope to benefit economic growth it would only trickle down to the poor community. It merely disturbed the traditional resource-utilization pattern and existing mode of production with an advanced mode of production. Process of acquiring land by govt. is an inevitable process leads to mass displacement of poor tribals. Land Rehabilitation & Resettlement Policy of govt. takes years for resettling displaced tribals lead to bulk migration of these communities towards states for searching small- small jobs.

Govt. Failure and tribal win Our constitutional right of Right to liberty of worship. Wide international support via survival international which campaign for the right of tribes. International Labour organization (ILO) report on Indias indigenous population claims that more than half of the countries mineral wealth is obtained by violating the rights of tribals. This international pressure and religious right helped Dongria Kondh to save their land and culture. But there are so many tribal masses who are the culprits of economic development. One question came to this is tribal win in this case is purely due to worship right or international pressure or both, and if there might be absence of both (worship right and international pressure as in many of past cases) tribes would have lost. Economic Burden on Government With the advent of new technology in succession with the standard of living it encumbrance the government responsibility which further leads to condone tribes subsistence and using its eminent domain to fulfill its need. This put a sequence of questions to all citizens of India for whom constitution was phrased to uplift and secure them. Is countrys economic development is above 15% tribal citizens and can only be developed by riding on their livelihood. Are we ignoring our brother and sisters right to enjoy countries independence and economic development and condign censure for being a tribe? Measures that Govt. must take to ensure this would not happen again Govt. must stand for rather than provocative measure like eminent domain. Help them by creating infrastructure necessary for agriculture growth. Knowledge them to participate in agriculture growth and thereby increasing countrys GDP. Creating market for tribes who are engaged with fishing, horticulture activities. Policy making is rather simpler task than execution and implementation; govt. must take several measures to successfully implement her policies.

What if Govt. continues to enact provocative measure like eminent domain?

Displacement of tribals from their land leads to disturbance of their life, livelihood and destruction of their social, cultural, religious and economic traditions.

Various international organizations taking advantage their vulnerable nature might try to seditious them, handling over illegal arms which lead to formation of new naxalism or mujahidin groups. Putting them back in the backwardness of economic development.

Conclusion In short post-independence period various measures govt. has initiated for their up-liftment which are very well appreciated but some important factors are overlooked. It is no harm to accept that we are wrong somewhere in the line that is why Supreme Court and our acts are not accepted internationally. Govt. should reconsider her act and not criticize tribals by words like gaud and albatross to countries economic development and helps nation to build spirit of togetherness. References:1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10253003/Indian-tribals-rejectVedantas-mining-proposal-in-sacred-hills.html 2. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10234593/Tribal-peoples-victoryover-Vedanta-historic-moment.html 3. http://tribesindia.com/ 4. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/has-government-weakened-its-case-againstvedanta 5. http://www.cseindia.org/ 6. http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/5546 7. Geography of India Majid Husain, Chapter 13 Culture Setting 8. Creation of essay title- Taken help from UPSC CS 2012 Essay Paper 9. http://tribal.nic.in/Content/IntroductionScheduledTribes.aspx 10. Factors Influencing Socio-Economic Status of the Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) and Plain Tribes in Andhra Pradesh (A Logistic Regression Analysis) by M. Sundara Rao and 2B. Lakshmana Rao,Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, A.P., India, Dr. B.R Ambedkar University, Etcherla, A.P., India. 11. Development, Displacement and Rehabilitation of Tribal People: A Case Study of Orissa by Sujit Kumar Mishra, Department of Economics, School of Social Science, University of Hyderabad 500 046, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Name

: - Tarun Kumar Sharma

Much Awaited Food Security Bill - The National Food Security Bill (NFSB) was originally introduced in Parliament in December 2011. The bill was cleared by a parliamentary committee in January. Lok Sabha on 8th May 2013 failed to pass because of opposite party not supporting the much-hyped National Food Security Bill which seeks to ensure access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people. - Food security means the easy availability and access of food at all times in sufficient quantity in a safe and nutritious form to meet the dietary requirements and food preferences for an active, healthy and productive life. - The government may soon pass the National Food Security Bill to give millions more people cheap food, fulfilling an election promise of the ruling Congress party that could cost about $23 billion a year and take a third of annual grain production. The Bill seeks to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. Just like two faces of coin it The Food Security Bill is also mixture of good and bad taste. Brighter Side of Coin Right to food to become a legal right- The proposed bill aims to provide legal right over subsidized food grain to 67 per cent of the population. The bill provide uniform allocation of 5 kg food grain (per person) at fixed rate of Rs. 3 (rice), Rs. 2 (wheat) and Rs. 1 (coarse grains) per kg to 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the poor in urban India about 800 million people. Continuance of Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) Protection to 2.43 crore poorest of poor families under the Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) to supply of 35 kg food grains per month per family would continue. Nutritional support to pregnant women without limitation are among other changes proposed in the bill. The bill will extend subsidized food to pregnant women and children under the age of 16. It is positive that it is including those who really need nutritious food The Bill proposes meal entitlements to specific groups. These include: pregnant women and lactating mothers, children between the ages of six months and 14 years, malnourished children, disaster affected persons, and destitute, homeless and starving persons. For children in the age group of 6 months to 6 years, the Bill guarantees an ageappropriate meal, free of charge, through the local anganwadi. For children aged 6-14 years, one free mid-day meal shall be provided every day (except on school holidays) in all schools run by local bodies, government and government aided schools, up to Class VIII. For children below six months, exclusive breastfeeding shall be promoted. Endeavors to empower woman- The eldest woman in the household shall be entitled to secure food from the PDS for the entire household. Bill seeks to utilize already existing infrastructures like PDS and aganwadis. This has prevented further wastage of money to develop the infrastructures. Darker side of Coin Credibility of PDS system- The government intends to use the Public Distribution System for delivering subsidies to the poor. The PDS is already used to deliver food subsidies

to the poor but around 51% of the food delivered that way is currently lost to leakages. It is sold on the open market for a higher price. The government is also considering using direct cash transfers. In cases where the government is not able to make food available in the PDS then they will give cash payments to be used for food directly into peoples bank accounts. I think here bill is deviating from its purpose. Bill is to provide access to food not money in lieu of food. The cost of food grains is rising globally then how would government be able to provide subsidized food to 70% Indian population? What are we going to do in a drought or a flood? The production of rice and wheat might come down dramatically. If we are entering the global market then the global price would shoot up along with the subsidy bill. If this situation prevails and climate change takes, place what is going to happen? Effect on farmers and producers- The very low prices of the subsidized food will distort the market and farmers who cant sell to the government-assured program will lose out on the open market because prices will be forced down. Hence the person who are not poor at present but will become poor in days to come. How to be implemented? Things are not very clear how it will be initiated. Every district will have a grievance officer who will deal with complaints about implementation at the local level. We dont know how that will function but they have the authority to punish people who are not giving out the food. Still the commission under this bill is yet to be set. Failure to define the beneficiaries are some of the shortcomings of the bill. Also, the scheme does not define the beneficiaries properly. The bill says that States will provide the list of the poor but they have no such records. So, whether it will reach the right persons is hypothetical. Division among three groups priority, general and excluded and adopting a complex, impractical and politically contentious inclusive criteria that too to be provided at later stage. Not enough resources- Moreover, to implement this scheme, the total estimated annual food grains requirements will be 61.23 million tones and is likely to cost Rs.1,24,724 crore. Given the rising costs of the scheme and rising population, its sustainability is under question. This is a mega program and will require a huge food subsidy. The cost of it will go up from 0.8% of Gross Domestic Product to around 1.1% of GDP. This is a serious increase in a situation where the government does not have enough resources as it is. Based on schemes which are already in trial stages- It will be linked to the Aadhar scheme which provides every citizen with a unique identification number thats linked to a database that includes the biometrics of all card-holders. Aadhar scheme and direct cash transfer both are in their trial stages. So burdening an still developing programme will lead to total failure. Implementing this bill could widen the already swollen budget deficit next year, increasing the risk to its coveted investment-grade status. The government has already budgeted 900 billion rupees for the scheme in the current fiscal year ending March 2014. If the bill is passed, it will need to come up with as much as 1.3 trillion rupees in 2014/15, adding to a total subsidy burden that already eats up about 2.4 percent of gross domestic product. Critics say the food bill is little more than an attempt to help Congress, reeling from corruption scandals, win re-election in a vote expected by next May. Critics argue that eradication of malnutrition needs more than just removal of hunger. Food security is necessary but not sufficient for nutrition security.

Polishing the darker side We should have learned lessons from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (which provides 100 days of work to the poor at 100 rupees a day) and strengthened it to make it more effective to help the very poorest. Those who are part of that program should be targeted for this subsidy. Or we could link it to education as they did in Bangladesh where school children and their families were given access to subsidized food. The bill should have included subsidized rates for pulses which for many of the poorest are their only source of protein and highly nutritious. The price of pulses has gone up, making them out of reach for many. We need to reduce the leakages from the distribution system and make it transparent. This bill has transparency provisions but do not provide how this transparency shall be achieved. Community based agricultural programs and teaching about sustainable farming shall enhance production in the country. And this in turn would bring down the prices of various essential commodities and people can be self sufficient themselves. Reliance on government programs would reduce and this would give people a feeling of security and not fear of dependence. For reducing loopholes in PDS system government must take lessons from Chattisgarh government where after the delivery is made to PDS branch, all the beneficiaries get a message though mobiles about the same, so they know about it and reach to PDS branch on time. ConclusionThis bill is a good initiative but not a sufficient measure. A more better food security bill can be there. But still something is better than nothing.

Name

Shreegopal Totala

Global food security under climate change

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines food security as a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (A) This definition comprises four key dimensions of food supplies: (1) Availability (2) Stability (3) Access and (4) Utilization The first dimension relates to the availability of sufficient food, i.e. to the overall ability of the agricultural system to meet food demand. Its sub dimensions include the agro-climatic Fundamentals of crop and pasture production. (B) and the entire range of socio-economic and cultural factors that determine where and how farmers perform in response to markets. The second dimension, stability, relates to individuals who are at high risk of temporarily or permanently losing their access to the resources needed to consume adequate food, either because these individuals cannot ensure ex ante against income shocks or they lack enough reserves to smooth consumption ex post or both. An important cause of unstable access is climate variability, e.g., landless agricultural laborers, who almost wholly depend on agricultural wages in a region of erratic rainfall and have few savings, would be at high risk of losing their access to food. However, there can be individuals with unstable access to food even in agricultural communities where there is no climate variability, e.g., landless agricultural laborers who fall sick and cannot earn their daily wages would lack stable access to food if, for example, they cannot take out insurance against illness. The third dimension, access, covers access by individuals to adequate resources (entitlements) to acquire appropriate foods for a nutritious diet. Entitlements are defined as the set of all those commodity bundles over which a person can establish command given the legal, political, economic, and social arrangements of the community of which he or she is a member. Thus a key element is the purchasing power of consumers and the evolution of real incomes and food prices. However, these resources need not be exclusively monetary but may also include traditional rights, e.g., to a share of common resources. Finally, utilization encompasses all food safety and quality aspects of nutrition; its sub dimensions are therefore related to health, including the sanitary conditions across the entire food chain. It is not enough that someone is getting what appears to be an adequate quantity of food if that person is unable to make use of the food because he or she is always falling sick. Agriculture is not only a source of the commodity food but, equally importantly, also a source of income. In a world where trade is possible at reasonably low cost, the crucial issue for food security is not whether food is available, but whether the monetary and nonmonetary resources at the disposal of the population are sufficient to allow everyone access to adequate quantities of food. An important corollary to this is that national self-sufficiency is neither necessary nor sufficient to guarantee food security at the individual level.

Numerous measures are used to quantify the overall status and the regional distribution of global hunger. None of these measures covers all dimensions and facets of food insecurity described above. This also holds for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicator of undernourishment The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) measure, however, has a number of advantages. First, it covers two dimensions of food security, availability and access; Second, the underlying methodology is straightforward and transparent; and Third, the parameters and data needed for the FAO indicator are readily available for past estimates and can be derived without major difficulties for the future. Climate Change and Food Security: - Impacts on Food Production and Availability. Climate change affects agriculture and food production in complex ways. It affects food production directly through changes in agro-ecological conditions and indirectly by affecting growth and distribution of incomes, and thus demand for agricultural produce. Impacts have been quantified in numerous studies and under various sets of assumptions . Changes in temperature and precipitation associated with continued emissions of greenhouse gases will bring changes in land suitability and crop yields. In particular, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considers four families of socio-economic development and associated emission scenarios, known as Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A2, B2, A1, and B1 (C). Of relevance to this review, of the SRES scenarios, A1, the business-as-usual scenario, corresponds to the highest emissions, and B1 corresponds to the lowest. The other scenarios are intermediate between these two. Importantly for agriculture and world food supply, SRES A2 assumes the highest projected population growth of the four (United Nations high projection) and is thus associated to the highest food demand. (D) In temperate latitudes, higher temperatures are expected to bring predominantly benefits to agriculture: the areas potentially suitable for cropping will expand, the length of the growing period will increase, and crop yields may rise. A moderate incremental warming in some humid and temperate grassland may increase pasture productivity and reduce the need for housing and for compound feed. These gains have to be set against an increased frequency of extreme events, for instance, heat waves and droughts in the Mediterranean region or increased heavy precipitation events and flooding in temperate regions, including the possibility of increased coastal storms (E); they also have to be set against the fact that semiarid and arid pastures are likely to see reduced livestock productivity and increased livestock mortality. In drier areas, climate models predict increased evapotranspiration and lower soil moisture levels. As a result, some cultivated areas may become unsuitable for cropping and some tropical grassland may become increasingly arid. Temperature rise will also expand the range of many agricultural pests and increase the ability of pest populations to survive the winter and attack spring crops. Another important change for agriculture is the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. Depending on the SRES emission scenario, the atmospheric CO2 concentration is projected to increase from 379 ppm today to 550 ppm by 2100 in SRES B1 to 800 ppm in SRES A1FI. Higher CO2 concentrations will have a positive effect on many crops, enhancing biomass accumulation and final yield. However, the magnitude of this effect is less clear, with important differences depending on management type (e.g., irrigation and fertilization regimes) and crop type.

Finally, a number of recent studies have estimated the likely changes in land suitability, potential yields, and agricultural production on the current suite of crops and cultivars available today. Therefore, these estimates implicitly include adaptation using available management techniques and crops, but excluding new cultivars from breeding or biotechnology. These studies are in essence based on the FAO/International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) agro-ecological zone (AEZ) methodology Impacts on the Stability of Food Supplies. Global and regional weather conditions are also expected to become more variable than at present, with increases in the frequency and severity of extreme events such as cyclones, floods, hailstorms, and droughts. By bringing greater fluctuations in crop yields and local food supplies and higher risks of landslides and erosion damage, they can adversely affect the stability of food supplies and thus food security. If climate fluctuations become more pronounced and more widespread, droughts and floods, the dominant causes of short term fluctuations in food production in semiarid and sub humid areas, will become more severe and more frequent. In semiarid areas, droughts can dramatically reduce crop yields and livestock numbers and productivity. Again, most of this land is in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia, meaning that the poorest regions with the highest level of chronic undernourishment will also be exposed to the highest degree of instability in food production. How strongly these impacts will be felt will crucially depend on whether such fluctuations can be countered by investments in irrigation, better storage facilities, or higher food imports. In addition, a policy environment that fosters freer trade and promotes investments in transportation, communications, and irrigation infrastructure can help address these challenges early on. Impacts of Climate Change on Food Utilization. Climate change will also affect the ability of individuals to use food effectively by altering the conditions for food safety and changing the disease pressure from vector, water, and food-borne diseases. The main concern about climate change and food security is that changing climatic conditions can initiate a vicious circle where infectious disease causes or compounds hunger, which, in turn, makes the affected populations more susceptible to infectious disease. The result can be a substantial decline in labor productivity and an increase in poverty and even mortality. Essentially all manifestations of climate change, be they drought, higher temperatures, or heavy rainfalls have an impact on the disease pressure, and there is growing evidence that these changes affect food safety and food security. The recent IPCC report also emphasizes that increases in daily temperatures will increase the frequency of food poisoning, particularly in temperate regions. Warmer seas may contribute to increased cases of human shellfish and reeffish poisoning (ciguatera) in tropical regions and a pole ward expansion of the disease. However, there is little new evidence that climate change significantly alters the prevalence of these diseases. Several studies have confirmed and quantified the effects of temperature on common forms of food poisoning, such as salmonellosis. Uncertainties and Limitations

The finding that socio-economic development paths have an important bearing on future food security and that they are likely to top the effects of climate change should not, or at least not only, be interpreted as a probability-based forecast. This is because SRES scenarios offer a range of possible outcomes without any sense of likelihood. Yet SRES scenarios, like all scenarios, do not overcome the inability to accurately project future changes in economic activity, emissions, and climate. Second, the existing global assessments of climate change and food security have only been able to focus on the impacts on food availability and access to food, without quantification of the likely important climate change effects on food safety and vulnerability (stability). This means that these assessments neither include potential problems arising from additional impacts due to extreme events such as drought and floods nor do they quantify the potential impacts of changes in the prevalence of food-borne diseases (positive as well as negative) or the interaction of nutrition and health effects through changes in the proliferation of vector-borne diseases such as malaria. On the food availability side, they also exclude the impacts of a possible sea-level rise for agricultural production or those that are associated with possible reductions of marine or freshwater fish production. Third, it is important in terms of food availability, all current assessments of world food supply have focused only on the impacts of mean climate change, i.e., they have not considered the possibility of significant shifts in the frequency of extreme events on regional production potential, nor have they considered scenarios of abrupt climate or socioeconomic change; any of these scenario variants is likely to increase the already negative projected impacts of climate change on world food supply. Models that take into account the specific biophysical, technological, and market responses necessary to simulate realistic adaptation to such events are not yet available. Finally, we note that assessments that do not only provide scenarios, but also attach probabilities for particular outcomes to come true could provide an important element for improved or at least better-informed policy decisions .A number of possibilities are offered to address the related modeling challenges. One option would be to produce such estimates with probability-based estimates of the (key) model parameters. Conclusions Climate change will affect all four dimensions of food security, namely food availability (i.e., production and trade), access to food, stability of food supplies, and food utilization (1, 43). The importance of the various dimensions and the overall impact of climate change on food security will differ across regions and over time and, most importantly, will depend on the overall socio-economic status that a country has accomplished as the effects of climate change set in. Essentially all quantitative assessments show that climate change will adversely affect food security. Climate change will increase the dependency of developing countries on imports and accentuate existing focus of food insecurity on sub-Saharan Africa and to a lesser extent on South Asia. Within the developing world, the adverse impacts of climate change will fall disproportionately on the poor. However, it is likely that differences in socio-economic development paths will also be the crucial determinant for food utilization in the long run and that they will be decisive for the ability to cope with problems of food instability, be they climate-related or caused by other factors.

Finally, all quantitative assessments show that the first decades of the 21st century are expected to see low impacts of climate change, but also lower overall incomes and still higher dependence on agriculture. During these first decades, the biophysical changes as such will be less pronounced but climate change will affect those particularly adversely that are still more dependent on agriculture and have lower overall incomes to cope with the impacts of climate change. By contrast, the second half of the century is expected to bring more severe biophysical impacts but also a greater ability to cope with them. The underlying assumption is that the general transition in the income formation away from agriculture toward non-agriculture will be successful. How strong the impacts of climate change will be felt over all decades will crucially depend on the future policy environment for the poor. Freer trade can help to improve access to international supplies; investments in transportation and communication infrastructure will help provide secure and timely local deliveries; irrigation, a promotion of sustainable agricultural practices, and continued technological progress can play a crucial role in providing steady local and international supplies under climate change.

PATEL SHWETA HARSHADBHAI BOOK: - Food and Agriculture Organization

Liberalization and Globalization in Third World Countries

Introduction Recent trends in the economies of developing countries across the globe has reignited the debate about liberalization and globalization, a panacea or disaster. Liberalization means to minimize the state intervention in business activities, making norms and regulation more liberal and let market factors play more important roles in economy. Globalization is making local markets available to foreign companies by easing the norms for foreign investment. Why Nations followed path of Liberalization and Globalization In the late twentieth century, most of the developing countries opened their markets for global players and start making more liberal policies for local market players as well as for global market players. Liberalization and globalization was sought to be the answer for fast socio economic development, removing deep rooted corruption practices, eradicating mass poverty and unemployment and social upliftment. We have got the results as expected in many nations. Private firms and foreign multinational firms are providing quality employment to many citizens in their respective countries. High end technology for various fields is being employed in many countries. Traditional products which are specialty of some regions are easily available in other parts of world. Small and medium scale industries are continuously emerging globally and generating large employment along with the increase in GDP of the respective countries. So we can say that much has been achieved as desired and nations are in right path to build a better society in all aspects. Liberalization in India All around the world economy is either driven by market forces which is also known as capitalism or it is driven by state. In context of India, our country choose to follow mixed economy when we got independence. In a mixed economy nations try to include good points of market driven and state controlled economy. After independence private firms were allowed to do business in India. But there were very tight regulations and rules by the government. License was given by government for all the business and getting the license was in itself a difficult task. In other words environment was not conducible to do any business activity in the country. This has resulted in widespread corruption in all levels of government and huge revenue loss to the government of India. This leads to the crisis of 90s. After this Indian economy headed towards more market oriented way. License raj was reduced and norms were made more liberal and soothing for the private companies. This has resulted in growth, development and advancement of our country. There were negative impacts also associated with liberalization. Environment degradation being the most important one. Also with more financial powers in the hand of few private companies, government is not able to take care of the interest of poor and marginalized

person. Recent examples of Land acquisition from farmers for benefit of private firms can be quoted in this reference.

Globalization in India Developing countries in search of better technology and developed countries in search of more markets for their products engage with each other in various international platforms to promote globalization. Key point to note here is that globalization helps each nation to have access to any other nations. Globalization has helped in creating huge opportunities of employment in our countries. Multinational companies helped in creating direct and indirect employment to lot of people. Indirect employment is through the local ecosystem in which multinational companies depends. Foreign companies also help to improve the society by contributing through corporate social responsibility programme. However there are negative of globalization as well. Although interest of local players are taken care by various methods, like maintaining negative list of commodities which cannot be imported from other countries. Similarly other restriction are in place. However adverse effects are seen in very small to small scale industries with more globalization.

Are Nations heading in right direction? Positive effects of liberalization and globalization are clearly visible in current scenario in third world countries. However recent slowdown in developing countries with the policies of developed world has raised the question of self-sustaining capability of nations. Experts are saying if economies of third world counties are still working under the indirect control of developed countries. Best way to solve a problem is not to uproot that process with a new one, mimicking the solution of some other nations. History is evident that even the countries like Russia moved towards liberal economy to get away from the evils of Government controlled economy. Market driven economy has always produced better result in all part of the world. One reason of success of market driven economy is that it is motivated by profit making. While government controlled economy are driven by people welfare. But one of the biggest problem of market driven economy is increase in inequality in the society. Big players always has advantage in any game. This is observed in current scenario as well. Third world countries with huge disparity in income level among their citizens face the problem of inequality very much. With rise in liberalization and globalization inequality is further increasing. Policy makers of every country must answer this problem to avoid future consequences, which may lead to civil disturbances or other problems.

Terms dictated by developed countries With open market access to all, developed countries are always at an edge to dictate the terms in a transaction. Having better technology and skill, these countries are often accused of out sourcing that work which is of inferior quality to the developing countries. This prevents developing countries to fully unlock the potential available in their citizens. This can be observed in our country that BOP industry which is considered as low quality work is largely being outsourced here, while developed countries engage themselves in research and development type of work. Further influence of developed countries in forcing some legislative decision in their favor is also observed. This is clear interference in the sovereignty of a nation. Developed countries are often complained of taking raw material from the developing countries and supply finished products to them. This model is always likely to increase the cash deficit of developing countries. Complex Web We have already came so much ahead that a complex web of all nations have formed. And it seems inevitable to be get away from this network. Everyone depends upon everybody. This network is so complex that repercussion of any event at one place can be seen globally. Effect of larger economies are largely felt. Recent news of US federal bank thinking to reduce the economic stimulus has badly shaken the economy of almost every third world country. This has raised the important question that are we governed by some other forces which is not in our control? Are we in the mercy of developed countries to survive in these circumstances? Way Ahead Economy runs on sentiments and it is highly advisable to have optimistic view about the economy. By working in a proper direction, designing the policies judiciously and keeping future in mind and implementing them properly, every nation in the world has enough talent to prosper and become self-sustainable. The need of hour is to understand that over reliance on others will never pave the way. Nations have to make way for them by their own. By Rajesh

SHOULD JUVENILES BE TREATED AS ADULTS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM?

Giving a 10-year mandatory minimum for a second offense fist fight is not going to reduce the chance that someone will be stabbed 16 times when you are not funding any of the programs that are desperately needed to actually reduce juvenile crime.
Bobby Scott

Juvenile stage is a transition from childhood to adulthood, with sky is the limit expectation and hope, which is a stage of tremendous physiological, hormonal, emotional as well as structural change in the human brain and therefore it is a time of great vulnerability. Recent spine chilling incident of rape and murder in Delhi followed by rape of a journalist in Mumbai, along with many such incidents in the media has started a debate in every corner of the country from drawing room to parliament, has the time come to prosecute juveniles as adults in case of heinous crime? Looking at the degree of cruelty and violence of the incidents and nature of crime, is it become necessary to prosecute the juvenile as adult? National Criminal Record Bureau (NCRB) in its report on Crime of India 2011 and 2012 has given some eye opening statistics on the ever increasing juvenile crime. Juvenile crime has increased by 64% in the age group of 16-18. Similarly rape, theft and abduction of women have risen by 188%, 200% and 600% respectively. So this data is crystal clear to show that time has come for a stringent punishment as that of adults in case of heinous crime. However, both the side of the coin must be studied and analysed before jumping to the final conclusion. Coupled with this, according to Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, current provisions to deal with juvenile crime, is based on counselling and send to remand home. But the fact is that we have only 700 plus remand homes to accommodate 35,000 juveniles whereas in India little less than 24 lakh cases related to juvenile delinquency are going on India. Moreover, Rehabilitation home lacks skilled, trained and committed staff. Even it is in media that, juveniles learn modus operandi of crime from others in the home. So the expectation for transforming a juveniles brain in the remand home seems a big question. So the experienced and trained persons from institution like Tata Institute of Social Science can address this issue which should be done to achieve the objective of remand home. So looking at the status of remand home and police report which shows that many of the remand home juveniles are repeated offenders, the imperative need of amending the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 cant be ruled out. But can we amend the act, as India being the signatory of International law of UN convention on Right to child, 1989? We believe that under 18 are physically and mentally immature. So we can focus the nature of act for the juvenile crime in US and UK who are also signatory of the UN convention. In US, for the age group of 13-15 and more, violent and serious crime, juveniles are transferred from youth court to adult court without considering them with compassion. As a result there is a reduction in number of juvenile crimes since 1990s in US. Similar fashion

followed in UK with extended sentence for sexual assault and other cases is trailed in crown court and not in youth court. In short, UN convention is not restricting anybody to prohibit prosecuting a child as an adult in case of extreme form of crime. In other words it is giving enough scope to prosecute them as adults. So time has come to amend the law in the line of US and UK which has seen dwindling of the heinous crime. Since law is dynamic concept, with change of time and circumstances and there should be progressive legislation which can check the deterrent of social ethics and behaviour of juvenile. So time has come for a get tough approach for the heinous crime. However, the other side of the coin need to be studied to understand upto what extent of crime can be treated to fit as adults. There are certain misconceptions prevailing in the society which have to be understood in this regard. First misconception, juvenile crime is extremely high in India. In fact 1-2% of juvenile crimes come under Indian Penal code. Among them, heinous crime is a fraction. Juvenile Crime many a time exaggerated by media, that paints a wrong picture in the society. Experts are of the view that, major reasons behind this are poor financial status, illiteracy and improper guidance. So it is time to give a strike at the root by ensuring education coupled with employment for the juveniles. Second misconception, there should not be any difference in trial of a juvenile and adult. Various reports suggest that likelihood of adolescents committing crime is higher than adults due the emotional and physiological transition. So they need utmost care and attention to complete their rough passage to adulthood. So they deserve a second chance in case of minor crimes. Hence all cases pertaining to juvenile may not be treated as one fit for all approach. Third misconception, juvenile committing crime cant be reverting back. An organisation named ECHO, has trained juvenile criminals to assist traffic police so gave them an opportunity to become law enforcer from law breaker. So the fact that cant be ruled out that, if wrong circumstances made them criminal, proper opportunity and support also can drag them back to the main stream. It is a matter of chance that education and proper guidance make other civilised otherwise they would have the same fate as that of juvenile crimes. We need to understand that, If We can change the gene of any living being by genetic engineering, we also can change the behaviour and attitude of a juvenile. Cant We? It is only it is a matter of commitment and determination. Hence from the above discussion, one can conclude that all form and kind of juvenile crime should not be treated as adult crime. There should be a clear cut distinction between natures of juvenile crime that can be treated as adult, by amending the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000. The punishment of the convict should be on the case to case basis. However, heinous crimes need to be dealt with stringent measures. The degree of punishment should be in proportion to the nature of crime. There is no doubt that the juvenile crime is increasing day by day which must be checked with stringent law. However, the softness, tender and immaturity of the juvenile are

worth of understanding and giving value. Imagine a beautiful flower was crushed and chopped when it was a tender bud. Do these kinds of buds only meant for ruthless plucking? by AJIT KUMAR NAYAK,

Women Empowerment & India 21st century!! Quite a familiar word Women Empowerment. Nowadays we could find women stepping out and giving a hand to each profession. Let it be a technical hand or a management one or something else. Days are gone when only physical competency was taken into concern. Today women are rated on an equal footing with the men when performance is concerned. Lets not be specific but women are finding their way in almost all fields such as in IT firm like TCS & others, banking Institutions, jobs in manufacturing sector, agriculture and the most favored once - BPOs. Still I think there are some disabilities which exist in this so called modernized phase of the human civilization. Well deal with those later and for the time being lets start with the positives & the history behind the ideology of woman empowerment. Lets move in the early 19th century and well find women strangling behind the doors and making their way out of the major challenges like the practice of sati, the purdah system and in the worst case reaching to the religious gurus or priests for some remedy who would instead fool them with some conservative myths and exploit them physically. It was to the credit of personalities like Raja Rammohan Roy who reformed the life of the masses to a certain extent. Later on it was the Gandhian Strategy which came into the scene and renovated the minds of the Indian masses which then began to feel that the role of women in the society and the anti imperialistic struggle is essential. This led to the mass involvement of women in the national struggle and hence in the later decades we found many women like Kasturba and Miraben worked hand in hand with personalities like Annie Besant and presented a fair play in the Indian National movement. It was then we could also find out that Sarojini Naidu was made the president of the Indian National Congress in the 1920s. Now, let us figure out a basic idea about woman empowerment which is mostly misinterpreted in todays scenario. To truly understand what women empowerment is, there needs to be a seachange in the mind-set of the people in the country. Not just the women themselves, but the men have to wake up to a world that is moving towards equality and equity. It is better that this is embraced earlier rather than later, for our own good. Let me make it clear that women empowerment is mainly participation and not segregation. Today we could find out that whenever any discrimination against women is being done at public places or at work; we would find out that the government creates a separate space for women with some special entitlements. This is basic reason behind the participation of women in some limited fields like the banking sector and at most the IT firms. Again it is also creating a social gap which may have diverging consequences. But in reality woman empowerment does not evolves confinement of women but equal participation in all fields which may lead to a much better India having a bulk of human resource in every sectors of the economy. Looking at the current scenario, it is very sad to see the drastic condition as we hear of many molestation & rape cases, assault in public, etc in the every next hour. How could we forget the

16th December night when a medical student was brutally gang raped in a bus in Delhi. And a more recent one when a women police constable was gang raped by a group of Maoists. So there a big question, are the women really empowered in India? Ill agree that government has taken various steps but I think those are not yet up to the mark and needs to be more comprehensive. A good work was done by the government appointing the Justice Verma Committee but unfortunately most of the recommendations of the committee were not approved. Some of the reformatory measures & schemes taken by union government are listed below as follow: The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) which is a program providing Anganwadi (crche) services, health & nutritional supplements and pre and post-natal care for pregnant and lactating mothers. Kishori Balika Yojana (scheme for adolescent girls) providing training to girls belonging to BPL category for their overall development. Again, the Self Help Groups (SHGs) are also playing a very good role in empowering rural women by enabling micro financing in rural areas. The recent Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme is also going to play a big role for those women involved in agriculture. The union government played a key role by circulating emergency helpline numbers for immediate escort of an individual.

Some negative aspect of the entire story has been that governments regulations are not so stringent and the entire procedure of the immediate action to be taken by the victims is not hassle free. Many people dont know the next point of action to be taken and hence justice is not ensured to them and in the worst case they feel like committing suicide as the only option left. There is no authority to take care of the immediate redressal of the grievances of the masses. Government formulates or streamlines a system only after some mishap occurs. Is it not they feel it obligatory while formulating a particular policy? Again gender inequality is a major cause of concern for the future prospect of Indian economy. We mainly find out numerous cases of Female Foeticide in rural areas which is leading to the declining sex ratio. I think Information Technology (I.T) along with Telecommunication could play a big role in enhancing the security systems by providing automation. Closed circuit TV (CCTV) must be more comprehensive in suspected areas. Grievance redressal mechanism can be streamlined using I.T and strict rules to be formulated for its compliance. Cases of Female Foeticide can be reduced in rural areas by carrying many social awareness campaigns. A woman is considered a financial obligation, as money spent on bringing her up,

educating her, marrying her will not be repaid as she will go to her husbands house after marriage, and the benefits of all that investment shall go to his family. This entire concept can be only dismantled by renovating the mind of the rural people through motivational and inspirational campaigns. In the simplest of words it is basically the creation of an environment where women can make independent decisions on their personal development as well as shine as equals in society. Women want to be treated as equals so much so that if a woman rises to the top of her field it should be a commonplace occurrence that draws nothing more than a raised eyebrow at the gender. This can only happen if there is a channelized route for the empowerment of women. Thus it is no real surprise that women empowerment in India is a hotly discussed topic with no real solution looming in the horizon except to doubly redouble our efforts and continue to target the sources of all the violence and ill-will towards women. The time needs the serious concern of the legislatures coupled with commitments of the bureaucrats and the accountability of the Union government along with the common people. With this I end up with the same question 21st century!! Are woman really empowered? Name RAJIV SHAW Purely Home made with a rare blend of The Hindu & Kurukshetra Magazine (August, 2013).

Women Empowerment in Developing India

Introduction: Since the older times, women have been treated as second rate citizens of all across the globe. Women have been relegated to secondary position despite the fact that they numerically constitute about half the world population today. This situation has caused immense loss to their self-dignity as human beings and also their independent entities, associated with men, apart from other matter, in context with intellectual and professional capability. In the very beginning of civilization, women enjoyed a respectable position in society-at par with men. They actively participated in social, religious affairs as well as in warfare. The social, religious ceremonies were considered incomplete unless women participated in them. However, it was their physical constitution which acted as hurdles on the way to doing their various different difficult tasks. Gradually, they became dependent on men for food, protection for their other necessities. It was due to the strong built-up of men they risked their lives in course of hunting and food collection. It is really ironical that superiority is not accorded to the fair sex who are responsible for carrying forward lives on this planet but to men who have muscle power with the help of which they can subjugate others. During the course of social development, the position of women also changed. When society was formed, patriarchy was established. Gradually, males became dominant in society. They were to write the codes for all times and obviously women were given a subordinate position. A prominent feature of hegemonic ideologies is the projection of the dominant viewpoint as universally true. The architect of Indian Constitution was of the opinion that unless and until women are empowered, nothing was going to bring about any change in their destiny. At that time, the women, in the name of sansakaras were tied up with the bondage of superstitions, which they had to carry till the last breath of their lives. They were considered just a matter of joy and a source of amusement. She was, according the Hindu Shashtra, the bonded slave of her father when she was young, to her husband when she was middle-aged and to her son when a mother. All the epigrams, aphorisms, proverbs, platitudes and truism have been naked truth about the stature of women in India. It does not mean that efforts have not been made to bring dignity in the life of women. There has been a long tradition of social reforms by our saints and social reformers which include: Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Mahadev Govind Ranade, and Jyotiba Phule, to name a few, who tried their best to bring changes in the life of women. Their efforts, however, bore fruit to some extent, but did not make too much difference to the lots of the masses. In this direction, Dr. Ambedkar tried to break down the barriers in the way of advancement of women in India. He laid down the foundation of concrete and sincere efforts by codifying the Common Civil Code for the Hindus and the principle is capable of extension to other sections of the Indian society. Besides, he also made provision in the Constitution to ensure

a dignified social status to women. He, by codifying Hindu Law in respect of marriage, divorce and succession rationalized and restored the dignity of women. Even in ages of strict dominance by males, society has thrown up women of calibre, who could match, even surpass, the skills of men. They made great progress in various fields of life and gained significant achievements as teachers, doctors, engineers, scientists, explorers, soldiers and pilots. This achievement is really plausible because they have been achieved in a highly adverse situation and at the cost of severe social criticism, indeed even ostracism. The need for womens empowerment arises from the subordinate position they have been accorded for a long time. It is hard to fathom how slow moving the culture exchange of the world is when you find out that there are several places across the country where harmful customs of the ancient world coexist with modern appliances and thought. However that may come as hardly any surprise to one who has lived in India. It is only in India that glaring and brutal gang rapes occur frequently in a state that is headed by a woman Chief Minister. Gender discrimination is the least of worries for women in India, known otherwise as the fourth most dangerous country in the world for women. Other instances of violence against women has an astonishing and grim variety to it with acid throwing, domestic violence stemming out of dowry, rape, harassment and an assortment of others. Challenges Prevalent in India: There are several challenges that are currently plaguing the issues of womens rights in India. A few of these challenges are presented below. While a lot of these are redundant and quite basic issues faced across the country, these are contributory causes to the overarching status of women in India. Targeting these issues will directly benefit the empowerment of women in India. 1) Illiteracy: While the country has grown from leaps and bounds since its independence where education is concerned, the gap between women and men is severe. While 82.14% of adult men are educated, only 65.46% of adult women are known to be literate in India. Not only is an illiterate women at the mercy of her husband or father, she also does not know that this is not the way of life for women across the world. Additionally, the norms of culture that state that the man of the family is the be-all and end-all of family decisions is slowly spoiling the society of the country. Eradicating this gap and educating women about their real place in the world is a step that will largely set this entire movement rolling down the hill to crash and break the wall of intolerance, negligence and exploitation. 2) Poverty: About a third of the countrys population lives on less than 1.25USD per day. The GINI index keeps rising slowly over the years, indicating that the inequality in the distribution of wealth in the country is increasing. Poverty is considered the greatest threat to peace in the world, and eradication of poverty should be a national goal as important as the eradication of illiteracy. Due to abject poverty, women are exploited as domestic helps and wives whose incomes are usurped by the man of the house. Additionally, sex slaves are a direct outcome of poverty. Andhra Pradesh accounts for nearly half of all sex trafficking cases in India, the majority involving adolescent girls. According to police estimates, a shocking 300,000 women and girls have been trafficked for exploitative sex work from Andhra Pradesh; of these just 3,000 have

been rescued so far. The state is relatively prosperous, ranking fourth in terms of per capita GDP in India, but it is also home to some of the poorest people in the country. If poverty were not a concern, then the girl child will be able to follow her dreams without concerns of sexual exploitation, domestic abuse and any work. 3) Female infanticide: Killing of the female child is still a common practice in many of the rural areas. Further female foeticide is common in some parts of India, despite the passage of Prenatal Diagnostic techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act in 1994. In case they survive, they are subjected to discrimination throughout their lives. Traditionally, since sons are thought to take care of their parents during old age and daughters are considered a burden because of dowry and other expenses that have to be incurred during their marriage, female children are neglected in the matters of nutrition, education and other important aspects of well-being. The Sex ratio in our country is abysmally low. It was only 940 females per 1000 males according to the 2011 census. The Sex ratio is an important indicator of development. 4) Domestic Violence: During their youth, females face the problem of early marriage and childbirth. They are not cared for properly during pregnancy leading to many cases of maternal mortality. The MMR (Maternal Mortality Rate) i.e. the number of females dying during delivery per one lakh persons, in India is 212(as in 2012). In addition, they are subjected to harassment for dowry and other forms of domestic violence. Further, at the work place, public places and elsewhere, acts of violence, exploitation and discrimination are rampant. 5) Attitude of the society: It is a general perception that women from a certain class only are in need of empowerment. But this is not true. Even the educated and those with a high social status might not be empowered in the true sense. It needed the right Attitude and Accountability. Preventive mechanisms should be given more focus than punitive mechanisms to ensure immediate abatement of violence. Woman is empowered when society changes its attitude 6) Health & Safety: The health and safety concerns of women are paramount for the well being of a country and is an important factor in gauging the empowerment of women in a country. However there are alarming concerns where maternal healthcare is concerned. While there are several programmes that have been set into motion by the Government and several NGOs in the country, there is still a wide gap that exists between those under protection and those not. Poverty and illiteracy add to these complications with local quacks giving ineffective and downright harmful remedies to problems that women have. The empowerment of women begins with a guarantee of their health and safety. Women Empowerment- It is basically the creation of an environment where women can make independent decisions on their personal development as well as shine as equals in society. Women want to be treated as equals so much so that if a woman rises to the top of her field it should be a commonplace occurrence that draws nothing more than a raised eyebrow at the gender. This can only happen if there is a channelized route for the empowerment of women. Thus it is no real surprise that women empowerment in India is a hotly discussed topic with no real solution looming in the horizon except to doubly redouble our efforts and continue to target the sources of all the violence and ill-will towards women.

The empowerment has been felt as a tool to bring about changes in their socio-economic condition. It has been felt on the part of nation as well as individual that no society can progress till women, a major constituent of society, lag behind. Empowerment of women needs to begin with her participation in different spheres of life. Tools to Empower Women: 1) Education: Education is a great determinant in this regard. To achieve empowerment women have to be educated to be aware of their rights and privileges in a modern society. It is education which can bring about awareness in them related to their social status, injustice and differentiation meted out to them. 2) Co-Education: It helped students get rid of pre-conceived notions about the other gender. 3) Economic Independence: It is a major factor which can contribute in empowering women. India in the very beginning realized this need. It was really a first step towards the recognition and empowerment of women in India. This gives a woman right to property, which undoubtedly strengthens her social position. Despite all these political measures, womens empowerment remains a distant dream in India. In addition to this, the Sharda Act is also worth mentioning. It has set the seal of authority upon the piece of social reforms, which the heads of orthodoxy were imposing and impending. The Hindu Code Bill, which covers issues such as right to property, order of succession to property, maintenance, marriage, divorce, adoption, minority and guardianship, constitutes part of social engineering via law. Needless to say, it was a revolutionary measure. 4) Political Empowerment: it is a key to development in this society. It is a must for an allaround development of women. It is the need of the hour to ensure her participation in the decision-making at home, in community and at the national level. 5) Actions taken by govt. to empower women:i) Criminal laws: Criminal laws against sati, dowry, female infanticide and foeticide, eve teasing, rape, immoral trafficking and other offences relating to women have been enacted in addition to civil laws like the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and other Matrimonial enactments. The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act has been passed in 2005. ii) National Commission for Women The National Commission for Women is a Department within the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It was set up exclusively to help women via the Constitution by reviewing Legal and Constitutional safeguards for women, recommending remedial legislative measures, by facilitating quick redressal of grievances and by advising the Government of India on all policy matters affecting women. The website allows for online submission of complaints and fast redressal exclusively for women. Additionally it is also a good resource of information for women and the Commission is committed to helping out women in need. iii) Womens Reservation Bill : The 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill, popularly known as the Womens Reservation Bill which seeks to reserve one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies. The solution must envisage for a two-pronged

attack, on the one hand, on tradition which is responsible for assigning a low status for women in the society and on the other hand, the outrages perpetrated against them. iv) Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010: The proposed Bill, if enacted, will ensure that women are protected against sexual harassment at all the work places, be it in public or private. This will contribute to realisation of their right to gender equality, life and liberty and equality in working conditions everywhere. The sense of security at the workplace will improve women's participation in work, resulting in their economic empowerment and inclusive growth. This is to ensure a safe environment for women at work places, both in public and private sectors whether organised or unorganized. The measure will help in achieving gender empowerment and equality. v) Gender Equality: Gender disparity in the country can be tackled only through proactive intervention in areas such as economic empowerment of women, building of adequate social and physical infrastructure and improving womens role in governance. vi) SEWA: SEWA is a trade union registered in 1972. It is an organisation of poor, selfemployed women workers. These are women who earn a living through their own labour or small businesses. They do not obtain regular salaried employment with welfare benefits like workers in the organised sector. They are the unprotected labour force of our country. Constituting 93% of the labour force, these are workers of the unorganised sector. Of the female labour force in India, more than 94% are in the unorganised sector. However their work is not counted and hence remains invisible. Self Employed Womens Association (SEWA) empowerment of women was the key to not only meeting the objective of gender equality but also to eliciting full participation in nation-building. vii) SHG: As poor women were often incapacitated to act individually, social mobilization for their economic redemption was a critical necessity. Participatory institution building through self-help groups has been found to be one of the most effective tools for the empowerment of women in developing countries. As on 31st March 2012, there were around 63 lakh all-women self-help groups in India that had combined bank savings of more than Rs. 5,100 crore. The number of such self-help groups is increasing, with a growth rate of 9.2, 14.8 and 3.3 per cent during 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively. viii) Agriculture Sector: Agriculture Training is the key to empowering women. Vocational training in agriculture is an important step towards empowerment of large sections of women in the State. They had better self-esteem, more participation in household decision-making and control over resources. There was improvement in economic factors such as accessibility to credit, household income, acquisition of assets and an increase in savings. ix) Street food as a tool of womens empowerment In our society, cooking has been the traditional forte of women and this can be used to as a tool for their economic upliftment. If street food vending is legalized and brought into mainstream, this sector can be a source of sustenance for socially backward women. Street food vending can be used to create livelihood security for marginalised women in the city. But to achieve this there has to be better policy initiatives. Though men stand at street food outlets, women play a major role in processing raw materials and preparing basic ingredients, if this role is formally accepted and encouraged, their

potentiality can be fully tapped. To achieve this goal there is a need to provide legal recognition to street food vending and to bring it under the fold of Self-Help Groups (SHGs), she explains. By legalizing the profession the day-to-day threat that these vendors face from enforcement authorities can be tackled and along with it they can also apply for financial support. Officials should also provide designated places for these vendors to operate along with providing facilities like proper storage facilities. x) Millennium Development Goal The United Nations Development Programme constituted eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for ensuring equity and peace across the world. The third MDG is directly related to the empowerment of women in India. The MDGs are agreed-upon goals to reduce certain indicators of disparity across the world by the year 2015. The third MDG is centered towards promoting gender equality and empowering women. While Indias progress in this front has been brave, there are quite a few corners that it needs to cut before it can be called as being truly revolutionary in its quest for understanding what is women empowerment. The country has hastened progress and the Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Gross Enrolment Ratios (GER) in primary and secondary education has risen. xi) Ministry for Women & Child Development The Ministry for Women & Child Development was established as a department of the Ministry of Human Resource Development in the year 1985 to drive the holistic development of women and children in the country. In 2006 this department was given the status of a Ministry, with the powers to:Formulate plans, policies and programmes; enacts/ amends legislation, guiding and coordinating the efforts of both governmental and non-governmental organisations working in the field of Women and Child Development. It delivers such initiatives such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) which is a package of services such as supplementary nutrition, health check-ups and immunisation. As mentioned earlier, the empowerment of women begins with their safety and health and this Ministry is committed to providing them. xii) Swayamsidha Programme: An integrated scheme for the empowerment of women at a total cost of Rs. 116.30 Crores. Core to this programme will be the establishment of womens self-help groups which will empower women to have increased access to all kinds of resources that they are denied, in addition to increasing their awareness and skills. This programme will benefit about 9,30,000 women with the setting up of 53,000 self-help groups, 26,500 village societies and 650 block societies. xiii) Five Year Plans: The government includes provision of allocation for the welfare of women in the five year plans, provision of subsidized loan facilities and so on. The year 2001 has been declared as the women empowerment year by the Government of India and 24th January as the National Girl Child Day. xiv) Tax Benefits: The government is providing Tax Benefits to women employees. It had introduced a special provision under which the basic tax exemption limit for women was pegged higher than that for men.

xv) Employment in Defense Sector: The increasing number of women officers in Police force and armed forces has helped in breaking the social Taboo as in this area men are considered superior to women. Females have achieved high ranks in defense sector and the first Vice admiral of Indian Navy was a women. Much needed to be done to Empower Women India as a country is still recovering from years of abuse in the time of the Raj and more years of economic suffering at the hands of the License Raj. It is only now that globalization, liberalization and other socio-economic forces have given some respite to a large proportion of the population. However, there are still quite a few areas where women empowerment in India is largely lacking. To truly understand what women empowerment is, there needs to be a sea-change in the mindset of the people in the country. Not just the women themselves, but the men have to wake up to a world that is moving towards equality and equity. It is better that this is embraced earlier rather than later, for our own good. Therefore, our efforts should be directed towards the all- around development of each and every section of Indian women, not confining the benefit to a particular section of women in society, by giving them their due share. It is a must to protect their chastity, modesty and dignity and ensure their dignified position in society. Without removing social stigma, enduring progress and development could not be achieved. For this, the governmental and nongovernmental organizations including media should come forward and play an active role in creating awareness in society. Mass campaigns need to be organized especially in the villages in favour of survival of the female child and provision of human rights for her, including education and health. It is essential to dispel the ghosts of the past and place women on an equal footing with men in order to pave the way for their empowerment, social, economic and educational. Empowering women and thus rebuilding the society would take the nation on a path of greater development, as Swami Vivekananda says, Countries and Nations which do not respect women have never become great nor will ever be in future. Empowering Women rebuilding the society The task is not too difficult to achieve. The honesty and sincerity on the part of those involved is a must. If the lots of women change, definitely it will have a positive impact on society. Hence, the womens empowerment is the need of the hour. Swami Vivekananda once said arise away and stop not until the goal is reached. Thus our country should thus be catapulted into the horizon of empowerment of women and revel in its glory. We have a long way to go, but we will get there someday. We shall overcome.

PUNEETA SHERWAL Reference: 1) The Hindu. 2) PIB

Food Security Bill Combating Hunger!

A huge percentage of the Indian population lives below the poverty line where getting one square meal a day is a challenge. The food security bill aims to satisfy this basic want and in that sense although it encourages welfare economics, the intention is noble. This is what would need to be weighed against other roadblocks.

Before we comment or discuss the bill, it is indeed very necessary to understand the Food Security Bill. The Food Security Bill is a bill for consideration before the Government of India. The bill aims to provide subsidized foodgrain to around 67 percent (75% of the rural population and up to 50% of the urban population) of India's 1.2 billion people. As per the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries would get rice at INR 3/kg, wheat at INR 2/kg, and coarse grains at INR 1/kg. These rates would be valid for three years. Every pregnant woman and lactating mother would get free meal during pregnancy till six months after child birth. They will also get a maternity benefit of INR 6,000 in installments. Children in the age group of 6 months to 6 years, the Bill guarantees an age-appropriate meal, free of charge, through the local anganwadi. For children aged 6-14 years, one free mid-day meal shall be provided every day (except on school holidays) in all schools run by local bodies, government and government aided schools, up to Class VIII. Children who suffer from malnutrition will be identified through the local anganwadi and meals will be provided to them free of charge through the local anganwadi. The Bill states that central and state governments shall endeavour to progressively undertake various PDS reforms, including: doorstep delivery of foodgrains; ICT applications and end-to-end computerisation; leveraging aadhaar (UID) for unique identification of entitled beneficiaries; full transparency of records; preference to public institutions or bodies in licensing of fair price shops; management of fair price shops by women or their collectives; diversification of commodities distributed under the PDS; full transparency of records; and introducing schemes such as cash transfer, food coupons or other schemes to the targeted beneficiaries in lieu of their foodgrain entitlements as prescribed by the central government. In case of non-supply of foodgrains, states will have to pay food security allowance to beneficiaries. The central government has pushed the Food Security Bill with amazing alacrity. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) that rules India,

has got the Bill passed by an ordinance, not through the usual parliament route. Within six months from the date of promulgation, the government will have to seek the approval of this Bill through parliament to avoid the ordnance falling through. NSSO surveys show that the proportion of hungry people fell from 15.3% in 1983 to 2% in 2004. By now, it is probably 1%. So, forget the notion that hungry Indians are crying out for cheap grain. No, per-capita consumption of cereals has fallen steadily in all income groups, including the poorest. They are shifting to superior foods: proteins, milk and tea. Besides, the NDA launched the Antyodaya programme for the very poorest back in 2000, providing wheat at 2 and rice at 3 per kg. The Bill simply repeats the dose - nothing new at all for the poorest. The main problem for the government is the resources for implementation of the bill. Can we produce such a large amount? Once the cheap food is available, people will consume more and more increasing the burden on supply side. Can we store such large quantities of food supply? India presently has provision only for 30 million tons but this act will need 60 million tons of storage. In order to meet the increased requirement of foodgrain for PDS, export of cereals should be stopped immediately. If basmati rice is to be exported, an equal amount of ordinary rice must be imported. It is highly unethical to export foodgrain when our own people are dying of starvation. And we congratulate ourselves on record foodgrain exports at a time when the per capita food availability at home is declining and we lose money on every tonne that we export. Secondly, actual distribution cannot begin unless the eligible households are identified. The Bill does not specify criteria for the identification of households eligible for Public Distribution System (PDS) entitlements. The Central Government is to determine the state-wise coverage of the PDS, in terms of proportion of the rural/urban population. Then numbers of eligible persons will be calculated from Census population figures. The identification of eligible households is left to state governments. The allocation of foodgrains is arbitrary and is neither based on population nor poverty. The final results of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census will not be available for all the states, especially the larger states like UP, Bihar and Tamil Nadu, until the beginning of 2014. Thirdly, The Bill encourages states to reform the PDS, including doorstep delivery of foodgrain, end-to-end computerisation; and leveraging "Aadhaar" (UID) for unique identification of entitled beneficiaries. The progress is extremely slow, though not in all states. Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Himachal

Pradesh, and Rajasthan have undertaken state-level reforms by extending coverage, improving delivery and increasing transparency. The best results are seen in Chhattisgarh. Here, private dealers have been replaced by panchayats, commissions have been increased and more than 80 per cent of the families have been covered under the scheme (as opposed to only 40 per cent who are officially recognised as being Below the Poverty Line or BPL under the Central government). A regular monitoring and grievance redressal mechanism leads to swift action if foodgrain does not reach the people. The fear is, unless something miraculous happens to inject life and energy to the PDS, it will get bogged down under the bigger load to serve many more customers. The result will be chaos of catastrophic proportions. Most importantly, buying such huge quantities of food at higher rates and selling them to consumers at very low rates will need government subsidies. Already the huge food subsidy has weighed down Indias public finances pushing the budget deficit to unmanageable proportions. When the Bills intended provisions are rolled out across India, the food subsidy burden of the government will jump three times. It will run to Rs. 125, 000 crores per year. Even a school boy would say that India simply does not have so much money. How will the government manage to keep the subsidized scheme going? The BJP condemns the Bill as a pre-election gimmick. But it will surely fail. Many states already provide cereals more cheaply than the Bill. Tamil Nadu provides 20 kg of free rice to poor families. Other southern states provide rice at 1 per kg. Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are going to have state elections, and all three now offer wheat or rice at 1 per kg. So, in several states, the additional subsidy of the Bill will not mean cheaper food for consumers, simply less subsidy at the state level. The Bill may mean cheaper cereals in some states, like Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. But the Public Distribution System (PDS) is in terrible shape in these states. To the extent the PDS improves, the chief ministers will get the credit. So looking at this we understand that the bill may be brought on with a noble cause but need lot of reforms and a very strong planning commission in order for rightful implementation of the bill. Lets hope to watch if Rajya Sabha brings light to this aspects of the bill in its session. In the ultimate analysis, the constraints to food security and hunger are rooted in bad policies, faulty design, lack of appropriate monitoring and evaluation, poor governance and lack of political will. Action is needed on all the fronts.
Jaymin Patel

Is there a need for Food Security Bill ? India is moving ahead with dream of development. But for development people in this country have to be physically & mentally fit. Food is the basic necessity of human being. But unfortunately, some people in our country sleeps everyday with empty stomach. This not at all well from developmental as well as economical approach. The economic role of food and nutrition is something which can be looked down upon and this in turn, becomes a rationale for formulating a public policy. A proper food policy hence becomes the need of the hour. A well targeted nutrition policy can create wonders and also provides a way analogous compared to other policies. In this scenario, the National Food Security Bill can turn into something revolutionary and can leave a huge impact in the economy of the country. This Bill can transform and restructure the lives of people if carefully crafted and implemented. The recent Food Security Bill proposed by the expert committee, headed by Dr. C. Rangarajan was passed on 26th August,2013 in Lok Sabha. The bill seeks to provide for food & nutritional security in human life cycle approach by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity & for matters connected with therewith & incidental thereto. Objective is laudable since, according to a 2010 a World Bank Report,32.7% people in India survive on less than $ 1.25 per day. Also, 47% of children in India suffer from malnutrition & India is home of worlds highest population of underweight children in such scenario there is strong need for legal implementation like this food security bill. Food Security as a concept has continuously evolved over the last few decades. Originally the focus was on the supply side of the food equation concentrating on adequate availability of food at the national and international level. Food security as defined in the 1974 World Food Summit underlines this: availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices

Features of the food security bill :

Coverage of two thirds population to get highly subsidised food grainsUpto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population will have uniform entitlement of 5 kg food grains per month at highly subsidized prices of Rs. 3, Rs. 2, Rs. 1 per kg. for rice, wheat, coarse grains respectively .It will entitle about two thirds of our 1.2 billion population to subsidised food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System. Poorest of the poor continue to get 35 kg per householdThe poorest of poor households would continue to receive 35 Kg foodgrains per household per month under Antyodaya Anna Yojana at subsidized prices of Rs 3, Rs 2 and Rs 1. It is also

proposed to protect the existing allocation of food grains to the States or union territories subject to it being restricted to average annual offtake during last three years. Eligible households to be identified by the States The work of identification of eligible households is left to the States or Union Territories, which may frame their own criteria or use Social Economic and Caste Census data, if they so desire. Special focus on nutritional support to women and childrenThere is a special focus on nutritional support to women and children. Pregnant women and lactating mothers, besides being entitled to nutritious meals as per the prescribed nutritional norms will also receive maternity benefit of at least of Rs. 6000/-. Children in the age group of 6 months to 14 years will be entitled to take home ration or hot cooked food as per prescribed nutritional norms. Food Security Allowance in case of non supply of food grainsThe Central Government will provide funds to States/UTs in case of short supply of food grains from Central pool, In case of non-supply of food grains or meals to entitled persons, the concerned State/UT Governments will be required to provide such food security allowance as may be prescribed by the Central Government to the beneficiaries. States to get assistance for intra-State transportation and handling of foodgrainsIn order to address the concern of the States regarding additional financial burden, Central Government will provide assistance to the States towards cost of intra-State transportation, handling of foodgrains and FPS dealers margin, for which norms will be developed. This will ensure timely transportation and efficient handling of foodgrains. Reforms for doorstep delivery of food grainsThe Bill also contains provisions for reforms in PDS through doorstep delivery of food grains, application of information and communication technology (ICT) including end to end computerization, leveraging Aadhaar for unique identification of beneficiaries, diversification of commodities under TPDS etc for effective implementation of the FoodSecurity Act. Some of these reforms are already underway. Women Empowerment-- Eldest women will be Head of the householdEldest woman of eighteen years of age or above will be head of the household for issue of ration card, and if not available, the eldest male member is to be the head of the household. Grievance redressal mechanism at district level-

There will be state and district level redressal mechanism with designated officers. The States will be allowed to use the existing machinery for District Grievance Redressal Officer (DGRO), State Food Commission, if they so desire, to save expenditure on establishment of new redressal set up. Redressal mechanism may also include call centers, helpline etc. Social audits and vigilance committees to ensure transparency and accountabilityProvisions have also been made for disclosure of records relating to PDS, social audits and setting up of Vigilance Committees in order to ensure transparency and accountability. Penalty for non complianceThe Bill provides for penalty to be imposed on public servants or authority, if found guilty of failing to comply with the relief recommended by the District Grievance Redressal Officer (DGRO). ExpenditureAt the proposed coverage of entitlement, total estimated annual food grains requirement is 612.3 lakh tons and corresponding estimated food subsidy for 2013-14 costs is about Rs.1,24,724 crore.

Challenges of the food security bill:Financial challenges: Based on the requirements under NFSB production of wheat & rice need to be enhanced by 25 million tonnes. India has reaped a bumper harvest in 2011-12 and has procured a record 34.9 million tonnes of rice in KMS 2011-12 and 38.1 million tonnes of wheat in RMS 2012-13. But to sustain these levels of procurement, additional agricultural investment to increase production would be required. The increased level of procurement and distribution of the food grains as result of the Bill will require higher storage and warehousing capacities. The implementation of the Bill will require storage capacity addition between 22- 32 million tonnes (current covered storage capacity is 45 million tonnes). Some rough estimates show that the additional cost of storage infrastructure would be Rs. 2,500 to 8,500 crore depending upon whether the government invests in silos or traditional storage. Indian Railways too would have to invest in procurement of rolling stock. There will be excess burden on whole infrastructure. Operational challenge: Given that NFSB commits for legal entitlements of food (especially rice and wheat), India will have to carry a much larger stock of these to avoid any eventuality of large scale imports of rice and wheat in the event of domestic shortfall (as happened in 2002-03 when grain production fell by 38 million tonnes). If this is not done, India will risk high cost of cereal imports in times of need, especially drought years.

If the Bill is being passed in this form, there shall be too much of brokers that will erupt to take the booty for the loot, which is going to happen in real term, the future course of action from the side of the Govt. officials and the distributors, when and where there shall be no sincere monitoring of the entire process of distribution.

Drawbacks of food security bill :

1. The major flaw of such a scheme is that the cheap grains will find its way to the blackmarket where it will be sold at higher prices. 2. Small shops in rural areas will go out of business since they cannot sell grains at these prices. 3. It needs to be recognized that malnutrition is a multi-dimensional problem and needs a multipronged strategy. The challenge of improving absorption lies in linking nutrition with health, education and agriculture interventions. Womens education, access to clean drinking water, availability of hygenic sanitation facilities are the prime prerequisites for improved nutrition. To begin with an effective convergence of schemes like Mid-day meals, ICDS, etc can be attempted. 4. The bill dwells on targeting vis--vis universalization, re-invoking the contentious BPL-APL issue (priority and non-priority households). Intended benefits will be provided to people based on these categories. It is a well-known fact that successive governments have failed to identify the poor. As a result, a large part of the countrys population continues to struggle with hunger in various forms. In such a grim scenario, the government should be talking about universalization, which is an integral part of the fundamental right to life. 5. The bill provides for the supply of 7 kg of subsidized food grain per person per month to priority households, whereas a person needs 14 kg a month to fulfill her basic food requirements. 6. The proposed entitlements do not deal with the problem of nutritional insecurity. People in India suffer undernourishment mainly due to protein and fat deficiencies. To cope with this problem, the government should have included pulses (to compensate for protein) and edible oil (to replenish fat). The preamble of the bill says: the Supreme Court of India has recognized the right to food and nutrition as integral to the right to life 7. The bill also fails in diversification of food entitlements by not providing bajra, jowar, ragi and maize. This diversification would not only provide nutritious alternatives, but also encourage farmers to cultivate these grains due to compulsory procurement by the government. 8. one major point of contention is the absence of any immediate timeframe for the execution of the bill, instead the bill talks about a phased implementation which could well take a few years to reach the desired levels.

9. The exact no. of poor is not calculated correctly. Different departments are giving different numbers. And the criteria for measuring poor people percentage is not upto the mark. 10. The cost of this bill Rs.1.24 lakh crore will be a burden for the government, and may lead to fiscal deficit. 11. Small farmers may shift to other crops, as they will get the subsidized food grains. This will reduce the production of food grains. 12. Farmers have to sell their food grains for procurement prices rather than market prices. It will be loss for farmers.

Suggestions:
1. The state civil supplies organizations should takeover the FPS network to deal with the large scale corruption. However the state food secretaries suggest allotment of FPS to community based organizations like co-operatives/SHGs and measures to improve the viability of the FPS by rationalizing commissions, extending credit and encouraging sale of non PDS items. 2. The maximum diversion occurs in the Above Povery Line category, hence it should be abolished. If this is not possible, he has suggested creation of another category marginally above poverty line. 3. Others alternative to the Public Distribution System like food stamps, food coupons and generic smart cards which can be used both in the FPS and open market. However barring some limited experiments at the state level with food coupons and smart cards tied to a designated FPS, no major scalable alternative to the PDS is currently available. 4. The solution aims to tackle the primary issue of identifying eligible beneficiaries, removal of bogus ration cards provide choice of FPS to the beneficiary to procure food grains. With respect to private sector participation in PDS reforms, Madhya Pradesh has taken a significant step and used private sector to put in place a system to computerize the PDS and register beneficiaries with their Aadhaar number and provide the food coupons to the beneficiaries. 5. What needed to do is to create simple yet effective methods to ensure that most of our produce that just goes waste. There is an argument that it would be better for the government to focus on productivity enhancement rather than on doling out subsidies at the expense of taxpayers. But these two things are not mutually exclusive, they are complementary. 6. There is need to educate our farmers and encourage the well off ones. The leaders of our agrarian society need to take charge and help build storage facilities with the help of state governments. The Non Renewable Energy ministry can be roped in to provide subsidy and practical schemes to help our villages use solar power for longevity of their produce.

7. Local entrepreneurs need to be given that confidence and help to create small manufacturing units. Where the local farmer can sell his produce, and the local businessmen can create packed products like powder, paste, oils, perfumers and cosmetics etc. which gives a longer shelf life to the same goods. 8. Industry needs to be encouraged to be a part of this storage revolution. It has to be an all inclusive package pushed by the Government, where all resources are harnessed in the best manner possible. Farmer gets good rates and full payment of his agricultural produce.The big industry names need to tap these local brands and create their national chain across the country. Industry needs to be convinced that the only way forward is when they walk hand in hand with our farming community. 9. The people need food in their bellies, but it should be done in a sustainable manner. The proposed NFSB may be a noble thought by UPA-II. But its just adding to the many problems being faced by our economy like inflation, taxes and lack of political will to bring a balance between industry and agriculture. Unfortunately, the current dispensation riddled with corruption and credibility issues, seems to think that giving in to the wants of an election year will fulfill the needs of our countrys poor. 10. One of the best ways to ensure distribution of food grains in the country is through Public Distribution System which runs about 1k Fair Price Shops in the country. However, the distribution system must be competent enough to deliver as the basic objective of the bill is to curb hunger and malnutrition. Identification of beneficiaries should be done precisely and the machinery should be programmed perfectly to assure that the schemes reach the needy. 11. Improving environmental sanitation is one of the most preferred tools to reduced malnutrition and that is one measure the central government should adopt. 12. As the government aims to procure large quantities of food grains to meet the targets of the proposed bill, the household budgets of the non-beneficiaries may be adversely affected as there might be an unprecedented rise in the prices of food grains in the open market.

There is need of food security bill but with proper implementation. Drafting a Food Security Bill and passing it in the parliament with absolute majority will alone not solve the purpose of food and malnutrition, but implementation of proper measures to ensure that the schemes reach the beneficiaries properly will only provide a better solution to solve the food crisis. People should also have to be aware about government policies to have the benefit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Name- Nikita Sudhakar Tungare Live Mint interview High subsidy, PDS hurdles to food security plan with P.K. Joshi Governance Knowledge Centre article National Food Security Bill and need for a stronger implementation strategy by P.K. Joshi

 IFPRIs Food Security Portals blog post Will India's National Food Security Bill Help or Hurt? by Sara Gustafson IFPRI Research Outputs Subject articles in The Economic Times, The hindu Pib.nic.in News.bbc.co.uk

GAY MARRIAGE AND ITS POSSIBILITIES IN INDIA

Gay Marriage or Same-Sex Marriage is a marriage between two persons of the same biological sex. There are many people in the world who are attracted towards the same sex and want to spend their whole life with them through the process which we called as Marriage. Generally this is not permitted by our so called Civilized Society and so there is a huge need to get it recognized or backed by legal force. As of 19 August 2013, Fifteen countries- Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Netherland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden, Uruguay and several Parts of Mexico and United States allows same-sex couples to marry. It is not a new concept, in fact its traces can be found back in the Roman period where at least two of the Roman Emperors were in same-sex unions; and thirteen out of the first fourteen Roman Emperors held to be bisexual or homosexual. The First Roman Emperor to have married a man was Nero, who is reported to have married two other men on different occasions but these cannot continue for a long time, when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire a law was issued by the Christian emperors prohibiting same-sex marriage and even ordered that those who were so married were to be executed. According to many, it is a matter of choice, their rights, and equality. For Lesbian and feminists, Institution of Marriage between opposite sex was criticizes as this offer men a better, longer, healthier life with greater freedom and more power while it has the opposite effect on women, limiting, impoverishing and in many cases providing a context which is vulnerable to violence and abuse. This institution symbolizes male supremacy and female subordination. The Second wave of feminism which give women the power to challenge the patriarchal society concluding equality to women and deny men any power or pleasure from women body. Backed by Political and Legal rights Women dubbed themselves as Lesbian feminist, their main aim was not sexual desire but this bring independence from men and their male centered culture. Marriage in the same sex between women brings in them a feeling of independence, confidence and completeness. Netherland was the first country to legalized same sex marriage in 2001 yet Denmark was the first Country to legally recognize Same-Sex couples through registered partnership in 1989 and in 2012 the Parliament of Denmark legalized the same sex marriage. In United Kingdom (England and Island of Wales) the marriage (samesex) Bill was passed in both the Houses with Royal assent on 17th July 2013. US President Barack Obama, who once thought that Marriage can be only between a man and a woman, has now backed civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. France has also passed this Bill very recently. Australia bans the recognition of same-sex Marriage but in June 2013, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made it clear that he was proud to be first ever Australian Prime Minister to support gay marriage. In china same sex marriage is totally opposed and Marriage their explicitly means as Union of one Man and women. In India also same sex marriage is not backed by legal force, though since 2009 Homosexual intercourse was made decriminalized.

In India, Marriage since ancient times is considered as a very sacred Institution. Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage is considered as a taboo in Indian society. These are unaccepted in Indian society because they considered Marriage of a Man and Women is a pure form and women should always be considered as a Second Sex and without a Man his life is incomplete and this is the result of the ancient Patriarchal society where Men have set their minds as they are the Head of the family and Women should always be abide by the rules of his Stridharma in which they have to considered their Husband as Pati Parmeshwar or God. This is the primary reason why Indian society is against Same-Sex Marriage because they have the fear that this types of Marriage can give a great challenge to the Patriarchal society, a set back to their Custom, Tradition, Culture etc. These Marriages in Same-Sex still continues to be a shame in Indian society, and even before 2009 the Homosexual are branded as Criminals by Archaic act of IPC. In 2009, Delhi High Court passed a judgment on a petition filed by Naz foundation decriminalizing homosexual act between two consenting adults but this story does not end here. If we look close towards this Judgment it gives only legal recognition, Society still behaves in the same manner towards lesbians and Gay as if they are committing a crime for which they are not forgiven. And this is just one step. Legalizing same Sex Marriage In India is a dream, which will come true or not, whether no one knows? But with the Increasing Demand of education, many youth got influenced by western Education and especially Girls who aim to challenge the Patriarchal Society, decided not to Marry as Same Sex marriage is illegal in India. Apart from Gay the condition of Transgender (Third Sex) in India is very miserable. They have to work as Sex-Worker for their income because Government is not able to provide adequate condition of employment for them. Their health condition, living condition is very bad. You can find them everywhere in India with full makeup in trains collecting money etc. Every time while filling a form you find an option Gender- You have to fill it with M or F, but ever anyone thought that what these Transgender will do while filling the form? This shows that they face problem since the very beginning when they came to know that they are not like the common people. Our Main topic is whether India can legalize the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender rights). India is a country where even marrying in same Gotra is not permitted. If this type of case occurs the girl and the boy both are killed in the name of honor. To save the honor of the family the family members even kill their own children with their own hand. Large number of cases can be found in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and small amount of traces are found in every part of India. India is a country where Marriages are occurred in the same caste, If a girl want to marry a boy of Lower caste, it is not permitted by society resulting death (Recent case of Ilavarsan can be considered). And it is the irony of life when someone says that Marriages are made in heaven. This society forces us to think that even after 67 years of Independence where we have moved- forward or backward. A society where after attaining the age of 18 every citizen of India can take its own decision and Government is there to protect its rights, inspite of having these facilities if a common person cannot enjoy his rights, in that society in my opinion Legalizing of Gay Marriage is a far dream which is unachievable. If ever it will become legal, then also it will become like all other acts which is just written in the Constitution. Accepting by society is the main aim and giving them social recognition which include giving them same facilities as a common couple enjoy, adaptation of child, care and schooling of that child etc.

As the five fingers of a hand are not equal but inspite of a lot of differences they are a part of hand so also Human beings. Everyone has different taste, want to lead a different life-style but they are all part of society. What is there so worthy if anyone generate a feeling of attraction towards the same-sex, want to spend its whole life with each other. People says that they have changed with the time From telegram to E-mail they changed accordingly, they acquire the dress material, food habits, pop music of the western culture and considered themselves as Modern but the real thing which is required to change to be a Modern is the mindset. Society says that this Gay Marriage goes against our religion, and their religion says Marriages are made in Heaven. PAYAL AGARWAL

Development vs Conservation With recent natures furry in Uttarakhand, it is the example of the sober consequences that we have to face if we play with the nature. There is a long tussle going on between Development & Conservation. Both are necessary for the society. Development (Economics) is complementary to Environment. With our country that is on the path of super power must accomplish the development goals to be ahead in the race & with that there is need for the conservation of the environment, which if not caring at the infant stage will give the results afterwards with lots of destruction & then all these developments that are done will get futile. So there is need to take care of both the aspect for the sustainable growth of our country. There is innate behavior of hounding by people to the nature & they are sacrosanct towards the importance of the nature & its function in maintaining balance of the nature & ecosystem. Now it has opened a butt between environmentalists, ecologists and bureaucrats. Environmentalist vs Mafias In 2011 notification, to declare a Economic Sensitive Zone (ESZ) extending to distance of 130 km from Gomukh where Alaknanada begins, upto Uttarkashi remains unenforced to this day. Uttarakhand government misgivings on this move based on argument that it would impede development . A lot of disturbance to ecology & destabilization of hill slopes caused by construction of hydel power projects along Baghirathi & Alaknanda. Large scale hydroelectric power projects are being pushed in the hill states in the name of promoting clean energy. A lot of these projects leads to displacement, loss of forest rights & loss of access to water for the local communities. Hydro projects are posing serious threat to both natural ecology & stabalisation of hills slopes. Another example is of Gadgil Panel Report on Western Ghats, which recommended some measures for Anthirapally Hydro Power project in Kerala. He observed that the area is highly sensitive to ecology & also for some endangered & endemic species. But Kerala government got furious and told that they cant accept this proposition as it is impracticable as the project would promote them electricity & development of the area. If they would have accepted the panels recommendation they it would become problem for land mafias as it would impede their personal development. Actually nowadays there is more emphasis on the growth factor rather than on environment factor. As for growth more industries, more infrastructure are required & for setting up these there has to be the exploitation of the environment. And these are getting over & over every day & leading to depleting natural resources of the environment. The problem is that economic

development can be seen instantly as development is happening very fast, but the natures furry can be seen afterwards. So people are more concerned about the short term benefits but dont focus on the long term consequences of it. As more & more roads, dams, constructions in large part of country, more power projects are coming these days. So they require large amount of land to accomplish these things. In some villages, the corporates are given large amount of land without looking for the damages to the environment & with the selfishness they are destroying the environment. Effect on Ecology With so much of industrialization happening all over the world, the Ozone Layer in many polar regions are depleting. One recent example is of Antarctica where Ozone layer is closing gradually. And by 2050 it will be closed permanently. Then think the results that could prove disaster. All the glaciers will melt & in a result all the water will come down the surface will raise the sea level and cause the natures fury. After the some geologists given their research to the Uttarakhand government for the cosequences of the construction of hydroelectric power projects, construction of hotels. But they didnt focused on the report & hastenly constructed all the projects. And now they are facing the consequences. Many development projects require both forest & non forest land. Guidelines tells that work must not commence on non forest land until prior permission for the forest land is not granted. Due to poor enforcement , many project promoters cleverly start work on the non forest land portions. Steps to Mitigate More awareness & sensitivity towards the environment is the key to environmental conservation. A possible measure for this would be to inculcate awareness. Providing infrastructure for waste management, water harvesting and paper recycling in schools and colleges can go a long way in sowing the seeds of environment consciousness in young minds. Apart from this, at the micro level, each one of us can contribute towards the betterment of the environment, simply by living by the principle of REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE. Really, it does not take much time or effort to be judicious about the usage of precious resources like electricity, water and paper. Small steps do have a profound impact-and the sooner we realize this, the better it will be for our Earth and our future generations.

There is no second opinion that development is foremost thing in the country without that the society cant grow, society could not get benefited. But at the same time we must see the other side of the coin that what could be the cosequences if development will happen at a pace in which there is no environment friendly measures taken which is called natures gift. For sustainable development conservation is very important. We can say Uttarakhand tragedy was only the show cause notice from the nature to the earth. It is ready for more disaster. If you play with the nature, she will definitely hurt you. And its proved in previous many disaster. Conclusion For development to happen government must take steps in the renewable sources of energy like Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Ocean Thermal, Biogas, Hydrogen Fuel. Government can reduce the usage of SUVs in the country by increasing taxes on them as they are fuel guzzlers They are also polluting environment as well as eating so much fuel. Development can happen by using other sources of energy. There is definitely cost is there & gestation period is more but we must think of the next few generations to stay healthy. So government must think some credible steps & sober thinking about the environment & ecology. If they become sacrosanct about this it is not far to see some more natures furry. Its just a show cause notice from nature. India has two tradition. One in Judiciary taarikh pe taarikh and in government committee pe committee. So instead of making more committees, think some credible solution for both development as well as conservation of the ecology. Because if there is development at the cost of ecology then we can see more Uttarakhand like disasters. The need of the hour is that there should be strict regulations & periodic monitoring on these developmental projects so that ecological imbalances should not happen again and again. Its fervently hoped that the Ministry of Environment & Forest takes up a thorough review & carries out appropriate modifications to ensure that conservation takes precedence over clearance of forest land & ecologically sensitive areas for non forestry purposes.

Name : Abhijit Roy

Inclusive Democracy
When is Inclusive Democracy? When was the Need for Inclusive Democracy felt? What importance does Inclusive Democracy have in Indian context? Conflict between Gandhian & Nehruian idea about Inclusive Democracy Road ahead

When is Inclusive Democracy? Democracy refers to the political system, which runs directly by the people of the country or their elected representatives. Inclusive democracy means, including people both form rural and urban area. Idea of Inclusive Democracy was conceived in late 1990s. Takis Fotopoulus has connected the events (happening in World History) with ID (Inclusive Democracy). Post World War II, Social Democracy was dominant for around 25 years. During these 25 years, lot had been said (and done) about Welfare State, Full employment, Redistribution of income in favour of weaker section. After Social Democracy, came the phase of Neo-liberal (Liberal Socialist). However, even liberal socialist democracy was inadequate; as it was not capable to create the real environment of democracy in household-workplace-educational institutes. This change from Social to Liberal Democracy, lead to the merger of Direct Democracy & Economic Democracy with Ecological Democracy & Social Realm Democracy. When was the Need for Inclusive Democracy felt? Multidimensional Crisis in Ecological, Economic, Political, Social & Cultural spheres led to the need of a new change. This time it is the need of Inclusive Democracy. It happens as power gets concentrated in the hands of few. Globally, it is well understood that, oligopoly will not lead to Inclusive Democracy. Thirst of rich for becoming more rich will keep on growing, this led to increase the disparity in the society (this is anti- Inclusive Democracy). As the power gets concentrated in the hands of few, both on political and business level, the involvement of aamaadmi starts to diminish. Social Democracy welfare for all employment redistribution of income

Need felt for INCLUSIVE Democracy :) Liberal Socialist Democracy good intention inadequate Merger of Direct & Economic Democracy + Ecological & Social Realm Democracy

What importance does Inclusive Democracy have in Indian context? In India, in the current scenario, the concept of ID has got restricted to some 1) Flagship (read Fancy) schemes/programmes, or some 2) amendments in the Act. Various schemes launch by MMS (Manmohan Singh or etc.) like MGNREGA, IAY, PDS etc. does not have real essence of ID. As people who should get the benefits have to beg for aids (which lacks dignity). In after making new amendments in Panchayat Act or PESA, the laws are not implemented on ground. As the real veto power lies with the politicians or industrial house. These people often neglect the interest of poor. Power and money is the driving force in Indian economy which over-rides the real implementation of ID in the system. Encouraging mining, industrialization on tribal area against the will of the native is a common phenomenon is India. Agricultural lands are encroached upon against the will of village-dwellers. 3) Asking for various RightsRight to Demand,.drinking water, ..education, ..Healthetc. without proper sense of balance of duties will lead to violence and chaos. Violence and Chaos are anti-ID in nature.

Flagship Programe

Cosmetic change in Panchayat Act wrt SEZ, SIR

PESA, for tribal community

'Rights mode', RTE, RTemploy ment....

Conflict between Gandhian & Nehruian idea about Inclusive Democracy Two great name in Indian National Movement- Gandhi & Nehru. Gandhi declared Nehru as his heir. Bapu always dreamt of India with Inclusive Democracy, in true sense. Fundamentally the thought process of ID for both of them was same, there exists some conceptual difference. The main conflict between Gandhi & Nehrus thought lies in the understanding of free, modern and progressive individual in enabling social & political environment which is democracy. Gandhiji said....ones behavior as an economic agent cannot be isolated from ones behavior as an autonomous moral agent... Whereas, Nehruji always preached science and technology over ones behavior/ethics etc.

Gandhian concept on ID
Individual civilization is deeply embedded in civilization & culture links village to truth & nonviolence. Encourage people living in Villagers always belived that ID is impossible without 'individual taking education for freedom' treat 'Individual' as ultimate unit likes 'Satyagraha' way (constructive work in villages) Believes on cultural & spiritual growth

Nehru-ian concept on ID
appreciated modernity links village to backward environment places 'State' over individual treats 'State'as ultimate unit likes 'planning way' Believes more on technical advancement

Swaraj- is when people learn to rule ourselves & not physical explusion of phirangis Gandhiji acceptance of 'parliamentary democracy' was a compromise Road ahead Need to transcend both neo-liberal market economy & socialist statism to put an end to economic misery, which goes against the majority of population. Nature has to be treated with respect & humanity Desire to acquire more-&-more, should diminish Every village will be a republic, with full power, capable enough to sustain itself

* * * * * Jai Hind * * * * *

a) User Name: Continue Dreaming b) Yojana August 2013 c) Disaster >Aptitude >Polity

Linguistic diversity conservation India is home to hundreds of languages. In fact, ascertaining the number of languages is in itself a daunting task. Consider the fact that several of the languages are not written, i.e. they exist only in oral form with no traditional or indigenous script. Also classification of several languages as dialects of more popular ones possesses another challenge. Indian languages not only differ in script and phonetics but also their origin. Indian languages fall in several distinct language families.

Official data on languages 1. The 1961 Census recorded 1,652 languages. 2. Since 1971, a policy was adopted where languages spoken by less than 10,000 people have been lumped as others. 3. Since then number of languages in census reports have come down to 122 languages in 2001 Census 4. There are 22 Scheduled languages (listed in the 8th Schedule of constitution)

Threats to unrecognized languages 1. spread of literacy in our country has made the survival of the oral traditions difficult 2. there is a lack of initiatives to document and study the oral and tribal literature 3. absence of educational institutions employing these languages 4. The new generation has to attend schools in which the medium of instruction is one of the recognised language and thus decline of endangered mother tongue 5. Lack of job opportunities of those few who learn these languages

Sahitya Akademis Tribal & Oral Literature program 1. Language Development Board was established in 1996 to collect literature of nonscheduled and non-recognised languages 2. Main aim of the project office set up under the program is conservation and promotion of literature in tribal languages as a national mission

Need to conserve 1. Rich literature present in tribal, nomadic and coastal languages which are yet to be captured in written form 2. Erosion of mother tongue has led to rapid decline in vocabulary in even major languages mummy has replaced amma, maa, aai, etc., and papa, bapu, baba, etc., people are increasingly unaware of names of plants, vegetables, birds, etc. found in their vicinity 3. Preserving and promoting endangered languages could serve as a critical tool in inclusive development

Discouraging linguistic diversity 1. It is not possible to carry out meaningful separate programs like educational institutions, job creation, etc. for languages with less than 10,000 speakers 2. Government resources are limited and carrying out large scale conservation activities is not feasible 3. Recognition and inclusion (in 8th schedule) of languages may fuel up demands of unfeasible smaller states (Maithili Mithilanchal, Tulu Tulu Nadu, etc.) 4. Regional aspirations which originally stem from developmental reasons are seen in the light of linguistic neglect and resentment (eg. Telangala dialect being called /alleged as being suppressed by coastal Andhra dialect in movies, media, etc.)

Indonesian example 1. Indonesias situation in terms of languages is directly comparable to India. 2. The country is made of over 17,000 islands, which are home to some 700 languages, many of which do not share scripts or linguistic roots. 3. Javanese, a language spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of Java, Indonesias most populous island and the centre of gravity of its nationalist movement this can be equated with role and position of Hindi in India

4. In Indonesia too, this most obvious choice was rejected because choosing Javanese as a national language would have signaled that Indonesia was Java, defeating the aims of nationalism 5. They chose Bahasa Indonesia, a simple and flexible language enriched by its own history, soaking up loan words from divergent cultural milieu - Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of past, Arab and Muslim traders, Portuguese and Dutch colonialists. 6. This selection of a single language as national language goes a long way in promoting integration in the country and facilitating communication 7. Other languages are facing a decline and one out of four languages are threatened

Written by Rahul Kejriwal References http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/ http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/we-are-talking-more-using-fewerwords/article5086343.ece several other The Hindu, Indian Express articles

Reasons for Hindu-Muslim Riots in India India is a country of unity in diversity. Over 3000 castes, 25000 sub-castes and more than 1000 languages are spoken in India. We, the people of India celebrate and enjoy the each festival of each community. We convey a strong message of love and endurance to whole world. We are working together to contribute to the country's growth. We accept all who came to India, either they were merchant, traveler or even they were attacker. We provide them all rights like us. Communal riots have become a distinct feature of communalism in India. Whenever conflicting groups from two different religions, which are self conscious communities, clash, it results in a communal riot. An event is identified as a communal riot if (a) there is violence, and (b) two or more communally identified groups confront each other or members of the other group at some point during the violence.1 The reason for such a clash could be superficial and trivial, though underlying them are deeper considerations of political representation, control of and access to resources and power. Even if many people in the community tend to live in India, but the main communities are Hindu and Muslim. All community has its all faith and tradition. Hence sometimes some contradiction falls in the way of our peace. There is brief history of Hindu-Muslims riots. It does not fall after our Independence but such types of riot were happened before the Independence. It was started first time when Mohammad-bin-Kasim attacked on India and destroyed many of the temples and built mosque in place of that. After that this practice was going on at the time of Mugal emperor Aurangzeb. After Independence India was divided into two parts India and Pakistan, although a partition plan was accepted, no large population movements were contemplated. As India and Pakistan become independent, 14.5 million people crossed borders to ensure their safety in an increasingly lawless and communal environment. With British authority gone, the newly formed governments were completely unequipped to deal with migrations of such staggering magnitude, and massive violence and slaughter occurred on both sides of the border along communal lines. Estimates of the number of deaths range around roughly 500,000, with low estimates at 200,000 and high estimates at 1,000,000 Riot of Muzaffarnagar is the newest example of this thing. Why this type of riot is happened again and again in India? There are several reasons behind this fact:1. Illiteracy: - Immediately after the partition, a large number of Muslims migrated to Pakistan. Those who stayed over in India were either Zamindars, who would have to lose all their property if they had migrated or a section of artisan class. The Educated middle class as a whole migrated to Pakistan as they would have much better career opportunities they owing to lack of competition. This trend continued for about 15 years after independence. For 15 years after independence, The Muslims who were getting educated chose to migrate to Pakistan for better opportunities. Thus we got only some illiterate and weak Muslims after partition. After more than 65 years of independence they are not in the main stream of our country. They preferred to take religious education instead of main stream education. This was the biggest obstacle of their development of their think and themselves. Those Muslims who are here is the necessary part of us, we cannot ignore him. If they get education from main stream instead of their religious education they will also take part the development of our country. These types of riots will be stopped.

-22. Communal Organization: - One opposes communal organizations not because they serve the interests of people belonging to one religion only, but because they do not even do that. One will whole heartedly support persons like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who though active within the confines of one religion only, spread humanistic values and fought for reforms against anything found degrading in the religion (like Sati, etc.) But the communal organizations of our country are against any reforms within the religions and oppose any humanization of religion. How many communal organizations have taken up the cause against dowry? All Hindu communal organizations demand the abolition of Muslim Personal Law but this is done because according to them otherwise the Muslim practicing polygamy will outnumber the Hindus. One will definitely support any organization which opposes polygamy on the ground that it is exploitative towards women. Not one communal organization does this. These types or Organizations only exists for their personal benefit or their religion benefit slightly, it can never help for the development of our country. They are adding fuel to fire for these riots. 3. The Role of Police: - It is often seen that in the riot our Police plays silent role. They often came after the riots or remain silent in the middle. Police played an extremely communal and hideous role in this situation. The main criminal never came in face but those who are innocent, who are unable to justice the right or wrong, who are urged by these selfish political leaders are the victim of police. The clearest indicator of the communalist methods of police is their way of filing crime bulletins during riots. This type of behavior of Police is not tolerable but even no entire judicial enquiry was ordered but merely a departumental enquiry has been promised to be instituted which as usual will end in a damp squib. Two things are here, 1st if police play their role no riots would be occurred and 2nd things if the riots happen police can control without any problems. 4. The Role of the Government: -The Government is responsible for the administration of the state. It has police and the entire necessary thing through which it can control any riots. But it is fact that riot happens again and again. It is clear that the Government is directly responsible for the riots. The ruling party which proclaims secular ideals when it is suitable has shown through its conduct in the recent riots that it has stopped giving eve lip service to secularism. All the facts lead to a single irresistible conclusion. The Government actively aided the communalist forces and is as much responsible for the riots as anyone who has taken physical part in them. It really defies logic that even after knowing these facts, some genuine secularists adopt an ostrich like attitude chanting the mantra, Government is Secular. 5. The role of Political Parties:- The Political parties play their game in this time. They never missed to get the advantage of this critical situation. If the damage is done with Muslims, they say that they are Secular and when the damage is done by Muslims, they urge the Hindus. If we remember Shrikrishnas report on Bombay Riots in 1992 we get it properly According to the Srikrishna report, the immediate causes of the communal riots on 6 December 1992 were: (a) the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque, (b) the aggravation of Muslim sentiments by the Hindus with their celebration rallies and (c) the insensitive and harsh approach of the police while handling the protesting mobs which initially were not violent. This was his report, but what the fact was is known to everyone. On the basis of these riots many politics play their game to get the power.

-3-

6. Besides these facts, some more facts can be added which is also be responsible for riots. (a) Unemployment: - It is universal truth, Devil's Treasure empty mind. Unemployment is one of the biggest silent reasons of these riots; unemployed person can easily come in delusion of un-social element. These elements used un-employed person for their profit. If our government provide employ to the needy person than it can be stops such types of riots. (b) Media (Print & Electronic) : - Press is considered the 4th pillar of democracy and in such type of critical matter it plays dynamic role. But it is often seen that media does not play its role and rather than to resolve issues they bouncing it. History has shown that media plays its worst role in many times. (c) Social Networking Sites: - Social networking sites, like Face book, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. are the most important things in todays society. This is the matter of status symbol, without this a man is called retro, especially in urban area. It is popular especially in youngster, whose is the future of our country. It is seen that the un-social elements target these youngster on these sites easy way, people share their views, personal matter and many more things like video, photos and notes through these social networking sites. Un-social elements take advantage these platforms to use their criminal minds. It has seen in recently riots. These social networking sites must be supervision of government. For this Government should form some special protocol and many more thing and quick action should be taken if any of the post, photos, video and comment are target some community, religion or region. Despite the secular and religiously tolerant constitution of India, broad religious representation in various aspects of society including the government, the active role played by autonomous bodies such as National Human Rights Commission of India and National Commission for Minorities, and the ground-level work being out by Non-governmental organizations, sporadic and sometimes serious acts of religious violence tend to occur as the root causes of religious violence often run deep in history, religious activities, and politics of India. We must therefore demand to our Government to:(1) Stop any public demonstration of religious expressions; (2) Stop all state aid to religious institutions; (3) Immediate scanning of existing curriculum in schools and colleges and deletion of any communal references; Only Government and its organizations cannot stop these types of riots. We should also learn a lesson from the previous riots, we cannot return the life. It is not only loss of our but it is also the loss of our country, but if these demand could be accepted and implemented then the riots can be stopped and we, the people of India can live together with great peace of mind. ***************************************************************************

Name- Pankaj Kumar Singh Sources: - Some NCERT Books, Communal Riots in India A Chronology (1947-2003), written by B. Rajeswari and some more from Internet article.

REDRAWING THE POLICE ADMINISTRATION "If the foundation stone is crooked, the wall cannot be straight." -Persian Philosopher Colligating to the above quoted text, the prominent status of maintaining 'law and order' in the conduct of a democracy can be very well established. The foundation of State is made of rocks and mortar of security and protection, erosion of this will lead to the fall of the entire State. With the Revolt of 1857 to the ushering of independence in1947, with a traditional Indian society to the rise of prominent middle class, from one epoch to another, India has witnessed developments in each and every sphere be it political, social, economic or administrative. These developments have further been influenced and moulded in the global environment with the rise of number of non-state institutions and human-centered approach thereby, placing every agency to the critical assessment at the global phase. Police performance in India have been in major limelight for many decades and now demanding greater measure than at any time. The administrative unit responsible for enforcement of law to maintain order of community and internal regulation of State is referred to as 'Department of Police'. In most of the developing countries, the organization and administration of this department is an attribute of their colonial hangover. Similarly, in India, the Police System is basically extrapolated from the British Police Act of 1861. Most of the State laws reflect this legislation of our colonial past and thus inviting a huge criticism from every dimension of society. But tracing down the history of India, one can find the roots of its origin during the Mauryan Empire. Kautilya's arthashastra presents a vivid picture of Police administration. With the passage of time, the departments were widened and during Mughal era, the kotwali system emerged. The major phase of changes in this system started in the first hundred years of

British rule. Rules were modified to suit the imperial needs and assert the colonial consolidation. One such step was the Police Act of 1861, which was mainly legislated in the aftermath of 1857 and accentuated the objectives of colonial model and to serve the interests of ruling administration. This act ignored the basic principles of policing i.e. accountability to citizens, obligation to judicial review , preventing crime and wining the trust and confidence of people rather only emphasized on repressive and coercive measures to strike terror in the citizens to abide by law. This act subordinated the police to executive control and this practice is evident in most of the State laws even after six decades of independence. Post independence, the subject of maintaining law and order was placed in the State list under article-246 of the constitution on India and a number of state laws have been formulated such as Bombay Police Act(1951), Kerala Police act (1960), Karnataka Police Act (1963) and so on. But each one of these act is a mere reflection of the police act 1861, Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure or the Indian Evidence Act- 1872 and thus led to steady deterioration of police administration in India. There is a huge list of the causes of popular dissatisfaction against the Police . The major one being the perception of people about police as 'cruel', rude, corrupt, partisan in nature, 'inactive' if no pressure, 'criminals in uniform' and 'immoral. This view is not individualistic rather towards the whole outdated police system. The dismal record of police in investigating cases and successful prevention of crime has further aggravated the situation. Moreover, the continuous influence of bureaucracy and politics in the functioning, investigating of cases and preventing crimes has led to general perception of repelling away from police .Citing the recent case of riots in Uttar Pradesh, reports revealed that the police didnt take any action in fear of political conseqences. The administration of police being entirely

under bureaucratic hand which being politically influenced further create confusion about the flow of authority and thus inability to act. In absence of any accountability and answerability, the police acts arbitrarily and in its discretion under the umbrella of bureaucracy and politics. The top-down rigid hierarchy structure gives less avenues of promotion and thus fails to attract the youth of the country ,leaving a large amount of human development untapped. Also, The custom of 'sahib' sitting in the office issuing orders to 'hawaldars' ,along with poor arrangements for training, performance appraisals, shortage of resources, service conditions, poor conditions etc. has led to low morale and motivation among employees esp. at lower levels of organization. Apart from these, the ecological effects of rising population, inflation, poor pay structures, violent outbursts in protest, student and political activists, criminalization of politics and administration, corruption, red-tapism further challenge their existence. As Kiran Bedi has stated that, Had our forefathers shown foresight in two areas, we would have been a different country today, first population control and second. professional, independent and accountable policing. the need for a transparent, accountable and answerable police force is strongly due to the level of harassment and disgust and disappointment people feel of the process of police. The idea of inequality or community bias is prevalent in this system thus defining the basic fundamental right of equality to the people. there is a stark contrast between the police treating politicians, VIPs, ministers and the harsh, brutal victimization of poor, marginalized society. with the increased level of awareness, civil society groups, RTI act and judicial review has mobilized a larger section of society against this. The increasing need of an environment free from fear and terror and conducive for realization of people's right led to a landmark judgment by the supreme court in 2006 in Prakash Singh vs. Union of India.

SC restricted central and state governments to comply with a set of seven directives that laid down mechanisms to start police reforms directives to achieve: 1-functional autonomy for police (security of tenure, streamlined appointment and transfer processed, creation of buffer body between police and government). 2- Enhanced police accountability (both for organizational performance and individual misconduct). According to the current statics only 14 states have either enacted the police act or made changes to the existing ones as per the SC directives. In 2006 Government of India formed a committee - Police Act Drafting Committee (PADC) under the chairmanship of soli-sorabjee committee to draft a new model to guide State governments adoption of new police laws. The Model Police Act submitted by this expert committee is still not applied. The Act, incorporates several suggestions including creation of state police board (for deciding on promotion and transfers of cops), ensure fixed tenure of police chief. Measures like setting up of state security commission (to check political or bureaucratic pressure on police); merit-based selection of state police chief from among three senior most cops; giving them security of tenure; separate the investigation and law and order functions of the police and setting up of police establishment board (deciding all transfers, promotions, postings and other service related matters) are yet to see the light of day in majority of the states. A new term in frequent use these days is "democratic policing" i.e. police to be Tranparent, accountable to law, protects human rights and serve community as its representative rather than that of the political minds. Good policing is a pre-requisite for efficient government and in a country like India, with a diverse and cultural background, the fundamental needs of representative policing are inevitable. The need for decentralization by taking initiative at the local levels i.e. Panchayats and municipalities by setting us of a grievance redressal mechanism at each police office,

creation of an appellate authority in marginalized area and thus mobilizing and creating awareness among the masses is required. Voluntary organizations can be set up to educate people of their rights and duties towards county and inculcating a feeling of trust and confidence within the police administration. The police administration has to be separated from political influences and efficiently regulated. efficient training programs for conduct and behavior with the masses, dealing situations with ethical and moral decisions, conducting seminars at local levels for the masses by each SHO in his are to win trust and faith of people in police organization can be some measures, organising award ceremonies for able and efficient work can be conducted Moreover, the officers of higher levels of this hierarchy should appear as the guiding leaders so to boost the morale of the lower grade officers. Citing an example from Punjab police in 1980s, the police morale was low with the high rise of terrorist activities the then appointed DGP started an operation "Night Domination" .He cited the specific areas and along with all senior officials visited those areas. This involvement of officers in undertaking risk for their duties and public good highly boosted the morale of police. The perception of police neutrality and trust-worthiness has to be re-established via empowerment, both within the services and outside via lokpal and lokayukts , efficient citizen charters etc. If that is done, one may be able to see a moral revolution in this country in one's lifetime.

Anjali References 1. Indian Administration- Fadia and Fadia 2. Wikipedia 3. Human rights initiative.org

USs Intrusion Its proved almost everywhere that power can dominate anybody, anywhere. But it doesnt proved anywhere, or it dont give license to get into the people life & peep into what stuff they are doing? Its the most ridiculous thing the power gives to the power. But there are some people or organisations who do these things as their motive & as their work. But, hats off to 29 year old young Edward Snowden who showed the courage & exuberance against USs NSA ( National Security Agency) for which he used to work & against his own country. He not only went against worlds hegemony country USA but also against his employer but also showed the world that by raising voice against the wrongdoing & not become numb you can not solve the problem but at least can show your courage & wisdom & not become slave of anybody. And that what Snowden did. After the disclosure from Snowden, Obama said that it was important to distinguish between the deep concerns we have as a government around theft of intellectual property or hacking into systems whether its our financial systems, our critical infrastructure. About the programme The recent programme called PRISM of NSA against all the citizen of the globe by getting access to their e-data, phone data & call records is somewhat they got access to their life. Because there are many people in advanced countries who spent their more than half of the day on internet, & sending & getting important & confidential information, getting bank transactions, geeting information on phone calls, messaging, etc. And getting access to these very important data that NSA was stealing & peeping into those is question mark on their organization. NSA got into the personal freedom of people around the globe. USA used the advantage of its hegemony & entered into contract & nexus with the internet giants of US companies like Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook, Verizon, AT&T, Skype, AOL, Google, PalTalk, Apple, Youtube. All these companies revealed E- mail, Chat-video, Video, Voice, Photos, Stored Data, VoIP, File Transfers, Video Conferencing, Notification of target activity logins, Online social networking details, special requests. And these companies also happily get into it & readily gave access to their customers information. The companies on which used to rely for our daily usage, they passed by their users information let them go. What has created particular concern in US is that under the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court orders, all the US telecom companies have given the NSA all their transactions of the millions subscribers. Transactional data, or called metadata are not the actual phone conversations but records od who talked to whom, from where & for how long. Its almost revealing actual conversations itself

The most closely guarded secret of all collaboration with technology companies & internet service provides themselves. Through these covert partnerships, the agencies have inserted secret vulnerabilities into commercial encryption software. The NSA spends $250mn in a year on a programme which among other goals, work with technology companies to covertly influence their product designs. How they did it Vast amounts of encrypted internet data which have up till now been discarded are now. accessible & exploitable. The breakthrough which was not described in detail meant intelligence agencies were able to monitor large amounts of data flowing through the worlds fibre optics cables & break its encryption, despite assurances from internet company executives that this data was beyond the reach of government. Independent security experts have long suspected that NSA has been introducing weakness & getting lame in security standards. NSA has the capability against widely used internet protocols, voice over internet protocol, HTTPs, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) used to protect online shopping & banking. NSAs commercial solutions center, ostensibly the body through which technology companies can have their security products assessed & presented to prospective governments buyers. As US is worlds largest fibre optic network hub, it can tap most of the data passing through its territory. It can tapped easily as all US carriers have obviously provided the US government direct access to their networks. The US is tapping into major trunk routes of Internet in the international waters. Three taps were, one in off the coast of South America, one north of Africa & one in Indian Ocean. After the disclosure by Snowden, all the Silicon Valley internet giants were saying that they are not providing the NSA direct access to their servers, while at the same time admitting that they are duty abound under the US laws to provide the NSA any data it wants. This is the first time ever saw that any countrys government could be the legal thief & in case of US we can say its Empire Espionage. NSA not only snooped into people life but they didnt spared G-20 meeting held in London held in 2009. NSA & Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) of United Kingdom, the British equivalent of United Kingdom, jointly spied on the G-20 summit. The snooping used variety of methods, from tapping satellite signals to specially prepared internet cafes made for delegations.

Surveillance of India When NSAs case disclosed at that time it was shown that India was the 5th most snooped country. The main threat is that in the past our government websites were hacked by Chinese authorities & now the US. So its confirmed that we dont have enough cyber specialists to work on these & there is greater threat. The reason for this penetration in India because Google, Microsoft, Yahoo have large number of users in India & even government agencies & officials routinely use web based services for their communications. Many countries to whom Snowden asked for asylum they refused to give it & this is one example that these countries dont want to go against US and hesitate to take steps against it like India did by refusing to give asylum.But some countries like Russia, Equador, Bolivia, Hong Kong (where Snowden first went after revealing the information) readily gave the asylum request. Conclusion As it is evident that US punish all other countries in different means for violating laws & breaking rules, the recent case of Syria for using WMD, so is it the time to raise voice against the Empire of the world as Snowden did? Even after G-20 snooping why the other powerful countries are not raising voice against this NSAs snooping activity which is against the fundamental right of the people at least for India. So its very high time that the other countries like China, Russia, India , Japan, France, Brazil & other must raise their voice against this illegal intrusion by US on other countrys people. Its the case of sheer of security of anybody in any country. If this thing taken not so seriously then the day is not so far USA will rule the roost. Name : Abhijit Roy References: Frontline Magazine, Business Line, The Hindu