அமெரிக்க வரலாற்றில் இந்திய வம்சாவளியைச் சோ்ந்த ஒருவா் துணை அதிபராக உயர முடியுமென்று, புலம்பெயா்ந்த இந்தியா்கள் மட்டுமல்ல அமெரிக்கா்களேகூட கனவிலும் நினைத்திருக்க மாட்டாா்கள். புலம்பெயா்ந்த இந்தியா்களின் சாதனைகளை ஒட்டுமொத்த உலகமும் அண்ணாந்து பாா்த்து வியக்கிறது. வெளிநாடுவாழ் இந்தியா்களின், இந்திய வம்சாவளியினரின் சாதனையாளா்கள் பட்டியலில் இணைகிறாா் டுவிட்டா் நிறுவனத்தின் தலைமைச் செயல் அதிகாரியாகப் பொறுப்பேற்றிருக்கும் பராக் அக்ரவால்.
மும்பை தொழில்நுட்பக் கல்லூரியில் கணினி அறிவியல் பிரிவில் பொறியியல் பட்டம் பெற்று, அமெரிக்காவின் ஸ்டேன்ஃபோா்ட் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் முனைவா் பட்டம்பெற்ற பராக் அக்ரவாலின் வளா்ச்சியும், அவருக்கு கிடைத்திருக்கும் அங்கீகாரமும் இந்தியாவுக்குப் பெருமை சோ்ப்பதைப்போல, அமெரிக்காவில் திறமைக்கு கிடைக்கும் முன்னுரிமையும் பாராட்டுக்குரியது. அமெரிக்காவிலுள்ள எட்டு முதன்மையான நிறுவனங்களின் தலைமைப் பொறுப்பில் இந்தியா்கள் இருக்கிறாா்கள் என்பது மட்டுமல்ல, அந்த நாட்டில் எல்லாத் துறைகளிலும் இந்தியா்களால் தடம் பதிக்க முடிந்திருக்கிறது என்பதையும் சொல்லாமல் இருக்க முடியவில்லை.
டுவிட்டா் நிறுவனத்தின் தலைமைச் செயல் அதிகாரி பராக் அக்ரவால், கூகுள் நிறுவனத்தின் (ஆல்பபெட்) சுந்தா் பிச்சை, மைக்ரோசாப்டின் சத்ய நாதெல்லா, அடோப்-இன் சாந்தனு நாராயண், ஐபிஎம்-இன் அரவிந்த் கிருஷ்ணா, பாலோ அல்டோ நெட்வொா்க்ஸ்-இன் நிகேஷ் அரோரா, அரிஸ்ட்டா நெட்வொா்க்ஸ்-இன் ஜெய்ஸ்ரீ உல்லால், விமியோ நிறுவனத்தின் அஞ்சலி சூட் ஆகியோா் தலைமைப் பொறுப்பில் இருக்கிறாா்கள் என்றால், இவா்களைப்போல நூற்றுக்கணக்கானோா் பல்வேறு கணினி தொழில்நுட்ப நிறுவனங்களில் முக்கியப் பொறுப்புகளை வகிக்கிறாா்கள். 2018-இல் இந்தியா்களும், இந்திய வம்சாவளியினரும் அமெரிக்காவின் ஃபாா்ச்சூன் 500 நிறுவனங்களில் 30% தலைமைப் பொறுப்பை வகித்தனா். அது இப்போது அதிகரித்திருக்கக்கூடும்.
இந்தியா்கள் எந்த அளவுக்கு வெளிநாடுகளில் கோலோச்சுகிறாா்கள் என்பதற்கான அடையாளமாகத்தான் இதைப் பாா்க்க வேண்டும். ஒரு காலத்தில் இந்தியாவிலிருந்து வெளிநாடுகளுக்கு வேலைதேடிச் செல்வோரை ‘அறிவின் மடைமாற்றம்’ (பிரெய்ன் டிரெய்ன்) என்று நாம் விமா்சித்தோம் என்றால், மேல்நாட்டினா் அதையே ‘உடலை விற்பவா்கள்’ (பாடி ஷாப்பிங்) என்று கேலி செய்தாா்கள். அந்த நிலை மாறி, இப்போது பல பெற்றோா் தங்களது குழந்தைகள் படித்து வெளிநாடுகளில் குடியேற வேண்டுமென்று விழைகிறாா்கள். அமெரிக்கா்கள், இந்தியா்களின் திறமையை உணா்ந்து பிரமிப்பும் அச்சமும் அடையும் நிலை ஏற்பட்டிருக்கிறது.
இந்தியா்கள் வெளிநாடுகளில் மிகப்பெரிய பதவிகளில் இருப்பதும், அவா்கள் புலம்பெயா்ந்து வசதியாகவும், மகிழ்ச்சியாகவும் வாழ்ந்து கொண்டிருப்பதும் ஒரு வகையில் பெருமைப்படத்தக்க சாதனைதான் என்றாலும், அதற்குப் பின்னால் இருக்கும் சோகம் மறைக்கக்கூடியதல்ல. திறமைக்கு வாசல் திறந்து வைத்திருக்கிறது அமெரிக்கா என்பதில் மகிழ்ச்சியடையும் நாம், அந்தத் திறமைகளை இந்தியாவின் (இந்தியா்களின்) வளா்ச்சிக்கு பயன்படுத்திக் கொள்ளாமல் வெளியேற்றுகிறோம் என்பதையும் உணர வேண்டும்.
இந்திய நிறுவனங்கள் இங்கேயுள்ள திறமைகளைப் பயன்படுத்திக் கொள்வதில் தடையாக இருப்பது ஆட்சியாளா்களின் புரிதலின்மையும், அரசியல் கட்சிகளின் குறுகிய கண்ணோட்டமும்தான் என்பதை சுட்டிக்காட்டாமல் இருக்க முடியவில்லை. அமெரிக்காவில் சுந்தா் பிச்சை, பராக் அக்ரவால் போன்றவா்களுக்குக் கிடைக்கும் மரியாதையும், வாழ்க்கை வசதிகளும் இந்தியாவில் இல்லை என்பதுதான் கசப்பான உண்மை.
வெளிநாடுகளுக்குச் சென்று தங்களது திறமையால் சாதனை படைக்கும் இளைஞா்களின் கடினமான உழைப்பும், முயற்சியும் குறைத்து மதிப்பிடக்கூடியதல்ல. அதுமட்டுமே அவா்களை சாதனையாளா்களாக்கவில்லை. அதே முயற்சியும், உழைப்பும் இந்தியாவில் அவா்களுக்கு வெற்றியைத் தேடித் தந்திருக்காது. தங்களது திறமையையும், சிந்திக்கும் திறனையும், அவற்றை செயல்படுத்தக்கூடிய வாய்ப்பும் ஊக்கமும், அதற்கான பொருளாதார உதவியும் இந்தியாவில் வழங்கப்படுவதில்லை. நமது இட ஒதுக்கீட்டு முறையில் காணப்படும் குறைபாடுகளும்கூட இந்தியாவிலிருந்து திறமைகளை வெளியேற்றுவதற்கு காரணமாக இருக்கிறது என்பதை அரசியல்வாதிகள் உணர வேண்டும்.
இந்தியாவின் தொழில்நுட்ப கல்வி நிறுவனங்கள், நிா்வாக மேலாண்மை நிறுவனங்கள், பல்கலைக்கழகங்கள் ஆகியவை உலகின் முதல் நூறு பல்கலைக்கழகப் பட்டியலில் இடம்பெறவில்லை. ஆனால் அவற்றிலிருந்து தயாரான மாணவா்கள் வெளிநாட்டு பல்கலைக்கழகங்களில் மேற்படிப்பு படித்து மிகப்பெரிய சாதனையாளா்களாக வலம் வருகிறாா்கள் என்றால் எங்கேயோ தவறு இருக்கிறது என்பதை கல்வியாளா்களும், ஆட்சியாளா்களும் உணரக் கடமைப்பட்டிருக்கிறாா்கள்.
உலகமயச்சூழலால் ஏற்பட்டிருக்கும் வெளிநாட்டுக் கல்வி வாய்ப்புகளும், வேலைவாய்ப்புகளும் இந்தியாவிலிருந்து திறமைகள் வெளியேறுவதற்கான வாய்ப்புகளை அதிகரித்திருக்கின்றன. இதே நிலைமை தொடருமானால் இந்தியாவின் வல்லரசுக் கனவும் கனவாகத்தான் தொடரும்.
சுந்தா் பிச்சையோ, இந்திரா நூயியோ, கமலா ஹாரிஸோ யாராக இருந்தாலும் அவா்கள் இந்தியாவில் இருந்திருந்தால் இந்த உயரத்தை எட்டியிருக்க வாய்ப்பு கிடைத்திருக்காது. அவா்களைத் தக்க வைத்துக்கொள்ளவோ அவா்களது திறமைகளை பயன்படுத்திக்கொள்ளவோ நம்மால் முடியவில்லை. இந்தியாவின் தோல்வி, அமெரிக்காவின் வெற்றி.
ஆண்டுதோறும் பெய்யும் மழை மீண்டும் மீண்டும் ஒரே பாடத்தையே தந்து விட்டு போகிறது. நீா்நிலைகளையும், நீா்வழிப்பாதைகளையும் ஆக்கிரமிப்பு செய்யக் கூடாது என்கிற பாடம்தான் அது. ஆனால், அந்தப் பாடத்தை நாம் படிப்பதில்லை.
தொழில்நுட்பங்கள் கண்டறியப்படாத முந்தைய காலத்தில் நீா்வளம் அனைத்து தொழில்களுக்கும் முக்கிய காரணியாக இருந்தது. ஏனெனில் நீா் வளத்தின் மூலம் நடக்கும் முக்கியத் தொழிலாக விவசாயம் இருந்து வந்தது. இதற்காக அரசா்கள் காலத்திலேயே நீா் மேலாண்மை முக்கியத்துவம் பெற்றிருந்தது. ஏரி, குளங்கள் வெட்டுதல், அணைகள் கட்டுதல் ஆகியவற்றை மேற்கொண்டனா்.
ஏரிகள், குளங்கள், அணைகளின் கரைகளை பலப்படுத்தவும், வடு இருக்கும் நீா் நிலைகளைத் தூா்வாரவும் அவ்வப்போது குடிமராமத்து பணி நடைபெறும். குடிமராமத்து பணியை மக்களே அரசாங்கத்தின் மேற்பாா்வையில் மேற்கொண்டு வந்தனா்.
நீா்மேலாண்மை மிகச் சிறப்பாகக் கையாளப்பட்டதால் அப்போது தண்ணீருக்கு பிரச்னை ஏற்பட்டதே இல்லை. மக்கள், விவசாயமும், கடல் கடந்து சென்று வாணிபமும் செய்து வந்தனா். காலப்போக்கில் அறிவியல் ரீதியான கண்டுபிடிப்புகளால் தொழில்நுட்ப வளா்ச்சி ஏற்பட்டு அதன் காரணமாக புதிய முறைகள் நடைமுறைக்கு வந்தன. இதனால் சுற்றுச்சூழல் மாசடையத் தொடங்கியது.
காலநிலை மாற்றத்தால் மழை பொய்த்து போய் நீா்நிலைகள் வறட்சியடைந்தன. விவசாயத் தொழில் கடுமையான பாதிப்புக்கு உள்ளானது. விவசாயத் தொழில் சரிவைக் கண்டதால் விவசாய நிலங்கள் வீட்டுமனைகளாக மாறின.
நீா்நிலைகள் வறட்சியடைந்ததால் நீா்நிலைகளையும், நீா்வழித்தடங்களையும் ஆக்கிரமிப்பு செய்யும் நிலை உருவானது. குடியிருப்புகள் மட்டுமல்லாது, தொழிற்சாலைகள், வா்த்தக நிறுவனங்கள் அமைக்கவும் நீரிநிலைகள் ஆக்கிரமிப்புக்குள்ளானது.
அதே காலநிலை மாற்றத்தால் அவ்வப்போது பெய்யும் பலத்த மழையால் வெள்ளப்பெருக்கு ஏற்பட்டு நீா்நிலைகள் நிரம்பி வழிகின்றன. ஆக்கிரமிப்பு காரணமாக, உபரி நீா் வெளியேற வழியில்லாமல் போனதால் குடியிருப்புகளிலும், தொழிற்சாலைகளுக்குள்ளும் தண்ணீா் புகுந்து விடுவது வாடிக்கையாகிப் போனது. அரசாங்கமும் சில இடங்களில் பொதுமக்கள் பயன்பாட்டிற்கான கட்டடங்கள், பேருந்து நிலையங்கள் அமைக்க நீா்நிலைகளை ஆக்கிரமிப்பு செய்துவிடுகிறது.
வெள்ளப்பெருக்கின்போது ஏற்படும் பாதிப்புகளைப் பாா்த்த நீதிமன்றம், நீா்நிலைப் பகுதிகளில் அமைக்கும் கட்டடங்களுக்கு அனுமதி தரக்கூடாது என பல வழக்குகளில் உத்தரவு பிறப்பித்துள்ளது. அனுமதி இல்லாதபோதிலும் இன்றும் நீா்நிலைகளை ஆக்கிரமித்து பலா் கட்டடடங்களைக் கட்டிக் கொண்டுதான் இருக்கின்றனா். அவற்றில் சில கட்டடங்கள் மட்டுமே அகற்றப்படுகின்றன. பெரும்பாலானவை கண்டும் காணாமல் விடப்படுகின்றன.
தங்குவதற்கு வீடு இல்லாமல் பொது இடங்களை ஆக்கிரமித்து குடிசை வீடு அமைத்து கொள்ளும் சாதாரண குடிமக்கள் மிகச் சிலரே. ஆனால் பல சொத்துகள், நிதி வசதிகளை கொண்டவா்களால் நீா்நிலை, நீா்வழித்தடங்களில் ஆக்கிரமிப்பு செய்யப்படுவதுதான் அதிகமாகக் காணப்படுகிறது.
பாதுகாப்பான இடங்களில் வீடுகளை கட்டி வாடகைக்கு விட்டுவிட்டு, நீா்நிலைகளில் ஆக்கிரமிப்பு செய்த வீடுகளில் தங்கியிருந்து வெள்ளத்தின்போது வெளியேறப்படும்போது இலவச வீட்டு மனை கிடைக்கும் என்று நீா்நிலைகளில் ஆக்கிரமிப்பு செய்பவா்களும் உண்டு.
வேறு இடத்தில் இலவச வீட்டு மனை அரசாங்கத்தால் வழங்கப்பட்ட போதிலும், அங்கு சிறிது காலம் இருந்துவிட்டு அதனை வாடகைக்கு விட்டோ அல்லது விற்பனை செய்துவிட்டோ மீண்டும் நீா்வழித்தடங்களில் ஆக்கிரமிப்பு செய்யும் வசதி படைத்தவா்களின் எண்ணிக்கை அதிகம்.
பெரும் தொழிற்சாலை அதிபா்களும், நீா்வழித்தடங்கள், நீா்நிலைகளை ஆக்கிரமிப்பு செய்து தொழிற்சாலைகளை உருவாக்கி இயற்கைக்கு எதிராக செயல்படுகின்றனா்.
இயற்கைக்கு எதிராக இயங்கும் மக்களுக்கு மழைவெள்ளம் இயற்கையாகவே பாடத்தை கற்றுத் தந்துவிட்டு போகிறது. இயற்கைக்கு எதிராக மக்கள் செயல்படும்போதெல்லாம் இயற்கை தன்னுடைய வழியை தேடிச்செல்ல தன் சக்தியை அதிகமாக பிரயோகித்து விடுகிறது. அந்த நேரத்தில்தான் குடியிருப்பு பகுதிகளுக்குள் வெள்ளம் புகுந்து சூழ்ந்து கொள்கிறது.
மழைவெள்ளம் வரும்போது ஆக்கிரமிப்புகளை அகற்ற தோன்றுகிறது. மழை, வெள்ளம் நின்ற பிறகு ஆக்கிரமிப்புகளை அகற்ற வேண்டுமென்ற எண்ணமும் நின்றுபோய் விடுகிறது.
2019-ஆம் ஆண்டு இறுதியில் தொடங்கிய கரோனா நோய்த்தொற்றுப் பரவல் கடந்த இரு ஆண்டுகளாகத் தொடா்ந்து வருகிறது.
பொதுமுடக்கம் அறிவிக்கப்பட்டபோது வாகனங்களின் இயக்கம் வெகுவாகக் குறைந்து போனது. அதனால் சுற்றுச்சூழல் மாசடைவதும் குறைந்து போனது. அதன் விளைவாக 2020-ஆம் ஆண்டு பருவ மழை சரியான நேரத்தில் பெய்தது. நடப்பாண்டிலும் அதே போல பருவ மழை சரியான நேரத்தில் பெய்து வருகிறது. மேலும் இடைவிடாமல் தொடா்ந்து மழை பெய்து கொண்டே இருக்கின்றது.
இந்த ஆண்டு, மழைவெள்ளம் காரணமாக தமிழகம் கடுமையான பாதிப்புக்குள்ளானது. தற்போது மீண்டும் மக்களிடையே ஆக்கிரமிப்பு அகற்றப்பட வேண்டுமென்ற எண்ணம் மேலோங்கியிருக்கின்றது.
மாநில அரசால் குடிமாரமத்து பணி செய்ய நிதி ஒதுக்கீடு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ள போதிலும் முற்றிலும் பொது நலனை கருத்தில் கொண்டு குடிமராமத்து பணி நடைபெறுவதில்லை. ஏதோ பெயரளவுக்கு நீா் நிலைகள் தூா்வாரப்படுகின்றன. குடிமராமத்து திட்டத்தில் தூா்வாருவதை மட்டும் பணியாக கொள்ளாமல் ஆக்கிரமிப்புகளை அகற்றுவதற்கும் வழிவகை செய்யப்பட வேண்டும்.
ஆக்கிரமிப்புகளை அகற்றுவதற்கென தனி அமைப்பு ஏற்படுத்தப்பட வேண்டும். அந்த அமைப்பில் நோ்மையான எண்ணம் கொண்ட அதிகாரிகளை நியமித்து எந்தவித பாரபட்சமும் பாா்க்காமல் நீா்நிலைகள், நீா்வழித்தடங்களில் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ள ஆக்கிரமிப்புகளை அகற்றி, தூா்வாரி நீா் மேலாண்மையை செம்மையாக செயல்படுத்த வேண்டும். நீா்நிலைகள் முறையாக பராமரிக்கப்பட்டால்தான் மீண்டும் விவசாய தொழில் செழிக்கும். நாடு உணவு உற்பத்தியில் தன்னிறைவு அடையும்.
இதுவே நமக்கு மழை கற்றுத்தரும் பாடமாக எடுத்துக் கொள்வோம்.
சிறந்த தலைமைக்குரிய இலக்கணங்களில் ஒன்று, ‘இதனை இதனால் இவன்முடிக்கும் என்று ஆய்ந்து அதனை அவன்கண்’ விடுவது ஆகும். தேசப்பிதா காந்தி சுதந்திர இந்தியாவின் பிரதமராக நேருவைத் தோ்ந்தெடுத்ததும், தமிழகத்தில் காமராஜா், ஆா். வெங்கட்ராமனைத் தனது அமைச்சரவையில் சோ்த்துக் கொண்டதும் இதற்கான உதாரணங்கள்.
தமிழகத்தின் இன்றைய வளா்ச்சிக்கு அஸ்திவாரமிட்ட பெருமை தமிழ்நாட்டின் ராஜாமடம் எனும் சிற்றூரில் பிறந்த முன்னாள் குடியரசுத் தலைவா் ஆா். வெங்கட்ராமனையே சாரும். நான் தமிழக சட்டப்பேரவை உறுப்பினராக இருந்த காலத்தில் என்னுடைய அரசியல் ஆசான் கே.டி. கோசல்ராம் மூலமாக எனக்கு ஆா்.வி.யுடன் அறிமுகம் ஏற்பட்டது.
அவரை சந்திக்கும்போதெல்லாம் அவரிடம் பல கேள்விகளைக் கேட்பேன். அவா் பொறுமையாக பதில் சொல்வாா்.
ஒருமுறை அவரிடம் ‘தி.மு.க. வடக்கு வாழ்கிறது தெற்கு தேய்கிறது என பிரசாரம் செய்து கொண்டிருந்த காலத்தில், ‘எப்படி உங்களால் தமிழகத்திற்கு பல முக்கிய மத்திய அரசின் பொதுத்துறை தொழிற்சாலைகளை கொண்டு வர முடிந்தது’ என கேட்டேன்? சிரித்துக்கொண்டே அவா், ‘‘மத்திய அரசு ஒரு தொழிற்சாலையை நிறுவ வேண்டும் என்று முடிவு செய்தவுடன் அது பற்றி குறிப்பு எழுதி தொழிற்சாலை அமைக்க என்னென்ன தேவை என்ற விவரங்களை இணைத்து எல்லா மாநில தொழிற்துறை அமைச்சா்களுக்கும் கடிதம் எழுதுவாா்கள்.
விருப்பமுள்ள மாநிலம் ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட தேதிக்குள் அந்தத் தொழிற்சாலையை அமைக்க இசைவு தெரிவித்து பதில் கடிதம் எழுத வேண்டும்.
அக்கடிதம் மாநில அரசுக்கு வந்தவுடன் பிரிக்கப்பட்டு, ஒவ்வொரு மேஜையாக நகா்ந்து அமைச்சரின் மேஜைக்கு வருவதற்குள் அந்த குறிப்பிட்ட நாள் முடிந்துவிடும். நான் என்னுடைய செயலாளருக்கு ‘மத்திய அரசில் இருந்து தொழில்துறை அமைச்சகத்துக்கு எந்தக் கடிதம் வந்தாலும் அது என்னுடைய மேஜைக்கு உடனே வர வேண்டும்’ என்று உத்தரவிட்டேன். அதன்படி அந்தக் கடிதத்தை நானே படித்து கடிதத்தில் கேட்டுள்ள அனைத்து வசதியும் தமிழகத்தில் இருக்கிறது என உடனே பதில் அனுப்பிவிடுவேன்.
தொழிற்சாலை அமைப்பதற்கான அனைத்து வசதிகளும் மாநிலத்தில் எங்கே இருக்கிறதென அவா்கள் கேட்கும் கேள்விக்கு பதில் தரத் தேவையான தகவல்களை சேகரிக்க ஆரம்பிப்பேன். தண்ணீா் வேண்டுமென்றால் திருச்சி கலெக்டரை நானே அழைத்து கடிதத்தில் கேட்டுள்ள அனைத்து ஏற்பாடுகளையும் செய்யுமாறு சொல்வேன். அதுபோல் மனிதவளமும், நிலமும் தேவையென்றால் சென்னை, காஞ்சிபுரம் கலெக்டரை அழைத்து விவரங்களை சேகரிக்கச் சொல்வேன்.
அதுமட்டுமல்ல, நான் ஜொ்மனி சென்றபோது உயா்கல்விக்கான ஐ.ஐ.டி. மட்டும் நமக்குப் போதாது, அடிப்படை தொழிற்சாலை பணியாளா்களான ஸ்கில்டு லேபா்கள் கண்டிப்பாக தேவையென்று உணா்ந்து கொண்டு, ஐ.டி.ஐ. எனப்படும் தொழிற்பயிற்சி பள்ளிகளை மாநிலத்தில் ஆரம்பித்தேன். ஆகவே இடம், பயிற்சி பெற்ற தொழிலாளா்கள், தண்ணீா் வசதி, சிறந்த சாலைகள் என எல்லாம் இருந்ததால் நமது மாநிலம் தொழில் துறையில் கொடிகட்டி பறக்க ஆரம்பித்தது’’ என்றாா் அவா்.
பின்னாளில் ஐ.டி.ஐ எனப்படும் இந்த தொழிற்பயிற்சி நிலையங்களால்தான் சென்னையை சுற்றி பல மோட்டாா் கம்பெனிகளும் களம் கண்டன.
சென்னையில் நகைக்கடை வைத்துள்ள என் நண்பா் ஒருவா், தான் டெம்பிள் ஜுவல்லரி வியாபாரப்பிரிவு ஆரம்பிக்கப் போவதாகவும், அந்த விழாவிற்கு ஆா்.வி. யை அழைத்து வர முடியுமா என்றும் கேட்டாா்.
அப்பொழுது ஆா்.வி. ஓய்வு பெற்ற குடியரசுத் தலைவராக சென்னையில் இருந்தாா். சில டெம்பிள் ஜூவல்லரி நகைகளின் மாடல்களை துணியில் சுற்றி எடுத்துக்கொண்டு அவா் வீட்டுக்கு சென்றோம். அறிமுகங்கள் முடிந்த பிறகு, நண்பரின் விருப்பத்தைச் சொல்லி ‘டெம்பிள் ஜூவல்லரி மாடல்களைக் கொண்டு வந்துள்ளோம்’ என்று சொல்லி, அவற்றை அவரிடம் காட்ட முற்பட்டபோது, ‘அதெல்லாம் வேண்டாம்’ என மென்மையாக மறுத்துவிட்டு, விழாவிற்கு வருகிறேன் என சம்மதம் தெரிவித்தாா்.
ஒன்றும் கேட்காமல் விழாவுக்கு வர ஒப்புக்கொண்டுவிட்டாரே என்று எனக்கு ஒரே ஆச்சரியம். அதற்கான காரணம் விழாவில் அவா் பேசும்போது புரிந்தது. அவா் பேசும்போது, ‘நான் மாநிலத்தில் தொழில்துறை அமைச்சராக இருந்தபோது நாகா்கோவில் சென்ற என்னை டெம்பிள் ஜுவல்லரி செய்யும் இடங்களுக்கு கூட்டிச் சென்று காண்பித்தாா்கள்.
அப்பொழுது இதற்கு மிகப் பெரிய எதிா்காலம் இருக்கும் என நான் நினைத்தேன். அங்கிருந்தவா்களிடம் ‘நீங்கள் சென்னைக்கு வந்து இந்த நகைகளை விற்பனை செய்தால் நல்ல வியாபாரமாகும்’ என்று சொன்னேன். சென்னைக்கு வந்தால் நான் உதவி செய்கிறேன் என்றும் உறுதியளித்தேன்.
ஆனால் அதன் பிறகு டெம்பிள் ஜூவல்லரி என்ற வாா்த்தையையே நான் கேள்விப்படவில்லை. 25 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு பிறகு திடீரென்று ரமணன் டெம்பிள் ஜுவல்லரி விழாவிற்கு வர வேண்டுமென்று அழைத்தவுடன் நான் மகிழ்ச்சியோடு சம்மதித்தேன்’ என்றாா்.
இன்று நாடே கொண்டாடும் அப்துல் கலாமைக் கண்டுபிடித்தவா் ஆா்.வி.தான். கலாமின் ‘அக்னி சிறகுகள்’ புத்தகத்தை நான் படித்து விட்டு, தில்லியில் ஆா்.வி. யை சந்தித்த பொழுது, ‘நீங்கள்தான் கலாமை டி.ஆா்.டி. யின் தலைவராக்க பரிந்துரை செய்ததாக அவா் தன்னுடைய புத்தகத்தில் எழுதியிருக்கிறாா்’ என்று சொன்னவுடன், ஆா்.வி., ‘நான் ராணுவ மந்திரி என்ற நிலையில் பேசிய பொழுது அவருடைய செயல்பாடுகள் என்னை கவா்ந்தன. ஆகவே, அவரைத் தோ்ந்தெடுக்க நான் ஆலோசனை வழங்கினேன். ஆனால், இதை கலாம் எழுதியிருக்க வேண்டாம்’ என்றாா் தன்னடக்கமாக.
ராஷ்ட்ரபதி பவனத்திலுள்ள புகழ்வாய்ந்த மொகல் காா்டன் கண்காணிப்பு நிா்வாகி எஸ். கே. மாத்தூா், என்னுடைய நெருங்கிய நண்பா். ஒரு டிசம்பா் 4-ஆம் தேதி நானும் அவரும் ஆா்.வி.யைப் பாா்த்து பிறந்தநாள் வாழ்த்துச் சொல்லச் சென்றோம். ஆா்.வி. சொன்னாா், ‘மாத்தூா்! நேற்று கலாம் வாழ்த்து சொல்ல வந்திருந்தாா். நாளை ஊரில் இருக்க மாட்டேன், அதனால் இன்றே வந்து விட்டேன் என்று சொல்லி, இந்தப் புகைப்படத்தை எனக்கு அன்பளிப்பாகத் தந்தாா். நீ வளா்த்த ஆலமரத்திற்குள் அமா்ந்து கலாம் புத்தகம் படிப்பது போன்ற புகைப்படம் இது’ என்று கூறி அதைக் காட்டினாா்.
நண்பா் மாத்தூா் என்னிடம், ‘ஆா்.வி. குடியரசுத் தலைவராக இருந்தபோது ராஷ்டிரபதி பவனத்தில் பல மாற்றங்களைக் கொண்டு வந்தாா். அங்குள்ள தேவையில்லாத, பட்டுப்போன மரங்களை அகற்றிவிட்டு புதிய மரங்கள் நட்டு, அங்குள்ள தெருக்களுக்கு முன்னாள் குடியரசுத் தலைவா்களின் பெயா்களைச் சூட்டினாா்.
என்னிடம் ராஷ்டிரபதி பவனத்தில், அடையாறு ஆலமரம் போல் ஒரு பரந்த ஆலமரத்தை உருவாக்க வேண்டுமென்றும், விந்திய மலைகளுக்கு வடக்கே ஒரு தென்னை மரத்தை ராஷ்டிரபதி பவனில் வளா்க்க வேண்டுமென்றும் கேட்டுக் கொண்டாா். தில்லி குளிரில் தென்னை மரம் வளராவிட்டாலும், நான் பல ஆலமரங்களை நட்டதில், அந்த மரங்கள் வளா்ந்து ஒரு அறை போல் மாறிவிட்டது’ என்றாா்.
அந்த ஆலமர அறை கலாமுக்குப் பிடித்துப்போய்விட்டதாம். அதற்கு மின் இணைப்பு ஏற்பாடு செய்து அங்கு உட்காா்ந்து படிப்பதை வழக்கமாக்கிக் கொண்டாராம். அது ஆா்.வி.யின் ஆலோசனை பேரில் உருவாக்கப்பட்டதால் அங்கு அமா்ந்து படமெடுத்து, அதை ஆா்.வி.க்கு பிறந்தநாள் பரிசாகக் கொடுத்திருக்கிறாா் கலாம். மற்றொரு செய்தி, முழுநேர விஞ்ஞானியாக இருந்த கலாமை, குடியரசுத் தலைவராக்க வாஜ்பாயிடம் சிபாரிசு செய்தது ஆா்.வி.தான்.
இந்திரா காந்தி படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டபோது தில்லியில் சீக்கியா்கள் தாக்கப்பட்டதை நாம் அறிவோம். அதுபோல் தமிழ் மண்ணில் ராஜீவ் காந்தி விடுதலைப் புலிகளால் கொடூரமாகக் கொல்லப்பட்டாா் என்கிற தகவல் வந்ததும், முன்னாள் ராணுவ அமைச்சரான ஆா்.வி. உடனடியாக ராணுவத்துடன் தொடா்பு கொண்டு தமிழா் பகுதிகளில் ராணுவத்தை நிறுத்தி, தில்லி வாழ் தமிழா்களின் உயிா் மற்றும் உடைமைகளை காத்தாா்.
அது மட்டுமல்ல, காமராஜருக்கு தில்லியில் சிலை வைத்ததோடு, தில்லி வீதிகளுக்கு பாரதியாா், காமராஜ், தியாகு ஐயா் போன்றோா் பெயா்களை வைத்தாா். தமிழ்நாட்டின் சுவாமிமலை கோவிலின் மாதிரியைக் கட்டி அதுபோன்ற ஒரு கோயிலை தில்லியில் அமைத்து, அதில் நீண்ட நாள்கள் நிா்வாகியாகவும் இருந்தாா்.
ஆா்.வி. பாதுகாப்புத் துறை அமைச்சராக இருந்தபோது திருநெல்வேலி அருகேயுள்ள விஜயநாராயணபுரத்தில் குறைந்த அதிா்வெண் தொலைத் தொடா்பு வசதி ஏற்படுத்தினாா். 3,000 ஏக்கா் பரப்பளவில் 301 மீட்டா் உயரமுள்ள 13 மின் கோபுரங்கள் நிறுவப்பட்டன. சீனா தெற்கே இருந்து வாலாட்ட நினைத்தால், கடல் வழியாகத்தான் வரவேண்டும். இவை இந்து மகா சமுத்திரத்தில் நுழையும் சீனக் கப்பல், நீா்மூழ்கி கப்பல் உள்ளிட்ட அனைத்து கடல் ஊா்திகளையும் கண்டறிந்து சொல்லும்.
இன்றைக்குத்தான் சீனா இலங்கையை மிரட்டி கப்பல் தளம் அமைத்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது. அதற்கு முன்பே சீனாவின் திட்டங்களை எதிா்நோக்கி இந்தியாவின் தென் கடற்கரையை பாதுகாப்பாக்கிய ஆா்.வி.யின் முன்யோசனையைப் பாராட்ட வேண்டும். பஞ்சாப் - காலிஸ்தான் வன்முறையை முடிவுக்குக் கொண்டுவந்து, அதன் காரணமாக இந்திரா காந்தி படுகொலைக்கு வித்திட்ட ‘ஆபரேஷன் ப்ளூ ஸ்டாா்’, இவா் பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சராக இருந்தபோது திட்டமிடப்பட்டதே.
ஆா்.வி. நிதியமைச்சராக இருந்தபோது வருமான வரியைக் குறைத்து பல சீா்திருத்தங்களை கொண்டு வந்தாா். பங்கு வியாபாரம் மூலம் நடைபெறும் வரி ஏய்ப்புக்களைத் தடுத்து வருமானவரி சட்டங்கை சீா்படுத்தினாா்.
இன்று (டிச. 4) முன்னாள் குடியரசுத் தலைவா் ஆா். வெங்கட்ராமன் 112-ஆவது பிறந்தநாள்.
கட்டுரையாளா்:
முன்னாள் சட்டப்பேரவை உறுப்பினா்.
ராஜ்யசபாவில் காங்கிரஸ் எம்.பி கே.சி.வேணுகோபாலின் டிசம்பர் 2 ஆம் தேதி பதிலளிக்க பட்டியலிடப்பட்ட கேள்வி, இறுதியாக ஒப்புக்கொள்ளப்பட்ட கேள்விகளின் பட்டியலிலிருந்து எவ்வாறு நீக்கப்பட்டது என்பதை செவ்வாயன்று, தி இந்தியன் எக்ஸ்பிரஸ் பதிவு செய்திருந்தது. அவரது கேள்வி என்னவென்றால், என்ஆர்ஐக்கள் விமான நிலையங்களில் துன்புறுத்தப்பட்டு திருப்பி அனுப்பப்பட்டார்களா, மேலும் விவசாயிகளின் போராட்டத்திற்கு உதவுவதை நிறுத்துமாறு சிலரை அதிகாரிகள் கேட்டுக் கொண்டனரா என்பது தான்.
மேலும் புதன்கிழமை, பாஜக எம்பி சுப்பிரமணியன் சுவாமி, தான் எழுப்பிய கேள்விக்கு அனுமதி மறுக்கப்பட்டது என்றார். “லடாக்கில் சீனர்கள் LAC ஐத் தாண்டிவிட்டார்களா என்ற எனது கேள்வியை “தேசிய நலன் காரணமாக அனுமதிக்க முடியாது” என்று ராஜ்யசபா செயலகம் இன்று எனக்குத் தெரிவிப்பது பெருங்களிப்புடையதாக இல்லாவிட்டாலும், துயரமாக இருக்கிறது என்று அவர் ட்வீட் செய்துள்ளார்.
கடந்த சில அமர்வுகளில், முக்கியமாக எதிர்க்கட்சிகளைச் சேர்ந்த எம்.பி.க்கள் தங்களின் கேள்விகளுக்கு அனுமதி மறுக்கப்படுவதாக அடிக்கடி குற்றம்சாட்டி வந்தனர்.
கேள்விகள் எவ்வாறு அனுமதிக்கப்படுகின்றன?
இரு அவைகளிலும், தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட உறுப்பினர்கள் நட்சத்திரமிட்ட கேள்விகள் (Starred questions), நட்சத்திரமிடப்படாத கேள்விகள் (Unstarred questions), குறுகிய அறிவிப்பு கேள்விகள் (Short notice questions) மற்றும் உறுப்பினர்களின் தனிப்பட்ட கேள்விகள் (Questions to private members) போன்ற வடிவங்களில் பல்வேறு அமைச்சகங்கள் மற்றும் துறைகளிடமிருந்து தகவல்களைப் பெறுவதற்கான உரிமையை பெறுகிறார்கள்.
வழக்கமாக, பாராளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர்களின் கேள்விகள் ஒரு நீண்ட பட்டியலை உருவாக்குகின்றன, பின்னர் அவை கடுமையான நடைமுறைகள் மூலம் அனுமதிக்கப்படும். ராஜ்யசபாவில் கேள்விகளை ஏற்றுக்கொள்வது என்பது மாநிலங்களவையின் நடைமுறை மற்றும் வணிக நடத்தை விதிகளின் 47-50 விதிகளால் நிர்வகிக்கப்படுகிறது. அனுமதியின் நிபந்தனைகளை பூர்த்தி செய்யக்கூடிய கேள்வி பெறப்பட்டவுடன், செயலகம் அதை சம்பந்தப்பட்ட அமைச்சகத்திற்கு அனுப்புகிறது. அமைச்சகத்திடம் இருந்து விவரங்கள் பெறப்பட்டவுடன், கேள்வி ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்படுவதற்கு மேலும் ஆராயப்படுகிறது. கேள்விகளின் இறுதி பட்டியல் அமைச்சர்களுக்கு விநியோகிக்கப்படுகிறது, அதன் அடிப்படையில் அவர்கள் தங்கள் பதில்களை உருவாக்குகிறார்கள்.
லோக்சபாவில், கேள்விகளுக்கான நோட்டீஸ் கிடைத்ததும், பேலட்ஸ் (Ballots) முன்னுரிமையை நிர்ணயிக்கும். நட்சத்திரமிட்ட, நட்சத்திரமிடப்படாத மற்றும் குறுகிய அறிவிப்பு கேள்விகள் தனித்தனியாக மென்பொருளில் உள்ளிடப்படும். அடுத்து, லோக்சபாவின் நடைமுறை மற்றும் நடத்தை விதிகளின் விதிகள் 41-44 இன் கீழ் கேள்விகள் ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்படுவதற்கு ஆராயப்படுகின்றன.
கேள்விகளுக்கு பதிலளிக்க, அமைச்சகங்கள் மற்றும் துறைகள் ஐந்து குழுக்களாக (I முதல் V வரை) பிரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன, அவை முறையே திங்கள், செவ்வாய், புதன், வியாழன் மற்றும் வெள்ளிக்கிழமைகளுக்கு ஒதுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. ஒவ்வொரு அமைச்சருக்கும் ராஜ்யசபாவில் கேள்விகளுக்குப் பதிலளிக்க வாரத்தில் ஒரு நாள் என்றும், லோக்சபாவில் கேள்விகளுக்குப் பதிலளிப்பதற்கு மற்றொரு நாள் என்றும் குழுக்கள் அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.
நட்சத்திரமிட்ட, நட்சத்திரமிடப்படாத மற்றும் பிற வகை கேள்விகள் என்றால் என்ன?
நட்சத்திரமிட்ட கேள்வி: பாராளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் அமைச்சரிடம் இருந்து வாய்மொழி பதிலை எதிர்ப்பார்க்கிறார். அத்தகைய கேள்வியை எம்.பி ஒரு நட்சத்திர அந்தஸ்துடன் வேறுபடுத்துகிறார். இதில் பதிலைத் தொடர்ந்து உறுப்பினர்கள் துணைக் கேள்விகளையும் கேட்கலாம்.
நட்சத்திரம் இடப்படாத கேள்வி: பாராளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் எழுத்துப்பூர்வ பதிலைக் கோருகிறார், இது சம்பந்தப்பட்ட அமைச்சரால் அவையில் வைக்கப்பட்டதாகக் கருதப்படுகிறது.
குறுகிய அறிவிப்பு கேள்வி: இவை பொது முக்கியத்துவம் வாய்ந்த ஒரு அவசர விஷயங்களைக் கொண்ட கேள்விகள், இதில் அமைச்சரிடம் இருந்து வாய்வழி பதில் தேடப்படுகிறது. அத்தகைய கேள்வியைக் கேட்பதற்கான குறைந்தபட்ச காலகட்டமாக 10 நாட்களுக்கு குறைவான அறிவிப்பு பரிந்துரைக்கப்படுகிறது.
உறுப்பினரின் தனிப்பட்ட கேள்வி: லோக்சபாவின் நடைமுறை விதிகளின் விதி 40ன் கீழ் அல்லது ராஜ்யசபா விதிகளின் விதி 48ன் கீழ் சில மசோதாக்கள் தொடர்பாக ஒரு உறுப்பினர் தனிப்பட்ட கேள்வி கேட்கலாம், ஆனால் அந்த கேள்விக்கு அந்த உறுப்பினர் தான் பொறுப்பு.
கேள்விகள் எப்போது கேட்கப்படும்?
இரு அவைகளிலும், ஒவ்வொரு அமர்வின் முதல் ஒரு மணிநேரம் பொதுவாக கேள்விகளைக் கேட்பதற்கும் பதிலளிப்பதற்கும் ஒதுக்கப்படுகிறது, மேலும் இது ‘கேள்வி நேரம்’ என்று குறிப்பிடப்படுகிறது.
வாய்வழி பதில்களுக்கான 15 கேள்விகள், எழுத்துப்பூர்வ பதில்களுக்காக ஒரு பட்டியலிலிருந்து மற்றொரு பட்டியலிலிருந்து ஒத்திவைக்கப்பட்ட கேள்விகள் மற்றும் குடியரசுத் தலைவர் ஆட்சியின் கீழ் மாநிலங்கள் தொடர்பான 15 கேள்விகள் உட்பட ஒரு நாளுக்கான மொத்த கேள்விகளின் எண்ணிக்கை 175 ஆக வரையறுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
என்ன மாதிரியான கேள்விகள் கேட்கலாம்?
கேள்விகளின் அனுமதியானது ராஜ்யசபா விதிகள் 47-50 மற்றும் லோக்சபா 41-44 மூலம் நிர்வகிக்கப்படுகிறது. ராஜ்யசபா தலைவர் அல்லது லோக்சபா சபாநாயகருக்கு, சபையின் விதிமுறைகளின்படி ஒரு கேள்வி அல்லது அதன் ஒரு பகுதி ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்படுமா அல்லது ஏற்றுக்கொள்ள முடியாததா என்பதை தீர்மானிக்கும் அதிகாரமும் மற்றும் எந்தவொரு கேள்வியையும் அல்லது அதன் ஒரு பகுதியையும் அனுமதிக்க மறுக்கும் அதிகாரமும் உண்டு.
ராஜ்யசபாவில், பல்வேறு நெறிமுறைகளுக்கு மத்தியில், “தனித்துவமானதாகவும், குறிப்பிட்டதாகவும், ஒரு பிரச்சினையை மட்டும் வெளிப்படுத்துவதாகவும் இருக்க வேண்டும்; கேள்வியை தெளிவாக்குவதற்கு கண்டிப்பாக தேவையில்லாத எந்தவொரு பெயரையும் அல்லது அறிக்கையையும் கேள்வி கொண்டு வரக்கூடாது; அதில் ஒரு அறிக்கை இருந்தால், அந்த அறிக்கையின் உண்மைத்தன்மைக்கு சம்பந்தப்பட்ட உறுப்பினர் பொறுப்பேற்க வேண்டும்; அதில் வாதங்கள், அனுமானங்கள், முரண்பாடான வெளிப்பாடுகள், குற்றச்சாட்டுகள், அடைமொழிகள் அல்லது அவதூறான அறிக்கைகள் இருக்கக்கூடாது.
லோக்சபாவில், அனுமதிக்கப்படாத கேள்விகள் பின்வருமாறு: திரும்பத் திரும்ப கேட்கப்பட்டவை அல்லது முன்பு பதில் அளிக்கப்பட்டவை; எந்தவொரு நீதிமன்றத்தின் முன் தீர்ப்புக்காக நிலுவையில் உள்ள அல்லது பாராளுமன்றக் குழுவின் முன் பரிசீலனையில் உள்ள விஷயங்கள்.
எத்தனை முறை கேள்விகள் அனுமதிக்கப்படவில்லை?
மாநிலங்களவை தரவுகளின்படி, கடந்த மழைக்கால கூட்டத்தொடரில் 833 கேள்விகள் அனுமதிக்கப்படவில்லை. ஒப்பிடுகையில், 2013-14 குளிர்காலக் கூட்டத் தொடரில், ராஜ்யசபா 748 கேள்விகளுக்கு அனுமதி மறுத்தது. ஒருமுறை அனுமதிக்கப்படாவிட்டால், உறுப்பினர்கள் முடிவைச் சவால் செய்வது பெரும்பாலும் கடினமாக இருக்கும்.
இந்த ஆண்டு மழைக்கால கூட்டத்தொடரின் போது:
இந்தியாவில் பல ஃபோன்களை ஹேக் செய்ய Pegasusஐ தவறாகப் பயன்படுத்தியது தொடர்பான உலகளாவிய சர்ச்சையின் மையத்தில், இஸ்ரேலிய சைபர் செக்யூரிட்டி நிறுவனமான NSO குழுமத்துடன் அரசாங்கம் ஒப்பந்தம் செய்துள்ளதா என்பது குறித்த விவரங்களைக் கோரும் கேள்விக்கு ராஜ்யசபாவில் அனுமதி மறுக்கப்பட்டது. “உச்ச நீதிமன்றத்தில் பல பொதுநல வழக்குகள் தாக்கல் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளதால்” இந்த பிரச்சனை சப் ஜூடிஸ் என்று அரசாங்கம் கூறியது.
ஆகஸ்ட் 12 ஆம் தேதி பதிலளிக்க திட்டமிடப்பட்டுள்ள சிபிஐ எம்பி பினோய் விஸ்வம் கேட்ட “தற்காலிகமாக ஒப்புக்கொள்ளப்பட்ட கேள்வி”க்கு அனுமதி வழங்கப்படக்கூடாது என்று ராஜ்யசபா செயலகத்திற்கு மத்திய அரசு கடிதம் எழுதியது. மத்திய அரசு விதி 47 (xix) ஐ மேற்கோள் காட்டியது, அதில் “இந்தியாவின் எந்தப் பகுதியிலும் அதிகார வரம்பைக் கொண்ட நீதிமன்றத்தின் தீர்ப்பின் கீழ் உள்ள விஷயத்தைப் பற்றிய தகவலைக் கேட்கக்கூடாது” என்று கூறுகிறது.
“ஜனநாயகக் குறியீட்டில் இந்திய நிலை” என்ற தலைப்பில் ஜூலை 22 அன்று பதில் அளிக்கப்பட வேண்டிய திரிணாமுல் எம்.பி சாந்தா சேத்ரி கேட்ட கேள்விக்கு வெளியுறவு அமைச்சகம், கேள்வி சென்சிடிவ் ஆனது எனவே அனுமதிக்க கூடாது என அவைத் தலைவரிடம் கோரிக்கை விடுத்தது.
“முன்னர் கேள்விகள் மிகவும் அரிதாகவே அனுமதிக்கப்படவில்லை; இப்போது இது போன்ற நிகழ்வுகள் மிகவும் வழக்கமாகி வருகின்றன. சப் ஜூடிஸ் விஷயமா அல்லது தேசிய பாதுகாப்பு விஷயமா என பல கேள்விகள் அனுமதிக்கப்படவில்லை… நாங்கள் கேள்விகளை அடிக்கடி அனுமதித்தோம், தீவிரமான பிரச்சனை வந்தால் மட்டுமே சபாநாயகர் அல்லது ராஜ்யசபா தலைவரிடம் அரசாங்கம் கோரிக்கை வைக்கும். என்று மக்களவையின் முன்னாள் பொதுச் செயலாளர் பிடிடி ஆச்சார்யா கூறினார்.
“ஒரு கேள்விக்கு ஏன் அனுமதி மறுக்கப்பட வேண்டும் என்பதற்கு சம்பந்தப்பட்ட அதிகாரிகளும் ஒரு நல்ல காரணத்தைக் கொடுக்க வேண்டும்… பாராளுமன்றத்தின் சிறப்புரிமை காரணமாக ஆர்டிஐ மூலமாகவும் அதற்கான காரணத்தை அணுக முடியாது. அதை நீதிமன்றத்திற்கு எடுத்துச் செல்வதும் கடினம். ஒருமுறை ஒரு கேள்வி அனுமதிக்கப்படவில்லை என்றால், அது அனுமதிக்கப்படாது, அதை எதிர்த்துப் போட்டியிட வழி இல்லை, ”என்று ஆச்சார்யா கூறினார்.
Govt answers questions on Omicron : ஒமிக்ரான் வைரஸ் மாறுபாடு தொடர்பாக தொடர்ந்து எழுந்து வரும் சந்தேகங்களுக்கு மத்திய குடும்பநல மற்றும் சுகாதாரத்துறை அமைச்சகம் பதில் அளித்துள்ளது. இந்தியாவில் வேகமாக அளிக்கப்பட்டு வரும் தடுப்பூசி மற்றும் டெல்டா மாறுபாட்டினால் ஏற்பட்ட அதிகமான தாக்குதல் காரணமாக ஒமிக்ரான் தொற்றால் ஏற்படும் தீவிரத்தன்மை குறைவாக இருக்கும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது என்று அதில் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளது சுகாதாரத்துறை.
தென்னாப்பிரிக்காவிற்கு வெளியே பல்வேறு நாடுகளில் ஒமிக்ரான் மாறுபாடு பரவி வருவதாக கூறப்பட்டு வருகிறது. மேலும் அதன் பண்புகள் குறித்து கூறப்பட்டுள்ள நிலையில் இந்தியாவிலும் இந்த மாறுபாடு பரவுவதற்கான வாய்ப்புகள் உள்ளது என்று சுகாதாரத்துறை அறிவித்துள்ளது. ஆனால், இந்த தொற்றின் தீவிரம் மற்றும் பரவும் தன்மை குறித்த தெளிவான தரவுகள் ஏதும் இல்லை என்றும் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்தியாவில் தடுப்பூசியின் வேகமான வேகம் மற்றும் டெல்டா மாறுபாட்டின் அதிக வெளிப்பாடு ஆகியவை காரணமாக நோயின் தீவிரம் குறைவாக இருக்கலாம் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது. இருப்பினும், அறிவியல் சான்றுகள் இன்னும் உருவாகி வருகின்றன.
தற்போதுள்ள தடுப்பூசிகள் ஓமிக்ரானில் வேலை செய்யாது என்பதற்கு எந்த ஆதாரமும் இல்லை என்றாலும், ஸ்பைக் மரபணுவில் பதிவாகும் சில பிறழ்வுகள் தற்போதுள்ள தடுப்பூசிகளின் செயல்திறனைக் குறைக்கலாம் என்று சுகாதார அமைச்சகம் கூறியுள்ளது. இருப்பினும், தடுப்பூசி பாதுகாப்பு என்பது ஆன்டிபாடிகள் மற்றும் செல்லுலார் நோய் எதிர்ப்பு சக்தி மூலமாகவும் உள்ளது, இது ஒப்பீட்டளவில் ஒமிக்ரானில் இருந்து சிறப்பான பாதுகாப்பை வழங்கும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது. எனவே தடுப்பூசிகள் இன்னும் கடுமையான நோய்களுக்கு எதிராக பாதுகாப்பை வழங்கும். இருக்கும் தடுப்பூசிகளை கொண்டு தடுப்பூசி செலுத்திக் கொள்வதும் மிகவும் முக்கியமானது. தகுதியான மக்கள் தடுப்பூசி செலுத்திக் கொள்ளாமல் இருந்தால் செலுத்திக் கொள்வது அவசியம் என்று அந்த அறிவிப்பில் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ளது.
கவனிக்கப்பட்ட பிறழ்வுகள், அதிகரித்த பரவுதல் மற்றும் நோயெதிர்ப்பு ஏய்ப்பு ஆகியவற்றின் முன்னறிவிக்கப்பட்ட அம்சங்கள், மற்றும் அதிகரித்த மறுநோய்கள் போன்ற கோவிட்-19 தொற்றுநோய்களில் தீங்கு விளைவிக்கும் மாற்றத்திற்கான ஆரம்ப சான்றுகள் ஆகியவற்றின் அடிப்படையில் Omicron VoC என அறிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது என்பதை முன்னிலைப்படுத்துவது முக்கியம் என்று சுகாதார அமைச்சகம் கூறியுள்ளது. அதிகரித்த பரவுதல் மற்றும் நோயெதிர்ப்பு ஆண்ட்டிபாடிகளில் இருந்து தப்பித்துக் கொள்வது போன்ற விவகாரங்களில் உறுதியான சான்றுகள் இன்னும் இல்லை என்றும் அந்த குறிப்பு தெரிவிக்கிறது.
சரியான முறையில் முகமூடி அணிந்துகொள்வதும், இன்னும் தடுப்பூசி போடப்படாவிட்டால் இரண்டு டோஸ் தடுப்பூசிகளையும் எடுத்துக்கொள்வதும், சமூக இடைவெளியைப் பேணுவதும், நல்ல காற்றோட்டமான பகுதிகளில் வசிப்பதும் அவசியம் என சுகாதாரத்துறை அறிவித்துள்ளது.
RT-PCR சோதனைகள் வைரஸில் உள்ள குறிப்பிட்ட மரபணுக்களான Spike (S), Enveloped (E), Nucleocapsid (N) போன்றவற்றைக் கண்டறிந்து வைரஸ் இருப்பதை உறுதிப்படுத்துவதாக சுகாதார அமைச்சகம் கூறியுள்ளது. ஆனாலும் ஒமிக்ரானில் எஸ் மரபணுக்கள் பெரிய அளவில் மாற்றம் அடைந்துள்ளது. எனவே சில ப்ரைமர்கள் S மரபணு இல்லாததைக் குறிக்கும் முடிவுகளுக்கு வழிவகுக்கும் என்று பதில் அளிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்த குறிப்பிட்ட S மரபணு மற்ற வைரஸ் மரபணுக்களைக் கண்டறிவதோடு, ஒமிக்ரானை கண்டறியவும் பயன்படுத்தலாம். ஆனாலும் ஒமிக்ரானை உறுதி செய்ய மாதிரிகளை மரபணு வரிசைமுறை உட்படுத்தலுக்கு உட்செலுத்த வேண்டிய நிலை உள்ளது என்று கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.
Self-proclaimed hacker Sri Krishna’s capacity to churn political waters belies his youth. At the age of 26, the computer science graduate from Bengaluru — who was caught in a drug bust last year where transactions were made in cryptocurrency -- has become the centre of an alleged bitcoin scam. It has shaken the Basavaraj Bommai-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government after he took charge as Chief Minister in July.
Questions have been raised after the Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed that “influential Karnataka politicians” are involved in the drug and cryptocurrency scam. Political circles were abuzz with rumours of bitcoins belonging to Sri Krishna, or SriKi as he is called, disappearing while he was in custody. But the answers are proving to be elusive, the trail as shadowy as the world of cryptocurrency.
As he walked out of prison on November 10 on bail, the media asked a visibly fidgety SriKi about the allegations and counter-allegations that have allegedly even reached the Prime Minister’s Office. He dismissed the claims as “bogus, a nuisance”. “Big people take big names,” he said with a smile.
‘Cover-up’ allegations
Bommai, fresh from a setback with a defeat in the bypolls in his home district, has had to battle allegations of a “cover-up of a bitcoin scam” by the State police when he was Home Minister under then Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa. He reportedly complained to the party high command against two of his cabinet colleagues, both aspirants for the Chief Minister’s chair that he eventually won, for “spreading canards about him in the bitcoin scam.”
SriKi’s voluntary statement written while in police custody has further muddied the waters even though it has no evidentiary value and his lawyer says he will deny it in court. In his statement he claimed he was part of several bitcoin exchange hacks including the infamous 2016 Bitfinex hack, one of the largest cryptocurrency heists in the world. He claimed to have stolen over 5,000 bitcoins. However, the police have not charged him for these specific claims on the grounds of lack of evidence.
Is it self-aggrandisement on the part of a young hacker, or is there a kernel of truth to this? The ‘scam’ has since taken a life of its own. It is now alluded that “two top BJP functionaries in the State” and several senior police officials have been the beneficiaries of “thousands of bitcoins” that were diverted to their accounts for a cover-up. Not even the Opposition Congress explicitly made this allegation on record for want of documents to back the claim.
Political circles in Karnataka are abuzz that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office sought details of the case after it was tipped off by U.S. investigating agencies. However, there is no independent confirmation of the same. An RTI activist, A.R. Ashok Kumar Adiga, claimed he lodged a complaint with the PMO in May 2021.
It began with a cannabis case last November. Suspecting the contents of a parcel of organic coffee to contain narcotics, a customs inspector at the Foreign Post Office, Chamarajpet, laid a trap. The parcel was addressed to one Arnav Gowda. On November 4, 2020, officials caught the person who arrived to collect it, Sujay Raj.
Among the contents was 500 grams of hydro cannabis ordered on the darknet. The Kempegowda Nagar police who took up the probe uncovered a larger network of people who regularly partied together. Cops said they procured narcotics from dealers on the darknet using bitcoins as a mode of payment. A police head constable was involved in ensuring that their parcels evaded the authorities here.
The case was transferred to the Central Crime Branch (CCB), a specialised investigation wing of Bengaluru City Police. Their probe into the bitcoin angle took them to Sri Krishna Ramesh, then 25, son of a chartered accountant from Jayanagar, an upper middle-class locality. He was arrested on November 18. “As soon as we brought him in, he started singing. The claims he made shocked us. He said he hacked several poker websites and bitcoin exchanges. He also confessed to have hacked into the State government’s e-procurement site and stolen Rs. 11.5 crore. There was a case pending with the CID. We realised we had arrested a high profile hacker,” said a senior CCB official.
In his voluntary statement, SriKi claims to be a child prodigy who “learnt basics of web exploitation, java, reverse engineering and wrote my first bot for a game called RuneScape” when he was in Class IV. Between Classes IV and X, he claimed to have joined an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel ‘h4cky0u’, a community of over 50,000 black hat hackers and was promoted to be a moderator when he was Class IX. “While running the IRC network, I made several internet friends who changed my life by mentoring me in various aspects of crime, specifically financial, yet not unethical,” the statement said.
“He was a nerd in school and was called ‘freaky SriKi’ by other kids who harassed him. This left a lasting impression and shaped his personality in many ways,” a senior police official who interrogated him multiple times told The Hindu. SriKi claimed to have been habituated to drugs while in pre-university. He started ordering narcotics from the darknet, and ran away to the Himalayas when he was 17 years old, but was brought back home by the police.
Though he joined an engineering course, he dropped out as the “syllabus was too elementary”, he told the police. He later went to Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands where he completed his BSc. in Computer Science.
SriKi claimed that while in the Netherlands, his driver, who would chauffeur him “around the country to deal in cash exchanges” stole bitcoins worth U.S. $3 million which he had accumulated through hacks. Starting from scratch, he described how he expanded his network of friends to Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, France and Germany. “This network of bitcoin traders quickly allowed me to recuperate my losses by marginalised trading after the hack of an exchange (Bitfinex),” his statement read.
A heady life
SriKi returned to Bengaluru in 2015 and befriended Omar Nalapad, son of Congress MLA N.A. Haris. He led a lavish lifestyle involving parties, substance abuse and prolonged stays at five-star hotels.
He was a co-accused in an assault case in February 2018 involving Omar’s brother Mohammed Nalapad at the city’s posh UB City. He fled the city and was on the run in north India for six months till he secured bail in the case.
The CCB has not questioned the Nalapad brothers in either the drug bust or the cyber crimes case against SriKi. The hacker claimed that he disassociated himself from the brothers after the assault. Police said their probe revealed the same.
On his return to Bengaluru, SriKi acquired a new set of friends and hung out with a contractor Suneesh Hegde, his cousin Prasidh Shetty and others, all co-accused in the case now.
Hegde told the police that they used to live at star-hotels, and while partying, Sri Krishna would hack poker websites, showing them the card of the opposite player helping them win big. “He claimed to have hacked and stolen several bitcoins and promised to give them to me. So I have till now spent over Rs. 2 crore on him,” Hegde claimed in his statement.
However, eventually the two reportedly fell out as SriKi did not deliver on the promises he made. The duo are accused of carrying out ransomware attacks on several websites and fleecing money.
A key witness in the case, Robin Khandelwal, 32, a bitcoin trader from West Bengal, told the police that SriKi befriended him online. The young hacker offered to sell 900 bitcoins he claimed to have stolen. He described how Sri Krishna convinced everyone to support his lifestyle by promising a huge windfall in bitcoins. But he did not part with any of it leading to bitter tiffs within the gang. Things came to a head when Hegde allegedly decided to ‘do something about this’.
Khandelwal claimed that when he was in Bengaluru for a visit, Hegde took him and SriKi to his flat and forced them to remain there in an attempt to wrest the bitcoins from them. “Sri Krishna told me, ‘Let us not give the bitcoins I have to Hegde and his friends’. He suggested we flee from the balcony and we did that,” he said in the statement.
In his statement, Sri Krishna said Hedge earned his loyalty and respect “since he seemed like a guy that could be trusted”, but added: “Little did I know that there lived a demon inside him waiting to extort the living hell out of me.”
Khandelwal has since emerged as a key witness in the case as the hacker traded most of his bitcoins at his firm Robin Online Services. He told the police he has done business worth over Rs. 8 crore with SriKi. The latter would send him bitcoins with instructions to credit money into his friend’s accounts as he held no bank account. Khandelwal claimed he even booked a chartered flight for SriKi when he was on the run in the 2018 UB City assault case.
In search of evidence
SriKi claimed he was part of the group that hacked the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016. A total of 1,19,756 bitcoins were stolen in this hack. He told the police the “exchange was hacked twice” and in fact he was “the first person to do so”. The “second hack was led by two Israeli hackers working for the army.”
He further said he transferred 2,000 bitcoins into his personal account, but “didn’t save anything and blew it up on [a] luxurious lifestyle”. The value of each bitcoin at the time of the hack was around $100-$200 which was “split in two ways with his friend Andy from the U.K.”.
He then claimed to have hacked another bitcoin exchange, BTC-e.com, “which was a major financial profit for me” and stole 3,000 bitcoins (approximate profit: $3-$3.5 million). The exchange was shut down by U.S. agencies in 2017 and its founder Alexander Vinnik is currently serving a prison sentence in France for money laundering.
But where are all these bitcoins? On January 12, 2021, the Bengaluru City Police said they recovered 31.123 bitcoins worth Rs. 9 crore from SriKi. Investigators changed the password of the wallet that reportedly belonged to the hacker on January 8. However, it did not take long for this claim to unravel.
On January 22, when they reopened the wallet, they were shocked to find 186.8 bitcoins with the wallet reflecting live transactions between January 8 and January 22. Technical experts from Unocoin, whose exchange SriKi is charged with for hacking, submitted a report that the accused used public keys of wallets available on the internet to create a wallet and “modified the application to show fake transactions.” They insisted that the wallet was a live exchange.
Following these revelations, former Minister for Information and Technology and Congress MLA Priyank Kharge demanded an inquiry into the fiasco. A senior police official, not involved in the probe, expressed surprise that a departmental probe had not been ordered into it. “The hacker should have been booked for hacking right under the nose of cops,” he said.
Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant said in a statement that “none of the bitcoins were transferred to the police wallet, so none were either recovered or lost.”
Questions have been raised on the failure of the police to charge Sri Krishna on all his claims. None of the multiple chargesheets mentions any of the high value bitcoin hacks, triggering intense speculations of a “cover-up”. “The voluntary statement of the accused in police custody has no evidentiary value, unless corroborated with evidence. We have charged him only with crimes that we found digital footprints for in the electronic devices seized from him and his co-accused, including those not mentioned by the accused in his statement,” a senior police official said.
The CCB has charged him with hacking 10 poker websites and three bitcoin exchanges, but not Bitfinex and BTC-e. The CID has chargesheeted him for hacking the government e-procurement portal and stealing Rs. 11.5 crore.
Police estimates peg the profits the hacker claimed to have made through hacking as on the date of the crime at Rs. 72.9 crore, of which he has now been charged only for crimes worth Rs. 14.2 crore — Rs. 2.70 crore by CCB and Rs. 11.5 crore he stole from the government e-procurement website chargesheeted by CID.
“Despite our best efforts, we were unable to find corroborative evidence to all the claims he has made in his statement. They may either be tall claims with no factual basis, or he may have used other electronic devices we haven’t been able to lay our hands on and later destroyed them,” said a senior CCB official. The Enforcement Directorate that has also taken up a probe has failed to nail the hacker down, so far. A senior ED official who has questioned SriKi multiple times said the hacker was very dodgy. “He suffers from withdrawal symptoms as he is habituated to narcotics. He makes tall claims, but is rarely coherent and consistent,” he said.
The bigger picture
As the newly anointed Chief Minister faced the first test of his political leadership during the bypolls in his home district, Hangal, the BJP lost the hotly contested seat and political circles were abuzz with a “bitcoin scam involving two senior BJP functionaries in the State”. According to claims, mostly coming from a faction-ridden BJP, investigative agencies in the U.S. flagged the case with their Indian counterparts during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country in September.
The Hinducould not independently verify these reports. Amid these rumours, Bommai met the Prime Minister in New Delhi on November 11. After the meeting, the Chief Minister claimed that despite attempting to raise the issue, the Prime Minister cut him short and asked him “not to worry about the bitcoin scam allegations.”
Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah was the first to question the Chief Minister openly on the alleged scam saying there were strong suspicions of a “cover-up”. Bommai has aggressively defended the government claiming they were the ones who arrested the hacker, uncovered the crimes while the Congress government had not probed him when he was a co-accused in the UB City assault case.
“Congress leaders are making baseless allegations. A thorough probe would only lead the agencies to the sons of Congress leaders,” Bommai said. He also claimed the government had nothing to hide and they had flagged the case to the Enforcement Directorate (March 3, 2021) and the Interpol Division of the Central Bureau of Investigation (April 28, 2021). Questions have now been raised on the delay in alerting central agencies, especially since the hacker had been arrested in November 2020.
The smoking gun
Movement of large caches of hacked, stolen and blacklisted Bitfinex coins, when SriKi was in custody, has emerged as the smoking gun and is being speculated as an indication of the scam.
On November 30, 2020, when SriKi was in CCB custody, blockchain tracker and analytics service Whale Alert, flagged 14 transactions where 5,045.48 bitcoins from the Bitfinex hack were moved to unknown wallets. In a second tranche of transactions, on April 14, 2021, when SriKi was in judicial custody, Whale Alert flagged 69 transactions where 1,0057.47 bitcoins were moved to unknown wallets, the biggest tranche of transactions of these stolen bitcoins since 2016. At the time, the value of bitcoins moved was estimated to be over Rs. 5,000 crore.
Though no one will come on record, political circles are abuzz that several prominent politicians and cops were beneficiaries of these bitcoin transactions. “Whether some of the transferred bitcoins were from Sri Krishna should be a matter of an independent investigation,” said Randeep Singh Surjewala, AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka.
However, as of now there is no evidence but for his claim to link Sri Krishna to the Bitfinex hack. City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant in a statement on November 13, dismissed links to the Bitfinex hack and the reported recent transactions of the hacked coins. “The claim made on Whale Alert that stolen bitcoins were transferred is completely unsubstantiated. And there is nothing to suggest it had originated from Bengaluru,” the statement said.
Police further said representatives of Bitfinex company had neither shared any details of the alleged hack nor sought any information so far.
The Opposition Congress has now demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the scam and the alleged cover-up by a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The BJP government has said since the central agencies were already probing the case, this was unnecessary. The alleged scam is only expected to become the litmus test for Bommai as the winter session of the Karnataka Legislature begins.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow between October 31 and November 12, 2021 with a huge gathering, generating headlines, criticisms, and some commitments.
Governments did commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and put forth a record-shattering U.S.$356 million in new support from contributing national and regional governments to protect the most vulnerable. But this is not enough to stay below the limit of 2°C above pre-industrial levels. COP26 fell far short of the ground-breaking success many had hoped for.
“Our fragile planet is hanging by a thread... It is time to go into emergency mode — or our chance of reaching net-zero will itself be zero,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
He added that we must “build [the] resilience of vulnerable communities against the here-and-now impacts of climate change. And make good on the $100 billion climate finance commitment to support developing countries.”
Climate crisis and hunger
The agenda of ending world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030 is facing formidable challenges as the climate crisis and hunger are linked inextricably, and that along with several major drivers have put the world off track. This has been more so after the COVID-19 pandemic has doubled the population under chronic hunger from 130 million to 270 million.
Analysis by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) shows that a 2°C rise in average global temperature from pre-industrial levels will see a staggering 189 million additional people in the grip of hunger. Vulnerable communities, a vast majority of whom rely on subsistence agriculture, fishing, and livestock and, who contribute the least to the climate crisis, will continue to bear the brunt of the impacts with limited means to cushion the blow. The absence of social protection measures such as food safety nets forces the food insecure to depend on humanitarian aid for survival.
Across the world, up to 811 million people do not have enough food and as per the recent WFP estimates, 41 million people in 43 countries are at risk of sliding into famine.
The poor and the vulnerable continue to be hardest hit. Even though they contribute least to greenhouse gas emissions, people in low-income countries face the worst impacts. The top 10 most food-insecure countries contribute 0.08% of global carbon emissions.
Crop failures, water scarcity, and declining nutrition threaten millions who rely on agriculture, fishing, and livestock (it must be reiterated that they are those who contribute the least to the climate crisis).
The climate crisis will impact food production and livelihoods but also, as per the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, threaten nutrition through multi-breadbasket failures.
Adaptation is urgent
Adaptation and resilience-building for poor and vulnerable communities are critical for food security. The focus though has been on reducing emissions and targets related as these are essential to protect livelihoods and the food security of millions.
In its outcome document, the conference took note of how climate and weather extremes and their adverse impacts on people and nature will continue to increase with rising temperatures. There is a strong emphasis on the urgency of scaling up action and support, including finance, capacity-building, and technology transfer, to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change in line with the best available science, and considering the priorities and needs of developing country parties.
Significantly, the statement welcomes the national adaptation plans that deepen the understanding and implementation of adaptation actions and priorities. This is an area where India has a huge role to play with its ongoing and now substantial policy work at the national and State levels.
The outcome document also extends an invitation to the IPCC to present at the COP27 (in Egypt) the findings from the contribution of Working Group II to its Sixth Assessment Report, including adaptation needs to further the understanding of global, regional, and local impacts of climate change, response options, and adaptation needs.
Adaptation finance
The recent pledges made by the developed countries on enhancing climate finance to support adaptation in developing countries to adjust to worsening climate crisis impacts were welcomed in the outcome document from COP26. It observed that the contributions made to the Adaptation Fund and the Least Developed Countries Fund, represent significant progress when compared with previous efforts.
The current climate finance for adaptation and base of stakeholders remain insufficient to respond to worsening climate change impacts.
“(COP) calls upon multilateral development banks, other financial institutions, and the private sector to enhance finance mobilization to deliver the scale of resources needed to achieve climate plans, particularly for adaptation, and encourages Parties to continue to explore innovative approaches and instruments for mobilizing finance for adaptation from private sources.”
Mr. Guterres, at an emergency summit in Milan, Italy, at the end of September, had called for funding for developing nations, 50% for adaptation and resilience to the climate crisis. He said, “Adaptation needs are increasing every year.” “Developing countries already need $70 billion for adaptation, and that figure could more than quadruple to $300 billion a year by the end of this decade.”
The WFP is working with communities to adapt to the changing climate that threatens their ability to grow food, secure incomes, and withstand shocks. It has supported 39 governments, helping them realise their national climate ambitions.
In 2020, the WFP implemented climate risk management solutions in 28 countries, which benefited more than six million people so that they are better prepared for climate shocks and stresses and can recover faster.
In India, the WFP and the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry are planning to develop a best practice model on adaptation and mitigation with potential support from the Adaptation Fund.
Here are a few key areas or measures we should focus on. First, creating resilient livelihoods and food security solutions by protecting and improving the livelihood of vulnerable communities. Second, the adaptation of climate-resilient food crops, such as millets, for nutritional security. Third, enabling women’s control and ownership of production processes and assets and increased value addition and local solutions. Fourth, promoting a resilient agriculture sector by creating sustainable opportunities, access to finance, and innovation for small-holder farmers, with climate information and preparedness. Fifth, building capacity and knowledge of civil society and governments for vulnerability analysis to increase food security by addressing the link between food security and climate risk.
Fixing broken food systems
The climate crisis impacts all parts of the global food system — from production to consumption. It destroys land and crops, kills livestock, depletes fisheries, and cuts off transport to markets. This impacts food production, availability, diversity, access, and safety. At the same time, food systems impact the environment and are a driver of climate change.
COP26 came after the pioneering UN Food Systems Summit in September, which was a wake-up call that food systems are unequal, strained, or broken as 811 million people are going to bed hungry.
The United Nations Special Envoy for Food Systems Summit, Agnes Kalibata, has called for an unprecedented focus on food systems — food and agriculture — by ensuring that COP27 has a dedicated focus on this.
Reimagining food systems requires us to look at food systems through the prism of climate change adaptation and mitigation, which must also entail making them resilient to climate change and pandemics while making them green and sustainable.
We are on the cusp of transformation to make the world free of hunger by 2030 and deliver promises for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with strong cooperation and partnership between governments, citizens, civil society organisations, and the private sector.
This requires reimagining the food system towards balancing growth and sustainability, mitigating climate change, ensuring healthy, safe, quality, and affordable food, with investment from governments and the private sector in supporting farmers while maintaining biodiversity, improving resilience, and offering attractive income and work environment to smallholders and youth.
Bishow Parajuli is United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Representative and Country Director to India
The ranking of State-run higher education institutions (HEIs) together with centrally funded institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institute of Science, the National Institutes of Technology, central universities, etc. using the National Institutional Ranking Framework, or the NIRF (a methodology adopted by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India), is akin to comparing apples and oranges.
The outline, institute data
The NIRF outlines a methodology to rank HEIs across the country, which is based on a set of metrics for the ranking of HEIs as agreed upon by a core committee of experts set up by the then Ministry of Human Resources Development (now the Ministry of Education), Government of India. The rationale to compare State universities and colleges with the Ivy League of India, to which the Central government is committed to sponsoring resources and infrastructure, is inexplicable. The Central government earmarked the sums, Rs. 7,686 crore and Rs. 7,643.26 crore to the IITs and central universities, respectively, in the Union Budget 2021.
According to an All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20 report, there are 1,043 HEIs; of these, 48 are central universities, 135 are institutions of national importance, one is a central open university, 386 are State public universities, five are institutions under the State legislature act, 14 are State open universities, 327 are State private universities, one is a State private open university, 36 are government deemed universities, 10 are government aided deemed universities and 80 are private deemed universities.
A close study of this data shows that 184 are centrally funded institutions (out of 1,043 HEIs in the country) to which the Government of India generously allocates its financial resources in contrast to inadequate financial support provided by State governments to their respective State public universities and colleges. Ironically, out of the total student enrolment, the number of undergraduate students is the largest (13,97,527) in State public universities followed by State open universities (9,22,944).
Deficiencies in the focus
The financial health of State-sponsored HEIs is an open secret with salary and pension liabilities barely being managed. Hence, rating such institutionsvis-à-viscentrally funded institutions does not make any sense. Interestingly, no agency carries out a cost-benefit analysis of State versus centrally funded HEIs on economic indicators such as return on investment the Government made into themvis-à-visthe contribution of their students in nation building parameters such as the number of students who passed out serving in rural areas, tier-2 and tier 3 cities of the country and bringing relief to common man.
While students who pass out of elite institutions generally prefer to move abroad in search of higher studies and better career prospects, a majority of State HEIs contribute immensely in building the local economy. Given the challenges State HEIs face in their day-to-day functioning, the NIRF seems to have taken cognisance of only the strength of institutions while completely disregarding the problems and the impediments they encounter, hence, disallowing a level-playing-field to State universities and collegesvis-à-vistheir centrally funded counterparts. It must be noted that 420 universities in India are located in rural areas. Scare resources and the lackadaisical attitude of States preclude such institutions from competing with centrally sponsored and strategically located HEIs.
Ranking parameters
The NIRF ranks HEIs on five parameters: teaching, learning and resources; research and professional practice; graduation outcome; outreach and inclusivity, and perception. To take stock of the situation, let us first analyse two important NIRF parameters in the context of State HEIs. Teaching, learning and resources includes metricsviz.student strength including doctoral students, faculty-student ratio with an emphasis on permanent faculty, a combined metric for faculty with the qualification of PhD (or equivalent) and experience, and financial resources and their utilisation. In the absence of adequate faculty strength, most State HEIs lag behind in this crucial NIRF parameter for ranking. The depleting strength of teachers, from 15,18,813 (2015-16) to 15,03,156 (2019-20), as a result of continuous retirement and low recruitment has further weakened the faculty-student ratio with an emphasis on permanent faculty in HEIs.
Research and professional practice encompasses a combined metric for publications, a combined metric for quality of publications, intellectual property rights/patents and the footprint of projects, professional practice and executive development programmes. As most laboratories need drastic modernisation in keeping pace with today’s market demand, it is no wonder that State HEIs fare miserably in this parameter as well while pitted against central institutions.
Interestingly the share of PhD students is the highest in State public universities, i.e. 29.8%, followed by institutes of national importance (23.2%), deemed universities – private (13.9%) and central universities (13.6%), while the funds State HEIs receive are much less when compared to centrally funded institutions. As quality research publications and the number of patents filed in State HEIs are contingent on well-equipped laboratories, modern libraries and generously funded infrastructure, it is imperative for policymakers to reorient financial allocation strategies towards State HEIs. Similarly, three other NIRF parameters too offer little opportunity for State HEIs to compete with their better and conveniently placed competitors for ranking. The total enrolment in higher education has been estimated to be 38.5 million — 19.6 million boys and 18.9 million girls (female students constitute 49% of the total enrolment).
Where State HEIs struggle
There is another aspect: State HEIs are struggling to embrace emerging technologies involving artificial intelligence, machine learning, block chains, smart boards, handheld computing devices, adaptive computer testing for student development, and other forms of educational software/hardware to remain relevant as per the New Education Policy.
Therefore, when these two are put together, ranking HEIs on a common scale purely based on strengths without taking note of the challenges and the weaknesses they face is not justified. It is time the NIRF plans an appropriate mechanism to rate the output and the performance of institutes in light of their constraints and the resources available to them.
Milind Kumar Sharma teaches in the Department of Production and Industrial Engineering, M.B.M. Engineering College, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur (erstwhile University of Jodhpur). The views expressed are personal
In filing a quick appeal against the grant of statutory bail to lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj, the NIA has displayed nothing but pique and petulance over a well-reasoned order of the Bombay High Court. The bail order itself is a much-delayed relief, considering that the right to ‘default bail’ had accrued to her as early as January 2019, on completing 90 days in prison and when there was neither a charge sheet nor a lawful order extending the time limit for filing it from 90 to 180 days. The High Court is right in concluding that the Sessions Court had no jurisdiction to grant such an extension, and subsequently take cognisance of the charge sheet filed in February 2019, when a duly constituted Special Court under the NIA Act was already functioning in Pune. Further, the court has given the benefit of default bail — an indefeasible right under Section 167(2) Cr.P.C. that arises when the investigating agency fails to submit its final report within the stipulated period — only to Ms. Bharadwaj, as only her application was pending at that time; while eight others had not specifically sought bail on that ground, even though they had questioned the legality of the manner in which the court had taken cognisance of the case against them. On this, case law favours the view that if one fails to seek statutory bail at the appropriate time, and a charge sheet is laid subsequently, the right to default bail is extinguished.
The NIA’s appeal exemplifies the hard-line approach of the Union government in prosecuting the Bhima Koregaon case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act based on a dubious premise that some violent incidents that occurred in the aftermath of the Elgaar Parishad event, on December 31, 2017, were part of a sinister Maoist conspiracy. A local investigation against the attack on a commemoration event organised by Dalits transmogrified into an anti-terrorism probe. After convincing the Supreme Court that it was not a case of suppression of political dissent, the Centre pursued the probe vigorously, and got bail denied to everyone — save for a temporary respite on medical grounds to Telugu poet-activist Varavara Rao. There is also no sign of an early trial. One of those held, Father Stan Swamy, succumbed to illness exacerbated by prison conditions. There are reports that some of purported evidence in this case may have been planted remotely on their devices. It is unfortunate that courts seem to be considering bail only on medical grounds, and in this one case, on the ground of default. It is time they examined the merit behind the sweeping claims in the charge sheet and also took heed of Supreme Court judgments that have granted bail even under UAPA if the trial is unlikely to be completed in the foreseeable future.
The death of five elephants, four of them cows, caused by trains colliding with them, and all within a week, has again highlighted the gaps in efforts to reduce man-animal conflicts in the country. On November 26, the first accident occurred near Madukkarai in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu that has seen many an elephant death on a rail track stretch that extends up to Kanjikode, Kerala. The second accident was near Jagiroad in Assam’s Morigaon district, four days later. Both accidents were at night. Elephant deaths in railway accidents are not new in India. A reply by the Project Elephant division of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in May to a set of RTI questions highlighted reasons other than natural causes as having led to the killing of 1,160 elephants over 11 years ending December 2020; 741 deaths were due to electrocution; railway accidents accounted for 186 cases; poaching 169 and poisoning 64. The pattern of train accidents involving elephants has been studied by different stakeholders, including the Railways, Forest and Wildlife Departments and activists, especially with regard to the Madukkarai stretch. That a greater number of casualties getting reported are in elephant passages has been confirmed by the C&AG in its latest compliance audit report on the Ministry of Railways.
There are effective solutions in the case of two causes: electrocution and train hits. Installing hanging solar-powered fences, as has been planned in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and planting citronella and lemon grass, as done in Golaghat district, Assam, to deter elephants are some of the large-scale options. The authorities should ensure that there are no illegal electric fences or barbed wire fences, which, instead, can be replaced with the solar powered ones. Needless to say, the participation of local communities is crucial. The critical role elephants play in biodiversity conservation must be highlighted, especially to those living in areas close to elephant corridors. The Environment Ministry and Ministry of Railways should also expedite proposals for elevated wildlife crossings or eco-bridges and underpasses for the safe passage of animals. A finding of the C&AG was that after the construction of underpasses and overpasses in the areas under the jurisdiction of East Central and Northeast Frontier Railways, there was no death reported. The authorities should also expedite other recommendations made by the C&AG such as a periodic review of identification of elephant passages, more sensitisation programmes for railway staff, standardisation of track signage, installation of an animal detection system (transmitter collars) and ‘honey bee’ sound-emitting devices near all identified elephant passages. Of the 29,964 elephants in India, nearly 14,580 are in the southern region, and the State governments concerned and the Centre need to find lasting solutions to the problem of man-animal conflicts.
There is something eerily prescient about Cut Piece, the 1964 performance art piece by Yoko Ono, in which the artist sat silent and motionless, with a pair of scissors before her, allowing members of the audience to do what they wanted. Some were hesitant, snipping off small pieces of her clothes, while others were bolder, slashing through large chunks of fabric. It reflected the strong strain of violence and sadism that lies, barely contained, beneath the surface of even the most genteel, art show-going audience, just like, three years later, the vitriol that Ono drew for allegedly breaking up The Beatles would bare the toxic, misogynistic side of rock and roll fandom.
The myth that Ono is to blame for the demise of one of the greatest musical acts of all time was born in 1970 and it’s taken half a century for it to finally be laid to rest. In a three-part, eight-hour-long documentary, Get Back, filmmaker Peter Jackson uses footage from the three-week period when The Beatles wrote and rehearsed the songs that would eventually make it onto Let It Be to draw a portrait of a group of musicians who are clearly drifting apart, with each individual keen to pursue his own artistic vision.
Perhaps it had to do as much with her race, as with her gender, but almost from the start, Ono was singled out for the fandom’s ire for the Beatles’ breakup. The documentary shows that she was only one of the many guests — which included Linda Eastman (Paul McCartney’s wife-to-be), Maureen Starkey (Ringo Starr’s wife), Pattie Boyd (George Harrison’s wife) and Shyamsunder Das (Harrison’s friend) — at the sessions. Yet, Ono was the one described as “dragon lady”, her name passing into the cultural lexicon as the term used to describe any woman who is seen as controlling or interfering. The world owes Ono an apology.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on December 4, 2021 under the title ‘Sorry, Yoko’
Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee has been on an overdrive to expand her party’s footprint nationally and establish herself as the face of the national Opposition before the 2024 elections. In the past few weeks, many disgruntled Congress leaders have joined the TMC: In Meghalaya, the Congress legislative party split vertically with twice chief minister Mukul Sangma, and 11 other MLAs joining the TMC. Earlier this week, Banerjee was in Mumbai, meeting NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray. She also reached out to the civil society in Mumbai and lent her ear to a section of Bollywood. Earlier in the week, she was in Delhi, where she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP MP Subramanian Swamy. In Mumbai, standing with Pawar, she dismissed UPA as non-existent — TMC was a part of UPA 2 and had six ministers before she withdrew them. In an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi, she said “you can’t be abroad most of the time”. Her poll strategist Prashant Kishor put these in context when he said that the Congress’s leadership of the Opposition is “not the divine right of an individual, especially when the party has lost more than 90 per cent elections in the last 10 years”.
The Congress response has been, predictably, grumpy with leaders doubting her motives — citing her stint as a minister in the Vajpayee cabinet in 2003 and her alliance with the BJP in the 2004 general election. The fact is that Banerjee’s criticism is close to the bone. The issues she flags have been echoed in the past by restive Congressmen — the G23 leaders had asked for a full-time party chief and revitalisation of the party organisation. And, with regard to the UPA, it doesn’t need a Mamata to explain that after the 2019 general election defeat and the Congress’s rapid shrinking, the UPA has been long buried. It has rarely put out a (joint) statement on any national issue — the abrogation of Article 370, the government’s Covid-19 management, or tensions with China. Banerjee’s forays into what has been considered the domain of the Congress —the centrist space in Indian politics — should serve as a wakeup call and spur the party to get its act together as the country’s leading Opposition force. An energetic Opposition is essential to keep the government on its toes and hold it accountable to constitutional values.
The TMC, currently restricted to West Bengal but with a rising profile in the Northeast, is far from achieving the spread and depth necessary to lead the Opposition. Politics in a democracy is a competitive, contested space and politicians are free to scale up their ambitions. The Congress should know that fuming with righteous rage and dismissing the TMC as the BJP’s B-team may not be quite the recipe for its revival.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on December 4, 2021 under the title ‘Didi at work’.
Waldheim Withdraws
UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim withdrew his candidacy for a third term in office. In a letter to the president of the Security Council Olara Utunnu, Waldheim asked him not to include his name in the further ballots the Council may decide on the next nominee for the post. Waldheim said in the letter that his decision was motivated by the desire to facilitate the Security Council’s task. The letter came after several ballots to choose between him, and Salim Ahmed Salim resulted in a stalemate. Waldheim obtained the majority support required from the 15-nation security council, but his candidature was vetoed by China.
Advantage Cong (I)
The political battle in Assam has swung in favour of the Congress (I). But whether the party is able to form a new government or not will depend to an extent on whether its high command is able to replace Anwara Taimur with a more acceptable leader. After the series of bunglings earlier in the year, which led to the fall of the Taimur government, the party has, for once, played its cards astutely. It announced attempts to form a new government only to spur the Opposition into playing its hand. The Opposition formed a shaky alliance which could not stay united long enough to form a government.
India-Indonesia Talks
India and Indonesia expressed concern on Thursday over the recent developments in the region and called for greater and meaningful consultations among the countries of the area for ensuring tranquility and balanced growth. This concern was expressed during President Sanjiva Reddy’s visit to Jakarta. President Soeharto spoke of the attempts by some countries to deviate from the goal of non-alignment.
The Bombay High Court’s decision to grant default bail to lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj is welcome, even if it comes after three long years of incarceration without trial. It must also turn the spotlight on the prolonged imprisonment — also without trial — of those accused under the UAPA in the Elgar Parishad case. The plea of eight other accused who applied for bail on similar grounds — that an additional sessions court in Pune did not have the jurisdiction to extend their custody — was rejected. The NIA has already moved the Supreme Court against the bail to Bharadwaj.
The Bhima Koregaon/Elgar Parishad case is the most prominent example of what has become the standard “process as punishment” in UAPA cases. The state has doggedly opposed all bail pleas of the accused, even if some of them were ailing, or vulnerable to Covid-19. The Bombay High Court granted medical bail to poet Varavara Rao in February this year, but only when his health deteriorated sharply. The incarceration and death of Father Stan Swamy in custody — despite his fervid pleas for release — remains a blot on the judiciary’s record. While the SC has several times reiterated the “bail, not jail” norm, and several judges have spoken eloquently for the personal liberty of the citizen, in UAPA cases the disturbing, but definite pattern is that the courts are seen to be weighing in favour of the state. Indeed, the Supreme Court’s own judgment in the Watali case has led to bail becoming near-impossible under the UAPA, as it held that courts must accept the state’s case without examining its merits even in bail pleas.
But as the heavy hand of the state continues to recklessly wield the UAPA against journalists, lawyers, and even those who cheer for the “wrong side” in cricket, several recent judgments and pronouncements hint at a rethink by the judiciary. Earlier this year, the Delhi High Court, while granting bail to anti-CAA-NRC activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Tanha, sought to raise the bar for UAPA in denying bail, but the Supreme Court stepped in to say it will not be treated as a precedent. Lower courts in Assam, too, have granted bail to those arrested under UAPA for social media posts that allegedly supported Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan. In recent UAPA cases (Union of India v K A Najeeb and Ashim vs NIA), the Supreme Court has sought to balance the restrictions on bail written into the law and the fundamental rights of the accused — to liberty and a speedy, fair trial. The judiciary — the lone recourse of the citizen against state overreach — must continue to hold the state and its law enforcement agencies to account.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on December 4, 2021 under the title ‘Bail, not jail’.
Concerted efforts are underway to erect a new democratic order in the country. These include persistently and wilfully disrupting the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha; snatching papers from ministers, tearing up parliamentary papers and throwing them in the air in the House; pulling out mikes, carrying placards; not allowing the Chair to speak; entering the well at the drop of a hat as part of a pre-planned strategy; showing utter disregard for the conventions and the Rules of Procedure of the House and to the Chair; manhandling security personnel and climbing on the table of the House and dancing to garner more visibility. The last is the ultimate manifestation of this dance of disruption. All this was on show during the last Monsoon Session under the perverse new democratic deal, even as the people of the country fervently celebrated democracy by overcoming all odds to vote regularly and sent their representatives to legislatures in the hope that they would make a difference to their lives.
The architecture of this new order was laid bare and justified by Binoy Viswam, a CPI Rajya Sabha member (‘Why we won’t apologise’, IE, December 3), causing dismay among firm believers in democracy. He categorically refused to demonstrate any remorse over the unruly conduct of those members who assert that this dance of disruption during the last session was in defence of the great values of democracy. Viswam allegedly snatched papers and folders from the table of the House and jostled the security personnel. He was rightly suspended for being among the sinners.
There is a pattern in this dance, being choreographed by reluctant late-converts to democracy and those who outraged the spirit of constitutional democracy during the Emergency, and who often claim the “divine right” to own and run the oldest party of our country. Together, they constitute the “non-believers” in democracy. For them, parliamentary participation is only an absurd pretence. Their words and deeds in the Rajya Sabha since 2014 and, in particular, during the last session, exposes this charade.
Viswam sought to fire his gun from the shoulders of the late Arun Jaitley who — in the context of the dark era of blatant corruption, policy paralysis, misuse of power by extra-constitutional authorities and even the denigration of the institution of the Prime Minister during the 10-year UPA era — had to defend certain inevitable acts of protest to force the then government to undertake corrective interventions. Do any of these elements apply to the Modi government since 2014?
Facts cannot lie. The productivity of the Rajya Sabha during the 10-year UPA rule marked by pervasive corruption and misgovernance was over 77 per cent and it has steeply declined to below 70 per cent during the last seven years of Modi rule. The difference is that the present Opposition could not substantiate any issue of graft in Parliament nor any other instance of omission and commission.
On the other hand, the Modi era is marked by a missionary pursuit of far-reaching initiatives like Jan Dhan Yojna, DBT, Ujjwala Yojna, Swachch Bharat, Housing Mission, Mudra Yojna, Startup and Innovation Revolution, Ayushman Bharat, Aatmanirbhar Bharat, and their traction with the people.
The truth is that the space for the Congress and the Left in the political landscape has been steadily and steeply declining since the formation of the Modi-led government in 2014. The steady rise of PM Modi as the first choice of the people and his rising international avowal has rattled the non-believers, who are fearing a loss of astitva.
Instead of cleansing their minds and striving to reconnect with the people, these non-believers have launched a “Hate Modi campaign”. Unable to enthuse the people with their plans and priorities, these non-believers have chosen the sacred Parliament to execute their mission of targeting Modi — without realising that it is bound to fail, as evidenced in several elections since 2014.
The disdain of Viswam and his ilk for democracy bodes ill for the country, which is keen to make up for the missed time and opportunities by the 100th year of our hard-fought Independence. To commit sacrilege against the temple of democracy is a sin and stoutly refusing to atone for it is an even bigger sin. Viswam and other non-believers don’t believe in atonement for undermining the religion of democracy. The people of the country, who swear by democracy, will take them to task for their dance of disruption in Parliament. Beware of them and their disruptive school of democracy.
This column first appeared in the print edition on December 4, 2021 under the title ‘Dance against democracy’. The writer is a Union Cabinet minister and Deputy Leader, Rajya Sabha. Views are personal.
“Ours is unlike the Jaipur Literary Festival or the Hyderabad Literary Festival,” said Pramod Boro, chief executive member (CeM) of the BTR in his inaugural address on the occasion of Kokrajhar Literary Festival: Poetry for Peace and Love (November 14-16). Kokrajhar is the headquarters of the BTR, Assam. Yes, there were indeed many “unlikes”. The Kokrajhar Literary Festival hardly made it to the mainstream/mainland news; it was not the famous, glamorous that arrived in Kokrajhar; there were no corporate sponsors to claim it, and there was pork on the menu all three days.
The biggest “unlike” of all was the very idea of the festival — to spread the idea of peace and love through the reading of poetry in a hundred languages and more. Who in India’s history has thought of such an idea? How many of us can even name a hundred languages of India from the many hundreds that are spoken? Forget about JLF and HLF, Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters, recognises and works with only 24 languages — mostly languages that have a written tradition. The Central Institute of Indian Languages — though it aids work in many “minor” languages — has not brought all of them together. The state governments or the central government that assert India’s unique diversity of languages have never moved towards institutionalising the many languages we live in. With all the talk about education in the mother tongue, courtesy NEP, have we even imagined these hundred and more mother tongues being taught, nurtured, and carried forward? It is the government of BTR, the region encompassing Bodoland, inhabited by peoples belonging to Bodo, Garo, Rajbanshi, Rabha and many other communities, that brought this idea into fruition — something that is unheard of in the much-acclaimed history of India’s diversity.
Not just diversity. Difference, indifference and inequality were in focus as much as love, freedom, and peace. Each of the poets who represented their tongue — from Ladakhi to Hajong to Kodava to Meena to Santhali to Tamil — recited passionately first in their own tongue and then a translation, either in English or Hindi. As one of the organisers said, “It is okay if you do not read the translation, we want to hear you speak your tongue, [I] am sure all of us will understand even if we don’t”. Such was the fervour. That the reciting was accompanied by live music, improvised for each reciter’s tone and recital, was humbling and heavenly. The creativity and imagination were not limited to the organising of the event, which pulled together professors, government officials of all levels, college students, and commoners alike, alongside the CeM who sat with all of us throughout the festival. This gave all of us an idea of the lives of indigenous communities that still, to an extent, functions through democratic participation unswayed by caste/modern institutional hierarchies.
Of course, there were moments of exoticism: Dances, songs, by groups representing Tea Tribes, Garo, Nepali, Bodo, and Rabha and music too. What was recognised was that each of us carries different histories and living with such variegated histories does not occlude peace.
Lest this is taken as a celebratory notion of diversity that marks our nation, we wish to note that these diverse languages and lives are characterised by communitarian and institutionally-defined power relations. What is currently valued as knowledge only comes in the dominant languages — be it English, Hindi, Tamil, Odiya or Assamese — and this erases and deems worthless the languages and knowledge people hold in Rabha, Yerava and such others. People who speak minor languages are inevitably also people in the lowest rung of our society. Kokrajhar was all about reciting and not about reading poetry/songs. Telling our life-stories and history via poetry and song was not just about the privileged writing. As Talal Asad has argued, this inequality of people and languages that is enmeshed in power and can only be addressed when dominant languages, people, and power transform themselves with the knowledge, practices and potentials of the “weakened”, instead of transforming the “weakened” into a culture of hierarchised homogenisation.
Kokrajhar taught all of us that this transformation is possible. Sitting on the river Gaurang, it showed us that civilising missions of the dominant can be radically reversed into transforming themselves; and languages are the best platform towards such a life. For the beauty and hope it gave us all, cheers to Kokrajhar.
This column first appeared in the print edition on December 4, 2021 under the title ‘Rhyme and rhythm in 100 tongues’. Dechamma CC is professor, Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Hyderabad. Shetty is assistant professor, Sargur Govt. College, University of Mysore. They read Kodava and Tulu poetry at the Kokrajhar Literary Festival.
After Rohit Turi, a migrant worker from Latehar district in Jharkhand, died of a sudden accident in Kerala last year, his wife Hiravati’s world collapsed. From a young mother looking forward to a better life as her husband worked hard for the family, she turned into a destitute widow who is wondering how to feed her children. As a widow, she is eligible for a social security pension, but it may take years for a pension to be sanctioned, if it happens at all. Meanwhile, she is struggling to make ends meet.
As this story illustrates, the death of a breadwinner is one of the most serious contingencies that poor households have to face. The National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS), launched in 1995 under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), is meant to help the survivors in these circumstances. Unfortunately, the scheme has been allowed to languish. The amount of emergency assistance is a paltry Rs 20,000, the scheme is restricted to “Below Poverty Line” (BPL) families, and the formalities are often forbidding. Hiravati did apply for NFBS assistance last year, but she is still waiting for the money. She has no receipt for her application and no idea of what happened to it.
The sorry plight of NFBS is not an accident. It is part of the deliberate neglect of the NSAP in recent years. The central contribution to old-age pensions, for instance, has stagnated at a measly Rs 200 per month for nearly 15 years. Despite repeated pleas for an increase, including an open letter from 66 eminent economists in 2018, the central government refused to budge.
The NFBS budget has also stagnated, making it impossible to expand its coverage or raise the benefits. In fact, central expenditure on NFBS declined from Rs 862 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 623 in 2020-21 (budget estimates), with revised estimates for 2020-21 even lower — just Rs 481 crore. In effect, the scheme is being quietly phased out.
This is all the more unfortunate as a revamped NFBS could have helped millions of poor families during the Covid-19 crisis.
The central government, it seems, is deliberately undermining the NSAP (including NFBS) to promote contributory schemes such as the Atal Pension Yojana (APY). Contributory schemes, however, are not very attractive for poor people and especially for the poorest. Schemes like APY requires them to be able to save, understand the formalities, and trust the government with their money. All this is quite difficult for people with low earnings and little education.
In 2013, a task force chaired by Mihir Shah submitted an important report on NSAP to the Ministry of Rural Development. The report includes many useful recommendations on NFBS. Some of them influenced the revised NSAP guidelines formulated in 2014. For instance, eligibility for NFBS assistance was extended in case of the death of adult women (in the age group of 18-60 years) who work at home. No financial provision, however, was made for this extension. The main recommendations of the task force on NFBS, including higher coverage and benefits, were simply ignored.
Reviving and revamping NFBS is not rocket science. Three or four steps are essential. First, a big increase in the amount of emergency assistance (initially Rs 10,000, raised to Rs 20,000 in 2012) is long overdue. According to K P Kannan, one of the task-force members, the initial intention was to peg NFBS benefits at around 80 per cent of India’s per-capita GDP. Based on this benchmark, the benefits should be raised to nearly Rs one lakh. Even that would hardly ensure the dignified survival of a poor family that has lost its breadwinner, but it would help at least.
Second, there is a strong case for removing the restriction to BPL households. As is well-known, BPL lists are outdated, unreliable, and full of exclusion errors in most states. In the last 20 years or so, most social security programmes have moved away from BPL targeting in one way or another. Some, like school meals, are now universal; others, like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), are self-targeted; others still, like the public distribution system (PDS) in some states, are based on the so-called exclusion approach. In that approach, privileged households are excluded using simple and transparent criteria, others are eligible by default. That seems like a useful option for NFBS.
Third, the NFBS formalities are crying for simplification, transparency, and people-friendliness. As things stand, the main responsibility for identifying eligible families rests with the gram panchayat or municipality. This is not a bad thing. From there, however, applications tend to wind their way for months through the block and district bureaucracy, without the applicant having any means of tracking the application let alone demand a time-bound response. Potential applicants need much better facilities and assistance to access information, complete formalities, track their application, submit complaints, and obtain a response in the event of any grievance. Compensation in the event of delays would also help to ensure timely disbursal of benefits. The task force recommendations on these matters are still worth considering today.
Last but not least, none of this is possible without a major increase in the NFBS budget. If the coverage were to be doubled as a starter (from the current 3.6 lakh families per year to 7.2 lakh), with enhanced benefits of Rs 1 lakh per family, the cost would rise to Rs 7,200 crore per year. This would be about 10 times more than the current NFBS budget, but still very modest for a national scheme of such vital importance.
The absence of any form of life insurance appropriate for poor households is a gaping hole in India’s budding social security system. A revamped NFBS could serve that purpose to some extent. This would make a big difference for people like Hiravati and her children.
This column first appeared in the print edition on December 4, 2021 under the title ‘Beyond notional benefits’. Drèze is Visiting Professor at the Department of Economics, Ranchi University. Hafiz is a graduate in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College for Women
The gospel of modernity — or, its secular reasoning and techno-scientific project — has not yet succeeded in eliminating the tremendous hold of organised religions over our collective existence. In fact, in our times, the militant assertion of one’s religious identity in the politico-cultural domain has caused diverse forms of orthodoxy, and posed a challenge to the ideals of heterodoxy, symmetrical pluralism and the spiritual oneness of humankind. Is it the reason why, in our country, the debate on Hinduism vs Hindutva continues to occupy the imagination of political activists and public intellectuals?
It is not difficult to understand why there are Hindus who feel uneasy with what is going on in the name of Hindutva — an ideology of hyper-nationalism that stimulates one’s religious identity, prefers a monolithic discourse, and suspects or even demonises the “other”. In other words, the cultural narcissism or aggression implicit in the ideology and practice of Hindutva is something that hurts the sensibilities of those Hindus who believe that Hinduism is about pluralism, dialogue and assimilation. They refuse to be influenced by the likes of Savarkar and Golwalkar. Instead, they recall a largely decentralised tradition with multiple forms of worship, and diverse schools of thought in Hindu philosophy — from Lokyata to Vedanta; and they remind themselves of the music of harmony that characterised the spiritual practices of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Narayana Guru or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. In other words, they seek to convey a message that the loud champions of exclusivist Hindutva have no right to claim a monopoly over pluralist and dialogic Hinduism.
Even though this sort of debate has tremendous significance to keep the argumentative spirit of democracy alive, it is equally important to ask a fundamental question: Is it possible to see beyond Hinduism vs Hindutva, and reimagine our religiosity beyond all labels and categories? Is it possible for one to be deeply religious and spiritual without wearing any uniform, or without being a Hindu or Muslim or Christian? We should not forget that barring remarkable exceptions, even a “good” Hindu is likely to remain somewhat separated from a “good” Muslim; or, even when a “good” Muslim is enthusiastic about Jalaluddin Rumi, she/he might not quote the Upanishads with equal enthusiasm. Hence, it is important to realise that while the Bhagavad Gita, or the Quran or The New Testament still carry an “identity” with an immense emotive connotation, the flower that blooms, or the tree that whispers, or the river that flows has no limiting identity. The vastness of the sky, the mystery of the snow-clad peaks, and the recurrence of life and death, or form and formlessness — can these experiences be seen as our shared epics and our spiritual companions without any “Hindu”/“Muslim”/“Christian”/“Sikh” marker?
I ask this question because our true religiosity is a quest — existential, psychic and spiritual; it is a longing for a deep understanding of our location in this vast universe; it is an urge to see meaning for existence amid pain, suffering and impermanence of everything that is phenomenal; and it is a striving for the light of the infinite that illumines the finite. It is not about repeating the scriptures like a parrot, wearing special uniforms, and following the crowd. Jesus might have experienced the ecstasy and power of love. However, unless you and I experience it, there is no meaning in repeating his sermons, even if we are born in a “Christian” family. There is no meaning in glorifying the Bhagavad Gita, and asking a priest to recite it at the time of death ritual, if we are not convinced of niskama karma or detached action. Unless you and I choose to be authentic seekers with wonder, meditative quest and existential perplexity, and without any standardised manual, we will end up following the crowd, dividing ourselves into different and conflicting groups, and making noise. Ironically, organised religions with their priestcraft and heavy burden of ritualism seek to condition our minds, limit our horizons, and discourage our own quest. Hence, will it ever be possible to say that we are neither Hindus nor Muslims, and we are like tiny blue flowers experiencing the light of the sun, radiating our fragrance, and then withering away silently and gracefully, and merging with the soil?
In the absence of this authentic religiosity, we would merely debate intellectually, and keep asking academic questions, like this: Was Swami Vivekananda a “Hindu nationalist”, or a radical monk with socialist sensibilities? The exchange of words — scholarly or toxic — would take us nowhere except boost our own egos. Meanwhile, we would witness yet another round of cow vigilantism and an epidemic of sedition charges. Likewise, in the absence of experiential religiosity, we would begin to see the “sacred” in the rapidly flourishing commodities we buy and possess; “management gurus” as the new priests of neoliberalism would promote consumptionist hedonism as the most celebrated ritual; and spectacular shopping malls would acquire the status of temples. And at times, this market-driven ritualism goes well with the militancy of religious nationalism. Be a “proud” Hindu and be a loyal consumer of the products the Adanis and Ambanis produce.
As we love the false security that all sorts of “certainties” (I am a “Hindu”, she is a “Muslim”; I am an “Indian”, he is a “Pakistani”) provide, it is not easy to decondition our minds, and experience the spirit of being a wanderer — a seeker without the baggage of any fixed book or any fixed doctrine. Yet, even in these violent times, the quest for deep religiosity— without uniform, without boundaries — ought to continue.
This column first appeared in the print edition on December 4, 2021 under the title ‘Religiosity without uniforms’. The writer is professor of Sociology at JNU.
The release of the NFHS data (and the Niti Aayog’s study on developing a multi-dimensional index of poverty — MPI) has led to a considerable amount of discussion, and justifiably so. The key to understanding progress and development is to recognise the basic parameters of improvement, and to do so across multiple dimensions.
MPI indices are the third in the series of global studies on poverty. Global studies started with the World Bank’s income/consumption-based measure of absolute poverty. The UN expanded the monetary index adding health and education indicators via the Human Development Index (HDI). The MPI is an Oxford-based initiative that develops an exclusive broadly non-monetary living standard index of poverty.
The detailed Niti Aayog study is a rich source of data and analysis for one year — 2015-16. Data are also reported for 2019-21, but a proper analysis will come later when unit-level data are available. These data are useful for obtaining a snapshot at a point in time. Like with the other poverty indices (World Bank and HDI), most information and useful policy analysis comes via a study of the inter-temporal evolution of poverty. A snapshot frozen in time is just that — information about a point and not about the evolution over points in time.
Unfortunately, as revealed by expert commentary in recent days, one year (one point) information is used to derive inferences about trends in time — a strict no-no. In an article, Ajit Ranade presents little analysis of the change in inequality but lots of static 2015-16 evidence: “A large state like Uttar Pradesh… has 37.8 per cent of the population below MPI poverty level; at the other extreme is Kerala with 0.71 per cent of the population below MPI poverty.” Ranade acknowledges that regional inequality has existed for some time, but he argues that poverty incidence across Indian states even as per the MPI is astoundingly unequal. Again, the question is what has happened over time — not that they have equalised, but have development outcomes converged or have they diverged?
T N Ninan talks about the simultaneous existence of Africa’s Sahel region and the Philippines in India. He finds that the two Indias are not getting any closer. Indeed, India’s development trajectory has not been uniform, but the regional imbalance of development cannot be viewed at a fixed point in time.
In a detailed examination of the summary statistics reported in the NFHS data (large and small states of India for the two years 2015-16 and 2019-21), we find quite the opposite result. A remarkable convergence in living standards, a convergence possibly unparalleled in Indian history and in the space of just five years. The first year of the comparison 2015-16 can be taken to be a reasonable proxy for the beginning of the Modi model of development — a model which can be described as targeted purposeful development. A model which recognises the separate roles played by the “market” (bringing about increases in personal income) and by quasi-public goods efficiently targeted by informed public policy. (We — jointly with Arvind Virmani — present a detailed analysis of the evidence in “Inclusive Growth as Public Good: Poverty, Inequality and Growth in India”, forthcoming — based on our earlier 2019 NCAER presentation.)
NFHS reports the averages for all states, and for 131 variables, for two years 2015-16 and 2020-21. Seventeen of these 131 welfare indicators are used by us to construct indices under four classifications. The first classification concerns itself with the improvement in the lives of girls/women (five indicators, for example, sex ratio, fertility, female education). The second bucket consists of housing conditions (three indicators, for example, improved sanitation, clean fuel). The third list consists of children’s welfare (four indicators such as adequate diet, stunting) and the fourth classification includes women’s empowerment (five indicators, for example, owning a house, less spousal violence). Given that Niti Aayog’s report primarily relies on the NFHS-4, we use their findings as the baseline scenario to evaluate the delta — that is, the per cent change in indicators between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5.
The table reports the results for several states. The states are separated into poor and rich states, approximating the erstwhile BIMARU states plus a few more. Data for three rich states — Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu — are also presented to study differential growth in indicators (convergence/divergence?). Each of the indicators, for each state and time, has a value between 0 and 100 — zero for the worst and 100 for the best, and the value for the others represented by the ratio: Numerator is the absolute distance between the indicator value and the minimum/maximum and the denominator is the difference between the maximum and the minimum.
Seventeen indicators imply a maximum possible score of 1,700. Kerala performs the best with an aggregate index of 1,300 in NFHS-5 — a very small 1.5 per cent increase from its 2015-16 value. In contrast, Bihar increases its index by 56 per cent. Punjab does better than Tamil Nadu and today has a higher index – 1,240 versus 1,178 in 2020-21. UP (along with Rajasthan and MP) performs the best — a 60 plus per cent increase in the welfare index, more than five times the increase in the rich states.
We are in the process of aggregating the index across a wider range of indicators. It is unlikely that the basic result will change — a large 31 per cent increase in the aggregate level of development, and a very large decline — 41 per cent — in inequality of development, as represented by the Gini. For female empowerment, the increase in levels is an astounding 48 per cent, and a more than halving in the Gini.
This is not convergence, but strong convergence. Higher improvement by less developed states is evidence in support of catch-up, which suggests that regional imbalances are reducing, and in some indicators, rapidly so. The results are consistent across most indicators. States such as UP, Bihar and Jharkhand are fast approaching similar standards for select indicators as some of the “developed” states.
This acceleration in catch up is no coincidence, but rather an outcome of an approach that involves targeted interventions to improve developmental outcomes. Take the issue of challenges associated with lack of access to modern sanitation — this was directly addressed by the construction of 110 million toilets. Similarly, the problem of asthma due to indoor air pollution generated by incomplete combustion of wood used for cooking was addressed by the PM Ujjwala Yojana which provided 86 million LPG connections.
The approach was not just limited to sanitation, proper fuel or electricity — interventions that are targeted to an individual household — but also to the holistic development of an entire region. This was the central theme behind the identification of the most backward districts of the country and targeting public resources to help them catch up with the India growth story.
India has been, and was, not one but several Indias. What is remarkable about its recent history is the rapid process of uneven change — where progress is considerably higher for the poorer states — the convergent, and inclusive pattern of development. That is the real story behind the NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 numbers.
This column first appeared in the print edition on December 4, 2021 under the title ‘Unequal to more equal India’.
Bhalla is Executive Director IMF representing India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Bhasin is a New York-based graduate student. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.
The Insacog consortium conducting genomic sequencing has recommended a booster dose for those over 40, first targeting high-risk and high-exposure individuals, to bolster neutralising antibodies against Omicron. GoI must heed this advice. Because there’s no vaccine supply problem. Let’s do the math.
Obviously, jabbing the unvaccinated and the partially vaccinated is the highest priority. To achieve 100% adult vaccination, India needs 610 million more doses as of now. States have 220 million doses with them. And as the Centre has told Parliament, Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech can produce 300 million a month. Plus, SII’s Adar Poonawalla has said his company holds “hundreds of millions” of vaccines on its campus, and production is around 35% more than offtake. Now, assume booster doses are cleared for those second-dosed six months back. That number right now is 45 million. Therefore, given India’s stocks and production capacity, completing double-dosing of adults and giving booster shots can happen simultaneously.
As for funds for giving booster doses – assuming they too are free – there’s plenty. Only Rs 19,675 crore of Rs 35,000 crore budgetary allocation for vaccine procurement has been utilised. And tax receipts are booming. GoI’s total receipts till end-October this fiscal of Rs 12.79 lakh crore are 64.7% of Union budget estimate, setting it on course to exceed the year’s target.
The science for boosters is even more clear. A new UK study shows boosters work well with Covishield. And Covaxin trials on boosters should be getting over now. Every country that has mandated boosters has done so on the basis of scientific advice, and in each of those countries the arrival of Omicron has heightened the urgency. That same urgency should inform GoI decisions, too. We have the supplies, we have the money, and we have the infrastructure – don’t delay boosters.
Six out of nine members of the US Supreme Court seem ready to discard Roe v Wade, which, nearly 50 years ago, guaranteed women’s reproductive freedom. The religious right in the US has made abortion a flashpoint for decades, styling themselves as ‘pro-life’ for prioritising an unborn foetus over a live woman. ‘Where does life begin’ is an interesting philosophical thought-trail, but if a woman is recognised as fully human, rather than a vessel for the next generation, her rights over her own body would never arise as a real question.
This may seem like a distant concern to us, but that’s only an accident. In Judaeo-Christian and Islamic frameworks, life is given by god and belongs to god. In India, that framework does not dominate, so abortion is not as emotionally charged and is more readily seen as a personal choice, rather than a religious one. India had had a relatively liberal approach to abortion since the 1970s, when the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act was first legislated, and subsequently amended.
But Indian women also know, only too well, what happens when men claim religious authority to decide what they do with their bodies and minds. Just as in the US or Poland today, or Afghanistan under Taliban or in many parts of India today, women can easily be thrown back into religiously sanctioned, strictly private roles of wife, mother and other roles to service the patriarchy. The right to move and study and work and live freely, to enter into relationships as one chooses, are all fragile and hard-won achievements for women. All the more reason to strengthen each other’s struggles around the world, to liberate women’s lives from man-made religion and law.
On December 8, 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established by Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The objective of SAARC is to promote economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in South Asia — one of the world’s poorest regions marred by conflicts and political differences.
Inspired by the successes of regional integration in Europe and East Asia, a 1997 report prepared by a group of eminent persons (GEP) of SAARC envisioned that South Asia will become a free trade area by 2010, a customs union by 2015, and an economic union by 2020. Today, 36 years after SAARC came into existence, and 24 years after the GEP report, SAARC’s lofty goals of economic integration remain a pipedream.
The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement that came about in 2004 has been a spectacular failure. According to the World Bank, intra-regional trade in South Asia accounts for 5% of South Asia’s total trade, which makes South Asia the least integrated region.
The roots of this economic debacle lie in the political dysfunctionality of SAARC, especially in the last five years. Pakistan has often played the role of an obstructionist in SAARC, blocking key proposals such as the motor vehicles agreement — aimed at bolstering regional connectivity — at the 2014 SAARC summit. However, the biggest damage to SAARC was caused by the deepening hostility between India and Pakistan. Pakistan has failed to act against terrorism emanating from its soil, one of India’s key demands. Since 2014, despite its potential, no SAARC summit has taken place, leaving the organisation rudderless.
An institution that best captures the debilitating nature of SAARC despite its tremendous potential is the New Delhi-based South Asian University (SAU). SAU was set up in 2010 by SAARC as an international university with the ambition of becoming a centre for excellence. The university has brought together South Asians from the remotest corners to excel under one roof.
In just one decade, SAU alumni have proved successful. Some teach in leading universities in the region, others are pursuing higher studies in prestigious universities, and some are serving their governments and judiciary. SAU’s faculty have been trained in leading universities. They are pushing the frontiers of knowledge by publishing cutting-edge research in top-ranked academic journals and winning plaudits for academic excellence.
Yet, today, the university is going through an arduous phase due to several disconcerting developments that have imperilled the prospects of a promising future. SAU has been operating without a full-time president for the last two years. Several other key administrative and academic positions are vacant. The governing body — the highest decision-making body of the university that has representatives from all SAARC countries — has not met for the last several years. The university has frozen the salaries of faculty members and slashed the emoluments of the already lowly-paid outsourced staff. Research grants have dried up, adversely impacting research. All this indicates that a financial crisis is brewing.
In short, the bureaucratic inertia and differences that have plagued SAARC for long, are chipping away at one of the most audacious experiments in South Asian regional cooperation. The future of SAARC and specialised bodies such as SAU is directly proportional to India’s political interest in this project. Notwithstanding Pakistan’s recalcitrant attitude, India should remember that SAARC is still best suited to serve its strategic interests in the region.
In this regard, SAU can be an extremely important instrument to boost India’s soft power. The students who graduate from SAU can become brand ambassadors for India, positively influencing India’s diplomatic relations with its neighbours in the long-run. As former Prime Minister, AB Vajpayee, famously said, “You can change friends, not neighbours.”
Thus, as part of the Narendra Modi government’s “neighbourhood first” policy, it is in India’s national interest to resurrect SAARC and its specialist bodies, and not let its equation with Pakistan undermine an important international organisation.
Prabhash Ranjan is professor and vice dean, Jindal Global Law School, O P Jindal Global University
The views expressed are personal
When I think of what’s been done to Munawar Faruqui, I want to hang my head in shame. I feel embarrassed, and India has been diminished. It’s nothing short of persecution. It seems the worst was perpetrated by the governments of Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Karnataka. We elected them to protect our rights — that is their beholden duty — but they’ve turned on us like tyrants. It seems Faruqui’s existence, liberties, and rights are to be determined by them and not our Constitution.
Let’s briefly consider what happened to Faruqui, a stand-up comedian, who earns his living making the rest of us laugh. Jokes are his stock-in-trade, and public performances, his lifeblood. Yet 12 of his performances, have been cancelled in the last two months — this includes one in Chhattisgarh, two each in Goa and Maharashtra, and three in Gujarat.
The most recent was last Sunday in Bengaluru, just hours before it was to start. In incorrect English, the police claimed: “Munawar Faruqui is a controversial figure as he has been in controversial statements and on other religion Gods”. Yet, just a month earlier, Faruqui had performed at the same venue, and absolutely no one had objected.
The police also claimed “many states have banned his comedy shows”, but that is a blatant lie. Hindu Right-wing groups have protested against his shows, leading to many being cancelled, but no state has banned him.
Finally, this is the reason the police gave for cancelling his show: “This could create chaos and could disturb the public peace and harmony which may further lead to Low and order problems”. But have the police forgotten that it’s their duty to ensure this doesn’t happen and not allow such threats to negate or, even, curtail the rights of citizens? In banning Faruqui, rather than enforcing his rights and ensuring the threatened chaos did not materialise, the police have failed in their duty.
In fact, they’ve done it deliberately. The Indian Express reveals “a police officer in the know of the situation said a message had come from higher officials not to permit the event”. That, presumably, means the government.
Now let’s consider how Faruqui’s problems began. On January 1, he was arrested in Indore and jailed for 37 days for a joke he never made. Yet, he was booked for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Quite how, no one explained. If that doesn’t make you laugh, you could cry.
The sessions court refused bail on two occasions. So did the MP High Court on the grounds that “such people must not be spared”. But what had he done? Remember, he never made the joke he was accused of. At best, the police were going by what others claimed were his intentions. No doubt this is why, 11 months later, they have yet to file a charge-sheet.
Eventually, the Supreme Court granted him bail, but the Indore jail authorities did their best to delay it. When he was released, it was from a back door at close to midnight. The irony is this could be the sort of satire Faruqui might entertain his audience with but it is, instead, the story of his life.
What I find most disillusioning is that while all this was happening, the prime minister kept completely silent. He calls himself our pradhan sewak and has sworn to “do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will”. Yet, he’s permitted the most dreadful wrongs to be done to Faruqui without a murmur of disapproval. And, don’t forget, the governments of MP and Karnataka are run by his party.
For now, I fear, we might have crushed the spirit in Faruqui. “Hate has won, the artist has lost”, he’s tweeted. “I am done, goodbye”. I pray that’s only au revoir. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
But I’m still left with a thought I cannot banish: Did this happen to Faruqui because he’s Muslim?
Karan Thapar is the author of Devil’s Advocate: The Untold Story
The views expressed are personal
How many people in India are so poor that they are deprived of the basic needs of modern life? India now has the means to get a more meaningful idea of what that figure is, as a guide to the goals that the country must set for its economic growth.
NITI Aayog created India’s first national multidimensional poverty index (MPI). The report has found that 25% of Indians are multidimensionally poor. Among the indicators included in the index are nutrition, education (not just years of schooling but school attendance), bank accounts (without which it is not possible to live a modern life), and assets.
The MPI is intended to be used to draw up “comprehensive reform action plans”. But drawing up plans is one thing. Implementing them is another. This is borne out by the fact that, in the new MPI, three states are notorious for poor governance, and, therefore, ineffective implementation — Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand. They have the highest number of multidimensionally poor citizens. Two of the smallest states, Sikkim and Goa, and Kerala came out on top with the lowest number of multi-dimensionally poor.
The MPI is based on the National Family Health Survey conducted between 2015 and 2016. The prime minister’s major welfare schemes had not had a chance to make an impact by then, so the index provides a baseline for measuring their successes and failures. This measuring will throw up lessons that can be learnt which are not applicable only to the specific schemes.
For instance, the government claims the remarkable achievement of constructing more than 100 million individual household lavatories in rural India under the Swachh Bharat scheme. The stress that the government has put on that claim — which has been challenged — has given critics grounds for alleging that the scheme has concentrated exclusively on constructing lavatories (ie, implementation) and is no better than previous schemes which failed to eradicate open defecation (through awareness). Valid indications of the success of Swachh Bharat will be provided by using the MPI as a baseline to assess its impact on sanitation and health.
If the wisdom of measuring poverty in the way that the MPI does becomes accepted, the limitations of the other ways of measuring it will be understood. A measure in common use is the poverty line, a line below which an individual lacks the financial resources to afford a basic minimum standard of living. It’s merely a financial measure and ignores the many other reasons why lives are impoverished.
Measuring a nation’s welfare by the size of its economy and, therefore, concentrating on achieving Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is damaging. It distorts policies, exacerbates inequalities, and does not take into account environmental costs.
In his book, People, Power, Profits, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Joseph E Stiglitz blames the 2008 financial crisis for equating economic growth with greater prosperity, with that prosperity turning out to be “a house of cards or more precisely a mountain such as poor health, lack of education, unbalanced diet, and so on”.
Simon Kuznets, one of the economists who first developed the system of national accounting, warned against using only measures such as GDP as indicators of prosperity. He once wrote, “Distinctions must be kept in mind between the quantity and quality of growth, between its costs and its returns, and between the short and long run.” Kuznets was not saying that the US shouldn’t grow — and it would be manifestly insane to suggest that India’s economy shouldn’t grow.
It was vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, Rajiv Kumar, who once said to me “Growth is necessary, it is not sufficient.” NITI Aayog has now given India the means to assess the insufficiencies of its GDP growth.
The views expressed are personal
The 75th year of South Asia’s decolonisation has seen the revival of an old unease with India’s Partition. It was recently suggested that the pain of Partition can only be addressed when the division of 1947 is undone. The sentiment calls to mind the announcement made earlier this year that August 14, the day Pakistan celebrates its independence, would henceforth be observed in India as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.
Partition was unimaginably painful for people and disastrous for the entire region. There are strong reasons for revisiting it, publicly debating it, trying to make sense of it. But such an exercise will likely bring gains if we approach Partition to see what it can tell us about the difficult political and moral choices that confronted India in the 1940s.
In a new book, The Sovereign Lives of India and Pakistan, I have attempted to examine what Partition represented, why it came about, and how it has impacted the lives of India and Pakistan as both States and societies. It is essential to revisit Partition to map the trap in which they find themselves.
Partition emerged on the horizon of South Asia’s politics in the final decade of colonial rule. It was held by its proponents, principally the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as the solution to the likelihood of Muslims finding themselves at the mercy of a central Indian government dominated by Hindus once the British left. Jinnah appeared to believe that creating one or more Muslim homelands in the regions where Muslims formed a majority would address the problem substantially, if not completely. To make his case unassailable, Jinnah adopted the ‘two-nation’ thesis, which had crystallised in the 1920s, and claimed that the subcontinent’s Muslims constituted a separate nation who had the right to establish their own homelands.
The Congress-led Indian nationalists expectedly and vehemently disagreed with the ‘two-nation’ thesis. However, some of them—notably C Rajagopalachari and Mahatma Gandhi—were willing to address the concerns that had led Jinnah to demand separate Muslim states. Based on a formula by Rajaji, the Mahatma in 1944 agreed to the possibility of a limited Partition on the basis of territorial rather than national self-determination, provided the people of the regions in contention had the final say on the separation.
It is commonly held that once Jinnah became a partisan to the two-nation thesis, at the League’s general session held in Lahore in 1940, Partition became inevitable. But Partition was not inevitable. It became unavoidable only in early 1947. The principal parties to the high political negotiations—the Congress, the League and the British—reluctantly agreed to it in the face of expanding civil strife that could plunge the largest part of South Asia into civil war. Partition was neither a logical outcome of the “two-nation” thesis nor could it fully address the legitimate fear of majority domination felt by Indian Muslims. Rather than a lasting solution to a political conflict, Partition was a practical measure undertaken to arrest regional anarchy.
It is not surprising, therefore, that we find none of the frontline leaders of the Indian nationalist movement were prepared for it. Illustratively, as late as 1946, in his book India Divided, Rajendra Prasad was arguing for creating an “unnational” or a “multinational” state in India. And his public rhetoric notwithstanding, Jinnah too hoped for a loose subcontinental federation rather than Partition. So unexpected was it that many South Asian leaders considered Partition unnatural and unsustainable, believing that a voluntary reunion of the separated parts would happen once the British left and communal tempers cooled down. Many who thought Partition was here to stay nevertheless believed that the two new states would evolve common policies on trade, security, transport, and communication.
Partition was deeply unsatisfactory for all the parties concerned. Worse, it bequeathed to India and Pakistan three new problems: Territorial contestation, minorities vulnerable to enraged or predatory majorities, and discord over national identity. It is misleading to suggest sameness between India and Pakistan, but no honest and concerned citizen in either country can miss the parallels between the trajectories of each of the problems.
Minorities have been rendered politically disempowered, their loyalty suspected, their everyday life exposed to violence. There may be a difference in degrees, but their ordeals in the two countries conform to a type. The territorial contestation over Kashmir has deepened and today a negotiated settlement acceptable to all parties seems a near impossibility. And finally, ideas of national identity in both countries have come to be marked by homogenisation and mediated by ungenerous interpretations of religion and culture.
The careers of each of these problems tell the story of the region’s appalling disfigurement. The countries, as States and societies, continue unsuccessfully to resolve them. Each has tried to treat these as “domestic” issues, although the problems also keep the countries entangled. The entanglement has perpetuated conflict, deepened alienation and encouraged majoritarianism. It has also ensured that no South Asian regionalism—neither top-down nor bottom-up—will stand a serious chance.
As Partition loomed, leaders such as Prasad and Jawaharlal Nehru repeatedly warned all concerned about its consequences: If two nation-States that combined religious nationalism and overly strong central governments were established, they would struggle to attain security, prosperity and stability both at home and in mutual relations. Any dispassionate audit of our histories would reveal the remarkable prescience of these leaders. For 75 years, India and Pakistan have struggled to evolve a relationship that is minimally stable and decent. “New India” and “Naya Pakistan” have fared no better. Through 2020 and early 2021, they worked the back channel and agreed once again to a ceasefire. But as 2021 aged, it was clear that the old pattern had been repeated.
The idea that Partition must go is older than Partition itself. Since 1947, some have wanted it to end peacefully, others by force. In contemporary India, the key questions around it have become invisible; Partition itself has been reduced to a ghatna (event) of the past that is useful for ideological mobilisation and political gains.
The trap that India and Pakistan find themselves in — in their relations with each other, in some (but not all) of their domestic political fault lines — and the trap that South Asia finds itself in can only be escaped by carefully revisiting Partition. The questions that led to it are still with us. But the temptation to turn Partition into an event—of the past and for the present—must be avoided. There is no alternative to thinking out of the box, but we must first understand how we boxed ourselves in.
Atul Mishra teaches international relations at Shiv Nadar University, and is the author of The Sovereign Lives of India and Pakistan
The views expressed are personal