Equity vs Economy

The title is not so self explanatory, So let me shed some light on what is going on in my mind while I decided to write this. Equity is the most talked about word in most socialistic countries, or should I say it is the most talked about concept around the world today. Equity be within a country or around the world, we talk about reducing the gap between the haves and have-nots.

There exist a concept of people "Below Poverty Line" which remains improper as there is no standard and universally acceptable formula to define the term. But within the hearts and minds of a common man, A person who is not able to gratify his/her bare minimum needs as a human should be below poverty line. I hope anyone who would read this would agree. Bare minimum needs would include clean food security, drinking water, basic education, health facilities, guaranteed job to earn his/her living.

There is a thing that comes to my mind very often, and that is a question: If I am provided with free food, free place to live and everything without a cost, will I ever want to work? And what will happen if most of the people realise this and would focus on reaping the benefits of subsidies and everything that is freely available. Best example here would be the beggers on the streets who look strong enough to get any manual work and earn his bread for living, but he is more happy to beg and eat and roam around instead of working as a daily wage laborer and buy food for himself and his family.

I was reading an article in frontline this month about the PDS and Food Security: http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20120113282709600.htm

The survey says that a person gets enough amount of food that he would get after working for a month under NREGA. So do u think there would be many people who would benefit from both? I Think yes, but may be equal in numbers to the people who would choose to get the free grains and everything and not work because he can anyways sustain his/her life without even working. No? Is that a very wrong premise to ponder upon?

The grossly politicized Food Security Bill, which is not only putting the exchequer under excessive pressure but also making the economy less productive. If people decide to reap the free benefits and not work, it is definitely going to reduce the economic activity.

So, There is a need to understand that subsidies and Social nets like food security, health benefits etc are not replaceable, but there is a need to have a holistic understanding of the poverty and an overall approach towards bringing people above the poverty line so that once they reach a level where they get the bare minimums, they become independent and able to sustain their lives without the Govt crutches. There is a need to develop schemes and spread awareness about social mobility that would widen the thinking and aspirations of the people to move to a better level in social hierarchy. And hence there is a need to link education, food security, livelihood and other schemes together, in order to provide a wholesome impetus to the lives of people who are yet to be brought into mainstream, need support but do not need to be made dependent upon those far above. 

India Against Corruption: Critique

Power Corrupts! & Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely!
                                                                          - Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton

With Due regards to Sh. Anna Hazare and the movement initiated under his leadership, I feel they need not act like a second Government to move an appeal against the weaknesses in existing structure.
Given the indiscriminate levels of corruption in the country, general public educated as well as the uneducated ones will fall prey of the well glittering proposals of the draft prepared by them. But the Reality of the matter is, the huge support this movement has gained is because of the declining faith of the general public in the existing system.

And by system I mean all the three organs of the Governmental structure of our Country- Legislature, Parliament and nonetheless the Judiciary. The debates I keep hearing keep taking political stands and that is what makes the faith of the people in the movement all the more.

Despite the well designed and well drafted system, we are not able to nurture the fruits of the plant that our Leaders had sown in the times of freedom struggle. There is poverty of modes of protests within the system. The poverty of the political parties of not being sensitive to the needs of the Public of whose representatives they claim themselves to be after the election night cheer.

Jaats want reservation, they believe they have the right to destroy public property - thinking that this is government's property. Opposition demands a JPC, they cut transportation and hence the whole country. How irresponsible can anyone be?

A Look at the Parliament proceedings creates a dismal picture of the functioning of the parliament which is a place for discussions for policy making and not mere blames and allegations.

And a Judiciary, which is so biased that it sees that food is being rotten , but not that how any member of parliament can disrespect the functioning of The highest institution of democracy- The Parliament . I was looking forward that the Overactive Judiciary would soon interfere and like it notified the Govt. at different occasions would also ask the opposition to let the parliament function. But I doubt there are any unbiased judges left who are sensitive to the spirit of the constitution.

And now coming to the public which consists of insensitive educated class which is aloof to the election proceeding and is at the leading position in criticizing " Government" , (I believe that they do not have any right to speak on the functioning of the Government when they do not know their rights and duties ) , the other class which is so poor that they vote for alcohol, T.V., cycles etc.


Now coming back to the Shining Stars of the movement who claim every one else to be corrupt and they believe that they can create a human who a man with golden characteristics /Ideal Man- the one that Plato once visualized.

And I question all those supporting this senseless proposal that Who is Anna Hazare or for that matter Kiran Bedi or Medha Patkar to question the Spirit of the Constitution which gives validity to all the institutions of Government and the Sovereignty of our Country India.

Separation of Powers is one of the Basic Feature of the Constitution which even A Constitutional Amendment can not change. How can  A Body be made a Super Body or a Man be SuperMan of the country. Has anyone seen a real superman who has solutions to all the problems and is all powerful?

Why did our constitution makers formulated 3 arms for the Government ? To ensure Checks and Balance in the system. And this insane suggestion of providing all the powers, of Investigation , adjudication and punishment to this Institution of Lok Pal is absolutely unconstitutional and not at all obeys the sanctity of the system.

Looking at the paradox of the same, Fundamental Rights ensure Right to Constitutional Remedies under A32 and every citizen has a right to challenge a decision by a judicial or a quassi judicial body in the Court of law to preserve the Rule of natural Justice . What will happen if a citizen challenges the decision made by Lok PAl in the court of law?

And what utility will LokPal be left with if all its decisions are challenged and altered? And who would take an appeal against the LokPal?

These are some questions which bother me to the core. And such a respectable person leading in an unaccountable manner is so depressing for a person having faith in the system and having faith in constituional methods of protests.

I am sorry to say, that Sh Hazare started the movement at the right time but could not offer the leadership as this movement needed.

And to add to it the political blame game that the present opposition has been playing ever since the UPA Govt is unconstitutional and highly irresponsible. I am not favouring the corrupt politicians, but I appreciate the efforts of the Govt. in taking exemplary steps ever since it has been in power. But it is a sorry state of the democracy that instead of appreciating such efforts it is said that it is just due to the political pressure.


I wish Kiran Bedi, whom I respect a lot, takes good view of the issues and the constitutionality of the matter being such a responsible and capable civil servant, to provide a better and intelligent lead to the movement against corruption.

China India Ties

Media, diplomats and important officials keep addressing India and China as the two 'Asian Giants'- China - the Dragon, India- the Elephant. But Chinese premier has taken a step ahead to deny the dragon - elephant relationship between the two. Both Wen and Prime Minister Singh took a step ahead to speak out what the two countries see their relation as- Partners in Developmental Cooperation and not Rivals in Competition.
With the uncertainty in the air about the talks going on at the Diplomatic level, it is still not easy to trust Chinese commitments with its selfish moves. China wants to march ahead into Indian markets to try its hands in Indian domestic consumption after capturing a good share in the western economies at large. China seeks a FTA( Free Trade Agreement) with India, with a promise of better access to Indian Companies in IT, Pharmaceuticals and Farm products. But on the other hand, its movement in the Indian ocean seen as the String of pearls, military support to the erring Pakistan Government in terms of its cross border state funded terrorism, infiltration into Indian borders with an attempt to hamper Indian Sovereignty.
Let apart its support to Pakistan, its increasing infrastructure activity in the Tibetan region, and the claim on territories in Arunachal Pradesh. China's prolonged trade imbalance with India, despite India being the second largest trade partner after U.S., and protectionist policies reflect upon the selfishness and self centered behavior of the chinese.
There are 6 agreements that have been signed, but within India, there are sections who are not ready to trust Chinese intentions of the so called wish for healthy natural relations with India, given its appetite for quest for acquisition of more and more territory, no support for human rights. India and China are culturally (political) and ideologically different. We will have to wait and watch to see the outcomes of the bilateral trades very maturely handles by Indian Diplomacy to the best of its intentions and approach. Just hope, given the size of the economy, territory and demographics of the two 'Asian Giants', China actually realizes importance of Sino-Indian relationship as it is necessary to carve the future of nt just South Asia, but the world too.

Respect Diplomats or forget all ties

Two incidents of Diplomats being frisked and humiliated in U.S. in the name of security check is a question of India's prestige. India must press for a written apology for this and strict action must be taken to check this.

To make this issue more seen with the right intensity, there must be a few tit for tat incidents forced on big names like Hillary Clinton and others. And specially because these incidents have hurt the cultural sentiments of the country. Is following Diplomatic procedures that hectic that the administration can not command how to follow procedures made for particular purposes.

They disrespected Shah Rukh Khan last year, despite him being a brand ambassador for India. Now the U.S. airport authorities have crossed all lines, humiliating the diplomats who maintain the global politico-economic and social relations.

VIGILANT EYE

Project Vigitech is a project to involve citizens with the Central Vigilance Commission to bring down the Corruption mercury in the country. This aims at including different stakeholders who suffer due to corruption to use Technology and bring in light the corrupt bureaucrats or any Government official . This project is to empower the citizenry and a chance for them to be a part of the process of reducing corruption and to save our country from the black spot of being one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

http://182.18.181.234/vigeye/

Communal harmony and internal security of India are interlinked

The word Communal gains its origin from the word ‘commune’, which means a group of people sharing some commonality living together taking care of each other’s interests and needs. Communalism in a narrow sense, especially in India, is seen as feeling of belongingness to one religion. It is seen as love for one’s own religion and hatred for others. But broadly, communalism is a feeling of competition amongst different groups of people, for differential reasons. The communes formed on the basis of religion, or caste, or common rituals, culture etc, all differentiate people and highlights them as different groups distinct from others.

Community one belongs to is a form of identity one carries. Formation of different communities was a hallmark of human civilization, because without commune formations, communications and interaction of man with man would not have developed and made man the superior most animal on earth. It is the human interaction that led to the growth of a society and further growth and maturity into more complex societies. A person if left in solitude after birth would not have any purpose in life unless he is attached to some sort of group of human beings. The whole reason of man’s birth is explained in his attachment to a particular community.

A healthy competition amongst different groups of people is what makes life possible and gives meaning to innumerous chores that human beings perform, the relationships and bonds they share with their near and dear ones.

Communalism is the negative aspect of community life. When feeling of attachment , commitment and love extends to the limit when it hurts the freedom of life of other community and their feelings, faiths and beliefs. When there is a competition of proving the superiority of one group over the other, this is when a healthy society turns into a group of communes competing with each other, to denounce the faith, beliefs and cultures of any other group than its own.

Communal harmony in India had been a question ever since its existence is known to mankind. Pluralism has been the hallmark of Indian subcontinent and its culture and society. India – the nation was a concept mostly unknown to India and Indians, until British forcefully for their own administrative advantage collected the different kingdoms together under one tag called India. Indian soil has been inhabited by people of different origins ,in addition to the native indigenous people, like Aryans, Mughals etc. India thus has never been a single culture or single religion land.

Different communities, languages, customs, culture, rituals and the life of India with huge variety and vibrant nature has been a defining feature , demarcating it from the rest of the world. But this should be noted that the communalism in its present form was not the differentiating feature of Indian society. History witnessed harmony and coexistence and a feeling of brotherhood between different religions, cultures. Indologists have discussed about the facts like caste-tribe continuum, reflecting the exchange of culture between the caste structure and those living in forests ever since the times of the various epics. Consider the Ramayana or the Mahabharata, there is continous exchange of people living in the main stream villages and those in the villages. Inter-caste marriages have created a number of caste and religious groups that they may claim to know their descent but it can barely be proved, due to prolonged coexistence , India is a land of all the people who live in it. No one can claim if he is a Brahmin or a hindu today, then his ten ancestors shared the same identity too.

But today, communalism is reaching its extreme due to reasons, new and old, prolonged and newly emerging. Today’s communalism is more sinister than what it had ever been in the history of India. It is not just the tussle between religions , rather, the issues like regionalism , naxalism, sons of soils, prolonged casteism even after 64 years of independence in newer and changed forms are a reflection of man’s quest for more and more, in terms of fame, name, benefits from their locality or superiority.

The whole sanctity of India’s existence and its culture has been hampered due to the ever rising and multiplying issues different forms of communalism. The freedom fighters and the constitution framers dreamt of a free India, with its people master of their own will, living together and enshrining India with its “Unity in Diversity” character. The dream of our freedom fighters to make Indian into a happy and sovereign nation seems to be shattered at the stake of communal tensions.

The issues of internal security in India is not merely due to religious tensions, but due to differential distribution of benefits of the progress made by India since Independence. The internal issues India faced just after independence and thereafter were different from what they are today. The prolonged increase in tension between the hindus and the muslims ever since independence is as much due to external unsurgency as much it is from internal competition posed by the right wing extremism , questioning the identity of the minority community, and the historical deprivation.  The unequal distribution of benefits has created more communities striving for their historic right as the citizens of India. The rising Maoism and naxalism in the less developed and the poorest of the states in India is a sign of lack of governance and political and social will in the society to develop a more equitable society.

Internal security of India can be ensured if the progress India is making takes into account the needs of the low lying and deprived sections of the society. Indian economy is the third fastest growing economy in the World, the progress we are making is not less as compared to what britishers left us with after draining the wealth of our nation in a course of two centuries of rule over us. Policies made for minorities , women , below poverty line people and other targeted sections of the society, are never implemented successfully, due to the parasite called corruption.

Those siphoning the amount spent by the government fail to understand that prolonged deprivation can not stretch forever. Like the dalits, and the subaltern groups are developing a consciousness of their existence, power and strength of their existence and their rights and the citizen of the nation, forming lobbys, those causing issues hampering the internal security of India have been suppressed and deprived historically, and its time they are given their well deserved right or pay price of marginalizing them.

The calm that persisted in the country after the long awaiting ayodhya verdict, has proved that India is maturing. Indian youth is aware that there are more important issues than violence and fighting over religion and making it the reason for disturbing the peace in the country, said the finance minister. But it is important that we understand that more sinister forms of communalism present and what consequences they can have on Indian society as a whole in the larger run.

Dialectical Secularism

Reading about secessionists separatists everyday in news papers and magazines and discussing about them in different platforms is not a very happy endeavor. I am sad, I am unhappy.. I feel helpless, with the paradoxical presence of multiculturalism and intolerance presence in my society, my country. My fellow countrymen, due to innumerable reasons suffer everyday, due to aggression, artificial unrest created by those who never want people to coexist those who want to capture power at any cost,  even at the cost of their fellow men or their own people.
 Since the very beginning , from time immemorial, according to different researches, Indian subcontinent has witnessed a blend of cultures, not just like a salad but also somewhat like a melting pot. Different cultures and religions have been preserving their identities as well as mingling with each other time and again , creating even more vibrant cultures not known to any other country in the world. There are debates and discussions , researches and studies on who are endogenous and who are exogenous to a territory. Why? Just to claim superiority? or to capture power? what?? why?? what is the need? Why can't those, who have this much strength to hamper the peaceful existence of people, put in efforts to maintain harmony amongst people. Why there seems no way of creating a tolerant society.
The role played by religion in Indian society or for that matter in the world, questions the very birth of religion. Religion was supposed to be there to regulate and discipline the lives of people and of common man. Since the purpose of human beings being born is unknown even till now, there was a need of a force and a strength to regulate man's life for healthy and productive co-existence of humanity. But what religion is doing today...?? Is it playing the role of a regulator? and guide? providing vision to man? No. it largely is not. Rather, religion offers a form of identity to man, which he is emotively attached to. He is trained by the process of socialization to fight for and to be violent to protect the honor and status of religion.
Men are fighting amongst each other to prove the superiority of their religion. Same religion has different interpretations of its teachings in different boundaries of territories, different preachings, different rituals, different norms and values. Who defines anyone as the custodian of any religion. Man is born as secular, with no religion, no identity....His birth attaches an identity which is multiplied manifold due to the process of socialization. Family decides, what a person understands about religion, how he is going to look at society and others and other religions and societies.
My heart cries at the condition of my society and my country and my countrymen and fellow human beings everywhere. When God has made us humans and gave us brains to develop and grow and live happily by using our brains our ability to think and our creativity, what we end up doing is fighting on petty issues? creating issues of nothing and making them futile grievances? Making issues for even the not yet born generations to ensure their involvement in violence, hatred, tensions and an unnatural society and unnatural world, which is not worth living in. Why do we not use our creativity in collective well being ...by making best use of the limited resources? Why do we not teach our children to be happy and make others happy? Why do we teach our young ones to stick to our identities rigidity and striving hard to sustain them.
I believe tolerance is not as such a big deal, but due to the magnitude of our country and the extent of diversity  in it has made it nearly impossible for people to co exist and tendencies like separate territory and autonomy for people associated to the same culture and religion and like expressing superiority of one religion or cult over the other have become indispensable.
Education, knowledge awareness, understanding is imperative in making people realize the materialistic nature of religion as is being perceived today and what exactly it should be, a driving force to just govern and discipline people from becoming inhuman. But what comes in way of imparting this awareness, this knowledge is the religion again. Dare anyone teach or tell anyone that religion should not be taken so intensely that it is, the person will be torn into bits and pieces. So the cause itself comes in the way of solutions of the problem, making it a self recurring problem.
Our constitution aims at making India a secular state, but it forgot that like religious texts have been interpreted and re interpreted and even misinterpreted, so will it be. Now the conflict between Western interpretation of secularism vs Indian interpretation of secularism. France is being criticised of not allowing people to follow their religion freely, but does religion anywhere distinguishes between public and private lives of people? It is the duty of state to so that. If religion entering in the public sphere is acting like a menace, then its the duty of the state to ensure that it distinguishes between the two and directs its subjects to practice religion peacefully in private life and let public life be free of religion and make it secular- that is equal respect for all than an unending contest of proving the superiority of one religion over the other.
Directive Principles of state Policy direct the Government to facilitate people to practice their religion freely, and the philosophy of the state guides it to be equal to all religions. There is no provision of solving the dialectics between the two. And no minority is minority in the exponentially growing population in India today and any policy affecting any religion positively or negatively has a huge protest from the same community or the others. There seems to be no end to this dialectic and the pitiful condition of communal disputes in my country .This dispute which is not restricted to the territory in the era of globalization, it affects people across te borders of a country .