LOKĀYATA: JOURNAL OF POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY.ISSN :2249-8389 , Vol.IX, No.01, March 2019

LokÄ yata Journal of Positive Philosophy

(ISSN: 2249-8389)

Vol. IX, No.01, March 2019

Chief-Editor: Dr. Desh Raj Sirswal

1

Lokāyata: Journal of Positive Philosophy (ISSN 2249-8389) Lokāyata: Journal of Positive Philosophy is an online bi-annual interdisciplinary journal of the Center for Positive Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies (CPPIS). The name Lokāyata can be traced to Kautilya's Arthashastra, which refers to three ānvīkṣikīs (logical philosophies), Yoga, Samkhya and Lokāyata. Lokāyata here still refers to logical debate (disputatio, "criticism") in general and not to a materialist doctrine in particular. The objectives of the journal are to encourage new thinking on concepts and theoretical frameworks in the disciplines of humanities and social sciences to disseminate such new ideas and research papers (with strong emphasis on modern implications of philosophy) which have broad relevance in society in general and man’s life in particular. The Centre publishes two issues of the journal every year. Each regular issue of the journal contains full-length papers, discussions and comments, book reviews, information on new books and other relevant academic information. Each issue contains about 100 Pages. © Centre for Positive Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies, Pehowa (Kurukshetra) Chief-Editor: Dr. Desh Raj Sirswal, Assistant Professor (Philosophy), Post Graduate Govt. College, Sector-46, Chandigarh.

Associate Editor: Dr. Merina Islam, Assistant Professor (Philosophy), Cachar College, Silchar (Assam).

Editorial Advisory Board: Prof. K.K. Sharma (Former-Pro-Vice-Chancellor, NEHU, Shillong).

Prof. (Dr.) Sohan Raj Tater, Former Vice Chancellor, Singhania University , Rajasthan).

Dr. Ranjan Kumar Behera (Patkai Christian College (Autonomous), Nagaland).

Dr. Geetesh Nirban (Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi).

Dr. K. Victor Babu (Institute of Education, Mettu University, Metu, Ethiopia).

Dr Rasmita Satapathy (Department of Philosophy, Ramnagar College, West Bengal.)

Mr.Pankoj Kanti Sarkar (Department of Philosophy, Debra Thana Sahid Kshudiram Smriti Mahavidyalaya, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal).

Declaration: The opinions expressed in the articles of this journal are those of the individual authors, and not necessary of those of CPPIS or the Chief-Editor.

2

In this issue……………..

Sr. No.

Title of the Paper & Author

Page No.

1.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WEAKER SECTION OF THE INDIAN SOCIETY: Dr. Anupam Bahri

05

2.

PREVALENCE OF DIABETES AND ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS: GLOBAL AND NATIONAL SCENARIO: Ms. Reetu Sharma

22

3.

IMPACT OF FINANCIAL LITERACY ON MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENTS-A REVIEW : Dr. Anupriya Bhardwaj

35

4.

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF IMPRISONMENT ON THE FAMILIES LEFT BEHIND: A STUDY OF THE FAMILIES OF PRISONERS CONFINED IN CENTRAL JAIL LUDHIANA: Ms. Harmanpreet Kaur Pandher & Dr. Manoj Kumar,

46

5.

RELIGION OF MARGINS, IDENTITY FORMATION AND CLEAVAGES: A STUDY OF DERA SACHA SAUDA IN PUNJAB, INDIA: Mr. Surinder Singh

54

6.

RUN-AWAY MARRIAGES IN PUNJAB: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES : Ms. Kanika Sharma

66

7.

THE DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT, 2005: AN OVERVIEW Mr. Ajay Sharma

;

78

8.

USING E–GOVERNANCE TO REINFORCE CITIZENS SATISFACTION: A CASE STUDY OF ATAL SEWA KENDRAS OF AMBALA CITY: Ms. Manjulla Verma

89

9.

ETHNOMUSICOLOGICAL STUDY OF CASTE IN POPULAR PUNJABI SONGS: Mr. Vinod Kumar & Ms. Paramjeet Kaur

100

10.

SOCIAL INCLUSION THROUGH HEALTH SUPPORT IN INDIA: A CASE STUDY OF AYUSHMAN BHARAT YOJANA IN CHANDIGARH: Dr. Minakshi Rana

111

11.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA : Dr. Rajneesh

121

12.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: A STUDY OF STAKEHOLDERS‘ PERCEPTION : Ms. Rinkey Priya Bali

126

13.

STRESS RELATED HEALTH PROBLEM AS A CAUSE OF THE JOB DISSATISFACTION AMONG POLICE OFFICIALS IN UT CHANDIGARH : Mr. Sandeep Buttola

136

14.

INDIANS IN UAE: POPULATION AND LABOUR FORCE IN DUBAI: Mr. Kapil Dahiya

145

15.

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF NPAs OF SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL BANKS IN INDIA: Dr.Ruchi Sharma

152

16.

IMPACT OF GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST): A CASE STUDY OF HIMACHAL PRADESH: Dr. Ajay Sharma

160

3

17.

EVALUATING A LINK BETWEEN CORPORATE REPUTATION AND FINANCIALPERFORMANCE: A STUDY OF INDIA‘S MOST RESPECTED COMPANIES: Dr. Diksha Kakkar & Dr. Taminder Kaur

175

18.

शोध आलेख शीषषक- भारतीय दशषन के उपादान : दशषन की अवधारणा के आलोक में:

188

आशुतोष व्यास 19.

REPORT OF THE PROGRAMME

194

4

VIOLENCE AGAINST WEAKER SECTION OF THE INDIAN SOCIETY Dr. Anupam Bahri, Assistant Professor in Sociology University School of Open Learning, Panjab University, Chandigarh

Abstract There is an increasing violence against the downtrodden people in India. The weaker section people are known as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Since the existence of the caste system in the country, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population are vulnerable and are untouchable.

Therefore, the government of India has promulgated the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) (POA) Act in 1989 to prevent atrocities against these people. Even after two decades since the enactment of the Act, the condition of these people remains unchanged. Further, the dominated castes people influence in each stage of the case. No one is standing beside the victims to fight against the atrocities. It is suggested that special courts should be established for speedy trials in case of atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Further, it is suggested that serious offences such as rapes and murder against the weaker sections be dealt with the help of the National SC and ST Commissions and NGOs. The government should launch rigorous awareness programmes to educate the weaker section people about their entitlements through the POA Act.

Introduction Some 160 million people in India live a precarious existence, shunned by much of society because of their rank as "untouchables" or Dalits, literally meaning "broken" people, at the bottom of India's caste system. Dalits are discriminated against, denied access to land, forced to work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused, even killed, at the hands of the police and of higher-caste groups that enjoy the state's protection. Dalit women are frequent victims of sexual abuse. In what has been called India's "hidden apartheid," entire villages in many Indian states remain completely segregated by caste. National legislation and constitutional protections serve only to mask the social realities of discrimination and violence. Caste clashes, particularly in the states of Bihar and Tamil Nadu, but also in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Gujarat, reflect patterns which are common to many parts of the country: a loss of faith in the state machinery and increasing intolerance of their abusive treatment have led many Dalit communities into movements to claim their rights. In response, state and private actors have engaged in a pattern of repression to preserve the status quo.

The report also documents the government's attempts to criminalize peaceful social activism through

5

the arbitrary arrest and detention of Dalit activists, and its failure to abolish exploitative labour practices and implement relevant legislation.

More than one-sixth of India's population in what has been called India's "weaker section of the society," entire villages in many Indian states remain completely segregated by caste. National legislation and constitutional protections serve only to mask the social realities of discrimination and violence faced by those living below the "pollution line." Even though "untouchability" was abolished under India's constitution in 1950, the practice of "untouchability" – the imposition of social disabilities on persons by reason of their birth in certain castes – remains a part of rural India very much.

"Untouchables" may not cross the line dividing their part of the village from that occupied by higher castes. They may not use the same wells, visit the same temples, drink from the same cups in tea stalls, or lay claim to land that is legally theirs. Dalit children are frequently made to sit in the back of classrooms, and communities are made to perform degrading rituals in the name of caste. Most Dalits continue to live in extreme poverty, without land or opportunities for better employment or education.

Except for a minority who have benefited from India's policy of quotas in education and government jobs, Dalits are relegated to the most menial of tasks, as manual scavengers, removers of human waste and dead animals, leather workers, street sweepers, and cobblers. Dalit children make up the majority of those sold into bondage to pay off debts to upper-caste creditors. Dalit men, women, and children numbering in the tens of millions work as agricultural labourers for a few kilograms of rice or Rs. 15 to Rs. 35 a day. Their upper-caste employers frequently use caste as a cover for exploitative economic arrangements: social sanction of their status as lesser beings allows their impoverishment to continue.

Dalit women face the triple burden of caste, class, and gender. Dalit girls have been forced to become prostitutes for upper-caste patrons and village priests. Sexual abuse and other forms of violence against women are used by landlords and the police to inflict political "lessons" and crush dissent within the community. According to a Tamil Nadu state government official, the raping of Dalit women exposes the hypocrisy of the caste system as "no one practices untouchability when it comes to sex." Like other Indian women whose relatives are sought by the police, Dalit women have also been arrested and tortured in custody as a means of punishing their male relatives who are hiding from the authorities.

The plight of India's "untouchables" elicits only sporadic attention within the country. Public outrage over large-scale incidents of violence or particularly egregious examples of discrimination fades quickly, and the state is under little pressure to undertake more meaningful reforms. Laws granting Dalits special consideration for government jobs and education reach only a small percentage of those they are meant to benefit. Laws designed to ensure that Dalits enjoy equal rights and protection have seldom been enforced. Instead, police refuse to register complaints about violations of the law and 6

rarely prosecute those responsible for abuses that range from murder and rape to exploitative labour practices and forced displacement from Dalit lands and homes.

Political mobilization that has resulted in the emergence of powerful interest groups and political parties among middle- and low-caste groups throughout India since the mid-1980s has largely bypassed Dalits. Dalits are courted by all political parties but generally forgotten once elections are over. The expanding power base of low-caste political parties, the election of low-caste chief ministers to state governments, and even the appointment of a Dalit as president of India in July 1997 all signal the increasing prominence of Dalits in the political landscape but cumulatively have yet to yield any significant benefit for the majority of Dalits. Laws on land reform and protection for Dalits remain unimplemented in most Indian states.

Lacking access to mainstream political organizations and increasingly frustrated with the pace of reforms, Dalits have begun to resist subjugation and discrimination in two ways: peaceful protest and armed struggle. Particularly since the early 1990s, Dalit organizations have sought to mobilize Dalits to protest peacefully against the human rights violations suffered by their community. These movements have quickly grown in membership and visibility and have provoked a backlash from the higher-caste groups most threatened – both economically and politically – by Dalit assertiveness.

Police, many of whom belong to these higher-caste groups or who enjoy their patronage, have arrested Dalit activists, including social workers and lawyers, for activity that is legal and on charges that show the police's political motivation. Dalit activists are jailed under preventive detention statutes to prevent them from holding meetings and protest rallies or charged as "terrorists" and "threats to national security." Court cases drag on for years, costing impoverished people precious money and time.

Dalits who dare to challenge the social order have been subject to abuses by their higher-caste neighbors. Dalit villages are collectively penalized for individual "transgressions" through social boycotts, including loss of employment and access to water, grazing lands, and ration shops. For most Dalits in rural India who earn less than a subsistence living as agricultural laborers, a social boycott may mean destitution and starvation.

Dalits throughout the country also suffer in many instances from de facto disenfranchisement.

During elections, those unpersuaded by typical electioneering are routinely threatened and beaten by political party strongmen to compel them to vote for certain candidates. Already under the thumb of local landlords and police officials, Dalit villagers who do not comply have been murdered, beaten, and harassed.

An estimated forty million people in India, among them fifteen million children, are bonded laborers, working in slave-like conditions to pay off a debt. A majority of them are Dalits. According to 7

government statistics, an estimated one million Dalits are manual scavengers who clear faces from public and private latrines and dispose of dead animals; unofficial estimates are much higher. An activist working with scavengers in the state of Andhra Pradesh claimed, "In one toilet there can be as many as 400 seats which all have to be manually cleaned. This is the lowest occupation in the world, and it is done by the community that occupies the lowest status in the caste system." In India's southern states, thousands of girls are forced into prostitution before reaching the age of puberty. Devadasis, literally meaning "female servant of god," usually belong to the Dalit community. Once dedicated, the girl is unable to marry, forced to become a prostitute for upper-caste community members, and eventually auctioned off to an urban brothel. For those at the bottom of its hierarchy, caste is a determinative factor for the attainment of social, political, civil, and economic rights. Most of the conflicts documented in this report take place within very narrow segments of the caste hierarchy, between the poor and the not-so-poor, the landless labourer and the small landowner. The differences lie in the considerable amount of leverage that the higher-caste Hindus or non-Dalits can wield over local police, district administrations, and even the state government.

Investigations by India's National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the National Human Rights Commission, the National Police Commission, and numerous local nongovernmental organizations all concur that impunity is rampant. In cases investigated for this report, except for a few transfers and suspensions, no action has been taken against police officers involved in violent raids or summary executions, or against those accused of colluding with private actors to carry out attacks on Dalit communities. Moreover, in many instances, repeated calls for protection by threatened Dalit communities have been ignored by police and district officials.

The "National Agenda for Governance," the election manifesto for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which came to power in the February 1998 elections, outlines a program of action for the "upliftment" of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. It promises to take steps to establish "a civilised, humane and just civil order... which does not discriminate on the grounds of caste, religion, class, colour, race or sex"; ensures the "economic and educational development of the minorities"; safeguards the interests of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes by "appropriate legal, executive and societal efforts and by large scale education and empowerment"; provides "legal protection to existing percentages of reservation in educational institutions at the State level"; and removes "the last vestiges of untouchability." However, to date, the Indian government has done little to fulfil its promises to Dalits.

A national campaign to highlight abuses against Dalits spearheaded by human rights groups in eight states began to focus national and international attention to the issue in 1998. The recommendations for this report were drafted in consultation with more than forty activists who have 8

been working closely on the campaign. In publishing this report now, Human Rights Watch adds its voice to theirs in calling upon the Indian government to implement the recommendations outlined in this report, to fulfill the commitments made regarding scheduled castes in the National Agenda for Governance, and to take immediate steps to prevent and eliminate caste-based violence and discrimination. We further urge the international community to press the Indian government to bring its practices into compliance with national and international law.

II. RECOMMENDATIONS In upholding constitutional guarantees of equality, freedom, justice and human dignity, the government of India should demonstrate its commitment to the eradication of caste violence and castebased discrimination by implementing the following recommendations.

In particular, the government should implement measures designed to ensure that states abolish the practice of "untouchability," in compliance with Article 17 of the constitution; commit to taking steps to prevent further violence and prosecute both state and private actors responsible for castemotivated attacks on Dalit communities; enforce the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and other relevant legislation; and educate state agents and the Indian population on the rights and constitutional freedoms of all citizens.

Immediately and without fail, the government should disband the Ranvir Sena, prosecute and punish state and private actors responsible for abuses documented in this report, and place a high priority on the protection of Dalit women. Naxalite groups have also committed egregious abuses, including murders of landlords and their family members. Human Rights Watch condemns all such attacks on civilians.

Many of the recommendations that follow complement the major areas of action outlined above. In addition, Human Rights Watch recognizes that the problem of caste violence and caste-based discrimination cannot be resolved without a meaningful commitment to land and wage reform.

Recommendations to the Government of India The Indian government should fully implement the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995. It should: •

Ensure that states constitute and oversee state- and district-level vigilance and monitoring committees, as required by Rules 16 and 17 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995, for properly implementing the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 [hereinafter the Atrocities Rules and the 9

Atrocities Act]. This effort should ensure that enough investigators (including appropriate representation of Dalit men and women) are included in the committees to guarantee full implementation of the act. Given the number of potential cases, the government should enlist lawyers, social workers, medical personnel, teachers, civil servants, and others involved in Dalit issues as investigators. Nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives should also be consulted in the recruitment of investigators. Committees should submit their reports to district collectors to pursue prosecution. In turn, collectors should report on actions taken during committee meetings. Reports published by the committee should be made public, and in-depth training should be provided to district officials charged with enforcing the act.

•

Ensure that states establish special courts in every revenue district and appoint special public prosecutors to try cases arising under the Atrocities Act.

•

Ensure strict implementation of the Atrocities Act, about victims of violent abuse and other "atrocities." Each police station should have a scheduled caste/scheduled tribe atrocities cell to handle investigations of abuses and alleged violations of the Atrocities Act. Each revenue district should also have a special deputy superintendent of police charged with investigating atrocities under the act. In keeping with the Atrocities Rules, police who refuse to register cases under the act should be punished accordingly. For full implementation of the act, these cells should be statutorily empowered to receive and address complaints of violations under the act and complaints of official misconduct. They should also be able to file "first information reports" (FIRs), the first step in prosecution of a criminal charge, when abuses are committed against Dalits. The cells should work closely with the vigilance and monitoring committees established under the Atrocities Rules to ensure full enforcement.

•

Ensure immediate and full compensation by the district administration to victims of atrocities as per the Atrocities Rules. The value of property destroyed and crops damaged should be included in the compensation schedule. The committees appointed by the government under the rules to estimate loss should include NGOs in addition to government officials. In accordance with Rule 11, the district administration should also ensure that victims' trial expenses are paid.

•

Provide training to district officials charged with enforcing the Atrocities Act and ensure that a copy of the act (translated into the local language) and accompanying rules are easily available and prominently posted in all local level police stations and available in all courts trying cases under the act.

•

Statutorily empower the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to oversee implementation of the Atrocities Act in all states. Strengthen the capacity of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to operate legal cells and open branch offices in all states with enough financial resources and powers to initiate 10

prosecution of cases. As recommended by the commission, amend Article 338 of the constitution to empower the commission to issue directions for corrective action and implement its findings.

•

Strengthen the capacity of the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Women to operate branch offices in all states with enough financial resources and powers to initiate prosecution of cases. Amend the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 so that national and state human rights commissions are not automatically exempted from inquiring into matters already pending before a state commission or any other commission duly constituted under any law.

•

Establish a civilian review board or civilian ombudsman committee comprising judges and lawyers to monitor police stations and ensure that Supreme Court guidelines on treatment of persons in custody, as established in D. K. Basu v. State of West Bengal, are strictly enforced.

NGO input should also be solicited. Ensure that complaints against law enforcement personnel are promptly and thoroughly investigated by adequately trained investigatory staff. The agency should have the power to subpoena documents, summon witnesses, and enter the premises of police stations, lock-ups, and detention centers to conduct thorough investigations.

•

Implement the recommendations made by the National Police Commission in 1980, specifically those that call for a mandatory judicial inquiry in cases of alleged rape, death, or grievous injury of people in police custody and the establishment of investigative bodies whose members should include civilians as well as police and judicial authorities.

•

Ensure that each police station has adequate female police personnel, consistent with recommendations made by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Female police should record complaints submitted by women. Each police station should also have adequate scheduled caste and scheduled tribe personnel and enough financial resources to carry out investigations.

•

Ensure strict implementation of the bonded labor-related provisions of the Atrocities Act. As Dalits constitute the majority of bonded laborers, the government should ensure that states and districts establish and oversee bonded labor vigilance committees, as required by the Bonded Labour (System) Abolition Act, 1976. The government should ensure that a sufficient number of investigators can be included in the committee to guarantee implementation of the act.

Lawyers, social workers, teachers, civil servants, and others with ties to bonded laborers and their families should be enlisted as investigators. Nongovernmental organization representatives should be consulted in the recruitment of investigators. The government should provide indepth training to district officials charged with enforcing the Bonded Labour (System)

11

Abolition Act, 1976, as directed by the Supreme Court inNeeraja Chaudhary v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 1984.

•

Ensure appropriate implementation of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, including prosecution of officials responsible for the perpetuation of the practice and non-rehabilitation of affected scavenger communities, the majority of which are Dalits. The government should ensure that states and districts constitute and oversee vigilance and monitoring committees with adequate representation of NGOs, women, and members of the scavenger communities. State governments should also train district officials charged with enforcing the act.

•

Implement measures designed to ensure that states are in compliance with Article 45 of the constitution, which mandates free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of fourteen. Primary education is the first step in breaking the cycle of discrimination and castebased employment.

•

Incorporate education on relevant legislation for Dalits and women into school curricula (including education on the Atrocities Act and the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993).

•

Launch a nationwide public awareness campaign regarding the legal prohibition of "untouchability," "atrocities" and other forms of discrimination and violence against Dalits.

This campaign should explain in simple terms what actions are legally prohibited, what recourse is available to Dalits and their families, and what the procedures are for filing an FIR. It should also include a program of public service announcements in all states aimed at sensitizing the population on Dalit issues and creating awareness of Dalit rights.Make available to the public government studies on issues affecting Dalits. Specifically, the government should release the white paper on reservations and the white paper on land reform. The first outlines the extent to which constitutional reservations have been implemented at the state and central level since independence. In particular, attention should be given to implementation of reservations in all ministries, in the secretariats of the prime minister and president, and in the police and judiciary. The second outlines the extent to which tenancy acts and acts that establish ceilings on single landowners' holdings have been implemented in all states.

•

Ensure that adequate financial resources are allocated to the proper functioning of the newly constituted government bodies under the seventy-third and seventy-fourth amendments to the Indian constitution. These amendments provide that in every panchayat (village council) and every municipality, seats shall be reserved for scheduled-caste and scheduled-tribe members in proportion to their representation in the population. Among the seats reserved for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, not less than one-third shall be reserved for women belonging to those castes or tribes. The government should work with intergovernmental and 12

nongovernmental organizations to provide appropriate training to elected members of rural and urban bodies, including gender and caste sensitivity training. Women should take part in legal literacy workshops, and all those appointed to reserved panchayat positions should be provided legal protection to ensure that they are able to perform their duties.

•

Invite the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Special Rapporteurs on Torture, on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions, and on Violence against Women to visit India. The government should encourage them to include in their investigation‘s allegations of illegal detention, abuse, and deaths of Dalits in police custody, of fake encounter killings, and of violence against Dalit women, including abuse by the police and by private upper-caste militias.

•

Implement the recommendations of the 49th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The government should implement the recommendation that "special measures be taken by the authorities to prevent acts of discrimination towards persons belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes, and in the case where such acts have been committed, to conduct thorough investigations, to punish those found responsible and provide just and adequate reparation to the victims." As per committee recommendations, the committee's findings should be available to the public in local languages.

•

Promptly submit the Indian government's next periodic report on compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination to CERD, as this has been overdue since January 4, 1998. As requested by CERD, the report should include "detailed information on the legislative aspects and the concrete implementation of the Directive Principles of the State Policy of the Constitution," as well as information on the powers and functions of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

•

Promptly submit the Indian government's initial report on compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, as this has been overdue since August 8, 1994.

•

Ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1984.

Recommendations to All State Governments •

Ensure full implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, including the appointment of special courts, special prosecutors, and vigilance and monitoring committees. Provide training in proper procedures under the act to judges and prosecutors charged with trying atrocities cases. (See related recommendations under Recommendations to the Government of India.)

13

•

Ensure ratification and implementation of the Bonded Labour (System) Abolition Act, 1976 and ratify and implement the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. (See related recommendations under Recommendations to the Government of India.)

•

Implement measures designed to ensure that states follow Article 46 of the constitution, which directs states to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and to protect them from social injustice and all forms of economic exploitation.

•

Study and publicize the extent to which land and wage reforms have been implemented in the state. In particular, state governments should determine industry compliance with minimum and living wage standards, particularly those industries that employ a majority of Dalits, as well as the status of land reforms, land ceiling laws, and distribution of surplus land. The study should also review proof of ownership in land records, the extent of encroachment on scheduled caste/scheduled tribe lands. NGO participation should be ensured in the investigations.

•

Take immediate steps to prevent further violence, social boycotts, and other forms of discrimination against Dalits and to investigate and punish those responsible for attacks and acts of discrimination in affected districts. Any officials or members of the police who fail to respond to repeated calls for protection from villagers or fail to prosecute acts of violence or discrimination should also be prosecuted.

•

Take decisive steps to ensure police agents use deadly force only as a last resort to protect life.

Police agents should act in accordance with guidelines established in relevant state police manuals that meet international standards on use of force. The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force or Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials emphasize that the use of force and firearms should be in consonance with respect for human rights and that deadly force should not be used against persons unless "strictly unavoidable in order to protect life."

•

Take decisive steps to ensure that police do not conduct raids on villages or engage in arbitrary and unlawful destruction and seizure of property in response to caste clashes. Police involved in such activities should be promptly investigated by an independent judicial body and prosecuted accordingly.

•

Ensure that investigations of complaints of violence against women include women investigators. Amend the Criminal Procedure Code so that rape victims are not restricted to approaching government hospitals for medical examinations and can instead be examined by any registered practitioner for the purposes of gathering evidence.

14

•

Establish independent monitoring agencies to review cases of Dalits and Dalit activists detained under detention laws. All cases found to be without merit, or in violation of proper detention procedures, should be withdrawn.

•

Compile and release state-level statistics on the number of atrocities committed against Dalits, the number of cases registered under the Atrocities Act, and the extent to which reservations have been implemented in the state. States should ensure that all NGOs and citizens have access to this information.

•

Investigate the process of recruitment of police officers in the state to ensure that requirements of reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are met and that monetary bribes are not part of the police and judicial recruitment process. Prosecute and punish those found to have engaged in bribes or extortion while registering cases or conducting raids.

•

Ensure speedy review and publication of findings by commissions of inquiry appointed by the state to investigate abuses against Dalits.

Articles of the Indian Constitution protecting the rights 1. Article 14. Equality before law. -The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.

2. Article 15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. (1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to(a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotel, and places of public entertainment; or

(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.

(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.

(4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

15

3. Article 16. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment. (1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.

(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State.

(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of anybackward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.

4. Article 17. Abolition of Untouchability. -"Untouchability" is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of "Untouchability" shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.

5. Article 243D. Reservation of seats. (1) Seats shall be reserved for-(a) the Scheduled Castes; and (b) the Scheduled Tribes, in every Panchayat and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the, total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that Panchayat as the population of the ScheduledCastes in that Panchayat area or of the Scheduled Tribes in that Panchayat area bears to the total population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat.

(2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (1) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or, as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes, (3) Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat shall be reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat.

(4) The offices of the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at the village or any other level shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes the Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide: Provided that the number of offices of chairpersons reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Panchayats at each level in any State shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of such offices in the Panchayats at each 16

level as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State bears to the total population of the State: Provided further that not less than one-third of the total number of offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level shall be reserved for women: Provided also that the number of offices reserved under this clause shall be allotted by rotation to different Panchayats at each level.

6. Article 243T. Reservation of seats. (1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in every Municipality and the number of seats so reserved shallbear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that Municipality as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the Municipal area or of the Scheduled Tribes in the Municipal area bears to the total population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality.

(2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (1) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or as the case may be the Scheduled Tribes, (3) Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Municipality shall be reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality.

(4) The officers of Chairpersons in the Municipalities shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide.

(5) The reservation of seats under clauses (1) and (2) and the reservation of offices of Chairpersons (other than the reservation for women) under clause (4) shall cease to have effect on the expiration of the period specified in Article 334.

(6) Nothing in this Part shall prevent the Legislature of a State from making any provision for reservation of seats in any Municipality or offices of Chairpersons in the Municipalities in favour of backward class of citizens.

17

7. Article 330. Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People. (1) Seats shall be reserved in the House of the People for-(a) the Scheduled Castes; (b) the Scheduled Tribes except the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam; and (c) the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam.

(2) The number of seats reserved in any State or Union territory for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes under clause (1) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats allotted to that State or Union territory in the House of the People as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State or Union territory or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State or Union territory or part of the State or Union territory, as the case may be, in respect of which seats are so reserved, bears to the total population of the State or Union territory.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (2), the number of seats reserved in the House of the People for the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam shall bear to the total number of seats allotted to that State a proportion not less than the population of the Scheduled Tribes in the said autonomous districts bears to the total population of the State.

8. Article 332. Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assemblies of the States. (1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, except the Scheduled Tribes in the autonomous districts of Assam, in the Legislative Assembly of every State.

(2) Seats shall be reserved also for the autonomous districts in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam.

(3) The number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of any State under clause (1) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats in the Assembly as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State or part of the State, as the case may be, in respect of which seats are so reserved, bears to the total population of the State.

18

(3A) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (3), until the taking effect, under article 170 , of the readjustment, on the basis of the first census after the year 2000, of the number of seats in the Legislative Assemblies of the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram andNagaland, the seats which shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of any such State shall be,(a) if all the seats in the Legislative Assembly of such State in existence on the date of coming into force of the Constitution (Fifty-seventh Amendment) Act, 1987 (hereafter in this clause referred to as the existing Assembly) are held by members of the Scheduled Tribes, all the seats except one; (b) in any other case, such number of seats as bears to the total number of seats, a proportion not less than the number (as on the said date) of members belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in the existing Assembly bears to the total number of seats in the existing Assembly.

(3B) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (3), until the re-adjustment, under article 170 , takes effect on the basis of the first census after the year 2000, of the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tripura, the seats which shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly shall be, such number of seats as bears to the total number of seats, a proportion not less than the number, as on the date of coming into force of the Constitution (Seventy-second Amendment) Act, 1992, of members belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly in existence on the said date bears to the total number of seats in that Assembly.

(4) The number of seats reserved for an autonomous district in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam shall bear to the total number of seats in that Assembly a proportion not less than the population of the district bears to the total population of the State.

(5) The constituencies for the seats reserved for any autonomous district of Assam shall not comprise any area outside that district.

(6) No person who is not a member of a Scheduled Tribe of any autonomous district of the State of Assam shall be eligible for election to the Legislative Assembly of the State from any constituency of that district 9. Article 334. Reservation of seats and special representation to cease after [fifty years]. 19

Not withstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part, the provisions of this Constitution relating to(a) the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the House of

the

People

and

in

the

Legislative

Assemblies

of

the

States;

and

(b) the representation of the Anglo-Indian community in the House of the People and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States by nomination, shall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of [fifty years] from the commencement of this Constitution: Provided that nothing in this article shall affect any representation in the House of the People or in the Legislative Assembly of a State until the dissolution of the then existing House or Assembly, as the case may be.

10. Article 335. Claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to services and posts. The claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration, constantly with the maintenance of the efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State.

References: •

Ambedkar B.R., ―Castes in India – Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development‖, Anthropology Seminar, Dr. A.A. Goidenweiser, Columbia University, New York, USA, 1916.

•

Bahalia Anita, ―Governmental Intervention and the Promotion of Scheduled Castes in India‖, Department of Sociology and Political Science, Ravenshaw University, Cuttak, India

•

Basant Rakesh, ―Who Participates in Higher Education in India? Rethinking the Role of Affirmative Action?‖, Working paper no. 2009-11-01, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India, 2009.25

•

Basant Rakesh, Sen Gitanjali, ―Parental Education as a Criterion for Affirmative Action in Higher Education: a Preliminary Analysis‖, Working paper no. 2012-01-01, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad, India, 2012.

•

Gupta Asha, ―Affirmative Action in Higher Education in India and the US: A Study in Contrasts‖, Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.10.06, Centre for Studies in Higher Education, University of California, Berkeley, 2006.

20

•

Kapur Devesh and Mehta Pratap Bhanu, ―Indian Higher Education Reforms: From Half- Baked Socialism to Half-Baked Capitalism‖, CID working paper no. 108, Centre for International Development, Harvard University, Massachusetts Hall, Cambridge, MA.

•

Laskar Mehbubul Hassan, ―Rethinking Reservation in Higher Education in India‖, Indian Law Institute, Law Review, New Delhi, pp. 25 – 53, 2010.

•

Pankaj Ashok K., ―Engaging with Discourse on Caste, Class and Politics in India‖, South Asia Research, Sage Publications, Vol. 27(3), pp. 333-353, 2007.

•

Rao, S.S., ‗Equality in Higher Education - Impact of Affirmative Action Policies in India‘, in E.F. Beckham (Eds.) ‗Global Collaborations- the Role of Higher Education in Diverse Democracies‘, Washington, 2001.

•

Reddy Deepa S., ―The Ethnicity of Caste‖, Anthropological Quarterly, JSTOR, Vol. 78, No.3 (Summer, 2005), pp. 543-584, 2011.

•

S. Jomo K., ‗Ethnic Discrimination - A Critical Survey of Economic Explanations‘, Department of Applied Economics, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2003.

•

Scoville, James G.L., ‗Labour Market Underpinnings of a Caste Economy Failing the Caste Theorem‘ The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Volume 55, Number 4,October, 1996.

•

Singh Darshan, ―Development of Scheduled Castes in India – A Review‖, Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 28, No. (24), NIRD, Hyderabad, India pp. 529-542, 2009.

•

Weisskopf, Thomas E., ‗Affirmative Action in the United States and India - A Comparative Perspective‘, Routledge, London, 2004.

•

Thorat Sukhadeo, Senapati Chittaranjan, ―Reservation in Employment, Education and Legislature – Status and Emerging Issues‖, Working Paper Series, IIDS, Vol. 2, No, 05, 2007.

21

PREVALENCE OF DIABETES AND ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS: GLOBAL AND NATIONAL SCENARIO Ms. Reetu Sharma Asstt. Prof. in Sociology Punjabi University College Ghudda (Bathinda) Abstract Non-communicable diseases which were once known as ‗diseases of affluent‘ i.e. diseases of developed or high income nations are now increasingly penetrating the domain of developing countries i.e. low and middle income countries. Diabetes one of the non-communicable diseases is spreading all out world at an alarming rate. This paper is an effort to know about the prevalence of diabetes and its risk factors at the global level as well as at the national level. For having an insight in to global scenario of prevalence of diabetes and its risk factors global report on diabetes by WHO (2016) involving six regions of the world i.e. regions of Americas, South-east Asian region, East Mediterranean region, African region, Western Pacific region and European region has been referred. At the national level the phase1 final report by ICMR-INDIAB (2008-2010) has been analysed which included three states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and one union territory of Chandigarh for the analysis purpose. Report by WHO (2016) Show that there is big increase in prevalence of diabetes in East Mediterranean region followed by African, South East Asian region, Western Pacific region, region of Americas and European region from 1980-2014 at the global level. Report by ICMR-INDIAB between 2008 and 2010 put Chandigarh at the top followed by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Jharkhand as far as the prevalence of diabetes and its risk factors are concerned.

Key Words: Diabetes, risk factors, WHO report (2016), ICMR-INDIAB report (2008-2010) Introduction Non-communicable diseases are the diseases that do not spread from one person to the other person.

These diseases are also known as the ‗lifestyle related diseases‘ because development of these diseases is embedded in the daily habits of an individual. Generally, there are four types of lifestyle related diseases which are recognized by WHO (2005). These diseases are cancer, respiratory diseases, diabetes and heart diseases. These diseases are commonly known as ‗diseases of affluence‘ or ‗diseases of longevity‘. In this paper we are mainly concerned with Diabetes 2 as a lifestyle related disease.

22

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is an ailing condition that occurs in the body when body is unable to combat the high blood sugar level in the body. It occurs in two ways i) The controlled level of blood sugar is maintained by pancreatic secretion of insulin in our body.

When due to some reason, pancreas (a harmone) does not produce insulin to balance the blood sugar level in our body, then it results in to increased blood sugar level in the body. ii) The other condition is when the effective use of insulin by our body does not occur and again a condition results in to high sugar level in the body.

Now in both the above cases, the body has a high glucose or sugar level in the body which is the feature of diabetes. The continuous high blood sugar level damages the blood vessels in the body and acts as catalyst for a number of diseases like heart diseases, kidney diseases and eye problems.

Types of Diabetes There are two types of Diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Type 1 Diabetes: It is also known as insulin dependent diabetes or juvenile diabetes or childhood-onset diabetes. In this type of diabetes, there is less production of insulin which results in to raised blood glucose level in the body. In this type, the patient has to take the insulin in injectable form to control the blood glucose level. The main symptoms of this type of diabetes are excessive thirst, urination, hunger, fatigue, vision impairment etc. This type of diabetes is not very much common and we come across only 5-10% cases of this type of diabetes.

Type 2 Diabetes: It is also known as non-insulin dependent or adult-onset diabetes. The main reason of this type of diabetes is body‘s inefficiency to use insulin properly to control blood glucose level. The symptoms are almost same as that of type 1 diabetes but these symptoms are not as prominent as that of type 1 diabetes or sometimes these symptoms are also absent. So, This is the major reason that diabetes 2 mostly goes undiagnosed due to less prominence and absence of the symptoms until some related complication arises. Previously, this type of diabetes used to occur only in adults but now younger generation is also coming under the effect of this disease. This is the most common form of diabetes prevalent all over world. This paper is mainly focused on type 2 Diabetes.

Risk Factors for Diabetes There are a number of risk factors which are responsible for onset of diabetes. These factors are divided in to two parts i) non- modifiable risk factors like heredity, positive family history and age.

And ii) modifiable risk factors which are related to lifestyle of the people which can be controlled or 23

changed. These factors are obesity, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, harmful use of alcohol, smoking etc.

Type 1 Diabetes: Exact reasons for Type 1 diabetes are not known. It is said to be result of complex interaction between the genes and environmental factors. Which environmental factor?- it is still not specific or recoganized. So, it can be said that type 1 diabetes has no specific reasons to develop.

Type 2 Diabetes: The reason behind development of this type of diabetes is both genetic and metabolic factors. Genetic factors like heredity, ethnicity etc. are the non-modifiable factors. The metabolic factors like physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, overweight, obesity etc. are the modifiable risk factors or behavior risk factors that can be altered by changing the lifestyle.

Objectives of the Study 

To know about prevalence of diabetes at global and national level on the basis of region and rural-urban divide.



To find out the risk factors associated with diabetes.

Methodology This research paper is based on the secondary data from two reports, one at the global level and the other at the national level related to diabetes. At the global level global report on diabetes by WHO (2016) and at the national level report by ICMR-INDIAB (Indian Council of Medical Research: India Diabetes: 2008-2010 first phase report) on diabetes.

Global report on diabetes by WHO (2016) is based on the data collected from the six regions of the world which are not only geographically, demographically and culturally different entities but they are quite different from each other as far as the income level are concerned. The report by ICMR-INDIAB is related to three states and one union territory. These three states i.e. Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Maharashtra and union territory of Chandigarh represents four regions south, east, west and north respectively. These four regions are also demographically, geographically and culturally different.

Thus, in this paper, we want to know about prevalence of diabetes in these different regions with geographic, demographic and cultural diversity at the global and national level and risk factors associated with it.

Global Report on Diabetes by WHO (2016) Global report on diabetes by World Health Organization was presented in 2016. In this report, the whole world with different income levels has been divided in to six regions. These regions are African Region, Region of the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean Region, European Region, South-East Asia 24

Region, Western Pacific Region. WHO (2016) reported the prevalence of diabetes in these six regions by comparing the data from 1980 and 2014.

Prevalence (%) and number of People with Diabetes (18 years and above) WHO REGION

Prevalence (%)

Number (Millions)

1980

2014

1980

2014

African Region

3.1%

7.1%

4

25

Region of the Americas

5%

8.3%

18

62

5.9%

13.7%

6

43

5.3%

7.3%

33

64

South-East Asia Region 4.1%

8.6%

17

96

Western Pacific Region

4.4%

8.4%

29

131

Total

4.7%

8.5%

108

422

Eastern Mediterranean Region European Region

Source: NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). Worldwide trends in diabetes since 1980 Lancet 2016 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00618-8.)

Above Table shows that, in 2014, it is estimated that there were 422 million people suffering from diabetes all over world. And this number was 108 million in 1980. From the data it can be easily seen that diabetes cases has increased four times over a period of 34 years.

Also data in the above Table shows that the highest increase in number has been observed in Eastern Mediterranean region and number of diabetic patients has increased nearly six times in African and South-east Asian countries from 1980 to 1914. More than four times increase in number is seen in Western Pacific region and more than three times increase in number is found in Region of the Americas and the lowest increase in number has been observed in European regions.

Hence, prevalence of diabetes has increased more in low and middle income countries as compared to high income countries. The changes in lifestyle which were seen in the developed world due to urbanization took a long period of time to materialize , but these changes become a part of developing nations with a much rapid speed. So, rapid speed of urbanization, westernization and globalization can be the reasons assigned to the spread of this disease in to low and middle income counties. These 25

processes not only brought with themselves the culture of fast and junk food but also mechanization of every work whether personal or professional that resulted in to low physical activity and consequently overweight and obesity, the major risk factors for diabetes.

As far as the deaths due to diabetes are concerned, in 2012, there were about 1.5 million deaths worldwide due to diabetes alone while 2.2 million additional deaths have been reported due risks associated with heart and other diseases as a result of diabetes. Thus, there were total 3.7 million deaths in 2012 due to diabetes and risks associated with diabetes. Out of 3.7 million total deaths, about 43% deaths before the age of 70 years are in low and middle income countries as compared to high income countries.

Also, the report reveals that proportion of deaths due to diabetes is highest in middle income group countries after the age of 50 years but in high income countries, proportion of deaths is highest in the age group of 60-69 years due to diabetes. So, people suffering from diabetes are dying at the younger age in the middle income counties as compared to high income counties. This may be due to the availability, approachability and affordability of better medical facilities and healthy lifestyle in high income group countries that result in to longevity of diabetic people in comparison to middle income countries.

Overweight and obesity is a big risk factor for the development of diabetes. The major cause of overweight and obesity is physical inactivity. This is also mentioned by Global Status Report on NCDs

by WHO (2015) that physical activity regularly lowers the risk of diabetes and raised blood glucose level and also regular physical activity balances the overall energy level, controls weight and prevents obesity. The report also reveals that less than one fourth of all adults over 18 years of age did not involve in minimum required physical activity per week and are categorized as insufficiently physically active. The present of physical inactivity is double in high income countries as compared to low income countries and also women are less active than men.

BURDEN OF DIABETES IN INDIA According to International Diabetes Federation (2017) low and middle income countries are worst hit by the Diabetes Mellitus. These countries are sharing 79% of the global burden of Diabetes Mellitus. It means 79% of the people suffering from this disease are living in low and middle income countries of the world. The reasons suggested by international Diabetes Federation are- Population growth, aging and sedentary lifestyle. Also, Frank B. Hu.(2011) observed that world‘s two third diabetic population lives in low and middle income countries. So, once considered as the ‗disease of Affluent‘ i.e. diseases of developed nations along with the other NCDs, now this disease is disproportionately increasing in developing countries also. India as a developing country is not exception to it. At this time, India is 26

having a second position (69.2 million) after China as far as the numbers of diabetic patients are concerned. It is expected that in India numbers are expected to increase to 123.5 million by 2040 (International Diabetes Federation: 2015) and India will top the list with a number of 134.3 million diabetic patients by 2045(International Diabetic Federation: 2017) It is estimated that there are 4.0 million deaths of people aged between 20 and 79 years are

from

diabetes in 2017. Mortality due to diabetes is 10.7% of total global deaths from all cause in the age group of 20-79 years and About46.1% of these deaths due to diabetes are below the age of 60. As already said physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, consumption of tobacco products, unhealthy diet are the main risk factors for diabetes and other lifestyle related diseases. But in developing countries like India the socio-economic determinants like poverty, illiteracy, social inequality and substandard health facilities increase the harmful effect of these risk factors many fold.

Report by ICMR-INDIAB (Phase-1: 2008-2010) ICMR-INDIAB is a cross-sectional community based survey carried all over India including 28 states and union territories of the country. The survey included the subjects > 20 years of age or of 20 years of age of either gender. It was carried in three phases. In the present paper, we are going to present the results of phase 1 which was carried 2008-2010 for three states i.e. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Jharkhand represent three regions of India i.e. south, west and east regions respectively and north region by union territory of Chandigarh. These four areas represent the four demographically, geographically, and culturally heterogeneous regions. This heterogeneity is reflected in the lifestyle of people. So, lifestyle is sum total of all the activities, functions, behaviours we do in our day to day life such as activities related to our work, our leisure activities, eating habits, interaction activities with other people like family members, colleagues, friends, neighbours, peer group etc.

Prevalence of Diabetes The report by ICMR-INDIAB tells about the prevalence of diabetes in four states and one union territory of India. The report covered both the rural and urban areas of these four regions. As union territory of Chandigarh has no ‗rural‘ area in true sense but the suburb of urban area can be included as rural areas.

Prevalence of Diabetes in 4 regions Percentage of Diabetes (%) Tamil Nadu

Chandigarh

Jharkhand

Maharashtra

27

Urban

13.7%

14.2%

13.5%

10.9%

Rural

7.8%

8.3%

3.0%

6.5%

Overall

10.4%

13.6%

5.3%

8.4%

Source: ICMR-INDIAB (Phase-1:2008-2010) Data in the above Table reveals that in all the four regions prevalence of diabetes in urban area is higher than the rural areas. Chandigarh is having the highest prevalence of diabetes both in rural (8.3%) and urban (14.2%) areas as compared to the other studied regions. Prevalence of diabetes is the lowest in urban areas (10.9%) of Maharashtra as compared to urban areas of other regions and among the rural areas Jharkhand shows the lowest (3.0%) prevalence of diabetes. Report shows that there is big difference between rural (3.0%) and urban (13.6%) prevalence of diabetes in Jharkhand among all the four studied regions. The reason is that rural areas in Jharkhand are very poor areas with low physical inactivity and low obesity rates. Thus, overall prevalence of diabetes is highest in Chandigarh (13.6%) followed by Tamil Nadu (10.4%), Maharashtra(8.4%) and Jharkhand (5.3%).

Risk Factors Risk factor is the factor that increases the probability and speed of development of a disease. In this report, the main risk factors associated with diabetes physical inactivity and obesity have been studied in the four regions of the country.

Physical Inactivity Physical inactivity is considered as the main reason for the causation of diabetes because physical inactivity leads to a sedentary lifestyle that is major reason for weight gain and obesity. Obesity is recognized as a major risk factor for the occurrence of diabetes. Report by ICMR-INDIAB has provided the data related to male and female in both rural and urban areas of four study regions.

Overall Physical Inactivity Levels in Study Population Physical Activity

Rural

Urban

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Inactive (%)

40.3%

59.6 %

50.0 %

58.7%

71.2%

65.0%

Active (%)

40.8%

27.8%

34.3%

29.2%

23.0%

26.1% 28

Highly active (%)

18.9%

12.6%

15.7%

12.1%

5.8%

8.9%

Source: ICMR-INDIAB (Phase-1:2008-2010) Above Table tells that in rural areas percentage of inactive, active and highly inactive people are 50.0%, 34.3% and 15.7% respectively while in urban areas this percentage is 65.0%, 26.1% and 8.9% respectively.

Physical Inactivity Levels in Study Population in Chandigarh Physical Activity

Inactive (%) Active (%) Highly active (%)

Rural

Urban

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

54.0%

75.1%

63.4%

62.8%

83.2%

73.2%

30.6 %

18.8%

24.8%

27.5%

13.4%

20.3%

15.4 %

6.1%

10.8%

9.7%

3.5%

6.5%

Source: ICMR-INDIAB (Phase-1:2008-2010) As shown in the above Table, percentage of urban inactive people (73.2%) is more as compared to rural inactive people (63.4%). In both rural and urban areas females are more inactive than the males.

So, people belonging to rural areas are more active (24.8%) and highly active (10.8%) as compared to urban people in Chandigarh. In rural area, percentage of inactive men is 54.0% and women is 75.1% , active men is 30.6% and women is 18.8% and highly active male is 15.4% and women is 6.1%. In urban area inactive male are 62.8 and inactive female are 83.2%, active male are 27.5% and active female are 13.4% and highly active male are 9.7% and highly active women are 3.5%.

Physical Inactivity Levels in Study Population in Jharkhand Physical Activity

Rural Male

Female

Urban Total

Male

Female

Total

29

Inactive(%) 13.8%

44.2 %

28.9 %

44.4%

55.3%

47.8%

61.2%

38.8%

50.0%

42.5%

38.01%

42.2%

25.1%

17.0 %

21.1%

13.1 %

6.7%

10.0%

Active(%) Highly active(%)

Source: ICMR-INDIAB (Phase-1:2008-2010) Data shows that in rural area total percentage of inactive, active and highly active population is 28.9% , 50.0% and 21.1% respectively out of this total 28.9% inactive people, 13.8% are male and 44.2% are female, 61.2% male and 38.8% female are active out of total active population of 50.0% and 25.1% highly active male and 17.0% highly active female are there in total 21.1% of highly active population.

In urban area, 44.4% inactive male and 55.3% inactive female form total inactive population of 47.8% while out of total 42.2% active people, 42.5% are active men and 38.01% are active women. 13.1% highly active male and 6.7% highly active female constitute 10.0% of total highly active people.

Physical Inactivity Levels in Study Population in Maharashtra Physical Activity

Rural Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Inactive(%) 43.9%

56.8%

50.4%

62.2%

68.5%

65.4%

36.1%

27.6%

31.8%

25.5%

23.1%

24.3%

20.0%

15.6 %

17.8%

12.3%

8.4 %

10.3%

Active(%) Highly active(%)

Male

Urban

Source: ICMR-INDIAB (Phase-1:2008-2010) In Maharashtra as shown in above table, percentage of inactive, active and highly active population in rural areas is 50.4%, 31.8% and 17.8% respectively and percentage of inactive, active and highly inactive population in urban areas is 65.4%, 24.3% and 10.3% respectively which shows that percentage of inactive population is more and percentage of active (24.3%) and highly active (10.3%) population is less in urban areas as compared to rural areas. In rural area, percentage of inactive, active and highly inactive male is 43.9%, 36.1%, 20.0% respectively while percentage of female in rural area 30

in same categories are 56.8%, 27.6% and 15.6% respectively. Inactive, active and highly active men are 62.2%, 25.5% and 12.3% respectively and women are 68.5%, 23.1% and 8.4% respectively in urban area.

Physical Inactivity Levels in Study Population in Tamil Nadu Physical Activity

Rural Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Inactive(%) 48.2%

62.3%

55.4%

64.1%

77.4%

71.0%

36.3%

26.5%

31.3%

23.0%

18.6%

20.7

15.5%

11.2%

13.3%

12.9%

4.0%

8.3%

Active(%) Highly active(%)

Male

Urban

Source: ICMR-INDIAB (Phase-1:2008-2010) Table shows that, in rural area on Tamil Nadu, percentage of inactive male, female and total population is 48.2%, 62.3% and 55.4% respectively while in urban area percentage in same categories is 64.1%, 77.4% and 71.0% respectively. In urban area, out of total percentage of 31.3% active people, 36.3% are men and 26.5% are women. In active urban population, 23.0% are men and 18.6% are women out of total population of 20.7%. Also, percentage of highly active male and female is 15.5% and 1.2% respectively in rural area and 12.9% and 4.0% respectively in urban area while percentage of total highly active population is rural and urban area is 13.3% and 8.3% respectively.

Hence, from the above data for the three states and one union territory, it is clear Chandigarh has the highest and Jharkhand has the lowest percentage of inactive population both in rural and urban areas among the four regions. Also, overall inactivity is more prominent in urban areas than in rural areas.

Same way, inactivity both in men and women is a common phenomenon in urban areas as compared to rural areas. Percentage of active and highly active population of both men and women is more in rural areas in comparison to urban areas. With in both urban and rural areas, inactive population of women is more as compared to men.

In nutshell, it can be said that urban people are more inactive and less active as compared to rural people. And women are more inactive and less active than men both in urban and rural areas.

31

Obesity Bodyweight beyond a certain limit results in to obesity. It is based on the BMI (Body Mass Index) which is measured weigh (in kg) divided by height (in meter square). The people having a BMI of more than 25 are categorize as obese.

Prevalence of Obesity in Four Regions Regions

Generalized Obesity (%)*

Abdominal Obesity (%)*

Urban

Rural

Overall

Urban

Rural

Overall

35.7%

20.0%

26.6%

37.4%

22.1%

26.6%

Maharashtra 26.1%

12.2%

16.6%

26.7%

15.0%

18.7%

Tamil Nadu

Jharkhand

30.4%

4.3%

11.8%

37.2%

8.7%

16.9%

Chandigarh

40.3%

27.9%

31.3%

46.6%

32.1%

36.1%

Source: ICMR-INDIAB (Phase-1:2008-2010) *Generalized Obesity- BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 for both genders. *Abdominal Obesity- Waist circumference ≥ 90 cm for men and ≥ 80cm for women.

Percentage of overall generalized (31.3%) and abdominal obesity (36.1%) is the highest in both rural and urban areas of Chandigarh. Percentage of overall generalized and abdominal obesity is same (26.6%) in Tamil Nadu and for Maharashtra percentage of overall generalized obesity is 16.6% and abdominal obesity is 16.9%. In Jharkhand overall generalized and abdominal obesity is the lowest as compared to three other regions. In case of generalized obesity, in rural areas, Jharkhand has the lowest (4.3%)

and in urban areas Maharashtra has the lowest (26.1%) percentage. As far as the

abdominal obesity is concerned, again percentage is highest in both rural (46.6%) and urban (32.1%) Chandigarh and lowest is again in urban Maharashtra (26.7%) and rural Jharkhand (8.7%).

Main Findings 

Highest increase in number of diabetic patients globally has been observed in Eastern Mediterranean region followed by African, South-east Asian, Western Pacific region, Region of the Americas and European regions from 1980 to 1914.

32



Highest prevalence of diabetes at national level is seen in Chandigarh, Followed by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.



Percentage of Physical inactivity is highest in Chandigarh, followed by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.



Percentage of abdominal and generalized obesity is highest in Chandigarh, followed by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.



Physical inactivity and obesity is more common in urban area than rural area. Also, female are more physically inactive and overweight than male.



There is a direct relationship between the physical inactivity and obesity. More the physical inactivity, more will be the obesity. This is clear in our findings too, the percentage of physical inactivity is highest both in rural and urban areas of Chandigarh and consequently over all generalized and abdominal obesity is found to be highest in Chandigarh. Also, the physical inactivity is lowest in Jharkhand in both rural and urban areas and obesity is also lowest among the four regions.



Physical inactivity and obesity are considered as major risk factors for the development of diabetes. The findings of this report are also reaffirms this fact. Chandigarh has the highest percentage of inactivity and obesity and it also tops in prevalence of diabetes among four areas.



Physical inactivity and obesity is lowest in rural areas of Jharkhand. So, rural areas of Jharkhand have the lowest prevalence of diabetes and urban areas of Maharashtra has the lowest percentage of generalized and abdominal obesity and so the lowest prevalence of diabetes in its urban areas.



A direct relationship between the obesity and development of diabetes has been detected.

Summary and Conclusion Phase-I report by ICMR-INDIAB on diabetes in four diverse regions of India and WHO report (2016) on diabetes in six regions of the world have been discussed and analyzed in this research paper suggest that regional disparity plays an important role in prevalence of diabetes. All the ten regions i.e. four at national level and six at global level are heterogeneous regions differing in geography, culture and demographic point of view.

These different lifestyles of people play an important role in the

development of a health problem along with the genetic factors. This is also reflected in the two reports presented by WHO at the global level and by ICMR-INDIAB at the national level. At the global level, East Mediterranean region, African and South-Asian regions are worst hit by diabetes and at the national level Chandigarh tops the list in prevalence of diabetes followed by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. These reports also reveal

relationship between physical inactivity and obesity and 33

prevalence of diabetes. So, these reports tell about the geographic region and causative risk factors which should be addressed on the priority basis to curb this deadly disease.

References : •

NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). Worldwide trends in diabetes since 1980: a pooled analysis of 751 population-based studies with 4*4 million participants. Lancet 2016; published online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00618-8.

•

World Health Organization. (WHO: 2013). Global action plan for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases 2013–2020. Geneva: WHO

•

World Health Organization. (WHO: 2005). WHO STEPS Surveillance Manual: The WHO STEP-wise Approach to Chronic Disease Risk Factors Surveillance. Geneva: World Health Organization.

•

World Health Organization. (WHO: 2015). Global status report on non-communicable diseases Geneva: WHO.

•

World Health Organisation .(2016). Global Report on Diabetes. Geneva: WHO.

•

International Diabetes Federation. (IDF: 2015). Diabetes Atlas, 7 ed. Brussels, Belgium: International Diabetes Federation.

•

International Diabetes Federation. ( IDF: 2017) Diabetic Atlas 8th Edition. Available at http://www.idf.org/idf-diabetes-atlas-eighth-edition.

•

Terzic A, Waldman S. (2011). Chronic diseases: the emerging pandemic. Clinical and translational science, Vol. 4(3), pp. 225–226.

•

Frank B. Hu. (2011). Globalization of Diabetes. Diabetes Care, Vol. 34(6), pp. 1249-1257.

•

Mohan, Viswanathan., Anjana, Ranjit Mohan., Pradeepa, Rajendra., Unnikrishnan, Ranjit., Kaur, Tanvir., Das, Ashok Kumar. (2011). The ICMR INDIAB Study–A Compendium of Type 2 Diabetes in India: Lessons Learnt for the Nation. Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology.

•

ICMR- India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) Study Phase I Final Report (2008-2011) by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Madras Diabetes Research Foundation.

34

IMPACT OF FINANCIAL LITERACY ON MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENTS-A REVIEW Dr. Anupriya Bhardwaj Asssitant Professor, GGDSD College, Chandigarh Abstract: Financial literacy has become an interesting issue in both developed and developing economies of the world, and has generated much interest in the recent past with rapid changes in the financial scenario. It also empowers the investors by increasing and polishing their skills with respect to financial instruments and their usage as well. Considering the importance, several academicians and research agencies tried to study the financial knowledge and psychology of investors which is influenced by prevailing surroundings and casts its shadow on capital market potential. This paper studies the various literature on the concept of financial literature and its impact on mutual fund investments.

Key words: financial literacy, financial knowledge, investors, mutual fund.

Introduction: Today‘s multifaceted and ever changing financial environment requires an individual to be financial literate. Even the financial services are becoming more accessible due to the use of internet where each and every information is available and the companies can easily introduce and promote their new products at a lower cost. Also, these products have intricate features and services, which make many people not properly equipped to identify and keep up with their sophisticated financial needs. Thus, requirement for financial education became more pertinent.

Financial literacy gained far more importance during the financial crisis and it became a pre requisite for every investor for gaining financial stability and performing better in the financial world.

It also was a talking point for the policy makers around the globe to empower the investors with basic financial education. This knowledge of financial concepts helps in minimizing the risk and stabilizing the financial system. So for a sound development policy, better knowledge about the elements of financial literacy, its definition and investment behavior is extremely important.

Financial literacy has become an interesting issue in both developed and developing economies of the world, and has generated much interest in the recent past with rapid changes in the financial scenario. Financial education programs are designed to be personalized considering the financial needs of the investors. It also empowers the investors by increasing and polishing their skills with respect to 35

financial instruments and their usage as well. The literacy empowers them to know their rights as investors and protect themselves from any fraud.

Given the importance of financial literacy, this paper studies the concept of financial literacy and also, the impact of financial literacy on mutual fund investments through various studies conducted.

Conceptualizing Financial Literacy Financial literacy is viewed differently by different people. It is often taken as a broader concept including an understanding of economics, and how individual financial sensibilities are affected by economic conditions and circumstances.

The concept of financial literacy emerged with knowledge of basic money management: i.e. budgeting, saving, and investing. Financial literacy was defined in the UK by Noctor, Stoney and Stradling (1992) as ―the ability to make informed judgements and to take effective decisions regarding the use and management of money‖.

Schagen and Lines (1996) operationalised this definition by proposing that a financially-literate person would enjoy a range of abilities and attitudes comprising: • an understanding of the key concepts central to money management; • a working knowledge of financial institutions, systems and services; • a range of (analytical and synthetical) skills, both general and specific; • attitudes which allow effective and responsible management of financial affairs.

Mason and Wilson (2000) defined financial literacy as a ―meaning-making process‖ in which individuals use a combination of skills, resources, and contextual knowledge to process information and make decisions with knowledge of the financial consequences of that decision. Anthes (2004) stated that ―personal financial literacy is the ability to read, analyze, manage and communicate about the personal financial conditions that affect material well-being‖. Atkinson and Messy (2005) define financial literacy as the combination of consumers‘/investors‘ understanding of financial products and concepts and their ability and confidence to appreciate financial risks and opportunities, to make informed choices, to know where to go for help, and to take other effective actions to improve their financial well-being.

Financial literacy can therefore be defined as ‗an individual‘s ability to obtain, understand and evaluate the available information and choose which is necessary to make an informed decision with knowledge of the probable financial consequences‘.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2005) defines ―financial education‖ as: ―The process by which financial consumers or investors improve their understanding of 36

financial products and concepts and, through information, instruction, and/or objective advice, develop the skills and confidence to become more aware of financial risks and opportunities to make informed choices, to know where to go for help, and to take other effective actions to improve their financial well-being.‖ Some of the prominent Indian financial institutes have defined financial literacy too. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI), financial literacy can broadly be defined as ―Providing familiarity with and understanding of financial market products, especially rewards and risks, in order making informed choices‖ (Source: www.rbi.org.in). According to the National Stock Exchange, financial literacy refers to the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions through their understanding of finance (Source: www.nseindia.com).

Thus from the above discussion we can say that financial literacy is the knowledge, ability and skill to understand, control, and use one‘s financial resources wisely ultimately leading to the well-being and economic security of oneself, one's family, and the economy as a whole . Figure 1.1 summarises the meaning of a financially literate individual Individuals who are financially literate are:

Figure 1.1: Financial literacy defined Financial literacy helps in empowering and educating investors so that their knowledge about finance is relevant to their business and this knowledge enables to analyse the products and make informed decisions. It helps in the various financial decisions such as payment of bills on time, proper debt management enhancing the credit worthiness of potential borrowers to earn for their livelihoods, economic growth, sound financial systems, and poverty reduction.

Impact of financial literacy and mutual fund investments Alexandra, Jones and Nigro (1997) examined a random sample of 2000 mutual fund investors and classified them according to their financial literacy and their place of mutual fund purchase. They found strong evidence that there is a relationship between an investor‘s level of literacy and choice of 37

distribution channel and the investors select different distribution channels based on their overall level of financial literacy. Chen and Volpe (1998) studied a data collected from 924 college students with respect to their personal financial literacy, the relationship between their demographics and literacy and impact of literacy on their decisions and opinions. It was found that there is lack of financial literacy among the individuals below the age of 30 years and they are more likely to form wrong opinions.

Also, their low financial knowledge will limit their ability to take informed decisions. Zheng (1999) studied Mutual Fund investors fund selection ability and documented that actively managed fund investors demonstrate better fund selection ability as they invest in funds whose subsequent performance is greater than that of funds from which they divest. This phenomenon had been termed as ‗smart money effect‘. Mason and Wilson (2000) explored the literature examining the various aspects of individuals‘ financial literacy and in particular, the use of the term literacy has been explored. They found the current definitions to be deficient and thus recognizing the need for operationalisation of the concept of financial literacy. Beal and Delpachitra (2003) analysed the financial literacy of the crosssection of the student population of a regional Australian University. A sample of 837 first-year Faculty of Business students as well as students in other faculties or disciplines was taken. It was found that the levels of financial literacy are not high and this is because of the lack of financial-skills education in high schools. They identified decision-making skills and knowledge of insurance appeared to be the least well developed out of the five identified areas of financial skill or knowledge. They concluded that financial literacy improved with work experience and income which suggests that people learn financial skills through trial and error, to some degree. Further, financial experience tends to impact on tolerance to risk. Joo and Grable (2004) proposed a framework that incorporates all of the direct effects from demographic and socio-economic characteristics, financial stressors, financial knowledge, risk tolerance, solvency, financial behaviours, and financial stress levels on financial satisfaction. They took a sample of 220 white collar clerks. It was concluded that financial satisfaction is related, both directly and indirectly, with diverse factors including financial behaviours, financial stress levels, income, financial knowledge, financial solvency, risk tolerance, and education. They supported the continued and increased use of targeted education initiatives directed at improving the financial literacy and behaviour of family and consumer economics constituencies. Wiener, Baron-Donovan, Gross and Block-Lieb (2005) evaluated the financial education- training program for residents of New York who had filed for bankruptcy and also studied the implications for pending legislation on bankruptcy.

They took a sample of over 400 individuals which was then divided into three groups namely, trained debtors, untrained debtors, and non-debtors. Results revealed that trained debtors‘ financial knowledge increased after training compared with untrained and non-debtors and they showed negative attitudes towards unnecessary spending as compared with the other two groups and reported less intention to buy than non-debtors reported. The study also revealed that self-reported behaviors showed significant 38

changes in the desired direction for trained debtors i.e. use of credit cards, paying bills, budgeting, and borrowing from predatory lenders. Lucey (2005) described the reliability (consistency) and validity of the Jump$tart Coalition‘s 1997 and 2000 surveys on financial literacy. The data was taken from the respective authors of the surveys conducted in 1997 and 2000. It was concluded that these surveys possess moderately high internal consistency overall, the subscales‘ lower internal consistencies indicate subscales require reconsideration. He observed that the research should both examine whether 30 or 31 survey items provide a complete measure of financial literacy. It also requires reconciling social bias in measurements. Marriott (2007) measured the personal financial awareness, attitude to debt and budgeting capabilities of 149 first-year business school undergraduates using a specially developed test. With the mean score of 34 per cent on the financial awareness section he concluded that there are significant gaps in personal financial knowledge and they are ill-equipped to cope with the severe cash restrictions they will encounter in the future. He found that they lack understanding of the student loans system and part-time working. Borden, Lee, Serido and Collins (2008) evaluated the effectiveness of The Credit Wise Cats Project in changing college students‘ financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors towards the use of credit cards and also studied the relationship of demographic variables on college students‘ financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. They took a sample of 93 students. Their findings suggested that the seminar effectively increased students‘ financial knowledge, increased responsible attitudes toward credit and decreased avoidant attitudes towards credit from pre-test to post-test. Also, the demographic factors predicted students‘ financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. Lusardi and Mitchell (2008) examines the factors central to women‘s retirement planning, relying on a purpose-designed module developed for the 2004 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) on planning and financial literacy. They took a sample of 785 women of age 50+ women respondents in the 2004. They concluded that older women in the United States display very low levels of financial literacy. Moreover, the large majority of women have not done any retirement planning calculations. Further, financial knowledge and planning are closely related.

Women who display higher financial literacy are more likely to plan and be successful planners.

Bayer, Bernheim and Scholz (2009) studied the effects of education on financial decision-making skills of employees who were given training on financial education. The data for the analysis comes from the 1993 to 1994 versions of the KPMG Peat Marwick Retirement Benefits Survey. The results revealed that both participation in voluntary savings plans are significantly higher when employers offer retirement seminars and the effect is typically stronger for less compensated employees than for highly compensated employees. Also, the frequency of seminars emerges as a particularly important correlate of behavior and there exists no effects of written material, such as newsletters and summary plan descriptions, regardless of frequency. Mckenzie (2009) investigated the financial literacy of graduating university seniors by comparing their financial literacy level with their debt level. She used 39

the Jump$tart questionnaire (Mandell, 2004) to calculate financial literacy level with a sample of 186 students. She found a high level of financial literacy with an average financial literacy score of 72.56% that prevailed especially in students majoring in business performing significantly better than nonbusiness students. The results revealed that the use of debt level as an indicator of financial literacy level was found to be incorrect as no relationship was found between financial literacy level and credit card debt or student loan debt. The results also revealed that demographic factors could not be used to predict financial literacy level and debt level and also, participants learned about managing money either on their own or at home from family members. Muller and Weber (2009) analyzed the relationship between financial literacy and mutual fund investment behavior with the help of a questionnaire data from more than 3000 mutual fund customers. They concluded that there is the lack of financial literacy among most mutual fund customers cannot completely explain the past growth in actively managed funds. Mandell and Schmid Klein (2009) attempted to identify a direct link between financial literacy education and financial decision making by examining the impact of taking a personal financial management course on the respondents‘ level of financial literacy and on a wide variety of financial behaviours. They took a sample of 79 high school students of a personal financial management course. The findings suggested that those who took the course were no more financially literate than those who had not and those who took the course did not evaluate themselves to be more savings-oriented and did not appear to have better financial behavior than those who had not taken the course. Varcoe, Peterson, Swanson and Johns (2010) compared the findings of the two surveys conducted under Money Talks for Teens series in the year 1998 and 2008. Teens were surveyed in 1998 (N = 323) and again in 2008 (N = 558) in order to determine what teens wanted to know about money and how they wanted to learn. The findings indicated that the financial literacy of U.S. teens is low but they are interested in learning about many of the same financial topics identified in 1998 and their desire for web education has increased. Walstad, Rebeck and Rebeck (2010) investigated the effects of a financial education program on high school students‘ knowledge of personal finance. They compared the results of pre-test and post-test scores and developed a reliable and valid thirty-item instrument which suggested that the Financing Your Future curriculum increased financial knowledge across many concepts and the scores increased regardless of the course in which the curriculum was used. Sabri, MacDonald, Hira and Masud (2010) investigated the impact of personal and family background, academic ability, and childhood consumer experiences on the financial literacy of college students in Malaysia. The sample comprised of 2,519 students in 11 public and private colleges in Malaysia and measured financial literacy with a 25-item test of financial knowledge. They found that the childhood consumer experience of discussing family finances with parents has a substantial positive relationship with financial literacy and also, students of Chinese ethnicity, who live on campus, and who attend private colleges are less likely to be financially literate. Lusardi, Mitchell and Curto 40

(2010) analysed financial literacy questions asked in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth fielded in 2007-2008 in order to examine how well equipped young people are to make financial decisions.

They concluded that financial literacy is low and very few young adults possess basic knowledge of interest rates, inflation, and risk diversification. Also, financial literacy was strongly related to socio demographic characteristics and family financial sophistication. Abreu and Mendes (2010) studied the relationship between differences in investors‘ portfolio diversification behaviour and differences in their levels of financial literacy. They used a survey of 2000 individual investors disclosed by the Portuguese Securities Commission (CMVM) in May 2005 to study the impact of investors‘ levels of financial literacy on portfolio diversification. They concluded that investors‘ educational levels and their financial knowledge have a positive impact on investor diversification. The information sources used by retail investors to gather information on markets and financial products also have a significant impact on the number of different assets included in a portfolio. Cude (2010) studied various theoretical aspects of financial literacy. She focused on the conceptualization and measurement as well as factors influencing financial literacy and its impact. Pang (2010) studied the application of a theorybased approach in the form of a learning study to enhance a domain-specific generic capability, financial literacy, of Grade 12 students to empower them to make informed and independent financial decisions. 193 students were taken as sample for the study. The findings indicated the variation theory as a powerful tool for developing not only the understanding of students of a specific concept but also their financial literacy. Also, students in the learning study group outperform their counterparts in the lesson study group and the inter-group performance gap was maintained or widened over time.

Jappelli (2010) used international panel data on 55 countries from 1995 to 2008, merging indicators of economic literacy with a large set of macroeconomic and institutional variables. He concluded that there is substantial heterogeneity of financial and economic competence across countries, and that human capital indicators (PISA test scores and college attendance) are positively correlated with economic literacy. Also, inhabitants of countries with more generous social security systems are generally less literate. Remund (2010) aimed at providing an insight into the concept of financial literacy by analyzing the many ways in which it has been interpreted and measured in research since 2000. The study identified the existing conceptual and operational definitions of financial literacy, and compared these definitions with the one the U.S. government adopted and thus, found a rationale for its widespread adoption and also, use of a clear, consistent definition in research and curriculum planning.

Rooij, Lusardi and Alessie (2011) aimed at measuring financial literacy and its relationship to financial decision-making. They used the data of over 2,000 Dutch households from the 2005 De Nederlandsche Bank‘s Household Survey (DHS). They found that the majority of respondents display basic financial knowledge but very few go beyond the basic concepts as many respondents do not know the difference between bonds and stocks, the relationship between bond prices and interest rates, and 41

the basics of risk diversification. Also, the study revealed that financial literacy affects financial decision-making as those with low literacy are much less likely to invest in stocks. Oanea and Dornean (2012) studied the various aspects in meaning of financial literacy and provided evidence on financial level of students from the Master in Finance, from several Romanian Faculties of Economics and Business Administration. They studied a sample of 200 students from the Master in Finance, at several Faculties of Economics and Business Administration. The results showed that the participants correctly answered at 74.79% of questions and the male students have a higher level of literacy related to personal finance than female students. Also, the survey showed that 75% of economics students from Romania have a medium to high level of financial literacy, but only 48.8% have a high level of financial literacy. Atkinson and Messy (2012) conducted a pilot study on the findings from an OECD International Network on Financial Education in 14 countries. The analysis focused on variations in financial knowledge, behaviour and attitude across countries and within countries by sociodemographics. The results highlighted a lack of financial knowledge amongst a sizeable proportion of the population in each of the countries surveyed. Furthermore, there is considerable room for improvement in terms of financial behaviour and attitudes are shown to vary widely. Nash (2012) reviewed various reports by different institutes, magazines and newspapers in order to analyse the financial literacy scenario in India. He found that the conditions regarding financial literacy are quite positive with India ranked second in the world with respect to financial literacy. He also highlighted the efforts of Reserve Bank of India, other commercial banks and NGOs. Kumar and Anees (2013) studied the basic concept of financial literacy, its meaning, determinants and relevance in today‘s scenario. They also studied the role of the regulatory bodies with respect to enhancing the financial literacy in India. The study concluded that the strategy for improving financial well-being of individuals in India should be focusing the young investors. Agarwalla, Barua, Jacob and Varma (2013) investigation of a study on the influence of various socio-demographic factors on different dimensions of financial literacy among the working young in urban India. The study also investigates the relationship between the dimensions of financial literacy. The sample was drawn from six major cities in India. The results revealed that there is an influence of several factors such as gender, education and income and also, a few factors specific to India, such as joint-family and consultative decision making process are found to have significant influence on financial literacy as well. They also concluded that despite high education levels financial literacy is still low. Also, there is significant positive relationship between financial knowledge and financial behaviour and the significant negative relationship between financial attitude and financial behaviour. Gupta and Kaur (2014) assessed the level of awareness of financial literacy among the micro entrepreneurs of district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh. A total of 100 micro entrepreneurs were taken as a sample for the study. The study showed that micro entrepreneurs in district Kangra possessed low financial skills. These are revealed by 42

deficient record keeping practices, poor cash management, improper saving habits, and less awareness regarding different financial products and instruments. Kumari and Viz (2014) studied the meaning of financial literacy and identified the need for examining the previous research and literature. They also identified the major players and their efforts in the field of financial literacy. The study revealed that Reserve Bank of India, Securities Exchange Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) are working actively towards promoting financial literacy.

To conclude we can say that in case of financial literacy the past studies focused on conceptualizing the term financial literacy and finding the relationship between demographic factors and financial literacy. Muller and Weber (2009) analyzed the relationship between financial literacy and mutual fund investment behavior which was the basis of this study as well. There are studies which were focused on the meaning, determinants and relevance of financial literacy in today‘s scenario.

There were studies which showed positive impact of financial literacy programme in enhancing the business performance. There were studies to examine how well equipped people of various age groups are to make financial decisions. They concluded that financial literacy is low and very few young adults possess basic knowledge of interest rates, inflation, and risk diversification. Also, financial literacy was strongly related to socio demographic characteristics and family financial sophistication. It was found that the financial literacy improved with work experience and income which suggests that people learn financial skills through trial and error and financial experience tends to impact tolerance to risk as well. It is a relatively new field of research in India as not much has been explored.

References: •

Adele Atkinson and Flore-Anne Messy. ―Measuring Financial Literacy: Results of the OECD/ International Network on Financial Education (INFE) Pilot Study.‖ OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions. No. 15, OECD Publishing, 2012. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k9csfs90fr4-en>

•

Annamaria Lusardi and Olivia S. Mitchel. ―Financial Literacy and Retirement Preparedness: Evidence and Implications for Financial Education Programs.‖ Business Economics. January 2007, pp: 35-44.

•

Annamaria Lusardi and Olivia S. Mitchell. ―Planning and Financial Literacy: How Do Women Fare?‖ American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings. Vol.98:2, 2008, pp. 413–417.

•

Annamaria Lusardi, Olivia S.Mitchell and Vilsa Curto. ―Financial Literacy among the Young:Evidence and Implications for Consumer Policy.‖ Journal of Consumer Affairs. 44 (Summer), January 2010, pp: 358–380.

43

•

Brenda J. Cude. ―Financial Literacy 501.‖ The Journal of Consumer Affairs. ISSN 0022-0078, Vol. 44, No. 2, 2010, pp: 271-275.

•

Bryce L. Jorgensen and Jyoti Savla. ―Financial Literacy of Young Adults: The Importance of Parental Socialization.‖ Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Family Affairs. Vol. 59, October 2010, pp: 465 – 478.

•

Carolynne L. J. Mason and Richard M. S.Wilson. ―Conceptualising Financial Literacy.‖ Business School Research Series. ISBN 1 85901 168 3, November 2000: 7, pp: 1-40.

•

David L. Remund. ―Financial Literacy Explicated: The Case for a Clearer Definition in an Increasingly Complex Economy.‖ The Journal Of Consumer Affairs. ISSN 0022-0078, Volume: 44, No. 2, Summer 2010, pp: 276-295.

•

Dean Roy Nash. ―Financial Literacy: An Indian Scenario.‖ Asian Journal of Research in Banking and Finance. ISSN 2249 7323, Vol.2 Issue 4, April 2012, pp: 79-84.

•

Diana J Neal, and Delpachitra, Sarath B. ―Financial Literacy Among Australian University Students.‖ Journal of Applied Economics and Policy. Volume 22 (1), 2003, pp: 65-78.

•

Dumitru-Cristian Oanea and Adina Dornean. ―Defining and Measuring Financial Literacy: New Evidence from Romanian‘ Students of the Master in Finance.‖ Scientific Annals of the "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi Economic Sciences Section, Vol. 59(2), 2012, pp: 113-129, DOI 10.2478/ v10316-012-0034-5.

•

Haiyang Chen, Volpe, and Ronald P. ―An Analysis of Personal Financial Literacy Among College Students.‖ Financial Services Review, Vol. 7(2), 1998, pp: 107-128.

•

Kamal Gupta and Jatinder Kaur. ―A Study of Financial Literacy among Micro Entrepreneurs in District Kangra.‖IMPACT: International Journal of Research in Business Management. 2014 ,ISSN (E): 2321-886X; ISSN(P): 2347-4572, Vol. 2, Issue 2, February 2014, pp: 63-70

•

Karen P. Varcoe, , Shirley S.Peterson, Swanson, Patti Wooden, et al. ―What Do Teens Want to Know About Money— A Comparison of 1998 and 2008.‖ Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal, Vol. 38, No. 4, June 2010, pp: 360–371, DOI: 10.1111/j.15523934.2010.00032.x

•

Leann G. Rutherford and Wanda S. Fox. ―Financial Wellness of Young Adults Age 18–30.‖ Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal. Vol. 38, No. 4, June 2010, pp: 468–484.

•

Lewis Mandell and Linda Schmid Klein. ―The Impact of Financial Literacy Education on Subsequent Financial Behavior.‖ Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning. Volume 20, Issue 1, 2009, pp: 15-24.

•

Lynne M Borden, Sun Lee, Serido et al. ―Changing College Students‘ Financial Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior through Seminar Participation. ‖ Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Vol. 29, Issue 1, 2008, pp: 23-40.

44

•

Maarten van Rooij, Annamaria Lusardi, and Rob Alessie. ―Financial Literacy and Stockmarket Participation.‖ Journal of Financial Economics. 2011, doi:10.1016/j.jfinec.o.2011.03.006, pp: 1-24.

•

Margarida Abreu and Victor Mendes. "Financial Literacy and Portfolio Diversification.‖ Quantitative Finance. Vol. 10, No. 5, May 2010, pp: 515–528.

•

Ming Fai Pang ―Boosting Financial Literacy: Benefits from Learning Study‖, Instructional Science, November 2010, Volume 38, Issue 6, pp 659-677.

•

Mohamad Fazli Sabri, Maurice MacDonald, Tahira K.Hira et al. ―Childhood Consumer Experience and the Financial Literacy of College Students in Malaysia.‖ Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal. Vol. 38, No. 4, June 2010,pp: 455–467.

•

Mohamad Fazli Sabri, Maurice MacDonald, Tahira K.Hira et al. ―Childhood Consumer Experience and the Financial Literacy of College Students in Malaysia.‖ Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal. Vol. 38, No. 4, June 2010,pp: 455–467.

•

Richard L. Wiener, Corinne Baron-Donovan, Karen Gross et al. ―Debtor Education, Financial Literacy and Pending Bankruptcy Legislation.‖ Behavioral Sciences and the Law. Volume 23, 2005, pp: 347–366.

•

Sebastian Muller and Martin Weber. ―Financial Literacy and Mutual Fund Investments: Who Buys Actively Managed Funds?‖, 2009. SSRN: http://ssrn.com/ abstract=1093305

•

Sobhesh Kumar Agarwalla, Samir K Barua, Joshy Jacob et al. ―Financial Literacy among Working Young in Urban India.‖Working Paper, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

No. 2013-10-02, 2013, pp: 1-27.

•

Sumit Kumar and Mohd. Anees. ―Financial Literacy & Education: Present Scenario in India.‖ International Journal of Engineering and Management Research, ISSN No.: 22500758,Volume-3, Issue-6, December-2013, pp: 83-87.

•

Sweta Kumari and Priya Viz ―Financial Literacy – An Overview of Growing Efforts.‖ IOSR Journal of Economics and Finance (IOSR-JEF). e-ISSN: 2321-5933, p-ISSN: 2321-5925, 2014, pp: 79-85.

•

Tullio Jappelli. ―Economic Literacy: An International Comparison.‖ The Economic Journal, Volume 120, November 2010, pp: F429–F451.

•

Vandeen M. Mckenzie. ―The Financial Literacy of University Students: A Comparison of Graduating Seniors Financial Literacy and Debt Level.‖ Thesis, University of South Florida, July 2009.

•

William B. Walstad, Ken Rebeck and Richard A. Macdonald. ―The Effects of Financial Education on the Financial Knowledge of High School Students.‖ The Journal of Consumer Affairs. ISSN 0022-0078, Vol. 44, 2010, No. 2, 2010, pp: 336-357.

45

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF IMPRISONMENT ON THE FAMILIES LEFT BEHIND: A STUDY OF THE FAMILIES OF PRISONERS CONFINED IN CENTRAL JAIL LUDHIANA Ms. Harmanpreet Kaur Pandher, Research Scholar, Dept. of Social Science, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh

Dr. Manoj Kumar, Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology, PG Govt. College for Girls, Sector 11, Chandigarh

Abstract Crime is a common practice that has existed in societies from centuries. primarily to control the crime by punishing the criminals.

Prisons were established

But it is evident that not only imprisoned

person but also the family of the confined person bears the pain of separation of a family member.

Except social and psychological impacts, economic impact is also the main impact that shown on the families of the imprisoned persons. Present study shows the economic impact of imprisonment on the family members of prisoners confined in Central Jail Ludhiana.

Key Words: Crime, impact, economic impact, Central Jail, Ludhiana, imprisonment, families Introduction Crime is a common concept that is present in the societies from the ages. Nature of crime, impact of crime, and rate of crime may vary from place to place and time to time, but no society can reject the existence of it. To control the crime, many institutions try to regulate the behavior of the people, through family, school, religion etc., but these institutions not always fulfill their motive to control the criminal behavior of its members and they involved in the illegal activities in one or other way. So, to control the crime in societies, prisons were formed.

In the beginning, the main purpose of the prisons was to punish the criminals in one or the other way.

But with the Passage of time the prisons were reformed time to time. It was thought that the prisoners were not merely the criminals but also the human beings as well. So, the prisoners get a right to meet the family members in the jails also. As it was thought that it would bring a positive impact on the emotional well- being of the prisoners as well as the family.

46

On the other side, it was not only he imprisoned person who bears the pain of the confinement but also the family members bear the same pain of separation of a family member. The family left behind not bears the social and psychological impacts but also the economic impact also shown on the families of the imprisoned persons. However, this is the unfortunate part that the families left behind are less studied by the researchers and scholars, especially in context of Indian prisonersâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; families.

Objective of the Study ď&#x201A;ˇ

To study the economic impact of imprisonment on the families left behind.

Research Methodology Present research targets to find out the economic impacts that were shown on the families of the imprisoned persons in Central Jail Ludhiana of Punjab state. The study is descriptive in nature and the respondents are the family members of the prisoners of the Central Jail Ludhiana, who come to meet them in jail. The study tries to explore the following objective of the study.

Sampling Technique To meet the above given objectives purposive sampling technique was used. The respondents in the study were the visiting family members of the confined prisoners of Central jail Ludhiana. In all, 270 respondents (10%) were selected on the basis of the monthly average visitors to the jail.

Data Collection An Interview schedule was prepared to get the required answers from the respondents. The schedule had a set of both open ended and close ended questions. In addition to the above, a focused group discussion of the respondentwas carried out.

Review of Literature Review of literature provide a general overview for the topic and also help to develop a depth information about how much work has been done in the related field and what can be done further in the same concern.

Joseph Murray (2005) conducted a study on the family members of the imprisoned person. He classifies the study as: impact of incarceration on the spouse, and impact of incarceration on the children. He found that the impact is different on different people. He further studied that the spouse confronted problems related to marital life, multiple role play, extra burden of arranging economic issues, the children met with the problems such as psychological problems, poor performance of studies, social stigma etc.

47

Similarly, Beth Weaver and Debbie Nolan (2015) also concluded in his study that the family of the confined persons encountered with the social, economic, emotional, psychological problems.

Furthermore, Chandarkala and Dr. Venumadhaver (2017) disclosed in their study that the most vulnerable group who effected with the incarceration of a family member, is the family left behind. The most tragic impact was the loss of familial relationships of the daughters of confined persons, who got divorce because of imprisonment of the family member.

Nesmith and Ruhland (2008) also found that the families of the confined persons not only face the disapproval of societies but also children of the incarcerated parents face the psychological and financial problems up to the higher level.

Similarly, Salmon (2007) also concluded in his study that the families of the incarcerated lose the accommodation and source of income when the main earner of the family went to jail.

Results and Discussions Biological Profile of the Respondents Respondents were asked about their age and found that out of total 270 respondents majority 93 (34.40%) respondents were of age group between 35- 45 years followed by the 80 (29.63%) respondents of age between 45- 55 years. It seems that this age group is considered emotionally more stable than the younger ones and seems comparatively physically more active than the older age group (Table1). According to the data, most 166 (61.48%) respondents were males and 104 (38.52%) respondents were the females who come to meet the imprisoned person in jail (Table2).

Occupation and Income (annual income of family) The data reveals that majority 94 (34.81%) of the respondents were the labourers, followed by the 56 (20.75%) unemployed respondents and similarly 56 (20.75%) housewives (Table 3). It was also found from the data that most 183 (67.78%) respondentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; families had less than 5 lakh rupees annual income (Table 4). The data also clears that most of the respondents were belonged to the lower strata class.

It is also clears from Focused Group Discussion that most of the respondents had not enough income and to arrange money they even do menial jobs, moreover few female respondents also told that they even worked for long hours as labourers but got less income according to their work.

48

Economic Impact on Families Imprisoned Person as Main Earner for Family The data presents that in majority of the cases 171 (63.34%) confined person was the main earner for the family who brought money and other things of necessities for the family (table 5). The data further shows that after the incarceration of the main earner in the family, there were mostly79 (46.20%) children of the person, who took the role of main earner and however, there were some 16 (9.35%) families, who had no one in their family to earn money for the family after the confinement of the main earner of the family (Table 6).

Sale or Mortgage assets to Arrange Money It is clear from the above data that most of the families belong to lower class strata it was also asked from the respondents whether they ever sale or mortgage property after imprisonment of the family member for arranging money. There were 106 (39.25%) respondents who said that they sold some assets to arrange money to overcome the financial crisis occurred after the imprisonment of the family members, whereas 96 (35.56%) respondents mortgaged the assets after the confinement of the relative (Table 7).

From these respondents most 48 (72.72%) respondents sold the gold items, whereas 42 (58.73%) respondents mortgaged the land to arrange money after the imprisonment of the family member (Table 8).

Focused group Discussion also indicates that many respondents could not bear the expenditure of the court cases and also not able to make frequent visits due to the lack of money. They told that they had to come from the faraway places to meet their confined family members and also they have not much sound economic conditions, so it was really difficult for them to arrange the expenses of confined person, even the travelling fares or the articles to provide them in jails.

There were few respondents who told that the due to the financial crisis, children left out the schools for not paying their school fees or to work in the absence of the main bread earner of the family.

Tables for the Study Table 1: Age of the Respondents Age

15-25

25-35

35-45

45-55

55-65

Number

22 (8.15%)

16 (5.993%)

93 (34.44%)

80 (29.63%)

35 (12.96%)

65 & Total above 24 270 (8.89%) (100%) 49

Table 2: Gender of the Respondents Gender

Male

Female

Total

Number

166 (61.48%)

104 (38.52%)

270 (100)

Table 3: Occupation of the Respondents Occupation

Labour

unemployed

Housewife

Number

94 (34.81%)

56 (20.75%)

56 (20.75%)

Farmers & Animal Husbandry 33 (12.22%)

Shopkeeper

Other jobs

Employed

Total

14 (05.85%)

16 (5.92%)

01 (0.40%)

270 (100)

Table 4: Annual Income of the Families of the Respondents Income

Less than 5 Lakh

5- 10 Lakh

10 Lakh & Above

Total

Number

183 (67.78%)

30 (11.11%)

57 (21.11%)

270(100)

The profile of the respondent presented above shows that most of the respondents were from mediocre age group (35-55 years), and majority of the male members from the imprisoned persons come to jail to meet the confined member. After analyzing the data related to occupation and income level of the respondents it is found that most of the respondents were involved in different type of labour work and also have lower level of income, as majority of the respondents earn less than 5 Lakh rupees annually.

Economic Impact of imprisonment on the family members left behind In order to know the economic impact on the families of the imprisoned persons, some related questions were asked. We wished to know whether the imprisoned person was the key earner of the family and whether there is any shifting of economic roles in family and change in income of the family after incarceration of a family member. A question was asked to know if they were forced to sell or mortgage the property or other assets after the imprisonment of the family member. The results of the data collected on the basis of interview schedule was recorded as under.

50

Table 5: Imprisoned Person as the Main Earner of Family (before Imprisonment) Confined Member as Main Earner Number

Yes

No

Total

171 (63.34%)

99 (36.66%)

270 (100)

Table 6: New Main Earner for Family after the Imprisonment of Main Earner (n=171) New Earner Numbers

Children

Spouse

Father

Mother

79 (46.20%)

45 (26.33%)

27 (15.79%)

04 (02.33%)

No one to Earn 16 (09.35%)

Total 171 (100)

Table 7: Family Mortgage/ Sale Assets due to the Confinement of the Family Member Assets Status

Sale

Mortgage

Not Applicable

Total

Number

106 (39.25%)

96 (35.56%)

68 (25.19%)

270 (100)

Table 8: Assets Sold / Mortgaged (n=202) Assets

Land

House

Gold

Vehicle

Other

12(11.33%)

39(36.79%)

18(16.98%)

16(15.09%)

Total

Type to use Sale

21(19.81%)

106 (52.48%)

Mortgaged 35(36.46%)

11(11.45%)

14(14.59%)

31(32.29%)

05(05.21%)

96 (47.52%)

Focused Group Discussion A focus group discussion of 10 respondents was conducted in the waiting area of the Ludhiana jail. The respondents were requested to discuss various issues for instance, the economic issues they faced due to the incarceration of their family member. Some insights regarding this discussion can be highlighted as follows; 51

An old man, named Baljeet Singh of 62 years told that his only son is imprisoned in jail in illicit drug dealing case. His son was the only earner in the family but now in his absence the old man started menial job to arrange the money for the family. He also added that due to the less economic resources, he cannot come to meet his son on regular intervals and sometime months have passed, when he came to meet his son in the jail.

Similarly few other respondents also gave similar views that due to lack of money they come to meet their imprisoned relatives after many months. Furthermore, Sandeep (49 years) told that he sold his agriculture land to hire the lawyer and arranged the legal expenditures. Few other respondents also shared the same points that they even sold and mortgaged the property they have after the imprisonment of their family member. They told that they spend lakhs of rupees on the court proceedings, or on the legal process of the case such as managing bail for their imprisoned family member or to hire a good lawyer for the kin etc. Only a few members had sufficient means to bear all these expenses whereas majority of the respondents told that they sold their assets and some of them mortgaged their property also.

They further shared that they even want to escape their family members from all these issues and punishment so they even tried to solve the issue outside the court with the second party and spent big of money for it but they could not save their member from punishment. A few respondents also even share their experiences how they arranged money to bribe some of the officials to manage the issues out of court and even to provide some favors in the prison too.

It can be said that majority of the respondents had not sufficient means to fulfill even the required needs of the family. They work hard to deal with the economic crisis that occurred due to the confinement of the family member.

Conclusion The data collected on the basis of interview schedule and Focus Group Discussion among the visitors of family members confined in the Central Jail of Ludhiana shows that Economic crisis was visible on the families of the incarcerated persons/ In many cases, as the confined person was only earner for families. In absence of main breadwinners for the families, their role was taken by other family members but there were still several families there was no one to earn for them. Due to lack of money after the imprisonment of a family member, several families had to many of them had to sell their property to arrange money.

mortgage some assets, whereas

When the type of assets they sold or 52

mortgaged, it is found that majority of the respondents sold gold items and most of the respondents mortgaged land to arrange money.

The custodians of justice system need to dwell upon the consequences of imprisonment of individuals on their families. The members have to suffer economically, socially and psychologically for no fault of theirs. The research thus suggests that a humane approach and soft policy must be adopted for the welfare of the families of the prisoners.

References 

Murray, J. 2005. The Effects of Imprisonment on Families and Children of Prisoners. A. Libling and S. Maruna (eds.). England: Willan.



W. Beth and D. Nolan. 2015. Families of the Prisoners: A Review of the Evidence. U.K: Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice.



Chandarkala, T. and Dr. G. S. Venumadhaver. 2017. Socio economic impact of Imprisonment on Prisoner‘s Family: A Study of Central Prisonr, Dharwad of Karnataka State. IOSR- JHSS, Journal of Humanities and Social Science.



Nesmith, A. & Ruhald, E. 2008. Children of Incarcerated Parents: Challenges and Resiliency, in Their Own Words. The Open Family Studies Journal. Vol. 4. No. 2.



Salmon, S. 2007. Memorandum submitted by Action for Prisoners‘ families. Selected Committees on Home Affairs. (http://www.publications.parliment.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect

53

RELIGION OF MARGINS, IDENTITY FORMATION AND CLEAVAGES: A STUDY OF DERA SACHA SAUDA IN PUNJAB, INDIA Mr. Surinder Singh Assistant Professor of Political Science Panjab University Rural Centre, Kauni Sri Muktsar Sahib Abstract The paper‘s argument is that religion allows the marginals to imagine theirs‘ new religio-cultural identity, a new society might be, and to imagine it in a holistic way.

Religion, even, has made it possible for the marginals to articulate the nature of their grievances in a positive and nonviolent manner and to project a vision of their future that is hopeful creative. They have formed their separate religious identities which are distinct from the established religious identities of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims.

Although they formed new egalitarian religio-cultural identities for their social change but these identities further deepen the existing socio-political cleavages in the society.

The paper shows that how the Dera Sacha Sauda, a religious sect, form the identity of its‘ followers, who are invariably lower caste(s)/marginals or socio-political marginals, in different arenas i.e. socio-cultural, religious, politics and social welfare. And how these newly identities further generated and deepen the cleavages in Punjab, particularly in Sikh society.

Keywords: Dera, Religion, Sacha Sauda, Cleavage, Identity, Marginality, Sikhs Introduction Punjab is a distinct state than the other states of India, where religion, historically, play an important role in the social mobility of marginalized people. Religion as a movement, in which marginalized people have been involved throughout the last century, for social change has also become an endemic feature of Punjabi society. Religion provides them a space to come together and collectively imagined themselves politically distinct community. Religion based identities marked them social distinct and politically assertive group in the society. The medieval Punjab‘s historiography shows the chronicle of conversion of marginal and lower caste people towards different religions viz. Islam, Sikhism, Christianity. Mark Juergensmeyer (1988) noted that religion play a constructive role in social change in Punjabi society. He revealed that in Punjab radical 54

religion of Untouchables/marginalized sections has been effective in helping them to mitigate the cultural as well as economic and political aspect of their oppression.

Religion has allowed Untouchable to imagine what a new society might be, and to imagine it in a holistic way. It has made it possible for marginalized groups in the Punjab to articulate the nature of their grievances in a positive and nonviolent manner and to project a vision of the future that is hopeful, creative and just. Similarly Prof.

Ronki Ram (2012) argued that Dalits in Punjab are articulating an alternative and innovative religious philosophy that will eventually help them to build a new society free from the oppressive binaries of high/low and pure/polluted. He further stated that the emerging alternative Dalit agenda has thus sought Dalit social mobility in Punjab through the unique process of relocation of Dalit religion.

In the same way, Dera Sacha Sauda is playing a critical role in the social change in the society. The principals, activities and symbols of the Dera are providing a new identity to its followers. The Dera is providing a space to its followers to imagine themselves a new social group in the society. They use the space of the Dera to articulate and address their grievances, social mobilization and political assertion. Although they formed new egalitarian religio-cultural identities for their social change but these identities further deepen the existing socio-political cleavages in the Sikh dominated society of Punjab.

The paper is divided into three parts. First part of the paper is focus on the rise of Dera Sacha Sauda. Second part deals with the Dera‘s role in identity construction which deepens social cleavages in the society. Third part is concluding remarks on overall discussion.

I Genesis of Dera Sacha Sauda DSS literally means ‗The True Deal‘, is a Sirsa based socio-spiritual organization. It was established by Khaima Mal on 29th April 1948, who was popularly known as Shah Mastana (Kaushal, 1998: 149). In the search of true Guru he reached at Radha Soami Dera at Beas, in Amritsar, Punjab. He embraced Baba Sawan Singh as his guru and took Naam (the mastic words that praise and invoked the God) from him (ibid: 147). Later on, he became very close to his Master Sawan Singh. Due to his mastana (fanatical) style, Baba Sawan Singh rewarded him the title "Shah Mastana". After, the death of Baba Sawan Singh, he established independent centre on the name of his Guru as ‗Sacha

55

Sauda Dera Param Sant Sawan Singh‘ or ‗Sacha Sauda—Dera Param Sant Sawan Shah‘, on 29th April 1948 (ibid, 1998: 148).

Shah Mastana determined three basic principles of the Dera: ―first, only vegetarian food is allowed, second, drinking of liquor is forbidden, and third, illicit sex is not allowed‖i.

He also gave a Naara (slogan) ―Dhan Dhan Satguru Tera Hi Asra", (only God is worth

praising, the Supreme Being, and we are solely dependent on Him and only He can help us everywhere in all eventualities). He emphasized on the equality among people by denouncing the prevailing social divisions in society either based on castes or religions.

He preached the massage of equality and asked the people to sit together. He said that there is no difference among people (Singh 2012). Their blood colour is same and everyone is the child of God. There is no inequality in the house of God. Our caste is humanity.

Soon after his death, on 18th April 1960, cleavages took place among followers on the issue of successorship, because Mastana did not nominate his successor through a written will. Consequently the followers were segregated into two major factions: ―one supported Satnam Singh while the second was in favour of Gurbaksh Singh‖ (Kaushal, 1998: 149). Finally, Satnam Singh‘s faction acquired the gurugaddi (headship) of DSS, on 26th August 1960. The second group, however, was established a separate Dera at village Jagmalwali, Tehsil Dabwali, District Sirsa of Haryana. Later on, one more centre was emerged/separated from DSS i.e. Dera Mastana Shah Balochistani, Ludhiana, headed by Mastana‘s nephew Mangu Mal (ibid).

Shah Satnam Singh did several satsang in different parts of the country to spread the spiritual discourse of his master. Since 1960 to 1990, he preached about 2250 satsang at cities and villages of different states of India such as Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh (Kumar: 81). It reveals that Sacha Sauda movement under his leadership was limited to northern-western states of India.

He purchased a large scale of land for the construction of new buildings to accommodate the fast growing number of devotees. Numbers of Deras were constructed

by Shah Satnam such as at Banwara, Uttar Pradesh, Malout, Punjab, and Budharwali, Rajasthan (Kumar: 402). Shah Satnam Singh also carried out some social reforms that were limited, particularly, among his followers. At that time, there were many malpractices and superstitions practiced in the society such as female feticide, dowry, untouchability, child marriage, drug addiction etc. He carried out the assigned duties 56

with greatest dedication for a period of 27 years. On 23rd September 1990, he announced Gurmeet Singh as his successor in the presence of thousands followers at the Dera.

There are several stories behind his taking over the Dera. There was no chance to emergence of a new faction because Shah Satnam openly announced Gurmeet Singh‘s name in sangat.ii He departed from this world on 13th of December 1990.

Under the headship of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singhiii the Dera has grown into several folds. An official website of the Dera shows that the following have increased to over 50 million and incessantly growing.iv He constructed a new campus of the Dera i.e. ‗Shah Satnam Ji Dham‘ (abode) in 1992 on Sirsa- Bhadra-Chopta road, 5 km ahead of the old Dera. This new complex has a huge Sachkhand hall (of 500 ft. x 400 ft =200000 sq. ft.), a two storeyed canteen, a printing press, a huge Langar Ghar (community kitchen), a housing complex of about 200 quarters and many more rooms for ‗Sadhus‘, Gufa or Terawas (the dwelling place of Gurmeet Singh), Kashish restaurant, shopping mall, Mahi cinema, Multi-speciality hospital, royal palatial houses for every member of the shahi family, cricket stadium, MSG Khed pind, various factories of MSG products, MSG five stars resort, a petrol pump, market in front of the Dera. The Dera has about 700 acres of land both agricultural and residential.v Sacha Sauda faith had 38 Deras and several Naam Charcha Ghars in different states of India viz. Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, and Chandigarh.vi DSS also has followers and Naam Charcha Ghars in abroad the countries like USA, UK, UAE, Canada, and Australia.vii During the first two Masters‘s time the movement was confined to the northern states of Indian. Now, it has become pan-Indian movement and also has transnational connections.

According to his guidance the followers are running 133 humanitarian activities. The key humanitarian activities are as following: free medical treatment to poor patients, construction of houses for the poor, giving financial help for marriage of destitute girls, donation of blood and eyes, solving the cases of disputes without litigation, to serve the humanity during the natural disasters, women empowerment, self-esteem skin donation, rehabilitation of prostitutes (Insan:13)viii. DSS has registered many world records in the field of humanitarian activities that astonished the people all over the world.

Along with the expansion of spiritual programme and welfare activities, he remained in various controversies. Several allegations of rape, murder, beating, kidnapping, to make 57

an impotent to Sadhus, and mimicry of the Sikhsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; Tent Master Guru Gobind Singh were levelled against Gurmeet Singh and his aides. He has been convicted on 25 th August 2017 in rape cases of sadhvises and sentenced for 20 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; rigorous imprisonment by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court 28th August 2017. On 11th January 2019 special CBI court convicted him and his three aides in the murder case, under Section 302 and 120 B of Indian Penal Code, of press reporter Ram Chandra Chatterpati. They sentenced for life imprisonment. Moreover, he is remained in controversy due to his role as pop-singer, film star/hero, dressing codes, royal life and political connections. As a result of his peculiar behaviour he does not suit into the prevailing spiritual structure of Indian religio-spiritual system. The Western sartorial and music codes are not acceptable into orthodox eastern spirituality. It illuminates several critical features of public representation of religion in India society. The representation of a religion or Godman is very important in Indian society (Copeman, 2012: 156). Thus, people criticised him due to remaining in controversies.

DSS is celebrated some imperative events such as regular Satsangs are organised at headquarter in Sirsa on second and last Sunday of every month. Daily and regular prayers are offered through the recitals of religious songs from the Holy Scriptures at every DSS. Two very large-scale spiritual gatherings, i.e. bhandaras, are organised at DSS, Sirsa, as annual features. First, on the birth anniversary of Shah Mastana that is celebrate on the full moon day of Kartik of every year. Second, function that is celebrates the birth anniversary of Shah Satnam Singh on 25th of January. DSS, however, through their spiritual ideas, symbols, rituals, and prayers provided them a new socio-cultural identity. Such identity is not mitigating the prevailing social cleavages but is enhancing the cleavages in Sikh dominated Punjabi society. The following section is an attempt to prove the above said argument II Role of Dera Sacha Sauda in Identity formation and Social Cleavages in Punjab Dera Sacha Sauda is playing a vital role in identity formation of its followers who are invariably either socio-economically or politically marginalized sections of Punjab. The Deraâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s principles, teachings, symbols, salutation, slogan, dressing codes, music, and rituals are providing a distinct identity to the followers. Their identity is fluid in nature which is change with time and the heads of the Dera. Previously, at the time of Shah Mastana, Shah Satnam Singh and a few years of Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim, the 58

followers were known as Premis (lovers). Since the May 2007, when Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim prepared Jam-e-Insa at Salabatpura, Bathinda district of Punjab, they are identity with the title ‗Insan‘. Thus, it shows that they are not bound with their typically sacrosanct identity or title. Their identity or title altered with the change of their spiritual heads. It was observed, during the field study, that fundamentalist followers of the DSS strictly followed the directions which the Dera head provided them at different time. It was noticed that the Dera provided them a schedule how to start and end a day.

DSS is one of the most famous Deras which is constructing the distinct identity of their followers through symbols, rituals, prayers, slogans, shrines and religious texts. The Dera structured a new social space is allowed the followers to re-imagine and relocating themselves in socio-cultural and political spheres of the society. DSS is performing a vital role in shaping, sharpening, harnessing and highlighting the followers‘ separate socio-religious identity i.e. Insan. The Dera fosters and accentuate the distinct religious symbol (One), bani (hymns of three heads of the Dera), religious places (Naamcharcha ghar), Gurus (Shah Mastana, Shah Satnam and Gurmeet Ram Rahim), slogan/Naara (Dhan Dhan Satguru Tera Hi Asra). Even, they salute to each other by saying ‗Dhan Dhan Satguru Tera Hi Asra‘. During the Jaam-E-Insa ceremony at Salabatpura, in Punjab, the Dera head recommend forty-seven principles which directed the followers into diverse socio-cultural and religious fields. Such as, one of the forty-seven principles urge the younger followers to waking up in the morning and touch the feet of your elders by pronouncing the naara and in reciprocate the elder will bless their children with love and proclaiming the naara. During the field study, it was observed that the radical followers of DSS are strictly following the rituals which are provided by their spiritual Master at different time. There is a schedule for the followers how to start and finish a day. The Dera has been quite successful in bringing forth the significance of the idea of distinct cultural space for the emancipation and empowerment of marginalised sections (64 percent respondents belonged to SCs and BCs)ix in Punjab.

The religious insignia of DSS is ‗One‘ (oneness). This insignia, also known as Koumi Nishan of the Sacha Sauda followers/Sacha Sauda samaj (society), clearly distinguishes them from other religions. As the religious symbol of the Sikh gurudwaras is the khanda (a two-edged sword over a quoits with two crossed sabers below the quoits). Similarly, the insignia ‗One‘ is composed of numerical One with light yellow colour on it. Within the One, on the top there is slogan of the Dera i.e. ‗Dhan Dhan Satguru Tera Hi Asra‘ 59

and on below address of the Dera viz. ‗Dera Sacha Sauda Shah Satnam Ji Marag, Sirsa (Haryana) are inscribed in Roman script, in the middle of it the symbols of Sikh, Hindu, Christian and Islam (Ek Onkar, Om, Cross and Star and Moon) are depicted. It represents the unity of mankind and respect of all religions in the world or the movement is confluence of all religions.

The format of the Ardas (a formal prayer recited at most Sikh rituals) performed by Premis/followers of the Dera is also differentiates them from that of the Sikh religion. It comprises the words of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The Dera followers has three time Ardas i.e. morning time, evening time, and before to take meal. Morning Ardas is Hye Malik!

Din Bhar Ch Mere to Koi Ajeha Karm na Hove Jo App ji di Najar ch Gunah Hove.

Hak Halal Di Kami Kar K Khawan.

Kisi Da Dil Na Dukhawan, Sab Nal Nirsawarath Prem Karan.

Jina Ho Sake Turdyan Firdyan Simran Karan. Sache Satguru Ji Har Pal App Ji Di Yad Bani Rahe Ji. (O‘ God! On the whole day, I shall not do any act which is known as crime in your eyes.

Eat the honest income. Not to hurt the heart of any one, and love to all selflessly. Recite the name of God to how much possible. True God, Your remembrance always remain.)

Evening time Ardas Hye Malik!

Din Bhar ch Mere to Anjane vich Koi Gallti Hoi Hai ta Muaf Karna Ate Ajehi Rehmat Bakshna Ke Saundyan Jagdyan App Ji Di Daya Mehar Nu Paunde Raheye Ji. (O‘ God! Whole the Day unintentionally any mistake happened than forgive me and shower your blessings during sleeping and awakening.)

Before Meal Ardass: Hye Malik!

Tenu Laj Hai, Hun Boht Ho Gya. Tu Daya-Mehar, Rehmat Kar. Tere Pyar Mohubat De Rah vich sanu koi taklif na ave.

60

Tu Ajehi Rehmat Baksh Ate Sab nu Sumat De, Sumat Kis Taranh Deni Hai, Eh Tu Sab Jannda Hai. Jis nu Jiven Deni Hai Oven De, Eh Teri Marzi.

[Saryan Ne Ek Minute Simran Kar K Eh Ardass Karni Hai. Es to Badd Fir Ek Minute Simran Karna Hai ate Fir Hi Khana Khna Hai Ji] (Oh God! You have Pudency, now have enough; sprinkling your compassion and blessings. No problem should to come into the path of love towards you. You should give such blessings and intellects, how to give intellect, that‘s you know well. Give them as your wishes). [The pray should do after one minute recitation of Naam. Again one minute Naam should recite and subsequently the food should eat.] These are not simple ardass (prayers) but are way of life, how they start and end the day. How they think about the world, particularly about ‗Others‘, non-followers of the Dera. How they think about the God. To use ‗Insan‘ as surname is also mark of their distinct identity from the Sikhs, who use Singh and Kaur, and Hindus, who use Kumar, Ram, Lal Dev, Rani and Devi. On 13th May 2007 at Dera Salabatpura, the headquarter of Sacha Sauda in Punjab, the present Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh organized a congregation where he dressed up like Guru Gobind Singh and prepared ‗Jaam-E-Insan‘ (nectar). At first, he offered JaamE-Insan to Seven Premins/followers than drink himself. He did similarly as Guru Gobind Singh, Tenth Master of Sikhs, done on 13th April 1699. On this occasion, he provided forty-seven principles to the followers on the name of unity of all religions and the universal religion of Humanity which simultaneously offered distinct religious identity i.e. Insan. Although, he claimed it is not a religious conversion but an affirmation to be true to one‘s own religion. One of the forty-seven principles asked the people to do not discriminate among themselves on the basis of caste. Your caste is humanity (Insan). And use the surname ‗Insan‘ instead of Sandhu, Sidhu, Gill, Sharma, Verma, Arora etc. Later on, under the pressure of establish social forces (the managing committee and Upper castes‘ sewadars, volunteers) Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim Insan allowed the followers to use their surname Sandhu-Insan, Gill-Insan, Sidhu-Insan, Sharma-Insan, and Verma-Insan. It shows that his endeavor to mitigate the caste system not only failed but it also enhances and deepens the caste based cleavages in the Sikh 61

dominant society in Punjab. Prior to this event, a caste‘s people were divided into various gortas/gots (sub-castes) now a got‘s people are divided into two sections; one is old and second is new Insan. For instance, people of Sandhu Jat Sikh got are divided into two factions: one, Sandhu Sikhs who follows the Sikhism and second, SandhuInsan who follows strictly the principles of Dera Sacha Sauda.

DSS followers have also distinct rituals related to marriage. After the May 2007, when the Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh did mimicry of Guru Gobind Singh, controversy rose between his followers and radical Sikhs. The radical Sikh organizations asked for social boycott of the Dera followers. As a result the radical Sikhs of different villages stopped to give Guru Granth Sahib to the Dera followers to carry out their social ceremonies and rituals like marriage and death. Subsequently, they invented a new method for marriage i.e. Dil jodh mala (exchange of garland). According to the ceremony marriages are carrying out at the campus of DSS and among the followers out the campus. In the campus, brides and grooms with accompany of their families exchanged the Dil Jodh Mala in the presence of the Dera head. On the last weekend of every month, when the major satsang (congregation) is scheduled, families of brides and grooms with their respective state level 25 members registered the names of brides and grooms in the marriage bureau office. The marriage bureau also organized personal level talk between the prospective partners. The marriage bureau also registers the names of the young male and female followers and tries to assist them to find out suitable partner either within the caste or outside the caste and community. Widows‘ remarriage and rehabilitation of prostitutions into mainstream by wedding are also promoted at the Dera with the help the young male followers. However, outside the campus, the follower bride and groom exchanged such garlands either in the front of picture of the baba or in the presence of block level or state level committees‘ members.

They provide them marriage certificate which helps them in marriage registration.

Under this program successful marriages are taking place amongst rich and poor, and different

social

sections/castes/communities.

Although

ideologically the

Dera

encouraged the inter-caste and inter-community marriages among the followers but during the field study it was observed that only a few inter-caste marriages were took place in the presence of the Dera‘s head for the purpose of exhibition. No one is ready to married their children outside their caste and communities.

Similarly, ceremonies related to death are constructed by the Dera. On the death of a follower, they raised Naara (slogan) ‗Dhan Dhan Satguru Tera Hi Asra‘ and chanted 62

the Naam. They either cremate or donate the parts or the entire dead body. They performed Naamcharcha (a congregation where the God praised in the form of shabadh with music) for the peace to soul, like Sikhs perform ‗Path Bhog and Kirtan‘ and Hindu do ‗Hawan‘. The Dera is also instructing the followers to take the ashes of their relatives at the Dera, Sirsa, instead of Hardwar and Kiratpur Sahib. They used the ashes to grow plants because the high level of phosphorus in it. It fastens the relationship between the followers and the Dera. An expired person‘s family members have bond with the newly planted trees where the ashes were used. Through such efforts they are trying to use the social space to fasten the attachment of the followers with the geographical/physical space of the Dera. It is in-favour of the interest of the Dera for its growth and development.

In his utopian society, the head of the Dera tried to provide a respectable space to women and kinnars too. The Dera started a new tradition crown of the lineage.

Promoting matrilineal inheritance (parallel to the usual patrilineal one) by encouraging the boy (if he has another male sibling) to relocate to his wife‘s parental place with everyone‘s consent and look after as his own responsibility. Similarly, to provide a respectable space to eunuchs, most discriminated and least respectable segment, in the society. Ram Rahim addressed them as ‗Sukh Dua Samaj‘ to integrate them with social mainstream. This marked also their distinct identity in the society.

Caste based discrimination is still practiced among the followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda. Generally an endogamy model of marriage is followed by the followers. They prefer to marry their children within the caste. One senior member of DSS management committee reveals that it is impossible for the higher caste children, particularly for girls, to adjust in a lower caste and poor family. Moreover, the allotment of sewa (free service) to the volunteers is also done on the basis of their caste. Mostly, the sewa related to manual labour is allotted to the Dalits and Backward castes. During the field study, in the compound of DSS, observation was made and by interviewing of the followers, it was revealed that among the labour sewadars 95 percent were Dalit and Backward castes people. On the question of unhygienic washroom/toilets of the followers, one senior member of the management committee replied that ―we will ask the Banghi caste‘s sewadars to clean the toilets because the upper caste sewadars refuse to perform this sewa.‖x Although ideologically the membership of DSS management committee is not strictly confined to a particular caste and open for all but caste based exclusion is practiced there. Upper caste/s viz Jat Sikh and Banias are dominating the 63

management committee of the Dera. Dalits and Backward castes‘ presence in the committee is insignificant. Such exclusionary steps have been undertaken because the Upper castes persistently uphold their dominance and to maintain the exclusion of marginals.

In brief the Dera is providing the different traditions of day to day life and from birth to death to the followers. The 15th principles, 47th Jaam-e-Insan teachings, and 133 welfare works are creating a new identity of the Dera followers. The Dera has become ‘identity anchor point’ of marginalized people, Dalits and BCs, in socio-cultural and political arena.

III Conclusion and Implication The paper establishes that the Dalits and marginalized sections in Punjab often prefer the religio-spiritual institutions i.e. Deras for their social and political upliftment. In return to this, the Deras form a web of new socio-cultural traits, artefacts, and monuments which provide them distinct social and physical spaces and identities to contest the suppression of mainstream culture which historically placed them at lowest rank in the society. Their new egalitarian religio-cultural identities for their social change further deepen the existing socio-political cleavages in the society. The paper shows that Dera Sacha Sauda form the identity of its‘ followers, who are invariably the marginalized people, in different arenas i.e. socio-cultural, religious, politics and social welfare. But these actions of the Dera further generated and deepen the cleavages in Punjab, particularly in Sikh society. It created a caste within caste, a got within got, a religion within religion, and marginalization within marginalization in the society. The marginalized sections want to improve their social position through the Dera but it further nastiest their social position in the society.

Notes & References: 1. Accessed from http://derasachasauda.org/history, on 11-02-2014.

2. Interview with Dr. Pawan Insa editor of Sach Kahoon and spokesperson of the Dera Sacha Sauda, on 27th June 2015, in Dera Sacha Sauda, Sirsa.

3. Sant Dr. Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh‘s original name is Grmeet Singh. He adopted the title Ram Rahim, after the succession of Shah Satnam Singh, in about 1992 or 1993 to give the message of secularity and equality of all religion. Interview with Dr. Pawan Insa editor of Sach Kahoon and spokesperson of the Dera Sacha Sauda, on 27 th June 2015, in Dera Sacha Sauda, Sirsa.

4. Accessed from http://derasachasauda.org/history accessed on 11-02-2014.

64

5. DSS has about 700 acres land in the villages Beggu, Baje Ke and Nejiadela. Interview with Rakesh Kumar Patwari of village Nejiadela of Sirsa on 7th January 2019 at Sirsa, Haryana.

6. Accessed from http://derasachasauda.org/shah-satnam-ji-dham-sirsa-haryana, on 25th July 2014.

7. Interview with Dr. Pawan Insa editor of Sach Kahoon and spokesperson of the Dera Sacha Sauda, on 27th June 2015, in Dera Sacha Sauda, Sirsa.

8. Accessed on http://derasachasauda.org/shah-satnam-ji-dham-sirsa-haryana, on 25th July 2014.

9. A random survey was done at DSS campus to check the socio-economic background of the followers. It was found that about 64 percent respondents were from Schedule Castes and Backward Castes.

10. Interview with Kuldeep Kumar, Chhayawan Samiti, on 29 June 2015.

Bibliography: o Juergensmeyer, Mark. (1988), Religious Rebels in the Punjab: The Social Vision of Untouchables. Delhi: Ajanta. o Ram, Ronki. (2008), Ravidass Deras and Social Protest, Making Sense of Dalit Consciousness in Punjab. Journal of Asian Studies, 67(4):1341-1364. o --------------(2012a), Beyond Conversion and Sanskritisation, Articulating an Alternative Dalit Agenda in East Punjab. Modern Asian Studies, 46(3): 639-702. o Kaushal, Om Parkash (1998), The Radha Soami Movement 1891-1997, ABS, Jalandhar (India). o Singh, Shah Satnam (2012), Sachkhand di Sarakh—Part - 2, Parupkar Printing Press, Shah Satnam Ji Dham (Dera Sacha Sauda), Sirsa (Haryana). o Kumar, Rakesh, Ruhaniyat Ke Sacchye Rehbar- Part—1, Parupkar Printing Press, Parm Pita Shah Satnam Ji Dham, Dera Sacha Sauda, Sirsa, Haryana. o Insan, Saint Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh Ji, (2011), Holy Discourse— Vol. 1, published by Rakesh Kumar: Dera Sacha Sauda Sirsa. o Copeman, Jacob (2012), ‗The Mimetic Guru: Tracing the Real in Sikh-Dera Sacha Sauda Relations‘, in Jacob Copeman and Aya Ikegame (ed.) The Guru in South Asia: New Interdisciplinary Perspective, Routledge, New York.

65

RUN-AWAY MARRIAGES IN PUNJAB: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

Ms.Kanika Sharma, Research Scholar, Centre for Human Rights & Duties, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

Abstract: The present paper titled ‗Run-away Marriages in Punjab: Theoretical Perspectives‘ aims to understand the societal paradigm within which the practice of run-away marriages has assumed alarming dimensions. The human right to find a family and the unconditional right to make a choice in the marital arena in patriarchal Punjab has become a discretionary privilege rather than a fundamental right. As, such in an effort to comprehend this practice that individuals are succumbing to, it becomes imperative to detail and delve the theoretical perspectives underlying the same. The paper would deliberate upon the theoretical perspectives of social exclusion that leads to confrontation of conflict affecting right to life of the youth, particularly women which brings them directly in clash with the rigid and redundant norms of their families and social communities. This paper consequently presents a detailed analysis on the theories of patriarchy, cultural relativism, feminist and Marxist theories that traces the incidence of honour killing which inadvertently is a horrific step taken by communities and families if run-away marriages are not accorded the requisite legal protection.

Keywords: Honour, Culture, Run-away Marriages, Natural Rights, Legal Positivism, Marxism, Feminist, Patriarchy, Cultural Relativism.

I. Introduction Honour, the very word resounds courage, valour and regrettably in our Indian context also its antonym ‗shame‘. Murders meted out to couples who have married against the wishes and commands of their parents and community has unfortunately become a repetitive social practice where the acts of the married couple calls upon the honour of the entire family who can only justify and avenge it by killing the couple in question. Theoretically speaking, our society is and confronting a transition process wherein run-away marriages are a very obvious repercussion of communities and families imposing diktats and unreasonable pre-arranged norms upon individuals violating their right to freedom of choice in marriages.

The terminology by itself simplistically speaking, a followed legal protocol by the courts in India who protect couples It is very largely construed and accepted by most patriarchal cultures as a righteous act of killing one‘s own kith and kin to avenge the dishonour that had befalls upon the entire family/village/society. The act may be committed by family members or in certain distinct cultures the 66

elders or the heads of the villages as a deterrent punishment in the form of extermination of the liable persons or some other form of equally appalling action to ensure that the ‗act‘ in question is not repeated by the peers or consequent generations. The annihilation of the constitutional right to Freedom to marry of individuals is openly floundered and rather, an example of deterrence is set to discourage any future occurrences. The desecrated bodies of young couples might be the consequence of illegal diktats of the Khaps in Haryana or the outlash by indignant ‗shamed‘ parents/families in Punjab. The present paper titled ‗Contextualizing Human Rights within the conflicting social paradigm of Honour Killing and the Constitutional Freedom to Marry‘ aims to outline the holistic concept and genesis of Honour Killing while analyzing its theoretical perspective. It would deliberate upon the theoretical perspectives of social exclusion that leads to confrontation of conflict affecting right to life of the youth which brings them directly clashing with the rigid and redundant norms of their families and social communities.

II. Concept of Honour Honour Killing is becoming increasingly the most socially sanctioned repercussion and an allencompassing deterrent to the rural urban youth, who dare to question the traditional social barriers and further dare to bring dishonour by exercising their ‗supposed right to marry‘. Hence it becomes imperative to delve into the contours and concept of honour. UN Special Rapportuer Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy1 defines the concept of Honour as especially powerful because it exists beyond reason and beyond analysis. But what masquerades as ‗honour‘ is really mens‘s need to control women‘s sexuality and their freedom. Crimes of honour potentially violate the right to life, liberty, bodily integrity, the prohibition against torture or cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment, the prohibition on slavery, the right to freedom from gender-based discrimination and sexual abuse or exploitation, the right to privacy, the duty to modify discriminatory practices against women. Arun Pal (2012)2 in Honour Killing: Culture, Dilemma and Ritual says that the ideology of honour is one which directly results from patriarchal gender roles, wherein conformity to these roles is demanded and a source of status and acceptance within the community; and where deviance is censured. For males, ‗honour‘ is gained through exerting dominance and control over females and younger males, and lost through weakness and failure to control; it can be restored through violent and coercive acts. For females, ‗honour‘ is preserved through subordinancy, obediency, chastity, endurance and virginity, and it may be lost through any autonomous acts, particularly those relating to sexuality, and cannot be restored. ‗Honour‘ in this sense is often a social quality; it revolves around the public perception of the individuals more than their actual behavior. Causing a scandal or gossip within the community is often the most significant aspect of an offense against ‗honour‘. Ultimately it is those with power within the 1 Coomaraswamy, Radhika (2006), ―Preface: Violence against women and crimes of honour‖ in Welchman, Lynn and Hossain, Sara (Eds.) Honour: Crimes Paradigms and Violence against Women, Zed Books Ltd., New York, pp. xi.

2 Pal, Arun (2012), Honour Killing : Culture, Dilemma and Ritual, Arise Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, pp. 49.

67

family and the community (men and older women who have proved their internalization of the ‗honour‘ code through the policing of younger women) who decide what acts are ‗honourable‘ or ‗dishonoourable‘.

Chowdhry (2006)3 in Contentious Marriages, Eloping Couples: Gender, Caste and Patriarchy in Northern India says that to overcome caste and customary rules some couples run away from the village and get married. Such cases are generally dealt within the close preserve of the family and/or its kinship network. Yet, some of them spill over voluntarily or involuntarily into the public sphere and assume a different form, as issues concerning the sexuality of women, almost entirely confined to the family, are thrown open for judgment. This public sphere is dominated by two diametrically opposing authorities, one informal and the other formal. The informal, is under the domination of the wider community (biradari) acting through the traditional panchayat with no legal standing; the formal is regulated by the state, based upon modern egalitarian laws.

These cases of Run-away Marriages are bracketed and categorized as ‗Protection Matters‘ by law. They render a legally absolute and unhinged right to life and liberty to persons under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The pertinent thing to note is that Article 21 protects expansively the lives and liberty of the couple, the issue of determining whether a couple is legally married or not is judged by evaluating the certainties of majority age and consent of the boy and girl. In this respect, there is undoubtedly a legal discretion upon the court to adjudicate and decide the issue of marriage. However, there is a larger undiluted obligation cast upon the court to protect the paramount rights of life and liberty of persons. Honour Killing is a phenomenon that is clearly the final result and a conspicuous consequence of crumbling socially stated patriarchal norms and their constant tussle with modernity.

Tradition is not necessarily detrimental but when tradition reeks of bias, discrimination and exploitation in the name of honour and leads to loss of lives of helpless and innocent minority segments of populations, it ought to be affirmatively uprooted. Redundant traditions which are ought to be imposed by self styled khap leaders or rigid and supposed ‗righteous parents‘ are actually, outmoded customary law imposing unreasonable political orthodoxy. At the helm of all affairs, it‘s a vicious cycle which connects petrified eloping couples who have rebelled against the social caste/class stratified structure which has resulted in their unfortunate horrific Honour Killings.

III. Theoretical Perspective In order to understand the socio-economic exclusion and legal status of the run-away couples and protection towards them, it is important to look into the theoretical framework which draws attention to the fundamental theories of Natural law and Legal Positivism.

3 Chowdhry, Prem (2004), ―Private Lives, State Intervention: Cases of Runaway Marriage in Rural North India‖, Modern Asian Studies, February, pp. 55-84.

68

Rex Martin4 (2013) writes about Natural Rights being the ancestors of basic Human Rights. In this regard, the right to choose a life partner is one such fundamental human right that can be traced right from the Natural rights era. Natural Rights theory identifies natural rights in a state of nature which are characterized by the absence of government. According to its main proponent John Locke, people in the state of nature were free, equal, and independent. He conceived natural rights as the right to life, liberty, health, and the fruits of one's labour and as having obligations attached, which normatively directed the conduct of other individuals to respect these rights even in the state of nature.

Similarly, the right to marry and to lead a life of dignity, free from fear and threat is imperative to the very essence of liberty. This imposes an obligation upon every individual to exercise their rights while mutually respecting the inviolable rights of others.

The natural rights tradition established the

importance of two main kinds of rights: rights to certain liberties of conduct and rights to the prohibition of particular injuries at the hands of others. Natural rights are regarded as liberties held independently of society. They are held by human beings simply in virtue of their being human; they are rights of individual persons as such. Human rights (as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948) are rights of persons in society, specifically in organized societies. Human rights represent important interests of such persons (in personal autonomy and in participation in the institutions and practices of self-governance, as well as interests in security, dignity, health, and wellbeing). These interests are treated as human rights because these interests are vulnerable to specific threats which are characteristic of life in society, in particular, in modern societies. Understanding this theory in the light of certain practices of Honour Killing that is leading to social exclusion of youth today is in direct contrast to the main premise of the Natural theory.

The Legal Positivist theory followed the Natural Rights theory and postulates John Austin‘s theory of ‗Positive law‘. In this respect, the right to marry by choice is not just a right that exists in vacuum. The concept of ‗positive law‘ renders the right to marry due legal recognition by law. Jane Duran5 (2005) writes about the Positivists propagating that the majority of the society must be in the habit of obeying the sovereign entity. The sovereign is identified as both the source of a command and its enforcer. Correspondingly, with regard to run-away marriages, the due recognition of the marriage as a legal fact, entitles the couples contracting such run-away marriages adequate protection and rights under law. However, the social mandate unassumingly and innately followed leads to the rampant marginalisation practice of honour killing against the youth in rural and urban india where they are not permitted to exercise their right to choice of partner.

4 Martin, Rex (2013), ―Human Rights and the Social Recognition Thesis‖, Journal of Social Philosophy , Vol. 44, No.1, pp.

1-21.

5 Duran, Jane (2005), ―Realism, Positivism and Reference‖, Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp.

401-407.

69

Analyzing the issue of run-away marriages traditional theories of Patriarchy and the Marxist theory of Historical Materialism accompanied by Cultural Relativism come into the picture. These theories in human rights discourse become particularly increasingly relevant as they explain the socioeconomic and cultural determinants of human behavior and conditions. Some of them are discussed below: Marxist theory of Historical Materialism – According to the fundamental premise by Karl Marx, the society is always in a state of tussle where the proletariat (have-nots) and bourgeoisie (haves) are against each other. The weaker segment, the have nots are always confronting violent opposition by the haves. This principle can be applied to the couples exercising their right to marry who face opposition threats on account of lower socio-economic status of either of the spouses. The theory of Historical Materialism has also cast a great impact from a Feminist thinking. According to Tahira S. Khan6 (2006), ―Every school of feminist thinking, whether liberal, Marxist, socialist or radical has attempted to explain and theorize the phenomenon of women‘s oppression in the light of historical records about the creation of patriarchy and the patriarchal socio-economic institutions of human society. Apart from these prominent approaches of feminism, we find many other theories of subgroups of theories and concepts. Generally, all the academic and theoretical explanations that have attempted to examine issues related to women in various disciplines of social sciences can be divided into 2 categories – Idealist and Materialist. Idealist school is the basic genesis of the liberal feminist school and propose the idea that the suppressed status of women in society is natural and embedded in the society‘s basic fabric. According to this school, conditions for women can be rectified by demanding protection and equal rights from the state. The idealist approach ignores the material and economic forces of oppression that operate against women. As per the Material Theory, the oppression of women is a social, historical and alterable phenomenon. They propagate the view that family relations are shaped by material forces such as private property ownership. ―Within the materialist school, there are two theories providing logic contributing to the oppression and violence against women at two levels (a) personal (family) and (b) structural (state and society). The time and place of the honour/shame code was structured around female sexuality is of importance and further the reason of its endorsement by the social system. The crux of the historical materialism theory is that all social and intellectual relations can be explained by analyzing the material conditions and systems of a particular society, and the most basic material is the economic structure. Material changes in the world have changed the roles and status of women. For instance, surplus value gave birth to private property, which is accumulated in the hands of men due to division of labour, according to gender. Private property raised concerns among men about the inheritance rules for their children and the result were

6 Khan, S. Tahira (2006), Beyond Honour: A Historical Materialist Explanation of Honour Related Violence, Oxford University Press, Karachi.

70

efforts to assure paternity. Concern with paternity led to the development of the institution of monogamous marriage. And once monogamy arrived, to safeguard private property the male started policing and regulating the wife‘s fertility. History has shown the close links that exist between economics and religion, moral and sexual values that predominate in a given society.

There are a number of classical feminist theories of the Patriarchy that can be linked to women Sylvia Walby7, for example, presents four different theories in her book Theorizing Patriarchy (1990). ―According to her patriarchy is a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women.‖ Walby identifies four different general feminist theories related to patriarchy. These are Marxist feminism, Liberalism, the Dual-systems theory and Radical Feminism.

Marxism Feminism means that men‘s domination over women is because of the domination of capital over labour. Economic exploitation and class-relations are the central features of social structure. These central features determine the nature of gender relations. The family is a consequence of the need for capital from women‘s domestic labor in the home, producing the next generation of workers. The second theory is Liberalism. Liberalists believe that the patriarchy exists because of the denial of equal rights to women in education and employment. These factors are pivotal for the subordination of women. They believe that society as a whole has sexist attitudes towards women, which act to sustain the situation. The way to solve the problem is to work for equality between the genders. The third approach is the Dual-systems theory. This perspective is a mix of Marxist and radical feminist theory.

It believes there are two systems of power relations and both are important for explaining how the gender roles are structured in society. Thus, the inequality between genders can be analyzed as an effect of a capitalistic and patriarchal structure or by the capitalist-patriarchal society. The radical feminism claims that ―...men as a group dominate women as a group and are the main beneficiaries of the subordination of women. They do not believe it is a product of capitalism. Instead they see sexuality as a major reason for male domination over women. Through the sexuality the men force their view of femininity on to women. The main source for the patriarchy is the reproduction and the sexuality. Schneider8 (1971) also endeavours an understanding of honour in terms of power in the society and suggests that honor, in the context of social relations, can be understood as "the ideology of the power holding group which struggles to define, enlarge and protect its patrimony in a competitive arena" The theoretical framework of prestige, honour and assertion of traditional patriarchy is fundamentally what leads to fear and apprehension in couples contracting choice marriages which eventually leads to the increased spate of run-away marriages. ―The ideology of honour is one which directly results from patriarchal gender roles, wherein conformity to these roles is demanded and a 7 Walby Sylvia (1990), ―Theorizing Patriarchy‖, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 3-8.

8 Schneider, J, (1971), ―Of vigilance and virgins: Honor, shame and access to resources in Ethnology Vol. 10, pp. 2.

Mediterranean societies‖

71

source of status and acceptance within the community; and where deviance is censured. For males, ‗honour‘ is gained through exerting dominance and control over females and younger males, and lost through weakness and failure to control; it can be restored through violent and coercive acts. For females, ‗honour‘ is preserved through subordinancy, obediency, chastity, endurance and virginity, and it may be lost through any autonomous acts, particularly those relating to sexuality, and cannot be restored. Ultimately it is those with power within the family and the community (men and older women who have proved their internalization of the ‗honour‘ code through the policing of younger women) who decide what acts are ‗honourable‘ or ‗dishonourable‖9. The Patriarchal school of thought, according to M.L Anderson10, (2000) writes ―patriarchal societies give men power and authority over women and this can be found at the individual, group or institutional level. To prevent dishonoring from occurring, the honor ideology is enforced by systematic control of women's social and especially sexual behavior. As should be evident, this places females in a very dangerous position in traditional societies.‖ According to Kandiyoti11, (1987) interestingly, women in traditional patriarchal societies don‘t have a direct claim to honour even though the family honour is largely dependent on their behavior. Their actions as individuals, particularly through actual or perceived sexual misconduct, can only bring dishonor to others. However, it is not only sexual misconduct, but any misbehavior on the part of female members that can bring shame and dishonor to the male members or a whole community, lineage or family.

Quite a few scholars have linked the idea of ‗honour‘ to social status and regulation of social relations. The conception of honour used to rationalize abuse and killing of women is founded on the idea that one person's honour depends on the behavior of others; behavior that must be controlled.

Thus, an essential component of one's self-esteem and community status becomes dependent on the behaviour of others12. In studying the concept of honour, it is revealed that it is a complex notion that is tied to both a man's self-worth and social-worth. A man's honour is his claim to pride which may be reflected in such factors as his family of origin, wealth, and generosity. However, a man's honour is tied most closely to the reputations and sexual conduct of women in his family, particularly his mother, sisters, wife, and daughters. Any breach or suspected breach of sexual codes by these women is viewed as a potent assault on the man's honor, the family's honour, and/or the communal fund of honour associated with a clan, tribe, or other lineage groups. Such an assault results in "shame. To be rid of shame and restore honour, the woman offender must be punished. Family responses to sexual or

9http://indialawyers.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/honour-killings-and-the-need-for-new-legislation/ accessed on 20th December, 2013 at 9:00 AM. 10 Anderson, M.L (2000), ―Thinking About Women: Sociological Perspectives in Sex and Gender ‖, Allyn and Bacon, Boston, pp. 291.

11 Kandiyoti, D.A (1987), ―Emancipated but unliberated?‖ Reflections on the Turkish case Feminist Studies Vol.13, pp.

317-338.

12 http://www.critcrim.org/redfeather/journal-pomocrim/vol-8-shaming/araji.html accessed on 5th April 2014 at 11:45 PM.

72

alleged sexual misconduct vary from ignoring or minimizing the situation to killing the woman.

Decisions may depend on the social and political standing of the family in the community13. According to Turner14 (1995), for a man, loss of control of women's behavior results in shame. Thus, if it appears that males or families cannot control their females, especially in the area of sexuality, their honour is threatened and the result is shame.

Theory of Cultural Relativism - The corollary of honour and its ramifications on the society can be explained well with the theory of cultural relativism which surfaced in the early 20th century.

Susanne Moller Okin15 in ‗Is Multiculturalism bad for Women?‘(1999) claims that the patriarchy is a worldwide phenomenon that decreases the women‘s possibilities to make choices in life: Many of the world´s traditions and cultures, which certainly encompass most of the people of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia are quite distinctly patriarchal. They too have elaborate patterns of socialization, rituals, matrimonial customs, and other cultural practices (including systems of property ownership and control of resources) aimed at bringing women‘s sexuality and reproductive capabilities under men‘s control. In this respect by identifying certain regions globally belonging to distinctive and traditional patriarchy, she excludes certain others from the patriarchal scheme and assumes that Western liberal regimes are simply and plainly less patriarchal than other regimes. Baker et al.16 (1999) indicate that the concept of honor goes through a transformation in its application to the West.

Nevertheless, it can still be understood as an ideology held by those who seek patriarchal power in a competitive arena by dictating and controlling women's behavior. Here, Baker et al. (1999) argue, the competitive arena is the female's demand for equality. As females acquire more rights and freedoms males' power and control is challenged. This is consistent with what Bates and Rassam 17 (1983) reported happening in developing Middle Eastern countries. They predicted that the increasing exposure to Western culture challenges males' and families' control of females and hence, their honor, could lead to increased violence against women.

The Constitution of India under Article 21 entails the right to life and personal liberty of all individuals and no person shall be deprived of the same except according to procedure established by law. This expansive fundamental right secures legal protection and maintains status quo towards all individuals entering into marital alliances against the wishes of their parents/ families/ communities.

Within the social paradigm, there are two distinct sets of structures that witnesses aggression and protest between these two sides: assertion of freedom amongst the youth on one side and violent oppression by the so called saviours of the society and defenders of family honour on the other side.

13 https://indialawyers.wordpress.com/category/honour-kilings/ accessed on 20 December 2013 at 9:00 AM. 14 Turner, F. (1995). ―Shame, beauty, and the tragic view of history‖ American Behavioral Scientist Vol.38, pp.1060-1075.

15 Okin, Moller Susan (1999), ―Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?‖ Princeton University Press, New Jersey, pp. 14.

16Baker, N.V., Gregware, P.R. & Cassidy, M.A. (1999).‖ Family Killing Fields‖ Violence Against Women Vol. 5, pp. 164184.

17 Bates, D.G. & Rassam A. (1983), ―Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East‖, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, pp 213-219.

73

The schizophrenic nature of our Indian society clearly reflects that the law might be progressing faster than the society mindsets. The Legislature and the Courts consistently enforce fundamental right to the freedom of the individual to marry and have a family but the conspicuous khaps at the grass-root level assertively deny the youth the same. The logic in the two states of Punjab and Haryana maybe different but it is questionable all the same. The act of Honour Killing has been traversing on an increasingly steep curve in India. The phenomenon is rampant in a few north Indian states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. This however by no means signifies that the rest of the India is free from this social evil.

IV. Conclusion We have come a long way since India‘s independence and we are a country with eminent achievements like the ISRO scientists (Indian Space Research Organization) historically entering the Mars orbit and the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring India polio-free. However, it also has been 72 long years since the same independence and we are still plagued with our basic human rights to choose and to select a partner and more imperatively to live with unconditional human dignity. The unfortunate incidences of Honour Killings have not decreased and nor is there a downward trend of run-away marriages. There is an imperative need to redefine the social construct within which the society operates. The modernity that revolves around technology and youth doesn‘t identify with the old shackles of conventional diktats and self styled norms. Honour Killing may be yet another outcome of this continuous tussle between the obsolete mandates of the rigid society and the progressive propelling youth. The debate about honour and culture fixation has finally brought to light certain horrid facts and alarming statistics.

The positive trend that our Indian government is propelling towards is that it is finally taking stock of the situation. Research in academia and laws in the parliament are moving side by side complementing each other and providing answers to these vicious social dilemmas. There has been a lot of speculation and discussion about introducing a separate law to prevent Honour Killings, and rendering legal and logistic protection to run-away couples. Recently, the government of India18 has initiated the process of drafting this law against honour killings by treating crimes in the name of honour as a separate category of offences. The move comes after 22 states, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh supported the recommendations of the Law Commission of India to treat honour crimes as a standalone offence. The Law Commission had in its 242nd report on ―Prevention of Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances in the Name of Honour and 18 The Tribune. 2014. (December 12). ―22 States, U.T‘s support Bill to prevent Honour Killings‖.Chandigarh, India. pp.1 & 11.

74

Tradition‖ recommended a strict law against honour crimes being perpetuated by community panchayats working under different names in different parts of the country.

But in retrospect, the rhetorical question that needs to be reflected is that, is there a requirement for a law to categorically penalize and reiterate what has already been declared as punitive? The Indian Penal Code, 1860 is the most comprehensive penal legislation which covers under its umbrella all criminal acts of murder, attempt to murder, assault, wrongful confinement and criminal conspiracy.

Our Indian Constitution and its plethora of legislations comprise one of the finest and most impeccable expositions in theory. However, in practice, its implementation has its profound flaws. Honour killing is the most ruthless and calculated form of murder committed in the shallow pretext of avenging honour and reputation. But it‘s nevertheless murder. Instead of adding yet another new piece of legislation to the existing bulwark efforts should be pioneered towards effectively implementing the existing ones.

It is imperative to realize that a transformation in the basic mindset and philosophies of people needs to be altered to realistically bring about a pragmatic change. Along with increasing the efficiency of the police officials, state functionaries and other law enforcement agencies like the State Human Rights Commission, there is an urgent need to alongside sensitize them as well.

Practical Steps 

There is a dire need of active awareness campaigns especially in the remote rural areas so as to make individuals realize their Right of Choice in respect of choosing their spouse. It is the most basic of all Fundamental Human Rights and categorically guaranteed under Article 21 by the Constitution. This connotes further that it has a direct implication on the Right to Life and Liberty itself.



Legal Associates and Social Counsellors should be deputed at every District Protection Centre/ Run-away couple home. It is important to provide a joint psychological counselling session to the families of the married couples, as well as the run-away couple. It is imperative to note that marriage is a relationship that eventually is a bond between two families. As such it becomes increasingly vital for the Government to facilitate a forum where there is interaction between all family members. This should be done with an aim to remove the deadlock so that the alliance can be accepted and consequently the antagonism is congenially resolved between all family members.

There is undoubtedly a dire need for Human Rights to move forward and put an end to this abhorrent practice. Patriarchy has reigned for centuries in India and has resulted in the regression of status of women, annihilation of freedom and destruction of dignity. To quote ‗The vilest crimes are committed in the name of defending honour of the family or women and we should hang our heads in

75

shame when such incidents take place in India in the 21st century.‘ – P. Chidambaran (Former Home Minister‘s statement in the Rajya Sabha on Honour Crimes.)

References: 

‗The Red Feather Journal of Postmodern Criminology, An International Journal‘, available at http://www.critcrim.org/redfeather/journal-pomocrim/vol-8-shaming/araji.html accessed on 5th April, 2014 at 11:45 PM.



Anderson, M.L. (2000). Thinking About Women: Sociological Perspectives in Sex and Gender.

Allyn and Bacon, Boston.



Baker, N.V., Gregware, P.R. & Cassidy, M.A. (1999). ―Family Killing Fields‖



Bates, D.G. & Rassam A. (1983). Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey.



Chowdhry, Prem (2004). ―Private Lives, State Intervention: Cases of Runaway Marriage in Rural North India.‖ Modern Asian Studies, February, pp. 55-84.



Duran, Jane (2005), ―Realism, Positivism and Reference‖, Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 401-407.



in Mediterranean societies‖, Ethnology, Vol. 10, pp. 2



Kandiyoti, D.A (1987). ―Emancipated but unliberated?‖ Reflections on the Turkish case Feminist Studies, Vol.13, pp. 317-338.



Khan, S. Tahira. (2006). Beyond Honour: A Historical Materialist Explanation of Honour Related Violence. Oxford University Press, Karachi.



Law Resource India: ‗Honour killings and the need for new legislation‘, available at http://indialawyers.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/honour-killings-and-the-need-for-newlegislation/ accessed on 27th January, 2014 at 10:30 AM.



Law resource India: ‗National legal research desk on violence against women and children‘, available at https://indialawyers.wordpress.com/category/honour-kilings/ accessed on

20th

December, 2013 at 9:00 AM. 

Martin, Rex (2013), ―Human Rights and the Social Recognition Thesis‖, Journal of Social Philosophy , Vol. 44, No.1, pp. 1-21.



Okin, Moller Susan. (1999). Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.



Pal, Arun (2012). Honour Killing : Culture, Dilemma and Ritual. Arise Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi.



Schneider, J, (1971). ―Of vigilance and virgins: Honor, shame and access to resources 76



The Tribune. 2014. (December 12). ―22 States, U.T‘s support Bill to prevent Honour Killings‖.Chandigarh, India.



Turner, F. (1995). ―Shame, beauty, and the tragic view of history‖ American Behavioural Scientist, Vol.38, pp.1060-1075.



Violence Against Women Vol. 5, pp. 164-184.



Walby, Sylvia. (1990). Theorizing Patriarchy. Basil Blackwell, Oxford.



Welchman, Lynn and Hossain, Sara. eds. (2006). Honour: Crimes, Paradigms and Violence against women. Zed Books Ltd., New York.

77

THE DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT, 2005: AN OVERVIEW Mr. Ajay Sharma, Assistant Professor Department of Geography Dav College Sector-10, Chandigarh Abstract The Disaster Management Act, 2005 has been enacted as the central Act to deal with the management of disasters. This act envisaged a three tier Disaster Management structure in India at National, States and District levels. Under the act, the NDMA, SDMA, NEC, NDRF, NIDM and disaster related funds were established. This paper is focused or evaluating it on different parameters.

Keywords: Disaster management act 2005, New Vision on Disaster Management, Committees on Disaster Management

Introduction Disasters and natural hazards always have been looming large in the history of human events and profoundly influence all they touch. All through ages, disasters have always been a common feature of human societies. Epidemics, famines, wars, and floods would occasionally devastate a population leaving behind their indelible marks on demographic and social structures.

Of late with

population- explosion, urbanization, industrialization, deforestation, vehicle smoke, nuclear tests and other commercial activities have resulted some man- made disaster which again have also posed a challenge for the survival of life on the earth. What the matter of concern is that disasters whether natural or man-made are always a dangerous to the society. They usually follow a great loss of lives, property, environment and physical infrastructure. Thus keeping in view the danger of

their massive

destruction, it is significant not only to understand them but be ready to meet their danger. The present paper discusses and evaluates the Disaster Management Act, 2005 which is the base of meeting any disaster in India till date. The present effort is an analysis of the provisions of the Act, not an evaluation of the disaster management system in the country.

Vulnerability of India India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters on account of its geo-climate conditions.

Floods, draught, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides have been recurrent phenomena. About 60% of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities. Over 40 million (4 crore) hectares is prone to floods. About 8% of the area is prone to cyclones. 68% of the area is susceptible to drought in

78

between 1990 and 2000 an average of 4344 people lost their lives and about 30 million (3 crore) people were affected by disasters every year .Some basic facts of India‘s vulnerability are: 

From 2002 to 2013, India was among the five countries most frequently hit by natural disasters.



These included the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, which caused around 11,000 deaths and affected 2.79 million people in India, and the 2013 floods in Uttarakhand, which caused 5,748 deaths and affected 4,200 villages.



Before this, India‘s major disasters included Cyclone Paradip in 1999, which caused around 10,000 deaths.



According to the World Risk Index 2014, India is in the top half of all countries at risk from natural hazards.



India has suffered from many disasters in its recent history too, both natural and climate related, and these continue to cause devastation.



In November 2015, floods in the southern city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, killed over 370 people and damaged crops worth US$190 m.



And in May 2016, record temperatures of 51°C hit Phalodi, Rajasthan, during a heat wave that affected much of northern India.

The Disaster Management Act, 2005 The government of India was always seized of the problem of disasters in India. Underlining its importance and to mitigate its consequences the Disaster Management Act, 2005 was passed. It is a central act to deal with the management of disasters. The President of India gave his assent to the Disaster Management Bill 2005 on January 9, 2006.The Act comprising 79 sections and 11 chapters is capable of effectively managing the disaster and matters related to it. It extends to the whole of India.

New Vision on Disaster Management The Disaster Management Act, 2005 is India‘s New Vision on disaster management. The most significant feature of this act is that it is a Relief centric to Holistic approach to DM. It aims at: •

Build safer & disaster resilient India

•

Develop a proactive, multi-hazard technology driven strategy for DM

•

Develop a culture of prevention, mitigation & preparedness

•

Ensure a prompt and efficient response mechanism

•

Attitudinal Change : To change mindset of all stakeholders

•

Public Awareness/ Capacity building of all stakeholders 79

Basic Features of the Act

1. Disaster Section 2 of the Act defines ‗Disaster‘ as a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from either natural or man- made causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering, or damage to and destruction of property or damage to or degradation of environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.

2. Disaster Management Disaster management means a continuous and integrated process of planning, organizing, coordinating and implementing measures which are necessary for •

prevention of danger or threat of any disaster

•

mitigation or reduction of risk of any disaster or its severity or Consequences

•

capacity-building

•

preparedness to deal with any disaster

•

prompt response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster

•

assessing the severity or magnitude of effects of any disaster

•

evacuation, rescue and relief

•

rehabilitation and reconstruction

National Disaster Management Authority The Act empowers the Central Government to appoint the National Disaster Management Authority, which shall consist of a chairperson and other members not exceeding nine. It further mentions unless the rules otherwise provide, the National Authority shall consist of the following:

The Prime Minister of India, who shall be the Chairperson of the National Authority, ex officio.



Other members, not exceeding nine, to be nominated by the Chairperson of the National Authority.

The Chairperson of the National Authority may designate one of the members nominated to be the Vice-Chairperson of the National Authority. The term of office and conditions of service of members of the National Authority shall be such as may be prescribed. Further the Central Government is to 80

provide the National Authority with such officers, consultants and employees, as it considers necessary for carrying out the functions of the National Authority.

Powers and functions of National Authority The National Authority has the responsibility to lay down, approve the policies, and guidelines for disaster management prepared by various departments of Government of India to ensure timely and effective response to disaster. The Act mentions that, the National Authority may  lay down policies on disaster management  approve the National Plan  approve plans prepared by the Ministries or Departments of the Government of India in accordance with the National Plan  lay down guidelines to be followed by the State Authorities in drawing up the State Plan  lay down guidelines to be followed by the different Ministries or Departments of the Government of India for the purpose of integrating the measures for prevention of disaster or the mitigation of its effects in their development plans and projects  coordinate the enforcement and implementation of the policy and plan for disaster management 

Recommend provision of funds for the purpose of mitigation

 Provide such support to other countries affected by major disasters as may be determined by the Central Government  Take such other measures for the prevention of disaster, or the mitigation, or preparedness and capacity building for dealing with the threatening disaster situation or disaster as it may consider necessary  lay down broad policies and guidelines for the functioning of the National Institute of Disaster Management. 

The Chairperson of the National Authority shall, in the case of emergency, have power to exercise all or any of the powers of the National Authority but exercise of such powers shall be subject to ex-post facto ratification by the National Authority.

Committees on Disaster Management 

Constitution of Advisory Committee The National Authority may constitute an advisory committee consisting of experts in the field

of disaster management and having practical experience of disaster management at the national, State or district level to make recommendations on different aspects of disaster management. The members of the advisory committee shall be paid such allowances as may be prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with the National Authority.

81



National Executive Committee The Act provides that a National Executive Committee may be constituted immediately after the

implementation of this Act to assist the NDMA. It shall be an advisory committee consisting of experts in the field of disaster management having practical experience of disaster management at the National, State and District level. The National Executive Committee is further empowered to constitute one or more sub-committees, for the efficient discharge of its functions. The Committee is entrusted to prepare a national plan for disaster management which is to be reviewed and updated annually.

Functions of National Executive Committee  The National Executive Committee shall assist the National Authority in the discharge of its functions and have the responsibility for implementing the policies and plans of the National Authority and ensure the compliance of directions issued by the Central Government for the purpose of disaster management in the country. It may act as the coordinating and monitoring body for disaster management. 

Prepare the National Plan to be approved by the National Authority

 Coordinate and monitor the implementation of the National Policy 

lay down guidelines for preparing disaster management plans by different Ministries or Departments of the Government of India and the State Authorities

 Provide necessary technical assistance to the State Governments and the State Authorities for preparing their disaster management plans in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the National Authority. 

Monitor the implementation of the National Plan and the plans prepared by the Ministries or Departments of the Government of India.



Monitor the implementation of the guidelines laid down by the National Authority for integrating of measures for prevention of disasters and mitigation by the Ministries or Departments in their development plans and projects.

 Monitor, coordinate and give directions regarding the mitigation and preparedness measures to be taken by different Ministries or Departments and agencies of the Government. 

Evaluate the preparedness at all governmental levels for the purpose of responding to any threatening disaster situation or disaster and give directions, where necessary, for enhancing such preparedness.

82



Plan and coordinate specialised training programme for disaster management for different levels of officers, employees and voluntary rescue workers.



Coordinate response in the event of any threatening disaster situation or disaster.

 Lay down guidelines for, or give directions to, the concerned Ministries or Departments of the Government of India, the State Governments and the State Authorities regarding measures to be taken by them in response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster. 

Require any department or agency of the Government to make available to the National Authority or State Authorities such men or material resources as are available with it for the purposes of emergency response, rescue and relief.

 Advise, assist and coordinate the activities of the Ministries or Departments of the Government of India, State Authorities, statutory bodies, other governmental or non-governmental organizations and others engaged in disaster management. 

Provide necessary technical assistance or give advice to the State Authorities and District Authorities for carrying out their functions under this Act.

 Promote general education and awareness in relation to disaster management. 

Perform such other functions as the National Authority may require it to perform.

National Plan on Disaster Management The Act provides that a national plan for disaster management for the whole of the country shall be prepared. The National Plan shall be prepared by the National Executive Committee having regard to the National Policy and in consultation with the State Governments and expert bodies or organizations in the field of disaster management to be approved by the National Authority.

The National Plan shall include 

Measures to be taken for the prevention of disasters or the mitigation of their effects.



Measures to be taken for the integration of mitigation measures in the development plans.



Measures to be taken for preparedness and capacity building to effectively respond to any threatening disaster situations or disaster.



Roles and responsibilities of different Ministries or Departments of the Government of India in respect of measures.



The National Plan shall be reviewed and updated annually.



Appropriate provisions shall be made by the Central Government for financing the measures to be carried out under the National Plan.

83

ď&#x201A;ˇ

Copies of the National Plan shall be made available to the Ministries or Departments of the Government of India and such Ministries or Departments shall draw up their own plans in accordance with the National Plan.

Guidelines for minimum standards of relief The National Authority is to recommend guidelines for the minimum standards of relief to be provided to persons affected by disaster like the minimum requirements to be provided in the relief camps in relation to shelter, food, drinking water, medical cover and sanitation, the special provisions to be made for widows and orphans, ex gratia assistance on account of loss of life as also assistance on account of damage to houses and for restoration of means of livelihood and such other relief as may be necessary. In cases of disasters of severe magnitude, the National Authority may recommend relief in repayment of loans or for grant of fresh loans to the persons affected by disaster on such concessional terms as may be appropriate.

State Disaster Management Authority Similar to National Authority at the Centre, the State Government is to establish a State Disaster Management Authority for the State. The State Authority is to be headed by the Chief Minister of the State as the Chairperson and such number of other members, not exceeding nine. The State Authority is empowered as and when it considers necessary to constitute an advisory committee, consisting of experts in the field of disaster management. The State Authority is supposed to lay down the State disaster management policy, approve the State Plan in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the National Authority.

State Executive Committee The State Executive Committee is empowered to control and restrict, vehicular traffic to, from or within, the vulnerable or affected area, control and restrict the entry of any person, his movement within and departure from, a vulnerable or affected area, remove debris, conduct search and carry out rescue operations, provide shelter, food, drinking water, essential provisions, healthcare and services in accordance with the standards laid down by the National Authority and State Authority.

District Disaster Management Authority Every State Government, in turn, is to establish a District Disaster Management Authority for every district in the State with the District Collector as the Chairperson and such number of other members, not exceeding seven. The District Authority is to act as the district planning, coordinating and implementing body for disaster management and takes all measures for the purposes of disaster management in the district in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the National Authority and the State Authority.

84

Central Government and International Agencies The Central Government is empowered to further measures as it deems necessary or expedient for the purpose of disaster management like deployment of naval, military and air forces, other armed forces of the Union or any other civilian personnel as may be required for the purposes of this Act, coordination with the United Nations agencies, international organizations and governments of foreign countries for the purposes of this Act and establish institutions for research, training, and developmental programmes in the field of disaster management.

National Institute of Disaster Management The Central Government is empowered to constitute an institute to be called the National Institute of Disaster Management. The institute functions within the broad policies and guidelines lay down by the National Authority and are responsible for planning and promoting training and research in the area of disaster management, documentation and development of national level information base relating to disaster management policies, prevention mechanisms and mitigation measures.

National Disaster Response Force A National Disaster Response Force for the purpose of specialist response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster is to be constituted. The general superintendence, direction and control of the Force shall be vested and exercised by the National Authority and the command and supervision of the Force shall vest in an officer to be appointed by the Central Government as the Director General of the National Disaster Response Force.

National Disaster Response Fund The National Disaster Response Fund to meet any threatening disaster situation or disaster is to be constituted. The Fund is made available to the National Executive Committee to be applied to meet the expenses for emergency response, relief and rehabilitation in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Central Government in consultation with the National Authority.

Civil and Criminal Liabilities The Act imposes punishments to persons for contravening the provisions of this Act, 2005 such as obstructing or abandoning, refusing to comply with any of the provisions of this Act, making false claims, misappropriation of money or materials or false warning, etc. The punishment in such cases could be imprisonment or fine or both.

CAG As per the performance audit report of the disaster management mechanism in the country by the the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, submitted to the Parliament in April this year, NDMA has neither had information and control over the progress of disaster management work in the states, nor could it successfully implement various projects it had initiated for disaster preparedness and

85

mitigation. What‘s more, the authority has been functioning without its core advisory committee of experts that advises it on different aspects of disaster management .

According to law, NDMA should have an advisory committee of experts in the field of disaster management at the national, state or district level. The first advisory committee of NDMA was constituted in 2007 for two years. Later, the term was extended for one more year. However, since June 2010, NDMA is functioning without the advisory committee. First, the reason for delay that was cited was that several ministries had not sent the proposals of the names of experts to be included in the committee. Now, it is being said that the names are being reviewed by the Pmo.

No major project completed The CAG report also highlighted several other loopholes in the functioning of NDMA. It said none of the major projects taken up by NDMA was complete even after seven years of its functioning.

The projects were either abandoned midway or were being redesigned because of initial poor planning.

The major projects include producing vulnerability atlases for floods, earthquakes and landslides, national landslide risk mitigation project, national flood risk mitigation project and national disaster management information system.

As per the CAG report, NDMA has also not been performing several functions as prescribed in the Disaster Management Act. These include recommending provision of funds for the purpose of mitigation and recommending relief in repayment of loans or for grant of fresh loans. Besides, several critical posts in NDMA are vacant and consultants were used for day to day working.

Role of Media and the Act The National Authority, the State Authority or a District Authority is empowered to recommend the Government to give direction to any authority or person in control of any audio or audiovisual media or such other means of communication as may be available to carry any warning or advisories regarding any threatening disaster situation or disaster and the said means of communication and media as designated shall comply with such direction. NDMA‘s project management capacity has been found deficient. NDMA has not been able to complete many major projects so far.

An Evaluation The Disaster Management Act, 2005, also referred to as the ‗DM Act, 2005‘ is an important milestone in the evolution of a legal framework for disaster management in India. It is for the first time that a comprehensive law on disaster management at the national level was enacted. On the whole the act has fulfilled the need for a basic legislation on disaster management that is comprehensive, cutting

86

across sectors in a holistic manner. However it has been observed that the act has been lacking on certain grounds.

One of the most important features of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, has been that it provided for several new entities at the national, state, and district levels. As per report (March 2013) of the task force appointed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, GOI, to review the Disaster Management Act, 2005,some of them have done well. For example, the National Disaster Management Authority has issued comprehensive guidelines for disaster mitigation and preparedness. The National Disaster Response Force has created an impact in regard to search and rescue operations in disaster situations.

The State Disaster Management Authorities in some States have significant achievements to their credit. But the fact remains that the functioning of these entities at all levels is constrained by a lack of clarity on their roles as well as by structural anomalies, death of human resources and inadequate infrastructure. Also, some of the Act‘s provisions themselves have given rise to implementation problems. Not surprisingly much of what the Act mandates is yet to be realised. In most cases, the new entities have not made any appreciable impact; some are even non-functional. Further, institutional arrangements existing prior to the Act continue to remain in force. Needless to say, all this has created a confusing scenario.

The act has also been criticized for marginalizing Non-government organizations, elected local representatives, local communities and civic group; and for fostering a hierarchical, bureaucratic, command and control, 'top down', approach that gives the central, state, and district authorities sweeping powers. It is also alleged that the "Act became a law almost at the will of the bureaucrats who framed it." There is a lack of coordination between the government agencies and ministries responsible for disaster management like the ministry of earth sciences, state governments and NDMA. In brief, it can be said that: •

The states have not able to implement the concerned plan NDMA has failed the states to prepare for the disaster they are vulnerable to.

•

Regarding floods, NDMA has no system in place for the early warnings in the vulnerable areas.

•

There is a lack of coordination between the government agencies and ministries responsible for disaster management like the ministry of earth sciences, state governments and NDMA.

•

NDMA has failed in performing many important functions like recommending provision of funds for mitigation, as well as relief in repayment of loans or grant of fresh ones

87

Conclusion On the whole the act has fulfilled the need for a basic legislation on disaster management that is comprehensive, cutting across sectors in a holistic manner. It has enacted a new multidisciplinary focus on disaster prevention and risk reduction and a move away from a relief centric regime. It is in this respect that the Disaster Management Act, 2005, has proved to be a milestone, for it provides a legal basis for disaster management activities related to mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery and reconstruction across sectors. The Act further contains the provisions for financial mechanisms such as the creation of funds for the response, National Disaster Mitigation Fund and similar funds at the state and district levels.

References: 1. Aparna Meduri (2006). "The Disaster Management Act, 2005". The ICFAI Journal of Environmental Law. The ICFAI University Press. pp. 9â&#x20AC;&#x201C;11. Retrieved 30 July 2013.

2.

Ministry of Home (27 September 2006). "The Gazette of India, Extraordinary, [Part II, Section 3(i)] Notification: Disaster Management( Terms of office and Conditions of Service of members of the National Authority and payment of Allowances to members of Advisory Committee) Rules, 2006" (PDF). Published by the controller of Publications, New Delhi 110054. p. Section 3. Retrieved 20 July 2013.

3.

"Notification for notifying the Disaster Management (Removal of Difficulties) Order.

2006 Providing for a tenure of 5 years for the Member of NDMa"(PDF). The Gazette of India (in English and Hindi). Ministry of Home. 27 September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.

4.

Ministry

of

Home

(27

September

2006). "Notification

for

establishing

NDMA," (PDF). The Gazette of India (in English and Hindi). Ministry of Home.

Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.

5.

Ministry of Home (27 September 2006). "Notification for constituting National Executive Committee (NEC)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. Ministry of Home. p. Section 3, sub section (ii). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2013.

Retrieved 30 July 2013.

6.

Max Martin (8 February 2007). "DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT Farce follows disaster". Retrieved 30 July 2013.

7.

Times of India (20 July 2013). "Natural calamity prone states have no disaster management mechanism: PIL". http://Times of India.

88

USING E–GOVERNANCE TO REINFORCE CITIZENS SATISFACTION: A CASE STUDY OF ATAL SEWA KENDRAS OF AMBALA CITY Ms. Manjulla Verma Research Scholar, Department of Public Administration, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra.

Abstract E-Governance essentially means laying down such processes and practices which aims to simplify governance for government, citizens and businesses. In other words, Electronic governance or egovernance is the application of information and communication technology for delivering government services. The government of Haryana has taken several initiatives to promote e-governance in the state to bring transparency, accountability and efficiency in the delivery of services. Atal Seva Kendras previously known as Common Service Centers have been further strengthened by adding more services to their profile. Through the present study, an effort has been made to assess the satisfaction of the service seekers with the services provided by through these centers in Ambala city.

Keywords: Stages of E-Governance, Models of E-Governance, Digital India, Services provided by Atal Sewa Kendras.

Introduction E-Governance, in today‘s scenario, is emerging as a potent tool of good governance. Only ‗e‘ letter, that means ‗electronic‘, has brought about a glaring transformation in the horizon of public administration as E-governance is ICT-based Definition of E-government According to World Bank: ―E-government refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government‖ UNESCO Defines E-governance : ―Governance refers to the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country‘s affairs, including citizens‘ articulation of their interests and exercise of their legal rights and obligations.

Stages of E-governance The liberalization of the economy led to the period from the early 1990s onwards saw not only the emergence of liberalized economy but also the convergence of the opportunities in the field of egovernance in India. The Indian experience demonstrates that the onset of e-governance proceeded through the following phases: 89

Stage I Interface as the first phase used computers in large numbers in government offices and it began with word processing, followed by data processing.

Stage II Networking as the second stage saw some of the units of government organizations getting connected through a hub to share information and flow of data between different government entities.

Stage III On-line presence as third stage led to increased internet connectivity and the need to maintain presence on the web which resulted in the maintenance of websites by government departments and other entities. Generally, these web-pages/web-sites contained information about the vision statements, organizational structure, contact details, reports and publications, and objectives of the respective government entities.

Stage IV On-line interactivity as fourth phase led to On-line presence by opening up of communication channels between government entities and the citizens and civil society organizations. The main objective of the interactivity phase was to minimize the scope of public interface with government entities by providing downloadable forms, instructions, acts and rules.‖ In some cases, this had already led to on-line submission of forms, thus, most of citizen-government transactions have the potential of being put on e-governance mode.

Models of E-governance E-Governance

services can be shared between citizens, businessman, government and employees.

These four models of e-governance are as:-

•

•

Government to Citizens (G2C)

•

Citizens to Government (C2G)

•

Government to Government (G2G)

•

Government to Businessman (G2B)

Government to Citizens (G2C)

90

This model of e-governance refers to the government services which are provided to the citizens or shared by citizens. This model strengthens the bond between government and its citizens.

•

Citizens to Government (C2G)

In C2G model, citizens interact with government with the help of ICT, they provide feedback to the government regarding policies and programs implemented by the State and Centre government and suggest the government through electronic devices.

•

Government to Government (G2G)

G2G refers to the services which are shared between the governments. It is also called e-administration.

There is lots of information that needs to be shared between various government agencies, department and

organizations. It deals with various activities that take place between different government

organizations/agencies such as file tracking, communication, shared services, law enforcement, fund transfer, revenue and such others.

•

Government to Businessmen (G2B)

Through this model, bond between private sector and government has improved and businessmen use it to communicate. E-governance tools are used to aid the business community providers of goods and services – to seamlessly interact with the government. The objective is to cut red tape, save time, reduce operational costs and to create a more transparent business environment while dealing with the government .The G2B initiatives can be transactional, such as in licensing, permits, procurement and revenue collection, rejection and approval of patent, collection of taxes, payment of all kind of bills and penalty. They can also be promotional and facilitative, such as in trade, tourism and investment. These mechanisms help to provide a congenial environment to businesses to enable them to perform more efficiently.

Digital India The Government of India has launched a flagship programme called Digital India to shape India into a knowledgeable economy and digitally empowered society. The initiative thrives on the concept of good governance through initiatives of e-governance by mobilizing the capacities of information & communication technologies to deliver the services to the public while considering the aspects of transparency and public accountability. To provide all services electronically and promote digital literacy is basic aim of ‗Mission Digital India‘. Thus, Digital India by 2019 would cover broadband connectivity in all Panchayats, Wi-Fi in schools and universities and Public Wi-Fi hotspots thereby it will generate large number of IT, Telecom and Electronic based jobs covering various domains such as 91

health, education, agriculture, banking, and such other related aspects. The Digital India program is just the corner stone of digital revolution which will open various avenues for the citizens.

MAJOR PROJECTS UNDER THE DIGITAL INDIA INITIATIVE 1. Broadband services on the Highways 2. Mobile connectivity 3. IT Training 4. Electronics equipment 5. E-Services 6. E-Kranti 7. Public access to internet and Global information 8. MyGov.in E-Services The government of India aims to improve processes and delivery of services through e-governance with UIDAI, payment gateway, EDI and mobile platforms. School certificates, voter ID cards will be provided online. It aims for a quick access to data.

Introduction to common service center A part of National E- Governance Plan Scheme named Common Service Center Scheme is started by Government to provide G2C (Government to Citizen) and B2C (Business to Citizens) services at doorstep of citizens under Bharat Nirman. Under this Scheme, budgetary allocation of 10000 Common Service Centers in Rural Area‘s and 10000 CSC in Urban India. One of major Aim of CSC is to provide the High quality and Cost Effective e-governance Services to the citizens in various fields.

•

Common Services Centers (CSCs) are the access points for delivery of various e-services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country.

•

It is a pan-India network catering to regional, geographic, linguistic and cultural diversity of the country, thus enabling the Government‘s mandate of a socially, financially and digitally inclusive society.

92

•

CSCs offer assisted access of e-services to citizens with a focus on enhancing governance, delivering essential government and public utility services, social welfare schemes, financial services, education and skill development courses, health and agriculture services and digital literacy, apart from a host of B2C services.

•

CSCs are more than service delivery points in rural India; they are positioned as change agents, promoting rural entrepreneurship and building rural capacities and livelihoods.

Common Service Centers in Haryana are known as Atal Sewa Kendras The network of 10,998 ASK‘s across the State is providing seamless G2C and B2C services to citizens across the State of which on an average 5,500 Virtual Learning Education are actively transacting on Digital Sewa portal. Out of 6,203 Gram Panchayats in the State, 5,934Panchayats. In Haryana, CSCs are the front end delivery points for Government to Citizen (G2C), Business to Citizen (B2C) and social sector services to citizens in rural areas. CSCs are delivering a number of services like Banking, Insurance, Pension, Pradhan Mantri Digital Shaksharta Abhiyan, Health services such as telemedicine, Jan Aushadhi, other G2C services like Railway Ticketing, Aadhaar services, Passport, Electricity bill payment, along with B2C services.

Services provided by Atal Sewa Kendras •

Various services are being provided to the people by Common Services Centers (CSCs) in India. The CSC is now available in various places in a District around the country.

•

The services i.e. G2C (Government to Consumer), B2C (Business to Consumer) and B2B (Business to Business) are successfully provided by Common Service Centers in India.

Government to Consumer Various Government Services like Birth/ Death Certificate, Forms Download and Submission, Property Tax and Registration, Bus Pass, Railway Ticket, Passport , Licenses, Permit , Subsidies etc. are provided by CSC centers at one place for convenience of citizens. Detail of services provided by centers •

Insurance Services

•

Passport

•

Premium Collection Services of LIC, SBI, ICICI Prudential, AVIVA DHFL and Other Insurance Companies 93

•

E-Nagrik & E- District Services {Birth/ Death Certificate etc.}

•

Pension Services

•

NIOS Registration

•

Apollo Telemedicine

•

NIELIT Services

•

Aadhar Printing and Enrollment

•

PAN Card

•

Electoral Services

•

E-Courts and Results Services

•

State Electricity and Water Bill Collection Services

•

IHHL Project of MoUD (Swachh Bharat)

•

Digitize India

•

CyberGram

•

Services of Department of Post & Aadhar Printing and Enrollment

•

PAN Card

•

Electoral Services

•

E-Courts and Results Services

Business to consumer •

Online Cricket Course

•

IRCTC, Air and Bus Ticket Services

•

Mobile and DTH Recharge

•

English Speaking Course

•

E- Commerce Sales (Book, Electronics, Households Items etc.)

•

Agriculture Services 94

•

CSC Bazaar

•

E Learning

Business to Business •

Market Research

Educational Services •

Adult Literacy- Adult Literacy is ability to use a language from reading, writing, speaking and listening. This service is offered through TARA Akshar.

•

IGNOU Services- Examination Form, Results declaration, Students Admission or Offering courses from IGNOU etc. services being provided by CSC.

PRESENT STUDY It keeping in view the importance and significance of E-services, the present study has been conducted on the Atal Sewa Kendras in Ambala City, in the state of Haryana.

OBJECTIVE OF TE STUDY To assess the satisfaction of the citizens with the services provided by these Atal Sewa Kendras.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Ambala City has 11 kendras spread over whole of the city. These kendras are ward based as the city has been divided into 11 wards for the providing the local services.

SAMPLE OF THE STUDY 4 Atal Sewa Kendras have been selected from the city on randomized sample selecting wards 2, 4, 7 and 10.

CITIZEN’S SATISFACTIONS WITH THE WORKING AND BEHAVIOUR OF THE EMPLOYEES OF ATAL SEWA KENDRAS IN AMBALA CITY S.NO

STATEMENTS

AGREE

UNDECIDED

DISAGREE

1

You can easily access Atala Sewa Kendras

70

0

30

( 70%)

(0%)

(30%)

95

2

3

4

You check online status of your query/services at 47

53

0

web site of Atal Sewa Kendras

(53%)

(0%)

Atal sewa kendras provides the services within 78

0

22

stipulated time as per provisions of citizen charter (78%)

(0%)

(22%)

You are aware that you can lodge a complaint in 80

20

0

case your service is not provided with in (80%)

( 20%)

(0%)

You are satisfied with the sitting arrangement 62

0

38

provided at Atal Sewa Kendras

(0%)

(38%)

You are satisfied with the washroom facilities 26

0

74

provided at Atal Sewa Kendras

(26%)

(0%)

(74%)

You sought help of an agent to get the services.

0

6

94

(0%)

(6%)

(94%)

Atal Sewa Kendras have done away with the long 74

0

26

queues and long waiting period to avail a service. ( 74%)

(0%)

(26%)

Atal Sewa Kendras have facilitated efficiency in 77

10

13

the delivery of services

(10%)

(13%)

You think behavior of dealing employee is 77

0

23

courteous.

(0%)

(23%)

(47%)

stipulated time 5

6

7

8

9

10

(62%)

(77%)

(77%)

DATA ANALYSIS •

An overall analysis of the responses highlighted that majority of respondents (70.0%) could easily access Atal Sewa Kendra and some noticeable percent of respondents (30.0%) could not access easily.

•

An overall analysis of the responses indicated that highly noticeable proportion of respondents (47%) checked the status online whereas majority of respondents (53.0%) undecided about the status of their query/service online.

•

An overall analysis of the responses projected that majority of respondents (78.0%) agreed with the view point that Atal Sewa Kendra provided the services within stipulated time as per citizen charter. However, some proportion of respondents (22.0%) denied that the services were not provided within stipulated time.

96

•

An overall analysis of the responses projected that majority of respondents (80.0%) asserted that a service seeker could lodge a complaint in case the service was not provided within stipulated time. However, some inconsequential proportion of respondents (20.0%) remained undecided. None of the respondents disagreed with the view point.

•

An overall analysis of the responses indicated that majority of respondents (62.0%) were satisfied with the sitting arrangement provided at Atal Sewa Kendra. However, some consequential proportion of respondents (38.0%) were not satisfied with the sitting arrangements.

•

An overall analysis of the responses indicated that majority of the respondents (74.0%) were not satisfied with the washroom facility provided at Atal Sewa Kendra. However, some respondents (26.0%) were satisfied with the washroom facility provided . None of the respondents remained undecided.

•

An overall analysis of the responses indicated that majority of respondents (94.0%) disagreed hence did not sought help from any agent to get the service. Interestingly, none of the respondents agreed with the statement. However, negligible proportion of respondents (6.0%) remained undecided on the issue.

•

An overall analysis of the responses projected that majority of respondents (74.0%) asserted that Atal Sewa Kendra has done away with the long ques and long waiting period to avail a service. However, some proportion of respondents (26.0%) disagreed indicating that still seekers had to wait and the ques were long.

•

An overall analysis of the responses indicated that majority of respondents (77.0%) responded favorably to the statement, (10.0%) of respondents were undecided and (13.0%) of respondents disagreed with the statement.

•

An overall analysis of the responses projected that majority of respondents (77.0%) stated that behavior of dealing employee was courteous. However, insignificant proportion of respondents (23.0%) stated otherwise that behavior was not good. No undecided response was registered

Findings of the study •

Majority of respondents could easily access Atal Sewa Kendras.

•

Majority of respondents checked online status of your queries at website of Atal Sewa Kendras.

97

•

Majority of respondents opined that Atal Sewa Kendras provided them the services within stipulated time as per the provisions of citizen charter.

•

Majority of respondents were aware regarding the provision of lodging complaint in case their service was not delivered within stipulated time.

•

Majority of respondents was satisfied with sitting arrangement provided at Atal Sewa Kendras.

•

Majority of respondents was not satisfied with the washroom facility at atal sewa kendras.

•

Majority of respondents was not helped by any agent to get the service at atal sewa kendras

•

Majority of respondents stated that setting up of atal sewa kendras did reduce the long ques and long waiting periods.

•

Majority of respondents confirmed that kendra had facilitated efficiency in the delivery of services.

•

Majority of respondents stated that behavior of dealing employee was good.

Suggestions •

Location should be well known, easy to find, arrow marks and boards providing directions.

•

Services available should be displayed prominently at conspicuous places.

•

Grievance Redressal mechanism

•

Domain of the service center should be broad end.

•

Proper financial recourses must be provided for the smooth and gainful running of the kendra.

•

Infrastructure should be up gradated from time to time . To keep it up to date.

•

separate Queue should be provided for senior citizens and it should be mentioned on the counter

References: 1. Annual administrative report, Department of information technology, Government of Punjab 2008-2009,p.4,http.//.punjab.gov.in.[Accessed on November 5, 2012].

2. Suwidha.nic.in/html/about suwidha.htm [last accessed on March 15, 2015].

3. Good

e-governance

practices

followed

for-

department

of

….

Darpg.nic.in/darpgwebsite_cms/document/file/proj023.pdf[last accessed on June 15, 2015].

98

4. Ishwarjit kaur and sharanpreet kaur,: e-governance plans in Punjab: an emerging application of it‖, Gian Jyoti e-jounal,6(3), july-sept 2016,13th national conference on ― management, information technology and engineering‖ (GJ-natconMITE 2016) Saturday,23rd july,2016 at GJIMT, sector-54, mohali-160055,Punjab.

5. Jyoti arora, role of e-governance initiatives in the state of Punjab,Administrative reforms: milestones and challenges, regal publications,New delhi,pp228-237.

6. Jyoti arora,‖administration of e-governance in Punjab: a case study of suwidha centers in Nawanshahr district‖ mphil dessertation, submitted to department of public administration, panjab university, Chandigarh, 2011.

7. Sushil kumar single and himanshu aggarwal,impact and scope of e-governance initiatives in state bank of Punjab (India), international journal of computer applications,44(14),April 2012,pp.5-9.

8. D.N Gupta, op.cit.pp.1-307.

9. Rajinder kumar, national e-governance plan: vision, challenges and the way forward,yojna September 2012,pp.52-55.

10. Vivek Gupta and k Prashanth, E-governance concepts and cases, the ICFAI university press, 2004, p.164.

99

ETHNOMUSICOLOGICAL STUDY OF CASTE IN POPULAR PUNJABI SONGS Mr.Vinod Kumar Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology Panjab University, Chandigarh Ms. Paramjeet Kaur Research Scholar, Department of Sociology Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Introduction: Dalits19 in India has been exploited and deprived of economic, social and political growth from ages by the upper caste. They have been discriminated on the basis of their occupation as in Indian Caste system people are hierarchically categorized on the basis of their occupations such as pure and impure.

They are treated worse than animals because of the nature of their occupation. Punjabi pop songs have also acted as a medium in this phenomenon. The frequent usage of the term 'Jat' may cause other caste groups feel as left out. But now Several Dalit youth have come forward for asserting their rights and breaking the shackles of inequality and exploitive Brahmanical caste structures. In the last few years schedule caste people in Punjab are not only trying to bring change in their social and economic condition but their cultural situation also. The desire to bring cultural change made them to build their own pop culture eulogizing their caste identities and spreading B.R. Ambedkar‘s message of equality and dignity. Dalits‘ awakening has influenced Punjabi music also.

In the present study ethnomusicology approach has been used to study the Dalit assertion through popular Punjabi music. The word ethnomusicology was first used in 1950 by Jaap Kunst in his work ‗Musicologia‘20. He combined two branches of social sciences ethnology and musicology. ―Ethnology is the comparative study of human linguistic and cultural diversity of the particular group of people.‖ Thus, ethnomusicology means to study musical diversification of particular group through a comparative approach. It was earlier called comparative musicology. The word ethnomusicology is made up of three Greek words; ethnos (those people who commonly shared same language, beliefs, ideas and culture), mousike(music) and logos ( the study of). It means the study of music of those peple who commonoly shared the same language, beliefs, ideas and culture (Rice, 2014). As 19The ‗Dalit‘ is a broad term which is used for the members of lower castes of India. It integrates the scheduled castes, the scheduled tribes and the backward castes but in this discourse it is only confined to schedule castes.

20 Musicologica: A Study of the Nature of Ethnomusicology, Its Problems, Methods, and Representative Personalities (Amsterdam, 1950; 2nd ed., expanded, retitled Ethnomusicology, 1955; 3rd ed. 1959)

100

ethnomusicology indicated that to study one's culture you have to study their music. A communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beliefs and culture are portrayed through its songs. So it would be appropriate to use this approach to study how Dalits' social, economic and political exploitation made them to sing Dalit songs. The Dalit music producers use music to assert value, resistance and empowerment in society. Using cultural products such as music the oppressed class tries to bring change in their identity (C.Sherinian, 2015).

Casteism in Punjab: Sikhism was based on the principle of equality and all the Sikh Gurus disregarded the hierarchy of the caste system. Even it is endorsed in Guru Granth Sahib "Maanas Ki Jaat Sabhe Eke Pehchanbo" which means recognize all of the mankind as a single caste of humanity. In fact, the foundation of Khalsa panth21 was laid on the principle of equality. Being a Sikh majority state Punjab is considered an exceptional state in terms of the practice of untouchability and Brahminical caste hierarchy. However, in practice, caste discrimination against the lower castes has not been completely eliminated among the Sikhs. This has been true particularly among the Sikhs belonging to the higher caste especially the landowning dominant castes. The lower castes attracted by the Sikhismâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s basic principles of egalitarianism and non-hierarchy and moved from Hinduism to Sikhism but over the centuries found that there was a vast gap between its textual claims and daily practices (Singh S. K., 2017). Jat Sikhs enjoy the monopoly of being on the top most of the caste hierarchy whereas Dalits are the lowest in the caste hierarchy. The Dalits in Punjab face the same humiliation faced by Dalits in another state. The vast majority of Dalits are still deprived, exploited and expose to atrocities at the hands of so-called upper caste people. They do not have the fair share in the power structure.

According to the census of India 2011, Punjab has a highest Dalit population in India which is 31.9 percent including both Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.22Almost one-third of Punjab's population consists of Dalits. It is the highest percentage for any of India's other states. Doaba region has the highest Dalit population in Punjab. Punjab state has 39 communities belonging to scheduled castes.23 A large proportion of them belongs to two castes, usually known as Chamars24 and Chuhras.

The Chamar (tanners) and Chuhra (sweeper) community together make up for around three-fourth of the entire Dalit population of the Punjab state (Jodhka, 2002).Chuhars (includes Mazhabis and Balmikis) are the low caste whose traditional occupation is sweeping. They convert to Sikhism and also

21In formation of Khalsa Panth or Sikh society Guru Gobind Singh selected Panj Piaras (five Beloved) from five different castes including schedule castes. Guru Gobind Singh initiated Panj Piaras and later initiated himself by them.

22http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census, retrieved on 27 September 2017 23The number of schedule caste communities is based on the list of schedule caste in Punjab given by the Punjab state The Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development & Finance Corporation.

24Chamar is an umbrella caste category for an untouchable or Dalit caste in Punjab that constitutes Ad- dharmis, Ramdasia and Ravidasias under this. Chamars' traditional occupation was tanning. They worked with dead animals and their skin to produce leather products. They were called Chamar because there occupation was associated with chamara (leather).

101

referred as Mazhabi Sikh. They are the Sikh counterparts of the Balmikis25 (Kaur, 1986; Jodhka, 2000).

Ramdasias are the followers of Sikh Guru (saint) Ramdas. Who left their leather crafting business and became julhas (weavers) (Rose, 1997). Ravidassias are the followers of the teachings of Guru Ravidass. Guru Ravidas was a poet, saint and social reformer who was born in an untouchable Chamar caste. Ravidassias considered present saints of Ravidass Deras as their guru.

Ravidass community is founded out of Sikhism Jat Sikhs are the agrarian class who constitute the majority of the population in Punjab. Jats are mainly agriculturalist and landowners as they own more than 80 percent of the Punjab's agricultural land (Taylor, Singh, & Booth, 2007). Jats are the most dominant group in Punjab and constitutes 2/3 population of Punjab. According to Paramjit S. Judge (2002) Jats were converted from Hinduism to Sikhism. In the Hindu fold, they were given the low caste status because their occupation involved manual labour. They were traditionally land cultivators. But due to their hardworking nature Jat became landowners. The difference between their economic status and social status forced them to enter into the fold of Sikhism. The conversion of Jats to Sikhism provides them a basis to raise their status. In the Sikh fold, they claimed upper-caste status. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was also responsible for creating powerful Jat aristocracy. Due to martial nature of the Jats, he recruited mostly Sikh Jats in his army and they were the major recipients of jagirs26 (Puri, 2003). Further the Punjab Land Alienation Act 1901 advantaged the position of the Jats, by denying access to landholdings to non-agricultural castes such as the scheduled castes. It is because of their hold over landownership places them at the highest position. Thus, they became dominant because of their control over the land, numerical predominance in the Sikh religion, and their position in the power structures in the state (Judge, 2002).

They are culturally, socially, economically and politically dominant in Punjab. And naturally, they feel honored in their privileged position. The Sikh religion discarded the caste system but this has not been true in case of Punjabi songs. However a few years ago, some Dalit singers started the contrary trend.

Reasons for Dalitsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sufferings in context with land: According to Ronki Ram (2009), Dalits have been the victims of social exclusion, oppression and economic deprivation for many years. In Punjab, the land that a person owns determines his economic and social status. From the Marxian perspective, in all societies the forces of production are owned and controlled by the ruling class which provides the basis for its dominance. In Punjab, most of the agricultural land is owned by the Jat Sikhs and their control over the land claim them to be the highest status in the caste hierarchy. In Punjab, Dalits have the largest proportion in the population of India but still, they have the 25 Balmikis are called low caste chuhras in Punjab who follow Hinduism. Their traditional occupation was scavenging.

They claimed themselves to be the descents of saint Balmiki.

26Jagir was the old feudal system of granting land in the medieval period.

102

lowest share in the ownership of land. Their share of ownership of land is 2.34 percent, lower than any other Indian state. On the other hand, Jat caste enjoys the control on the agricultural land in the state.

The low share of land is the major cause of the social exclusion and sufferings of Dalits in Punjab (Judge, 2002; Jodhka, 2002). ―Dalits‘ relationship with the Jats, thus, is that of landless agricultural workers versus landlords, which in turn led to contradictions between them. The two communities are engaged in a power struggle. Which means ‗Jat Sikhs and Dalits live in extreme contrast of affluence and deprivation (Ram, 2007, pp. 4067-4068).‖ This economic deprivations leads to caste based coercion and atrocities on Dalits and Backward Castes which further creates situation of social conflict and disruption (Bhambhri, 2018).

Not in everyday practice but in popular Punjabi songs also the power struggle through the land is reflected. As majority of the songs portray Jats economically powerful who owned the most of the land in Punjab and live an affluent life. For instance in song Chkavi Mandeer singer Jass Bajwa (2014) sings- Khuliya Jameena mahnge Shonk jatta de, 40 Kilya da pindaa unda takk ni… (Jats have big land holding and have a luxurious lifestyle, have 40 acres of land. Similarly in another song Jugaadi Jatt by Mankirt Aulakh (2015) he sings- Mehngiya zamina kadd 6-6 futt ni, Chandigarh parde jattan de putt ni (Jats have big land holdings and are handsome, they study in Chandigarh). These songs portray only Jats are the big landowners in Punjab and they belong to rich families. There are many other popular Punjabi songs which eulogize the economic dominance of Jats through their control over land.

The introduction of the green revolution in Punjab transformed agrarian economic and social structure.

Green revolution brought economic prosperity to Jat class but it further widened the social inequalities (Puri, 2003). Earlier Jats were dependent on Dalits for their farm labour and Dalits were dependent on Jats as working in the farms of Jats provides them economic resources. The need of agriculture has changed from subsistence to commercialization. Now they have more formal relations rather than old structures of patronage. It leads to ending of old structures of patronage and loyalty. A majority of Dalit people work as agricultural labourers and they demand higher wages. The migrant labour from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh provided cheaper labour to landowners. It has further aroused the conflict between the dominant peasant castes and the landless Dalits (Ram, 2007; Jodhka, 2002). It distorted the old structures and relations between the landowners and the landless. The Dalit population now also consists of the migrant laborers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar etc. who started coming to Punjab as the consequences of the green revolution and have now mostly settled down here (Sharma N. ).

103

Jat domination in Popular Punjabi Songs: Jats are considered socially, politically and economically powerful in Punjab. In India Pride in having particular caste status is common. Caste as a pride is visible in popular Punjabi songs too. Casteism which should have been eliminated from the society has taken its roots deeper. Even the popular Punjabi songs have also not exempted from it. The use of term Jat frequently in popular Punjabi songs shows that they try to prove their dominance and power over other castes in Punjab. Jats being the rich and landowning caste in Punjab, many of them can pay for the cost of producing a song with video, frequently eulogizing Jat superiority. Several Punjabi singers have been singing songs to establish the superiority of the Jat clan through music. Every second song we hear in Punjabi extolling "Jat" and his superiority.

Popular Punjabi songs portray Jat as most powerful and superior caste in Punjab. The Sikh Jats are predominantly agricultural class and landowners. They own most of the available agricultural land in Punjab and are considered economically influential in the state. Even in Punjabi songs, they have a dominating role. This kind of songs creates a distress among other the members of scheduled caste community who come up with their own Chamar pop songs to assert the domination of Punjabi.

Dalit Assertion through 'Chamar Pop' Songs: From the decades Dalit are kept deprived of social, political and economic power. However, from the last few years, Dalits in Punjab has strengthened their economic conditions by moving from their traditional occupations, reservations, social welfare schemes and emigrant abroad. The emigration of Dalits to foreign countries has gained financial prosperity. They have not only improved their economic status but have also released themselves from the oppression of the Jat landowners. They do not prefer to work as agricultural labour under dominant landowning caste. In fact, in some places, Dalits have built separate worship places for themselves to assert their autonomy. Though there are no restrictions on Dalits in visiting to gurudwaras build by upper caste people. However, Dalits feel prejudice against them by those who manage gurudwaras. So in order to avoid humiliation by upper caste, they build their own gurudwaras (Jodhka, 2002; Ram, 2007). In fact on 17 January 2018, a Dalit family in village Maanwala under Dhuri Tehsil of Sangrur was denied permission to hold 'Antim Ardaas Bhog' (the last rituals) in the village gurudwara. Kaka Singh and his family of Maanwala village accused village gurdwara committee of denying them to perform the last rites of their mother in the gurdwara because of them being Dalits (Sharma P. , 2018). There are several instances in which Dalits were subject to inhuman treatment. Dalit Sikhs face discrimination. There crematorium, Gurudwara is separate from that of the upper caste Sikh families.

They are now conscious of their political rights. In fact Kanshi Ram an Indian politician and founder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) the India's only major Dalit political party also came from Punjab.

However, their improved economic condition and consciousness of their rights do not bring them the 104

desired equality and power in the state. So their desire for social liberation and empowerment may have given rise to ‗Chamar pop‘ songs to forge a separate Dalit identity in the state. Chamar pop songs are symbolic to awakening among the Dalits and assertion by lower castes through Punjabi music. As Chamar pop songs are not the part of mainstream popular Punjabi songs. But these songs are popular among its target population which is the Chamar community. In fact, there is a surge in Dalit music from the last few years. Dalit singers who produce songs endorsing their history and heroes come out as powerful expressions of revolt against deep-rooted caste hierarchies. The popularity of Chamar songs in recent times is in reply and reprisal to Jat pop music, poses greater caste challenge in Punjab (Singh S. K., 2017).

Jat Pop songs versus Chamar Pop Songs: Affiliation to the caste is displayed as a matter of pride in Punjabi songs. Feeling proud in caste is common among Jats but people from other caste groups such as Chamars, Mazhabis and Balmikis also sing on the same lines (Judge, 2013). Jats are the landowning and dominant peasant caste in Punjab which is also reflected in Punjabi songs. Thus they have economic resources to launch a song extolling Jat superiority. The way to praise one's caste through Punjabi songs gives rise to songs such as ‗Putt Chamaran De‘. The songs based on Jat caste caused a reaction among Dalits as from the last few years several songs coming out revolving around a lower caste and opposing assertion of upper caste (Singh, 2013).

The Jat Sikhs of Punjab are primarily an agricultural community, the dominant caste in the state. Jat being the dominating caste in Punjab considers Punjabi music and Sikh values as belonged to primarily Jats (Sadangi, 2008; Lum, 2014). There are numerous songs in Punjabi mentioning Jat and this has been happening for many years. They use 'Jat' in every second song as if no one else lives in Punjab besides Jats. In this regard title range from Putt Jattan de, Jatt Da Blood, Pinda Wale Jatt, Jugadi Jatt, Gal Jattan Wali, Jatt Fire Karda etc. Singers with Jat surnames are most popular among Jats. However non- Jat singers who have skill and talent also recognized. Punjabi songs have catered to the Jat sentiments. The reason may be because the Jat market is large and affluent or maybe most of these songs are written or performed by Jats. Songs inducing Jat in their title are quite popular with Jats even when they portray negatively and reinforcing masculine stereotypes. Consequently, they promote Jat centric caste hierarchy, ethnicity and hegemonic Punjabi masculinity (Mooney, 2013; Roy, 2016). The extent of this is visible not just from the popular Punjabi songs but also from the Punjabi film that feature caste labels in the titles such as ―Putt Jattan de,‖ ―Jatt and Juliet‖, ―Carry on Jatta‖ etc. The heroes of Punjabi films often belong to the landowning ‗Jat‘ caste. This clearly venerates castecentered identities.

105

Following the rise in songs that extol Jat superiority, there are songs on Chamars too. Chamar pop is a musical genre that has been inspiring the ‗Chamar‘ community in Punjab to assert and take pride in their caste identity. According to Kathryn Lum (2014), the first such song ―Putt Chamara De” (Sons of Chamars) came in 1998. But after the 2009 Vienna attack27 on spiritual leader of Ravidassia community, there was an explosion in Chamar pop songs. Chamar pop, Ambedkar’s28 and Guru Ravidas's devotional songs are popular music sub-genres among the Dalits in Punjab. Guru Ravidass was a saint, poet and social reformer. He acts as a catalyst in the formation of Dalit consciousness in North India, especially in Punjab. He belonged to the lowest caste (Chamars). His fellow caste members considered him their guru. Ravidass strike on the practice of caste-based social exclusion and untouchability in India through his poetry. He has played a historic role in the mobilization the Dalits, especially Chamars (Ram, 2008). Here are some examples of Chamar pop song –Gabru putt Chamara de, putt chamran da Charche Chamara De, Bullet Di Number plate Te Utee Likhyea Chamar, Ankhi Chamar, Danger Chamar, Fighter Chamar etc. These songs accompanied by videos are hugely popular among Ravidassia community and also sung during the religious ceremonies of Ravidassia community. The lyrics of Chamar pop songs talk about the caste consciousness, assertion of their rights, economic mobilization of schedule caste through emigration to abroad, take pride in belonging to Chamar caste, show there affluence by showing cars and jeeps, even shown with guns or swords giving the message to upper caste men that now they will no longer be harassed by them and are not less than any upper caste etc. for example in the song the Fighter Chamar the singer Pamma Sunarh sings- hatth le ke hatiayar jado nike chamar, fer vekho patakae kive payo mitraon, ajj vekhde panga keda layo mitraon… (When Chamar will come out with weapon in his hand then nobody can mess with him). In these songs they also try to assert the economic dominance especially through foreign immigration. For instance the song -Hummer gaddi vich aunda ni Putt Chamran da… (Son of Chamar comes in Hummer car) by Roop Lal Dhir & Sudesh Kumari and another song by Roop lal Dhir which mentions that- Ja ke vich pardesan kari tarki jande aa, Guru Ravidass di kirpa malak kotiyan caran de, aive taa ni charche hunde ajj chamran de. (Chamars are gainng success after immigrating to abroad, with the grace of Saint Ravidass has attained bungalows and cars, that‘s why people call us Chamar).

The videos of the songs are replete with the iconography of Guru Ravidaas and Ambedkar. In songs, this Dalits demand their share in the socio-political structure of the state which has been subjugated by the Jats. The Ambedkarite and Ravidassia songs are mostly based on poetry, teachings, and about the life of Guru Ravidass and the preaching of Bhimrao Ambedkar. Roop Lal Dhir, S.S. Azad, Gurlej

27 In 2009, Ravidassia sect leader of the Dera SachKhand Ballan, Guru Ramanand Dass was killed in an attack at Vienna, Austria. Dera SachKhand Ballan is a leading religious centre of the Ravidass community in village Ballan of Jalandhar district Punjab. His death led to the immediate riots in Punjab by Dalit community.

28Bhimrao Ambedkar was independent India's first law minister and prominent advocate for Dalit rights.

106

Akhtar, Ginni Mahi and Hans Raj Hans are the Dalit artists who invoke caste pride with their songs.

Roop Lal Dhir is considered as the pioneer of Chamar pop songs.

The scheduled castes remain in a subordinated position to the Jats. In India, a moustache is a symbol of upper caste masculinity. Punjabi songs are representing hegemonic masculinity in terms of caste identity which means superiority not only over women but on men of other caste groups. Several incidences in India are reported where lower caste men were beaten by upper caste men for supporting moustaches. Recently on 25 September 2017, a lower caste man was thrashed by a group of dominantcaste men for sporting a moustache in their village of Limbodara, around 30 kilometers from the state capital of Gandhinagar (the news is based on various media reports). In Punjabi songs also Moustaches are considered as proud or symbol of man‘s masculinity. For example in song Bullet vs Chamak Challo

by Ammy Virk (2014) - he sings that …oh jatt khaada, Jinne mush wadti… (The person who cut his moustaches is not a Jat). This song not only conveys that moustaches symbolize masculinity but the lyrics also try to show that Jat dominance over other castes and shows that only Jat is the real men. A person who doesn't have a moustache is not considered the man. It shows masculine qualities are associated with certain high caste groups and not with others.

Dalit Music and Women: However, these songs reinforcing Chamar masculinity by promoting songs of male Chamar pride.

There were no songs on Chamaris (Female Chamar) or Tee Chamara de‖ (daughters of Chamar) such as that of ―Putt Chamaran De‖. It may also be due to the patriarchal gender norms that govern Punjabi culture or maybe women are still stigmatized with their caste name (Lum, 2014).However, in Jat songs, women are given some representation as Jatti (female Jat) for example songs like Ghaint Jattian,Desi Jatti, End Jatti, Zimindar Jattiyan, Swag Jatti Da etc. However, there are few Dalit women singers but they also evoke the male pride. Ginni Mahi or Gurkanwal Bharti a teenage girl from Punjab has emerged as a new voice to manifest Dalit assertion in Punjab. Who is using Dalit music as a medium to address social ills against caste through her songs like ―Danger Chamar‖ and ―Fan baba sahib ki‖. Her songs are about Bhimrao Ambedkar, Sant Ravidass and Chamar community to which she belongs.

Belonging to the Chamar caste she speaks for Dalit castes through her songs and has become the most assertive voice of Dalit pop. She promotes the rights of the lower Chamar caste. In her song Mein fan Baba Sahib di she talks about the struggles of Bhimrao Ambedkar. Ginni Mahi's popularity through her songs has grown in the Dalit community of Punjab.

Music as away to formulate caste identity: The Dalits in Punjab have become more assertive about their social and political rights. Some Dalit Singers started coming up with songs having key term ‗Chamar‘. Songs evoking a lower caste became 107

a rage among socially and politically-awaken Dalits (Singh, 2013).In Punjab, Chamar pop songs played a significant role in the formation of a separate Dalit identity. They are raising their voice against social inequity and asserting their identity through songs. Chamar pop songs can be viewed as an assertion by ‗lower‘ castes through Punjabi music. The rise in Dalit music leads to community self-empowerment.

Under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 it is a legal offense to call or abuse someone by his/ her caste name. Chamar is an offensive term in Punjab if it is used by other caste people in a derogatory way to refer to person from scheduled caste community but they take pride in calling themselves Chamar. They don‘t feel bad being called a 'Chamar'. They have accepted the Chamar tag without feeling shamed and feel proud in who they are.In fact, Paramjit Singh Kainth, the founder of Chamar Mahan Sabha gave the slogan ―Garv sekaho, hum Chamar hain‖ (say proudly we are Chamar) (Dhaliwal, 2016).The term which was earlier considered as disgrace has now become a tag of pride for Chamar community.

Conclusion: Due to modernization and technological advancement the caste system in India has got a setback but still caste based inequalities persist in the society and Popular Punjabi songs widening the gap between upper and lower castes. Every second song we hear in Punjabi constitutes Jat in it as Punjabi music and culture only belongs to them. Jat is the land owing feudal caste, which is also considered the dominating and upper caste in Punjab. Now the Chamars are challenging the domination of Jats through songs and counter assertion of caste identity. They are also producing the songs in the same manner as other Jat singers are producing. They also show guns, swords and luxurious cars in their songs. They are also projecting themselves as powerful who are not less than any other castes in Punjab. Caste consciousness and pride is expressed through assertive lyrics of Chamar pop songs and through the iconography of guru Ravidass and B R Ambedkar. In Punjab caste continues to be an important force not only in the social, economic and political life but in cultural life of people also.

Bibliography: 

Bhambhri, C. P. (2018, January 15). Dalit Assertion for social Equality. The Tribune.



C.Sherinian, Z. (2015). Activist Ethnomusicology and Marginalized Music of South Asia. In S. Pettan, & J. T. Titon, The Oxford Handbook of Applied Ethnomusicology. New York: Oxford University Press.



Dhaliwal, S. (2016, August 21). Garv Se Kaho Hum Chamar Hain. Chandigarh: The Tribune.



Dutt, N. (2016, July 09). Guns, Girls and Caste Pride: Punjabi Pop‘s Recurring Theme. Punjab: Hindustan Times (Online).

Retrieved August 23, 2016, from http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/guns-girls-and-caste-pride-punjabi-pop-s-recurringtheme/story-vnFGxoytTIiICpAalnMK9H.html 108



Indian 'Chamar pop' Singer Challenges Caste with Music. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2016, from http://www.dw.com/en/indian-chamar-pop-singer-challenges-caste-with-music/a35947703.



Jodhka, S. S. (2002). Caste and Untouchability in Rural Punjab. Economic and Political Weekly , 37 (19), 1813-1823.



Jodhka, S. S. (2000). 'Prejudice' without 'pollution'?: Schedule Caste in Contemporary Punjab.

Journal of Indian School of political Economy , 12 (3&4), 381-403.



Judge, P. S. (Ed.). (2013). Readings in Indian Sociology: Towards Sociology of Dalits (Vol. I).

New Delhi: Sage Publications.



Judge, P. S. (2002). Religion, Caste, and Communalism in Punjab. Sociological Bulletin , 51 (2), 175-194.



Kaur, R. (1986). Jat Sikhs: a Question of Identity. Contributions to Indian Sociology , 20, 221239.



Lum, K. (2014). Manufacturing Self- Respect: Stigma, Pride and Cultural Juggling among Dalit Youth in Spain. In E. Toğuşlu, J. Leman, & İ. M. Sezgin (Eds.), New Multicultural Identities in Europe: Religion and Ethnicity in Secular Societies (pp. 95-118). Belgium: Leuven University Press.



Mooney, N. (2013). Dancing in Diaspora Space: Bhangra, Caste and Gender among Jat Sikhs.

In M. Hawley (Ed.), Sikh Diaspora: Theory, Agency and Experience (pp. 279-318). The Netherlands: Koinklijke Brill NV, Leiden.



Puri, H. K. (2003, June 28). Scheduled Castes in Sikh Community: A Historical Perspective.

Economic and Political Weekly , 2693-2701.



Ram, R. (2009). Ravidass ,Dera Sachkhand Ballan and the Question of Dalit Identity in Punjab.

Journal of Punjabi Studies , 16 (1), 1-34.



Ram, R. (2008). Ravidass Deras and Social Protest: Making Sense of. The Journal of Asian Studies Dalit Consciousness in Punjab (India) , 67 (4), 1341–1364.



Ram, R. (2007, October 6). Social Exclusion, Resistance and Deras: Exploring the Myth of Casteless Sikh Society in Punjab. Economic and Political Weekly , 4066-4074.



Rice, T. (2014). Ethnomusicology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.



Rose, H. (1997). A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province (Vol. 3). New Delhi: Nirmal Publishers and Distributors.



Roy, A. G. (2016). Becoming Men in the Global Village. In K. A. Jacobsen, & K. Myrvold (Eds.), Youth Sikhs in a Global World: Negotiating Traditions, Identities and Authorities (pp.

167-187). New York: Routledge.



Sadangi, H. C. (2008). Dalit: The Downtrodden of India. New Delhi : Isha Books.

109



Saldi, R. (2009, June 6). Caste System Among Sikhs In Punjab Asian Tribune. Asian Tribune.



Sevea, I. (2014). ―Kharaak Kita Oi!‖: Masculinity, Caste, and Gender in Punjabi Films.

BioScope: Sage Publications , 5 (2), 129–140.



Sharma, N. (n.d.). Caste in Punjab: Political Marginalization and Cultural Assertion of Scheduled Castes in Punjab.

Retrieved January 27, 2018, from http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/sites/secure.lsit.ucsb.edu.gisp.d7_sp/files/sitefiles/journals/v olume19/no1/2-NeeruSharma19_1.pdf



Sharma, P. (2018, January 21). Post Bog Row, Dalit Family, Gurdwara Panel Strike Deal.

Chandigarh: The Tribune.



Singh, I. (2013, January 4). Punjabi songs deepening caste rift. Jalandhar: The Times of India.

Retrieved May 7, 2015, from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Punjabi-songsdeepening-caste-rift/articleshow/17880342.cms



Singh, S. K. (2017). The Caste Question and Songs of Protest in Punjab. Economic & Poltical Weekly , 52 (34).



Taylor, S., Singh, M., & Booth, D. (2007). Migration, development and inequality: Eastern Punjabi transnationalism. Global Networks , 7 (3), 328-347.

110

SOCIAL INCLUSION THROUGH HEALTH SUPPORT IN INDIA: A CASE STUDY OF AYUSHMAN BHARAT YOJANA IN CHANDIGARH Dr. Minakshi Rana Assistant Professor, PG Department of Sociology MCM DAV College for Women, Chandigarh

Abstract The idea of inclusion is based on the belief that all people in society are entitled to share in society‘s benefits and resources. It means that people who in the past have been placed at the margins of society i.e. people with mental health problems, those with learning disabilities, people living on low incomes and those who are homeless, for instance – should live as part of their communities, benefit from the facilities many of us take for granted and share the services (including health services) that all other people use. The welfare States try to provide various avenues to people irrespective of their social and economic status so that they can avail the resources available in the society. One of the recent initiatives of Government of India i.e. Ayushman Bharat, aims at providing health support to the people who are not able to afford medical treatment due to poverty or any other disadvantage. The present study attempted to examine the impact of the Ayushman Bharat Scheme for facilitating Social inclusion of poor with the help of interviewing people living in EWS (Economically Weaker Section) colonies in the Union territory of Chandigarh. Lack of awareness for the scheme among the underprivileged people, resistance for visiting hospital for diagnosis, difficulty in portability for patients coming from other States, digital illiteracy and less trust over private service providers among the poor people, are some of the issues that we came across during the study.

Introduction Leaving no one behind is the central aspiration that underlines the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015. To make sure that this philosophy of inclusion is realized, it is imperative to shed light on exactly who is at risk of being excluded from development. The Report on the World Social Situation 2016 (RWSS) asserts that, ―Determining who is being left behind and in what ways people are excluded are challenging endeavours,‖ Lenni Montiel, UN DESA‘s Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development said. ―The report confirms that a person‘s chances in life depend significantly on social distinctions that separate people and communities into unequal groups.‖ According to the RWSS, ethnicity, age, disability and migrant status are some of the main factors causing people to be excluded from many domains of life such as social, economic, political or spatial. They affect access to opportunities, including health and education services, jobs, income and participation in political and civic life.―What a healthy democracy requires is not simply the lessening of extreme material differences, but also the nurturing of a community in which all citizens share opportunity and dignity,‖ Ion Jinga, Permanent Representative of Romania to the UN, weighed in.

It further emphasizes the need to recognise who is being left behind and in what ways, as sharing opportunity and reducing inequalities can only be achieved with political understanding and will. The report adds a very important additional point that the worst affected are often not captured in the social data because they are not included in the household surveys. ―Changing the social, cultural and political norms and institutions that underpin or perpetuate unequal power relations, while necessary, is 111

often a long-term process, dependent on national and local circumstances,‖ Lenni Montiel concluded. ―However with political will, governments can influence and help transform them.‖ Social Inclusion The World Summit for Social Development, held in March 1995, established the concept of social integration to create an inclusive society, ―a society for all‖, as one of the key goals of social development. The Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, a key outcome of the Summit, pledged to make the eradication of poverty, full employment and social integration overriding objectives of development. Member States made pledged to promote social integration through fostering inclusive societies that are stable, safe, just and tolerant, and respect diversity, equality of opportunity and participation of all people, including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and persons.

The issue of social inclusion/exclusion is not only imperative in the attainment of one of the MDG (Millennium Development Goals) i.e. ―Eradicating extreme poverty‖, but also other Goals, such as achieving universal education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, and improving maternal health. Unless we pay closer attention to the issue of social inclusion/exclusion, some segments of the population will continue to be excluded from the progress made so far. In fact, it has now become a commonly shared view that the overall progress in achieving MDGs across regions will not be possible, if we continue to do our ―business-as-usual‖. The remaining goal of the Social Summit, ―promoting social integration‖, can play an effective role in accelerating the progress in achieving MDGs. The question now is how to make the concept of social inclusion operational, even in the face of resistance to change. Indeed, in some cases, social exclusion is wilfully pursued as it serves vested interests. The challenge for policy makers and social scientists is, therefore, to find ways to dissociate the concept of social inclusion from the utopian realm of a ―perfectly inclusive‖ world vision to redefining it as a practical tool used to promote an inspirational yet realistic set of policy measures geared towards a ―society for all.‖ This requires a paradigm shift so as to recognize the dignity, value and importance of each person, not only as an ethical norm and moral imperative, but also as a legal principle, a societal goal, and ultimately, practice. Social inclusion as an overarching goal as well as a multi-dimensional process can play a critical role in promoting sustainable human development.

The World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen 1995) defines an inclusive society as a ―society for all in which every individual, each with rights and responsibilities, has an active role to play‖. Such an inclusive society must be based on respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, cultural and religious diversity, social justice and the special needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, democratic participation and the rule of law. It is promoted by social policies that seek to reduce inequality and create flexible and tolerant societies that embrace all people. In an inclusive society, members not only have the right to education or the right to political participation but actually take part in the process, using the right to education and having a vote that actually counts in a political process. What is most significant in creating an inclusive society is the engagement of the individual in the process by which society is managed, ordered and represented.

In order to encourage all-inclusive participation, there must be universal access to public infrastructure and facilities (such as community centres, recreational facilities, public libraries, resource centres with internet facilities, well maintained public schools, clinics, water supplies and 112

sanitations). These are the basic services which will create, when partly or fully put into consequence of being unable to afford them. As long as both the advantaged and disadvantaged have equal access to or benefit from these public facilities and services, they will all feel less burdened by their differences in socio- economic status. It is important to note though, that access alone does not necessarily ensure use of public facilities, as unequal relations within communities and households may inhibit the use of facilities by vulnerable groups. Addressing the unequal power relations is therefore a necessary step to increase participation.

Lombe notes that: ―Inclusion is the realization that everyone has essential dignity and everyone has something to contribute.‖ (Lombe, 2007) Social inclusion can be described as a ―multi-dimensional process aimed at lowering economic, social and cultural boundaries between those who are included and excluded, and making these boundaries more permeable‖ (Therborn, 2007).

Emerging Mechanism for Inclusion Worldwide Social inclusion and inclusive economic development initiatives were among the efforts advanced at the World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit 2018 in New York. Each initiative aims to make a critical intervention to place human progress at the heart of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With 42% of core skills is expected to change by 2022 across all industries, and sizeable skills gaps already emerging across regions, national public-private collaborations for rapid deployment of reskilling and upskilling across current workforces have been developed under the Closing the Skills Gap Project.

The Closing the Gender Gap Project fosters gender-inclusive economies by creating national-level, public-private collaboration for promoting gender equality in the workforce, particularly in preparing for the future of jobs. The workplace gender gap is already widening, with women under-represented in the areas of the labour market expected to grow most in the coming years. Studies from the World Economic Forum finds that with adequate reskilling and job transition opportunities, 95% of the most immediately at-risk workers could find good-quality, higher-wage work in growing job families and the wage gap could close by 30% through such redeployment. These efforts could have particularly salient implications for hard-wiring gender parity in the future of work. Initial Country pilots have been set up, serving as platforms of learning and contributing to the global body of knowledge on accelerating the closure of gender gaps. It advances Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on gender equality (achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls).

The Building an Effective Ecosystem is a coalition of leading companies, investors and regulatory bodies. It aims to facilitate the increased coherence of initiatives within the environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting ecosystem, identifying similarities and differences, and opportunities for harmonization that support the adoption of clear and consistent non-financial reporting standards by companies – ultimately boosting transparency, corporate performance and supporting usage of such metrics in the investment process. A recent study shows that a large majority of customers are willing to pay a premium for products and services offered by sustainable businesses, pointing to the potential market opportunities created by inclusive business practices facilitated by such a coalition.

The Grow Inclusive platform provides comparable data and actionable solutions to make business practices more transparent, inclusive and sustainable. As an evolving source of evidence and insight, it offers users a more structured pathway towards measuring and scaling their impact and tracking their contribution towards the SDGs. The platform will serve as a marketplace for impact-oriented 113

partnerships, case studies and resources. Together with the Inclusive Development Index, it aims to reduce inequalities (within and among countries).

In an effort to promote inclusive and equitable economic growth, the Accelerating LGBTI Inclusion Initiative held a key steering committee meeting to agree on next steps to enable and support companies to respect and protect human rights through fostering workplace inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex people. A 2017 UNAIDS study estimated the global cost of LGBTI discrimination at $100 billion per year. The project is among several that aim to promote peace, justice and strong institutions (promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels).

These initiatives form part of the World Economic Forum‘s Centre for the New Economy and Society.

The centre aims to build dynamic and inclusive economies and systems in an era of accelerated technological and political change, providing leaders with a platform to understand and anticipate emerging economic and social trends and to adapt policies and practices to our rapidly evolving context. It integrates the System Initiative on the Future of Economic Progress and the System Initiative on the Future of Education, Gender and Work, and serves as a hub for the most relevant insights and pioneering actions in these domains.

Inclusion Initiatives in India Social Justice remains a vital cornerstone of our constitution. Within the dichotomy of development and justice, one should not ignore the core responsibilities of the state. As far as development is solely concerned, non-state actors are sufficiently equipped with the resources and wherewithal to carry out developmental activities, however more sustainable inclusion can only be realized with the intervention of the state. Here it becomes imperative to revisit the role of the state as an active enabler. It is therefore opined that the State‘s role is critical to achieve welfare of all.

Provision of Compulsory Quality Education for all under the Right to Education Act 2009 is certainly a key step towards providing an opportunity to the poor and marginalized people to get their children educated. With the help education, the underprivileged would be able to weave the dreams of enlightened life.

Another idea of ‗Subaltern Entrepreneurship‘ which aims to equip the subaltern skill base with the requisite support system comprising of financial and regulatory facilities is crucial for achieving inclusion of the downtrodden.. Nowadays the government jobs are shrinking and in any case, too much reliance on the government jobs might not be a desirable proposition. India has been traditional preservers of various skills and crafts such as shoe making, embroidery, polishing, handlooms etc. It is in the area of Skill Development that one must evolve ways to match the existing skills sets amongst citizens with the ever increasing demands of the globalized world. Policies facilitated by actions must ensure adequate representation of the weaker sections in co-operatives, corporates and civil societies through well-organized interfaces as well as through engagements at both institutional as well as at individual levels.

Financial inclusion is the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to the economically weaker and the lower-income segments of society. True to this, Government of India has taken several initiatives on the social sector front as well, all of which are potentially game-changers in the realm of 114

social sector policy canvas. An actionable policy armed with inclusive growth is the need of the hour and the present government is successfully executing several schemes and programmes on this premise.

The key initiatives undertaken by the Union Government of India recently for social and economic inclusion can be enumerated as following:  Financial Inclusion of the Poor: Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana. This is a very significant scheme that strives to end Financial Untouchability by ensuring that the economically weaker sections have access to bank accounts.  Expansion of Social Security Net: This has been achieved through Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (Accident Insurance), Atal Pension Yojana (Unorganized Sector) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (Life Insurance), which provide social and economic security to the marginalized sections of the society.  Institutional Support for Subaltern Entrepreneurship. This has been achieved through MUDRA Bank, to provide microfinance to entrepreneurs in rural hinterland of India. National Hub for SC/ST entrepreneurs has been created to support the entrepreneurs coming from the marginalized communities.  Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Caste Entrepreneurs: The objective of this Scheme is to promote entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes and to provide concessional finance to them. The scheme would be implemented by the Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) Limited for which Rs. 200 cores has been allotted.  Swachhta Udyami Yojana: As an integral part of 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' launched by the Prime Minister on 2nd October, 2014, the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation(NSFDC) has launched a new Scheme 'Swachhta Udyami Yojana' for financing viable community toilet projects and sanitation related vehicles to collect garbage.  Stand up India: This scheme is recently launched to boost the spirit of entrepreneurship among the most vulnerable groups of the society. The specific groups are Scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and women. Under the umbrella of this scheme every single branch of a public sector bank is asked to support one entrepreneur each from women and SC/ST category. · The above mentioned schemes clearly highlight that the commitment to the cause of upliftment of marginalized and other disadvantaged sections of the population. As outlined, various landmark initiatives have been initiated under the present regime to eliminate poverty and empower the weaker sections of the society.

In the present study, it is tried to study the Social inclusion of the underprivileged with the help of health support under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme by taking the case of Chandigarh.

Ayushman Bharat Yojana Ayushman Bharat Yojna is a national health protection scheme, announced by the government 23 September, 2018. This ambitious healthcare programme promises to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families and around 50 Crore individuals, based on the database of Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC). Under this programme, underprivileged families will get up to Rs. 5 lakh every year per family for hospitalisation and undergoing various medical treatments. The scheme aims to create a network of health and wellness infrastructure across the nation to deliver comprehensive primary 115

healthcare services. Further, it provides insurance coverage to at least 40 percent of India's population which is majorly deprived of secondary and tertiary care services.

The salient features this newly implemented health insurance scheme are:  This programme provides a defined benefit cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year.  The beneficiaries will be allowed to take cashless medical facilities from any empanelled public or private hospitals across the Country. States would need to set up a State Health Agency (SHA) to implement the Idea.  Under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, all kinds of diseases are covered from first day of the Ayushman Bharat policy. It includes both pre and post hospitalization expenses. To avail the benefits of Ayushman Bharat policy, having an Aadhaar card is not mandatory. But beneficiaries are required to carry a prescribed ID to receive free treatment at the hospital.  There is no cap on family size, age, and gender under Ayushman Bharat scheme to ensure that nobody is left out (especially women, children and elderly).This cover will take care of almost all secondary and most of the tertiary care procedures.

Eligibility for Ayushman Bharat Yojana The following individuals would be eligible to avail the benefits under this National Health Protection Policy: For rural areas: Families having only one room with ‗kuchcha walls and kuchcha roof‘.

Female-headed family with no male adult member in the 16-59 age group.

SC/ST households.

Landless households who earn income mainly from manual casual labour.

Legally released bonded labours.

Families having at least one disabled member and no-able bodied adult member.

For urban areas: The government has made a list of these 11 occupational categories of workers who are automatically included in the list: Ragpicker Domestic worker Beggar Cobbler/hawker/street vendor/other service provider working on streets Construction worker/plumber/mason/painter/security guard/coolie and other head load workers Sweeper/gardener/sanitation worker Washerman/chowkidar Electrician/mechanic/assembler/repair worker Driver/conductor/transport worker/helper to drivers and conductors/cart puller/ rickshaw puller Home-based worker/ artisan/ handicrafts worker / tailor Shop worker/helper/peon in small establishments/waiter/delivery assistant/assistant/attendant 116

No application form or registration is required. Eligible individuals will get a letter. As per the latest SECC data, this new health insurance scheme will cover around 50 crore people. The government will also provide transport allowances to the beneficiaries. More than 1,350 medical procedures including chemotherapy, brain surgeries and lifesaving procedures have been integrated in the scheme. Any private health care and public hospital can get themselves empanelled for the scheme. The basic empanelment criteria allows empanelment of a hospital with a minimum of 10 beds, with the flexibility provided to States to further relax this if required. Interested hospitals have already started getting themselves empanelled by applying at the online portal established by the State government.

Information about the empanelled hospitals will be made available through government websites and mobile apps. Beneficiaries can call the helpline number at 14555. However, it is not compulsory for all hospitals to join the scheme and hence, many top quality and accredited hospitals may not get empanelled. The charges specified for the procedures covered under the scheme are quite discounted and it may be unprofitable for large hospitals to join the scheme.

Further, the beneficiaries are not required to pay any charges or premium for the hospitalisation expenses. Each empanelled hospital will have an ‗Ayushman Mitra‘ to assist patients and will coordinate with beneficiaries and the hospital. Their work will include: checking documents to verify the eligibility, enrolment to the scheme and running a help desk. The beneficiaries will also be given QR codes which will be scanned and a demographic authentication will be conducted for identification and to check the eligibility as well. Ayushman Bharat Scheme may be considered as the world‘s largest health protection scheme. The benefits of the scheme are portable across the country and is said to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families Review of literature Review of literature provides us with the knowledge of the research work already done in our field. It results in better understanding of the field and also helps in exploring the gaps in the studies done previously.

Smit T. and Michael Noble (1995) claimed through a study that financial constraints can affect student‘s progress and can be proved as barriers to learning. UNICEF (2003) stressed on the inclusion of children with different abilities in the mainstream educational system by carefully analysing the needs of children, training of teachers with appropriate skills and early child hood development intervention programs. Heraldo V. Richards, Ayanna F. Brown, Jimothy B. Forde (2006) stressed upon the need for culturally responsive pedagogy. Chatterjee Chandrima and Gunjan Sheoran (2007) studied the impact of health status on the marginalisation of children. With better health the children from marginalized section like poor, scheduled cast and tribes, educationally backward can avail the provision of their right to education in a better way. Reddy (2007) examined the purposes for which people borrow from money lenders by identifying changes in their borrowing pattern over 20 years.

Redmond Gerry (2008) stated that social exclusion hurts more than poverty and agents of exclusion are school, government, tuition fees, neighbourhood, market and children themselves. Lal Meera (2011) studied the abusive and discriminating practices prevalent in Indian society. Kumar (2011) also tried to understand the behaviour and determinants of financial inclusion in terms of accessibility of various financial services. The key determinants of financial inclusion as mentioned in the study are income level, regional economic conditions, income generating employment, and schemes leading to more banking activities. Das Santanu (2013) stated that the dominant social groups of society sustain and 117

further perpetuate their power by making knowledge and skills highly exclusive. Ananth and Sabri (2013) endeavoured to understand the problems faced by financial inclusion in Andhra Pradesh. They suggested that success of financial inclusion is dependent on expansion of public sector banks in rural areas, and their role in providing suitable financial products to rural households, since public sector banks play a decisive role in Government sponsored schemes. Durgarova Esuna (2015) asserted that poverty eradication is a must for facilitating social inclusion and all the actors involved in formulation and implementation of policies aiming welfare of all, need to play their role actively.

Social inclusion is a multidimensional process that covers each and every walks of life be it the educational, financial, political and physical well-being. Some of the studies have focussed on social inclusion through provision of education. Few of the studies considered the impact of banking on social inclusion of the marginalized. However. There is dearth of studies aiming at analysing the impact of public health support for achieving Social inclusion.

Significance In the present study, the economically weaker people of UT of Chandigarh is taken as a target population to understand the process of Social inclusion of the urban poor through Ayushman Bharat Yojana. A random sample of 100 people living in the EWS colonies is taken. The primary respondent under the present study is an adult (both male as well as female whosoever available at the time of interview) living in the EWS colony of Chandigarh. With the help of a semi-structured interview schedule, it is tried to examine the success of the scheme for the poor people living in the city that bagged second highest per capita income in the country in the year 2016. Further, it is tried to compile and analyse the different experiences of the stakeholders to identify the various issues involved in achieving social inclusion of the urban poor through health support.

The objectives of the study were  

To examine the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana among the urban poor.

To identify the issues, if any, involved in the process of achieving in the social inclusion of the urban poor through health support.

Discussion Awareness and Availability Majority of the respondents under the present study showed ignorance regarding the availability of health support for them by the administration. It may be matter of huge concern that the beneficiaries are not aware of the scheme. As of now only 11 patients have been admitted under the Ayushman Bharat, a national health protection scheme, at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI) Sector 12, Chandigarh, as per the official records. However, there are 300 plus enquiries for the scheme. A few of the respondents said they had to go through a long process for getting registered under the scheme. ―The website on which they are operating is too slow and hangs in between,‖ said a respondent under the study who visited the Ayushman Bharat counter at PGI. He further added that there are no visible sign boards other than the one near the counter to make people aware that the facility is available and who all are entitled for it.

Resistance for Medical Diagnosis In the present study, we get to know that people belonging to low economic strata have a resistance to go for a medical diagnosis except serious ailment. One of the respondents was observed suffering from severe cough and 118

chest congestion but not ready to visit hospital for the same. Another respondent opined that most of the diseases can be treated at home. Some of the respondents said that pathological tests are misleading and expensive. In few of the cases, we noticed that male members of the family are taken to medical treatment in hospitals however females take care of them with the home remedies.

Portability Portability is a key positive under Ayushman as many States lack internal capacities for sophisticated procedures. Hence, in such cases, there are a large number of people who would access services outside the State. While Ayushman allows people to get treated free of cost in any other State, there are certain technical issues that need to be addressed for this to happen seamlessly. Some of the respondents told that their relatives living in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar could not get themselves registered here due to technical issues. One of the official at Government Hospital Sec 32 Chandigarh said that the transaction management system (TMS) within a State is different from that outside the State. Integrating the State and national TMS has been an issue. Further, there is no mechanism available till now for monitoring the portable claims.

Digital illiteracy The online system is considered to be fast and transparent but it seems in case of policies belonging to lower strata that people feel helpless when most of the information is available online and they are not able to access due to digital ignorance. In the present study, majority of the respondents are not able to use the online system of registration. However, the administration has the provision of assistants who can help the people for online registration but still digital illiteracy is a significant barrier in accessing many of the other benefits of the scheme. The feedback system also cannot be put into action till the stakeholder himself is able to file and track his grievance.

Lack of trust on Private Service Providers Under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, the private hospitals are also empanelled to provide services to the underprivileged. However, we get to know in our study that people belonging to EWS colonies in Chandigarh have a lack of trust over the Private Service providers. Some of the respondents mentioned that there are chances of being trapped by these private hospitals and they may take their organs for the free treatment.

Conclusion The recent initiatives taken for Social Inclusion of the underprivileged at worldwide level as well as in India are appreciating. Private Service players have been asked by the welfare States nowadays to actively participate for the development of the society as a whole as a part of their social responsibility.

However, considering the magnitude of social and economic inequalities present in India, the Government has to play the important and consistent role.

The disadvantaged people needs to be motivated and aware to avail the benefits of the various initiatives. Besides awareness, they need to be empowered with the requisite skills so that they can participate as independent and confident stakeholders. Further, the infrastructure required for any scheme needs to be procured beforehand otherwise the most of the facilities promised may remain handicapped.

119

References: 

Ananth, S., and T. Sabri. (2013). ―Challenges to Financial Inclusion in India: The Case of Andhra Pradesh.‖ Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 48, No. 7, pp. 77-83.



Chatterjee, Chandrima and Gunjan Sheoran. (2007). Vulnerable Groups in India. Mumbai: The Center for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT).



Das, Santanu (2013). Education and Social Mobility: A textual analysis in Indian Perspective.

Education Confab Vol. 2, No.1, Jan 2013.



Durgarova (2015). ―Social Inclusion, Poverty Eradication and the2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.‖ UNRISD, Working Paper 2015-14.



Heraldo V. Richards, Ayanna F. Brown and Tiomthy B. Forde (2006). Addressing Diversity in schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy.USA: NCCREST.



Lal, Meera. (2011). Education-the inclusive Growth Strategy for the economically and socially disadvantaged in the Indian society. Accessed at www.reserachgate.net on 28TH June 2016.



Lombe, M. (2007) Presentation given at Expert Group Meeting on Creating and Inclusive Society: Practical Strategies to Promote Social Integration. Paris, France, 10 - 13 September 2007.



Nayak, Kumar, Baharat (2012). ―Implementing clause 12 of the Right to Education Act 2009 in Udaipur District of Rajasthan, India: Letting disadvantaged down? Graduate School of Developmental Studies, The Hague, Netherlands.



Redmond, Gerry. Children‘s Perspectives on Economic Adversity: A Review of the Literature.

Austalia: Social Policy Research Center Discussion paper No. 149 (2008).



Reddy, Eswara, V. 1995 Primary Education in the web of poverty culture. New Delhi: NCERT.



Smit, T. and Noble, M. (1995). Education Divides: Poverty and Schooling in the 1990s. CPAG, London.



Therborn, G. (2007) Presentation. Expert Group Meeting on Creating and Inclusive Society:



Practical Strategies to Promote Social Integration. Paris, France, 10 - 13 September 2007 , UNICEF (2003). Examples of Inclusive Education. Kathmandu Nepal: Regional office for South Asia.

Websites www.un.org/development www.weforum.org/events/Sustainabledevelopment

120

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA Dr. Rajneesh, Assistant Professor (Sociology) Panjab University Rural centre Kauni, Sri Muktsar Sahib.

Abstract Any countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s environmental problems are related to the level of its economic development, the availability of natural resources and the lifestyle of its population. In India, rapid growth of population, poverty, urbanization, industrialization and several related factors are responsible for the rapid degradation of the environment. Environmental problems have become serious in many parts of the country, and hence cannot be ignored. The main environmental problems in India relate to air and water pollution particularly in metropolitan cities and industrial zones, degradation of common property resources which affect the poor adversely as they depends on them for their livelihood, threat to biodiversity and inadequate system of solid waste disposal and sanitation with consequent adverse impact on health, infant mortality and birth rate. ******* There are many environmental issues in India. Air pollution, water pollution, garbage, and pollution of the natural environment are all challenges for India. Some have cited economic development as the cause regarding the environmental issues. Others believe economic development is key to improving India's environmental management and preventing pollution of the country. It is also suggested that India's growing population is the primary cause of India's environmental degradation.

Major environmental issues are forest and agricultural degradation of land, resource depletion (water, mineral, forest, sand, rocks etc.), environmental degradation, public health, loss of biodiversity, loss of resilience ecosystems, and livelihood security for the poor. The major sources of pollution in India include the rampant burning of fuel wood and biomass such as dried waste from livestock as the primary source of energy, lack of organized garbage and waste removal services, lack of sewage treatment operations, lack of flood control and monsoon water drainage system, diversion of consumer waste into rivers, cremation practices near major rivers, government mandated protection of highly polluting old public transport, and continued operation by Indian government of government owned, high emission plants built between 1950 to 1980. Air pollution, poor management of waste, growing water scarcity, falling groundwater tables, water pollution, preservation and quality of forests, biodiversity loss, and land/soil degradation are some of the major environmental issues India faces today. India's population growth adds pressure to environmental issues and its resources.

Air pollution is one of the worst threat to have affected in India. According to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), by 2040 there are likely to be about 9 lakh premature deaths in the country due to the drastic rise in air pollution in the country. Average life expectancies are likely to go 121

down by about 15 months because of air pollution. India is also home to 11 out of 20 of the most polluted (in terms of air pollution) cities in the entire world. According to the rankings of the 2016 Environmental Performance Index, India ranks 141 out of 180 countries in terms of air pollution.

A rural stove using biomass cakes, fuelwood and trash as cooking fuel. Surveys suggest over 100 million households in India use such stoves (chullahs) every day, 2â&#x20AC;&#x201C;3 times a day. It is a major source of air pollution in India, and produces smoke and numerous indoor air pollutants at concentrations 5 times higher than coal. Clean burning fuels and electricity are unavailable in rural parts and small towns of India because of poor rural highways and limited energy generation infrastructure.

Air pollution in India is a serious issue with the major sources being fuelwood and biomass burning, fuel adulteration, vehicle emission and traffic congestion. Air pollution is also the main cause of the Asian brown cloud, which is causing the monsoon to be delayed. India is the world's largest consumer of fuelwood, agricultural waste and biomass for energy purposes. Traditional fuel (fuelwood, crop residue and dung cake) dominates domestic energy use in rural India.

In May 2016, Phalodi in Rajasthan recorded a temperature of 51 degrees Celsius â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the highest ever in the country. The increasingly tormenting heat waves in the past years are but an indication that global warming and climate change are real challenges that the country is facing now. With the Himalayan glaciers melting at an alarming rate, floods and other such natural disasters are occurring with increasing frequency. The number of forest fires, floods, earthquakes and such other calamities over the past five years has been unprecedented.

There is a long history of study and debate about the interactions between population growth and the environment. According to a British thinker Malthus, for example, a growing population exerts pressure on agricultural land, causing environmental degradation, and forcing the cultivation of land of poorer as well as poorer quality. This environmental degradation ultimately reduces agricultural yields and food availability, causes famines and diseases and death, thereby reducing the rate of population growth.

India has major water pollution issues. Discharge of untreated sewage is the single most important cause for pollution of surface and ground water in India. There is a large gap between generation and treatment of domestic waste water in India. The problem is not only that India lacks sufficient treatment capacity but also that the sewage treatment plants that exist do not operate and are not maintained. The majority of the government-owned sewage treatment plants remain closed most of the time due to improper design or poor maintenance or lack of reliable electricity supply to operate the plants, together with absentee employees and poor management. The waste water generated in these 122

areas normally percolates in the soil or evaporates. The uncollected wastes accumulate in the urban areas cause unhygienic conditions and release pollutants that leaches to surface and groundwater.

Rapidly depleting levels of groundwater is one of the biggest threat to food security and livelihood in the country. Accessing the groundwater has become increasingly difficult over the decades. According to news reports, excessive exploitation of limited groundwater resources for irrigation of cash crops such as sugarcane has caused a 6 percentage point decline in the availability of water within 10 metres from ground level. Low rainfall and drought are also reasons for groundwater depletion. The north western and southeastern parts of the country are the worst hit. These are also the regions responsible for most of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s agricultural production and food crisis is a natural corollary.

Other sources of water pollution include agriculture run off and small scale factories along the rivers and lakes of India. Fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture in northwest have been found in rivers, lakes and ground water. Flooding during monsoons worsens India's water pollution problem, as it washes and moves all sorts of solid garbage and contaminated soils into its rivers and wetlands.

Trash and garbage is a common sight in urban and rural areas of India. It is a major source of pollution. cities alone generate more than 100 million tons of solid waste a year. Street corners are piled with trash. Public places and sidewalks are despoiled with filth and litter, rivers and canals act as garbage dumps. In part, India's garbage crisis is from rising consumption. India's waste problem also points to a stunning failure of governance. Unrestrained use of plastics is another major concern for the country. According to data from the PLASTINDIA Foundation, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s demand for polymers is expected to go up from plastic consumption went up from about 4 kg in 2006 to some 8 kg in 2010. By 2020, this is likely to shoot up to about 27 kg. To understand the damage that this can cause to the environment, it is important to understand that plastics are one of the least biodegradable materials. An average plastic beverage bottle could take up to 500 years to decompose naturally.

Noise pollution or noise disturbance is the disturbing or excessive noise that may harm the activity or balance of human or animal life. Noise-wise India can be termed as the most polluted country in the world. The source of most outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines and transportation systems, motor vehicles, aircraft, and trains. In India the outdoor noise is also caused by loud music during festival seasons. Outdoor noise is summarized by the word environmental noise.

Poor urban planning may give rise to noise pollution, since side-by-side industrial and residential buildings can result in noise pollution in the residential areas.

In March 2009, the issue of Uranium Poisoning in Punjab attracted press coverage. It was alleged to be caused by fly ash ponds of thermal power stations, which reportedly lead to severe birth defects in children in the Faridkot and Bhatinda districts of Punjab. The news reports claimed the 123

uranium levels were more than 60 times the maximum safe limit. In 2012, the Government of India confirmed that the ground water in Malwa belt of Punjab has uranium metal that is 50% above the trace limits set by the United Nations' World Health Organization. Scientific studies, based on over 1000 samples from various sampling points, could not trace the source to fly ash and any sources from thermal power plants or industry as originally alleged. The study also revealed that the uranium concentration in ground water of Malwa district is not 60 times the WHO limits, but only 50% above the WHO limit in 3 locations.

According to a 2014 report by The Economist, about 130 million households (and 600 million population) in the country lack toilets. Over 72 percent of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s rural population defecate in the open.

Ancient practices such as manual scavenging are still in vogue in the country. Lack of safe garbage disposal systems in the country make India one of the most unhygienic countries in the world. The rural regions of the country are worse off than urban tracts in this regard. This is one of the areas where the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s government and people need to work hard and improve the prevailing conditions. In India, the government has made a concerted efforts to provide access to toilets. Its National Sanitation Programme Swachh Bharat Mission was launched in 2014, and has built more than 80 million toilets.

India has made some of

the fastest progress in addressing its environmental issues and

improving its environmental quality in the world. Still, India has a long way to go to reach environmental quality similar to those enjoyed in developed economies Conclusions: In India, efforts are being made on for the environmental management in a sustainable manner.

At all levels of education provisions have been made for the knowledge of environment and its conservation. In the country many centres are providing special training for environmental management. The programmes of environmental awareness have been launched through media. India is an active member of International Organizations concerning environment. Several programmes are going on under UNEP. The Government has recently started emphasizing the combined use of regulatory and economic instruments for improving environmental quality. There is a need for coordination between government agencies, NGOs and the public for the proper management of environment quality and to achieve sustainable development in the country.

India is one of the parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) treaty. Prior to the CBD, India had different laws to govern the environment. The Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972 protected the biodiversity. It was amended later multiple times. The 1988 National Forest Policy had conservation as its fundamental principle. In addition to these acts, the government passed 124

the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act 1992 for control of biodiversity.

Some Suggestions for the Protection of Environment: 1. Educate the students about the pollution problem and the harmful effects of pollution 2. We should minimize the use plastic cover for different purposes.

3. Buy only environment friendly products i.e. the products which are not reducing the natural resources.

4. Not to waste water for various purposes.

5. To plant and grow trees in the house garden 6. To motivate research on different measures to be taken to solve environmental problems.

7. To support the initiates taken by the central and state government in protecting our environment.

8. Government should reform regulations and laws that ban felling of trees and transit of wood within India. Sustainable agro-forestry and farm forestry must be encouraged through financial and regulatory reforms, particularly on privately owned lands.

References: 

Agarwal Arun (2005),‖Environmentality, ―Current Anthropology, 46, no. 2



Atomic Energy Report- Malwa Punjab Uranium Lok Sabha, Government of India (2012).



Chandrappa, Ramesha and D.R. Ravi (2009) Environmental Issues, Law and Technology – An Indian Perspective, Delhi: Research India Publication.



Environment Assessment, Country Data: India, The World Bank, 2011.



Environmental laws of India, C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre, Chennai, India.



Evaluation of Operation And Maintenance of Sewage Treatment Plants In India – 2007 (PDF) CENTRAL POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD Ministry of Environment & Forests 2008.



Journal of International Business and Law, Vol. 15, Issue. 1 (2015)



Khitoliya, R. K. (2006) Environmental Pollution: Management and Control for Sustainable Development, New Delhi: S. Chand Publications.



Patil, Vidyadevi R (2015) Social Problems in India, Solapur: Laxmi Book Publications.



Singh, Mahesh Prasad; Singh, J. K.; Mohanka, Reena (1 January 2007) Forest Environment and Biodiversity, Daya Publishing House.



https://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/india/environmental-issues-in-india-today# 125

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: A STUDY OF STAKEHOLDERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERCEPTION Ms. Rinkey Priya Bali Assistant Professor, PG Dept. of Commerce, GGDSD College, Chandigarh Abstract Corporate social responsibility (CSR) promotes a vision of business accountability to a wide range of stakeholders, besides shareholders and investors. The concept of CSR is underpinned by the idea that corporations can no longer act as isolated economic entities operating in detachment from broader society. A key challenge facing business is the need for more reliable indicators of progress in the field of CSR, along with the dissemination of CSR strategies. Transparency and dialogue can help to make a business appear more trustworthy, and push up the standards of other organizations at the same time. In the present paper an Index was developed and stakeholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; perception was analyzed to find out the important factors affecting the corporate social responsibility of the companies. Study indicated that there is a relation between corporate performance and CSR practices of companies and stakeholders give more importance to environmental factors.

Key Words: Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR Index, Stakeholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; Perception.

INTRODUCTION Many companies nowadays are concerned about values like integrity and feel that they must meet the triple bottom line expressing the expectations of stakeholders with respect to the company's contribution to profit, planet and people. Firms that do not meet these expectations may see their reputation founder with a negative impact on market shares and profitability (Mcintosh et al., 1998).Corporate responsibility encompasses three dimensions - economic, environmental and social. In the past, the focus of corporate responsibility agenda was on economic and environmental dimensions.

Hence, economic and environmental dimensions have been explored extensively in many business cases and academic researches. On the other hand, the social dimension was not well articulated in business discussions and many issues pertaining to it were not clear and not well understood. Recently, the growing interest in the social dimension of business sustainability and the increasing expectations by various stakeholders indicated that corporations should be socially responsible.

From a stakeholder theory perspective, corporate social performance is assessed in terms of a company meeting the demands of multiple stakeholders. Firms must at some level, satisfy stakeholder demands as an unavoidable cost of doing business. Society and business, social issues management, public policy and business, stakeholder management, corporate accountability are just some of the terms used to describe the phenomena related to corporate responsibility in society. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of a company will only be correctly perceived by the public, if its social and environmental value creation is transparent. One way of improving the transparency of the CSR efforts of companies is bench marking by independent institutes. Construction of an index that weights the contribution of companies into one number would clarify the position of individual companies and improve the comparability of their CSR efforts. The publication of such an index can potentially enforce the reputation mechanism and provide a competitive advantage to companies that are indeed 126

actively fostering social and ecological values. This would provide other companies with a strong incentive to integrate CSR into the company's strategy(Graafland, 2002).Although transparency is an important advantage of benchmarking, ethicists have noticed several methodological problems. These problems relate to the assumption of monism, the assumption of commensurability of various values, the disregard of intentions, the subjectivity of valuation, the notion that the company is more responsible for some of its stakeholders than for others, the assumed context independence of a moral action, the possible lack of control of the company and finally the problem of communication.

In short, business in general, has come underincreasing pressure from its stakeholders to act responsibly and to engage effectively withstakeholders via various dialogue practices. ‗Stakeholder dialogue‘ has come to be seen bysome as part of the broader spectrum of socially responsible action and activities that shouldbe undertaken by companies. Stakeholder theory (Freeman 1984) suggests the idea thatinvesting time and other resources in addressing stakeholders‘interests is a justifiablemanagerial activity.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE Hall and Rieck (1998) examined the impact of voluntary positive corporate social actions on shareholder wealth. The firms included in the sample were those performing social actions during the 1982-1995 time period. Event analysis methodology was used to examine the short-term market effects of positive corporate social events. Results indicated that socially responsible actions can have positive impacts on the market value of a firm. Verschoor (1998)stated a link between overall financial performance and an emphasis on ethics as an aspect of corporate governance. The study found that approximately one-fourth of the 500 largest public U.S. companies make a commitment to treat their stakeholder constituents in accordance with a code of ethical conduct in a report by management contained in their annual shareholder report.Mc Williams and Siegel (2000) examined the correlation between CSR and R&D, and estimated the impact of CSR on financial performance. Data series was created from a linkage of the KLD data and Compustat, containing 524 firms. Results of the study indicated that CSP and R&D were highly correlated.Quazi and O’ Brien (2000) developed a twodimensional model of corporate social responsibility. The two dimensions were the span of corporate responsibility (narrow to wider perspective) and the range of outcomes of social commitments of businesses (cost to benefit driven perspective). Study concluded that the proposed two dimensional model of corporate social responsibility had been empirically supported by the emergence of two basic underlying dimensions in the data in the two divergent environments - Australia and Bangladesh.Gelb and Strawser (2001) examined the relationship between firms' disclosures and measures of social responsibility. The sample consisted of all non-banking firms in the AIMR rankings for the years 1989 through 1992. Multivariate regression equation was used to examine how the level of a firm's CSR influences its disclosure practices. Findings indicated a positive relationship between disclosure quality, particularly investor relations practices, and CSR. Maignan (2001) studied the consumers' readiness to support socially responsible organizations and examined their evaluations of the economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities of the firm. A five-item instrument was developed to measure consumers' support of responsible businesses and used a seven-point scale to rate the statements. Results indicated that French and German consumers were most concerned about businesses conforming to legal and ethical standards.Boesso (2002) examined the non-mandatory information available on the web sites of 36 leading companies across Italy and U.S. and found that each company disclosed only limited, accurately chosen, non mandatory items. Ismail (2002)examined 127

the extent of financial information disclosed on the Internet by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries. Results indicated that the probability of a firm to publish financial information on the Internet did not only depend on individual characteristic, but on a combination of interaction effects among firm characteristics (size, leverage, and profitability), industry type, and country.Rao and Gupta (2004) examined the social responsibility disclosure practices in PSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s and the influence of key company characteristics on corporate social disclosure during 1999-2000. After scanning the annual reports of 30 sample companies, the results indicated that disclosures were affected by the size of the companies and the maximum disclosures found to be were of statutory in nature. Tsoutsoura (2004) examinedthe relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. The survey covered the firms included in the S&P 500 index for the years 1996 - 2000. Cross-sectional time series regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses using financial performance as the dependent variable and controlling for size, debt level, and industry.Findings indicated that CSR was positively related to better financial performance. Salmones, Crespo and Bosque (2005)identified the dimensions of social responsibility from the consumer's point of view, as well as the weight of each dimension within the global construct of social responsibility. A principal components factor analysis was carried out and results found that the consumers in principle perceive three levels of corporate behaviour: economic, ethical, legal and philanthropic.Almilia and Budisusetyo (2008) compared the Internet Financial Reporting score of the banking sector and LQ 45 firms to explore which one group had a highest internet financial reporting score. Index developed Cheng et al. (2000) was used and the result indicated that banking sector had highest score on technology and user support component than LQ 45 firms. Fauzi (2008) concluded that corporate social responsibility/performance (CSP) had no effect on financial performance (FP) under slack resource and good management theory. In addition, it was also shown that only financial leverage could moderate the interaction between CSP and financial performance.Amran and Haniffa (2011) explored the sustainability reporting practices in Malaysia.

The unit of analysis of this study was the annual report of the company that was listed in the Bursa Malaysia. Study used multiple regressions in assessing the variability in the extent of sustainability reporting. Results proved that only a government linked company in the plantation industry, which was large in size, had a significant amount of sustainability reporting. Akrout and Othman (2013) investigated environmental disclosure determinants in Arab Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) companies. Study investigated a sample of 153 websites of listed companies. Results found a negative and significant relationship between environmental disclosure and family ownership.

Thus, it can be observed that corporate social responsibility leads to better performance and is assessed in terms of a company meeting the demands of multiple stakeholders.

RESEARCH DESIGN: The study is exploratory in nature. The study identifies the major corporate social responsibility indicators and analyzes the stakeholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; expectations on CSR activities.

STAKEHOLDERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERCEPTION: Sampling Technique: To know the perception of stakeholders towards CSR activities, thirty respondents were selected on the basis of judgment sampling technique. These respondents include researchers, professors, NGOs, professionals and directors.

Primary data has been collected through structured and close-ended questionnaire.To assess the perception of respondents, a six-point scale ranging from 0 to 5 has been used.

128

INDEX DEVELOPMENT KEY AREA

ELEMENTS

CODE

BUSINESS ETHICS (A)

Code of conduct

A1

Anti-corruption policy INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL ISSUES (B)

& bribery A2

Compliance to international B1 environmental standards Compliance to international B2 instruments of labour

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES (C)

Energy conservation

C1

Water management

C2

Environmental reporting

C3

Environmental certification(ISO 14000)

C4

Environmental assessment (EIA) CUSTOMERS (D)

Identification wants

of

impact C5

customer D1

Providing quality & reliable D2 products/ ISO certification

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE (E)

Customer loyalty

D3

Corporate governance policy

E1

Relation between corporate E2 governance & socio economic development STAKEHOLDERS (F)

Separate social/ F1 environmental/sustainable reporting Right to information

F2

129

SHAREHOLDERS (G)

GRI/UN Global Reporting

F3

Maximization of wealth

G1

Disclosure of past G2 data(financial highlights) Participation shareholders

of

minority G3

RESEARCH METHODS R&D DEVELOPMENT (H)

H1

Development of environment H2 friendly technology BUSINESS & Health Programmes SOCIETY/SOCIAL ISSUES (I)

EMPLOYEES (J)

OTHERS (K)

I1

Education Programmes

I2

Donations

I3

Micro finance

I4

Collaborations with NGOs

I5

Equal opportunity policy

J1

HRA

J2

T&D

J3

Collective bargaining

J4

Import substitution

K1

Foreign exchange

K2

Above Index contains eleven key areas and thirty-three elements. These key areas and elements were decided on the basis of in-depth analysis of information given in the websiteof the selected companies.

Reliability of the Responses ‗Cronbach Alpha‘ method has been used to test the reliability of data.

STAKEHOLDERS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PRACTICES: To know the perception of stakeholders, CSR elements were analyzed key area-wiseon the basis of perceived importance of these elements for the respondents.

A) BUSINESS ETHICS 130

In this area of CSR, respondents have given more preference to code of conduct in business ethicsoriented elements with a mean score of 4.567 while the mean score given to anti-corruption & bribery policy was 3.967.

B) INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL ISSUES Among international social issues-oriented elements, compliance to international environmental standards have received more preference with a mean score of 4.367. Mean score of compliance to international instruments of labour was 4.067.

C) ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES In this area, respondents have given highest preference to water management with the mean score of 4.80. Energy conservation and environmental certification are ranked at the same level i.e. with mean score of 4.767. The mean score of environmental impact assessment was 4.433.

D) CUSTOMERS In customer-oriented elements, respondents have perceivedproduct quality as the most important element with a mean score of 4.50 followed by the identification of customer wants with a mean score of 4.467.

E) CORPORATE GOVERNANCE In this respondents have given more preference to corporate governance policy with a mean score of 4.567 while the mean score given to corporate governance & socio economic developmentwas 4.40.

F) STAKEHOLDERS Respondents have perceived right to information as the most important element with a mean score of 4.567 in stakeholder-oriented elements followed by GRI/UN global reporting with a mean score of 4.367.

G) SHAREHOLDERS Participation of minority shareholders has been perceived as the most important element with a mean score of 4.367.Maximization of wealth ranked at the second position with a mean score of 4.233 followed by the disclosure of past data(financial highlights).

H) RESEARCH METHODS DEVELOPMENT In research-oriented elements, respondents have perceived R&D as the important element with a mean score of 4.733. Developments of environment friendly technology mean score was 4.667.

I) BUSINESS & SOCIETY/ SOCIAL ISSUES In business & society/social issues-oriented elements, education and health programmes have been perceived as the most important elements with mean scores of 4.567 and 4.433 respectively.

Collaborations with NGOs (4.267), Micro finance (3.867) and Donation (3.833) got lesspreference.

J) EMPLOYEES In this arearespondents have perceived equal opportunity policy as the most important element with a mean score of 4.60.T&D and collective bargaining mean score was 4.433 and 4.30 respectively.

K) OTHERS This area indicates that foreign exchange has been perceived as the important element with a mean score of 4.40 followed by import substitution with a mean score of 4.20.

131

OVERALL ANALYSIS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INDEX: Table 1 provides information relating to total score, rank and mean score of all thirty three elements.

Table 1 Overall analysis of CSR Index elements S. No. Codes Elements

Total Score

Rank

Mean Score

1

C2

Water management

144

1

4.8

2

C1

Energy conservation

143

2

4.767

3

C4

Environmental certification (ISO 143 14000)

2

4.767

4

H1

R&D

142

3

4.733

5

H2

Development of environment 140 friendly technology

4

4.667

6

C3

Environmental reporting

139

5

4.633

7

J1

Equal opportunity policy

138

6

4.6

8

A1

Code of conduct

137

7

4.567

9

E1

Corporate governance policy

137

7

4.567

10

F2

Right to information

137

7

4.567

11

I2

Education programmes

137

7

4.567

12

D2

Providing quality & reliable 135 products/ISO certification

8

4.5

13

D1

Identification of customer wants

9

4.467

14

C5

Environmental impact assessment 133 (EIA)

10

4.433

15

I1

Health programmes

133

10

4.433

16

J3

Training and development

133

10

4.433

17

E2

Relation between corporate 132 governance & socio economic development

11

4.4

18

K2

Foreign exchange

11

4.4

134

132

132

19

B1

Compliance to international 131 environmental standards

12

4.367

20

F3

GRI/UN Global Reporting

131

12

4.367

21

G3

Participation shareholders

minority 131

12

4.367

22

J4

Collective bargaining

129

13

4.3

23

I5

Collaborations with NGOs

128

14

4.267

24

G1

Maximization of wealth

127

15

4.233

25

F1

Separate social/ 126 environmental/sustainable reporting

16

4.2

26

K1

Import substitution

126

16

4.2

27

J2

HRA

125

17

4.167

28

B2

Compliance to international 122 instruments of labour

18

4.067

29

D3

Customer loyalty

122

18

4.067

30

A2

Anti-corruption & bribery policy

119

19

3.967

31

G2

Disclosure of past data(financial 119 highlights)

19

3.967

32

I4

Micro finance

116

20

3.867

33

I3

Donations

115

21

3.833

of

Source: Compiled from Primary Data Overall analysis of CSR elements indicate that stakeholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; perceivedwater management as the most important element with a mean score of 4.80 followed by energy conservation (4.76) and environmental certification (4.76). Donations and micro finance were considered as the least important elements with mean scores of 3.833 and 3.867 respectively.This shows that stakeholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; give more importance to environmental factors.

CONCLUSION: Corporate reporting is expanding beyond financial and environmental performance (Kolk A,2004).The study reveals that although not mandatory, Indian companies are providing social responsibility information in their annual reports. This suggests that these companies consider social responsibility information to be significant to the stakeholders. But most of the information disclosed in annual reports is narrative in nature without specifically discussing the policy of the company. This need to be 133

improved as narrative comments does not reflect the contribution of the company towards the betterment of the society. A major challenge to reporting community at large in India is to improve comparabilityamong reports. Inviting inputs from stakeholders, while formulating guidelines, will be a valuablemeans of engaging stakeholders and enhancing mutual interests and priorities (SustainAbilityLtd and UNEP, 1999).Such a bold participative approach would ensure benefits of enduringvalue both to the company and its stakeholders.

REFERENCES: 

Akrout, M. M. and H. B. Othman (2013), ―A study of the determinants of corporate environmental disclosure in MENA emerging markets‖, Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, 2, 46-59.



Almilia,L.S. and S. Budisusetyo (2008), ―Corporate Internet Reporting of Banking Industry and LQ45 Firms: An Indonesia Example‖, working paper, available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1218947,pp. 1-26.



Amran, A. and R. Haniffa (2011), ―Evidence in Development of Sustainability Reporting: A Case of a Developing Country‖, Business Strategy and the Environment, 20, 141-156.



Boesso, G. (2002), ―How to assess the quality of voluntary disclosure: An index to measure stakeholder reporting and social accounting across Italy and U.S.‖,Journal of Accounting and Financial Research‖, No.1, pp. 1-15.



Fauzi, H. (2008), ―Corporate Social and Financial Performance: Empirical Evidence from American Companies‖, working paper, available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1489494, pp. 119.



Gelb, D.S. and J. A. Strawser (2001), ―Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Disclosures: An Alternative Explanation for Increased Disclosure‖, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 1-13.



Hall, P.L. and R. Rieck (1998), ―The effect of positive corporate social actions on shareholder wealth‖, Journal of Financial and Strategic Decisions, Vol.11, No.2,pp. 1-7.



Ismail, T. H. (2002),―An Empirical Investigation of Factors Influencing Voluntary Disclosure of Financial Information on the Internet in the GCC Countries‖,Working Paper Series, Social Sciences Research Network, pp.1-27.



Kolk, A and J. Pinkse (2009), ―The Integration of Corporate Governance in Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures‖, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 17, pp. 15-26.



Maignan, I. (2001), ―Consumers' Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibilities: A CrossCultural Comparison‖, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 57-72.

134



Mc Williams, A. and D. Siegel (2000), ―Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance: Correlation or Misspecification‖, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 603-609.



Orlitzky, M. (2001), ―Does Firm Size Confound the Relationship between Corporate Social Performance and Firm Financial Performance?‖, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp.

167-180.



Quazi, A. M. and D. O'Brien (2000), ―An Empirical Test of a Cross-National Model of Corporate Social Responsibility‖, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 33-51.



Salmones, M., A.H. Crespo and I.R. Bosque (2005), ―Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on Loyalty and Valuation of Services‖, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 61, No. 4, pp. 369-385.



Simpson, W.G. and T. Kohers (2002), ―The Link between Corporate Social and Financial Performance: Evidence from the Banking Industry‖, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 97-109.



Stuebs, M. (2009), ―Social Responsibility and Firm Efficiency in the Business Services Industry‖, Working paper, pp. 1-31



Tsoutsoura, M. (2004), ―Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance‖, Working Paper, available at scholarship.org/uc/item/111799, pp. 1-22.



Verschoor. C.C (1998), ―A Study of the link between a corporation‘s financial performance and its commitment to ethics‖, Journal of Business Ethics, pp.1509–1516.



Waddock, S.A. and S. B. Graves (1997), ―The Corporate Social Performance-Financial Performance Link‖, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 303-319.

135

STRESS RELATED HEALTH PROBLEM AS A CAUSE OF THE JOB DISSATISFACTION AMONG POLICE OFFICIALS IN UT CHANDIGARH Mr.Sandeep Buttola Assistant professor (Sociology) Panjab University Constituent College Nihalsinghwala (Punjab)

Abstract The main objective of the study is to analyze the impact of stress related health problem on job satisfaction among Police officials. The study was carried out at eleven Police Station at Chandigarh .

A prospective analysis was completed on 329 which consist of 11 Inspectors, 76 Sub-Inspectors, 51 Assistant Sub-Inspectors and 191 Head Constables. Results found that stress related health problem significantly related to job dissatisfaction. Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) was used to collect information. The author recommends that Police department should pay attention to the physical as well as psychological needs of their officials to improve the level of job satisfaction.

Keywords: Chandigarh, health, stress, influence, satisfaction

Introduction The term Police is used to denote a body of people organized to maintain civil order and to investigate branches of the laws (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1973). It is derived from the Latin word ―Politia‖ which stands for the condition of a ―Polis‖ or state. It indicates a system of administration although in modern parlance it is generally used to indicate an organized unit of civil officers whose particular duties are the prevention of crime and the enforcement of laws. (Sharma, 1977).

The Indian Police has a long past and has reached its present state passing through various social, political and cultural changes. The existing police system in India appears to be a unique and peculiar amalgam of various features of Ancient, Mughal and British police. The present police system structurally and functionally owes its existing to the various Acts and Enactments promulgated by the colonial rulers. The Indian Police Act, 1861 is the basic foundation of the present day Indian Police.

Police in India basically belong to the State List of the Constitution, therefore, police and various police matters basically fall into the jurisdiction of the State governments. Police organizations are identified by the name of the State to which they belong, and even their nomenclatures are given after the names of the respective States, i.e. Rajasthan Police, Assam Police, Bihar Police, Kerala Police etc.

The police are organized, maintained and directed by the States and Union Territories of the Indian

136

Union. The Indian Police System is horizontally stratified like military forces and is organized into various cadres.

Police performs a wide range of tasks and do their work in long hours shifts, no time for the family

which becomes the issues of health problems whether it is physical or psychological

health.Stress among policemen would manifest in the form of tiredness, gloominess, inability to concentrate, irritability and impulsive behaviour. These danger signals are quite common among the policemen. Policemen are often viewed as impolite and highhanded. Though, outsiders may not be pleased about the extreme conditions under which Police officials lead their lives.

Through socio-economic variables, it is easy to socialization, life style , life opportunities and how an

know the attitude, behavioural pattern, individual perceives the society. Socio-

economic variables help an individual in forming his/her belief towards the job. The present study has been carried out to know the influence of the stress upon job satisfaction level of the police officials in Chandigarh.Various variables such as age, education,income, marital status etc may causes of stress. Therefore, it is pertinent to get acquainted with the respondents socially and economically.

The word stress is derived from the Latin word "stringi", which means, "to be drawn tight".

Stress is described as, a physical or psychological stimulus that can produce mental tension or physiological reactions that may lead to illness. Well organised work is good for an employee but when insufficient attention to work management, work organisation has taken place, it may result in job related stress. Work related stress develops when an employee is unable to cope with the demands being placed on them. Stress, can be a significant cause of illness and is linked with high level of absent, employees turnover and other issues. Work related stress is not confined to particular jobs , it is widespread .

This investigation seeks to draw attention to the job stress related problems and its influence upon employeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; job satisfaction. Health related problem such as stress is one of the major workplace attitudes therefore author focus on job satisfaction as an outcome of job stress related health problem.

Review of the literature Mental and physical illness may develop if stress becomes too excessive and prolonged.

Employees experience stress in the their job when they are not adequately adjust with their job environments (Caplan et al. 1975). Terry, Nielson and Perchard (1993) high level of stress is the prime factor of low level of job satisfaction. Policing has been categorized as a high stress occupation, with up to 47% of officials in self-report studies citing stress as a consequence of the job (Crank et.al, 1993). Fair brother and Warn (2003) confirm that occupational stress is related to job dissatisfaction.

137

Abdulla et al., (2011) recognized communications and job stress a significant factor of job satisfaction.

Calisir et al. (2011) identified a very strong influence of job satisfaction on organizational commitment whereas job stress indirectly influence the willingness of employees to leave their jobs. job stress is conversely related to job satisfaction (Noblet and Rodwell, 2009).Stress associated with traumatic situations in the police job , e.g. after murder investigations and when there is death notification that police patrol and the murder investigation teams are to investigate are worrying sometimes they deal with the stress, because of facing violent behavior of the people (Miller, 2006).The stressful condition of the Police consequences from the nature of the work(Anshel, 2000). Job stress indicates â&#x20AC;&#x2022;a situation where job-related factors interact with a worker to change his or her psychological or physiological condition so greatly that the person is forced to deviate from normal functioningâ&#x20AC;&#x2013; (Beehr and Newman, 1978). Policing has been classified as a high stress job (Crank et. Al, 1993).

A number of studies have been conducted in different parts of the world for understanding nature of stress among Police officials. The reasons for stress are negative working environment, long working hours, lack of time for family, irregular eating habits, sleepless nights, poor living conditions, torture by seniors, disturbed personal life and lacking public confidence in the Police (Malach- Pines and Kienan, 2007).Police officers are exposed to stress in the line of duty including violent incidents (e.g., shootings, hostage crises, injured victims, child victims, corpses). In spite of these often lifethreatening incidents, there are a variety of incidents causes of stress that are specific to the police profession. Territo & vetter (1981) have pointed out that stress is also known to lead to alcoholism and broken marriages, problems very often encountered in the private lives of the police officers. Many negative effects can created by the stress upon police officials (Golembiewski and Kim, 1990). One negative result of stress on police officer is marriage related problems (Golembiewski and Kim, 1990).

Other effects of stress upon police officials are suicide and drug/alcohol use. Alcoholism and drug use are often considered major stress-related consequences for officials (Golembiewski and Kim, 1990, Kohan and Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2014;Connor, 2002). Much of the research completed on alcohol and drug use of officers indicates that there is an alcohol and non-medical drug use problem among police personnel (Dietrich and Smith, 1986). Another study has cited anxiety, depression and burnout and alcohol abuse as common reactions of police officers that are under stress (Robinson et.al, 1997). Violanti, et.al (1985) studied 500 police officials in New York State, looking at the relationships between stress, alcohol use and occupational demands. They have found stress and occupational demands to be related to increased alcohol use.

Methodology Unit of Analysis:

138

The unit of analysis consisted of the police official including Inspector, Sub-Inspector, Assistant SubInspector and Head Constable in eleven police stations of union territory of Chandigarh. All these officials are involved in direct public dealing.

For the present study 11 Inspectors, 76 Sub-Inspectors, 51 Assistant Sub-Inspectors and 191 Head Constables included in the sample. In all 329 police officials were studied.

Techniques of Data Collection Keeping in mind the nature of study a structured interview schedule was used to collect information. The structured part of interview schedule included questions related to socio-cultural profile of the police officials, reasons for opting for this profession, work place environment and relations with colleagues, subordinates, super-ordinates. Additionally, Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) was used to collect information. Both these scales were modified keeping mind the purpose of the study.

Job Descriptive Index (JDI) was developed by Smith et.al (1969) and it has become the most popular facet scale among organizational researchers. It contains 72 items, which assess five facets of job satisfaction, namely, work, supervision, pay, co-workers, and promotional opportunities.

The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) was developed by Weiss et.al (1967) to measure the employeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s satisfaction with 20 different facets or aspects of the work environment. These are activity, independence, variety, social status, supervision (human relations), supervision (technical), moral values, security, social service, authority, ability utilization, company policies and practices, compensation, advancement, responsibility, creativity, working conditions, co-workers, recognition, and achievement. Each of the MSQ items consists of statements about various facets of the job and the respondents are asked to indicate their level of satisfaction. The questions were rated on a 5-point Likert scale.

Tabulation of Data After collecting the data, using code design cross tables were made. Collected data was coded and analysed using (statistical package for social sciences).

Main objectives of the study To study the socio-economic profile of the police officials in U.T Chandigarh.

To examine the health related problem and its influence upon the level of job satisfaction among the police officials.

Findings In this section we provide a brief description of the data .Since our first objective was to study socio economic profile of the respondents, therefore Table No. I depicted the socio- economic profile of the 139

respondents. Table No. II depicted health related problems and its influence upon the level of job satisfaction, which was the second objective of the study.

Socio- economic profile of the respondents This table explores the socio-economic profile of the respondents by analyzing their social, economic, religious and family background. Through these variables, it is easy to know the attitude, behavioural pattern, socialization, life style , life opportunities and how an individual perceives the society. Socio-economic variables help an individual in forming his/her belief towards the life .Therefore, these socio â&#x20AC;&#x201C; economic variables should be adequately studied before analysing the data.

The present study has been carried out to know the job satisfaction level of the police officials in Chandigarh. The level of job satisfaction is influenced by various variables such as age, education, marital status etc. Therefore, it is pertinent to get acquainted with the respondents socially and economically.

Table No. I Category wise distribution of the respondents on the basis of socio-economic profile Designation Age (Yrs)

Head Constable

Sub Inspector

ASI 1

Inspector

(1.30%)

Total

30-35

2

(1.00%)

-

35-40

14

(7.30%)

-

Above 40

175

(91.6%)

Never Married

2

(1%)

1

(2%)

Married

189

(99%)

50

(98%)

76

(100%)

11 (100%) 326 (99.10%)

Hindu

139

(72.8%)

39 (76.5%) 53

(697%)

7

Muslim

15

(7.9%)

5

(9.8%)

7

(9.2%)

Sikh

36

(18.8%)

7

(13.7%) 15

(19.7%)

-

51 (100%) 75

(98.7%)

-

3

(0.90%)

-

14

(4.30%)

11 (100%) 312 (94.80%)

Marital status -

-

3

(0.90%)

Religious background (63.6%) 238 _ 4

(36.4%)

(72.3%)

27

(8.2%)

62

(18.8%)

140

Christian

1

(0.5%)

Reserved

38

(19.9%)

General

153

(80.1%)

_

1

(1.3%)

_

2

(0.6%)

10 (19.6%) 15 (19.7%)

2 (18.2%)

65

(19.8%)

41 (80.4%) 61 (80.3%)

9 (81.8%) 264

(80.2%)

Caste

Educational qualification Matriculation

30

(15.7%)

_

1

(1.3%)

_

31

(9.4%)

Senior Secondary

68

(35.6%) 20 (39.2%) 16

(21.1%)

_

104

(31.6%)

Graduation & Above

93

(48.7%) 31 (60.8%) 59

(77.6%) 11 (100%) 194

(59%)

Total

191

(100%)

(100%)

(100%)

51 (100%) 76

11 (100%) 329

Results reveal that most of the respondents age is above 40 years and most of the respondents are married. It shows that a majority of the respondents follow the Indian standard of marriage. Further results reveal that majority of the respondents are Hindu followed by Sikh. Hindu religion is the most dominant religion in Chandigarh followed by Sikh.Minority groups include Buddhist, Christian, Jains and Muslims. The preponderance of the Police officials adhering to the Hindu and the Sikh religious communities, may be due to their higher representation in the population of the Chandigarh. Results also indicate that most of the respondents are belong to general category while most of the respondents are graduate and post graduate.

Health related problems and level of job satisfaction among the police officials The second objective is to analyse the health related problems and the level of job satisfaction of the police officials. According to Terry et al. (1993) high level of stress is the prime factor of low level of job satisfaction. Fair brother and Warn (2003) confirm that occupational stress is conversely related to job satisfaction. Therefore table no. II depicted the health related problems and its influence upon the level of job satisfaction of the respondents.

Table No. II Distribution of the respondents showing association between types of health related problems and levels of job satisfaction 141

Types of health problem

Level of job satisfaction

Total

Lowly satisfied Moderately satisfied Highly satisfied

NA

168 (79.6%)

69

(81.2%)

29

(87.9%)

266 (80.9%)

Physical ailments

7

(3.3%)

4

(4.7%)

2

(6.1%)

13

(4%)

Mental ailments

36

(17.1%)

12

(14.1%)

2

(6.1%)

50

(15.2%)

Total

211 (100%)

85

(100%)

33

(100%)

329

(100%)

Ď&#x2021;2=3.311,df-4,P>.05 Data reveals that out of the total 15.2 percent respondents were suffering from mental ailments related problem such as stress, hyper tension etc. The reasons could be long working hours and lacking government holidays, lack of time for the family, no promotion opportunities, uncongenial relation with superordinates and colleagues, lack of congenial working environment .Among those respondents who were lowly satisfied 17.1 percent have

mental ailment related problem, 3.3 percent suffering

from physical ailment. Data also indicates that 4 percent respondents suffering from physical ailments such as back pain, legs related problems. The reasons could be long working hours working shifts, night shifts, VIPs security etc. behind physical ailments of the respondent . The value of chi square came out to be not significant. Results depicted that more respondents who were affected from stress related health problems were lowly satisfied .This could be due to long working hours which does not allow time for recreation and becomes a reason of lowly satisfaction with their job.Similar findings were reported by Terry et al . (1993), Fairbrother and Warn (2003) Recommendations & conclusion From the extensive study on police officials in Chandigarh , it is revealed that majority of the police officials are lowly satisfied and mental ailment such as stress is the one of the causes of the job dissatisfaction. There is a recommendation based on the findings of the research that to improve job satisfaction among police officials, it is necessary to institute a mechanism which will helpful in stress management programs when police officials executing their tasks. It is vital to pay attention to the psychological needs of the officials to improve their job satisfaction when assigning tasks to them.

Long working hours shift at a stretch, lack of promotion and uncongenial relation with colleagues and superordinates are the impediments in the stress management.

142

To mitigate the stress level among police officials police department can play an important role and improve the satisfaction of the officials by using interventions of the best practices that can develop a general framework to reduce stress for the development of the officials. Through Strategies such as to improve job satisfaction of the officials include the creation of working environment that is friendly and provision of improved facilities to enhance the abilities of the officers to perform their duties .

Further invention which enhance recreational activities

such as quality time with family ,

government holidays especially in the festivals could be path breaking steps in the stress management.

Another major factor is police act whose formation is 1861 and still police rules such as holidays, allowances are based on it.Therefore police act should be amended.

References: 

Anshel, M. H. (2000). ‗A conceptual model and implications for coping with stressful events in police work‘, Crime Justice and Behavior, Available at http://dx.doi.org/1 0.1177/ 009385 4800027003006(accessed 19 may 2017).



Abdulla, J & Djebavni, R. (2011). ‗Determinants of Job Satisfaction in the UAE: A Case Study of Dubai police‘, 40(1): 126-146.

 

Beehr, T. A., and Newman, J. E. (1978). ‗Job stress, employee health, and organization effectiveness: A facet analysis, model, and literature review‘,Personnel Psychology, 31(4):665699.

  

Caplan, R. D., Cobb, S. and French, J. R. P. (1975). Job demands and worker health; main effects and occupational differences. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, (NIOSH).



Calisir, F, Gumussoy, CA & iskin, I. (2011). ‗Factors affecting intention to quit among IT profesionals in Turkey‘, 40(4): 514-533.



Crank, J., Culberton, R., Hewitt, J., and Regoli, B. (1993). ‗An Assessment of Work Stress among Police Executives‘, Journal of Criminal Justice,21(4):313-324.



Dietrich, J, Smith, J. (1986). ‗The Nonmedical use of Drugs Including Alcohol among Police Personnel: a Critical Literature Review.‘ Journal of Police Science and Administration, 14 (4):300-306.



Fairbrother, K. & Warn, J. (2003). Workplace dimnsions, stress and job satisfaction. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18(1), 8– 21.

  

Golembiewski, Robert T., and Byong-Seob Kim. (1990). ‗Burnout in Police Work: Stressors, Strain, and the Phase Model‘, Police Studies ,13 (2): 74-80.

Kohan, A. & O'Connor, B. P.(2002). ‗Police Officer Job Satisfaction in Relation to Mood, Well-Being, and Alcohol Consumption‘, The Journal of Psychology, 136 (3): 307- 319.

Malach-Pines, A. and G. Keinan.(2007). ‗Stress and Burnout in Israel Police Officers during Palestinian Uprising (Intifada).‘International Journal of Stress Manage‘, 14(2): 160-174.

Miller, L. (2006). Practical Police Psychology. Illinois: Charles Thomas.

 

143

 

Noblet, A. J., and Rodwell, J. J. (2009). Integrating job stress and social exchange theories to predict employee strain in reformed public sector contexts‘, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19:555-578.

  

Robinson, H. M., Sigman, M. R., & Wilson, J. P. (1997). ‗Duty-Related Stressors and PTSD Symptoms in Suburban Police Officers‘, Psychological Reports, 81(3): 835–845.

Terry, D.J., Nielsen, M., & Perchard, L. (1993). Effects of work stress on psychological wellbeing and job satisfaction: The stress-buffering role of social support‘, Australian Journal of Psychology, 45(3):168–175.



Territo, L. & Vetter, H. (1981). ‗Stress and Police Personnel‘, Journal of Police Science and Administration, 9(2):195-207.

Violanti, J, Marshall, J, Howe, G. (1985). Stress, Coping and Alcohol Use: the Police Connection‘, Journal of Police Science and Administration, 13(2):106-10.



144

INDIANS IN UAE: POPULATION AND LABOUR FORCE IN DUBAI Mr. Kapil Dahiya , Research Scholar , Centre for West Asian Studies, School Of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University ,New Delhi.

Abstract Men money and material are the three important aspects that always play an important role in the success of any business. Men or in other words skilled manpower is one of the most important tools of any industry. The skilled labour, if on the one hand is the requirement of the industry, best job opportunities are always seen by the work force. Even unskilled manpower is also sought in the industry, people migrate to different places for the jobs and for many other reasons. Dubai is both the preferred and easy destination for the workers. Last decade has witnessed the spurt in the workforce moving towards this place.This paper will focus on Indian Population in UAE and Dubai in particular and special emphasis will be how Indian skill labour working in Dubai from which Dubai ranks number one in commercial and business hub. This sector has witnessed an exponential growth in cultural and religious advantages and in tourism having huge potential for future development. Efforts will also be made to critically examine both the positive and negative impacts of this fast-emerging population of Indians in Dubai. Further, an attempt will be made to find out the various strategies of intra-regional cooperation. The paper will discuss the said issues thematically and develop an independent and coherent perspective to assess its implications on Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s interests in business with UAE. Keywords: Migration policy, Economic development, Workforce, Intra â&#x20AC;&#x201C;regional cooperation, labour development INTRODUCTION During the mid of twentieth century, when oil was discovered in UAE many people started visiting the countries like Sharjah and Dubai where they saw the prospects to flourish. Many people from Asian continent visited this destination for business and employment purposes. These people were fascinated by the better earnings prospects. Merchants from many countries like Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, Pakistan, and other countries started arriving in UAE. The original inhabitants of UAE are essentially lesser in the entire population of the continent.

However, after the discovery of oil and its export in the last six decades, it has experienced rapid growth, the result of a combination of high natural rates of increase among the UAEâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s indigenous population, and a massive inward migration of expatriates who now comprise more than three quarters of the population. Thus, a small indigenous population, a large expatriate population, and immense wealth generated by oil are the dominant socio-economic features of the UAE. In addition to population size and age composition, social factors in the UAE have a great impact in determining the size of the UAE labour force.

At the top is the indigenous labour force, which constitutes about 10percent of the total work force.

Below this is an unlimited supply of foreign labour. The UAE has reaped benefits from foreign skilled 145

and unskilled workers, who initiated its economic development in the early 1970s and subsequently have come to sustain it. The employment pattern in the UAE does not reflect the structure of output.

The oil sector employs only 1.6percent of the UAE labour force, reflecting the capital-intensive nature of the industry. Nearly 39percent of the labour force is engaged in community, social and personal services. The unemployment rate in the UAE (0.5percent) is remarkably low, which means that the UAE economy is effectively at full employment. The UAE is highly urbanized. This has been attributed to the cluster of public services, transportation and communications, financial markets and service-based industries in the cities (Ibrahim Al Abed and Peter Hellyer 2001: 252).

In less than two decades, Dubai has transformed itself from an obscure Gulf emirate into a global centre for business, tourism, and luxury living. It is a fascinating example in light-speed urban development, hyper consumerism, massive immigration, and vertiginous inequality. Its rulers have succeeded in making Dubai into a worldwide brand, publicizing its astonishing hotels and leisure opportunities while at the same time successfully downplaying its complex policies towards guest workers and suppression of dissent.

Dubai has achieved such success Ali (2010) brings alive a society rigidly divided between expatriate Westerners, living self-indulgent lifestyles on short-term work visas. Native Emiratis who are largely passive observers and beneficiaries of what Dubai has become, and workers from the developing world who provide the manual labour and domestic service needed to keep the emirate running, often at great personal cost.

Table 1: Population in UAE Year

UAE National

Expatriate

2019

9.68Million

8.447

2018

9.54Million

8.45

2017

9.40Million

2.97

2016

9.27Million

2.69

Source: UAE year book,2018

Table 2: Population Distribution in UAE No. in Million Male

Female

Total (Millio n)

1. National

6.89

2.65

1.1

2. Expatriate

6.72

1.72

8.447 146

Total Pop

9.54

Source: www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/uae-population-statistics/ Table 3: Asian Emigrant worker in UAE Total (Millio n)

Total (%)

1. India

2.623

27.49

2. Pakistan

1.21

12.69

3.Bangladesh

0.706

7.40

4. Philippines

0.530

5.56

5. Iran

.454

4.76

Source: www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/uae-population-statistics/ Table 4: Indian Emigrants in UAE No. in Million Male

Female

Total

1. Worker

1.5

.4

1.89

2. Dependent

.59

.15

.74

Total

2.63

Source: www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/uae-population-statistics/ WORK FORCE LABOUR DEVELOPMENT: The Indian skilled and unskilled labour tapped in labour workforce in Dubai. The UAE population as per UAE Government data was 93,04,277 in 2017 of which three-fourths are immigrants from foreign countries including India (khaleejtimes.com). UAE population by age 65.90% of population is between 25-55 years of age it clearly shows that the major chunks of the Indian people are working in Dubai.

The approximate break-up of Indian immigrants in UAE is 65% belong to the blue-collar category (employed mostly in construction companies, municipalities, agricultural farms), 20% belong to the white collar non-professionals (clerical staff, shop assistants, salesmen, accountants, etc.) and 15% are professionals and businessmen.

Due to the fastest growing economy and good infrastructure, UAE has attracted many people to work and develop themselves in such a congenial environment. Overall development of business export, import travel and tourism, better living facilities have prompted the workforce to go to UAE countries to improve their working and earning capabilities. More employment avenues are generated which are 147

the centre of attraction for Indian labour force, which impacts on economic development of both the countries.

Table 5: Occupational Distribution Category

%

1.construction Municipalities Agriculture

65

2. Clerical Staff, assistant, Accountant, 20 Salesman 15

3. Businessman

Source: http://www.indembassyuae.gov.in/eoi.php?id=UAE Migration policy influence on temporary High and low skilled migrants: The Popular destination for temporary labour migrants seeking employment opportunities and higher standards of living.27.49% of population has been migrated from India (2019). Over 2 million Indian migrants are estimated to be living in the UAE, which is over 27 percent of the total population of the UAE.90 percent of the country's private workforce, the UAE attracts both low- and high-skilled migrants due to its economic attractiveness, relative political stability, and modern infrastructure. Easy visa and comfortable migration policies of both the countries with consensus of government make ease movement of labour force to gulf countries. Indians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) constitute the largest part of population of the country. The large scale of the movement of foreign citizens to the UAE has been revealed in a United Nations report, which shows the population shift from India to the Emirates is the second largest globally between any two countries.

It has been confirmed from the government sources that the return of growth to the country and the resumption of large-scale hiring from abroad, that 1.2 million new labour permits had been issued in 2014. In 2012, figure amounted to 945,460 and topped up a further 658,422 renewed permits. With fair increase in labour in 2018 it reaches to 1.8 million due to easy migration policy and comfortable working conditions. The vast majority of foreign-born working men are employed in low-skilled service sectors, while women are most often employed in domestic services and retail jobs. The region also attracts large numbers of high-skilled migrants from countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), particularly in the oil and gas, education, finance, and investment sectors. The number of entry visas for the purpose of residency increased steadily over the decade. This confirms the hypothesis of a trend, noticed earlier, towards the settlement or long-term stay of the foreign families in the Gulf state.

Table 6: Places

UAE by Emigrates Million Dubai

3.32 148

Abu Dabi

34.7

3. Sharjah

1.51

4. Ajman

.58

Source:www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/uae-population-statistics/

Outside Labor Force (Non–Economically Active) 15 Years and Over by Nationality and Gender – Emirate of Dubai (2017-18)

Source:https://www.mohre.gov.ae/en/data-library/statistical-report.aspx INTRA –REGIONAL COOPERATION INITIATIVES: With the diversification of UAE economy, foreign trade and the oil and gas sectors were the fulcrum of bilateral relations in the decades preceding the end of the oil era boom. But since then, the UAE has pursued an aggressive strategy of diversifying its economy, and its relations with India have benefited as a result among the Indian States, Kerala is the most represented followed by Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The long-time presence of the diaspora helps to anchor bilateral relations. This provides tangible benefits, such as making it easier for Middle Eastern governments to justify to their populations the expansion of ties with Delhi. However, Indians from the Northern States, all put together, also form significant portion of the UAE Indian population. Govt policies are favourable keeping in line with the diverse linguistic and cultural ethos of India, there are various linguistic/regional associations for social and cultural activities. The multidimensional relations with 149

almost all countries. That certainly helps recalibrate our relations with the UAE. India now is not only a growing economic power, but also an aspirational power with vision for peace, security and stability UAE as its ‗valued partner‘ the rapidly expanding bilateral cooperation focus on many new sectors such as IT, space tech, tourism, defence manufacturing and renewable energy and collaboration between security agencies with an eye on fighting the global menace of terrorism. (K. C. Zachariah, B. A. Prakash and S. Irudaya Rajan ).Not only this other areas of armaments, transfer of technology cyberspace, maritime transport, prevention of human trafficking, agriculture and other areas of mutual interest.

Both countries share the Common economic goals with the growing opportunities for jobs in India, along with the appreciating rupee, booming stock market, structural reforms such as GST, ease of doing business have all helped prepare a solid foundation for its growth. Another reason for strong relation is rigorous follow up to strategic partnership for the greater depth in relations. For elevation of the UAE and India‘s relation to a comprehensive strategic partnership, there are several high-level committees which are working in parallel to advance the bilateral agenda.(MEI,GOI,2017) TOURISM BUSINESS A CONTRIBUTOR: With a 3.3-million-strong population, the Indian diaspora in the UAE is the largest in the world, and growing. The immense development in trade and leisure activities, it has become the favourite tourist destination for many people. Tourism flows will be an important factor during 2019, the travel and tourism sector accounts for nearly 5% of the UAE‘s national output. However, tourism flows in Dubai inched up by only 0.4% in January-August 2018 from a year earlier because of weaker economic growth in visitors‘ countries (Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, etc.) and higher accommodation and restaurant prices after the introduction of the VAT on rise. (Arabian business.com) To encourage this more emphasis due to steps of UAE ease visit visa norms for Indians and increases to 1,076 flights every week between the UAE and India, there has also been a surge of tourists and visitors The result is greater people-to-people interaction between the two countries — whether it is Indian tourists seeking a glimpse of the sea, sands and Burj Khalifa in the UAE, or Emiratis travelling to India for education, investments, medical treatment or simply on a vacation. It has emerged as the major business destination also that both the countries have bilateral treaties for the development of trade and tourism together. Dubai the sixth most visited country in the world, 15.8 million visitors visit the country where from India only 2.073 million tourist visited dubai in (2017-18) year from 2017 to 2018 it reaches from 14.2 million to 15.8 million companies.

INDIA’S INTERESTS IN BUSINESS WITH UAE: India‘s growing interest in the Gulf region driven by its economic and trade ties, energy stakes, and presence of some 7 million Indians in the Gulf (and 2.6 million in UAE), are important factors pushing India and UAE to enhance their engagement. (Archis Mohan) The UAE has a special place even among the Gulf countries due to its syncretic culture, business-friendly atmosphere, willingness to invest in the Indian economy and its important role in maintaining peace and stability in the region.

Indian businesses have equally established a strong footprint in the UAE. Undoubtedly, trade and commerce forms the backbone of the bilateral relations. The UAE is the third largest foreign trade partner to India after China and USA. In June 2018 Abu Dhabi announced a 3-year AED 50 billion programme (USD 13.6 billion; equivalent to 1.2% of Abu Dhabi‘s annual GDP) in order to promote growth, tourism and job creation. Also, the UAE has approved a USD 16.4 billion budget for 2019, a 150

17% increase from 2018. Private consumption remained under pressure in 2018 due to higher fuel prices, a new VAT, and the removal of some subsidies. However, higher government spending and improving growth should support household spending throughout 2019. India is the second largest direct investor in the UAE at the end of 2016 with $6.6 billion. India-UAE relationship a step further as both countries explore ways to enhance business ties, intensify economic cooperation and increase innovation and entrepreneurship in sectors of mutual interest, In 2017, trade relations between the UAE and India reached $53 billion, of which $35 billion is non-oil trade. Gulf countries heavily reliant on foreign labour to sustain economic growth and high standard of living in the country.

In the energy sector, though UAE is only the fifth largest supplier of crude oil to India, there is significant mutual synergy in utilizing the infinite possibilities offered in energy cooperation. There is a scope for improving the investment climate in India to attract UAE businesses. Though India has a huge market and there is a significant scope for growth in automobile industry, services sector, agriculture and allied industries. If business regulations are eased and the time spent on getting clearances can be reduced, it can lead to major investments from Gulf and Emirati investors.

CONCLUSION The ever-increasing demands of the skilled and unskilled workforce and moreover, easy migration policies and cordial political relations between both the countries have grown the possibilities of manpower migration in the country. With the growth of oil, tourism, industry and commerce in the region it has attracted many people towards UAE. It has become the preferred destination for the businessmen, employees and the traveller. This migration has not only improved the relations but also boost the economy along with the cultural and other bilateral ties. With liberal policy in its use of foreign expertise and skills in domestic industry has shown tolerance towards the importation of unskilled workers to fuel the growth of the domestic economy. Still there are many untapped areas with further opportunities need to be considered to accelerate economic growth.

REFERENCES: 1. http://www.indembassyuae.gov.in/eoi.php?id=UAE 2. https://www.arabianbusiness.com/politics-economics/407569-uae-economy-to-grow-42-in-2019-sayscentral-bank.

3. khaleejtimes.com/business/economy/uae-india.

4. www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/uae-population-statistics/ 5. https://www.mohre.gov.ae/en/data-library/statistical-report.aspx.

6. http://www.indembassyuae.gov.in/eoi.php?id=UAE. 7. K. C. Zachariah, B. A. Prakash and S. Irudaya Rajan, Indian Workers in UAE: Employment, Wages and Working Conditions, Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 39, No. 22 (May 29 - Jun. 4, 2004), pp. 22272234.

8. The United Arab Emirates: Some Lessons in Economic Development, World Institute of development & economic research, Yaw Nyarko, feb2010.

9. MEA, GOI, ‗Joint Statement between the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of India‘, August 17, 2015.

10. Archis Mohan, ‗UAE Says Ball in India‘s Court to Set up $75 billion Investment Fund‘, Business Standard, January 24, 2017.

11. MEA, GOI, ‗List of Agreements/MoUs Exchanged during the State Visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to India‘, January 25, 2017.

12. India UAE set to upgrade ties to comprehensive strategic partnership, January13, 2017.

151

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF NPAs OF SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL BANKS IN INDIA Dr.Ruchi Sharma P.G Deptt.of Economics GGDSD College,Chandigarh.

Abstract The banking sector has grown manifold in size since the time of bank nationalisation. The predominant position of government owned or public sector banks is a unique feature of Indian banking. Providing credit for infrastructure development and other priority sectors are a vital part of banking business. This is especially the case for the PSU banks that are more susceptible to political pressures. The present study attempts to examine and compare the level of NPAs in Public Sector ,Private Sector and Foreign Banks in India .One way ANOVA and linear regression techniques have been used. The study shows that the magnitude of NPAs is increasing in public sector banks as compared to the private sector and Foreign banks. Therefore, banks need to effectively control their NPAs in order to increase their profitability and efficiency.

Introduction The problem of NPAs in the Indian banking sector is one of the foremost and the most formidable problems. Higher NPA ratio trembles the confidence of investors, depositors, lenders etc. It causes poor recycling of funds, which in turn has adverse effect on the deployment of credit. The non-recovery of loans effects not only further availability of credit but also financial soundness of the banks.

NPAs put detrimental impact on the profitability as banks stop to earn income on one hand and attract higher provisioning compared to standard assets on the other hand. Additional provision on incremental NPAs has direct bearing on the profitability of the banks. A Non-Performing Asset refers to a classification for loans on the books of financial institutions that are in default or are in arrears on scheduled payments of principal or interest. According to RBI, term loans on which interest or instalment of principal remain overdue for a period of more than 90 days from the end of a particular quarter is called a Non-performing Asset. However, in terms of short duration crop loans if the loan (instalment / interest) is not paid for two crop seasons, it would be termed as a NPA. For Long Duration Crops, the above would be one crop season from the due date.

Gross NPAs of Commercial Banks Gross NPAs are the sum total of all loan assets that are classified as NPAs as per RBI guidelines as on Balance Sheet date. Gross NPA reflects the quality of the loans made by banks. It consists of all the non-standard assets like sub-standard, doubtful and loss assets.

The gross NPAs of Scheduled Commercial Banks showed a reduced trend during 2005-07 but witnessed an increasing trend thereafter. The analysis exhibited in table no. 1 highlights a deterioration in the asset quality since 2008. The financial crisis and recessionary pressures affected the quality of loan portfolio, as evidenced from the highergrowth rate of gross NPA since 2007-08.

152

Table 1 :Bank Group Wise Gross NPAs of Scheduled Commercial Banks (Amount in ` Million) Year

Public sector banks

Private sector Banks

Foreign Banks

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Average

465985 421173 389730 406000 459176 573009 710474 1124892 1644616 2272639 2784680 5399563 6847323 8956013

85645 75988 91450 129220 167874 173067 179049 182102 203817 241835 336903.5 558531 919146 1258629

22330 20370 23990 30840 72487 71105 50445 62689 79256 115678 107578 157980 136210 138297

2318234

328804

77804

All Scheduled commercial Banks 573960 517531 505170 566060 699537 817181 939968 1369683 1927689 2630152 3229162 6116074 7902679 10352939 2724842

The Public Sector Banks are more exposed to credit risk as inferred from the higher growth of gross NPA (25.53%), compared to private sector banks (23%) and foreign banks(15.06%) for the period 2005-2018. Unlike the private banks, the public sector banks have to provide loans to vulnerable sectors of the economy, like Infrastructre, Mining, Aviation, Iron-and-steel, and Textiles. These are considered as the "priority sectors" as they are essentially the backbone of the Indian economy.

However, these sectors were struggling with stalled projects and low demand due to Global recession since 2008-09.Inceased Gross NPAs of Nationalised Banks since 2008 were due to non recovery of excessive loans provided to these sectors.

153

Net NPAs of Scheduled Commercial Banks It is observed that net NPA of public sector banks have a rising trend from the year 2006 to 2015 . The rate of growth of net NPAs was low from 2006-2009. But 2009 onwards the growth rate of NPAs was quite alarming. In 2010 ,NPAs grew at 40% as compared to 2009.Global economic slowdown affected all the countries and India was no exception to that. Various Indian sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, service etc. have been facing slowdown. In order to aid these sectors, Indian banks have been restructuring the advances provided through measures like interest rate reduction, extension of repayments etc., so as to bring back them to the normal state. The increasing restructured advances further led to the rise in NPAs. The NPAs of Public Sector Banks rose from Rs. 296434.2million(2010) to Rs.4544727million(2018).

Table 2:Bank Group Wise Net NPAs of Scheduled Commercial Banks (Amount in ` Million) Year

Public sector banks

Private sector Banks

Foreign Banks

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Average

169035.4 145655.3 153249.8 178364.6 211554.3 296434.2 360545.5 593912.4 900369.3 1306348 1599511 3203751 3830889 4544727 1249596

42115.52 31702.9 40282 56469.4 74120.27 65059.85 44321.59 44012.12 59943.71 88615.41 141283.2 266774.1 477802.2 642222 148194.6

6391 8076 9275 12466 29967 29772 13125 14124 26626 31596 17617 27619 21406 15481 18824.36

All Scheduled commercial Banks 217541.9 185434.2 202806.8 247300 315641.6 391266.1 417992.1 652048.5 986939 1426559 1758411 3498144 4330097 5202430 1416615

154

However, the Gross and net NPAs of foreign banks have been lowest except years 2009 and 2010.

The NPAs of foreign banks in these two years have been highest among all the bank groups. This was due to recession in the global economy. The industrialists could neither raise exports nor face adequate growth of domestic demand.

The net NPAs of private sector banks have a rising trend since 2006 but they again started declining after 2009 .Private sector banks had low NPA level since 2009 because of improved bank policies and a better way of collection of loans and other funds. This trend continued till 2013.However ,from 2014 the NPAs again started rising .Several studies have been conducted on studying the Non performing assets of banking sector . These studies have been placed in chronological order so that proper perspective may be developed for pursuing the present study.

Review of Literature The accumulation of non-performing assets in banks has assumed great importance as it tends to reflect the asset quality as a whole (Meeker and Laura, 1987).

Several studies are based on PSBs and NPA which also confirmed the conversing effect of NPAs on the productivity of public sector banks (PSBs) such as Rajan and Dhal (2003); Prasad et al. (2004); Mohan (2005) and Tandon et al. (2009).

Rajender and Rajesham (2008) conducted a study on management of NPAs in Indian scheduled commercial banks which mainly focused on the causes and consequences of NPAs. They found that there is faulty credit Management which is contributing for mounting NPAs in SCBs in India.

Choudhary and Tondon (2011) analyzed the performance of commercial banks in India during postliberalization. The result showed that all the banks have shown decline in NPAs where increase has been depicted in capital adequacy ratio. Public sector banks have already sacrificed a lot of their profits for the achievement of social objectives.

Veerakumar (2012) conducted a study on Non-Performing Assets in Priority Sector: A Threat to Indian Scheduled Commercial Banks. Various statistical tools like multiple linear regression analysis and polynomial regression for trend were used. Through his study he came to a conclusion that one of the major reasons for NPAs in the banking sector is the â&#x20AC;&#x2014;DirectLending Systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; by the RBI .To improve the efficiency and profitability, the NPAs have to be reduced further. The bank management may speed up recovery of good loans and bad loans through various modes .

Pandey et al (2016) analyzed the non-performing assets in banks .According to him by 2011, the Indian economy entered into a business cycle recession and demand started slowing down . The accumulation of non-performing assets in banks has assumed great importance as it tends to reflect the asset quality as a whole.

Objective of the study Objective of the Study is to assess whether any significant different bank groups in India

difference exists in gross NPA among

Unit of Study The work is confined to Scheduled Commercial Banks which consist of Public Sector Banks (Nationalized banks, SBI and its associates), Private Banks (old and new) and Foreign Banks .

155

Period of Study The duration of the period selected for observing the trends of NPAs has been selected as 2005-2018.

Descriptive research has been used for the present study. The data regarding the NPAs has been collected from RBI website.

Testing of Hypothesis for difference in Gross NPAs In order to test the significance of differences in gross NPAs among different bank groups in India, the following hypothesis is tested using One Way ANOVA. H0: There exists no significant difference in the movement of gross NPA among different bank groups in India.

H1: There exists a significant difference in the movement of gross NPA among different bank groups in India.

The results of One way Anova are summarised below Table 3: Anova test summary Sum of df squares 4.219E +13 2

Mean Square

F

Sig.

Between 2.109E+13 8.122 .001 Groups Within 1.013E+14 39 2.597E+12 Groups Total 1.435E+14 41 By looking at the table we can see that the significance value is .001. This is considerably lower than our significance threshold of P< 0.05.So we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternate hypoththesis. There exists a significant difference in the movement of gross NPA among different bank groups in India Post â&#x20AC;&#x201C;hoc test(Turkey) is conducted to determine which specific groups are significant from another.

Group 1 denotes the Public Sector Banks,Group 2 denotes the Private Sector Banks and Group 3 denotes the Foreign Sector Banks.The results of test are summarised below.

Table 4:Anova Post â&#x20AC;&#x201C;hoc test (Turkey) results (I)Banking Group

(J)Banking Group

Mean Difference(IJ) 1 2 1989429.750* 3 2240429.857* 2 1 -1989429.75* 3 251000.107 3 1 -2240429.86* 2 -251000.107 *The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

Sig. .006 .002 .006 .911 .002 .911

156

The output compares each group. There exists significant difference in the movement of gross NPAs among Public sector Banks and Private sector banks .The difference between Gross NPAs of Public sector Banks and Foreign Banks is also significant. There exists no significant difference in the movement of gross NPA among Private sector banks and Foreign Banks in India.

Testing of Hypothesis for difference in Net NPAs In order to test the significance of differences in net NPA among different bank groups in India, the following hypothesis is tested using One Way ANOVA. H0: There exists no significant difference in the movement of net NPAs among different bank groups in India.

H1: There exists a significant difference in the movement of net NPAs among different bank groups in India.

The results of One way Anova are summarized below Table 5: Anova test summary

Between Groups Within Groups Total

Sum of df squares 1.281E+13 2

Mean Square

F

Sig.

6.404E+12

8.329

.001

2.999E+13

39

7.689E+11

4.280E+13

41

By looking at the table we can see that the significance value is .001. This is considerably lower than our significance threshold of P< 0.05.So we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternate hypothesis. There exists a significant difference in the movement of Net NPAs among different bank groups in India.

Post â&#x20AC;&#x201C;hoc test (Turkey) is conducted to determine which specific groups are significant from another Table: 6

Anova Post â&#x20AC;&#x201C;hoc test (Turkey) results

(I)Banking Group

(J)Banking Group

Mean Difference(I- Sig. J) 1101401.609* 1 2 .005 3 1230771.843* .002 -1101401.61* 2 1 .005 3 12930.234 .920 3 1 -1230771.84* .002 2 -129370.234 .920 *The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

The output compares each group. There exists significant difference in the movement of Net NPAs among Public sector Banks and Private sector banks .The difference between Net NPAs of Public

157

sector Banks and Foreign Banks is also significant. There exists no significant difference in the movement of Net NPA among Private sector banks and Foreign Banks in India.

Regression Study – Net NPA of All SCBs as Dependent Variable A regression analysis is undertaken considering the net NPAs of all SCBs as dependent variable.Net NPA of Public Sector Banks ,Private Sector Banks and Foreign Banks are taken as independent variables.Three separate regression equations were formed . The regressive model's resulting function is written as Y = β0+ β1 X1 Table :7 Linear Regression Results Constant Coefficient RIndependent squared Variables Public Sector 16744.621 1.01** .999 Banks Private Sector 128981.09 .964** .930 Banks Foreign Banks 633128.44 .218 .048 ** indicactes that the results are significant at 5%.

F-value 12456.00** 160.028** .601

149 The results of linear regression confirmed the statistical significance of Public sector banks and Private sector banks on the net NPA of all SCBs. Further theanalysis also confirmed that the net NPA of both Public sector banks and Private sector banks are statistically significant explanatory variables for themovement of the net NPA of all SCBs. Conclusion Non performing assets are a part and parcel of banking activity. A study has been done on the Public sector Banks, Private sector Banks and Foreign Banks.The study is based on secondary data, from the annual reports of Reserve Bank of India for years starting from 2005 to 2018. An analysis of the data has been done through statistical tool, ANOVA. The study finds out that there is significant difference between the NPAs of the Public sector banks and Private sector Banks .Significant difference also exists between NPAs of the Public sector banks and Foreign sector banks at five percent level of significance. However no significant difference exists between NPAs of Private sector Banks and Foreign Banks.Linear regression analysis confirms thatnet NPA of Public sector banks and Private sector banks are statistically significant explanatory variables for the movement of the net NPA of all SCBs.High NPAs degrade credit rating of bank ,lowers its credibility as well as ability to raise fresh capital. Unless NPAs are dealt with quickly and efficiently, profitability and liquidity of banks can get severely affected and resource allocation in the economy becomes inefficient.

Bibliography:   

Aravanan S and Vijaykumar N (2007) Non-Performing assets: unavoidable but not unmanageable. The Mgmt Acct 42: 568-74 Banks‘ Deteriorating NPAs a concern:Pranab Mukherjee,Jan 6,2012 Choudhary V and Tondon S (2011) Performance of commercial banks in India during postliberalisation. Retrieved on Sep 03, 2012 from http:www.skirec.com.

158



Ghosh, Saibal and Saggar, Mridul .(1998). ―Narrow Banking: Theory, evidence and prospects in India‖. Published in: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 34, No. 9 ,pp. 1091-1103.



Meeker, L. G. and Laura, G. (1987) A Note on Non- Performing Loans as an Indicator of Asset Quality.Journal of Banking and Finance, 11 (1), pp.161-168.

Mohan, (2005). India‘s Experience with Financial Sector Development, In: Basu, P. (ed) India‘s Financial Sector: Recent Reforms, Future Challenges, Macmillan India Ltd., New Delhi.

Pandey, R., Patnaik, I. and Shah, A. 2016. Dating business cycles in India. NIPFP Working Paper 175, September 2016.

Rajender K and Rajesham C (2008) Management of NPAs in Indian Commercial Banks. The Mgmt Acct 43: 602-08 Ranjan, R. and Dhal, S. (2003). Non-Performing Loans and Terms of Credit of Public Sector Banks in India: An Empirical Assessment. Reserve Bank of India Publication, Mumbai, Occasional Papers, Winter, 24 (3).

Tandon, (2009). Loan Portfolio Risks Management in Banking Business –Nonperforming Assets Management in Indian Context – An Empirical Study of Andhra Bank, Working Paper.

       

Veerakumar K (2012) Non-Performing Assets in Priority Sector: A threat to Indian Scheduled Commercial Banks. Intl J Fin and Econ Res 93: 6-23.

159

IMPACT OF GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST): A CASE STUDY OF HIMACHAL PRADESH Dr. Ajay Sharma, Associate Professor, GGD SD College, Chandigarh ABSTRACT Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented in India on July 1, 2017. There are more than 160 countries in the world that have implemented GST. The present paper attempts to find out impact of GST on business houses situated in Punjab using Stakeholders Analysis. It analyzed the perception of Traders, Service Providers and Manufactures. Respondents opinioned that GST has fostered the economic growth. Further, Online process, processing time and secreting procedure has systematized indirect tax system. Increase in compliance and operational cost and higher tax burden are disadvantages of GST and Present tax rates system can be further improved in favour of public at large.

Keywords: GST, Stakeholders analysis, Indirect Tax System, Himachal Pradesh

INTRODUCTION Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a tax on goods and services, leviable at every point of the supply chain, in which the manufacturer or service provider can claim the input tax credit and its ultimate burden is borne by the last customer. It is a destination based tax and its burden borne by final Consumer.GST is implemented in India on a dual structure basis i.e. the Centre and the States have concurrent powers to levy, collect and administer GST. The GST system is having two componentsâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Central GST and State GST/UTGST. The Central GST and the State GST/UTGST is levied simultaneously on every transaction of supply of goods or services or both except the exempt supply and the transactions which are upto the prescribed threshold limits.

Introduction of GST is a very significant step in the field of indirect tax reforms in India. By amalgamating a large number of Central and State taxes into a single tax and allowing set-off of prior-stage taxes, it is supposed to mitigate the ill effects of cascading and pave the way for a common national market. For the consumers, the biggest gain expected is in terms of a reduction in the overall tax burden on goods, which is currently estimated at 25%-30%. Introduction of GST makes our products competitive in the domestic and international markets.

Studies show that this instantly spurs economic growth. There may also be revenue gain for the Centre and the States due to widening of the tax base, increase in trade volumes and improved tax compliance.

Punjab has reported an average shortfall of 37% (Rs 580 crore) in collection against the protected revenue of Rs 1,567 crore per month during this period, according to the latest revenue trends data (up to April 2018) compiled by the GST council secretariat.Only Himachal Pradesh (42%), Uttarakhand (39%), Bihar (38%) and Jammu and Kashmir (37%) are stated that have reported a higher or equal shortfall as compared to Punjab. On the other hand, states such as Maharashtra (3%), Tamil Nadu (3%), Andhra Pradesh (7%), Uttar Pradesh (12%) and Haryana (18%) have done better in revenue collection. In actual terms, the average monthly gap of Rs 580 crore in Punjab is the second highest in the country after Karnataka, where the shortfall is Rs 876 crore.Though 160

there is shortfall in collection, the revenue of states is protected with an annual growth of 14% over the 2015-16 revenue base under the GST Act for five years. The state has been compensated by the Centre for the shortfall from the cess fund created for this purpose. Overall GST revenue collection of the country stood at Rs 7.4 lakh crore during August 2017 to April 2018, including cess of Rs 62,614 crore that is used for the states‘ compensation.

The gains for shoring up state revenues under the 2003-2017 sop-sweetened industrialisation package for Himachal Pradesh stands reversed, especially from the pharmaceutical industry which has a significant presence around the Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh belt. Under GST, the collection target is Rs 4,064 crore, but by September the revenue collected stood at only Rs 1,653 crore, short by Rs 379 crore for a halfway tax target of Rs 2,032 crore in six months.To make up for the shortfall in GST collections, the Central government has extended a compensation of Rs 579 crore. In the last financial year 2018, Himachal‘s GST collections had fallen short by Rs 1,059 crore, which was borne by the Central government.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The major objective of the study is to understand the issues faced by the business man after the implementation of the GST in India. The main objectives of the study are: 1.

To analyze the perceptions of Manufacturers, Traders and Service Providers related to GST.

2.

To give suggestions to government and policy makers to improve the further mechanism of GST.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE Authors/Year

Objective

Data

Methodology

Findings

 Direct

 GST needed extra time and money

Collection Breen et al., Pronounced the Case (2002)

studies

impact of the of

six

introduction of Victorian GST on small small business

observation  Systematic

their compliance commitments.

interview

 In addition, businesses supposed

in businesses

that the GST produced cash flow

Australia Azmi

problems

and Investigated

390

Perumal

whether

tax questionnaires

(2008)

fairness

were used

 Principal components

 Malaysian

tax

system

is

moderately fair

factor

dimensions that

analysis

exist in western

 Descriptive

countries

obligations from businesses to meet

also

analysis such

exist in Asian

as mean and

country

standard

particularly in 161

Malaysia

deviation

Finance

Scrutinize

Commission

effect

Government

introducing

of (2009)

the -of

India broad

 Capital coefficients computed

goods

B-matrix

and services tax (GST)

 An expectation was made that implementation of broad GST, all in

other things being equal, to raise India's GDP somewhere within a range of 0.9 per cent to 1.7 percent.

on

economic progress

and

global

trade;

deviations

in

rewards to the factors

of

production; and output, prices, capital, employment, efficiency Palil

and Summarised

Ibrahim

the

(2011)

readiness,

Answer of 39

consumer respondents

 Structured survey

were used

 Implementation

of

GST

in

Malaysia of course increase the efficiency of the tax collection

perceptions and

system as well as become a major

acceptance

of

source of indirect income to the

GST

and

government so government should

analysed

the

implement the GST in near future

households'

as an alternative approach to

potential

increase the government revenue.

consumption (purchases) behavior

if

GST

is

introduced Vasanthagopal Studied (2011)

the ---

impact of GST on

various

sectors

like

 Qualitative

 GDP would be big leap indirect

analysis

taxation system and most preferred

 Secondary

form of indirect tax in Asia pacific

sources

region due to its success.

agriculture, manufacturing 162

industry, housing, exim trade Bidin et al., Inspected (2014)

the

 Qualitative

103

perception

of questionnaires

taxpayers

were used

towards

the

execution

of

goods

and

services

tax

(GST)

 Attitude

and

subjective

norms

and

variables were significantly and

quanitative

positively related to the behavioral

and

intention

quantitative approach  Theory

in

of

reasoned

Malaysia

action (TRA) model

Ramli et al., Asserted about Samples (2015)

the compliance 1,108

of SMEs

 Structured

 Out of total compliance costs

survey

58.87% was related with internal

costs of Goods were

compliance costs, 26.01% was

and

Services considered

related with external compliance

Tax

(GST) suitable

among

Small provide

and

Medium reliable

Enterprises.

valid

to

costs and rest 15.12% was related with additional costs.

and data

analysis  Self-

 Analyses have been made about

Sinniah

Assessed

the 206

(2015)

factors

that questionnaire

administered

that attitudes, subjective norms, tax

influence

the were used

questionnaire

knowledge

and

survey

complexity

has

intention

of

 Theories

manufacturer towards

GST

compliance and tried

to

of

planned

tax a

system significant

relationship with the intention to GST compliance.

behaviour  Financial self-

investigate the

interest

relationship

expended

between

model

manufacture's attitudes, subjective, perceived 163

behavioural Anitha (2016)

Examined

 Secondary

the --

effect of GST on

Data

various

sectors logistics

 The fruitful implementation of GST could shrink transportation cycle times,

enhance

supply

chain

of

decisions and lead to consolidation

such

of warehouses which could help

as

logistics extent its potential in

warehousing,

terms of service and growth

transportation and freight Kumar

and Made

Sarkar (2016)

an ---

attempt

to

examine to the

 Secondary

 GST system can be more beneficial

sources of

for the Government as well as

data

stakeholders from the management

major features of

GST

and analysis point of view

and

also focused on the

problems

likely

to

be

faced

by

Central

and

State Governments Anshu

and Reviewed

 Secondary

the and

 To

cope

up

from

hurdles,

Priyadarshi

concept

(2017)

supply chain of

analytical research to resolve the

GST

and

fighting interest of various stake-

grasped

the

holders

source of data

government

and

need

to

go

accomplish

for

the

impact of GST

commitment for a fundamental

in

reform of tax structure in India.

Indian

economy Muthupandi and (2017)

Tried

to The aggregate

Xavier identify

the number

level

of students

knowledge

of learning

the students on four

of

in

colleges

issues of GST constitutes with economic

 Proportionate

 90% of the respondents were aware

random

of the implementation of GST and

sampling

46.67% of the respondents were

technique

strongly disagreed that the GST is

 Percentage

the best tax system adopted by

 Chi-square

many countries around the world.

socio- 11883 and students

of 164

demographic

that

profile of the population, respondents

1.0 per cent sample respondents were

taken

into the study Ahmad

 Questionnaire

and Elucidated the 111

Yousef (2018)

idea

of

GST questionnaires

designed

 It was found that there is no significant impact of GST on

and also probed were accepted

business and hence essential steps

the impact of for

should

GST

research

on work

be

taken

by

the

Government.

business performance in selected districts Balasudarsun and

Analysed

Antony effect

(2018)

 Descriptive

of surveyed from

statistics

demonetization and

GST

Life insurance

on officials

 Anova

of

 Insurance industry has positively affected after the implementation of demonetization and GST and sale of insurance policies are much

Life insurance Ernakulam

higher compared to the sales before

business

City

with

demonetization and GST.

positive

or Sample

size

negative Tewari (2018)

the Questionnaires

amount to 130

Tried for -comparison between pre and post GST

 Secondary sources of data

 It was quoted that there were 9.8 million unique GST registrations till December 2017, slightly more than the total indirect tax registrations under the old system and the GST has raised the number of unique indirect taxpayers by more than 50 per cent a substantial 3.4 million.  Moreover, revenue collection in 2016-17 was Rs.9.7 lakh crore and in 2017-18 Monthly Average of July to Sep (Annualised) was Rs. 10.5 lakh crore.

165

INFERENCE FROM THE STUDIES From the review of the studies, it is found that various studies have been done on the concept of GST. some of the studies (Breen et al., 2002; Valadkani and Layton, 2004) have been taken from Australia, (Yeung, 2010) a study of Hong Kong and studies of (Azmi and Perumal, 2008; Palil and Ibrahim 2011; Bidin et al., 2014; Ramli et al., 2015; Adam and Yusof, 2017) have been taken from Malaysia to know abotu thier outlooks toward the analysis of GST. As far as studies are concerned in india, most of the studies (Vasanthgopal, 2011; Shaiek et al., 2015; Khurana and Sharma, 2016; Kumar and Sarkar, 2016; Munde and Chavan, 2016; Muthu, 2016; Narual, 2016; Sahilesh and Taruna, 2016; Abda, 2017; Anshu and Priyadarshi, 2017; Dash, 2017; Jayanthi, 2017; Kumar, 2017; Kumar and Kumar, 2017; Lala, 2017; Mukaria, 2017; Muthu, 2017; Roy, 2017; Amutha, 2018; Kapila, 2018) have theoretical framework. No doubt, some studies (jaiparkash, 2014, and Krishan and Jaiswal, 2017) also did comparison of VAT and GST as tax reforms, (Tewari, 2018) has compared pre and post GST and (sharma et al., 2018) elaborated SWOT analysis of GST in India. Minrotiy of studies (Athvankar, 2015; Sinnaiah, 2015; Chen and Taib, 2017; Murugaiyan et al., 2017; Muthupandi and Xavier, 2017; Balasudarsun and Antony, 2018) have used structured questionnaires for their analysis.

As far as studies concerned within India, no empirical study have been done on business sector to know about the impact of GST with category of businesses like manufacturer, trader and service provider after the implementation of GST. This study will be providing us guidance in that direction. In most of the existing literature, research work is limited up to the analysis of awareness about GST after implementation but it does not tell the impact of GST on business sector.

For this purpose a sample of different manufacturer, trader and service provider are selected-around 600 in number. this sample of 600 individuals has been personally interviewed though self-administered questionnaires and gathered their responses. In terms of the geographical area for the research, it has been restricted to Punjab.

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA The term demographics refer to specific features of population. Demographic data is used to define a population with respect to its size and structure. Size of data is described in terms of the number of individuals while structure is described in terms of age, gender, income, marital status and occupation. The arrangement of demographic data for the purpose of this study contained type of business, annual turnover and age group. Table 3.1 shows the demographic information of the sample.

Table 1 Demographic information of Sampled Respondents Categories

Type of Business

Particulars

Number of

Percentage of

Respondents

Respondents

Manufacturer

72

12.0

Trader

405

67.5

Service Provider

123

20.5 166

Annual Turnover

Age Group

Total

600

100.0

Below 10 Lakh

171

28.5

10 L-20L

132

22.0

20-L-50L

198

33.0

Above 50 Lakh

99

16.5

Total

600

100.0

Below 25

276

46.0

25-40

186

31.0

108

18.0

Above 60

30

5.0

Total

600

100.0

40-60

Table 3.1 depicts that 405 of total respondents are traders while 123 are service providers and 72 are manufacturers which shows that most of the businesses man are type of traders.

DATA COLLECTION For authenticated and reliability of data, the study involves collection of primary data. Primary data is collected through structured questionnaire.

DATA ANALYTIC METHODS For the purpose of analyzing the data, following statistical measures and techniques have been used. SPSS package was used for data analysis.

Descriptive Statistics: Descriptive statistics such as sum, frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviations are used to summarize the data and specify basic data characteristics. In this present study, frequencies and percentages are calculated from measuring the responses.

Chi-Square Test: Chi-Square test may be used as paramedic as well as non-parametric test for checking the statistical significance in the data. The chi-square statistic (x2) is used to test the statistical significance of the observed association in a cross tabulation. It assists us in determining where a systematic association exists between two variables. Chisquare test (x2) is used to determine whether there is a significant different between the expected and observed frequencies in one or more categories. Also, the chi-square test is used to test for independence of two or more different categories. The null hypothesis, Ho, is that there is no association between the variables. The chiSquare (x2) distribution is a skewed distribution whose shape solely depends on the number of degrees of freedom. With number of degrees of freedom increases, the chi-square distribution becomes more symmetrical (Bajpai, 2011). Chi-Square (x2) test statistic can be computed as below: 167

X2 

(observed count  exp ected count) 2 exp ected count

In the present study, Chi-Square (x2) test is applied to find out the statistical significance of difference between the responses of manufacturers, traders and service providers with regard to the impact of GST on business sector.

Table Frequency Distribution Table of Response from Categorized Respondents of Himachal Pradesh on Perception about GST Agreed Neutral Disagreed GST fosters the economic growth Trader

52%

17%

31%

51%

12%

37%

that further determines nation‘s Providers Manufacturer Online

procedures,

threshold

limits

higher Trader

and

04%

51%

85%

10%

05%

90%

08%

02%

e-way bill system has brought Trader significant

charges

such

in

as

91%

03%

06%

51%

15%

34%

86%

10%

04%

Manufacturer GST has fundamental problems Trader

and

environmental

70%

06%

25%

42%

03%

55%

39%

21%

40%

Manufacturer Increase

in

compliance

and Trader

of

.001924. The result is significant at p < .05.

32%

15%

53%

69%

05%

26%

64%

8%

28%

operational cost and higher tax burden are disadvantages

The chi-square statistic is 17.0105. The p-value is

Service Providers

externalities.

0.00001. The result is significant at p < .05.

like low revenue, equity, tax evasion

The chi-square statistic is 35.4911. The p-value is <

Service Providers

transport and freight.

.203113. The result is not significant at p < .05

logistic

warehousing,

The chi-square statistic is 5.9474. The p-value is

Service

Manufacturer

sector

45%

Providers

GST.

.00828. The result is significant at p < .05.

better

compliances are advantages of

The chi-square statistic is 13.7102. The p-value is

Service

prosperity.

X2 – test

The chi-square statistic is 3.0237. The p-value is

Service

.553865. The result is not 168

GST

Providers

Online process, processing time and

secreting

systematized

procedure GST

Manufacturer

59%

06%

35%

Trader

55%

06%

39%

Service

48%

07%

45%

has

refund

Manufacturer stage

submissions

and Trader

49%

09%

42%

51%

10%

39%

59%

13%

28%

Manufacturer Frequent policy decision by GST Trader

75%

06%

19%

59%

09%

32%

51%

10%

39%

Providers Manufacturer Present tax rates system can be Trader

58%

15%

27%

41%

14%

45%

53%

04%

43%

Providers Manufacturer to

reduce Trader

.077212. The result is not significant at p < .05.

44%

07%

49%

40%

26%

34%

43%

05%

52%

inflationary pressures in Indian Economy.

The chi-square statistic is 8.4244. The p-value is

Service

failed

.316518. The result is not significant at p < .05.

improved in favour of public at

has

The chi-square statistic is 4.7266. The p-value is

Service

GST

.006136. The result is significant at p < .05.

council has created uncertainty.

large.

The chi-square statistic is 14.395. The p-value is

Service Providers

tax.

.80326. The result is not significant at p < .05.

multiple time bound returns are main difficulties in filling return of

The chi-square statistic is 1.6307. The p-value is

Providers

procedure.

Multi

significant at p < .05.

The chi-square statistic is 20.7997. The p-value is

Service Providers Manufacturer

GST is creating additional burden Trader

.000347. The result is significant at p < .05.

45%

23%

32%

43%

23%

34%

45%

05%

49%

on people/consumers.

The chi-square statistic is 16.284. The p-value is

Service

.002661. The result is

Providers

169

Manufacturer GST has positive impact on your Trader

41%

23%

36%

significant at p < .05.

43%

13%

44%

The chi-square statistic is

39%

05%

56%

business.

13.711. The p-value is Service Providers Manufacturer

GST has lead to up gradation of Trader

significant at p < .05.

55%

13%

32%

81%

09%

10%

50%

06%

44%

accounting software system.

Providers Manufacturer is

more

Government

beneficial

revenue

to Trader

0.00001. The result is significant at p < .05.

72%

06%

22%

85%

09%

06%

59%

09%

32%

collection

The chi-square statistic is 22.6444. The p-value is

Service

process.

The chi-square statistic is 31.8481. The p-value is <

Service

GST

.008277. The result is

Providers Manufacturer GST has made positive impact on Trader

.000149. The result is significant at p < .05.

72%

06%

22%

81%

09%

10%

75%

04%

21%

lives of composition dealers.

The chi-square statistic is 7.5715. The p-value is

Service Providers Manufacturer

.108597. The result is not significant at p < .05.

72%

06%

22%

The following hypotheses are accepted to be true by applying Chi-square test among categorized respondents of Himachal Pradesh (Traders, Service Providers and Manufacturers) regarding perception about GST: 1. GST fosters the economic growth that further determines nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s prosperity. The chi-square statistic is 13.7102. The p-value is .00828. The result is significant at p < .05.

2. e-way bill system has brought significant charges in logistic sector such as warehousing, transport and freight. The chi-square statistic is 35.4911. The p-value is < 0.00001. The result is significant at p < .05.

3. GST has fundamental problems like low revenue, equity, tax evasion and environmental externalities.

The chi-square statistic is 17.0105. The p-value is .001924. The result is significant at p < .05.

4. Multi stage submissions and multiple time bound returns are main difficulties in filling return of tax.

The chi-square statistic is 14.395. The p-value is .006136. The result is significant at p < .05.

170

5. GST has failed to reduce inflationary pressures in Indian Economy. The chi-square statistic is 20.7997.

The p-value is .000347. The result is significant at p < .05.

6. GST is creating additional burden on people/consumers. The chi-square statistic is 16.284. The p-value is .002661. The result is significant at p < .05.

7. GST has positive impact on your business. The chi-square statistic is 13.711. The p-value is .008277.

The result is significant at p < .05.

8. GST has lead to up gradation of accounting software system. The chi-square statistic is 31.8481. The pvalue is < 0.00001. The result is significant at p < .05.

9. GST is more beneficial to Government revenue collection process. The chi-square statistic is 22.6444.

The p-value is .000149. The result is significant at p < .05.

10. GST has made positive impact on lives of composition dealers. The chi-square statistic is 7.5715. The pvalue is .108597. The result is not significant at p < .05.

The following hypotheses are rejected by applying Chi-square test at 5% level of significance among categorized respondents of Himachal Pradesh (Traders, Service Providers and Manufacturers) regarding perception about GST: 1. Online procedures, higher threshold limits and better compliances are advantages of GST. The chisquare statistic is 5.9474. The p-value is .203113. The result is not significant at p < .05.

2. Increase in compliance and operational cost and higher tax burden are disadvantages of GST. The chisquare statistic is 3.0237. The p-value is .553865. The result is not significant at p < .05.

3. Online process, processing time and secreting procedure has systematized GST refund procedure. The chi-square statistic is 1.6307. The p-value is .80326. The result is not significant at p < .05.

4. Frequent policy decision by GST council has created uncertainty. The chi-square statistic is 4.7266. The p-value is .316518. The result is not significant at p < .05.

5. Present tax rates system can be improved in favour of public at large. The chi-square statistic is 8.4244.

The p-value is .077212. The result is not significant at p < .05.

SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE MECHANISM OF GST This Goods & Services Tax can really become a Good & Simple Tax, if the Compliance is rendered easy, avoiding needless complications. The Govt. has taken measures to improve ease of doing Business. in this context, it is very important that the Compliance burden should be considerably reduced, and our energies conserved for greater things than in carrying out routines. Both at Concept level and Compliance level, there is scope for a lot of simplification to make GST, a sweet pill.

1. Registration for All Traders & Service Providers, with Exemption, for Small Scale Suppliers from Collecting & Remitting GST: As in the case of Income Tax Permanent Account Number, GST Registration can be extended to all willing persons. Just as every PAN Holder need not pay IT, so also, every Registrant need not charge GST or remit the 171

same. Only if the Turnover crosses the threshold Limit ( now Rs.20 Lacs in general & Rs.10 Lacs. in Specified Territories like the North East), GST should be charged and remitted. Those within the threshold Limit may be named ― Small Scale Suppliers‖. It can even be insisted that they have to prominently state on their Invoice ― Small Scale Suppliers‖.

2. Exemption (Threshold) Limit May Cover Inter-State Sale also: Presently, if a Dealer makes even a single Inter-state Sale, he is not entitled to avail the benefit of threshold Limit and Composition Scheme. This impediment can be removed. Whether local Sales or Inter-state Sales, there should be no discrimination. If, in aggregate, the Inter-state & Intra-state turnover is within the threshold Limit, they should be treated as ―Small Scale Dealers‖ and should be entitled to the concessions available to similar Intra- State Dealers.

3. Single Point Registration and One GST Registration Number for PAN-India Operations.

Presently, a Dealer having his presence in different States has to get registered separately in each State. This can well be avoided. There can be a Single GST Registration No., that can apply for the whole of India. If felt necessary (for analysis purposes), the State Code / Union Territory Code may be suffixed to the common GSTIN. 4. Free Billing (Invoicing) Software from GSTN & Billing Format GSTN can provide an Optional Billing Software, which can be adopted especially by Small & Medium scale operators. The Required Columns may be provided for filling relevant data. Facility for both off-line & On-line Billing may be given.

If on- line Billing is selected, the GST Rate can be automatically displayed (auto-populated) against the HSN Code/ SAC., by GSTN, by accessing the GST Rates Finder. (If possible, the GSTN System itself can autopopulate the HSN Code/ SAC for the Item Specified, but sometimes, this can pose problems as the Item Descriptions may not match. So, the Dealer may be asked to furnish the HSN Code/ SAC.)Similarly, considering the Place of Origin & Place of Supply, GSTN itself should flash the IGST or CGST/ SGST or UTGST element and amount of GST applicable for the transaction.

5. Composition Scheme should be extended to Service Providers and for Inter-state Supplies also: There is no logic why Composition Scheme should be confined to Traders, Manufacturers & Restaurants and denied to Service Providers. By extending Composition Scheme to Service Providers, the Compliance may improve and moreover, the Service Receivers may not get Set- off benefit of the GST on the Services availed.

So, from Revenue point of view also, the Govt. may not stand to lose.

As earlier stated, whether it is Inter-State or Intra-State Supply and whether it it is Goods or Services, there should be no differentiation or discrimination, and the Composition Scheme should apply evenly for all.

6. Simplification of GST Returns & Matching/ Reconciliation System: This probably would be the most vital Area where Simplification of procedures should be of utmost importance, The Tax Payer must be able to file with a smile, but not put into cumbersome and complicated procedures. The Dealer must be made to file only a Simple Sales / Supply Statement and Purchase Statement and a Response Statement on Monthly or Quarterly basis. The remaining things (analysis) should be taken care of by the GSTN System.. The Dealer should be made to fill only the following Information in the Provisional GSTR 1 Return 172

(Sales/ Supply Statement). This Return can be named as GSTR 1 P, with Suffix ―P‖ indicating Provisional Return.

7. Tax Statement of GSTN: GSTN can generate a Tax Statement every month. Like Credit Cards Statements, this can show the Month Opening Balance, Tax Liability for the month, Tax Receipts/ Credits and adjustments during the month & the balance at Credit/ Debit at the end of the Month. GSTN System can compile this Statement, based on Electronic Cash Ledger, Credit Ledger & GST Liability Ledger. An Extract of GST Liability Ledger may also be generated along with this & uploaded for viewing by the Dealers.

8. Purchase From Unregistered Dealers: In case of Purchase from Unregistered Dealers, now Reverse Charge Mechanism comes into play. No doubt, this would discourage purchasing from Unregistered Dealers. But, this cannot help track the Unregistered Dealer. In such cases, if Dealers can be asked to quote the IT PAN of the Supplier, in the space provided for GSTIN in the Purchase Bill/ GSTR2 Return, the Govt. may be able to track the Unregistered Supplier.

9. GSTN may cover Real Estate, Petroleum Products as well: If full scale benefits of GST, as facilitator of One Tax- One Nation Concept, Transparency & avoider of Cascading Tax Effect, should be reaped, it should bring under its purview Sectors, which can contribute significantly to the exchequer, in terms of value, like Real Estate Transactions & Petroleum Products. The Stamp Duty and Registration Charges payable on Real Estate Transactions can be merged with GST. 10. GST Rates: While it would be ideal to have a Single GST Rate, practically it may be very difficult since the nature of Items vary very widely. There can preferably be four Rates, viz. Zero, 5% 12% & 18%. If desired, for SIN Goods like Cigarettes, etc, whose Consumption is sought to be restricted, in Public Interest, a Cess of 10% may be levied.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:



A.A.C., Azmi and K.A. Perumal. ―Tax fairness dimension in Asian Context: The Malaysian perspective .‖ International Review of Business Research (2008): 11-19.



Anitha, M.N. ―Impact of Goods and Services Tax on Logistics Sector in India.‖ SSRG International Journal of Economics and Management Studies (2016): 33-36.



Balasudarsun, N.L., Antony M.P. ―Impact of Demonetization and GST in Life Insurance Sector.‖ International Journal of Scientific and Research Publication (2018): 36-40.



Bidin, Z., Mohd Shamsudin, F.& Othman,Z. ―Using Theory of reasoned action to explain taxpayer intention to comply with GST.‖ International Journal of Business and Social Science (2014): 18-23.

173



Breen, j.,Bergin-Seers,s.Roberts, I.& Sims, R. ―The impact of the introduction of the GSt on small business in Australia.‖ Asian review of accounting (2002): 89-104.



Muthupandi, S.,& Xavier,A.J. ―Awareness of Implementation of GST among college students' in Sivakasi.‖ International journal of Engineering Science (2017): 11-65.



Ramil, R.,Palil M.R., Hassan & Mustapha,A.F. ―Compliance costs of Goods and Services Tax among small and medium enterprises.‖ Journal Pengurusan (2015): 45-48.



Vasanthagopal, R. ―GST in India: A big leap in the Indirect Taxation System.‖ International Journal of Trade (2011): 144-148.

174

EVALUATING A LINK BETWEEN CORPORATE REPUTATION AND FINANCIALPERFORMANCE: A STUDY OF INDIA’S MOST RESPECTED COMPANIES Dr. Diksha Kakkar, Assistant Professor P.G. Department of Commerce & Management, GGDSD College, Chandigarh, India Dr. Taminder Kaur, Associate Professor, Chitkara University, Punjab Campus, Punjab, India,

ABSTRACT Corporate reputation is an important intangible asset of the organization based on firm‘s core competencies, which further helps them to attain competitive advantage. This paper examines the relationship between corporate reputation scores and financial performance of the companies. The study has considered Business World‘s ―India‘s Most Respected Companies‖ survey data for reputation scores. The results show positive and significant impact of reputation scores on performance measures. It has also been observed that the reputation scores of current year have positive impact on next year‘s financial performance. An attempt has also been made to study how well the information regarding corporate reputation has been incorporated in the share prices of the companies. The results reveal that the average abnormal returns around the announcement of survey results are negative but not significant in shorter window. However, in the longer window they are positive and significant which reflects that investors may take up some time to react to the news.

KEYWORDS: Corporate Reputation, Cash Flows, Tobin’s Q, Abnormal Returns etc “Lose Money for the Firm, I Will be Understanding; Lose a Shred of Reputation, I Will Be Ruthless.”

-Warren Buffett INTRODUCTION In the past, stakeholders have been giving more importance to financial performance of the firms than corporate reputation. However, due to globalization and international competition the scenario has been changing. The quote mentioned above proves that the stakeholders nowadays are putting lot of value to the intangible assets of organizations and most importantly to the corporate reputation. Reputation is an asset of immense value. Companies with good reputation can charge a premium for their products and in this way, they are able to put a valuation on their competitive advantage. A positive reputation may bring many benefits to a company while a negative one may significantly harm it. A company‘s reputation is closely tied up with its stakeholders' emotional beliefs about it. A reputation of a company may play a key part in its business development and success. It may influence the decision making process of its stakeholders, concerning the company.

Corporate Reputation: Concept While defining Corporate reputation first thing that comes to our mind is what forms reputation. A considerable part of literature has highlighted on the need to define reputation. Fombrun and Shanley(1990) show that reputation has been constructed by public based on information about firms‘ relative positions within organizational fields. The public do so by using market and accounting signals 175

indicating performance, institutional signals indicating conformity to social norms, and strategy signals indicating strategic postures. Spence (1974)interprets reputation as outcome of a process in which firms signal their key characteristics to constituents to maximize their social status. Camerer and Weigelt (1988) state that reputation is a set of attributes attained by a firm inferred from the firm‘s past actions.However,in 1990s the authors started defining reputation in a broad way. They believe that corporate reputation includes the overall estimation of a firm by its stakeholders, which is expressed by the net affective reactions of customers, investors, employees, and the general public. Reputation is seen to reside in the beliefs that stakeholders hold about a company (the cognitive element) and the feelings that stakeholders have about a company (the affective element). While the cognitive element of reputation can reflect the uniqueness of a company or products in terms of characteristics such as brand attributes (whether an organisation is delivering high quality products, is international, friendly etc), the affective element is always evaluative. The evaluation in terms of an indication whether stakeholders like, admire or trust a company and its attributes. Gray and Ballmer (1998) define corporate reputation as a valuation of a company‘s attributes, performed by the stakeholders. However, the cognitive components were excluded but Hall (1992) combines both cognitive und affective components and concludes that a company‘s reputation consists of the knowledge and the emotions held by individuals. The author gives importance to intellectual capital, core competencies and corporate reputation and said that these resources help in building competitive advantage.

Thus, it can be presumed from the above definitions that a reputation of a company is what people believe about it, their affinity to an organization especially key stakeholders such as its largest customers, opinion leaders in the business community, suppliers and current and potential employees.

Another question is how to measure reputation. A US survey by Burson-Marsteller found that 95 per cent of chief executives surveyed believed that corporate reputation plays an important role in the achievement of business objectives. Yet only 19 per cent had a formal system in place to measure the value of their corporate reputation. A number of organisations these days are conducting surveys to measure corporate reputation scores. They include Forbes magazine, Business World, Financial Times and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Technology Solutions Company Europe and number of such organisations are conducting surveys to measure corporate reputation. Most of these surveys are based on the parameters of Harris-Fombrun Reputation Quotient. (See Figure 1) Thus, we can say that there are number of intangible features which add to the reputation of the firm and which actually contribute towards the performance of the firm. The market value of the firm is the total of the value attributable to tangible and intangible assets of the firm (Lindenberg and Ross, 1981).

Corporate reputation is one such intangible asset, which leads to better performance of companies. A company builds a good reputation by producing high quality products, increasing profitability, enhancing social responsibility activities, hiring and retaining best talent and by similar activities and a strong reputation is a good signal for investors to invest in the shares of a company. The present study attempts to examine the relationship between corporate reputation and performance of companies and to examine whether corporate reputation has an impact on the value creation process of the company or not.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE The literature relating to corporate reputation and performance of companies focused on two things – first, establishing the relationship between reputation and firm‘s financial performance and second, market reaction to the news of companies being in most reputed companies list. Robert and Dowling (2002) observe that good reputations help in sustaining superior profitability over a period. However, the autoregressive models applied over the fifteen years data proved that these reputation scores induce rigidity factor, which harms in the long-term. Tan (2007) examines the relation between reputation scores of companies in China during 2006 and earnings quality. The results prove that reputation is 176

positively correlated with superior earnings quality but there is no evidence that companies with good reputation have superior earnings relative to the corresponding industry levels.

Brammer et al (2004) have seen the impact of firms‘ reputation on stock prices using event study methodology for short-term and for long-term through Fama French Carhart model. They studied British firms for the period from 1993 to 2004 and concluded that there is significant increase in abnormal returns of those companies whose reputation scores have been increased. Filbeck and Preece (2003) studied Fortune‘s Best 100 Companies to work for in America and their impact on shareholders‘ wealth. He used event study methodology – market model for short-term impact, Sharpe‘s measure, Treynor‘s measure and Jenson‘s alpha to study the risk adjustment and buy-and-hold abnormal returns (BHAR) to study the long-term impact of corporate reputation on share prices. He concluded that there is a positive impact of reputation on share prices.

It can be easily observed that very few researchers have explored the area of corporate reputation and seen its impact on value creation. This study is the first in India to examine the relationship between corporate reputation scores and financial performance of India‘s Most Respected Companies. An attempt has also been made to study how well the information regarding corporate reputation has been incorporated in the share prices of the companies.

DATA AND METHODOLOGY The sample for the study consists of the companies rated as ―Most Respected Companies‖ in survey conducted by Business World in the year 2006 and 2007.The 2006 survey consists of 160 companies and the ranking was based on industry and in 2007 survey top 71 companies have been listed on overall ranking. It is a peer-based survey in which around 500 senior level executive are asked to rate the companies on 7 parameters – Innovativeness; quality and depth of top-management; financial performance and return to shareholders; ethics and transparency, quality of product and services; people practices and talent management; global competitiveness.

To study the relationship between reputation and financial performance of the companies multiple regression analysis has been used. Taking into account the applicability of the identified variables in the Indian context, the following variables have been used. The variables have been categorised into three parts.

Financial Performance Variables Cash Flow from Operations to Sales Ratio: It measures a firm's efficiency at generating profits from every rupee of sales. It shows how well a company is growing in terms of its operations.

Tobin’s Q: It is again an accounting variable and depicts the value added by the management. Thus, it is a performance measure in terms of company valuation. It is calculated as:

The definition has been given by Chung and Pruitt (1994) but certain modifications have been made by authors like Garg (2007) to make it more compatible in the Indian context.

Corporate Reputation Variables:Corporate reputation scores measured by Business World survey of ‗India‘s Most Respected Companies‘ for the year 2006 and 2007.

177

Control Variables The regression results between corporate reputation score and firm performance were subject tocontrol for a number of variables. These are: Size: According to past studies, it has been proved thatsizeisanimportant factor, which contributes in sustaining competitive advantage. Thus, size in terms of log of sales has been controlled to see the relation between reputation and performance.

Market to Book Ratio: It is the market value divided by shareholders‘ equity. According to Robert and Dowling (2002), as reputation has positive impact on performance so the other intangible assets and market to book ratio is one of the indicator of intangible assets. Secondly, the reputation scores are based on the perceptions of the managers, directors or industry analysts who rate the companies on the basis of their future expected values which again is concerned with market valuation. Thus, results have been controlled for price to book ratio. Figure 2 lists all the variables considered in the study.

Regression Models The corporate reputation of current year has been related with current and next year‘s financial performance of the companies. The regression equations are: The financial performance in terms of Cash Flow from operations/Sales and Tobin‘s Q has been related with corporate reputation score. In this equation, corporate reputation score of 2006 and 2007 respectively have been taken as independent variable while financial performance of respective years as dependent.

Financial Performance t =α0 + β1Corporate Reputationt + β2 Ln(sales)t + β3 Market to Book Ratiot +ε Financial Performance t+1 =α0 + β1Corporate Reputationt + β2 Ln(sales)t + β3 Market to Book Ratiot +ε The next model has considered performance variables as independent and their impact on corporate reputation scores of next year have been examined: Reputation Score t+1 =α0 + β1Financial Performancet + β2 Ln(sales)t + β3 Market to Book Ratiot +ε Event Study Methodology For analysis of the usefulness of reputation information to the investors, event study methodology is used where the event (day 0) is the date when the issue of Business World magazine containing the results of the survey is released. For the year 2006, the issue was released on 3rd April 2007 and for 2007 the date of issue was 29th Oct., 2007. The window period for which abnormal returns are calculated is from -20 day to +20 day and the estimation period for which market model regression has been run to predict the returns is of 210 days ( i.e. from -51 to -260). The companies, for which daily share price data is consistently available, form the final sample for event study. For the year 2006, a total of 85 companies form the sample and for the year 2007 the number of companies included in the sample is 42.

178

THE ABNORMAL RETURNS FOR A GIVEN SECURITY CONSIST OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACTUAL RETURNS AND EXPECTED RETURNS. Estimating Abnormal Returns around Event Announcement AR = R - E(R ), IT

IT

IT

WHERE: AR = ABNORMAL RETURN ON SECURITY I FOR DAY T IT

R = ACTUAL RETURN ON SECURITY I FOR DAY T1 IT

E(R ) = EXPECTED RETURN ON SECURITY I FOR DAY T IT

EXPECTED RETURNS WILL BE ESTIMATED USING THE MARKET MODEL TAKING CLEAN PERIOD (– 41 TO –240 DAYS) SHARE PRICE DATA2.

TO MEASURE THE EXPECTED RETURNS, THE FOLLOWING MARKET MODEL WILL BE USED: E (R ) = Α + Β R IT

I

I

MT

+ E , FOR I = 1………….N. IT

WHERE: Α = INTERCEPT OF THE REGRESSION LINE I

Β = SLOPE OF THE LINE REPRESENTING SENSITIVITY OF RETURN ON SECURITY TO I

MARKET RETURN R

MT

= RETURN ON MARKET PORTFOLIO3

Estimating Average Abnormal Returns n

 AR AAR t =

i1

it

n

Where, AARt = average abnormal returns N = Total number of securities Statistical Significance of Abnormal Returns To test the statistical significance of abnormal returns t-test has been used assuming student‘s t distribution. The null hypothesis is average abnormal returns around the merger announcement are equal to zero. The t-statistics has been calculated following Peter Dodd (1980).

t 

AAR σ AAR 179

Where,

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The first objective is to link corporate reputation and financial performance. Ordinary least square regression analysis has been applied on cross sectional data for two years i.e. 2006 and 2007 (Table-1).

Actual return on security i for day t will be calculated as ln (Pit/Pit-1), where ln is natural logarithm, Pit is adjusted closing price of security i on day t and Pit-1 is adjusted closing price on security i on day t-1.

Clean period or estimation period is assumed to have no effect of the announcement. Normally estimation period should start around 1 or 2 months prior to the announcement.

There are 126 companies in sample for which reputation scores were available during 2006 and for 2007, there are 58 companies. The highest score for 2006 was 2710.52 while it rose to 22088 during 2007. The variation in reputation scores is very high during 2007 as compared to 2006. The remaining averages were almost same for the two years. Table 2 reported the regression results of corporate reputation scores for the year 2006 with the financial performance of 2005-06 and scores of 2007 with the performance measures of 2006-07. The reputation scores of 2006 have positive and significant relationship with the cash flow component (t=2.211) of the respective year as well as Tobin‘s Q (2.212). The value of R-square is higher in case of Tobin‘s Q (0.790). There is no significant relation between corporate reputation scores and performance for the year 2007 proving survey results do not have significant relationship with the same year financial performance.

Table-3 related reputation scores announced on November 2006 for the year 2005-06 with the performance measures of 2006-07 to check the impact of current year‘s reputation scores on the next year performance. Simultaneously, regression has been run for the scores of 2007 to see its impact on financial performance of 2007-08. The results have shown positive and significant relationship of reputation scores of 2006 on cash flow to sales ratio (t=2.643) of 2006-07 with R-square value of 0.168 and also on Tobin‘s Q (t=2.305) with R-square value of 0.673. However, the reputation scores of 2007 have not reported significant impact on the performance measures of 2007-08.

There is possibility of performance measures to have their impact on reputation scores as financial performance of the companies is one of the parameters of these scores and secondly, the respondents of the survey (directors, managers and employees) also consider past financial performance to rank the most respected companies. Thus, it seems necessary to examine the relationship between current year‘s financial performance measures with next year‘s reputation scores. The results are reported in Table 4.

It has been observed that the performance in terms of Tobin‘s Q for the year 2005-06 and 2006-07 have positive and significant relationship with reputation scores declared on November 2006 and November 2007 respectively indicating that corporate reputation has a positive impact on financial performance Business World is conducting this survey of Most Respected Companies annually and the ranks keep on changing. Thus, the next step is to check the impact of change in reputation scores on change in performance measures. Table 5 proved that change in reputation scores from 2006 to 2007 has positive 180

and significant impact on change in cash flow to sales ratio (t=2.522) but value of R-square is very low (0.050) while it is insignificant for Tobin‘s Q indicating that change in rankings do not have any significant impact on financial performance of companies.

Market Reaction to announcement of Companies ranking in India’s Most Respected Companies List The second objective second of the study i.e. to examine the movement in share prices around the announcement of the reputation scores. The results in Table 6 indicate that average abnormal returns on day zero are negative for the announcement in the year 2006 as well as for year 2007. Column 4 of the table 6 shows average residuals for those companies whose ranks have risen as compared to previous year and incidentally they are also negative. Interestingly the companies whose ranks have declined from previous year show positive returns. However, none of the returns is significant.

The graph of average abnormal returns of the companies for year 2006 and year 2007 also show similar trend in both years (Figure 3). This shows that market did not respond immediately to the news of the companies being in the list of ‗India‘s Most Respected Companies‘ and the abnormal returns occurring during this period might have arisen due to market fluctuations. However, on the day 15 average abnormal returns are positive and significant in both the years. This indicates that market takes some time to respond to the news. They are positive and highly significant for the company whose ranks rose as well as for the companies whose ranks declined which is contradictory. It may indicate that mere entry in the list of ‗Most Respected Companies‘ is a good sign for investors to react positively to purchase those shares.

The cumulative average abnormal returns are presented in Table 7. It has been observed that CAAR is 1.5% and 1.28% for 2 day and 10-day window respectively in the year 2006. However, in the year 2007 the negative returns have been observed in all the windows. The graph also showed negative downward trend in -20 day to +20 day window period. Interestingly CAAR for companies whose rank improved as compared to previous year is negative in 3 day (day -1 to day +1) and 5 day window (day -2 to day +2) whereas those for companies whose ranks declined are positive. This may indicate that markets are indifferent towards the changes in rankings of companies.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The main objective of this study is to find relationship between corporate reputation measured in the form of reputation scores assigned by Business World Survey and financial performance of companies.

The results show that there is positive and significant relationship between corporate reputation and financial performance variables of companies for the same year as well as for next year for sample of year 2006. Since a positive and significant relationship between reputation scores of current year and one of the performance variables (Tobin‘s Q) for next year has been observed, it is imperative to know whether information regarding rankings of companies in India‘s Most Rested Companies List result in instant market reaction in the form of share price movements. The results show positive and significant average abnormal returns after day 15 of announcement, which implies that market takes time to impound the information regarding corporate rankings.

Change in rankings neither have significant relationship with financial performance nor show significant abnormal returns which may indicate that mere entry in the list of ‗Most Respected Companies‘ is a good sign for investors to react positively.

181

REFERENCES: 1. Brammer, Stephen; Chris Brooks and Stephen Paveling. (2004), ―Corporate Reputation and Stock Returns: Are Godd Firms Good for Investors?‖, available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=637122 2. Brown, S J and J B Warner. (1980), ―Measuring Security Price Performance‖, Journal of Financial Economics, 8(3), 205-258 3. Brown, S J and J B Warner. (1985), ―Using Daily Stock Returns: The Case of Event Studies‖, Journal of Financial Economics, 14(1), 3-31 4. Filbeck, Greg and Dianna Preece. (2003). ―Fortune‘s Best 100 Companies to Work for in America: Do They Work for Shareholders?‖, Journal of Business & Accounting, 30(5) & (6), 771-796 5. Fombrun, C. J. and M. Shanley. (1990). ―What's in a Name? Reputation Building and Corporate Strategy‖, Academy ofManagement Journal, 33(2), 233-258.

6. Lindenberg, Eric B., and StephenA. Ross. (1981). "Tobin's q Ratio and Industrial Organization," Journal of Business, 5 4(1), 1-32.

7. Roberts, Peter W and Grahame R. Dowling. (2002), ―Corporate reputation and sustained superior financial performance, Strategic Management Journal, 23(12), 1077-1093 8. Spence, A. M. (1974). Marketing signaling: Informational transfer in hiring and related screening processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 9. Camerer, Colin and Keith Weigelt. (1988), ―Experimental Tests of a Sequential Equilibrium Reputation Model,‖ Econometrica, 56(1), 1-36 10. Gray, Edmund R and Ballmer, John M.T.(1998), Managing Corporate Image and Corporate Reputation,Long Range Planning, 31(5), 695 – 702.

11. Hall, R (1992). "The strategic analysis of intangible resources". Strategic Management Journal, 13, 135-144.

12. Tan, Hongtao. (2007), ―Does the reputation matter? Corporate Reputation and Earnings Quality‖, (Electronic version). Social Science Research Network (SSRN) retrieved from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1013127 13. http://www.agrifood.info/Agrifood/Review/2003v11/Jahan.htm 14. http://www.palgrave-journals.com/crr/journal/v10/n1/full/1550038a.html 15. http://thecommunicationsguru.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-good-corporate-reputation-is.html 16. http://www.cuttingedgepr.com/articles/corprep_important.asp 17. http://thecommunicationsguru.blogspot.in/2011/05/why-good-corporate-reputation-is.html 18. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1013127 182

19. http://www.palgrave-journals.com/crr/journal/v10/n1/full/1550038a.html EXHIBITS

Figure-1

Harris-Fombrun Reputation Quotient The questionnaire which was used to measure reputation consists of 20 items divided into six â&#x20AC;&#x2022;pillarsâ&#x20AC;&#x2013;: I. Emotional Appeal (Have a good feeling about the company, admire and respect the company, trust the company a great deal.)

II. Products & Services (Stands behind its products and services, develops innovative products and services, offers high quality products and services, offers products and services that are a good value for the money.)

III. Financial Performance (Has a strong record of profitability, looks like a low risk investment, looks like a company with strong prospects for future growth, tends to out-perform its competitors.)

IV. Vision & Leadership (Has excellent leadership, has a clear vision for its future, recognizes and takes advantage of market opportunities.)

V. Workplace Environment (Is well managed, looks like a good company to work for, looks like a company that would have good employees.)

VI. Social Responsibility (Supports good causes, is an environmentally responsible company, maintains high standards in the way it treats people.)

Sources: Authors Compilation Figure -2: Average Abnormal Returns to Companies during 41 day Window (-20 day to +20 day)

Sources: Authors Compilation

183

Figure -3 Cumulative Average Abnormal Returns during 41 day Window

N

SCORE06 CF06 TOBIN06 Log (SALES) PB06

126 114 125 114 96

SCORE07 58 CF07 113 TOBIN07 122 Log 113 (SALES) PB07 97

Sources: Authors Compilation Table-1: Descriptives Minimum Maximum Mean For 2006 823.26 2710.52 -2.62 0.87 0 12.84 -3 12.2 0.57

25.16 For 2007 416 22088 -0.59 0.83 0.05 11.49 -3 12.38

Std. Deviation

1518.097 0.1033 2.6425 7.5077

363.4428 0.36374 2.55001 2.00394

5.8773

4.8505

3950.741 3964.0766 0.145 0.19019 2.2225 2.09465 7.7847 1.94129

0.42 23.17 4.9145 Sources: Authors Compilation

3.91242

Table-2: Regression Results Relating Reputation Scores with Respective Performance of Year Dependent Variable→ CashFlow/Sales Tobin‘s q Independent Variable↓ Corporate Reputation Score (For 2006) Intercept .013 (0.222) 0.723 (3.359) Coeff (β) 0.00 (2.211) 0.001 (2.212) R2 0.056 0.790 Corporate Reputation Score (For 2007) Intercept Not Significant Not Significant Coeff (β) R2 Sources: Authors Compilation Note: Values in parentheses are the t values.

Regression has been run taking size and market to book ratio as control variables.

184

Table-3: Regression Results Relating Reputation Scores with Next Year’s Performance Dependent Variable→ CashFlow/Sales Tobin‘s q Independent Variable↓ Corporate Reputation Score (For 2006) Intercept -0.211 (-2.301) -0.407 (-0.727) Coeff (β) 0.000 (2.643) 0.000 (2.305) 2 R 0.168 0.673 Corporate Reputation Score (For 2007) Intercept Not Significant Not Significant Coeff (β) R2 Sources: Authors Compilation Note: Values in parentheses are the t values.

Regression has been run taking size and market to book ratio as control variables.

Table-4: Regression Results showing Impact of Financial Performance on Reputation Scores of Next Year Dependent Variable→ Reputation Score Reputation Independent Variable↓ 2006 Score 2007 CashFlow/Sales Intercept Coeff (β) Not Significant Not Significant R2 Tobin‘s Q -10474.79 (Intercept 1338.145 (19,242) 3.371) Coeff (β) 53.743 (3.402) 960.147 (3.828) R2 0.124 0.437 Sources: Authors Compilation Note: Values in parentheses are the t values.

Regression has been run taking size and market to book ratio as control variables.

Table-5: Change in Reputation Scores and Financial Performance Dependent Variable→ ∆CashFlow/Sales ∆Tobin‘s q Independent Variable↓ ∆ Corporate Reputation Score Intercept 0.123 (7.120) Not Significant Coeff (β) 0.000 (2.522) R2 0.050 Sources: Authors Compilation Note: Values in parentheses are the t values.

Regression has been run taking size and market to book ratio as control variables.

Table-6: Average Abnormal Returns to “Most Respected Companies” around Announcement Date

DAY

AAR (2006)

AAR (2007)

-20 0.00187 0.0013 -19 -0.02464 -0.0047

AAR (for Companies whose Ranks rose) 0.0060 -0.0100

AAR (For Companies whose Ranks declined) 0.0067 -0.0048 185

-18 -0.00250 -0.0055 -17 -0.00023 0.0006 -16 0.00654 0.0013 -15 0.00972 -0.0007 -14 0.00869 -0.0052 -13 0.00090 0.0074* -12 -0.00178 0.0010 -11 0.01027 -0.0011 -10 0.00499 0.0156* -9 0.00151 -0.0003 -8 -0.00049 -0.0034 -7 -0.00580 0.0151* -6 -0.00532 0.0046 -5 -0.01157 0.0025 -4 0.01277 -0.0040 -3 0.01131 0.0004 -2 0.00535 0.0018 -1 -0.00162 -0.0036 0 -0.00209 -0.0036 1 0.00783 -0.0067 2 -0.00051 0.0050 3 0.00334 0.0095* 4 -0.00833 -0.0024 5 0.00146 -0.0008 6 0.00801 -0.0035 7 -0.00654 0.0009 8 -0.00718 0.0016 9 0.01054 0.0061* 10 0.00045 -0.0053 11 -0.00028 -0.0012 12 -0.00015 0.0158* 13 0.00754 0.0030 14 -0.00381 -0.0012 15 -0.01289 0.0078* 16 0.03042* 0.0107* 17 -0.00558 0.0047 18 -0.00711 0.0013 19 0.02175 0.0058* 20 0.00187 -0.0027 Sources: Authors Compilation

-0.0091 0.0022 0.0030 0.0046 -0.0065

-0.0115 -0.0020 -0.0044 -0.0016 -0.0079

-0.0055

-0.0058

0.0011 0.0018

0.0082 0.0036

-0.0164

-0.0109

-0.0063 -0.0085 0.0189 0.0141 0.0056 -0.0092 -0.0073 0.0060 -0.0047 -0.0190 -0.0091 -0.0086

-0.0013 -0.0026 0.0301 0.0070 0.0035 -0.0005 0.0008 0.0025 -0.0036 0.0137 -0.0094 0.0104

-0.0087

-0.0136

-0.0052 -0.0073 0.0017 0.0016 0.0038 -0.0021 0.0018 -0.0098

0.0037 0.0068 -0.0017 -0.0007 0.0040 0.0157 -0.0170 0.0064

-0.0181

-0.0182

-0.0065 -0.0009 0.0162

0.0002 0.0019 0.0014

0.0074

0.0115

0.0102 0.0045

0.0021 0.0030

-0.0082

-0.0021

-0.0045

-0.0023

186

Table-7: Cumulative Average Abnormal Returns during Different Windows Window 2006

-1 day to + 1 day -2 day to +2 day -5 day to +5 day -10 day to +10 day -20 day to +20 day

0.0052

2007

CAAR (for Companies whose Ranks rose) -0.0328

0.0138 0.0150 -0.0354 0.0070 -0.0072 0.0079 0.0008 0.0128 0.0018 0.0053 -0.0812 0.0947 0.0403 Sources: Authors Compilation

(for Companies whose Ranks declined) 0.0008 0.0138 0.0145 0.0372 0.4477

187

शोध आलेख शीषषक- भारतीय दशषन के उपादान : दशषन की अवधारणा के आलोक में आशुतोष व्यास, पीएच. डी. (शोधरत्) दशषन िवभाग िद्ली िव्वविव्ालय, िद्ली आलेख-सार प्रस्तुत शोध-आलेख भारतीय दशषन के उपादानों या आधारों पर िवचार से सम्बिधधत है। आलेख का मधतव्य है िक श्रुित और अनुभव भारतीय दशषन के दो उपादान हैं य्िप इनसे इतर अधय उपादानों की सम्भावना को नकारना आलेख का प्रितपा् नहीं है। भारतीय दशषन के उपादानों या आधारों पर चचाष करने के पहले इस िबधदु पर िवचार आवश्यक है िक क्या दशषन का देखने भर से इतर कोई उपादान या आधार होता है? इस िबधदु पर िवचार करने के पश्चात् भारतीय दशषन के उपादानों या आधारों पर सामाधय दृि​िकोण से चचाष प्रस्तुत की जायेगी। आलेख का मत है िक दशषन सम्बधधपरक वैचाररक-प्रि​िया है। सम्बधधपरक होने के कारण यह दशषन उपादान या आधार से सम्बिधधत है और वैचाररक प्रि​िया होना इस बात का ्ोतक है िक युि​ि इन आधारों के मध्य सम्वाद की सम्भावना को जधम देती है। आधार िकसी दशषन या दाशषिनक सम्प्रदाय को िविशि स्वरूप प्रदान करते हैं और युि​ि (जोिक तकष िनष्ठ होती है या कम से कम दशषन-िवशेष ऐसा दावा अपनी युि​ि के बारे में करता है) उस िवषय िवचार या प्रश्न को दाशषिनक िवषय िवचार या प्रश्न का स्वरूप प्रदान करती है। कु​ुं जी शब्द- सम्बधधपरक वैचाररक-प्रि​िया श्रुित युि​ि अनुभव उपादान आधार सम्वाद।

******* िकसी साुंस्कृ ितक बहुलता वाले भू-भाग के बारे में यह प्रश्न पूछना व्यथष नहीं तो (अपने पूणष सधदभष में) उिचत नहीं है िक उस भू-भाग में मनुष्य द्वारा स्वयुं को और दुिनया को िकस तरह से देखा गया और यह उिचत न होना इस कारण नहीं है िक देखा नहीं गया बि्क इस कारण से िक इस देखे गये को एक ही तरह से देखने के रूप में समझा जाए। इस आलेख में ‘दशषन’ शब्द से तात्पयष न तो दशषन-िवशेष से है और न ही यह िक भारतीय दशषन के सधदभष में ‘देखने’ की एक ही पद्धित है या ि​िर एक ही ‘देखना’ है। दशषन देखना भी है और देखने का ढुंग भी। दशषन साक्षात्कार भी है और साक्षात्कार कै से िकया जाए यह ढुंग भी। दशषन का सामाधय अथष ‘देखना’ है। इस सामाधय अथष में दशषन अनुभव को सिम्मिलत कर सकता है, यिद अनुभव का आशय प्रत्यक्ष सम्वेदन के अथष में हो, लेिकन यिद दशषन एक वैचाररक-प्रि​िया है, तब दशषन इस सामाधय अथष से देखना नहीं है। यिद दशषन एक वैचाररक-प्रि​िया है, तब ‘क्या िवक्प’ चुना जाए और ‘िकस तरह से’ चुना जाए, यह भी आवश्यक हो जाता है। और तब परम्परा या और अनुभव एवुं तकष -प्रि​िया ‘दशषन’ की पृष्ठभूिम तैयार करते हैं। दशषन देखना है पर यह आुंखों से देख भर लेना नहीं है। लोक व्यवहार में प्रचिलत गौ-दशषन देव दशषन देखने की ि​िया को नहीं बता रहे होते हैं बि्क गौ देव से सम्बधध को एक जुड़ाव को दशाष रहे होते हैं। िजसका दशषन करना है उससे एक सम्बधध है या सम्बधध की प्रतीित है। लोक व्यवहार में प्रचिलत इस पदावली से जो बात िनकलती है वह यह है िक दशषन वैयि​िक अवधारणा नहीं है अिपतु इसका कायष िव्वव के बारे में या स्वयुं के बारे में प्रितज्ञि​ियों का िनमाषण प्रितज्ञि​ियों में तार्ककक सुंगित-असुंगित ढू ुंढना साुंप्रत्ययीकरण की कला या अनुभव को जाुंचना-परखना मात्र नहीं है य्िप इसमें यह सब और वह सब सिम्मिलत है जो इसके उद्देश्य की पूर्तत करे । सम्बधध के इस िवचार को इस उदाहरण से भी समझा जा सकता है िक यिद कोई व्यि​ि है और उसे अनवस्था या असुंगित कोई दोष ही नहीं लगता या वह अनवस्था या असुंगित के होने से अपने जीवन में कोई करिनाई नहीं पाता तो वह उन पर िवचार ही नहीं करे गा। मधतव्य यही है िक जब तक कोई िकसी तरह की दुिवधा या अधतर्तवरोध नहीं पाता है तब तक वैचाररक प्रि​िया में नहीं 188

उपिस्थत होता। और यह दुिवधा या अधतर्तवरोध उस व्यि​ि से सम्बिधधत हैं या कहा जाये िक व्यि​ि स्वयुं से उनका सम्बधध पाता है। इसी तरह का िवचार प्रकट करते हुए दया कृ ष्ण से सहमत हुआ जा सकता है जब वो कहते हैं िक “साधारणतः दाशषिनक िचधतन उस क्षण के िचधतन को इुंिगत करता है जब मनुष्य अपनी ुजदगी के लक्ष्य के बारे में प्रश्न-सूचक दृि​ि से देखता है और थोड़ी देर के िलए यह सोचता है िक आिखर यह सब क्या है और क्यों है।...स्वतधत्रता का अनुभव इसके साथ ही साथ उसको परतधत्रता का अनुभव भी उधहीं क्षणों में सदैव होता रहता है। जब वह इस अधतर्तवरोध की अनुभिू त को बौिद्धक समस्या के रूप में देखता है और उसे सुलझाने की चेिा करता है तब दाशषिनक िचधतन उत्पन्न होता है1 ।” मधतव्य यह है िक दशषन सम्बधधपरक वैचाररक-प्रि​िया है िजसका उद्देश्य या कायष इस समस्या पर िवचार करना है िक व्यि​ि-िवशेष के अनुभव या िवचार का सामाधयीकरण और अधयों के अनुभव या िवचार का िविशिीकरण कै से िकया जाये। ‘कै से’ की समस्या को सुलझाने के िम में सम्भावनाओं और सीमाओं पर िवचार भी दशषन का ही कायष है िजसे आथुषर सी. डेधटो दाशषिनक समस्या (ि​िलॉसोि​िकल प्रॉब्लेम) के सधदभष से व्यि करते हैं2। दशषन क्या है यह समस्या दशषन की आधतररक समस्या है सम्भवतः इसीिलए डेधटो का मानना है िक इस समस्या के िलए िदये गये प्रत्येक समाधान को इसमें सिम्मिलत करना चािहए। दशषन की अवधारणा को जानने या समझने के प्रिम में जब हम िकसी भू भाग में दशषन की अवधारणा को जानने का प्रयास करते हैं तब यह मान लेने का िवचार िक पूरे भू भाग में एक ही तरह की दृि​ि रही है यह पूवषमाधयता लेकर चलता है िक उस भू भाग में व्यि​ियों ने कभी भी अधय से अपने सम्बधधों की खोज की ही नहीं है या इस ओर प्रयास िकया ही नहीं। और इस तरह का िवचार देखने वाले की व्यि​ि-के िधित दृि​ि से अिधक व्यि​ि-िवशेष-सवोच्चता की दृि​ि का आभास िमलता है3 । सम्बधपरक वैचाररक प्रि​िया होने के कारण दशषन के पास कोई प्राकृ ितक महत्तर आधारवाक्य 4 नहीं है और न ही गिणत की तरह स्वयुंिसद्ध सूत्र िजससे वह इस खाई को िनिश्चत रूप से (प्रामािणकतः) पाट दे। दाशषिनक को महत्तर आधारवाक्य स्वयुं खोजना है खोजने से अिधक बनाना या तय करना है। और यह न तो गिणतीय सूत्रों में िमलेगा और ने ही के वल प्रेक्षणों में। लेिकन इसका अथष यह नहीं है िक दशषन कला या कलात्मकता है सािहत्य या सािहित्यक प्रवृित्त है क्योंिक यह अनुभव को व्यि करना या श्रुित का िनमाषण करना नहीं है अिपतु वैचाररक प्रि​िया है। िजसे नासदीय सूि में ‘मनसो रे तः’ से व्यि िकया गया है। मनस या बुिद्ध में सृि​ि के आरम्भ की समस्या उत्पन्न हुई। मनस या बुिद्ध वैचाररक प्रि​िया का ्ोतक है। बुिद्ध िवक्पाित्मका है लेिकन यह स्वयुं िवक्प उत्पन्न नहीं करती है अिपतु िवक्पों की ओर ध्यान आकृ ि करती है। िवक्प तो हमें परम्परा और अनुभव से प्राि होते हैं। दया कृ ष्ण का इस सधदभष में यह मानना उिचत ही है िक “शुद्ध बौिद्धकता एक प्रकार से भ्रम ही है क्योंिक बुिद्ध को िवचार के िलये कु छ िवषय चािहए जो अनुभव द्वारा ही प्राि हो सकता है। यह अनुभव इिधियों के द्वारा हो सकता है या आत्मिनरीक्षण से प्राि िचत्त की अवस्थाओं से भी। इसके अलावा भी अनुभव के अधय आयाम हैं जो हमें उन मानवीय कृ त्यों के द्वारा प्राि होते हैं जो या तो स्वयुं अथषवत्व िलए होते हैं या िकसी ऐसे ‘अधय’ की ओर इुंिगत करते हैं जो उनसे गहरे रूप में सम्बद्ध है”5। मनुष्य के वल बौिद्धक प्राणी नहीं है बि्क उसके इससे इतर कई आयाम हैं यिद हम दशषन को बौिद्धकता से बाुंध देंगे तो यह मनुष्य को बाुंधना होगा। दशषन न तो शास्त्रीय ढुंग है और न ही तार्ककक वैज्ञािनक ढुंग। य्िप इसका यह तात्पयष नहीं है िक कोई िजज्ञासा या उसका समाधान इन ढुंगों से नहीं िकया जा सकता है बस यह कहना है िक इनमें से िकसी भी ढुंग से दशषन के स्वरूप को बाुंधा नहीं जा सकता है। दशषन कै से होगा यह बहुत हद तक दाशषिनक द्वारा पद्धित के चुनाव पर िनभषर करता है। यिद हम भूतकाल से वतषमान का सि​िय सम्बधध मानते हैं तो दशषन पूवषप्रितपािदत िव्ववास या हमारे प्रत्यक्षगत् सम्वेदन या अनुभव को तकष का आधार देना नहीं है बि्क पूवषप्रितपािदत िव्ववास प्रत्यक्षगत् सम्वेदन और अनुभव को जाुंचना-परखना और उसकी प्रासुंिगकता पर िवचार करना है या ि​िर उनके मध्य प्रतीत होने वाले अधतर्तवरोधों का पररहार करने की वैचाररक चेिा। 189

उपयुषि िववेचन से एक बात स्पि होती है िक दाशषिनक एक स्वतधत्रता का वरण करता है वह कै से देखा जायेगा िकस धरातल से देखा जायेगा िकस ढुंग से देखा जायेगा इन िवषयों में स्वतधत्र है। इसका अथष यह नहीं है िक दशषन कोरी क्पना है या अटकलें दाशषिनक को बार बार युि​ियाुं प्रस्तुत करना पड़ता है। वैचाररक प्रि​िया होना या बुिद्ध के धरातल पर होना दाशषिनक को स्वेच्छारी होने से रोकता है। वह स्वतधत्र है पर स्वेच्छारी नहीं है। इसे इस रूप में भी अिभव्यि िकया जा सकता है िक दाशषिनक क का चुनाव कर सकता है परधतु क से अिनवायषतः िनगिमत ख के सम्बधध में वह बुंधा हुआ है। यिद वह ख पररणाम प्राि नहीं करना चाहता है तो उसे क को ही बदलना होगा। इस तरह दाशषिनक अपनी सीमा स्वयुं बनाता है और उस सीमा का पालन उसे भी करना ही होता है। वह अपने उपादानों का चुनाव करता है और युितः अपने प्रासाद को बनाता है। पाश्चात्य ि​िलोसोिी शब्द के िलए भारतीय दशषन के ग्रधथों में आधवीिक्षकी शब्द को कई िवद्वानों ने समानाथी बताया है। आधवीिक्षकी शब्द का अथष परीक्षण है और यह (िकसी के ) पश्चात् ज्ञान के िवचार से सम्बिधधत प्रतीत होता है।6 यहा​ाँ यह आशय प्रतीत होता है िक दशषन शब्द के वल तकष या युि​ि से सम्बिधधत न करके िकसी िवशेष लक्ष्य (मोक्ष िनवाषण िनःश्रेयस दुःख िनवृित्त आिद) प्राि​ि की दृि​ि से सम्बिधधत है। िकसी के पश्चात् ज्ञान का तात्पयष आधारों के िवचार की ओर इुंिगत करता है ये आधार अनुभव हो सकते हैं परम्परा या श्रुित ज्ञान की िवधायें (यथा गिणत िवज्ञान) कला आिद हो सकते हैं। आलेख का मधतव्य है िक भारतीय दशषन के सधदभष में श्रुित और अनुभव उपादान या आधार हैं। और युि​ि इन दोनों के मध्य सम्वाद स्थािपत करती है। श्रुित का रूढ अथष वेद या वेद-प्रामाण्य से है, और कभी-कभी िजसका सुंदभष प्रािधकारी से िलया जाता है। इस रूढ अथष के अलावा श्रुित का अथष श्रवण या सुना गया भी होता है- ‘श्रुितः। यदथषस्यिभधानुं शब्दस्य श्रवणादेव अवगम्यते स श्रुत्या अवगम्यते। श्रवणुं श्रुित’ (भट्टसोमे्ववर, धयायसुधा, 1/2/3/30)। श्रुित भाट्टदीिपका में श्रुत अथष में ग्रहण िकया गया है- ‘श्रुितः िनरपेक्षो रवः। यच्छब्दज्ञानुं अधयव्यवधानमनपेक्ष्य यदथषज्ञानुं जनयित स तिस्मन्नथे श्रुितः’ य्िप यह पररभाषा श्रुित के प्रमाण-स्वरूप को भी बताती है। अमरकोष में श्रुित को श्रुत अथष में भी ग्रहण िकया गया है और वेद के अथष में भी। श्रुित मीमाुंसा दशषन के िविध, िनषेध, अिभधात्री, िविनयोग अथष में प्रचिलत है। रूढ अथष में यह वेद है, लेिकन व्यापक अथष में यह परम्परा को बताती है। यिद अप्रत्यक्ष रूप से देखें तो शाुंकर-वेदाुंत का उपिनषद् को श्रुित रूप में ग्रहण करना श्रुित के िविध-िनषेध अथष नकारता है। िहररयण्णा श्रुित को िवषयगत एकता के अथष में बताते हैं7 । इस तथ्य के आधार पर यह कहने की सम्भावना है िक श्रुित िजज्ञासा या प्रश्न की प्रकृ ित क्या है? इस िवचार से सम्बुंिधत है। श्रुित को प्रािधकारी भी कहा जाता है, य्िप प्रािधकारी इस सुंदभष में है िक यह सत्य है, न िक इस सुंदभष में िक असत्य होने पर भी इसे स्वीकारना ही होगा। मूल मुंतव्य यह है िक श्रुित वैचाररक-प्रि​िया को आकार प्रदान करती है। आलेख में श्रुित के श्रुत-सुंदभष को िलया गया है और इस सुंदभष में श्रुित परम्परा से समानाथी है। परम्परा वैचाररकप्रि​िया को आकार प्रदान करती है, सम्भवतः िवरोधी और अिवरोधी दोनों रूपों में। मुंतव्य यह है िक परम्परा वैचाररक-प्रि​िया को आकार प्रदान करती है या आकार प्रदान करने में सहायक होती है। भारतीय आिस्तक दशषनों को व्याख्यात्मक भी कहा जाता है, क्योंिक उनके बारे में यह माना जाता है िक आिस्तक-दशषन श्रुित या आगम की व्याख्या करते हैं। इस सुंदभष में यह बात देखी जा सकती है िक व्याख्या के िलए अधय व्याख्याओं में कमी या अपूणषता का िवचार होता है, अतः यिद दशषन का स्वरूप व्याख्यात्मक भी है, तब भी श्रुित, युि​ि और अनुभव तीनों के द्वारा वैचाररकप्रि​िया आकार प्रदान करती है। युि​ि अनुमान और तकष -प्रि​िया के सुंदभष में ग्रहण की गई है। भारतीय दशषन में अनुमान के अितररि तकष -प्रि​िया है और शास्त्रीय ग्रुंथों में इस बात के सुंदभष िमलते हैं िक िसद्धाुंत तकष -प्रि​िया से बािधत नहीं होना चािहए। तकष -प्रि​िया, िजसे धयाय कहकर भी सम्बोिधत िकया जाता है, में अधयोधयाश्रय दोष, चिक, आत्माश्रय, क्पना-गौरव आिद सिम्मिलत हैं। 190

युि​ि8 अनुमान और धयाय या तकष -पद्धित दोनों से सम्बुंिधत है। यह वैचाररक-प्रि​िया को आकार प्रदान करता है, जैसािक ए. आर. वािडया का कथन है, “प्राक्क्पना तकष शास्त्र के िनयमों से िनयुंित्रत होती है”9। य्िप वािडया का मानना है िक भारतीय दशषन में परम्परा तकष से वरीय है, सम्भवतः इस आधार पर उनका मुंतव्य है िक भारतीय दशषन में वैचाररक-प्रि​िया में परम्परा को तकष से वरीय माना गया है। भारतीय दशषन के बारे में यह िवचार व्यापक है और कभी-कभी समीचीन भी प्रतीत होता है। लेिकन भारतीय दशषन परम्परा में योग-विसष्ठ जैसे ग्रुंथ भी पाए जाते हैं, िजनमें तकष को वरीय माना गया है।10 चावाषक् को तकष और अनुभव पर आधाररत दशषन कहा जा सकता है, बौद्ध और जैन दशषन भी तकष और अनुभव को वरीयता देते हैं, य्िप उनके बारे में यह मत भी प्रचिलत है िक वे बौद्ध और जैनआगमों को वरीयता देते हैं। सम्भावना है िक इस वरीयता का स्वरूप आिस्तक दशषन से िभन्न हो। अनुभव में व्यि​िगत अनुभव और लोक-अनुभव सिम्मिलत है। शास्त्रीय-ग्रुंथों में उद्धरण पाए जाते हैं िक िसद्धाुंत लोकअनुभव के िवरुद्ध नहीं होना चािहए। लोक-अनुभव िसद्धाुंत को या वैचाररक-प्रि​िया को िनयिमत करता है। लेिकन प्रश्न यह है िक क्या लोक-अनुभव व्यि​िगत अनुभवों का योग है, या ि​िर एक सामाधय दृि​ि। व्यि​िगत अनुभवों का योग व्यावहाररक रूप से प्राि करना सम्भव नहीं है। अतः लोक-अनुभव इससे िभन्न है, तब इसका स्वरूप क्या है? क्या लोक-अनुभव ज्ञान के अधय क्षेत्रों के सुंदभों को स्वीकार करना तो नहीं है। इसके साथ-साथ भारतीय दशषन में व्यि​िगत अनुभव को भी सिम्मिलत िकया गया है। अनुभव को स्मृितिभन्न कहा जाता है। स्पितः व्यि​िगत अनुभव भी वैचाररकप्रि​िया को आकार प्रदान करता है। इस प्रकार यह तो उद्धरणों से स्पि है िक श्रुित, युि​ि और अनुभव वैचाररक-प्रि​िया को आकार प्रदान करते हैं। लेिकन वो मानक क्या हैं, िजसके आधार पर आकार प्रदान करते हैं, िकस प्रकार आकार प्रदान करते हैं? आलेख का िवचार है िक श्रुित, युि​ि और अनुभव के मध्य होने वाला सम्वाद वैचाररक-प्रि​िया को आकार प्रदान करता है और वैचाररकप्रि​िया की आकाररकी सम्भवतः दशषन को जधम देती है। श्रुित, युि​ि और अनुभव के मध्य होने वाला सम्वाद या तो तीनों को परस्पर सीिमत करता है, या समधवय को जधम देता है या सीिमत और समिधवत दोनों करता है। भारतीय दशषन कभी-कभी इसिलए भारतीय दशषन कहा जाता है िक यह दशषन भारत नाम से कहे जाने वाले भू-भाग में उत्पन्न हुआ और कभी-कभी मोक्ष, साधना आिद तत्त्वों की उपिस्थित के कारण, िजनके बारे में कभी-कभी यह िवचार भी िमलता है िक ये भारतीय दशषन की िविशि िवशेषताएुं हैं। कभी-कभी इन िवशेषताओं को भारतीय दशषन की मुख्य िवशेषताएुं भी कहा जाता है। भारतीय दशषन को मोक्षशास्त्र, आध्यात्म-शास्त्र, साधना या योग, धमष, दैवी प्रेरणा, लक्ष्यकें ि​ित आिद िवचारों से सुंदर्तभत िकया गया है या सम्बुंिधत िकया गया है। भारतीय दशषन के वल सैद्धाुंितक नहीं है, अिपतु व्यावहाररक है, इस तथ्य को िवद्वानों द्वारा उद्धृत िकया गया है। व्यावहाररक से तात्पयष जीवन से, जीवन की समस्याओं से सम्बुंिधत होना है, जैसािक दुःख और दुःख से मुि​ि की भारतीय दशषन में चचाष से स्पि होता है। डॉ राधाकृ ष्णन का मानना है िक भारतीय दशषन का मूलरूप आध्याित्मक है और धमष-िवषयक समस्यायों से इसे प्रेरणा िमलती है11। इस सुंदभष में राधाकृ ष्णन का यह विव्य समीचीन है, “आगम और व्यवहार के बीच, िसद्धाुंत और वास्तिवक जीवन के बीच, घिनष्ठ सम्बुंध होने के कारण कोई जो जीवन की कसौटी पर खरा न उतर सकता, उपयोिगतावाद की दृि​ि से नहीं, वरन अपने िवस्तृत अथों में, कभी भी जीिवत नहीं रह सकता था”12। य्िप इस कथन को भारतीय दशषन के सैद्धाुंितक और व्यावहाररक पक्ष के समधवय के सुंदभष में उद्धृत िकया गया है, ि​िर भी अपने िवस्तृत अथष में यह श्रुित और अनुभव के मध्य समधवय या सम्वाद के रूप में िलया जा सकता है।

191

भारतीय दशषन में लोक-अनुभव पद का प्रयोग िसद्धाुंत-िनरूपण के सुंदभष में हुआ है, इसके साथ-साथ यह वैचाररकप्रि​िया के से भी सम्बुंिधत है। अनुभव के इस रूप के साथ-साथ व्यि​िगत अनुभव को भी वैचाररक-प्रि​िया में सहायक माना गया है, जैसािक सुषुि​ि के दृिाुंत से प्रतीत होता है। अमरकोष में अनुभव साक्षात्कार का एक प्रकार कहा गया हैसाक्षात्कारः िद्विवधाः- उपलम्भस्त्वनुभवः ( अमरुसह,अमरकोष, 3/2/27)। साक्षात्कार का प्रकार होना अनुभव के वैयि​िक स्वरूप या िवचार को बताता है। धयाय दशषन अनुभव को स्मृितिभन्न कहता है, स्मृित सुंस्कार से उत्पन्न ज्ञान है- ‘सुंस्कारमात्रजधयुं ज्ञानुं स्मृितः। ति​िन्नुं ज्ञानमनुभवः। स िद्विवधो यथाथो यथाथषश्च’ (धयायसूत्र)। अनुभव का यथाथष और अयथाथष रूप उसे वैचाररक-प्रि​िया से सम्बुंिधत करता है। भरट्टकाव्य में अनुभव को प्रत्यक्ष-सम्वेदन के अथष में ग्रहण िकया गया है- ‘अनुभूता मया चासौ तेन चाचभिवष्यहम्’ ( महाकिवभट्ट, भरट्टकाव्य, 5/35)। यिद अनुभव को इस तात्पयष के साथ भी ग्रहण िकया जाता है, तब भी अनुभव वैचाररक-प्रि​िया में सहायक है। हम अपने अनुभव का अधयों के अनुभव से कै से सम्वाद स्थािपत करें तािक साुंप्रत्ययीकरण13 सम्भव हो सके । इस सम्वाद में तकष सहायक है। तकष शास्त्र साुंप्रत्ययीकरण के िनयमों का अध्ययन है। व्यि​िगत अनुभवों का सामाधयीकरण कै से िकया जाये और अधय मनस के अनुभवों का िविशिीकरण कै से िकया जाये? तकष वह उपकरण है िजससे अनुभव का साुंप्रत्ययीकरण होता है और इसके िलये तकष के िनयमों का सहारा िलया जाता है य्िप यह कभी-कभी दोतरफ़ा होता है- अनुभव से वतषमान तकष शास्त्र का अितिमण भी होता है और तकष शास्त्र से अनुभव का िवस्तार या ह्रास। अथाषत् सम्वाद होता है। और भारतीय दशषन भी इस सम्वाद से इतर नहीं है अपने उपादानों या आधारों से प्रारम्भ कर दाशषिनक युि​ियों का प्रयोग करके दाशषिनक प्रासाद खड़ा करने का प्रयास करता है और भारतीय दशषन भी दशषन कहलाने का अिधकारी है। िवचार का िवषय क्या है यह दाशषिनक के द्वारा िकया गया चुनाव है पर इससे वह दाशषिनक कहलाने और न कहलाने का अिधकारी नहीं हो सकता। य्िप ये िवषय और उपादान या आधार उस दाशषिनक या दशषन-िवशेष को िवशेषता प्रदान करते हैं। सधदभष एवुं रटप्पिणयाुं 1. दया कृ ष्ण भारतीय एवुं पाश्चात्य दाशषिनक परम्पराएुं सम्पादक- योगेश गुिा जयपुर: दशषन िवभाग राजस्थान िव्वविव्ालय 2006 पृ. 453.

2. “It is almost a defining trait of philosophy that its own existence is a problem internal to itself.” Arthur C Danto, What Philosophy Is, New York: Harper and Row, 1968, p.2.

3. दृि​ि तो व्यि​ि की होगी अतः यहा​ाँ व्यि​ि-िवशेष से तात्पयष उस व्यि​ि से है िजसकी दृि​ि से वह भू भाग देखता है। यिद यहा​ाँ व्यि​ि की जगह परम्परा या स्थान िवशेष के साुंस्कृ ितक स्वरूप का भी सुंदभष िलया जाए तब भी आलेख में प्रस्तुत यह मधतव्य िक लोगों ने अधय से अपने सम्बधध को देखा ही नहीं यह उिचत नहीं खिण्डत नहीं होता। 4. महत्तर आधारवाक्य शब्द का प्रयोग दशषन के आधार रूप को प्रस्तुत करने के िलए हुआ है। दाशषिनक अपने समस्या के समाधान या स्थापना तक पहुाँचने के िलए िजन आधारवाक्यों को अपनाता है उनसे इस आधार वाक्य का भेद स्पि हो। यह आधारवाक्य वह सुंक्पना है िजसके बारे में यह कह सकते हैं िक यह उस दशषनिवशेष की आत्मा है। इसे चेतना की पररिध या सीमा के रूप में भी कहा जा सकता है। 5. दया कृ ष्ण भारतीय दशषन : एक नई दृि​ि जयपुर : रावत पिब्लके शधस 2000 पृ. 6.

6. Bimal Krishna Matilal, Mind, Language and World, edited by Jonardan Ganeri, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp.358-360.

7. एम िहररयण्णा, भारतीय दशषन की रूपरे खा, अनुवाद- गोवधषन भट्ट मुंजू गुिा एवुं अधय िद्ली: राजकमल प्रकाशन 1965 पृ. 49.

192

8. “It is sufficient for us to note merely that reasons are brought into the picture precisely when the question shifts from how things are common-sensically supposed to be structured or how we do talk in common speech to the question of how things ought to be mapped or how we ought to talk in an “improved language”. Karl H. Potter,

Presuppositions of India’s Philosophies, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1963, p.78.

9. A. R. Wadia, ‘On Philosophical Synthesis’, PEW 13, 1963, pp. 291-294.

10. B. L. Atreya, The Philosophy of Yoga- asi ha, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1936, p. 581.

11. एस. राधाकृ ष्णन, भारतीय दशषन (प्रथम भाग), अनुवाद- नधदकोशोर गोिभल िद्ली: राजपाल एण्ड सधस 2015 पृ. 20-21.

12. वही, पृ. 21.

13. साुंप्रत्ययीकरण पररभािषत करना है और इसमें सावषभौिमकता का दावा िनिहत है।

193

REPORT OF THE PROGRAMME Report on ICPR Sponsored Periodical Lectures 28th March 2019

The Department of Philosophy, Smt. Aruna Asaf Ali Govt. P. G. College, Kalka (Panchkula) organized ―ICPR Sponsored Periodical Lectures‖ on 28th March, 2019. The programme was academically assisted by the Research Cell (IQAC) and NSS Units. Mrs. Neetu Choudhary, Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce started the programme with short description of ICPR, New Delhi , its objectives and sponsorship for Periodical lectures.

Mrs. Kusum Adya, Principal, Smt. Aruna Asaf Ali Govt. P.G. College, Kalka (Panchkula) formally welcomed the guests by floral welcome. She highlighted the importance of such events which are need of the hour to give students proper guidance and motivation in the concerned subject. Dr. Bindu Rani, Assistant Professor (Zoology), introduced the distinguished speakers to the audience and highlighted the achievements of scholars in their academic career. The invitees included Dr. Shivani Sharma, Chairperson, Department of Philosophy, Panjab University, Chandigarh) and Dr. Lallan Singh Baghel, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

The programme started with the lecture on ―Concept of Knowledge in Indian Philosophy‖ by Dr. Shivani Sharma. From the scientific point of view, she emphasized philosophy as nothing but a rational discourse. However if viewed as a discipline in Indian philosophy, many aspects of life which are not rational and cannot be emphasized or controlled, need to be addressed which effect human being who is an affective being. She also discussed three major points of Indian Philosophy namely Metaphysics- which questions the Self, Epistemology, which opens windows of meanings of various words of a language and Ethics, which is about the moral values & related issues and highlighted Indian Philosophy as about gaining knowledge about the Being, knowledge and rationality. She also went to talk about Charvaka, Buddhism and Jainism, as the disciplines which believe in Karma, and 194

Rebirth. She also touched various atheist schools of Indian philosophy. Dr. Sharma concluded her talk by emphasising need of reading to develop insights into the understanding of philosophy.

Dr. Lallan Singh Baghel delivered his lecture on ―Exploring the Nature of Emancipation in Colonial Indian Political Philosophy.‖ He started his talk by highlighting concept of modernity. He justified questioning tradition when logical but criticised its outright rejection by human beings with the capacity and potential to reach their desired level. He pondered upon the concepts of Freedom and salvation. He pinpointed that the colonizers who enslaved India were both modern and traditional in some ways. He highlighted the dialectical relation between various aspects of life in public sphere. He discussed thoughts of Vivekananda, , Aurobindo and Dayanand Saraswati, who were basically philosophers and stressed on the integration of knowledge. Dr. Baghel also mentioned that Jyotiba Phule , a great thinker, stressed upon discourse and criticized scholastic studies which mislead the masses. He quoted the example of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, whose education was sponsored not as a gesture of charity but as a result of out of the box thinking. Since there is scope of debate on every concept, every dialogue and even rationality, the boundaries of ‗isms‘ should be broken.

Dr. Lallan Singh Baghel delivered his second lecture on ―Feminism as a Counter Public Sphere and Debated on Intersectionality in India: Raising a Few Normative and Epistemological Concerns.‖ He said feminism as a counter public sphere though grounded in understanding of western discourses of feminism as a subversive and counter hegemonic political movement which traced its genealogical strengths in the writings of Nancy Fraser, Judith Butler, Selya Benhabib and Drucilla Cornell has also moved towards non-western feminism from the writings of Boaventura De Sousa Santos and Indian Feminists including Sharmila Rege and Mary E. John, through normative and epistemological concepts such as intersectionality approach. But to what extent these approaches constructed a new discourse about distributive justice and identity politics yet to be sufficiently theorized in the light of South Asian discourses of patriarchal violence and injustices done to the women and sexual minorities in Indian context. However the recent upsurge in the domain of Indian democracy towards a substantive justice and affirmative action, an indicator towards these debates that Indian democracy, needs to be deepened from the perspective of subaltern citizens, also known as marginality discourse.

Prof. Sushil Kumar, Associate Professor, Department of Music also informed the students regarding the scope and career in the subject of philosophy. He also emphasized on the importance of philosophy to generate values for human life in particular and also to develop democratic values in the society in general. Dr. Indu, Programme Officer, NSS Unit (Girls) informed the participants about the yearlong celebrations organised by NSS Units to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi started from 24th September, 2018 with one day camp on ―Sawachh Bhart Mission‘ and screening of short film on Mahatma Gandhi.

This programme had an interactive session and students discussed various concepts related to the lectures such as philosophy, ethics, social philosophy, religious philosophy and got satisfactory answers from the eminent resource persons. The lectures which were related to the course work were highly appreciated by the students. A feedback regarding the content, presentation, lecture delivered were also given by the audience.

At the end of the program, Dr. Desh Raj Sirswal, Head, Department of Philosophy expressed the vote of thanks and pointed out that the present lectures are a significant move to teach and acquaint students with basic concepts of the subject through the excellent deliberations by the experts. More than 150 students and faculty-members including Dr, Saravjeet Kaur (Head Department of English), Dr. Kuldeep Thind (Head, Department of History), Dr. Ravinder Kumar (Assistant Professor, Department of Geography), Dr. Neelam (Head, Department of Hindi) and faculty members of various subjects of the college also attended these lectures.

195

Instructions to the Contributors Lokāyata: Journal of Positive Philosophy (ISSN 2249-8389) welcomes contributions in all areas of research proposed by the Centre. All articles are sent to experts who evaluate each paper on several dimensions such as originality of the work, scientific argument, and English style, format of the paper, references, citations and finally they comment on suitability of the article for the particular Journal. In case of review articles the importance of the subject and the extent the review is comprehensive are assessed. Prospective authors are expected that before submitting any article for publication they should see that it fulfills these criteria. The improvement of article may be achieved in two ways (i) more attention to language (ii) more attention to the sections of the article.

Format of Submission: The paper should be typewritten preferably in Times New Roman with 12 font size (English) and Kruti Dev (10) with 14 font size (Hindi) in MS-Word 2003 to 2010 and between 2500 to 3000 words. They should be typed on one side of the paper, double spaced with ample margins. The authors should submit the hard copy along with a CD and a copyright form to be sent to the editorial address.

Time Line: The last dates of submission of the manuscript are as follows: For April to September Issue: 31stAugust every year.

For October to March Issue: 31st January every year.

Reference Style: Notes and references should appear at the end of the research paper/chapter. Citations in the text and references must correspond to each other; do not over reference by giving the obvious/old classic studies or the irrelevant. CPPIS follows The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition. The Chicago Manual of Style presents two basic documentation systems: (1) notes and bibliography and (2) author-date. Choosing between the two often depends on subject matter and the nature of sources cited, as each system is favored by different groups of scholars. The notes and bibliography style is preferred by many in the humanities. The author-date system has long been used by those in the physical, natural, and social sciences. CPPIS follows the first system i.e. Notes and Bibliography.

You can visit the following link to download our “CPPIS Manual for Contributors and Reviewers” for further instuctions:

http://cppispublications.wordpress.com

196

CPPIS, Pehowa (Kurukshetra) Centre for Positive Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies (CPPIS) Pehowa is a joint academic venture of Milestone Education Society (Regd.) Pehowa and Society for Positive Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies (SPPIS), Haryana (online) to do fundamental research in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences.

SPPIS Newsletter The Centre also circulates a Newsletter, which includes new information related to events, new articles and programme details. One can register himself on the below given address and will get regular updates from us.

Link for registration: http://positivephilosophy.webs.com/apps/auth/signup

All contributions to the Journal, other editorial enquiries and books for review are to be sent to: Dr. Desh Raj Sirswal, Chief-Editor, Lokāyata: Journal of Positive Philosophy, Centre for Positive Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies (CPPIS), Pehowa, Distt. Kurukshetra (HARYANA)-136128 (India) Mobile No.09896848775, 08288883993 E-mail: cppiskkr@gmail.com, mses.02@gmail.com Website: http://lokayatajournal.webs.com

“My objective is to achieve an intellectual detachment from all philosophical systems, and not to solve specific philosophical problems, but to become sensitively aware of what it is when we philosophise.”

- Dr. Desh Raj Sirswal

197