Lokpal 'shor' in Parliament

The year 2011 ended with a series of political drama climaxing both at the lower and upper house of the parliament. 2011 will be remembered for Anna Hazare and his anti corruption crusade, which looks like it will take a few more cabinet wickets in Anna’s words.

The same political class bragging about parliamentary supremacy forgot to wear the hat of a true parliamentarian when debating about anti corruption bill (Lokpal) at where our constitution was formulated. Lok Sabha was dominated by the Congress power house, where I could only listen ‘ayes have it, ayes have it, the amendments are negative.’ When the bill was finally deferred because the debate did not conclude in the Rajya Sabha, we once again saw politicians passing the buck on most of the contentious issues this country has faced.

Congress did not agree to vote as there were too many amendments to look into. BJP did not agree on the Lok Sabha version of the bill as it was weak on various fronts such as state autonomy on Lokayukta, CBI not being independent, selection and dismissal of core members of anti corruption panel. Left had similar outlook as BJP on the bill, and outright rejected playing into the hands of Anna’s team and its supporters. SP, BSP, RJD wanted more time to think on the bill, and even this time ‘reservations’ was their political agenda. TMC wanted state autonomy in formation of Lokayukta.

The entire country knew the differences political parties had on the Lokpal, and was also reflected in the dissent note, but none decided to sort out the issue outside the parliament, and pass the bill. It is no brainer that we should not position politicians on a higher moral ground, their primary objective is to sustain their political goals, and sadly did not sync with what country wanted on the anti corruption bill.

This is not the first time that a bill did not pass in the Rajya Sabha, but Lokpal bill debate also showed the art of deferring the bill mainly by the Congress. CNN IBN predicted how RJD and Congress would disrupt the session, and not conclude the passage of bill. Congress clearly had no political will to lose the vote, re look at the bill and start afresh. The country surely does not want ‘a’ or ‘b’ version of the bill. But, the Home Minister Chidambaram made it clear how desperate Congress were to keep their bill safe and take up in the Budget session in the year 2012. Surely, 187 amendments cannot be looked into with pressure of time, but the number is exaggerated. TMC minister Derek made it clear that it is only the clause and sub clauses make the number look high, and in fact should not consume much time. Even if the amendments were too many, how could a political party in Government could not extend the session when the entire house wanted to sit through the passage of the bill?

Many would not agree on Anna’s tactics on state elections by agitating against political parties who do not support strong anti corruption law. But, the idea and the effort to challenge the mighty political party are commendable. We might argue on a good alternative political party in the country, but that does not stop people to ask questions, and demand a respectable law by the same political class.

Travel I had to..

Is this the same t-shirt and cotton trouser I use every time I travel? I make sure my slippers are always new. I can bet, my look on the face is the same whenever I travel, thinking of catching the train on time, number of pages I will read, kind of passengers I am bound to be with, and praying that there no new born babies !

Travelling, without fail brings you all those memories, good and bad, and one of the rarest of times when you are completely with your inner self, away from the routine life. It is just very peaceful.

This time too the destination is Howrah in Kolkata, but I have never travelled in this train before, geared with color often used by soldiers to fight in jungles. My stomach is churning and I feel low on blood pressure, this time I don’t have to fight with the vendor for the change to buy a mineral water and banana juice. Sugar makes you firm on your legs. I never quite understand the reason behind formals and cosmetics especially when you have to spend next 48 hours with the same set of people.

I find my berth after some memory lapse on how to read the seat numbers on a train. The lady beside me could not clearly pronounce words that she spoke, it sounded cute though. She was short, fat, with layers of cheeks. Her husband sat opposite to her, no different than how she looked. They could be misunderstood as siblings to an unknown. Her brother in mid 30’s with short trimmed hair wore a half sleeve shirt, comfortable cotton trouser and looked confident and concerned. His missing tooth in the front reminded me of that character from the movie Hangover. He laughed to glory without any hesitation of displaying the missing tooth. I was still observing my co-passengers, and a young lady accompanied with another young lady and a guy enters trying to settle down. The elder one guides her younger sister that her berth is at the top, and the guy pitches in with, “that is for sleeping, and she can sit down.” This was followed by that silent stare which echoed, “Why don’t you just shut up or I will kick you out of my life, my house, and you will die alone.” He obliged and kept shut, just trying his best to arrange her luggage, recharge the battery of younger ones mobile and wish her the best for the journey. She was yet to celebrate her 20th birthday. She had a dusky look, wore a red t shirt, a gold chain, red nail polish, maroon color handbag.

As we all settled down, I was happy to find that meals were included in the ticket fare, what kicked me was two litre of mineral water also a part of the fare. A Bengali co-passenger was quick in reminding me that I have paid Rs 500 more than the
usual rate of the ticket, he looked unsure if this excess cost was value driven.

I doubt if cancer inside her mouth was the reason behind those bulging cheeks. But, cancer was purely a case of ill luck for her. She was treated for a minor lump with a surgery, and a year later it developed into something gruesome. This time she was diagnosed with cancer. Her brother argued “I told you so,” and the famous doctor’s son was at fault. They were happy that the reports indicated her being normal and it was just a matter of time that she found peace in her mind. We all agreed to keep doctors at arms length and have a healthy lifestyle to avoid diseases.

Food served did not resemble with the lifestyle we agreed earlier. It was cold, and minutes away from being stale. Though we expressed our disappointment, we all relished gulab jamuns, silently waiting for it in another meal.

Young lady was a professional dancer, with limited interest in academics. She argued, fashion designing is her field, and since she did not fetch good score in her 12th, she was in the right path. Fashion designing was more to do with what you wear than what you read, she said. Peer pressure was evident in how she replied to all those calls, and was tired of explaining people to stop intruding in her life of fashion designing and low scores. I wonder what she thought before glancing through the chapter named ‘haraami’ from the book of short stories I was reading.

He was currently not working; he felt over worked after spending 25 years in United States and largely worked with Indian giant Tata’s. He sounded one of those caring person, a family man every girl somewhere dreams of. He did not allow her to eat spicy food, as it might affect the wound inside her mouth, also requested for less spicy vegetarian food. He was pensive relating one year average salary for a java developer in Bangalore to just three months salary in States, he hoped her daughter would do something meaningful before she was married. Since he lived in one of the tier-II cities, he planned to venture in real estate business, supplying raw materials to builders.

This was the first time I experienced flush working in the toilets of train. Defecating was less concerning this time; I knew I don’t have to sit on the heaps of dry waste stuck on the sides of the platform. This one had a lid at the bottom of the structure, which was supported by push buttons operated with and without electricity. The lid made way for all the waste cleaned with the pressure of the water, and closed after running for around 30 seconds. The noise created by the pressure of the water hitting the metal surface sounded like an alarm for the next passenger ready to occupy. I was also impressed with the huge mirror, and no hand made arts of cheap sex and sentences on the walls of the bathroom.

You will always find Bengali’s very loud in their ideas on politics and policies, most of them learn the art during their academic years in colleges. Though it took more than 30 years to allow a new Bengali woman and a new party to govern them, the change came, and everybody said, “We should give others a chance.” Time will say if it is right, but the moment just seems right for the change. Here we were discussing on how intelligence agencies have vested interest in online giants like Google and others. It’s an open platform of millions of database, and you can track possibly everything that sits inside those invisible wires like you can physically navigate in one of your libraries. Developing countries like India meant that many mistakes in the process of becoming developed leaving a good section of society to play the catch up game.

Here she was, trying to smell fresh at the odd hours of the day. Her maroon color bag surely had deodorants which I can smell even now. It is so much easy to take bath, and change your dress. But, all what matters is how when smells. She wanted to be lenient on those feedback forms on food and service, but she did write 100 words on what she wants to eat.

I could not complete my book of short stories on Mumbai, and I was approaching my destination, only to catch another train at ten past midnight. I bet I still had the same look on the face; I was getting ready to wait and travel. I was enjoying my time, the only time when I had not spent a single penny inside the train on food items. But, the young lady, with fashion and no tension on her head firstly gave Rs 20 to the food attendant; I too had to pay the same. This was followed by Rs 100 to the cleaning staff; I savored my moment by giving Rs 10. I did not have the courage to look at them, I think they waited. But I had to travel for another 12 hours.

Underpaid..

I am waiting at Howrah railway station in Kolkata, on my way to home, whish is also nicknamed as the “Chicken’s neck.” Got two newspapers to read, this time too the headline is about the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha demanding a separate state, two of their party members were killed in the protest, and they have called for an indefinite strike.

I am done with newspapers, and reading a book, the only time I get disturbed is by the people of all ages begging for money. I have not yet refused anyone, but I am running out of patience and also the coins. Giving away coins shapes my wallet, in a way it does not poke the bone of my butt. I am sitting along with other passengers; with a huge center stage; only to be occupied by a few street performers. Clattering by two children draws our attention, she must be using the same plate to eat; it is old, out of shape and no more in silver.

We have heard stories of non performance of Indian sportsmen in gymnastics and complain we don’t start at the right age. These two kids, around eight years old and her partner of almost half her age are setting the stage to perform. They hurriedly unfurl a plate, a saucer like utensil, two hats and an iron ring. As kids, we use to use such iron rings as wheels supported by a stick with a hook at the end. An arm length rope is stitched at the tip of the hat, and the boy rotates his head to make the rope go a full circle a number of times. He has a make up done to equalize their not so attractive dress. A four year old wears a black color moustache with the tip pointing towards the heaven, it looks funny, surely holds our attention. Girl shows her skill artistically, bending her body, and is able to support her weight with her left foot when she lands, and the boy rolls over on his head, lands trembling on his feet, reminding us of our childhood days when the playgrounds looked like a sea of grass. After a couple of bending and rolling, it is the time for the highlight show.

This time the iron ring comes handy; she flexes her hands, her hips, her legs, bends her knees and comes out a number of times through the ring. Now both aim to pass through that ring. Girl lies on her stomach, positions the ring on her hip, and instructs the boy to enter the ring. He crawls facing the back of her neck. At first attempt he hits his nose with the elastic band of her skirt, he retreads touching his nose with eyes closed, thinking what went wrong. All of us smile, but wanting him to succeed the second time. He tries again, this time his head gets stuck, between the ring and part of her butt. Her butt looks undernourished to the naked eye; does not have the privilege of a mid-day meal, and even if she did, her fortune that she was not in Orissa. He tries the third time now facing to his right, after a lot of struggle he is able to pass his shoulders, and his hip.

The entire show does not even last two minutes, but is able to bring a smile to dull looking faces. He gets a one rupee coin from me, one tenth of his demand, hurries towards all the passengers and runs to entertain the next group.

Cont..Equality inequality..

The question of finding a solution to create a perfect balance between rich and the poor, and the creation of a Utopian state lies in the sensibility and morality of world leaders. Unfortunately, politicians, and the regulatory bodies like IMF, World Bank, and others have a history of implementing myopic policies that only widen the gap further.


To have an objective view of state of affairs, and also to question what is the responsibility of the state, it is important to understand how free trade developed over centuries, and so called globalization has turned the world upside down. We have witnessed a number of activists being brutal about the western policies, and the rise of neo-liberalism. Eduardo Galeno writes free trade was the alibi all Europe used while enriching itself selling human flesh in the slave trade; United States brandished free trade to oblige many Latin American countries to accept its exports, loans, and military dictatorship. In the name of free trade, India was reduced to worst penury.


The question is, how much of globalization benefits the nation, and its surroundings, and are the steps taken in the name of globalization help remove the inequality that it advocates. With the advent of free trade, money has ruled the state of affairs, and policies are driven quantitatively. The standard of living has surely improved over the centuries with the GDP and GNP running in billions of dollars. But, at the same time poverty and inequality also has risen in an unprecedented way. The export based globalization is best suited for people who can afford, and according to United Nations Development Programme, ten richest men on the planet, own wealth equivalent to the value of the total production of fifty countries.


Though it is not entirely wrong to accumulate wealth, but criminal if state policies exploit the poor to create a few rich men. In the late sixties World Bank promoted policies encouraging export based agriculture, and thus marginalizing the farmers, spoiling the fertility of the soil and moreover gave rise to artificial medicines. It obviously destroyed agrarian economies.


It is an irony that countries advocating peace now are also the largest dealers in arm trades. African nations was downgraded by prejudiced visions of world leaders, who made them debt serviced nations by supplying weapons in abundance, and gradually exploited them. The largest portions of African budgets go toward serving loans from the developed world. Loans have to be repaid in dollars through exports, and with the fall of the value of the indigenous currency, the real value of the exports decline. It should not come as a surprise why China has interest in investing in Africa.


Let us look at the ones who speak high of inequality with globalization as a key solution. These are United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China who incidentally exercise vetoes in the UN Security council. Ironically, these are also top five arm producers. Between 1985 and 1989, Soviet Union sold $66 billion worth of arms, US sold $53 billion, France $16 billion, Britain $8 billion and China $7 billion. It has been in ascending order since then. Apart from selling weapons, they have even exercised it, United States bombing poorest neighborhood in Panama City, later flattening Iraq, and Russia punished Chechnya’s cries for Independence and France bombed the South Pacific with its nuclear tests.


What actually are the solutions to remove inequality in its absolute sense, and not driven by the culture of consumerism initiated by technology driven by European world, and now visible all across. Globalization has changed the social fabric of our very existence by diminishing the qualitative aspect of human development. Tax free social groups, co-operatives, reducing our currency dependency on European/Christian value system should be tried.

Equality inequality..

What actually is an inclusive sector or rather is there any sector termed like that? The term inclusive growth is more of a hypothesis on which concepts like privatization or public sector interference are sold.


Even if we sit and understand the term ‘inclusive’, we will realize that it entails sustained growth based on sectors that can leverage a major portion of a country’s population, through not only employment but a productive one too. Any inclusive growth promises to remove poverty in its absolute sense, and is a pro-poor policy. In a nutshell, it talks about equality, and that too not wholly measured on the income, but even assets. Now, let us ponder of a country that is an inclusive growth country or is there any? Even if we take Germany who has the highest population in European Union, where GDP runs in trillions, has seen a steady rise in poverty in last two decades.


What is India’s solution to inequality? If we stick to inclusive growth, agriculture which still provides employment to around 60 percent of India’s population has undergone changes in terms of assets distribution. More than 80 percent of Indian farmers are marginalized. Without doubt it could be said that marginalized farmers, people from unorganized sectors who were once farmers, form a major part of more than 800 million poor people of India.


Inclusive growth is evident in the financial sector of India with micro-finance and insurance tapping rural markets. But, even micro-finance pioneered by Grameen Bank have faced challenges in the second phase with easy credit systems, and identifying ‘defaulters’ to reach millions of poor. In India, micro-finance concepts are sold to remove income inequality by granting easy to pay loans, and less collateral, but have found tightening the noose in recent times.


Public sector control on the economies is no guarantee for less inequality, simply due to the lack of resources to channelize the funds in the direction of mass improvement in terms of income and assets. Privatization means the exploitation of resources, and creation of wealth among few individuals. Disparity I think will always prevail with the current development scenarios.


Information technology which boasts of creating employment, and also puts pressure on education system in India has a bleak future. If India truly wants information technology to reduce income gaps, then product innovation is the key. India has to go the Israel’s way.


Sadly, our idea of working towards equality has been an institutional failure. Logic says, agriculture is the sector through which inclusive growth is possible. Pace and pattern which are the key to the meaning of inclusive growth is missing in India.

Audio Interview- Role Play

Audio interview is a role-play exercise where Charu Sharma has acted as Paromita Vohra. The interview is about the change in the documentary film making in India and few challenges faced.

English Language in Government Schools

Students have a hard time communicating in English in Chintamani Taluk of Karnataka. “English an international language”, said Srikanth Reddy, a student of Government High School in Anoor, but learning English language is a problem to the students. Anoor is one of the 397 villages in Chintamani Taluk of Karnataka. Students in this taluk have an option to learn all subjects in English only from standard eight onwards. “Chintamani is educationally black, in rural side students have difficulty in learning English”, said Narayan Swamy, Principal of Anoor Government High School.

English language problem extends to the Chintamani town too where only four Government High Schools impart English education. 19 other Government high schools are located in rural side and only teach in Kannada. Around 8,000 students study in Government High Schools in this Taluk. Education Coordinator S. Apajireddy said, it divides the rural and urban people and emphasizes that lack of English education in the government schools are reflecting on the decreasing trend of admissions of around 10 percent every year. “Parents are not interested to send their children to government schools, all want private education because of English”, he said. English medium constitute only 32 percent of the students in Government Boys and Girls high School in Chintamani town. “This year our total strength is 1,152 students, only 400 studies in English”, said Subba Reddy, Principal of Government Girls High School.

Teaching them is one of the biggest challenges faced by the teachers. “Most of the children are aware of the alphabets only in the eighth standard”, said Jecintha G, English teacher. She also said that teachers should not be blamed on the failure of students to learn the language as not much importance is given at the primary level. There are more than 400 Lower and Primary High schools in Chintamani Taluk, students are taught in Kannada and have one subject as English Language introduced from 5th standard. This does not help the teachers in High Schools. “We are so confused on what to teach, should we teach them grammar or finish the portions or how to speak”, said Jecintha. Lack of qualified teachers is also another problem school face in this area. Mr. S. Janardhan, Principal of Government Boys High School said we only have 12 permanent faculties for around 1,400 students. Lack of English language in High school level extends to the Pre University Level too. Arts and Commerce sections are taught in Kannada in Government Boys and Girls High school in Chintamani Town. Teachers say students don’t want to opt for English as they don’t understand the medium properly.

Importance of English language to establish a career is understood by Government and society too. Government wants to expand the base of English Language students. “We are taking actions, different schemes like free mid day meals, free text books, free education are introduced”, said Manjunath K, Block Education Officer. The current steps taken by the government may attract students to join the school, but lot of work needs to be done to create a balance between English and the regional language.