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NEWS YOU CAN USE (NYCU) is a specially formulated
development mediascan directed to meet the specific information
needs of NGOs. Published on a monthly basis, NYCU presents a
comprehensive compilation of selected media clippings of news
that could be direct use to NGOs working at the grassroot level.
This publication can also serve as a ready reckoner for development
news on a monthly basis.
NYCU includes a selection of newsitems/feature/articles/editorials/
letters from leading national newspapers and newsmagazines.
Each newsitem carries the source, name of publication and date
of publication. The compilation is categorised under appropriate
heads with an index for easy reference.
This issue : Rs. 30.00
NYCU Team:
Shangon Das Gupta
Pushpa
Govinda. B.
Shobha. C.
News You Can Use is compiled and published by
Communication for Development and Learning (CDL) with support
from SCHOOLNET INDIA LIMITED
Please address your subscription to
Communication for Development and Learning
} 1/A, 7th Cross, 17th Main,
Koramangala 6th Block,
Bangalore - 560 095.
The testing times for NYCU have now arrived. Financial support
for this edition has now come to a close and new donor support has
yet to come in. For a while, we the NYCU team went through a
period of intense anxiety - How would we meet the costs? What
about the printer’s bill? And the postage? Would we find anyone to
sponsor this issue? In a gesture of solidarity, the NYCU Team offered
to even forego their salaries. The questions were several and fast
fielded
The answers unknown
We are delighted to announce that this edition comes to you with
the support of SchoolNet, a Bangalore-based education company
specialising in Networked Learning, who have happily offered to
meet the production costs. Encouraged and even motivated, we
tried our luck little further, and now we have sponsorship confirmed
for the next issue.
In fact, the ease with which the transition has taken place surprises
us. We have now begun to wonder on the reasons for our anxiety.
The increasing number of subscribers with each issue reiterates
our reader support; the feedback comments highlight reader
involvement; the marketing gurus who have studied our four-year
perspective plan, have termed it ‘realistic’ and now the market offers
to support our effort.
Obviously, while we keep our fingers crossed on the hope that this
continues, this also confirms the fact that private houses are both
inclined and now even proactive in supporting development issues.
As one of our sponsors said: “It helps us give back a little of what
we receive from society”.
And we on our part say:
increase
Shangon Das Gupta
June 2000
Many thanks and may your tribe
JUNE 2000
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Agriculture
Coimbatore to host farmers’ fair
from Aug 29
Govt, plans to grow medicinal plants
Assam Govt, comes to the aid of farmers
Doctor’s Green Thumb Works Wonders
Naidu farm drive sparks disquiet
Shallow bores herald green revolution in
Assam
02
24
26
37
38
45
AIDS/HIV
Doctor death
Website to help AIDS patients
Alternative system of medicine provide
relief to AIDS ....
Indian AIDS cases 3.5 million
02
04
05
36
Award
Womens’ awards
BEL bags State award for water
conservation
National awards for the handicapped
Award for NGO
Agha Khan Foundation gets AAlF’s Kahlil
Gibran....
01
12
29
43
44
Child
For the sake of the young and the
dispossessed
Compuskool’s new education curriculum
for kids
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Tasty Bite gives aid to NGO
Thousands of children working in
Kishanganj...
Helping To Re-build their childhood
Maneka launches child rights campaign
Timely Concern
01
26
29
40
46
46
49
49
Disability
RCI to start distant learning courses
Differently - abled are forced to prove
that they have ...
Census 2001 to include data on disability
Reforms for disabled proposed
11
19
24
26
Education / Literacy
New education policy aims to raise
enrolment of kids
Meals prop up girls’ attendance: NCERT
10
15
Future management education
WB’s global development learning
network launched
Task force on education to submit report
in Sep...
21
36
46
Environment
Massive tree-planting scheme planned
02
Desilting of water tanks gets massive public
response
How ragpickers become Eco-Friendly
U.N. to launch global ecosystem
programme
Creating resources from the menace of
weeks
Our past our future
06
14
15
43
43
Funding
Funding agency may withdraw financial aid
Melody queen Lata donates Rs.20 lakhs to
UNICEF
MP to invest Rs. 100 cr. in rural industries
Higher grants-in-aid for legal services
authority
Environment protection fund to be set up
Charity or greed?
Slum - dwellers urge Blair to continue
project
03
03
04
09
11
25
37
Govt. Schemes
Govt, moots proposal top boost literacy
campaign
India, US to sing pacts on AIDS,
child health
Naidu launches poverty eradication
programme
Invitation for suggestions
03
09
27
40
Health
Indian health NGO wins accolades in U.S.
NGO opposes iodine cut in common salt
30
44
IT
Doctors just a click away
Paswan moots sanchar dhabas for villages
Web to the aid of psychiatric patients
ITC to bring IT to the doorstep of farmers
MP govt, site raises Rs. 2 crore for
education
04
19
22
41
48
IGP
Rural women in AP getting mobiles
Villagers learning how to earn more and
grow rich
Rural women from Andhra get a chance to
go global
Raging ‘bull scheme’
11
Rainwater Harvesting
27
*
43
13
09
36
40
47
Others
The Trail of Dispossession
E-commerce eyes the rural rich in MP
Many ways to deprivation
Tribal institutes asked to build database
UN report has praise, criticism for India
20
34
39
41
48
Panchayat Raj
Video conferencing to be part of
Panchayat Raj system
LDF gives more teeth to panchayats in
Kerala
Political will changes women’s status
in rural Kerala
05
07
18
Population
One billion Indians and counting
A continuing debate
UP conceives first-ever population policy
38
47
12
NGOs
Damned if you Dam
NBA accused of ‘misusing’ Tata
institute’s name
NGO shows UP villages life sans
Govt crutches
Medha sets date for monsoon satyagraha
Workshop of NGO/Vos on Rural
Development....
WB indicts MCD on Indian Population
Project
It’s bitter pill
16
23
24
Ambitions scheme
Model village to promote water harvesting
Rajasthan govt, takes steps to store rain
water
Ground water management whole job is it
anyway?
Gardens in the Desert
Wake up, before the Earth dries up
Drought-proofing
Recharging The Water Table
Perennial drought or relief
A.P. harvests rain water to end drought
once and for all
Raindrops and the Rashtrapati Bhavan
09
10
17
18
28
32
33
34
42
Technology
Eco oases
Palahi - a village in Punjab that does
India proud
08
41
Women
Govt., NGOs differ on women’s status
in India
Women Wage Another Crusade
Four countries meet target
Crime against women rising
Govt, report
Miles to go
‘Nari adalats’ gain popularity in
Gujarat villages
Gains of the long journey
Around the new woman
‘Wotc/i' (Mt fat
st
Have you
renewed
your
subscription
01
07
—th'. *
Vanamahotsava Week
11 July
World Population Day
06
12
15
16
26
30
31
35
For the sake of
the young and the
dispossessed
By Anjana Maitra
ecent reports indicate that the number of street chil
dren is increasing worldwide. This is a distressing
phenomenon. Street children can be broadly classi
fied into two categories — those who work on the streets and
go back home and those who meet on the streets and may or
may not work. The first includes ragpickers, child beggars
and salespersons. The latter includes children who loiter
about on the streets, many of whom later turn into criminals,
juvenile delinquents, drug peddlers and pickpockets.
Often, street children have stronger ties with friends on
the streets than with their families. This is because of unhap
py family lives with an unemployed or alcoholic father and
the mother struggling to feed the many children. Such chil
dren prefer the open streets where they feel a sense of adven
ture. Others, who are the sole bread-earners in their family,
feel responsible for the family and have strong link&with it.
R
No food for work
United Nations Children's Fund studies show that most
street children are over six years of age. Most are also male
because sociocultural factors limit girls' mobility. Many
have never been to school. Of those who have been to school,
a majority dropped out before completing primary educa
tion. Most street children work in the informal sector in jobs
that do not require education, skill or investment. Many are
self-employed and engaged in more than one activity because
of their seasonal jobs. They work 10-12 hours, come rain or
shine, amidst filth and pollution.
Most street children suffer from malnutrition or under
nutrition. This retards their growth. One of the major causes
of concern is street children's exposure to physical abuse and
vulnerability to sexual exploitation. Obviously, girls are at a
greater risk. No wonder, many get AIDS and other diseases.
There’s help out there
In order to alleviate their condition, the government must
first recognize their existence. It must also try to bring them
into the social mainstream. The children can be put into tem
porary homes, given basic education and taught vocational
skills so they can be independent.
Non-governmental organizations could be of help in this.
They might be assigned certain areas and asked to design, or
ganize and implement programmes, whose progress the gov
ernment can monitor. Local residents—retired persons and
other volunteers—may be asked to help out. Of course, they
will need financial assistance and infrastructural facilities.
Street children are not a homogenous group—each child
has a different problem. Awareness, motivation, perception
and participation should be the key words in addressing
their problems. It is the duty of every citizen to help make
their lives better.
The Telegraph
01 June 2000
1
Ambitious scheme
The Union Government’s renewed emphasis on popularising
rainwater harvesting in every nook and corner of the country
is most welcome as this seems to be the only viable alternative
to the fast depleting ground water levels in various States. Its
importance can be gauged by the fact that if such an alternative
method of water conservation works effectively, especially in
dryland and drought-prone areas in States such as Gujarat.
Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and
Orissa, the problem of meeting the drinking water needs of the
people could be resolved to a large extent. The Centre has now
embarked on a comprehensive action plan (2000-03) to popu
larise rainwater harvesting. This includes, among other things,
plans for roof-top rainwater harvesting measures using one
lakh wells (existing, defunct and/ or operative wells); provision
of one lakh rural drinking water wells with recharge facilities;
harvesting and recharging of city storm water in 100 towns;
revival and rehabilitation of 1,000 dying village ponds; design
ing and construction of percolation tanks, check dams and sub
surface dykes; recycling of secondary treated urban waste
waters through aquifers and identification of potential aquifers
in drought-prone areas as ‘groundwater sanctuaries’.
While the Centre’s action plan is no doubt ambitious and
rosy, what is necessary is sincerity and earnestness on the part
of the officials and the staff down below the ladder to implement
the plan in letter and spirit. Without commitment, no scheme
can succeed. Moreover, doubts are bound to be raised whether
the Rs 55-crore fund released by the Union Water Resources
Ministry would be adequate to implement the scheme nation
wide. This necessarily calls for more funds and effective co
ordination between the Centre and the States. Politics should
not be allowed to mar a scheme such as this, especially in fund
allocation — the bane of most government programmes. There
are of course many success stories of rainwater harvesting in
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and
Tamil Nadu. The scheme can be implemented successfully by
drawing lessons from these experiments. In Karnataka.
Mulbagal Taluk of Kolar District boasts of considerable rise in
water levels in the area along with increased crop intensity
because of rainwater harvesting. Gravity recharge through
borewells in two areas in Gauribidanur Taluk too led to rise in
water levels. As no scheme can succeed without involving local
people, there is need for social mobilisation and a mass aware
ness campaign. District administrations and NGOs should be
involved closely to educate the different sections of users and to
make it result- oriented..Government organisations should act
as facilitators and provide all technical and financial support
for creating the facilities for the success of the programme.
Deccan Herald
01 June 2000
Womens’ awards
and a citation, will be given t<
*
women achievers from the various
regions of the country, Minister of
THE CENTRE has instituted five
State for Human Resource
’Stree Shakti
*
awards to be con
Development Sumitra Mahajan
ferred every year to outstanding
women across the length and announced in Calcutta at the end
breadth of the nation for their grit of her two-day visit to the the city
on Monday.
and determination. The awards,
which consists of Rs one lakh each The Hindustan Times
01 June 2000
News You Can Use
Coimbatore to host farmers’ fair from
Aug 29
EARLY FIVE lakh farmers are
expected to attend the largest agri
cultural fair to take place in southern
India, ‘Agri Intex 2000’, at Coimbatore from
August 29 to September 3.
Addressing a Press conference here today
Advisor. Agri Intex 2000, Mr A. V.
Vardharajan said, the fair being organised by
Coimbatore District Small Industries
Association (CODISSIA) in association
with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,
one of the oldest and renowned agricultural
university of the country, was likely to gen
erate trade enquiries worth Rs 70 to Rs 100
crores.
The newly-built CODISSIA trade fair
complex where the exhibition is to be held is
N
India’s largest column-free exhibition hall
with a built area of 13,500 square metres, he
claimed. The fair complex is sprawled in
about 40 acres with conference halls, meet
ing lounges, etc.
The state of the art exhibition centre has
all amenities and facilities to hold interna
tional standard
exhibitions.
The fair com
plex was built by
CODISSIA,
which
repre
sents 4,000 small-scale industrialists, by
spending Rs. 8 crore. It was completed in
December last and a number of fairs have
already been held there like industrial trade
fair, Indian foundry exhibition.
Besides Agri Intex 2000 on schedule are
Auto Focus’ organised by Confederation of
Indian Industries in early August and
‘Consumerex’
in
November,
Mr
Vardharajan said. “It's almost like Pragati
Maidan of the south,” he added.
According to Mr Vardharajan, the Agri
Intex 2000 fair will showcase products.
“implementable” technologies, services, in a
large number of
agro-related
areas like agri
culture, horti
culture, floricul
ture, tissue cul
ture, organic farming, sericulture, poultry.
dairy, animal husbandry, aqua culture, drip
and sprinkler.irrigation, agriculture machin
ery and equipment, processed foods, oil,
beverages, herbal medicinal plants, non-conventional energy, agri finance and market
ing, computers and remote sensing, pesticides, fertilisers.
More than 150 companies from Chennai.
Bangalore, Cochin, Hyderabad, Mumbai.
New Delhi, Pune, and Baroda have already
confirmed participation, Mr Vardharajan
said.
As they had a number of international
patrons in countries like Canada, Italy,
Thailand, Israel, Sweden, USA, Australia.
Japan, Mr A. V. Vardharajan said, “Wc
expect participants from leading countries
in this sphere such as Israel, Japan. USA.
Sweden, Holland, Denmark, Australia”
Dr R.K. Sivanappan, water technologist.
and consultant Food and Agriculture
Organisation said that he had contacted
Director of FAO about the exhibition and Ik
had intimated that countries all over the
world will be informed regarding this though
they would have preferred one year's notice
£lgl
s
_ _--------
DOCTOR DEATH
Administrative AIDS
E are indebted to a leading teaching hospital in Calcutta
for giving us a graphic image of how much life is worth in
the city — it costs less than a rupee. Hospital staff at Calcutta
National Medical College reuse disposable syringes, regard
less of the fact that they thereby spread deadly diseases such
as AIDS and hepatitis B, because they can resell them outside
for Re 1 .each. It is likely that the used syringes are then
repackaged and sold as fresh syringes. This amounts to mur
der by negligence. At Calcutta Medical College, the staff do
not bother to do their duty. This is in keeping with general
standards of work ethic in the state, except that the conse
quences in this case are lethal. Administrators pretend not to
know what is happening under their noses.
The number of Indians infected with HIV is estimated at a
staggering 3 million. Since there is no known cure for it, the
best recourse is to spread awareness about it; this is how
countries blessed with responsible governments have man
aged to halt its spread. In West Bengal, however, even hospi
tal staff are unaware of the fact that the best way to spread
AIDS is through reusing syringes. The other possibility is
even more chilling: they are not unaware of the consequences,
but do it anyway to make a buck. In most other countries they
would have faced summary dismissal from their jobs, if not
worse, but it is a testimony to the stranglehold vested inter
ests have over hospital administrations in the state that this
appears inconceivable in Calcutta’s hospitals. Nevertheless, if
the health department is part of a “labour friendly” govern
ment, it is incumbent upon it to protect lives rather than the
jobs of racketeers. Health minister Partha De needs’ to crack
down on the syringe racket or step down in favour of someone
with the requisite administrative ability.
W
The Statesman
02 June 2000
Agri'lntJex 20
The Hindustan Times
01 June 2000
programme.
Massive
While the Centre has
Rs. 477 lakhs for
tree-planting sanctioned
implementing the scheme, the
Government will release
scheme planned State
Rs. 82 lakhs, as its share.
chennai, JUNE 1. A massive tree
In respect of corporation
planting programme will be
launched by the Government of areas, the Forest Department
India in coordination with the will be in charge of planting
and maintenance of the trees.
NGOs and industrial
In municipal areas, the
establishments in five
municipalities will take up
municipal corporations in the
maintenance.
slate.
The Centre has sanctioned
According to official sources,
a total of 7.77 lakh saplings will Rs. 1 lakh for each municipality
be planted and Chennai,
for maintenance.
Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem,
The Chief Minister, Mr.M.
Tirunelveli, and 102
Karunanidhi, will inaugurate
municipalities in the state
the scheme in the city on June
would be covered under the
3.
The Hindu
02 June 2000
CDL Media Clippings 2
Funding agency may withdraw financial aid
Niro] Ranjan Misra
Cuttack, May 31
THE MUCH-TOUTED slum development in
the millennium city of Cuttack is likely to be
wound up as its funding agency, the U K based
Department for International Development
(DFID) is said to be on the verge of withdraw
ing its much-needed financial assistance in the
middle.
With an objective to upgrade the quality of
life in 106 slums in the silver city, the five-year
Cuttack Urban Services Improvement Project
(CUSIP) was flagged off in April 1998. With a
financial outlay of nearly Rs. 67 crore, the pro
ject, funded by DFID was taken up by the city
based Project Management Unit (PMU).
However, prior to it a pilot project was initiat
ed in 1993 pn experimental basis to carry out
infrastructural development programmes in
seven slums to benefit about 35,000 people. The
PMU received about Rs one crore from DFID
for this slum development project. As the pro
ject reportedly proved successful, the main
phase CUSIP was approved for the work to
begin in 106 slums.
'Hie PMG took up 21 slums in 1998 for "pro
ject intervention" under the main phase.
Subsequently 24 slums came under the project
in April 2000.
■Sources claim that significant progress was
made in all fronts, besides infrastructural devel
opment in 21 slums taken up in 1998.
Community Management Groups (CMG) com
prising representatives from the poorest and
the most vulnerable sections, were formed to
plan and to implement the project components.
Besides, the CMGs, which consist of 50 per cent
women representatives, were assimilated with
the programmes to create awareness about the
r-tS/um:Peve/b|iiiwep,t{B
PrqjectinCuttack^
issues related to gehder, education, hygiene and
sanitation, the sources say.
Meanwhile, the DFID team used to pay quar
terly visit every year to assess the progress and
to give necessary recommendations. The work
continued and the PMG has reportedly
received assistance to the tune of about Rs 5.4
crore only till now. This amount, received in six
monthly instalments through government of
India, does not include the finance involved in
the 1993 pilot project, explain the sources.
It was a smooth go till apprehensions were
raised over the recent 'fundamental review’ by
DFID-appointed three-member team. The
review team that had a nine-day visit to the
State from May 10, might have contained
'remarks' or 'observations' casting doubts over
the sustainability of the project, according t«»
sources.
But the review, taken up so earlier, should
have been conducted .after three years of the
project as per the related documents, the
sources contend. The project's linkage with
Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) could
be assessed to gauge the possibility of its sus
tainability after the 'stipulated
*
time period.
Earlier, according to sources, its linkage with
CMC had been discussed. But, as CMC council
had not been existent then, the project under
the PMU was kept away from the corporation.
the sources add.
The review team is rumoured to have raised
objections to the 'non-spending' of funds in the
scheduled time. The sources clarify that the
project started with Rs. 50 lakh of the funds
apportioned for the six months. The amount.
which was 4.97 per cent of the funds earmarked
for the first year reached the PMU towards the
end of September, 1998. Even 45 per cent of the
funds allotted for the first year did not reach till
the end of December, 1998. the sources explain.
The Hindustan Times
01 June 2000
Melody queen Lata
donates Rs 20 lakhs
to UNICEF
By A Staff Reporter
MUMBAI: Legendary singer Lata
Mangeshkar donated Rs 20 lakhs
to UNICEF for child welfare pro
jects in Maharashtra.The cheque
was handed over by her to
UNICEF state representative here
G.T. Menon al a brief function at
the agency's office at Churchgate.
Her nephew Adinath said Lata
had a soft corner for children. She
is of the opinion that they should
be protected since they are the
most vulnerable. “She lost her fa
ther when she was only 12 years old
and she knows the problems faced
by children." Adinath said.
Mr Menon focussed attention on
the problem of malnutrition and
child marriages in Maharashtra.
“Child marriages resulted in chil
dren giving birth to children," he
noted.Thc select gathering includ
ed theatre personality and ace pho
tographer Mohan Wagh.
The Times of India
01 June 2000
3
in Senegal, said that the
. Govt moots Dakar
proposal has been forwarded to
Union finance ministry and
proposal to the
state governments.
to significant increase
boost literacy in Referring
investments in basic education
by the dakar framework
campaign sought
of action adopted at the threeTHE government Is considering a day global meet, he said that if
proposal to impose education there is political will and commit
cess on the corporate sector to ment, funds can be raised from
generate additional resources for various sources like NGOs, inter
boosting the campaign for literacy national agencies and business
and unlversalisation of primary houses.
edcucation.
Unesco representative prof
"A suggestion was mooted Moegaldi said that leaders and
recently to impose cess on the planners from 181 countries at
corporate sector. The purpose is the WEF had reaffirmed that
to raise more resources to make "no country seriously committed
education for all a reality," to education for all will be
Abhimanyu Singh, joint secretary thwarted in their achievement of
In the Human Resource Develop this goal by a lack of resources."
ment Ministry said.
On the challenges ahead and
He said that despite Increased
budgetary allocation for educa the Issues that remain to be
tion, the amount was not enough tackled, Prof R Govinda of the
to effectively implement schemes national institute of educational
and
administration
for total literacy, adult literacy, planning
unlversalisation of primary educa . (NIEPA) said that social and
tion and narrowing gender dis economic barriers and household
chores continue to hold back
parity.
Mr Singh, who was In the girls from going to school.
Indian delegation to the World
Education Forum held recently in
The Observer
02 June 2000
News You Can Use
MP to invest Rs 100 cr in rural industries
Bhopal, June 1
ADHYA PRADESH government
plans to invest Rs 100 crore for setting
up 4,000 village industries, in a bid to
create additional employment in rural areas.
The village industry units to be set up under
margin money scheme of the Madhya Pradesh
Khadi and Village Industry Board would gener
ate permanent productive employment for
10,000 people in rural areas, an official release
said here today.
Gramodyog Minister K P Singh had issued
directives for identifying the village industries
which could be set up in different districts
under the margin money scheme.
As per the criteria, the scheme can only be
M
implemented in the villages having population
of less than 20,000 each.
A unit in which capital investment is Rs
50,000 is categorised as a village industry and
investment of up to Rs ten lakh can be made in
a village industry unit if established by individu
als. The maximum limit for investment was Rs
25 lakh for village industries established by
institutions.
Under the scheme, the banks would provide
95 per cent of the amount by way of grant and
loan to the persons belonging to scheduled
castes, tribes and other backward classes.
Women, disabled persons and ex-servicemen
would also be entitled for the same credit facil
ity from banks.
If the cost of the unit is less than Rs 10 lakh
then 30 per cent of its cost would be given a.*
margin money grant. The margin money wouk
be free of interest and after two years of sue
cessfully operating the village industry, the mar
gin money would be automatically convertec
into grant, the release said.
The beneficiaries of the weaker section
*
would be required to invest in only five per cem
of cost of the unit. The beneficiaries of genera.
category would be required to invest 10 per ceni
of the cost of the unit while the remaining 9C
per cent would be financed by the banks.
These would be eligible for getting 25 per cent
amount as margin money grant and after twe
years of successfully running of the unit, the
margin money would be converted into grant,
the release added.
(PTI)
The Hindustan Times
02 June 2000
Website to help
AIDS patients Doctors just a
LONDON, June 1. — A British publishing com
pany launched an interactive Internet service
today to help AIDS patients understand compli
cated drug therapies.
The Wheel — Your Personal Pill Planner
{www.aidsmap.com} offers the latest information
on anti-viral regimes, including how and when
the drugs should be taken and in what combina
tions, to help people determine how well the
regimes fit into their lifestyle.
“But The Wheel cannot tell you which drug
regime is best for you — that should be decided
by the patient and doctor together,” said Mr
Colin Nee, director of Nam publications, a chari
ty that provides information on HIV and AIDS.
“These regimes are hard to stick to, and that’s
where The Wheel comes into its own. It answers
one very important question: can I live with this
drug regime on a day-to-day basis?” Mr Nee said.
The website is designed to help patients comply
with the often-difficult drug regimes. Some
drugs must be taken with certain food or liquid
at specific times which can interfere with one’s
day to day life.
Non-compliance can lead to a resistance to the
anti-viral drug or a cross-resistance to drugs the
patient may not have taken yet.
Dr Mike Youle, a leading British HIV expert,
described The Wheel as user-friendly and help
ful to both doctors and patients. “This person
alised approach can be used for other conditions
too, particularly for heart diseases. It enables
patients to get better service,” he said.
There are around 30,000 HIV positive people in
Britain, around 10,000 of whom are unaware
that they are infected, according to the National
Aids Trust Charity. So far over 33 million people
have died of aids worldwide. The statesman
02 June 2000
click away
T
he web doctor has finally member-hospitals, and one meniarrived. The galaxy of ber of 'the panel, Dr Ashwani
health, com is quick, inter- Chopra,
renowned
Gastroactive and user-friendly. It’s enteroligist, Aashlok Hospital.
a one-stop health web site that New Delhi says. “Every submiscaters both to the needs of the med- sipn is carefully assessed. after
ical fraternity as well as the gener- which we offer advice and suggesal public and claims to be the first tions on the line of treatment and
of its kind. It was conceived and therapy and the options available.
executed as a comprehensive refer- The
comprehensive
health
ence vortal touching on every resource vortal caters largely to all
aspect of health, fitness, disease sections pf the health-conscious
and medicine. Moreover, it pro- public.Ijowever there are separate
vides free on-line consultation and sections, one for the public and
has a panel of experts who spe- the other for the medical fraternity.
cialise in various disciplines. The With its own search engine, the
CEO of Galaxy Communications, site provides access to more than
Dr Vikram Sharma, the techno- 5,000 pages in the encyclopaedic
savvy and renowned Urologist and portal.
Andrologist wants to make health a The. general public can browse
habit. Hence the exhaustive nature through the health magazines
is meant to appeal to and satisfy weekly updated, and has highly
various sections. of the society, informative articles. The teen anil
from teenagers to elders across the children sections are devised to .
globe. So his company tied up with eduOate them in all aspects of
just a company. Canada and the health, disease and in-depth under
result is an extremely well-planned standing of the human body.
and easy to navigate vortal Another attraction is the plethora
site.Tnat the site is not just one of interactive games that keep
more health-based portal web site their interest level high, a medical
is evident from the fact that it dictionary is an added attraction
offers free treatment to patients Now, that’s one of the important
who don t have the means to afford and state-of-the-art infoway.
it. And net surfers are asked to
‘
write to galaxy of health.com about
TnG Asian Age
deserving patients and their treatJune 2000
mem is taken over by the various
CDL Media Clippings 4
Video conferencing to be part of Panchayat
Well-deserved honour for role model
Raj system
She has made.a difference to her village and is now a role model for other women
panchayat members. It was a rare but well-deserved honour for Ms Sharanavva, a for
The State government will soon set up
mer gram panchayat member, to share the dais with Governor V S Ramadevi al a
receiving stations at all the 175 taluk head
*
regional seminar on women in local governance, held here today.
quarters to enable panchayat members to
Mrs Sharanavva, an exemplary gram panchayat member (1993-99). hailing from a
have direct interaction with Rural
Development and Panchayat Raj officials
tiny hamlet Keribosaga in Gulbarga district, was today felicitated by the governor at
and experts through live video conferenc I the seminar for showing what women could do in Panchayat Raj. Mrs Sharanavva.
ing facility for effective implementation
who was a member of the Bheemanahalli Gram Panchayat, had played an instru
and functioning of Panchayat Raj system in
mental role in improving the basic facilities of her village.
the State
Not only she convinced her fellow-women folk to take up the job of clearing
Delivering the key-note address of a twogarbage that had become an environmental hazard, she took it as a challenge to pro
day regional seminar on “Women in local
vide drinking water to her .village. Besides, she also prevented the ‘diversion’ of funds
governance: Experiences and Effective
which were meant for repairs of a local temple.
interventions in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil
Now as a former member, she is promoting others to take part in Panchayat Raj.
Nadu,
Kerala,
Maharashtra
and
"When will other women learn about their role in Panchayat if I continue to cling on
Karnataka".
here
today.
Rural
to power,” was Mrs Sharanavva’s explanation for ‘retiring’ from grass-root democra
Development and Panchayat Raj Secretary
cy.
.
M R Sreenivas Murthy said that frequent
live interaction between experts and pan DRAWBACKS: He pointed out that there Karnataka because of reservation lor
chayat members was necessary to make were several drawbacks for women to women candidates hailing from Scheduled
Panchayat Raj system a success in the actively take part in the Panchayat Raj sys Castes/Scheduled Tribes, he explained.
State. He said that the government was in tem in the State.
Delivering the inaugural address.
the process of setting up a full-fledged stu Quoting a recent survey of panchayat mem Governor V S Ramadevi called on women.
dio at the Abdul Nazir Sab Institute of bers' educational background in four dis to actively take part in grass-roots democ
Rural Development in Mysore from where tricts of the State, Mr Murthy said that 35 racy like Panchayat Raj system. Women,
the video conferencing would be carried per cent of women members were found to she felt, were no less to men in any field
out.
be illiterate while just 9 per cent of men and it was time they realised their potential
Mr Murthy said that the State govern were illiterate. Illiteracy was one of the for the good, of society.
ment had embarked on a similar exercise major setbacks for lesser role of women in
She honoured panchayat members from
through satellite communication a few Panchayat Raj, he said.
various parts of South India.
years ago and found that the facility was
However, the State government had pro
The seminar was organised by the
extremely successful in bridging the gap vided adequate opportunity for women to Institute of Social Trust (ISST).
between the government officials and pan take part in this. Though the official reser
Its Director Dr Swapna Mukhopadhyay
chayat members. Therefore, the govern vation for women in Panchayat Raj system and Associate Director Meera M also spoke
ment had decided to make this a permanent was 33 per cent, it came up to 45 per cent in on the occasion.
'
'
’
fixture by setting up receiving stations at
Deccan Herald
all taluk headquarters. Satellite uplinking
02 June 2000
would also be soon provided to these stations. he added.
He said that the government would
invite panchayat members once in a week
or two at the taluk headquarters and initi
ate a debate between them and the pan
chayat raj experts on doubts, issues, clarifi
cations and functions relating to Panchayat
Raj system, through the live video confer
encing system. This, he felt, would go a
long way in strengthening the foundation
of Panchayat Raj institutions in the State.
NEW DELHI: All those claims Chennai, wards are full of AIDS
TRAINING CAMPS: Mr Murthy said that
about cures for AIDS may after all patients. Dr Devi Nayagam, who is
the State government would take up train
not be entirely a hoax. Certain treating them, does not claim to
ing programmes for the newly-elected gram
practitioners of alternative systems have a curd, but the Siddha system
panchayat members in the month of June
of medicine have shown that the of medicine, he follows, definitely
in association with non-governmental
treatment gave encouraging results improves their condition,” Ms
organisations (NGOs) involved in the field
in people living with the virus.
Chandra told mediapersons.
of Panchayat Raj.
“The quality of life of these peo
Homeopathic medicines are
Subsequently, training camps would also
ple has been improved by curbing showing results as well, said ~
Dr
be conducted for the zilla and taluk pan
opportunistic infections brought on R.N. Shah from the Central Re
chayat members, he added.
by the HIV,” says Shailaja Chan search Institute for Homeopathy.
The training camps would be of threedra, secretary to the department of “Hundred case trials have found
four days duration and would orient and
Indian Systems of Medicine.There encouraging results,” he said.
assist the panchayat members towards
is need for a strong scientific input
As a result of the renewed inter
learning their role in Panchayat Raj sys
into these systems, she adds.
est in these systems, the newly ap
tem. he explained.
“At Thambaram hospital in pointed minister for health, and
5
The Times o f India
[02 June 2000
Alternative systems of
medicine provide
relief to AIDS patients
News You Can Use
Desilting of water
tanks gets massive
public response
Kachapur tank. At this tank,
THE IDEA Of removing sill from
irrigation tanks has caught imag
spread over an area of 225
acres, the work was started in
ination of farmers in this rela
tively better off district of .-Aril by three local youth, long beTelangana region with hundreds fTore the government launched
the programme. The work still
of farmers voluntarily partici
continue with the same enthusi
pating in the programme and
taking the fertile and manure
asm even after thirty seven days
as more and more farmer from
rich silt to their fields at their
five .surrounding villages are
own expenses.
keep coming to contribute mon
Not only that, what makes this
programme more successful in
ey and take the silt.
Nizamabad compared to other
“Here entire work has been
done with hundred per cent
districts is that the farmers
contribution from the public.
were paying from their own
pockets even for digging of the
says B Multamma, lady sarpanch
lank beds. While in other dis
of the village. And it is no mea
ger amount. About 800 farmers
tricts the administration was
paying Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000
have joined hands and have
per tank for using poclains for
spent Rs 11 lakh.
digging. Nizamabad district ad
Why the programme is wit
nessing such a enthusiastic re
ministration is paying only Rs
10,000 first day's cost of poclain
sponse from the public? Says
and the farmers have been asked
Manikaiah, a local farmer, "We
to bear cost on subsequent days.
have seen dual benefit in this.
First we are getting such a fer
"We have done it because we
wanted to increase participation
tile soil that it will reduce con
of the local people and they have
sumption of fertiliser and sec
also realised the benefits of the
ondly we will store more water
programme, said district collec
for irrigation.
tor Shashank Goel.
“We got the idea of this work
While this could be true of the
during the meeting of local
well off farmers, the poor and
farmers, said Muttamma, adding
small farmers are still dependent
that their work has earned the
on the government's help for the
appreciation from the Chief
digging part of the programme.
Minister and the district collec
"The administration is extending
tor. District collector Shashank
help to such farmers, the district
Goel was so impressed that he
collector said.
gave an assistance of Rs 3 lakh
According to Mr
M P
to strengthen the lank fund.
Subramania. project director
The tractors and lippers
DRDA and district nodal officer
loaded with silt going from place
of Neeru Meeru (waler and you)
to place and spreading the silt in
programme, out of nearly 2800
the fields is the most common
tanks in the district, about a
scene in this area. In Basavapur
thousand tanks have been iden
village of Bhiknoor Mandal.
tified to be taken up for silt re
where desilting work is on in
moval and work has already
Kottachervu for last ten days, the
been completed on 422 tanks.
farmers are determined to retain
The big tanks at Basavapur,
the poclain till the rains come.
Kachapur and Dichpally were
“This is beyond our expectations.
beehive of activity as about ten
says Lakshma Reddy, the exec
tractors were lined up at each
utive engineer of Panchayat Raj
place to be filled with silt by a
Department.
poclain.
The Pioneer
The enthusiastic response of
the farmers was seen by a visit
04 June 2000
ing team of journalists at the
Govt., NGOs differ on
women’s status in India
By Anita Katyal
The Times of India News Service
NEW DELHI:The Indian govern
ment and NGOs will present a con
trasting picture to the world about
the status of women in the country
at the special session on women in
New York next week. It is aimed at
reviewing how member countries
have implemented the commit
ments they made at the 1995 Bei
jing conference.
The government’s country paper,
prepared by the department of
women and child development
(WCD), has compiled various offi
cial schemes for women but does
not assess how effectively these are
being implemented. The report
hides more than it reveals as it side
steps sensitive issues like the impact
of globalisation on women, and ends
up telling only part of the story.
The country report admits it had
committed to formulate and opera
tionalise a national policy on
women, set up a commssioner for
women and increase the education
budget to six per cent of the GDP.
The NGO report points out that
none of these promises have mate
rialised even five years after the
Beijing conference. The national
policy on women, drafted in 1996, is
yet to be approved while the move
to set up a national commissioner
has been turned down by the home
ministry, says the NGO report.
Admitting its commitnient to six
per cent of GDP for education has
not been met, the country paper
Contd...
promises to make up for this
through a special programme ol
free education for girls up to col
lege level, never mind (hat this
scheme is yet to take off and after
two years is still doing the rounds oi
various committees. The govern
ment paper has done a real
tightrope walk while dealing with
the issue of the impact of globalisa
tion on women. Noting that such an
assessment is not easy, it, however.
claims that initial assessments show
the lot of a sizeable section of
women has ‘improved due to fall in
inflation, expansion of employment
opportunities and cheaper white
goods providing greater comfort’.
At the same time, the report admits
that studies on the impact of liber
alisation on women indicate a need
for re-framing policies for access to
jobs and preserving them.
The government cites the Na
tional Crime Records Bureau fig
ures to accept that crimes against
women have increased, but says it
has taken several measures to deal
with the problem like setting up all
women police stations in 14 states
and strengthening existing laws,
an exercise undertaken by the Na
tional Commission for Women
(NCW). The government paper
*
does
not mention that most states
now want to close down these “in
effective” police stations while the
NCW’s 200-odd recommendations.
including amendments to laws on
dowry and trafficking, have been
virtually ignored.
The Times of India
02 June 2000
family welfare, C.P. Thakur, an themselves, adds Ms Chandra.
nounced that a medicinal plants
The aim also is to push India’s
board would be set up shortly.
share in global alternative medicine
Several Union ministries, includ markets to the Rs 5,000 crore level.
ing those of environment and she says. WHO has assessed the to
forests, agriculture, family welfare, tal world market at Rs 51,210 crore.
biotechnology, and the Council of and India’s share is a paltry Rs 280
Scientific and Industrial Research crore. The Chinese share is a hefty
have been assigned tasks to con
Rs 18,000 crore.
serve medicinal plants.
The importance of these figures is
The government realises the ex
not lost on the planners, who say
port potential of traditional Indian
that the market was growing at sev
medicine systems, and is now work
en per cent annually.
ing on its wider acceptance
The world market for herbal
amongst practitioners of modem
remedies by 2050 is pegged at $5
medicine.
trillion dollars. WHO surveys show
“Operational studies” have, in
that 60 to 90 per cent of the people
fact, been launched at nine centres,
in Britain were relying on compli
where allopathic practitioners can
see the results of these therapies for mentary systems of medicine.
CDL Media Clippings 6
Model villages to promote water harvesting
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
JAIPUR, June 1. — In a bid to
promote water harvesting in
the state, the Rajasthan gov
ernment has decided to prepare
237 villages, one village in
every block, as model villages
where “not even a single drop
of water will go waste”.
This decision was taken in a
meeting with social worker Mr
Anna Hazare, who has agreed
to provide technological assis
tance to the state government.
He will be personally supervis
ing the work and guiding
the officers of these model vil
lages.
The idea behind the entire
SONIA VISITS GUJARAT VILLAGES
GANDHINAGAR, June 1. — Mrs Sonia Gandhi visited Gujarat
yesterday to see for herself the plight of the people in drought-hit
regions, and found a lot of “irregularities” in the relief works.
Speaking to journalists at Sami village in north Gujarat, the
Congress president said many relief workers had complained
that they were not getting the full amount of the Rs 40 as daily
wages at relief sites. — SNS
exercise is to inculcate a habit
of water harvesting in rural
Rajasthan and introduce new
ways of water conservation
“If all goes well, there would
be no stigma of drought on
Rajasthan”, says Mr Hazare.
He had introduced the system
in his village Rale Gaon Sidhi
in Maharashtra with very sur
prising results. The per capita
income of the village increased
10 times because of the avail
ability of water.
The villagers are now culti
vating green vegetables in the
village and even exporting it,
Mr Hazare informed while
addressing senior IAS officers,
ministers and the chief minis
ter of Rajasthan.
The government is chalking
out programmes to start the
water harvesting system in
every block in the coining fort
night. Though the exact amount
required for making these mo
del villages has not yet been cal
culated, the rough estimate sug
gests that it would be around Rs
20 crore, said an official.
“Our intention is to generate a
sense of water storage among
the villagers. Once people notice
the sea change in the model vil
lages, they themselves will
come forward to start watei
harvesting”, the officer said.
The Statesman
02 June 2000
LDF gives more teeth to panchayats
in Kerala
ings, sanitation, water and more.
ing the key principles.
Local bodies’ revenues rose,on an average,
There are four musts in all this: 40 per cent
from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 45 lakh. Panchayats of the money should be for production, cm
were trained to prepare plans, projects and ployment and income-generation schemes.
By Chandrlka Mago
strategies, and decide priorities, people learn Of the rest, half for the social sector and the
The Times of India News Service
ing slowly to take charge. Last week, it was rest for infrastructure. At least 10 per cent of
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A local time to take stock as the state gets set to insti
'he whole planis for projects directly benefit
labour bank guaranteeing 20 days of employ tutionalise the process. And — says T.M.
ing women.
ment to the jobless. A panchayat with all its Thomas Isaac, state planning board member
The difference has begun showing. Perhaps
data computerised, and a 70-year-old presi and the "miracle man” behind the plan im
the most visible change, says a zoology profes
dent who spends 10 minutes each day on the plementation — ready for a crucial transition
sor and one of many volunteers, is the em
new-fangled machine. Children's sabhas re as panchayat elections near (October).
powerment of women, "their courage to
porting to a gram panchayat on teachers who
This, broadly, is how it works: Each of stand up and speak.” Figures say it all: 6.000
smoke, drink and gossip the whole day and about 1,200 local bodies, nearly a thousand nf
houses were built in the first three years of the
on parents who drink and get violent.
them panchayats, sets up nearly a dozen task eighth plan for the SCs and STs;the figure has
It’s all happening in Kerala, where a “bold” forces, each for a different sector. A general risen to 48,000 in the ninth plan. No extra
experiment of decentralisation seems to be body meeting discusses plans they come up money; the change is in the performance.
taking root.
with, The selected plans go to block expert
But the structure is still taking shape —
In 1996, without waiting for a legal and ad committees for technical sanction and then performance audits, public scrutiny, an “om
ministrative framework, the ruling Left De to district planning boards. From there, it’s budsman” body of judges, public men and of
mocratic Front devolved financial powers to back to panchayats. Committees of benefi ficials. And there are instances of non-perfor
local bodies, giving them up to 40 per cent of ciaries are formed to build, or contribute to, mance and corruption, a needdo improve the
the state's annual plan — about Rs 1,000 and monitor projects. The process of plan quality of participation and of projects
crore — as “untied grants-in-aid” and "pure ning is as significant as the outcome — partic many are still “rehashed” versions of depart
development fund” for roads, houses, build ipation. accountability and transparency be mental nrot>ramme&
The Times of India
02 June 2000
7
News You Can Use
coirply in 1994 and by 1996 it set pigsty. But now it is being
up a production
unit
in processed and used in the prepaSavandurg near Anekal. Mathew ration of cooking gas. A bio
Says coirply manufactured at this methanisation plant came up in
he Indian Space Research send the extra water obtained facility conserves a forest 250 the factory for the purpose four
Organisation (ISRO), well- underground, to improve the acres every year.
years ago. At this plant, 58.8 kgs of
known the world over for ground water table.
Coirply sells at a rate which is methane, is used for cooking.
Its space applications, has a dif
Visitors from abroad have 40 per cent less than other plyThe solid waste byproduct
ferent type of feather in its cap « keenly studied the water conser woods, because coir is cheap. Its formed at the effluent water treat
an award from the Karnataka vation project undertaken here.
advantage over other plywoods is ment plant and the cooking gas
Government for its water conser
India's middle-class is witness that it doesn't decay when manufacturing plant is not reject
vation programme.
ing a boom now. No doubt con exposed to water. If 40 per cent of ed either. It's been used as a
This is part of a set of awards structing a house for yourself is a coir is turned into plywood, it manure for the plants.
announced for some institutions priority. House con
reduces the stress on the fast
BEL has brought down water
and persons, for 1988-89, to be con struction - palatial
depleting forest resources.
consumption. Along with it, it has
ferred on June 5, World ones in good number Concern for ecology has plans to harvest rain water and
Environment Day.
has peaked. But
become a sort of fashion these send it underground. If this is
As you enter the sprawling where are the raw
days and statements like 'con done, ground water table around
gardens at the ISRO Satellite materials? Wood, in particular?
serve forests' and 'protect natural the area may increase. As will the
Centre on Airport Road in the
An estimate says that India resources' mere empty slogans. value of the award._
City, a refreshing breeze greets needs 27 million cubic meters of But some have taken up the task
Bhadravathi “ Environment
you. As you walk close to the wood every year but the supply is
quite seriously. Like Forum is a group of about 25
plants, you see a notice near the about 12 million cubic meters. Is
the
Bharat green enthusiasts in the town.
water pipes. ‘Not for drinking pur there an alternative to wood?
Electronics Limited Launched
by
Bhadravathi
pose; only for plants,' it cautions,
There is, says a confident
(BEL), a public sec Shivaram about a decade ago, it
giving away the fact that waste Tommy Mathew, Duroflex direc
tor
undertaking, turned wastelands in the town
water is being recycled for gar tor. The company has been indi which has engaged itself in water ’ into green patches. The forum has
dening.
rectly reducing the demand for conservation and waste, manage won an award this year for creat
The satellite centre has been wood by manufacturing 'coirply', ment, apart from. its work. ing environmental awareness
built on land leased out by the akin to plywood, which is pre Recognising its concern for ecolo among the people.
National
Aeronautical pared with coconut coir. Duroflex gy, the Karnataka Government
Shivaram says: "The forum's
Laboratories (NAL), while a 10- has been given an award for has given it an award.
main achievement has been forc
lakh-litre capacity effluent water research in ecology by the
About two decades ago, a ing the two major industries in
recycling plant has been set up by Karnataka Government, for 1998- severe water scarcity affected the the town, the Visweswaraya Iron
both organisations, to recycle 99, for its effort to bring down the City. As the BWSSB primarily and Steel Limited and the Mysore
use of wood in house building.
waste water.
caters to the needs of the citizens, Paper Mills (MPM), to pay heed to
The idea of producing plywood, industries were left to fend for ecological concern." He gives the
The two had been letting out
huge quantities of sewage before with various raw materials is not themselves. The 50-odd borewells instance of MPM raising the
1983, contributing their share to new. Decades ago, paddy chaff sunk the factory premises too height of the chimney frum 90
water pollution in the City. With was glued and pressed between failed during that summer.
meters to 105 meters, bowing to
the setting up of the recycling two iron sheets to make plywood
The water scarcity prodded the the unrelenting protest by the
plant in 1984, four lakh litres of like sheets. But the customers management to ponder over the forum.
dirt water is being cleaned every were not satisfied with the prod alternatives. Reduction in use was
Many of the saplings planted
day. ISRO currently needs 8 lakh uct as the nails hammered into ruled out * and the only viable by the forum are now facing the
litres of water a day, but half the the sheets would cume loose very option turned out to be treating axe, in a road-widening plan. The
demand is met by recycling. The soon.
the dirt water and reusing it.
prize money - Rs 20,000 - given
Coir
Board,
a
Central
rest is supplied by the Bangalore
The BEL factory and housing along with the award will go
Government
enterprise,
suggested
Water Supply and Sewerage
facilities are spread over an area towards planting saplings to
Board (BWSSB).
that coir could be used to manu of 280 hectares. Of this, 80 replace the trees to be felled, he
The recycling plant has the facture plywood. Duroflex worked hectares have been used for indus
says.
capacity to clean 10 lakh litres . upon the idea and perfected it.
trial purposes and on the rest of
Deepak Sagar from Sagar in
Only about 20 per cent of the the land, 1,650 houses, public Shimoga district, has been select
About 8 lakh litres of water is
treated everyday, of which 7 lakh coir obtained in the State - as a buildings, three schools, a bank ed for an award for his efforts in
litres are used in gardening, air- byproduct in coconut-growing and a post office are built. The eco-journalism. A commerce grad
conditioning and in toilets, says business - is being used in the organisation is using 24,000 kilo uate, Deepak has been recording
the Engineering Maintenance production of doormats, carpets litres of water every month and and publishing ecologyrrelated rit
and ropes, while the rest is output sewage of 2,500 kilolitres,
Division chief, C Gopala Iyer.
uals and practices of various
The water used for different dumped. But, with the manufac apart from industrial effluents of
castes and groups in the Malnad
purposes need different treat turing of coirply, the otherwise 900 kilolitres.
region.
ments. After treating the dirt wasted coir has gained some
In 1992, the organisation set up
"Ecology doesn't necessarily
water as per the Karnataka State value.
a 900 kilolitre capacity .sewage mean protests and • struggles.
Duroflex procures coir from cleaning plant. With this, BEL is We’ve got to be involved in these
Pollution Control Board specifica
*
tions. the quality of the cleaned coconut-growing pockets in the saving water worth Rs 1.59 lakh types of activities too,” he says.
State
like
Tiptur,
Mandya,
water is checked again. The setup
everyday, according to NPrabhu showing compact discs in which
saves ISRO Rs 91 lakh apart from Mysore, Maddur, Ramnagar and Prasad, manager, Construction he has recorded the unique tradi
conserving 2.18 kilo litres of water Chamaraja Nagar at its 30 centres. New Projects.
tions of the ecological wonderland
every year. (A kilo litre is one About 25 persons are employed by
BEL employs 12,000 people and of Malnad. He says he’s ready to
the company at each centre.
thousand litres.)
as many as 10,000 dine at the can display his work on local cable
The company
began
its teen. The wasted food was being
The organisation also has
networks in public interest, free
plans to harvest rain water and to research into the manufacture of taken away by a man keeping a
of cost..
Eco oases
T
With inputs from
Yatish Kumar (Bangalore; and
Ravi Y (from Shimoga)
(Translated by Pnbodha S V)
Deccan Herald
02 June 2000
CDL Media Clippings 8
NBA accused of
misusing’ Tata
institute’s name
By Sudhir K. Singh
The Times of India News Service
BHOPAL: Critics of the Mcdha Patkar-led Narmada
Bacchao Andolan (NBA) have accused it of “misus
ing” the name of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences
to prop up the contents of a report seeking to publi
cise the problems of displacement and resettlement
likely to be caused by the upcoming 400 MW Ma
heshwar hydroelectric project at Mandeleshwar
(Khargone) on the banks of the Narmada.
Confirming the authenticity of the charge is a letter
(dated May 25,2000) written by TTSS officiating direc
tor Jacob Aikara to the director of Shree Maheshwar
Hydel Power Corporation Ltd, S.P. Singh. The letter
says the document, titled “Report on Displacement
and Resettlement Aspects”, was not sanctioned by the
TTSS. “The report, therefore, belongs entirely to the
authors.”
Members of a group of NGOs told this newspaper
that the report was prepared in July 1998 by a team of
researchei^writers headed by T1SS faculty member
(S. Parasuraman) in his “personal capacity”.That the
report might have been commissioned at the NBA’s
behest to run down the Maheshwar project was evi
dent from the appointment of Parasuraman on the
World Commission on Dams (WCD) as an NBA rep
resentative immediately after its publication.
The sources alleged that the NBA was using its
global contacts in bodies like the WCD to further its
agenda. The NBA has been citing the report exten
sively at international forums in support of its claim
that the project (promoted by a private company)
ought to be grounded at the earliest because of the
likely damage to the environment and the difficult
task of resettling the oustees from the area.
The over 100-page report says: “A significant por
tion of the area that the project wjll eventually sub
merge is fertile agricultural land yielding three crops
a year. Moreover, there is very high irrigation poten
tial with a significant portion being already inundat
ed. In lieu of this fertile and productive land, the state
proposes to give the project-affected people waste
land. The result can only mean impoverishment as
has resulted in the case of a large number of projectaffected people in Gujarat”
Facts, however, have given the lie to the NBA
claims that nearly 40,000 people in 61 villages stand to
be displaced by the dam. In fact, not more than 2,200
families (or 12,000 people) spread over 22 villages
(only 13 of which will be completely inundated) stand
to be affected. And of the 3,000 hectares of farm land,
only 1,000 hectares will be submerged for just four
hours everyday. Besides the resettlement process is
expected to be complete by 2003.
The Times of India
03 June 2000
Higher grants-in-aid
for legal services
authority
By Our Legal Correspondent
new DELHI, JUNE 2. The Govern
ment has allocated Rs. 6 crores as
grants-in-aid to the National Le
gal Services Authority, a statutory
body, for its various programmes,
including organising Lok Adalats
and legal aid to the poor.
The allocation in the current
year (2000-2001) is higher by Rs. 2
crores as compared to Rs. 4 crores
in 1999-2000 and 1998-99. The
.larger allocation is intended to ex
tend free legal assistance to the
poor and weaker sections of the
society entangled in litigation in
various courts, including the Su
preme Court.
A total of 24.45 lakh persons
have benefited through court-ori
ented legal aid performance till
December 31,1999. Of these, 3.92
lakh persons belonged. to the
Scheduled Castes and 2.26 lakh to.
'the Scheduled Tribes. AmorigJhe
beneficiaries were over 2.77?takb
women aqd about 9,066 children.
During 1999-2000, as many as
63,263 persons received free legal
aid and advice in law courts.
The Hindu
03 June 2000
India, US to sign
pacts on AIDS,
child health
New Delhi, June 2: India will
sign two agreements with the
US on maternal and child hea
lth, and HIV/AJDS and Sexua
lly
Transmitted
Diseases
(STD) during the forthcoming
vi$it of Health Minister C P
Thakur to the US and Mexico.
The agreements will be sig
ned on June 13 at Washington,
an official release here said.
Thakur will participate in
the fifth global conference on
health promotion beginning
on June 5 and visit national in
stitutes of health in Washing
ton and centre for disease cont
rol in Atlanta in his trip • PH
The Pioneer
03 June 2000
Rajasthan govt.
takes steps to
store rain water
JAIPUR:The Rajasthan govern
ment has made it mandatory for all
government buildings to store rain
water.
The order for water conservation
will now be applicable to all such
land-holders who are building
houses on a land area of 500 me
tres and above.
The government has taken this’
decision to make water conserva
tion a habit with a view to improve
the receding water table. The
building laws are being amended
to make it compulsory for builders
to provide tanks for rain water
conservation.
The state government has issued
orders to various departments to
start building storage tanks for
conserving rain water during the
monsoon.
The people in the largely arid
state having paid a heavy price for
neglecting conventional water
sources have learnt a lesson now.
Many villages which neglected
conventional sources did not haw
drinking water as most of the wells
dried up.
The laying down of pipelines in
some of the remote villages
made people forget the traditional
method of water conservation.
The Gehlot government has ap
pealed to the villagers to go back
to the old method of conserving
water.
The
government
earlier
launched an innovative scheme for
water conservation by reviving tra
ditional water harvesting struc
tures. Under Rajiv Gandhi drink
ing water mission programme
maintenance, conservation and
strengthening of traditional water
sources have started.
The Times of India
03 June 2000
News You Can Use
New education policy aims to raise
enrolment of kids
Efforts would be made to extend the
World Bank-aided District Primary
Education Programme in the entire State.
THE NEW Haryana education policy aims would be introduced in schools both in Th' present educational administration
at enhancing the enrolment of children, urban and rural areas at the appropriate system would be re-oriented to make it
more effective. Non-governmental organi
increasing allocation of funds and intro level.
level.
ducing)! information technology to make In addition to the usual courses in col sations and other educational bodies
educaltbn'more job-oriented.
leges, certificate, diploma or degree cours would be encouraged to participate in the
According to an official release, the es in computer applications which are rel management of educational institutions.
State Government intends to enrol all chil evant to the industry would be introduced. Newly developed work-books would be
dren in the age group of 6 to 14 years in Service in rural areas would be made com added to the textbooks for children. (UNI)
the primary classes by the year 2003. It will pulsory for teachers as part of career pro
The Hindustan Times
also endeavour to retain enrolment of stu- w
___________
r
gression so as
to avoid lop-sided
deploy04 June 2000
dents up to Class VII with focus on uni- ment of teachers in rural and urban areas.
versal access and universal retention by
the year 2005. The State would endorse
any endeavour of the Union Government
to make compulsory education a funda
mental right of the child and recommend
that Article 51 of the Constitution conlamed in the directive principles of slate
policy be amended to include compulsory
education of the child as a duty of the par
ents.
The policy also states that the govern
ment would endeavour to increase the
allocation of funds for education from the
present 2.1 per cent of the State's gross
domestic product (GDP) to six per cent of
GDP as recommended by the Planning
Commission. To achieve this end, the State
Government would encourage private ini
tiatives to share the burden of finances.
as it did recently — but the fact remains that i
Also, the disparities in education among STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
has not performed its function of managin
different social and economic groups,
groundwater.
males and females, rural and urban areas MUMBAI, June 3. — At a time when several
The ministry was reportedly in favour c
and the normal and physically handi states are hit by scarcity of water, the role of the
amending the proposed rule in the EPA so tha
capped and mentally retarded children Central Ground Water Authority needs to be put
the CGWA’s scope of work coijld be narrowed t
would be removed.
under the scanner.
The State would strengthen the neces
recharging water and rainwater harvesting an
More than five decades after independence,
sary infrastructure in schools and colleges there is no Central agency to look after ground
it was not weighed down by the responsibility c
to encourage girl students.
groundwater management.
water management. Though a function of the
The paper on policy initiatives also lay Central Ground Water Authority, it remains far
This move, however, was subject to for crit
stress on decentralisation of educational from being performed.
cism from within the government as a myopi
administration by empowering the stake
The environment ministry has been planning strategy since recharging groundwater is only
hold^ and the panchayati raj institutions.
part of the solution.
to prune the powers and functions of the CGWA
It suggests the formation of village level since over a year. But no changes seem in sight . A holistic approach would ensure that ovei
education committees or village construc
extraction does not deplete groundwater source
so far.
tion committees to have the participation
In 1996, the CGWA formulated a model act for which cannot be recharged in such a case.
of parents, communities and grassroots
Yet another point of view is that groundwate
the state boards to ratify since water is a state
level local bodies.
management would necessitate land-use inar
The Panchayati Raj Act would be subject.
agement to take into account factors such a
But, with none of the states responding
amended to constitute committees which
porosity of the soil.
would also be empowered to undertake favourably, it was decided to issue a notification
With 80 per cent of rural water needs and 5
repair and maintenance works as also under the Environment Protection Act. The
per cent of urban needs being met by groundwc
additions and alterations in schools build notice has not yet been issued, for reasons
ter, its management should not be prolonged b
ings to the tune of Rs 1.25 lakh on each unknown.
The CGWA may advertise its achievements —
bureaucratic lethargy.
work.
With the aim of making education more
The Statesman
job-oriented, the curriculum would be
04 June 2000
made relevant to the changing socio-eco
nomic environment and vocational educa
tion would be encouraged. The govern
ment would also consider introduction of
subjects like agriculture and home science
as compulsory or elective subjects at
appropriate levels.
English will be introduced as a subject
from Class I and computer education
Groundwater management:
whose job is it anyway?
CDL Media Clippings 1o
Rural women in AP getting mobiles
Ashok Das
Hyderabad, June 4
HREE LAKH self-employed women
groups, with a collective membership of
40 lakh, could soon have access to cell
*
phones in rural Andhra Pradesh. Each of the
three lakh groups are to be provided one nomi
nal-cost handset that will be WAP (wireless
application protocol)-enabled, opening up a
whole new world of e-commerce to rural
women.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara
Chandrababu Naidu's “grameen cellular ser
**
vice
is to cover almost all the villages in his
state. Mr Naidu sees the cell phone as an instru
ment of women empowerment. Hence, he tar
geted his state’s three lakh rural collectives acronymously called Dwacra (Development of
T
Women and Children in Rural Areas) - that
produce over 400 products using local materi
als. The Dwacra groups are a commercial suc
cess, with collective profits touching Rs 600
crore on the last count. Profits are projected to
grow 10 fold in the next five years. Imagine their
growth potential once e-commerce access
becomes a reality!
“Technically, the scheme of cellular telephony
in rural Andhra Pradesh is feasible,” says cellu
lar service provider Bharti Enterprises’ CMD
Sunil Bharti Mittal.
“Economically, it may not be feasible for
some time in some areas. But we are going to
treat it as model for other states,” he said.
So, while the cellular service provider stands
to gain oodles of corporate goodwill, the project
makes perfect political sense for Mr Naidu.
Consensually, his Telugu Desam Party made
stunning gains in the last Assembly elections
because of his decision to target women. His
Deepam project of one lakh gas connections for
village housewives every year has endeared him
to vast segments of the electorate.
At the inaugural function of AirTel cellular
phone services in Andhra Pradesh today, Mr
Naidu had suggested to the cellular operator
that the “experiment of using mobile phones for
community purposes’’ be taken up. Bharti
Enterprises apparently loved the idea enough
to concur immediately. Teledensity in Andhra
has overtaken the national average of 3.13 per
cent. (Teledensity in the state is now 3.35 per
cent). The number of telephones more than
tripled over the last five years in the State. *
The DoT has laid 20,000 km of optic fibre
lines and firms like Reliance are hi the process
of laying a high-speed backbone for the State
The Hindustan Times
05 June 2000
RCI to start distant
learning courses
Focusing on the achievements of
the RCI during his two-year term,
Dr Prasad who has done pioneer
ing work in the disability sector
THE REHABILITATION Cou
and is known for his work in pro
ncil of India (RCI), has taken a
ducing affordable and acceptable
major initiative to launch distant
technology for the disabled, said
learning courses to prepare a force
that the Council has registered
of trained personnel who will help
1200 per cent growth during this
in rehabilitation of the disabled
period.
persons.
It could be gauged from the fact
Describing it as a significant
that the number of expert work
achievement for the Council, its
force registered with the RCI has
outgoing chairman, Dr Thakur V
jumped from 1200 to 12000 in two
Hari Prasad, told mediapersons
years. Dr Prasad expressed shock
here today that two separate mem
that neither the Centre nor State
oranda of understanding have
properly
Governments
were
been signed by the RCI with
,
____ ____ focused
on
the
IGNOU and Bhoj .
(open) University,:
problems faced by
crore dis
Madhya Pradesh’ -fayfor this purpose.
fgn1
abled persons in the
country.
Dr Prasad, who
■■
Despite disability area being a
has declined the Government's
State
Subject,
no
State
offer for a second term .as RCI
Government has till date done any
Chairman, said the Council in col
strategic planning to help this sec
laboration with IGNOU, is devel
tor particularly in raising a force of
oping certificate courses for the
trained personnel. Any talk of
parents of the disabled children
serving the disabled would be a
also, to facilitate their rehabilita
hogwash unless efforts are made to
tion. The course would mainly
raise such a force, he added.
focus on bringing an attitudinal
It
is
amazing
that
the
change in such parents towards
Government apathy towards the
their handicapped wards. Linkage
disability sector has continued for
has also been established with 240
the last five decades while ignoring
Universities across the country for
the fact that the total population of
starting various training pro
disabled in India was more than
grammes relating to disability sec
the population of Europe.
tor in rural areas.
HT Correspondent
New Delhi, June 3
HMM
The Hindustan Times
04 June 2000
11
Environment protection
fund to be set up
New Delhi, June 5: Centre
has decided to hike from 15 to
25 per cent funds for soil and
water conservation measures
in new afforestation projects
in the desert and drought pro
ne areas and plans to set up an
environment protection fund
for creating mass awareness.
The hike from 15 to 25 per
cent of the project cost will be
undertaken on a pilot basis in
selected areas of each state and
will later be extended to other
parts, Minister for Environm
ent and Forests T R Baalu ann
ounced at a World Environm
ent Day function here on Mon
day.
His Ministry is actively con
sidering water harvesting acti
vities in view of the unprecede
nted drought prevailing in sev
eral parts of the country and
the urgent need for sustainable
use of water resources, Baalu
said.
The Environment Ministry
has identified 12 thrust areas
including management, conser
vation and growth of mangro
ves, bamboo, medicinal plants
and wildlife, and has allocated
higher funds for them.
It has also started paying gre
ater attention to coastal shel
ter belts, promoting eco-tourism, eco-villages and eco-ciries.
Warning that the population
explosion is adding new dimen
sions to the environment prob
lems, he said development and
environment should go hand
in hand. He also appealed for
the need to recognise the gra\ •
ity of the environmental situa
tion and said it is time to reci ify the damage caused to the en
vironment. • PTI
The Indian Express
06 June 2000
News You Can Use
BEL bags State award for water conservation
The
public sector Bharat cooking gas. A bio methanisation waste water treatment plants and harvest rain water to raise the
Electronics Limited (BEL) has set plant was installed in 1996, which the cooking gas plant is also being ground water level in the years to
an example for other industries in now produces 58.8 kg of methane used as bio manure.
The come.
water conservation and reuse, cooking gas per day.
r
company has also gone ahead
Deccan Herald
The company, which will be reThe waste generated by the with implementing a project to
n
ceiving the State government’s .
05 June 2000
’Environment Award’ tomorrow.
has been recycling 2.700 kilos its
of waste water every day.
While talking about envi
ronment has become a fashion,
BEL has made a silent revolution
in waste water management and
water conservation. About two
ating activities.
ing STD (sexually transmitted
man suffering from AIDS
decades ago, the company *faced
disease) clinics, 93 per cent
For poor and Illiterate women,
Is cared for by his wife.
acute water shortage and even the
the burden is doubly severe
were married and 91 per cent
But what is to become
BWSSB could not come to the aid
and sometimes the groom's
had sex with their husbands
of the woman, who gets infect
of the company saying that its pri
only. Thus, the strategy of
family might extract the cost
ed from her husband and
ority was to cater to the drinking
reducing the number of part
of his treatment from the
then thrown out of the family
water needs of the citizens. Like
ners Is of no use to women,
parents of the girl almost like
by her relations? For Jumna, a
the BEL, many other industries
who have only one partner.
dowry. The case studies also
30 year old widow with two
were
facing
severe
water
suggest that there Is discrimi
children, it is twilight at midday.
Despite being monogamous,
shortage.
nation against affected and
Life has changed after her
these
women
became
infected
The 50-odd borewells sunk by
infected people in every sphere.
husband died of AIDS and
from
their
husbands,
who
had
the BEL were not much of help as
As a mother of a HIV positive
she tested positive. Financial
multiple partners. The cultural
the water table had depleted due
widow said: "After the death
constraints forced her to give
norms and social values that
to extensive sourcing for domestic
of my son-in-law, my daughter
up treatment, her children face
purpose. Neither the company
was sent back to her in-laws,
discrimination in school and
could reduce its requirement nor
but they refused to take her
the locality. Shunned by near
could it overcome the problem by
Lack of education, poor due to fear of Infection... My
and dear ones, Jumna Is literally
any other means.
neighbours have isolated us
living on the edge.
access to health
And on one fine day, the
and have stopped interacting
But Jumna is not alone. Till
facilities and unequal with our family’’.
company management decided to
about a decade ago, women
recycle the waste water produced
This fear of discrimination
power relations
were considered to be at the
by the BEL industrial plants and
periphery of HIV/AIDS infection.
between genders not strengthens the urge for se
reuse it. The company owns about
crecy, specially If there is a
Now they have moved at the
280 hectares and of this. 80
only make women more marriageable girl in the family.
centre of concern. WHO esti
hectares is industrial area. The re
mates 42 per cent of 21
The study, using community
vulnerable to the
maining area has 1.650 residential
million adults living with
based
research,
focussed
'disease
but
houses, buildings, three schools, a
HIV/AIDS
worldwide
are
group discussion and individual
bank and a postal telegraph
socio-economic
women. But as the experts
interviews, reveals that greater
building.
point out the real concern is
vulnerability and * impact on
consequences
of
The BEL campus requires
not Just the number of Infected
are governed
*
by social,
24,000 kilo Its of water per month
HIV/AIDS are different women
persons, but the grave social,
cultural and economic reasons.
to meet the industrial and do
for men and women
economic and psychological
Inadequate awareness about
mestic needs. This used to gen
consequences for the patients
the disease and entrenchment
erate 2,500 kilo Its of domestic
and their families.
of traditional sexual norms
waste water and 900 kilo lits of in
Moreover, the socio-econ
restrict women's access to
and beliefs are also a hin
dustrial effluents every day. The
omic impact of the epidemic
education, mobility and econ
drance in tackling the problem.
company, in 1992, spent Rs 1.6
on the individual Is highly
omic resources, deprive them
As a relative of a HIV positive
crore on establishing the waste
gendered. A recent study by
of their power to take decision
woman asked the Interviewer,
water treatment plant which had
Institute of Social Studies Trust
affecting their Ilves.
whether there is any chance
the capacity to recycle 900 kilos of
of spreading th& Infection If
(ISST), New Delhi, reveals that
Women are also placed at
industrial effluent.
lack of education, poor access
a greater risk of infection due
the patient moves around In
In addition, the company went
to health facilities and unequal
to malnutrition. Anaemia and
the house. It suggests that
in for two more units which has
power relations between gen
lack of vitamin A play a role
superficially designed strateg
the capacity to recycle 1,800 kilo of
ders not only make women
in increasing the risk of con
ies are not enough for changes
its domestic waste water. “In this
more vulnerable to the disease
tracting HIV/AIDS. Even when
process, the company conserved
in sexual behaviour. For women,
but socio-economic conse
women are not Infected, they
water worth Rs 1.59 lakh", says
even if they are aware of the
quences of HIV/AIDS are dif
have to share a greater burden
Mr N Prabhu Prasad, Managing
protective potential of condom
ferent for men and women.
by taking up dual responsibilit
Director (new projects).
use, they can hardly negotiate
Quoting a study from Pune,
ies of caring for the patient
The BEL'S canteen, which
with their partners.
It said, of 400 women attend
and engaging in Income gener
caters to 12,000 employees and
(PT1)
produces 8 barrel of waste every
The Observer
day. The company decided to
05 June 2000
utilise this waste to generate
Women Wage Another Crusade
A
CDL Media Clippings 12
DAMNED IF YOU DAM
n the US, after an era of build
ing huge dams to harness
rivers and provide hydel power
and water for irrigation, the
trend is now turning against them.
The prevalent view is that they .
have not lived up to their promise,
and that their ecological costs far
outweigh the benefits they provide.
In theory, the rationale was ac
ceptable. Dams and their reser
voirs permit people to cultivate pre
viously arid land. They also make
floodplains inhabitable, which oth
erwise would have been inundated
when the river was in spate. And
they provide cleaner power than
nuclear sources.
I
Christopher Amos questions the
relevance of big dams
Human cost
The big picture
However, these benefits have to
be weighed against the hidden
costs. Large dams like the Grand
Coulee in Washington State, US,
have devastated salmon popula
tions because the adult fish have to
swim upstream to their birthplace
to spawn, and the dam prevents
them from doing so. Even if some
manage to spawn, the fry produced,
instead of being carried down
stream swiftly, drift into sluggish reservoirs,
where they fall prey to predators. From a batch
of 1,000 fertilised eggs, only one manages to
reach the sea alive, On average.
In Central Asia, the Aral Sea, one of the
largest landlocked water bodies in the world,
has shrunk to less than half its size in the ’60s.
The two rivers that fed it, the Amu Darya and
the Syr Darya, have been diverted to irrigate
cotton fields in the Ukraine. With its depletion,
one of the world's largest inland fisheries has
been destroyed. Heavy metals and pesticides
washed into the lake have been precipitated on
its dwindling shores, and poison the air.
Another fallout of reservoir irrigation is.
the salting out of soil. River water is much
more mineralised than rainfall, and the salts
from it are deposited in the soil it irrigates. Ir
rigating a hectare of land for a year can leave
several tons of salt in it. Victor Kovda from
Moscow University, an authority on desert
agriculture, calculates that in recent times,
more land has gone out of production because
of salting out than has been made productive
by irrigation.
file drought-prone areas of Kutch
and Saurashtra in Gujarat. Its oppo
nents counter that these claims are
grossly exaggerated and instead, it
would displace more than 320,000
people and affect the livelihood of
up to one million people.
Local snapshot
Closer home, the natural problems are com
pounded by inefficient handling. India’s major
irrigation projects have failed to meet their pro
jected potential. For example, work began on
the Jamrani dam in Uttar Pradesh in 1975 with
an estimated cost of Rs 61.25 crore and the pro
jected potential to irrigate 66,000 hectares. But
after 25 years and an upgraded estimate of Rs
280 crore, the achieved potential is only 21,000
hectares.
Another drain on projected potential is the
lack of adequate maintenance in the form of
regular desilting of reservoirs. Large amounts
of accumulated silt result in decreased capaci
ty of reservoirs. If a 38-foot dam contains 28 feet
of silt, that means it can hold water up to a
depth of only 16 feet.
The strident protests agaipst the mega Sar
dar Sarovar Project (SSP) by activists like
Medha Patkar and Baba Amte gain relevance
in this context, because of the human costs in
volved. The government claims that it will irri
gate 1.8 million hectares and provide water to
An independent study by Heffa
Schucking of the International
Rivers Network (IRN), of the reset
tlement of villagers for the con
struction of one of the SSP dams
(Maheshwar dam) indicts the gov
ernment’s disregard for the rights
of the displaced people.
Her report reads, “The official re
settlement plan is not only unrealis
tic, but severely lacking in credibili
ty. A solid database is nowhere to be
seen: The planning agencies do not
know how many people live in the
affected villages nor what their
livelihoods are based on,” and “The
cost-benefit analysis for the project
is based on erroneous data. If com
pensation at replacement value
would be undertaken, the project
would very likely not be economical
ly viable.” She further observes that
the people have lost faith in the authorities and
that, “The project can only be completed — if at
all—through the use of continuous and mas
sive police force against the communities."
In view of all these facts and the legitimate
demands of drought-affected people, what is
the solution?
‘ Stringent and scrupulous conservation of
available water resources seems to be the on ly
way out. Being less profligate in our personal
use of water; devoting more efforts to caching
rainfall rather than river water; using less
wasteful methods of irrigation like the drip-ir
rigation system; and developing alternatives to
-hydel power Jjk§-solar and wind power: are
some of thejMjbs proposed by conservation
experts.
But the AghOf Dams definitely seems to be
over, at least as far as the US is concerned. The
Grand Coulee dam still stands, but four smaller
dams have been demolished in the Sierra Neva
da region, and the results have been immediate
and gratifying. A record number of spring-run
Chinook salmon — an endangered species swam upstream to spawn.
The Telegraph
05 June 2000
13
How Ragpickers Become Eco-Friendly
S
HE was once queen of hill stations,
beloved of the British Raj, play
ground of princes, perched be
tween 6,000 and 7,000 feet in the scientific bent and loves nature with an
Garhwal Himalayas and clothed In old, enduring passion.
atmospheric oak and deodhar forests.
Kumar
set
about
organising
Even today, the Savoy Hotel soldiers
ragpickers, poor people who live on the
on with its now-dilapidated old elegance.
fringes, condemned by birth and circum
There are homes called ‘The Grange
*
stance to sort through others’ garbage
and ‘Sussex House
*,
and a little above
and to sell ‘high value' items at a
the town, the steep suburb of Landour
pittance to scrap dealers.
is home to writers and poets.
"Everybody thought he was crazy’’,
But Mussoorie has suffered from
unbridled population growth and a
building boom driven by a vigorous
tourism industry. One result: The queen
has skirts of plastic.
The hundreds of natural drains, rivulets
and creeks that scour the hillsides
below the town have in recent years
been clogged with refuse, largely com
prised of plastic materials.
Besides being non-biodegradable and
hence .a toxic threat to the soil and
ground’water, plastics also block rain
water run-off to spawn the danger of
flash floods and landslides — the
nightmare of any mountain town.
Mussoorie, with its hopelessly Inad
equate municipal services infrastructure,
was in danger of choking on its own
pile of six tonnes of refuse a month, at
least 20 per cent of which was simply
dumped over the edge of the mountain.
The paradise that tourists found was says Devinder, a ragpicker who as a
only on the surface.
landless labourer in feudal Bihar, years
And the 150,000 tourists on any ago migrated to the Uttar Pradesh hills
given day — in a town with a population In search of a better life.
Today Devinder is still poor, still
of just 29,000 — was both sustaining
Mussoorie and killing it with garbage. landless. But he stands with pride on
the side of a mountain with his children,
Until a few years ago, Vipin Kumar,
among his sacks plastic waste, with his
wondering what to do with the plastic identity card, and says: “My children
bags he had accumulated in his house
will not be ragpickers".
from hundreds of routine shopping
Kumar, 44, has over a couple of
forays, had an idea. Kumar Is a lively
years of painstaking effort Involving
Mussoorie-bom educator who specialises
scores of meetings, dozens of sevenIn training teachers, and lectures In hour bus rides to New Delhi and miles
solid waste management at the Lal
of slogging over the steep roads of
Bahadur Shastri Academy there which Mussoorie, organised the ragpickers
trains India’s civil servants.
into groups, given them Identity cards,
With a degree In biology, he has a had them accepted by and assigned to
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
News You Can Use
CDL Media Clippings 14
Kumar provided a key ingredient- The
market. Utilising an array of contacts
and his own dogged persistence, he
institutions and hotels, and taught changed their lives when he. made
them about different grades of plastic.
Mussoorie's institutions agree to pay a
He has backed this up with a tireless modest sum per month for their services
education campaign involving lectures — and persuaded a recycling plant in
at schools, posters and meetings with New Delhi to buy the plastic waste at a
*
citizens
groups and heads of the many price far higher than the ragpickers
institutions located in and around had previously obtained.
Mussoorie.
Overnight, it became worthwhile for
them to pick up plastic bags which
The ragpickers set out at dawn first
they previously would leave behind.
In the last three months, Kumar's 45
ragpickers have sent some twelve tonnes
of plastic waste to New Delhi. Each
picks up an average of 30 kilograms of
waste per day, depending on the weather
which in winter can be daunting, ham
pering the grueling work which they
once did with bare hands but now with
simple implements.
With the proceeds, 22 children are
going for preliminary schooling to learn
how to read and write — a skill foreign
to their parents. They also get complete
medical checkups.
For Devinder, stuffing his sack on the
mountain side, the future is suddenly
bright — and it shows in the faces of
his seven children as well.
We met another ragpicker, Gouri
Sahnl, who was a fisherman in Bihar
before the notorious administration of
to sweep through the main bazaar, the supposedly pro-poor Laloo Prasad
collecting the plastic and glass waste Yadav pulled the rug out from under
from the garbage shopkeepers dump him when It granted exclusive fishing
outside their shutters the previous even rights to big contractors. Left destitute,
ing. Then they do the rounds of their he migrated to the UP hills.
assigned areas, some of which are
"It is poverty that has made us do
hotels — which have agreed to pay this work", he said decisively, squatting
them a monthly rate for the service on the mountain side. "Why should
they render.
my children follow me?"
They break for lunch and sorting at
And so the virtuous circle was locked
about noon, resuming at 2 pm and into place, and the streets and slopes
working until 5 In the evening, gathering of Mussoorie now look remarkably clear
and sorting plastic bags and bottles, of refuse. (TWN Features)
drying the wet bags in the sun because
dry bags fetch a better price.
Nlrmfil Q&oah
On an average day they walk some
The
Observer
six kilometres up and down the slopes.
05 June 2000
The work Is not new to them, but
Four countries meet target
Shree Venkatram
New York, June 4
ONLY FOUR countries have
passed with flying colours. In the
last ten years, they have achieved
and surpassed targets of gender
equality, with women participating
equally in different walks of life.
These countries are Denmark,
Finland, Norway and Sweden.
The stock taking of what and
where things have changed for
women in the last decade and
especially so since the Fourth
Women’s World. Conference at
Beijing has been in progress for
many months now. The official
week-long session called *Women
*.
2000
a United Nations General
Assembly session, however will
begin here tomorrow (June 5).
Hundreds of women representing
NGOs, activist groups, and govern
ment delegates from 188 countries
will participate in what is billed as
the most important session for
women coming as it does in the
beginning ef the new millennium.
The
United
Nations
Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM) which has done the
review exercise has found that
apart from the four Scandanavian
countries, four others - Germany,
Iceland, the Netherlands and
South Africa follow close bridging
the gender gap when it comes to
women's participation in fields of
education and legislature. But the
first four have also an equal partic
ipation of women in the fields of
paid employment in industry and
services. The
report
called
Progress of the World's Women
2000 makes comparison of data
between mid eighties and 1997 in
the field of enrolment in secondary
education, their representation in
Parliament and their participation
Gender Equality
in the workforce in industry and
service to arrive at the results.
Only 11 per cent of countries
have achieved equality in sec
ondary education, but in 51 per
cent of countries still have a lower
enrolment ratio for girls than boys.
Despite the link between educa
tion and income, studies from all
regions show that equal years of
education do not mean equality of
job opportunities for men and
women. In no countries do men
and women with the same level of
education receive identical wages.
India's report card is average,
with 33 per cent improvement in
the number of girls enrolling for
secondary education, with a mar
ginal improvement from 12 per
cent to 15 per cent their participa
tion in the workforce and no
improvement in the number of
seats they hold in Parliament. Even
Sri Lanka and Thailand have
improved their record in female
participation in paid labour force
to over 40 per cent Only 68 girls
compared to every 100 boys come
to secondary school. .Women's
share of seats in Parliament stands
at 8.9 per cent.
If a teacher were to write com
ments based on the performance,
the report card for India would
read - "Lacklustre performance.
Has not tried its best. Heart is not
into the matter. Commitment and
dedication by people's representa
tives and bureaucrats urgently
needed: Mass awareness and the
will to work will help."
As Devaki Jain, an activist from
India, who has participated in all
the women's conferences since
Nairobi in 1975 is saddened. She
says progress has been very slow
and a lot of work remains to be
done. But what has changed is that
the state has got educated about
women's issues and that women
have established that they are an
identifiable mass. But these are
non tangible issues.," she says.
The Hindustan Times
05 June 2000
Meals prop up girls’
attendance: NCERT
NEW DELHI: Increasing
the number of female
teachers in primary
schools in rural areas and
serving cooked meals in
stead of distributing dry
cereals to students under
the mid-day meal (MDMl
programme are likely to
increase girls' enrollment
and retention, says a study
by the National Council of
Educational Research and
Training
(NCERT).
However, the impact of in
centive schemes on girls
*
participation in education
has varied in different
states due to problems in
execution of the schemes.
The study finds that
*
girls
enrollment in pri
mary classes is likely to in
crease as the availability of
educational facility in rur
al areas increases and the.
number of persons below
the poverty line decreases.
States with higher per
capita expenditure have
higher percentage of MDM
beneficiaries
The Pioneer
05 June 2000
U.N. to launch global ecosystem programme
By Seema Singh
The Times of India News Service
BANGALORE: The Centre for Ecologi
cal Sciences (CES) of the Indian Institute
of Science will be acting as the nodal
agency for India for the $20-million
worldwide ecosystem assessment pro
gramme under the United Nations Envi
ronment Programme (UNEP).
According to Madhav Gadgil, chair
man CES and a member of the
steering committee which has explored
the merits of launching a Millennium
Assessment of the World’s ecosystem,
“The CES has completed the programme
of documenting the biodiversity in
the Western Ghats and 50 districts of
the country, including eight in Karnataka,
through the People’s Biodiversity
Register. We will hence provide the Indi
an case study as well as local level assess
ments.”
The first global assessment of the condi
tion and future prospects of the ecosys
tems, which aims at collecting reliable site
specific baseline information on ecosys
15
tems, including the amount — economic
value and condition of the goods and ser
vices produced — to make it widely avail
able, will be formally taken up in 2001 and
completed in 2003.
“Knowledge of how the production
of goods and services in specific ecosys
tems will respond to biophysical changes
must be made available to public and pri
vate sectors. We will have to provide an
answer to questions like how do changes
in biodiversity affect the supply and re
silience qf various goods and services pro
duced by different ecosystems,” Prof
Gadgil added.
Based on U.N.’s intermediate popula
tion projection, it is suggested that by
2020, world demand for rice, wheat
and maize will increase by about 40
per cent and livestock production by
over 60 per cent, demand for wood
will double in next 50 years, humans
will appropriate 70 per cent of the accessi
ble freshwater runoff against 54 per cent
now.
A Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems
(PAGE) was taken up by the U.N., involv
ing 175 scientists including Prof Gadgil,
the results of which will be published in
the 2000-01 edition of World Resources
Report
- With a couple of international
initiatives like Global Biodiversity
Assessment and assessments of the Inter
governmental Panel on Climate Change
having been conducted with success,
the ecosystem assessment is expected to
aid national and international decision
making. Once the project gets going, the
process would most likely be repeated at
an interval of 5 or 10 years, according to
the members of the eclectic steering com- .S
mittee.
Through its People’s Biodiversity Reg- ~ o
ister India provides a good integrated re- O o
gional model for data collection at local (/)
levels. “The regional models will have to
further ensure coherence between data c
collected at various scales so that global H
models can be informed by regional and q “7
local data and can be downscaled for re- X: o
gional analyses,” he noted.
O
News You Can Use
One billion Indians and
counting
Ing forbidding medical practitioners
Thailand, where fertility is declining
from disclosing the sex of the foetus,
because men were drawn into family plan
many doctors oblige into revealing the ning by demystifying the condom. Similarly,
In Kenya and Sri Lanka people are in
child's sex under pressure by families.
Besides decreasing health budgets creasingly adopting a small family norm.
hr. Indian population crossed the bil many of the primary health centers are in It needs to be realised that factors like ed
lion mark and the world population,;shambles, too. A number of programmes ucation, material security and women's
growing at 80 million annually, too like the Child Survival and Safe empowerment can work better than in
touched six billion recently. However, it is Motherhood, Pulse Polio Immunisation, centive schemes to adopt family planning.
the depressing facts thrown up by our Anaemia Prevention and Control among
growing population that we need to watch Pregnant Women and First Referral Units
The Pioneer
out for. Although infant mortality in India for Emergency Obstetric Care, etc., are in
07 June 2000
has fallen from 22 per cent per 1,000 to operation but lack of ante natal and emernine per 1,000 and life expectancy has gone gency child birth facilities is leading to high
up from 46 to 63 years, birth rates are yet maternal mortality rate. Despite having the
to stabilise. The fertility rate (the number biggest network of health care systems,
of children a woman will bear in her life WHO’s requirement of five beds for every
lime) has also declined from 5.5 children 1,000 is hardly met. In metros, it hovers
at 3.06 beds per 1,000.
per woman in 1970s to 3.5 today.
It is only in the educated southern states
Family planning programmes have been
where a promising picture emerges. in vogue since 1951. Though sterilisations
What is disturbing is that the four north became an important component of
family planning initiatives, since
ern states of UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan
that alone account for over 40 per cent of
couples could not be motivated to have
India’s population also contribute over 42
fewer children. In spite of high pro
file propaganda and the target-based
per cent of the net addition to the popu
lation. To make matters worse, these four
approach, the whole exercise ended
states also comprise 48 per cent of India's
in a fiasco thanks to the coercive
illiterate population.
sterilisations of the Emergency fame.
New Delhi, June 7: India’s Na
Uncontrolled growth in population
As compared to female sterilisation as
tional Crime Records Bureau
imposes severe strain on environment,
a method of family welfare only 3.5 .
has recorded an increase of 40
economy and welfare systems but at the
per cent of all couples rely on vasec
per cent in cases of sexual har
centre of all this is the poor and uneducated
tomy, according to the National
assment and 15.2 per cent in
woman who bears it all. The existing
Family Health (NFH) Survey 1993.
dowry deaths, according to the
semi-feudal rural set-up in many places has
l\ibectomy, as a proportion of total
country status report presen
resulted in poor education, particularly of
sterilisation, has increased from 1.5
girls. It has not received the attention it
ted at a special session of the
per cent in 1966 to 93.8 per cent. So
much so for gender sensitivity.
deserves. Malnutrition, gender abuse, dis
UN General Assembly.
The new health policy, under the Ninth
crimination, early marriage and recurring
There is also an “alarming"
Year Plan, is an attempt to provide
pregnancies have kept a vast majority of
87.2 per cent increase in the
client-centered, demand-driven qual
our women weak and uneducated. Surely,
smuggling in of girls in 1998
ity service, with a target-free approach
the alarm bells are ringing.
over 1997, the report says in an
to
family
welfare
and
with
a
view
to
If an apathetic society has been
explicit admission that in In
meet all the needs of contraception and
responsible for condemning a large
dia, violence against women is
number of women to repealed and un-< reduce infant/maternal mortality. The
widespread.
wanted pregnancies, programmes at the national policy on population recently
The report also makes the
national, state and district levels to pop approved by the Union Cabinet, ostensibly
important point that though
means to promote the objective of
ularise fan'iiiy planning have not
stabilising the country's population. But the
the form of violence may be
yielded desired results due to sys
new policy leaves many issues unanswered.
temic ills. While the need for fertil
shaped by the particular cultu
Notably, besides the proposal for a National
ity is directly related to increasing in
ral context, ultimately, gender
Commission on Population and setting ad
fant mortality, high fertility rates are
based violence is predicated on
ministrative measures to act as incentives,
attributed to increase in the number
an unequal power relation bet
the role of women has received only a pass
of married women in the age group
ween men and women.
ing
reference
in
the
policy.
of 15 to 44 years from 78.8 million
Though there is an extensive
Since the population growth rate is high
in 1961 to 144.2 million in 1991.
acknowledgement by the Gov
est among the poorer sections of society,
There have been other problems
ernment and society of the gro
it must be recognised that an essential
regarding health of mothers and
wing
trends
in
violence
component of any effort to limit popula
child birth. Cose to 56,000 babies are
against women, leading to vari
born daily and over 20,000 report
tion growth must begin with the empow
erment of the poor. When
*
strong
edly die annually on account of un
ous proactive and preventive
safe abortions. Female foeticide, in
reproductive health programmes coupled
measures, the impact of these
particular, continues unabated since
with sustainable economic development
Contd...
people who want few children can
and poverty eradication measures are re
afford the technology which can re
ligiously effected, birth and infant mortality
veal a child’s sex before birth.
rates can be brought down.
Despite a 1996 Supreme Court rulThere is a lot we can learn from
Aarti
Crime against
women rising:
Govt report
CDL Media Clippings
Gardens in the Desert
By RANJIT NANDA
T is the same story every year — quite similar — from the melting It is also a principle source for flood
the past, no significant dam c«»n
around this time, taps dry out, snows of the Himalayas to the control and electrical power. The
struction has come about in the last
farmers do not have water to drink, floods caused by the Bramhaputra dam which took just five years to
25 years. While there should be ur
let alone water for their crops and in the northeast.
complete is considered one of the gent efforts to complete big and
animals — there are drought condi
However, it was Herbert Hoover, most successful public works pro small dams, there is also a need to
tions in the western, central and the the 31 st president of the US, who jects by any country in history.
introduce compulsory water har
southern states. Then come the overcame some incredible obstacles
Our current problems make it
monsoons bringing floods in the before work could start on this great necessary to appreciate the poten vesting schemes with the participa
cast with excessive waler finding its dam — he settled a 25-year-old wa tial of rain water harvesting. On a tion of villagers throughout the
way into the seas. Meanwhile, ex ter allocation controversy between national scale with the current pop country. We should also learn fmm
pert committees are set up who the representatives of Arizona, Col ulation, if we assume that the aver the history of the Hoover dam and
other such dams so that we can pioseem to have all the solutions but orado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah
age requirement per person is 100 vide basic water and electricity t«»
nothing substantial in implementing and Wyoming. Throughout, during
litres per day and the average rain everyone and also benefit from the
these grand schemes on the ground
the time of construction of the dam, fall across the country is about 1,100 many offshoots that result from
despite the urgent need.
he continued to sort out problems mm, the annual demand will be
Interestingly, we only remember and, many say that this is probably 34,675 billion litres. Each hectare such developments.
our traditional harvesting systems considered Hoover’s greatest or can yield about 1.1 million litres of
The Times of India
or water related issues when there is ganisational and political achieve rainwater and, therefore, if we har
07 June 2000
an acute shortage of water or ment. We should take a cue from
vested only 3.15 million hectares
drought to remind us. Once the this and also try and sort out the
which is about one per cent of In
rains come, all is forgotten and many water disputes preventing the
dia’s land area, all household needs
again complacency sets in till the meaningful development of water
can be met.
next crisis.
resources in our country.
Indians, over centuries developed
Our objective, therefore, over the
Irt this context, it was the policy of a range of techniques to harvest
next three to five years should be to the bureau of reclamation in the US
every possible form of water, from
resolve all water problems with to ensure that every available drop
rain water, stream, river and flood
proper administration, on a priority of water from the various streams
water.They have tapped water from
basis, and finish all incomplete wa and rivers in the dry southwest US
hill streams or springs known as
ter management projects on a war was made available towards munici
kuhls ranging in lengths from one to
footing, in a stipulated time frame, pal, agricultural or industrial use.To
15 kms and carrying a discharge of
even if it means borrowing money this, Hoover dam and the many oth15-100 litres per second. In Megha
to meet these objectives. While
laya, a 200-year-old system of tap
Contd...
computerisation and going hi-tech
— IN BRIEF---------- ping stream and spring water for ir
continues to remain weak, the
is all very well, no amount of this so
rigating plants by using bamboos
phisticated know-how from the IT
report adds.
• Traditional water harvesting
still exists. The “kundis” of Ra
industry can solve the problems of
However, activists say that
methods are remembered only
jasthan are unique structures which
the farmers who provide the food
the Government itself has lag
during a water crisis
look like huge concrete saucers and
we eat and whose needs of water
ged behind in taking remedial
are used for collecting rain water to
• All incomplete water projects
and electricity are the real issues.
meet the needs of local villagers and
action.
must be finished on a war
A very similar situation obtained
their animals.
While the Union Governm
footing
in the western states of the US in
If anyone deserves credit, it must
ent's promise at the 1995 Beij
the 1930s — drought conditions ex
• The Hoover dam reversed the
go to the people of the villages of
ing conference to set up a com
isted in the deserts and there was al
drought situation in the western
Rajasthan and particularly Jodhpur,
most no development until the
missioner for women's rights
states of the US; the spin-off
where
traditional
water
system
still
Hoover dam was constructed and in
has not been met, several reco
was tourism, agriculture and
exist and where village people cared
a matter of five years, the states of
mmendations of the National
to maintain their traditional system
electricity
Nevada.
Arizona.
Colorado.
Commission
for
Women
even
after
they
started
to
get
piped
•
With
effective
water
harvest
California and Mexico not only
water
from
the
government.
Vil
(NCW)
also
have
been
gather
ing, the equivalent of one per
gained from the benefits of water
lages that neglected their traditional
ing dust* UNI
supplied from Lake Mead (formed
cent of India's land can provide
systems and relied solely on piped
as a result of building the dam) but
The Indian Express
all household water needs
water sources faced scarcity under
everything else ranging from
• In areas where the local
08 June 2000
drought conditions, particularly
tourism, agriculture.electricity and
community has been involved in
when the canals dried up. An ironic
water. Besides, the economy also
water conservation, there have
contrast of water management are
prospered and still continues to
Jaisalmer and Cherrapunji —
been no shortages
boom in this region.
Jaisalmer gets 100 mm of annual
Before the construction of the
Hoover Dam, the Colorado River er dams which followed were highly rainfall while Cherrapunji gets
flowed uninterrupted doing its successful. Currently, the lower Col 15,000 mm — yet Jaisalmer was able
1400-mile course in the Rocky orado River provides water to irri to collect enough water for itself un
Mountains to the Gulf of California. gate over 1,000.000 acres in the US til recent years, while Cherrapunji,
the wettest place on earth faces a
In the spring and early summer, the and 500,000 acres in Mexico.
drinking water shortage. Societies
Colorado often flooded low lying
It has 17 generators with a capaci
areas along the route and in the hot, ty to produce 2,000 MW of electrici too must learn to perform their
southwestern summer, the flow of ty. Nearly two years of average an roles in water harvesting, and this is
the same river would slow down to a nual flow from the Colorado river where the local administration must
trickle making Colorado an unreli can be stored in Lake Mead, and the take responsibility and ensure that
able source for irrigation, public and Hoover dam can store up to 9.2 tril villagers are fully involved in
municipal uses. Our situation is lion gallons of water in its reservoir. such projects.
Although we have made dams in
I
17
News You Can Use
Political will changes women’s
status in rural Kerala
By Aartl Dhar
thiruvananthapuram ,
watch dogs of the village and the activities go self-confidence among women.
June 5. Empowering ing around. Any discrepancy in the develop
Campaign against alcoholism for ensuring
women does not necessarily mean a stamp of ment work is usually reported to the alcohol-free wards, dealing with violence
approval from Parliament on Women’s Reser panchayat by the women. These groups also against women and with non- compliance of
vation Bill. All it needs is the political will, and help in resolving the local problems. Like in standards for materials by contractors were
this is exactly what has changed the status of Vithura village, women keep a watch on men regularly reported by women. Among the
women in Kerala, particularly in the rural ar since drinking is a problem. The men are now many examples, in Matathoor Panchayat, an
scared of coming home in a drunken stupor
eas.
because nothing would stop women from re upper caste landlord refused to part with the
title deed of small piece of land which was
Democratic decentralisation has opened porting the matter to the gram panchayat.
transferred to a labourer many years ago A
the way for women's entry into leadership po
In a village in Kumarakom Panchayat, a meeting was convened by the women in the
sitions. As many as 5,078 women representa
drunkard husband had to run away from his group, where it was decided that first the
tives have been elected to various local bodies,
though initially it was feared that the women house because the groups objected to his women must go enmasse to the landlord to
representatives would be manipulated and physically beating his wife and child. Unable request for the title deed. Later, they thought it
controlled by men. However, the People’s to face the community, the man has not turn could be seen as a 'trade union' tactic and
ed up since then. Now, the community Has an
decided against it. So, a few women members
Campaign for Decentralised Planning has
additional task of looking for this man and
completely dispelled this belief. Studies now
went and requested for the title deed which
taking care of his wife and child until his re
was handed over to them. This incident has
show that some of the best-run local bodies
turn. Studies have shown that more than 90
are headed by women. A notable feature has
enhanced the legitimacy of the groups.
per cent of the elected representatives were
been the very high involvement of women in
active in the Grama Sabhas. There was a reThe lone Congress (I) member in Karakulam
the common 'Ayalkkoottams' or neighbour
markable change in the attitude and capabil- Panchayat, Ms. Geetha, was instrumental in
hood groups, which form the lowest rung of
ities of women in the very first year of setting up the Rural Study Centre, where sevthe Panchayati Raj system. The women in
campaign. Despite struggles on many fronts era! programmes on resource management.
these groups are more active and vocal and
that included work burdens at home and out- resource mapping and computer technology
have a tendency to take up responsibility.
side, and the pressures of being a part of pub- are being run. The percentage of women optThese neighbourhood groups act as the lic life, there is a perceptible enhanced ing for computer courses is higher here.
The Hindu
06 June 2000
ground water. Only this amount of water is regulated by rains
and snow fall, and is thus available on a sustainable basis.
However, it is not uniformly distributed with about 75 per
cent of the annual rainfall falling in areas with less than onethird of the world's population.
Rising levels of pollution are endangering this supply. The
he Water Resources Minister’s announcement that the Food and Agriculture Organisation issued a’ warning saying
Government will make the harvesting of rain water that if current levels of pollution continue then by the end of
mandatory for urban houses and other residential com 21st century the world’s entire stable water flow would be need
plexes is a good beginning towards managing a serious fresh ed just for pollution transport. Sustaining fresh waler will need
water crisis predicted for India. India is expected to enter commitment, resources, vision and global co-operation.
Education is part of this issue; the major part lies with
the water stress category (when annual supplies drop be
low 1,700 cubic metres/person) by 2025 if the current trend the entire developmental process. A microscopic look that
continues. The issue of fresh water availability is not con includes urbanisation, irrigation. Industrial process, public
fined to India; in fact, in the next 25 years about 35 per cent health and government policies must pinpoint the problems.
of the world will face major problems on this count. To an Consumption of fresh water per individual is an index of de
extent, Indians are familiar with the socio-political tensions velopment. According to some estimates a person needs a
over water sharing be it with neighbouring countries or with minimum of 100 litres of waler per day. But now many gel
in among the states, but if globally sustainable water recharg even that much, water?
ing is not put in action, then anarchy cannot be ruled out.
Agriculture is emerging as a big polluter. Indiscriminate
The most unfortunate aspect of this whole scenario is un use of fertilisers and pesticides is contaminating ground wa
der valuation of fresh water as a critical natural resource. ter aquifer and surface water. Excessive nutrients, salinity.
Water is the source of life on earth. Human body is 70 per pathogen, and sediments render the water unfit for con
cent of water, and if only one per cent of body fluids is lost, sumption. There, is need to evolve ways of producing more
thirst sets in and if the loss reaches 10 per cent, there is a with less. Industrial processes have to be re-engineered io
risk of death. Why should we worry so much, isn’t 70 per reduce water consumption and effluents. A substantial por
cent of Earth water? Yes, but most of it is ocean. By volume, tion of total fresh water available in the hydrological cycle
only three per cent of all water on earth is fresh water. Three- is needed to sustain natural aquatic ecosystem.
quarters of this water is in the form of icecaps and glaciers
Finding solutions to fresh water issue should be a high
in the polar regions. About one per cent is easily accessible priority. A water-short region or world is inherently unsta
surface fresh water in the form of lakes, rivers and under ble. If the crises are allowed to deepen more especially in
Wake up, before
the Earth dries up
T
CDL Media Clippings 18
iDifferently-abled are
forced to prove
that they have average
mental ability"
Paswan moots sanchar
dhabas for villages
dering process for purchasing
PH News Service
By Anshika Mlsra
the mainstream and support the
equipment open throughout the
MUMBAI: The 21-vear-old polio claim that thcir disability is a limitaNEW DELHI. June 7
year. The tendering process is
tion
and
not
an
impairment
and
In line with the cyber cafes that
patient, who was on Tuesday sub
*
normally put on hold between
that
they
arc
no
different
from
the
jected to a six-and-half-hour-long
urbanites have, Union communi
October-November and April.
“ridiculing” test prior to her regis others,” she stated.
cation minister Ram Vilas
He also said the Department of
The employment exchange has
tration at the special employment
Paswan said that he would open
Telecom
Services had been
also
in
the
past
come
under
flak
for
exchange for the disabled, is not the
'sanchar dhabas
*
(communication
instructed **
not
to disconnect
*'
only one who feels that the test is their indifferent attitude towards
cafes) for the ruralites.
phone connections to police sta
the differently-abled. Despite the
absurd.
These ‘dhabas
*
would provide
tions and hospitals even if large
Deputy director of the Spastic Persons with Disabilities (PWD)
telephone and internet connec
Society of India Vandana Garware Act (1995) establishing a three per
tions at a cheaper rate for the sums of money were pending
against them. This, he said, was
says, “It is shameful that the gov cent reservation for the differentlypoor in every panchayat. He said
in public interest. He said police
ernment equates a person's disabil abled in the public sector, the im
he had sent a proposal to the
ity with intellectual impairment. plementation is lacking. According
stations and hospitals would con
Finance
Ministry
and
intended
to
The differently-abled are at every to a survey done in 1998 by the Na
tinue to receive incoming calls no
work on it as soon as clearance is
stage made to prove that they have tional Centre for the Promotion of
matter how much and for how
granted.
Employment
for
Disabled
People,
average mental ability, which is
Mr Paswan also declared that long their bills were pending so
the total number of disabled em
highly unfair and unjust.”
the
ministry was geared to pro that the needy could approach
The special employment ex ployees in the top 100 companies in
vide internet connections to every them at any time. Speaking on
change, which works on a first- India amounts to a meagre 0.04 per
the need for phone connections.
district by August 15.
com e -first -serve basis, does not fol cent.
Mr Paswan informed the mem
He
was
speaking
at
the
first
The
PWD
Act
also
states
that
the
low a simple procedure for registra
bers that only 3.74 lakh villages.
meeting
of
the
National
tion of a person with disability. “A appropriate government and'local
Telephone Advisory Committee of a total of 6.7 lakh villages, had
clearance certificate from the All authorities should undertake mea
phone connections. Of the 3.4 lakh
and the National Telephone
India Institute of Physical Medi sures to make trains, buses, public
villages, phones at more than 2.11
Services Committee here.
cine and Rehabilitation (AI- toilets, hospitals, etc. disable-friend
He told the members that he lakh villages did not function sat
IPMR), at Haji Ali, is mandatory ly. But little has been achieved on
isfactorily because of unsuitable
had taken a few bold steps to
prior to the issue of an employment that front too.
card number,” says Kranti Machhi,
The Times of India improve telephone services in the technology used, namely, the
assistant director of the exchange.
country. One was to keep the ten Multi-AccessRadio Relay (MARR)
08 June 2000
Indresh Kumari Tiwari, a TYBDeccan Herald
Com student, was made to write
08 June 2000
numerals from one to thousand,
then cross out specified digits and
write a one-page essay on her aim
ill life from 9 aim. to 330 p.m. at the
AUPMR.
The AI1PMR carries out both
Contd...
clinical and vocational tests over a
a country like India, then it will present more obstacles to
period of two days to determine
raising the living standards. Slowing down the population
what type of job is the candidate
growth may be open of the effective ways of tackling demand
suited for ana what jobs must be
but-that again is an enormous task, unachievable unless it
avoided; “We recommend jobs de
becomes a public movement. Greening the developmental
pending on the type and extent of
process is the tangible and a more certain way of coming
disability,” said superintendent vo
close to sustainability. And water harvesting is surely a way
cational training workshop at AIout of recharging the depleting underground water table.
IPMR D.B. Gan gal. However, the
test that the differently-abled are
India gets its most of the rainfall during monsoon and it would
subjected to is universal whether
be nice if harvesting gets momentum this season.
one is SSC pass or a graduate, he
added. “The long hours of the test
The Pioneer
are to ascertain whether the candidate can sit on a stool for a long pe
06 June 2Q00
riod of time,” he said.
Ms Garware feels that not only
the test but the entire concept of a
special employmeiit exchange for
the differently-abled is absurd. “We
are working for (heir integration in
Autar Nehru
19
News You Can Use
The Trail Of Dispossession
OR Budhai Majhi, a middle-aged an important bread-earner of the
Rita Agnlhotri, a senior IAS officer,
tribal woman, survival has become family have now lost their influence
said In the context of the Orissa
a difficult task. She and other due to displacement. As per a study
Resettlement and Rehabilitation of
women of the Dudungchuan resettlement by Agragamee, this led to the dimin
Projects Affected Person Policy, 1994.
clusters near the reservoir of the Upper ished status of women. As has been
that the policy claims to have estab
Indravati Multi-Purpose Project (UIMPP)
witnessed in several clusters that, lished rights more firmly than ever
in Kalahandi-Koraput districts in Orissa,
after displacement, their income has before by identifying widows of any
have been managing their families
either declined or has been disrupted, age and divorcees as separate famil
under difficult conditions. Their lifestyle
and status have changed since they and their total dependence on hus ies. However, she adds that the
were resettled following submergence bands for household expenditure has complex role of a woman performed
of their villages. The researchers have reduced their power and changed as a food collector, collector of fuel
rightly observed that the Impact of the their role In the family. They are no and water, as a mother and partner
displacement on women is most devas longer Involved In decision-making in agricultural activities gets far less
tating as they lose both family and the process. Even the government of recognition than should have been
economic stability.
the case.
Orissa has admitted to their plight.
Under the World Bank guidelines for
The report on the resettlement and
The women’s centre-stage status
its funded projects like UIMPP, the rehabilitation of UIMPP points out the
can be further gauged from the fact
declared goals of rehabilitation are to role of women In the economy of the
that unlike Brahmanical or Hindi
*
ensure for the displaced persons a
region. They contribute not only to framework of inheritance where prop
qualitative life of the same standard as
the family Income by participating In erty passes from father to son, in
they enjoyed before displacement, If
the cultivation, hiring out labour but case of the tribal women who were
not better. But, in reality, the quality of
life has gone down after^splacement also collect and sell minor forest displaced the compensation amount
was equally divided among the daugh
and the extent of imp
*rishment
is produce In the local markets.
In fact, the marginalisation of the ters and sons. There are several
more pronounced particularly In the
case of women oustees. In reference to tribal women of the region started examples where daughters got ?
of with the displacement process be share of compensation money when
UIMPP,
Achuta
Das,
director
Agargamee, an NGO, which played an cause the compensation and rehabili the project acquired their parental
important role In the rehabilitation of tation rule operates through patriarch property, particularly land.
the displaced persons, has said that al property concept where a women
The equal distribution of parental
the tribal women, In particular, find It is not identified as a beneficiary. The property among sons and daughters
extremely arduous to adjust when they rehabilitation policy takes into con-.
signifies the special status woman
are resettled In an area which does not sideration the man and accepts him enjoy here. ’‘Even under normal
have the space and freedom, neither as the head of the household. A
circumstances, a tribal woman enjoys
forest nor firewood and most Importantly
woman gets recognition only after much greater claim on her parents'
when they do not have the companionship
the death of her husband or when property than her Hindu counterpart”
which Is the essence of tribal ethos.
she Is disabled or when the husband points out Agragamee report. Going
Majhi Is right when she says, In the
divorces her^ As the compensation by this, it seems the rehabilitation
next two-to-three years they would not
get enough wood for fuel as forest on payments are made only to the male policy hardly recognised woman as
the hill slope has thinned down tremen head of the displaced households, an Individual fit for compensation.
dously In recent years. Another old the women members are further
Agragamee in its bid to organise
women Devamanl says, “during cultiva deprived of their rights. The compen
these helpless women, established a
sation
amount
converts
the
collective
tion, we were getting many employment
Mahila Mandal in the year 1996. It
opportunities but after displacement assets of the family Into cash to be
also started a self-help group (SHG)
owned solely by the male heads. This
there Is no land and no work”.
to help displaced people in time of
The tribal women who enjoyed centre marginalises the women further.
need.
stage in the decision-making and was
Imran Khan
The Observer
09 June 2000
CDL Media Clippings 20
Future management education
N an era where everything is unique elements to it. Typically the ment and materials. He would have
changing at an unprecedented sklll/competency of a management to set stimulating class room environ
H pace, mai
management education can- teachers would obviously include the ment through varied and appropriate
not be an exception. Indeed, for that competency that has to do with activities, as also direct students to
matter, no education process of any planning, instruction, evaluation, man learn through library resources.
discipline can stay beyond the pale aging guidance, maintaining public
It is more than likely that in the
of change. Of this the use of and human relations, and a profesnew era of management discipline,
technology in imparting instruction sional role.
just as much as in any other
would be an Integral area of change. These competencies would need
discipline, the teacher will be called
Nature of future education is likely to be further factorised, elaborated
upon to determine personal and
to be very much technologically-and validated for a management
social needs and interests of the
determined. Use of technology In faculty. For the
nt the fo||owing
management education Is a pervasive lnver/ory of thePcompetencies that a student The teacher’s felicity with
the use of instructional design is
phrase covering educational methods, management Instructor requires would
very likely to include the requirement
teaching skills, developing Instruc^aps not false to mariy -controidentifying course content for a sub
" h. feMgnS’ 2ntegrateA T ofversies - ability to use a system
ject, from job description and course
teaching aids, software and hardware, model in planning and managing
aims to conducting a task analysis.
One of the distinctive features of learning activities; formulation of Obviously, he would need to be able
management education Is clearly its behavioural objectives: designing a to plan instructional units; design
educational
method.
Seasoned lesson plan; selecting alternative learning packages for individualised
practioners of the appropriate man strategies and designing learning instructions; plan activities with stu
agement educational method are experiences for class room, field dents; establish criteria for student
deeply conscious of the fact that all work tutorial etc; and selecting in evaluation in lessons and units or
teaching and learning processes are structional media and aids.
courses; evaluation techniques and
Among various Indian states some
most effective when they are learner
strategy of teaching; and assess
have
paid
attention
to
this
aspect
of
centered. To successfully happen
student’s progress.
this, the contact session requires education and others have not. Kerala
Perhaps, one of the highest deadequate preparation both by the is a good example among states mands on the teacher of the new
instructor and student. (Better busi which has placed a great deal of era is going to be by way of his
ness schools have a tradition of attention on the teaching skills of ability to establish procedures which
making available customised Instruc the feachen ’Under 'the imaginative reflect concern for the student’s
tional material, keyed to the number leadership of Kerala education minlscompetency to adapt to new and/or
of contract sessions and covering ter P J Joseph, effective steps have confusing situations readily. He would
the entire range of courses from been taken to spread the culture of have to focus on professional issues
concept to illustration to application), e-teaching and e-learning. Concrete of human resources.
The class room contract requires steps have also been taken to bring
Doing all this involves use of
state-of-art information on the subject, computer literacy to teachers and
which are to be integrated with quite rightly he has begun this at technology in management teaching.
hands on, online, empirical/field or- the school stage. From 2001, com- The doing up of an instruction design
ientation. When this is Integrated puter education itself is going to itself has a logic and a technology
through the skills of the teacher become an integral part of the which has to be teamt and rehearsed
then the module of learning emerges, curriculum. Obviously, for this to before it can be practised. Similarly,
The quality of delivery In the sessions happen, literally tens of thousands the integration of teaching aids to
from the point of view of the teacher of teachers are going to be required the instructional design needs careful
correlation. Who ever said preparation
Is clearly a part of the group feeling. with necessary competencies.
for the future is an easy exercise?
The teacher of tomorrow will not
A unique feature of educational
(The author Is the founder dttector
computer^)y.but i*
r'n M" Vtehlk^d^nd
technology in management education only have to
- irr
'
is the derivative nature of instruction. will have to have ail the other ■t management at
IIT, Delhi)
generic
*
competencies
It requires continuous field linkage traditional
through illustrations of the subject which a teacher is supposed top;
*
matter and application of concepts. have. It would be pointing out the
The Observer
*
The summer placements, common to obvious to say that even in the new
09 June 2000
*
most business schools, Is a symbolic era he would have to be an effective
manifestation of this. Use of case communicator both in oral and written
*
methods in the class room instruction interactions. He would need to have
*
and the Industry-based term-papers the abilities to develop a concept
are also a part of the constant effort and indeed help the student toe.
field,, dr^atlgty, Vie ■ teaching frame his questions. Communicating
Auk.Ifoefo^,reared. of 4 man-' effectively would require skills in
agement tea.cher has considerable using appropriate multi-media equip-
I
Vlnayshll Gautam
21
News You Can Use
Web to the aid of psychiatric patients
Manish Chandra Pandey
Lucknow, June 8
PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS can now be
treated on the web. With an alarming increase
in the number of people suffering from mental
disorders, Nur Manzil Psychiatric Centre in
Lucknow has decided to launch its first ever
web helpline, www.nurmanzil.org, which would
offer free counselling to people under severe
stress or suffering from mental disorder.
The first such website offering expert online
advice to those suffering from th eh! al problems
in the country, it would be launched qt the Nur
Manzil cenWYmfttWtfw. Amelfruesk “at the
centre would gather all the queries received on
the web, which would then be answered by a
panel of doctors. What’s more, the free advice
could be sought round-the-clock.
The idea, according to Dr S.A. Emmanuel,
director of the Nur Manzil centre, is "to propa
gate mental health awareness and tel) people
about faculties being offered at the centre."
"Yes, there has been a drastic rise in the num
ber of people under stress in and around the
city," Dr Emmanuel points out, adding that the
number of patients visiting him has risen mani
fold over the last 10 years. "From 10-15 visitors
per day, the number today has risen to over 70,"
he says.
Considering the fact that Lucknow has sever
al privately-owned psychiatric treatment cen
tres apart from one of North India's best psy
chiatric clinic (the KGMC), the high number of
patients turning up at a particular centre "seems
alarming indeed."
Dr Emmanuel is hopeful that the website
would help those hesitant to approach a psychi
atric centre for advice, to discuss their problems
freely. MWe have still not realised that mental
disorder is just like any other constitutional dis
order. There is a social stigma attached to it.
People mostly turn up at a psychiatric centre
when it is too late," Dr Emmanuel said.
He explains, "Majority of severe cases are due
to chemical imbalance in the brain leading tc
problems like schizophrenia, psychosis and the
like. While stress per se in limits is good, it is
continuously prolonged stress that is damag
ing." And the segment most affected by it?
"Marketing professionals, journalists, bureau
crats, police personnel, students." Of particulai
concern, as the doctor admits, is the number of
students falling prey to mental disorders. "With
pressure of performing well during the exams.
excelling in extra-curricular activities etc..
youngsters today are among the most stressed
individuals.
"This is apparent not only during exam lime
but round the year," he said. The doctor will
present a paper on Teenage suicides
*
at a con
ference in England to be held shortly. He now
has plans to start special sections of child psy
chiatry and geriatric (old age) for counselling of
both the young and the old. He is also planning
to start "satellite clinics” in remote places.
The Hindustan Times
09 June 2000
Villagers learning how to
earn more and grow rich
Guwahati, June 9
HE ASSAM State Institute
of Rural Development’s
(SIRD) recent endeavour to
organise special training camps for
rural youth and women.in different
fields to encourage self-employ
ment is a huge success.
The
institute, situated
at
Khanapara, about 19 km from
here, had organised awareness
camps in rural areas of all districts
of the state last year on transfer of
technology, latest agricultural
techniques and development of
human resources.
SIRD senior faculty member A
M Jakir told reporters that during
the past two years, it had provided
short term training to about 14000
people, 50 per cent of whom are
now self-employed.
About 15 small tea gardens were
set up in the state involving 120
persons and the multi-crop system
of cultivation was introduced, he
said.
SIRD director K R Kalita said
the new approach of organising
special training programmes,
awareness camps, sanitation pro
grammes for rural people, particu
larly youth, entrepreneurs, women
T
and young farmers were intro
duced more than a year ago.
Considering the need for peo
ple's participation in the develop
ment process, the SIRD adopted
the new approach to develop a
human resource base he said.
The institute was trying to enable
rural masses to develop their
capacity, knowledge and manager
ial skill in certain activities. The
new approach focussed on creating
a new environment in the villages
for self-employment.
The director said motivation
through training and guidance cre
ated the right environment for self
employment, without which finan
cial
assistance . was
useless.
Previous experience showed that
financial assistance alone without
creating an enabling environment
through awareness, motivation,
transfer of scientific knowledge
and skill led to waste of resources.
Mr Kalita said rural people, par
ticularly unemployed youth, were
motivated to take up agricultural
activities in a productive way.
Many of them had taken land on
lease to apply the newly acquired
knowledge and skills.
Some
young
farmers
in
Chaygaon and Azara areas of
Kamrup district had shown com
mendable result soon after the
training. For some of them this was
the first exposure to seeds of
hybrid varieties, fertiliser, pesti
cides and the multi-cropping sys
tem.
Some rural women in the Rani
area of Kamrup district had
formed self-help groups to culti
vate seasonal horticulture crops
after the training. Rural women of
Lakhimpur district also did the
same and successed.
One woman in North Lakhimpur
district had earned as much as
Rs. 16,000 only by selling vegeta
bles.
She attributed her success to the
•training programme of SIRD.
Young farmers in Jonaram
Chowka area in Darrang district
had diversifed their agricultural
activities after attending a training
programme on area specific agri
cultural and horticultural activities
at SIRD.
For the first time they introduced
multiple cropping system in the vil
lage, applying seeds of high-yield
ing varieties. Considering their
enthusiasm, the SIRD organised a
training programme in the village
itself recently.
(UNI)
The Hindustan Tir
10 June 2000
CDL Media Clippings 22
A continuing debate
HERE are two extreme
views on the relationship
between population and
development. According to one
view, population control is a pre
condition to promote develop
ment. The other view is that devel
opment is a pre-condition to con
trol population growth. A sub
group of those who hold the latter
view asserts that social develop
ment, such as improvement in
health, education and status of
women, is necessary to control
population growth. They cite
Kerala as a classic example. The
problem with the continuing
debate is that situations exist in
the world to support both the
major viewpoints.
At the World Population
Conference at Bucharest (1974),
organised by the United Nations
Fund for Population Activities
(UNFPA), the then Union Minister
for Health and Family Planning.
Dr Karan Singh, said development
was the best contraceptive. This
subsequently became a famous
slogan the world over. In April
1976. Dr Karan Singh issued the
first formal national population
policy statement, which suggested.
among other things, "...it is clear
that simply to wait for education
and economic development to
bring about a drop in fertility is
not a practical solution. The very
increase in population makes eco
nomic development slow and more
difficult of achievement. The time
factor is so pressing and the popu
lation growth so formidable that
we have to get out of the vicious
circle through a direct assault
upon this problem as a national
commitment."
T
A contradiction
Thus. Dr Karan Singh contra
dicted himself on the relationship
between population and develop
ment in a period of two years. The
tone and tenor of the population
policy statement suited the time of
I its issuance.
Those who hold the view that
* development is the best contracep
and Child Health (RCH) pro
gramme. As a result, family plan
know how to implement family ning programme lost the impor
planning programmes effectively.
tance it deserves.
The two terms, population con
In recent years, the term
trol and family planning, are often
"unmet need” for family planning
considered synonymous. But they services has been overplayed.
are not. While population control Even the National Population
reveals a national concern, family
Policy 2000 proposes to take suit
planning is strictly restricted to able measures to meet the unmet
decision-making at the family
need for family planning services.
level. If all the couples (or fami This term needs to be explained.
lies) adopt family planning and- In family planning surveys, two of
limit the number of their children,
the questions put to married
population growth can be checked. women in the reproductive age
Although family planning assists are whether they want any more
population control, the two are in
children and whether they have
no way synonymous.
adopted family planning.
In India, as in many other
Unmet need
countries, family planning pro
If a woman’s answer to both
grammes are started to control
the questions is negative, it is
population growth. Two factors
contributed to a decline in the per concluded that she has an unmet
formance of family planning pro need for family planning services.
It should be clearly understood
gramme in India. In the mid1970’s, a multipurpose workers’ that all the women who answer
the two questions in the negative
scheme (MPW) was introduced in
the country replacing the unipur may not be telling the truth. Manx
pose workers’ scheme (UWS). In of them may be telling that they
the UWS, male family planning do not want to have any mon? chil
workers, called Family Planning dren just to please the survex
Health Assistants (FPHAs), were interviewer and to show that they
responsible for motivating men to are also “modern" to accept fami
* is estimated by
accept family planning, while ly planning. It
female health workers, called survey researchers that 18-20 per
Auxiliary
Nurse-midwives cent of married women in the
(ANMs), took care of women. But, reproductive age have unmet not'd
according to the MPW scheme, for family planning services
If couples do not want to have
male and female health workers
are jointly responsible 4br moti any more children, what prevents
them from going to a nearby PHC
vating couples to accept family
and ask for family planning serv
planning.
ices? If there is no PHC nearby.
Single programme
why can’t they adopt traditional
As a result, while ANMs con methods like abstinence or with
tinue to motivate women for fami drawal? In fact, the West achieved
ly planning, male health workers population stabilisation much
have virtually stopped motivating before contraceptives were avail
men for family planning under the able or aggressively promoted.
pretext that they are busy provid Couples there adopted traditional
ing health services.
methods of fertility control like
Following the recommenda abstinence and withdrawal.
tions of the 1994 International
In fine, it is not a question of
Conference on Population and
either population control or devel
Development held at Cairo, family
opment, but it is both. Efforts to
planning and other health pro control population growth and to
grammes are included in a single
promote development should bn
programme called Reproductive
made simultaneously.
By P H REDDY
tive argue their case almost con
vincingly. In his book, The Myth
of Population .Control, Mahmood
Mamdani, an Indian-Kenyan,
wrote in 1972: “People are poor not
because they have more children.
Quite the contrary. They have
more children because they are
poor."
Another closely associated
argument is that the poor people
do not adopt family planning and
limit the number of their children.
One reason given for this is that
infant and child mortality rate is
unacceptably high among them
and that couples are not ’con
vinced that the two children born
to them will survive to adulthood.
Another reason given is that chil
dren provide solid economic sup
port either by working from
young age or by taking care of
household chores, thereby freeing
adults to seek other modes of
income generation. A third reason
given is that children provide
social security to their parents in
the old age.
Absolute poverty
But in recent years, these argu
ments are increasingly coming
under flak because there is evi
dence to disprove them. In fact,
poverty is emerging as a reason
for adopting family planning to
control fertility. In India, poor and
rich couples alike are adopting
sterilisation. There is hardly any
difference in the proportions of
rural and urban couples who have
adopted sterilisation. Studies have
shown that absolute poverty has
played a definite role in bringing
down birth rate in Tamil Nadu,
one of the nine States and Union
Territories which have achieved
replacement level fertility.
In Bangladesh, an appreciable
proportion of couples has adopted
family planning and controlled
their fertility. In fact, many exam
ples can be cited to show that
poverty is no barrier to adopt fam
ily planning. We should only
Deccan Herald
10 June 2000
23
News You Can Use
UP conceives first-ever population policy
Sunita Aron
Lucknow, June 9
REGISTRATION OF marriages
with the panchayats and local
urban bodies will soon be made
compulsory in Uttar Pradesh and
all those marrying before the legal
age will not be eligible for a gov
*
eminent job.
These harsh steps have become
inevitable in view of the fact that
67 pc of the girls in the state marry
before reaching the legal *age of
marriage. However as an incentive,
special development grants on the
basis of their performance in the
family planning programme will
also be given to zila, block and
gram panchayats besides being
honoured by the Chief Minister.
However the above decisions do
not form part of any women s wel
fare programme but of the popula
tion control measures envisaged by
the Uttar Pradesh government in
its first-ever population policy of
the state which falls short of raising
a slogan of 'One Child
*.
The policy to be announced
shortly after getting the Cabinet
nod focuses on the involvement of
the opinion makers, religious lead
ers, cooperatives and the private
sector in promoting the small fam
ily concept so much so that even
postmen and 40,000-odd regis
tered ayurvedic practitioners will
also have a role to play because of
their influence and acceptability in
the village communities. They will
be trained to promote the small
family norm and help in the dis
semination of information.
Interestingly, the state govern
ment has favoured counselling
instead of incentives or stringent
measures to contain the current
fertility rate of 4.3 pc which threat
ens to take the state's population
to an alarming 216 million in 2011.
The policy objectives are thus
defined as" To improve the quality
of life of the people by stabilisation
of the population. The main objec
tive is to reach the replacement
level of fertility of 2.1 by 2016’’.
Thus it concentrates more on
reproductive and child health
activities than on family planning
alone with the government firm on
evolving a people-friendly policy.
No doubt status of women, gen
der equity, reduction of infant and
maternal mortality, recognised as
key determinants of the fertility
The Hindustan Times
10 June 2000
Census 2001 to
include data on
disability
By Our Special Correspondent
NEW delhi, JUNE it. The Union
Home Ministry on Saturday de
cided to include the data on dis
ability during the forthcoming
Census of India 2001.
The decision was taken at a
meeting convened by the Union
Home Minister, Mr. LK. Advani.
The meeting was attended by
Mr. I.D. Swami, Minister of State
for Home Affairs, Ms. Maneka
Gandhi, Minister of State for So
cial Justice and Empowerment
and Mr. Arun Shourie, Minister of
State for Statistics and Pro
gramme Implementation.
The Home Secretary, Mr. Ka
mal Pande and the Registrar-Gen
era) and Census Commissioner,
Mr. J.K. Banthia, were also pre
sent.
The Census Commissioner was
asked to undertake necessary
steps to formulate a question
naire on disability for canvassing
it during the population enumer
ation during the coming census.
Several organisations associat
ed with welfare programmes for
the disabled have been pressing
for collection of data on disability.
behaviour are the central issues.
The policy also envisages setting
up of a State Population and
Development Commission to over
see, guide and review the imple
mentation of the policy. The com
mission will be headed by the
Chief Minister. Members would
include ministers in charge ol
Medical, Health and FamiK
Welfare, Education, Women and
Child
Welfare
,
Rural
Development, Finance . Planning
and Youth Welfare. Labour.
Agriculture, Cooperatives and
Industries,
Leaders of the
Opposition in the Assembly and
Council, State chiefs of recognised
political parties, Deputy Chairman
of the Planning Commission.
Mayors of all municipal corpora
tions, Chief Secretary, APC.
Govt, plans to
grow medicinal
plants
finalised by Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The aim is to identify denuded forest land between
3,000 and 5,000 hectares where at least a hundred
species could be grown. The family welfare depart
ment will fund the entire five-year project, providing a
total of Rs 5 crore in phases.
The task force on the conservation and sustainable
use of medicinal plants had highlighted the growing
demand for plant-based medicines, health products.
NEW DELHI: It’s a contradiction the government pharmaceuticals, food supplements and cosmetics.
hopes it can resolve: Forests, the traditional source of
The international market for such plants is more
medicinal plants, are shrinking at a time when the de than $ 60 billion a year, and growing at a rate of seven
mand for such plants is growing. More than 150 of per cent annually.
about 1,200 medicinal plants are already on the endan
Within the country, these could well provide afford
gered list.
able health care and conserve biodiversity. Surveys
Since the Union health ministry seems to feel Indian have shown that India has more than 8,000 species ol
systems of medicine would be particularly useful for medicinal plants, the main health care resource for the
health care, its family welfare department has decided majority. But unlike China, it just hasn’t been able to
to encourage states to grow medicinal plants on a seize the business opportunity.
large-scale in 'vanaspati vans
*
(forests for medicinal
Just about everything has been missing from its ef
plants). This was one of the recommendations of a 13- fort: standardisation, quality control and efficacy ol
member task force, headed by planning commission drugs, organised marketing and integrated develop
member D.N.Tewari, which examined the whole issue ment—from production to consumption—to boost ex
and gave its report earlier this year.
ports. One recommendation was for 200 ‘vanaspati
Four states have already been given funds for ‘vanas- vans’ in degraded forest areas for intensive production
pati vans’: Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya of plants for quality products and employment to 50Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Project sites are being lakh people, with tribals sharing the benefits.
The Times of India
09 June 2000
The Hindu
12 June 2000
CDL Media Clippings 2<
Charity or greed?
T’S ONE war you the margins jobless. The aim approach to charity.”
states where the DFID has
can’t complain against, of these development agencies He cites the case of how a top gone — Orissa, Andhra
is
to
encourage
self-help
bloodless and noble
US
development
agency Pradesh, West Bengal and
and promising to erad among this class and make forced the Uttar Pradesh gov Madhya Pradesh — their gov
icate^ poverty from them economically indepen ernment to spend its foreign ernments have undertaken fis
g—__ IndiL Among its foot- dent. It’s here that intematiori- aid on a particular community.
cal and power sector reforms
ffiSMts are some of the al agencies play a crucial role.”
He recalls, “I argued with and also slashed subsidies for
wm leading development No quarrelling this as long as them that in a mixed popula the public sector.
agencies — a clutch of them people benefit. But in some ca tion area it will be difficult to
Adds a senior official of
from
Germany,
the ses foreign aid comes in with confine charity to only the FNST, a top German develop
Department for International certain preconditions that have poor upper castes. But they ment agency, “It’s not true to
Development (DFID) from little.connection..with poverty.. wouldn’t listen. Their argu say that we are interested in
England, and some old players For choosing partners (state ment: a poor upper caste per-; charity work because we want
like Oxfam and ActionAid. government) in India the son is more likely to catch up' to widen the market for
And their principal weapon is DFID strategy paper lists, with his well-to-do brethren MNCs, which fund us. The
money.
among otheY things, the crite and become ‘consumer’ than MNCs are bothered about the
In 1996-97 alone (the latest ria of willingness to make radi the lower castes.”
top 30 per cent of the popula
home ministry figures), they cal shifts in fiscal priorities or
tion, and that’s good enough
having
“
interest
in
partnership
pumped in about Rs: 1600
HE HOME ministry’s for them. We only work for
crore as foreign aid for volun with the UK, either because of
figures of foreign aid development purposes.”
tary organisations involved in past links, or because they are
allocation to different
Home ministry officials, how
developmental work. The fig actively seeking external help regions show that charity is no ever, scoff at this, claiming that
ures have since then increased and advice.”
simple affair. Thus, only 9 per no seller can remain satisfied
manifold, with the DFID alone
Pointing these aspects of for cent of foreign aid goes to with a static market. Says one,
spending a whopping Rs 700 eign funding, the home min BIMARU (Bihar, Madhya “For them, the market must
crore a year. Even its philo istry bureaucrat asks: “What Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar grow. With all the reforms and
sophical
underpinning
is does this have to do with war Pradesh) states, arguably the the expanding middleclass, we
endearing — it’s the moral against poverty?” In other states crying for anti-poverty only have 15-crore consumers.
responsibility of the rich to words, foreign charity has programmes. In contrast, near Different surveys show that
help the less fortunate over strings attached to it.
ly 50 per cent of all foreign the developed countries want a
come their debilitating pover
But the DFID chief (India), assistance is allocated to the market of nearly 40 crore in
ty. You can’t complain, can Robert
Graham-Harrison, relatively prosperous states of the next few years.”
you?
counters, “Our commitment to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Indeed, the cruellest cut is
But hold on, there are scep poverty is very old. It’s not mit Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
that the relentless logic of the
tics who perceive a hidden igated by commercial interests.
“Does this indicate their con market has come determine
agenda in this munificence. Our programmes are com cern for poverty,” asks Anil K even poverty elimination pro
Claiming that India has belied pletely untied.” He cites the Singh of the Voluntary Action grammes — and this is bound
the global expectations of a example of how his organisa Network of India (VANI). He to widen regional disparities,
thriving, expanding market, tion donated £14 million also wonders why the Central and leave unattended the
they think the war the devel towards polio eradication in government hasn’t bothered to poorest of the poor.
oped world is waging on pover India; and that the .business his ask foreign agencies to work in
AKSHAYA MUKUL
ty is aimed at bolstering the country (England) generates a state like Bihar which
purchasing power of the peo from India is not comparable accounts for 39 of the coun The Hindustan Times
ple and increasing the number to the amount the DFID try’s 100 poorest districts. 11 June 2000
of consumers exponentially. pumps into India.
Even the DFID, Singh argues,
Others, though, are not con hasn’t bothered about Bihar.
And all this, obviously, to have
more buyers for foreign vinced. A senior functionary of But Graham-Harrison coun
an
international
funding ters, “We think that partner
brands.
Says a senior home ministry agency says, “What these ship with the Bihar govern
bureaucrat, “The poverty elim agencies want is that .every ment will not help. The state
ination drive is complementary penny spent toward# elimina lags behind on many fronts.
to the reforms process, which tion or reduction of poverty Instead, we are planning to
has not failed to spark off the should ensure them returns in reach the poorest districts of
trickle-down phenomenon. In the shortest possible time. This the state through few NGOs.”
the
holistic In fact, he admits that the
fact, it has rendered people on undermines
T
25
News You Can Use
Miles to go
The programme of action adopted by delegates at the week- long
United Nations Special Session on Women in New York repre
sents small but significant gains in the efforts for achievement
of gender equality and justice. By reaffirming the platform of
action adopted at the Beijing conference, the New York meet
ing. "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for
ihe 21st Century’’ preserved the gains made five years ago. At
the same time, it did go beyond Beijing by recommending
tougher measures to combat major problems like domestic vio
lence and trafficking in women and girls. The final document
also drew attention to the impact of HIV/ AIDS and globalisa
tion on women. Delegates agreed on principles that call for pun
ishment of domestic violence, including marital rape which in
many countries is regarded as a “family matter”. There were
calls to ban honour killings — the killing of women whose fam
ilies claim they have shamed them. And it was for the first time
that an international document characterised such violence as
crimes. The document also moved beyond Beijing in the roles
men and boys can play to achieve gender equality, urging cre
ation of education programmes to enable men to engage in safe,
responsible sex. It also called for maternal mortality being
made a health sector priority, an issue that was not accepted by
the Beijing meet.
And yet. it is a fact that the language and content of the
final document did not go far enough. For one, the New York
document could have included stronger language supportive of
the sexual rights of women, and access to abortions. It could
also have been more explicit on the rights of sexual minorities.
More important is the fact that the final document was silent
on time-bound targets or numerical goals, reflecting a general
lack of political will among participating delegations to commiting themselves to definite action plans for improving the
status of women in the coming five years. Much energy during
the New York meeting was expended in battling over finding a
compromise language so that a consensus final document could
be accepted. But whether or not the conference was worthwhile
would really depend on whether the global community takes
concrete steps to achieve at least some of the goals set forward
by the conference last week. The challenge posed to the achieve
ment of the ideal of gender equality is formidable and encom
passes all areas of social, economic and political life. It is a lega
cy of inequitous and oppressive history and is inherent in the
equations and hierarchical structures of present-day society
everywhere in the world. Progress at the New York conference
may not appear to be fast enough. But it was another step
towards achievement of the goal of complete gender equality.
Deccan Herald
15 June 2000
Compuskool’s new education curriculum for kids
Assam Govt comes
to the aid of farmers
HT Correspondent
Guwahati, June 13
IN A bid to prevent rice farmers
from incurring losses, the State
Government on Monday fixed the
purchase price of rice at Rs 600 per
quintal.
The price, which is meant for all
varieties except ’joha' will become
operational from Tbesday. As per
the Government's directive, all
bazaar committees of the Assam
State Agricultural Marketing
Corporation will procure rice at
the new price directly from farm
ers, without involving any middle
men.
Despite recording bumper crops
due to installation of Shallow Tube
Wells (STWs) in the recent past,
rice farmers all over the State were
incurring losses as they had to sell
their produce at a reduced price.
In the present year itself, Assam
has produced 41 lakh metric
tonnes of rice, a surplus of thrie
lakh metric tonnes than the State's
annual requirement.
On Saturday, Assam Chief
Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
held an emergency meeting to ini
tiate steps to arrest the fall in rice
prices. The meeting which was also
attended by Agriculture Minister
Chandra Mohan Patowaiy, asked
to the Food Corporation of India
(FCI) to fix a minimum price for
procuring rice as is done in other
states like Punjab and Haryana. It
was decided that till the FCI fixes
the
minimum
price.
the
Government would procure rice at
Rs 490 per quintal.
On Monday, the Government
increased the minimum support
price to Rs 600 and expressed the
hope that the FCI would follow
suit. This is the first time the
Assam
State
Agricultural
Marketing Corporation is buying
rice directly from farmers.
According
to
Agriculture
Department officials, at this time
of the year, fanners used to sell
rice at Rs 325 per ,'maund
*
nearly
38 kilograms. "But this time, due to
excess production, the prices have
come down to Rs 120 per 'maund'.
And with surplus rice available in
the market, even the middlemen
are not willing to procure rice at a
higher price," said an official.
In the recent past, Assam has
witnessed a visible change in agri
culture patterns due to installation
of STWs all over the State.
Over 62,000 STWs have been
installed in the past five years with
financial aid from the World Bank
and the National Bank for
Agriculture
and
Rural
Development (NABARD).
With irrigation facilities improv
ing due to installation of STWs.
farmers have taken to multiple
cropping of higlt-yielding varieties
of rice, which had increased pro
duction in the State in recent
months.
The Hindustan Times
14 June 2000
Reforms for
disabled
proposed
Bangalore, June 17: The stale is
considering categorising rehabili
tation services to (he physically
handicapped as a development
issue and the inclusion of welfare
measures
tn
the
physically
impaired in all developmental
works, announced chief minister
S.M. Krishna on Saturday.
NEW DELHI: To keep children succeed In the technology driven
world of tomorrow, Compuskool has launched a. unique computer
education curriculum for children from the age group of 3 to 14
years of age. The curriculum is conceived by the like minded
professionals from IITs/llMs with more than a decade of
experience in this field. Developed after much research and
involvement of child psychologists and educationists, the
curriculum will provide a comprehensive foundation for all future
learning in and through technology. The curriculum will be made The Observer
available through franchised learning centres to tap an estimated . - .
Rs 10,000 crore market.
14 June 2000
According to an official picss
release, the government was con
sidering allotting three per cent of
the budget in rural development
schemes to the.physically handi
capped. .
Mr Krishna also told a delega
tion led by the organisation Com
munity Based Rehabilitation (hat
he would instruct (he education
department to include children
with disabilities in their survey of
school-going children.
He would also direct the pan
chayat raj department to maintain
a register of disabled persons
The A$ian Age
18 June 2000
CDL Media Clippings 26
Rural women from Andhra
get a chance to go global
By Pushpa Iyengar
The Times of India News Service
HYDERABAD: With e-commerce
slated to open up to them by mid
July, the world will become a mar
ketplace for the products made by
40 lakh women organised under the
Development of Women and Child
in Rural Areas (DWCRA) and oth
er self-help groups in the state.
Talks are currently on with indiainfo.com to explore whether it can
meet the logistics of delivering the
products that will be marketed un
der the brand name 'Taruni’, indiainfo.com is already into e-com
merce, selling products such as shav
ing systems, pearls and jewellery.
‘Taruni’, chosen because it is a de
rivative of the word Janmabhoomi,
the pet project of chief minister
Chandrababu Naidu, is currently
getting a logo and design. A source
involved in making the e-commerce
concept happen for these rural
women, speaking to this newspaper,
said, "They are highly sensitive to a
global audience and know that they
will get equality on the Net because
it is a great leveller.”
Some of them have already been
exposed to the market potential
available abroad. One such person is
P. Lakshmi, who went to the Mem
phis festival last month and sold
some of her exquisite lace products
A stop by U.S. President Bill Clin
ton at the stall that she had put up
on behalf of the West Godavari dis
trict- based Kanakadurga group at
the DWCRA exhibition here dur
ing his March visit was her passport
to the American market The other
women will be able to see their
handicrafts finding their way to dif
ferent comers of the world soon.
Women from DWCRA generate
Rs 600 crore from the sales of the
450 products they make. The prod
ucts include a wide range of handi
crafts and edibles like picklesiand
papads. These groups got their-first
major marketing break whem the
Naidu government introduced the
concept of DWCRA bazaars two
years ago. The success of these
bazaars prompted Mr Naidu to
give these women a global platfprm
for their products, apart from.suggesting at the launch of Airteli here
recently that they should be given
access to mobile phones.
Thirty of their products, including
Narsapur lace, Kondapalli toys, jute
baskets, pickles and papads, will ini
tially be made available for sale on
the Net. However, the women need
to be sensitised about international
quality. They also need to be made
aware that catering to international
taste would be the route to keejS the
orders coming.The e-commercd site
will have a section that will accept
design orders from buyers that
*will
be fulfilled.
The Times of India
13 June 2000
Naidu launches poverty eradication programme
Pioneer News Service
will be taken up in 180 Mandals of six. of the
For the effective implementation of the pover
most backward districts - Adilabad and
ty eradication programs in rural areas, a State
Mehbubnagar in Telangana; Anantapur and
level society under the chairmanship of the Chief
Chittoor in Rayalseema; and Vizianagaram and
*
Minister, would be set up with eminent per
IN ONI: of the biggest initiatives for eradicatSrikakulam in Andhra regions. The Chief sonalities and experts from the poverty pradiing poverty in both the rural and-urban areas,
AndhrjvPr
ahhbu *^iniste¥'$aSd’that on the- basis -of-thfe resiilfof' ■ (fa'tlbh field as ipembers.
The |mplfeWAW.S^
each dis-.
Naidu win Japndi/velugu brogyamme inthe' ’‘"this programme, the project would be extend- J
trict will be ovedseew by the Project Management,
ed to the other areas.
tribal hcardanchof iRnfidt id Adfiabad district
Meanwhile the. poverty eradication mission .Unit and each Mandal will have Mandal
i in k'riday.
will also implement the programmes in other
Community Support Cell, consisting of a social
The Chief Minister said that the Mission was
towns and districts, by converging activities of organiser and community co-ordinator.
being launched in pursuance with the election
various departments arid agencies. The World
NGOs will also be involved in the imple
promise of the Telugu Desam party - to bring
mentation of the project. Self help groups like
Bank's share in this program would be Rs 481
40 lakh people above the poverty line in the next
crore, the State government would give Rs 72
DWCRA and Gram Panchayats will be involved
five years. The Rs 1320 crore poverty eradi
in institutional and human capacity building.
crore and the beneficiaries themselves will have
cation mission will have two major components.
Rs 331 crore will be spent on improving access
to chip in with Rs 31 crore.
•
While the District Poverty Initiative Project
For the urban poverty eradication program.
to services like health, education, child care and
IDPIIT will be implemented in rural areas with
veterinary care. It will be implemented through
to be called AP Urban Services for the Poor
World Bank assistance, the Department For
the self help groups and the Gram Panchaynt
(APUSP), DFID will provide Rs 745 crore as a
International Development (DFID). UK. will pro
grant. The officials said that this program was
Rs 132 crore will be spent on educational sup
vide assistance for urban poverty eradication
being launched onkhe basis of the experience
port for girl children
*.
18 residential bridge
programmes to be implemented in 32 Class I
of slum improvement projects in Hyderabad.
schools and six regular residential schools will
municipalities in the State.
Vishakhapatnam and vijaywada.
The World Bank-aided Rs 580 crore project
be set up for the girl drop outs.
Hyderabad
The Pioneer
16 June 2000
27
News You Can Use
would have the state do nothing at all and
give all responsibility to the localities. Nei
ther involves a project of people joining
together from diverse backgrounds and
jority starving. Thus the people began a over a wide area to try to influence state
By Gail Omvedt
N THE midst of India's most fearsome campaign for implementation of the “Ta- policy, formulating and struggling for an
drought in a decade, people are look kari irrigation scheme.” a medium project alternative plan.
ing for genuine ways of "drought designed to lift water from the nearby
Such an effort, though, is being made in .
proofing.” Often mentioned as an ex Krishna — water originally released from the Krishna basin districts of southern
ample is Ralegan Siddhi, a village in the huge reservoir of the Koyna dam in the Maharashtra. Here, using experience from
Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. Sahyadri hills. However, the activists did such struggles as that for the Bali Raja dam
Rainwater harvesting was one of many not simply accept the government plan, and the Takari scheme, and building as
campaigns taken up after Anna 11 aza re. an which would have provided water to only well on movements of dam evictees, a new
army driver who was apparently miracu 23 villages in the taluk; they fought for an alternative which seeks to provide a "walk
lously saved after his entire platoon had alternative. Their argument, backed by on two legs” solution to drought is coming
been killed in a battle, returned home to evidence from experimental farming with up.
low inputs of water, was that the same
dedicate himself to social work.
Fanners in the region are demanding
In Maharashtra, Ralegan Siddhi’s wa amount of water could be sufficient to pro
that the government put in its resources
vide
all
villages
in
the
taluk
enough
for
tershed development, along with pro
into completing the irrigation schemes on
grammes of anti-alcoholism and an food, fodder, fuel and cash needs from tree
the Krishna and do so in a way that will
all-women panchayat, was taken as the crops.
provide water for all the drought-prone vil
model for a set of government pro
Both the autonomously peasant-built
lages, not simply to a few favoured green
grammes, and helped to promote the slo Bali Raja Memorial Dam and the revised
islands. Their Shetmajur Kashtakari Shetgan "catch water, store water." This year, “Takari scheme” have involved sustained
kari Sanghatana — Organisation of Agri
as the agony of drought spreads through movement effort, demonstrations, dharcultural labourers and Toiling Farmers —
so many districts, Ralegan Siddhi (along nas, fasting, united front campaigns with
was formed in 1993 and includes the "dam
with Alwar in Rajasthan) was one of the various left organisations in the district
afflicted” as well as the "drought-afflict
examples cited of drought-proofing and university seminars discussing the
ed,” farmers whose lands would be flood
through local rainwater harvesting.
principles of the movement. At the same
ed by dams and those from drought-prone
Ralegan Siddhi combines the water it time, these social movements have reject
areas which would not otherwise get water
harvests from rainfall with water provided ed one of the most common dichotomies
from the planned projects.
by largescale irrigation systems. About 40 seen today — between "big dam” devel
The evictees come from the areas of
per cent of the village's water needs are opmentalism and anti-dam eco-romanti
both new and old dams. Some are dis
supplied by the Kukadi canal, that is from cism.
one of the many dains built on the trib
There is a tendency to either uncritically placed by Koyna and Warna, two biggest
utaries of the Krishna.
endorse or totally reject the "large dam” dams on the Krishna’s tributaries, fighting
Ralegan Siddhi, then, is a model not projects promoted by the government for fulfilment of old promises. Some are
simply for watershed development but for since independence. The one is a form of from the areas of dams still being built,
drought-proofing through what the Chi developmental extremism, the other of such as Unnodi in Satara district, Uttar
nese used to call "walking on two legs” — eco-romanticism. Farmers in drought- Mang or Marathwadi, and a few have given
combining locally-oriented and tradition stricken regions, whether southern Mah alternatives, like the villagers affected by
ally developed forms of watershed devel arashtra or the agonisingly water-scarce the proposed Uchangi dam in Kolhapur
opment with modern systems of irrigation. areas in Saurashtra and Rajasthan, are told district, who have argued for two smaller
The Bali Raja Memorial Dam, built in that they should either wait passively until dams to replace the one which would.flood
Sangli district of southern Maharashtra on the canal water of big dams like the Sardar their land.
another tributary of the Krishna, has also Sarovar reaches them or go ahead on their
And, like angry workers fighting for wag
become something of an environmentalist own and solve their problems at a local es, they have time and again held dharnas
model. It is a peasant-built small dam, level through traditional rainwater har- on the sites. Yet, just as workers would not
combining local labour and activist enthu- vesting methods, check dams and bunds want their factories to close down, none of
siasm with technical help from progressive and other means of catching every drop of these farmers is opposed to the dam as
engineers in Mumbai, and has been fi rain.
such. Like fanners throughout southern
nanced largely by the right to sell sand
In reality, the choice between mindless Maharashtra, they know the difference
from the Yerala river which remains dry for developmentalism and eco-romanticism that assured water can make to agricultu
11 months of the year. Its water irrigates is a false one. The alternatives are mea ral production and farm livelihood. They
about 900 acres of land in two villages ad ningless by themselves. The government- are getting, in fact, alternative land in the
joining the river on a principle of "equi promoted irrigation projects are highly command areas of the same dams, and
table water distribution” — every family, centralised not only in production but also some of them have also won an unprece
whether its own land or not, has a right to in distribution: they tend to concentrate dented gain — an award of Rs. 600 pet
water. The Bali Raja dam has thus become the water provided in privileged areas that month until irrigation water reaches them.
a symbol of the "small dams” which can would become green islands of develop Rather than an apocalyptic campaign to
provide alternatives to the big dams which ment in an ongoing sea of drought. The halt the building of all large dams, theirs is
displace so many millions of people and rainwater harvesting schemes, on the oth a trade .union struggle aimed al gaining a
flood so many millions of hectares of for er hand, in spite of their value, are insuffi
share of their benefits and a fight for what
est.
cient by themselves in areas of really low might be called workers' participation
However, the activists and farmers of rainfall — and there is also the danger that with a full-scale plan of restructuring the
Mukti Sangarsh, spearheading the build effective water-harvesting in areas of high irrigation system on the Krishna. And the
ing of the dam, have recognised that small er elevation can cut off water to rivers Maharashtra government has agreed to
dams by themselves are insufficient in which might otherwise carry it to lower consider this genuine alternative offeiod
drought-prone areas which get less than areas. Both extremes take apparently op for drought-proofing.
500 mm of rainfall a year. The dam pro posite attitudes towards the state, yet there
Deccan Herald
vides water to two out of 108 villages in the is a commonality — one would simply let
taluk and even a string of similar dams the state go on building irrigation projects
15
June 2000
built along the Yerala would leave the ma- as its experts have decided, and the other
Drought-proofing
I
CDL Media Clippings 28
1 «=
*
L— ao
Government of India
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Department of Women and Child Development
Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi
The Government of India acceded to the UN Convention on the'
Rights of the Child (CRC) on 11 December 1992. The UN Committee
on the CRC reviews the progress made in the implementation of the
Convention through periodic reports submitted by the signatory coun
tries. India submitted its First Country Report in February 1997, which
has been reviewed by the Committee in January,2000.
The Second India Country Report is due for submission to the UN
Committee by July 2000. We are in the process of collating and
compiling information for the report. The Department of Women and
Child Development would like all NGOs, institutions, social workers
and individuals who are working in the field of child welfare and de
velopment, to actively participate in the preparation of the report.
The information required for the next country report is based on
the proceedings of the meeting of the UN Committee on CRC, its
concluding observations and the gap areas in our information base.
These have been formatted into a questionnaire which can be
downloaded from our website at http://wcd.nic.in/
NGOs etc. are requested to share any information and views they
may have on the subject with the Secretary (Women and Child Devel
opment) of their State/Union Territory for incorporation in the State
Reports within one month. In the alternative, they may send these to
Mr. C.K. Reejonia, Desk Officer(CW), Department of Women and Child
Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Room No.
750, "A" Wing, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi.
The Department also requests all NGOs etc. to disseminate this
information, and the questionnaire, to other NGOs.
V.S. RAO
Joint Secretary to the Government of India
The Telegraph
16 June 2000
National award!
for the
handicapped
Chennai, June 14: Applicati
ons are invited from handicap
ped and organisations, who
had served the handicapped,
for the State and National level
awards.
According to a press release
from the State Commissioner.
for the Handicapped, 25 awa
rds for best employees and best
self-employed persons have
been instituted for the blind,
deaf and handicapped.
Eighteen awards will be pre
sented to Government depart
ments, PSUs and private entre
preneurs for providing employ
ment to the handicapped and
four awards for placement off
icers.
Best institution award for
outstanding service to the han( dicapped, best individual awa
rds for five persons, best techn
ology awards for three techno
crats and a best architect
award are among the 60 natio
nal awards to be presented ann
ually.
At the State-level, eight awa
rds will be presented for the
Government
departments.
PSUs and private entreprene
urs,
five
best
employee
awards, five best teacher
awards, two awards each for
service organisations and soc
ial servants, an award each for
the best collector and an occu
pational therapist.
The total awards at this level
will be 24.
Applications can be obtai
ned from District Rehabilitat
ion Officers and filled-in appli
cations should reach the State
Commissioner, State Cominissionerate for Handicapped, No.
2. Bakthavachalam Road, Mylapore. Chennai • 4.
The Indian Express
15 June 2000
News You Can Use
Indian health NGO wins accolades in U.S.
By Ramesh Chandran
The Times of India News Service
WASHINGTON: While everyone from the U.S.
President to presumptive Democratic presiden
tial candidate Al Gore to U.S. lawmakers to
American health experts have, in recent months,
expressed growing alarm over the rapid spread
of AIDS in India, in another health-related issue
an Indian organisation has won splendid kudos
here.
A non-governmental organisation, the MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child, sub
mitted one of the three winning projects in the
White Ribbon Alliance Global Contest for inno
vative strategies on safe motherhood which was
scrutinised by representatives from the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank,
Global Health Council, Save The Children
Foundation and the US. Congress.
From California to Kiribati, over 30 projects
from around the world were submitted in the
first year of the contest which were intended to
raise awareness of safe motherhood in its com
munity and the Indian NGO, set up in 1990, was
one of the three winners. It was set up with laud
able objectives that women— especially from
the poorest sections of society—have the right
to enjoy the highest attainable standards of
physical, mental, economic and social health but
this fundamental right continued to elude a ma
jority of them.
At the Global Health Council’s annual con
ference which began in Washington this week,
MAMTA, headed by its executive director Dr
Sunil Mehra, made presentations of the organi
sation’s work aimed at quality care services,
community mobilisation and participation, de
veloping close coordination between govern
ment and NGOs along with the private sector,
all of which focussed on women and young peo
ple.
Dr Mehra and his team also made presenta
tions before the U.S. Congress at Capitol Hill
wh$re the emphasis was on safe motherhood.
HIV/AIDS and other health-related issues
viewed from the perspective of a developing
country which impressed lawmakers.^ another
event involving U.S. Congressmen, nearly one
hundred representatives are expected to join the
international, development and relief agency.
CARE, in a show of support for for victims of
the October 1999 supercyclone in Orissa. Both
Democratic and Republican Congressmen are
expected to assemble CARE packages of school
supplies on Thursday that will be despatched to
200 child development or ‘anganwadi’ centres in
Orissa.The approximate American equivalent
of a ‘anganwadi’ is a U.S. pre-school.
CARE representatives stated that it will also
announce on Thursday a Mastercard donation
that will support the completion of a six-year
*
girls
education project in India that is intended
to provide primary education to “thousands of
girls”.
The Hindustan Times
18 June 2000
‘Nari adalats’ gain popularity in Gujarat villages
By Jahnavi Contractor
The Times of India News Service
PADRA (Vadodara district): This
is a unique ‘adalat
*.
No jury mem
ber of this ‘court’, which is held un
der a tree, has any formal degree in
law, most members have not stud
ied beyond Std. X and yet they
have been so successful in dealing
with local disputes that they are
giving lawyers a run for their mon
ey.
These courts are nari adalats that
are being conducted by a non-govemment organisation Mahila
Samakhya (MS), which works with
local women in 322 villages of
Vadodara district and trains them
in legal matters so that they can
conduct fair trials to resolve local
disputes.
Though they are called nari
adalats the beneficiaries include
not just women.There are men who
complain about their ill-tempered
wives and in some cases brothers
who come in with property dis
putes. Serious offence like rape and
sexual harassment too are tackled
and justice meted out.
All nari adalats function outside
the offices of the magistrate and the
local taluka court buildings. Out
side the Padra taluka mamlatdar
and magistrate office there is a
neem tree where a group of men
and women are seen sitting. In the
centre sit the panch (jury mem
bers).
Rajubhai Mali of Sadhi village
had filed a complaint last week
against his wife who was ill-tem
pered and refused to stay with him.
“We followed up your case Rajub
hai. Our sanghini members in the
nearby village approached your
wife. She says you have hit her and
abused her and that is why she went
to her parent’s house. What do you
have to say?” asks a jury member
D. Padhiyar.
“Yes I did hit her, but that is be
cause she refuses to serve me food
when I return home tired from
work,” he says sheepishly. The jury
members decide that this case can
be resolved next week when the
wife of Rajubhai and her parents
have agreed to come before the
adalat and for a mutual consensus.
The next case is that of a man
who regularly branded his wife a
hot iron. The jury members talk to
his wife who refuses to go back to
him and now wants a divorce. “I
will kill myself if I am made to go
back to him,” she says. “This is a
young couple and their marriage is
not even a year old, but since the
two are incompatible the best thing
to do would be to grant them a di
vorce,” says J. Parmar. After hesi
tating a bit, the parents of the hus
band are convinced and they are
ready not only to give back the
stree dhan (dowry) but also grant a
formal divorce.
Jayaben Meckwan, who is a re
source person of MS, says, “In many
cases counselling helps and often
couples reunite. In tribal areas land
disputes often tum violent and may
even lead to murder, but we have
been able to tackle these amicably
in many cases. Recently, a landlord
in Luna village sexually harassed a
9-year-old girLWe approached him
but he refused to acknowledge the
crime.
The women of our saiigh got to
gether and beat him with chappals.
The little girl was called and she too
hit him with a stick. He finally paid
a fine of Rs 25,000, which was de
posited in the bank in the little girl’s
name.”
The Times of India
15 June 2000
CDL Media Clippings 30
FROM MEXICO TO NEW YORK
Gains of the long j ourney
ROM June 4 to 9. women
and governments met in
New York to assess how far
the plans for women’s advance
*
ment. made in Beijing in 1995,
have materialised. What is the
real balance-sheet? I have been a
participant in these conferences
from 1975, the First world confer
ence on women held in Mexico.
There was a tangible excite
ment in all the constituents of the
women’s movement in India,
whether it was the women work
ers’ movement, which interesting
ly was a strong presence in the
70s, or the major traditional
women's organisations like the
All India Women’s Conference,
Bharatiya Grameena Mahila
Sangh, the National Council of
Women, or at that time the few
and far between women’s research
and resource centres.
Since these were still working
somewhat independently, there
was no convergence under a
national campaign or national
mobilisation for a world confer
ence, or a response to a national
initiative. To that extent, women's
participation in Mexico was some
what unstructured in preparation
and in presence.
F
Agenda for equality
There was no state experience
of what can be called a platform
document, as has emerged out of
Beijing, which has been drafted
and crafted to bring in aspects of
the women’s agenda for equality.
The general atmosphere was one
of exuberance — 10,000 women
gathered in the NGO forum from
all over the world, listening to
serious speeches by world
renowned economists such as
Esther Boserup. There were
strong voices against the South
African apartheid regime, and in
support of the liberation of
Palestine. The Indian women’s
united social flow, towards a pur
pose — only a large scattered se«
A remarkable graphic of this is an of women-focussed organisations
advertisement placed by the Even women’s mass struggles
Women and Child Department of' like the anti-arrack stir in Andhra
the Government of India in a Pradesh, are "independent’’ strug
national newspaper on May 28, gles not necessarily adopted by
showing the face of a battered what can be called a national
woman, and making an appeal — movement.
showing the Government’s will
From the earlier 70’s when
ingness to admit the existence of national initiatives for women
this highly sensitive issue of were in the hands of women.
domestic violence. Some years today national initiatives are ir.
ago, it was unthinkable that a gov the hands of government. It is a
ernment would expose anything slide back. Changing the condition
within the sacrosanct family.
of women requires a monumental
A second achievement is the change in the social perceptions of
increase in the visibility of her value, across caste, class and
women — whether in their misery other differences. It also needs a
or in achievement. The identity, change in the portrayal of women
the woman question, the differ in films and advertisements.
ence has been established.
At the world level, these con Anti-apartheid fight
It may be stretching a point
ferences, and women’s participa
tion in them have offered crucial but like overpowering apartheid
handles, to redress cruel customs, — a white supremacy mindset.
laws, systems of exclusion, espe which derived its strength from
cially in many conservative coun deeply embedded attitudes that
tries. It is also true that none of blacks were valueless, brainless
these advances has reduced the and simple feelingless, what is
misery, or redressed the exclu needed is a focussed anti
sions and oppressions endured by apartheid struggle. A long march
women. In fact, there is an headed by several Mandelas.
For this long march to begin
increase in domestic violence
against women in India, higher what is needed is political mobili
and more virulent dowry demands sation of women, united, even il
and a wider spreading of female temporarily, by their sex. They
foeticide. So what are these con then have to move out of the con
ference journeys all about? What ventional grip of the arrival hall
have you brought, back except — namely become a lobby witi
governments. It needs to lobby
your well-travelled selves?
with itself.
Independent struggles
The history of the world is ful
This question cannot be of heroines and rebels, who chai
bounced back. The WWWM has lenged these heirarchical and dis
also entered the conventional criminatory perceptions and val
mode of functioning: where gov ues. The gains of conference jour
ernment is postulated as the main neys of the last 25 years have
player in transformation and the shown how they can be used as ;
women's movement a reporter of platform to recover the spirit ano
progress, a diminishing of respon spirituality of these rebels to gen
sibility. In fact, it is said that erate a more focussed politica
there is no women's movement, no resistance.
By DEVAKI JAIN
contingent had an opportunity to
go deep into the heartland of
Mexico, into the villages. Seeing
the field was as important as
being in the conference. In a word.
the conference was political and
gave a big push to what can be
called worldwide wdtnen’s move
ment (WWWM).
Impressive beginning
The beginning set by Mexico
was so impressive that it was
decided to have one a decade later
in Nairobi in 1985 but to make the
Nairobi event substantial, a mid
decade conference was held in
Copenhagen in 1980. The Nairobi
conference was a great leap for
ward for building, women’s net
works. Thus was born the new
club of women: women who organ
ised, networked, yielded power in
international debates, challenged
inherited knowledge bases.
Between Nairobi 1985 and
Beijing women’s conference 1995,
a different ethos emerged. To
some extent, it could be called the
bureaucratisation of the women’s
movement and to some extent, it
could also be said that women
were beginning to be able to give
what can be called women’s
advice on major global issues such
as environment, human rights,
habitat and population. One could
say that women have journeyed
from a sense of strengthening
what can be called a broad-based
women’s identity to developing
consensual approaches to general
policies on economics, population
etc. But what does this journey
hold for those who are left behind?
The error or the flaw in such a
question can be well illustrated by
ground realities across the world.
A significant achievement has
been the education of the Indian
state — and the Indian judiciary.
Deccan Herald
16 June 2000
31
News You Can Use
Recharging The Water Tabl<
W
ATER is essential for our existence, wells ponds and rivers.
cent of urban area use underground watt
Without water, life will come to an
We shout(j have a separate distribution this will recharge the ground water. There a
end. With the current declining water system for drinking water and for other uses, about 1,500 households which have tubewe
situation in several states, there is no fodder wastewater, properly treated, can be used in 'n Dewas. Approximately 1,500-20,000 squa
available for grazing animals; crop failure, many cases. All the existing canals and feet of roof area is available for rainwat
food scarcity and even famine may soon reservoirs have to be looked after to avoid harvesting. Last year 21 households ha
follow. In a country like India, where rainwater water pollution. Rivers like Yamuna can be been able to save rainwater through rc
is generally available, we have not learnt supplied with this stored rainwater In dry water harvesting system; the number is goii
either to store it or to utilise it efficiently. We summer months. Ordinary water supply is to increase this year. The target is to cov
have to extend our water storing capacity and essential, ‘ as most of the citl6s are not 12 lakh square feet of roof area, coverii
spread the supply system wherever necessary. p|ace(j ngar river or lakes
1,000 households.
Storing rainwater Is effective improves water
The current water crjsis
work, in this direction, has started in otr
table with water being purified by nature. can be tack,ed on)y through the concerted regions too. Central Ground Water Board h.
Storing tanks are not required. To make it efforts of the community_ ,n this context, the started rainwater harvesting in Haryana
more effective we have to divert our finance, efforts of the peop|e pf Dewas d|strict (n 1976, in Gujarat in 1980 and in Kerala
resources and use the latest technology.
Madhya Pradesh, led by their collector M 1938.,n Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Prades
One of the reasons behind the water Mohan Rao, need to be emulated and widely more than 1000 check dams and 10!
shortage in summer months is exploitation of publicised. They have collected rainwater to tan^s have been built After severe draught
environmental resources in the past. During artificially recharge the water table.
Maharashtra (1971-72) percolation day
the Monsoon downpour, nature supplies us
Mohan Rao had made significant Improve- w.ere. made- In Gopalpura village of Alv\
with enough water. Forests have been destroyed ment in Malwa as project coordinator of the district, Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) has cc
without any consideration and it’s not difficult National Watershed Development Project in strutted tanks, desilted and deepened existi
to guess what impact it will have on the Rainfed Areas.
ponds and restarted traditional water harve
water cycle of the nature. The leaves of
The water problem in Dewas is not new. Ing systems in 1985. Commendable work
forest trees provide precipitation and moisture, During 1990, railway tankers were used to NGOs have helped community-based rainwa'
which improves the water balance. This supply water there. The installation of several harvesting.
moisture is lost due to deforestation. At the pump sets by 1998 lowered the watertable.
Even in metropolitan cities like Delhi, wasame time due to the logging, roots are not The local public health engineering department scarcity Is a major problem. From a 1(
able to retain water. In logging affected area, increased the number of tubewells from square metre rooftop, 65,000 litres of ra
rainwater moves rapidly over the surface 2,338 to 5,416 In nine years. The private water may be captured. This can meet t
without recharging the ground water percolation pump sets increased from 350 to 1,486. domestic requirements of a family of 4
system, causing flash flood.
During 1990 there were 3,886 pumps, which 160 days. With proper rooftop harvesting t
In the absence of logging, run off of increased to 14,172 in 1998. There are water problems of a city of the size of De
rainwater is trapped by extensive network of 187 tanks but mostly dry. Subsequently pre- should disappear. But little has been achiev
root system, which later supplies water to Monsoon watertable dipped and shrank about in Delhi and NCT apart from some activiti
rivers, lakes, ponds throughout the year. Man 8 meters In 1994 and 14 meters more In in IIT and JNU. The introduction of deei
has also contributed to the depletion of water 1999. The average annual rainfall — nearly tubewells and more powerful pumping sets
table through the indiscriminate use of pump 100 cm — does not help since the soil some colonies would surely prove count
sets. Had the rainwater been tapped and quality Is such that It does not allow natural productive. The steps, taken in distant Madt
distributed effectively, the pump sets would percolation.
Pradesh and Rajasthan, small though rr
not have been in use, thus saving energy,
Roof water harvesting Is an old method of appear to indicate not only the direction
money and preserving the water table.
water collection. In Dewas it Is possible, even need
move ,n,but aiso the orrection
There is enough ordinary water around us in case of a centimeter of rainfall, to collect need t0 avoid-
for sanitation, hygiene, irrigation and industrial 1.500 liters of rainwater from 1,500 sq foot -------~
M ..
purposes. But we need to make a distinction roof area. This rainwater is filtered when It
°
between drinking water and ordinary water — passes through graded pebbles, coal and
The author is a-freelancer '
the former is more expensive to produce at sand and goes into the tubewell. The whole
least in cities. In villages, people drink water, set UP costs Rs 700 to 1,000 per family.
The Observ<
which has been purified naturally, from tube Since 80 per cent of rural area and 50 per
16 June 200
CDL Media Clippings 32
Perennial drought of relief
ixty-something Haroon Yusaf
Patel has never been to school.
He couldn't go because his father
could not afford the school fees. It
would be wiser, the senior Patel
thought, to have his son work at the
family farm and earn some money. In
the Kutch district of India's western
state of Gujarat, Haroon Patel’s fam
ily owns six acres of land where, if
there is a good rain, he can expect his
harvest to yield about 8,000 kilos of
bajra (a coarse cereal). From this, he
will earn about 13,500 rupees.
Haroon Patel’s family of seven can
not survive on this income. "If it rains,
the family also gets good work at the
local landlorads
*
farms and we can
double or even triple our income," he
explains. However, this is the third
successive year of drought and peo
ple like Haroon in villages across
Kutch are living at life of penury. “The
moneylender does not lend us any
thing because our lands are worth
nothing to mortgage," he says de
spairingly. “We have no jewellery to
sell either. We gel our barest needs
from the village grocer at whatever
price he quotes so that we can pay
him back when we have the money."
The village grocer’s inflated rates
compensate for the lack of any in
terest he would otherwise charge.
Haroon Patel's situation echoes the
misery of poor farmers and landless
labourers throughout Kutch who live
below the poverty line at the best of
times. A year of drought, or the third
year in a row as in the case of Kutch,
makes matters worse. Faced with cir
cumstances like these, villagers
throng to the only employment source
available, which is invariably a gov
ernment relief site. In return for
cash or food, villagers work on com
munity projects which often involving
the construction of rainwater har
vesting systems such as check dams
or waler catchments. A typical relief
S
workplace provides work for most of
the village men, women and even chil
dren.
As Hauwa Bai. a mother of six says.
“I also get my 12-year-old son to work.
Even my pregnant neighbour comes
to work here. Just last week, a
woman delivered her baby at the re
lief site itself." In a normal year,
Hauwas’ husband would work at the
landlords' farm where he would earn
more than both the couples current
wages put together with the added
bonus of free from the landlord.
But what worries people the most
is the fate of their cattle. Most fami-
CASE STUDY
Kutch is one of India's largest yet least
populated districts comprising desert
and salt pans, which stretch into the hori
zon along, its 350-km coastline towards
: the Pakistan border. Three quarters of the
> population have migrated leaving behind
' just 12 million people. Although farming
$ arid cattie rearing is the prime occupation,•
there is little evidence of any agricultur
al activity. The money sent by migrant
labourers protects many a family from
starvation. This is best explained in the
words of the district commissioner.;
“Kutch’s economy is a money-order
economy. Money orders come from mi- ■
grant labourers in Mumbai or Gulf, then'
. there is relief money for the droughthit."
lies own a cow or a goat that can pro
vide them with some nutrition yet
most of the relief efforts by organi
sations are aimed at mitigating the
impact of the drought on the district’s
human population .The cows are tak
en care of by the panjarapoles, tra
ditional cattle camps which provide
fodder and water, many of which are
run by religious charities that func
tion precisely for this purpose. (The
cow’ is holy to the Hinduism, which ex
plains the great emphasis on Lhi? wel
fare of the animal.) However, there
will never be enough rattle camps to
meet the demand and thousands of
cattle in Kutch have already died from
starvation.
While there is some assistance for
cattle, there is no provision made for
goats and sheep which represent the
economic base of most nomadic
households. The nomadic people of
Kutch have developed their own cop
ing mechanisms to face drought.
which are almost perennial. But over
the years, these coping mechanisms
have been eroded.
This breakdown is occurring large
ly because coping mechanisms were
traditionally based on the philan
thropy of the regions’ wealthier land
lords. Over time, however, this sup
port has dissolved.
The landed class has drifted away.
partly because of land reforms but al
so because they feel *,then is no future
in Kutch. As Haroon Yusaf patel
laments, “Gone are the days when the
landlords came to our rescue during
a drought."The Kutch branch of the
Indian Red Cross is planning to in
tervene with emergency relief assis
tance targelted at beneficiaries in the
most affected areas. With support
from the federation, the. branch in
tends to provide potable water, shrlter and food rations to beneficiaries
at approximately 10 government re
lief sites.
Registration of individual benefi
ciaries will take place at the sit<«. with
priority placed on women and children.The height weight ratio of all
children below five-years-old
will be measured as part of a nutri
tional survey. This programme will
run for as long as the relief work con
tinues.
•
Bijoy Patra
The Pioneer
16 June 2000
33
News You Can Use
E-commerce eyes the
rural rich in MP
HT Correspondent
Bhopal, June 18
ITS A concept that fuses cuttingedge e-commerce tools with hard
sell of a wide array of consumer
goods at rural trade fairs (melas)
in mofussil towns of Madhya
Pradesh.
Using an elementary B2B model
to close deals with consumer prod
ucts and durable and automobile
companies, an exposition company
has been holding these Melas for
product display and sale in leading
Mandi towns of the State.
With Cola war reaching the dusty
tracts of rural Punjab, it is widely
recognised that a huge market lies
beyond urban India waiting to be
tapped.
"Gramotsav is a platform for
companies to showcase products
and get a first-hand feel of rural
market," says Gurudatta Mishra,
one of the directors of Delta
Expositions, the agency behind the
concept.
Some of the biggest names in tex
tile, consumer products, consumer
electronics and automobile sectors
- Eveready, BSL Suiting, Colgate
Palmolive, Salora TV, Godrej GE,
Mahindra the & Mahindra,
Hindustan Motors and TVS
Suzuki - came down, setting shop
in towns like Harda and Dhar.
Modelled on a village Mela, the
Gramotsav ambience has a decid
ed fun-filled feel about it. The
company provides logistical sup
port in Mandi towns.
The events are timed to encour
age buying binge by cash-rich
farmers just after the sale of Kharif
or Rabi crops.
It's not that the idea of village
trade fairs is
* entirely new. The
State Government's Agriculture
Department has been holding
them for some years now.
However, the Government-held
events have apparently not met
with much success due to myriad
reasons.
For instance, the venue of
Department Melas, usually at an
Agriculture University or College,
has come in for criticism due to
lack of accessibility to farmers.
The location for the Gramotsav
is selected strategically near
Government-recognised class agri
culture produce Mandi where
crops are procured after a harvest.
The first wave of Melas has already
been held after the Kharif season
was over.
The response from rural con
sumers seems encouraging.
'The sale has been good. I look
forward to future expositions,
*'
says
Paramjeet Singh of Karan Raj
Leathers, an Indore-based compa
ny that put up a stall in Dhar
Gramotsav in May-end.
The clincher, he says, was the use
of Internet by the Exposition
Company .'Though it was rudimen
tary e-commerce, I liked the idea
of finalising everything online"
Singh added.
The Gramotsav idea was floated
in haste. To offset the time lag,
Delta Expositions decided to go
online.
A detailed website was put up for
presentation with key e-commerce
features like registration for the
Gramotsav.
"With cyber laws now on the
anvil, we will have money transac
tions online from next year," says
Mishra.
The Hindustan Times
19 June 2000
A.P. harvests
rain water to
end drought
once andfor all
pedite the programme in view of
the ongoing rainy season.
HUDA
director
(urban
forestry) K. Bhoopal Reddy said
the authority on Wednesday had
achieved 29,550 cubic metre of
earthwork as against its target of
50,000 cubic metre.
He said HUDA was co-ordinat
ing with the Ground Water
By T. Radhakrishna
Department
(GWD),
which
The Times of India News Service
had identified 32 institutions
HYDERABAD: It’s a new move
and parks for constructing
ment sweeping across Andhra
RWH structures in its limits
Pradesh, the battle to tackle
covering nine municipalities in
drought.
Rangareddy and Hyderabad dis
The severe drought earlier this tricts.
year in the state has has its impact
The institutes and parks include
on chief minister N. Chandrababu the University of Hyderabad,
Naidu. Not just to tackle it “one ANG Ranga Agricultural Univer
more time”, but to never let it sity, Osmania University, National
happen again.
Institute for Rural Development,
This is the main objective of the National Police Academy, A.P.
state government’s new pro Police Academy, Bio-Tech Park,
gramme titled ‘Neeru Meeru’ Apparel Park, Shilparamam and
(Water and You), aimed at im Night Safari.
proving the ground water levels by
According to HMWS&SB man
constructing rain water harvesting aging director L.V. Subrah
(RWH) structures on the premises manyans, the metro board has
of every building in Andhra received about 5,000 applications
Pradesh.
from local residents for RWH
Commenced on June 1, the pro structures and announced a 50
gramme will cover 934.49 lakh cu per cent subsidiary on each 650
bic metres in 22 districts, involving cubic metre size of RWH structure
an amount of Rs 227.36 crore. At within Hyderabad and Secunder
least 2.78 lakh workers are en abad.
gaged in the programme.
Earlier, the board had cautioned
As on June 10,428.60 lakh cubic that it would disconnect water
metres at an expenditure of Rs connections if building owners
111.81 crore works were ground failed to construct RWH struc
ed, according to state rural tures on their premises by January
development commissioner S.P. l,200L
Thicker.
According to the government’s
To find a permanent solution to proposal RWH should be con
the depleting ground water level, structed within 100 days since the
the state government constituted issue of notification, failing which
a five- member cabinet sub-com the building owner might be pe
mittee to formulate a comprehen nalised.
sive legislation making RWH
While the MCH has been asked
mandatory in all dwellings where to look after institutions, schools,
the plot area is above 100 square and colleges, HUDA will take
metre.
care of apartments, industries and
A notification in this regard will companies. The metro board will
be issued soon, according to offi be responsible for individual
cials.
houses.
In addition, the government has
During the 60-day action plan,
prepared an action plan, taken up the agencies would co-ordinate
by its three agencies—Municipal with all the house owners for con
Corporation of Hyderabad, Hy structing RWH structures, apart
derabad Urban Development Au from taking up massive tree plan
thority (HUDA) and Hyderabad tation programmes under the
Metro Water Supply and Sewer ‘Neeru Meeru’ programme.
age Board (HMWS&SB)—to ex
The Times of India
16 June 2000
CDL Media Clippings 34
Around the new woman
Long the bastion of patriarchy, the-times-they-are-a-changing for women
in the ancient villages of Haryana, writes Ena Singh
HAT WAS the first thing you did
when you removed your ghungat”, I
ask Veermati. She laughs, recalling
that historic moment. “I took in two lungfuls
of air”, she says. “When we lifted our veils
and started speaking aloud, men used to tear
that they would be driven to grinding the
chakki.”
Built larger than most women, she sits
cross-legged, leaning slightly backwards as
she tells her story. She wears a dupatta the
colour of a mustard field, bordered with a sil
ver kinari that frames her face and reflects
the sparkle in her eye.
Veermati cannot speak without smiling,
cannot talk without bursting into song, can
not sing without dancing. She has a fullthroated voice which drowns out the chatter
of the other women, and she is soon twirling
around, feet thumping the floor, hands flail
ing and ghagra flowing, body swaying in
rhythm with the song she starts to sing.
We sit in a village in Haryana’s
Mohindergardh district. Veermati and sever
al others who are members of a women's
development programme have come to share
their experiences with city women from
Delhi. The Haryanvi women are all members
of ‘Jagruti Mandalis’, their women’s empow
erment group, and some are ‘Sanjeevinis’
(change makers).
Veermati is a Sanjeevini, harbinger of new
life to the villages of this district. Long the
bastion of patriarchy, the-times-they-are-achanging in these ancient villages. The
Internet may not yet be a household world,
but Jagruti certainly is. Veermati and her
colleagues are the winds of change, bringing
new thought, new spirit, new power to
women long smothered by tradition.
One by one, they tell their stories. Is there
an echo here? Each has battled with a per
sonal tragedy — a drunken husband, a lech
erous brother-in-law, widowhood, rape by a
man who controls the police and the politi
cian. And even if each one of them has not
found justice, each has found strength.
Enough for herself and for her sisters.
“Once one of my Jagruti Mandali members
W
was Suraj Bhan. Today, she sees herself as the
equal of her spouse.
Another woman, Santosh, says: “When I
started
as a Sanjeevini I could only find five
was beaten by her husband,” Veermati
oldies to attend my meetings. But soon they
recalls^ “We went to the SHO of the police
brought their daughters-in-law. We became
station. He refused to file the FIR. So I went
ten. Their husbands threatened them, and
straight to the Superintendent of Police. One
we were down to five again. I didn't give up.
visit was all it took, and my work was done.
Soon I had 20 women in my meetings".
Nobody wants to cross swords with a
But all was not well for Santosh. One
Sanjeevini, because they know she is not
morning she came into the panchayat ghar
alone. The sarpanch helps me when I need
and found someone had defecated in the
him. I help him when he needs me. He takes
room. She cleaned it up. The next week, on
me along to government offices, to help get
the day of the meeting, it was the same story.
his work done. Use your power, he tells me.”
Again and again. Five times she cleaned out
someone’s shit so that the Mandali could meet.
When she talked about it, one of the
women said her husband was capable of this.
The woman followed him, and her suspicions
were confirmed. She confronted him, he was
shamed, and the incident was never repeated.
Premlata knew from her training that the
nurse should use a boiled syringe for (he
antenatal tetanus shots that her friend need
ed, and made sure that she complied. "In in\
younger days, we didn’t know much, we did
n’t speak up, we were shy. 1 dry my menstru
al cloth in the sun now. When I was a girl. I
used to hide it in a matka.”
Sarla, in Bachod village, has been a god
send for Asmati, a widow with five daughteis
Soon after her husband’s death, her brotherin-law began cheating on the milk accounts
of their jointly-owned cow. Also, her fatherIt is no coincidence that Sanjeevinis have
in-law started approaching her for sexual
had such difficult lives. A selection bias
favours. She went to the sarpanch. He said he
operates in their appointment to this posi
would support her, but could not do so open
tion. The women’s development programme
ly, since Asmati’s father-in-law was an influ
seeks out women whom society has aban
ential man. But Sarla had no such compunc
doned or disempowered, trains and nurtures
tions, and went with Asmati to file a case.
them, and gives them the confidence to turn
During the hearings Asmati could not
around their lives, and those of others.
speak. “If you are silent, who will speak for
When participants in the first batch of
you?” Sarla asked her. Asmati drew courage
Sanjeevinis were being registered, they had
from her friend. Today she is independent.
to give husband’s name and the address. One
She supports herself by selling embroidered
woman could not bring herself to take her
dupattas. All five of her girls go to school.
husband’s name. She said, in riddle form,
So the battles continue, within their hem b
“His name is the same as that which rises
and minds. And the social fabric rearrange^
every morning and sets at dusk.” His name
itself differently, around the new woman.
PLAWRM
The Hindustan Times
19 June 2000
35
News You Can Use
WB’s global development
learning network launched
Indian AIDS cases
3.5 million
Washington, D.C., June 22
From Shyam Bhatia
D H News Service
WORLD BANK president James Wolfensohn has electronically
launched the global development learning network (GDLN), a telecom
munications network that connects distance learning centres (DLCs)
across the globe.
GDLN members are linked through a Web of high-speed communica
tion technologies. They are part of a worldwide exchange of learning
activities through courses, seminars and discussions on key development
issues.
Using interactive video, electronic classrooms, satellite communications
and Internet facilities to help break down the digital divide, the network
allows people everywhere to share their knowhow and experience,
regardless of time-zones, distance or national boundaries,.
"What we are participating in today is a result of technological advances'
and another example of globalisation at its best," said Wolfensohn at the
launch yesterday. "We are using technology to ensure that eveiyonc has
equal access to knowledge."
Via video conferencing, Wolfensohn was joined across many time zones
by leaders from 16 other countries: Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia, China, Cote
d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Senegal,
Singapore, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand and Uganda.
GDLN members — including governments, international, civil society
and private sector organisations, academia and research institutions —
joined to embrace the creation of GDLN and its knowledge sharing
capacity in support of sustainable development.
"The reality of globalisation is that it is an unavoidable, irreversible phenomenon...it makes cooperation and dialogue necessary and the GDLN
is the most appropriate way of exchanging experience and ways and
means of development," said Prime Minister of Senegal Moustapha
Niasse.
"Distance learning is a tool that can cross oceans and mountains to bring
technology to the countries of the South,” he added.
The global development learning network harnesses expertise in a wide
variety of disciplines and connects knowledge centres around the world,
enabling people to learn in their home environments without costly trav
el or work disruptions. (IANS)
WASHINGTON, June 14
India’s visiting Minister of Health
made the incredible claim on
Tuesday that the number of AIDS
cases in the country had been
capped at 3.5 million cases.
US Government estimates are
that aids in India could peak at
between 10 and 18 million cases
by 2020.
Dr C B Thakur, the newly
appointed minister of health and
family services, said, ‘The 3.5 mil
lion cases of AIDS should not
increase because publicity and
knowledge of AIDS is increasing.’’
Dr Thakur was addressing a press
conference at the Innian embassy
in Washington.
Asked for his comment on
American assessments that AIDS
sufferers could reach 20 or 30 mil
lion by 2020, Dr Thakur said, -’The
types of figures just out are based
on the African model and do not
apply.”
’’Aids in India started with the
big cities, starting from Chennai
and Mumbai and then, because
truck drivers, it expanded.
*’ln the North East then a
drug users and there the in
*
dence of AIDS is high. Biotransfusion is also a mode.
“In India it is hetrosexual. n
homosexual like the West.”
US assessments are that Indi;
AIDS casualties could peak al
million by 2020.
Within the US there have bet
and continue to be furious arg
ments that the anti-AlDS druj
should be made available wor
wide at an affordable cost.
Dr Thakur, who met (»S Healt
Secretary Donna Shtilala. said th
issue of cheaper drugs was in
even discussed.He said. *‘Ver
important agreements have ore
signed regarding India and th
rest of the world. Then inrlud
maternal and child health an
population
stabilisation \V
won’t be legislative.” Dr Thakii
said. “Wc want legislation for poj.
ulation stabilisation. Wt> nr
going to educate the common per
pie about the effects of she popr
lation explosion.”
Deccan Heralc
15 June 2000
The Hindustan Times
23 June 2000
NGO shows UP villages life sans Govt
crutches
HIRAG, A Bhimtal-based NGO, is
running a diversified agricultural pro
ject under the title UP-DASP to dis
courage the dependence of villagers on sub
sidies.
Mr Raju Mehra, coordinator of the pro
ject, told The Hindustan Times, "Under the
project, we have been forming self-servicing
groups of women in the village. They gener
ate their own funds and then by way of giv
ing each other loans fulfill their needs relat
ed to the areas of horticulture, animal-hus
C
bandry and agriculture."
Till December last year, Chirag had devel
oped 112 such groups in Ramgarh, Bhimtal
and Betalghat blocks of Nainital district.
Tvelve such groups have recently been
developed in Ranibagh and Pinron region.
Ms Geeta Joshi, a block-level functionary
of Chirag, said that besides making things
such as hybrid seeds, polyhouse technology
available to the villagers, expertise is also
being extended through the State
Departments of agriculture, horticulture
and animal husbandry.
"A few months ago, experts from New
Zealand came and trained the villagers in
the pruning of the deciduous trees, which is
a vital crop in these parts,” said Mr Mehra.
Members of the group developed by
Chirag have started cultivating Mushroom
and off-season vegetables to supplement
their income.
"In Chirag, we consider women to be the
most effective community based agents of
the much desired change in the social and
ecological situation of this region," said Mr
Mehra.
With women the focus of their planning,
Chirag has been a success in protecting and
developing forests in several vanpanchayats
of Bhimtal and neighbouring areas. Its con-
The Hindustan Times
18 June 2000
CDL Media Clippings 36
tion of four check dams is also the complete opposite when
going on and one of these is asked to talk about himself.
For over a decade and- half,
being built by the Maharashtra
he has been turning wastelands
government."
into green belts. Till last year
Apart from bananas, a few
the project was being imple
vegetables and fruits are also
mented on a small scale and
being nurtured here and subse
he could manage with his own
quently rice and wheat will
resources.
also find a place.
However, when he decided
Another facet of the project
to purchase 90 acres — each
is that it plans to involve
HE purchased 90 acres ogy. A beginning has been
children. Says Kataria, "We acre costing Rs 20,000 on
of wasteland in this dis- made with banana crops, beupper tracts and Rs 40,000
trict, putting at stake his cause it is a cash crop. Of want to bring children with on the plains — he borrowed
disabilities
here
and
let
them
lifetime savings, selling course, it is a water intensive
money both from relatives and
off his personal belong crop that makes it a handicap feel free in this environment financial institutions. But the
ings and taking a huge loan as as the area has a hilly terrain They can pursue whatever inter
huge debt does not weigh him
ests them — music, painting,
well. Not surprisingly, many said
and is entirely dependant on
down, because it’s no match
pottery and so on. We plan to
<this was a man with an empty
monsoon.
for his simple but firm dreams!
get
some
artistes
to
come
and
head. Ramlal Kataria's dream
Last year, says Kataria, "We
O(IANS)
was to turn 90 acres of barren
had good rains and sailed .spend time with them."
V Radhlka
land in Kadoos village into a
And even as he oversees his
through. This year, arrange
The
Observer
fertile green belt and set up a
dream project, he continues to
ments are being made to ensure
model village that would serve
visit his clinic every day. In
19 June 2000
as an example of self-reliance. sustained water supply through fact, he has also been dispens
And within a year, Kataria, a drip irrigation (which costs Rs ing medical care to the needy.
mild-mannered albeit mulishly de
20,000 per acre) and also to But while the slenderly built
termined medical doctor, is al get water from the Bhima river
doctor is most vocal when he
ready proving his critics in
which flows nearby. Construe- talks about his project, he is
The Statement
Maharashtra wrong.
Today, a rich patch of green
20 June 2000
— 20,000 banana crops on 10
acres of the otherwise bald and
brown landscape—greets visitors
with a gentle sway. "What we
ire striving for Is the motto of a
green and self-sufficient village,
**
Kataria says. And it is to that
end, nearly 70 persons have
been working day in and out on
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
____
tion of work in seven prelimi
cent of its population living in
the project, with nearly 12 families
urban areas, of which the
nary phase slums, another 21
living on the campus itself.
CUTTACK, June 19. - Slum
out of the 106 slum pockets
Below Poverty Line population
*• Of course, this is but a tiny
is about 40 per cent.
dwellers of Cuttack town have
had been identified for the Rs
cog In the giant wheel of the
“This is in stark contrast with
requested the British Prime
67-crore main phase project in
project
undertaken
by
what is envisaged in the
Minister Mr Tony Blair to con
1998.
Gandhlans, which is what the
tinue the Department for
The project had since been
DFID’s country strategy paper
organisation set up by Kataria
International Development
renamed as the Cuttack Urban
for India which was committed
is called.
(DFID)-sponsored
project
to urban poverty alleviation
Service Improvement Project.
"We are guided by the
which was being implemented
also”,contended the slum
So
far
Rs
5.5
crore
had
been
Gandhian principle of self-reli
in their area.
dwellers by way of a counter to
sanctioned.
ance, with the village as the
Concerned over reports that
Hoping that a new dawn was
the shift in focus from urban to
main unit," he says.
the DFID intended to wind up
in store for them, the slum
rural areas. '
"And to implement these
its project, over 15,000 slum
dwellers today said they were
Most slums were devastated
principles we needed a place
dwellers of this ancient town
by the cyclone of 29 October
disturbed at some reports
where we could translate them
petitioned the British Prime
which said that it .will be closed
1999 and infrastructure execu
Minister today stating “it will
into practice, a place to achieve
or terminated.
tion under the project which
leave all of us in the middle of
Our expectations had risen
was going on in 19 slums have
self-sufficiency, a place where
no where and render us misfits
nqt been resumed since the
because of visits by a number
we could follow social activity
in the social set up.”
cyclone, they pointed out.
of dignitaries representing the
according to Gandhian thought.
In their memorandum to Mr
DFID and the British govern
The fixture of nearly 1.5 lakh
Every Individual, we feel should
Blair they appealed for contin
slum dwellers spread over 106
ment including Mr Barrie
do his own work."
uance of the development pro
Ireton, director general, DFID
slums hinges on the continuance
It comes as no surprise that
ject.
of support from the DFID for the
and a delegation of MPs from
farming here means organic
The DFID-funded slum devel
Britain, they said.
project, stated the memorandum
farming and top priority is
opment project was launched
which was signed by 15,000
The DFID is reported to have
here in 1993 and was aimed at
justified its shift of focus from
slum dwellers and a copy ni
given to afforestation and
upgrading the quality of life of
the slum dwellers by stating
which was sent to Mr Vajpayee
achieving
a
synthesis
of
slum dwellers. After comple
and Mr Navin Patnaik.
that Orissa has-only 13 per
traditional and modern technol-
Doctor’s Green
Thumb Works
Wonders
Slum-dwellers urge Blair
to continue project
37
News You Can Use
WB indicts MCD on
India Population Project
Aruna P. Sharma
New Delhi, June 20
THE WORLD Bank (WB) has expressed dis
satisfaction with the prestigious India
Population Project (IPP)-VIII of Municipal
Corporation of Delhi (MCD).”
The entire project costing Rs 73.84 crores is
funded by the World Bank. It aims at reducing
bjrth rate, providing reproductive health.care,to.
women and immunisation to children living in
9££jfifjggl dlJsteA of the cifjpThe project'cov
ers a population of 12.5 lakh jhuggi dwellers.
According to sources in the Health
Department, the World Bank has made adverse
remarks on three successive occasions about the
project not being able to achieve its targets. It is
learnt that Municipal Commissioner S.P.
Aggarwal has taken a serious view of the WB
report and has called a special meeting to dis
cuss IPP-VIII on Wednesday.
Sources said the WB report had expressed
concern over under-utilisation of two maternity
homes for conducting deliveries set up at
Shahbad Daulatpur and Seema Puri. It is learnt
that the number of deliveries
*'Conducted
at
these homes, constructed at a cost of about Rs
2 erores, is less than five in a month. The Bank
has directed that medical officers in these
maternity homes should occupy adjacent staff
quarters and that services should be made
available in these centres round the clock.
The project would have come to an end last
August without achieving any of its aim but for
the extension given to it till June 30, 2001.
When the Health Department had sought
approval from the Standing Committee for
extension, then Additional Commissioner
(Health) Rakesh Behari had conceded the pro
ject had only reached “take-off stage.” This had
led to an uproar in the Committee with
Opposition leader Ram BabwSbqnna'remark
*
ing the project is a failure since the poor were
not benefiting from it. y .t!>oiv
- -'i
According to him, buildings under the project
have not been constructed, medicines are not
getting distributed and health awareness not
spread in spite of free funds from World Bank.
The Hindustan Times
21 June 2000
Naidu farm
drive sparks
disquiet
FROM G5. RADHAKRISHNA
Hyderabad, June 19: Chandr
abalm Naidu has decided to ex
tend the Kuppam Integrated De
velopment Society (KIDS) plan to
four districts amid claims by ex
perts that the rural livelihood pro
gramme is unsound.
The administration is also do
ubtful about the feasibility of the
programme which the state Cabi
*
net
has decided to launch in
Anantpur, Medak, Rangareddy
and Vizianagaram districts.
The experiment in Kuppam,
the chief minister’s constituency,
began with a bang. The project
had been supported by all state
agencies. “But it will be difficult to
replicate it at other places now,” a
senior official of the state agricul
ture ministry here said.
KIDS, in which the Indo-Israeli
venture BHC Agro-India Pvt Ltd
had invested Rs 6 crore, seemed to
show initial promise.
.The project, based on pooling
land, introduced new farming me
thods. The farmers were taught
the-Israeli drip irrigation system
and cultivation of alternative cro
ps like gherkins and tomatoes. Re
aching over 1000 acres, KIDS was
credited with providing liveli
hoods to farmers from 76 villages.
A steady demand for Kuppam’s produce from nearby Tamil
Nadu and Karnataka also helped.
With KIDS’ reported success,
the chief minister’s segment
looked set to become a model for
other states. Kuppam, famous for
being the home of godman Kalki
as well, hosts another of Naidu’s
pet projects — the Heritage Milk
Products at Shantinagar. Howev
er, a report by environment ex
perts burst the Kuppam bubble.
A group of environmentalists
who visited the place in February
slammed the attempts to replicati
the drip irrigation system as “te
chnically unsound, environmen
tally hazardous, economically un
viable and socially destabilising”
The experts’ team — compris
ing K.R. Chaudhary, an agricul
ture expert, Prasada Rao o
Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultun
University, Venkat Rao of Perma
culture Association of India am
Uma Shankari, an expert on nat
ural resources — studied th
*
farming methods which the gov
emment claimed had yielded th<
farmers about Rs 1.2 lakh per acre
“However, the Israelis ha<
claimed that the project had in
curred an expenditure of Rs 4.1
lakh per acre," says Venkat Rao.
Other criticisms are pourinj
in too. Although officially the proj
ect had cost the government Rs H
crore, the actual expense seems t<
have run to at least Rs 35 crore.
Kuppam’s choice is also unde:
a cloud. The government had sail
the segment was chosen as 85 pe:
cent of its population lives belov
the poverty line and only 10 pe:
cent of the cropped area is unde:
assured irrigation. But many ot
her areas are poorer, say critics.
The chief minister appears ti
be unaffected by the bad publicity
and is going ahead with launchini
KIDS in the four districts. Naidi
also, seems bent on adding mon
shine to his Assembly segment
Kuppam has been sanctioned ;
medical college and is also likel;
to host the country’s biggest autc
motive assembly unit.
The Telegraph
20 June 2000
CDL Media Clippings 38
Many ways to deprivation
n most discussions on poverty, it is effect and the same holds true for India, trade barriers for third world products sb
implicitly assumed to be a unidimen- The report criticizes rich nations for their that countries could service their heavy
sional and homogeneous phenome- “miserliness” with aid but also notes that debts. As Terry McKinley, coordinator of
non; basically a problem of not having
a receiving country, aid is often isolated the report, notes, “They are offering debt
enough to eat, to wear or to live in a proper by one ministry at the national level and reliefat the same time that aid is being re
house. Anti-poverty schemes are devised there is no coordination with the local duced so there is no net gain.”
accordingly. In most cases, these pro groups. The report observes that only a
f the advice of the report is to be fol
grammes are confinedto a set of targets — few countries have genuine action plans
lowed in India, it will require a single
either of doling out money or lending so with explicit targets, adequate budgets
plan to fight poverty with sectorwise
that the “beneficiaries” can build up phys and effective organization. Many coun and regionwise details of economic activi
ical assets — without attempting to pro tries do not have such plans but incorpo ties and differences in economic and geo
vide an integrated solution to the problem. rate poverty eradication into national graphic situations dovetailed into an inte
Poverty is homogeneous, but only so planning. “And many of these then appear grated whole. There should be comprehen
far as its consequences are concerned. to forget the topic.”
sive pilot schemes in select regions on
Poverty across regions and over time can
The required policy environment, un- completion of which new schemes should
not be fought in one particular predeter derscoreff the report, is a total concept and be chosen on the basis oftransparent crite
mined manner since the reasons behind embodies a total commitment to the prob ria. The last should include inter alia, spa
the incidence of poverty are not the same. lem ofpoverty.Such planning has to be in tial distribution of absolute poverty, equi
.Many development experts believe reduc tegrated into the national plan, it cannot ty among states and regions.
ing malnutrition, expanding literacy and1 be a loose appendage to the latter in the
The performance of such plans should
increasing life expectancy should also be form of doles and loans for the poor.
be reviewed annually so that loopholes
included as targets in poverty eradication
The report says that “another part of can be plugged and any scope of derail
programmes. A recently published report the problem is the artificial divide be ment minimized. These plans can aim at
of the United Nations development pro tween economic and social policies. A some particular target groups, but should
gramme on poverty has questioned the third is the habit of thinking sectorally — first think of augmenting the capabilities
very institutional structure by mteans of and organizing government departments of the community in general so that any
.which poverty stricken countries are along sectoral lines”. But the problem economic improvement can be sustained
fighting the menace, as alsothe mindset of does not fit neatly into any one depart over a long run and the 'demand side of the
the people involved in policymaking.
ment or ministry. It is especially acute economy grows to sustain the supply side.
The UNDP poverty
*
report, 2000, also with respect to the issues ofgender and en
It goes without saying, this needs con
notes that attemptado eradicate poverty vironment. “The link between these two stant effort on the part of the government
are often “hit andtniss” efforts on the part areas and poverty remains weak.”
to better the infrastructure so that mar
of the donorscahd invariably badly han
The report does not lose sight of the kets are linked up. Such plans would need
dled, planned and organized by the gov- problem that stems from the powerless to target related socio-economic fields.
emment'Foreign assistance is channelled ness of the poor. The poor cannot gain a They should be implemented under the
into projects the donors choose, making it hearing for their views from “undemocra guidance of important ministries like that
difficult for the government to integrate tic and authoritarian political regimes”. of home affairs which will have well de
such programmes into a larger strategy.
They cannot gain access to public services fined authority of superintendence over
; * The report is unique in not harping on from an “unresponsive central bureaucra other ministries, state governments and
the number of the poor or the statistical. cy —or know that the services exist ifthey organizations. This is to ensure that the
methodologies used to calculate the ab lack information.” This holds true for annual physical targets of the plan are
solute and relative measures of poverty. It India as well since, the report notes, “with achieved. Supervision should involve the
aims at a qualitative transformation in the out the continuous pressure of popular or power to integrate foreign donations and
way we look at poverty and the institution ganizations, democracy can be locked up the work of nongovernmental organiza
and carted away with the ballot boxes tions into the plan so that the necessities of
al structure required to fight it
*
after each election”.
the plan get priority over that of any single
hat is missing, the report says, is
The foundation of poverty reduction is region or target group.
an organized policy environ thus self-organization of the poor at the
This does not mean there should be a
ment at the national level to put community level. This is the best antidote stifling bureaucratic control’ over the
in place anti-poverty strategies. In India, to powerlessness, the central source of plan. The Central government will merely
we have a plethora of schemes on which poverty. Organized, the poor can influ provide a direction in partnership with
the resources’are spread so thin that the ence the local government and hold it ac- the state governments, which in turn will
minimum financial strength required to countable.They can form coalitions with work with local self-government bodies
achieve even a modest target is found lack other social forces and build broader orga and the people themselves. It should play a
ing. Some of them are specifically de nizations to influence regional and nation largely regulatory role in that part of the
signed to ensure that a corrupt bureaucra al policymaking.
plan financed and executed by foreign
cy and political establishment get their
The UNDP report wants the poorest na donors or NGOs.
most. The regional character of poverty, tions ofthe world to establish anti-poverty
he poor should steel themselves
its spread or the comparative advantages policies with targets. Fewer than a third of
against party politics and organize
of any particular region are not consid such nations had set targets for eradicat
themselves so that they can ask for
ered. Furthermore, such schemes (Jo not ing or reducing extreme poverty. While information from the government about
have a long term view of the problem.
most rich nations have cut development the execution ofthe plan. It will be easy for
Anti-poverty programmes also fail, assistance by a third this decade, they them if local self-government bodies are
given the magnitude of the problem, par have linked debt relief for pooler coun^ given more power and made accountable
ticularly in third world countries. Piece tries with poverty reduction programmes. to the people for implementation of the nameal efforts in these countries have little However, there were fewrinoves to cut1i tional plan at the local level.
I
I
T
39
The Telegraph
22 June 2000
W
News You Can Use
Medha sets
date for
monsoon
satyagraha
and speaks at length about the raise the height of the dam
advantage
of cnnkfoirting further from Its present 88
**
dams.
*-..
.,
**
metres.
Andolan activists fear that
The Telegraph
Dlgvjjay will reach an under
22 June 2000
standing with Gujarat and
Bhopal, June 21: With the mon
soon here and villages In the
Narmada valley facing threat of
submergence, Medha Patkar has
announced another satyagraha
from July 15.
Activists of the Narmada
Bachao Andolan will launch
their protest from Jalsindhl in
Madhya Pradesh and Domenkheri in Maharashtra, the two
hamlets which are the first to get
submerged every year during
the monsoons.
Patkar claimed that last year ,•
several villages were under •
water even as parts of Gujarat
and adjoining states were facing
a drought.
“If there is normal monsoon
this year, more than 3,000 fami
lies will be affected," she said.
The Andolan's activists
vowed they would not desert
Jalsindhi and DomenkharL “We
would rather drown here than
leave our village," said Baba Maharia, an Andolan leader.
“The final stages of our strug
gle against Sardar Sarovar have
been reached," Patkar said.
“The last hearing of our case
in the Supreme Court was on
- May 9. But the Madhya Pradesh
state government is yet to reha
bilitate 30,000 affected fand Up*,”
she added.
In a previous order, the apex
court had instructed the state to
appoint a grievances redressal
authority headed by a Judge. He
was to submit a report on
whether the affected families
have been adequately rehabili
tated.
The redressal authority was
headed by G.G. Sohonl, retired
chief justice of the Patna High
Court He toured several vUJages
affected by th e dam and con elud
ed that the Madhya I^radesh
government has no land for
, the rehabilitation of 30,000
. families
“All along, Dlgvjjay Singh
has be^n indulging in double
speak?” alleged Patkar. “At the
Water don ven tion in The Hague
recently he wag praising micro
water sheds
*
.ifqt soon after
his return, he’ gqe^to Gujarat
The Telegraph
18 June 2000
“The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution"
has been constituted by the Government of India. Under its terms of
reference, the Commission is required "to examine, in the light of the
experience of the past 50 years, as to how best the Constitution can
respond to the changing needs of efficient, smooth and effective sys
tem of governance and socio-economic development of modem In
dia within the framework of Parliamentary Democracy and to recom
mend changes , if any, that are required in the provisions of the
Constitution without interfering with its basic structure or features”.
2. The Commission, while identifying several areas of contemporary
concern for review of the working of the Constitution, has also enun
ciated certain broad parameters which, amongst others, include the
strengthening of the constitutional provisions relating to the Scheduled
Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, the Other Backward Classes and the
Minorities.
3. The Commission desires to, and does hereby, invite from the
public, NGOs, Institutions and others interested suggestions in regard
to the endeavour of the Commission within its terms of reference.
4. The suggestions may reach the Commission by the 31 st July, 2000
addressed to the Secretary, National Commission to Review the
Working of the Constitution, Vigyan Bhawan Annexe, Maulana Azao
Road, New Delhi 110011.
NATIONAL
COMMISSION
TO REVIEW
THE WORKING
OF THE
CONSTITUTION
(Email: ncrwc@nic.in
Website: http://ncrwc.nic.in).
New Delhi
;
Dated-the 9th June, 2000
Dr Raghbir Sfngh
Secretary to the Commission
Tasty Bite gives aid to NGO
Bangalore, June 22: The Punebased manufacturer of ready-to
serve food products. Tasty Bite
Eatables Limited launched its
reach out programme here on
Thursday. The programme is tar
geted at supporting SOS chil
dren’s villages of India, an NGO
that works with underprivileged
children globally, giving them
security and comfort of a com
plete family.The company is
organising a five-day long series
of activities for this purpose here.
a press release from the company
said.Thc Tasty Bite reach out is a
mission to help the needy and the
underprivileged. The company
launched the initiative during the
K argil operal:nn when all its 120
employees pledged a portion >1
their wages to support wounded
Indian soldiers and their families.
Tasty Bite supported a school
that educates children with visua.impairments. “What started off as
a small gesture has evolved imo ?
serious programme.s;ad Mr Rave
Nigani.” Tasty Bite Eatables Lira
i’.ed. (PTI'i
The Asian Age
23 June 2000
CDL Media Clippings 40
ITC to bring IT to the doorstep of farmers
Bhopal, June 21
“TOBACCO GIANT ITC Ltd. has
announced plans to bring informa
tion technology (IT) solutions to
the doorsteps of the fanning com
munity, starting with the launch of
a new Web site for soyabean farm
ers it has launched in this city.
The
Web
site,
www.Soyachaupal.Com, is billed
as the first of its kind in Hindi, and
will give soyabean fanners access
the latest information about the
weather, crop position, arrivals in
markets and crop prices. Besides
functioning as an information
bank, the site also has an interac
tive element where farmers’
queries would be answered within
<‘*4 hours.
"This is a small step towards a
technological revolution," Y.C.
Deveshwar, chairman of ITC Ltd.,
said. "This is an effort to link farm
ers to the globalised economy.
There are no definite targets at the
moment but we expect the site to
evolve. We are investing Rs. 100 M
illion in this venture and shall give
it a full-blooded trial," Deveshwar
added.
However, with more than 71,000
villages in Madhya Pradesh and
the cost of equipping a village with
computers placed at Rs.100,000 T
he investment requirements are
rather huge.
The state government, mean
while, is willing to collaborate on
the project. "We are prepared to go
along with ITC in this project. We
want that there should be a, tripar
tite participation in harnessing
information technology for the
masses. The government, the pri
vate sector and the people have to
come together, " Chief Minister
Digvijay Singh said.
He suggested that funds from the
prime minister's 'rozgar yojana' be
made available to individuals to set
up computer centres.
Singh pointed out that the feder
al government’s shifting policy on
import duty for edible oils had cre
ated problems for soyabean farm
ers as well as the processing indus
try. "The biggest problem is poor
productivity of the soya crop.
Unless we increase the average
yield per hectare our produce will
not become competitive in the
global market,” he said.
Deveshwar also spoke about
developing Web sites on the lines
of www.Soyachaupal.Com for
wheat and rice growing fanners.
"We shall reach out to other states
as well," he added. The ITC chair man said that while there was no
revenue model in place at the
moment, an IT link connecting
farmers to the rest of the world
had endless possibilities. "There is
no iise speculating on it, but we
feel that it has great potential
including e-commerce," he added.
Madhya Pradesh produces nearly
80 per cent of India's soyabean
output while ITC, which is mainly
into cigarette manufacturing and
hotels, is a major player in the
soya-processing industry. (LANS)
The Hindustan Times
22 June 2000
Palahi — a village in Punjab
that does India proud
Aslan New
*
International
CHANDIGARH
AGRICULTURE is the main profes
sion and bread earner of farmers
ot most visages of Punjab. How
ever, thefe are villages which
have advanced technically and
technologically. An example is
Palahi village, a remarkable
success story, which today boasts
of.-solar power harnessing facilit
ies, technical and computer edu
cation and. even its own web
■site. .
Situated |n central Punjab, be
tween ' the Phagwara-Jalandhar
*
and
the Phagwara-Hoshiarpur
road, Palai village at first sight
may’not seem different from the
*
other's. .
However,, at a closer look one
realises how simply and com
pletely technology has permeated
even the daily Ilves of the people
there.
The village has been developed
as an energy village (urja gram).
Being economical, non-polluting
and convenient, Palahi
has
utilised solar power to the utmost
for streetlights, pumps, water
heating and cookers.
Solar panels cover rooftops of
all major buildings and power
generation centres in the village.
The results are clear — a
wave of prosperity and the fruits
of hard work combined with
scientific progress.
A large part of the credit for
the prosperity of Palahi goes to
the national Institute for Integrat
ed rural development and transfer
of technology. Apart from devel
opment work, the institute intro
duces youth of the area to
computers, giving them skills to
compete with the best
Internet Is the newest addition.
Even as they learn, students
come to terms with the IT revol
ution. What makes this village
unique attracting media attention
is the recent launch of a web
site on Palahi, its history and
development.
A community polytechnic wing
set up by the Institute in 1986
has manpower development and
training as Its main activity.
Young boys and girls undergo
vocational training in various dis
ciplines enabling them to get
employment outside the village.
The Observer
22 June 2000
41
Tribal institutes
asked to build
database
NEW DELHI. June 23 (UNb
The Centre has directed the vin
ous tribal research institutes h
the country to build informal ini
and database on various aspect'
of tribal life and culture, so that
the Centre and state government-'
could freely draw upon them ir
formulating policies and pit
grammes for their development.
This follows a meeting of thsecretaries in charge of tribal
fare in states and Union territi
ries organised by the Uniur
Ministry of Tribal Affairs n-rvnth
in the capital.
Deccan Herald
24 June 2000
News You Can Use
Raindrops and the
Rashtrapati Bhavan
President K R Narayanan has decided to
set an example for the
eco-conscious citizen, by introducing a
rainwater harvesting system at the
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
reports DAKSHA HATH!
rought has cast its ominous
shadow over many parts of
the country and while
many politicians are giving windy
speeches about the need to con
serve water, the President, Mr.
K.R. Narayanan, is busy trying to
cut down his whopping water bill
of Rs. 50 lakh! He has already
begun to convert the Rashtrapati
Bhavan into one of the first offi
cial institutions which will har
vest rainwater in India.
In
November
1998,
the
President had invited the Delhi
based Centre for Science and
Environment to suggest ways to
harvest rainwater at the Bhavan.
An advisory committee of water
experts was set up by CSE which
worked on developing a plan for
the project.
The President’s official resi
dence, which spreads over an area
of 133 hectares, has a huge
requirement for water. Around
7000 people work and live on it
and approximately 3000 people
visit it daily. The Bhavan needs
two million litres of water per day
and 730 million litres per year.
The New
Delhi
Municipal
Corporation helps to meet this
D
I
member; s. Sudha,
demand along with the estate’s
own borewells. The Bhavan’s
beautiful Moghul gardens are
watered with untreated water
from the Yamuna river.
Since about 35 per cent of the
Bhavan’s water needs are being
met
through
groundwater
sources, the groundwater levels
have been severely depleted in
this estate. The levels have gone
down by 2 to seven metres in the
past ten years. One well has dried
up totally.
The CSE experts have worked
out that the Bhavan’s potential for
saving water is very promising. It
receives water amounting to 812
million litres per year through
rains. If gathered, this rainwater
can meet a substantial quantum
of the water needs of the Bhavan.
By January 2000, the well
recharging system for the residen
tial area of the Bhavan’s staff was
already implemented and work on
the one lakh litre storage tank is
going on. The construction of the
recharge shafts is also in progress
and the work on the johad will
soon be taken up.
Mr. Narayanan, who is the
Patron of the CSE, has shown a
deep interest in rainwater har
vesting and has set an example
for other Government institutions
to follow. These measures will
help the Bhavan not to depend on
the Delhi Municipal Corporation.
for its water supply which will be
available for the public. The over
all quality of the water on the
Bhavan estate too will improve
since at present it has traces of
fluorides. In fact, this will help
reduce the Rs. 50 lakh bill which
the Bhavan pays to the New Delhi
Municipal Corporation as water
charges!
The CSE has also harvested
rainwater on its Tughlakabad
office premises. The rainwater is
collected in underground tanks
and used to recharge borewells.
From about 20 mm of rainwater
on June 21 and July 5, the centre
harvested about 2800 litres which
was stored in their tank. The
height of storm water drains has
been increased to avoid flow of
rainwater into these drains.
Assuming the average rainfall is
about 700 mm, it is estimated that
from these measures about 6.7
lakh litres of water can be reused.
Around 3.3 lakh litres will be used
to recharge borewells and the rest
will be collected and reused.
More information can be
obtained from the CSE, E-mail
cse@cseindia.org. The address: 41,
Tughlakabad Institutional Area,
New Delhi - 110062. Ph: 4645334,
4645335.
2) The rainfall runofffrom.
the staff residential area of
;
a wen. for recharging
Rashtrapati.-Bhavan .wasfinalised, the implement througha•network.of dratos.3).-A 9 Hakh litre
tation was taken
bythe’ Central Groundwater. capacity, swimming pool in the estate is connectBoard ^ld^he'Central Public Works Departoient ,bd with the] dry well so that the groundwater can
‘ ‘^tlie pool-Is emptied twice a
4 ’.jh^wlowhig' measure? were .thought Oft^j’'• '*:•
• <li.Rkmwnto falling pp^thainqrtii^^^
the milita^- area is
j'”■>p-s
water .
City lights
?. f According to the- > • ' I •;
Bangalore .based^^ I
. ’ Environmental Health ;.. £ / >.
' Foundation (India) thei
Karnataka Government cam
also follow the President’s
• example and bftroduiqef raiiiwaier harvesting in build- .
ings like the Legislators
Home, the Vidhana^Sopdha,
.lid Bagh,Chinnaswamy
Stadium etc. According to .tg
;.,the^ Foutotioi^thet-d^^^q
4 Ch Innaswarn/Steffidfa
. easily harvest enough fain- t
'■ water
*to
meet the drinking..;'
^^rashing. and watering . '
requirements of.thq entire .;'
'i|T6tadiufa.^ -j- % 3> •'»4 H
.' ' Pne
the KSRTC Open f
weBFat Subhastmagpr .bus -J h
? stand, is being rechafaed :.i- n.; •
rand tised for harvesting.. JT: j
rainwater on an .experimen-;
»,tal
if j
Executive -*Dire<^|ML
j Vijaykant and ’Trwp^;
Member Suresh HeWikar,' fcU'
; .They have.been sCTibitely<$l;;
f / advocating and encouraging
i rwh in public- and privale ’;;
jplaces. The Foundatpii.has
;' recommended
; Bangalore Action T^
■ Force should take ’tip this' ''
r. activity on a priority basis..•
: :iEor more htfonnatii^iooi^
■1 tact the EHFat 5308137, or
colvijay@yahoo.com!; ..
Deccan Herald
24 June 2000
theBhavan’s rooftop. ..will be diverted io an under- recharged'. .intothe ground through recharge
ground.tank of One lakh htis! capadtjLfftw/^shafts, w!M
vertical shafts which
-.>at^'s^x^’to towlU;b^ u^for.lQ.w.qu^- aUbw.^teX to,percolate into the^grouxid.' -.
itytoflet’flushingand-gaitfdn^fe
found a^ptable;It will also be used to .drinkingJgardens!. A jphad is a water harvesting structure
nverflow. ffom^thlstaid^ wifl b?times; fa fatfaton.;toji faiw^
’’’->
CDL Media Clippings 42
Creating resources from
the menace of weeds
Amltabh Srlvastava
Dehra Dun, June 24
sised on the economic factor in the utilisation of
weeds and said that some
*
experiments carried out in
Manipur and Rajasthan had failed because they
were not practical. He praised the efforts made by
HESCO in this respect and said that when this was
started he was quite impressed by the innovative
idea. Dr.P.Kaushal who came from Himachal
Pradesh asserted that weeds were actually ‘resources'
as long as they were under control and when they
went out of control they were called weeds.
F YOU can't destroy them use them. That seems
to be the new credo of scientists, foresters and
environmentalists who have been fighting the
menace of weeds that have occupied nearly 33 per
cent of agricultural land in the country.
A day-long 'National Weed Convention
*
organised
by the Himalayan Environmental Studies and
Conservation Organisation here stressed the impor
tance of linking the fight against weeds to employ
ment so that mass participation of the local residents
in this campaign could be ensured.
Dr.S.K.Muldierjee, Director of the Wildlife
Institute of India asserted that spread of the
Lantana and Pathenium grass had created problems
of fodder in parks like the Rajaji National Park. He
said that the thick bushes of Lantana prevented.the
seeds from reaching the ground and hence the reju
venation of the trees had been adversely affected.
At the same time he also said that the indiscrimi
nate removal of Lantana could also be disastrous
because Lantana prevented soil erosion to a great
extent and research must be done into the conse
quences of removal of weeds before the operation
was launched.
Dr.G.S.Rawat, also from the WWI presented a
research paper to show the extent of the spread of
weeds in various parts of the country and said that if
they were uncontrolled weeds would destroy the bio
diversity of the forests in the next few years.
He also said that weeds had affected the habitat of
wild animals with the result that wild elephants were
forced to come out of the forests in search of fodder.
With the help of slides he showed that in several
cases people had pulled out invaluable plant species
under the impression that they were weeds.
Dr.Anil Kumar Joshi, founder of HESCO said in
his presentation that when working in the fields
among farmers they came to realise the extent of
damage caused by weeds particularly Lantana. .
In several cases people had left the villages
because they were unable to utilise the land for
farming due to the widespread menace of weeds. “In
addition to this the thick Lantana weeds also
became a hide-out for leopards posing a serious
threat to the life of the inhabitants” he said. It was
this aim that, the HESCO started training people in
using the Lantana for creating furniture which
comes out to be much cheaper than cane furniture.
In addition to this HESCO is also preparing incense
sticks from Lantana, which are also mosquito repellants.
Dr.R.K.Gupta, a retired scientist differed with
DrJoshi on the definition of weeds and said that
weeds were not undesired plants but plants that can
not be used at a particular place. They may be very
useful at another place. He said tljat most plants
provided fodder, some of them were even medicinal,
including Lantana and many of them were helpful in
preventing soil erosion. He stressed on the econom
ical utility of the weeds so that the local people got
seriously involved in using the resource of weeds
available in abundance.
Dr.Arun Sud, member of CAPART also empha-
I
43
Award for NGO
• LONDON (PTI): Peace Trust
an NGO from Dindigul in
Tamil Nadu, has won a £75,000
award for its work in the
field of eradication of industri •
al child labour. The trust,
headed by Paul Baskar, is
one of the four winners of the
Body Shop Human Rights
Award announced here last
night.
The Telegraph
23 June 2000
The Hindustan Times
25 June 2000
Raging ‘bull scheme’
ARKETING HAS hit rural India. In
a small village in Rajasthan, farmers
are being offered a Kabir Mulchandani
like ideal for their old cattle. Hand in your
old bullock, say the marketers, and we will
give you credit against a brand new bull.
As a scheme, this has more appeal for the
farmers of Rajasthan than one of those
exchange-your-TV deals offered by Aiwa,
Baron and the like.
But how does it work? The TV scheme
works because the old TV is cannibalised
for its parts. But bullocks? The marketers
deny that they end up'in the slaughter house. Says one: “I nurse the
bullocks back to health and sell them.” Well, it is certainly easier to
fatten a bull then it is to revive a TV set.
M
O
o
o
CM
OUR PAST, OUR FUTURE
Sumita Mehta
Tho wise Cholas
ited the area, hoping to identi-
THE fy ways in which the region's
AMONG
many achievements water supply could be aug
of the Chola kings mented. They focussed on
was the irrigation Warangal, Coimbatore and
system they had Hyderabad, because of the
created way back in common architectural and natthe 13th century. ural heritage. Warangal has
Take the Coimba tanks over 1000 years old: in
tore
region
of Hyderabad the tanks date back
Tamil Nadu. Tap to 400 years and in Coim
ping the Nayyal batore, these are over 800
river, they built a complex sys years. Cities developed around
tem of dams and canals that fed these tanks which, till recently.
numerous tanks. Consequently, were the sole source of watei
supply. Now these are fillcc.
there was no water shortage.
The word Nayyal means ‘no with garbage and
illness’. Tbday, not only have sewage and have
over. The
‘"
the tanks run dry, the little silted
water that exist in the river is ground water table
has also drastically
heavily polluted.
Intach’s Natural Heritage, reduced, and the
and the Chapters Division vis-. avian and aquatic Contd..-
News You Can Use
life have all but dis- Contd..
appeared.
There’s
hope,
though. If these
tanks are cleaned,
rainwater can be collected and,
gradually, the ground water
table can be raised.
The Intach team also visited
Ooty, and were horrified to see
the beautiful lake, the hill sta
tion’s prime attraction, redu
ced to being a receptacle for
sewage and garbage, and cov
ered with water hyacinth.
In this gloomy picture, there’s
hope — the Hyderabad Urban
Development Authority has
*
prepared a list of all the lakes
and water bodies falling under
its jurisdiction. Hopefully,
other corporations will follow
the lead.
Create a lake
IF YOU live in Delhi, then you
probably have a generator or an
inverter to cope with power
shortages and occasionally even
summon the tanker to tide over
the erratic water supply. Each
department blames the other
for appalling civic conditions;
collectively, they blame the
city’s growing population for
the deplorable condition.
Any solutions? Many point to
the rainwater harvesting tech
nique; others to the
need for reactivat
ing the lakes. These
contamination and
consequently can’t
perform their natur
al function of re
charging
the
groundwater, moditying the microcli
mate and providing
habitat for bird and marine life.
But there’s an upside. The
Delhi government was quick to
react to a proposal for revitalis
ing the low-lying Jehangiri
marshes in north Delhi — a
receptacle for sewage. When
the project is completed, the
sewage will be diverted and the
monsoon-generated river flood
water will be brought in. The
low-lying areas — about 100
hectares — will then become a
freshwater lake, which will help
recharge the ground water.
NGO opposes iodine
cut in common salt
FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
Guwahati, June 25: A city-based
NCfo has opposed the Central gov
ernment’s directive to withdraw
the mandatory statutory iodisa
tion of edible salt.
The Northeast Society for the
Promotion of Youth and Masses
(NESPYM), which is working in
the field of health and public wel
fare in the region, has stated that
the withdrawal of iodisation will
adversely affect the people of the
Northeast as many cases of iodine
deficiency disorders are found in
the region.
The Central government is
sued a preliminary notification on
May 10 to withdraw the compulso
ry statutory iodisation of edible
salt.
In a letter to the secretary of
the Union health and family wel
fare department, the director of
the NGO Chiranjeeb Kakoty stat
ed that studies conducted in the
region has proved that iodine defi
ciency disorder is endemic to the
Northeast and intake of non-
The Observer
26 June 2000
iodised salt will be detrimental to
people’s health.
The NGO has also informed
the International Council for Con
trol of Iodine Deficiency Disor
ders at the Centre for Community
Medicine. All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, about the re
cent developments.
"The high cost of iodised salt in
the market is not because of the
production cost but due to packag
ing, transportation and advertise
ment costs incurred by the compa
nies. The government should, in
fact, take steps to tackle these is
sues, rather than withdraw the
mandatory iodisation of edible
salt," Kakoty said.
As intake of iodised salt has
been propagated worldwide, it is
important to build a strong infor
mation, education and communi
cation strategy to force people not
to consume non-iodised salt, he
said. "The people should be told
that' consuming even a small pro
portion of non-iodised salttover
iodised salt may trigger serious
problems," Kakoty added.
“A time-bound action plan
should be prepared by the authori
ties to relieve the hardships fared
by the salt farmers, who have to
spend a lot of money to procure
machineries for iodisation of com
mon salt.” Kakoty said.
Health department officials
stated that by the time iodised salt
reaches Assam and the Northeast
the iodine content decreases du«
to the long journey. “Iodised salt
comes only from Gujarat, so the
iodine content drops below thr
prescribed limit by the time it
reaches our markets." a official
said. "Massive awareness drives
have to be conducted by the au
thorities among the rural popu
lace to consume iodised salt on lx
as perennial diseases like goitre i>
high in some districts of the
state," the health official added
The NGO has asked the healtl
*
and family welfare ministry to re
view the preliminary notificatior
before finalising it and study the
multi-dimensional ramification1
which it would have on the nanon
al health.
The Telegraph
26 June 2000
Aga Khan Foundation gets
AAlF’s Khalil Gibran award
Observer Political Bureau
NEW DELHI
THE Aga Khan Foundation has
been presented the Arab-Ameri
can Institute Foundation’s (AAlFs)
"Khalil Gibran Spirit.of Human
ity" award for the current year
alongwith
four
other
organisations. These being the
Robert F Kennedy Memorial
Centre
for
Human
Rights,
ALSAC/St Jude Children's Re
search Hospital, Fannie Mae and
an organisation called Focus:
Hope.
These organisations have been
given the awards in recognition
of their commitment towards fos
tering democratic and humanitar
ian values across racial, ethnic
and religious lines. The Aga had branches and independei
Khan Foundation is a non- affiliates in 12 countries, inclu
*
denominational, international de ing the USA, and supports 12
velopment agency established in projects in 13 countries. The
1967 by His Highness the Aga
Foundation's total expenditui
Khan, the 49th hereditary imam
of the Ismaili Muslims. Its activit was $89 million in 1999. Tl
Foundation is part of the Ag
ies focus on empowering commu
nities to create and apply pro Khan Development Network, whit
gressive solutions in the educa is one of the largest privai
tion, health, rural development international development group
and civil society enhancement serving people of all faiths ar
backgrounds in South and Centr.
sectors.
Working with a host of Asia and Africa. With mandate
cooperating agencies and thou ranging from health and educatic
sands of volunteers, the Founda to architecture, rural developmer
tion reaches out to vulnerable and the promotion of privai
populations on four continents, sector enterprise, AKDN agencie
irrespective of their race, religion, seek to realise the social cor
political persuasion or gender. It science of Islam through institi
tional action.
CDL Media Clippings 44
Shallow bores herald green
revolution in Assam
success of this scheme goes to diversification and also encour- inputs and appropriate technoiI
the
farmers of our state who ages them to shift to boro and ogy.
Ihave responded splendidly to early ahu crops which promises
Considering the prevailing buoy
AFTER nearly half a century of the
1
need of the hour by taking higher yields," he said.
ant mood following the onset of
being shackled to the bane of 1full advantage of the scheme,"
The shallow tubewells scheme
a green revolution in the state,
importing foodgrain, Assam has . the governor said.
were not covered by the rural
agricultural experts have recom
registered a bumper rice produc
The World Bank asssisted infrastructure development fund
tion thanks mainly ».to the instal ARIASP programme, which also (RIDF) but the Union finance mended a comprehensive set of
lation of 50,000 shallow tube has a component of STW is minister had an exception made measures on agricultural inputs
and mechanisation.
wells In rural areas.
being implemented successfully for Assam. Nabard allocated Rs
Experts have recommended
"The shallow tube well scheme and with encouraging results, 96. crore for this scheme and
that seed village concept of
has been a wonderful first aid the chief minister said.
Planning Commission had so far
particularly oilseeds and pulses
for our ailing agricultural economy.
Under this programme 17,250 released Rs 10 crore with a
should be encouraged and the
We need to take a holistic view STWS have been installed till promise to release.
seed replacement rate must be
of agricultural operations to en last year and 15,000 stws are
The need for mechanisation of
sure that Assam gets the benefits being installed * in the coming agriculture in the state has been increased from three to ten per
of a green revolution," Assam year while in the coming year stressed by state agriculture min- cent in the coming five years, an
governor It gen (retd) S K Sinha 11,250 stws would be installed, ister C’ M Patowary with a need official report said.
said, who pldyed a key role in
"My government is committed to fix a target of 2,500 tractors
The use of fertilisers must be
the implementation of this pro to assist the farmers to switch and 10,00.0 power tillers for the increased from 30 kg to 50 kg
gramme.
per hectare while installation of
over from mono cropping .to double state.
The food grain production in1 cropping and evpn triple cropping
"We have to ensure storage one lakh more shallow tube
the state was expected to reach1 by providing assured irrigation.
facilities, provide seeds of high wells should be taken up con
43 lakh tonnes with a surplus ofr This will not only help increase
quality as also fertilisers and sidering its immense benefit.
about three lakh tonnes and this• production of foodgrains but also
pesticides while marketing facilit
Experts have also recommend
will be mainly due to the ambitious’ generate additional employment
ies with profitable support price ed that kisan credit card must
programme
named
the* in the rural areas," Mr Mahanta
for the farmers have to be be popularised-and for that pur
‘samriddhi krishak yojana
*
(SKY).• said.
ensured," Mr Patowary said and pose, the agriculture department
"The sky will usher in a . A target of providing irrigation
added that following the bumper and pnachayats must be involved.
green revolution by providing irri to at least 10 lakh hectares by
rice production, the state govern
gation through shallow tube wells exploiting ground water potential
Each bank may adopt some
ment had fixed the minimum
and it has received highly en has been adopted and in selected
support price for lifting rice at villages or blocks for credit to
couraging response from the farm
farmers with field management
Rs 600.
ers," he said.
committees and self help groups
Noted agriculture scientist Dr considered an agency for credit
The result of the installation
M S Swaminathan has stressed and crop loan issues.
of the stws was evident in this
the need for integrated intensive
year's bumper rice production of
Whatever may be the recom
farming system in Assam as soil mendations for the furtherupiift
41 lakh tonnes as against a
and climatic conditions were suit of agriculture in the state, for
requirement of 39 lakh tonnes
with a surplus of three lakh
able for it
farmers like Bhaba Kama Boro.
tonnes.
"The modern trends in the Kushal Kalita, Sada Baishya.
Chief minister Prafulla Kumar.
world are genetic modification, Banahu Kalita, Biswajit Kalita
Mahanta and the governor launch
biotechnology and food safety and many others, the year's
ed the scheme on November 8,
standards which needed to be labour has been worthwhile and
1999 and in the first phase
applied for the development of they thank the shallow tube
30,000 STWs were Installed while
agriculture and horticulture in wells installed in their farms for
till date 50,000 have been com
it
Assam." he said.
pleted.
"All these years we were
He also suggested that the
After the monsoon, the remain
state should set a target of dependent on the vagaries of
ing target of the total one lakh
will be achieved bringing two areas it is intended to introduce achleveing 100 lakh tonnes of rain but the STWs have changed
rice by 2007 next and this our lives for the better.” they
lakh hectares of land under sprinkler irrigation systerp.
could
be possible by using hybrid unanimously added.
Irrigation.
"The assured Irrigation has
The Observer
"The credit for making a enabled farmers to go for crop seeds, assured irrigation, other
DurlMi Ghosh
GUWAHATl
26 June 2000
45
News You Can Use
Task force on education to Thousands
submit report in September of children
Observer Political Bureau
NEW DELHI
PRIME Minister's taskforce for
the country's development as
knowledge society will soon draft
a
comprehensive
education
roadmap envisaging increased
private participation and auton
omy to educational institutes.
The taskforce, which concluded
initial deliberations on Friday last
on various aspects of education,
including the need for more
professional training, would sub
mit a draft education roadmap
by September with the objective
of making India a knowledge
society, official sources said.
Other options being considered
by the committee include a
change in the system after class
X to provide for fast-track educa
tion opportunities, privatisation
by involving NRIs and setting up
of an education development
finance corporation for funding
higher education in the country.
According to sources, principal
scientific advisor to the Centre
Dr A P J Abdul Kalam questioned
the current education system in
the country, and suggested vari
ous ways to replace the 102
system with a .more cost effective
alternative.
The taskforce also mooted other
proposals, including launch of a
separate knowledge channel un
der Doordarshan, for dissemina
tion of educational
content
through the national network.
Outlining the roadmap for mak
ing India a knowledge society,
Kalam pointed out that private
sector initiatives in education
should be welcomed with mini
mum bureaucratic interference
and maximum autonomy, sources
said.
According to sources, Kalam
said that Indian Institutes of
Technology
(IITs)
offering
specialised education should be
multiplied and regional engineer
ing colleges (RECs) should be
restructured for greater autonomy
and better administrative struc
ture to bring them at par with
the IITs.
Identifying low bandwidth and
poor
connectivity
as
major
roadblocks to dissemination of
knowledge, Kalam said govern
ment should offer business prop
ositions to private industries to
set up and manage optic fibre
cables to increase bandwidth.
He also proposed “removal of
unenforceable rules such as ban
on voice over internet protocol
(IP)" and promoting technologies
like wireless in local loop (WLL)
to
overcome
connectivity
bottlenecks. Sources said Kalam
pointed out that nearly 50 per
cent of India’S/ population .would
be employed in the knowledge
industry by 2010. Deputy chair
man of Planning Commission K
C Pant who presided over the
deliberations said, “India is fac
ed wKh enormous challenges
and It is important to convert
the large population to an asset
through increased investments
in the social sector." C
The Observer
26 June 2000
The Observer
26 June 2000
Helping To Re-build Their Childhood
as a domestic
help at a senior civil ser
vant's home here, seven
year-old Asraf was denied food
one day for waking up late in
the morning. And when a hungry
Asraf drank some milk, he was
beaten up and his hands burnt.
Another child domestic help,
Najma, was abused so frequently
by her employers that today she
keeps to herself and is afraid of
strangers.
mployed
E
But there is still hope for
children, like Asraf and Najma
employed as domestic workers
and subjected to abuse. Thanks
to
Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) like (the
South Asian Coalition on Child
Servitude (SAACS), which rescues
children from abusive employers,
they have begun to bury the
past. There are 60 million child
labourers employed in hazardous
and non-hazardous industries in
India, of which six million are
working as domestic workers in
urban households.
“Most people hire children
because they are free or cheap
and vulnerable. Moreover, they
can never form a union .fto fight
perpetrators (of abuse) and can
not go to court to fight for their
rights," Kailash Satyarthi, chief
of SACCS said.
Says Suman, a SAACS social
worker, poor parents often send
their children to work as domestic
helpers unaware that the latter
would be vulnerable to abuse by
their employers. "It was through
our efforts that an amendmvrt?
was made in the conduct book
of government servants which
states that they should not employ
children below 14 years in their
houses," she added.
Says 18-year-old Govind, who
was lured away from Nepal with
promises of a better education
but soon discovered that he was
to be a domestic 'help; But
Govind was rescued when he
was 13 and is a happy youth
today. Full of confidence, he now
looks after other children at the
SAACS centre. Sure enough,
things are looking up for Asraf
too.
Says the boy, who, now studies
in class IV, “I want to become
a politician so that I can do
something for my fellow friends
similarly trapped in harsh working
conditions."l>(IANS)
Kavfta Bajeli-Datt
working in
Kishangan
says surve
By Bhuvaneshwar Prasad
The Times of India News Service
KISHANGANJ: Negating (hi
much-hyped claims of the labou
department to have wiped out th<
scourge of child labour, over 1OJXX
child labourers are engaged in dif
ferent fields like brick kilns, ‘biri
manufacturing and farm works ir
Kishanganj district alone, according
to a random survey made by Hind
Khet
Mazdoor
Panchayai
(HKMP), a non-government or
ganisation.
Alimuddin Ansari, general secre
tary of HKMP, who made the star
tling disclosures a^^r news confer
ence here on recently, lamented
that on account of grinding poverty.
illiteracy and unemployment, a
large number of children continued
to be engaged in these back-break
ing works, notwithstanding (he SC
directives.
He said the random survey dis
closed that 30 per cent of the entire
work force engaged in over 95
brick kilns in this district alone
were the child labourers who were
over-exploited and overworked.
and were often paid a pittance for
the grinding labour.
Elucidating the reasons behind
the stigma of child labour, Mr
Ansari said the exodus of farm
labour from this district to far-off
places like Punjab and Delhi and
non- adherence of minimum wage
scheme further contributed to
wards child labour. In this context.
he eulogised the services of some
NGOs in Andhra Pradesh which
had sufficiently tackled this prob
lem and regretted that, apart from
rendering lip service, government
agencies in Bihar were only sitting
with their fingers crossed.
Mr Ansari said the Centre should
promptly ratify the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) con
vention No 138 which seeks the
abolition of child labour as well as
strict implementation of the mini
mum wages.
Contd...
CDL Media Clippings 46
It’s a bitter pill
Don’t they realise, books are the best contraceptives
Contd...
certain legislation attempted in the Delhi Assembly
OFTEN feel guilty at. my concern over how the
country’s, population is growing, uncontrolled.
which thankfully failed due to overwhelming oppo
I know I say this at the risk of being lynched by
sition. The proposal was to ban all politicians with
those who know better about the welfare of the na more, than three kids — or was it two? — from the
tion - and of the entire species. But it is precisely this
Assembly. They would not be allowed to contest
self-righteousness of which I myself feel guilty. Why
polls. That is it, I had thought Let the leaders set the
do I want to condomise the entire nation, that is the
example.
men, as condoms for women are still in the research
But then I was shocked when I thought of the con
stage? Why do I want all the women in the reproduo
sequences. For instance, what is the guarantee that
tive age in India - and sometimes when my concern
these educated small family MLAs will care to make
for humanity transcends boundaries and crosses
living conditions better for the masses, for the idiots?
over to include our sometime
All our concern at population has
brethren, or sisters in this context,
an undertone of accusation directed
in Pakistan, Bangladesh and
at the masses - that they are to blame
Afghanistan - to have IUDs im
for our woes, for our not being a rich,
planted inside their wombs? Why do
glamourous, successful nation. But
I want them, the scientists that is in
don't the wise men see a finger
some far off laboratory in the West,
pointed at them from
*
the masses,
to come up with some super method
that the oligarchy of the few wise,
to stop'child birth? In fact I was
rich and all knowing men had kept
ashamed at the enthusiasm with
them poor and sick and illiterate?
which I discovered a report and
Why should a few know every
thing, or assume to know everything
later re-reported it in my newspaper
about how a new gel condom for
better than the rest? When the real
women was all set to hit the market
ity is that these handful of pundits
Sreelatha Menon
who have been ruling this nation
once it goes through the human tri
als. It had already proved itself ef
have not been able to improve the lot
fective in animal trials!
of the masses in the last 50 years.
So isn't that why we want them to wear condoms,
The guilt I feel has little to do with the appropri
ateness or inappropriateness ofthe idea ofbirth con the pundits may reason. But dear pundit, instead of
trol and here is my chance to save my skin. My con supplying condoms, had you supplied books and pen
cils to the quiet millions of this country, then proba
cern stems from the fact that I am a part of a tiny
group ofall-knowing persons who know what is best bly they would have been teaching you a lesson or
for the rest of us. And I feel uncomfortable being part
two in governance and welfare now.
of such a small group. I feel like a dictator of sorts.
Maybe the one thing that poor, unfashionably
dense populations like ours can be grateful for is the
The rest of us are plebeians who do not know that
call of the Cairo’Conference to do away with targets
having six or seven children will makelhem weak,
for birth control India, which does not enforce tar
leave them all with littlefood to eat, with little money
for medicines... The rest of us are, in plain terms, id gets any more, is slowly getting used to considering
iots. So we have wailing headlines in newspapers ex human beings as such rather than cattle and dogs
meant to be sterilised.
pressing concern that halfthe couples in the country
So wise men, preach on, but add a coating of love
are not using condoms or any type of contraceptive.
to the bitter pill
I was, I must admit, thrilled at one point about a
I
REPORTER’S
NOTEBOOK
For the purpose, a signature cam
paign had been launched through
out the country in which at least
one lakh signatures are targeted to
be obtained. These signatures, in
the form of a memorandum would
be submitted to the President of In
dia for his ratification. Mr Ansari
informed.
With a view to rehabilitating
child labour, the HKMP had taken
up schemes to spread education
among them, and for the same, as
many as tive schools were exclu
sively being run in different parts of
Purnea district which had evoked
positive response.
In all 360 such children including
girls were receiving education in
these schools, he asserted. Mr
Ansari informed that notwith
standing what the state govern
ment claimed, there was no labour
superintendent
anywhere
in
Pumea division, and in his absence
deputy labour commissioners were
looking after the job, and as such
not unnaturally, over 900 cases re
lating to child labour were pending
in the division.
Mr Ansari, who has done a com
mendable job in stirring awareness
among the poor and the deprived
of this area, said the HKMP volun
teers had penetrated deep into the
interiors and were trying to educate
the people about the degrading
malaise of child labour, and
claimed their efforts were begin
ning no bear fruits.
The Times of India
27 June 2000
The Indian Express
27 June 2000
•
WORKSHOP OF NGOsATOt ON
RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
•
Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Bangalort
it orraniting a 3-day rtiidtntial Workshop on Rural Entrtprtnturship
Development strategyfrom 19tb to 21 ft July 2000 at Bangalore for Chief
Executives of NQOt/VOt of South India. This workshop it sponsored by
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SID BI).
For details & nomination forms, contact:
Workshop Director, EDII,
f 133, 11th ‘A’ Cross, 1st Main, II stage, West of Chord Road,
BangaJorc-560 086. Phone: 080-3490384.
Telefax: 080-3496580. Email: edirpffgiMbgOl ,YJpl.netJo,
47
The Indian Express
27 June 2000
News You Can Use
UN report has praise,
criticism for India
Human rights record good, education poor
Th# Times of India News Service
NEW DELHI: The UNDP’s
Human Development Report 2000
— released on Thursday — con
tains plenty of good news for India.
Not only has the country moved up
four notches to 128 on the Human
Development Index (HDI) this
year, but India has been compli
mented for putting human rights at
the core of development strategies.
After South Africa. India is the
most frequently cited country in
the report, which evaluates 174
*
countries
on the basis of their
achievements in terms of life ex
pectancy, educational attainment
and real incomes. The focus of this
year’s report is on human rights.
based on the belief that “poverty is
as much a human rights issue as ar
bitrary arrest”.
Though the report contains sev
eral positive references to India,
there is little room for complacency
*.
The UNDP makes it clear that rhe
country still has a long way to go be
fore it can ensure a better life for all
those who are homeless, cannot af
ford proper health care and whose
children remain out of school
Human rights: India has been
complimented for its human rights
approach in its development pro
grammes. Lest our politicians and
bureaucrats start patting them
selves, the report notes how public
interest litigation cases have been
effectively used to secure social and
economic rights of citizens. The re
port mentions how the Supreme
Court here has insisted on the
rights of all citizens to free educa
tion and basic healthcare. With the
exception of the Convention on
Torture, India has ratified all major
human rights instruments.
India has a robust civil society
sector and the UNDP report show
cases the work of the Mazdoor
THE GOOD...
• Public interest litigation cases
have been effectively used to
secure the social and economic
rights of citizens.
• Despite persistent political
instability and fragile coalition
'■ governments, the broad con
sensus on economic policy re2 form has survived.
•' • Women are how finding a
■ -space and voice in the hitherto
. male-dominated decision mak; ing structures.
...AND THE BAD
? • The Constitution has felled to
make mandatory primary edu
cation a right for all citizens.
•Minorities suffer serious dis
crimination.
Kisan Shakti Sangathan in Ra
jasthan, and the Gujarat-based
DISHA, a group defending the in
terests of tribals and forest workers.
On the flip side, the report men
tions India along with US, Britain,
Israel and Russia, where minorities
suffer serious discrimination. Hav
ing applauded the judiciary, the re
port also says rhe shortage of
judges and the overwhelming back
log of cases strangle the rule of law.
Poverty and reforms: The report
says that instead of signing a secret
agreement on reforms with interna
tional financial institutions, India de
bated the options far more openly
than most other countries undergo
ing similar economic reforms. India
has won praise for the fact that de
spite persistent political instability
and fragile coalition governments,
the broad consensus on economic
policy reform has survived.
In terms of impact, the report.
says India’s economic reforms have
produced the most rapid growth in
its history — twice the average an
nual rate before the reforms. India
has been mentioned among the
countries which have acheived
spectacular progress in reducing in
come poverty.
Education: India fails in its en
deavour to provide universal pri
mary; education despite half-a-century of elected governments, says
the UNDP and quotes the findings
of a survey that 30 per cent of all
children aged six to 14 years —
about 59 million boys and girls —
are out of school It reveals the all
round failure of parents and teach
ers, politicians and the media, none
of whom has fulfilled its role. The
survey shows that 12 per cent of pri
mary schools had only one teacher,
58 per cent schools had two rooms.
60 per cent had a leaking roof while
only 25 per cent teachers were
found teaching. The country’s Con
stitution. it points out, has failed to
make mandatory
*
primary educa
tion a right for all citizens.
Women: The reservation of 33
per cent seats for women in local
government institutions or panchayats is cited as another plus for
India. As a result, more than one
million women have been elected
to the three-tier panchayats, indi
cating that women are now finding
a space and voice in the hitherto
male-dominated decision-making
structures. Social norms and tradi
tional attitudes, however, continue
to impede their access to education.
A 1996 survey on primary
*
educa
tion reveals that 98 per cent of par
ents believed it was important for
boys to be educated and 89 per cent
for girls. It says surveys show how
girls are discriminated against and
that those living in rural areas and
SC, STs are even more vulnerable.
The Times of India
30 June 2000
MP govt
site raise
*
Rs 2 cror
for
educatior
DOTCOM sites are great mone
spinners. And one set up by tt
Madhya Pradesh Government he
brought in .Rs 20 million for tt
best of causes.
It was in April this year th;
the Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission
which won the first internation;
innovation gold medal of th
commonwealth association ft
public administration and mar
agement in 1998 for its educatio
guarantee scheme (EGS), decide
to a launch a web
sit
www.fundaschool.org with the pu
pose of seeking global partnershi
in education.
According to R Gopalakrishnar
the coordinator of the Rajiv Gahdl
Missions, the concept was rathe
simple. "We were not just seel
ing funds for these schools
These could have been sough
from various development suppor
agencies. But we were also lookin j
for community
*,
participation.” he
said.
Under the egs, the governmen
gives a guarantee to provide <
primary schooling facility to chil
dren in a habitation where inert
is no such facility within <
kilometre within a period of 9C
days of receiving a demand fo
such a facility by the community
provided at least 25 childrer
are available as students.
"Anyone • who contributed Rs
16,000 could take charge oi
the future of a community schoo
for one year. The profile of the
schools available for partnership
was put up on the site
www.furtdaschool.org,'' he said.
Now within a few months.
more than 500 schools have
been picked up for support by
individuals
and
trust
organisations with several of them
making a commitment for more
than year.
"It is not the amount of
money or the number of schools
Contd..
CDL Media Clippings 48
Timely concern
The Union Government’s new programme to help street chil
dren is timely and welcome as it is a significant step to come to
the rescue of this neglected lot who deserve all care and pro
tection. The National Initiative for Child Protection (NICP),
launched by Union Minister of Social Justice and
Empowerment Maneka Gandhi, aims at greater and better
understanding of the needs of street children and placing their
rights and protection on the national agenda. The Project
Childline, Phase I of the NICP, is under implementation in 14
cities across the country through a network of NGOs. It ensures
that a “childhood to every child” is just a call away. Help can
be sought for any child on the street or a victim of child abuse
on telephone through the night-and-day childline service. It has
already received 2,80,000 calls for medical attention, shelter,
protection from abuse and repatriation, apart from complaints
about missing children and death of children on the streets.
This programme is certainly ambitious because there was no
suitable scheme earlier to take care of street children which is
both a social and economic problem. Most of the children come
to the cities' in search of greener pastures and end up taking
hazardous jobs, working in restaurants as domestic helps and
in gambling dens while many street girls are also led to prostitution. Programmes like the NICP aim at checking this trend
and protecting such children.
There would of course be insurmountable problems in
implementing a project of this scope and magnitude.
Sometimes, one cannot rule out delay in getting timely assis
tance from the police. In some cases, employers abusing chil
dren cannot be apprehended or abused children are turned
away and cannot be rehabilitated. It is encouraging to note that
the Centre has taken into consideration some of these known
problems and has decided to initiate training for all those
involved in the programme. It has also decided to set up a
national core group to monitor the implementation of the pro
gramme. At the same time, what the Centre needs to do is to
seek the effective co-operation of all State Governments without
which it would be difficult to make any headway. After a care
ful study of the NICP in 14 selected cities, the Centre should
explore the possibility of extending the programme to more and
more cities. The main focus of the programme should not only
be welfare and protection of the street children but how to edu
cate them and make them good citizens in the later years of
their life. Clearly, there is a good amount of human resource
which needs to be tapped to alleviate their sufferings and prob
lems. Funds should not be a constraint in this noble work and
corporate help should be sought to form an effective network to
evolve directions and approaches in working for their care and
rehabilitation.
Deccan Herald
30 June 2000
49
Maneka
launches
child rights
Contd...
campaign
UNION MINISTER of State for
Social Justice and Empowerment
Maneka Gandhi on Tuesday
launched a campaign. National
■ Initiative for Child Protection. This
campaign will sensitise the police,
health care system, transport de
partments and labour department
about the rights of the neglected and
underprivileged child.
Besides this nation-wide cam
paign, the Social Justice Ministry will
also make efforts to table the
amended Juvenile Justice Act in the
monsoon session of Parliament. Ms
Maneka Gandhi said.Some of the
major amendments incorporated in
the Act are making a distinction be
tween the juvenile delinquents and
the neglected children, rehabilita
tion and social reintegration of the
neglected children, effective adop
tion, foster care and sponsorship
systems, the Minister said. The pro
posed new Act will also be in con
formity with the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the
Child, she added.
Stressing the need for the
National Initiative for Child
Protection, Ms Maneka Gandhi said
*
the neglected children encoun
tered problems with the allied sys
tems like the police and the med
ical care system.
The existing services for children
were inadequate and there was
need for sustained training of the
personnel in these allied systems
and create a child friendly envi
ronment, she said.The campaign,
launched in 14 cities to begin with
in the first phase, initiate training
for the allied systems, include child
protection issues in the curriculum
of training institutions, she said.
The Pioneer
28 June 2000
that have been picked up by the
people that is a matter of satis
faction for us. The real thrust of
the programme has come from
the responses of individuals from
all over the globe which has
contributed to the success of
the site,” Gopalakrishnan said.
He
said
that
Rajarishi
Bhattacharya. an Indian engineer
working with the Bell Laboratories
in the US had not only picked up
a school in the tribal dominated
Bastar area, but also offered to
come and teach there for some
time.
“It is the kind of community
participation that breaks distance
barriers.
symbolising
real
globalisation of the economy.”
Mr Gopalakrishnan added.
There are hundreds of others
who have been attracted to the
concept. The first was a woman
from, san jose. California, and
then their were people like Anil
Advani from Stanford University.
Ram Agarwal a Jhansi-based
Wipro
executive,
Santosh
Chandnani. an
*
expatriate who
picked up a school in Bastar.
A batch of InDian Administrative
Service probationers undergoing
training also picked up a school.
as did the volunteers of a new
york group.
The site was set up at a
modest cost of Rs 83.000 and
so far it had yielded more than
Rs 20 million for the schools.
and even from a commercial
standpoint it has been a great
success.
With the programme qualifying
for 1OO per cent income tax
exemption, it is also likely io
attract corporate donors and indi
viduals looking for tax breaks
The Observer
28 June 2000
VISIT OUR WEBSITE
www.cdlblr.org
This issue of News You Can Use has been compiled from
The Observer
The Hindu
The Times of India
The New Indian Express
The Hindustan Times
Deccan Herald
The Pioneer
The Asian Age
The Statesman
The Telegraph
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Communication for Development and Learning (CDL)
is a Bangalore-based non-profit voluntary organisation
working to integrate communication more effectively into
the development process. Realising the importance of
working closely with the mainstream media, CDL works
closely-with professional journalists to ensure that
issues related to social justice and development are given
a planned and sustained exposure in the media.
CDL also undertakes:
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in the mainstream publications
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level netw ^giona' Coordinator for Charkha - a national
1 netWork for development communication.
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Commu^T Wormatio^ Please write to:
Communication for Development and Learning
emailBanSalore-S60.095.
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