B. ANGLES THAT WERE OVER LOOKED IN THE CONTROVERSY OF PREFERENCE IN THE JOBS FOR MAHARASHTRIANS IN MAHARASHTRA

1. A Maharashtrian unemployed youth with not much education, finds it difficult to get a job, because the jobs are taken / given to people who hail from other States ( particularly Biharis and UPites and followed by Tamils ) because it is perceived that they are better workers than those from Maharashtra. These outsiders are prepared to work for lower wages, which Maharashtrians are not prepared to accept. Further, it is also believed by many that the outsiders are more submissive and less of trouble makers. A widow from Maharashtra with two children to take care of is not able to get the job of house maid because again these have been taken by outsiders at wages which the Maharashtrian widow is not prepared to accept.. In such a situation it was only to be expected that the local unemployed would feel, and being told repeatedly by other local people, that he/she is not able to earn or get employment because of the outsiders. Multiply this syndrome to thousands and you have a picture of disgruntled local mass. And a spark is lit on that mass. The violence may not get jobs for the locals but they feel that there is somebody to speak and act for him. In the next election, one does not have to guess, in whose favour his vote will be.

2. On the other hand, X is a non Maharashtrian. He is hard working even with lower wages ( than what a local would demand), effusive, honest and has no backing of any Party or Union. In the matter of employment, be it in the house or construction or any other lowly job, he is preferred to a local, who may not be hard working, may no be effusive and is a

member of Union. X having come from another State where there are no opportunities for any job, is prepared to work as a taxi driver even though the earnings may be a pittance.

3. In the above back ground, it is on cards that this agitation would continue and may spread to other cities in Maharashtra. It could be emulated in other States also. For example, during the last few years, hordes of Tamails have come to Kerala for doing menial and manual jobs. Increasingly Kerlites are declining to accept such jobs with low wages. Tomorrow some politician in Kerala could make this an issue and evoke the sentiments of Keralites to garner votes.

4. A few decades back, when the confrontation between LTTE and Sri Lankan Government was fierce, a large number of Tamils from Sri Lanka, who were largely progenies of Tamils who had gone to Sri Lank centuries / decades back, came to Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu welcomed them and gave all help, including employment. Would Tamil Nadu Government take the same approach if the migrants were not Tamils?

5. A few years back ‘ sons of the soil ‘ was a major issue in various parts of the country with politicians demanding that they should be given preference in jobs created in the local area.. In Assam, an agitation was launched with the slogan “ Assam for Assamese.’ The ire was directed against Marwaris there.

6. Somebody could also argue that when job reservations are legally enforced so far as Scheduled Tribes and Castes are concerned, what is wrong with some such reservation for the local people.
A factory is being built in an under developed region of a State. A large number of people in that region would have hope of getting jobs for themselves or their wards in that factory. The Chief Minister to local politicians all would implore (often with veiled threats ) on the management of factory to give as many jobs as possible to the local people. In such a situation if the factory management hires people from outside the State, the same would lead to a lot of heart burning for the locals. Would they keep quiet.

7. What is curious is that many of the educated Maharashtrians holding senior positions in various walks of life, have part of their sympathy with the Maharashtrians. Here there is the dichotomy of head and heart. Their heads would be appalled at the turn of events. But their heart would be for the biradiris, i.e., Maharashtrians. They will say, “ Yes, India is one. But one cannot close eyes on non Maharashtrians usurping jobs which primarily Maharashtrians are entitled to, their being born and brought up in Mumbai.

8. Most of the analysts on the incident missed a vital point. And that is in regard to patriotism and nationalism. These are evocative words. Almost everybody would say that he is patriotic and nationalist. But when it comes to practical issues, the approach would be different, i.e., these evocative slogans come only after self interest. ‘ Sons of the soil ‘ is a very emotive issue which cannot be argued against with logical or rational views. After all in the initial stage, this was the plank of Shiv Sena. At that time the ire was directed mainly against Tamils.

9. ‘ India is one country – let Raj and his mob remember that ‘ so wrote an oaf, who happens to be a senior journalist. Arguing further, he has stated that “ if embers of
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exclusionary, xenophobic, sub-nationalistic demands are not stamped out as soon as they are sported, any resulting fire can cremate India.” As an ideal nobody would dispute with this thesis. But consider the following. There is no other country in the world which has a dozen languages, different customs, different rituals, as is the case of India. Hence in India we are first Punjabis or Tamils or Assamese and then only Indians. It is only when Indians go abroad they become truly Indians. Be it USA, UK, France or any other country by far there is one language and one or two religions. We are heterogenic in many vital aspects. This cannot be wished away. So the above type of incidents would happen, one would wish only occasionally. Because this is such a strong emotive issue that this or that politician or busybody would always try to take advantage of. Though politicians are the mischief makers, it is necessary to understand the core of the matter and that is that this is a social issue.

10. All those involved in the issue, i.e., call of Raj Thackeray to oust Biharis and UPites from Maharashtra, have come out badly:

· First is the idiot box. It magnified the rampage and mislead the viewers by repeatedly showing one taxi being stoned, giving the impression of large scale violence. Actually there were only stray incidents. There was a lot of hyperbole in the TV programmes on what was happening. Even the commentators / hosts of the programmes were totally partisan in as much as sometimes they were more vocal in condemning Raj and the incidents than even those were critical of the same. Even the interviews / talks were insipient and peripheral. Essence of these shows were that Biharis

.. 15
and UPites were on siege. 10,000 Biharis and UPites go
back to their States, so announced grandly by the TV media. Considering the huge number of these people in Maharashtra is this a large number. Many may come back later. There was in brief a lot of hyperbole in the visual media magnifying the issue, which was very unfortunate. Print media was to a large extent moderate. I did not see any sane comment in the TV programmes. The only writer who dealt with the issue sensibly and in the larger context was Santosh Desai, as would be evident from extracts of his article, given below:

“ Do we, out of an intense desire to see the world the way it should be, deliberately misread the way it is? In a poll conducted as much as 41% of the locals agreed with Thackeray! For two out of five Maharashtrians to feel this way is a fact that needs to be taken note of and not brushed under the carpet………….Because something is incomprehensible and offensive to one section, because it militates against a particular worldview, it is deemed to be an aberration. We then deny the significance to that occurrence, hiding behind all possible ways of interpreting information that justifies our worldview. This willful blindness is an effort to keep the illusion of stability and order intact……………Conditioned as we are to blindly trumpet the power of democracy, we get stumped when we see it turn upon ideals we hold dear. We try and deal with this by denying what we see. We argue with reality, we try and browbeat it into some kind of submission. But reality festers in the shadow of neglect and it is only a mater of time till we are forced to acknowledge it. ….The real question is, do we really want to know the truth?”

· Afraid of the cousin ( Raj ) hijacking Shiv Sena’s original plank of Maharashtra for Maharashtrians,


Uddhav joined Raj’s clarion call and made some loud
statements. He said that there should be preferential treatment to Maharashtrians in the matter of jobs in Mumbai.

· The old man was caught in a dilemma. Having anointed Uddhav, he cannot support Raj’s actions. But speaking against Raj’s actions would be going against his own original theme of Maharashtra for Maharashtrians. Hence, instead of commenting on the main demand of Raj, he cleverly exonerated Amitabh Bhachan, who had been castigated by Raj as not doing much for Maharashtra.

· The State had a Hobson’s choice. It had to take some action. But arresting Raj would make him a hero and hence divert votes of a large number of Maharashtrians from Congress to Raj’s party but not taking action would also be suicidal because the Government would then be accused of indirectly supporting Raj’s theme. With no direction from the Government, the police merely watched what was going on.

· The Congress High command also dithered with mere condemnation of the incident. Apparently, immediately after the hooliganism, the Central Government did not advice the State Government to take firm action. Aware of alienation of its voters in the two States, BJP after waiting for some time came out with some sort statement condemning what was happening. One wonders whether BJP would have said even that much had Bal Thackeray was the instigator because Shiv Sena is
aligned to BJP. The shrewd politician that he is, the supreme of NCP kept mum. Surprisingly even the reaction of Communists was also somewhat muted.

· Many logical arguments can be advanced against the vandalism in Mumbai. But from the perspective of the Thackerays they are right on the dot. This would bring them more votes ( from Maharashtrians )



C - CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG

French lawyers have threatened to go on strike if the Government proposal to simplify divorce laws is implemented, openly stating that such an action would reduce drastically incomes of those lawyers who are practicing divorce cases. In other words, the lawyers are explicitly admitting the fact that their main concern is their income and not inexpensive and fast dispensation of justice or implementation of laws. Yet it is said by all worthies that the duty of legal profession is to assist courts in dispensation of justice and resolving disputes.

Millions of cases are pending before various courts in India. The appeal system has virtually ensured that many cases go on for years and some decades. Lawyers are happy. But what about the clients. ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ has become a pompous cliché. All, except lawyers lament at this state of affairs. There have been well thought out proposals for reducing this state of affairs. But the apex court, law commission and Government are dithering. This should have been a matter of deep concern to elected representatives. But no. They are more concerned with mundane maters, the main focus being how to oppose the proposals or stand points of the other side. Fourth estate occasionally laments at this state of affairs but had not taken up the matter with gusto.

D- THE KING IS DEAD – LONG LIVE THE KING

Benazir Bhutto two days before her death informed her party that her husband Zardari would be her successor as the head of the party. Two days after her death, her husband anoints their son as the chief of the party. The son is 16 years old and can only vote
after six years.
Indira Gandhi anointed ( not publicly but her intention was known to all ) her youngest son Sanjay Gandhi and then Rajiv Gandhi as her successor, first as party chief and then as Prime Minister. So does Karunadhi, Karunakaran, Sheik Abdullah, Patnaik, Bal Thackery and many others.

While one cannot appreciate the actions of the above people in creating dynasties or adorning themselves the mantle of kings / queens, going out of the way to look after the interests of progenies being a human trait, one can understand what compelled them to do what they did.

Of course Mahatma Gandhi choosing Jawharlal Nehru as his successor or as the leader of the Congress Party need to be considered in a slightly different footing. Firstly, Gandhi did not anoint his sons for that position and the sons would not have been accepted by Congress party for the position.. But in a way it is a puzzle as to why did not Gandhi leave the mater to the party to decide, when he had not the bent of mind to be a dictator. Probably at that crucial time he did not want the party taking two sides, one for Nehru and another for Patel or he genuinely believed that Nehru was a better choice and that unity of the party was paramount. Whatever his reasons may be, it is definitely on a different footing and cannot be compared with the crass way politicians in this country and a few other countries elect the leader. Even the term elect is wrong as the leader is rather thrust on the party.

How does the leader is chosen, in instances where there was no anointment. The coterie of the erstwhile leader does it. It is not done by discussion or voting. The coterie assesses the moods and opinions and then go ahead with the matter. Of course once a while the coterie could have a bloody face, as when they opposed Indira Gandhi

When this country was ruled by kings, the same was the position. But then in the era gone by that was the custom. The king was the king of the subjects. He owned the country. Their courtiers invested them with divinity. Subjects never thought otherwise, i.e., of selecting or electing another ruler. But then this is not the custom envisaged in Parliamentary democracy and political party functioning.

In business also this trend still continues. Son succeeds father as the chief of the business, even though the family may not be holding majority share holding. This has been happening all the time even when the progenies had hardly any qualification or experience to assume the mantle of the position of chief of the company.. But with the help of financial institutions having substantial share holding, this custom continues, even when the son may not be capable of managing the business and the fact is known to financial institutions. ( If the financial institutions demur there is the neta to fix the mater ).

E. EXPLOSION OF TELEVISION

It would be no exaggeration to say that apart from the invention of combustion engine and electricity, the invention which has given maximum comfort and ease of life to humans is television. Though mobile phone is becoming integral part of one’s life, yet it is no match to TV when it comes to an invention metamorphasising human life. TV was boredom inducing instrument so long as it was under Government control. But within a few years of privatization of the same, the face of TV changed significantly and alongwith the lives or way of living of TV viewers. And TV has reached nook and corner of the country. It is no more an instrument owned by the rich.


Yes, positive aspects of TV outweigh negative factors by six to eight notches in a scale of ten.

Let us first look into the negative factors:

· Those who watch long hours daily are becoming lazy
· There is wide-spread TV addiction ( and like drink and cigarette addiction it is difficult to get out of the addiction )
· Viewing TV for long hours could affect eye sight
· TV viewing has slowly taken the place of reading books, particularly good books
· There is shrinkage of time for family, friends and community citizens.
· Because of too much time spent before TV, children tend to spend less time than needed for education and other activities which children should engage in their period of life, such as, games, exercise, reading books and spending time with the friends.
· TV has made in-roads to the normal way of living, i.e., a time for everything.
· Viewing TV means viewing a number of ads. Indirectly this leads to purchasing more than necessary or would have happened had TV not been there, particularly in the case of women.
· Where tastes of family members differ, selection of the programme would lead to quarrels among the family members, if there is only one TV set in the house.
· TV programmes with violence / sex have negative effect on the minds of children and even adults.

The above list could probably be expanded.

Yet consider the positive aspects of TV

· TV is the greatest invention to remove boredom. This aspect has not received enough attention of those who advocate on behalf of TVs. Boredom is universal. It is applicable not merely to the rich but to all. Consider the peasant in the village or the business tycoon or politician. The degree of boredom may vary from person to person. Yet very few could claim honestly that they are not bored at times in each of the day. And TV is there to kill the boredom. This is particularly relevant in the case of retired people, house-wives, widows/ widowers, unemployed people, etc., i.e., those who have time in their hands but nothing much to do or willingness to do or to interact with others.
· We are all interested to know what important things are happening immediately after its happening. The newspaper brings the news only next day, but TV not only communicates instantaneously what has happened but also angles related to the happening.
· Because of the extensive coverage of TV in all parts of the country, there is better awareness of Indians among Indians ( of various States ).
· SMS - Millions of those who use this tool to vote Yes and No to the questions put by TV channels have a sense of participating in national events.
· Proliferation of TV channels has given opportunity to millions of people gainful employment.
· More importantly, TV media has given an unimaginable opportunity for youngsters with talent to exhibit their capabilities. Artists have been nurtured through the programmes. Even middle aged people are finding an
opportunity to exhibit their talents, apart from enabling them to have gainful avocation. Many house wives have virtually part time jobs in TV serials. Timid youngsters have overnight become confident. Many of these talented youngsters are picked up the cinema medium. This development has encouraged parents to give support to youngsters in improving their talents, which was not the case earlier. Ten years back nobody would have thought that a boy will later make a living with mimicry and will go abroad to do stage performances. But it is happening now, thanks to TV.

· Yes, the down-side cannot be ignored. Opportunity to exhibit talents through the media results in hype and expectations of future grandeur that may not be fulfilled with the attendant disappointment. Yet more important is the moment of glory to the talented youngsters.

· I hope that in the days ahead the talented youngsters who have caught the attention of the public would be invited to perform in marriage ceremonies. It is nothing new. For centuries, the wealthy have been organizing music programmes along with marriage ceremonies. I realize that the performers especially singers who were asked to perform were those who have achieved names in their respective fields, whereas those who participate in the TV programmes are somewhat novices. Yet the trend could start and all those participating in marriage ceremonies would welcome the innovation, because for most of the participants marriage ceremonies have become boring



affairs, more so when many of the participants are strangers to each other, unlike in yester years when mainly relatives and friends ( and that too mainly from the same village ) participated in the functions.

· The above development, if happens, it will provide the young talented with some income, apart from getting the deserving pat from the viewers which would go a long way in imbuing with the hope and confidence to improve their talents.

F. PANCHAYATI RAJ

Not much talked about or written – but it is quietly bringing radical change in the village life.

Not an esoteric subject. Hence not much coverage in the media. Not a subject for intellectuals or businessmen. Yet slowly it is bringing momentous changes ( for the better ) in the villages.

Women are elected as members and Presidents of Panchayat and many of them from lower castes. Upper caste members of the Panchayat may ridicule, speak rudely, non co-operate with such Presidents and manipulate the affairs initially or for some time but then in the long run they would have to put up with the change. There is no way for them to ignore the women members and Presidents of Panchayat.

Envisage the scenario of untouchable woman presiding the Panchayat with some Brahmins/kshatrias as members of the Panchayat. The members may adopt all the tricks in the trade to denigrate the President and non co-operate with her.

But they cannot continue the same approach for long because the power is with the President. And the Chair gives confidence to the President to slowly assert. Willy nilly it is going to improve the status of woman of yester year untouchable. The social apartheid that was practiced for ages, and which could not be changed in any meaningful way by preaching for ages, is under attack through this system. The numbers are with the lower castes and particularly women-folk. And increasingly they would get elected. And once elected the powers would be with them. It was very hard for the upper caste men to accept this position. But there is no way. They are reconciling to the ground reality.

In the case of election of MLAs and MPs, the elected representatives were distant from the voters, in asmuchas voters cast their votes and MPs and MLAs did what they wished to do. . But not in the case of Panchayat. Voters are all the time in contact with the members of the Panchayat and there is no way for Panchayat members to ignore the demands of voters. And, projects taken up by Panchyats will necessarily have to have the backing of a large number of village people and hence the village would be benefited. Yes, there would be corruption. There would be partisan approach in spending the funds allocated for various projects. Yet nobody can dispute that the projects would be for the benefit of villagers.

Many countries had adopted this system of local Government long back. And to a large extent these have been working very well. Locals have a sense of participation in decisions which have serious bearing on their lives.



But more importantly, Panchayat system would go a long way in reducing the evil of caste system and treating women below men. The system would also bring closer the ruled and the ruler and the ruler will find it difficult to evade accountability. Even partial achievement of the above two objectives are extremely important.

The only flaw in the present system is that the power of approval of the projects proposed by Panchayats and allocation of funds have to be done by Collectors, which means bureaucratic intervention. In turn this would be leading to political influence pedaling. Some way has to be found of allocating funds by Government directly to the Panchayats, with only monitoring of project expenditure done by Accountants of Government.

G. SOUR PEOPLE

Each family or extended family would have one or more sour people who always crib, criticize, see the wrong side ( often imaginary ), cannot but see the downside of something happening, who are personification of pessimism.

The above thoughts occurred to me when I watched the TV interview of Medha Patkar, Sunita Narain and Pacuchari on Nano car launched by Tata. Whole of India was rejoicing when Nano was unveiled. These three worthies were the exception. Medha Patkar’s plank was on people ousted from Singur village where the car is manufactured. The other two had air pollution and congestion in city roads as the arrows in their armoury, despite the fact that Nano meets Euro III standards, which is the current legal norm in India, and would be ready to meet Euro IV norm when the same is


introduced in India by 2010 or 2012. The car is less
polluting than three wheelers and buses. The fact all other cars being produced pollute equally or more, is not a point of their argument.

That the car is affordable to millions of Indians, that it will fulfill the ambitions of many a person to own a car, that it gives more mileage per litre of petrol than the existing small cars and most importantly village and town folk, for whom public transport is patchy, will have better mobility with comfort, etc., are lost on these three ‘knights of environment.’ Yes, their opposition would be a happy news to other car manufacturers and particularly for two wheeler manufacturers because public would opt for this car instead of two wheelers and also many other comparatively higher priced four wheelers.

Yes, public transport is a mess. But then that is a problem to be tackled by State and not by car manufacturers. But these worthies have cleverly related both the matters to condemn this car.

Medha Patkar does not get involved in the despicable situation of dumb millions mentioned by Sainath in his
extremely readable book ‘ everybody loves a drought.’ She opts for big ticket ( in terms of publicity ) issues, such as Narmada project. Sunita Narain is not far behind. Coke/Pepsi is her target. Now that makes headlines, i.e., a frail woman single handedly taking on the might of Goliaths. Pachuri’s concern for environment is well known and appreciated by most. Incidentally, it is not on Pachuri Nobel award was bestowed but to his Institute, TERI, alongwith Al Gore. But then Pachuri never contradicted reports of his


winning Nobel prize. More cars and less public transport
means more air pollution. Nobody disputes with that statement. But why take it on Nano, when other car makers have been producing large number of small and medium cars and propose to increase the same.

The attitude of these three warriors, who have no compunction in themselves using cars ( may be even large ones which guzzle more oil and pollute more ), is like that of most of the politicians who will in public decry all that would enhance the lives of middle and upper classes, because the same may not have touched ‘ aam admi ‘ conveniently forgetting that nobody has stood in their way except themselves in improving the lot of ‘ aam admi.’

For millions of middle class people Nano is an affordable car. They may not run it much. But even if it is parked
most of the time in their houses, they will have all the time
the pleasant feeling of ownership of a car. In villages and small townships this is a powerful symbol of the owner having ‘arrived.’ Many college boys and girls would go for it with the attendant pleasure / satisfaction. In villages and small towns, travel is always a problematic matter. Public
transport cannot reach all the places, particularly villages. This car can. In the times to come, I predict, this car will become the main dowry in marriages ( If any such news gets published, the trio would say ‘ we told you about the evils of this car.’)


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VIII. .Tamils in Malaysia continue to agitate against the Government’s attitude of favouring Malaysians on jobs, etc.,

Mahathir Mohammed, who was Malaysian Prime Minister for a long time in an interview, lamented at Malays not seizing the opportunity to improve their lot, for which the Government of the country had come out with various schemes. Chinese in large numbers in Malaysia essentially are into business. They do a far better job than Malays in that area. Indians ( mainly Tamilians ) are not mainly in business. They are professionals and service class oriented. Malays were not able to compete with both the above groups. Hence Government there wants to give some additional sops to Malays, mainly in Government jobs. It is because of this position that Chinese have not agitated at the favouritism of Malaysian Government towards the local people.

It is not as if Indians are hounded in Malaysia. There is very little negative discrimination on the part of the Government in the treatment of the three communities. Yes, it could be said that there is positive discrimination in favour of Malays. It could be argued that many Indians there are third or second generation people, i.e., progenies of Indians migrated to that country long time back and hence they should have equal chances as the Malays in Government jobs. On a matter like this both points could be argued at length because both are valid. Yet every Government has the compulsion of showing positive discrimination towards its original inhabitants.

IX. UK Minister warns of inbreeding in Muslims resulting in defects in children on birth because of in breeding, i.e., cousins marrying each other. .

Even assuming that the back up data that the Minister claims he

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has is on the dot, yet it is an extremely sensitive issue. In effect
the Minister is asking Muslims in UK to change their marital mores, which means changing what the Muslim religion preaches. The Minister ought to have been aware that this is a touchy aspect, more so in the recent years when to a large extent Muslims will they are under siege in which ever country they are. They feel they are treated as pariah. It would have been alright if the thesis is propounded by a Muslim. Muslims would have thought to the point or dismissed the same. But coming from a member of another race makes it a religious issue, which could have been avoided.

X. A member of UK clergy suggests that UK may adopt certain aspects of Sharia ( Muslim ) law.

The argument advanced is that “ the United Kingdom has to ‘ face upto the fact ‘ that some of its citizens do not relate to the legal system and adopting part of the sharia law would help maintain social cohesion because British Muslims would no longer have to make the choice between the ‘ stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty. There have been wholesale condemnation of this statement.

XI. Anti Muslim views are gathering force in Netherlands.

Netherlands is one of the most tolerant countries in the world so far religious freedom is concerned. In the matter of individual choice on most matters, the Government stand is neutral. But then an Anti Muslim Party with nine seats in the Parliament, has questioned the innocuous statement of the Queen to show tolerance and respect for minorities. This statement has been blown out of proportion by the Anti Muslim party. This is a la VHP syndrome.
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Common thread:

Yes, the above mentioned incidents or approaches are isolated ones. Yet there is a common thread while considering these trends, as below:

· Politics is getting increasingly inter-twined with religion.
· What is considered to be the right approach could be detrimental to political advancement
· Belief related to religion is on the ascendancy everywhere and hence there is intolerance at questioning of religious practices of one religion by members of another religion.
· Governments cannot afford to be neutral between its citizens of ethnic origin and citizens who are of springs of people migrated from other countries.
· Intellectuals are all the time opt for the ‘ right ‘ and ‘ truth ‘ whereas the ordinary people function with their ‘ hearts ‘ and not ‘ head.’
· There are not any more easy solutions to various problems.


XII. INDIA SHINING ?

I am not a spoil sport. India is on the trajectory of fast growth. Hardly any of the pundits ( be it local / imported / foreign ) predict annual growth rate of less than 8 to 9% in the coming years. All round the growth is visible.

More and more large industries are being set up. There is boom in the IT sector. Millions are getting jobs in the IT sector with good pay packet and comfortable ( and long ) working conditions.


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Infra-structure development is not any more inching forward but
progressing vigorously. Retail malls are proliferating. More IITs and it is are being set up. Mobile phones have become accessible to the common man and he is going for it with vengeance.

One could go on, but suffice it to say that we are on the right track. Unfortunately the euphoria caused by these developments tend to overshadow the position of ‘ that India ‘ which has not only remained unchanged but there are no visible signs of any change forthcoming.

Consider the following:

1. World hunger Index has ranked India 94th out of 118 countries, just above Ethiopia and worse than any country in the sub-continent save Bangladesh.
2. In the Human Development Index of the UN, India ranks 126th.
3. India has the highest rates of child mal-nutrition and maternal mortality in the world.
4. The corruption Perception Index of Transparency International ranks India at 72, below many African countries.
5. According to Media studies 80% of all Indians pay petty bribes totaling annually a whopping $4.8 billion for services they are entitled to, a quarter of which are for admission to schools and hospitals.
6. India ranks 104th in the Index of Economic Freedom, published by Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal.
7. India ranks 120th in the world on Doing Business according to World Bank report.
8. In respect of ease in opening business India ranks 111th and in closing business it ranks 137th.

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9. India is at the 177th position in the Index of enforcement of contracts.
10. In multiple Taxes Index India ranks 165th.
11. India’s fiscal deficit remains over 6% of GDP, which is a crisis level in most countries.
12. Subsidies are still 14% of GDP, of which half are non merit subsidies without redeeming social virtues.

Those who marvel at the development syndrome mentioned in the beginning would say, ‘ why be a spoil sport. Look around and you see progress. And once development at the current rate continues the ills mentioned will reduce or will be attended to. Let us first make the pie larger. Tickle down will happen, etc., etc., “

Without in any way belittling what is being achieved and undermining the trickle down theory, look at those who have not been touched with progress during the last six decades.

Sainath in his thought provoking book “ Everybody loves a drought “ ( for which this year he won Magsasay Award ) details the pitiful plight of those living in the fringes, in far off places.

1. No electricity
2. No drinking water and hence has to trek ten to twenty miles for water each day.
3. No schools ( teacher absenteeism and children being needed for work to eke out a living )
4. No hospitals ( and where it is available one has to pay for doctors who attend to only in their private clinics and seek payment for medicines )
5. In most cases per day income of a person is less than Rs. 10
6. Permanently in debt to the money lender with usurious rate of interest often leading to land being taken away by money lenders. – 33 -
7. There is nothing like ration card.
8. Money earmarked for ousting people for projects not reaching the ousted people.

The above list is only illustrative and not exhaustive.

No political party has done hardly anything to improve their plight. Even NGOs find it difficult to improve their lot, since NGOs have to take on the mighty establishment. Yet very few migrate to towns and cities in search of jobs, since for most of them towns are unknown places where they would be lost. What is then their hope. Will anything SHINE form the in the future also?


XIII. ZANIA’S TRAVAILS

1. It is not an easy decision for an acclaimed sports person, who is quite young and at the zenith of the career to take a decision not to participate in a match, which is both prestigious and with hefty reward for the winner.
2. From he above one could gauge the tremendous anguish of Sania at the insults hurled at her and a case filed before the court alleging that she has insulted the national flag. Her short dress has become an issue, when it is the norm in the games, her inadvertent showing of legs at the back of national flag has been made out of proportion as an insult to the national honour and some of her other innocuous statements on sex has been twisted, some of her statements have been twisted and some attributed to her were not factual.
3. Factors, such as, that she is quite young and her actions / statements should be evaluated from the point of view of her youth and that she achieved tremendous fame at the young
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age and within a short period time which would have made her heady, etc., were overlooked while considering even her mild demeanors. That her achievements in tennis has made the nation proud is yet another overlooked fact.
4. There have been some protests at the somewhat frivolous allegations made against her and making a mountain of a molehill, even assuming that her actions and statements could have been avoided. But the deafening silence of many, sports-persons, politicians, Ministers, feminists and other prominent persons at the above development, i.e., the young girl abandoning the game being piqued at her being made a target by some, is another fact to be noted. One wonders whether this would have been the stance in case the episode related a prominent cricket player or a male or a non Muslim.


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