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Vol. 76 No 9
DECEMBER 2012
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THE RADICAL HUMANIST
(Since April 1949) Founder Editor: M. N. Roy Formerly : Independent India (April 1937- March 1949)
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Radical Humanist Prithvis Chakravarti is no more (1919 -2012)
THE RADICAL HUMANIST
DECEMBER 2012 www.theradicalhumanist.com
The Radical Humanist Vol. 76 Number 9 December 2012
Contents
Monthly journal of the Indian Renaissance Institute Devoted to the development of the Renaissance Movement; and for promotion of human rights, scientific-temper, rational thinking and a humanist view of life. Founder Editor: M.N. Roy Editor: Dr. Rekha Saraswat Contributory Editors: Prof. A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed, Dr. R.M. Pal, Professor Rama Kundu Publisher: Mr. N.D. Pancholi Printer: Mr. N.D. Pancholi Send articles to: Dr. Rekha Saraswat, C-8, Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P., India, Ph. 91-121-2620690, 09719333011, E-mail articles at: rheditor@gmail.com Send Subscription / Donation Cheques in favour of The Radical Humanist to: Mr. Narottam Vyas (Advocate), Chamber Number 111 (Near Post Office), Supreme Court of India, New Delhi, 110001, India n.vyas@snr.net.in Ph. 91-11-22712434, 91-11-23782836, 09811944600
Please Note: Authors will bear sole accountability for corroborating the facts that they give in their write-ups. Neither IRI / the Publisher nor the Editor of this journal will be responsible for testing the validity and authenticity of statements & information cited by the authors. Also, sometimes some articles published in this journal may carry opinions not similar to the Radical Humanist philosophy; but they would be entertained here if the need is felt to debate and discuss upon them. 1
1. From the Editor’s Desk: India is a Society of Monologues —Rekha Saraswat 2. Prithvis Chakravarti: Obituaries The End of an Era in Journalism
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— Hiranmay Karlekar 3. Guests’ Section: Inclusion And Access – Can Technology Help? —Nandan Nilekani 7 Menace of Corruption in India – The Way Out —Rajindar Sachar 12 Harmful Chemicals in Eatables will Effect Human Health —J. Sharath Chandra Rao 14 4. Current Affairs’ Section: Public Property for Private Use; Indigenous Knowledge as People’s Technology; Gujarat: Whose state is it anyway? —K.S. Chalam 16 Re-election of Barack Obama; 2G Spectrum; Surajkund Conclave; Bihar’s claim for Separate Status; Reply to Editors Questions on FDI —N.K. Acharya 22 5. IRI / IRHA Members’ Section: Will Obama Act? —Jawaharlal Jasthi
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6. Book Review Section: The Devil’s Finest Trick: The Human Mind’s Worst —Frank Miele Acknowledging the Genie —Dipavali Sen Sri Aurobindo: A contemporary Reader —R.M. Pal 7. Humanist News Section:
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From the Editor’s Desk:
India is a society of loud monologues: True dialogues do not take place in our country even in our Parliament. Therefore, democracy seems to be a hopeless endeavor here. Recently, in a U.G.C. sponsored national seminar on ‘State Politics in India’ one of our guest speakers, a sitting Member of Parliament from Meerut corroborated my statement when he bemoaned that there is an atmosphere of complete samvaadheenta (dialogue-less-ness) in the Parliament. He left the rest for us to imagine and contemplate upon. If the apex centre of discourse is left either to indifference or impatience on both sides of people’s representation and the only recourse left is either a no-confidence motion or a walk-out then naturally the common man (aam aadmi) is left with only the title of ‘mango-man’ while in real life, ‘mangoes’ remain delicacies for those who had vouched to speak for him. There is another side of the story too. There is a huge amount of anger and resentment for this apathy among those sympathizers of this ‘common man’ who either prefer or are forced to remain outside the forts of our Legislatures. They do not leave any opportunity to give vent to their frustration with the system. But, surprisingly, they too are equally happy in noisy soliloquizing. They have an intense desire to simply make their presence felt through their vociferousness, even if it comes at the cost of the cause they are trying to represent. Only a few days ago, I came to know about some self-appointed (of course, not elected by him) ambassadors of this suffering aam aadmi vowing for his human rights, his democratic freedom and his civil liberties, who considered it below their dignity to listen to an opinion diverse to their school of thought; so much so, that they decided to (of course, silently) interrupt, disturb and interfere
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instead of waiting patiently to have a dialogue with the invited speaker in the meeting. Many, among the same people appeal to the governments to be humane when it comes to punishing and executing hard-core criminals and terrorists and to listen to their side of the stories too with the purpose of reforming them instead of executing them. Agreed! It is a just cause! But was the speaker a worse case than the one just sent to the gallows and his points of view would have spread such malice and venom in the audience that our society would have later suffered an irreparable loss? Or were they simply troubled and apprehensive of entering into a logical war of words with him? Or is it one more testimony of my claim in this editorial that we refuse to listen; that we have no patience to converse; that we know it all; that we are smug in our beliefs; that we are born filibusterers? The Roman statesman, orator and writer Marcus Tullius Cicero was beheaded during the first century BC for his continuous opposition to military dictatorship as against a republic; his hands were also chopped off on Antony’s orders because he had written the Philippics against Antony. These hands and Cicero’s head were then nailed on the Rostra in the Forum Romanum. It didn’t stop there. Antony’s wife Fulvia did not spare Cicero's tongue. As per Cassius Dio, she pulled it out from his head and poked it continuously in her revenge against his powerful oratory against her husband. However heinous these words may appear here as text but they definitely remind us and warn us that intolerance towards any difference of opinion always breeds contempt and tyranny. Don’t forget the caution in Khalil Gibran’s words that ‘Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh and too selfish to seek other than itself’. Could I make my point clear here?
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his journalistic career as sub-editor-cum-reporter in the Independent India English weekly of which M.N. Roy was the Founder-Editor and worked for it during 1943-1946. He also worked for The People an English Weekly founded by Lala Lajpat Rai and The Statesman for some time. However he worked in various capacities in the Hindustan Times from 1949 to 1980 where he retired as News Bureau Chief. Thereafter he worked as New Delhi News Bureau Chief-cum-Deputy Editor of Aajkal, Bengali daily published from Calcutta. He travelled widely in various parts of the world during his journalistic career and covered events of far reaching importance. He was a regular contributor to The Radical Humanist, the English monthly (formerly Independent India), besides frequently writing for various other magazines and newspapers. He was life member of the IRHA and the IR. Shri Chakravarti was very much concerned about the rights of the working journalists and was founder member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in 1972. He worked with skill and dedication as its Secretary General, Vice President and President respectively during formative years of the NUJ and made strenuous efforts to secure fair wages and better working conditions for journalists from the various Wage Boards. Indian Renaissance Institute and the Indian Radical Humanist Association pay their respectful homage to the memory of Shri Prithvis Chakravarti and extend their heartfelt condolence to his bereaved family.
Prithvis Chakravarti (1919-2012) Condolence Messages: Mr. Prithvis Chakravarti had been Dear known to me since March, 1977 when fresh Lok Sabha elections were to be held. We used to meet at the monthly meetings at Comrade Tarkunde’s residence. I was always impressed by the suggestions given by Mr. Chakravarti. I remember how he kept himself abreast with latest political developments. However for the last about five years, we were not fortunate enough to see and have him in meetings or lectures arranged by us. Only two years ago, when his wife died, I and Mr. N.D. Pancholi went to meet him at his Chitranjan Park residence and I felt that he had taken the unfortunate event of the death of his wife to heart and looked very much gloomy and depressed. It is an irony that on 31.10.2012 when I was thinking of meeting him, I came to know in the afternoon that he had breathed his last and thus the fond dream of meeting him could not be realized. In Mr. Chakravarti we have lost an old dedicated Radical Humanist. — Badridas Sharma President, Indian Renaissance Institute the IRHA are deeply grieved over IRIthe and sad demise of Shri Prithvis Chakravarti
who breathed his last on 31st October, 2012 morning at the age of 95. Born in 1919 in Ranchi in — N.D. Pancholi, N.Vyas, on behalf of IRI Jharkhand (formerly Bihar), got his school — Vinod Jain, Bhaskar Sur & IRHA education in Mymensing district of East Bengal and did his graduation and post graduation courses rofessor Paul Kutz has been a leading from Calcutta University during 1939-1941. crusader for humanist and ethical ideals In his earlier days he was influenced by the ideas of M.N. Roy and had joined the Radical Democratic all along his life time. As a thinker and an activist Party founded by Roy in early forties. He started his contribution to the philosophy of humanism will be remembered by posterity throughout the
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world. Prithvis Chakravarty has also been a devoted rationalist and radical humanist in theory and practice. I happened to meet him for the first time when I was a post graduate student at Sambalpur University in 1975 when he came to address the Odisha unit of National Union of Journalists (OUJ) at Sambalpur. Thereafter, when I attended the National Biennial Convention of the Radical Humanist Association as a young student at New Delhi in 1978 at Gandhi Peace Foundation, he had proposed my name to the national executive of the RHA. What I want to say here is that he wanted to associate and encourage young persons like me at that time to the RH movement. As a journalist also, his contribution as a founder of NUJ is commendable. He is a role model for journalists. He had courage, dedication and flair for reporting and writing which he exemplified in his long career in English and Bengali journalism. I deeply condole the passing away of both these veterans of the humanist movement. Bhabani Dikshit Managing Editor, World Focus read about the sad demise of Sri Prithvis IChakravarty in The Hindu also. It is indeed sad news. I remember having met him at the GPF. He was a nice person. My condolences to his family members and all the radical humanist friends. Mahi Pal Singh Secretary PUCL We lost another associate, Prithvis, and it is sad. Please convey my condolences to his family. Innaiah Narisetti New York, U.S.A.
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Condolence Meeting at Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi Renaissance Institute and Indian Indian Radical Humanist Association held a meeting at Gandhi Peace Foundation in New Delhi on 12th November 2012 to condole the sad demise of Prof. Paul Kurtz, Shri Prithvis Chakravarti and Shri Manubhai Bhailal Bhai Shah. Mr. Paul Kurtz breathed his last on 20th October 2012 at his home in Amherst, New York, USA at the age of 86; Shri Manubhai Bhailal Bhai Shah on 21st October 2012 at Ahmadabad at the age of 78 years and Shri Prithvis Chakravarti on 31st October 2012 in New Delhi at the age of 95 years. At the start of the meeting a two minutes’ silence was observed as a mark of respect to the deceased. Dr. Jugal Kishore, convener of the Centre For Enquiry, Delhi spoke about Prof. Paul Kurtz. He said that Shri Paul Kurtz was a renowned philosopher, prolific author, publisher and founder of several humanist institutions. Prof. Kurtz was widely known as “father of secular humanism” and most important secular voice of the second part of the 20th century. He was a critic of super-naturalism and paranormal. He was very much concerned about the rampant growth of unscientific attitudes among the public at large and was against popular beliefs in astrology, faith healing etc. He emphasized on reason and rational thinking. Dr. Jugal Kishore elaborated upon the various aspects of the life and writings of Prof. Paul Kurtz. Shri Vinod Jain, President of Indian Radical Humanist Association, spoke about Shri Prithvis Chakravarti and paid his tributes. He said that Shri Prithvis Chakravarti was a life member of the Indian Renaissance Institute and the Indian Radical Humanist Association. Born at Ranchi, presently in the Jharkhand state, on 1st August 1919, he had come under the influence of the writings of M.N. Roy in his young age during the forties and had
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associated with the Roy group. He started his Shri B.D. Sharma, President of Indian Renaissance journalistic career under the guidance of M.N. Roy and Institute, presided over the meeting. worked in his weekly paper Independent India for
quite some time. Later on he joined The People, an English weekly from Delhi, then Statesmen and from 1949 to 1980 he worked in the Hindustan Times, New Delhi and retired as its Bureau Chief. He then worked in Aajkaal, a Bengali daily published from Kolkata as its Bureau Chief-cum-Deputy Editor at Delhi from 1981 to 1994. He was founder member of National Union of Journalists and worked for getting better wages and better service conditions for them. Shri B.D. Sharma and Shri N.D. Pancholi also spoke about Shri Prithvis Chakaravarti, Shri Manubhai B. Shah and Prof. Paul Kurtz. It was stated that Shri Manubhai B. Shah was a veteran Radical Humanist and was very active in the Trade Union Movement at Ahmadabad. He was a close associate of Late Shri C.T. Daru who was an ardent Radical Humanist, trade unionist and eminent advocate of Gujarat High Court. His late brother Mr. Haribhai Shah was also a Radical Humanist. In his personal life he was always ready to help the needy and lived the life of a true humanist. Ms. Raka Chakravarti, daughter of Shri Prithvis Chakravarti, was also present in the meeting. She narrated a few significant aspects of memories of Shri Prithvis Chakravarti. She said that her father was against superstitions and blind faith throughout his life. He always made efforts to promote scientific thinking in the family and outside. She told that as per his ‘Will’ his eyes were donated to AIIMS immediately after his demise. Later on, a lively discussion followed on secular humanism.
Condolence Meeting at Chittaranjan Park, New Delhi condolence meeting in memory of Shri APrithvis Chakravarti was also organized on 16th November 2012 at Purbosree Mahila Samity Hall, Chittaranjan Park, New Delhi by his family. Large number of local residents, friends and relatives gathered to pay tributes to Shri Prithvis Chakravarti. The meeting started by singing of Brahmo Sangeet by renowned singer Shri Sudhir Chandra who had graduated from Shanti Niketan and has been teaching Rabindra Sangeet at Delhi for the last several years. Many eminent journalists including Sameer Pal, Sumit Chakravarti, Brij Bhardwaj and Chand Prakash shared their memories of Prithvis Da. Shri Vinod Jain and Shri N.D. Pancholi were present in the meeting on behalf of the Indian Radical Humanist Association and the Indian Renaissance Institute. Shri Pancholi, while paying tributes on behalf of both the organizations, informed the gathering as to how Prithvis Da had joined M.N. Roy during World War II and had participated in the movement to support war efforts of Allied Powers against Fascist forces led by Hitler and this action was not favoured by the Indian National Congress. This showed the courage of conviction of Prithvis Da for swimming against the currents. He continued to write for Independent India which later on was renamed as The Radical Humanist.
The one last conversation I remember vividly that I shared with Mr. Prithvis Chakravarti was when he came to attend one of our meetings in Gandhi Peace Foundation with his attractive wife who had such beautiful eyes. He suggested to me to hold some future meetings at his residence also. His wife quietly kept smiling. And later we came to know that she was no more and that he was devastated without her. Now that he too has gone, I wonder how much it would have helped him emotionally had we held a meeting once at his place too!! The remorse is always more when the loss is irreparable.............. 4
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The End of an Era in Journalism — Hiranmay Karlekar [Hiranmay Karlekar, a columnist in The Pioneer, is an editor, journalist and novelist since the last 41 years. He is a member of the Editors Guild of India. The following write up written by Karlekar was first published in The Pioneer on 8th November 2012. http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item /52792-the-end-of-an-era-in-journalism.html] World War II to Partition to From Emergency, right up to the emergence of coalition Governments in India, Prithvis Chakravarti had been there and seen it all. With the recent passing of Prithvis Chakravarti – Prithvisda to this writer and Prithvis or Chakravarti to his friends and colleagues – the country has lost one of the last tall eminences of the great decades of print journalism. A fine newsman with a keen nose for things that mattered, he was also an uncompromising crusader for journalistic ethics. A strong champion of the principle that a campaign for greater professionalism among scribes should accompany the fight for their rights, he saw to it that the National Union of Journalists, of which he was a founder, also organised workshops and training sessions for its members. His crusading spirit clearly stemmed from his early life as a political activist which, as in the case of many of his contemporaries and seniors, took him to journalism. Thus, he started his journalistic career in Independent India, the English-language daily which was the mouthpiece of the legendary revolutionary M.N. Roy’s Radical Democratic Party. That was in 1943, when World War II was raging in its full fury. The next stop was The People, founded by Lala Lajpat Rai, where he was an assistant editor in 1947. He joined The Statesman in the following year and Hindustan Times in 1949 where his last assignment was as 5
Chief of its Delhi Bureau and where he worked for 31 years — his longest stint with any publication — until 1980. Prithvisda’s second-longest innings was with the Bengali daily, Aajkaal, which he joined as Deputy Editor and Chief of Bureau and where he continued until 1994. A drab, chronological recounting of the positions he held and his stints in these, however, does little justice to his role in Indian journalism as a guide and mentor to his younger colleagues. A hard taskmaster, he had no time for sloppy stories based on hearsay. An utterly fearless professional, he was prepared to take on anybody, any time. Yet, he was never rash nor did he ever tilt at windmills. This writer was editor of Hindustan Times during the Emergency when he was also closely associated with a section of the underground resistance. He would have been in serious trouble had he been found out. Here Prithvisda was a great help. A Radical Humanist and a great believer in human freedom, he was a fierce opponent of the Emergency. He had, as secretary-general of the NUJI, led a delegation to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, protesting against Press censorship. Yet, he shared this writer’s view that fighting modern state machinery was not an easy thing. One had to wait until discontent boiled over and a massive upsurge was waiting to happen and sweep away the incumbent authoritarian regime. Meanwhile, one had to preserve one’s strength and quietly build up a strong underground network and propaganda machinery which could mobilise and strike when the hour came. On many days we sat till late in the evening after work was over, exchanging notes on the day’s events and discussing what could be done. Finally, the hour came with the announcement that parliamentary elections would be held in the country from March 16 to 20, 1977. The outcome was a rout for the Congress, which proved decisively that the people of India had no use for authoritarian governance.
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coping with subversion and sustained terror attacks, not yet entirely over the hills but close to being so. Prithvisda had been there and seen it all. The years had given him wisdom and a calm optimism tempered by a mild cynicism and a certain detachment. These had made him keenly aware of the importance of ethics in personal and professional life and of setting an example by his own conduct. His passing creates a void that will be very difficult to fill.
During the Emergency and even afterwards, Prithvisda was always a source of calm and wise counsel. He had been a witness to a tumultuous period beginning with World War II and continuing through the horrors of the Partition, the joy of Independence and the decades thereafter which saw India traverse the difficult path of combining development and democracy, successfully negotiating the transition from the era of one-party domination to that of coalition rule, from planned development to a liberalised economy, fighting wars to ward off aggressions,
Do come forward to become a part of the Encyclopedia of Radical Humanists To be loaded on the RH Website (http://www.theradicalhumanist.com)
Dear Friends, This is to request you to send in your personal details, contact numbers etc. (along with your passport size photographs) as well as brief accounts of how you got associated with M.N. Roy / Radical Democratic Party / Radical Humanist Movement directly or indirectly through the philosophy of New Humanism. This is also a request to all those friends, whose deceased parent/parents were involved in or were sympathetic with Radical Humanism and its Movement, to send in accounts of their parent’s / parents’ association (as much as they can recollect and recount). This will be a loving and emotional tribute to their memories from your side. All this effort is being made to form an encyclopedia of the Radical Humanists right from the days of the beginning of M.N. Roy’s social and political activities in India and abroad. All this information will be uploaded and permanently stored on the RH Website in the Profile section for everyone to read and come in contact with one another. This will be a historical check-list to connect with all the crusaders who worked or are still working for the human cause on the humanist lines. —Rekha S. 6
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people in the world by Time Magazine, 2006. In 2005 he was awarded the prestigious Joseph Schumpeter prize for innovative services in field of economy, economic sciences and politics. He was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2006.]
Guests' Section:
Inclusion And Access – Can Technology Help? Nandan Nilekani
extremely honoured and privileged to Ibeampresent before you to deliver the Sixth
[The Sixth V. M. Tarkunde Memorial Lecture, organised by the Tarkunde Memorial Foundation was delivered by Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India, on 23rd. November 2012 at India International Centre, New Delhi. The topic of the lecture was ‘Inclusion and Access: Can Technology Help?’ Mr. Soli J. Sorabjee, former Attorney General of India presided over the programme. Mr. Kuldeep Nayar, renowned journalist, delivered the Welcome Speech. Nandan Nilekani, was the co-founders of Infosys Technologies Ltd along with Narayan Murthy and five others in 1981. He was its Chief Executive Officer from March 2002 till April 2007. He left Infosys on 9 July 2009 to serve as the Chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), in the rank of a Cabinet Minister under invitation from the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh. The UIDAI is part of the Planning Commission of India and is an agency of the Government of India responsible for implementing the envisioned Multipurpose National Identity Card or Unique Identification card (UID Card) project in India. He also co-founded India’s National Association of Software and Service Co. He is the recipient of several honors and awards. In January 2006, he became one of the youngest entrepreneurs to join 20 global leaders on the prestigious World Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation Board. He figures among one of the 100 most influential 7
V.M. Tarkunde Memorial Lecture before this august gathering. Justice Tarkunde epitomized the virtues of being a great humanist and his philosophy will continue to inspire generations. My uncle, Shri Madhukar R. Nilekani was an ardent follower of the Radical Humanist movement and I was exposed to the intellectual discourse of the movement at an early age. Though I did not have the good fortune of interacting personally with Justice Tarkunde, I have always been impressed with his life journey dedicated to humanism, inclusiveness and protection of civil liberties. It is in the fitness of his work that I cover an area close to his heart – that of inclusion and access. Today, I would like to explore with you the role technology can play in bringing about a more inclusive and accessible society to enhance choices and opportunities people have. Let me begin with a caveat – I am not suggesting that technology is a panacea for all ills in our society. It is not a magic wand. To expect or propagate that would be naïve and depict a complete lack of understanding of the socio-economic and political realities of a complex nation. However, one must not underestimate the power and opportunities technology offers to address issues concerning us, in making our lives better, accessible and more inclusive. While the extent of the impact of technology on improving lives can be debated endlessly, the power of technology to make lives better is, in my opinion, a fair assumption to make. The use of technology in governance can have far reaching
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due to a lack of formal recognition assumes a pivotal role in the developmental discourse. For people like us in this room we may not face this disadvantage and may not recognize the seriousness of the lack of this proof of identity. We have multiple proofs of identity from a passport, PAN card, driving license to a voter ID card. We have no problem in “proving our identity”. The same is not the case for millions of residents in India. The lack of proof of identity is one of the major causes for exclusion and non-accessibility. Many people ask me the question – “Of what use is the Aadhaar number to us? We already have multiple identity cards.” However, this is not the reality for a vast majority of our population who are queuing up to get a number. They see it as an opportunity, as a benefit and as a door that can open other doors of access. The role of Aadhaar and the right to an identity becomes crucial in this context of inclusion and access. I would like to contextualize the Aadhaar project and the role of technology in the context of a right to an identity vis-à-vis the State. Today, the issue of the inclusion of a large segment of our population in the development process is a critical question before policy thinkers of this country. How do we make growth sustainable and inclusive? How do we ensure that the fruits of growth reach the vast majority of people hitherto excluded from the benefits of growth and development? While the Indian middle class has grown and participated in the growth story in the last decade, vast sections are still outside the framework of access to opportunities and growth. Aadhaar (a 12 digit unique identification number which is unique to the individual based on her or his biometrics) seeks to address the problem of exclusion and access by using the latest technology. Aadhaar is also called “Aam Aadmi ka Adhikar”. In other words, the Aadhaar number can be viewed as a right of a resident of this country. The right to be recognized by the State is one of the basic rights in a democratic society that believes in inclusive growth. With the Aadhaar number, the
implications for a more equitable and inclusive society. Governments are involved in implementation of a large number of social welfare schemes which have many beneficiaries. One does not often realize that access to many of these programs is based on the ability to prove one’s identity vis-à-vis the state. Though there are other factors determining access to these programs, the ability to prove one’s identity is at the core of it. The importance of proving one’s identity should not be underestimated. Birth certificates would provide the ideal proof of identity in many cases. However, it is a fact that though birth registration is mandatory, the coverage of birth certificates in the country is not universal. Reports indicate that birth registration in India is as low as 55% in several parts of the country, with a lot of regional variations. The lack of an identity proof is a burden that continues as a major disadvantage throughout the life of a resident who seeks access to services. The inability to prove one’s formal identity is a great barrier to inclusion and better services. While they may have multiple social and cultural identities, they lack a formal proof of identity vis-à-vis their interactions with the State. Thus, they are, in a sense, “identity-less” in the formal governance structures. This is a major disadvantage since a lack of a formal proof of identity deprives them of their rights vis-à-vis the State. Further, they are also deprived of the benefits that an association with the State offers them in terms of various social welfare schemes and programmes. This disadvantage is underestimated at times. It is the constant endeavor of government to improve access of residents to these schemes. Access to these schemes depends to a large, though not only, extent on an ability to prove one’s identity vis-à-vis the State. Therefore, making sure that every resident in the country has this basic right to an identity vis-à-vis the state which makes her or him entitled to access various services, conveniences and benefits becomes critical in the growth of the nation. The right not to be “excluded” 8
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resident can establish his or her identity and access services more easily. Let me re-assert that Aadhaar are not the panacea for all ills. However, it is the foundation for better services. For a large section of India’s population the inability to prove their identity is a reality which often leads to their marginalization. The Aadhaar project addresses this simple, yet fundamental issue by providing a universal, nationally portable identity to millions of residents who hitherto had no access to a proof of identity or to services based on such proof. The Aadhaar project has broad implications for India’s developmental agenda. Inclusive growth requires the participation of a large segment of the population in the development process. Aadhaar enables this. Through Aadhaar, access to services will improve. This is already beginning to show results in many parts of the country. Aadhaar is sufficient proof for opening a bank account, getting a mobile connection as well as many other services given by the State. This is truly empowering to the resident. Thus, from being a mere proof of identity, the number has empowered people to access certain services more easily than before. Providing access to financial services remains a top priority for the government. The Aadhaar project facilitates this by enabling opening of bank accounts as well as by providing an infrastructure for payments and remittances across this vast country. Having an account linked to one’s Aadhaar number enables the transfer of money in an electronic, auditable and convenient way. With the population in India being increasingly migrant in nature, this payment infrastructure will enable a large populace to participate in the financial sector, opening new opportunities for growth. Technology can be deployed to empower people and enrich their lives. The case of mobile telephony in India is a great example. A technology that was a preserve of the rich has now become available to the masses. The reach and price of mobile telephony in India is unmatched anywhere else world-wide. It has brought the power of communication to every person in any part of India 9
– leading to better opportunities for jobs, better access to markets, and better access to information and entertainment. The same is beginning to happen with bank accounts today. Technology has made it possible to make banks branch-less. The cost of transactions conducted at branches through a teller is Rs. 50 on average. The same transactions cost Rs. 10 on average at an ATM, and less than one rupee over the internet or mobile. The opportunity cost of the time saved through branch-less transaction is significantly higher. Access to banking and payments is a first step on the ladder of financial inclusion, paving the way for access to other financial products such as credit, life and health insurance, old-age pensions, and mutual funds. The mobile industry has also innovated with the sachet model. Today, customers can purchase talk-time in a denomination as low as Rs. 5. Banks are trying to achieve the same reach with the Business Correspondent model. The Government is also planning to use the Business Correspondent channel for the disbursement of Government benefits and subsidies, which will help kick start the Business Correspondent ecosystem. The Report of the Task Force on Aadhaar-enabled payments envisions a million Business Correspondent agents equipped with micro ATMs that provide basic banking services as ubiquitously as a mobile top-ups today. The use of technology thus enables an agent-assisted service at a price point that is lower than that of traditional ATM transactions. KYC continues to remain a challenge for access to a number of services ranging from mobile connections to bank accounts to LPG connections. Aadhaar not only provides an identity document, but its processes have been engineered to make Aadhaar KYC compliant. The Rules of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act have been modified to include Aadhaar as an officially valid document for the financial industry, and the same has been notified by the sector regulators (RBI,
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SEBI, and IRDA). Various other Ministries such as Telecom, Petroleum and Natural Gas, and the Railways, in addition to various State Governments have notified Aadhaar as a valid KYC document for Government services. Taking one step further, the UIDAI is now launching the e-KYC service, through which a person can complete their KYC electronically – without the need for photocopies, photographs, signatures, etc. The Aadhaar e-KYC service has been designed to be fully compliant with the Information Technology Act, and can be used as a drop-in replacement for all paper based processes. Since it is electronic and directly supplied by the Government, there is no risk of forgery and the cost will be a fraction of today’s KYC costs. These properties make it possible to conduct e-KYC in a trusted and non-repudiable way anywhere. Suddenly, services that had to be offered in trusted environments such as a bank branch or a Government owned outlet can now be offered through a kirana shop, or over the internet or mobile. Making service delivery electronic is not only convenient, but it is also inclusive, pro-poor, and secure at the same time. Technology based service delivery brings two other benefits – choice for the customer, and transparency in Government’s operations. Today, one can do a mobile top-up at any location in the country. With Aadhaar-enabled micro ATMs, one million banking outlets will be added to the set of 100,000 bank branches and 100,000 ATMs, in addition to self-service through the internet and mobile. Today, a person can go and transact business through any Post Office, or any Citizen Service Centre. There is little corruption and theft, when consumers have choice. At the same time, one can only go to a designated ration shop to buy food, or only purchase LPG from a designated LPG dealer. Through the use of technology, modern supply chain management, and electronic payments, even food and LPG can be offered through any registered dealer, rather
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than only one designated dealer. The move towards direct transfer of subsidy will enable exactly this – bring the powers of the market in a controlled way in the process of service delivery by Government. Eventually, one may be able to buy food and fuel from any merchant or kirana shop in the country, use Aadhaar authentication services, and get subsidy reimbursed. These ideas can be generalized further to even difficult sectors such as health and education. Once student histories and patient’s medical records are in the cloud, they can avail of service through any Government run school or hospital, and even access services through private providers of their choice and get a direct transfer of subsidy. The provision of choice will go a long way towards elimination of petty corruption. The Electronic Service Delivery Bill aims to encapsulate some of these principles to improve service delivery for the masses. The other by-product of technology is transparency. Once every transaction is recorded, it can be made available over the internet (after suitable anonymization of the data). The launch of the LPG transparency portals paved the way for reform in the direct transfer of LPG subsidy, and has made the Government accountable in the way LPG is supplied. The portals note the total amount of subsidy given to every LPG subscriber in the country. Proactive disclosure and digitization will help solidify the foundations and achieve the goals of the Right to Information Act. With the move towards direct transfer of benefits and subsidies, the incentives also have to be suitably realigned. The Report of the Task Force on Aadhaar-enabled payments has suggested that the Government pay a commission to banks for payments that are administered through the Business Correspondent channel. Much of this commission is required to support the agent providing the service at the last mile. In the case of LPG and fertilizers, dealer commissions are being reworked. A higher market price of goods, and transfer of subsidy directly to the customer, requires more working capital. In order to
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transition to the new system smoothly, all stakeholders in the ecosystem must participate and benefit from the change. The deployment of technology driven transformation, combined with the right alignment of incentives has the potential of transforming the way Government benefits and subsidies are delivered – with minimal leakage, and high service levels. Today, the middle class and better off sections have choice and conveniences. Markets give them the ability to exercise this choice and not be constrained by a lack of choice. Technology has been a big contributor to this choice. Mobile technology has revolutionized the way one access services as well as does business. Multiplicity of ATMs is another example of choice that the resident can exercise. This transfers the balance of power from the service provider to the consumer. Why can’t we think of the same degree of choice and convenience for a large segment of the marginalized population so that they can access services easier as well as participate in the growth process? Access to services leads to inclusion and provides a foundation to reach greater heights. The choice and convenience that an average middle class Indian gets should not be denied to a poor migrant from a village to a city. Why should the quality of service be less efficient or convenient for the marginalized? Can we use technology to provide this choice and convenience? Can technology be the leveler?
To sum up, the legal framework provided within the Information Technology Act, the Right to Information Act, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the upcoming Electronic Service Delivery Act will go a long way in making Government services electronic, portable, and easy to access. Choice, transparency, and alignment of incentives are powerful tools to address the problem of corruption in a bottom-up manner, in a systemic way, rather than resorting to ad hoc measures. The use of technology and re-engineering processes provide the platform to make governance more efficient as well as transparent. Governments world over are using technology to offer better, more transparent and responsive services. Needless to say, active political support and civil society engagement is a sine qua non for this to happen. Active citizen engagement is complimentary to the use of technology for enhancing transparency. Creating systems and use of technology is definitely not the only way do so. However it can supplement other efforts in this multipronged discourse. It is time that serious thought is given to finding innovative solutions by harnessing our strengths to tackle complex problems. Providing a philosophical wish list of achieving inclusion without an “on the ground” action plan would be a futile exercise. This lecture seeks to offer some thoughts of approaching the complex problem of achieving inclusion and providing access with the innovative use of technology and processes.
Dear Friends, Please email your articles at rheditor@gmail.com Send them by post (if you are not able to email them) at: C-8 Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P., India. Please try to keep them within the limit of 1500-2000 words. You should also inform me whether they have been published elsewhere. Do email or post your passport size photographs as separate attachments (in JPG format) along with your brief introductions, if you are contributing in the RH for the first time. Please feel free to contact me at 91-9719333011 for any other querry. —Rekha S.
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Rajindar Sachar
[Justice Rajindar Sachar is Retd. Chief Justice of High Court of Delhi, New Delhi. He is UN Special Rapportuer on Housing, Ex. Member, U.N. Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and Ex-President, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) India]
Menace of Corruption in India: The Way Out Vinod Rai’s pained expression on CAG the Brazenness of government decision obviously referred to the way decisions have been taken resulting in corrupt deals in the matter of Telecom, coal allocations, miscues of allotments of land on political grounds, has understandably touched the raw nerve amongst the politicians, though it has been welcomed by an average person. Corruption is not merely a moral question. It eats into the vitals of the economy and leads to the loss of faith in the principles of equality and honest administration. In its 2008 study, Transparency International reports about 40% of Indians had first-hand experience of paying bribes or using a contact to get a job done in public office. In 2011 India was ranked 95th out of 178 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. The World Bank, aid programs in India are beset by corruption, bad administration and under-payments. As an example, the report
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cites that only 40% of grain handed out for the poor reaches its intended target. Despite its best intentions, MGNREGA is beset with controversy about corrupt officials pocketing money on behalf of fake rural employees. A November 2010 report from the Washington based Global Financial Integrity estimates that over a 60 year period, India lost US$213 billion in illicit financial flows beginning in 1948; adjusted for inflation, this is estimated to be 462 billion in 2010 dollars, or about $8 billion per year The report also estimated the size of India’s underground economy at approximately US$640 billion at the end of 2008 or roughly 50% of the nation’s GDP. If corruption levels in India were reduced to levels in the developed economies such as the United States, India’s GDP growth rate could increase by an additional 4 to 5 percent, to 12 to 13 per cent each year. C.K. Prahalad the Management Guru estimates the lost opportunity cost caused by Corruption, in terms of Investment, Growth and Jobs for India is over US$ 50 billion a year. Though loud proclamations are made by Central Government to fight the menace of Corruption, in fact the disease has increased and corruption index has reached the summit with the involvement of politicians and high government officials – this was to be expected when the Central Governments un-embarrassingly adopted globalization as the first Mantra from the Prime Minister downwards, and equating the prosperity of the country by taking pride in pointing out that Indian Billionaires were included in the Forbes Fortune, while shamefully omitting to mention that even in Delhi, which is supposed to have the highest per capita income in the country, 70% of its population are able to spend only Rs. 50 per day, which is now accepted as the poverty level, by the government itself. That is the ugly reality. Such horrible inequality in the country is only possible by the ill gotten wealth, made possible by corrupt polices by the political parties in power.
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Thus we have the corruption scandals of India Coal Mining to the extent of Rs. 186,000 crore, Rs. 176,000 crore of 2G spectrum scam. Not to be left out the other major party has scam of Rs. 200,000 crore, from Karnataka illegal mining scams. It is a truism that maximum corruption is done by close friends and relatives like son, son-in-law, of politicians because of their closeness to the powers that be. But then instead of finding honest answers, the Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has unabashedly propounded self serving formula – namely that political parties should not even refer to the acts of corruption purportedly done by relations of opposite political leaders much less to their own on the patently fallacious plea that parents or parents in law can not be held responsible for the corruption done by their relations. How very convenient for political parties. But this unashamed, unacceptable plea by politicians was rejected as far back as 1964 by S.R. Das (Chief Justice of India) Enquire Commission which held against the conduct of S. Pratap Singh Kairon, the then Chief Minister of Punjab. I appeared as a lawyer for the memorialists before the Commission. The Commission in its report trashed Kairon defense and observed; “The main Charges related to the sons of Kairon in enriching themselves by misusing the State Machinery – the complicity of Kairon being established by his remaining silent and not taking any steps to prevent it”. (On Mr. Digvijaya Singh philosophy Kairon would have been blameless). But Commission exploded this self serving excuse put forth by Kairon that it would be unfair and unjust not to permit a person to do business simply because he happens to be son or son-in-law of a
person in authority; To this Das Commission caustically ruled thus, “Kairon’s case was that the alleged misconduct and misdeeds of his sons had not been brought to his notice, else he would have warned them. This was a patent absurdity. The Commission is free to concede that a father can not legally or morally prevent his sons from carrying on business, but the exploitation of the influence of the father who happens to be the Chief Minister of the State cannot be permitted to be made a business of. Such exploitation cannot possibly be a legitimate business and the father’s influence and powers cannot be permitted to be traded in. Even assuming he personally had not lent a helping hand in relation to them, the least he could do was to give a stern warning, in private and if necessary publicly, to his sons, relatives, colleagues and subordinate officers against their alleged conduct even if such conduct had not been proved to be true. But, as his own affidavit shows, he made no inquiry, gave no warning to anybody and took no step whatever to prevent its recurrence but let things drift in the way they had been going, assuming he had no hand in it. The allegations stared him in the face; he paid no heed to them. He cannot now plead ignorance of facts. In view of his inaction in the fact of the circumstances hereinbefore alluded to, he must be held to have connived at the doings of his sons and relatives, his colleagues and the Government officers”. In face of this finding Kairon had to resign. Do political parties need any other precedent for action if they are genuine in eradicating corruption from public life?
Letter To The Editor Dear Rékhâ, Very dexterous introduction to Paul Kurtz. Thanks a lot. Prithwindra-dâ prithwin.mukherjee@gmail.com 13
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J. S.C. Rao
[J. Sharath Chandra Rao has been contributing
articles to Newspaper like ‘Vaartha’ and ‘Andhra Jyothi’ and other periodicals on environment, economics and other social issues. He may be contacted at 1-2-593/40, Gagan Mahal Colony, Hyderabad, Phone: 27638039]
Harmful Chemicals in Eatables will Effect Human Health use of harmful chemicals in eatables is Theleading to the deterioration of people’s health with Governments not having any control over our Food Production methods. By periodical application of pesticides to control pests, natural enemies of the pests are unwittingly being destroyed in the process causing pesticidal residue problems in the food we all eat. Our production methods have been producing less nutritious and unhealthy food that is often contaminated with chemical residues. The banning of “Endosulphin” by the Supreme Court is a welcome step and should be followed by many such steps by the Governments. There is every need to ban many harmful toxic chemicals which are being sprayed in our various food crops which include grains, cereals, pulses, vegetables and fruits all causing serious health problems like Heart, Cancer, Respiratory disorders, Genetic changes, Reproductive disorders, Diabetes etc. These harmful residues can also cause allergies, hormonal imbalance and nervous disorders due to toxicity being registered in our bodies. Certain hard facts
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like Calcium Carbide being used to artificially ripen premature fruits, pesticidal residues in grains, sprays and dyes being used in making our grains looking fresh in our super market shelves can also affect our health. Faking freshness should not be allowed to be loaded with chemicals. Further, the existence of 1, 00,000 widely used industrial chemicals being there in the environment with new chemicals being added every year, has also led to an increase in various diseases. Vast number of pollutants with “oestrogen” like properties existing in the environment has led to a loss of sperm count in men in the industrial nations posing fertility problems. Huge production of wheat and rice being produced by using heavy doses of chemicals and pesticides in our modern agricultural practices apart from harming human health have also harmed several living species of birds, animals and friendly insects effecting the environment in the process causing enormous damage to our economy and human livelihood. Several birds due to consumption of pesticidal poison often get their testes and ovaries damaged resulting in either the birds not laying eggs or others laying eggs and incubating them but not hatching them, both revealing abnormalities due to the disturbance in their natural cycle. This has led to not having enough birds to keep in check the resurgence of insect population which often damages our crops in the present day chemically driven world. The absence of house sparrows, the near disappearance of vultures to clear many dead creatures and the reduction in the population of house crows and Baya birds are all due to the residual aspect of pesticides. “Cheron”, “Sarus” in Rajasthan and in Gujarat Peafowl, Turtle doves, Egrets, have all died due to the ill-effects of pesticides; all of them have contributed a lot in maintaining a fine balance in life. It is unfortunate that the impact of chemically produced food has never been questioned and rectified. E.F. Schumacher rightly expressed that any scientific and technological solutions which poison the environment and in the process degrading the
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fertility of the soil structure is of no benefit since it drastically effects human welfare. In the name of free enterprises corporate abuses of more than a lakh tons of absolute pesticides have been shifted from industrial countries to the under-developed countries drastically effecting people’s health. Further, a number of corporates have been discharging their industrial waste chemicals and Municipal wastes of plastics and other metals all harmful into our rivers, seas and oceans, all of which enter and accumulate into the system of aquatic creatures living in seas, rivers and oceans such as fish, prawns, which ultimately effect human health when they eat these. It is necessary for meat eating consumers to know that the health of the aquatic creatures, birds and animals that are being consumed with many laden with antibiotics will ultimately affect human beings when they eat such meat be it chicken or any other meat of animals and birds. Often antibiotic resistance content is being passed on to the consumers when they consume such meat. The questionable practice to boost production of meat, eggs, dairy products, fruits and vegetables sacrificing their efficacy due to greed of getting better returns with hundreds of pesticidal residues have all contributed to our disease load. Further, feed lots being given to the animals and birds and the antibiotic drugs being given to them need a thorough review and debate. Abundant feeds, therapeutic antibiotics to diseases today accounting to half of worldwide antibiotic usage has produced new strains of bacteria that are immune to the entire class of antibiotic forcing the pharma companies to upgrade to different and more powerful antibiotics which in turn may no longer be possible to treat humans infected by these resistant forms. This has made medical practitioners harder to treat human diseases. The modern production of all forms of meat from the farm yard of yester years to the present indoor feeding facilities of not allowing them to have any free movements or exercise to increase weight for commercial purposes has led to
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excess fatty meat production leading to several diseases causing lakhs of premature deaths, the medical costs often being very high running to millions of rupees. Most often it has caused an unbearable and unaffordable burden on the common people. In contrast the traditional meat because of free movements and exercise had less fat and more proteins and lived a longer healthier life than the modern ones. Also the quality of buffaloes and cow’s milk then was more nutritious and the cattle were less prone to diseases unlike the modern ones. Also it is necessary to mention that several studies reveal that “Pasture” grazing substantially changes the nutritional profile of all types of meat, milk and eggs. Also faster growth of fat increase in birds and animals actually benefit the big agri-business corporates rather than the farm producers. Further encouraging consumption of food promoted by food companies to increase their own profits and with the general decline in the physical activities, people are often becoming victims of untimely deaths. Neither the farmer nor the consumer is happy with hundreds of additives such as preservatives, colours and the pesticidal residues of the food which he is consuming. Also tampering, initiating several manipulative steps and practices to boost production of meat, eggs, dairy products, fruits and vegetables all having more fat content and being less in protein than before being contaminated have led to several ailments, the treatment costs being too high for the common man. The only alternative for a better health is the increasing awareness and recognition for indigenous organic farming system based on animal manures, bio-fertilisers, mixed cropping, water conservation and biological pest management methods which will lead to producing more nutritional, tasty and healthy output in a wide range of harvested products without any pesticidal application. Neem derivatives, plant based fertilizers, crop residues all enhance productivity of crops and also human health.
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Current Affairs’ Section:
K.S. Chalam [Prof K.S.Chalam is a former Member, Union
Public Service Commission, New Delhi. He was Vice-Chancellor, Dravidian University, Kuppam, A.P. and earlier Prof of Economics at Andhra University. He was the first Director of Swamy Ramanand Tirtha Rural Institute, Bhoodan Pochampally during 1997-98. He is known as the pioneer of the Academic Staff College Scheme in the country as the scheme was strengthened by UGC on the basis of his experiments in 1985. He became the first founder director of the Academic Staff College at Andhra University in 1987. He was actively involved in the teachers’ movement, secular and rationalist activities and served as the National Secretary, Amnesty International during 1984-85.chalamkurmana@gmail.com]
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Public Property for Private Use between public property Theanddifference private property is that, the former offers benefits to the society as a whole while the latter profits the individual. Common properties that are generally referred as public property in popular jargon is different, as it is only a local resource like grass, woods, weeds, fish, etc that are being controlled and utilized by small communities, in our country by traditional castes. Common property resources are depleted throughout the world with the advent of colonial system of terms of trade based on market and are
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being studied by scholars of environment to provide sustainability not only to the resources but also to the communities that depend upon them. It is a different issue and we are concerned here with public property that is non-excludable and non-rivalry in character. Public property is defined by the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act 1984 in India. It is said that,� public property means any property either immovable or movable (including machinery) which is owned by or in the possession of or under the control of Central government, any state government or any local authority or any corporation, or public company, or any institution undertaken by central government and declared so through a Gazette notification. Though it is a legal definition, it conveys the meaning of public property as one that belongs to the people of the country and the beneficiaries or the inheritors are the public and not private individuals. It is said that the colonial system has changed the characters of most of our public resources after the introduction of their methods of exploitation. Scholars like Madhav Gadgil and others have recorded how the common property resources in regions like the West coast (Uttara kannada) have undergone radical transformation, might as per some, give us a clue as to how the public properties have moved in to the hands of individuals. However, the anthropological approach to study common property would have certain limitations to understand the complexity of the transfer of public properties as private possessions. The analysis of the reassignment or alienation of land and other resources like Mines, state owned machinery etc could be better understood through an approach called class analysis. One can either use a Marxian or a non-Marxian or Weberian class to understand the dynamics of how properties in countries like India change hands. Class in the Indian context both as an economic and social category, can be a useful tool to scrutinize the process of transformation (as of now) of flaccid resources under the control of the state becoming vibrant
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wealth creators in the hands of select few individuals. It does explain how the ruling classes use their political power in the democratic drama of decision making of getting public resources either for themselves or for their cronies. It is neither a new phenomenon nor limited to Andhra Pradesh. It has been a long drawn process ever present in our history, once confined to a few, now being spread to many groups after liberalization. There are several connected issues in the transformation of public property as private property within the legal structures of the country. It appears that people have misunderstood Jairam Ramesh when he raised the issue of public toilets rather in a discrete language. In this context, we can find that our Constitution has given scope for certain freedoms to establish institutions and own properties and are exempt from paying taxes under Article 27. Let us not question the efficacy of this Article and envision the expansive rationale of it. The constitution makers might have thought, given the plurality of the country that each group would work for the welfare of the larger interests of the public given this freedom. It was assumed perhaps, not to allow individuals or a cluster of them to form interest groups to amass properties mostly from the public and convert them as fiefdoms to benefit a few individuals or their companions. The litigants and legal luminaries might say something on this, but the crux of the problem is that huge public properties and wealth are accumulated in the hands of few individuals without much use for the groups for which they are intended or to the people of the country in general. We have come to know (media reports) that the controversial Swamy Nityananda has bribed another swamy to acquire Rs 1500 crores worth of property. People talk of such incidents if they are known public figures, but there are millions of such cases (all denominations) that elude public realm. We have in the country millions of registered public trusts or organizations not only to avoid taxes but even to conceal their ill-gotten money. People who talk of corruption do not touch
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this issue as some of them come under this category and most of their frauds do ultimately turn up here. It is in this perspective, the data furnished by the census 2011 on the places of worship, schools, toilets etc are really revealing. It is reported that the number of places of worship of all the religions were 2398650 in 2001 and are now bloated to 3013140 in 2011. The number is directly proportional to the increase in GDP. The more interesting aspect of it is that there are more places of worship in West Bengal than any other state except the (huge) Uttara Pradesh (see Nilotpal Basu, the Hans India). Andhra comes at sixth place (fifth in population size). Along with the places of worship, the number of schools, colleges and hospitals are also given in the same census table. It is reported that the number of schools, colleges and hospitals put together stand at 2789732 ie, about 3 lakhs less than the number of places of worship. Most of the public institutions including schools, hospitals, places of worship etc are generally built with public resources. The net worth might be equivalent to the sum of GDP. Strangely, once they become institutionalized, the property thus obtained becomes the personal privilege of the few. There are cases where the priests are underpaid, discriminated, starved and humiliated in places where there is no public glare, while the rich establishments enjoy the luxuries of life. Unfortunately, because of our increasing intolerance about the issues of faith, the real predicaments of control, regulation, and order and above all the public cause is never surfaced in the public discourse. Is it not helpful for the public institutions that control trillions of rupees worth of public property to develop a code of ethics to contain fraud and prevent becoming a private asset? II
Indigenous Knowledge as People’s Technology recent international conference on TheBio-diversity under the aegis of CoP in
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Hyderabad seems to have discussed several issues relating to environmental degradation and indigenous resources etc. Scientists and environmental activists including the former vice-President of USA Al Gore have adequately popularized that there is bio-diversity only in the southern hemisphere of the globe. As we all know that the Northern hemispheres where all the advanced countries are situated do not have the kind of resources that we in the third world countries of the South have. Yet, all the Northern countries have achieved a great deal of development in just two hundred years is a mystery that the economists might one day expose it. One of the important assets of the third world is the unexplored and hidden data in the traditions of the indigenous knowledge systems. We can draw from it as we progress on the road to self sustained development. Some of the tricks that the advanced countries have been trying to play on us are through the route of GATS that protects intellectual property. They wanted to have patents on all our traditional knowledge and knowledge products like Ayurveda, Siddha etc with the connivance of some prejudiced individuals. But, they seem to have not succeeded as India has been heroically fighting against this conspiracy at the international forums with the support of documentation. Sometimes government agencies do also good things, as seen in terms of the documentation of our indigenous knowledge systems project (DST). Though the efforts are limited to the mainstream and Sanskrit based knowledge as of now, it is hoped that it would be extended to the real and historically sustained systems of the adivasis and other indigenous populations of the country in future. Now everyone looks at our indigenous and traditionally practiced unwritten structures of knowledge for insights so that it can be commoditized and marketed for an economic return. It is said that animals are genetically endowed to use their limbs as tools while human beings develop tools with their limbs and thinking skills. 18
It is the accumulation of experiences of human beings as thinking animals that helped the mankind to develop civilizations and transformed them at different points of time. It was Gordon Childe who said that, ‘the simplest tool made out of a broken bough or a chipped stone is the fruit of long experience of trials and errors, impressions noticed, remembered and compared. The skill to make it has been acquired by observation, by recollection and by experiment. It may seem an exaggeration, but it is yet true to say that any tool is an embodiment of Science. For it is a practical application of remembered, compared and collected experiences of the same kind as are systematized and summarized in scientific formulae, descriptions and prescriptions’. It is the application of some of the scientific principles to solve practical human problems that lead to the development of technology. Thus science and technology have never remained constant. As society progressed from one stage to another, science and technology have also undergone change. However, science and technology became dominant players in human civilization after the renaissance movement in Europe that lead to concretization of science. Therefore Betrand Russel has mentioned that science has two functions, to enable us to know things and, to enable us to do things. The Greeks were interested in the former and the Arabs, Indians and Chinese in the latter. But science was given prominence when the measurement of various physical phenomena became easy. At one time, measurement itself became science. It has its advantages and shortcomings when it turns out to be demotic. Though man has been making and using tools from Paleolithic age, the principles lying behind such tools became known only after man has developed the cognitive abilities and started recording them. Therefore, we will find in all human civilizations people accumulating wealth of knowledge about the physical world. In majority of the cases, some groups survived with that little knowledge even in modern times. It was the European who wanted to
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translate this knowledge into his own method and found that some of the knowledge and experiences of the people he conquered did not fit into his intellectual tradition. He called those societies as tribal and primitive. This is not true as historical records and experience is gone contrary to their formulations. The so called indigenous people of the world including India have shown to the world how the remnants of their material culture involved science and technology. Some of it may have remained at the stage of proto-science due to the fact that they are denied or did not have the opportunity to develop or translate their experiences into modern concepts of science. That does not mean they do not have any tradition of science and technology. In fact, it is proved beyond doubt that those people who constantly interact with nature and in that process use their physical labour to make a comfortable living, alone are capable of developing technology. In this context, we can find in our society several groups of people who have remained adivasis, artisans, service castes, etc, but , have abundant fund of knowledge that can be codified, evaluated, systematized and finally provided the status of modern science and technology. In fact, the Native Indian philosophical school, Sankhya has full of such concepts. It is recognized today that the contribution of indigenous people to the world of medicine including Ayurveda even in the 21st century amount to billions of dollars worth of wealth. The technology used by the indigenous people is simple and relevant to the social conditions and circumstances in which they live. Thus, this technology is people oriented as against the gigantic and sophisticated technology that is generally addressed to the market. Unfortunately nothing survives that does not address the market today. Therefore, is it not necessary to examine the indigenous technology not only to bring its significant contributions for the survival of man, but also to address the present market for its sustenance? 19
It is found that common people are resorting to traditional methods of therapeutics when the corporate hospitals make their lives a liability once admitted for treatment. It is noted that the families that are above poverty line became poor after getting admitted either in a private or public hospital for serious ailments. It is time to act and provide legitimacy to the indigenous knowledge systems with necessary scientific safeguards so that they may bail out the poor. III
Gujarat: Whose state is it anyway? state of Gujarat is going to polls Theduring the second week of December 2012. Everyone is curious to know about the state beyond Narendra Modi. Formerly, parts of the state were constituents of Bombay presidency till 1960, the year in which Gujarat was formed. It had an incredible history as part of ancient Indus valley civilization. It is said that the state is named after the so called clan of Gujjars (Huns). The Somnath temple, the spirit of vibrant Hinduism was demolished six times and rebuilt again six times unlike in other places of worship, is located in this state. Nonetheless, the state has large presence of Minorities, Adivasis, Dalits and also the dominant industrial houses of the country. Gujarat is known for its out word looking trade and built the first dry-dock in human history at Lothal indicating its long experience with trade and business. It is recorded by scholars that the business caravans of Gujarat have entered important trade routes of Africa even during the mediaeval period. The Gujarati business men including the Muslim traders are spread in different parts of North America, Africa and other countries. It is a known fact that Gujaratis do carry their traditional identity and practices wherever they are and would like to visit their ancestral homeland at least once. Thus, the rich culture and customs of Gujaratis are distinctly different from other regions of the country.
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Gujarat came in to prominence when the two ‘nations’ in the subcontinent, India and Pakistan got their father figures in Mahatma Gandhi and Quaid-I Azad Mohammed Ali Jinnah from this state. We all know how L.K Advani was humbled in expressing his admiration for his compatriot from Gujarat his visit to the tomb of Jinnah in Pakistan. Though Gujarat gave to the nation Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, Morarji Desai and few others, the state is known for its acumen in business. It is reported that the top business houses such as Ambanis, Tatas, Kotak Mahindra, Dilip Sighania, Azim Premji, Tulasi Tanti, Godrej, Ness Wadia and several billionaires hail from Gujarat. Gujarat is not only known for its business community throughout the world, but is recognized in modern history for the benevolent and reform oriented king Sayoji Maharaj of Baroda (Vadodra). Baroda as an independent princely state during the British rule was responsible for a reform agenda and employed our C.R. Reddy as Principal of Baroda College, sponsored B.R Ambedkar to study abroad and so on. The traditions of liberal democracy, secularism and all modern trends of a civilized society were inherited by the people of Gujarat when Baroda became a part of the state. Narendra Modi came to lime light for a dubious reason and would have remained only as a great organizer of business and economic activities in the state had he not sported his ambition for a national leadership. The Gujarat economy had been under the growth trajectory ever since liberalization was introduced in India. In fact, an expert while working with an institute in Delhi has produced a study eulogizing Modi government sometime ago was strained to leave, to popularize the corporate agenda now. The huge expansion that has taken place in Gujarat is due to the liberalization agenda of P.V. Narasimha Rao and ManMohan Singh. Though Modi has coined the “Gujarat Khamir” (resilience) to create a brand image for the state, the development was not entirely due to his or the successive governments of the state. There is no evidence to show that the state has introduced 20
innovative programmes of its own except the ones given by the centre. There is no doubt that Modi has sincerely implemented schemes like SEZs in 60 areas and seems to have introduced only a scheme known as Special Investment Regions (SIRs). It is an extension of the concept of SEZ with huge enclosures covering 100 KMs radius in 13 places given to each Industrial Zamindar. The state is blessed with the largest coast of 1600 kms with around 35 river systems to provide sufficient water and has abundant soda ash, bauxite, lignite and other minerals. It is a low density state with 234 persons per sq km compared to 325 all India (2001) and a large number of NRIs are ever willing to invest in the state. The tale of development of Gujarat has been written by several scholars and found that the highest rate was observed during the tenure of Madhav Singh Solanki and it was around 25.32 per cent in 1981-82, 12.6 in 190-91 and is around 9-10 percent during Modi. Thus, the rapid growth in Gujarat as noted by some scholars is not due to any single politician but, is due to the favorable economic conditions prevailed here. Nevertheless, there are states like Tamil Nadu, Haryana, and Kerala whose development is considered to be much faster and inclusive than Gujarat (Planning Commission). An important fact of social structure of Gujarat is not publicly discussed. It is the only state in the fifth schedule where the largest per cent of Adivasis inhabit in three fourth of the districts. There are 7 districts where the Adivasi population is more than 30 percent and in the district of Dangs, the population is 93.76 percent. The grave issue is that in districts like Baruch, Valsad, Dahej where SEZs and SIRS are located are in adivasi areas without much protection to the locals. Though, the Modi government claims that they have devoted around 4000crores for tribal sub-plan during the current year, it is not reflected in the fall of poverty levels or atrocities on adivasis. On the contrary, NGOs claim that 96 percent of the accused in the cases are acquitted. Further, the irrigation water through mega projects like Sardar Sarovar seems to
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have not been used for agriculture in terms of its contribution to SDP being only 10 percent. The huge investments in infrastructure like roads, subsidized water, and power (one of the surplus states) are only benefitting the industrial houses as anticipated by scholars long ago. The impact of the rapid growth in sectors like petrochemicals (26.26%), pharmaceuticals and chemicals (21.33), ship breaking are contributing more than half of the income has resulted in the increasing incidence of Silicosis, respiratory
diseases etc in the state. It is reported by Hiraway (Ahmadabad) that the share of wages as percent of net value added declined by 3.5 percent per year from 11.8 in 1998-2000 to 8.5 percent in 2008. “Another important development under the reform in Gujarat has been the increase in rising of subsidies, incentives and favors to the corporate sector, with the result that not much revenue is left to redistribute for the purpose of including the excluded”. Is it not clear now whose Gujarat is pitched for elections next month?
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which persons from various countries flock together. Obama carried the true American traditions in economic management. During the bank crisis he offered huge funds to banks to make them survive, when their customers failed to pay their debts. Obama carried the US economy on the shoulders of multi nationals. He supported disarmament and neutrality in atomic weapons. He supported India’s attempts to use atomic power for peaceful purposes, even though India is not a member of NPT (Non Proliferation Treaty). He supported Pakistan in its efforts to fight against terrorism. Bin laden, the leader of Islamic terror finally was assassinated in Pakistan by commandos sent by Obama.
N.K. Acharya
[Sri N.K. Acharya is an advocate, columnist and author of several books on law. He was formerly Secretary of Indian Rationalist Association and had edited the ‘Indian Rationalist’, then published from Hyderabad on behalf of the Association prior to its transfer to Madras.] I
II
Re-election of Barack Obama e-election of Barrack Obama as US President is decisive. He belongs to the Democratic party. There are only two major political parties at national level i.e. Republicans and Democrats. Republicans are considered older than the Democrats; however the differences between two parties are very thin. They tend to follow the policies of each other. Obama did the same; he supported European Union against Great Britain. He carried forward the Republican claim of US supremacy in world politics. Obama followed the policy of Republicans to favor interference in the Islamic dictatorships in the Middle East. He supported Israel against Palestine. In Far East, Obama remained neutral with Chinese developments which according to democrats are steadily drifting to free enterprise. Obama is of African origin. His father professes Islam as his religion. His mother an American Christian, had him baptized in church. Thus he is now considered as a Christian. He married a Christian lady, thus Obama represents universality of US, a country where exists a world miniature to
R
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2G Spectrum spectrum actually auctioned in 2GNovember proved the story of CAG wrong. The very concept of imaginary profits is bound to be untenable. It further proved that Auditor General has trespassed into the field of Executive decision making. The constitutional position of CAG is merely that of an auditor to go through the correctness of the accounts maintained and whether every expenditure is duly supported by legislative authority. It is not his field to comment upon the policies of the several projects the executive may decide upon. He has no information or opportunity to study the projects. Just like the judiciary, he should confine himself to the field of activity reserved for him. Judiciary is not entitled to decide upon the wisdom of the executive. It shall restrict itself to the question whether the orders issued by the executive are valid as per law and constitution. So is the role of the Auditor General: to confine himself to the correctness of the accounts.
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III
Surajkund Conclave party under the leadership of TheMrs.congress Sonia Gandhi held the pre election conclave at Surajkund to review its policies. The conclave recalled its flagship programs namely, Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Right to Information Act. References were made to several other programs which involved liberalization of economy and also to production of electricity through atomic energy. The conclave reiterated its faith centralization of intelligence to co-ordinate activities to counter terrorism. The conclave recommended the proposed Lokpal and Lok Ayukta Bill, The Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, The Company Law, direct Taxes Code, The sale of Goods and Services Bill which replaces the Central sales tax. Finally, after its conclusion appointed a committee to prepare the party to participate in the general elections due in early 2014. The Congress while Constituting the said committee appointed Mr. Rahul Gandhi as its chief, indicating that he may be set up to succeed Shri Man Mohan Singh as Prime Minister, even though such step is indicated by elevating Pranab Mukerjee as the President of India. It is now made clear that the Congress in all probability will project Mr. Rahul Gandhi as the next Priministerial candidate. IV
Bihar’s claim for Separate Status
the terms of agreement entered into between Government of India and the maharaja. The terms of that agreement have been worked out and the state has not only been declared as part of India but it has also a special constitution of its own. Later on several sections were added by which some special status has been conferred on some states or regions within the state. Such special provisions mostly relate to backward areas particularly tribal areas. Such provisions relating to special rights are created in tribal areas where certain districts were declared and were given certain autonomous rights to administer themselves. In those areas, the laws/enactments made by the centre are applicable to those areas subject to their adoption by the tribal councils. Those areas were also represented by a minister who has a direct contact with the Governor. Another way of protecting the interests of the states is by declaring the projects set up in those states as national projects for which the centre substantially contributes. The third method of protecting interests of any backward areas of the state/states themselves is by offering them certain grants of special nature out of the consolidated fund of India. The present claim of Bihar’s Chief Minister is confined to his request for special grants only, therefore it has nothing to do with any regional feeling or with any discrimination and hence Bihar’s claim for additional grants can be met. V
Reply to Editors Questions on FDI is with reference to my note on FDI in This Retail industry appearing in the issue of
Radical Humanist November issue of 2012. I am asked to answer two questions namely: he constitution makers created a special Why FDI is necessary to eliminate middlemen in chapter for Jammu & Kashmir in view of trade?
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called “Dalwai System�( Agency). Thus most of the traders are mere agents of whether producers or manufacturers, therefore a total elimination of system long established is not possible unless FDI in wholesale brings also the expertise to distribute the goods in retail. As per the legal machinery is concerned the present system of registering wholesalers and retailers and their status defined for the purpose of taxation is not compatible with eliminating them from the scene all together. The Essential Commodities Act and all the systems of taxation and levy of fees are intended to protect the middlemen in trade as a profession. The Constitution of India also recognizes the Right to Profession as a fundamental right. In this context, it may be stated that the current legal machinery will not permit elimination of middlemen.
Whether the existing legal machinery is insufficient to control the middle men? Permitting FDI wholesale market is intended to eliminate middlemen in trade. If foreign investment is permitted it may bring expertise to spread the concept of wholesale market expand itself to retail trade. Play of several independents in the market is the long established tradition in India. The whole of the market is dominated by the middlemen only. It is they who purchase produce from the agriculturist and transport the same to the market where wholesalers and their agents distribute the stocks to the retailers for sale to consumers. Similarly, manufacturers appoint distributors for their production who in their turn appoint regional distributors who supply the goods to the retailers for sale to consumers. This chain is in built in the Indian market. In other words, the Indian market is
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THE RADICAL HUMANIST
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Will Obama Act?
IRI / IRHA Members’ Section:
term to Obama as President of Thethesecond United States of America is an
Jawaharlal Jasthi
[Mr. Jawahar Lal Jasthi has been associated with the Radical Humanist and the Rationalist Movement since his college days through his uncle, late Mr. Jagannatham and his father-in-law, late Mr. K. Radhakrishnamurty (who had contested the first General Elections under the Radical Democratic Party banner). Mr Jasthi has contributed articles in Telugu and English. His one unpublished book Oh My God is based on the futile search for God in the annals of science.] (I received the following letter from Mr. Jasthi along with his article on 23rd October 2012. I wanted to publish both in the November 2012 issue of RH itself but due to the sudden demise of Prof. Paul Kurtz this was delayed. Now that Obama has actually won let us see what the readers have to say about this article of Mr. Jasthi —Rekha S.) 23 Oct 2012 Madam, I am sending the article on US elections taking it for granted that Obama will get reelected. It will be known by 7th November. But by that time you may have to send the material to press. If the election result is not as expected, it will be scandalous to include this article, if at all it is acceptable. But if he is elected, this will be the most appropriate poser. I leave it to you to decide. I am now a citizen of US legally. Jawaharlal,
25
opportunity for him to prove himself. His first term could not serve the purpose just because it was the first term. Every President keeps an eye on the second term immediately after getting elected. He tries to please everybody. One way of it is to avoid hard and controversial decisions. But after getting elected for the second time they can feel free to do whatever they want to do as they cannot expect a third term. Obama’s election for the first time is a land mark in the history of America in the sense that a clouded person (not necessarily black) was able to enter the White House. Whatever might be the factors that helped him, it confirms the democratic credentials of the system. It gave hope and confidence to the people who were treated as less than citizens for a long time in the history of the country. But he could not do much for two reasons. One is that he inherited a severely damaged economy – damaged due to wanton disregard of financial discipline on the part of the earlier administration. The pity with Democrats in America is that they manage economy to a surplus and then get defeated in elections. The benefit of sound economy is exploited by the successive Republican governments who bring again the deficit and upload the burden to the next Democrat government. They have to loose time in repairing the damage without any credit for it as repair takes time and the consequences of bad economy are felt during that period. The damage to the economy during recession in 2008 was so severe that the government had to discard its capitalist garb and go to the rescue of the private banks that are directly responsible for the damage, as they are acknowledged to be “too big to fail”. It is obvious that the economy came to that stage during the Republican regime. But now, the Republican candidate contesting for Presidency blames the
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incumbent President for enlarging the government and spending heavily as if it is a crime by itself. That is how contestants behave at the time of elections. Whatever the successive government does is inadequate to bring the economy to its feet. But still it bears the blame for it.
The other reason for Obama’s inability to be effective in his first term is that it is the first term. He naturally takes care not to hurt any part of the electorate and avoids hard decisions. Some he could not avoid. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are inherited and had to be dealt with cautiously. If he closes the war abruptly, he will be blamed as timid and as letting America down. In spite of himself, he could not escape from the wars. Immediately after he took charge as President in 2009, the Nobel Committee conferred the Peace Prize on him for the year. It was a surprise to all, perhaps even to himself. It was not stated for what achievement he was awarded the Prize. There were suggestions that he should decline the prize. But he retained it which was not his fault. The usual condition for Nobel Prizes is that there shall be an achievement and it must have been proved. That is why scientists get their Nobel Prizes a long time after their discoveries are announced. In the case of Obama the prize was conferred perhaps expecting him to do something substantial by occupying the most powerful position as President of the United States. Or it may be to encourage him to do something significant in that direction. In spite of all expectations, he could not avoid continuing the war in Afghanistan nor could he close the prisons at Guantanamo Bay. Apart from all these military actions, there is one line of action that he indicated he wanted to pursue. That is solving of the Palestine problem. In the first year of his presidency he told Israel to stop construction of settlements in the West Bank. It is just to stop further constructions, not to vacate the occupations. Even that was not to the liking of Israel. There was a violent reaction and forceful resistance. Obama was forced to eat the pie and retract from it. He did not raise the issue again during his term. During elections in 2008 Israeli 26
lobby asked him specifically to spell out his policy towards Israel. He declared unequivocally that America is always in support of Israel as a credible ally. It would have been disastrous, or even foolish, for him to say at that time that he wants Israel to stop construction of settlements. It only indicates that his motives were suspicious for Israel. It does not mean the problem is not there. It is still there burning and staring in the face of US. Since Truman offered recognition, against the advice of his Secretary of State, to Israel immediately after its formation was announced by Ben-Gourion, there was no President that could raise his little finger on the vagaries of Israel. They felt it their duty to protect Israel from international censure and exercised their power to render even the Security Council ineffective. To escape blame America says that it is their policy to stand by their allies. It is a noble stand as far as the allies behave responsibly. One ally does not mean you should earn many more enemies and lose credibility. Allies should not be allowed to dictate policy. Even Anwar Sadat, after getting frustrated with his efforts to get an understanding with Israel, declared that the cards for peace in the Middle East are in the hands of the US. Every President knows the injustice done by Israel to Palestinians, but never dared to call the spade a spade. Even the Republican Presidents, both senior and junior Bush, tried to bring pressure on Israel to behave. But the pressure from Israel lobby was so heavy that they had to retract and sidetrack the issue. In 1956, when Nasser declared nationalisation of Suez Canal, Israel instigated Britain and France to invade Egypt and take control of the canal. They knew that they cannot succeed unless US supports the effort. But the President at that time, Eisenhower, refused to be drawn into the war as he was facing election for his second term. He knew that Israel was behind the effort. He declared that Egypt had a right to nationalize the canal. He stood his ground and won the election impressively. It shows that it is not difficult to win elections even after displeasing Israel. The
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incumbent must have the courage of conviction to take a stand. Unfortunately none of the Presidents till now could show it. The position of the President of the United States of America is the most powerful compared to the chief executives of other countries, dictators included. Being elected directly by the people, being not responsible to the elected representative in the Congress, he is in an enviable position. He has the
right and opportunity to act on his own, according to his wisdom and conscience, without fear or favor. In spite of it, the incumbent fails to act on his own, it reflects on his character. If Obama, in his second term dares to act, he proves his credentials to the Nobel Peace Prize, which he has already got. If he fails still he does not lose the prize. The curiosity begins from now itself.
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Book Review Section:
The Devil’s Finest Trick: The Human Mind’s Worst – By Frank Miele La plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu’il n’existe pas.” —Charles Pierre Baudelier, Le Joueur Généreux. [The Generous Gambler] (1869). Translation: “The finest trick of the devil is to persuade you that he does not exist.” Charles Baudelaire was a major innovator in French literature (among those he influenced, fellow poets Mallarmé, Verlaine, Rimbaud, composer Claude Debussy)—and the higher artistic regard given to the works of Edgar Allan Poe in his country than in Poe’s may in large part be due to Baudelaire’s translations. (As may also be true for those of K.D. Balmont and V. Bryusov in Tsarist Russia). A contemporary, colloquial translation of his above bòn mót was used most memorably in the cult classic neo-noire film, The Usual Suspects. Baudelaire and Keyser Söze (ranked #48 on the American Film Industries list of all-time movie villains) notwithstanding, the devil’s greatest trick may be to convince us that he does exist. Because if he does, he certainly can’t be us or what we believe in! Therefore he must be some other person, group, nation, or belief. And since it’s the devil we’re after, no ways or means can be spared in routing him out and keeping him caged until the apocalyptic “final showdown” when Ultimate Good gives Ultimate Evil its final Smack Down. The point to be made is that without some form of existential (d) evil, existential fear of an apocalypse is at a minimum diminished and at maximum rendered meaningless. But if accepted, apocalypticism can be downright dangerous. And that’s the take home lesson and significant contribution of The Last Myth. Authors Gross and Giles entertainingly and informatively, if at times breezily, explain why what they term “apocalyptic
“
28
thinking,” which they define as “a pattern of thought that assumes that end of our way of life (if not physically the end of the world itself) is imminent” (pp. 11–12) has undermined “our ability to gauge the magnitude of the global challenges rushing towards us” (p. 28). In supporting their thesis, they document that “apocalypticism” is neither “built into the human brain,” nor has it been present always and everywhere, and that even where well rooted (notably the United States from the outset) it has waxed and waned depending on other factors. In making their case, the authors compare and contrast the optimistic decade of the 1990s, kicked off and epitomized by Francis Fukuyama’s 1989 article, “The End of History,” which argued that with the fall of Soviet communism all political questions had been solved and so liberal democracy would reign peacefully throughout the world, with what they term, “The Apocalyptic Decade” which exploded from lower Manhattan to worldwide cable TV news on September 11, 2001 and, in the minds of many, will end in a worldwide catastrophe at the end of the Mayan long cycle on December 21, 2012 or thereabouts. (They review the evidence, also covered in Skeptic magazine 15.2, that this is a misinterpretation of the Mayan “long cycle”; my own favourite hypothesis is that Meso-Americans simply ran out of stone.) Among the most interesting items covered in The Last Myth is Todd Strandberg’s Rapture Index. An Air Force retiree and born-again Christian, Strandberg developed the Index in the 1980s, not to specify when the Rapture is coming, since “no man knows the day or the hour” (Matthew 24:36) and an endless string of pseudo-exegetes have turned out to be super-stupid trying, but what is the trajectory of events portending the Tribulation (“the tumultuous days prophesied in the Bible that would precede the return of Christ”). Is it accelerating, decelerating, or remaining the same? And what really are the signs of the end times? Among those considered for the Rapture Index are such obvious markers straight out of the Book of
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Revelation: False Christs, the Occult, Satanism, Apostasy, False Prophets, Gog (read Russia), Persia (read Iran), the Kings of the East, the Mark of the Beast, Beast Government, and, of course, The Antichrist, as well as Anti-Semitism and Israel (though these had somewhat different valence and interpretation among Bible Belters not that long ago); but also some more often associated with the Wall Street Journal such as Unemployment, Inflation, Interest Rates, and Oil Price; or the Weather Channel such as: Volcanoes, Earthquakes, “Wild Weather,” Famine, Drought, Climate, and Floods. Giles and Gross note that Strandberg became frustrated because the various apocalyptic timekeepers gave “wild and wildly varying interpretations…to the daily news” and couldn’t even agree whether “earthquakes were increasing or decreasing in frequency.” They note his consternation upon realizing that, “If people can’t even count something as simple as tectonic movements of the earth, what yardstick would they possibly use to measure something like apostasy?” (pp. 29, 217, n. 14). For all its virtues, the authors of The Last Myth fall victim to the very sort of thinking they warn against, perhaps understandably so given that, like all authors, they want to sell their book. They too easily divide time periods (decades, even centuries), authors, and worldviews into neat, little pigeonholes of Apocalypticism versus Pragmatism. In discussing Francis Fukuyama and his landmark article, ‘the End of History’ they write, “it’s important to remember the earnestness of the delusion that we had escaped history—a delusion that spread from Washington to the NASDAQ to the Top 40 charts—for it represents the starting point in our bipolar shift in consciousness toward apocalyptic despair. Our exuberant optimism would soon boomerang back at us. From the highest hopes come the deepest disappointments” (p.23). Then they go on that, “Indeed, Y2K established the tone for the decade to follow” (p. 28). 29
No. Widespread apocalypticism did not undermine the greater society’s ability to gauge the magnitude of that “oncoming challenge.” It’s true that media evangelists did churn out booklets with titles like Y2K = 666? (note the escape hatch question mark) which implied that a worldwide crash of communications and computer systems could be the start of the end, and they made real money selling them to their believers. But at the same time real businesses, from Fortune 500 corporations down, with real interests made the necessary changes to software and documentation that prevented even the slightest glitch—and many of us in IT made real money implementing them. Further, in the interests of being even-handed, Gross and Gilles stretch their hands a bit too far. They criticize not only the Doomsday Sayers of the Religious Right, but also Nobel Laureate and former Vice President Al Gore and Jared Diamond for their works on climate change and ecology. Nor is sufficient attention given to the demographics of Apocalypticism. What are the age, race, religious, educational, sexual, political, and marital characteristics of those who believe versus those that do not. With those reservations, however, The Last Myth is still worth reading, especially for those wanting to begin taking a skeptical look at a subject that fully deserves one. [In the weekly eSkeptic, Frank Miele reviews by Mathew Barrett Gross and Mel Giles (Prometheus Books, 2012, ISBN 978-1616145736) Senior Editor Frank Miele brings his diverse talents as a researcher, technical writer, teacher, stand-up comic, and musician to Skeptic magazine and Skeptics Society events. He has interviewed many of the major figures in debates over IQ, evolutionary psychology, overpopulation, global warming, and the environment, and other hot topics that may be found on the websites for and others.] Book Review URL: http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/12-09-26/#feat ure
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Dipavali Sen [Ms. Dipavali Sen has been a student of Delhi
School of Economics and Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (Pune). She has taught at Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, and various colleges of Delhi University. She is, at present, teaching at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, Delhi University. She is a prolific writer and has written creative pieces and articles for children as well as adults, both in English and Bengali. dipavali@gmail.com]
Book Review [BOOK: Sivadasa Five-and-Twenty Tales of the Genie (Vetalapancavimsati), 1995, Penguin Classics, paperback, pp 254, price Rs 299]
Acknowledging the Genie governance has recently become a Good lively issue, nationally and inter-nationally. This makes this book relevant today, although it was originally composed around the eleventh century. Chandra Rajan, its translator, is a noted scholar in both English and Sanskrit. She studied Sanskrit from the age of nine, with a pandit in Madras and also trained in Carnatic music. She later studied and taught at Delhi, New York, London and Canada. The book begins with a Key to the Pronunciation of Sanskrit Words and a brief Foreword. 30
The long and learned Introduction now discusses the date and authorship of the Five-and-Twenty Tales, the structure or composition of the narrative, its links with the Mahabharata and other ancient texts, and also the purport of the stories themselves. Then comes a short discussion on what exactly is the Vetala. The word may not be of Sanskrit origin, Even the conception of a story-telling genie may owe something to the Arabian Nights. The cover illustration is from a Basholi painting (circa 1730-40) and conjures up the murky background in which the tale is set. The translated text is on the lines of Sivadasa, the ancient narrator who set the Vetala stories down. This forms the main body of the book. Apart from Sivadasa, one named Jambhaladatta too is credited with a recounting of the stories. This forms the Appendix of the book. At the end there are the Notes, full and meticulous. The Vetala stories are set within the framework of a tale around King Vikramaditya, the half-mythical half-historical ruler supposed to have the valour (vikrama) of the sun (aditya).Each story has a question-answer format, almost a riddle, at its end. The king is faced with it and his life depends on answering it the way it pleases the Vetala or genie who puts it to him. The times are feudal and the stories are about kings and queens, princes and princesses, their ministers, their officials, as well as tradesmen, servants and most of all mendicants and hermits. But several of the issues are relevant even today. Faced with a choice between honour and life, which should a good ruler choose? The usual answer is: honour. But Vikramaditya was not just good. He was the best. He answered so cleverly that he saved both his life and his honour. The evil mendicant Ksantasheela’s plot to kill him was foiled and he was prevented from achieving his eight superhuman skills, one of which was “to have lordship of the world� (p 16). Instead, Vikramaditya achieved it, and governed the earth like the sun that figured in his title.
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Feudal rulers and capitalist tycoons, this desire to lord over the world is common to both. Even text, so ably translated and introduced, suggests that it will be the calm, clearheaded administrator who can deal with all sorts of situations with a judicious mixture of rectitude and intelligence. True valour (vikrama) is largely discretion. It is not enough for the less developed countries to put up a spirited stance internationally, like the WTO. They have to choose their strategies cleverly so as to resolve their dilemmas. Their future survival hangs upon
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these dealings, just as Vikramaditya’s had, upon his dealings with the Vetala. Penguin is doing the world a service by getting ancient Indian texts translated in readable yet authentic English translations. This book is an instance. Chandra Rajan has dedicated the book to “the three greatest storytellers of all times Vyasa, Valmiki, and Visnu Sarma.” Poor Vetala could have had an acknowledgement, I feel, if not Sivadasa or Jambhaladatta. They are his stories, after all.
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R.M. Pal [Prof. R.M. Pal is the Editor of PUCL Bulletin and former President of Delhi State PUCL. He was formerly the editor of The Radical Humanist. He has co-edited Human Rights of Dalits with Mr. G.S. Bhargava. He has also co-edited Power to the People: The Political Thought of Gandhi, M.N. Roy and Jaiprakash Narayan with Mrs. Meera Verma, published by Gyan Books, New Delhi in two volumes.] [BOOK: Sri Aurobindo, A contemporary Reader, edited by Prof. Sachindananda Mohanty, published by Routhledge (Taylor & Frasist Group), First published in 2008 & reprinted in 2009, pages 236. Price Rs. 325/-] Sri Aurobindo: A contemporary Reader A book backed by massive research and massive scholarship. This is a book for Sri Aurobindo admirers, specially for those who have no time to read or do not have access to the complete works of Sri Aurobindo. My late friend Shri Girilal Jain, the illustrious editor of The Times of India, was a great admirer of two great Bengali revolutionaries, Aurobindo Ghosh and M.N. Roy. I once asked him what was there in Aurobindo who was at one time dismissed by Gandhi for giving his opinion on the Cripps plan for India’s Independence. I have learn a lot, Girilal said, from Aurovindo’s 32
foundations about Indian culture, a free and united India, India’s mission and destiny, Indian nationalism. All important Indians like Bipinchandra Pal, Subhash Chandra Bose & Rabindranath Tagore saluted Aurobindo. Only Gandhi refused to recognize in him the great revolutionary and the great intellectual. It is in this background that I wanted to read the writings of Sri Aurobindo, who was at one time our hero. Apart from the general introduction by Prof. Mohanty, which is scholarly, I quote below the editorial note (editor’s prologue from the chapter ‘Foundation of Indian Culture’) which contextualizes Sri Aurobindo’s thoughts concerning Indian culture. (143) If there was one concept that was central to Sri Aurobindo, it would, undoubtedly, be ‘India’. As an image, location, imagination, philosophy and way of life, India pursues Sri Aurobindo relentlessly throughout his eventful life and career. Even as Sri Aurobindo evolves in his thinking and consciousness and envisions internationalism and the future world-order for the entire mankind, he never quite gives up his deep engagement with India. Thus, while he speaks of the rise of Asia as one of his famous ‘dreams’ spelt out in his Independence Day message of 1947, India remains a crucial element in his plan for evolutionary unfolding. While Sri Aurobindo speaks for the entir humanity, he also stands between the two. His scheme of things are given in his Foundations of Indian Culture (FIC), which we must read just as we must read Nehru’s Discovery of India or Gandhi’s The Story of My experiments with Truth. Sri Aurobindo makes it clear in FIC that he is not interested in the rise of India so that she could play power-politics or a hegemonic role in the international arena. He was not interested in projecting India on the world map, as it is being currently done by the strategic community, as a
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rising economic and military power rivaling the Atlantic block and China. That was not the reason why India must rise. She must rise in order to be a world-leader so far as pursuit of progressive and futuristic ideals is concerned. Spirituality for Sri Aurobindo meant precisely that. Sri Aurobindo does not glorify the past of India in a revivalist mould. It is not to the dawns of the past, he once said memorably, but to the high noon’s of the future we belong. He did not champion cultural nationalism in an exclusive or insular manner. There is no support to any bigotry or self-righteousness by him. Instead, his attempt is to synthesise and integrate. There is no place for intolerance and fanaticism of any kind in his construction of the Indian nation; no attempt to treat any group as the ‘other’. In fact, there is a clear rejection of chauvinism and glorification of the nation-state. But there is a characteristic firmness in the way he speaks of the importance of India, and opposes forces that, for reasons of selfishness and opportunism, weaken her. He is not bothered by critics and admirers. He speaks like the rishis of India’s ancient past from greater heights. Whether Indians are moved by higher ideals or are motivated by pettiness and expediency is up to them. There is no doubt a price to pay for the decisions we make. As a sage and seer, he can only caution us and hope that good sense would prevail. In the earlier period, especially, during the partition of Bengal movement, as well as in FIC, he speaks of India and Europe in polemical terms. But cultural criticism may not appreciate his notion of the truth of ‘group nationalism rooted to authoritarian/fascistic ideologies.’ This is important to bear in mind. These caveats are necessary, for a failure to do so may give rise to misconceptions. In certain quarters, Sri Aurobindo’s views have, in fact, been taken out of context and misconstrued. One simply has to go through his critique of the Indian tradition to see that he is unsparing of many
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practices and evils of the Indian society such as caste-stratification, treatment of women and the depressed castes/classes.
I now give below Sri Aurobindo’s views on Word War II: Sri Aurobindo contributed to British Government war fund, he writes prologue (I quote below) (182) Note about the War Fund Contributions As to your suggestion about a note on the subject of the contribution to the war fund Sri Aurobindo does not feel very much inclined to enter into any public explanation of his action or any controversy on the subject. In this letter he made it very clear that it was on the War issue that he gave his full support and he indicated the reason for it. Hitler and Nazism and its push towards world domination are in his view an assault by a formidable reactionary force, a purely Asuric force, on the highest values of civilization and their success would mean the destruction of individual liberty, national freedom, liberty of thought, liberty of life, religious and spiritual freedom in at least three continents. (183) Sri Aurobidno’s decision to give his moral support to the struggle against Hitler, which was made at the very beginning of the war, was based like all his actions on his inner view of things and on intimations from within. It was founded on hs consciousness of the forces at work, of their significance in the Divine’s leading of the world, of the necessary outer conditions for the spiritual development in which he sees the real hope of humanity. It would not serve any purpose to speak here of this view of things; but some outer considerations of a most material kind easily understandable by everyone can be put forward which might help to explain his action to the general mind, although they do not give the whole meaning of it; it is only these that are developed here. The struggle that is going on is not fundamentally a conflict between two imperialisms – German and English, -- one attacking, and the other defending itself. That is only an outward aspect, and not the
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whole even of the outward aspect. For the Germans and Italians believe that they are establishing a new civilization and a new world-order. The English believe that they are defending not only their empire but their very existence as a free nation and the freedom also of other nations conquered by Germany of threatened by the push to peace that the nations conquered shall be liberated and the others guaranteed against farther aggression. They believe also that they are standing up for the principles of civilization which a Nazi victory would destroy. These beliefs have to be taken into consideration in assessing the significance of the struggle. As is known MN Roy recommended that the Cripps plan be accepted by the Congress. Sri Aurobindo too recommended that the Cripps mission be accepted. (181) Contributions to Allied War Funds We are placing herewith at the disposal of H. E. the Governor of Madras a sum of Rs. 500 as our joint contribution of previous sums given by us for the cause of the Allies (10,000 Francs to the French Caisse De Defense National before the unhappy collapse of France and Rs. 1000 to the Victory’s War Fund immediately after the Armistice) is sent as an expression of our entire support for the British people and the Empire in their struggle against the aggressions of the Nazi Reich and our complete sympathy with the cause for which they are fighting. We feel that not only this is a battle waged in just self-defense and in defense of the nations threatened with the world-domination of Germany and the Nazi system of life, but that it is a defense of civilization and its highest attained social, cultural and spiritual values and of the whole future of humanity. To this cause our support and sympathy will be unswerving whatever may happen; we look forward to the victory of Britain and, as the eventual result, an era of peace and union among the nations and a better and more secure world-order.
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At the height of the Quit India Movement. Sri Amrendranath Chatterjee of Uttarpara, Calcutta was a very active member of the Radical Democratic Party which supported war efforts of the British. In 1942 when Japanese Army after conquering a number of countries in South East Russia threatened India the Radical Democratic Party made plans to defend India against Japanese aggression. Sri Chatterjee was a great admirer of Sri Aurobindo also. Sri Aurobindo wrote to him on 9th April 1942: Unable to leave Pondicherry; awaiting Congress decision on necessary action. Have appealed privately to Congress leaders for understanding with Britain and fight for defense of India. In a second telegram to Sri Chatterjee on 9th April 1942 Sri Aurobindo wrote: My blessings on your efforts to serve & defend motherland now in danger. In the context of Sri Aurobindo’s support to British war efforts it is necessary to quote what he wrote to Sir Staford Cripps. (190) Administrative Interventions on the Cripps’ Proposal, Sir Stafford Cripps, New Delhi I have heard your broadcast. As one who has been a nationalist leader and worker for India’s independence though now my activity is no longer in the political but in the spiritual field, I wish to express my appreciation of all you have done to bring about this offer. I welcome it as an opportunity given to India to determine for herself and organize in all liberty of choice her freedom and unity and take an effective place among the world’s free nations. I hope that it will be accepted and the right use made of it putting aside all discords and divisions. I hope too that a friendly relation between Britain and India replacing past struggles will be a step towards a greater world union in which as a free nation her spiritual force will contribute to build for mankind a better and happier life. In this light I offer my public adhesion in case it can be of any help in your work.
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(31st March 1942)
In view of the urgency of the situation I am sending Mr. Duraiswami Iyer to convey my views on the present negotiations and my reasons for pressing on Indian leaders the need of a settlement. He is accredited to speak for me. —Sri Aurobindo. (1st April 1942) As I have mentioned above Sri Aurobindo’s appeal to Congress leaders to support British war efforts in that connection he sent a special messenger Advocate Duraiswamy of Madras to Gandhi to speak on behalf of Sri Aurobindo to support British was efforts in order to defeat the enemy of human culture & human civilization Hitler & the Axis Powers. Gandhi summarily dismissed Aurobindo’s plea, "Who is Aurobindo? He has left politics." It is most regrettable that Gandhi did not know even though Sri Aurobindo was not an active revolutionary now & chose to lead a spiritual life he did not cease to take interest in India’s affairs. The book under review refers to a number of instances when Sri Aurobindo gave his opinion on affairs relating to India. Note: At the Outbreak of the World War II in 1939. Roy took a strong stand in favour of full Indian support to British War effort. He based his position on two arguments, one, that Fascism was the greater evil and all forces should be rallied against it and two, that the British would emerge so exhausted after the War that it would have to grant independence to India. Roy was convinced that the end of the war would be quickly followed by Independence for
India. Shri Arbindo also had more or less the same view with regards to Fascism. Fascist forces are asuras and also Sri Arbindo and Roy both supported the Cripps offer and yet what is surprising is that Sri Arbindo and Roy did not know one another’s view. Sri Aurobindo was known to early Roy (Narendra Bhattacharyaji) of the revolutionary days in Bengal. There was at least one revolutionary, Amarenranath Chattopadhyay, who was a devotee of both Roy and Sri Aurobindo. We know from Prof. Mohanty’s book that Sri Aurobindo congratulated Amarendra on his work on the anti-fascist front. Amarendra was an active member of the RDP and naturally RDP in 1942 was engaged in anti-fascist activity as per RDP resolution. If M N Roy knew that Sri Aurobindo was none other than Aurobindo Ghosh, who had sent a special emissary Mr. Durai Swamy to Gandhi recommending acceptance of Cripps offer and Gandhi's summary dismissal of emissary saying that Aurobindo is no more in politics; why should he take interest in political affairs, Roy would have definitely informed leaders of the Congress like Nehru, Patel and others that Aurobindo’s opinion should not be dismissed. So many things might have been different in 1942. One hopes Prof. Mohanty will one day do some research on this aspect also to find out why these two leaders did not know one another’s’ views on the question of support to British war efforts and their almost identical views on the dangers posed by fascism.
Dear Friends, Our plan for organising an International Conference in Delhi in February / March 2013 to commemorate the 125th Birth Year of M.N. Roy is still being worked upon. A detailed programme will follow in the next issue of RH and will be declared on the RH Web portal as soon as it is finalised. Please begin making your plans to attend it from where ever you are. Looking forward to your suggestions also regarding the same. — Rekha S.
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Humanist News Section: I
II
Election - 2012 Free Gujarat from ‘Modi’sm: Gujarat Civil Society
Carl Sagan Day celebrated on 9th November 2012 Sagan was the David Duncan CarlProfessor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University. He was a consultant and adviser to NASA since the 1950’s, briefed the Apollo astronauts before their flights to the Moon, and was an experimenter on the Mariner, Viking, Voyager, and Galileo expeditions to the planets. In addition to many other awards, Dr. Sagan was a recipient of the Public Welfare Medal, the highest award of the National Academy of Sciences, for “distinguished contributions in the application of science to the public welfare…Carl Sagan has been enormously successful in communicating the wonder and importance of science. His ability to capture the imagination of millions and to explain difficult concepts in understandable terms is a magnificent achievement.” A Pulitzer Prize winner for the book The Dragons of Eden: Speculations of the Evolution of Human Intelligence, Dr. Sagan was the author of many bestsellers, including Demon-Haunted World and Cosmos, which became the bestselling science book ever published in English. He received twenty-two honorary degrees from American colleges and universities for his contributions to science, literature, education, and the preservation of the environment, and many awards for his work on the long-term consequences of nuclear war and reversing the nuclear arms race. In their posthumous award to Dr. Sagan of their highest honor, the National Science Foundation declared that his “research transformed planetary science… his gifts to mankind were infinite.”
table for Legislative Assembly Time elections for Gujarat has already been
declared. In order to chalk out a programme so as to ensure that Gujarat makes rapid progress and at the same time, spirit of social justice is preserved, a meeting of activists, thinkers and intellectuals of the Voluntary Organizations and NGOs together with all concerned citizens, was held on Monday the 22nd October at Ahmedabad. More than 50 representatives from all over Gujarat had attended this meeting. During past ten years the State Govt. has put on a coat of ‘Development’. The person projected as the real hero of the State has not been acting up to the expectations for last ten years. We, the people, have to throw open just and fair field for alternative politics in order to secure the ground for a just and thriving democracy. Let us make our Voting truly result oriented. It is a moot question whether Congress will be able to provide all round sound and stable rule. They have to find solutions to a series of difficult questions. But this time, if we skip the choice, then due to our ignorance of the realistic position, resulting into division of votes, only the BJP will become strong or powerful. It is quite certain that in order to keep democracy alive we need to provide true direction and guidance to the public by remaining constantly and consistently conscious. Obviously, we have sympathy towards the groups struggling for water, lands and forests. It is quite certain that if we wish to make Gujarat free free from communalism, free from politics of hatred and enmity then it is essential to have a close co-ordination among all the remaining parties so as to defeat and dislodge such forces. 1) Elusive Propaganda of ‘Development’: This government's tall talks on ‘development’ deserve —News sent by Center for Inquiry scrutiny. The ruling party is burdening the State Exchequer with liability of crores of rupees every Http://www.centerforinquiry.net/carlsaganday 36
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day. Even through the R.T.I. route, it is difficult to arrive at the total of wasteful expenditure. The State’s debt as on 31st August 2011 was Rs. 1, 13, 939 crores (Rupees One Lac Thirteen Thousand and Nine Hundred Ninety Nine Crores). As per the Report of the Directorate of Economics and Statistics for the year 2011, per capita income of Gujarat is Rs. 63, 961, which ranks at No. 9 among the 32 States of the country. As per the news published in the Times of India, there is not much difference as far as the rate of poverty alleviation is concerned. The average poverty alleviation rate for the country as a whole is 1.5 % per year where as it is 1.7 % in case of Gujarat. The percentage of poor people in the State is 23 which, speaks volumes about Gujarat Development model. Let us take a hurried look at some snap-shots of ‘Gujarat Development’. - Only 43 % of households get water at their door steps in rural areas. - 16.7 % villagers get clean water. Remaining 83 percent are left out. - 20 % of the population have to walk long distances to fetch water. - In the villages, 67 % families do not have toilet facilities. - In 44 % of the villages, there is increased incidence of jaundice disease. - 30 % of villagers are faced with malarial fever in epidemic proportion. - 25% villages are affected by kidney stones. - 44.6% of the children below the age of 5 years are suffering from anaemia. - Gujarat ranks at No. 14 as regards infant mortality rate is concerned and ranks at No. 13 as far as children up to the age of 5 years are concerned. In short after tall talks of ‘development’, Gujarat has been able to achieve 48 % target as far as Human Development Indices are concerned. Many other States are far ahead of Gujarat in HDI measures.
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2) CAG Report on Gujarat for the year 2011: In this report, there are many startling details about corruption, mal-administration, clumsy and faulty administration, improper and imprudent misuse of Government funds etc. This report was tabled in the Assembly only at the last moment and that too after intervention of H.E. the Governor. No scope was left at all for debating the report in the State assembly. However this report of the CAG gives true and factual position: - Funds allocated for education could not be utilized. - Funds earmarked for education of the Dalits were not fully spent continuously for over three years. - Government purchased gas at higher prices and then sold to Adani and Essar at cheaper prices - Gujarat State Petroleum Company Ltd. (GSPCL) in collaboration with Canada’s Global Resources Company ventured into business of drilling petroleum from Krishna - Godavari basin. In this partnership, Canadian Company had no share in the losses of GSPCL. Drilling in K-G Basin was a failure. Yet, the C.M. created a Media hype by riding a helicopter to the drilling rig. Though the entire effort incurred huge loss, the Canadian Company was given a ‘share in profit’, which never existed. Thus, poor tax-payer of the State was looted and a foreign company was handed over a huge bounty. It is believed that in this entire process, scam of over Rs. 5,000 crore had taken place. - The Government, which boasts of being No. 1, has shown total lack of finance management. It has invested its own resources which fetch only 0.25 per cent interest per annum while it borrows at an annual rate of 7.69 per cent. - As reported by the C.A.G. irregularities of Rs. 1100 crores are believed to have taken place in Sujalam Sufalam schemes. - State’s revenue loss during the year 2008-09 was of Rs. 66 crores but the same increased to Rs. 6,966 crores during the year 2009-10. State’s revenue deficit in the year 2008-09 was Rs. 10,438 crores which rose to Rs. 15,074 crores in the year 2010-11. Do not these increases in losses point to incompetence on the part of the administration which boasts of being
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No. 1 in governance? - In the State’s public sector, loss of Rs. 4,216.53 crores was suffered and futile investment of Rs. 300.98 crores was made. - In the CAG’s internal report, 25 pages have been devoted towards pollution in the State. Disastrous picture of pollution has been depicted making use of color slides and graphs. As many as 13 Effluent Treatment Plants (Central Effluent Treatment Plants) are not functioning as per the norms of the Pollution Control Board because of which natural sources of water have become polluted or contaminated. (The study reveals that this situation is prevailing for the last 10 years.) By the end of the year 2000, there were 3,000 large scale industrial units. At the end of the year 2010, the number has increased to 9,000. Substantial amounts of the Govt. money is spent for setting up the CETP and in spite of not getting desired outcome, no care or caution is exercised in adding new and more industries. This type of industrialization will cause huge damage to the environment about which the Government turns a Nelson’s eye. The CAG report can bring out many skeletons from the cupboard. These can unveil the truth. In order to turn public scrutiny away from mismanagement and undesirable investment practices home the Government tries to attack the Central Government. 3) Narmada Project: This Government is squarely and fully responsible for severing or splitting up the relationship of irrigation from this project. For this Government, the Narmada Dam is a tourist spot. By allowing the lands to remain barren before the farmer is able to irrigate by laying the canal and make himself economically sound, this Government has dealt a death blow to the farmer. In the end, out of frustration and desperation, farmers are left to the mercy of the industrialists by disposing off their lands to the industrialists. Presently, large quantity of water is supplied to the industries. Drinking water is being supplied irregularly and in inadequate quantity and with deficiency or drawback in its quality or purity. It is indeed difficult to predict, as to when the network 38
of canal and branch canal in the State will finally be operational. 4) Tendency of dismantling democratic structure in the State:: The Government cares two hoots for democracy. This can be easily inferred from the following: State Assembly is convened for the minimum required number of days only. Ruling party MLAs are made to praise the C.M. Opposition is reportedly thrown out of the Assembly even on small pretext. Sincere IPS and other bureaucrats are harassed. Federal structure of the constitution is continuously eroded by various acts and speeches. 5) Centre-State relationship - matter of grave concern: There should be cordial and harmonious relationship between the Centre and the State. The Gujarat Govt. is constantly disparaging the Centre merely to gain political mileage. It is not at all proper to raise hue and cry that the entire Gujarat has been insulted. Such an act is reportedly challenged or countered. But the damage is done. This is a danger signal for future of India. Relationship between the Centre and the State holds a key for the unity and integrity of the nation. 6) Our Duty: It is necessary to convince and persuade the people about the true and factual information especially regarding the impact or wrong impression created by the elusive and misleading propaganda in the State. Issues, such as “what development”, “whose development” and “development at whose cost” etc., need to be elucidated, explained and elaborated. The decline of Human Development Index in the midst of din and clamour of “No. 1 and First Ranker or Topper” bespeaks volumes for itself. In the face of issues such as water, lands and forests, incidents of farmers’ suicides, desperate conditions of fishermen, problems due to lack of cultivable lands to be made available to Adivasis for farming to which they are entitled, atrocities on Dalits, pitiable condition of salt workers, vulnerable condition of minorities, health and education related problems facing the women and the children, deteriorating
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condition of education, violation of Human Rights prevailing in Gujarat, we should voice dissent and also oppose anti-people policies and tendencies. Care and caution will have to be exercised so as to avoid wrong and needless division of votes by the opposition parties and the various institutions in the forthcoming elections, even by making efforts in persuading and counselling the parties and the candidates if felt so necessary. We will have to do the task of dispelling certain kind of indifference and apathy, which has been gripping / prevailing among people due to ill-conceived and elusive propaganda tactics. Adequate efforts shall be made to shake off feelings of indifference and distress among the public to see to it that pro-people Government is formed. Lives of the people surviving on water, lands and forests are becoming difficult. Whether they be the farmer subsisting on agriculture, shepherds subsisting on Gauchar, landless animal keepers, coastal area’s fishermen surviving on fishery and Adivasis subsisting on forest produce, they are all reduced to poverty with open robbery of their sources of income and livelihood. Government aims at annihilating them all by pushing them into margin. It is our humble request to every common man of the State that they can blow the winds of change and can make future of the State bright. You should all demonstrably show the strength of your solidarity. Given this situation, Government formed out of any of the party will listen to your woes of the State’s working and toiling community, people of different religions and different castes / classes may stay together in peace and harmony, all may become happier and prosperous with reciprocal exchange of each other’s culture and civilization. Please beware and let us work together in unison to create or carve out afree Gujarat, enmity and hatred free Gujarat. In nutshell this will be a public movement for embellishing the fundamental values of peace, harmony and justice in Gandhi’s Gujarat,
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which, necessarily has to be communalism free Gujarat.— Signatories: Chunibhai Vaidya (Gujarat Lok Samiti), Indukumar Jani (Editor, Naya Marg), J.S. Bandukwala (PUCL), Girish Patel (Senior Advocate), Shabnam Hasmi (Anhad), Prakash N. Shah (Editor, Nirikshak), Gautam Thaker (PUCL), Rohit Shukla (Save Education), Rajani Dave (Editor, Bhoomiputra), Ila Pathak (Gujarat Women’s Federation), Prof. Kishor Desai (I.A.C.), Dr. Maherunissa Desai (Amawa), Prof. Babubhai Desai (Satya Shodhak Sabha), Manishi Jani (Gujarati Authors’ Orgn.), Uttam Parmar (M.S.D.), Father Cadrik Prakash (Prashant), Dhaval Mehta (Guj. Mumbai Rationalist Asso.), Mahesh Pandya (Paryavaran Mitra), Manan Trivedi (Anhad), Prasad Chako (B.S.C.), Jimmy Dabhi (B.S.C.), Harinesh Pandya (Janpath), Natubhai Shah (Van Sandesh), Harshad Desai (Janpath), Jayesh Patel (Student Leader), Dilip Chandulal (Lok Andolan), Ikram Baig Mirza (Jamate Islami Hind), Vipul Pandya (Construction Labour Union), Pankti Jog (RTI, Gujarat Initiative), Kanti Tamaliya (Khet Vikas Parishad), Mahendra Jethamalani (Pathey), Mahadev Vidrohi (Abhikram), Sagar Rabari (Gujarat Lok Samiti), Meenakshi Joshi (Women’s Cultural Orgn.), Bhavik Raja (Student Leader), Manda Patel (Gandhi Peace Foundation), Rutvik Makwana, Father William, Himmat Shah, Nikhil Sheth, Bhagvanbhai Hirabhai, Ratilal Jadav. —News sent by Gautam Thaker, General Secretary, PUCL & IRHA (Gujarat) Contact Address: Gujarat Lok Samiti C/O Janpath, Jivrajpark Char Rasta, Ahmedabad, 380051 Harinesh Pandya Mob: 09824048842 Gautam Thaker Mob: 09825382556 Uttam Parmar Mob: 09925959014 Mahesh Pandya Mob: 079-26851321
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RENAISSANCE PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED 15, Bankim Chatterjee Street (2nd floor), Kolkata: 700 073, Mobile: 9831261725 NEW FROM RENAISSANCE By SIBNARAYAN RAY Between Renaissance and Revolution-Selected Essays: Vol. I- H.C.350.00 In Freedom’s Quest: A Study of the Life and Works of M.N. Roy: Vol.Ill H.C.250.00 Against the Current - H.C.350.00 By M.N. ROY Science and Superstition - H.C.125.00 AWAITED OUTSTANDING PUBLICATIONS By RABINDRANATH TAGORE & M.N. ROY Nationalism - H.C.150.00 By M.N. ROY The Intellectual Roots of Modern Civilization - H.C.150.00 The Russian Revolution - P.B.140.00 The Tragedy of Communism - H.C.180.00 From the Communist Manifesto - P.B.100.00 To Radical Humanism - H.C.140.00 Humanism, Revivalism and the Indian Heritage - P.B. 140.00 By SIVANATH SASTRI A History of The Renaissance in Bengal —Ramtanu Lahiri: Brahman & Reformer H.C.180.00 By SIBNARAYAN RAY Gandhi, Gandhism and Our Times (Edited) - H.C.200.00 The Mask and The Face (Jointly Edited with Marian Maddern) - H.C.200.00 Sane Voices for a Disoriented Generation (Edited) - P.B. 140.00 From the Broken Nest to Visvabharati - P.B.120.00 The Spirit of the Renaissance - P.B.150.00 Ripeness is All - P.B. 125.00 By ELLEN ROY From the Absurdity to Creative Rationalism - P.B. 90.00 By V. M. TARKUNDE Voice of A Great Sentinel - H.C.175.00 By SWARAJ SENGUPTA Reflections - H.C 150.00 Science, Society and Secular Humanism - H.C. 125.00 By DEBALINA BANDOPADHYAY The Woman-Question and Victorian Novel - H.C. 150.00
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