The Delhi Govt has reduced the number of dry days from the earlier 21 to just three

In a bit of good news that is certain to cheer up the Capital’s Bacchus devotees, the AAP-led Delhi Government has announced its decision to curtail the number of ‘dry days’ this year from the earlier 21 to just three — the Republic Day, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanti. The 21 ‘dry days’ was one of the highest number as compared to other States and UTs in India. The official order, which was notified on Monday, is part of the city Government’s new excise policy and ensures that the shutters of licensed liquor shops, bars, pubs and opium vends across the city can remain open and these can legally do business except for these three days. While the Government’s decision to curtail the number of ‘dry days’ is welcome in the sense that it would remove the taint of ‘buying liquor illegally’ and instances of bootlegging in a major way, there is hardly any change in the situation expected on the ground. Just as it is a fact that the state of prohibition is a malady both for the taxpayer and for the Government’s coffers, it’s an open secret for decades that regular drinkers stock up their ‘supply’ in the days preceding ‘dry days’.

Even otherwise, alcohol is available at the drop of a hat on ‘dry days’ if one knows his way around the city. However, the positive difference the Government’s decision would make is that a buyer won’t be caught unawares if he fails to take into account in advance the closure of liquor vends to mark one leader’s or another’s birth anniversary. Also, in the days preceding the ‘dry day/s’, it’s become the tendency of the salespersons to often ‘push’ certain brands over the counter owing to the handsome ‘commission’ they pocket from the distributor/manufacturer. Since the supplies run short and the queues get longer each passing minute on such evenings, the experienced buyers know that it is futile to argue with the salesperson or go hunting for his favourite tipple elsewhere. Adding another dimension to the consumer’s “choice” would mean that the latter is harassed less; other such steps such as privatising the liquor vends and opening one in each ward of the Capital have already started showing results since one now does business with a courteous salesperson in a clean and not-so-shady outlet, which was invariably the case earlier.

Courtesy: Pioneer

A few Karnataka colleges are debating whether girl students should be allowed to wear hijab

The New Year is all about hijabs and saffron scarves in some parts of Karnataka. On January 1, a pre-university college in Udipi barred a few girls from attending classes for wearing the hijab in contravention to college rules. The management says the girls can wear the hijab on campus but not in class. The reasoning is the teacher should have an unobstructed view of the students’ faces while teaching. The girls, unconvinced, raised a protest. They say that they need to wear the hijab to cover their hair in front of men. One argument is why object to the hijab if it only covers the hair, like a scarf. If so, why fasten it with a pin to cover the face as well, runs the other argument. Things turned political when Campus Front of India (CFI), the student wing of the radical Islamic group, Popular Front of India, intervened, claiming religious freedom was being interfered with. The situation is unresolved. In another Karnataka village, Balagadi in Koppa district, some college students wore saffron scarves to protest the management allowing Muslim girls to wear the hijab in the classroom. In the third incident in Kolar district, a Hindu group staged a protest at a Government school, claiming the principal had permitted Muslim students to offer prayers in the classroom on Fridays. The district collector is probing the matter. Slowly but surely, these incidents are not just becoming controversial but triggering a debate on whether a hijab is part of the uniform.

In India, where public display of religion is quite common, these incidents should not have received publicity at all. But what’s worrisome is that such sentiments are flaring up when Karnataka is readying for two major rounds of election. Elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike may be held along with or close to the Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat polls. That will involve a joint electorate of nearly four crore voters. And the State Assembly elections are slated for early next year. These issues are fodder for religious groups to vitiate the secular atmosphere already burdened by the politics of polarisation. The higher judiciary has to step in to settle the issue once and for all. India is not France, where the display of religious symbols in public is disallowed. In India, everybody wears religion on one’s sleeve, whether the bindi and bangles or the hijab, the holy cross or the Sikh patka. The question of discrimination should not arise at all. The Constitution allows the freedom to practice religion, but the law limits the protection to practices found essential and integral to religion. In a 2016 judgment, the Kerala High Court said that a hijab and a long-sleeved dress are an “essential part of the Islamic religion”. Then the only question the judiciary should sort out is whether the “essential practice” of wearing hijab offends the social order in a classroom and hampers the teacher’s duties.

Courtesy: Pioneer

The Authority has a new scheme to mix genetically modified organisms in our foods even though the EU doesn't allow GM food on its plate

Careful of what you eat in 2022 as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has a new scheme to mix genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our foods. The white and black bureaucratic-looking draft notification on GM food regulation has locked India’s food fate with Big Ag. It’s only a matter of time before a tsunami of GM food products floods the Indian market as the gates of our fortress have been opened from the inside.

But first, what are GM foods? These are foods that are derived from genetically modified crops. Companies like Monsanto/Bayer have developed patented crops varieties which have genes from two different life forms. For example India’s only GM crop, Bt Cotton, uses a toxin producing gene from a ground bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis, and combines it with a cotton plant. Some of the other popular GMOs are soybean, corn, sugar beets and canola. While some of these crops are owned by European companies, EU doesn’t allow GM food on its plate. GM foods are also used for animal feed and biofuels. Apart from the EU, independent scientists have raised serious bio-medical concerns, linking the consumption of GM foods leading to a plethora of health defects.

So what does the notification say? Firstly, it allows for “1 per cent and below GM content foods” to go unlabelled. But why have this 1 per cent at all? Can’t India have truthful labels, where the consumers know what they eat? Perhaps aware of the risks of GM food, FSSAI regulators have clearly stated that GMOs are “not permitted in infant foods”. So why the obfuscation on labelling standards and then, in the same breath, the stance on infant foods? Is there something FSSAI knows and not telling Indians?

Let’s take a second and look at our past. In the late 90s, India was flooded with cheap GM soybean oil imports that not only killed small mustard farmers but also destroyed the local oilseed markets. But now, also consider, GMOs are already trickling into our thalis with the rampant blending of Bt cottonseed oil in our foods. Both FSSAI and GEAC were aware about it for years; in fact, Dr Vandana Shiva and I sent RTIs to both organisations and found out, FSSAI and GEAC both treated GMO cottonseed and natural cottonseed to be the same. This was an unscientific position, conveniently forgetting the genetic modifications on Monsanto/Bayer’s Bt cottonseed. On further investigation, I found that biosafety documents submitted to GEAC came from Monsanto labs. No independent biosafety data was found at GEAC for Monsanto/Bayer’s Bt Cotton.

Currently, those pages are dead links on GEAC’s website. In the draft notification too, FSSAI adhered to similar biosafety standards and, in some cases, allowed for the documents to be submitted by the applicant and not necessarily the regulatory authority-approved dossiers.

Now the next major confusion occurs when the notification calls for “(11) Once GMOs or Genetically Engineered Organisms or Living Modified Organisms having unique identification code provided by Biosafety Clearing House, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development etc, is approved by FSSAI, approval for the same will not be required for any other Food Business Operator. Approval will also not be required if it is used as an ingredient in any product.”

On plain reading, this point appears innocuous. But the devil is always in the details. Given that EU doesn’t allow for GM food, half of the influential countries are out. What does FSSAI mean as it wrote this point? Is it perhaps referring to the corporate food hegemony on GM standards? The US, along with many others in the Americas, is deeply entrenched in GM crops cultivation and freely allows for GM foods, labelled or unlabelled, to enter markets.

It is no surprise that US citizens along with their Latin American counterparts suffer from food-style related diseases. French scientist Eric Seralini, using peer review scientific journals, demonstrated how GM foods are harmful not only to cows but their toxicity including the pesticide/herbicide used to grow third-generations GMOs like RRF Cotton and hamper human health as well.

Monsanto/Bayer has already lost billions of dollars to victims of Round-Up poisoning. Round-Up is a patented herbicide used to grow GM crops, and is known carcinogenic.

The parliamentary standing committee on GM crops, chaired by Renuka Chowdhary, has already pulled up FSSAI on GM food and a court order of August 2017 empowers petitioners to approach the court again in case the FSSAI rules are unsatisfactory.

GM or not GM? It is obvious that the FSSAI notification is doing someone else’s bidding — corporates or Uncle Sam? Who knows? But as a concerned citizen, I urge them to reconsider. Instead of deregulating GM foods, FSSAI needs to first do house cleaning and take cognisance of the illegal GM foods that are being fed to Indians. We must aspire to have the most progressive GM laws on a par with EU, and not below them. For, if GM food is not safe for European children to eat, then Indian children ought not have it.

(The author writes on agriculture and environment, and is a former Director — Policy & Outreach, National Seed Association of India. The views expressed are personal.)

Courtesy: Pioneer

La Nina is mainly responsible for the freezing dip in temperature across northern India

If you are reading this in the national Capital or, for that matter, anywhere in north India, you don’t need to be told how chilly it is. This January has been unusually chilly and the winter rain is making it worse. The dense fog and frequent rains made people stay indoors; the weekend curfew, of course, added to people’s woes. Delhi and other parts of northern India, including Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been severely hit by the fresh cold wave which is likely to stay for nearly another week. A respite is not expected anytime soon as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rainfall, fog and low temperatures in the coming days. The experts are of the view that it is because of La Nina — a weather phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean that leads to a dip in temperatures. As a result, north India is reeling under an intense cold wave with temperatures in some regions dipping below the freezing point. In Rajasthan, the minimum temperature in Fatehpur and Churu dropped below zero. The IMD has issued yellow alerts to warn people.

The fall in temperatures right now is due to a big cloud cover hanging over the Gangetic plain. It has led to fog and blocked sunlight in the entire region. The IMD says that it will take several days to clear. Just to give the idea of the size of the cloud cover, it is 1,700-km-long and extends from Pakistan to Bihar. Besides, the western disturbance will lead to rainfall in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, UP and northern parts of Rajasthan. The cold wave usually arrives from the west, through the western disturbance wind system. This system is also responsible for causing rains in north India. It is laden with moisture, which is going to result in mild to heavy showers scattered all over. Yet another factor is the unprecedented snowfall that the Himalayan terrain is witnessing right now. The snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and adjoining areas would make north India chilly. While the winter is harsh for the people living on the street, the Netizens are responding to the cold in their own way. It’s raining memes online as the virtual commentators found novel ways to brace the cold wave. They are sharing winter fashion and seasonal delights, with some of them even celebrating it.

Courtesy: Pioneer

Congress candidates in Goa were told to swear in front of three Gods that they won’t jump ship

It should be the height of political desperation. The Congress candidates for the Assembly election in Goa were asked to take a pledge of loyalty in front of not one or two but three Gods that if they win the election, they would not leave Congress for five years. It is the leadership’s ‘strategy’ to assure the voters of Goa who appear convinced that voting for the Congress candidates is as good as voting for BJP. The popular perception changed after massive defections from the Congress after the 2017 election. The party, which had won 17 seats in 2017, was eventually reduced to two. The ‘grand old party’ certainly has a compelling reason to appeal to the Maker to keep its flock together. Legislators have switched sides from the party not only in Goa but also numerous other States in the country since 2014. A majority of the defections benefited the BJP. The worst case of defections was in Arunachal Pradesh where 44 legislators, including Chief Minister Pema Khandu, quit the party and joined a regional outfit backed by the BJP. Last November, the Congress saw 12 of its 17 MLAs in Meghalaya defect to the Trinamool Congress. As a result, it lost its status as the principal Opposition party. In 2016, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, along with eight other rebel Congress MLAs, joined the BJP after being disqualified from the membership of the House.

However, it is not just the Congress that is at the receiving end of floor-crossing legislators. In Sikkim, 10 MLAs of Sikkim Democratic Front joined the BJP. In Assam, many BJP legislators and even Ministers have Congress roots. Tripura’s is a similar case. Manipur is no different. Even the JD(U), BJP’s ruling ally in Bihar, was shocked when six of its seven MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh went over to BJP. In the run-up to the current Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, as many as 36 MLAs have switched sides benefiting the Samajwadi Party mostly, but also BJP and RLD. There is nothing to write home about when it comes to morality and ethics helping legislators resist the lure of power or other considerations to switch loyalties. State legislatures in the 1960s and 1970s witnessed several instances of brazen defections. The most glaring is the example of Gaya Lal, an independent MLA from Haryana, who changed parties twice within a few hours and for the third time a few days later. The phrase that describes turncoats, “Aaya Raam, Gaya Ram” immortalised him. The growing spate of defections led to the Anti-Defection Act but legislators took advantage of the myriad loopholes. Legislators switching sides in Karnataka in 2019 found an entirely new way to defect without punishment: They simply resigned before any activity of theirs could lead to their disqualification. Defections subvert democracy. They ridicule people’s mandate. If resignation or re-election is enough to circumvent the anti-defection law, then the law needs replacing. A stronger law can revive a voter’s belief in democracy better than a pledge to Him.

Courtesy: Pioneer

As reportedly admitted by former British PM Attlee, the extent of Gandhi’s influence upon the decision to quit India was ‘minimal’

A conversation took place between former British Prime Minister Clement Attlee and the then acting Governor of West Bengal Justice PB Chakraborthy. In 1956, Clement Attlee had come to India and stayed as a guest of the then Governor. Remember, Attlee was the man who, as the British PM, had signed on the decision to grant Independence to India.

Chakraborthy then wrote a letter to the publisher of RC Majumdar’s book, A History of Bengal. In this letter, the Chief Justice wrote, “When I was acting Governor, Lord Attlee, who had given us Independence by withdrawing British rule from India, spent two days in the Governor’s palace during his tour of India. At that time, I had a prolonged discussion with him regarding the real factors that had led the British to quit India.” Chakraborthy adds, “My direct question to Attlee was that since Gandhi’s Quit India movement had tapered off quite some time ago and in 1947 no such new compelling situation had arisen that would necessitate a hasty British departure, why did they had to leave?... Attlee cited several reasons, the principal among them being the erosion of loyalty to the British crown among the Indian Army and Navy personnel as a result of Netaji’s military activities.”

That’s not all. Chakraborthy adds, “Toward the end of our discussion, I asked Attlee what was the extent of Gandhi’s influence upon the British decision to quit India. Hearing this question, Attlee’s lips became twisted in a sarcastic smile as he slowly chewed out the word, m-i-n-i-m-a-l!’a

This startling conversation was first published by the Institute of Historical Review by author Ranjan Borra in 1982, in his piece on Netaji, the Indian National Army and the war of India’s liberation. To understand the significance of Attlee’s assertion, we have to go back in time to 1945. The Second World War had ended. The allied powers, led by Britain and the US, had won. The axis powers led by Hitler’s Germany had been vanquished. The victors wanted to impose justice on the defeated armies. In India, officers of Netaji Bose’s INA were put on trial for treason, torture and murder. This series of court martials came to be known as the Red Fort trials.

Indians serving in the British armed forces were inflamed by the Red Fort trials. In February 1946, almost 20,000 sailors of the Royal Indian Navy serving on 78 ships mutinied against the Empire. They went around Mumbai and Karachi with portraits of Netaji and forced the British to shout ‘Jai Hind’ and other INA slogans. The rebels brought down the Union Jack on their ships and refused to obey their British masters. This mutiny was followed by similar rebellions in the Royal Indian Air Force and also in the British Indian Army units in Jabalpur. The British were terrified. After the Second World War, 2.5 million Indian soldiers were being de-commissioned from the British Army.

Military intelligence reports in 1946 indicated that the Indian soldiers were inflamed and could not be relied upon to obey their British officers. There were only 40,000 British troops in India at the time. Most were eager to go home and in no mood to fight the 2.5 million battle-hardened Indian soldiers who were being demobilised. It is under these circumstances that the British decided to grant Independence to India.

The idea is not to in any way undermine the significant contribution of Mahatma Gandhi or Pt Nehru in awakening the masses to the value of freedom but to spark a debate about the real contribution of Netaji Subhas and the role played by him and the INA. School textbooks are dominated by the role played by the non-violent movement while the INA’s role is dismissed in a few cursory paragraphs. The time has come to revisit modern Indian history and acknowledge the immense contribution of Netaji in helping India win its freedom.

Bose was so popular as Congress president in 1938 that the members made him contest again in 1939. Gandhiji did not approve of the re-election and, in due course, squeezed the young leader out of the Party. In 1940, Netaji was put under home arrest in Calcutta, from where he decided to abscond to join Germany which was fighting World War II against Britain. The land route was difficult with several visas required on the way. After a hard struggle, Netaji reached Berlin in April 1941, three months since leaving Calcutta.

After the Japanese declared war on America and UK, Hitler suggested that Netaji could be more useful against the British. He therefore agreed to proceed across half the globe by submarine. He reached Singapore en route Tokyo by the middle of 1943, soon to take over an incipient INA founded by the patriot Rash Behari Ghosh. From a motley crowd of less than 10,000, Netaji within weeks built the army into a disciplined force of 50,000 soldiers by persuading British Indian POWs, that fought until the end of the war. Tragically, it took Bose’s life in an accidental air crash. India’s brightest lamp of patriotism was blown out.

(The writer is a well-known columnist, an author and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. The views expressed are personal.)

Courtesy: Pioneer

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has slammed the United Nations (UN) once again, saying that there are "not enough people" in the world and one should be more worried about population collapse.

In the latest tweet, Musk posted, "UN projections are utter nonsense. Just multiply last year's births by life expectancy. Given the downward trend in birth rate, that is the best case unless reversed."

"We should be much more worried about population collapse," Musk wrote.

Musk said that if there aren't enough people for Earth, "then there definitely won't be enough for Mars."

The SpaceX CEO's theory believes that when an increasingly-elderly global population clashes with declining birth rates around the world in the near future a 'population bomb' would go off.

Musk first broached the topic back in 2017 when Musk replied to a publication saying, "The world's population is accelerating towards collapse, but few seem to notice or care."

Tim Peake, a British astronaut earlier said that Musk's prestigious SpaceX project could accelerate time to help man walk on Mars in just another 20 years or so by 2040.

In July 1765, Robert Clive, in a letter to Sir Francis Sykes, compared Gomorrah favourably to Calcutta, then capital of British India. He wrote: "I will pronounce Calcutta to be one of the most wicked places in the Universe."

Drawing upon the letters, memoirs and journals of traders, travellers, bureaucrats, officials, officers and the occasional bishop, M.J. Akbar's 'Doolally Sahib And The Black Zamindar -- Racism and Revenge in the British Raj' (Bloomsbury) is a chronicle of racial relations between Indians and their last foreign invaders, sometimes infuriating but always compelling.

A multitude of vignettes, combined with insight and analysis, reveal the deeply ingrained conviction of 'white superiority' that shaped this history. How deep this conviction was is best illustrated by the fact that the British abandoned a large community of their own children because they were born of Indian mothers.

The British took pride in being outsiders, even as their exploitative revenue policy turned periodic drought and famine into horrific catastrophes, killing impoverished Indians in millions.

There were also marvellous and heart-warming exceptions in this extraordinary panorama, people who transcended racial prejudice and served as a reminder of what might have been the British made India a second home and merged with its culture instead of treating it as a fortune-hunter's turf.

The power was indisputable - the British had lost just one out of 18 wars between 1757 and 1857. Defeated repeatedly on the battlefield, Indians found innovative and amusing ways of giving expression to their resentment in household skirmishes, social mores and economic subversion.

When Indians tried to imitate the sahibs, they turned into caricatures; when they absorbed the best that the British brought with them, the confluence was positive and productive. But for the most part, subject and ruler lived parallel lives.

M.J. Akbar is a distinguished writer and Member of Parliament representing the BJP from Madhya Pradesh. During his long career in journalism, he launched, as editor, India's first weekly political news magazine, Sunday, in 1976, and two daily newspapers, The Telegraph in 1982 and The Asian Age in 1994. He has also been editorial director of India Today and The Sunday Guardian.

He is also the author of several internationally acclaimed books, including 'India: The Siege Within'; 'Nehru: The Making of India'; 'Kashmir: Behind the Vale'; 'The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict between Islam and Christianity'; 'Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan'; and 'Blood Brothers', a novel. In addition, there have been four collections of his columns, reportage and essays.

Courtesy : Agencies 

The forest and tree cover in India is now 8,09,537 sq kms, which is 24.62 per cent of the country's geographical area and 1,540 sq kms more compared to the 2019 assessment, said the India State of Forest Report 2021, released by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav at a virtual ceremony on Thursday.

The total forest cover is 7,13,789 sq kms, which is 21.71 per cent of the geographical area of the country while tree cover is 95,748 sq kms (2.91 per cent of GA). This is an increase of 2,261 sq kms (0.28 per cent) in total forest and tree cover in the country compared to the 2019 assessment.

The area under Very Dense Forest, Moderately Dense Forest and Open Forest is 99,779 sq kms, which is 3.04 per cent of the geographical area (GA), 3,06,890 sq kms (9.33 per cent of GA) and 3,07,120 sq kms (9.34 per cent of GA) respectively.

The top five states in terms of increase in forest cover are Andhra Pradesh (647 sq kms, Telangana (632 sq kms), Odisha (537 sq kms), Karnataka (155 sq kms) and Jharkhand (110 sq kms).

The country's tree cover (small patches outside forests) which is on the rise, is estimated to be 95,748 sq km, or 2.91 per cent of GA. There is an increase of 721 sq kms in the vegetative cover as compared to the 2019 data, the report said.

An important aspect highlighted in the report is the mangrove cover for the vast 7,500 kms coastline spread over 12 states and Union Territories. The latest report mentions that the mangrove cover is 4,992 sq kms, which is 0.15 per cent of the GA. There has been a net increase of 17 sq kms in the mangrove cover compared to 2019. Odisha (8 sq kms) and Maharashtra (4 sq kms) have shown significant improvement.

The total number of bamboo culms has increased by 13,882 million since 2019. The total estimated green weight of bamboo culms at the national level is 402 million tonnes. The present assessment observed an increase of about 124 million tonnes equivalent green weight of bamboo as compared to the previous assessment.

Those who are unable to handle the affairs of the party, cant's run the affairs of the state, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in an exclusive conversation with IANS, referring to the state of the Congress in the Himalayan state.

Here are excerpts from the exclusive interview.

Q. Are you coming back to power in Uttarakhand?

A. Absolutely, there is no problem anywhere. This time we have given the slogan '60 paar'.

Q. Do you think you have a tough fight with Harish Rawat of the Congress?

A. There is no fight at all. We are not competing with anyone this time. Those who are unable to handle the affairs of their party, i.e, Congress, how will they handle Uttarakhand? The people will not allow them to do that.

Q. So who are you considering as the biggest challenge?

A. There is no challenge from any quarter. The Congress is divided into different factions - so many groups vying for supremacy. Rawat ji has won only one election since 1999. He was defeated twice. Now, where is the fight with the man who lost two elections while being the Chief Minister? And the Aam Aadmi Party has no mass base here. That's why we said, we will cross 60 seats this time.

Q. So there is no anti incumbency factor?

A. Our party works in the interest of the people. Our aim is the welfare of the last person of the state. Working more, talking less is our mantra. So when everyone is happy with the government then where is the anti incumbency factor. You can check the latest survey, we are ahead.

Q. Are you under pressure so far as ticket distribution is concerned?

A. Well there is a process. Whatever fits right with the circumstances, will happen. Everyone plays his part with full faith in the organizational structure of our party. So there is no pressure of any kind.

Q. On which issues are you contesting the election?

A. The issues are of development, and they have only misled people. With the help from the Centre, public welfare schemes worth Rs 1 lakh crore are going on in the state -- from the Char Dham project to the development of rail network in the mountains. I have visited all parts of the state, and I have seen, people are giving us lot of support and the work Modi ji has done -- these are our issues.

Q. Are you ready for the digital campaign that has been asked by the Election Commission?

A. Yes, we are ready. Our campaign is going on. We had two Vijay Sankalp Yatras. Modi ji has had four programs here, Home Minister ji has had two programs, Nadda ji has had four, Rajnath ji has had four, all the leaders have visited Uttarakhand. I myself have visited all assembly constituencies. All festivals have been communicated. As for digital campaigning is concerned, we have always been ready for that.

Q. Will Dhami become the next Chief Minister?

A. How can I tell about myself, our party works in a democratic way, here there is no family rule.

Q. Is it Dhami vs Rawat or BJP vs Congress?

A. At this point in time, there is only BJP, we have no competition with anyone.

Q. In between, the rebels keep troubling the party, what about them?

A. That is not a problem, all are united. The BJP family is big, small things keep happening. You must have seen, a few days ago, many Congress leaders were resigning. We don't have that situation at our party.

Q. Do you really BJP will cross sixty this time?

A. Yes absolutely.

Q. Your tenure has been short, what have been your achievements during this period?

A. There have been many achievements. We have taken more than 500 decisions -- we started Mukhyamantri Vatsalya Yojana, launched Chief Minister Mahalaxmi Yojana, Chief Minister Self Employment Scheme, relief packages to all the people, laid foundation stones for various projects, in tourism, in the cultural sector. Apart from that, the honorarium of the Mangal Dal, the village head, anganwadi workers has been increased.

Q. Do you think the people of Uttarakhand are satisfied with your work?

A. Absolutely, you should find out yourself. About 90 percent of people want BJP back.

Q. Government keeps changing here -- BJP, Congress every five years...

A. After Modi ji became the Prime Minister, the history of the whole country has been changing. This time history will change here also.

Report filed by Prakhar Prakash Misra from Dehradun, U.K. 

In an attempt to restore tribal pride, the government will remember all the great tribal heroes who have sacrificed their lives and contributed to nation-building, said Arjun Munda, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs.

In an exclusive interview to OE/IANS, Munda said: "Tribals never compromised on their basic principles - 'Jal, Zameen and Jungle' (Water, Land and Forest) and many heroes sacrificed their lives for the country and community. The government has decided to remember all tribal heroes who have sacrificed their lives and contributed to the nation-building and community."

Munda said that Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) will be opened in every block in 2022-23.

EMRS is opened in blocks in every block with more than 50 percent ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons.

"The ministry is working on filling the infrastructural gaps in all the aspirational districts to empower tribal communities," he said.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q. What will be the focus area of the Ministry for this year?

A. This year we are celebrating 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' and the Ministry is preparing a blueprint for the future for the next 25 years, the year 2047 when the country will celebrate 100 years of independence. Our emphasis is that tribal areas and tribal people will progress and we have a fixed target to achieve this by 2047 when the country will celebrate the centenary year of our Independence.

We have initiated several developmental works for the tribal people and region and they are progressing well.

Q. Would you elaborate on the Ministry's plan for the progress of tribal areas and people by 2047?

A. As I said that several developmental works for the tribal people and region are already going on and we are ensuring that it must progress at a good pace. Among the ongoing work, the government is currently focusing on two parameters -- education and health. The government is also working on the economic growth of tribal people.

The Ministry is working on filling the infrastructural gaps in all the aspirational districts to empower tribal communities.

On the education front, Eklavya Model Residential Schools will be opened at all blocks in 2022-23. Construction works are going at a good pace and the government will ensure the earliest completion of these schools. We plan to ensure a national level of quality management in these schools at par with any other schools so that after completing class 12 students from EMRS, students can get admission at the best institutions of the country. The government will also try to send students overseas for higher education. In the future, tribal communities must be known as 'Knowledge Society'.

On the health front, the government is working on reducing the mortality rate, which also includes the infant mortality rate. For this, the government is creating health infrastructure. In some areas, tribals are faced with 'genetic health issues' which pass on from one generation to another. The government is working to get rid of this. We took a pledge to get rid of genetic health issues by 2047.

Q. What are plans for the economic empowerment of tribal communities?

A. While taking care of health and education, the government is also taking care of their immediate concern of employment opportunities. We are ensuring their economic growth by developing entrepreneurship while protecting their ethnicity.

Our 'TRIFED' is working in this direction by ensuring the right market to their products maintaining ethnicity. TRIFED is doing great work with the help of Self Help Groups (SHGs) in tribal areas.

It is also in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to connect people living in rural and forest areas with the economy.

Natural farming is the expertise of tribal people and we are also promoting this by providing training and helping them to market their products.

The National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC) is providing loans at low interest to support entrepreneurship. We are also helping the tribal entrepreneurs in assessing risk management to reduce any possibility of loss.

The government is empowering tribes by restoring their pride.

Q. What do you mean by tribal pride?

A. Whoever ruled the country, tribal people never compromised on their basic principles - Jal, Zameen and Jungle and many heroes sacrificed their lives for the country and community. The government has decided to remember all tribal heroes who have sacrificed their lives and contributed to nation-building and community.

The government will make museums to remember the contributions of tribal heroes including unknown ones. We are also planning to connect routes related to tribal heroes.

Q. How many museums on tribal heroes will be made?

A. The government has decided to build museums remembering tribal heroes in every state. Work is on in 10 states. The museums will be tributes to our heroes but will help us learn about our ancestors who sacrificed their lives for the country and community.

Q. What is your opinion on the Union government declaring November 15 as 'Janjatiya Gaurav Divas'?

A. It is a historic decision after the independence of the country. Understanding the importance of tribal areas, people, and pride, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the Janjatiya Gaurav Divas. It will be celebrated as 'pride day' every year on November 15 on the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda. Will inspire people to learn about his fight and how Bhagwan Birsa Munda became 'Dharti Abba' while fighting for land.