RECENT MEASURES TAKEN BY GOVT ON RAILWAY SAFETY
In order to have communication and to deal with the situation arising out of foggy weather, Walkie Talkie VHF sets have been provided to guards and drivers of trains. Additionally, decision has been taken to provide Closed User Group (CUG) mobile phones to guards and drivers. A dedicated Mobile Train Radio Communication (MTRC) is also being progressively provided on important busy routes to start with for providing communication in running trains for drivers, guards, station masters, controls etc. to enhance safety in train operations.
LED signals have been provided at about 3400 stations on Indian Railways to improve visibility of signals. Flashing LED Tail Lamps on last vehicle of trains are provided in foggy weather.
Recent incidents indicated that the accidents occurred in high traffic density Automatic Signaling Territories due to human errors. Train Protection System, as a technical aid to drivers, is proposed to be progressively provided, to begin with in automatic signaling territories to mitigate this problem.
A pilot project for development of fog vision instrumentation was taken up by Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) Lucknow in association with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur under Technology Mission for Railway Safety (TMRS). Under this project, several experiments in the laboratory were carried out at IIT, Kanpur with technologies employing radar, thermal imager & CO2 laser in ‘Fog Chamber’. Project was closed due to its not being successful. Experiments have been conducted on Electric, Diesel locomotives and EMUs on Northern Railway for instance to the drivers but none of these have proven to be foolproof.
SECURITY FOR PASSENGERS
To provide better security to the traveling passengers, Indian Railways has taken various measures for enhancing the security of passengers. On an average, 1275 trains are escorted by Railway Protection Force (RPF) daily, in addition to escorting of about 2200 trains by Government Railway Police (GRP). Integrated Security scheme consisting of CCTV Surveillance system, access control system, personal and baggage screening system and bomb detection and disposal system has been finalized and the same is under implementation at 202 sensitive stations. Dog squads in Divisions and Zones are being augmented. Commando Training is being imparted to selected RPF staff. Steps have been taken to enhance the quality and content of the training of RPF. Under modernization scheme security gadgets are being procured and the weaponry is being upgraded for enhancing the striking capability of RPF. Regular coordination meetings are held with GRP and State Police at all levels to ensure proper registration and investigation of crime.
The number of crimes including theft of passengers’ belongings reported in running trains was, 7860 in the year 2007, 7946 in 2008, 8739 in 2009 and 146 in the month of January 2010.
Augmentation of strength and filling up of vacancies is a continuous exercise. The total existing strength of RPF is 69303. Additional strength of 973 has been created for which recruitment is completed. In addition, steps have been taken to fill up existing vacancies.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The goodness of neighbours
Over the past year, a cautious mix of sagacity and coherent strategy has helped Indian diplomacy orchestrate some significant successes in its neighbourhood. In this process, the foreign policy apparatus has succeeded in shattering some oft-held myths about India’s foreign policy in the region.
The West has often criticised India for being reluctant to promote democracy in its neighbourhood and for acquiescing to military dictatorships and half-baked democracies. 2009 was a good rebuttal to such criticisms. In Bangladesh, in the wake of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutiny, India quietly supported a shaken Awami League government to retain control of the regular armed forces and assert civilian supremacy. That the BDR mutiny was inspired by the Jamaat-e-Islami and the radical Islamic Chhatra Shibir, did not escape New Delhi eyes and timely support to the Sheikh Hasina government prevented yet another military (or paramilitary) takeover. Notwithstanding the fact that the predecessor—the interim military government—had been fairly co-operative, India had no hesitation in stating during Sheikh Hasina’s visit that a democratic Bangladesh was in its best interests. In Sri Lanka, in the wake of differences between the Sri Lankan government and the General Sarath Fonseka after the end of the war, it was widely reported that the Sri Lankan army was planning a coup. Colombo requested Indian assistance. India reportedly then mobilised its forces on the southern coast in a sign that it would not accept a coup against a democratically elected government and would intervene if required. Whatever happened next, the coup did not materialise.
Another common critique of Indian foreign policy is that it is pusillanimous and tight-fisted with its smaller neighbours, especially in issues such as distribution of water resources. Over the past year, this myth has been trounced as well. Witness for instance, the assurance to Bangladesh that its sensitivities on the Tipaimukh dam in Tripura will be accommodated. Or the recently announced readiness to review the 1950 Friendship treaty with Nepal. The $1 billion credit line to Bangladesh and the power transmission agreement are also signs of a more confident India that is generous with its neighbours.
Not being able to convert its soft power and bonhomie with friendly neighbours into security gains is a charge often levelled against South Block. But over the past two years, collaboration with Nepalese security services has substantially reduced the ISI and jihadi groups’ use of Nepal as a transit point for infiltration into India. More recently, Bangladesh detained and handed over leaders of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)—all successes that are signs of a stronger Indian state and better coordination between its security and foreign policies towards the neighbourhood.
Yet another common critique of Indian foreign policy is that it is not pragmatic enough. Although India’s Afghanistan policy is far more complicated than with its eastern neighbours, during the past year, it has been a picture of pragmatism at work (even if it wasn’t always deliberate). The tacit and cautious bet that Hamid Karzai would emerge the winner in a close presidential race paid off. Although taken aback by the electoral fraud allegations against Mr Karzai, New Delhi correctly calculated that he was well ahead of the other contenders and would win even if a run-off were to be held. By not commenting on the elections and by keeping a low profile, India gained tremendous goodwill with Kabul when Mr Karzai eventually won (and was endorsed by the very nations that openly doubted his legitimacy earlier).
Indian foreign policy has also been often criticised for being excessively hostage to the vicissitudes of domestic politics. Pakistan policy has especially been an example of this and sadly, not much progress has happened in this relationship to allay this criticism. It is undeniable that India’s options with Pakistan are among the toughest foreign policy choices that any nation faces in the world today. Linking or de-linking talks with terrorism seems to have little impact on the latter. And yet, the measured prudence displayed with other neighbours may be worthwhile in the Pakistan relationship as well. For instance, placing some “trial balloons” in the domestic media about Balochistan to gauge political plays and sentiments in the run-up to Sharm-el-Sheikh, could have pre-empted the controversy that followed the communique.
But there are signs that South Block is learning from its mistakes even on this count. Even as reports of border incursions by the Chinese mounted towards the end of 2009, the government’s remarks were in sharp contrast to the alarmism in the public discourse.
There are several possible explanations for these changes. At least one seems to be current political will, a commodity that has often been blamed for India’s foreign policy debacles. India’s economic rise, which its neighbours want to emulate, is another reason. Frequently successful efforts of late by friendly governments to call out and isolate pronounced anti-India elements within their countries’ polity has also helped break the cycle of rumours and distrust.
Challenges do remain. Promoting the cause of democracy without being interventionist means that India’s ability to restrain developments such as the post-poll excesses in Sri Lanka can hit the glass ceiling in the short-term. The reversals in the London conference mean that making Afghanistan policy excessively Karzai-centric may not yield dividends.
But what might the recent changes mean in the larger sense? The consistent patterns in the neighbourhood indicate that we may be moving towards a new South Asian doctrine in the process—”trust and security co-operation from neighbours would be rewarded by India with economic incentives and support to democracy”. New Delhi should continue this pattern in bilateral ties and complement it with bottom-up public diplomacy in neighbouring countries. But for now, South Block can afford to reflect and smile.
contributed by my good friend,
Raja Karthikeya
Researcher | International Security
Washington DC | 202 679 4010
The West has often criticised India for being reluctant to promote democracy in its neighbourhood and for acquiescing to military dictatorships and half-baked democracies. 2009 was a good rebuttal to such criticisms. In Bangladesh, in the wake of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutiny, India quietly supported a shaken Awami League government to retain control of the regular armed forces and assert civilian supremacy. That the BDR mutiny was inspired by the Jamaat-e-Islami and the radical Islamic Chhatra Shibir, did not escape New Delhi eyes and timely support to the Sheikh Hasina government prevented yet another military (or paramilitary) takeover. Notwithstanding the fact that the predecessor—the interim military government—had been fairly co-operative, India had no hesitation in stating during Sheikh Hasina’s visit that a democratic Bangladesh was in its best interests. In Sri Lanka, in the wake of differences between the Sri Lankan government and the General Sarath Fonseka after the end of the war, it was widely reported that the Sri Lankan army was planning a coup. Colombo requested Indian assistance. India reportedly then mobilised its forces on the southern coast in a sign that it would not accept a coup against a democratically elected government and would intervene if required. Whatever happened next, the coup did not materialise.
Another common critique of Indian foreign policy is that it is pusillanimous and tight-fisted with its smaller neighbours, especially in issues such as distribution of water resources. Over the past year, this myth has been trounced as well. Witness for instance, the assurance to Bangladesh that its sensitivities on the Tipaimukh dam in Tripura will be accommodated. Or the recently announced readiness to review the 1950 Friendship treaty with Nepal. The $1 billion credit line to Bangladesh and the power transmission agreement are also signs of a more confident India that is generous with its neighbours.
Not being able to convert its soft power and bonhomie with friendly neighbours into security gains is a charge often levelled against South Block. But over the past two years, collaboration with Nepalese security services has substantially reduced the ISI and jihadi groups’ use of Nepal as a transit point for infiltration into India. More recently, Bangladesh detained and handed over leaders of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)—all successes that are signs of a stronger Indian state and better coordination between its security and foreign policies towards the neighbourhood.
Yet another common critique of Indian foreign policy is that it is not pragmatic enough. Although India’s Afghanistan policy is far more complicated than with its eastern neighbours, during the past year, it has been a picture of pragmatism at work (even if it wasn’t always deliberate). The tacit and cautious bet that Hamid Karzai would emerge the winner in a close presidential race paid off. Although taken aback by the electoral fraud allegations against Mr Karzai, New Delhi correctly calculated that he was well ahead of the other contenders and would win even if a run-off were to be held. By not commenting on the elections and by keeping a low profile, India gained tremendous goodwill with Kabul when Mr Karzai eventually won (and was endorsed by the very nations that openly doubted his legitimacy earlier).
Indian foreign policy has also been often criticised for being excessively hostage to the vicissitudes of domestic politics. Pakistan policy has especially been an example of this and sadly, not much progress has happened in this relationship to allay this criticism. It is undeniable that India’s options with Pakistan are among the toughest foreign policy choices that any nation faces in the world today. Linking or de-linking talks with terrorism seems to have little impact on the latter. And yet, the measured prudence displayed with other neighbours may be worthwhile in the Pakistan relationship as well. For instance, placing some “trial balloons” in the domestic media about Balochistan to gauge political plays and sentiments in the run-up to Sharm-el-Sheikh, could have pre-empted the controversy that followed the communique.
But there are signs that South Block is learning from its mistakes even on this count. Even as reports of border incursions by the Chinese mounted towards the end of 2009, the government’s remarks were in sharp contrast to the alarmism in the public discourse.
There are several possible explanations for these changes. At least one seems to be current political will, a commodity that has often been blamed for India’s foreign policy debacles. India’s economic rise, which its neighbours want to emulate, is another reason. Frequently successful efforts of late by friendly governments to call out and isolate pronounced anti-India elements within their countries’ polity has also helped break the cycle of rumours and distrust.
Challenges do remain. Promoting the cause of democracy without being interventionist means that India’s ability to restrain developments such as the post-poll excesses in Sri Lanka can hit the glass ceiling in the short-term. The reversals in the London conference mean that making Afghanistan policy excessively Karzai-centric may not yield dividends.
But what might the recent changes mean in the larger sense? The consistent patterns in the neighbourhood indicate that we may be moving towards a new South Asian doctrine in the process—”trust and security co-operation from neighbours would be rewarded by India with economic incentives and support to democracy”. New Delhi should continue this pattern in bilateral ties and complement it with bottom-up public diplomacy in neighbouring countries. But for now, South Block can afford to reflect and smile.
contributed by my good friend,
Raja Karthikeya
Researcher | International Security
Washington DC | 202 679 4010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
paid news
The practice of paid news is not a recent phenomenon. It was blatantly evident in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections. It has been there all along in the coverage of corporates also. Earlier, it was limited to a few journalists, and covertly. It has now become an overt and institutionalised affair, as if there was nothing unusual or deviant about this. It has now reached the proportion of being described as “fourth estate on sale” (EPW). This practice is no longer limited to smaller or regional language news media. It is happening all across the news media. Like ‘overzealous ad managers,’ there are overzealous journalists. This practice, if not addressed now, will become formally overt as a normal course of the news media’s function.
Why the issue of paid news is in news recently?
A sub-committee of PCI(press council of India) met in Delhi to take up a complaint by a journalists union from Andhra Pradesh alleging that owners and editors of dailies in the state accepted money from political parties and individual candidates for coverage during the elections.
The “paid news” controversy has gathered momentum after The Hindu raised the issue in a story on Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan’s campaign during the recently concluded elections in the state. According to The Hindu, Chavan spent a little over Rs11,000 on paid advertising but he received coverage worth much more in newspapers such as Maharashtra Times and Lokmat through paid ads masquarading as newspaper reports.
What is “paid news”?
It is difficult to define paid news. It could also be described as quid pro quo news, it may even be better described as unfair or camouflaged news or advertising. It may not always be possible to establish something as unfair or camouflaged. But it should be possible to develop a methodology even without circumstantial evidence.
How to control it?
There could be an independent monitoring and analysis arrangement in a transparent way for a six-month period before a Legislative Assembly election. An ASCI-like arrangement could be mobilised by the Press Council of India (PCI) and the Election Commission of India (ECI) together. Various bodies like the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) should also be involved in formulating guidelines. But they should not wait for a consensus.
Reforms needed
Series of initiatives includes:
1. Dependence on ratings/ranking: There are by corporate instruments, not editorial ones. Discussions on the pros and cons of this syndrome need to be encouraged and promoted so that more reliable and relevant criteria can be evolved in such a way that the credibility of the news media is retained.
2. Disclosure practice: This should happen at two levels. One, news media must state any conflict of interests in the course of news coverage and presentation. The media should also disclose their own ethical code or standards. They should indicate the responsible person for such disclosures periodically, like the readers’ editor, ombudsman or a panel of internal and external experts. The disclosure should also be of revenues, linkages with other industries and corporates, and shareholding in other media. Disclosure should be built into the reporting pattern as well, as Mint has been doing for a couple of years. The news media, for example, should report on their own how much space and time they have devoted to commercials in the previous quarter or six months. Editors too could disclose their assets voluntarily and periodically in their own interest.
3. Redressal arrangements: Complaints about any aspect of media operations have positive implications — for content. There should be some provision for readers and viewers to “write back” or “talk back” and for an explanation in turn by the person responsible in the news media. The Readers Editor of The Hindu has set a good precedent in taking note of complaints and explaining wherever necessary, as he did in the case of the paid news phenomenon. News media should promote such arrangement so that readers and viewers are aware of it. This is over and above what the state agencies are expected to do. In the more specific context of paid news during elections, the Election Commission should be both proactive and also take on measures to curb such practices on its own and preferably with the Press Council of India.
4. Media watch: Academic bodies, independent research agencies, and civil society groups should be encouraged to monitor media contents and articulate their views from time to time. Several such independent media watch groups are needed in the country. Basic data based on trends of space and time for advertisements and analysis of ad content is essential for preventive initiatives. The Centre for Media Studies (CMS) has been doing this. In fact, way back in 1995, it came up with the description, “marketing media not mass media.” And in 2001 it brought out a publication for the first time, “Paradigm shifts in media operations.”
5. Professional bodies engaged or associated with news media in various capacities like the Editors Guild, the Advertising Standards Council of India, journalists associations, and the Indian Broadcasters Foundation, should take the initiative towards a more responsible and accountable news media. This can be done by setting up their own panel, as the Editors Guild did in the case of paid news and codes or guidelines for their members, particularly on conflict of interest.
6. State bodies like the Press Council of India, the Information Commissions, TRAI, and the Election Commission of India need to be proactive. Only then can they play their role. But their taking up deviations by individual news media organisations is equally important. The Press Council should come up with guidelines after involving the media across the country (even if a consensus is not possible) and the Election Commission should take the responsibility to implement the guidelines.
7. The media should be brought under the Right to Information Act (RTI) so that some accountability comes into media operations and managements.
8. Government media campaigns, other than on specific occasions, should be discouraged six months before elections.
9. Real-time counselling services should be provided to individual journalists, political leaders, and candidates in specific situations on how they should go about their tasks in a given context. Such counselling can be by an independent body but specialised.
10. Guidelines, however broad, for the news media on poll coverage should be formulated. Television channels and newspapers should be viewed together in relation to their coverage of candidates, parties, issues, and campaigns.
11. Limits on ads either in terms of percentage of space or time or in terms of percentage of revenue from commercials can be considered. Such limits may not be legally sustainable but could come through a voluntary industrial effort. Apart from this, advertisements of all kinds should be positioned distinctly to demarcate them from the edited space and time the same way as facts and comments are demarcated from news reporting.
Conclusion
The practice of paid news or camouflaged news or advertising is not limited to election times. It was not something new, which was encountered for the first time, during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The practice has been there in many different contexts and for much longer. It is not always possible to isolate such coverage. Circumstantial evidence may not always be available. Nevertheless, guidelines can be worked out for an independent monitoring and analysis arrangement in a transparent way. By not taking cognisance even when the practice has been brought to public notice, the concerned agencies have failed and professional bodies have gone along. The malaise lies much deeper. As free and fair elections are as important as a free and independent press, correctives are needed in our electoral process too. The issues involved need to be addressed comprehensively and the ‘cleaning wounds’ approach will have only a temporary effect.
Why the issue of paid news is in news recently?
A sub-committee of PCI(press council of India) met in Delhi to take up a complaint by a journalists union from Andhra Pradesh alleging that owners and editors of dailies in the state accepted money from political parties and individual candidates for coverage during the elections.
The “paid news” controversy has gathered momentum after The Hindu raised the issue in a story on Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan’s campaign during the recently concluded elections in the state. According to The Hindu, Chavan spent a little over Rs11,000 on paid advertising but he received coverage worth much more in newspapers such as Maharashtra Times and Lokmat through paid ads masquarading as newspaper reports.
What is “paid news”?
It is difficult to define paid news. It could also be described as quid pro quo news, it may even be better described as unfair or camouflaged news or advertising. It may not always be possible to establish something as unfair or camouflaged. But it should be possible to develop a methodology even without circumstantial evidence.
How to control it?
There could be an independent monitoring and analysis arrangement in a transparent way for a six-month period before a Legislative Assembly election. An ASCI-like arrangement could be mobilised by the Press Council of India (PCI) and the Election Commission of India (ECI) together. Various bodies like the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) should also be involved in formulating guidelines. But they should not wait for a consensus.
Reforms needed
Series of initiatives includes:
1. Dependence on ratings/ranking: There are by corporate instruments, not editorial ones. Discussions on the pros and cons of this syndrome need to be encouraged and promoted so that more reliable and relevant criteria can be evolved in such a way that the credibility of the news media is retained.
2. Disclosure practice: This should happen at two levels. One, news media must state any conflict of interests in the course of news coverage and presentation. The media should also disclose their own ethical code or standards. They should indicate the responsible person for such disclosures periodically, like the readers’ editor, ombudsman or a panel of internal and external experts. The disclosure should also be of revenues, linkages with other industries and corporates, and shareholding in other media. Disclosure should be built into the reporting pattern as well, as Mint has been doing for a couple of years. The news media, for example, should report on their own how much space and time they have devoted to commercials in the previous quarter or six months. Editors too could disclose their assets voluntarily and periodically in their own interest.
3. Redressal arrangements: Complaints about any aspect of media operations have positive implications — for content. There should be some provision for readers and viewers to “write back” or “talk back” and for an explanation in turn by the person responsible in the news media. The Readers Editor of The Hindu has set a good precedent in taking note of complaints and explaining wherever necessary, as he did in the case of the paid news phenomenon. News media should promote such arrangement so that readers and viewers are aware of it. This is over and above what the state agencies are expected to do. In the more specific context of paid news during elections, the Election Commission should be both proactive and also take on measures to curb such practices on its own and preferably with the Press Council of India.
4. Media watch: Academic bodies, independent research agencies, and civil society groups should be encouraged to monitor media contents and articulate their views from time to time. Several such independent media watch groups are needed in the country. Basic data based on trends of space and time for advertisements and analysis of ad content is essential for preventive initiatives. The Centre for Media Studies (CMS) has been doing this. In fact, way back in 1995, it came up with the description, “marketing media not mass media.” And in 2001 it brought out a publication for the first time, “Paradigm shifts in media operations.”
5. Professional bodies engaged or associated with news media in various capacities like the Editors Guild, the Advertising Standards Council of India, journalists associations, and the Indian Broadcasters Foundation, should take the initiative towards a more responsible and accountable news media. This can be done by setting up their own panel, as the Editors Guild did in the case of paid news and codes or guidelines for their members, particularly on conflict of interest.
6. State bodies like the Press Council of India, the Information Commissions, TRAI, and the Election Commission of India need to be proactive. Only then can they play their role. But their taking up deviations by individual news media organisations is equally important. The Press Council should come up with guidelines after involving the media across the country (even if a consensus is not possible) and the Election Commission should take the responsibility to implement the guidelines.
7. The media should be brought under the Right to Information Act (RTI) so that some accountability comes into media operations and managements.
8. Government media campaigns, other than on specific occasions, should be discouraged six months before elections.
9. Real-time counselling services should be provided to individual journalists, political leaders, and candidates in specific situations on how they should go about their tasks in a given context. Such counselling can be by an independent body but specialised.
10. Guidelines, however broad, for the news media on poll coverage should be formulated. Television channels and newspapers should be viewed together in relation to their coverage of candidates, parties, issues, and campaigns.
11. Limits on ads either in terms of percentage of space or time or in terms of percentage of revenue from commercials can be considered. Such limits may not be legally sustainable but could come through a voluntary industrial effort. Apart from this, advertisements of all kinds should be positioned distinctly to demarcate them from the edited space and time the same way as facts and comments are demarcated from news reporting.
Conclusion
The practice of paid news or camouflaged news or advertising is not limited to election times. It was not something new, which was encountered for the first time, during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The practice has been there in many different contexts and for much longer. It is not always possible to isolate such coverage. Circumstantial evidence may not always be available. Nevertheless, guidelines can be worked out for an independent monitoring and analysis arrangement in a transparent way. By not taking cognisance even when the practice has been brought to public notice, the concerned agencies have failed and professional bodies have gone along. The malaise lies much deeper. As free and fair elections are as important as a free and independent press, correctives are needed in our electoral process too. The issues involved need to be addressed comprehensively and the ‘cleaning wounds’ approach will have only a temporary effect.
All about Bt Brinjal
What is Bt brinjal?
Bt brinjal is genetically modified variety of brinjal which gives more resistant to Brinjal plant against insects.
In technical terms Bt Brinjal is a transgenic brinjal created by inserting a gene [Cry 1Ac] from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (and hence the name Bt) into Brinjal. The insertion of the gene into the Brinjal cell in young cotyledons has been done through an Agro bacterium-mediated vector, along with other genes like promoters, markers etc.
This genetic insertion is said to give the Brinjal plant resistance against lepidopteron insects. It is reported that upon ingestion of the Bt toxin by the insect, there would be disruption of digestive processes, ultimately resulting in the death of the insect.
Why BT brinjal in India is banned after bt brinjal controversy?
First let us undestand the controversy and why people are opposing it? Several studies on Bt crops in particular and GM crops in general show that there are many potential health hazards in foods bio-engineered in this manner. GM-fed animals in various studies have shown that there are problems with growth, organ development and damage, immune responsiveness and so on.
With Bt crops, a recent study from Madhya Pradesh in India shows adverse human health impacts in farm and factory workers with allergies caused by Bt Cotton. Itching skin, eruptions on the body, swollen faces etc., were also reported, correlated with levels of exposure to Bt Cotton.
Organizations like Greanpeace have been in the forefront of the campaign opposing the GM variety of Brinjal.
Bt Brinjal in India
Bt Brinjal is being developed in India by M/s Mahyco [Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company]. No GM Brinjal has been released for an advanced stage of field trials in open conditions anywhere in the world.
On February 9, 2010 the government of India officially announced that it needs some more time to release Bt brinjal. Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that there is no over-riding urgency to introduce Bt Brinjal in India.
Bt brinjal and GM crops are important for a country which has more than 1 billion people to feed.
There is no GM crop in the world which increases productivity. In fact, most of the GM crops actually reduce productivity. The US Department of Agriculture admits that the productivity of GM corn and GM soya is less than that of the normal varieties.
There is no shortage of food in the world. We have 6.5 billion people on Earth, and we produce food for 11.5 billion people. If more than 1 billion people are going to bed hungry globally, it is because of the faulty distribution process rather than the unavailability of food. The same holds true for India, where one third of the population cannot even buy food that is available. Poor people find it even difficult to buy wheat and rice at Rs 2/- a kilo. The question therefore is not of production but access and distribution.
Bt brinjal increases productivity. So why stop it?
This is not true. Bt gene acts more or less like a chemical pesticide which is sprayed from outside, whereas Bt produces a toxin within the plant.
If the Bt gene increases productivity, then some may argue that chemical pesticides also increase productivity. Can scientists accept that chemical pesticides increase productivity? But in case of Bt crops, they don't mind creating a false illusion to misguide the farmer.
How can Bt brinjal adversely affect farmers?
Bt is a biological pesticide. It releases poison in the plant. It has been established that compared to Bt biopesticide sprays, the concentration of Bt toxin in Bt brinjal is one thousand times more. Bt biopesticide sprays are harmful, imagine the impact Bt brinjal toxin will have on the environment.
Bt crops releases a toxin in soil through the roots. It has affected beneficial soil microflora, and studies at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) have proved this. There have been animal deaths from grazing on Bt cotton leaves in Andhra Pradesh, and Haryana. The GEAC has simply brushed this aside even though the Andhra Animal husbandry department has warned farmers not to let their livestock graze in Bt cotton fields.
Genetically modified crops also create superweeds, which are not controlled by any chemical. Georgia province in America is fast turning into a wasteland due to massive infestation of superweeds. World-over, 26 countries are now facing the menace of superweeds. GM crops also destroy biodiversity by contamination. India is the Centre of Origin for brinjal, and therefore needs to be more than cautious.
Bt is supposed to kill sucking pests like pink bollworm in cotton, and fruit and shoot borer in brinjal, thereby reduce pesticides consumption. This however does not hold true for long. In China, which was promoted as a silver-bullet case, cotton farmers growing Bt cotton are now reported to be spraying 8 per cent more pesticides than on non Bt crops and thereby incurring losses. Resurgence of secondary pests has been observed in China (like mealy bug in Punjab), as a result of which farmer's total usage of pesticides increases. This report is based on a study conducted by the Cornell University.
In India too, insects are developing resistance to Bt cotton. That is why the need to bring in Bollgard-II with two Bt genes. But no scientific study is being undertaken on pest resistance in Bt cotton.
Even in America, where herbicide-tolerant crops are prevalent, the usage of herbicides has increased. There are several USDA reports stating this.
Bt crops are safe for human consumption. So why are people expressing concern?
Numerous experiments all over the world have shown that Bt in particular and GM in general poses tremendous health risks. Even Monsanto's own studies on rats in Europe have demonstrated that the animals have terrible problems with their body organs- kidney, liver, pancreas, blood etc, and also can result in serious diseases and allergies. Some studies in Austria have recently shown that GM also leads to infertility.
All those scientists who dared to question the human safety aspect were hounded out of their jobs by the proponents of the GM industry. The only human safety trial conducted so far establishes that the alien gene in the human body does transfer to the gut bacteria. This can have serious implications. But no further tests are allowed to be conducted anywhere in the world on human safety.
Bt brinjal is one thousand times more poisonous than the Bt biopesticide sprays. If Bt biopesticide sprays can kill insects, imagine what would happen to human bodies after consuming food that has one thousand times more toxins inside.
These deformities can pass on from generation to generation, like some studies on pesticides have now shown.
But the GEAC, the regulatory authority, had conducted enough tests on human safety. So why worry?
Adequate scientific tests to determine human safety of the genetically modified food were not performed. Instead of the 29 tests that should be conducted before GM food is allowed to be served, the GEAC had expressed 'satisfaction' with some 4 to 5 tests and that too done in a shoddy manner. Interestingly, the GEAC says that it had conducted tests as per the international protocols, but the fact is that there are no accepted international scientific protocols so far.
Even in tests on rats, the tests have been conducted only on ten rats for 90 days. The results show that the rats did suffer serious abnormalities in kidney, liver and blood. These have been simply brushed aside as 'biologically insignificant'. This is shocking considering that Bt gene releases poison in the plant. How can the GEAC simply ignore the health abnormalities seen in rats, even if it is on one rat?
The normal life span of rats, corresponding with the human beings, is for 2 years. Since it has now been found that the impact of chemical pesticides for instance are passed on from generation to generation, and are even felt in the third generation, the human safety tests for Bt brinjal need to conducted for several generations. After all, we are going to eat Bt brinjal all through our life. How can its safety be determined by rat studied for only 90 days and that too inconclusively?
We know that smoking cigarettes for 2-3 weeks does not cause cancer. To know whether smoking cigarettes can cause cancer you have to tests for several generations. Why is the industry not willing to perform tests for several generations in rats to know the health impacts from continuously consuming genetically modified crops?
GEAC is an expert committee. Why doubt the recommendations of the expert committee?
The GEAC recommendations were rigged. The GEAC had set up an Expert Committee -II (called EC-II) which had some members who were also involved in developing Bt crops. This was a sure case where a conflict of interest was evident. How can people who develop GM crops also sit on the approval process?
The norms and bylaws of the EC-II were lowered to suit the interests of the private seed companies. All experiments were conducted by the private companies, and the GEAC had accepted the data provided by the private seed company. Let us also not forget that the private seed company had refused to share the analysis with the general public, and it was only after the Supreme Court's directive that the research data was made public.
The entire regulatory process is a sham. Jairam Ramesh's decision is clearly an indictment of the GEAC. The report is full of unscientific conclusions and inaccuracies. At the same time, the report blatantly ignores the dangerous impact of Bt brinjal on the body organs of rats and other animals, and also the environment. The chairman of EC-II himself has said that he is not sure of the health impact of Bt brinjal.
Let us have an open and transparent debate on the regulatory process. If the GEAC decision is found to be wrong and unscientific, the chairman of GEAC should be put to trial. After all, we cannot allow anyone to play havoc with the lives of the masses.
Farmers are better judge of a technology. Why not leave Bt brinjal as an option for the farmers to use, if he finds it useful?
This is a joke. If we leave harmful technologies in the hands of people, the world would die an unnatural death sooner than later. Cigarette smoking for instance cannot be left to people. Even though every packet contains a bold statement 'cigarette smoking is injurious to health' and yet its sales goes on increasing. Because it was unhealthy and dangerous, governments have stepped in and banned its usage in public places. Was that a wrong decision?
Similarly, GM crops cannot be left to the farmers to decide as an option. Farmer too gets influenced by the marketing blitz of the companies. The entire State machinery -- Agri Universities, Farm extension depts, companies and the media have been promoting GM crops. With such a powerful marketing blitz how do you expect the farmer to make informed choices? Also, if the farmer was so sensible, the usage of chemical pesticides would not have multiplied to the present dangerous levels.
Already farmers are committing suicide because of the faulty technologies imposed upon them. How many more farmers do we want to be killed before stopping the killer technologies from being used?
Bt brinjal is genetically modified variety of brinjal which gives more resistant to Brinjal plant against insects.
In technical terms Bt Brinjal is a transgenic brinjal created by inserting a gene [Cry 1Ac] from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (and hence the name Bt) into Brinjal. The insertion of the gene into the Brinjal cell in young cotyledons has been done through an Agro bacterium-mediated vector, along with other genes like promoters, markers etc.
This genetic insertion is said to give the Brinjal plant resistance against lepidopteron insects. It is reported that upon ingestion of the Bt toxin by the insect, there would be disruption of digestive processes, ultimately resulting in the death of the insect.
Why BT brinjal in India is banned after bt brinjal controversy?
First let us undestand the controversy and why people are opposing it? Several studies on Bt crops in particular and GM crops in general show that there are many potential health hazards in foods bio-engineered in this manner. GM-fed animals in various studies have shown that there are problems with growth, organ development and damage, immune responsiveness and so on.
With Bt crops, a recent study from Madhya Pradesh in India shows adverse human health impacts in farm and factory workers with allergies caused by Bt Cotton. Itching skin, eruptions on the body, swollen faces etc., were also reported, correlated with levels of exposure to Bt Cotton.
Organizations like Greanpeace have been in the forefront of the campaign opposing the GM variety of Brinjal.
Bt Brinjal in India
Bt Brinjal is being developed in India by M/s Mahyco [Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company]. No GM Brinjal has been released for an advanced stage of field trials in open conditions anywhere in the world.
On February 9, 2010 the government of India officially announced that it needs some more time to release Bt brinjal. Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that there is no over-riding urgency to introduce Bt Brinjal in India.
Bt brinjal and GM crops are important for a country which has more than 1 billion people to feed.
There is no GM crop in the world which increases productivity. In fact, most of the GM crops actually reduce productivity. The US Department of Agriculture admits that the productivity of GM corn and GM soya is less than that of the normal varieties.
There is no shortage of food in the world. We have 6.5 billion people on Earth, and we produce food for 11.5 billion people. If more than 1 billion people are going to bed hungry globally, it is because of the faulty distribution process rather than the unavailability of food. The same holds true for India, where one third of the population cannot even buy food that is available. Poor people find it even difficult to buy wheat and rice at Rs 2/- a kilo. The question therefore is not of production but access and distribution.
Bt brinjal increases productivity. So why stop it?
This is not true. Bt gene acts more or less like a chemical pesticide which is sprayed from outside, whereas Bt produces a toxin within the plant.
If the Bt gene increases productivity, then some may argue that chemical pesticides also increase productivity. Can scientists accept that chemical pesticides increase productivity? But in case of Bt crops, they don't mind creating a false illusion to misguide the farmer.
How can Bt brinjal adversely affect farmers?
Bt is a biological pesticide. It releases poison in the plant. It has been established that compared to Bt biopesticide sprays, the concentration of Bt toxin in Bt brinjal is one thousand times more. Bt biopesticide sprays are harmful, imagine the impact Bt brinjal toxin will have on the environment.
Bt crops releases a toxin in soil through the roots. It has affected beneficial soil microflora, and studies at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) have proved this. There have been animal deaths from grazing on Bt cotton leaves in Andhra Pradesh, and Haryana. The GEAC has simply brushed this aside even though the Andhra Animal husbandry department has warned farmers not to let their livestock graze in Bt cotton fields.
Genetically modified crops also create superweeds, which are not controlled by any chemical. Georgia province in America is fast turning into a wasteland due to massive infestation of superweeds. World-over, 26 countries are now facing the menace of superweeds. GM crops also destroy biodiversity by contamination. India is the Centre of Origin for brinjal, and therefore needs to be more than cautious.
Bt is supposed to kill sucking pests like pink bollworm in cotton, and fruit and shoot borer in brinjal, thereby reduce pesticides consumption. This however does not hold true for long. In China, which was promoted as a silver-bullet case, cotton farmers growing Bt cotton are now reported to be spraying 8 per cent more pesticides than on non Bt crops and thereby incurring losses. Resurgence of secondary pests has been observed in China (like mealy bug in Punjab), as a result of which farmer's total usage of pesticides increases. This report is based on a study conducted by the Cornell University.
In India too, insects are developing resistance to Bt cotton. That is why the need to bring in Bollgard-II with two Bt genes. But no scientific study is being undertaken on pest resistance in Bt cotton.
Even in America, where herbicide-tolerant crops are prevalent, the usage of herbicides has increased. There are several USDA reports stating this.
Bt crops are safe for human consumption. So why are people expressing concern?
Numerous experiments all over the world have shown that Bt in particular and GM in general poses tremendous health risks. Even Monsanto's own studies on rats in Europe have demonstrated that the animals have terrible problems with their body organs- kidney, liver, pancreas, blood etc, and also can result in serious diseases and allergies. Some studies in Austria have recently shown that GM also leads to infertility.
All those scientists who dared to question the human safety aspect were hounded out of their jobs by the proponents of the GM industry. The only human safety trial conducted so far establishes that the alien gene in the human body does transfer to the gut bacteria. This can have serious implications. But no further tests are allowed to be conducted anywhere in the world on human safety.
Bt brinjal is one thousand times more poisonous than the Bt biopesticide sprays. If Bt biopesticide sprays can kill insects, imagine what would happen to human bodies after consuming food that has one thousand times more toxins inside.
These deformities can pass on from generation to generation, like some studies on pesticides have now shown.
But the GEAC, the regulatory authority, had conducted enough tests on human safety. So why worry?
Adequate scientific tests to determine human safety of the genetically modified food were not performed. Instead of the 29 tests that should be conducted before GM food is allowed to be served, the GEAC had expressed 'satisfaction' with some 4 to 5 tests and that too done in a shoddy manner. Interestingly, the GEAC says that it had conducted tests as per the international protocols, but the fact is that there are no accepted international scientific protocols so far.
Even in tests on rats, the tests have been conducted only on ten rats for 90 days. The results show that the rats did suffer serious abnormalities in kidney, liver and blood. These have been simply brushed aside as 'biologically insignificant'. This is shocking considering that Bt gene releases poison in the plant. How can the GEAC simply ignore the health abnormalities seen in rats, even if it is on one rat?
The normal life span of rats, corresponding with the human beings, is for 2 years. Since it has now been found that the impact of chemical pesticides for instance are passed on from generation to generation, and are even felt in the third generation, the human safety tests for Bt brinjal need to conducted for several generations. After all, we are going to eat Bt brinjal all through our life. How can its safety be determined by rat studied for only 90 days and that too inconclusively?
We know that smoking cigarettes for 2-3 weeks does not cause cancer. To know whether smoking cigarettes can cause cancer you have to tests for several generations. Why is the industry not willing to perform tests for several generations in rats to know the health impacts from continuously consuming genetically modified crops?
GEAC is an expert committee. Why doubt the recommendations of the expert committee?
The GEAC recommendations were rigged. The GEAC had set up an Expert Committee -II (called EC-II) which had some members who were also involved in developing Bt crops. This was a sure case where a conflict of interest was evident. How can people who develop GM crops also sit on the approval process?
The norms and bylaws of the EC-II were lowered to suit the interests of the private seed companies. All experiments were conducted by the private companies, and the GEAC had accepted the data provided by the private seed company. Let us also not forget that the private seed company had refused to share the analysis with the general public, and it was only after the Supreme Court's directive that the research data was made public.
The entire regulatory process is a sham. Jairam Ramesh's decision is clearly an indictment of the GEAC. The report is full of unscientific conclusions and inaccuracies. At the same time, the report blatantly ignores the dangerous impact of Bt brinjal on the body organs of rats and other animals, and also the environment. The chairman of EC-II himself has said that he is not sure of the health impact of Bt brinjal.
Let us have an open and transparent debate on the regulatory process. If the GEAC decision is found to be wrong and unscientific, the chairman of GEAC should be put to trial. After all, we cannot allow anyone to play havoc with the lives of the masses.
Farmers are better judge of a technology. Why not leave Bt brinjal as an option for the farmers to use, if he finds it useful?
This is a joke. If we leave harmful technologies in the hands of people, the world would die an unnatural death sooner than later. Cigarette smoking for instance cannot be left to people. Even though every packet contains a bold statement 'cigarette smoking is injurious to health' and yet its sales goes on increasing. Because it was unhealthy and dangerous, governments have stepped in and banned its usage in public places. Was that a wrong decision?
Similarly, GM crops cannot be left to the farmers to decide as an option. Farmer too gets influenced by the marketing blitz of the companies. The entire State machinery -- Agri Universities, Farm extension depts, companies and the media have been promoting GM crops. With such a powerful marketing blitz how do you expect the farmer to make informed choices? Also, if the farmer was so sensible, the usage of chemical pesticides would not have multiplied to the present dangerous levels.
Already farmers are committing suicide because of the faulty technologies imposed upon them. How many more farmers do we want to be killed before stopping the killer technologies from being used?
Summary of Union Budget 2010-11
The Union Budget this year has aimed to focus on inclusive growth and insuring food security. These concerns for aam aadami have gone hand in hand with credible measures for improving investment climate, strengthening infrastructure and fiscal consolidation. As the country looks to ‘quickly revert to high GDP growth path’ in the wake of ‘uncertain times’, concerns for inclusive growth targeting the disadvantaged sections form the defining features of the Budget.
Many new initiatives have been introduced for sustained and inclusive growth. These include setting up of Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana, Financial Stability and Development Council, Gold Regulatory Authority, Technical Advisory Group for Unique Projects, National Mission for Delivery of Justice and Legal Reforms, Independent Evaluation Office and National Clean Energy Fund,
Presenting the Union Budget 2010-11 in the Lok Sabha today, the Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee, said that three challenges would continue to engage the Indian policy planners for next few years. The first challenge is to quickly revert to the high GDP growth path of 9% and then find the means to cross the double digit growth barrier. The second challenge is to consolidate recent gains in making development more inclusive. The third challenge is to remove weaknesses at different levels of governance and to improve public delivery mechanism. The Budget, therefore, focuses on fiscal consolidation, making growth more broad-based and ensuring that supply-demand imbalances are better managed.
The Minister expressed the hope that the economy will reach 10% growth in not too distant a future. The Minister explained that after a fall in GDP growth in 2008-09 to 6.7%, the growth has built up and 7.2% growth is expected in 2009-10. The Minister said that the recovery is very encouraging as it has come about despite negative growth in agriculture sector. The growth rate in manufacturing in December 2009 was 18.5%, the highest in past two decades. Similarly, there are also signs of a turnaround in the merchandise exports with a positive growth in November and December 2009 after a decline in about twelve successive months.
Expressing concern at the emergence of double digit food inflation, the Minister said that the Government has set in motion steps in consultation with the State Chief Ministers to bring down the inflation in the next few months and ensure better management of food security.
Fiscal Consolidation
The Minister said that now that the recovery has taken roots, there is a need to review public spending, mobilize resources and gear them towards building the productivity of the economy.
The government will follow the recommendations of the Thirteenth Finance Commission by capping the government debt. The Commission has recommended a capping of the combined debt of the Centre and the States at 68% of the GDP to be achieved by 2014-15.
For the first time, the Government would target an explicit reduction in its domestic public debt-GDP ratio. A status paper would be brought out within six months, giving a detailed analysis of the situation and a road map for curtailing the overall public debt. This would be followed by an annual report on the subject.
The Finance Minister expressed the hope that a broad consensus would be achieved on the Direct Tax Code and the Goods and Service Tax (GST) and these would be introduced from April 2011.
Improving Investment Environment
The Finance Minister said that a number of steps have been taken to simplify the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regime. The government also intends to make the FDI policy user-friendly by consolidating all prior regulations and guidelines into one comprehensive document. This would enhance clarity and predictability of our FDI policy to foreign investors, he said.
With a view to strengthen and institutionalize the mechanism for maintaining financial stability, Government has decided to set up an apex-level Financial Stability and Development Council. It would monitor macro prudential supervision of the economy, including the functioning of large financial conglomerates.
Towards strengthening the banking system, the Budget provides Rs.16500 crore as Tier-I capital. It would ensure that the Public Sector Banks are able to attain a minimum 8% Tier-I Capital by March 2011. Further capital would also be infused into the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs). The Minister also informed that the RBI is considering giving some additional banking licenses to private sector players. Non Banking Financial Companies could also be considered, if they meet the RBI’s eligibility criteria.
Agriculture Growth
A four-pronged strategy would be followed to spur growth in agriculture sector. The elements of the strategy are (a) agricultural production; (b) reduction in wastage of produce; (c) credit support to farmers; and (d) a thrust to the food processing sector.
The Budget provides Rs.400 crore for extending the green revolution to the eastern region of the country comprising Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Eastern UP, West Bengal and Orissa, with the active involvement of Gram Sabhas and the farming families.
60,000 ‘pulses and oil seed villages’ will be organized in rainfed areas with an outlay of Rs.300 crore during 2010-11. This will provide water harvesting, watershed management and soil health facilities to enhance to productivity of dryland farming areas. Another Rs.200 crore have been provided in the Budget for conservation farming.
To improve the storage capacity of food grains, Food Corporation of India is being allowed to hire godowns from private parties for a guaranteed period of seven years.
This period so far was five years.
The target for farm credit is being raised to Rs.3,75,000 crore in 2010-11 from Rs.3,25,000 crore in the current year.
The period for repayment of loans under the Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme is being extended by six months to June 30,2010.
The interest subvention for timely repayment of crop loans is being raised from 1% to 2%. Thus, the effective rate of interest for crop loans for farmers who repay their crop loan as per schedule will now be 5% per year.
Five more Mega Food Parks will be set up in addition to the 10 already being established. External Commercial Borrowings will henceforth be available for cold storage, farm level pre-cooling and preservation and storage of agricultural and allied produce marine products and meat.
Infrastructure
The Budget provides Rs.1,73,552 crore for infrastructure, accounting for over 46% of the total Plan allocation.
The allocation for road transport is being increased by over 13% from Rs 17,520 crore to Rs.19,894 crore.
Disbursement for infrastructure by India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd(IIFCL) is expected to reach Rs.20,000 crore in 2010-11 as against Rs.9,000 crore this year. Refinancing of bank landing to infrastructure projects by IIFCL is expected to be more than double in 2010-11.
Energy
The Plan allocation for power sector is being more than doubled from Rs.2,230 crore in 2009-10 to Rs.5,130 crore in 2010-11.
A Coal Regulatory Authority is proposed to be set up for creating level playing field in the coal sector and resolving various issues.
The Plan outlay for New and Renewal Energy Ministry is being increased by 61% from Rs. 620 crore to Rs.1,000 crore, especially to support the ambitious solar energy programme.
Inclusive Development
Stating that inclusive development is an act of faith for the UPA government, the Finance Minister said that after the Right to Information, Right to Work and Right to Education, the government is now ready with the draft Food Security Bill. A sums of Rs.1,37,674 crore, representing 37% of the total outlay, will be spent on social sector programmes.
Plan Allocation for school education is being increased from Rs.26,800 crore to Rs.31,036 crore to support the children’s rights to free and compulsory education. In addition, States will have an access to Rs. 3,675 crore for elementary education under the Finance Commission grant for 2010-11.
It has been decided to provide appropriate banking facilities to habitations having population in excess of 2000 by March 2012. It is also proposed to extend insurance and other services to the targeted beneficiaries. These provisions are expected to cover 60,000 habitations.
Rs.66,100 crore have been provided for Rural Development. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme gets Rs.40,100 crore and Bharat Nirman Programme, Rs.48,000 crore.
Indira Awas Yojana gets Rs.10,000 crore. The unit cost under this scheme is being raised to Rs.45,000 in plain areas and Rs.48500 in hilly areas to cover the increase in cost of construction of houses.
The allocation to Backward Region Grant Fund is being enhanced by 26% from Rs.5,800 crore to Rs.7,300 crore. An additional Central assistance of Rs.1,200 crore is being provided for drought mitigation in the Bundelkhand region.
Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana gets 75% increase in allocation from Rs.3,060 crore to Rs.5,400 crore. In addition, the allocation for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation is also being raised from Rs.850 crore to Rs.1,000 crore in 2010-11.
The 1% interest subvention on housing loans upto Rs.10 lakh (where the cost of the house does not exceed Rs.20 lakh) provided in the Budget for 2009-10 has been extended by another year.
Rajiv Awas Yojana, a scheme for housing to slum dwellers and urban poor, gets a huge jump in allocation from Rs.150 crore last year to Rs.1,270 crore in 2010-11.
It has been decided to set up a National Social Security Fund for unorganized sector workers with an initial allocation of Rs.1,000 crore. This fund will support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers, bidi workers etc.
The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Joyana is being extended to all Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries who have worked for more than 15 days during the preceding financial year.
The Swavalamban initiative started last year, under which the government contributes Rs.1,000 per year to each New Pension Scheme (NPS) account, will now be available for another three years.
Plan outlay for Women and Child Development is being stepped up by 50%. A Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana is being launched to meet the specific needs of women farmers.
The Plan outlay of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment gets a boost of 80% to Rs.4,500 crore. Besides supporting the programmes for the target beneficiaries, the Ministry will be able to raise the rates for scholarship schemes for SC and OBC students. Similarly, the Ministry of Minority Affairs allocation has been raised by 50% to Rs.2,600 crore.
Strengthening Transparency and Public Accountability
The government proposes to set up a Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission to rewrite and clean up the financial sector laws to bring them in line with the requirements of the sector.
Rs.1,900 crore has been allocated for the Unique Identification Authority of India.
A Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP) is proposed to be set up under the Chairmanship of Shri Nandan Nilekani for creation of reliable and secure IT projects.
Defence gets an allocation of Rs.1,47,344 crore. As a one time confidence building measure in Jammu and Kashmir about 2000 youths will be recruited as constable in five Central Para-Military forces in 2010. Adequate funds will be made available to support the action plan to be prepared by the Planning Commission for development of 33 left wing extremist affected districts.
An Independent Evaluation Office is to be set up to undertake impartial and objective assessment of various public programmes and improve the effectiveness of public interventions in Planning Commission.
A National Mission for Delivery of Justice and Legal Reforms is also to be set up.
Tax Proposals
The Finance Minister emphasized the need for continued Tax Reforms. The Tax Returns form are being simplified and the Income Tax Department is now ready to notify Saral-2 forms for individual salary tax payers. The Sevottam project started in four cities to provide a single window system for registration and grievance redressal will be extended to four more cities. Two more centres will be opened for bulk processing of Tax Returns. The Indirect Tax Administrations are being revamped to achieve the roll out of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Rs.1133 crore have been budgeted for a mission mode project to achieve this.
Major relief has been provided to individual tax payers by enhancing exemption limit and reducing tax in different slabs of personal income.. Deduction of an additional amount of Rs.20000 for investment in long term infrastructure bonds will be available in addition to the existing limit of Rs.1 lakh available for specified savings.
The surcharge on domestic companies is being reduced from 10% to 7.5%. However, the minimum alternate tax (MAT) is being increased from 15% to 18%.
Exemptions and deductions have been provided to increase spending on research.
The investment linked deduction to new hotels of two star category and above is being extended to give boost to investment in Tourism sector.
A one time interim relief is being provided to the housing and real estate sector by allowing pending projects to be completed within a period of five years instead of four years for claiming a deduction on their profits.
The Finance Minister has proposed to partially roll back the rate deduction in Central Excise duties and enhance the standard rate on all non-petroleum products from 8% to 10% ad valorem. The specific rates of duty applicable to Portland cement and cement clinker are also being adjusted upwards proportionately. Similarly, the ad valorem component of excise duty on large cars, multi-utility vehicles and sports utility vehicles which was reduced as part of the first stimulus package, is being increased by 2 percentage points to 22%.
The basic duty of 5% on crude petroleum; 7.5% on diesel and petrol and 10% on other refined products is being enhanced. The Central Excise Duty on petrol and diesel is being enhanced by Rs.1 per litre.
Excise duty on non-smoking tobacco is being enhanced. In addition a compounded levy scheme is being introduced by chewing tobacco and branded unmanufactured tobacco based on the capacity of pouch making machines.
A number of duty concessions are being proposed to support agriculture and allied sector. Mechanised handling systems in warehouses will get project import status with a concessional import duty of 5%. Installation and commissioning of such equipment will be fully exempt from service tax. Concessional duty will also be applicable for cold storages, food processing units, specified equipment for food preservation etc. The concessional import duty to specified machinery for use in the plantation sector is being further extended upto March 2011. Testing and certification of agricultural seed is being exempt from service tax.
Tax exemptions have been announced for equipment used in solar systems and wind energy system, LED lights, electric cars, cycle rickshaw, mobile phone components and certain medical equipment.
The rate of tax on services has been retained at 10%.
Budget Estimates
The Budget Estimates 2010-11 provides for a total expenditure of Rs. 11,08,749 crore. Out of this, Rs 3,73,092 crore is plan expenditure and Rs.7,35,657 crore is non-plan expenditure. The plan expenditure has increased by 15% while there is only 6% in increase in non-plan expenditure.
The total receipt are estimate Rs.7,46,651 crore.
The Fiscal deficit is pegged at 5.5%. In the Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement being presented along with other Budget documents in the House today, the rolling targets for fiscal deficit are pegged at 4.8% and 4.1% for 2011-12 and 2012-13, respectively. These projections improve upon the recommendations of the Thirteenth Finance Commission.
Many new initiatives have been introduced for sustained and inclusive growth. These include setting up of Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana, Financial Stability and Development Council, Gold Regulatory Authority, Technical Advisory Group for Unique Projects, National Mission for Delivery of Justice and Legal Reforms, Independent Evaluation Office and National Clean Energy Fund,
Presenting the Union Budget 2010-11 in the Lok Sabha today, the Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee, said that three challenges would continue to engage the Indian policy planners for next few years. The first challenge is to quickly revert to the high GDP growth path of 9% and then find the means to cross the double digit growth barrier. The second challenge is to consolidate recent gains in making development more inclusive. The third challenge is to remove weaknesses at different levels of governance and to improve public delivery mechanism. The Budget, therefore, focuses on fiscal consolidation, making growth more broad-based and ensuring that supply-demand imbalances are better managed.
The Minister expressed the hope that the economy will reach 10% growth in not too distant a future. The Minister explained that after a fall in GDP growth in 2008-09 to 6.7%, the growth has built up and 7.2% growth is expected in 2009-10. The Minister said that the recovery is very encouraging as it has come about despite negative growth in agriculture sector. The growth rate in manufacturing in December 2009 was 18.5%, the highest in past two decades. Similarly, there are also signs of a turnaround in the merchandise exports with a positive growth in November and December 2009 after a decline in about twelve successive months.
Expressing concern at the emergence of double digit food inflation, the Minister said that the Government has set in motion steps in consultation with the State Chief Ministers to bring down the inflation in the next few months and ensure better management of food security.
Fiscal Consolidation
The Minister said that now that the recovery has taken roots, there is a need to review public spending, mobilize resources and gear them towards building the productivity of the economy.
The government will follow the recommendations of the Thirteenth Finance Commission by capping the government debt. The Commission has recommended a capping of the combined debt of the Centre and the States at 68% of the GDP to be achieved by 2014-15.
For the first time, the Government would target an explicit reduction in its domestic public debt-GDP ratio. A status paper would be brought out within six months, giving a detailed analysis of the situation and a road map for curtailing the overall public debt. This would be followed by an annual report on the subject.
The Finance Minister expressed the hope that a broad consensus would be achieved on the Direct Tax Code and the Goods and Service Tax (GST) and these would be introduced from April 2011.
Improving Investment Environment
The Finance Minister said that a number of steps have been taken to simplify the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regime. The government also intends to make the FDI policy user-friendly by consolidating all prior regulations and guidelines into one comprehensive document. This would enhance clarity and predictability of our FDI policy to foreign investors, he said.
With a view to strengthen and institutionalize the mechanism for maintaining financial stability, Government has decided to set up an apex-level Financial Stability and Development Council. It would monitor macro prudential supervision of the economy, including the functioning of large financial conglomerates.
Towards strengthening the banking system, the Budget provides Rs.16500 crore as Tier-I capital. It would ensure that the Public Sector Banks are able to attain a minimum 8% Tier-I Capital by March 2011. Further capital would also be infused into the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs). The Minister also informed that the RBI is considering giving some additional banking licenses to private sector players. Non Banking Financial Companies could also be considered, if they meet the RBI’s eligibility criteria.
Agriculture Growth
A four-pronged strategy would be followed to spur growth in agriculture sector. The elements of the strategy are (a) agricultural production; (b) reduction in wastage of produce; (c) credit support to farmers; and (d) a thrust to the food processing sector.
The Budget provides Rs.400 crore for extending the green revolution to the eastern region of the country comprising Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Eastern UP, West Bengal and Orissa, with the active involvement of Gram Sabhas and the farming families.
60,000 ‘pulses and oil seed villages’ will be organized in rainfed areas with an outlay of Rs.300 crore during 2010-11. This will provide water harvesting, watershed management and soil health facilities to enhance to productivity of dryland farming areas. Another Rs.200 crore have been provided in the Budget for conservation farming.
To improve the storage capacity of food grains, Food Corporation of India is being allowed to hire godowns from private parties for a guaranteed period of seven years.
This period so far was five years.
The target for farm credit is being raised to Rs.3,75,000 crore in 2010-11 from Rs.3,25,000 crore in the current year.
The period for repayment of loans under the Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme is being extended by six months to June 30,2010.
The interest subvention for timely repayment of crop loans is being raised from 1% to 2%. Thus, the effective rate of interest for crop loans for farmers who repay their crop loan as per schedule will now be 5% per year.
Five more Mega Food Parks will be set up in addition to the 10 already being established. External Commercial Borrowings will henceforth be available for cold storage, farm level pre-cooling and preservation and storage of agricultural and allied produce marine products and meat.
Infrastructure
The Budget provides Rs.1,73,552 crore for infrastructure, accounting for over 46% of the total Plan allocation.
The allocation for road transport is being increased by over 13% from Rs 17,520 crore to Rs.19,894 crore.
Disbursement for infrastructure by India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd(IIFCL) is expected to reach Rs.20,000 crore in 2010-11 as against Rs.9,000 crore this year. Refinancing of bank landing to infrastructure projects by IIFCL is expected to be more than double in 2010-11.
Energy
The Plan allocation for power sector is being more than doubled from Rs.2,230 crore in 2009-10 to Rs.5,130 crore in 2010-11.
A Coal Regulatory Authority is proposed to be set up for creating level playing field in the coal sector and resolving various issues.
The Plan outlay for New and Renewal Energy Ministry is being increased by 61% from Rs. 620 crore to Rs.1,000 crore, especially to support the ambitious solar energy programme.
Inclusive Development
Stating that inclusive development is an act of faith for the UPA government, the Finance Minister said that after the Right to Information, Right to Work and Right to Education, the government is now ready with the draft Food Security Bill. A sums of Rs.1,37,674 crore, representing 37% of the total outlay, will be spent on social sector programmes.
Plan Allocation for school education is being increased from Rs.26,800 crore to Rs.31,036 crore to support the children’s rights to free and compulsory education. In addition, States will have an access to Rs. 3,675 crore for elementary education under the Finance Commission grant for 2010-11.
It has been decided to provide appropriate banking facilities to habitations having population in excess of 2000 by March 2012. It is also proposed to extend insurance and other services to the targeted beneficiaries. These provisions are expected to cover 60,000 habitations.
Rs.66,100 crore have been provided for Rural Development. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme gets Rs.40,100 crore and Bharat Nirman Programme, Rs.48,000 crore.
Indira Awas Yojana gets Rs.10,000 crore. The unit cost under this scheme is being raised to Rs.45,000 in plain areas and Rs.48500 in hilly areas to cover the increase in cost of construction of houses.
The allocation to Backward Region Grant Fund is being enhanced by 26% from Rs.5,800 crore to Rs.7,300 crore. An additional Central assistance of Rs.1,200 crore is being provided for drought mitigation in the Bundelkhand region.
Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana gets 75% increase in allocation from Rs.3,060 crore to Rs.5,400 crore. In addition, the allocation for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation is also being raised from Rs.850 crore to Rs.1,000 crore in 2010-11.
The 1% interest subvention on housing loans upto Rs.10 lakh (where the cost of the house does not exceed Rs.20 lakh) provided in the Budget for 2009-10 has been extended by another year.
Rajiv Awas Yojana, a scheme for housing to slum dwellers and urban poor, gets a huge jump in allocation from Rs.150 crore last year to Rs.1,270 crore in 2010-11.
It has been decided to set up a National Social Security Fund for unorganized sector workers with an initial allocation of Rs.1,000 crore. This fund will support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers, bidi workers etc.
The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Joyana is being extended to all Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries who have worked for more than 15 days during the preceding financial year.
The Swavalamban initiative started last year, under which the government contributes Rs.1,000 per year to each New Pension Scheme (NPS) account, will now be available for another three years.
Plan outlay for Women and Child Development is being stepped up by 50%. A Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana is being launched to meet the specific needs of women farmers.
The Plan outlay of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment gets a boost of 80% to Rs.4,500 crore. Besides supporting the programmes for the target beneficiaries, the Ministry will be able to raise the rates for scholarship schemes for SC and OBC students. Similarly, the Ministry of Minority Affairs allocation has been raised by 50% to Rs.2,600 crore.
Strengthening Transparency and Public Accountability
The government proposes to set up a Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission to rewrite and clean up the financial sector laws to bring them in line with the requirements of the sector.
Rs.1,900 crore has been allocated for the Unique Identification Authority of India.
A Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP) is proposed to be set up under the Chairmanship of Shri Nandan Nilekani for creation of reliable and secure IT projects.
Defence gets an allocation of Rs.1,47,344 crore. As a one time confidence building measure in Jammu and Kashmir about 2000 youths will be recruited as constable in five Central Para-Military forces in 2010. Adequate funds will be made available to support the action plan to be prepared by the Planning Commission for development of 33 left wing extremist affected districts.
An Independent Evaluation Office is to be set up to undertake impartial and objective assessment of various public programmes and improve the effectiveness of public interventions in Planning Commission.
A National Mission for Delivery of Justice and Legal Reforms is also to be set up.
Tax Proposals
The Finance Minister emphasized the need for continued Tax Reforms. The Tax Returns form are being simplified and the Income Tax Department is now ready to notify Saral-2 forms for individual salary tax payers. The Sevottam project started in four cities to provide a single window system for registration and grievance redressal will be extended to four more cities. Two more centres will be opened for bulk processing of Tax Returns. The Indirect Tax Administrations are being revamped to achieve the roll out of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Rs.1133 crore have been budgeted for a mission mode project to achieve this.
Major relief has been provided to individual tax payers by enhancing exemption limit and reducing tax in different slabs of personal income.. Deduction of an additional amount of Rs.20000 for investment in long term infrastructure bonds will be available in addition to the existing limit of Rs.1 lakh available for specified savings.
The surcharge on domestic companies is being reduced from 10% to 7.5%. However, the minimum alternate tax (MAT) is being increased from 15% to 18%.
Exemptions and deductions have been provided to increase spending on research.
The investment linked deduction to new hotels of two star category and above is being extended to give boost to investment in Tourism sector.
A one time interim relief is being provided to the housing and real estate sector by allowing pending projects to be completed within a period of five years instead of four years for claiming a deduction on their profits.
The Finance Minister has proposed to partially roll back the rate deduction in Central Excise duties and enhance the standard rate on all non-petroleum products from 8% to 10% ad valorem. The specific rates of duty applicable to Portland cement and cement clinker are also being adjusted upwards proportionately. Similarly, the ad valorem component of excise duty on large cars, multi-utility vehicles and sports utility vehicles which was reduced as part of the first stimulus package, is being increased by 2 percentage points to 22%.
The basic duty of 5% on crude petroleum; 7.5% on diesel and petrol and 10% on other refined products is being enhanced. The Central Excise Duty on petrol and diesel is being enhanced by Rs.1 per litre.
Excise duty on non-smoking tobacco is being enhanced. In addition a compounded levy scheme is being introduced by chewing tobacco and branded unmanufactured tobacco based on the capacity of pouch making machines.
A number of duty concessions are being proposed to support agriculture and allied sector. Mechanised handling systems in warehouses will get project import status with a concessional import duty of 5%. Installation and commissioning of such equipment will be fully exempt from service tax. Concessional duty will also be applicable for cold storages, food processing units, specified equipment for food preservation etc. The concessional import duty to specified machinery for use in the plantation sector is being further extended upto March 2011. Testing and certification of agricultural seed is being exempt from service tax.
Tax exemptions have been announced for equipment used in solar systems and wind energy system, LED lights, electric cars, cycle rickshaw, mobile phone components and certain medical equipment.
The rate of tax on services has been retained at 10%.
Budget Estimates
The Budget Estimates 2010-11 provides for a total expenditure of Rs. 11,08,749 crore. Out of this, Rs 3,73,092 crore is plan expenditure and Rs.7,35,657 crore is non-plan expenditure. The plan expenditure has increased by 15% while there is only 6% in increase in non-plan expenditure.
The total receipt are estimate Rs.7,46,651 crore.
The Fiscal deficit is pegged at 5.5%. In the Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement being presented along with other Budget documents in the House today, the rolling targets for fiscal deficit are pegged at 4.8% and 4.1% for 2011-12 and 2012-13, respectively. These projections improve upon the recommendations of the Thirteenth Finance Commission.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Indian Nuclear Doctrine
The use of nuclear weapons in particular as well as other weapons of mass destruction constitutes the gravest threat to humanity and to peace and stability in the international system. Unlike the other two categories of weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical weapons which have been outlawed by international treaties, nuclear weapons remain instruments for national and collective security, the possession of which on a selective basis has been sought to be legitimised through permanent extension of the Nuclear. Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) in May 1995. Nuclear weapon states have asserted that they will continue to rely on nuclear weapons with some of them adopting policies to use them even in a non-nuclear context. These developments amount to virtual abandonment of nuclear disarmament. This is a serious setback to the struggle of the international community to abolish weapons of mass destruction.
India's primary objective is to achieve economic, political, social, scientific and technological development within a peaceful and democratic framework. This requires an environment of durable peace and insurance against potential risks to peace and stability. It will be India's endeavour to proceed towards this overall objective in cooperation with the global democratic trends and to play a constructive role in advancing the international system toward a just, peaceful and equitable order.
Autonomy of decision making in the developmental process and in strategic matters is an inalienable democratic right of the Indian people. India will strenuously guard this right in a world where nuclear weapons for a select few are sought to be legitimised for an indefinite future, and where there is growing complexity and frequency in the use of force for political purposes.
India's security is an integral component of its development process. India continuously aims at promoting an ever-expanding area of peace and stability around it so that developmental priorities can be pursued without disruption.
However, the very existence of offensive doctrine pertaining to the first use of nuclear weapons and the insistence of some nuclear weapons states on the legitimacy of their use even against non-nuclear weapon countries constitute a threat to peace, stability and
This document outlines the broad principles for the development, deployment and employment of India's nuclear forces. Details of policy and strategy concerning force structures, deployment and employment of nuclear forces will flow from this framework and will be laid down separately and kept under constant review.
Objectives
In the absence of global nuclear disarmament India's strategic interests require effective, credible nuclear deterrence and adequate retaliatory capability should deterrence fail. This is consistent with the UN Charter, which sanctions the right of self-defence.
The requirements of deterrence should be carefully weighed in the design of Indian nuclear forces and in the strategy to provide for a level of capability consistent with maximum credibility, survivability, effectiveness, safety and security.
India shall pursue a doctrine of credible minimum nuclear deterrence. In this policy of "retaliation only", the survivability of our arsenal is critical. This is a dynamic concept related to the strategic environment, technological imperatives and the needs of national security. The actual size components, deployment and employment of nuclear forces will be decided in the light of these factors. India's peacetime posture aims at convincing any potential aggressor that :
(a) any threat of use of nuclear weapons against India shall invoke measures to counter the threat: and
(b) any nuclear attack on India and its forces shall result in punitive retaliation with nuclear weapons to inflict damage unacceptable to the aggressor.
The fundamental purpose of Indian nuclear weapons is to deter the use and threat of use of nuclear weapons by any State or entity against India and its forces. India will not be the first to initiate a nuclear strike, but will respond with punitive retaliation should deterrence fail.
India will not resort to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons against States which do not possess nuclear weapons, or are not aligned with nuclear weapon powers.
Deterrence requires that India maintain:
(a) Sufficient, survivable and operationally prepared nuclear forces,
(b) a robust command and control system,
(c) effective intelligence and early warning capabilities, and
(d) comprehensive planning and training for operations in line with the strategy, and
(e) the will to employ nuclear forces and weapons
Highly effective conventional military capabilities shall be maintained to raise the threshold of outbreak both of conventional military conflict as well as that of threat or use of nuclear weapons.
Nuclear Forces
India's nuclear forces will be effective, enduring, diverse, flexible, and responsive to the requirements in accordance with the concept of credible minimum deterrence. These forces will be based on a triad of aircraft, mobile land-based missiles and sea-based assets in keeping with the objectives outlined above.
Survivability of the forces will be enhanced by a combination of multiple redundant systems, mobility, dispersion and deception.
3.2. The doctrine envisages assured capability to shift from peacetime deployment to fully employable forces in the shortest possible time, and the ability to retaliate effectively even in a case of significant degradation by hostile strikes.
________________________________________
Credibility and Survivability
The following principles are central to India's nuclear deterrent
Credibility: Any adversary must know that India can and will retaliate with sufficient nuclear weapons to inflict destruction and punishment that the aggressor will find unacceptable if nuclear weapons are used against India and its forces.
Effectiveness: The efficacy of India's nuclear deterrent be maximised through synergy among all elements involving reliability, timeliness, accuracy and weight of the attack.
Survivability:
(i) India's nuclear forces and their command and control shall be organised for very high survivability against surprise attacks and for rapid punitive response. They shall be designed and deployed to ensure survival against a first strike and to endure repetitive attrition attempts with adequate retaliatory capabilities for a punishing strike which would be unacceptable to the aggressor.
(ii) Procedures for the continuity of nuclear command and control shall ensure a continuing capability to effectively employ nuclear weapons.
________________________________________
Command and Control
Nuclear weapons shall be tightly controlled and released for use at the highest political level. the authority to release nuclear weapons for use resides in the person of the Prime Minister of India, or the designated successor(s).
An effective and survivable command and control system with requisite flexibility and responsiveness shall be in place. An integrated operational plan, or a series of sequential plans, predicated on strategic objectives and a targetting policy shall form part of the system.
For effective employment the unity of command and control of nuclear forces including dual capable delivery systems shall be ensured.
The survivability of the nuclear arsenal and effective command, control, communications, computing, intelligence and information (C4I2) systems shall be assured.
The Indian defence forces shall be in a position to, execute operations in an NBC environment with minimal degradation;
Space based and other assets shall be created to provide early warning, communications, damage/detonation assessment.
________________________________________
Security and Safety
Security: Extraordinary precautions shall be taken to ensure that nuclear weapons, their manufacture, transportation and storage are fully guarded against possible theft, loss, sabotage, damage or unauthorised access or use.
Safety is an absolute requirement and tamper proof procedures and systems shall be instituted to ensure that unauthorised or inadvertent activation/use of nuclear weapons does not take place and risks of accident are avoided.
Disaster control: India shall develop an appropriate disaster control system capable of handling the unique requirements of potential incidents involving nuclear weapons and materials;
________________________________________
Research and Development
India should step up efforts in research and development to keep up with technological advances in this field.
While India is committed to maintain the deployment of a deterrent which is both minimum and credible, it will not accept any restraints on building its R&D capability.
________________________________________
Disarmament and Arms Control
Global, verifiable and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament is a national security objective. India shall continue its efforts to achieve the goal of a nuclear weapon-free world at an early date.
Since no-first use of nuclear weapons is India's basic commitment, every effort shall be made to persuade other States possessing nuclear weapons to join an international treaty banning first use.
Having provided unqualified negative security assurances, India shall work for internationally binding unconditional negative security assurances by nuclear weapon states to non-nuclear weapon states.
Nuclear arms control measures shall be sought as part of national security policy to reduce potential threats and to protect our own capability and its effectiveness.
In view of the very high destructive potential of nuclear weapons, appropriate nuclear risk reduction and confidence building measures shall be sought, negotiated and instituted.
India's primary objective is to achieve economic, political, social, scientific and technological development within a peaceful and democratic framework. This requires an environment of durable peace and insurance against potential risks to peace and stability. It will be India's endeavour to proceed towards this overall objective in cooperation with the global democratic trends and to play a constructive role in advancing the international system toward a just, peaceful and equitable order.
Autonomy of decision making in the developmental process and in strategic matters is an inalienable democratic right of the Indian people. India will strenuously guard this right in a world where nuclear weapons for a select few are sought to be legitimised for an indefinite future, and where there is growing complexity and frequency in the use of force for political purposes.
India's security is an integral component of its development process. India continuously aims at promoting an ever-expanding area of peace and stability around it so that developmental priorities can be pursued without disruption.
However, the very existence of offensive doctrine pertaining to the first use of nuclear weapons and the insistence of some nuclear weapons states on the legitimacy of their use even against non-nuclear weapon countries constitute a threat to peace, stability and
This document outlines the broad principles for the development, deployment and employment of India's nuclear forces. Details of policy and strategy concerning force structures, deployment and employment of nuclear forces will flow from this framework and will be laid down separately and kept under constant review.
Objectives
In the absence of global nuclear disarmament India's strategic interests require effective, credible nuclear deterrence and adequate retaliatory capability should deterrence fail. This is consistent with the UN Charter, which sanctions the right of self-defence.
The requirements of deterrence should be carefully weighed in the design of Indian nuclear forces and in the strategy to provide for a level of capability consistent with maximum credibility, survivability, effectiveness, safety and security.
India shall pursue a doctrine of credible minimum nuclear deterrence. In this policy of "retaliation only", the survivability of our arsenal is critical. This is a dynamic concept related to the strategic environment, technological imperatives and the needs of national security. The actual size components, deployment and employment of nuclear forces will be decided in the light of these factors. India's peacetime posture aims at convincing any potential aggressor that :
(a) any threat of use of nuclear weapons against India shall invoke measures to counter the threat: and
(b) any nuclear attack on India and its forces shall result in punitive retaliation with nuclear weapons to inflict damage unacceptable to the aggressor.
The fundamental purpose of Indian nuclear weapons is to deter the use and threat of use of nuclear weapons by any State or entity against India and its forces. India will not be the first to initiate a nuclear strike, but will respond with punitive retaliation should deterrence fail.
India will not resort to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons against States which do not possess nuclear weapons, or are not aligned with nuclear weapon powers.
Deterrence requires that India maintain:
(a) Sufficient, survivable and operationally prepared nuclear forces,
(b) a robust command and control system,
(c) effective intelligence and early warning capabilities, and
(d) comprehensive planning and training for operations in line with the strategy, and
(e) the will to employ nuclear forces and weapons
Highly effective conventional military capabilities shall be maintained to raise the threshold of outbreak both of conventional military conflict as well as that of threat or use of nuclear weapons.
Nuclear Forces
India's nuclear forces will be effective, enduring, diverse, flexible, and responsive to the requirements in accordance with the concept of credible minimum deterrence. These forces will be based on a triad of aircraft, mobile land-based missiles and sea-based assets in keeping with the objectives outlined above.
Survivability of the forces will be enhanced by a combination of multiple redundant systems, mobility, dispersion and deception.
3.2. The doctrine envisages assured capability to shift from peacetime deployment to fully employable forces in the shortest possible time, and the ability to retaliate effectively even in a case of significant degradation by hostile strikes.
________________________________________
Credibility and Survivability
The following principles are central to India's nuclear deterrent
Credibility: Any adversary must know that India can and will retaliate with sufficient nuclear weapons to inflict destruction and punishment that the aggressor will find unacceptable if nuclear weapons are used against India and its forces.
Effectiveness: The efficacy of India's nuclear deterrent be maximised through synergy among all elements involving reliability, timeliness, accuracy and weight of the attack.
Survivability:
(i) India's nuclear forces and their command and control shall be organised for very high survivability against surprise attacks and for rapid punitive response. They shall be designed and deployed to ensure survival against a first strike and to endure repetitive attrition attempts with adequate retaliatory capabilities for a punishing strike which would be unacceptable to the aggressor.
(ii) Procedures for the continuity of nuclear command and control shall ensure a continuing capability to effectively employ nuclear weapons.
________________________________________
Command and Control
Nuclear weapons shall be tightly controlled and released for use at the highest political level. the authority to release nuclear weapons for use resides in the person of the Prime Minister of India, or the designated successor(s).
An effective and survivable command and control system with requisite flexibility and responsiveness shall be in place. An integrated operational plan, or a series of sequential plans, predicated on strategic objectives and a targetting policy shall form part of the system.
For effective employment the unity of command and control of nuclear forces including dual capable delivery systems shall be ensured.
The survivability of the nuclear arsenal and effective command, control, communications, computing, intelligence and information (C4I2) systems shall be assured.
The Indian defence forces shall be in a position to, execute operations in an NBC environment with minimal degradation;
Space based and other assets shall be created to provide early warning, communications, damage/detonation assessment.
________________________________________
Security and Safety
Security: Extraordinary precautions shall be taken to ensure that nuclear weapons, their manufacture, transportation and storage are fully guarded against possible theft, loss, sabotage, damage or unauthorised access or use.
Safety is an absolute requirement and tamper proof procedures and systems shall be instituted to ensure that unauthorised or inadvertent activation/use of nuclear weapons does not take place and risks of accident are avoided.
Disaster control: India shall develop an appropriate disaster control system capable of handling the unique requirements of potential incidents involving nuclear weapons and materials;
________________________________________
Research and Development
India should step up efforts in research and development to keep up with technological advances in this field.
While India is committed to maintain the deployment of a deterrent which is both minimum and credible, it will not accept any restraints on building its R&D capability.
________________________________________
Disarmament and Arms Control
Global, verifiable and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament is a national security objective. India shall continue its efforts to achieve the goal of a nuclear weapon-free world at an early date.
Since no-first use of nuclear weapons is India's basic commitment, every effort shall be made to persuade other States possessing nuclear weapons to join an international treaty banning first use.
Having provided unqualified negative security assurances, India shall work for internationally binding unconditional negative security assurances by nuclear weapon states to non-nuclear weapon states.
Nuclear arms control measures shall be sought as part of national security policy to reduce potential threats and to protect our own capability and its effectiveness.
In view of the very high destructive potential of nuclear weapons, appropriate nuclear risk reduction and confidence building measures shall be sought, negotiated and instituted.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009
Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak were awarded for the discovery of "how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase".
Summary
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to three scientists who have solved a major problem in biology: how the chromosomes can be copied in a complete way during cell divisions and how they are protected against degradation. The Nobel Laureates have shown that the solution is to be found in the ends of the chromosomes – the telomeres – and in an enzyme that forms them – telomerase.
The long, thread-like DNA molecules that carry our genes are packed into chromosomes, the telomeres being the caps on their ends. Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak discovered that a unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation. Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn identified telomerase, the enzyme that makes telomere DNA. These discoveries explained how the ends of the chromosomes are protected by the telomeres and that they are built by telomerase.
If the telomeres are shortened, cells age. Conversely, if telomerase activity is high, telomere length is maintained, and cellular senescence is delayed. This is the case in cancer cells, which can be considered to have eternal life. Certain inherited diseases, in contrast, are characterized by a defective telomerase, resulting in damaged cells. The award of the Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism in the cell, a discovery that has stimulated the development of new therapeutic strategies.
The mysterious telomere
The chromosomes contain our genome in their DNA molecules. As early as the 1930s, Hermann Muller (Nobel Prize 1946) and Barbara McClintock (Nobel Prize 1983) had observed that the structures at the ends of the chromosomes, the so-called telomeres, seemed to prevent the chromosomes from attaching to each other. They suspected that the telomeres could have a protective role, but how they operate remained an enigma.
When scientists began to understand how genes are copied, in the 1950s, another problem presented itself. When a cell is about to divide, the DNA molecules, which contain the four bases that form the genetic code, are copied, base by base, by DNA polymerase enzymes. However, for one of the two DNA strands, a problem exists in that the very end of the strand cannot be copied. Therefore, the chromosomes should be shortened every time a cell divides – but in fact that is not usually the case.
Both these problems were solved when this year's Nobel Laureates discovered how the telomere functions and found the enzyme that copies it.
Telomere DNA protects the chromosomes
In the early phase of her research career, Elizabeth Blackburn mapped DNA sequences. When studying the chromosomes of Tetrahymena, a unicellular ciliate organism, she identified a DNA sequence that was repeated several times at the ends of the chromosomes. The function of this sequence, CCCCAA, was unclear. At the same time, Jack Szostak had made the observation that a linear DNA molecule, a type of minichromosome, is rapidly degraded when introduced into yeast cells.
Blackburn presented her results at a conference in 1980. They caught Jack Szostak's interest and he and Blackburn decided to perform an experiment that would cross the boundaries between very distant species (Fig 2). From the DNA of Tetrahymena, Blackburn isolated the CCCCAA sequence. Szostak coupled it to the minichromosomes and put them back into yeast cells. The results, which were published in 1982, were striking – the telomere DNA sequence protected the minichromosomes from degradation. As telomere DNA from one organism, Tetrahymena, protected chromosomes in an entirely different one, yeast, this demonstrated the existence of a previously unrecognized fundamental mechanism. Later on, it became evident that telomere DNA with its characteristic sequence is present in most plants and animals, from amoeba to man.
An enzyme that builds telomeres
Carol Greider, then a graduate student, and her supervisor Blackburn started to investigate if the formation of telomere DNA could be due to an unknown enzyme. On Christmas Day, 1984, Greider discovered signs of enzymatic activity in a cell extract. Greider and Blackburn named the enzyme telomerase, purified it, and showed that it consists of RNA as well as protein. The RNA component turned out to contain the CCCCAA sequence. It serves as the template when the telomere is built, while the protein component is required for the construction work, i.e. the enzymatic activity. Telomerase extends telomere DNA, providing a platform that enables DNA polymerases to copy the entire length of the chromosome without missing the very end portion.
Telomeres delay ageing of the cell
Scientists now began to investigate what roles the telomere might play in the cell. Szostak's group identified yeast cells with mutations that led to a gradual shortening of the telomeres. Such cells grew poorly and eventually stopped dividing. Blackburn and her co-workers made mutations in the RNA of the telomerase and observed similar effects in Tetrahymena. In both cases, this led to premature cellular ageing – senescence. In contrast, functional telomeres instead prevent chromosomal damage and delay cellular senescence. Later on, Greider's group showed that the senescence of human cells is also delayed by telomerase. Research in this area has been intense and it is now known that the DNA sequence in the telomere attracts proteins that form a protective cap around the fragile ends of the DNA strands.
An important piece in the puzzle – human ageing, cancer, and stem cells
These discoveries had a major impact within the scientific community. Many scientists speculated that telomere shortening could be the reason for ageing, not only in the individual cells but also in the organism as a whole. But the ageing process has turned out to be complex and it is now thought to depend on several different factors, the telomere being one of them. Research in this area remains intense.
Most normal cells do not divide frequently, therefore their chromosomes are not at risk of shortening and they do not require high telomerase activity. In contrast, cancer cells have the ability to divide infinitely and yet preserve their telomeres. How do they escape cellular senescence? One explanation became apparent with the finding that cancer cells often have increased telomerase activity. It was therefore proposed that cancer might be treated by eradicating telomerase. Several studies are underway in this area, including clinical trials evaluating vaccines directed against cells with elevated telomerase activity.
Some inherited diseases are now known to be caused by telomerase defects, including certain forms of congenital aplastic anemia, in which insufficient cell divisions in the stem cells of the bone marrow lead to severe anemia. Certain inherited diseases of the skin and the lungs are also caused by telomerase defects.
In conclusion, the discoveries by Blackburn, Greider and Szostak have added a new dimension to our understanding of the cell, shed light on disease mechanisms, and stimulated the development of potential new therapies.
Elizabeth H. Blackburn has US and Australian citizenship. She was born in 1948 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. After undergraduate studies at the University of Melbourne, she received her PhD in 1975 from the University of Cambridge, England, and was a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University, New Haven, USA. She was on the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, and since 1990 has been professor of biology and physiology at the University of California, San Francisco.
Carol W. Greider is a US citizen and was born in 1961 in San Diego, California, USA. She studied at the University of California in Santa Barbara and in Berkeley, where she obtained her PhD in 1987 with Blackburn as her supervisor. After postdoctoral research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, she was appointed professor in the department of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore in 1997.
Jack W. Szostak is a US citizen. He was born in 1952 in London, UK and grew up in Canada. He studied at McGill University in Montreal and at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he received his PhD in 1977. He has been at Harvard Medical School since 1979 and is currently professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He is also affiliated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak were awarded for the discovery of "how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase".
Summary
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to three scientists who have solved a major problem in biology: how the chromosomes can be copied in a complete way during cell divisions and how they are protected against degradation. The Nobel Laureates have shown that the solution is to be found in the ends of the chromosomes – the telomeres – and in an enzyme that forms them – telomerase.
The long, thread-like DNA molecules that carry our genes are packed into chromosomes, the telomeres being the caps on their ends. Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak discovered that a unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation. Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn identified telomerase, the enzyme that makes telomere DNA. These discoveries explained how the ends of the chromosomes are protected by the telomeres and that they are built by telomerase.
If the telomeres are shortened, cells age. Conversely, if telomerase activity is high, telomere length is maintained, and cellular senescence is delayed. This is the case in cancer cells, which can be considered to have eternal life. Certain inherited diseases, in contrast, are characterized by a defective telomerase, resulting in damaged cells. The award of the Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism in the cell, a discovery that has stimulated the development of new therapeutic strategies.
The mysterious telomere
The chromosomes contain our genome in their DNA molecules. As early as the 1930s, Hermann Muller (Nobel Prize 1946) and Barbara McClintock (Nobel Prize 1983) had observed that the structures at the ends of the chromosomes, the so-called telomeres, seemed to prevent the chromosomes from attaching to each other. They suspected that the telomeres could have a protective role, but how they operate remained an enigma.
When scientists began to understand how genes are copied, in the 1950s, another problem presented itself. When a cell is about to divide, the DNA molecules, which contain the four bases that form the genetic code, are copied, base by base, by DNA polymerase enzymes. However, for one of the two DNA strands, a problem exists in that the very end of the strand cannot be copied. Therefore, the chromosomes should be shortened every time a cell divides – but in fact that is not usually the case.
Both these problems were solved when this year's Nobel Laureates discovered how the telomere functions and found the enzyme that copies it.
Telomere DNA protects the chromosomes
In the early phase of her research career, Elizabeth Blackburn mapped DNA sequences. When studying the chromosomes of Tetrahymena, a unicellular ciliate organism, she identified a DNA sequence that was repeated several times at the ends of the chromosomes. The function of this sequence, CCCCAA, was unclear. At the same time, Jack Szostak had made the observation that a linear DNA molecule, a type of minichromosome, is rapidly degraded when introduced into yeast cells.
Blackburn presented her results at a conference in 1980. They caught Jack Szostak's interest and he and Blackburn decided to perform an experiment that would cross the boundaries between very distant species (Fig 2). From the DNA of Tetrahymena, Blackburn isolated the CCCCAA sequence. Szostak coupled it to the minichromosomes and put them back into yeast cells. The results, which were published in 1982, were striking – the telomere DNA sequence protected the minichromosomes from degradation. As telomere DNA from one organism, Tetrahymena, protected chromosomes in an entirely different one, yeast, this demonstrated the existence of a previously unrecognized fundamental mechanism. Later on, it became evident that telomere DNA with its characteristic sequence is present in most plants and animals, from amoeba to man.
An enzyme that builds telomeres
Carol Greider, then a graduate student, and her supervisor Blackburn started to investigate if the formation of telomere DNA could be due to an unknown enzyme. On Christmas Day, 1984, Greider discovered signs of enzymatic activity in a cell extract. Greider and Blackburn named the enzyme telomerase, purified it, and showed that it consists of RNA as well as protein. The RNA component turned out to contain the CCCCAA sequence. It serves as the template when the telomere is built, while the protein component is required for the construction work, i.e. the enzymatic activity. Telomerase extends telomere DNA, providing a platform that enables DNA polymerases to copy the entire length of the chromosome without missing the very end portion.
Telomeres delay ageing of the cell
Scientists now began to investigate what roles the telomere might play in the cell. Szostak's group identified yeast cells with mutations that led to a gradual shortening of the telomeres. Such cells grew poorly and eventually stopped dividing. Blackburn and her co-workers made mutations in the RNA of the telomerase and observed similar effects in Tetrahymena. In both cases, this led to premature cellular ageing – senescence. In contrast, functional telomeres instead prevent chromosomal damage and delay cellular senescence. Later on, Greider's group showed that the senescence of human cells is also delayed by telomerase. Research in this area has been intense and it is now known that the DNA sequence in the telomere attracts proteins that form a protective cap around the fragile ends of the DNA strands.
An important piece in the puzzle – human ageing, cancer, and stem cells
These discoveries had a major impact within the scientific community. Many scientists speculated that telomere shortening could be the reason for ageing, not only in the individual cells but also in the organism as a whole. But the ageing process has turned out to be complex and it is now thought to depend on several different factors, the telomere being one of them. Research in this area remains intense.
Most normal cells do not divide frequently, therefore their chromosomes are not at risk of shortening and they do not require high telomerase activity. In contrast, cancer cells have the ability to divide infinitely and yet preserve their telomeres. How do they escape cellular senescence? One explanation became apparent with the finding that cancer cells often have increased telomerase activity. It was therefore proposed that cancer might be treated by eradicating telomerase. Several studies are underway in this area, including clinical trials evaluating vaccines directed against cells with elevated telomerase activity.
Some inherited diseases are now known to be caused by telomerase defects, including certain forms of congenital aplastic anemia, in which insufficient cell divisions in the stem cells of the bone marrow lead to severe anemia. Certain inherited diseases of the skin and the lungs are also caused by telomerase defects.
In conclusion, the discoveries by Blackburn, Greider and Szostak have added a new dimension to our understanding of the cell, shed light on disease mechanisms, and stimulated the development of potential new therapies.
Elizabeth H. Blackburn has US and Australian citizenship. She was born in 1948 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. After undergraduate studies at the University of Melbourne, she received her PhD in 1975 from the University of Cambridge, England, and was a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University, New Haven, USA. She was on the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, and since 1990 has been professor of biology and physiology at the University of California, San Francisco.
Carol W. Greider is a US citizen and was born in 1961 in San Diego, California, USA. She studied at the University of California in Santa Barbara and in Berkeley, where she obtained her PhD in 1987 with Blackburn as her supervisor. After postdoctoral research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, she was appointed professor in the department of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore in 1997.
Jack W. Szostak is a US citizen. He was born in 1952 in London, UK and grew up in Canada. He studied at McGill University in Montreal and at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he received his PhD in 1977. He has been at Harvard Medical School since 1979 and is currently professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He is also affiliated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana(PMSSY)
The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) has been approved in March 2006 with the objective of correcting the imbalances in availability of affordable/reliable tertiary level healthcare in the country in general and to augment facilities for quality medical education in the under-served States.
The PMSSY envisages:-
(i) Setting up up 6 AIIMS like institutions one each in the States of Bihar(Patna), Madhya Pradesh(Bhopal), Orissa(Bhubaneshwar), Rajasthan(Jodhpur),Chhattisgarh(Raipur) and Uttaranchal (Rishikesh) at an estimated cost of Rs.332 Crores per institution. Each institution will have a 850 bedded hospital intended to provide healthcare facilities in 39 speciality/super-speciality disciplines. Medical College will have 100 UG intake besides facilities for imparting PG/doctoral courses in various disciplines.
(ii) Upgradation of the following 13 existing medical institutions with an outlay of Rs.120 Cores per institution, of which Rs.100 Crores would be borne by the Central Govt. and the remaining Rs.20 by the respective State Govt:-
1. Govt. Medical College, Jammu (J&K)
2. Govt. Medical College, Srinagar (J&K)
3. Kolkatta Medical College, Kolkatta (W.B.)
4. Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow (U.P)
5. Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, Varanasi (UP),
6. Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad(A.P)
7. Sri Venkateshwara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati (A.P) (50% cost of upgradation will be borne by the TTD Trust)
8. Govt. Medical College, Salem (T.N.)
9. Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS), Ranchi (Jharkhand)
10. B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad (Gujarat)
11. Bangalore Medical College, Bangalore(Karnataka)
12. Grant Medical College & Sir J.J. Group Of Hospitals, Mumbai, (Maharashta)
13. Medical College, Thrivananthapuram, (Kerala)
The Scheme would be implemented by 2009-10.
The PMSSY envisages:-
(i) Setting up up 6 AIIMS like institutions one each in the States of Bihar(Patna), Madhya Pradesh(Bhopal), Orissa(Bhubaneshwar), Rajasthan(Jodhpur),Chhattisgarh(Raipur) and Uttaranchal (Rishikesh) at an estimated cost of Rs.332 Crores per institution. Each institution will have a 850 bedded hospital intended to provide healthcare facilities in 39 speciality/super-speciality disciplines. Medical College will have 100 UG intake besides facilities for imparting PG/doctoral courses in various disciplines.
(ii) Upgradation of the following 13 existing medical institutions with an outlay of Rs.120 Cores per institution, of which Rs.100 Crores would be borne by the Central Govt. and the remaining Rs.20 by the respective State Govt:-
1. Govt. Medical College, Jammu (J&K)
2. Govt. Medical College, Srinagar (J&K)
3. Kolkatta Medical College, Kolkatta (W.B.)
4. Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow (U.P)
5. Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, Varanasi (UP),
6. Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad(A.P)
7. Sri Venkateshwara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati (A.P) (50% cost of upgradation will be borne by the TTD Trust)
8. Govt. Medical College, Salem (T.N.)
9. Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS), Ranchi (Jharkhand)
10. B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad (Gujarat)
11. Bangalore Medical College, Bangalore(Karnataka)
12. Grant Medical College & Sir J.J. Group Of Hospitals, Mumbai, (Maharashta)
13. Medical College, Thrivananthapuram, (Kerala)
The Scheme would be implemented by 2009-10.
Right to Education Bill
Union Cabinet clears Right to Education Bill
New Delhi, November 1: In a major boost to education sector, the Union Cabinet has cleared the long-pending Right to Education Bill, which promises free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14.
"The Bill has been considered at several levels by the Group of Ministers (GoM). The Cabinet has approved the text of the Bill," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters in Delhi about the decision of the Cabinet which met on Friday night.
Observing that it was an important promise to the children as education would become a fundamental right, he said that it would be legally enforceable duty of the Centre and the states to provide free and compulsory education.
Chidambaram said that the HRD Ministry would release the text of the Bill after consulting the Election Commission in view of the assembly polls in some states.
The GoM, entrusted with the task of scrutinising the Bill, had cleared the draft legislation early this month without diluting the content including some of the contentious provisions like 25 per cent reservation in private schools for disadvantaged children from the neighbourhood at the entry level.
Other key provisions in the Bill are no donation or capitation or interviewing the child or parents as part of a screening procedure.
The Right to Education Bill is the enabling legislation to notify the 86th Constitutional amendment, which gives every child between the age of 6 and 14 years the right to free and compulsory education. It was passed by Parliament in December 2002.
New Delhi, November 1: In a major boost to education sector, the Union Cabinet has cleared the long-pending Right to Education Bill, which promises free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14.
"The Bill has been considered at several levels by the Group of Ministers (GoM). The Cabinet has approved the text of the Bill," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters in Delhi about the decision of the Cabinet which met on Friday night.
Observing that it was an important promise to the children as education would become a fundamental right, he said that it would be legally enforceable duty of the Centre and the states to provide free and compulsory education.
Chidambaram said that the HRD Ministry would release the text of the Bill after consulting the Election Commission in view of the assembly polls in some states.
The GoM, entrusted with the task of scrutinising the Bill, had cleared the draft legislation early this month without diluting the content including some of the contentious provisions like 25 per cent reservation in private schools for disadvantaged children from the neighbourhood at the entry level.
Other key provisions in the Bill are no donation or capitation or interviewing the child or parents as part of a screening procedure.
The Right to Education Bill is the enabling legislation to notify the 86th Constitutional amendment, which gives every child between the age of 6 and 14 years the right to free and compulsory education. It was passed by Parliament in December 2002.
Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)
Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RSMA) is aimed at expanding and improving the standards of secondary education — classes VIII to X. The RSMA would also take secondary education to every corner of the country by ensuring a secondary school (up to class X) within a radius of 5km for every neighbourhood. Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) which is the most recent initiative of Government of India to achieve the goal of universalisation of secondary education (USE).
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan program set up by the government to bring elementary education to millions of children has been successful to a large extent, and has thus created a need for strengthening secondary education infrastructure across the country. The HRD Ministry has taken note of this, and now plans to implement a secondary education scheme called Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) during the 11th plan at a total cost of Rs.20,120 crore.
“With the successful implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, a large number of students are passing out from upper primary classes creating a huge demand for secondary education,” the HRD Ministry said.
Vision
The vision for secondary education is to make good quality education available, accessible and affordable to all young persons in the age group of 14-18 years. With this vision in mind, the following is to be achieved:
To provide a secondary school within a reasonable distance of any habitation, which should be 5 kilometer for secondary schools and 7 -10 kilometers for higher secondary schools
Ensure universal access of secondary education by 2017 (GER of 100%), and
Universal retention by 2020,
Providing access to secondary education with special references to economically weaker sections of the society, the educationally backward, the girls and the disabled children residing in rural areas and other marginalized categories like SC, ST, OBC and Educationally Backward Minorities (EBM)
Goal and Objectives
In order to meet the challenge of Universalisation of Secondary Education (USE), there is a need for a paradigm shift in the conceptual design of secondary education. The guiding principles in this regard are; Universal Access, Equality and Social Justice, Relevance and Development and Curricular and Structural Aspects. Universalisation of Secondary Education gives opportunity, to move towards equity. The concept of ‘common school’ will be encouraged. If these values are to be established in the system, all types of schools, including unaided private schools will also contribute towards Universalisation of Secondary Education (USE) by ensuring adequate enrolments for the children from under privileged society and the children Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
Main objectives
To ensure that all secondary schools have physical facilities, staffs and supplies at least according to the prescribed standards through financial support in case of Government/ Local Body and Government aided schools, and appropriate regulatory mechanism in the case of other schools
To improve access to secondary schooling to all young persons according to norms – through proximate location (say, Secondary Schools within 5 kms, and Higher Secondary Schools within 7-10 kms) / efficient and safe transport arrangements/residential facilities, depending on local circumstances including open schooling. However in hilly and difficult areas, these norms can be relaxed. Preferably residential schools may be set up in such areas
To ensure that no child is deprived of secondary education of satisfactory quality due to gender, socio-economic, disability and other barriers
To improve quality of secondary education resulting in enhanced intellectual, social and cultural learning
To ensure that all students pursuing secondary education receive education of good quality
Achievement of the above objectives would also, inter-alia, signify substantial progress in the direction of the Common School System
Approach and Strategy for Secondary Stage
In the context of Universalisation of Secondary Education (USE), large-scale inputs in terms of additional schools, additional classrooms, teachers and other facilities need to be provided to meet the challenge of numbers, credibility and quality. It inter-alia requires assessment/ provision of educational needs, physical infrastructure, human resource, academic inputs and effective monitoring of implementation of the programmes. The scheme will initially cover up to class X. Subsequently, the higher secondary stage will also be taken up, preferably within two years of the implementation. The strategy for universalizing access to secondary education and improving its quality are as under:
Access
There is a wide disparity in schooling facilities in different regions of the country. There are disparities among the private schools and between private and government schools. For providing universal access to quality secondary education, it is imperative that specially designed broad norms are developed at the national level and provision may be made for each State/UT keeping in mind the geographical, socio-cultural, linguistic and demographic condition of not just the State/UT but also, wherever necessary, of the locality. The norms for secondary schools should be generally comparable to those of Kendriya Vidyalayas. Development of the infrastructure facilities and Learning Resources will be carried out in following ways,
Expansion/ Strategy of existing Secondary Schools & Higher Secondary Schools shift in existing schools
Up gradation of Upper Primary Schools based on micro planning exercise with all necessary infrastructure facilities and teachers. Ashram Schools will be given preference while upgrading upper primary schools
Up gradation of Secondary Schools in Higher Secondary Schools based upon the requirements
Opening of new Secondary Schools/ Higher Secondary Schools in unserved areas bas on the school mapping exercise. All these buildings will have mandatory water harvesting system and will be disabled friendly
Rain harvesting systems will be installed in existing school buildings also
Existing school buildings will also be made disabled friendly
New schools will also be set up in PPP mode
Quality
Providing required infrastructure like, Black Board, furniture, Libraries, Science & Mathematics laboratories, computer labs, toilet cluster
Appointment of additional teachers and in-service training of teachers
Bridge course for enhancing learning ability for students passing out of class VIII
Reviewing curriculum to meet the NCF, 2005 norms
Residential accommodation for teachers in rural and difficult hilly areas
Preference will be given to accommodation for female teachers
Equity
Free lodging/ boarding facilities for students belonging to SC,ST,OBC and minority communities
Hostels/ residential schools, cash incentive, uniform, books, separate toilets for girls
Providing scholarships to meritorious/ needy students at secondary level
Inclusive education will be the hallmark of all the activities. Efforts will be made to provide all necessary facilities for the differently abled children in all the schools
Expansion of Open and Distance Learning needs to be undertaken, especially for those who cannot pursue full time secondary education, and for supplementation / enrichment of face-to-face instruction. This system will also play a crucial role for education of out of school children
Institutional Reforms and Strengthening of Resource Institutions
Making necessary administrative reforms in each State will be a precondition for Central assistance. These Institutional reforms include,
Reforms in school governance- Improve schools’ performance by decentralizing their management and accountability
Adopting a rational policy of teacher recruitment, deployment, training, remuneration and career advancement
Undertaking reforms in educational administration including modernization / e-governance and delegation / de-centralization
Provision of necessary professional and academic inputs in the secondary education system at all levels, i.e., from the school level upwards; and
Streamlining financial procedures for speedy flow of funds and their optimal utilization
Necessary strengthening of resource institutions at, various levels, e.g.,
NCERT (including RIEs), NUEPA and NIOS, at the national level;
SCERTs, State Open Schools, SIEMATs, etc., at the State level; and
University Departments of Education, Reputed Institutions of Science / Social Science / Humanities Education, and Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) / Institutions of Advanced Study in Education (IASEs) funded under the Centrally-sponsored Scheme of Teacher Education.
Involvement of Panchayati Raj
Involvement of Panchayati Raj and Municipal Bodies, Community, Teachers, Parents and other stakeholders in the management of Secondary Education, through bodies like School Management Committees and Parent – Teacher Associations will be ensured in planning process, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Government operates four Centrally Sponsored Schemes
: Central Government operates four Centrally Sponsored Schemes i.e.
(i)ICT@ schools for providing assistance to State Governments for computer education and computer aided education in secondary and higher secondary schools
(ii) Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) for assisting State Governments and NGOs in main streaming the disabled children in school education
(iii) Strengthening of Boarding and Hostel facilities for Girl Students of Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools (Access and Equity) for providing assistance to NGOs to run Girls’ Hostels in the rural areas, and
(iv) Quality improvement in schools which included provision of assistance to State Governments for introduction of Yoga, for improvement of Science education in schools, for environment education and for population education in addition to supporting International Science Olympiads. All these schemes, in the present or modified forms, will subsume in the new Scheme
(v) Provision for earning while learning for financially weaker children by preparing them for self employment or part-time employment. States/UTs may establish vocational training centers (VTC) and institutions at the block, district levels
Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas
Number of Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas will be increased in view of their importance as pace-setting schools, and strengthening their role
Financing Pattern and Opening of Bank Account:
The Central Government will bear 75 percent of the cost to implement all the components (where funding is to be done on sharing basis between center and states under the scheme) for all States/ UTs except North Eastern States during the 11th Five Year Plan. For the North Eastern States, 90 percent of such cost will be borne by the Central Government.
The State Governments and Union Territories will bear 25 percent of the cost to implement all the components (where funding is to be done on sharing basis between center and states under the scheme) during the 11th Five Year Plan. The North Eastern States will bear 10 percent of such cost
The State Government will design a comprehensive Financial Management System for the transfer and use of funds through the existing SSA society. This must ensure transparency, efficiency and accountability, and track the use of funds towards the final outcomes
Separate bank accounts shall be opened for funds under the scheme at the State, District and School levels. The accounts shall be opened in public sector banks. The Head Master or Principal & Vice Principal of the School Education Committee will be the joint holder of the account at School level; the District Programme Coordinator will be a joint holder of the account at the District level
For the 12th Five Year Plan, the sharing pattern between Central and States will change to 50:50. For the North Eastern States, the sharing pattern will be 90:10 for both 11th and 12th Five Year Plans
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan program set up by the government to bring elementary education to millions of children has been successful to a large extent, and has thus created a need for strengthening secondary education infrastructure across the country. The HRD Ministry has taken note of this, and now plans to implement a secondary education scheme called Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) during the 11th plan at a total cost of Rs.20,120 crore.
“With the successful implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, a large number of students are passing out from upper primary classes creating a huge demand for secondary education,” the HRD Ministry said.
Vision
The vision for secondary education is to make good quality education available, accessible and affordable to all young persons in the age group of 14-18 years. With this vision in mind, the following is to be achieved:
To provide a secondary school within a reasonable distance of any habitation, which should be 5 kilometer for secondary schools and 7 -10 kilometers for higher secondary schools
Ensure universal access of secondary education by 2017 (GER of 100%), and
Universal retention by 2020,
Providing access to secondary education with special references to economically weaker sections of the society, the educationally backward, the girls and the disabled children residing in rural areas and other marginalized categories like SC, ST, OBC and Educationally Backward Minorities (EBM)
Goal and Objectives
In order to meet the challenge of Universalisation of Secondary Education (USE), there is a need for a paradigm shift in the conceptual design of secondary education. The guiding principles in this regard are; Universal Access, Equality and Social Justice, Relevance and Development and Curricular and Structural Aspects. Universalisation of Secondary Education gives opportunity, to move towards equity. The concept of ‘common school’ will be encouraged. If these values are to be established in the system, all types of schools, including unaided private schools will also contribute towards Universalisation of Secondary Education (USE) by ensuring adequate enrolments for the children from under privileged society and the children Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
Main objectives
To ensure that all secondary schools have physical facilities, staffs and supplies at least according to the prescribed standards through financial support in case of Government/ Local Body and Government aided schools, and appropriate regulatory mechanism in the case of other schools
To improve access to secondary schooling to all young persons according to norms – through proximate location (say, Secondary Schools within 5 kms, and Higher Secondary Schools within 7-10 kms) / efficient and safe transport arrangements/residential facilities, depending on local circumstances including open schooling. However in hilly and difficult areas, these norms can be relaxed. Preferably residential schools may be set up in such areas
To ensure that no child is deprived of secondary education of satisfactory quality due to gender, socio-economic, disability and other barriers
To improve quality of secondary education resulting in enhanced intellectual, social and cultural learning
To ensure that all students pursuing secondary education receive education of good quality
Achievement of the above objectives would also, inter-alia, signify substantial progress in the direction of the Common School System
Approach and Strategy for Secondary Stage
In the context of Universalisation of Secondary Education (USE), large-scale inputs in terms of additional schools, additional classrooms, teachers and other facilities need to be provided to meet the challenge of numbers, credibility and quality. It inter-alia requires assessment/ provision of educational needs, physical infrastructure, human resource, academic inputs and effective monitoring of implementation of the programmes. The scheme will initially cover up to class X. Subsequently, the higher secondary stage will also be taken up, preferably within two years of the implementation. The strategy for universalizing access to secondary education and improving its quality are as under:
Access
There is a wide disparity in schooling facilities in different regions of the country. There are disparities among the private schools and between private and government schools. For providing universal access to quality secondary education, it is imperative that specially designed broad norms are developed at the national level and provision may be made for each State/UT keeping in mind the geographical, socio-cultural, linguistic and demographic condition of not just the State/UT but also, wherever necessary, of the locality. The norms for secondary schools should be generally comparable to those of Kendriya Vidyalayas. Development of the infrastructure facilities and Learning Resources will be carried out in following ways,
Expansion/ Strategy of existing Secondary Schools & Higher Secondary Schools shift in existing schools
Up gradation of Upper Primary Schools based on micro planning exercise with all necessary infrastructure facilities and teachers. Ashram Schools will be given preference while upgrading upper primary schools
Up gradation of Secondary Schools in Higher Secondary Schools based upon the requirements
Opening of new Secondary Schools/ Higher Secondary Schools in unserved areas bas on the school mapping exercise. All these buildings will have mandatory water harvesting system and will be disabled friendly
Rain harvesting systems will be installed in existing school buildings also
Existing school buildings will also be made disabled friendly
New schools will also be set up in PPP mode
Quality
Providing required infrastructure like, Black Board, furniture, Libraries, Science & Mathematics laboratories, computer labs, toilet cluster
Appointment of additional teachers and in-service training of teachers
Bridge course for enhancing learning ability for students passing out of class VIII
Reviewing curriculum to meet the NCF, 2005 norms
Residential accommodation for teachers in rural and difficult hilly areas
Preference will be given to accommodation for female teachers
Equity
Free lodging/ boarding facilities for students belonging to SC,ST,OBC and minority communities
Hostels/ residential schools, cash incentive, uniform, books, separate toilets for girls
Providing scholarships to meritorious/ needy students at secondary level
Inclusive education will be the hallmark of all the activities. Efforts will be made to provide all necessary facilities for the differently abled children in all the schools
Expansion of Open and Distance Learning needs to be undertaken, especially for those who cannot pursue full time secondary education, and for supplementation / enrichment of face-to-face instruction. This system will also play a crucial role for education of out of school children
Institutional Reforms and Strengthening of Resource Institutions
Making necessary administrative reforms in each State will be a precondition for Central assistance. These Institutional reforms include,
Reforms in school governance- Improve schools’ performance by decentralizing their management and accountability
Adopting a rational policy of teacher recruitment, deployment, training, remuneration and career advancement
Undertaking reforms in educational administration including modernization / e-governance and delegation / de-centralization
Provision of necessary professional and academic inputs in the secondary education system at all levels, i.e., from the school level upwards; and
Streamlining financial procedures for speedy flow of funds and their optimal utilization
Necessary strengthening of resource institutions at, various levels, e.g.,
NCERT (including RIEs), NUEPA and NIOS, at the national level;
SCERTs, State Open Schools, SIEMATs, etc., at the State level; and
University Departments of Education, Reputed Institutions of Science / Social Science / Humanities Education, and Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) / Institutions of Advanced Study in Education (IASEs) funded under the Centrally-sponsored Scheme of Teacher Education.
Involvement of Panchayati Raj
Involvement of Panchayati Raj and Municipal Bodies, Community, Teachers, Parents and other stakeholders in the management of Secondary Education, through bodies like School Management Committees and Parent – Teacher Associations will be ensured in planning process, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Government operates four Centrally Sponsored Schemes
: Central Government operates four Centrally Sponsored Schemes i.e.
(i)ICT@ schools for providing assistance to State Governments for computer education and computer aided education in secondary and higher secondary schools
(ii) Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) for assisting State Governments and NGOs in main streaming the disabled children in school education
(iii) Strengthening of Boarding and Hostel facilities for Girl Students of Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools (Access and Equity) for providing assistance to NGOs to run Girls’ Hostels in the rural areas, and
(iv) Quality improvement in schools which included provision of assistance to State Governments for introduction of Yoga, for improvement of Science education in schools, for environment education and for population education in addition to supporting International Science Olympiads. All these schemes, in the present or modified forms, will subsume in the new Scheme
(v) Provision for earning while learning for financially weaker children by preparing them for self employment or part-time employment. States/UTs may establish vocational training centers (VTC) and institutions at the block, district levels
Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas
Number of Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas will be increased in view of their importance as pace-setting schools, and strengthening their role
Financing Pattern and Opening of Bank Account:
The Central Government will bear 75 percent of the cost to implement all the components (where funding is to be done on sharing basis between center and states under the scheme) for all States/ UTs except North Eastern States during the 11th Five Year Plan. For the North Eastern States, 90 percent of such cost will be borne by the Central Government.
The State Governments and Union Territories will bear 25 percent of the cost to implement all the components (where funding is to be done on sharing basis between center and states under the scheme) during the 11th Five Year Plan. The North Eastern States will bear 10 percent of such cost
The State Government will design a comprehensive Financial Management System for the transfer and use of funds through the existing SSA society. This must ensure transparency, efficiency and accountability, and track the use of funds towards the final outcomes
Separate bank accounts shall be opened for funds under the scheme at the State, District and School levels. The accounts shall be opened in public sector banks. The Head Master or Principal & Vice Principal of the School Education Committee will be the joint holder of the account at School level; the District Programme Coordinator will be a joint holder of the account at the District level
For the 12th Five Year Plan, the sharing pattern between Central and States will change to 50:50. For the North Eastern States, the sharing pattern will be 90:10 for both 11th and 12th Five Year Plans
lyngdoh committee recommendations
THE recent interim order of the Supreme Court to implement the Lyngdoh committee recommendations on students’ union elections is widely accepted by the academic community. It of course was a setback to the vested interests that advocated for apolitical elections in colleges and universities. The six-member committee headed by the former election commission Sri. J.M. Lyngdoh, was appointed by the MHRD on the direction of the Supreme Court in December 2005 had to study on the diverse specifics of student union elections. After its regional meetings for public discussions in Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Delhi, and considering the views of various parties, in May 2006, the committee submitted its report to the Ministry for Human Resources Development as well as to the Supreme Court of India.
The committee, as per the order of the Supreme Court, was mandated to examine the alleged criminalisation in student union elections, financial transparency and limits of expenditure involved in such elections, eligibility criteria for candidates contesting in such elections including the maximum age limits and minimum standards of academic performance, and the need to establish a forum to address grievances and disputes arising out of such elections. However, the Committee after considering the views of various student organisations including SFI, teacher organisations, individual students, teachers and academicians has arrived at the conclusion that it should “step a little beyond the four corners of its mandate to make good the insurmountable task of balancing the interest of student democracy and political education with the larger interest of maintaining an ‘academic atmosphere’ within the university and the college campus”. Accordingly while submitting its recommendations on various questions mandated in the terms of reference, the Committee also made certain vital recommendations on the possible models of election as well as in respect of the larger question of whether or not elections need to be conducted at all.
The Apex Court considering the appeal filed by the Kerala University and the Kerala University Students’ Union against a Division bench verdict of the Kerala High Court had formed the Lyngdoh Committee. While considering the writ petition submitted by the principal’s council of Kerala against the Kerala University’s directive to conduct college union elections according to the existing model i.e. presidential form, the Kerala High Court had given the verdict that the right to decide the mode of elections (parliamentary or presidential) rests with the respective college authorities and hence set aside the direction given by the University to follow the presidential system of election. The Supreme Court on the other hand without entering into the merit of the issues involved in the High Court judgment, directed the MHRD to set up the present committee to examine the ‘criminalisation in student union elections, aspects affecting the academic atmosphere, indiscipline and divisions on the basis of political belief’ etc.
As the report states that it is the verdict of the same High Court pronounced in 2003 in Sojan Francis case that impelled the principal’s council to approach the Court against the Directive of the University. In the Sojan Francis case the Court held that “it is open to the education institutions to prohibit political activities within the college campus and forbid students from organising or attending meetings other than the official ones within the college campus”. The question raised before the Court was whether an educational institution can legally prohibit political activities within the college campus and forbid students from attending or organising meetings other than the official meetings and whether such restriction or prohibition would amount to infringement of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution under Article 19 (I) (a), and (c). The Court was of the opinion that such restrictions will fall under ‘reasonable restrictions’ under Article 19 (2) of the Constitution.
The Constitution guarantees all citizens with the following fundamental rights under Article 19 (1)(a) to freedom of speech and expression;(b) to assemble peaceably and without arms; (c) to form associations or unions. The Constitution itself clarifies that “the State shall not make any law which takes away or abridges the rights conferred by this Part (Part III of the Constitution which explains the fundamental rights) and any law made in contravention of this clause shall, to the extent of the contravention, be void”. The Court that is assumed to protect the fundamental rights of the citizens from any kind of its infringement through state intervention surprisingly invents that forbidding such rights to students could be considered as ‘reasonable restriction’!
The Constitution itself allows the State to impose reasonable restrictions on the fundamental rights. It also explained the concrete conditions under which such restrictions can be imposed. The Constitution states that “nothing in sub-clause (a) and (c) of clause (1) shall affect the operation of any existing law, or prevent the State from making any law, in so far as such laws impose reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub-clause in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.” Hence it is vividly clear that such fundamental rights can be restricted only when it consequently affects the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality etc. and never was it argued that the political activities of the students’ inside the campus resulted in such serious consequences any where in the country. Hence it is clear that the Court was arriving at illogic conclusions by taking note of the dubious allegations of the undemocratic forces and vested interests that the organizational activities devastate the academic atmosphere of the campuses. Further more, whatever restrictions imposed on the fundamental rights can be done only by the State. The Kerala High Court in its eagerness to restrict student politics in the campuses in effect had given the powers of the State, the power to impose such reasonable restrictions to the college authorities and private managements and hence lifted the college authorities and private management to that of the State under the constitutional definition of the term
Many of the private managements under the pretext of preserving academic atmosphere in fact used the court verdict to bulldoze all the voices of protest. The verdict of the High Court, which allowed the affiliated colleges to decide the mode of election, is an extension of its verdict in the Sojan Francis case. Irrespective of the autonomy of the Universities to decide the mode of election on the basis of the rules framed, the Court opined that “the direction given to conduct election following presidential system of election cannot be sustained and the colleges are free to follow a system which is better for the administration and discipline for the college”.
NEED FOR CAMPUS POLITICS
The Supreme Court of India while considering the Special Leave Petition, without entering into the merits of the pertinent legal question involved- whether the right to decide the mode of elections vested with the University or college authorities- as above mentioned, appointed the committee to study the various aspects related to the elections to student’s democratic bodies of colleges and universities. However, the J.M. Lyngdoh committee differing with the Kerala High Court judgments and even the primary observations of the Supreme Court, and arrived at the conclusion that the ban on political activities of students shall amount to an infringement of the fundamental right to form associations, freedom of speech and expression enshrined in the Constitution. While stating this, the committee quotes a 1981 report of a UGC committee, which reiterates the necessity of political activities. “Political activities in the Universities is natural because the university is a community of thinking people, of those who are exploring the frontiers of knowledge and of those who criticize and evaluate every idea before accepting it. Our democratic tradition, and now the constitution, ensures fundamental rights to all citizens, which include freedom of speech and thought, and freedom of association. Teachers and a section of students are not only voters but they can also be candidates in local, state or parliamentary elections. We, therefore, see nothing wrong in political parties being active on the campuses of our universities. Presentation of and debates about different ideologies and plans and perspective of national development are to be welcomed and political activity directed towards this end would be wholesome for the growth of the universities.
We, however, regret to say that much of political activity, which we noticed and sensed on the campuses, is of a degenerate nature, which is a blot on the concept of politics. It is the politics of expediency, opportunism that is doing what we would be most advantageous at the moment to the doer and his partners; doing it while even knowing that it is wrong. The price of the little gain for the doer may be a disruption of educational activities for all. One sees this when campaigns are mounted to prevent action against those who copied in the examinations, or misused university funds in a variety of ways”.
The committee while recognising the importance of campus politics is immensely critical of its wide-ranging mistreats. It is a fact that in many places especially in many north Indian campuses student politics is manifested with muscle and money power. However contrary to the so-called vested sections’ rhetoric of apolitical campus was not at all acceptable to the Committee and hence it fairly came up with a conclusion to strengthen the democratic space in the campuses. The active presence of constructive politics and true democracy can effectively defend the anarchy and disharmony in campuses. Political parties need not intervene in the campus elections. The spirit of the Lyngdoh committee report, which expressed strong observations about the need for organizational liberty and necessity of students’ union elections to the democratic bodies can be an eye opener to all those who are engaged in malicious campaign against campus politics.
The Lyngdoh Committee report also refers the evidences of the harassment faced by the students in the so-called “non political campuses.” The college authorities in the name of campus decorum often used to crush even genuine protests of the students against such misdeeds and exploitation. In some of the private campuses where students’ council exists, the management was nominating its own candidates towards protecting vested interests. The committee further observes that in some of the colleges owned by political leaders in the states like Maharashtra, elections are banned to stop students from joining other ideologies. Many politicians in Maharashtra are the owners of private colleges and such college-owing politicians lobby hassecured the enactment of the Maharashtra Universities Act 1994 which prohibited student union elections throughout the state and had student representation entirely on merit-based nomination. The Committee further states that the provisions in the Act that prohibited student union election are contrary to the Constitutional right of association. The Committee also noted the fact that the lack of effective student representation in the state had reflected in various instances of malpractice and exploitation of students by the managements of self-financing institutions and the neglect of the state in enforcing academic and co-curricular standards in educational institutions. The Committee further noted various instances of harassment of students by the faculty and the administration, including sexual harassment, charging of capitation fee for getting admissions as well as in the name of ‘infrastructure facilities’ to the students, and the imposition of unusually harsh norms on day-to-day student life under the pretext of maintaining discipline in the institution etc. The committee, taking into consideration all the above-mentioned aspects arrived at the conclusion that the democratically elected body of students in campuses and universities is inevitable and recommended immediate measures to establish such bodies.
RIGHT TO DECIDE MODE OF ELECTIONS
One of the important recommendations of Lyngdoh Committee is about the right of universities to decide the mode of elections. The committee while recognizing the autonomy of the university recommends, “Subject to the autonomy of the universities in respect of the choice of the mode of election, all universities must institute an apex student representative body that represents all students, colleges, and departments coming under the particular university. In the event that the university is wide spread, individual colleges may constitute their own representative bodies, which would further elect representatives for the apex university body”. In accordance with the above recommendations, urgent steps to conduct elections are sought in the campuses including those where nomination system exists. While acknowledging the choice of the mode of election inherent with the university autonomy, the committee suggests four models of elections. For small universities with a relatively smaller student population the committee prefers direct election i.e. a system of direct election of office bears of the student body whereby all students of all constituent colleges, as well as all students of the university departments vote directly for the office bears. For bigger universities with a large number of affiliated colleges, the committee prefers both the direct and indirect forms of elections and hence rejects the Kerala High Court decision that empowered the college authorities to decide the mode of election.
The Lyngdoh committee recommendations designed to streamline the election process are broadly welcomed in the academic domain. The committee not only entertained the argument that the academic excellence as an eligibility criteria for contesting in the elections but rejected even the High Court finding that allowed the education institutions to prohibit political activities within the college campus and forbid students from organising or attending meetings other than the official ones within the college campus.
The committee recommendations towards conducting elections shall not be implemented perfunctorily. It should be implemented organically by respective universities in accordance with the exciting circumstances towards ensuring the democratic rights of students as well as maintaining peaceful atmosphere in the campuses. Unlike the elections in some of the campuses including Delhi University, where multicolored posters and convoy of vehicles supported by the power of money and muscle dominate, there are many campuses in our country where elections are held in a healthy atmosphere and paves way for a democratic discourse and debate among student community. While implementing the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations one must understand the spirit of the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, which uphold the democratic rights of students, and hence any mechanical interpretation and implementation must be resisted vigilantly. It is also now the high time to adopt the necessary the provisions in the statutes of universities towards materialising democracy in its true sense in the campuses and withdraw all the draconian laws that banned students’ union elections and democratic activities.
Lyngdoh Committee report is indubitably a set back for the so-called apolitical intelligentsia who tried to eliminate the democratic culture from our campuses in their eagerness to dance to the tunes of certain vested sections. It is the capitation fee colleges and reactionary political ideologies that are afraid of students participating in political activities. It is worthwhile to state that the stand of the former Anthony government in Kerala that filed an affidavit in the High Court to restrict student union elections was mainly to please private managements. The stance of Antony government, which supported the vested interests of private managements, is just another instance of the opportunistic politics of the Congress. The destructive politics aimed at easy access to power was the sole agenda since his foray into politics through students’ movement. Anthony and his friends in 1950-s never represented the organic and creative aspects of the student politics but they carried the legacy of opportunistic and destructive part of it by organising the notorious movement against the first communist government with the help of the communal and cattiest forces.
Indisputably, the Lyngdoh committee recommendations will become a well-built weapon to the progressive student movement that consistently fights to ensure democratic rights of the student community. It is also absolutely a set back for all the reactionary forces that try to eliminate the progressive ideology from the campuses by promoting apolitical ideas, destroying creative potentialities and crushing democratic rights of students.
The committee, as per the order of the Supreme Court, was mandated to examine the alleged criminalisation in student union elections, financial transparency and limits of expenditure involved in such elections, eligibility criteria for candidates contesting in such elections including the maximum age limits and minimum standards of academic performance, and the need to establish a forum to address grievances and disputes arising out of such elections. However, the Committee after considering the views of various student organisations including SFI, teacher organisations, individual students, teachers and academicians has arrived at the conclusion that it should “step a little beyond the four corners of its mandate to make good the insurmountable task of balancing the interest of student democracy and political education with the larger interest of maintaining an ‘academic atmosphere’ within the university and the college campus”. Accordingly while submitting its recommendations on various questions mandated in the terms of reference, the Committee also made certain vital recommendations on the possible models of election as well as in respect of the larger question of whether or not elections need to be conducted at all.
The Apex Court considering the appeal filed by the Kerala University and the Kerala University Students’ Union against a Division bench verdict of the Kerala High Court had formed the Lyngdoh Committee. While considering the writ petition submitted by the principal’s council of Kerala against the Kerala University’s directive to conduct college union elections according to the existing model i.e. presidential form, the Kerala High Court had given the verdict that the right to decide the mode of elections (parliamentary or presidential) rests with the respective college authorities and hence set aside the direction given by the University to follow the presidential system of election. The Supreme Court on the other hand without entering into the merit of the issues involved in the High Court judgment, directed the MHRD to set up the present committee to examine the ‘criminalisation in student union elections, aspects affecting the academic atmosphere, indiscipline and divisions on the basis of political belief’ etc.
As the report states that it is the verdict of the same High Court pronounced in 2003 in Sojan Francis case that impelled the principal’s council to approach the Court against the Directive of the University. In the Sojan Francis case the Court held that “it is open to the education institutions to prohibit political activities within the college campus and forbid students from organising or attending meetings other than the official ones within the college campus”. The question raised before the Court was whether an educational institution can legally prohibit political activities within the college campus and forbid students from attending or organising meetings other than the official meetings and whether such restriction or prohibition would amount to infringement of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution under Article 19 (I) (a), and (c). The Court was of the opinion that such restrictions will fall under ‘reasonable restrictions’ under Article 19 (2) of the Constitution.
The Constitution guarantees all citizens with the following fundamental rights under Article 19 (1)(a) to freedom of speech and expression;(b) to assemble peaceably and without arms; (c) to form associations or unions. The Constitution itself clarifies that “the State shall not make any law which takes away or abridges the rights conferred by this Part (Part III of the Constitution which explains the fundamental rights) and any law made in contravention of this clause shall, to the extent of the contravention, be void”. The Court that is assumed to protect the fundamental rights of the citizens from any kind of its infringement through state intervention surprisingly invents that forbidding such rights to students could be considered as ‘reasonable restriction’!
The Constitution itself allows the State to impose reasonable restrictions on the fundamental rights. It also explained the concrete conditions under which such restrictions can be imposed. The Constitution states that “nothing in sub-clause (a) and (c) of clause (1) shall affect the operation of any existing law, or prevent the State from making any law, in so far as such laws impose reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub-clause in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.” Hence it is vividly clear that such fundamental rights can be restricted only when it consequently affects the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality etc. and never was it argued that the political activities of the students’ inside the campus resulted in such serious consequences any where in the country. Hence it is clear that the Court was arriving at illogic conclusions by taking note of the dubious allegations of the undemocratic forces and vested interests that the organizational activities devastate the academic atmosphere of the campuses. Further more, whatever restrictions imposed on the fundamental rights can be done only by the State. The Kerala High Court in its eagerness to restrict student politics in the campuses in effect had given the powers of the State, the power to impose such reasonable restrictions to the college authorities and private managements and hence lifted the college authorities and private management to that of the State under the constitutional definition of the term
Many of the private managements under the pretext of preserving academic atmosphere in fact used the court verdict to bulldoze all the voices of protest. The verdict of the High Court, which allowed the affiliated colleges to decide the mode of election, is an extension of its verdict in the Sojan Francis case. Irrespective of the autonomy of the Universities to decide the mode of election on the basis of the rules framed, the Court opined that “the direction given to conduct election following presidential system of election cannot be sustained and the colleges are free to follow a system which is better for the administration and discipline for the college”.
NEED FOR CAMPUS POLITICS
The Supreme Court of India while considering the Special Leave Petition, without entering into the merits of the pertinent legal question involved- whether the right to decide the mode of elections vested with the University or college authorities- as above mentioned, appointed the committee to study the various aspects related to the elections to student’s democratic bodies of colleges and universities. However, the J.M. Lyngdoh committee differing with the Kerala High Court judgments and even the primary observations of the Supreme Court, and arrived at the conclusion that the ban on political activities of students shall amount to an infringement of the fundamental right to form associations, freedom of speech and expression enshrined in the Constitution. While stating this, the committee quotes a 1981 report of a UGC committee, which reiterates the necessity of political activities. “Political activities in the Universities is natural because the university is a community of thinking people, of those who are exploring the frontiers of knowledge and of those who criticize and evaluate every idea before accepting it. Our democratic tradition, and now the constitution, ensures fundamental rights to all citizens, which include freedom of speech and thought, and freedom of association. Teachers and a section of students are not only voters but they can also be candidates in local, state or parliamentary elections. We, therefore, see nothing wrong in political parties being active on the campuses of our universities. Presentation of and debates about different ideologies and plans and perspective of national development are to be welcomed and political activity directed towards this end would be wholesome for the growth of the universities.
We, however, regret to say that much of political activity, which we noticed and sensed on the campuses, is of a degenerate nature, which is a blot on the concept of politics. It is the politics of expediency, opportunism that is doing what we would be most advantageous at the moment to the doer and his partners; doing it while even knowing that it is wrong. The price of the little gain for the doer may be a disruption of educational activities for all. One sees this when campaigns are mounted to prevent action against those who copied in the examinations, or misused university funds in a variety of ways”.
The committee while recognising the importance of campus politics is immensely critical of its wide-ranging mistreats. It is a fact that in many places especially in many north Indian campuses student politics is manifested with muscle and money power. However contrary to the so-called vested sections’ rhetoric of apolitical campus was not at all acceptable to the Committee and hence it fairly came up with a conclusion to strengthen the democratic space in the campuses. The active presence of constructive politics and true democracy can effectively defend the anarchy and disharmony in campuses. Political parties need not intervene in the campus elections. The spirit of the Lyngdoh committee report, which expressed strong observations about the need for organizational liberty and necessity of students’ union elections to the democratic bodies can be an eye opener to all those who are engaged in malicious campaign against campus politics.
The Lyngdoh Committee report also refers the evidences of the harassment faced by the students in the so-called “non political campuses.” The college authorities in the name of campus decorum often used to crush even genuine protests of the students against such misdeeds and exploitation. In some of the private campuses where students’ council exists, the management was nominating its own candidates towards protecting vested interests. The committee further observes that in some of the colleges owned by political leaders in the states like Maharashtra, elections are banned to stop students from joining other ideologies. Many politicians in Maharashtra are the owners of private colleges and such college-owing politicians lobby hassecured the enactment of the Maharashtra Universities Act 1994 which prohibited student union elections throughout the state and had student representation entirely on merit-based nomination. The Committee further states that the provisions in the Act that prohibited student union election are contrary to the Constitutional right of association. The Committee also noted the fact that the lack of effective student representation in the state had reflected in various instances of malpractice and exploitation of students by the managements of self-financing institutions and the neglect of the state in enforcing academic and co-curricular standards in educational institutions. The Committee further noted various instances of harassment of students by the faculty and the administration, including sexual harassment, charging of capitation fee for getting admissions as well as in the name of ‘infrastructure facilities’ to the students, and the imposition of unusually harsh norms on day-to-day student life under the pretext of maintaining discipline in the institution etc. The committee, taking into consideration all the above-mentioned aspects arrived at the conclusion that the democratically elected body of students in campuses and universities is inevitable and recommended immediate measures to establish such bodies.
RIGHT TO DECIDE MODE OF ELECTIONS
One of the important recommendations of Lyngdoh Committee is about the right of universities to decide the mode of elections. The committee while recognizing the autonomy of the university recommends, “Subject to the autonomy of the universities in respect of the choice of the mode of election, all universities must institute an apex student representative body that represents all students, colleges, and departments coming under the particular university. In the event that the university is wide spread, individual colleges may constitute their own representative bodies, which would further elect representatives for the apex university body”. In accordance with the above recommendations, urgent steps to conduct elections are sought in the campuses including those where nomination system exists. While acknowledging the choice of the mode of election inherent with the university autonomy, the committee suggests four models of elections. For small universities with a relatively smaller student population the committee prefers direct election i.e. a system of direct election of office bears of the student body whereby all students of all constituent colleges, as well as all students of the university departments vote directly for the office bears. For bigger universities with a large number of affiliated colleges, the committee prefers both the direct and indirect forms of elections and hence rejects the Kerala High Court decision that empowered the college authorities to decide the mode of election.
The Lyngdoh committee recommendations designed to streamline the election process are broadly welcomed in the academic domain. The committee not only entertained the argument that the academic excellence as an eligibility criteria for contesting in the elections but rejected even the High Court finding that allowed the education institutions to prohibit political activities within the college campus and forbid students from organising or attending meetings other than the official ones within the college campus.
The committee recommendations towards conducting elections shall not be implemented perfunctorily. It should be implemented organically by respective universities in accordance with the exciting circumstances towards ensuring the democratic rights of students as well as maintaining peaceful atmosphere in the campuses. Unlike the elections in some of the campuses including Delhi University, where multicolored posters and convoy of vehicles supported by the power of money and muscle dominate, there are many campuses in our country where elections are held in a healthy atmosphere and paves way for a democratic discourse and debate among student community. While implementing the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations one must understand the spirit of the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, which uphold the democratic rights of students, and hence any mechanical interpretation and implementation must be resisted vigilantly. It is also now the high time to adopt the necessary the provisions in the statutes of universities towards materialising democracy in its true sense in the campuses and withdraw all the draconian laws that banned students’ union elections and democratic activities.
Lyngdoh Committee report is indubitably a set back for the so-called apolitical intelligentsia who tried to eliminate the democratic culture from our campuses in their eagerness to dance to the tunes of certain vested sections. It is the capitation fee colleges and reactionary political ideologies that are afraid of students participating in political activities. It is worthwhile to state that the stand of the former Anthony government in Kerala that filed an affidavit in the High Court to restrict student union elections was mainly to please private managements. The stance of Antony government, which supported the vested interests of private managements, is just another instance of the opportunistic politics of the Congress. The destructive politics aimed at easy access to power was the sole agenda since his foray into politics through students’ movement. Anthony and his friends in 1950-s never represented the organic and creative aspects of the student politics but they carried the legacy of opportunistic and destructive part of it by organising the notorious movement against the first communist government with the help of the communal and cattiest forces.
Indisputably, the Lyngdoh committee recommendations will become a well-built weapon to the progressive student movement that consistently fights to ensure democratic rights of the student community. It is also absolutely a set back for all the reactionary forces that try to eliminate the progressive ideology from the campuses by promoting apolitical ideas, destroying creative potentialities and crushing democratic rights of students.
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