Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP) – The passion for a city that led to the genesis of a new-age & unique political movement formed by active citizens of Bengaluru with an exclusive focus on municipal governance and an unbiased party working to the true meaning of “polity”.
Srikanth Narasimhan, an entrepreneur with 2 decades of corporate experience, a simple apolitical, apathetic, a nonchalantly living apartment citizen transformed into a passionate political representative for all municipality related activities. An Engineer in Mechanical stream, MBA from IIM Bengaluru and a founder of Veda Corporate Advisors, an Investment Banking company in existence from past 15 years, happens to become the voice of many apartment citizens for many unreasonable demands from the Bengaluru Municipality [BBMP] & Bengaluru civic agencies. Although born and brought up in Chennai, works and believes in Bengaluru and falls in love with the oldest cosmopolitan city – Bengaluru. Attracted by its weather, its capacity to digest multiple diversity, its affinity to adapt to many tastes pouring in from all over the world, Bengaluru we know has the finest balance in retaining its culture whilst accommodating everyone. It is one city known for inclusive living even with its chaos at the ground level. But the very humble phrase “Swalpa Adjust Madi” – “adjust a bit” makes it smooth going for everyone living in Bengaluru. For Srikanth, the “Adjustment” meant to live in a more peaceful society, a friendly environment and wherewithal to be a Bengalurean in true sense. He made his living out of salary, afford an apartment and live to the changing Bengaluru dynamics like every other migrant, while quickly learning the local language to suit himself, until one day everything seemed like a hazy picture.
A series of incidents changed his life from a corporate lifestyle person to a responsible citizen. The civic agencies that run the city like Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru Water Supply & Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM), Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) etc., started imposing unfair and unreasonable rules on citizens. Sometime around 2015 when BWSSB announced a higher tariff for apartment residents on water, using “Bulk consumers” as the tag, it changed the whole mathematics for people living in Apartments. The concept of all residential citizens being treated equally fell apart with this announcement, and this despite the fact that apartments are known to be more efficient with water consumption. BWSSB raised Rs. 6 / litre tariff to Rs. 19 / litre on consumption. This sudden change and the term “Bulk Consumers” were somehow unfathomable to Srikanth whilst the sudden hike in yearly expenses budgeted to a few thousands to over a lakh suddenly. In addition to this, BWSSB further notified old apartments to implement Sewage Treatment Plants, that made no sense to him. As per the maps, all old apartments were already connected to sewage lines. When he tried to find more about these notices, he discovered that it was a story narrated to eye wash the National Green Tribunal, which was infuriating. This is a normal citizen, living an everyday life finally figuring out why he is in love with this city, this country, and its governance.
Srikanth’s resolve to find more details on municipality operations led to a new movement across Bengaluru, the Bengaluru Apartments Federation (BAF). A Federation that has now grown to 6 Lakh residents strong with over 850+ apartments come together to fight a common cause. The true commoner fighting to resolve common problems in locales. His discovery while working as the founding member of the organization was an eye opener. All types of people from all walks of life, and all types of resources were at his disposal but the government. Every plea was discarded, every assurance had a motive, every act to resolve the problems of water, roads, streetlights etc were leading to one point- Voter’s Bank. A blatant statement that slapped Srikanth at every attempt- “We work for vote bank”, apartment residents apparently did not seem to constitute as “Vote’s”, therefore in Srikanth’s view, he wasn’t a citizen at all. How would one determine his status as citizen of a country if his mere residential occupancy is the determining factor? He went back to questioning the fundamental rights as the citizen of this country. But this needed action that speaks louder. Through BAF, he found enough support to exhibit a rally of 10,000 people in December 2017. This rally was one of a few major turning points in his otherwise simple corporate career, which ultimately led him to founding Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party [BNP], Nanna Bengaluru, Nanna Hemme, Nanna Jawaabdaari [ translates to My Bengaluru, My Pride, My responsibility] is their tagline which expresses a personal attachment to all Bangaloreans.
BNP- believes in all citizens belonging to Bengaluru and doing their bit for the city as citizens, irrespective of where one hails from. BNP has used RTI and managed to list BBMP issues related to projects claimed to be completed on records while there are no evidence of any works executed. Starting from nullifying the “Bulk Consumers” tag to “STP on Old Apartments” to remodelling parks to erecting streetlights, to working on potholes, there has been many such projects that are under scrutiny and correction under the list of actionable projects in BNP. This is a routine that BNP has established whilst encouraging more and more volunteers to participate in active local implementations. They have data and insights gathered from various sources that provides insights enough to take reasonable steps to rework the local governance.
The team majorly constitutes, mix of young and old, corporate, businessmen, individuals who have accepted Bengaluru and citizens from across making BNP’s foundation strong and reliable. The goal of BNP is to “connect with citizens across Bengaluru and work along with the government”, irrespective of the party in power or opposition, non- biased on religion or caste, members who care for civilized living, transparent governance, substantial work execution and methodological working mechanism are some of their means. The target of BNP is clearly BBMP and its initiatives, supporting the right cause and opposing the ill-planned activities. In order to ensure the works are corrective, progressive and inclusive of all citizen, BNP has announced a formal admission of candidates from various wards to contest the Municipal Elections. BNP turned 1 years this September 2020 and has already touched mini milestones in achieving some great results and forming an electric team across Bengaluru who are rock solid support in supporting the party. This overwhelming response in a short span of 12 months has attracted the right set of people, professionals, policy makers who are keen on backing BNP, making it the newest Go-To party for coming elections. Citizen’s support in such cause, walking up in a rally who has never stepped out of their comfort zones are also waking up to the new calling, making BNP a party to watch out for CHANGE.
BNP is totally backed on crowd funds. Donations and local funders are pouring in without questions. With transparent books and result oriented activities Srikanth is leading the team towards the new leap, creating right awareness about governance and policies, educating the young and the old alike on strategies and logics that apply to their societies, communities and locales, giving him the requisite to aim more and gain more for the citizens. When asked about the preparations for the inevitable corruption that can creep into the party, or greed for power in whoever within the party gets to win the elections etc., and many such challenges, Srikanth simply says- there is no place for power play or corruption within the party, as the hierarchy of the party doesn’t allow such loopholes within its system. Hierarchy is flat and networked. Core team works on strategies and planning, contesting person can be anyone from any ward and BNP will back up, but the cost of entering into bad politics will be public shaming as BNP is truly about people and their actions. People will have the power to decide on their Corporator. People choose, so people act. If people do not choose then they have no choice, no voice.
As I walked into the room full of volunteers, gathered from various wards to discuss strategy, I spent 20 minutes listening to their strategic plan that was projected for the volunteers’ benefit. The action plan was clear, and the volunteers questioning was valid. BNP seems to be gearing up to the next elections with more actions and more projects to work on. Garbage management, Lake restoration, Park installations and modelling, Streetlights on main road and in lanes, potholes, and manholes etc are part of their actions. Party and its team members were mostly from the educated lots, working in corporates, clearly aggressive about action plans, non-kannadigas [too], multi-religion, multi-caste, self-reliant team. With such an open-minded and thought-provoking team, it is evident that BNP is most promising on-ground team to work. With no intentions to extend into a full-fledged party, clear focus on BBMP and aims to sort out pending matters as top of the priority, they seem to be heading in the right direction to be acclaimed party in near future.
Elon Musk’s year of dizzying ascents hit a new apex Monday as the Tesla Inc. co-founder passed Bill Gates to become the world’s second-richest person.
The 49-year-old entrepreneur’s net worth soared $7.2 billion to $127.9 billion, driven by yet another surge in Tesla’s share price. Musk has added $100.3 billion to his net worth this year, the most of anyone on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people. In January he ranked 35th.
As per the latest update, the JNU has officially announced the JNUEE 2020 Result Declared for M.A./M.Sc./M.C.A Candidates / aspirants today i.e. on 23rd November 2020 – Monday. Candidates who have appeared for JNU Entrance Exam 2020 seeking admission to M.A./M.Sc./M.C.A Programmes can check their selection status online by logging onto the website jnuee.jnu.ac.in. The below-placed direct link will take candidates directly to the login page of the JNUEE 2020 result website:
https://jnuee.jnu.ac.in/jnuvivashortlist/Default.aspx
Cut-Off Score for MA / MSc / MCA Admission Released
Along with the publication of JNUEE 2020 Results through which candidates seeking admission to PG courses offered by the university were screened; the varsity has also published the cut off score for MA, MSc and MCA programmes. The cut-off scores released by the JNU are the minimum marks that needs to be secured in order to be considered for admission to the university. Candidates who secure marks above the JNUEE 2020 Cut-off will be called in for the counselling process wherein seat allotment will be done for them.
Character-building just cannot be envisioned in isolation unless linked to culture. The NEP respects Gandhi’s vision of young Indians
Policies are formulated on the strong foundation of the outcomes of incisive analysis of past experiences coupled with futuristic vision that could respond to emerging issues, concerns and aspirations. Gandhiji consistently articulated the India of his dreams and his concerns about the impediments ahead. These are evident in the seven social sins he published in the Young India of October 22,1925. These are: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity and worship without sacrifice.
No policy, the one on education included, can ignore the contemporary severity of these sins. It could also be witnessed in the seven tensions identified in the report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the 21st century— also known as the Delores Commission Report. These are the tensions between global and local, universal and individual, tradition and modernity, long-term and short term considerations, the need for competition and concern for opportunity, extraordinary expansion of knowledge and the human being’s capacity to assimilate, and finally, the conflict between the spiritual and the material. One could, in the present context, reformulate them but it would be perilous to neglect any of these. The “sins” are taking stronger roots while the “tensions” are disturbing human habitation and systems that are already under severe strains and pressures as consequences of declining moral, ethical and humanistic considerations.
An incisive scrutiny of the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) would indicate the extent to which both the sins and tensions need to be responded to, as is essential to prepare human beings imbued with character, commitment and concern. It acknowledges the guiding light it derived from the “rich heritage of ancient and eternal Indian knowledge and thought.” The pursuit of knowledge, wisdom and truth is considered the highest goal of human life. The NEP mentions, “The aim of education in ancient India was not just the acquisition of knowledge as preparation for life in this world, or life beyond schooling, but for the complete realisation and liberation of the Soul. World class institutions in India, such as Takshashila, Nalanda, Vikramshila and Vallabhi, set the highest standards of multi-disciplinary teaching and research and hosted scholars and students from across backgrounds and countries.” The ancient Indian system of education valued the pursuit of knowledge with the sole objective of utilising it for the welfare of humanity: “Let all be happy, let all be healthy; let all see good around and let none suffer pain of any kind.” Could there be a better comprehension of the essential unity of human beings as one family? And in a family, differences and diversities are accepted and respected. This is what the NEP has imbibed in word and spirit. It recalls how the products of ancient Indian education system strived tirelessly to make seminal contributions in diverse fields of knowledge, including mathematics, astronomy, metallurgy, surgery, health, architecture, engineering, ship building, navigation, yoga, fine arts and so much more. Every Indian student – inheritor of this great legacy – must be made familiar with it and accept the responsibility to enhance it further through excellence in his chosen area of activity and expertise. Each one of them is an inheritor of the legacy of luminaries like Charak, Susruta, Aryabhata, Bhaskaracharya, Brahmagupta, Nagarjuna, Gautama, Maitreyi, Gargi and Thiruvalluvur.
Once the NEP 2020 is implemented appropriately, no Indian shall remain “delinked from India.” Every learner would be exposed to modern knowledge that would be given to him/her in institutions following the most modern pedagogy, and with due emphasis on critical thinking, creativity and innovations. It would aim at developing a student’s full human potential. Higher education, the NEP-2020 acknowledges, must aim to develop good, thoughtful, well rounded and creative individuals. Obviously, the school education would take note of these aspects in the most sensitive years. Recommendations on multi-disciplinary universities, robust autonomy, revamping of curriculum and pedagogy, reforms in governance of higher education Institutions (HEIs), creation of National Research Foundation (NRF) and National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) would be positive additions to the quality and contemporary relevance of the future model of Indian education.
India could finally turn into an international education hub and certainly attract attention of the corresponding international institutions. The proposed changes in structure, flexibility, autonomy, pedagogy, multi-dimensionality, assessment procedures, including transfer of credit systems, would remove several agonising technicalities. The availability of internationally relevant curricula in the history, heritage and culture of India, as also modern subject areas, could attract a sizeable number of foreign students, helping us achieve the goal of “internationalisation at home.” Some well-thought out suggestions like opening of foreign campuses by established Indian institutions and permitting top international universities to operate in India would effectively put Indian education firmly on the international podium, with dignity, credibility and expectations. Shared courses with reputed international institutions could pave the way for a much-needed morale boosting and encourage our young to compete with and excel among foreign students. One has to be cautious about certain aspects though. Global credibility and recognition would require certain minimum levels of infrastructure and facilities which, sadly enough, are still missing in a large number of education institutions across the board. The NEP 2020 assures availability of all of these: “Every classroom shall have access to the latest educational technology that enables better learning experiences.” There can be no compromise on the professionally acceptable teacher-taught ratio. This raises several related requirements. Quality just cannot be raised by engaging guest teachers, teachers on lecture-based payments, para teachers and keeping more than a million posts of school teachers vacant for decades together! In HEIs, the quality of products, research and innovations would be greatly impeded if there are 40-60 per cent vacant academic positions. The NEP 2020 boldly acknowledges this concern and articulates: “The teacher must be at the centre of the fundamental reforms in the education system. The new education policy must help re-establish teachers, at all levels, as the most respected and essential members of our society, because they truly shape our next generation of citizens. It must do everything to empower teachers and help them do their job as effectively as possible.” Expressing serious concern on the quality of teacher education, the recommendation is to replace by 2030 all of the present one-year school teacher preparation programmes by four-year integrated teacher education programmes. It may be worthwhile to recall that the four-year integrated teacher preparation programmes began in the four institutions of the NCERT in 1964-64, and the products were indeed far ahead of others in their professional performance in schools and teacher education institutions. Unfortunately, the module was not replicated.
In higher education, the policy acknowledges the “criticality, quality and engagement” of the faculty. It also accepts that “faculty motivation” remains far lower than the desired level. Several steps have been listed to attract “the best, motivated, and capable faculty in the HEIs.” The right-teacher-student ratio, access to education technology, freedom to design their own curricular and pedagogical approaches, incentives like appropriate rewards, promotions, recognition and movement into institutional leadership are included in the list.
In his book of 1932, Remakers of Mankind, Carl Washburne writes that when asked, “What is your goal in education when India obtains self-rule?”, Gandhi answered, “Character-building. I would try to develop courage, strength, virtue, the ability to forget oneself in working towards great aims. This is more important than literacy; academic learning is only a means to this great end.” Character formation was the strength of the traditional Indian system of knowledge quest that included creation, generation, utilisation and transfer of knowledge to generations ahead. With all the experiences gained globally in varying contexts and approaches, it is now accepted globally that education in every country must be rooted to culture and committed to progress. Character-building just cannot be envisioned in isolation unless linked to culture. No culture would flourish in isolation and our youth can become global citizens only when they are made well aware and conversant with their own culture before being introduced to others. India painfully suffered as the transplanted system deliberately kept young “educated” Indians away from getting familiar with the nuances of their own culture; they were systematically indoctrinated in the “superiority of the Western culture.” This was very comprehensively articulated by Gandhiji in the Young India of September 1,1921, “It is my firm opinion that no culture has a treasure so rich as ours. We have not known it, we have been made even to depreciate its value. We have almost ceased to live it.” Let us hope that the proposed educational reforms would prepare young people with credentials, and they would be looking after the masses. Education must lead to human dignity for one and all.
(The author works in education and social cohesion)
Success has been eluding the saffron party so far as its penetration has been restricted to Karnataka. It has failed in TN, Puducherry and Kerala
After the big win in the Bihar Assembly elections this month, the BJP is now focussing on the South, where Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry are going to the polls early next year. Elections are scheduled for West Bengal and Assam, too. Will the BJP achieve its goal of gaining a foothold in the South? Success has been eluding the saffron party so far, as its penetration has been restricted to Karnataka. It has failed in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala because of historic, religious, social and ideological reasons.
In Tamil Nadu, the BJP firmed up its poll alliance with the ruling AIADMK during the weekend. Eyebrows were raised at this early pact when the State’s Deputy Chief Minister and party coordinator O Panneerselvam announced it at a function attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Though the late AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa had a good equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she did not go for a tie-up with the BJP in the 2016 polls. After her demise, in 2019, the UPA made it in 37 of the 40 seats won. The BJP went with the AIADMK.
The BJP now wants to make a mark in the South, riding piggyback on the AIADMK. The Congress is in alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) while smaller parties like actor Vijayakanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), S Ramadoss’ Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Thirumavalavan’s Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and others choose the DMK or AIADMK coalition according to the situation.
The BJP has strengthened its Tamil Nadu unit by appointing Murugan, a lawyer, as its chief and has also activated its workers. There has been a recruitment spree in the State since 2014. It has brought to its fold celebrities, bureaucrats and politicians from other parties. Recently, the actor-turned-politician and Congress spokesperson Khushbu’s joining of the party was a significant event. So the big question is why was the BJP unable to make inroads in Tamil Nadu till now?
First of all, the saffron party had no tall leaders to match the iconic Dravidian leaders like M Karunanidhi, J Jayalalithaa and MG Ramachandran. It is likely to be Modi versus DMK chief MK Stalin now. Second, the BJP is perceived to be a North Indian Brahminical party and the word Brahmin is anathema to Dravidian parties. Third, Tamil Nadu saw a huge anti-Hindi agitation in the 60s. The Dravidian parties are against any imposition of Hindi and the Modi Government is in favour of it. Fourth, influenced by the anti-Brahmin movement of the 50s and the 60s, many caste-based parties like the Vanniyars (dominant in north-west parts of Tamil Nadu, Thevars (dominant in southern part of the State in the Madurai belt) and Gounders (in the Kongu belt in the west), have sprung up in the last three decades, resulting in the splintering of votes. Fifth, the BJP’s stand on conversions to Christianity and its hostility to Islam and other religions has no takers in the South. The BJP’s polarising tactics won’t work in the South. Sixth, new parties have sprung up with two untested superstars — Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth — on the horizon.
The DMK has been making poll preparations for some months now and MK Stalin has already announced an alliance with the Congress. In the 2019 Lok Sabha, the Congress-DMK combination swept the polls. The State has been alternating between the DMK and the AIADMK and now it is the turn of the DMK. It was only in 2016 that the AIADMK got a second term.
The neighbouring Puducherry often reflects Tamil Nadu’s politics. In any case, it is a small Union Territory and has just one seat in the Lok Sabha. Currently, the Congress is ruling in the State.
Kerala is a different story. The Left-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) alternate in power. It is the UDF’s turn now. The BJP has not been able to penetrate much in the State despite the groundwork done by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Further, the Kerala electorate consists of a sizeable number of Christians and Muslims and they remain non-BJP voters.
In 2019, the LDF posted a landslide victory, winning 19 of the 20 seats while the UDF won just one seat and the BJP got zero seats. The RSS tried to mobilise support on the contentious Sabarimala issue but the counter-mobilisation presented an effective alternative control.
With more literate voters, Kerala alternates between the Communists or anti-Communists. The BJP is seeing slow growth in the State because of it. While the minority communities in the State have successfully ensured the protection of their respective cultures, the Hindu community has relentlessly ceded its own cultural space. The BJP is taking advantage of it, but it is taking time to translate into votes.
Also, the BJP is facing factionalism in Kerala. The RSS has cautioned the central leadership that the friction in the State unit could impact the performance in the polls.
Kerala won kudos in containing the Covid-19 pandemic. A few months ago it looked as if the LDF could return to power but that came to a screeching halt in July after the Chief Minister’s Office was found to be allegedly involved in a gold smuggling scam. Several protests broke out across Kerala after the smuggling of 30 kg gold worth `14.82 crore through diplomatic channels came to light on July 5. The case is currently being probed by the ED, the National Investigation Agency and the Customs Department. Another nail in the coffin was the recent promulgation of The Kerala Police (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. Vide this Ordinance, a new Section 118A was introduced in the Kerala Police Act, 2011. This was widely viewed as a brazen assault on freedom of speech.
Though the Chief Minister insisted that “no action would be taken against the media or critics who stay within the limits of the Constitution” and in the end decided not to implement the amended Act, the damage has been done to the Government’s reputation and credibility in a fiercely independent State.
Now, it remains to be seen whether the BJP can consolidate its Hindu votes in the South.
(The writer is a senior journalist)
The oft-used term means a very different thing in countries like Pak. But when Donald Trump uses it for the US, he does it as a ploy to deflect attention from his failures
A friend, settled in the US, recently quipped that never has he heard so many Pakistanis (in the US) use the word “Deep State” as much as they have been doing since the recently-concluded US presidential elections. The polls were won by the Democratic Party nominee John Biden. My friend clarified that the mentioned term was being used mostly by those Pakistani-Americans who actually voted for President Donald Trump.
Even though exit polls published by The New York Times show that a majority of Asians had cast their vote for Biden (63 per cent), up to 31 per cent of them voted for Trump. According to my friend, a majority of these included Pakistanis who believed Trump was good for the current coalition Government in Pakistan being led by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Centre-Right PTI.
The Opposition parties in Pakistan have increasingly insisted that certain State institutions installed Khan “through an engineered election” in 2018 and were using him as a “puppet.” Pakistan has had a history of State institutions influencing political outcomes, sometimes through direct interventions and sometimes by influencing the results of elections.
This is why my friend was sounding sarcastic, because he added that not once did he hear the term “Deep State” from American-Pakistanis (who voted for Trump) during discussions on the current political arrangement in Pakistan. The term “Deep State”, now being aired so frequently by Trump supporters, was proliferated by the defeated President himself, who is accusing the “American Deep State” of engineering his electoral defeat.
So far Trump has provided no evidence whatsoever of this and is largely sounding like an archetypal conspiracy theorist. The difference between the US and Pakistan in this context is the fact that there is now enough evidence in the latter country to build a substantiated history of the State’s overt involvement in influencing political matters outside of its constitutional obligations. So what really is a “Deep State”?
The scholar Matthew Wills says that the term is a translation of the Turkish phrase, derin devlet. Author and academic Ryan Gingeras writes that “Deep State” generally refers to a kind of a parallel system of Government in which unofficial or unacknowledged individuals play important roles in implementing State policy. According to Gingeras, the idea of a “Deep State” can be traced to the twilight years of the Ottoman Empire.
Gingeras writes that clandestine forces were recruited from paramilitary and criminal elements by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), the party that ousted the Ottomans in 1923. Across much of the 20th century, opponents of the CUP claimed that the party had established a clandestine network of military officers and their civilian allies who, for decades, suppressed anyone thought to pose a threat to the secular order established in Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Dexter Filkins, in a March 2012 article for The New Yorker, writes that the former Prime Minister of Turkey (now President), Recep Erdogan, was extremely nervous when he was first elected as Prime Minister in 2003 because he believed that since he was a candidate of an (albeit “moderate”) Islamic party, Turkey’s “Deep State” would never allow him to rule.
But no such thing happened. His party has continued to win elections since the early 2000s and the only coup attempt that his Government faced in 2016, according to Erdogan’s own admission, was mounted by a faction of the military influenced by a clandestine Islamic group.
There is nothing secretive about how, after 1923, the Turkish military continued to directly and indirectly interfere in Turkish politics, and the country’s judiciary and bureaucracy were committed to secure Kemal’s secular Turkish republic. For this military rule, military-backed candidates and constitutional courts were used. But there were no hidden agenda, as such, even though men such as Erdogan believed that shadowy forces were at work and would topple him. Interestingly, all talk of “Deep State” vanished from his rhetoric once he consolidated his power.
So what does this imply? In many countries, certain powerful State institutions do interfere in political processes, but increasingly, it’s being done rather unabashedly. It was always justified as a “necessary step taken to curtail political chaos”, but now the interfering State institutions use social and electronic media to generate support for their actions in this regard. Again, there is nothing clandestine about all this. There has always been “a State within a State” in most modern nation-States.
Recently, the Pakistani Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif used the phrase “State above the State.” This is probably because he knows that the knowledge of Pakistan having a State within a State is now common, and he would be saying nothing new. So he wanted to point towards a much deeper malaise. According to his narrative, the State within the State, which is not quite hidden anymore, is now facing a challenge from within.
But what about the US? Does it have a “Deep State” that, as Trump believes, helped Biden hijack the election? In the January 27 edition of the Business Insider, the American academic Rebecca Gordon writes that the idea of a sinister “Deep State” in the US, popularised by Trump across his presidency, is somewhat different than how it is understood in most other countries. According to Gordon, “rather than referring to a parallel system of Government operating outside official channels, for Trump the ‘Deep State’ is the Government.”
For Trump, any State or Government institution, which stalls any of his orders, is working for a “Deep State”. To him, elements within America’s domestic and international Intelligence agencies, such as the FBI and the CIA, were also working for the “Deep State”. In November 2019, the former Deputy Director of the CIA, John McLaughlin, was amused about Trump’s constant usage of the phrase. In a radio interview McLaughlin said, “There is no ‘Deep State.’ What people think of as the ‘Deep State’ is just the American civil service, social security, the people who fix the roads, health and human services.”
In his 2016 book, The Deep State, the American author and a former Republican US Congressional aide, Mike Lofgren, wrote that the “Deep State” was not some secret, conspiratorial cabal. It is a “State within a State” that is hiding in plain sight, and its operators mainly act in the light of day.
As I argued earlier, there is really nothing clandestine about what is understood as “Deep State”. Its actions are in the open because it wants to impose the fact that it will secure its interests in a political arrangement. Governments negotiate a space for themselves with the State as long as that space is not overtly violated by State institutions in an unconstitutional manner.
If and when it is, the Government has constitutional tools to push the State back as much as it can, or just give in and get on the same page just to survive. This is common in most countries. But what if the Government starts to see its own elements in league with the so-called “Deep State”, as Trump saw it? I’m afraid this is then nothing more than either a delusion, or simply a cynical ploy to blame something sinister, intangible and largely imaginary, for one’s own failures.
(Courtesy: Dawn)
Though national policies are often preceded by commitments of political parties in their manifestos, it is for the first time that health infrastructure has become a poll agenda
In spite of the pressing needs of a huge population, healthcare in India has never been an electoral mobiliser unlike in older democracies, such as the UK and the US. Only three National Health Policies (1983, 2002 and 2017) have been promulgated by respective Governments in the last 70 years. Though national policies and promises are often preceded by commitments of political parties in their manifestos, it is for the first time in the history of independent India that healthcare infrastructure has now become a top election agenda. This is all due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Our country should be moving towards a healthcare system that places a high priority on keeping people healthy and out of hospitals. And the primary care doctor should be playing the leading role in this transformation. This, in turn, will lead to a reduced financial burden, diminishing the high costs of emergency rooms and tertiary care centres. Good primary care improves patient outcomes too, yet we have ignored these fundamentals to our detriment. This blind spot is the biggest flaw in our current healthcare system.
Democracy is a system of governance for the people, by the people and of the people. Primary healthcare, similarly defined, is healthcare provided to all, especially the most marginalised, with their participation and for their needs. If the primary healthcare system of a country is not functioning well, it is symptomatic of problems in its democracy itself. Primary healthcare is a public good and in a democracy, public good is publicly funded. The right to health is subsumed under the right to life in the Constitution. Yet, India figures at the very bottom of the global health systems’ rankings. We have the dubious distinction of having the maximum number of tuberculosis and leprosy patients and the highest maternal and infant mortality rates.
With a focus on primary care, our health system should move away from procedures/hospital- based care, in which primary care physicians (PCPs) have been devalued. Such systems depict the PCPs as paper-pushers in a world of specialists.
The Bhore Committee set up in 1946 published a landmark report highlighting the need for a “social physician”, who would be a key player in India’s healthcare system. The report also emphasised the need to recognise the field of Family Medicine as a separate speciality with a post-graduate residency programme in post-graduate medical institutes. Our medical education system, too, needs to encourage medical students to view primary care as a route to creating a more effective healthcare system.
The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, an organisation working to improve healthcare in the US, says that in order to produce more primary care doctors, who are willing to practise in disadvantaged and underserved areas, medical schools need to change the way they select students. It is seen in India, too, that students, who have strong ties to their community, want to form long-term relationships and commitment to public service, and hence are more likely to choose primary care (if such training is made available in the country) as a profession, than other students. One of the reasons our country or even the US is facing a shortage of PCPs is because the brightest medical students are often told or made to believe that they’re too smart not to specialise, and that attitude is reinforced throughout their medical training. What is special about Japan in the context of successful healthcare services is that it managed to contain the clout of specialists in its healthcare system and accorded a prominent voice to PCPs in its decision-making process.
In the early days of Japan’s modern medicine history, hospitals catered to only an affluent few and the Government limited their funding, restricting them to functions like training of medical students and isolation of infectious cases. Reciprocal connections between doctors in private clinics and hospitals were forbidden, thwarting possibilities of a nexus between the two groups. However, a sturdy lobby of clinic-based PCPs evolved, which tipped the balance in favour of primary healthcare. The Japanese social health insurance was implemented in 1927 and the medical association, that was dominated by PCPs, played the main role in negotiating the fee schedule.
Primary healthcare renewal demands major investments in system transformation and infrastructure (appropriate premises and staffing, information management systems and tools and facilitation to support the coordination of care and the improvement of quality).
Sadly, in India until 2018, only one per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was spent on healthcare and since 2019 this has increased to 3.6 per cent. This is much lower than many non-democratic/poorer nations and is ahead of only five countries, namely Burundi, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sudan and Cambodia. Such low spending, as we know, leads to a perverted pattern of healthcare as our health system is meant to cater to a population of over a billion human beings.
Poor investment in the primary healthcare system naturally under-equips it. Hence, we lack supplies and drugs for comprehensive primary care. For example, of the 709 public health centres (PHCs) surveyed in 2009 by the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, about 24 per cent did not have electricity and 63 per cent did not have piped water supply. At the same time, PHCs are expected to deliver centrally- designed, targetted, vertical programmes, alienating them further from communities. As a result, even those families that can access PHCs continue to look elsewhere for their critical healthcare needs.
There is empirical evidence that public spending on primary healthcare is the most effective, efficient and equitable approach to improve the health of populations. Higher public spending has always shown decreased mortality and morbidity of the poor. An analysis by the Centre for Economic and International Studies examined the relative efficiency of public and private healthcare spending in 163 countries and reported that the former consistently leads to lower infant mortality rates and the latter, to higher.
India has a large network of PHCs and each is meant to serve a population of 25,000. In poorer States, such as Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, one PHC covers 45,000, 49,000 and 76,000 people respectively. In Rajasthan, the population is often so dispersed (especially in hilly areas in the south and in the desert in the west) that a family may need to travel 10-20 km to reach the nearest PHC. This means that when a person is sick, s/he may have to wait for many hours or days to reach a healthcare facility.
A few countries in South America with limited resources have managed to design and scale up people-friendly health systems to cover large populations for delivering primary care. Family clinics in Brazil and polyclinics and nurses offices in Cuba are examples of systems with nationwide coverage. Cuba has one of the most effective primary healthcare systems in the world, whose centerpiece is the community-based polyclinic, each of which serves a catchment area, hosting between 30,000 and 60,000 people. The neighbourhood-based family doctor-and-nurse offices further extend care closer to the communities. One such office is for 1,000-2,000 people. Prevention is the cornerstone of these services, complemented by community analysis and treatment. An important requirement of primary healthcare is the active participation of the masses — akin to citizen participation in a democracy. Such systems are likely to be more responsive to public needs. In the States of West Bengal and Kerala, in which primary healthcare is co-managed by panchayats, health outcomes are better than in most other States at similar levels of economic development.
Government healthcare centres even in cities are yet to be able to provide treatment to the sick with dignity. Patients struggling for life sharing beds, children along with parents lying on the floor in hospital wards and women delivering babies in hospital corridors are an everyday sight in Government hospitals in cities. A democratic healthcare system should have facilities located within communities that are equipped to deal with their needs and provide preventive and curative care. They should be staffed by a skilled team of providers, who are empathetic to the people and their culture and treat them with dignity.
(The writer is an author and a doctor by profession)
“The awkward fit of theory to actuality is most vivid for poor women in poor economies. These women may depend on others, but lack the supposed securities of dependence. They are impoverished, but are often providers. They are powerless, yet others who are yet more vulnerable depend on them for protection. Their vulnerability reflects heavy demands as much as slender resources.”
— Philosopher Onora O’Neill
Concerns about inequality and injustice women face in various societies don’t require a league consisting only of economists and policy-analysts. Both historically and contemporarily, philosophers and literary figures world over have reaffirmed their interest through their characters in these overwhelming problems. I will like to initiate this article by bringing into picture two characters: Sissy Jupe from Charles Dickens’s novel Hard Times and Vasilisa Arsenyeva from Salman Rushdie’s novel The Golden House. One may wonder what these novelists writing in different centuries have to do with women and a just society. Both Dickens and Rushdie in their own way handled hard facts of life with an unfailing appeal to their readers.
Mr M’Choakumchild was exploring Sissy’s knowledge about national prosperity. “Now, this schoolroom is a Nation. And in this nation, there are fifty millions of money. Isn’t this prosperous nation, and a’n’t you in a thriving state?” Sissy pleaded ignorance but nevertheless explained her ignorance. She said she could not answer the question unless she knew, “Who had got the money, and whether any of it was mine.” Obviously Sissy Jupe, not happy with sad affairs of distributive justice chose to lament it.
Rushdie, in V Arsenyeva, finds a different version of a woman. Rushdie captured her emotions while she delivered a monologue on poverty, love and need. Let me quote from her monologue. “Please. I require no sympathy regarding the poverty of my origin… Poverty is a disgusting condition and to fail to emerge from it is also disgusting. Fortunately I excelled at all things both physical and mental and so I have been able to come to America… I know my presence here is the fruit of my own labour... The past is a broken cardboard suitcase full of photographs of things I no longer wish to see. I am the general of myself and my body is the foot soldier that obeys what the general commands.”
The two characters share some commonalities. First both are women: one a young school-going girl and the second V Arsenyeva; a relatively older Russian girl with origin in Siberia, and living in America. Next both concern themselves with resources: their distribution and empowerment. Both characters, through their outpourings, set the ball rolling: an emotive story of real agony and anguish of a little girl who would be a woman a few years later and a young woman who was a little girl a few years earlier. Sissy for her age was quite wise; poverty taught her wisdom from very early stage of childhood; it gave her farsightedness early in life. She could distinguish between finer nuisances of micro and macroeconomics and had no qualms in believing macro affluence did not suo motu convert itself into micro affluence and socio-economic comfort. The monologue of V Arsenyeva is a reflection on overcoming paucity of resources and ignorance by dint of “great self-discipline” and the acquired ability to “build a house” so that “one can live in it (this being an example).” Sissy lamented lack of empowerment, Arsenyeva believed in self-determination and relentless pursuance of her dreams.
Both these women used their experiences to remind the world it fell short of being completely just. History bears us out the world has always fallen short of being completely just particularly when it comes to women. The exclusion of women outside the realm of opportunity to partner in building prosperous societies and economies is denial of a just society to them and others too.
Much work both in theory and practice has been done for exploring the methods to improve the lot of the weak, the exploited and the marginalised. Looking at the recent history of empowerment, a conference that took place at World Institute for Development Economics Research in Helsinki in 1988 to deliberate upon issues like what is meant by “quality of life”, and the requirements in terms of socio-economic policy for improving and ultimately achieving it thereby empowering the deprived ones, started a lively discussion on way ahead. Helsinki conference unequivocally stressed on the need to assess a number of distinct areas of human life in determining how well people are doing rather than measuring quality of life by hinging on single index of per capita national income.
From Helsinki conference the world travelled through Millennium Development Goals and reached in 2015 more comprehensive and inclusive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal 5 of Sustainable Development Goals 2015 aims to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against women in the public and private spheres and to undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources and access to ownership of property. Descent work, equal access to education, and representation in political and economic decision making processes are the rights women must enjoy. Investment in the empowerment of women results not only in making progress on Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals but also in fuelling sustainable economic development. Let us have a look at Indian scenario.
On August 14, 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru reminded the nation about the task ahead i.e. “…the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity.” But unfortunately for close to six decades (which indeed is a long period) the tasks identified by Nehru remained largely unaccomplished with not much success. Many countries like Cuba, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Costa Rica, etc, following different growth strategies could achieve huge reduction in human deprivation and inequality. In these countries much stress was laid particularly on expansion of basic education and health care. India’s performance was certainly not worth bragging about and not very enthusing in the field of opportunities for women and their empowerment. When it comes to women, where does the problem lie particularly in traditional societies like ours?
Julia Annas, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, in an essay titled “Women and the Quality of Life: Two Norms or One?” tries to answer above question by analysing the existence of “two actual norms for human life”. She gives examples from traditional societies where certain practices have withheld benefits accruing to women. For example, unfortunately it is still believed that resources should not be “wasted” on educating daughters. The reason adduced for this as cited by Annas is “…the women in the traditional society, with their domestic futures, don’t desire education.” Annas further gives similar examples like, to quote Annas, “…women may justly be kept from participation in public life because they are more self-centered and less capable of impartial thought than men.” This example shows how such reasons adduced result in various assertions of differences between men’s and women’s natures. Annas ridicules this reasoning and asserts that “superficial desires” as compared to “informed desires” where all positive aspects of education are known to women must recede and thus women will show desire for education. What the learned philosopher means is, “…injustice results from the existence of two norms,” and harps on mitigating superficial desires “resting on an unreflective view of their circumstances.”
Even now it has been a known practice in many households that the woman who cooks food is the last to eat it and that too whatever meagre is leftover. They are not expected to complain and they are ever ready to confess that their nutritional status and physical heath are good even when they have physical ailments. Thus desires adjust to deprivation and division of functions. This sort of exclusionary neglect needs immediate attention and equipping women with adequate information not justifying “superficial desires” is the first crucial step towards eliminating cases of exclusionary neglect. Annas rightly concludes in any society gender issues are not focused on women alone but the relationship between men and women.
Current efforts afoot in India under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi reflect on concerns expressed by philosophers like Professors Julia Annas and Onora O’Neill. Narendra Modi has visualised through his vast experience as leader of Gujarat and afterwards the nation the use of comparative perspective by going beyond the limited.
For example, the need to understand the nexus between social conditions and economic opportunities has been properly appreciated. He has realised the crucial linkages between creating basic educational facilities and opening up of new economic opportunities and expanding the scope for better use of labour and skills. Most importantly, it has also been recognised that social opportunities are influenced by a host of factors like the state of health and educational services, the nature and availability of finance, the presence of markets, including policies to promote and restrict these markets, presence of middlemen in markets and very importantly gender injustice. Therefore, the Prime Minister insists on unified approach to empowerment and this is reflected in various programmes launched by present Government.
The commitment of India to implement the Sustainable Development Goals was spelt out through the speech and commitment made by Prime Minister of India at the UN Summit for the adoption of post 2015 Development Agenda. In his speech the Prime Minister said, “Today, much of India’s development agenda is mirrored in the Sustainable Development Goals.” Further with reference to empowerment, he said, the attack on poverty includes not only expanded conventional schemes of development, but also a new era of inclusion and empowerment, turning distant dreams into immediate possibilities. He further spoke about new bank accounts for 180 million; direct transfer of benefits, micro enterprises and micro finance, drawing on the strength of digital and mobile applications with the focus on basics, housing, power, water and sanitation for all. These are important not just for welfare, but also human dignity. Development is intrinsically linked to empowerment of women and it begins with a massive programme on educating the girl child that has become every family’s mission.
He clarified these are goals with a definite date, not just a mirage of hope. Thus the broad agenda towards empowerment with reference to SDGs in India is set.
The Prime Minister’s constant emphasis on inclusion and inclusiveness is at the root of developmental efforts progressing in India. Sincere, honest and transparent efforts to achieve overall development for all with no exceptions are clearly visible. The Prime Minister’s historic speech makes it amply clear that overall human development has much to do with making structural changes to conquer the inequities and exploitations that characterise society. This in turn constitutes an efficient and effective blend of meeting “basic needs” and equipping people with “capabilities”. Efforts aim at planning and intertwining capabilities created now with a bigger expansion of capabilities in the future. Possible conflicts between immediately enhancing capabilities i e meeting basic needs and long-term expansion of capabilities in the future i.e economic prosperity cannot be ruled out and need be addressed in time.
Though SDGs cover all human beings, for the purpose of this article and due to paucity of space, I will limit myself with some important schemes launched in recent past to enhance opportunities for women empowerment.
The Government of India has recognised, amid others, two important ways to empower women: Economic empowerment through participation in economic activities and opportunities and second through mitigation of educational deprivations. The schemes chalked out and implemented broadly address these requirements and thereby endeavour to ensure that women gain equal rights, opportunities and access to resources. The first and foremost thing is their safety, security and economic empowerment. Towards that end, schemes like Mahila Police Volunteers (MPV) envisaging engagement of Mahila Police Volunteers in States/UTs who act as a link between police and community and facilitate women in distress; Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana empowering women below poverty line and protecting their health by providing LPG cylinder free of cost.
Working Women Hostel (WWH) ensures the safety and security for working women by providing safe and conveniently located accommodation. Pradhan Mantri Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna aims at economic empowerment of girls by opening their bank accounts and enabling their parents to save funds for their female child’s education and marriage. Under this scheme the account can be opened at any post office or a branch of an authorised commercial bank in India between the birth of the girl child and till the age of ten by a parent or guardian. The account offers 8.6 per cent interest with the girl child able to operate the account once she is ten years old and the account allows for fifty per cent withdrawal at the age of eighteen for higher education. Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana aims at prioritising housing for women. Launched in 2016, Mahila-E-Haat is a bilingual marketing platform intended to help aspiring women entrepreneurs, NGOs and self-help groups to showcase their services and products. Mahila Shakti Kendra was launched in 2017 to provide women with opportunities for skill development, employment, health, nutrition and digital literacy.
Each Mahila Shakti Kendra working at National, State, District and Block levels, provides an opportunity to women to approach the Government for their entitlements through capacity building and training. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana that came into being in January 2015, drives at generating awareness and improving the efficacy of welfare services for girl child. Most important components of the scheme include addressing the issue of declining child sex ratio, gender-based sex-selective eliminations and protecting survival, protection and education of the girl child.
These schemes resonate well with the sustainable targets on gender equality and are marked by inclusionary coherence. For example, the Government has identified ending violence against women and providing security and safety to women as a key national priority. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme aims at equal opportunity and education for girls; Sukanya Samridhi Yojana aims at prosperity of girl child and Janani Suraksha Yojana provides safe motherhood intervention under National Health Mission with the objective of reducing maternal and neo-natal mortality among poor pregnant women.
The most novel feature of these schemes is generally these don’t flow from a common perception that problems faced by women are cases of more general difficulties of the deprived and marginalised population. Each and every scheme with its distinct identity and full-fledged mission is intended for girls and women and aims at establishment of a just society for women without any discrimination.
The crux of recent efforts in India in the field of women empowerment is reduction of women inequality and injustice by providing them resources and opportunities and equipping them with decision-making power including political powers. Onora O’ Neill suggests, “a serious account of justice cannot gloss over the predicaments of impoverished providers in marginalised and developing countries.” That is an important lesson for policy makers who plan for creating a just society or making society less unjust. An emerging New India very well addresses the issue raised by Onora O’ Neill. The concept of a just society is firmly embedded in the multi-peaked idea of a New India.
(The writer, a retired Additional Deputy CAG, is a poet, writer and columnist. His fourth book “Soliloquy of a Small-Town Uncivil Servant”, a semi-autobiographical account, published in 2019 by Rupa Publications, New Delhi, has been getting international acclaim)
The country needs to reorient policies for a long-term approach without ignoring short-term needs
Keeping China out is the new trade policy of India. Its primary approach is that anything that opens the door to Chinese products is a “strict no-no.” So it’s no surprise that India is keeping out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement (FTA), an initiative New Delhi was engaged in since its inception. Theoretically, it comes at a minimum cost as India already has FTAs with all but three RCEP members.
Home Minister Amit Shah had last month told RCEP member countries that they would have to come around to accepting New Delhi’s terms. “Considering India’s growing stature, RCEP members can’t afford to ignore it for long and will come around to agreeing to the Government of India’s terms. Meanwhile, the country has maintained successful economic relations with ASEAN by the means of FTAs,” he said. The RCEP, too, has kept the doors open for India officially, if at all it wants to join the grouping without having to wait for 18 months, as stipulated for new members. As per the RCEP’s decision, India can still participate as an observer.
India had taken the decision in November 2019 to keep out of the RCEP, with the partnership being seen as China-centric and due to the perception that it would boost sales of cheap Chinese products and harm the country’s industries.
India’s approach on the deal is the result of unfavourable trade balances that it has with several RCEP members, with some of which it already has FTAs. The Commerce Ministry says that the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in trade with such countries was a mere 7.1 per cent. India has trade deficits with 11 of the 15 RCEP nations. This means that while the partners have access to our market, India has not penetrated theirs. Hence, it cannot further open up its market for the advantage of others. Still India has agreements with the ASEAN, South Korea and Japan. It is negotiating deals with Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and there are treaties with Nepal and Bhutan. However, there are apprehensions that RCEP could impact the Australia-India-Japan network in the Indo-Pacific region. India and like-minded nations, particularly the Quad countries — Australia, the US and Japan — are keen to have resilient supply chains. Along with New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam, they are negotiating with each other.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while delivering the Ramnath Goenka Lecture in 2019, had said that India’s stance was a “clear-eyed calculation” of the gains and costs of entering a new arrangement. He also said that India would continue with its “act East” policy. It should also be remembered that the RCEP decision is linked to China’s aggressive postures in the South China Sea and on the Line of Actual Control, including the June 15 Galwan incident in which 20 Indian and many Chinese soldiers lost their lives. It may be recalled that Jaishankar even in January had said that New Delhi’s doors to RCEP were not closed. But in September, he said, “You cannot be a rising power without being a rising economy, and to do that you have to build your domestic capacities.” His views are not very different from that of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, which had been opposing most FTAs and stressing on improving the domestic economy.
It certainly has not been an easy decision. India would have to weigh the gains of a bulk agreement and individual treaties. A similar concern was expressed when New Delhi chose to opt out of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2017. It was said that India might be isolating itself. Now after three years, like-minded democracies appreciate New Delhi for its prudent decision, which many now see as an exploitative Chinese diplomacy. Significantly, many members are not enjoying their stay in the BRI. There is the contrary view as well. It says that India’s economic decline occurred even as China’s economically and strategically important BRI went on to cover two-thirds of the world’s population.
Beijing dominates the psyche of policymakers. India is highly dependent on China for imports of lithium ion batteries, antibiotics, personal computers, colour TVs, solar cells, toys and so on. Despite the recent initiatives by the Centre to improve domestic production in many of these goods, concerns remain. What China has done is to consolidate its economy since 1979. Thus, production cost is minimum and it has a pricing mechanism that happens to be the lowest in any country in the local currency.
India has to learn the technique of creating a vibrant domestic system with a market across the world. Chinese merchandise today decides international prices. While India successfully blocked imports of idols of Ganesh, Lakshmi and other deities, it could not succeed in lowering the prices of “Made in India” products. This cannot be considered good economy. Possibly for this reason, China looms large in reports submitted by eight Groups of Ministers (GoMs) formed during the ongoing pandemic. These GoMs have called for a balance between supporting economic performance and geopolitics and most have focussed on ways to counter China. They call for contextualising issues like Chinese aggression on communication tools, need for specialised spokespersons on issues like China and the environment and many other dependencies on Beijing.
The obsession with China is too apparent. Of late, despite all efforts, New Delhi’s policy approaches are China-centric. India may have to revive the planning process it gave up in 2014 as the NITI Aayog has not been a proper replacement. The country needs to evolve a long-term policy prescription. India has to consider moving out of the growth-centric approach and replace it with progress. So RCEP or not, India has to have a holistic approach towards the economy. It needs a wider vision and approach for progress and has to imbibe policies that could give it an edge. India needs to reorient policies for a long-term approach without ignoring short-term needs.
(The writer is a senior journalist)
Left unchecked, drug-resistant bacteria due to antibiotic pollution have the potential to unleash a much larger and deadlier pandemic
There was a time when antibiotic resistance in human beings and animal pathogens was not common. But today, multi-drug resistant bacteria have become fairly commonplace, posing a major challenge to our healthcare providers and increasing human fatality rates. Scientific evidence is suggestive of the fact that antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotics in the environment are playing a major role in perpetuating a new health crisis. Some of the major sources are waste from large-scale animal farms, waste water from antibiotic manufacturing firms and refuse from hospitals. Manure, or compost especially, is a worrying source of this antibiotic contamination. With no standardisation or mandatory testing of the end product, the largely locally-produced manure and compost products that are used on a large-scale are replete with antibiotic residues and resistant bacteria.
As COVID-19 rages on, the probability of large-scale drug resistant infections suddenly seems very possible. According to the publication, Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, 7,00,000 people die each year globally due to resistant infections and this figure is only set to grow in the coming days. It further estimates that by 2050, a whopping 10 million lives would be at risk globally due to resistant strains of infections that would progressively weaken the immune system to such a level that the human body would find it difficult to defend itself against even small diseases such as urinary tract infections. This is because human bodies will become colonised by these harmful bacteria. Antibiotics also provide a selection pressure for environmental bacteria to maintain antibiotic resistance mechanisms.
Thankfully, there is an increasing awareness the world over concerning the spike in the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In the US, urban river bodies and river bed sediments in cities like Baltimore are already showing heightened levels of antibiotics. Following this, the city municipal councils, in association with the environment authorities in the US, are taking extraordinary measures to contain the pollution in local water bodies. India must look at the global developments and immediately undertake initiatives to understand the depth of antibiotic pollution in its own environment. This is critical because antibiotic pollution-triggered superbug infections are already wrecking havoc, with nearly 60,000 newborns dying each year in the country due to them.
To stem the proliferation of antibiotic pollution, India will need to list all the potential contamination and breeding hotspots. According to studies, antibiotic pollution is the highest in wastewater treatment plants, as this is the place where bacteria from the environment meets with human pathogenic ones, leading to the genesis of new and virulent strains. Apart from this, India, apart from China, happens to be the world’s largest manufacturer of antibiotics and is known to discharge high levels of these waste effluents into the air and the water. This contamination has been happening for decades in the country and is understood to be the epicentre of the birth of superbug infections that are resistant to all known medication.
Albeit a little too late, the authorities in the country have woken up to the threat posed by this, especially through river bodies. A draft Bill issued in January seeks to limit the concentration levels of antibiotic waste released by manufacturing units into the environment in order to ensure that the risk to human health is minimised. Though it is late in coming, this development has immediately caught the attention of the international research community specialising in antibiotic pollution of the environment. The Department of Antibiotic Resistance Research at the Gothenburg University called the Indian Government’s draft Bill a “great leap forward” to contain the problem.
Though a welcome step in the right direction, the draft Bill still has a long way to go. The Government must initiate stringent crackdown on pharma units engaged in manufacturing antibiotics to regularly reveal the scale, quality and limit of their effluent discharge into the surrounding environment such as water bodies. Additionally, the information must also reflect on the official web portals of the said companies so that international and national clients are aware of the environmental accountability of the firm and transparency of data. Measures such as these will coerce these companies into following environmental and human health norms or be labelled as polluters and pay heavy fines.
Left unchecked, drug-resistant bacteria due to antibiotic pollution have the potential to unleash a much larger and deadlier pandemic. The consequences need to be understood and counter measures taken rapidly to avoid this eventuality.
(The writer is an environmental journalist)
As religiously-motivated attacks increase globally, the concept that one man’s terrorist can be another man’s freedom fighter must be done away with
The multiple gun attacks in Vienna are the nefarious outcome of a deliberate misinterpretation of religious identity. This kind of narrative has led to the beheading of a history teacher in France and stabbing of three innocents in Nice and so on. All these incidents are clear indicators that post-modern terrorism is likely to haunt the world in general and Europe in particular. These attacks are also a reminder of an array of socio-political and global issues which Europe has to come to terms with. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has already hinted towards Huntington’s Clashes of Civilisations theory coming true. He called the recent gun attack by an Islamist terrorist “an attack of terror driven by hatred of our way of life, our democracy.” This upsurge in religiously-motivated hitback attacks has marked the beginning of the pernicious era of terrorism. The rising tide of immigration and human smuggling across the borders in Europe has posed serious logistical and security challenges to France, Germany and Britain. Undoubtedly these are defining moments for the leaders of Europe. It is high time countries developed sophisticated mechanisms to handle the problem head on as it has already caused severe tension between various nations and compounded the problem of human trafficking and refugees across the globe. In certain pockets, the problems of migration and refugees have resulted in a quagmire. The influx of refugees, who have fled due to disturbances in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, has added a new dimension to the existing problem of violence and crime in Central Asian Republics. In an era of globalisation, the world is becoming small and integrated but due to its inner paradoxes, it is getting fragmented and turning out to be a highly sectarian place.
The recent incidents cannot be viewed in isolation. History bears testimony to various such tragic events. A few years ago, the bombing of civilians in Oklahoma City (which left more than 200 people dead) sent shockwaves around the world. A mysterious gas attack at the main train station in a Tokyo subway, that killed 12 people and left nearly 5,000 hospitalised, also sent dangerous signals. All such acts were a violent culmination of plans that were carefully executed by terrorists. Similarly, most countries of the world, including India, Russia , Spain, the UK, US, Italy, Israel, and China, are suffering due to terrorist activities in one way or another. Although violence in itself is condemnable, very rarely is a terrorist attack a nihilistic act bereft of any deeper undercurrents. And the structure of violence is more often than not located in society and social conditions, which not only create them but also nourish and reinforce them. Recurrence of violence is symptomatic of a society’s body politic, torn asunder by varied threats and tensions.
Very often, the social conditions that generate conflict and violence have external coordinates. To many experts dealing with the terror driven by religiously-motivated thinking, it is on account of new challenges the post-modern world is experiencing because of the past mistakes of not calling a spade a spade till the spectre started creating havoc in their own backyard. To many social scientists dealing with terrorism in a globalised world, the matrix of power rests on the highly-visible, unequal structure of the international economy. Such inter-relations between socio-economic conditions in different parts of the world are becoming more and more obvious daily. At another level, the post-Cold War international political-economic order is still a victim of the power game that was thrust on the world by the then “Big Powers.” The power network woven by the US and its allies in the entire West Asian region has provoked the ire of the opposition forces in almost every State where the US has had an interest-based relationship. Thus, as societies globalise and the curtains of opacity are raised through increased inter-societal interaction at the international level, people in the underdeveloped countries are holding the “Big Powers” responsible for their inferior socio-economic positions. There has always been a smooth international network of collaboration among the various terrorist groups supported by a few countries throughout the world. For example, take Pakistan’s involvement in orchestrating terrorism in Kashmir and the Japanese Red Army’s collaboration with Italy’s Red Brigade. It is sometimes the wide coverage by the media which provides the rationale for terrorism and increases the problem by stimulating it. This is a classic example of how astute media management can reduce the level of moral opposition to counter-terrorism. The latest has been the obnoxious nexus between the Al Qaeda, the ISIS and LeT. Their deadly combination has laid siege to peace and security.
European nations alone have witnessed more than 8,500 terrorist incidents since 1990, representing about 29 per cent of the total global incidents. The situation has become vulnerable since 2016 and with the increasing rise in the cases of illegal migration across the European countries. The rise of modern terrorism with frightening ramifications has resulted in a demand for strengthening the national law and order machinery. Of late, the pressure on the police and security agencies has been mounting. But the existing laws still pose many problems. The use of police and paramilitary forces for combating terrorism has created an apprehension that it might lead to the oppression of the general populace. Surprisingly, a proper legal definition of terrorism is yet to be found. The widening gap between the various governments regarding evolving a common strategy for suppression of terrorism needs to be viewed in the context of the potential for threat that it holds. Even the European convention on suppression of terrorism is restricted by Article 5 and Article 13, which refuse the extradition of a terrorist on many grounds. In an environment where terrorist violence is endemic and the world stands hopelessly divided on various laws, all countries should shun their national prerogatives for dealing with terrorism.
Many efforts have been made by a number of nations to control State-sponsored terrorism, such as through economic sanctions, but so far they have not reached a consensus either at the national or global level. During the last two decades, increasing drug smuggling and the unholy nexus between drug smugglers and terrorists have posed a serious problem to the internal State-security networks and compelled various nations to organise themselves and wage a relentless war against such a nexus. But mere implementation of vigorous drug laws cannot become effective unless the judicial procedure is modified for ensuring speedy trials. The continuing uncertainties with regard to terrorism have encouraged various countries to launch psychological warfare against terrorism.
The London Economic Summit Conference, organised by NATO States and Japan a few years ago, proved to be another landmark for the eradication of terrorism, which decided that unless we attack the roots of terrorism, only superficial relief could be seen but violence would increase in the total quantum of its impact. Creation of general awareness and organisation of public support against terrorist acts could be of immense use.
While it is desirable to allow police and the armed forces to employ better informed judgment about local problems, there is, of course, a danger that this attempt of the Government could dilute the benefits to those deemed deserving and, thus, any possibility of peace and negotiation. Rapid international transportation and use of sophisticated weapons have helped the expansion of terrorist networks globally. Besides, the new suicide squads have left the entire security apparatus shocked.
As religiously-motivated attacks increase globally, the concept that one man’s terrorist can be another man’s freedom fighter must be done away with. The local populace should cooperate with the law enforcement machinery even at the cost of personal misery while prompt and strict decisions should be undertaken by various nations for controlling terrorists psychologically. In a changing environment, the security apparatus and police need to diversify activities by bringing together technical and professional expertise based on many decades of experience in maintaining internal security. In this regard, the most crucial aspect is to develop the capability to anticipate security needs.
This is possible by conducting specialised courses for monitoring security situations.Unless we attack the roots of terrorism, we would have only superficial relief and terrorism would magnify in the total quantum of its impact. The need of the hour is international cooperation to tackle the menace and forming an integrated team after minutely comprehending the inner dynamics of the problem.
(The writer is a professor of political science, Visiting Professor, University of Leuven, Belgium)
FREE Download
OPINION EXPRESS MAGAZINE
Offer of the Month