Sreelatha Menon & Prasad Nichenametla
New Delhi February 03, 2007
A year after the launch of the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Programme, two sets of figures that it throws up are arresting.
First, 33.4 million job cards have been issued in the 200 districts where the programme has been operational. Those districts have 54 million rural households.
The numbers say that 60 per cent of all rural households in these districts have registered for hard manual labour, in return for Rs 50 a day.
Since only 22 per cent (or 26 per cent, depending on the figure you choose) of all households are officially poor, a 60 per cent participation rate suggests either a level of deprivation in the countryside that no one has suspected exists, or a gigantic boondoggle under which fake muster rolls get filled up.
The second arresting figure is the number of mandays of work generated during the year: 446 million.
Assuming that this was evenly spread out among the 33.4 million who have registered under the programme, each job card holder got less than 14 days of work during the year.
But that calculation would have to be adjusted with the fact that all 33.4 million job cards were not issued on the first day of the programme. If they were issued in an even pattern through the year, the average job card holder would have got 14 days of work over six months— compared with the 100 days in a year promised under the programme.
The Rs 700 that would have been earned by each job card holder (and only one card is allowed per family) in the year would serve at best as supplementary income for an average family of five; it is not enough to bring poor people above the poverty line — one of the claims made on behalf of the programme.
At gram panchayat Baldevmal, part of the Junagarh block in Orissa's Kalahandi district, the scene is much worse than even what these national averages suggest.
In all, 350 job cards have been given out so far. Panchayat secretary Bhabograhi Meher's figure for mandays of work created is 450. That amounts to barely one day and a bit per job card holder in the entire year.
At Bandhpari panchayat of Lanjigarh block, in the very Kalahandi district, 33-year-old Nurpa Goud got seven days of work in June. This is all that is mentioned on his card.
He says he worked more days, but they have not been mentioned on the card. He is now waiting for more work, as the state government has recently increased the minimum wage under the programme.
There are also places like Ranmal gram panchayat in Kalahandi, where no cards have been given out so far. The state-wide total is 2.5 million cards and 45 million mandays of work — or an average of 18 days per card.
That is slightly better than the national figure of 14 days, and marginally better than Uttar Pradesh's total (54 million mandays for 3.2 million job card holders in 22 districts, making for 16 mandays per card), but nowhere near the target of 100 mandays per card.
If Nurpa Goud's account is true, more work is being done, but people are not being paid for it.
The vital statistical link showing mandays generated per job card is mostly missing in official records.
When mentioned, it often does not reflect the truth, says Manoj Rai of Participatory Research in Asia (Pria), a resource and advocacy group on grassroots development. The states do have data on the number of mandays, but they do not post it on their websites, says Rai.
In response to questions, central ministry officials in New Delhi say they are planning to revamp the information system.
RURAL REPORT CARD
Funds released: Rs 6,714.2 crore
Total 'works' taken up: 5.23 lakh
Districts: 200
Total rural households: 54 million
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Shivpuri: Nutrition centre makes difference
NDTV.com
Rubina Khan Shapoo, Friday, February 2, 2007 (Shivpuri) :
In Madhya Pradesh malnutrition has gone up instead of down in the last decade.The government launched the Bal Shakti Yojna in October 2005 where special rehabilitation centres were created for extremely malnourished children. For the first time, the ICDS team and the health department began working in tandem.
NDTV team traveled to Shivpuri, one of the districts where they are aggressively implementing the scheme to see what difference has it really made.Medical treatment Three-year-old Dharmender weighs twelve and a half kg. It's a miracle considering he was severely malnourished, weighing barely six kg just six months ago.Parvati credits her son's recovery to the nutrition rehabilitation center in Shivpuri, where he received intensive medical treatment and nutritious food. She says she learnt how to take care of him.
Shivpuri and Guna districts in Madhya Pradesh are the only districts in Madhay Pradesh to have nutritional rehabilitation center.So far eight nutritional rehabilitation centres for severely malnourished children have been set up in Shvpuri.Children are kept for fifteen days, a month or longer depending on the severity of malnourishment. Like one-year-old Radha, who can barely move and weighs only three kg. The children begin their day with a piece of papaya. Dalia is given at ten and hot yummy vegetable khichdhi with ghee and sugar is served for lunch, followed by an afternoon siesta.Poverty factor Many attribute the success of the centres to the personal interest taken by the Collector of Shivpuri, who is a trained doctor."Out of 1500 children treated so far in these NRC's we could do the follow up of eleven hundred and eleven and the figure shows that almost seventy four per cent of them had weight increase and almost fifty percent of had grade improvement," said Manohar Agnani, Collector, Shivpuri
.But the programme's biggest challenge lies in the fact that many among the target group are unable to replicate the care at home. The parents live below the poverty line and typically both work as daily wage labourers. "I am a labourer. Here you are feeding me and teaching me how to do it. But I will only be able to follow all this if I have something in my house. How will I make all this there?" said Pushpa Jatav, mother of twins.However, one thing is clear though NRCs can help prevent malnutrition related deaths, to tackle malnutrition related deaths well run aaganwadhis with proper facilities for all the children is the only answer.
Rubina Khan Shapoo, Friday, February 2, 2007 (Shivpuri) :
In Madhya Pradesh malnutrition has gone up instead of down in the last decade.The government launched the Bal Shakti Yojna in October 2005 where special rehabilitation centres were created for extremely malnourished children. For the first time, the ICDS team and the health department began working in tandem.
NDTV team traveled to Shivpuri, one of the districts where they are aggressively implementing the scheme to see what difference has it really made.Medical treatment Three-year-old Dharmender weighs twelve and a half kg. It's a miracle considering he was severely malnourished, weighing barely six kg just six months ago.Parvati credits her son's recovery to the nutrition rehabilitation center in Shivpuri, where he received intensive medical treatment and nutritious food. She says she learnt how to take care of him.
Shivpuri and Guna districts in Madhya Pradesh are the only districts in Madhay Pradesh to have nutritional rehabilitation center.So far eight nutritional rehabilitation centres for severely malnourished children have been set up in Shvpuri.Children are kept for fifteen days, a month or longer depending on the severity of malnourishment. Like one-year-old Radha, who can barely move and weighs only three kg. The children begin their day with a piece of papaya. Dalia is given at ten and hot yummy vegetable khichdhi with ghee and sugar is served for lunch, followed by an afternoon siesta.Poverty factor Many attribute the success of the centres to the personal interest taken by the Collector of Shivpuri, who is a trained doctor."Out of 1500 children treated so far in these NRC's we could do the follow up of eleven hundred and eleven and the figure shows that almost seventy four per cent of them had weight increase and almost fifty percent of had grade improvement," said Manohar Agnani, Collector, Shivpuri
.But the programme's biggest challenge lies in the fact that many among the target group are unable to replicate the care at home. The parents live below the poverty line and typically both work as daily wage labourers. "I am a labourer. Here you are feeding me and teaching me how to do it. But I will only be able to follow all this if I have something in my house. How will I make all this there?" said Pushpa Jatav, mother of twins.However, one thing is clear though NRCs can help prevent malnutrition related deaths, to tackle malnutrition related deaths well run aaganwadhis with proper facilities for all the children is the only answer.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
IANS reports on our blog
Blogs help raise social issues in Madhya Pradesh
by Sanjay Sharma,
Indo-Asian news service
Bhopal, Feb 1 (IANS) Blogs are fast catching on in Madhya Pradesh where it provides a platform to activists and officials to voice concern on social issues like safe motherhood and children's plight. Among the blogs - a user-generated website as is commonly known - is www.safemotherhood.blogspot.com. Managed by 'Campaign to Raise Concern on Maternal Deaths' in the state, it has activists working to help mothers. There are other blogs too like newswhichmatter.blogspot.com, which has news about the state and opinions of people, and mpchildinfo.blogspot.com, which deals with infant mortality and low nutrition levels among children.Another blog is madhyapradesh.blogspot.com, which provides news and views on matters concerning the state.The safemotherhood.blogspot.com brings together media reports on maternal mortality in the state.Maternal mortality at 498 per every 1,000 women is one of state's biggest blights. Most of the deaths occur due to pregnancy-related complications within a fortnight of delivery.'To raise concern about and bring visibility to the issue of maternal deaths and factors impacting it, the safe motherhood blog helps to bring out issues at the district level that rarely find a place in the state level media,' said Anil Gulati, a blogger.
The blog, he said, translates the Hindi news into English or adapts it from Hindi and reproduces it on its weblog along with its source.Many a time these news stories from district editions can form a story for the state editions or alternatively can be a pitch for the big story, which also adds to the purpose of the blog, he said.Blogs also help to give expression to one's creative challenge, added Gulati, who has come to be regarded as blogman of Bhopal. He is a regular contributor to some of the blogs.'Some blogs have been able to raise concern on issues like maternal and child deaths in Madhya Pradesh,' said Sachin Jain, who heads a media advocacy group, Vikas Samvad, in Bhopal.For him it is a good advocacy tool. 'Blogs also take up issues which would have remained invisible otherwise. They help to bring the plight of people of the 'other India' into focus,' he claimed.Blogs and citizen journalists are part of newer trends in engaging people and making their voices heard. But do they make any difference?
'They may not be too effective today but they have the potential to complement other forms of journalism one day,' said P.P. Singh of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism.'These new technology tools can play a major role in reaching out to people with more transparency as they are not bound by present day media constraints, and thus serve the purpose more effectively,' he added.Other blogs that have become popular in a short time are bhopal.blogspot.com and bhopal.wordpress.com. There is also a Persecution Blog, which shares news and information about the Christian community.
Indo-Asian News Service
by Sanjay Sharma,
Indo-Asian news service
Bhopal, Feb 1 (IANS) Blogs are fast catching on in Madhya Pradesh where it provides a platform to activists and officials to voice concern on social issues like safe motherhood and children's plight. Among the blogs - a user-generated website as is commonly known - is www.safemotherhood.blogspot.com. Managed by 'Campaign to Raise Concern on Maternal Deaths' in the state, it has activists working to help mothers. There are other blogs too like newswhichmatter.blogspot.com, which has news about the state and opinions of people, and mpchildinfo.blogspot.com, which deals with infant mortality and low nutrition levels among children.Another blog is madhyapradesh.blogspot.com, which provides news and views on matters concerning the state.The safemotherhood.blogspot.com brings together media reports on maternal mortality in the state.Maternal mortality at 498 per every 1,000 women is one of state's biggest blights. Most of the deaths occur due to pregnancy-related complications within a fortnight of delivery.'To raise concern about and bring visibility to the issue of maternal deaths and factors impacting it, the safe motherhood blog helps to bring out issues at the district level that rarely find a place in the state level media,' said Anil Gulati, a blogger.
The blog, he said, translates the Hindi news into English or adapts it from Hindi and reproduces it on its weblog along with its source.Many a time these news stories from district editions can form a story for the state editions or alternatively can be a pitch for the big story, which also adds to the purpose of the blog, he said.Blogs also help to give expression to one's creative challenge, added Gulati, who has come to be regarded as blogman of Bhopal. He is a regular contributor to some of the blogs.'Some blogs have been able to raise concern on issues like maternal and child deaths in Madhya Pradesh,' said Sachin Jain, who heads a media advocacy group, Vikas Samvad, in Bhopal.For him it is a good advocacy tool. 'Blogs also take up issues which would have remained invisible otherwise. They help to bring the plight of people of the 'other India' into focus,' he claimed.Blogs and citizen journalists are part of newer trends in engaging people and making their voices heard. But do they make any difference?
'They may not be too effective today but they have the potential to complement other forms of journalism one day,' said P.P. Singh of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism.'These new technology tools can play a major role in reaching out to people with more transparency as they are not bound by present day media constraints, and thus serve the purpose more effectively,' he added.Other blogs that have become popular in a short time are bhopal.blogspot.com and bhopal.wordpress.com. There is also a Persecution Blog, which shares news and information about the Christian community.
Indo-Asian News Service
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Trafficking in children from State rampant
Ramya Kannan
221 children trafficked in a year
CHENNAI: Trafficking in children from Tamil Nadu is regular. They are taken primarily to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh and made to work in trying circumstances.
The children work in sweet stalls, bakeries and prawn and the fish processing industry, as help in hotels and labourers in homes, according to a 2006 study, conducted among children rescued at various exits (primarily different railway stations). The children are also involved in bangle and carpet making units, employed in rubber estates and tapioca farms in various parts of the country.
Executed by two NGOs Saaral-CSHD and Nessakkaram SEEDS, which work among children to prevent abuse, the study observed that a total of 221 children were taken for labour between February and December 2006 and 167 had run away from home to cities, mainly Chennai and Mumbai.
During interactions with the children, it was clear that they had no clue where they are going to be taken for employment. There were also cases where girls forced into labour have run away from their work place due to exacting conditions and landed up at railway stations, hoping to travel home `ticket less.'
The study revealed that trafficking in children took place from 16 districts, with Villupuram, Vellore, Salem, Dharmapuri, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga contributing the maximum numbers. There were a number of parents from Kalidaikurichi in Villupuram district who complained to the study team about children who went missing after agents paid paltry sums and took them away on the pretext of finding them work.
Three villages in Madurai had sent over 10 per cent of their boys out of home to work and in one village, Pudhur, 15 per cent of the boys and 5 per cent of girls were outside home, sold to a broker. The parents attributed their decision to extreme poverty, lack of rain, inadequate water resources and the lack of cultivable land. With jobs dwindling, there is no income available locally and families send children out to earn for them. The children are in the age group 12-18 years.
"We believe that the study has revealed only the tip of the iceberg. The real intensity and magnitude of the problem is likely to be disastrous," days George Heston, director, Saaral -CSHD
221 children trafficked in a year
CHENNAI: Trafficking in children from Tamil Nadu is regular. They are taken primarily to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh and made to work in trying circumstances.
The children work in sweet stalls, bakeries and prawn and the fish processing industry, as help in hotels and labourers in homes, according to a 2006 study, conducted among children rescued at various exits (primarily different railway stations). The children are also involved in bangle and carpet making units, employed in rubber estates and tapioca farms in various parts of the country.
Executed by two NGOs Saaral-CSHD and Nessakkaram SEEDS, which work among children to prevent abuse, the study observed that a total of 221 children were taken for labour between February and December 2006 and 167 had run away from home to cities, mainly Chennai and Mumbai.
During interactions with the children, it was clear that they had no clue where they are going to be taken for employment. There were also cases where girls forced into labour have run away from their work place due to exacting conditions and landed up at railway stations, hoping to travel home `ticket less.'
The study revealed that trafficking in children took place from 16 districts, with Villupuram, Vellore, Salem, Dharmapuri, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga contributing the maximum numbers. There were a number of parents from Kalidaikurichi in Villupuram district who complained to the study team about children who went missing after agents paid paltry sums and took them away on the pretext of finding them work.
Three villages in Madurai had sent over 10 per cent of their boys out of home to work and in one village, Pudhur, 15 per cent of the boys and 5 per cent of girls were outside home, sold to a broker. The parents attributed their decision to extreme poverty, lack of rain, inadequate water resources and the lack of cultivable land. With jobs dwindling, there is no income available locally and families send children out to earn for them. The children are in the age group 12-18 years.
"We believe that the study has revealed only the tip of the iceberg. The real intensity and magnitude of the problem is likely to be disastrous," days George Heston, director, Saaral -CSHD
Monday, January 29, 2007
One school, two hand pumps, but children still thirsty
Primary school, Village Goharan, is five kilometers from the Vijaypur development block headquarters, District Sheopur. It is one of the lucky ones as it has two hand pumps just outside the school premises, but children still have to bring water bottles from homes when they come to study at the school. The two handpumps are lying in broken condition and not in use for sometime now. Teachesr at the school have raised the issue with public health engineering department for many times, the hand pumps lie unrepaired.
Blog news
Blog news
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Madhya Pradesh School promoting Gandhian culture since 1892
By Abdul Samad
Harda (Madhya Pradesh), Jan.28 (ANI): An over a century old school in Madhya Pradesh's Harda District is being run in a style that could give joy to the followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation.Be it students or teachers, all wear a Gandhi cap and Khadi dress. The tradition has been kept alive since 1892. The school has followed Gandhi's ideals since its inception.
"The students as well as the teachers coming here do wear the cap and this is not a compulsion but is tradition that has been followed since 114 years," said Ghulam Nabi, one of the teachers. "Gandhiji had asked fellow countrymen to wear this cap and on our part, we follow suit, irrespective of which class we are studying in," said Anand Singh Rajput, a student.
There are 500 students in the school and majority of them come from poor background. This proves a major impediment in the basic maintenance of the school.But the school is in a pathetic state because of many essential things getting no attention from anyone due to lack of funds.
The school authorities want the State Government to help in renovation of the school building, which has withstood vagaries of all seasons for the past 114 years. Today, it is in dire need of repairs. Besides it requires an arrangement for the residence of schoolteachers.
"We have certain demands, we want quarters for the teachers and reconstruction of the entire building as it is getting old day-by-day. It urgently needs renovation so that it can last for many more years, says the Moti Singh Suchar, the school Principal. (ANI)
Harda (Madhya Pradesh), Jan.28 (ANI): An over a century old school in Madhya Pradesh's Harda District is being run in a style that could give joy to the followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation.Be it students or teachers, all wear a Gandhi cap and Khadi dress. The tradition has been kept alive since 1892. The school has followed Gandhi's ideals since its inception.
"The students as well as the teachers coming here do wear the cap and this is not a compulsion but is tradition that has been followed since 114 years," said Ghulam Nabi, one of the teachers. "Gandhiji had asked fellow countrymen to wear this cap and on our part, we follow suit, irrespective of which class we are studying in," said Anand Singh Rajput, a student.
There are 500 students in the school and majority of them come from poor background. This proves a major impediment in the basic maintenance of the school.But the school is in a pathetic state because of many essential things getting no attention from anyone due to lack of funds.
The school authorities want the State Government to help in renovation of the school building, which has withstood vagaries of all seasons for the past 114 years. Today, it is in dire need of repairs. Besides it requires an arrangement for the residence of schoolteachers.
"We have certain demands, we want quarters for the teachers and reconstruction of the entire building as it is getting old day-by-day. It urgently needs renovation so that it can last for many more years, says the Moti Singh Suchar, the school Principal. (ANI)
A school that abides by Gandhigiri
Bhopal, Jan 28 (IANS) Imagine a school where teachers mark themselves absent voluntarily if they get late and the headmaster notes down his own time of arrival!
The Bawadia Kalan Middle School on the outskirts of the Madhya Pradesh capital has become quite popular with students and parents with a bit of "Gandhigiri" - a term that has come to signify winning over people with persuasion and honesty.
"I have not seen the much talked about Munnabhai's Gandhigiri but what I feel is that Gandhigiri is nothing but 'living for others by honesty' and that is what we have adopted in this school," said A.N. Pathak, the headmaster. No official or local politician has ever visited the school in Bawadia Kalan village. But that has hardly been a hindrance to its smooth-functioning. The school, which has classes up to the middle level, has 454 students, 11 teachers and one head master.
"Almost all amenities like drinking water, toilets (specially for girls), lights, fans and a speaker in each classroom have been arranged with public cooperation thanks to the teachers who have become friendly with the villagers," said Pathak.
"Villagers in most places avoid sending their children to school either due to lack of facilities or because the child is not interested or both, but in our village it is not so," says Matadin who runs a grocery shop in the village. "Teachers take so much personal interest in educating the child that neither the parents nor the child thinks of missing school."
"In case a child misses classes for more than two days, a teacher personally comes to us to inquire about him and persuade us to send him for studies regularly. They care not only for the studies of children but also for their entertainment and try to ensure that students get a homely environment in school as well," he said.His three children, including two daughters, go to school regularly.
Unlike most government schools, teachers here mark themselves absent voluntarily if they come late for three days in a row. All teachers as well as the headmaster not only sign the attendance register but also put their time of arrival on it."We treat all students as family members and give them a family-like atmosphere, so that they do not think of being absent from class," said Arvind Tiwari, teacher.
--By Sanjay Sharma
The Bawadia Kalan Middle School on the outskirts of the Madhya Pradesh capital has become quite popular with students and parents with a bit of "Gandhigiri" - a term that has come to signify winning over people with persuasion and honesty.
"I have not seen the much talked about Munnabhai's Gandhigiri but what I feel is that Gandhigiri is nothing but 'living for others by honesty' and that is what we have adopted in this school," said A.N. Pathak, the headmaster. No official or local politician has ever visited the school in Bawadia Kalan village. But that has hardly been a hindrance to its smooth-functioning. The school, which has classes up to the middle level, has 454 students, 11 teachers and one head master.
"Almost all amenities like drinking water, toilets (specially for girls), lights, fans and a speaker in each classroom have been arranged with public cooperation thanks to the teachers who have become friendly with the villagers," said Pathak.
"Villagers in most places avoid sending their children to school either due to lack of facilities or because the child is not interested or both, but in our village it is not so," says Matadin who runs a grocery shop in the village. "Teachers take so much personal interest in educating the child that neither the parents nor the child thinks of missing school."
"In case a child misses classes for more than two days, a teacher personally comes to us to inquire about him and persuade us to send him for studies regularly. They care not only for the studies of children but also for their entertainment and try to ensure that students get a homely environment in school as well," he said.His three children, including two daughters, go to school regularly.
Unlike most government schools, teachers here mark themselves absent voluntarily if they come late for three days in a row. All teachers as well as the headmaster not only sign the attendance register but also put their time of arrival on it."We treat all students as family members and give them a family-like atmosphere, so that they do not think of being absent from class," said Arvind Tiwari, teacher.
--By Sanjay Sharma
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Commission to review maladies of public distribution system
Supreme Court of India has constituted a committee/ commission to investigate and study the Public Distribution System in India. As per Sachin Jain of Vikas Samvad , a media advocacy group this is the time when we can put our feelings and experiences in the commission, and an opportunity to express. Under the orders of the Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (C) No.196 of 2001, the Government of India, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has constituted a Central Vigilance Committee under the Chairmanship of Justice D.P. Wadhwa, a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, to look into the maladies which are affecting the proper functioning of the Public Distribution System and also suggest remedial measures.
The Committee has invited views and suggestions on the problems affecting the Public Distribution System - whether it is Fair Price Shops, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation, Food Corporation of India, Department of Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Government of India or any other authority/body concerned with Public Distribution System. One can write at e mail at cvcpds.fpd@nic.in or Fax at 011- 26494067 or write to office of the Committee at 716, Mahabir Block, Asiad Village Complex (Khel Gaon), Siri Fort Road, New Delhi-110016 on or before 20th February, 2007.
Blog news
The Committee has invited views and suggestions on the problems affecting the Public Distribution System - whether it is Fair Price Shops, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation, Food Corporation of India, Department of Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Government of India or any other authority/body concerned with Public Distribution System. One can write at e mail at cvcpds.fpd@nic.in or Fax at 011- 26494067 or write to office of the Committee at 716, Mahabir Block, Asiad Village Complex (Khel Gaon), Siri Fort Road, New Delhi-110016 on or before 20th February, 2007.
Blog news
Friday, January 26, 2007
Action in textbooks sale case
Betul, MP, Jan 22 (UNI) Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Director
Surjeet Singh Chouhan, who is Madhya Pradesh Chief
Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's brother, has said
that action would be initiated against the District Project Coordinator in a case relating to seizing of textbooks -- that were supposed to have been distributed free of cost under the Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission -- from a scrap-dealers' godown.
''The Chief Minister has taken a very serious view
of the matter, formed different investigation teams
and sought a report. A statewide probe is underway. On
November 13, 2006, a similar case surfaced in
Shajapur,'' Mr Chouhan told UNI over telephone. He
probed the matter in various areas of the district
yesterday. Mr Chouhan is to submit his report today to the Chief Minister, School Education Minister and the
Principal Secretary.''Three teachers, who were found prima facie guilty,have been suspended. The scrap-dealer and two teachers have been jailed,'' he added.
Surjeet Singh Chouhan, who is Madhya Pradesh Chief
Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's brother, has said
that action would be initiated against the District Project Coordinator in a case relating to seizing of textbooks -- that were supposed to have been distributed free of cost under the Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission -- from a scrap-dealers' godown.
''The Chief Minister has taken a very serious view
of the matter, formed different investigation teams
and sought a report. A statewide probe is underway. On
November 13, 2006, a similar case surfaced in
Shajapur,'' Mr Chouhan told UNI over telephone. He
probed the matter in various areas of the district
yesterday. Mr Chouhan is to submit his report today to the Chief Minister, School Education Minister and the
Principal Secretary.''Three teachers, who were found prima facie guilty,have been suspended. The scrap-dealer and two teachers have been jailed,'' he added.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
India’s water portal
A web-based initiative by a NGO could be a useful public and media resource on national water data and management practices.
Anil Gulati
The Government of India has designated the year 2007 as the "Water Year". Several districts of the country face challenges regarding the availability and quality of water and its accessibility; consequently, this formal theme should help draw immediate attention to the issue of judicious water management and its inherent link to sanitation.
An impetus to this theme was provided when the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, launched a "water portal" on January 12, 2007.
Called India’s Water Portal, this web-based initiative is expected to be a one-stop knowledge resource on water in the country. Developed by the Arghyam Trust, a non-governmental organization, the portal places important information in the public domain and offers a platform for debates, discussion, idea-sharing and case studies to help create a national knowledge base.
India’s Water Portal clearly lays its focus on water with its theme "safe, sustainable and for all". According to the portal’s articulated principles, it intends to be an open, inclusive, web-based platform for sharing water management knowledge amongst practitioners and the general public. It aims to draw on the rich experience of experts from the water sector, package their knowledge, add value to it through technology, and then disseminate it to a larger audience through the Internet. The portal intends to pursue alternative outreach methods like the print media, radio and workshops, to ensure that this knowledge reaches those who need it the most. The ultimate objective of the portal is to address equity and sustainability issues in the water sector.
In his inaugural address during the launch of the portal (refer to the Press Information Bureau release), Dr. Manmohan Singh said that "[it] can help create repositories of knowledge. Their utility will increase as Internet penetration grows."
In this portal, information is available both in Hindi and English, adding value to its reach within India. Although some information still needs to be translated, it is a good beginning. The home page displays a good photograph that could be enhanced by photograph credits and a caption.
The portal features sections like Organization, Tools and Techniques, Data and Resources, Networks and Projects that can be updated. Interestingly, meteorological data on various indicators from year 1901 to 2002 for any part of India is available, which should be useful for water resource planning and research. Links provide details on a various topics: for instance, in the section on Tools and Techniques, details are available on rainwater harvesting, agriculture, drinking water management, water body restoration, urban water management, ground water management, watershed development, sanitation, waste water management and water quality. Other highlights include lists of courses, movies, slideshows and case studies, research and policies related to specific areas of knowledge. The lists of recommended reading and links that are provided in some sections make the site web-friendly and a one-stop resource for information on water.
India’s Water Portal could function as a quotable resource for the media and media advocates to help raise concerns on issues related to water resources, as a link to access feature stories, and as an information base for buttressing op-eds and articles. This author suggests that featuring media stories as well as stories of challenges faced by the people of India would make the portal more dynamic and truly for the people.
anilgulati5@gmail.com
All views expressed in this article are writer's personal opinion
Anil Gulati
The Government of India has designated the year 2007 as the "Water Year". Several districts of the country face challenges regarding the availability and quality of water and its accessibility; consequently, this formal theme should help draw immediate attention to the issue of judicious water management and its inherent link to sanitation.
An impetus to this theme was provided when the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, launched a "water portal" on January 12, 2007.
Called India’s Water Portal, this web-based initiative is expected to be a one-stop knowledge resource on water in the country. Developed by the Arghyam Trust, a non-governmental organization, the portal places important information in the public domain and offers a platform for debates, discussion, idea-sharing and case studies to help create a national knowledge base.
India’s Water Portal clearly lays its focus on water with its theme "safe, sustainable and for all". According to the portal’s articulated principles, it intends to be an open, inclusive, web-based platform for sharing water management knowledge amongst practitioners and the general public. It aims to draw on the rich experience of experts from the water sector, package their knowledge, add value to it through technology, and then disseminate it to a larger audience through the Internet. The portal intends to pursue alternative outreach methods like the print media, radio and workshops, to ensure that this knowledge reaches those who need it the most. The ultimate objective of the portal is to address equity and sustainability issues in the water sector.
In his inaugural address during the launch of the portal (refer to the Press Information Bureau release), Dr. Manmohan Singh said that "[it] can help create repositories of knowledge. Their utility will increase as Internet penetration grows."
In this portal, information is available both in Hindi and English, adding value to its reach within India. Although some information still needs to be translated, it is a good beginning. The home page displays a good photograph that could be enhanced by photograph credits and a caption.
The portal features sections like Organization, Tools and Techniques, Data and Resources, Networks and Projects that can be updated. Interestingly, meteorological data on various indicators from year 1901 to 2002 for any part of India is available, which should be useful for water resource planning and research. Links provide details on a various topics: for instance, in the section on Tools and Techniques, details are available on rainwater harvesting, agriculture, drinking water management, water body restoration, urban water management, ground water management, watershed development, sanitation, waste water management and water quality. Other highlights include lists of courses, movies, slideshows and case studies, research and policies related to specific areas of knowledge. The lists of recommended reading and links that are provided in some sections make the site web-friendly and a one-stop resource for information on water.
India’s Water Portal could function as a quotable resource for the media and media advocates to help raise concerns on issues related to water resources, as a link to access feature stories, and as an information base for buttressing op-eds and articles. This author suggests that featuring media stories as well as stories of challenges faced by the people of India would make the portal more dynamic and truly for the people.
anilgulati5@gmail.com
All views expressed in this article are writer's personal opinion
Sunday, January 21, 2007
How real are reality TV shows?
By Anil Gulati
In an era of TRPs (Television Rating Points) and SMSs, umpteen number of reality shows are stealing the limelight. They are high on TRPs and spinning money for their producers - a factor which motivates many others to join the race.
The one getting popular now is the Indian version of international worldwide hit 'Big Brother'. Called 'Big Boss' on Sony TV, it has 13 celebrity participants, though a few of them have been 'evicted' out of the game now. The challenge is to live under constant surveillance by TV cameras and be popular among participating contestants.
But that is not enough - the ultimate is to survive the 'SMS poll'. Reality shows like these, which engage audiences, have been growing. Some that I can remember and have just finished are 'Nach Baliye 2' and 'Jhalak Dhilka Ja'. In all them the major share of voting power via SMS or telephone calls, which decided the fate of the participant, was with audience.
The format may vary like in the case of 'Big Boss' - one who gets more SMSs is evicted out of the game while in other shows the participant wins.Stakes for participants are high in these shows - be it the prize money or popularity. Similarly, the money which spins around in these shows is extremely high. Be it advertisers who peg their products on the same, the audiences that not only watch the show and gives it higher TRPs, but also the audience that votes by SMS or telephone calls. Worth referring here would be an article on rediff.com some time back (February 2006). The article talked about the money these SMSs provide to the channel and mobile operator. On an average, a popular reality television show gets about 7 million cell phone text messages each episode.At Rs.4 per SMS, it adds up to Rs.28 million per episode. Over a year (52 weeks), that is an astounding Rs.1,460 million. On a 50-50 split between the channel and the mobile operator, it works out to Rs.730 million to the channel. Just one medium (SMS) on one reality show of 52 weeks can give you this much.
Despite these high stakes, many of them show so-called reality but doesn't look 100 percent real - they lack total transparency. Hardly any of these reality shows reveal the exact number of votes the winner or loser gets - something which all of us may like to know.
There have been times when one may question the decisions, but with no answer. Shows like these would look more real if there is more transparency and they reveal the exact numbers of SMSs received (not the percentage) and the system followed thereafter.I am not raising any doubts on the decision or making any allegations but am trying to make a point that the audience in this case, which spends the money, has all the right to know. For that matter, the participants who lose or win and advertisers who peg their products on these shows have an equal right to know.
Interestingly, the recent controversy on 'Big Brother', being telecast on Channel 4 in Britain, has made it more popular there. Similarly in India too, controversies and celebrities in the show make them more or less popular. More the controversies, more people get engrossed, reaping double benefit not only with higher TRPs but higher number of SMSs and more cash! In the case of 'Bigg Boss', a celebrity was brought back via a wild card entry but ... was it based on the channel's own business calculations that the celebrity could help bring higher TRPs or by votes of people? Nobody actually knows and numbers were not shared on the show.
One explanation could be that anyone who helps in increasing TRPs will also get higher number of SMSs, but that may be an assumption. Viewers tend to get attached to many of these shows and emotions are raised. Entertainment is there but viewers also spend their money to vote for them and are motivated to do so. One may be using the emotions of viewers for the business advantage of channels and in the process, the viewer does not even know the reality. Reality - as made to be perceived - may or may not be real. Media reports have also raised allegations, though very few, of contestants using their networks or providing SIM cards to vote for a particular person.
Ultimately, the TV channels are in an entertainment business venture and not social ventures, but do impact social structures. An element of transparency needs to be built into these reality shows, especially since it impacts the lives of people, engage them emotionally and use their money. It may be there but needs to be shared transparently with people.
(Anil Gulati is a resident of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He can be contacted at
anilgulati5@gmail.com)
Copyright Indo-Asian News Service
In an era of TRPs (Television Rating Points) and SMSs, umpteen number of reality shows are stealing the limelight. They are high on TRPs and spinning money for their producers - a factor which motivates many others to join the race.
The one getting popular now is the Indian version of international worldwide hit 'Big Brother'. Called 'Big Boss' on Sony TV, it has 13 celebrity participants, though a few of them have been 'evicted' out of the game now. The challenge is to live under constant surveillance by TV cameras and be popular among participating contestants.
But that is not enough - the ultimate is to survive the 'SMS poll'. Reality shows like these, which engage audiences, have been growing. Some that I can remember and have just finished are 'Nach Baliye 2' and 'Jhalak Dhilka Ja'. In all them the major share of voting power via SMS or telephone calls, which decided the fate of the participant, was with audience.
The format may vary like in the case of 'Big Boss' - one who gets more SMSs is evicted out of the game while in other shows the participant wins.Stakes for participants are high in these shows - be it the prize money or popularity. Similarly, the money which spins around in these shows is extremely high. Be it advertisers who peg their products on the same, the audiences that not only watch the show and gives it higher TRPs, but also the audience that votes by SMS or telephone calls. Worth referring here would be an article on rediff.com some time back (February 2006). The article talked about the money these SMSs provide to the channel and mobile operator. On an average, a popular reality television show gets about 7 million cell phone text messages each episode.At Rs.4 per SMS, it adds up to Rs.28 million per episode. Over a year (52 weeks), that is an astounding Rs.1,460 million. On a 50-50 split between the channel and the mobile operator, it works out to Rs.730 million to the channel. Just one medium (SMS) on one reality show of 52 weeks can give you this much.
Despite these high stakes, many of them show so-called reality but doesn't look 100 percent real - they lack total transparency. Hardly any of these reality shows reveal the exact number of votes the winner or loser gets - something which all of us may like to know.
There have been times when one may question the decisions, but with no answer. Shows like these would look more real if there is more transparency and they reveal the exact numbers of SMSs received (not the percentage) and the system followed thereafter.I am not raising any doubts on the decision or making any allegations but am trying to make a point that the audience in this case, which spends the money, has all the right to know. For that matter, the participants who lose or win and advertisers who peg their products on these shows have an equal right to know.
Interestingly, the recent controversy on 'Big Brother', being telecast on Channel 4 in Britain, has made it more popular there. Similarly in India too, controversies and celebrities in the show make them more or less popular. More the controversies, more people get engrossed, reaping double benefit not only with higher TRPs but higher number of SMSs and more cash! In the case of 'Bigg Boss', a celebrity was brought back via a wild card entry but ... was it based on the channel's own business calculations that the celebrity could help bring higher TRPs or by votes of people? Nobody actually knows and numbers were not shared on the show.
One explanation could be that anyone who helps in increasing TRPs will also get higher number of SMSs, but that may be an assumption. Viewers tend to get attached to many of these shows and emotions are raised. Entertainment is there but viewers also spend their money to vote for them and are motivated to do so. One may be using the emotions of viewers for the business advantage of channels and in the process, the viewer does not even know the reality. Reality - as made to be perceived - may or may not be real. Media reports have also raised allegations, though very few, of contestants using their networks or providing SIM cards to vote for a particular person.
Ultimately, the TV channels are in an entertainment business venture and not social ventures, but do impact social structures. An element of transparency needs to be built into these reality shows, especially since it impacts the lives of people, engage them emotionally and use their money. It may be there but needs to be shared transparently with people.
(Anil Gulati is a resident of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He can be contacted at
anilgulati5@gmail.com)
Copyright Indo-Asian News Service
India sees 2007 wheat output at 74m tonnes
ndia is likely to produce at least 74 million tonnes of wheat in 2007 with weather conditions favourable and farmers planting the crop over a larger area, a senior farm ministry official said on Friday.
“The estimate of 74 million tonnes is conservative,” agriculture commissioner Narendra Bahadur Singh told Reuters. “Production may cross 74 million tonnes if temperatures do not rise in February and March.” A sharp rise in temperature in February 2006 trimmed India’s wheat output to 69.5 million tonnes after early estimates for the year forecast production of around 74 million tonnes. A similar effect was seen in 2005.
“An additional one million hectares have been brought under wheat sowing this year,” Singh said. “So far, the weather has been conducive and if it does not get unusually warm, we will have a bountiful output.” In the current season, farmers have sown wheat on 27.55 million hectares, buoyed by higher prices of the cereal.
India, the world’s second-largest wheat producer, grows only one crop of the grain in a year. Sowing is in the winter months of November and December and the harvest takes place from March.
The country normally grows wheat on around 26 million hectares, mainly in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, and the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
“The estimate of 74 million tonnes is conservative,” agriculture commissioner Narendra Bahadur Singh told Reuters. “Production may cross 74 million tonnes if temperatures do not rise in February and March.” A sharp rise in temperature in February 2006 trimmed India’s wheat output to 69.5 million tonnes after early estimates for the year forecast production of around 74 million tonnes. A similar effect was seen in 2005.
“An additional one million hectares have been brought under wheat sowing this year,” Singh said. “So far, the weather has been conducive and if it does not get unusually warm, we will have a bountiful output.” In the current season, farmers have sown wheat on 27.55 million hectares, buoyed by higher prices of the cereal.
India, the world’s second-largest wheat producer, grows only one crop of the grain in a year. Sowing is in the winter months of November and December and the harvest takes place from March.
The country normally grows wheat on around 26 million hectares, mainly in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, and the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Poverty: unable to pay dowry: Girls attempts suicide
Pandurna Chhindwara
Dowry still plays an important role in marriages; at least in Pandurna in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh this seems to be the case. Inability to pay dowry as expected by boy’s parents lead her to attempt suicide. Her neighbours and other community members did help and manage to save her life. She stays with her brother and their parents are not alive anymore. Her brother was unable to pay money; in his absence she attempted suicide. Though state proclaims to be able to fight the menace of dowry and also proclaims to support marriages of eligible girls who are poor. Probably in this case this proclamation like in many cases does not appear to benefit poor.
Blog news
Dowry still plays an important role in marriages; at least in Pandurna in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh this seems to be the case. Inability to pay dowry as expected by boy’s parents lead her to attempt suicide. Her neighbours and other community members did help and manage to save her life. She stays with her brother and their parents are not alive anymore. Her brother was unable to pay money; in his absence she attempted suicide. Though state proclaims to be able to fight the menace of dowry and also proclaims to support marriages of eligible girls who are poor. Probably in this case this proclamation like in many cases does not appear to benefit poor.
Blog news
Friday, January 19, 2007
Betul (Madhya Pradesh) text books sale incident update
CM orders enquiry
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh has ordered an enquiry into Betul incident on the issue of text books sale and has asked I.S. Dani Principal Secretary School Education to conduct a high level enquiry into the incident. Subsequently Santosh Mishra from Rajya Shiksha Kendra is going to Betul to undertake an enquiry into the incident.
More books found - In a private house three kilometer from Betul district HQ in Umari Village books worth lakhs of rupees were found again yesterday but the officials have denied the same and have told media that they had only kept it there for storage
Blog news
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh has ordered an enquiry into Betul incident on the issue of text books sale and has asked I.S. Dani Principal Secretary School Education to conduct a high level enquiry into the incident. Subsequently Santosh Mishra from Rajya Shiksha Kendra is going to Betul to undertake an enquiry into the incident.
More books found - In a private house three kilometer from Betul district HQ in Umari Village books worth lakhs of rupees were found again yesterday but the officials have denied the same and have told media that they had only kept it there for storage
Blog news
Thursday, January 18, 2007
MADHYA PRADESH GETS CENTRAL FUNDS FOR DPAP UNDER `HARIYALI’
The Ministry of Rural Development has sanctioned the release of second instalment amounting to Rs.40.50 lakh to the DRDA, Panna Distt. of Madhya Pradesh for implementation of Centrally Sponsored Scheme “Drought Prone Areas Programme” (DPAP) under “Hariyali Guidelines”. The Ministry of Rural Development has initiated `Hariyali’ for empowering the village community through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to undertake the area development progammes on watershed basis with financial and technical support from the Government. Under this initiative, all the on-going area development programmes, such as Integrated Wasteland Development Programmes (IWDP), Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) and Desert Development Programme (DDP) are to be implemented through the PRIs. New projects under the aforesaid area development programmes are implemented under `Hariyali Guidelines’ from 1st April , 2003. Special emphasis is given to rain water harvesting and desilting of ponds under watershed projects.
Under Hariyal programme of the Ministry, the efforts have resulted in bringing 87 lakh hectres of wasteland under green cover.
Under Hariyal programme of the Ministry, the efforts have resulted in bringing 87 lakh hectres of wasteland under green cover.
School text books sold in Betul & Tikamgarh
As many as five tonnes of Rajya Shiksha Kendra textbooks for classes one to eight and related material have been sold to a scrap dealer at a school in Khedli village, five km from this district headquarters, official sources said.
Madhya Pradesh Revenue Minister Kamal Patel has ordered an inquiry into the sale of school textbooks worth crores to a scrap dealer.Police seized the textbooks yesterday while District Collector Chandrahas Dubey suspended teachers Ramesh Pawar, Shivpal Ingre and Abhay Gorekar after the January 14 crime came to light.
Tikamgarh
As per media sources books distributed under SSA schmes have been found at whole sale shops and pan shops here in Tikamgarh. Papers from them is being used for making packets for retail goods or pan. They were allegedy sold to the scrap dealer.
Madhya Pradesh Revenue Minister Kamal Patel has ordered an inquiry into the sale of school textbooks worth crores to a scrap dealer.Police seized the textbooks yesterday while District Collector Chandrahas Dubey suspended teachers Ramesh Pawar, Shivpal Ingre and Abhay Gorekar after the January 14 crime came to light.
Tikamgarh
As per media sources books distributed under SSA schmes have been found at whole sale shops and pan shops here in Tikamgarh. Papers from them is being used for making packets for retail goods or pan. They were allegedy sold to the scrap dealer.
Drought hits India bird reserve
By Narayan Bareth, BBC News, Jaipur
A lack of rain is being blamed for bird shortages
The world-famous Bharatpur bird sanctuary in western India is facing a shortage of birds because of severe water scarcity, officials say.
Migratory birds visiting the area in Rajasthan state are down to only about 100 compared to some 10,000 last year. The lack of water follows low rainfall. Officials say the situation is so dire that six new wells have been dug.With so little water, many migratory birds are not nesting and are flying back to their areas of origin.
Tourists
Once the hunting ground of Indian royal families, the Bharatpur area is now one of the world's finest bird sanctuaries. It has more than 400 species of water birds, from as far afield as Afghanistan, Tibet and Central Asia. There are Siberian cranes from the Arctic, and greylag geese from China have become a regular feature.Last year, the birds made 2,000 nests but this time only a few have been seen.
The famous Siberian Crane, for example, was last sighted here in 2002.All this is bad news for the large numbers of bird lovers from around the world who visit Bharatpur during the winter season.
Officials say that although the number of tourists has remained the same, many are leaving the sanctuary complaining that they have seen far fewer birds.
"I came here from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and was disappointed when I found there were no birds. People will no longer come here if that remains the case," said one tourist Sudhir Rawat.
Extra water
Last year, more than 100,000 visitors spent time at the national park, including 34,000 from outside India. Now officials are trying to arrange for extra water from the Chambal River - which originates in the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh - through a pipeline network.
However, environmentalists say this will not solve the problem, because the birds are used to a natural flow of water which also supplies food.
State officials reserved water from the Panchna Dam for the sanctuary three years ago, but were forced to give up their plan because of protests by local farmers, who said that they needed the water for their crops. The Bharatpur bird sanctuary, also known as the Keoladeo national park, was declared a national park in 1982 and a world heritage site in 1985.
A lack of rain is being blamed for bird shortages
The world-famous Bharatpur bird sanctuary in western India is facing a shortage of birds because of severe water scarcity, officials say.
Migratory birds visiting the area in Rajasthan state are down to only about 100 compared to some 10,000 last year. The lack of water follows low rainfall. Officials say the situation is so dire that six new wells have been dug.With so little water, many migratory birds are not nesting and are flying back to their areas of origin.
Tourists
Once the hunting ground of Indian royal families, the Bharatpur area is now one of the world's finest bird sanctuaries. It has more than 400 species of water birds, from as far afield as Afghanistan, Tibet and Central Asia. There are Siberian cranes from the Arctic, and greylag geese from China have become a regular feature.Last year, the birds made 2,000 nests but this time only a few have been seen.
The famous Siberian Crane, for example, was last sighted here in 2002.All this is bad news for the large numbers of bird lovers from around the world who visit Bharatpur during the winter season.
Officials say that although the number of tourists has remained the same, many are leaving the sanctuary complaining that they have seen far fewer birds.
"I came here from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and was disappointed when I found there were no birds. People will no longer come here if that remains the case," said one tourist Sudhir Rawat.
Extra water
Last year, more than 100,000 visitors spent time at the national park, including 34,000 from outside India. Now officials are trying to arrange for extra water from the Chambal River - which originates in the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh - through a pipeline network.
However, environmentalists say this will not solve the problem, because the birds are used to a natural flow of water which also supplies food.
State officials reserved water from the Panchna Dam for the sanctuary three years ago, but were forced to give up their plan because of protests by local farmers, who said that they needed the water for their crops. The Bharatpur bird sanctuary, also known as the Keoladeo national park, was declared a national park in 1982 and a world heritage site in 1985.
Guna initiates Dular Scheme to combat malnourishment in kids
Guna district in the state of Madhya Pradesh has seven hundred seventy three children which are malnourished. Six hundred sixteen fall in the Grade three of malnourishment while 157 in Grade four. As part of district’s impetus to combat malnourishment among these kids, it has initiated news scheme. In this scheme these children individually will now be responsibility of specified health and Women and child development department workers. Specified ANM, anganwadi worker, MHW or ASHA will virtually have to adopt these kids individually. She/ he will have take care of their nutrition and help provide the child with the nutritious food as provided by the district. A monitoring card for each child will monitor their progress and will be available at their homes. It will be responsibility of the worker who adopts them to maintain the same. The worker who adopts them will get the child weighed regular in their presence, monitor progress and help provide them with the nutritious food and fill the monitoring card.
Under aegis of Collector G K Sharaswat with support from UNICEF this new scheme has been initiated which has been christened as Dular and was launched recently by the Minister in Charge of the district Rutam Singh.
Blog news
Under aegis of Collector G K Sharaswat with support from UNICEF this new scheme has been initiated which has been christened as Dular and was launched recently by the Minister in Charge of the district Rutam Singh.
Blog news
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Now children are missing in Madhya Pradesh
Bhopal, Jan 16 (IANS) Tazwar Mohammad, a minibus driver, has been running helter- skelter searching for his two-and-a-half year old son Imran who has been missing for over a month.
Tazwar is not the only one who is searching for his child. Many parents in Madhya Pradesh have gone desperate over their missing children. The recent revelation of child killings in Nithari village in Uttar Pradesh has aggravated their anxiety.
Repeated requests to the police have not yielded any result. According to the police, 611 children went missing from seven towns of the state in 2006 - 282 from Bhopal followed by Indore (129), Ujjain (108), Dhar (33), Khandwa (28), Mandsor (16) and Khargone (15). "The figures of missing children from other 40-odd districts are yet to be collected," the police said.
Statistics available with the police show that a total of 431 boys and 254 girls went missing in 2006, of which 265 boys and 138 girls were found while 166 boys and 116 girls were still untraceable.In 2005 too, 129 children went missing from Bhopal. They still remain untraceable.
"More and more parents are approaching us since the Nithari killings came to light," said Archana Sahay, head of Childline in Bhopal."Police should take up the case of every missing child seriously and people should also be aware. When the media can find out such cases, why can't the administration," she asked.
"Till now we were hoping that our child will come back some day," said Mohammad Sabir, whose 13-year-old deaf and dumb son Faizal has been missing since Dec 12.
"But when we saw the reports of Nithari killings and reached the police station, the cops behaved rather rudely," Sabir said.Bhopal Superintendent of Police A.K. Singh has denied the allegations, saying police always act promptly in all cases of missing children.
According to the state police chief, A.R. Pawar, Madhya Pradesh is a more vigilant state than Uttar Pradesh and the chances of Nithari-type incident here are remote."Still, I will direct the officials to be more vigilant in the case of missing children," he said.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Nagendra Singh has asked the police to maintain a record of missing children from each district.
Tazwar is not the only one who is searching for his child. Many parents in Madhya Pradesh have gone desperate over their missing children. The recent revelation of child killings in Nithari village in Uttar Pradesh has aggravated their anxiety.
Repeated requests to the police have not yielded any result. According to the police, 611 children went missing from seven towns of the state in 2006 - 282 from Bhopal followed by Indore (129), Ujjain (108), Dhar (33), Khandwa (28), Mandsor (16) and Khargone (15). "The figures of missing children from other 40-odd districts are yet to be collected," the police said.
Statistics available with the police show that a total of 431 boys and 254 girls went missing in 2006, of which 265 boys and 138 girls were found while 166 boys and 116 girls were still untraceable.In 2005 too, 129 children went missing from Bhopal. They still remain untraceable.
"More and more parents are approaching us since the Nithari killings came to light," said Archana Sahay, head of Childline in Bhopal."Police should take up the case of every missing child seriously and people should also be aware. When the media can find out such cases, why can't the administration," she asked.
"Till now we were hoping that our child will come back some day," said Mohammad Sabir, whose 13-year-old deaf and dumb son Faizal has been missing since Dec 12.
"But when we saw the reports of Nithari killings and reached the police station, the cops behaved rather rudely," Sabir said.Bhopal Superintendent of Police A.K. Singh has denied the allegations, saying police always act promptly in all cases of missing children.
According to the state police chief, A.R. Pawar, Madhya Pradesh is a more vigilant state than Uttar Pradesh and the chances of Nithari-type incident here are remote."Still, I will direct the officials to be more vigilant in the case of missing children," he said.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Nagendra Singh has asked the police to maintain a record of missing children from each district.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Urea Rs 270 a bag in Dhar while long wait for kerosene in other districts
Grain market Dhar, Town – Urea was being sold for 270 rupees for bag instead of Rupees two hundred fifty one. Though officers from agriculture extension were present at the market but still 19 rupees extra were being charged by the shopkeeper namely Nizamuddin & Company.
Media comes forward in support of farmers – The moment media came to know about it was there at the spot and shopkeeper was wiling to give the same even at Rs 249, thanks to media support farmers got some relief but what about other places ?
Next to urea another problem coming up in the state is long queues at the kerosene shops. One can see the same situation not only in the state capital but queues were also visible in various places in Indore and Sehore districts.
Media comes forward in support of farmers – The moment media came to know about it was there at the spot and shopkeeper was wiling to give the same even at Rs 249, thanks to media support farmers got some relief but what about other places ?
Next to urea another problem coming up in the state is long queues at the kerosene shops. One can see the same situation not only in the state capital but queues were also visible in various places in Indore and Sehore districts.
Water crisis in Khajuraho
Chronicle News Service
Panna, Jan 15: The water level in world famous tourist place Khajuraho is going lower due to this water crisis is prevailing. Even in cold weather the five star hotels have to bring water from tankers.
All the big hotels of this tourist city bring water from nearby farm houses as a result the farm owners earn a lot of money selling water.It is noticeable that in the whole Bundelkhand, drought like situation is becoming and the tourist city is also in the clutches. In summer the situation would be more adverse. Due to scanty rain conventional sources of water are drying. Whereas water from private borings also hardly available.
Shiva hotel which is situated in Khajuraho , its owner Neeraj Latoria said that due to the water crisis the five star hotel owners have to purchase water of worth Rs 1-1.5 lakh permonth. The farmers of nearby areas selling water to these hotels in spite of irrigating fields. In this way they are earning Rs 5-10 thousand per month selling water.
People who have sufficient water in their borings they have purchased their own tankers for supplying water. Sources said that earlier such a situation was never seen.
Thousands of people from country and abroad every year visit here to look the beauty of these unique temples in Khajuraho.
There are so many hotels in Khajurao where the tourists halt. Some of them are five star hotels. The most hit are these hotels whose business is affected due to lack of water.In summer they would have to face more crisis of water.
Lalit Singh said that in coming summer the tourists would not be able to avail the facility of swimming at five star hotels.
Chief Municipal Officer Arun Pateria accepted that there is crisis of water in tourist town. At present hotels are getting water through tankers but in summer the nearby boring may also not able to supply water.
Panna, Jan 15: The water level in world famous tourist place Khajuraho is going lower due to this water crisis is prevailing. Even in cold weather the five star hotels have to bring water from tankers.
All the big hotels of this tourist city bring water from nearby farm houses as a result the farm owners earn a lot of money selling water.It is noticeable that in the whole Bundelkhand, drought like situation is becoming and the tourist city is also in the clutches. In summer the situation would be more adverse. Due to scanty rain conventional sources of water are drying. Whereas water from private borings also hardly available.
Shiva hotel which is situated in Khajuraho , its owner Neeraj Latoria said that due to the water crisis the five star hotel owners have to purchase water of worth Rs 1-1.5 lakh permonth. The farmers of nearby areas selling water to these hotels in spite of irrigating fields. In this way they are earning Rs 5-10 thousand per month selling water.
People who have sufficient water in their borings they have purchased their own tankers for supplying water. Sources said that earlier such a situation was never seen.
Thousands of people from country and abroad every year visit here to look the beauty of these unique temples in Khajuraho.
There are so many hotels in Khajurao where the tourists halt. Some of them are five star hotels. The most hit are these hotels whose business is affected due to lack of water.In summer they would have to face more crisis of water.
Lalit Singh said that in coming summer the tourists would not be able to avail the facility of swimming at five star hotels.
Chief Municipal Officer Arun Pateria accepted that there is crisis of water in tourist town. At present hotels are getting water through tankers but in summer the nearby boring may also not able to supply water.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Village Pandola questions Madhya Pradesh proclamations on human development
Village Pandola, District Sheopur, is located in the northern part of state of Madhya Pradesh, in the central part of India.
The village is about fifteen kilometers radius of the district head quarter and today faces challenge when impacts development of children and women in the district.
It has seen times changing. There used to be time in eighties when village was plush with water. Water was not an problem sufficient quantity was available for irrigation and for drinking. That was eighties… People used to grow fennel here, weaving was another profession they were engaged in. Village was counted in the category of prosperous villages. As state took its stride towards development but forgot Pandola. It got left behind on the many developmental fronts.
Today it suffers with water shortage. Empty ponds, without water can been seen and have been like this for more than five years. Water in taps in wards comes for about half an hour, if it comes and water pressure is quite low. Hand pumps and tube wells are main source of water. As they dry up, people ‘dig and bore’ the ground further.
Development has been there, but on official records. There have been number of proclamations, both political and by the state machinery. Many of them got headlines in district media. But many of the schemes either have not yet started, even some did, they are lying unfinished.
Village Sarpanch, Nenka is a tribal. He is not uneducated but wants the children of the village to be educated. Nenka realizes its importance and emphatically points out the need of education and says it is most needed. But where can children get education is a question which needs answer?. Village has three primary schools and one middle school, but not with adequate teachers and infrastructure. Village has a high school which was opened four years back but till date does not have its own building. It neither has adequate number of teachers, nor has any science and computer laboratory which is must as per the state norms? One can imagine about the condition of the school and its education standards. There was a proclamation that one school for girls will be opened but nobody knows when ?
Village has just one sub primary health centre and an Ayurvedic hospital. One out of two positions in sub health centre is lying vacant. Medicines are always in shortage and ayurvedic hospital started fifty years back still is in rented building. District suffers with major issue like growing malnutrition among children, high number of maternal and neo natal and infant deaths. Road was to be constricted about two years back but still is lying unfinished. If this is condition of the village just fifteen kilometers of the district head quarter and which as prosperous one upon a time what must be the condition of other 532 villages in 219 gram panchayts of the district is a question still remains unanswered ?
The village is about fifteen kilometers radius of the district head quarter and today faces challenge when impacts development of children and women in the district.
It has seen times changing. There used to be time in eighties when village was plush with water. Water was not an problem sufficient quantity was available for irrigation and for drinking. That was eighties… People used to grow fennel here, weaving was another profession they were engaged in. Village was counted in the category of prosperous villages. As state took its stride towards development but forgot Pandola. It got left behind on the many developmental fronts.
Today it suffers with water shortage. Empty ponds, without water can been seen and have been like this for more than five years. Water in taps in wards comes for about half an hour, if it comes and water pressure is quite low. Hand pumps and tube wells are main source of water. As they dry up, people ‘dig and bore’ the ground further.
Development has been there, but on official records. There have been number of proclamations, both political and by the state machinery. Many of them got headlines in district media. But many of the schemes either have not yet started, even some did, they are lying unfinished.
Village Sarpanch, Nenka is a tribal. He is not uneducated but wants the children of the village to be educated. Nenka realizes its importance and emphatically points out the need of education and says it is most needed. But where can children get education is a question which needs answer?. Village has three primary schools and one middle school, but not with adequate teachers and infrastructure. Village has a high school which was opened four years back but till date does not have its own building. It neither has adequate number of teachers, nor has any science and computer laboratory which is must as per the state norms? One can imagine about the condition of the school and its education standards. There was a proclamation that one school for girls will be opened but nobody knows when ?
Village has just one sub primary health centre and an Ayurvedic hospital. One out of two positions in sub health centre is lying vacant. Medicines are always in shortage and ayurvedic hospital started fifty years back still is in rented building. District suffers with major issue like growing malnutrition among children, high number of maternal and neo natal and infant deaths. Road was to be constricted about two years back but still is lying unfinished. If this is condition of the village just fifteen kilometers of the district head quarter and which as prosperous one upon a time what must be the condition of other 532 villages in 219 gram panchayts of the district is a question still remains unanswered ?
Friday, January 12, 2007
Noida killings: Bhopal couple fears for missing child
Rubian Khan Shapoo
Friday, January 12, 2007 (Bhopal):
Ever since the news of Noida killings of children emerged, there has been horror and shock among the parents who have missing children. In Bhopal, there is anxiety among a family whose son has been missing for over a year. They have had no help from the police despite the fact that the father is a havaldar.
For more than a year Ramwati has been worried about her 15-year-old son who has been missing since Nov 2005. But since December last year she's been in agony. She saw news of the Nithari killings on television and fainted. Since then she can't stop crying, terrified that her son might have met the same gruesome end. "I have no hopes. They have buried all the kids and now I am scared. What if they have done the same thing to my son?, asks Ramwati, Missing child's mother.
Sisters hopeful
The boy's sisters are desperately hoping their brother is back with them for Holi. Their father is less hopeful. He's spent almost Rs one lakh trying to find his son and now with no help from his colleagues in the police he's at his wits end. His biggest fear is the organ trade angle to the Nithari killings. Police are telling us that they are investigating but they are not doing anything," said Havaldar Bikram Singh.
This boy is not alone, more than 400 children from several age groups have gone missing in Bhopal in the past one year. What's even more worrying is that according to the National Crime Bureau, Madhya Pradesh tops the list of crimes against children.
After the Nithari serial killing episode, most parents are scared in fact very scared. What if their loved ones is one of the victims.
The story was on NDTV and is on NDTV.com
Friday, January 12, 2007 (Bhopal):
Ever since the news of Noida killings of children emerged, there has been horror and shock among the parents who have missing children. In Bhopal, there is anxiety among a family whose son has been missing for over a year. They have had no help from the police despite the fact that the father is a havaldar.
For more than a year Ramwati has been worried about her 15-year-old son who has been missing since Nov 2005. But since December last year she's been in agony. She saw news of the Nithari killings on television and fainted. Since then she can't stop crying, terrified that her son might have met the same gruesome end. "I have no hopes. They have buried all the kids and now I am scared. What if they have done the same thing to my son?, asks Ramwati, Missing child's mother.
Sisters hopeful
The boy's sisters are desperately hoping their brother is back with them for Holi. Their father is less hopeful. He's spent almost Rs one lakh trying to find his son and now with no help from his colleagues in the police he's at his wits end. His biggest fear is the organ trade angle to the Nithari killings. Police are telling us that they are investigating but they are not doing anything," said Havaldar Bikram Singh.
This boy is not alone, more than 400 children from several age groups have gone missing in Bhopal in the past one year. What's even more worrying is that according to the National Crime Bureau, Madhya Pradesh tops the list of crimes against children.
After the Nithari serial killing episode, most parents are scared in fact very scared. What if their loved ones is one of the victims.
The story was on NDTV and is on NDTV.com
Meal for children being sold or found infected
Children meal was being sold in one of the districts namely Shivpuri in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Women and Child Development staff was caught while they were taking away kilos of wheat flour. This wheat flour comes for anganwadi kendra (ICDS centres) and to be given free to children of the Shivpuri, for combating hunger and malnutrition. They were caught be Tehsildar and it was alleged that they were taking for selling the same while the staff members or ICDS workers caught refute the same. Enquiry will be held in the incident.
Just two days back wheat flour in the Guna district of Madhya Pradesh was found to be infected with fungus. It may be important to mention here that state of Madhya Pradesh has highest number of children under three years of age which are malnourished in India. These centers are like life lines for them but if this is the way the state’s centres run, am not sure where are we heading ?????
Just two days back wheat flour in the Guna district of Madhya Pradesh was found to be infected with fungus. It may be important to mention here that state of Madhya Pradesh has highest number of children under three years of age which are malnourished in India. These centers are like life lines for them but if this is the way the state’s centres run, am not sure where are we heading ?????
Under threat, village head gives up control
Faced with death threats, a tribal 'sarpanch' (village chief) in Madhya Pradesh has handed over control of his 'panchayat' to powerful rivals. Rakesh Adivasi, 25, of Maubuzurg panchayat in Tikamgarh district, reportedly surrendered his panchayat - the village council - to the brother of former village head Surendra Singh Gaur.
Rakesh allegedly received periodic threats to his life and to his family members from the family of Gaur, said Virendra Pateria, secretary of the Maubuzurg panchayat. Pateria, who is in Bhopal, told IANS: 'Rakesh used to be harassed since the day he assumed office. Gaur's people would ask him for a cut every time he got funds sanctioned for development works. He was threatened with death if he refused.
'Upset over the regular disputes, he ultimately surrendered. Now Govind Singh, popularly known as 'Raja Sahab', takes all decisions while Rakesh is provided 10 percent of the funds sanctioned.
'Now the work of the panchayat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes, is done under the directives of Raja Sahab and the office bearers are left with the job of signing papers whenever they are asked to,' he added.
All work related to the panchayat is conducted by Gaur and he also has control over all the funds although he was not elected by the village people.
Govind Singh denied the allegations. He said: 'Anti-social elements in the village used to harass Rakesh every now and then. Rakesh came to me for help and I agreed to provide him protection.'
Manish Shrivastava, the Tikamgarh district collector, told IANS over telephone: 'I have not come across any such complaint. If it is happening, it is illegal. We will inquire into the matter and take appropriate action.'
Rakesh allegedly received periodic threats to his life and to his family members from the family of Gaur, said Virendra Pateria, secretary of the Maubuzurg panchayat. Pateria, who is in Bhopal, told IANS: 'Rakesh used to be harassed since the day he assumed office. Gaur's people would ask him for a cut every time he got funds sanctioned for development works. He was threatened with death if he refused.
'Upset over the regular disputes, he ultimately surrendered. Now Govind Singh, popularly known as 'Raja Sahab', takes all decisions while Rakesh is provided 10 percent of the funds sanctioned.
'Now the work of the panchayat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes, is done under the directives of Raja Sahab and the office bearers are left with the job of signing papers whenever they are asked to,' he added.
All work related to the panchayat is conducted by Gaur and he also has control over all the funds although he was not elected by the village people.
Govind Singh denied the allegations. He said: 'Anti-social elements in the village used to harass Rakesh every now and then. Rakesh came to me for help and I agreed to provide him protection.'
Manish Shrivastava, the Tikamgarh district collector, told IANS over telephone: 'I have not come across any such complaint. If it is happening, it is illegal. We will inquire into the matter and take appropriate action.'
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Women stop Minister in Dhar on water crisis
Angered by the water crisis in their area women from Dhar district stopped the troupe of the Minister in -charge Kailash Vijayavargiya at Dahalami on his way from Mandu. Empty water storing utensils were kept on the way to stop the vehicles. The Minister had stop for hours. Though he spoke to the women but am not was not able to give any committment....
Water alert – Acute crisis waits in Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh
Getting a drum of water (not necessarily safe drinking water) is a job in its own. Women who normally get water in villages have to travel more than a kilometer (one side) on a lane not easy to traverse on for ‘water for life’ for their families. This is the situation in harijan ward number 15 in the Pichore block of the district Shivpuri, of the state of Madhya Pradesh in Central part of India. Though they have hand pumps but are just for namesake. They hardly work. Water is in acute shortage here. They have written to higher authorities but are waiting for the response, when will it come is a second question in itself. One can visibly observe anger and dissatisfaction in the community with the system, esp. when it comes to issue of water and other basic amenities. For them it does not matter who are in power, they feel situation for them does not changes. Similarly in ward number 39 of the Shivpuri urban women had protested outside the corporation office against the water shortage.
Not only in this ward, even in the village like Kotgaran in the district suffers from acute water shortage. The village has population of two thousand five hundred people but not enough water.
Reports emanating from Shivpuri clearly indicate increasing water shortages in the district. Ground water levels have fallen drastically – say by 40 feet, people in the district. They add that one has to dig 250 -300 feet to get to a water source. It had scanty rainfall in last two years. Though many parts in the state had witnessed excess rainfall this year but Shivpuri didn’t.
Districts had banned boring the ground further which is a normal practice, though not a solution. But one can still see the same happening by people in power, - public representatives. In the process it is the contractors which are minting money. Though seizure of such boring machines had been ordered and action has been taken against only few. Remember we are here just raising an issue of availability of water.
It is said that clean water and sanitation are kind of vital prerequisites for improved nutrition, reduction in child and maternal mortality and the fight against disease. District had witnessed difficult times and how the poverty did and hunger existing in the district had aggravated the affects of drought in years gone by. The district already has many challenges as regard to the situation of women and children is concerned and if this is the situation of water in winters am not sure what we have in store in the coming summer ? This is warning…….for times to come…..
Also whatever water will be there, there exists disparities in regards to its access – let’s not play this down. Caste, economic disparities and the gender gap play an important role here and in end it is women and children who would have to bear the brunt.
Government of India has announced the year 2007 as "Water Year" with a view to address water-related issues – a need immediate here.
Not only in this ward, even in the village like Kotgaran in the district suffers from acute water shortage. The village has population of two thousand five hundred people but not enough water.
Reports emanating from Shivpuri clearly indicate increasing water shortages in the district. Ground water levels have fallen drastically – say by 40 feet, people in the district. They add that one has to dig 250 -300 feet to get to a water source. It had scanty rainfall in last two years. Though many parts in the state had witnessed excess rainfall this year but Shivpuri didn’t.
Districts had banned boring the ground further which is a normal practice, though not a solution. But one can still see the same happening by people in power, - public representatives. In the process it is the contractors which are minting money. Though seizure of such boring machines had been ordered and action has been taken against only few. Remember we are here just raising an issue of availability of water.
It is said that clean water and sanitation are kind of vital prerequisites for improved nutrition, reduction in child and maternal mortality and the fight against disease. District had witnessed difficult times and how the poverty did and hunger existing in the district had aggravated the affects of drought in years gone by. The district already has many challenges as regard to the situation of women and children is concerned and if this is the situation of water in winters am not sure what we have in store in the coming summer ? This is warning…….for times to come…..
Also whatever water will be there, there exists disparities in regards to its access – let’s not play this down. Caste, economic disparities and the gender gap play an important role here and in end it is women and children who would have to bear the brunt.
Government of India has announced the year 2007 as "Water Year" with a view to address water-related issues – a need immediate here.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Mid day meal in primary schools of Shivpuri face implementation glitches
Attendance in primary schools in Badarwas block of district Shivpuri is being over reported as per media reports. The reports allege corruption within the system and to get that extra buck over reporting is shown in schools for mid day meal scheme.
Additional benefit is that it helps to keeps the figures look good for reporting to state's mission. Classes which are actually reporting student attendance of 30 – 40 students, on paper (officail reords) are showing an attendace of 70 - 80 students.
In another incident in the district in Pichore block of the district during a checking at PDS shop. Records of PDS shop say that food material was supplied to school for mid day meal while the school never received the same.
Where did it go - a matter is under investigation but fact is that children for whom the food was meant have been deprived of their right….
Additional benefit is that it helps to keeps the figures look good for reporting to state's mission. Classes which are actually reporting student attendance of 30 – 40 students, on paper (officail reords) are showing an attendace of 70 - 80 students.
In another incident in the district in Pichore block of the district during a checking at PDS shop. Records of PDS shop say that food material was supplied to school for mid day meal while the school never received the same.
Where did it go - a matter is under investigation but fact is that children for whom the food was meant have been deprived of their right….
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Lustre lack polio sunday in Bhopal
Three polio cases last year, State has 40 % immunization level among children
Today was Polio Sunday. It was targeted to reach more than one crore children under five years of age in the state of Madhya Pradesh. All arrangement were made as confirmed by state press release yesterday. Polio vaccine, vaccinators for Polio booths,mobile teams had been arranged for the same purpose. Except press advertisements, few posters and one or two auto having polio banners, one could not see any awareness activity being undertaken in Bhopal to propagate the message urging parents to bring the children for polio immunisation. Amitabh’s TV advertisements were seen on TV but they were released by the Health Department of Government of India. Polio booths were also not very visible.
Unlike last years when there used to be social mobilization efforts undertaken by various NGOs in the state. Hundreds of NGOs used to support state’s effort. Parents, civil society organizations, young people and even school children used to come forward to support mobilization drive, which used to give this day a festival look. Even media used to be mobilized. All that was missing this time, except few efforts.
A parent of two year old at Raisen road area did not even knew that today was polio day. People at Trilanga, Gulmohar area of Bhopal did not knew where to go for polio immunization or where the polio booth was set up in their area. In case of old city few knew about polio immunization day. Informally speaking to parents present in numbers at Bhopal mela, except one none of them had got their children immunized.
Madhya Pradesh had three polio cases last year in year 2006 after a gap of one and half years. Children are getting missed during immunization rounds and is one of the reason for the upsurge of polio cases in the state. If this low enthusiasm persists in the capital city what will be the condition in rural areas, where chance of missing children is more. As per the latest NFHS III survey data state has only 40 % level of immunization among children. Inspite of this hardly any extra effort was made by the state’ health department to mobilize parents and children.
Today was Polio Sunday. It was targeted to reach more than one crore children under five years of age in the state of Madhya Pradesh. All arrangement were made as confirmed by state press release yesterday. Polio vaccine, vaccinators for Polio booths,mobile teams had been arranged for the same purpose. Except press advertisements, few posters and one or two auto having polio banners, one could not see any awareness activity being undertaken in Bhopal to propagate the message urging parents to bring the children for polio immunisation. Amitabh’s TV advertisements were seen on TV but they were released by the Health Department of Government of India. Polio booths were also not very visible.
Unlike last years when there used to be social mobilization efforts undertaken by various NGOs in the state. Hundreds of NGOs used to support state’s effort. Parents, civil society organizations, young people and even school children used to come forward to support mobilization drive, which used to give this day a festival look. Even media used to be mobilized. All that was missing this time, except few efforts.
A parent of two year old at Raisen road area did not even knew that today was polio day. People at Trilanga, Gulmohar area of Bhopal did not knew where to go for polio immunization or where the polio booth was set up in their area. In case of old city few knew about polio immunization day. Informally speaking to parents present in numbers at Bhopal mela, except one none of them had got their children immunized.
Madhya Pradesh had three polio cases last year in year 2006 after a gap of one and half years. Children are getting missed during immunization rounds and is one of the reason for the upsurge of polio cases in the state. If this low enthusiasm persists in the capital city what will be the condition in rural areas, where chance of missing children is more. As per the latest NFHS III survey data state has only 40 % level of immunization among children. Inspite of this hardly any extra effort was made by the state’ health department to mobilize parents and children.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Madhya Pradesh sops for tribals - when will they become reality?
Are the sops real ? or re announcements ?
In the series of Panchayats started last year, an Adivasi Panchayat was held today in the state of Bhopal for tribal’s of Madhya Pradesh. Hundreds participated. Lot of hype surrounded the Panchayat. As expected, new proclamations were made. But if one tracks the state’s developmental track one will realize that some of them were re -announcements while for others one does not know when they will become reality ?
These Panchayats are in line with some held earlier. Picking up example of Mahila Panchayat which was held last year, many announcements were made during the same. But till date neither the state policy based on the suggestions then made has come out. Neither any extra benefit has accrued to women of the state. Situation remains as it is – rather it has worsened.
In today’s announcement there has been increase in the scholarships and facilities for tribal students at different level, a special scheme named as Kamdhenu for tribal families in the 11 districts was launched. In addition it was proposed to convert forest villages into revenue villages and setting up of a new Mukhya Mantri Awas Yojana and many others similar sops were announced. Issues like whether state will increase or provide funds for them and what will be modus operandi to implement and monitor these was not at all touched. Though there is still a time to put the same in place, but if there is will and power to make that happen ?
Stipend amount to students have been increased. For boy students it has been increased from Rs. 350 to Rs. 500 and for girl students from Rs. 360 to Rs. 525 per month- but no mechanism is put in place to make sure that students get the benefit?
Some examples of re - announcements are as follows
Special anganwadi’s centers for the tribals
These anganwadis have been announced number of times since last year. They are actually part of the Supreme Court order to the state, sanctioned by Central Government. State does not contribute to this. State’s WCD Minister had shared the same information on the floor of the house in the last state assembly session, but when will they become reality - is an issue which needs debate.
Toilet kits for students
Vanya Sandarb, a publication of the state tribal department had mentioned about the same in the last issue dated December 25, 2006 page number 10 . What is new about it? Nobody knows. The app cost mentioned in the publication was 88.49 lakhs in, today it is one crore. ?? - are we adding something extra.
Interestingly they have tooth brushes and tooth paste and nail cutters in the same – how many will like to use them? May be something else could be thought of? This is in plastic box – environmentally unfriendly to tribal’s ?
These are questions media may or may not pick up tomorrow but are and will remain important – hence on this on newswhichmatter.
In the series of Panchayats started last year, an Adivasi Panchayat was held today in the state of Bhopal for tribal’s of Madhya Pradesh. Hundreds participated. Lot of hype surrounded the Panchayat. As expected, new proclamations were made. But if one tracks the state’s developmental track one will realize that some of them were re -announcements while for others one does not know when they will become reality ?
These Panchayats are in line with some held earlier. Picking up example of Mahila Panchayat which was held last year, many announcements were made during the same. But till date neither the state policy based on the suggestions then made has come out. Neither any extra benefit has accrued to women of the state. Situation remains as it is – rather it has worsened.
In today’s announcement there has been increase in the scholarships and facilities for tribal students at different level, a special scheme named as Kamdhenu for tribal families in the 11 districts was launched. In addition it was proposed to convert forest villages into revenue villages and setting up of a new Mukhya Mantri Awas Yojana and many others similar sops were announced. Issues like whether state will increase or provide funds for them and what will be modus operandi to implement and monitor these was not at all touched. Though there is still a time to put the same in place, but if there is will and power to make that happen ?
Stipend amount to students have been increased. For boy students it has been increased from Rs. 350 to Rs. 500 and for girl students from Rs. 360 to Rs. 525 per month- but no mechanism is put in place to make sure that students get the benefit?
Some examples of re - announcements are as follows
Special anganwadi’s centers for the tribals
These anganwadis have been announced number of times since last year. They are actually part of the Supreme Court order to the state, sanctioned by Central Government. State does not contribute to this. State’s WCD Minister had shared the same information on the floor of the house in the last state assembly session, but when will they become reality - is an issue which needs debate.
Toilet kits for students
Vanya Sandarb, a publication of the state tribal department had mentioned about the same in the last issue dated December 25, 2006 page number 10 . What is new about it? Nobody knows. The app cost mentioned in the publication was 88.49 lakhs in, today it is one crore. ?? - are we adding something extra.
Interestingly they have tooth brushes and tooth paste and nail cutters in the same – how many will like to use them? May be something else could be thought of? This is in plastic box – environmentally unfriendly to tribal’s ?
These are questions media may or may not pick up tomorrow but are and will remain important – hence on this on newswhichmatter.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Only 13.9 pc schools have toilets in MP
Published www.mpnewsonline.com
Bhopal, Jan 04: Only 13.9 percent of schools in Madhya Pradesh have toilets for girls in schools at the primary level. The findings of the State Report Cards based on the figures of the year 2004-05 on the status of elementary Education in India complied by National Institute of Educational planning and administration, are revealing. These school report cards are based on data received from 1.04 million schools spread over 58 districts in 29 states and Union Territories (UTs). This data is not only about education but also talks of many facts, which influence education in India.
The report card analysis mentions that only 33.7 percent schools in category of primary and upper primary schools have girls' toilets. This is important, as a reducing gender gap is one of the major challenges, which state faces when it comes to education. Data also reveals that 11.1 percent schools are single classroom school and 26.7 percent are single teacher schools. Though state survey say that state has good enrolment rates but providing quality education and retaining children to school is an issue, probably educationist says that factors like these have huge impact on the quality of education and preventing drop out which are an issue in this state.
According to Census 2001, the Percentage of children aged 6 to 13 years attending school was found satisfactory at 66.8 percent (female) and 76 percent (male). The percentage of children in the age group of 11-13 years completing primary education was 45.8 (female), and 55 percent (male).
Archana Sahay of voluntary orgnaisation 'Arambh' opined that toilet for girl students, is an essential facility in schools. The school education department should look into this problem on priority basis while education at primary level is being encouraged in the state, she added. She informed that there are over 10.50 lakh children out of school in the state, but surprisingly, the government has almost a decade old figures of only 2.50 lakh. The government had last year launched a special campaign 'School Chalo' in the state for encouraging education in Madhya Pradesh, particularly in rural areas. State Education Centre Commissioner MK Singh said that in all the new school buildings toilets for girls are being constructed, while in the old school buildings, the facility of toilet and pure drinking water is being provided under 'Total Sanitation drive'
Bhopal, Jan 04: Only 13.9 percent of schools in Madhya Pradesh have toilets for girls in schools at the primary level. The findings of the State Report Cards based on the figures of the year 2004-05 on the status of elementary Education in India complied by National Institute of Educational planning and administration, are revealing. These school report cards are based on data received from 1.04 million schools spread over 58 districts in 29 states and Union Territories (UTs). This data is not only about education but also talks of many facts, which influence education in India.
The report card analysis mentions that only 33.7 percent schools in category of primary and upper primary schools have girls' toilets. This is important, as a reducing gender gap is one of the major challenges, which state faces when it comes to education. Data also reveals that 11.1 percent schools are single classroom school and 26.7 percent are single teacher schools. Though state survey say that state has good enrolment rates but providing quality education and retaining children to school is an issue, probably educationist says that factors like these have huge impact on the quality of education and preventing drop out which are an issue in this state.
According to Census 2001, the Percentage of children aged 6 to 13 years attending school was found satisfactory at 66.8 percent (female) and 76 percent (male). The percentage of children in the age group of 11-13 years completing primary education was 45.8 (female), and 55 percent (male).
Archana Sahay of voluntary orgnaisation 'Arambh' opined that toilet for girl students, is an essential facility in schools. The school education department should look into this problem on priority basis while education at primary level is being encouraged in the state, she added. She informed that there are over 10.50 lakh children out of school in the state, but surprisingly, the government has almost a decade old figures of only 2.50 lakh. The government had last year launched a special campaign 'School Chalo' in the state for encouraging education in Madhya Pradesh, particularly in rural areas. State Education Centre Commissioner MK Singh said that in all the new school buildings toilets for girls are being constructed, while in the old school buildings, the facility of toilet and pure drinking water is being provided under 'Total Sanitation drive'
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Reproductive Rights Blog mentions about our blog
News Round Up (Jan. 1)
Happy New Year! In the past few days I've found a whole lot of stories that I don't want clogging my bookmarks. Plus, my mac sucks. Just thought I would throw that out there.
Excerpts from Reproductive Rights blog
News Round Up (Jan. 1)- Happy New Year! In the past few days I've found a whole lot of stories that I don't want clogging my bookmarks. Plus, my mac sucks. Just thought I would throw that out there. The American College of OBGYNs (great website, btw) is now recommending that ALL women be offered a screening test for Down's Syndrome. This less invasive test (less invasive than an amniocentises) is called a nuchal translucency test, which measures the fetus' neck width. The test can be done earlier in the pregnancy, which gives women options to terminate, or to prepare for the baby earlier.
I got an email giving me a heads up about a campaign to reduce maternal mortality in India. One of the things that struck me when I was in India was how little autonomy women had regarding their own health care. We had 300 reported cases of bride burnings the summer I worked in Delhi (that's 300 in Delhi alone), and likely hundreds more that weren't reported. The most interesting thing to me was that women had to ask permission to seek health services (often denied by their husbands, in-laws, or parents) and that women didn't have any expectation of privacy regarding their medical services if they were married. As readers know, issues regarding safe motherhood are not at all limited to India.
RHRealityCheck.org wrote about a human rights challenge to Nicaragua's abortion ban.
For full article please refer to the link above..
Happy New Year! In the past few days I've found a whole lot of stories that I don't want clogging my bookmarks. Plus, my mac sucks. Just thought I would throw that out there.
Excerpts from Reproductive Rights blog
News Round Up (Jan. 1)- Happy New Year! In the past few days I've found a whole lot of stories that I don't want clogging my bookmarks. Plus, my mac sucks. Just thought I would throw that out there. The American College of OBGYNs (great website, btw) is now recommending that ALL women be offered a screening test for Down's Syndrome. This less invasive test (less invasive than an amniocentises) is called a nuchal translucency test, which measures the fetus' neck width. The test can be done earlier in the pregnancy, which gives women options to terminate, or to prepare for the baby earlier.
I got an email giving me a heads up about a campaign to reduce maternal mortality in India. One of the things that struck me when I was in India was how little autonomy women had regarding their own health care. We had 300 reported cases of bride burnings the summer I worked in Delhi (that's 300 in Delhi alone), and likely hundreds more that weren't reported. The most interesting thing to me was that women had to ask permission to seek health services (often denied by their husbands, in-laws, or parents) and that women didn't have any expectation of privacy regarding their medical services if they were married. As readers know, issues regarding safe motherhood are not at all limited to India.
RHRealityCheck.org wrote about a human rights challenge to Nicaragua's abortion ban.
For full article please refer to the link above..
Children of Nithari need justice
Children of Nithari need justice
According to the media reports, 38 children from Nithari village near Noida suburb of National Capital Territory of Delhi went missing over a period of 30 months, but only 19 police complaints were registered, as per, media reports five of these 19 children returned home. "The recent discovery of skeletal remains in the area suggests that more than those registered as missing may have been killed. This is a gross violation of human rights of the citizens and in particular, the children, action was needed much that after recovery of skeletons and when media racked the issue. Today UNI reports that National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and director general of police, seeking a factual report within two weeks on the sexual abuse and murder of children and women in Noida's Nithari village.
The prime accused, employer-servant duo of Moninder Singh and Surender had confessed to sexual abuse, mutilation and killings of not only young boys and girls but also women, and dumping the remains of the victims in the drain behind the house. "The barbaric act came to light not because the police were investigating the disappearance of children, but by sheer chance as they nabbed Surender who was in possession of a cell phone belonging to a missing woman Payal, who was also murdered.
A newspaper editorial highlighted the negligence of the state administration, saying those who are guilty and responsible for such prolonged negligence of even routine investigation and civil function should be sacked. Parents of several missing children have also approached the commission appealing for its intervention.
According to the media reports, 38 children from Nithari village near Noida suburb of National Capital Territory of Delhi went missing over a period of 30 months, but only 19 police complaints were registered, as per, media reports five of these 19 children returned home. "The recent discovery of skeletal remains in the area suggests that more than those registered as missing may have been killed. This is a gross violation of human rights of the citizens and in particular, the children, action was needed much that after recovery of skeletons and when media racked the issue. Today UNI reports that National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and director general of police, seeking a factual report within two weeks on the sexual abuse and murder of children and women in Noida's Nithari village.
The prime accused, employer-servant duo of Moninder Singh and Surender had confessed to sexual abuse, mutilation and killings of not only young boys and girls but also women, and dumping the remains of the victims in the drain behind the house. "The barbaric act came to light not because the police were investigating the disappearance of children, but by sheer chance as they nabbed Surender who was in possession of a cell phone belonging to a missing woman Payal, who was also murdered.
A newspaper editorial highlighted the negligence of the state administration, saying those who are guilty and responsible for such prolonged negligence of even routine investigation and civil function should be sacked. Parents of several missing children have also approached the commission appealing for its intervention.
Monday, January 01, 2007
2007 won’t be a Fair and Lovely year
DNA India, Sunday, December 31, 2006 23:59 IST
Yogendra Yadav
If we wish to look for signs of change in the new year, we must look beyond the political establishment and its equally established opposition
Welcome to Hoshangabad for a peep into the political possibilities of 2007. From November 22 to December 22 of the year gone by, the Kisan Adivasi Sangathan and Samajwadi Janparishad carried out a unique sadbudhi satyagraha in this advasi belt of Madhya Pradesh. Every morning some adivasi families would come to the district headquarter, take a dip in the holy Narmada, garland the Gandhi statue and pray that their own democratically-elected leaders come to their senses. No demonstration, no slogan shouting, no demands, no memorandum, just a plain and simple prayer: get sane soon.
What made this political Gandhigiri unusual was that it was practiced not by a bunch of middle-class Munnabhai clones but by a group of adivasis whose families have over the last few decades experienced multiple displacements ---- for a dam, a proof range and a tiger reserve. Undaunted, these adivasis have won the right to fish in the reservoir created by drowning their land and have created an extra-ordinary fish co-operative. They want their co-operative to be granted an extension and for those living in villages inside forests to have right to live a normal life.
No, it is not the story of transformation of the heart of the Lovely Singhs who lord over the forests and tribes. Year 2007 is not going to be a simple Fair and Lovely story. Last heard, the district administration had declared these non-violent satyagrahis as Naxalites and had demanded extra security force to deal with them! Over the last decade both the Congress and the BJP have taken turns to attack this movement.
Needless to say leaders of these big parties were nowhere to be seen in this satyagraha. Congress is waiting for people to get fed up of the BJP so that the electorate can kick it into power next time. Hoshangabad allows us to put in perspective the mainstream politics and its limited possibilities. It forces us to confront the meaninglessness of happenings we have come to associate with what we call political news. It invites us to look beyond the monotony of party politics and the news coverage around it. Sadbudhi satyagraha enables us to look for fresh possibilities of alternative politics in the new year.
A year with four major elections ---- Presidential elections besides three rounds of assembly elections involving Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttaranchal and Manipur, all scheduled for 2007 ----- cannot but be eventful in this age of 24-hour news coverage. But it is unlikely that any amount of electoral oscillation this year will change the nature of political choices for the people; some new faces are bound to replace old ones, but it is unlikely that the face of politics will change very much. Whatever the outcome of these elections, the UPA government is not going to face a serious challenge.
After coming to power without popular mandate in 2004, the Congress has gained in popularity and recovered some of the social constituency it lost in the 1990s. This trend may not see much change this year: none of the states would be seen as a 'bell weather' states. Uttar Pradesh election might show some general trend, but neither the Congress nor the BJP has much to gain or lose in this election. The BJP is not in any serious danger of losing its position in national politics, notwithstanding its current leadership crisis. It would take a routine alternation in Punjab or Uttaranchal for the leadership to regain its sense of purpose. A possible victory for the BJP in Gujarat can make media sing different tunes.
If the two big parties are not going to undergo or bring about a change this year, can we look to other parties for signs of political change? Here too, we should be surprised if the trend of the post-Mandal politics is reversed. These years have seen an expansion of the third space in politics and at the same time shrinking of the parties representing the third force in politics. A surface reading of political competition in UP might suggest otherwise, for this election will be fought mainly between SP and BSP.
But neither the current favourite BSP nor the Samajwadi Party holds much hope for the cause it ostensibly represents. With the Janata Dal as good as dead, the leadership of the third force is likely to fall on to the already aching shoulders of the CPM, a party unable to negotiate between its revolutionary rhetoric and pragmatic politics, between radical postures in Delhi and establishment face in the states where it rules.
If we wish to look for signs of change in the new year, we must look beyond the political establishment and its equally established opposition. Just look back at most of the significant political movements in the year that has come to an end: the protest against Khairalanji brutality or police firing against protesting farmers in Orissa, the successful resistance to bureaucracy's attempts to take back the Right to Information, the opposition to the real-estate scams in the name of SEZ, agitations about the plight of the farmers in most parts of the country.
Almost invariably these movements were led by non-party, though not non-political, organisations. Medha Patkar's fast in Delhi saw the coming together of most of these organisations. Some of these organisations are willing to take on the party political arena: the formation of People's Political Front in Maharashtra, Loksatta Party in Andhra Pradesh and stirrings for formation of alternative political formation in many other parts of the country are small but significant signs in this direction. The satyagraha in Hoshangabad was led by Samajwadi Janparishad, another such attempt to build alternative politics.
If you are as sick and tired of 'politics' as many citizens in this country are, here is a New Year resolution that you could consider: I shall stop complaining about politics and politicians and will spend that much energy into building a new kind of politics. When I meet an upright and talented young person, I shall encourage him or her to take to politics. Media may give any amount of space to 'big' parties, but I shall edit it in my mind and give more attention to 'small' but significant initiatives for alternative kind of politics. I shall devote at least a portion of my time, energy and resources to realise this new year resolution.
The writer is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
Yogendra Yadav
If we wish to look for signs of change in the new year, we must look beyond the political establishment and its equally established opposition
Welcome to Hoshangabad for a peep into the political possibilities of 2007. From November 22 to December 22 of the year gone by, the Kisan Adivasi Sangathan and Samajwadi Janparishad carried out a unique sadbudhi satyagraha in this advasi belt of Madhya Pradesh. Every morning some adivasi families would come to the district headquarter, take a dip in the holy Narmada, garland the Gandhi statue and pray that their own democratically-elected leaders come to their senses. No demonstration, no slogan shouting, no demands, no memorandum, just a plain and simple prayer: get sane soon.
What made this political Gandhigiri unusual was that it was practiced not by a bunch of middle-class Munnabhai clones but by a group of adivasis whose families have over the last few decades experienced multiple displacements ---- for a dam, a proof range and a tiger reserve. Undaunted, these adivasis have won the right to fish in the reservoir created by drowning their land and have created an extra-ordinary fish co-operative. They want their co-operative to be granted an extension and for those living in villages inside forests to have right to live a normal life.
No, it is not the story of transformation of the heart of the Lovely Singhs who lord over the forests and tribes. Year 2007 is not going to be a simple Fair and Lovely story. Last heard, the district administration had declared these non-violent satyagrahis as Naxalites and had demanded extra security force to deal with them! Over the last decade both the Congress and the BJP have taken turns to attack this movement.
Needless to say leaders of these big parties were nowhere to be seen in this satyagraha. Congress is waiting for people to get fed up of the BJP so that the electorate can kick it into power next time. Hoshangabad allows us to put in perspective the mainstream politics and its limited possibilities. It forces us to confront the meaninglessness of happenings we have come to associate with what we call political news. It invites us to look beyond the monotony of party politics and the news coverage around it. Sadbudhi satyagraha enables us to look for fresh possibilities of alternative politics in the new year.
A year with four major elections ---- Presidential elections besides three rounds of assembly elections involving Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttaranchal and Manipur, all scheduled for 2007 ----- cannot but be eventful in this age of 24-hour news coverage. But it is unlikely that any amount of electoral oscillation this year will change the nature of political choices for the people; some new faces are bound to replace old ones, but it is unlikely that the face of politics will change very much. Whatever the outcome of these elections, the UPA government is not going to face a serious challenge.
After coming to power without popular mandate in 2004, the Congress has gained in popularity and recovered some of the social constituency it lost in the 1990s. This trend may not see much change this year: none of the states would be seen as a 'bell weather' states. Uttar Pradesh election might show some general trend, but neither the Congress nor the BJP has much to gain or lose in this election. The BJP is not in any serious danger of losing its position in national politics, notwithstanding its current leadership crisis. It would take a routine alternation in Punjab or Uttaranchal for the leadership to regain its sense of purpose. A possible victory for the BJP in Gujarat can make media sing different tunes.
If the two big parties are not going to undergo or bring about a change this year, can we look to other parties for signs of political change? Here too, we should be surprised if the trend of the post-Mandal politics is reversed. These years have seen an expansion of the third space in politics and at the same time shrinking of the parties representing the third force in politics. A surface reading of political competition in UP might suggest otherwise, for this election will be fought mainly between SP and BSP.
But neither the current favourite BSP nor the Samajwadi Party holds much hope for the cause it ostensibly represents. With the Janata Dal as good as dead, the leadership of the third force is likely to fall on to the already aching shoulders of the CPM, a party unable to negotiate between its revolutionary rhetoric and pragmatic politics, between radical postures in Delhi and establishment face in the states where it rules.
If we wish to look for signs of change in the new year, we must look beyond the political establishment and its equally established opposition. Just look back at most of the significant political movements in the year that has come to an end: the protest against Khairalanji brutality or police firing against protesting farmers in Orissa, the successful resistance to bureaucracy's attempts to take back the Right to Information, the opposition to the real-estate scams in the name of SEZ, agitations about the plight of the farmers in most parts of the country.
Almost invariably these movements were led by non-party, though not non-political, organisations. Medha Patkar's fast in Delhi saw the coming together of most of these organisations. Some of these organisations are willing to take on the party political arena: the formation of People's Political Front in Maharashtra, Loksatta Party in Andhra Pradesh and stirrings for formation of alternative political formation in many other parts of the country are small but significant signs in this direction. The satyagraha in Hoshangabad was led by Samajwadi Janparishad, another such attempt to build alternative politics.
If you are as sick and tired of 'politics' as many citizens in this country are, here is a New Year resolution that you could consider: I shall stop complaining about politics and politicians and will spend that much energy into building a new kind of politics. When I meet an upright and talented young person, I shall encourage him or her to take to politics. Media may give any amount of space to 'big' parties, but I shall edit it in my mind and give more attention to 'small' but significant initiatives for alternative kind of politics. I shall devote at least a portion of my time, energy and resources to realise this new year resolution.
The writer is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
Friday, December 29, 2006
Muslim males in MP are more literate
As per book Same "Population of India in the new millennium, Census 2001," released recently says Muslim males are more literate than males of other major religions. In the state of Madhya Pradesh where 79.8 per cent Muslim males were educated compared to 75.5 per cent Hindu males.Similarly the literacy among Muslim males in Andhra Pradesh was 76.5 per cent as against Hindus'' 70.3 per cent while it was 82.4 per cent in case of the Muslim males in Gujarat as against 79.1 per cent of Hindu males.
Even among women, Muslims were more educated with literacy of 59.1 per cent as against Hindu women's 49.2 per cent. The study, however, admits that unlike the males, the literacy rate of Muslim women was not up to the mark in most of the states.
Adapted from various press coverages namely Indiandaily and news agencies
Even among women, Muslims were more educated with literacy of 59.1 per cent as against Hindu women's 49.2 per cent. The study, however, admits that unlike the males, the literacy rate of Muslim women was not up to the mark in most of the states.
Adapted from various press coverages namely Indiandaily and news agencies
200 mn Indians live on Rs 12 a day
December 28, 2006 ibnlive.com
The Indian economy may be growing in leaps and bounds and so are reports which seem to suggest that India is on its way to becoming a superpower. But the one question that leads to a never-ending debate is –Is India really shining ? The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report Level and Pattern of Consumer Expenditure, 2004-05released on Wednesday reveals that about one third of India’s rural population or over 200 million people still live on less than Rs 12 per day.
The report shows that Orissa, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and UP remain the poorest states in the country in terms of Monthly Per Capita Consumer Expenditure (MPCE) of rural population. “Compared with 30 per cent at the all-India level, in Orissa and Chattisgarh as many as 55-57 per cent of villagers were, in 2004-05, living below the MPCE level of Rs 365, which is Rs 12 a day,” news agency PTI quoted a part of the NSSO report as saying. It adds that 10 per cent of all-India rural population was living at just Rs 9 per day.
In Madhya Pradesh, 47 per cent of rural population is living on Rs 12 a day followed by Bihar and Jharkhand (46 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (33 per cent), Karnataka (32 per cent) and Maharashtra (30 per cent). The study defines the items of consumption as clothing, footwear, education, medical care, durable goods and all other items like food, fuel, light, rents and taxes.
However, the Urban poor appeared to be faring slightly better as 30 per cent of such people was found to be spending Rs 580 per month, that is Rs 19 a day.
But 10 per cent of the urban population had to live at just Rs 13 a day in 2004-05. Urban poverty seems to be concentrated in those states, where rural poverty is high.
In Bihar, as much as 55 per cent of urban population is living at Rs 19 per day, followed by Orissa (50 per cent), UP and Chattisgarh (44 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (43 per cent) and Rajasthan (36 per cent). Based on a sample of around 80,000 rural and 45,000 urban households, the survey report noted that one-tenth of rural India was spending as much as Rs 890 per month in 2004-05, which amounts to living on Rs 10,880 per capita annual expenditure. In urban India, the top 10 per cent rich people are spending as much Rs 1,880 per month, which amounts to Rs 22,560 per capita annual expenditure.
According to the report, Kerala, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat emerged as the richest states, where as much as 57, 51, 47 and 26 per cent of the rural population was spending at least Rs 690 per person monthly as compared to 20 per cent all-India figures. The report also pointed out that the monthly per capita expenditure in rural and urban India was also affected by the size of family, besides other factors.
At the state level, the report observed that the rural poverty based on Rs 12 a day per capita expenditure in West Bengal (24 per cent), Gujarat (21 per cent), Assam and Rajasthan (17 per cent) was also lower than the all-India average of 30 per cent rural population.
(With inputs from PTI)
The Indian economy may be growing in leaps and bounds and so are reports which seem to suggest that India is on its way to becoming a superpower. But the one question that leads to a never-ending debate is –Is India really shining ? The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report Level and Pattern of Consumer Expenditure, 2004-05released on Wednesday reveals that about one third of India’s rural population or over 200 million people still live on less than Rs 12 per day.
The report shows that Orissa, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and UP remain the poorest states in the country in terms of Monthly Per Capita Consumer Expenditure (MPCE) of rural population. “Compared with 30 per cent at the all-India level, in Orissa and Chattisgarh as many as 55-57 per cent of villagers were, in 2004-05, living below the MPCE level of Rs 365, which is Rs 12 a day,” news agency PTI quoted a part of the NSSO report as saying. It adds that 10 per cent of all-India rural population was living at just Rs 9 per day.
In Madhya Pradesh, 47 per cent of rural population is living on Rs 12 a day followed by Bihar and Jharkhand (46 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (33 per cent), Karnataka (32 per cent) and Maharashtra (30 per cent). The study defines the items of consumption as clothing, footwear, education, medical care, durable goods and all other items like food, fuel, light, rents and taxes.
However, the Urban poor appeared to be faring slightly better as 30 per cent of such people was found to be spending Rs 580 per month, that is Rs 19 a day.
But 10 per cent of the urban population had to live at just Rs 13 a day in 2004-05. Urban poverty seems to be concentrated in those states, where rural poverty is high.
In Bihar, as much as 55 per cent of urban population is living at Rs 19 per day, followed by Orissa (50 per cent), UP and Chattisgarh (44 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (43 per cent) and Rajasthan (36 per cent). Based on a sample of around 80,000 rural and 45,000 urban households, the survey report noted that one-tenth of rural India was spending as much as Rs 890 per month in 2004-05, which amounts to living on Rs 10,880 per capita annual expenditure. In urban India, the top 10 per cent rich people are spending as much Rs 1,880 per month, which amounts to Rs 22,560 per capita annual expenditure.
According to the report, Kerala, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat emerged as the richest states, where as much as 57, 51, 47 and 26 per cent of the rural population was spending at least Rs 690 per person monthly as compared to 20 per cent all-India figures. The report also pointed out that the monthly per capita expenditure in rural and urban India was also affected by the size of family, besides other factors.
At the state level, the report observed that the rural poverty based on Rs 12 a day per capita expenditure in West Bengal (24 per cent), Gujarat (21 per cent), Assam and Rajasthan (17 per cent) was also lower than the all-India average of 30 per cent rural population.
(With inputs from PTI)
15 rupee a day per person in rural india
The latest NSSO data which is 61st in series reveals
In urban India, about 42 per cent of the households – which accounted for nearly 51 per cent of the population – spent less than Rs. 790/- per month per person. On the other hand, in rural India, about 41 per cent of the households – which accounted for 47
per cent of the population – could spend up to Rs.455/- per month per person. The proportion of households with per capita spending Rs.890/- or more was as low as 13 per cent in rural India. Compared to this, in urban India, about 48 per cent of households was
spending Rs.930/- or more per month per person.
In urban India, about 42 per cent of the households – which accounted for nearly 51 per cent of the population – spent less than Rs. 790/- per month per person. On the other hand, in rural India, about 41 per cent of the households – which accounted for 47
per cent of the population – could spend up to Rs.455/- per month per person. The proportion of households with per capita spending Rs.890/- or more was as low as 13 per cent in rural India. Compared to this, in urban India, about 48 per cent of households was
spending Rs.930/- or more per month per person.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Malnutrition kills two kids in Madhya Pradesh
By Sanjay Sharma, Indo-Asian News service Dec 27, 2006
Gwalior, Dec 27 (IANS) At least two children have reportedly died from malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district, child rights activists say, emblematic of a deep-rooted problem afflicting over 80,000 underprivileged children in this state. While one-year-old Purushottam of Ateri village died Sunday, two-year-old Chhottu died Dec 20 though the court had directed the state to take special care of him, the activists said.
'Both deaths occurred at a Gwalior hospital due to the alleged negligence of the staff and doctors,' said Sandesh Bansal, an activist with Jan Adhikar Manch. Bansal told IANS: 'The cause of Chhottu's death was even more shocking. The district authorities continued to shirk their responsibility of taking care of the child and his family though the high court had ordered them to do so. They said it was not their job since the family belonged to Raisen district.'
Chhottu belonged to one of 18 families of bonded labourers rescued from Raisen district, 50 km from here, in 2005 at the behest of the Bandhua Mazdoor Mukti Morcha, a group working for the rights of workers.Since the state failed to rehabilitate the rescued families, Jai Prasad of the Morcha knocked the doors of the high court, which directed the district administration and the state labour department to look after the families under the Madhya Pradesh rehabilitation programme. But the authorities apparently refused to, saying the families were not their responsibility since they were not from Gwalior.
'The matter pertains to Raisen from where they were brought here,' said C.S. Dixit, Gwalior's assistant labour commissioner.The administration's attitude has made the workers think that they were better off as bonded labour.
'We are being treated like animals, worse than when we were hostage in stone quarries,' laments Bharat Adivasi, Chhottu's father. Added Prasad: 'This is happening despite the government's claims of making efforts to curb malnutrition, for which it has spent millions of rupees in the past three years.'
The state's budget for the overall development of women and children went up to Rs.5.9 billion this year. Of this, Rs.3 billion was earmarked for providing nutritious diet to undernourished women and children - Rs.1.9 billion more than the previous year. But according to the government's Child Growth Monitoring Drive, 80,000 children in the state continued to suffer from severe malnutrition.
In April, the state unveiled a special scheme called the 'Bal Shakti Yojana', which seeks to treat severely malnourished children. It includes medical services necessary for such kids.The number of malnourished children in the 0-5 years age group is 33,000, which is about 50 percent of the total child population in the state, according to National Health Survey data.
© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service
Gwalior, Dec 27 (IANS) At least two children have reportedly died from malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district, child rights activists say, emblematic of a deep-rooted problem afflicting over 80,000 underprivileged children in this state. While one-year-old Purushottam of Ateri village died Sunday, two-year-old Chhottu died Dec 20 though the court had directed the state to take special care of him, the activists said.
'Both deaths occurred at a Gwalior hospital due to the alleged negligence of the staff and doctors,' said Sandesh Bansal, an activist with Jan Adhikar Manch. Bansal told IANS: 'The cause of Chhottu's death was even more shocking. The district authorities continued to shirk their responsibility of taking care of the child and his family though the high court had ordered them to do so. They said it was not their job since the family belonged to Raisen district.'
Chhottu belonged to one of 18 families of bonded labourers rescued from Raisen district, 50 km from here, in 2005 at the behest of the Bandhua Mazdoor Mukti Morcha, a group working for the rights of workers.Since the state failed to rehabilitate the rescued families, Jai Prasad of the Morcha knocked the doors of the high court, which directed the district administration and the state labour department to look after the families under the Madhya Pradesh rehabilitation programme. But the authorities apparently refused to, saying the families were not their responsibility since they were not from Gwalior.
'The matter pertains to Raisen from where they were brought here,' said C.S. Dixit, Gwalior's assistant labour commissioner.The administration's attitude has made the workers think that they were better off as bonded labour.
'We are being treated like animals, worse than when we were hostage in stone quarries,' laments Bharat Adivasi, Chhottu's father. Added Prasad: 'This is happening despite the government's claims of making efforts to curb malnutrition, for which it has spent millions of rupees in the past three years.'
The state's budget for the overall development of women and children went up to Rs.5.9 billion this year. Of this, Rs.3 billion was earmarked for providing nutritious diet to undernourished women and children - Rs.1.9 billion more than the previous year. But according to the government's Child Growth Monitoring Drive, 80,000 children in the state continued to suffer from severe malnutrition.
In April, the state unveiled a special scheme called the 'Bal Shakti Yojana', which seeks to treat severely malnourished children. It includes medical services necessary for such kids.The number of malnourished children in the 0-5 years age group is 33,000, which is about 50 percent of the total child population in the state, according to National Health Survey data.
© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
21.6 % newborn kids are breastfed in MP: Survey
Pioneer, Bhopal December 26, 2006
Girish Sharma | Bhopal
Despite several schemes launched by the Madhya Pradesh Government, only 21.6 per cent newborn children in the age group of 0 to 5 in the State are breastfed from their mothers.This fact came to light in the latest 2005-2006 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), released by the Government of India. The State Government introduced a slew of new programmes to encourage mothers breastfeed infants as they require colostrum immediately after birth.
Colostrum - mother's first milk - is like a natural vaccine and helps the child to fight with number of infections in the life. As per the study as published in Lancet the medical journal, infant mortality can by brought down by about 19 per cent if the child is given colostrum immediately after birth and is breastfed by the mother for six months, followed by complementary feeding from six months till two years. Madhya Pradesh has the highest infant mortality rate in the country. As per sample registration system data of Government of India released this year, 79 out of every 100 children, born in the state die before their first birthday. In case of the colostrum feeding that is mothers first milk, as per the NFHS III survey only 14.6 per cent children under the age of three years are breastfed within one hour. In rural area only 13.3 per cent are breastfed while in urban areas it is 20.3 per cent. Though there has been a slight rise from an old figure of NFHS II (1998 -99) figure of 8.9 per cent, but still it is abysmally low.
Many myths and superstitions are prevalent in rural and tribal areas of the state regarding breastfeeding and is cited as one the reasons for low percentage of breastfeeding.
Girish Sharma | Bhopal
Despite several schemes launched by the Madhya Pradesh Government, only 21.6 per cent newborn children in the age group of 0 to 5 in the State are breastfed from their mothers.This fact came to light in the latest 2005-2006 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), released by the Government of India. The State Government introduced a slew of new programmes to encourage mothers breastfeed infants as they require colostrum immediately after birth.
Colostrum - mother's first milk - is like a natural vaccine and helps the child to fight with number of infections in the life. As per the study as published in Lancet the medical journal, infant mortality can by brought down by about 19 per cent if the child is given colostrum immediately after birth and is breastfed by the mother for six months, followed by complementary feeding from six months till two years. Madhya Pradesh has the highest infant mortality rate in the country. As per sample registration system data of Government of India released this year, 79 out of every 100 children, born in the state die before their first birthday. In case of the colostrum feeding that is mothers first milk, as per the NFHS III survey only 14.6 per cent children under the age of three years are breastfed within one hour. In rural area only 13.3 per cent are breastfed while in urban areas it is 20.3 per cent. Though there has been a slight rise from an old figure of NFHS II (1998 -99) figure of 8.9 per cent, but still it is abysmally low.
Many myths and superstitions are prevalent in rural and tribal areas of the state regarding breastfeeding and is cited as one the reasons for low percentage of breastfeeding.
State Government wakes up to child malnutrition death
Pioneer December 26, 2006
Staff Reporter | Bhopal
Taking action on the basis of a news report 'Child dies of malnutrition' published in The Pioneer on December 22, Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Rakesh Sahani sought clarification from Labour Commissioner Rajneesh Vaishya on Monday.
Surprisingly, the earlier clarification report sent by Vaishya on December 22 kept on contending that Bharat Adivasi, whose 2.5 year-old child Chhotu died of malnutrition at the Government hospital in Gwalior on December 19, did not belong to Gwalior district and was not a bonded labourer. The report, which was sent to The Pioneer, puts further that the child died of tuberculosis. However, medical experts had admitted that the child died of malnutrition and the same was quite visible on the body and face of the victim.
Vaishya during a telephonic conversation reiterated the same statement earlier given and maintained the stand of Assistant Labour commissioner CS Dixit, who had asserted that they were not responsible for the incident as the family belonged to another district. The report tells that all the labourers have been asked to return to their home district.
However, Vaishya admitted that a humanitarian approach to child's condition could have saved his life. "If the Labour Department, instead of being apathetic to the whole matter and contending that it was not their cup of tea, had co-coordinated with the district administration and the Health department, the situation could have saved," he admitted.
Vaishya further admitted that it was not just the case of a victim being bonded labour, but was a question of child who was exposed to administrative failure during the time of crisis.The clarification report says that after the instructions of MP High Court on December 14, a relief fund of Rs 10,000 was released by Red Cross society of district administration, though the Assistant Labour Commissioner CS Dixit on December 22 had stated that he could not locate child's father in the Kamlaraja hospital and that was why the relief could not reach the victim.
Staff Reporter | Bhopal
Taking action on the basis of a news report 'Child dies of malnutrition' published in The Pioneer on December 22, Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Rakesh Sahani sought clarification from Labour Commissioner Rajneesh Vaishya on Monday.
Surprisingly, the earlier clarification report sent by Vaishya on December 22 kept on contending that Bharat Adivasi, whose 2.5 year-old child Chhotu died of malnutrition at the Government hospital in Gwalior on December 19, did not belong to Gwalior district and was not a bonded labourer. The report, which was sent to The Pioneer, puts further that the child died of tuberculosis. However, medical experts had admitted that the child died of malnutrition and the same was quite visible on the body and face of the victim.
Vaishya during a telephonic conversation reiterated the same statement earlier given and maintained the stand of Assistant Labour commissioner CS Dixit, who had asserted that they were not responsible for the incident as the family belonged to another district. The report tells that all the labourers have been asked to return to their home district.
However, Vaishya admitted that a humanitarian approach to child's condition could have saved his life. "If the Labour Department, instead of being apathetic to the whole matter and contending that it was not their cup of tea, had co-coordinated with the district administration and the Health department, the situation could have saved," he admitted.
Vaishya further admitted that it was not just the case of a victim being bonded labour, but was a question of child who was exposed to administrative failure during the time of crisis.The clarification report says that after the instructions of MP High Court on December 14, a relief fund of Rs 10,000 was released by Red Cross society of district administration, though the Assistant Labour Commissioner CS Dixit on December 22 had stated that he could not locate child's father in the Kamlaraja hospital and that was why the relief could not reach the victim.
Monday, December 25, 2006
MP village attempts to revive Sanskrit
Kumar Shakti Shekhar
Sunday, December 24, 2006 (Rajgarh):
There is a unique village in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh where almost all the people always converse in Sanskrit.
Children are determined to teach Sanskrit to people who they meet. Villagers initially resisted the language but now after three years, they cant do without it.
Jhiri in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district has renewed the old custom and people have taken it upon themselves to popularise Sanskrit.So for the past three years, Sanskrit has been the medium of education at all schools in Jhiri.
Career in Sanskrit
Now the children speak fluent Sanskrit, even outside the school. In fact, they want to make a career in the ancient language. It's not just the children, even the grown-ups now speak only in Sanskrit.
"I get immense pleasure in talking in Sanskrit because it is our language," said Shyama Chauhan, housewife.Three years ago, the villagers formed the Vidyagram Development Committee (VDC), which decided that everyone, regardless of caste or religion, would learn Sanskrit.
Now even those who may not know the technicalities of the language still speak fluent Sanskrit."An illiterate girl of the village was stunned when she was being taught Sanskrit. She told me that the teacher asked her things like singular and plural. She said that she knew how to speak Sanskrit but did not know the grammar part," said Uday Singh Chauhan, president, VDC.
For the residents of the village Sanskrit is not only a language but also a medium to become more cultured and civilized and this has helped them to a large extent in achieving the goals of social harmony, development and prohibition.
NDTV, December 24, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006 (Rajgarh):
There is a unique village in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh where almost all the people always converse in Sanskrit.
Children are determined to teach Sanskrit to people who they meet. Villagers initially resisted the language but now after three years, they cant do without it.
Jhiri in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district has renewed the old custom and people have taken it upon themselves to popularise Sanskrit.So for the past three years, Sanskrit has been the medium of education at all schools in Jhiri.
Career in Sanskrit
Now the children speak fluent Sanskrit, even outside the school. In fact, they want to make a career in the ancient language. It's not just the children, even the grown-ups now speak only in Sanskrit.
"I get immense pleasure in talking in Sanskrit because it is our language," said Shyama Chauhan, housewife.Three years ago, the villagers formed the Vidyagram Development Committee (VDC), which decided that everyone, regardless of caste or religion, would learn Sanskrit.
Now even those who may not know the technicalities of the language still speak fluent Sanskrit."An illiterate girl of the village was stunned when she was being taught Sanskrit. She told me that the teacher asked her things like singular and plural. She said that she knew how to speak Sanskrit but did not know the grammar part," said Uday Singh Chauhan, president, VDC.
For the residents of the village Sanskrit is not only a language but also a medium to become more cultured and civilized and this has helped them to a large extent in achieving the goals of social harmony, development and prohibition.
NDTV, December 24, 2006
Fighting malnutrition: Better workplan needed
Editorial by Central Chronicle on malnutrition
December 25, 2006
There has been a 6.3pc rise in malnourished children in Madhya Pradesh. The deduction has been arrived from a report of the National Family Health Survey. In comparison to other states, the state of children is MP is a cause for concern. Percentagewise malnutrition has gone up from 54 to 60.3 whereas the State government has been claiming it to be at 49pc. One reason is also said to be improper use of funds allotted for eradicating the illness. Even the Supreme Court had raised questions over the distribution system of nutritious food to children in the State. The MP government has implemented anganwadi scheme for eradicating malnutrition. However, the number of anganwadis are too little compared to the population. The Supreme Court had, on October 7, given directives for opening an anganwadi centre in every locality, wherein children up to six years of age should be given nutritious diet. It also said that the work of distribution of the food items should not be given to contractors but to women's bodies of localities, self-help groups or other groups of the village people. However, this is not so. A healthy child needs 1700 calories whereas a child is given 80 gm `dalia' in Anganwadi which provides only 300 calories. The state government has achieved notable success in implementation of schemes/ projects but its success in supplying nutritious food to children has not met with desired success. Lack of budget is said to be one of the reasons; other is improper distribution. It is also important to pay attention towards the quality of food being given to the children. The need is for framing a large work plan so that not even one child becomes victim of malnutrition.
Published in Central Chronicle, Bhopal, December 25, 2006
December 25, 2006
There has been a 6.3pc rise in malnourished children in Madhya Pradesh. The deduction has been arrived from a report of the National Family Health Survey. In comparison to other states, the state of children is MP is a cause for concern. Percentagewise malnutrition has gone up from 54 to 60.3 whereas the State government has been claiming it to be at 49pc. One reason is also said to be improper use of funds allotted for eradicating the illness. Even the Supreme Court had raised questions over the distribution system of nutritious food to children in the State. The MP government has implemented anganwadi scheme for eradicating malnutrition. However, the number of anganwadis are too little compared to the population. The Supreme Court had, on October 7, given directives for opening an anganwadi centre in every locality, wherein children up to six years of age should be given nutritious diet. It also said that the work of distribution of the food items should not be given to contractors but to women's bodies of localities, self-help groups or other groups of the village people. However, this is not so. A healthy child needs 1700 calories whereas a child is given 80 gm `dalia' in Anganwadi which provides only 300 calories. The state government has achieved notable success in implementation of schemes/ projects but its success in supplying nutritious food to children has not met with desired success. Lack of budget is said to be one of the reasons; other is improper distribution. It is also important to pay attention towards the quality of food being given to the children. The need is for framing a large work plan so that not even one child becomes victim of malnutrition.
Published in Central Chronicle, Bhopal, December 25, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Vinay was not so lucky as Prince
A 5 year old boy who fell in the 100 ft pit in Raisen unfortunately could not be saved……
Vinay a five year old boy from Raisen could not survive while he was rescued from a 100 feet pit hole in district Raisen of the state of Madhya Pradesh. The incident happened yesterday evening in Sunehra village of the district Raisen. The pit hole was dug to drill water by tube well but later had gone dry. It was not closed. Vinay, was playing with his friends in the open field, he tripped and fell into the pit - hole. The other boys playing with him immediately informed his parents. His father who is a farmer rushed to his child’s rescue. Local administration employees also reached the spot and the Army was called in from Sagar. The rescue operation lasted six hours during which the boy was heard moaning. Though he was rescued but could not survive. He was declared dead due to asphyxiation when he was taken to the district hospital.
A huge crowd had gathered around the hole to watch the replay of what turned out to be a tragic event. Local officials could not keep the crowds away and this also led to the soil subsiding and entering the hole. The rescue team managed to reach the boy by digging a parallel hole six feet away from the one into which Vinay had fallen and then through a horizontal shaft. Eyewitnesses said the boy was alive when he was brought out, but his heart gave out within minutes.
Vinay a five year old boy from Raisen could not survive while he was rescued from a 100 feet pit hole in district Raisen of the state of Madhya Pradesh. The incident happened yesterday evening in Sunehra village of the district Raisen. The pit hole was dug to drill water by tube well but later had gone dry. It was not closed. Vinay, was playing with his friends in the open field, he tripped and fell into the pit - hole. The other boys playing with him immediately informed his parents. His father who is a farmer rushed to his child’s rescue. Local administration employees also reached the spot and the Army was called in from Sagar. The rescue operation lasted six hours during which the boy was heard moaning. Though he was rescued but could not survive. He was declared dead due to asphyxiation when he was taken to the district hospital.
A huge crowd had gathered around the hole to watch the replay of what turned out to be a tragic event. Local officials could not keep the crowds away and this also led to the soil subsiding and entering the hole. The rescue team managed to reach the boy by digging a parallel hole six feet away from the one into which Vinay had fallen and then through a horizontal shaft. Eyewitnesses said the boy was alive when he was brought out, but his heart gave out within minutes.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
CS of MP, Bihar and 7 other states to appear before Supreme court on ICDS case
Landmark Supreme Court order on ICDS: On December 13, the Supreme Court issued a landmark interim order on the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), the only Central Government scheme for young children and infants. The Court has ordered Chief Secretaries of many states to appear personally before the court to explain why they have not implemented the Court's earlier orders on the ICDS. In that context Chief Secretaries of the State of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh shall appear personally to explain why the orders of this Court requiring the full implementation of the ICDS scheme were not obeyed. This is one of the Court's most positive orders in the 'Right to Food' case since it was initiated in 2001.
For more info please contact www.righttofoodindia.org
For more info please contact www.righttofoodindia.org
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Missing girls in Madhya Pradesh
Letter to the Hoot: Recent articles in the media have tried to give visibility to an issue which is prevalent yet neglected.
Female foeticide and infanticide is not a new phenomenon, but debate on it is growing. Stories from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat get space in media, which is genuine as they have the lowest child sex ratio in the country. A few months back the news channel Sahara Samay had undertaken some sting operation on nursing homes in states including Madhya Pradesh which were illegally undertaking use of pre natal diagnostic technique for purpose of sex determination of the foetus, banned as per PC & PNDT Act. Some NGOs had filed the first public interest litigation in the state on the issue, which was covered by newspapers like Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Pioneer and Rajya Ki Nai Dunia.
This children’s day there was a first lead story in Dainik Bhaskar from Morena, a district in the state of Madhya Pradesh which has the lowest sex ratio in the state i.e. 837 girls per 1000 boys. The story helped to raise concern on the declining sex ratio in the state, which remains unnoticed by many decisionmakers and media. The story did bring out the focus on the issue of female infanticide prevalent in our society. It pegged the child sex ratio in some parts of the district as 400 girls per 1000 boys. Though statisticians may debate this, but fact of the matter is that girls are being knowingly killed , which still remains unnoticed by many. That story which was call to action and prompted many others to follow.
Dainik Jagran another leading daily in the state wrote an editorial on the issue, which was much needed. Following this there was a recent article in the Hindi magazine Maya by Dr Manohar Agnani. He has being a front runner in raising concern on the issue of female foeticide and in his article points out that it is not only Morena but is prevalent in other districts of the state too. He talks of a village in the district Shivpuri which may have sex ratio as low as 600/ 1000. He adds that time has come that we start talk about the solutions. It may be pertinent to mention about Dr Manohar Agnani’s recent book on female foeticide. It has been titled as Missing Girls and was published by ‘Books for Change’.
Recent articles in media in the state have tried to give visibility to an issue which is prevalent yet wilfully neglected by us. These stories should be a call to people within media, civil society and all of us who feel pained to convert this into a sustained and regular concern feeding media with needed evidence and stories which are newsy and backed by substance to make sure that not only people who make policies but society as a whole rises to put a stop to this killing of girls. This may be just one way to raise concern by engaging media though the solution still lies within all of us.
Anil Gulati
Bhopal.
Female foeticide and infanticide is not a new phenomenon, but debate on it is growing. Stories from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat get space in media, which is genuine as they have the lowest child sex ratio in the country. A few months back the news channel Sahara Samay had undertaken some sting operation on nursing homes in states including Madhya Pradesh which were illegally undertaking use of pre natal diagnostic technique for purpose of sex determination of the foetus, banned as per PC & PNDT Act. Some NGOs had filed the first public interest litigation in the state on the issue, which was covered by newspapers like Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Pioneer and Rajya Ki Nai Dunia.
This children’s day there was a first lead story in Dainik Bhaskar from Morena, a district in the state of Madhya Pradesh which has the lowest sex ratio in the state i.e. 837 girls per 1000 boys. The story helped to raise concern on the declining sex ratio in the state, which remains unnoticed by many decisionmakers and media. The story did bring out the focus on the issue of female infanticide prevalent in our society. It pegged the child sex ratio in some parts of the district as 400 girls per 1000 boys. Though statisticians may debate this, but fact of the matter is that girls are being knowingly killed , which still remains unnoticed by many. That story which was call to action and prompted many others to follow.
Dainik Jagran another leading daily in the state wrote an editorial on the issue, which was much needed. Following this there was a recent article in the Hindi magazine Maya by Dr Manohar Agnani. He has being a front runner in raising concern on the issue of female foeticide and in his article points out that it is not only Morena but is prevalent in other districts of the state too. He talks of a village in the district Shivpuri which may have sex ratio as low as 600/ 1000. He adds that time has come that we start talk about the solutions. It may be pertinent to mention about Dr Manohar Agnani’s recent book on female foeticide. It has been titled as Missing Girls and was published by ‘Books for Change’.
Recent articles in media in the state have tried to give visibility to an issue which is prevalent yet wilfully neglected by us. These stories should be a call to people within media, civil society and all of us who feel pained to convert this into a sustained and regular concern feeding media with needed evidence and stories which are newsy and backed by substance to make sure that not only people who make policies but society as a whole rises to put a stop to this killing of girls. This may be just one way to raise concern by engaging media though the solution still lies within all of us.
Anil Gulati
Bhopal.
Victims Of Meerut's Hashimpura Killings: Brutalised, But Not Broken
By Harsh Mander
19 December, 2006
HindustanTimes.com
The police bullet pierced through his shoulder, stunning him with pain. If it had entered his body just a few inches lower, he would have died, like the forty other young men that the constables had bundled into the truck with him. They took him for dead, throwing him into the canal. Zulfikar was then 17 years old.
A few hours earlier, constables of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) had surrounded Hashimpura, a working class and predominantly Muslim colony of factory workers and weavers in Meerut. It was the evening of May 22, 1987, and the city was still smouldering with the fires of more than a month of embittered and brutal rioting, that had left many slain by police bullets and burning alive, hundreds of homes, factories, shops and vehicles gutted, and people of both communities convulsed with sullen hate and anger.
The PAC forced all the residents of Hashimpura out of their homes onto the road, and searched their homes, randomly smashing their furniture and valuables. It was the sacred month of Ramzan, and most were still observing the ritual fasting as they tensely cowered for hours outside their homes. Almost all the able-bodied men, totalling 324 according to official records, all Muslim, were arrested and crowded into police trucks. They were first driven to police lock-ups, where they were beaten with police batons. They were then shifted to jails, where they were attacked
by prisoners, leaving five dead.
In Hashimpura, after the strong able-bodied men were arrested and driven away, nearly 50 among the teenaged and old men who remained behind were then rounded up by the PAC constables into a yellow truck. Many of their loved ones wailed as they were driven away. Yet, none dreamed that this would be the last time that they would see most of them alive.
Zulfikar and others thought that they too would be driven to the police station. They panicked when the truck instead began to drive them out of the city; they shouted hopelessly but there were none to heed their cries in the shrouds of curfew. The truck rumbled to a halt more than an hour later near the banks of the Upper Ganga Canal in Muradnagar, Ghaziabad. By then, the sun had set. The terrified men packed in the truck still did not know what the men in khaki planned for them.
The man nearest the edge was first pulled down, and the sound of rifle-fire echoed through the uneasy silence; he fell, and his body was dragged to the canal and thrown in. A second man was then pulled down, and met the same fate. Zulfikar was the third. The bullet passed through his shoulder; he too collapsed, but was alive. He held his breath, and the constables took him for dead, and flung him also into the canal. He floated briefly, but soon found himself tangled in some weeds, which he grabbed and silently waited with intense foreboding, blood flowing from his bullet wound into the water.
By then, the men in the truck comprehended the terrible truth of what was happening, and they raised a great uproar. The constables panicked, and changed track. They mounted the truck and opened fire blindly, killing at least half the men there. They dragged out the bodies and threw them into the canal. The remaining men fell silent in cold terror, recalling their God and those they loved, certain now that they would not escape alive.
Zulfikar listened as the truck finally drove away. He came to know later that they then drove to the Hindon Canal, and completed the massacre of the remaining men. Of the nearly 50 men who the PAC picked up, only six survived. A policeman later testified to seeing the blood-stained PAC truck enter the premises of the camp of the PAC.
Zulkifar finally pulled himself out of the canal an hour later, and hid in a urinal. He had to continue his fast amid the stench of urine and his throbbing shoulder the next 24 hours, until he felt it was safe to slink to the home of a relative the next night. Days later, he took a bus to the home of Syed Shahabuddin, MP, in Delhi, and together they broke the story of the massacre in a press conference to a (briefly) outraged world.
Meanwhile, many bodies were found floating in the canal. The Superintendent of Police, Ghaziabad, VN Rai, insisted on filing police complaints, even though the top political and police leadership reportedly wanted to suppress the story for fear of a rebellion in the forces. In 1988, the state government directed the Crime Branch Central Investigation Department (CBCID) to investigate, but its report, submitted six years later in 1994, was never made public, and no charges were initially framed.
However, the survivors and members of the families of those killed moved the Supreme Court in 1995 to make the report public and to prosecute those indicted in it. The court refused to intervene, and instead asked the petitioners to approach the High Court. The case remains unresolved in the High Court, but the state government finally bowed to pressure in 1996 by
filing criminal chargesheets against 19 PAC personnel. Not a single senior official is included in the chargesheet. Even the 19 of the accused from the lower ranks of the PAC were not arrested, despite 23 non-bailable arrest warrants. They were in active service, but the government pleaded that they were 'absconding' throughout!
Ultimately, rights activist Iqbal Ansari and relatives of those slaughtered applied to the Supreme Court to transfer the case, in the interests of justice, from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, which it ordered in September 2002. More years were allowed to pass over the wrangle of which government should appoint the special public prosecutor. The case continued to be adjourned on technical grounds, enabled by a reluctant public prosecutor appointed by the Uttar Pradesh government. Human rights lawyers Vrinda Grover and Rebecca John took up the reins as their advocates.
It was finally in May 2006, 19 years almost to the day after the massacre, that charges were finally framed against the accused. Three of the accused have died, the remaining 16 appear in every hearing in the cramped untidy Tis Hazari courtroom and listen tensely to the statements of the survivors - but continue in active service. A large number of residents of Hashimpura crowd the courtroom. All working class people, many widowed and aged, unsupported by any organisation, gather money from their own savings for travel for every court hearing, only to give wordless strength to each other as they speak out their harrowing truths in court.
Zulfikar, now 36, knows that the battle in the courts will be arduous. Yet, he still longs above all for justice. "Those who did this zulm must be punished. We do not want our children to see such a day again. It is for this that we fight." Some fear that they may still lose the case, but their lawyer Vrinda Grover counters, "The survivors and their families have already won. By their brave resolute epic fight. By bringing 16 PAC men to court every hearing. If the case is dismissed, it is the country that will lose. But not them. They have already won."
Harsh Mander is the convenor of Aman Biradari, a people's campaign for secularism, peace and justice.
http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-mander191206.htm
19 December, 2006
HindustanTimes.com
The police bullet pierced through his shoulder, stunning him with pain. If it had entered his body just a few inches lower, he would have died, like the forty other young men that the constables had bundled into the truck with him. They took him for dead, throwing him into the canal. Zulfikar was then 17 years old.
A few hours earlier, constables of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) had surrounded Hashimpura, a working class and predominantly Muslim colony of factory workers and weavers in Meerut. It was the evening of May 22, 1987, and the city was still smouldering with the fires of more than a month of embittered and brutal rioting, that had left many slain by police bullets and burning alive, hundreds of homes, factories, shops and vehicles gutted, and people of both communities convulsed with sullen hate and anger.
The PAC forced all the residents of Hashimpura out of their homes onto the road, and searched their homes, randomly smashing their furniture and valuables. It was the sacred month of Ramzan, and most were still observing the ritual fasting as they tensely cowered for hours outside their homes. Almost all the able-bodied men, totalling 324 according to official records, all Muslim, were arrested and crowded into police trucks. They were first driven to police lock-ups, where they were beaten with police batons. They were then shifted to jails, where they were attacked
by prisoners, leaving five dead.
In Hashimpura, after the strong able-bodied men were arrested and driven away, nearly 50 among the teenaged and old men who remained behind were then rounded up by the PAC constables into a yellow truck. Many of their loved ones wailed as they were driven away. Yet, none dreamed that this would be the last time that they would see most of them alive.
Zulfikar and others thought that they too would be driven to the police station. They panicked when the truck instead began to drive them out of the city; they shouted hopelessly but there were none to heed their cries in the shrouds of curfew. The truck rumbled to a halt more than an hour later near the banks of the Upper Ganga Canal in Muradnagar, Ghaziabad. By then, the sun had set. The terrified men packed in the truck still did not know what the men in khaki planned for them.
The man nearest the edge was first pulled down, and the sound of rifle-fire echoed through the uneasy silence; he fell, and his body was dragged to the canal and thrown in. A second man was then pulled down, and met the same fate. Zulfikar was the third. The bullet passed through his shoulder; he too collapsed, but was alive. He held his breath, and the constables took him for dead, and flung him also into the canal. He floated briefly, but soon found himself tangled in some weeds, which he grabbed and silently waited with intense foreboding, blood flowing from his bullet wound into the water.
By then, the men in the truck comprehended the terrible truth of what was happening, and they raised a great uproar. The constables panicked, and changed track. They mounted the truck and opened fire blindly, killing at least half the men there. They dragged out the bodies and threw them into the canal. The remaining men fell silent in cold terror, recalling their God and those they loved, certain now that they would not escape alive.
Zulfikar listened as the truck finally drove away. He came to know later that they then drove to the Hindon Canal, and completed the massacre of the remaining men. Of the nearly 50 men who the PAC picked up, only six survived. A policeman later testified to seeing the blood-stained PAC truck enter the premises of the camp of the PAC.
Zulkifar finally pulled himself out of the canal an hour later, and hid in a urinal. He had to continue his fast amid the stench of urine and his throbbing shoulder the next 24 hours, until he felt it was safe to slink to the home of a relative the next night. Days later, he took a bus to the home of Syed Shahabuddin, MP, in Delhi, and together they broke the story of the massacre in a press conference to a (briefly) outraged world.
Meanwhile, many bodies were found floating in the canal. The Superintendent of Police, Ghaziabad, VN Rai, insisted on filing police complaints, even though the top political and police leadership reportedly wanted to suppress the story for fear of a rebellion in the forces. In 1988, the state government directed the Crime Branch Central Investigation Department (CBCID) to investigate, but its report, submitted six years later in 1994, was never made public, and no charges were initially framed.
However, the survivors and members of the families of those killed moved the Supreme Court in 1995 to make the report public and to prosecute those indicted in it. The court refused to intervene, and instead asked the petitioners to approach the High Court. The case remains unresolved in the High Court, but the state government finally bowed to pressure in 1996 by
filing criminal chargesheets against 19 PAC personnel. Not a single senior official is included in the chargesheet. Even the 19 of the accused from the lower ranks of the PAC were not arrested, despite 23 non-bailable arrest warrants. They were in active service, but the government pleaded that they were 'absconding' throughout!
Ultimately, rights activist Iqbal Ansari and relatives of those slaughtered applied to the Supreme Court to transfer the case, in the interests of justice, from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, which it ordered in September 2002. More years were allowed to pass over the wrangle of which government should appoint the special public prosecutor. The case continued to be adjourned on technical grounds, enabled by a reluctant public prosecutor appointed by the Uttar Pradesh government. Human rights lawyers Vrinda Grover and Rebecca John took up the reins as their advocates.
It was finally in May 2006, 19 years almost to the day after the massacre, that charges were finally framed against the accused. Three of the accused have died, the remaining 16 appear in every hearing in the cramped untidy Tis Hazari courtroom and listen tensely to the statements of the survivors - but continue in active service. A large number of residents of Hashimpura crowd the courtroom. All working class people, many widowed and aged, unsupported by any organisation, gather money from their own savings for travel for every court hearing, only to give wordless strength to each other as they speak out their harrowing truths in court.
Zulfikar, now 36, knows that the battle in the courts will be arduous. Yet, he still longs above all for justice. "Those who did this zulm must be punished. We do not want our children to see such a day again. It is for this that we fight." Some fear that they may still lose the case, but their lawyer Vrinda Grover counters, "The survivors and their families have already won. By their brave resolute epic fight. By bringing 16 PAC men to court every hearing. If the case is dismissed, it is the country that will lose. But not them. They have already won."
Harsh Mander is the convenor of Aman Biradari, a people's campaign for secularism, peace and justice.
http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-mander191206.htm
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Who cares ? - 1739 infants die unnoticed in katni
This was published in Dainik Jagran in Katni. As our endeavour to make it visible we have scanned it and publishing it at our blog.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Little fingers which used to pick rags from dustbin are learning to write
By Anil Gulati
25 October, 2006Countercurrents.org
Just a few months’ back Divya, Madhu and Asmita were strolling in the lanes of Bhopal searching for polybags from the city dustbins. It is like character of story on the lives of girls who live in the slums near Bhopal station. But fortunately today, all three are in school.
Divya, one of them is ten years old. She is studying in the first class of the primary school at Bajaria, a place near Bhopal railway station. Though, she and many like her call it as ‘Chotta habibya school’, in their own words. It is her first year at school; she never had been to school earlier. Thanks to the efforts of Renu, a social worker with a non governmental organisation, which runs the child welfare center for working (street) children who had motivated girls like Divya and her parents to send her to school.
Divya is eldest of her five brother and sisters. Few days back when her mother delivered her third sister she cried, probably it was her way of expressing. May be she did not wanted her sister to suffer as she did?. Divya is not alone, Madhu is her class mate. She used to pick rags and earn for her family. Both of them are in school today. School has admitted them in the lower class not as per their age but Renu, the social worker has better hopes. She optimistically shares that ‘We are working with them and both of them are doing well in studies, may be school will take them to higher classes soon’.
But Priya was not lucky as both of them. She was in school and was doing well in studies. She dropped out when her mother died, as had developed some complications during delivery. Since then she is at home and is taking care of her siblings. She loves to come to the centre as it gives her some enjoyment, and also can meet some of her old friends. There are many like hers who are either working or supporting their families and are taking care of their siblings while their parents work. Life is not at all easy. In the state of Madhya Pradesh in India, more than two lakhs girls are either out of school or have dropped out at elementary level. Though state is doing their bit which when complemented by the efforts of non governmental organizations can help many like Divya and Madhu to go to school which helps add some colour on to the canvass of their lives.
These efforts might be small and localized by one non governmental organisation in Bhopal. But it is not in Bhopal alone efforts of getting girls into school are being undertaken by many civil society organizations and states all over India. May be time has come to strengthen and replicate efforts, at a pace much faster then the present if we wish to accomplish the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) number two and three which state that we need to ensure that all girls and boys get a complete course of primary schooling by 2015 and eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015. These goals are part of the blue print agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions.
(All views expressed in this article are personal opinion of the contributor)
Contact anilgulati5@gmail.com
25 October, 2006Countercurrents.org
Just a few months’ back Divya, Madhu and Asmita were strolling in the lanes of Bhopal searching for polybags from the city dustbins. It is like character of story on the lives of girls who live in the slums near Bhopal station. But fortunately today, all three are in school.
Divya, one of them is ten years old. She is studying in the first class of the primary school at Bajaria, a place near Bhopal railway station. Though, she and many like her call it as ‘Chotta habibya school’, in their own words. It is her first year at school; she never had been to school earlier. Thanks to the efforts of Renu, a social worker with a non governmental organisation, which runs the child welfare center for working (street) children who had motivated girls like Divya and her parents to send her to school.
Divya is eldest of her five brother and sisters. Few days back when her mother delivered her third sister she cried, probably it was her way of expressing. May be she did not wanted her sister to suffer as she did?. Divya is not alone, Madhu is her class mate. She used to pick rags and earn for her family. Both of them are in school today. School has admitted them in the lower class not as per their age but Renu, the social worker has better hopes. She optimistically shares that ‘We are working with them and both of them are doing well in studies, may be school will take them to higher classes soon’.
But Priya was not lucky as both of them. She was in school and was doing well in studies. She dropped out when her mother died, as had developed some complications during delivery. Since then she is at home and is taking care of her siblings. She loves to come to the centre as it gives her some enjoyment, and also can meet some of her old friends. There are many like hers who are either working or supporting their families and are taking care of their siblings while their parents work. Life is not at all easy. In the state of Madhya Pradesh in India, more than two lakhs girls are either out of school or have dropped out at elementary level. Though state is doing their bit which when complemented by the efforts of non governmental organizations can help many like Divya and Madhu to go to school which helps add some colour on to the canvass of their lives.
These efforts might be small and localized by one non governmental organisation in Bhopal. But it is not in Bhopal alone efforts of getting girls into school are being undertaken by many civil society organizations and states all over India. May be time has come to strengthen and replicate efforts, at a pace much faster then the present if we wish to accomplish the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) number two and three which state that we need to ensure that all girls and boys get a complete course of primary schooling by 2015 and eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015. These goals are part of the blue print agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions.
(All views expressed in this article are personal opinion of the contributor)
Contact anilgulati5@gmail.com
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