Remembering Late Smt. Indira Gandhi

Late Smt. Indira Gandhi ji

It was in October 1984 when I was studying in Aligarh Muslim University , when the news of the sad assassination of Smt Indira Gandhi broke over the not-so-colourful Doordarshan at around 1.00 noon. I remember rushing back to the common Hall of my Hostel where there was a small crowd around the Black and white-TV which was broadcasting live this news and which showed how the TV cameras focused on the body of Indira ji ,lying in State . In the background, moronic music from the various archives of AIR and Doordarshan playing non-stop.
The memories floated in my mind when I was able to see how Smt Indira Gandhi used to visit Ranchi in an open jeep right from the airport to the Morhabadi Ground in the main town. The roads were to be barricaded and people would line up along the road to cheer her and have a close look at the graceful Prime Minister. She would be as bright and cheerful as one would rarely believe. The charisma and poise she held cannot be expressed in words. Her motorcade would stop every now and than, to accept garlands and she would throw back the flowers at the crowd. She loved children and women.
The times have changed and we hardly have an opportunity to see such a grace and eventful Prime Minster in our lives. The security and the accompaniments of the present-day political leaders have hardly any grace.
I had an opportunity to see and listen to a speech on modern India from Late Sri Rajiv Gandhi also at  Aligarh which had left a mark on my mind where in I selected M.Sc. (Computer Sciences ) for the first batch at Aligarh. The motivating words from Sri Rajiv ji still ring clear in my memory. He was so optimistic about the future use of Science and Technology that he never mentioned any direct reference to any religion. The focus in his speech at the academia was very clear.
I have met Rahul Gandhi in a tribal setting in Madhya Pradesh. His handshakes are warm and full of feelings, he seems to be a shadow of his father but yes the focus is lacking.
The three generation of Gandhi parivar has been before us but despite the colour TVs, net and technology to boost your PR,
Indira ji stands apart. She can never be compared to any of the present day Gandhis , she was and is a separate dynamic personality on her own.
The time change but that remain is the personalities who mold your feelings for your nation and the power to face the hardships of life.
I can say Smt Indira Gandhi had shown that light at the end of the tunnel and same is expected from her grandson Sri Rahul Gandhi.
May be I am wrong but than you need to give more space to Rahul for what he inherits and the time may soon come when he will be forced to deliver.
   The nation is looking at him.

We need fresh general elections!

I heard and watched the press conference of Anna Hazare and General (retd.) Sri V.K.Singh on Monday 28th Oct. 2012 wherein ,they were adamant in stressing that India needs a fresh mandate from the voters as the Government at the center is  not listening to the demands from the common man.
This is a new angle added to the demand from the anti-corruption brigade. The recent incidents where the top level bureaucrats, politicians and the anti-corruption team were found to be wanting in the above board dealings. The steps that have been attempted by the ruling alliance does not really infuse positivity in the Indian minds. We may not have seen recession in the last three years or so but we have also not seen any increase in the employment generation in the country.
What we have seen in amassing of huge amount of money through corrupt practices by the ruling alliances of all shades and support from the equally generous corporates. The laws of the land have been properly  "used" to fill the demand of the ever increasing greed of the powerful and the poor are left managing with the daily bread and dal.
The rich-poor gap has been taken into account by inflationary measures and the poor are kept "poore" by default. What ever increase in subsidy is targeted we find that all these subsidies have been eaten up by the increasing cost of living in many of the urban and semi-urban areas.
While the rural areas are cheaper to survive the infrastructure,etc does not support the employ-ability of the rural skills. This will not go very far.
The situations have compelled all the thinking persons in India that the democracy is being highjacked by the agents of the multinationals and the already powerful and rich persons.We need to sit up and find new ways of sustaining the more than a hundred crore of people living under poor conditions.
We do need fresh mandate and general elections seem to be the next possible solution.
More than that we need first grade transparency and fight for justice within these political parties who will contest these elections.
The election of more corrupt political persons and making of a government through horse-trading in absence of absolute majority is another peril which Indian voters have to avoid .

Why do We need less and less MNCs – the Mal- Nourished Childrens

Why do We need less and less MNCs –   the Mal- Nourished Childrens

Children are getting malnourished to a greater scale as we see the level of education, jobs and inflation rising in the present India. This country  needs  less and less numbers of MNC the Mal- Noursihed  Childrens or MNCs, if we are  ever to reach the basic needs of an average human life.

 We should try to find the reasons for the poor state of malnourishment especially among the poor families. I want to share with you the conditions that are prevailing in some of the remote tribal and rural areas of Central India.

MNCs have been identified with the focus attained through the ICDS of the country. The entry-point for the classification, monitoring and service-providing mechanism starts from the basic Angan Wadi Centers ( AWC)s.

Identification of the MNCs at AWCs:-

The job of identifying the MNCs at the grassroots level lies with the Angan Wadi Center , the community level centers of the Integrated Child development Scheme run and managed by the Women and Child Development Department of the State Governments. These AWCs function in the close proximity to the villages and urban habitats with the attention upon the newly-wed women, pregnant and lactating women, under 18 girls and  all children who are under 6years of age. The level of Health, immunization, physical growth monitoring and awareness about the various schemes and programmes run by the State Governments are shared in the AWCs. Local self-help groups of women cater to the cooking and supplying of the meals for these target-people with the help of Funds provided by the Government.

We find that these efforts are not enough in containing the Mal-nourishment in the under-six children. Children are susceptible to diseases; mental retardness and socially un-useful if they get the shock of malnourishment at the early age under five and the parents have to suffer both financially and socially if the child happens to be a major sufferer from the ill-effects of malnourishment.

Here I am trying to pinpoint the various reasons that are commonly found in the working of the AWCs in the rural and tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh. However these conditions may apply to the urban areas as well and to the other areas o f the country.

1-      Weighing of the children registered with the  AWC-  Each child is weighed with the help of Salter Scale. The height and age is also verified with the help of the Survey Data and the parents of the child;

2-      Duration of weighing at AWC may be every month / fortnight;

3-      Growth- Chart – the entry of the weight of the boy/girl is done on this chart ( graph )by the AW Worker;

4-      Grading of the Children – Male and Female child is Graded in to one of the Four Grades where age, height and weight is taken into consideration;

5-      Identification of the MNCs- The AWC decides on who is the MNCs.

The child so identified is taken to the nearest Child Recovery Centers CRC which functions at the PHC level and counseling of the parents is done actively.

Remedial steps for the MNCs :-

1-      Referring the MNCs to the nearest CRCs- the AWWs are asked to meet the parents of the MNCs so as to facilitate the child to reach the nearest CRC as soon as possible. The Department of Health may also help in doing this with its ASA Workers, ANM and Para-medical Staff;

2-      Counseling of the Parents of MNCs . The parents are asked to take care of the MNCs in terms of treatment, care for proper nutrition, moniter the growth of the MNCs;

3-      Increase the level of nutrition of the MNCs. The Atal Baal Mission may help in increasing the dosages of the take-home-ration for the MNCs, special menus may be suggested for the MNCs and intake of fruit and vegetable may be done;

4-      Repeated House-visits by the AWW / ANM to the MNCs. These may be necessary to monitor the rapid growth of the MNCs;

5-      Services by the Department of  Health  may be increased for the MNCs like immunization, special kit for treatment, deworming medicines, health syrups ,etc.

These are the routine steps that may be taken by the Departments of Women and Child Development and Health. The local care by the parents may be supplemented by the care by a local level NGOs, Matri-Sahyogini Mandals ( Mother’s Support Groups ) and counseling by the reputed social leaders in the area. However we need to identify the shortcomings and rectify the loopholes in the delivery of services in the rural areas.

Suggestions for faster relief and rehabilitation of the MNCs may be :-

1-      Regular-Checks of the Salter Scales used- in most of the cases we find that the Salter Scale used at the Anganwadi Centers are faulty thereby measuring incorrect weight. The random checking of the Scale and the Training on the use of these instruments is found to be short of some standard to do the measurements. The Department has to look for the accuracy in measurements. The settings of the scale, correct calibrations, repair of the faulty Scale and the training on the usage must be repeated regularly;

2-      Periodicty of weighing of children- this is not very periodic in the tribal areas for various reasons best known to the AWWs. Monitoring by the senior Officials and poor training of the AWW in filling data on the Growth Chart needs to be looked into. The AWW generally try avoiding the filling up of the growth chart. The grading of the children in done in a way that children do NOT fall under the MNCs categories. These are done so as to avoid questions and running around in improving the Grade of the MNC children. There are various kinds of pressures on the AWW so as to avoid increasing the numbers of MNCs in her AWC area.

3-      Grading of the Children- Due to the low level of education, poor training, lack of interest in her work and absenteeism at the AWW level the grading of the children may be full of various faults. The height-to-weight relationship might be poorly monitored in most of the MNCs. These are very poorly done in most of the tribal and remote villages where we finds major numbers of MNCs and death due to malnourishments;

4-      Increase the number of Crèches- to cater to the nutritionally poor children we need more and more numbers of crèches in the poverty-ridden / tribal areas. The ratio of 2 Anganwadi Centers to One Crèches is the required number of crèches in order to meet the needs of the MNCs. Day-Care Centers of the MNCs are required in Crèches at the village or hamlet level;

5-      Civil Societies must adopt the MNCs :- there is no effort by the implementing agencies for the betterment of the MNCs to involve and support the local Matri – Shayogini Samitis, the Non Government Agencies, the Self Help groups, The local elected representatives, the Volunteers and the Society in general to cater to the needs of the MNCs. The AWW / Supervisors seldom discuss these issues with the villagers in general and the above entities in particular. The NGOs also neglect these issues fearing reactions from the Angan Wadi Workers ( who are in the most probabilities related to the local political bigwigs ) in they intervene for the proper care of the Mal- Nourished Children on their area of work..

6-      Transparency and Openness in Reporting the Data for the MNCs - We find that most of the data of the AWC are now gathered in a format required for MIS which is then uploaded at the website of the ICDS. These data cannot be looked into by the general public and thus the valuable suggestions can never reach the implementing Departments and Agencies. The pin pointing of the mistakes, shortcomings and feedbacks by the general public can make a big difference in rectifying these shortcomings. There may be chances where the problem may be addressed by the sponsorships, donations and contributions by the agencies who are seriously working for the welfare of the poor people and thus help the MNCs to reach better standards of life.

7-      Budgetary Allocations be made for involving increased numbers of Non- Government Organizations working for the MNCs –MNCs need a multidisciplinary approach and expertise . The right-based working groups, traditional-healers, the semi-skilled adolescents girls and the local elected representatives of the area can turn the wheel in the right direction. We need more numbers of crèches for the MNCs. We need to create an environment best suited for the MNCs to regain good health.

I  also advocate for the change in the overall attitude of the personnel working with the Department Of Women and Child and Health Care from

“ I am an expert on the needs of the MNCs”

 to a working – culture of

“ I am the best Supporter for the Services to the MNCs”.

The approach from the Corporate world has to be positive towards the MNCS . They should start taking direct steps to help the MNCs.

I think taking these steps can see the meaning of the - MNC will change  from the       “ Mal- Nourished- Children”    to the –

MOST -Nurtured -Children in our society. And  ….yes,  We need to do this fast….

All photographs are copyright of the Author.  © September, 2012.

Can also E-mail       parvez2ameer@indiatimes.com

Check out Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine

Check out Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine

Handicapped, Who ? The especially endowed persons or the endowed-Minister ?

Handicapped ??   Who ?   

The especially endowed persons or the especially- endowed-Minister ?

We are witnessing a typical kind of a handicap this weekend. Are we aware that in India we have umpteen numbers of Ministries for  benefiting the Especially Endowed Persons , henceforth, EEP for me. We have now seen how a prominent Minister has accessed the Government Grant-in-aid for these persons and has not been able to satisfy the grant-provider Government Agencies. The hue and cry over the demand of the resignation  and than dumping of the Minister while registering a criminal case against him and his NGO/ Trust compels me to pay some time and words to my flow of thoughts on this.

The typical case is one in so-many that we come across the hugh number of un-reported and in-documented cases of Fund-bungling in Free India. 

The lessons learnt from this case are as follows :-

1-      The power-that-be cannot satisfy the Fund-givers  when this “ Fund-giver” happened to be a Government Agency. When the receivers are a big-shot and the name and fame so high we would have expected smooth settling of accounts from both the sides but what we are witnessing is a dangerous road ahead for the receivers of the so-called easy-funds from the Government Agencies. Small agencies. NGO, etc can never satisfy the requirements of the Fund-providing agencies if this is the  typical and best example of harassment from the fund-providers.

2-      India , as a welfare State, is so tardy in the implementation of the programmes and schemes for the especially – endowed persons (EEP)s that we do need large numbers of NGOs. Voluntary Agencies and Volunteers to reach out to the persons from EEP categories. The role of the mediator- Agency cannot be sidelined in India.

3-      The bungling and evil-maneuvering of the Funds meant to provide relief and welfare for the EEPs have been done by high and the mighty having the  most powerful Ministry. The need to investigate this is much more severe as the Powerful Politicians are running number of NGOs and siphoning the funds from the Central and State Agencies.

4-      The reputation of the Social Work Agencies and the well-meaning service providing agencies is at stake , when we see that the Funds are not reaching those Agencies who are working in remote villages and for the poor people of the country.

5-      The reputation of the NGO/ trust is further diminished when we find that the name of prominent freedom fighter and the ex- President of India has been inadvertently dragged into the controversy. We are witnessing a shameful downfall of the  Indian quality of international politicians.

 

When we look at the above cases I am confident that the personal  stature of the NGOs will rise above these cases of open vulgarity of Fund-guzzling and the political-bureaucracy nexus to misuse the funds from the Central pool will decrease.

The pseudo-Muslims and half- Muslims of this country have brought much pain in the overall functioning of the welfare schemes  meant for the poor Muslims and the EEPs, especially in the Independent India.

Thanks to the Right to Information Act that we are getting solid hard proof of the Fund-Managements taking places in India. We will not see ends to these bungling, these are just a beginning of the sort of things to come in India.

The disrepute brought about by the  grandson of the ex-Prez in an eye-opener for the really deaf-mute-handicapped system who is not capable of catering to the needs of the EEPs in India. 

 however, the Question still remains , 

exactly

 Who is the  handicapped ?

Subsidy on LPG for the Common Man in India.

Subsidy on LPG for the Common Man in India.

We are now in the middle of a debate where everyone is reacting to the recent announcement by the Central Government to limit the number of the LPG Cylinders available to the ordinary LPG Consumer up to a maximum limit of Six for the coming financial year. The numbers have been decided after looking into the cost-consumption of an average consumer spread all over the country. This is a valid debate and we all must participate in this as this will have an effect on all of us.

The question of providing LPG Cylinders to the average consumers is closely related to the following areas of concern while we deiced as to what should be the pattern of consumptions. The points related to the consumption are  

1.      Consumers residing in the urban or sub-urban areas have been the main beneficiaries of these subsidized LPG Cylinders. The monthly or bimonthly quota of the rural and remotely residing consumers has been on an average 4 to 5 LPG Cylinders per year. Domestic fuel is supplemented by other carbon-fuels like coal, charcoal, fuel-wood , cow-dung cakes and petro kerosene oil. Very few cases of bio-gases, solar cookers, electric-heaters and diesel generated stoves are also seen.

2.      The Distributors, Dealers, Stockists and Vendors of the LPG cylinders survive on the black-marketing of the LPG Cylinders that are booked in the names of all the consumers registered with them at their respective stocking point and they are sold to anyone who wants them at a premium rates, without any kinds of paper-documents and at whatever frequency the buyer may demand.

3.      The domestic categories of LPG cylinders reaches the commercial consumers like eateries, bakeries, industries, Hotels, etc. which prohibits the usage.

4.      The domestic LPG cylinders are purchased by the consumers themselves but they themselves sell these LPG- cylinders in the black markets. Several efforts to contain these loopholes at the consumer level has been discarded finally by the Oil Companies.

5.      The periodic sample checks at the live-end usage of LPG Cylinder by the Oil Companies have been very tardy, biased against the rural consumers and full of monitoring loopholes.

6.      The rates of the LPG differ by the point of delivery, Bottling Point and transport expenses for which no Bills / receipts are provided to the consumers;

7.      Agencies have made many dummy consumers based upon the actual paper documents procured through the middle-man who broker black marketing,

8.      The procedure of the Right to Information Act is seldom followed by the Oil Companies, their dealers , Staff Members and Agencies registered for Booking –cum-delivery system .

If there is such a vast quantity of pilferage what are the possible solutions ?

I suggest the following steps –

1.      The consumer should book all the LPG Cylinder and purchase all the quota assigned to her for a given period of time. The Consumer must update her information online and the booking , intimation of arrival of Stock, Rate at the point of delivery and the time for wait at the Stock yard should be done online. We must remember that the Stock , etc. is mainly in the urban centers and the services online can easily be accessed through SMS, Mobile-Net and Phone Calls. The consumers should be asked to purchase the LPG Cylinder within let us say a week’s time after which that offer must automatically be passed on to the others in the wait-listed consumers. This procedure may be similar to the Railway Ticket Booking System .

2.      The good number of LPG Gas Filling Stations should be allowed to be opened in every City which may have more than three- lakhs of population. The location should be closer and very near  to the Big Cities, National Highways and Major Tourist Destinations. These locations may be targeted in the first phase of expansions of the Gas Filling Stations. Black marketing should be discouraged by making the Motor-Gas readily available in the bigger cities.

3.      The price-rate difference between the commercial and domestic LPG Cylinder should be reduced further and may become same, so that the commercial consumers do not hunt for domestic variety. The gap of the prices can be compensated by indirect taxes or levies on the establishment itself.

LPG Aplenty , where is the Subsidy ?

4.  The monitoring of the LPG Cylinder Suppliers should be done by making all the information online. The local administration can easily monitor the demand –supply gap if the information about the LPG Sale is available to them. The manual reporting System should be stopped at all the levels. The SMS Based Information sharing with the Consumer should be started for all the Oil Companies. The franchisee and Dealership System will not cater to the need of the LPG Cylinder.

5.      Compliance to the Right to Information should be made mandatory for all the participants in this System. The vendors, Dealers and the Stockist do not share the information with the Consumers despite repeated efforts by the Civil- Societies, Consumer Courts and Aware Consumers. The Government of India will have to make the rules very strict in this regard.

6.      The  delivery of the LPG Cylinder at the doorstep of the Consumer and Safe local transportation of LPG Cylinders must be made compulsory for all the Oil Companies.