परिवर्त्तन

Politics of Corruption

2011-04-13T08:03:00.002+05:30

Starting with the Struggle for India's Independence (upto 1947) which was led by Mahatma Gandhi and before the recent rise of Anna Hazare India had 4 major mass movements -

Þ Naxal upsurge in 1967

Þ Change in State (mostly Congress) Governments in 1966-67,

Þ Bihar Students Movement in 1974, taken over 20 days later by JP, to take an all India character in 1975-77 and

Þ Bofors scandal in 1988-89 led by VP Singh

Except the Naxals rise in 1967 every other movement was meant to cause cosmetic changes in the superstructure. They were all expected to fulfil the requirement of replacing the steward (satta me parivarttan)- no matter whether the alternative new incumbent was better or worse. The non-Naxal movements were not designed with an eye to change the System (Vyawastha me parivarttan). So the end result in all the four starting from Gandhi's was same- the movements diffused in a few months, increase in Corruption, Inefficiency, damage to Democratic processes and values, nepotism, favoritism and separation of the population in two parallel strips ruling elites and ruled commoner without an overlapping interface.

Such changes with so much fanfare in the name of victory for democracy were very much short lived. Remember how within 2-3 years Congress Party came back to power in all the States and the Union after each one of the above 3 movements. It does not need a detailed study by an expert to know who were born out of those mass movements and what became of them and how they served this country. No vow at the feet of Gandhi at Rajghat and elsewhere could change any of them. They remained shamelessly on the same track of corruption, money making and nepotism. Agree or not, Naxals/ Maoists alone steadily continued all along with a single long term objective of changes in the ‘Base’ for changing the System.

A very interesting coincidence that the Lokpal Bill was first introduced in 1968 immediately after the movements in 1966-67. But it could not be passed in successive Parliaments in last 43 years. So much for the well intentioned ruling elites. This long period saw every political party and group seating on the treasury benches in Parliament. It becomes clear that all the Parliamentary parties lacked interest in a clean governance. Not much can be expected from such political outfits who could not think of eradicating corruption in over 40 years.

One does not have to go too far to predict the end result and timing of the end of this phenomenon. Just look at the composition of people supporting Anna Hazare, on the TV screens and seating with him in Jantar Mantar and operating from both inside, in behind the scene parleys, and outside. It was interesting to see how the fountain heads of corruption were supporting Anna and making themselves visible on the TV screens. Even Yedurappa of Karnataka Corruption fame openly supported Anna's 'Against Corruption' movement.

Even though many naïve and gullible took part in the streets of different towns and cities in support of Anna at the end of it all it remains an exercise within the 5% of the top bracketed population known as ruling elites. It is not for the masses. Why the same people and the same Media has not stood up for Irom Sharmila who is on Fast for over 10 years now. It is also significant to note that the days of extra constitutional authority overpowering the constitutional authorities are in. The Mother –son duo, Sonia – Rahul on the one side and Anna’s five on the other. Incidently, finally it is an all men affair and no representative of dalit or downtrodden in the drafting committee.

In conclusion , therefore, only a people's movement involving the masses can bring the cure to the ills of this country. Nothing less.

‘India Against Corruption’ for Common Man

2011-04-13T07:59:00.001+05:30

Anna Hazare euphoria against corruption requires attention as to what this phenomena meant to Aam Aadmi of this country and what is the role of the corrupt so called Civil Society and externally funded NGOs and their corrupt representatives who were surrounding Anna and who represented the people of India in negotiations with corrupt ministers. Do we have to be careful?

This should be widely debated amongst the positive thinkers and Social Activists and necessary conclusion drawn as to how effective this movement against corruption will be. Does the positioning of a Jan Lokpal ensure warding off corruption from Head of the Govt. down to the local Sarkari Babu level? The present arrangement seems to go up one more level from CBI to CVC and now Jan Lokpal. Whosoever appointed a CVC recently (removed by an SC Order) remains empowered to appoint a Jan Lokpal too. The PM knows nothing on any matter from price rise to price control to corruption by his party men, ministers and members of Parliament.

Holding a well funded election for individual candidate at a given frequency indicates existence of Democracy- in Prajatantra mode, not in a Jantantra mode. What do the people expect from such TV and SMS publicised elections. Is it that no social or political scientist or a politician sees this as a -ve change. For Parliamentarians and Legislatures it provides a good opportunity to remain aloof from the voters and make money through underhand deals as much as they can.

Support ‘India Against Corruption’

2011-04-13T07:52:00.002+05:30

सरकार का इकबाल तो लगभग समाप्त हो गया. जो बचा है वह भ्रष्टाचार, इनकी खूंखार सुरक्षा पुलिस या फौज के जवान और अंधी कानून का जन विरोधी सेक्शन है जिसमे आम जन को प्रताड़ित करने की धमकी होती है. अब समय आ गया है जब आश्वाशनो और संदेशो से काम नहीं चलने वाला. सरकार के भरोसे तो कुछ उम्मीद दिख नहीं रही. अतः हम श्री अन्ना हजारे द्वारा भ्रष्टाचार के विरूद्ध चलाये जा रहे इस मुहीम का समर्थन करते है. और आप सबसे निवेदन भी की इसका समर्थन करे ताकि इस भारत महान और इसकी जनता को बचाया जा सके.

वी एन शर्मा

A Discussion Paper for Building a Movement for Right To Education

2010-07-31T20:39:00.012+05:30

The Full discussion Paper is available in the link

http://tinyurl.com/35ns87x

It was discussed and approved by the National Executive of the All India Forum for Right To Education (AIF-RTE) in a meeting on July 24-25 2010 in Delhi. Comments, observations and suggestions are invited.
Please click on the link

http://tinyurl.com/35ns87x

and read the Paper. In case it does not work please copy the URL and paste the same.

Memorandum against Foreign University Bill

2010-07-29T08:01:00.008+05:30

ALL INDIA FORUM FOR RIGHT TO EDUCATION

¼अखिल भारतीय शिक्षा अधिकार मंच ½

26th July 2010

To,

The Prime Minister,

Government of India

New Delhi

Sub.: Policies of privatization and commercialization of Higher (including

Professional) Education and the related Bills in the Parliament.

Sir,

We the teachers’ and students’ organizations, grassroots groups, academics and social activists from 16 different states representing the ALL INDIA FORUM FOR RIGHT TO EDUCATION (AIF-RTE) are deeply distressed at the policies of systemic withdrawal of the State from Higher (including Professional) Education being pursued ruthlessly by the Central Government. These policies are clearly designed to increase the pace of privatization and commercialization of Higher Education, resulting in rapid increase in the cost along with fall in the quality of education. At the root of such policies is the alarming decision of the government to make education at all levels, including school education, a tradable commodity and, therefore, a source of profit. At least in the case of Higher Education, these policy measures seem to be a consequence of the “offer” made by the government to GATS to bring Higher Education under the WTO regime as a tradable service.

We note that the post-independence policies and the education system had already strayed significantly from the vision evolved during the freedom struggle. In Higher Education, this resulted in restricting access (now touching hardly 12% of the relevant age group), inequality of opportunity, generally sub-standard institutions (except, of course, a handful of high quality institutions in various disciplines) and, more importantly, in uncoupling education from the needs of India’s economy, challenged by impoverishment, disparities and questionable direction of development. Yet, the policies focused on developing an independent, critical system of Higher Education in the social sciences and humanities and promoting self-reliance in the areas of science and technology. The State has now apparently decided not to pursue this unfinished task of fulfilling the aspirations of the people through a primarily State-funded but democratic and decentralized system aimed at equitable social development. Instead, the neo-liberal shift is embedded in a market-oriented, instrumentalist approach to knowledge designed at producing a cheap skilled but slavish workforce to serve the corporate-controlled global economic agenda of appropriation of people’s natural resources, habitats and livelihoods for profit, subjugation and hegemony.

Beginning with the Ambani-Birla Report (2000) during the NDA rule, Sam Pitroda’s Knowledge Commission Report and Yashpal Committee Report on ‘Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education’ submitted during the UPA-I and UPA-II governments respectively essentially upheld and extended the neo-liberal agenda in education. With a view to legitimize and intensify its neo-liberal assault, the UPA government has now introduced in the Parliament the following four Bills:

i. The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010.

ii. The Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010.

iii. The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational

Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010.

iv. The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010.

At least two more Bills in the same vein, including one on establishing the much-hyped National

Commission for Higher Education and Research for facilitating single-window clearance for

private/foreign universities , are reportedly in the offing.

The government has now instituted the policy of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in all sectors of education – a policy designed to shift public resources to the corporate (including foreign) capital and, at the same time, allowing unregulated profiteering by hiking up fees. This neo-liberal measure is also evident in the farcical Right to Education Act, 2009. We further recognize that the hidden agenda of providing low interest loans to the students is again to facilitate the growth of expensive private/foreign educational institutions, rather than to help the students. Recently, the decision to establish Education Finance Corporation of India Ltd. has also been made with a view to provide low-interest loans not just to the students but also to corporate capital and NGOs (including religious bodies) for setting up profit-making educational institutions. Along with this, a policy for promoting unregulated FDI in Higher Education is going to be legitimized through the new laws to be enacted in the Parliament.

The above policies unabashedly violate the Constitutional imperatives of equitable development,social justice and national sovereignty. We reiterate that the knowledge agenda inherent in the neoliberal policy shift promotes pro-market and pro-corporate development to the detriment of the masses and their natural resources like land, forest and water. If these policies are pursued further, the government would be responsible for increasing social tensions and widening socio-economic gaps. What India needs at this juncture instead is a plan to improve the quality of 500 plus universities and 22,000 colleges along with several-fold increase in public funding and the number of educational institutions in all disciplines, including professional areas. No country in the world has ever achieved this objective by injecting a handful of foreign or the so-called ‘innovative’ universities.

We are further shocked that none of the above policy shifts, made in rapid succession during the recent years, have been preceded by public debates and wider consultation with academia which is at the core of Indian democracy. The same holds true for the aforementioned four Bills in the Parliament. The only consultations that the government has apparently relied upon are those it preferred to hold with India Inc. in general and the various chambers of commerce and industry in particular. We condemn this undemocratic practice and kowtowing to the vested interests of corporate capital.

While OUTRIGHT REJECTING THE NEO-LIBERAL POLICY CHANGES being introduced through the various Bills in the Parliament, we urge upon you to ensure that,

1) given the fact that the government is moving away from the spirit and the vision of our

Constitution as well as the existing policy framework, transparent public debates and

consultations are organized up to the district level before any legislative shifts are made (as

was recently attempted in the case of Bt Brinjal, for instance);

2) the pro-market and pro-corporate capital knowledge agenda as well as the nature of development emerging therefrom, inherent in the above Bills, is revealed and scrutinized in the light of Constitution’s vision of moving towards a democratic, socialist, secular, egalitarian, just and enlightened society and its commitment to equality, social justice, elimination of all sources of discrimination and a life with dignity as evident, for instance, in Articles 14, 15(1), 16, 19 and 21 of Part III (Fundamental Rights), Articles 39, 41, 43, 45 and 46 of Part IV (Directive 3 Principles), Article 51A (Fundamental Duties) and other imperatives e.g. Article 350A (rights of the linguistic minorities);

3) all provisions facilitating and legitimizing profiteering from education, repatriable or not, are identified and eliminated;

4) the policy of promoting FDI and PPP in education is reversed and replaced by adequate and appropriate public funding of education at all levels from pre-primary to higher education; &

5) the Higher Education policy is reconstructed in order to rejuvenate and reorient the existing system so that it provides entirely free and quality education with equal opportunity for all sections of society and, at the same time, is aimed at equitable and just social development in a democratic, decentralized and participative mode through District-based Universities committed to regional development with a global outlook.

Finally, the neo-liberal Right to Education Act, 2009 compels us to state the obvious. A multi-layered school system with sub-standard schools for the vast majority of nation’s children, as legitimized by the above-named Act, is no prescription for creating a vibrant Higher Education sector with equal opportunity for all. The increasing replacement of the State’s Constitutional obligation to guarantee adequate funding for school education from pre-primary to Class XII by PPP leading to shifting of funds to the corporate capital and the NGO sector is alarming. The refusal by the government to restore the policy commitment to build a fully State-funded Common School System based on Neighbourhood Schools, managed through democratic, decentralized and participative mode and designed to ensure entirely free education of equitable quality with diversity, is detriment to the development of Higher Education as well.

Unless the government begins to envisage the education policy holistically in light of the Constitution, we would continue to play a subservient role for the benefit of the neo-liberal economic order, rather than promote social development. We appeal to you to undertake a comprehensive public review of the policy shifts in the entire education policy in general and Higher Education in particular, before taking any further legislative action.

Yours sincerely,

Members of the Presidium

Sd./-

Dr. Meher Engineer

Former Director, Bose Institute, Kolkata;

Dr. Madhu Prasad, Centre for Human Rights Zakir Husain College, University of Delhi;

Prof. G. Haragopal, University of Hyderabad;

Sh. Sunil, Samajwadi Jan Parishad, Distt. Hoshangabad, M.P.;

Sh. Kedar Nath Pandey, General Secretary Bihar Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh;

Sh. Prabhakar Arade, All India Federation of Elementary Teachers’ Organizations; Kolhapur, Maharashtra

Dr. Anil Sadgopal, Former Dean, Faculty of Education, Delhi University

Bhopal, M.P.

ON BEHALF OF THE ALL INDIA FORUM FOR RIGHT TO EDUCATION (AIF-RTE)

Copy to: Sh. Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India, New Delhi.

__________________________________________________________________________________

306, Pleasant Apartments, Bazarghat, Hyderabad 500 004; Tel.: (040) 2330-5266

M: 09440980396 (Sh. Ramesh Patnaik)/ 09431102680 (Dr. V.N. Sharma); Email: aifrte.secretariat@gmail.com

शिक्षा नहीं कोई कारोबार, यह है जनता का अधिकार ● सबको शिक्षा एक सामान, मांग रहा है हिंदुस्तान

P.S.: After about 2 and 1/2 hours of Dharna (sit-in) programme in front of Shastri bhawan, New Delhi a copy of the Memorandum was handed over by a delegation of the AIF-RTE to the Offices of the Prime Minister and Human Resource Development Minister. An identical copy of the Memorandum addressed to the Chairman, Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development was also submitted to his office alongwith a request to invite us for a hearing before the Committee.

Photographs of the Dharna on 26th July can be seen in the link http://tinyurl.com/3xbma5v

vinod raina ko uttar (27 August 2009)

2009-11-18T07:27:00.000+05:30

प्रिये विनोद रैना जी,

आप के इस लेख से इतना तो स्पष्ट होता है की शासक वर्ग के इस फार्मूला के आप समर्थक है की ९० % लोगो को अपढ़ और अज्ञानी ही रखा जाना चाहिए. किसी भी तरह से उन्हें शिक्षा से दूर रखा जाये जो १९०५ में दरभंगा महाराज के नेतृत्व में इस देश के ६०० राजा, महाराजा और जमींदारो ने किया था. उन्होंने अंग्रेजो के द्वारा लाया शिक्षा अधिकार बिल को वापस करा दिया. जिस तरह यह बिल राज्य सभा में ५४ और लोक सभा में ११३ सदस्यों की उपस्थिति में पास हुआ जो सिर्फ कोरम भर है वह इस बिल के सभी पहलुओं को नंगा कर देता है. न तो इस पर जन सुनवाई की व्यवस्था की गयी नहीं ५०% से अधिक समर्थन जुटाने की. स्पष्ट है की सुप्रीम कोर्ट द्वारा दी गयी १९९३ की व्यवस्था को वापस करने की जल्दबाजी थी. लोकतंत्र और लोकतान्त्रिक पद्धति का सबसे गन्दा मजाक है यह. गाँधी जी ने कहा था की अगर काम करने का तौर तरीका गलत है तो उसका परिणाम तो गलत ही होगा. अगर आप लोकतान्त्रिक विचारधारा में विश्वास रखते है तो आप को यह प्रश्न पहले उठाना चाहिए था की क्या यह बिल पास हो गया. आप की नजरो में अगर उत्तर हाँ है तो फिर इन फालतू के लेखो से लोगो को दुविधा में डालने की कोशिश न करते तो अच्छा होता.

vns

Free Market and Right to Education cannot go together

2009-07-09T06:32:00.000+05:30

An Appeal, A Call for Action
Free Market and Right to Education cannot go together
Come forward to struggle for Free, Equitable Quality Education to All Children of India
Sunil
India has got a new enthusiastic Human Resource Development minister, full of new ideas। In his enthusiasm, he did not care even to consult the states, although education is still a subject in the concurrent list of our constitution. His program for 100 days includes several steps: Getting through the pending Right to Education Bill, to promote Public-Private Partnership in education, to permit foreign educational institutions, to make 10th board examination optional, to replace examination marks with grades, to conduct an all India examination for entry into the colleges, to provide an interest subsidy in bank loans for professional courses for weaker sections, etc. The government may also accept the main recommendation of the Yashpal committee on higher education, that is, to replace, UGC, AITEC, MCI etc. with a single, independent ‘National Commission for Higher Education & Research’ on the pattern of Election Commission of India.

Some of these steps may be good and well-intentioned. But others are dangerous and need a debate at national level. Mr. Kapil Sibal gives the impression the education system and thus further take away the nation from the long cherished goal of ‘education for all’. He wants to accelerate the ongoing process of government’s withdrawal from the responsibility of providing education, health, drinking water, etc. to all citizens of India.
Farce of Right to Education
‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill’ is pending in the parliament for a long time. But in its present form, it takes away the right to education, rather than guaranteeing it. The Bill has no provision for ban on growing privatization and commercialization of education. The education market in India is growing day-by-day. Educational institutions have turned into shops of various brands, standards, and categories. One can find a school according to one’s economic status. In this process the government schools have been so neglected, deliberately deprived and allowed to deteriorate that now only the poorest parents send their children to them. That has further increased their isolation and marginalization. No one in the power hierarchy has any stakes in their upkeep and proper management. This is a vicious circle and the present Bill strengthens it, rather than breaking it.
Under the guidance of the World Bank and along with its funded projects such as DPEP and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the central and state governments have diluted the norms and deprived the government schools of even minimum requirements. First of all, they started literacy mission, non-formal education and education guarantee schools. It was a clever way of abdicating from their constitutional responsibility of providing school education to all children of the country. Then, they stopped appointment of proper, permanent and trained teachers and started replacing them with para-teachers who are temporary, untrained, under-qualified and underpaid. At the same time, multi-grade teaching was introduced as a concept. It meant that there will be schools with only two or three teachers where one teacher will teach two, three, four or five classes at one time. Ordinary poor children were thought not to deserve even one properly trained teacher for one class. The Bill also does not ban the practice of deploying govt. teachers for non-teaching duties, which meant even higher absence and lack of teachers in government schools. Since private teachers are not deployed for such duties, it meant further discrimination against poor children, which are supposed to compete with affluent private school children.
Many of us, including those sitting in the government, have assumed that the government school system cannot be reformed and rejuvenated. But, if the goal is ‘education for all’, it can never be achieved through private schools because of the simple fact that a huge part of our population cannot afford to pay their fees. Privatisation of education will only widen the gap between haves and have-nots and will deprive crores of children of proper quality education. There is no other way than the central and state governments to come forward and take up the responsibility. But, rather than taking up this challenge and improving and strengthening government education system, they have done the opposite. Of course, the number of schools has gone up and the gross enrolment is also claimed to have reached in the range of 90 to 95 per cent. But, because of this mismanagement, deprivation, low quality-improper-boring education, maltreatment and poverty, there is a high drop-out rate. Hardly half of the children are able to reach 8th class. Therefore, any talk of right to education must be accompanied by sincere attempts to make the government education system meaningful, complete with all facilities, well funded and properly managed. If a government is doing just the opposite and then talks about right to education, it is nothing but a farce.
Common School System is the Only Option:
For providing education to all, it is necessary that a common school system based on neighborhood schooling must be adopted by enacting a law. It means that all children belonging to a neighborhood (a village or an urban neighborhood) will compulsorily study in one single school only. No fees will be charged and all necessary facilities will be provided. This will be the responsibility of the government and all expenditures will be borne by it. Generally these schools will be run by the government, but a few private schools run for charitable purposes (and not profiteering) may be a part of it. When all children of a locality, irrespective of class, caste, religion or gender, will study in a common school, they will be the center of attention. Those in power cannot afford to neglect them and their management and quality will automatically improve. There is no other way of educating all the children of India. Developed rich countries of the world have more or less adopted some kind of common school system, and only through this, they could educate their population. A Right to Education Bill without a provision of common school system has no meaning.
There are other serious lapses in the Bill. It provides for education to children of age 6 to 14 (class 1 to 8) only. That means that the majority of children will have no right to education beyond class 8. Pre-primary education is also important. The Bill presumes that only rich privileged ones have the right of going to KG 1, KG2, etc. The Bill in fact legitimizes the discrimination among the children from the very beginning.
The Bill provides for 25% seats to be reserved in private schools for poor children. Their tuition fees will be paid by the government. But in private schools, there are many other charges and expenditures (books, uniforms etc.) Will the poor families be able to afford them? And will this solve the problem of education of poor children? At present there are around 19 crore children of school-going age in the country. Around 4 crores are studying in private schools. Even if it is assumed that they admit an additional 1 crore children from poor families, what will happen to the remaining 14 crore children? They will be further neglected and deprived. Similarly, when the government opens Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, Kasturba Vidayalayas for Girls, Schools of Excellence or it now intends to start Model schools for poor meritorious students, the rest of the poor children in large numbers get further neglected. In such a situation, it becomes hypocrisy to talk of right to education for every child of the country.
Free Trade of Education
Actually, the government of India seems to be committed to free trade in education and marching ahead in that direction. Public-private partnership (PPP) in education will mean in practice that the precious prime land of old government educational institutions in towns and metropolitan cities will be grabbed by
private parties for their own benefit. Or, under the new Model School scheme, the private firms will profit with the help of public money. There has been a flood of bogus, unrecognized and substandard private schools, colleges and universities in the last few years, which have deceived and looted ordinary people. Some of the private universities were opened in two-three rooms. Many institutions have been given the status of deemed university. A huge market for coaching and tuition classes has developed. Some of the coaching institutes are earning crores. They give full-page advertisements in national dailies, which otherwise only automobile and mobile phone MNCs can afford. Day by day, education is becoming expensive. It has become very difficult for ordinary parents to educate their children and prepare them for competition. Doors are shut for poor children.
The solution offered for this problem is education loans from banks for higher studies. Mr. Sibal has in fact announced that the government will provide interest subsidy for poor students. But banks do not provide loans for coaching and school education. It is also not easy for ordinary and poor students to get these loans. A few years ago, the case of a Dalit girl Rajani in Kerala was in the news. She got a seat in an engineering college, but could not get a bank loan and finally she committed suicide. In fact, frustration and suicides of youth will increase with the growth of market of education. Market entertains only those who have money and favors those who have more money. Poor and penniless have no place in the market. Therefore, right to education for every child and promotion of market of education are contradictory to each other. Both cannot go together.
But, blinded by the neo /liberal ideology, the government of India refuses to see this contradiction. Mr Kapil Sibal is concerned at the growing tension of examinations in the children. But at the same time, he has proposed an all India entrance examination of admission into colleges, which will work as a barrier for ordinary students. It will also further fuel the growth of coaching industry and increase the competition, fear, tension and frustration among the youth.
MNCs in Education:
Opening the doors for foreign universities and educational institutions is also a part of the neo /liberal agenda of free trade and government’s over enthusiasm to carry forward GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) of WTO. It is wrong to expect that good and prestigious universities of the world are ready to enter India. In practice, low standard, profit-oriented and many fly-by-night universities and institutions will come and add to the loot and exploitation of Indian youth. It will not be only an economic drain. Entry of foreign companies in Indian education will also adversely affect the academic discourse, research, values, thinking and our culture. It will add to the already existing unhealthy foreign dominance and bias in the Indian mind which is a colonial heritage. Therefore, such moves should be resisted with full strength, by all of us.
Independent Commission and Privatisation:
Full report of the Yashpal Committee is yet to be made public. Its concern at the widespread rot in higher education in India is justified. Its criticism of the flood of deemed universities is also correct. But its suggestion of replacing UGC, AICTE, NCTE etc. by an all-encompassing, autonomous and independent ‘Commission for Higher Education & Research’ should be considered with caution. One, it is not clear in what way the new commission will be better than the existing ones and why can’t the existing UGC and other councils be reformed and renovated. Two, many such ‘autonomous’ and independent commissions have come up in the last two decades in the sectors of power, water, insurance, telecommunication etc. They have come along with the moves of privatization, mostly at the suggestion of the World Bank. They are supposed to be free of political influence, so that they remain aloof from people’s dissatisfaction and pressure. But they promote very much the agenda of the World Bank, MNCs and corporate world. They are actually a means to bypass Indian democratic processes. Whether the Yashpal committee means it or not, such commissions in education may be used to promote and legitimize the growing privatization of school and higher education in India. It is also unfortunate that Yashpal committee has not opposed in candid terms the growing privatization of higher education and entry of foreign institutions.
Come Forward to Start a Nationwide Campaign
Making education a market commodity is not acceptable. To discriminate among children in education, health, nutrition etc. is an uncivilized act. The Indian constitution had directed the state to provide education to all children within 10 years. (see directive principles). But six decades have passed and the goal is still far away. This is an unpardonable crime that the governments of independent India have committed against the Indian people, the nation and the constitution. The new measures will further take us away from this goal. It is high time that an all-India campaign be launched to pressurise Government of India on the following points:-
Commercialisation and privatization of education and profiteering from education should be stopped forthwith and all steps in this direction be withdrawn.
Ban on the entry of foreign educational institutions.
All kinds of discrimination and disparity in education should be abolished. Free, compulsory and equitable education for all children based on common school system should be immediately adopted.
Proper, permanent and trained teachers should be appointed in adequate numbers in government schools and given respectable salary. There should be adequate provision of building, playground, text books, kits, sports, laboratories, workshops, hostels, scholarships etc. in the schools. Each and every school should be brought to the level of Kendriya Vidyalaya or Navodaya Vidyalaya.
Present Right to Education Bill should be withdrawn and replaced by another Bill which fulfils the above conditions. There should be nationwide debate, discussion and public hearings on the draft of the Bill.
Government should make available all necessary resources for education. As per the recommendation of the Kothari Commission and Tapas Majumdar committee, at least 6% of the GDP should be spent by the government on education.
The medium of instruction should be the mother tongue. Continuing dominance of English in education, administration and public life is a colonial heritage. It should be done away forthwith.
Present methods of instruction, teaching and evaluation of the curriculum, continuing since the days of Macaulay should be radically altered. It is based on bookish knowledge, mugging, disrespect for physical labour and skill, cut off from real life and foreign influence. It should be remoulded according to the needs of common men and the goal of creating a socialist, democratic and secular India as enshrined in our constitution. Education should be able to develop the talents and capabilities hidden in each and every child.
An ‘All India Right to Education Forum’ has been formed in a national seminar on June 21-22 at Hyderabad around similar demands and issues. All India Samajwadi Adhyapak Sabha (Socialist Teachers Organisation) is also campaigning on the same issues and plans to conclude its campaign at Rajghat, New Delhi on October 25, 2009 with a huge gathering.
Please take up programs on these issues and demands in your units and locality. You can organize seminars, meetings, picketing, demonstrations, poster exhibitions. You can distribute pamphlets. You can also form ‘Right to Education Forum’ at local level by involving teachers, parents, students, citizens and people’s organizations.
Please notice that this is the centenary year of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, the great socialist leader who raised his voice for free and equitable education almost 50 years ago. The best tribute to him is to raise this voice again with our full might.
The Great Ideas of Kapil Sibal
“What Dr. Manmohan Singh did to the economy in 1991, I must do to the education system.”
“Time is running out. We cannot afford to set up committees and wait for their reports.”
“I don’t think the government can take care of the entire schooling at the primary and secondary levels because we cannot set up all the schools we want to… There is room for active private-public partnership.”
“If somebody wants to earn profit and wants to invest in another educational institute, what is the harm?” ( commenting on the Supreme Court’s order asking private educational institutions to invest back in the same institution.)
“Don’t create hurdles for entrepreneurs to enter the system to impart quality education. Don’t be dogmatic in the field of education.”
“Foreign universities will meet the ends of expansion and quality. And where necessary, it also must be inclusive.”
-From Sibal’s interview published in The Sunday Indian, 6-12 July 2009
Sunil
National President
Samajwadi Jan Parishad
At/Post Kesla, Via Itarsi
Dist. Hoshangabad(M.P) 461111
Phone: 09425040452
Email: sjpsunil@gmail.com

Common School System and Constitutional Frame work

2009-07-08T13:17:00.000+05:30

National Seminar On The Common School System
Organized by NUEPA
At Indian Islamic centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi
On 24th and 25th March 2009

Common School System and Constitutional Frame work
Ramesh Patnaik
Hyderabad
drameshp@yahoo.com

At the out set, it may be stated that this paper do not discuss about content of education, teaching and examination methods, medium of instruction and teaching of languages and other issues related with school education. This paper confines its discussion only to the question of access to quality education to every child through common school system of public education based on neighborhood school.

Though Common School System was proposed long back by Kothari Commission, it was not implemented for the last four decades and so. The only reason that can be cited to this non-implementation of this proposal of the commission is the lack of political will on the part of the successive governments. With the Supreme Court raising the status of the right of the child education to a fundamental right, in 1993 in its judgement on Unnikrishnan case, there developed a momentum in different democratic circles in favor of the long cherished dream, the Common School System. Even after such an epoch making judgement of the Apex court, successive governments at the centre could drag on the issue and could complete their tenures without bringing legislation to ensure right to education. Those very parties, which led the union governments in the last fifteen years, are contesting in the ensuing general elections for Loksabha to come to power again. Certainly it is the right time for institutions, intellectuals and activists to raise the question of CSS for a wider debate.

The state, after British rule, that came into existence in India, represented vested interests of certain privileged classes through out. Naturally, such a state would like an education system aimed at social reproduction for maintaining class relations and the prevailing economic order instead of one which can help the transformation of the society. The political parties which all wielded power either at centre or at provincial level did only run the system in the best interests of those very classes. The successive governments did not use the relative freedom within the system to achieve the democratic goals set in the constitution. However, people of this country still hope to achieve the long cherished goal of right to education through Common School System. So the debate and activism are alive. Supreme Court Judgement, certainly, continue to give strength to the debate and activism in favor of child’s right to education and related issue of common school system.

The hope of the people for common School system is not completely baseless. The egalitarian preamble of the constitution gives them the hope. So also, people of this country achieved many demands by waging heroic battles against different governments in the post independence period. People of this country, workers, peasants, women, dalits, tribal, teachers and students all fought against the successive governments for protection of their rights against ongoing corporate globalization. They were successful, of course, partially. So, the pioneers of the movement for common school system can keep all the confidence in the people of this country to achieve the goal. One can be certain that the peoples’ movement can achieve necessary amendments for the constitution within the scope of it’s’ preamble and can also restrain the on going corporate globalization to realize the dream of Common School System. Of course, one has to think where to start and how to proceed in building such a historic nation wide movement. Let us take certain important questions related with constitution in formulation and implementation of the policy of common school system through neighborhood school.

The constitution of India gives the religious and linguistic minorities the right to establish and run educational institutions of their choice (Art 30) and further it confers right to profession and occupation to all citizens (Art 19). These fundamental rights are extensively misused to commercialize education sector by vested interests. One can not oppose these rights conferred on minorities and all citizens, but one shall have to find ways and means to restrict the misuse of these rights. Kothari Commission also raised this very issue and concluded that private schools which do not seek aid could not be brought under common school system and the commission there by expressed its inability to curb commercialization of education. The commission proposed that by strengthening government schools and aided schools which come in the ambit of common school system and by providing quality education there, the children can be attracted to common school system of public education and there by unaided and fee collecting private schools could be rendered irrelevant gradually. After the four decades of Kothari commission report, today, the situation is still worse. While quality of education in government schools further deteriorated, the number of private schools increased multifold. If we take Andhra Pradesh for example, one out of three school students are in unaided private schools (47 out of 135 lakhs of students in 2007-08 academic years). The menace of unaided private schools was not nipped in the bud and now it has gained monstrous proportions. Vested interests are inter-woven with this sector of unaided private schools. It is late, but, may not be too late for establishing a common school system across the country. The misuse of the referred fundamental rights provided in Art 19 and 30 require being immediately checked for the purpose.

The Minorities’ right: Protection of minorities is the first duty of any civilized nation. The constitutional protections to that affect are to be guarded with all care. However, at the same time, one has to see that the same provisions are not misused by vested interests. Some states, say Andhra Pradesh, earlier tried to restrict the misuse of this provision is the point here. The government of Andhra Pradesh, under public pressure, made it a condition for recognition of minority institutions established under Article 30, that they should enroll minimum 85% of the students from the same minority community. This condition delivered good results for some time. Private operators could not open as many educational institutions as they wanted to make big profits by enrolling students from majority community due to this condition. However this condition was liquidated later in favor of educational tycoons. The point here is that there can be some legislation at all India level, on the above lines, to see that the article 30 is not misused. One may even suggest a suitable amendment to Art.30 of the constitution for the purpose.

The Right to Profession and article 19: The text of article 19 of the constitution of India reads as follows. “19. (1) All citizens shall have the right—(g) to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.” Let us see how Supreme Court interprets the art 19 of the constitution of India in its Unnikrishnan vs Government of Andhra Pradesh case (1992).

Para-64: While we do not wish to express any opinion on the question whether the right to establish an educational institution can be said to be carrying on any "occupation' within the meaning of Article 19(1)(g), perhaps, it is we are certainly of the opinion that such activity can neither be a trade or business nor can it be a profession within the meaning of Article 19(1)(g). Trade or business normally connotes an activity carried on with a profit motive.

Para-67: Teaching may be a profession but establishing an institution employing teaching and non-teaching staff, procuring the necessary infrastructure for running a school or college is not 'practising profession'. It may be anything but not practising a profession.

From the above paragraphs 64 and 65 of the judgment, we understand the right to trade or business provided in article 19 is not applicable to education. So also, we understand that no citizen do have fundamental right to establish an educational institution employing teaching and non-teaching staff and run it under his ‘right to profession’. However, Supreme Court was not ready to give a precise meaning of the phrase ‘carrying on an occupation’ with reference to the said article. At the end, while vehemently opposing trade and business in the field of education, the SC allowed individuals and associations to establish educational institutions and to run them and even to collect fee from the students. The court was of the opinion that recognizing and affiliating public authorities have a right and duty to see that the admissions of students are in conformity with right to equality and other provisions of the constitution and do have the right and duty to regulate fee structure and quality of institution in an appropriate manner. This judgment was weak because it allowed individuals and associations to establish educational institutions on non charitable basis even. Such an allowance, though not allowed as fundamental right as the petitioners appealed, ultimately leads to the commercialization of education. That is what all happened.

Coming again to the question of ‘right to profession’, as explained by ‘Unnikrishnan’, it do not give a fundamental right to citizens to establish an educational institution and employ teaching and non-teaching staff and earn money or otherwise. Yes, article 19 does not give a fundamental right to citizens to establish an educational institution, but every citizen does have a fundamental right to practice a profession of his choice. And, also it is to be noted that the right to practice a profession invariably includes earning a livelihood out of that. If a qualified person practice teaching profession and charges from the beneficiaries some fee against his service, he can not be penalized for that. So, in conjunction, it can be said that a citizen has a fundamental right to practice teaching profession which may include collecting fee from his students but do not have fundamental right to establish and run an educational institution by procuring infrastructure and by employing others. It means self employment in a profession including teaching profession is a fundamental right. Further, if few qualified teachers form into an association, run a school, teach lessons there to the students and collect fee from them, how can they even be penalized? They can invoke right to profession and right to association, both provided in article 19, in their favor. From the above discussion it is understandable that, there is no way but to allow so formed cooperative bodies to establish and run educational institutions. ‘Unnikrishnan’ did not explain the above part because it allowed individuals and associations to establish educational institutions even on a wider basis. Allowing individuals and associations to establish educational institutions even outside right to profession, as the judgment did, lead to the wide spread commercialization of education. The fifteen years’ experience after the judgment necessitates a fresh look at the issue. Now, it may be required to restrict the scope of allowance to individuals and associations to establish educational institutions only under the right to profession in conjunction with the right to association. In other words, to see that education service is not converted into trade, there shall be an amendment to the constitution effecting that no individual or association is allowed to establish educational institutions on any basis other than charity basis. There can be only two exemptions to that namely; article 30 and right to profession in conjuncture with right to association as elaborated above.

Cooperative associations of professionals: There can be a legislation to restrict the misuse of the provision of right to profession and right to association in the context of establishment and administering of educational institutions. Such legislation, however, shall make provision for the professional associations formed out of teachers, karmacharies, and other personnel required to run an educational institution to establish and administer an educational institution and collect fee from the students. It means, only those who would work in the educational institution form an association and the association establishes and administers the institution on its own and collect fee from the students both against the fixed and reoccurring expenditure of the school including their salaries. The membership of the association shall be restricted to only to those who practice one or other profession in the educational institution and also no person working in the educational institution shall be denied of the membership. Such legislation, while safeguarding the right to profession and right to association even in this context, at the same time restricts practice of trade in education. Such educational institutions established and administered by professional associations may be called as cooperative educational institutions and in the case of a school, it can be called a cooperative school.

The clause 6 of article 19: Before we close our discussion on article 19, we may be required to see the implications of clause 6 of Art 19.

“(6) Nothing in sub-clause (g) of the said clause (19) shall affect the operation of any existing law in so far as it imposes, or prevent the State from making any law imposing, in the interests of the general public, reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub-clause, and, in particular, 2[nothing in the said sub-clause shall affect the operation of any existing law in so far as it relates to, or prevent the State from making any law relating to,—

(i) the professional or technical qualifications necessary for practicing any profession or carrying on any occupation, trade or business, or

(ii) the carrying on by the State, or by a corporation owned or controlled by the State, of any trade, business, industry or service, whether to the exclusion, complete or partial, of citizens or otherwise]”.

So, the sub clause 6 is clear and, it allows the state directly or through a corporation owned by it to carry on any trade, business, industry, or service, whether to exclusion, complete or partial, of citizens or otherwise. Many advocates of common school system invoke this clause for their purpose. This clause was very much there when Kothari commission gave its report. But ‘Kothari’ found it difficult to invoke this clause to bring the un-aided public schools in to the ambit of common school system in the then obtaining understanding of the constitution. However, this clause was interpreted by Supreme Court, later, in many a case in favor of public interest. Former chief justice, Chandra Chud was quoted in Unnikrishnan vs. govt. of AP for his out standing understanding of the essence of the constitution.
"Those rights (Fundamental Rights) are not an end in themselves but are the means to an end. The end is specified in Part IV.”

We can safely conclude here that the state has all the authority to nationalize all the educational institutions in the wider public interest on the basis of the provisions of the constitution. If banks can be nationalized, why not education?

But the mute question is that shall the democratic sections of the society allow the state to monopolize education process. Will it not pave path for fascisation of education and culture by the state. Shall our opposition to commercialization of education and multi tier system of educational institutions lead us to accept absolute state control on education? Can we accept state control as synonymous to public interest in a country with all possible forms of inequality and with the track record of the state in its pro hegemony conduct? The people who believe in transformation of the present system based on inequalities may require establishing and running alternative educational institutions. So also, is it not the responsibility of the democratic sections of the society to demand a suitable amendment to the constitution to state clearly that education neither be a trade or business nor it can be a occupation? Further, is it not required of us to demand again to clearly state in the constitution with suitable amendment that right to profession with respect to teaching and medicine is more sacrosanct? Shall not we plead for right to profession and right to association and for the use of both of the rights in conjunction to establish and run educational institutions as elaborated earlier? While concluding the discussion on article 19 it can be stated that, as it is given now, the article 19 allowed SC to interpret it in favor of self financed colleges with ‘reasonable’ margin of profits. This article 19, as it is given now, can also allow the state to exercise complete control over education process If it is so needed to restrict and regiment education as the German Nazis did. The article 19 is required to be suitably amended to protect the right to teaching profession and also to plug the holes of commercialization in the name of right to occupation. In a word, with respect to education, while right to profession is to be fully fortified, the right to occupation along with right to trade and business are to be completely liquidated.

Common School System: if there is an effective ban on commercialization of education by suitable amendments to the article 19 of the constitution, we will have schools of only three categories as far as ownership is concerned. 1) Schools run by central provincial and local governments, 2) schools run by charitable trusts and 3) Co-operative and self financing schools run by associations of teachers and karmacharies. These schools can co-exist in the same neighborhood. Here we can introduce the neighborhood concept. Legislation that is to be made for neighborhood school may provide that the parent/guardian can enroll their child/ward in any of the schools available in the delimited neighborhood only. While the first and second category schools would not collect any fees from the students, the third category schools which are essentially self financing schools collect fee from the students as the appropriate authority may fix time to time. However, all schools, irrespective of the category to whichever they belong, shall follow the same syllabus, same teaching and examination methods, same service conditions for the teachers etc.

Right to Choice of School: The question under consideration is the parents right to enroll their child in a school of their choice. Actually this is an unfound right. Votaries of private schools on commercial lines are bringing this question to the fore. Kothari commission did not raise this question at all. The recent Bihar commission on common school system denied existence of such right either in Indian constitution or in the constitution of any other democratic country. The very concept of compulsory elementary education is based on the right of the society in bringing up the child over the right of the parent. While parents give the child a physical entity, the society gives her the socio-cultural and intellectual entity and hence the right of the society in upbringing the child overrides the right of the parent or guardian as far as schooling is concerned. On the other hand, the right of the child to grow as a harmonious social being requires her to join a neighborhood school. So, from any angularity, the so called right of the parent need not be considered in formulating the common school system.

However, in the above scheme of things, a relative choice is offered to the parents. They can enroll their children in any of the schools in the delimited neighborhood. One restriction imposed in the above scheme of things is that a parent /guardian can not send her child/ward outside the delimited neighborhood. He has to choose only one of the available schools in the neighborhood if there are more than one school in a given neighborhood.

Universal and Compulsory Stages: The age group of child is now defined to be 0 to 18 years all over the world. India is a signatory to the Jomtin declaration of UNESCO which reiterates the same. So, the universal right to education should be extended up to age 18 years of the child. Bihar commission on common school system recommended the same. A child can complete two years Pre School, five years primary school, five years of lower secondary school and two years senior secondary school courses before she completes age 18. While it shall be compulsory on the part of the state to provide all the said four stages of education to all children, as far as child and parent are concerned, the pre-school education and senior school education (+2 levels) shall be made voluntary. The logic behind the proposal is that the state can not impose compulsory education on young child of below 6 years age and so also, formal structure of education can not be made compulsory to the children of adolescent age, say 16 to 18 years where the young child develops her own personality on her own imagination. However, the responsibility of the state to provide education to all children 4-18 age group remains all the same.

4 - 5 years-- Universal pre primary education
(Child care and education centers
attached to primary school)
6 - 15 years-- Compulsory and Universal 10 years of middle school education (5 years Primary and 5 years Lower Secondary)
16 -18 years-- Universal Senior School Education
(Pre University or Job enabling education)

In this scheme, a child, as he or she completes age 18, either become eligible to pursue higher education by completing pre-university course or become eligible to take up some vocation by completing some technical, industrial or skill oriented course. If the right of education ends at the age fourteen as the 86th amendment Act provides, the child will be neither eligible for higher education nor for skill oriented Job. It will be very dangerous to leave the child without direction at the age 14. So, any policy on school education shall provide for free and universal education up to age 18. The above proposed scheme, if implemented, will be in conformity with 10+2 system in vogue for many decades through out the country. This scheme facilitates 10 years common core curriculum in a given state and also provides for two years diversified courses to suit the conditions and interests of different individual children. At +2 level, some students who want to pursue higher education would like to join pre-university courses while others would like to take job enabling courses like polytechnic, industrial training and vocational courses.

Union list vs. State list: The subject, education was originally in state list and has been shifted to concurrent list in the period of emergency by 42nd amendment Act to the constitution. We know that states in India are linguistic and cultural entities and so they require formulating their educational policies at school level to pursue their linguistic and cultural identity needs. After twelve years of school education, as elaborated above, some students will pursue higher education to attend the professional and intellectual needs of the nation as a whole. So, it may be suggested that while school education will be in the state list, the higher education will be in concurrent list. If such a redistribution of powers is effected, different states can formulate their own common school systems in the given constitutional frame work. The shifting of school education subject to state list shall not come in the way of financial and academic support from the centre. Of course, the states will have to advance the ethos propounded in the constitution through their school system and will have to implement basic tenets of common school system of public education formulated at all India level and provide free education to all children up to age 18 for achieving the national goal of building democratic, secular and informed society.

Shifting of the subject of school education to state list facilitates the states to protect the cultural rights of the people of different regions and also to address the questions of inequalities between different social-sections. More important point may be that the people of different states can influence their own state governments to implement pro-people policies than they can influence the union government. So also, we know that more concentration of powers in the centre means faster growth of corporate globalization and enhanced danger of mono-culturist attacks. The point here is that while there shall be a broader framework of common school system of public education on the basis of neighborhood school concept at all India level, the states shall have more freedom to formulate their own policies to protect their own cultural identities on one hand and to achieve national goals on the other.

Equitable Quality: Earlier we have seen that, under the proposed regime, there can be only three categories of schools, at the most, in a given habitation. The numbers of schools which run on charity lines are falling very fast and for all practical purposes, we will find only two categories of schools namely, 1) Government run schools and 2) Self financing cooperative Schools run by professional associations of teachers and karmacharies on their own. If government schools are established in sufficient numbers and are facilitated to deliver quality education, 80% of the parents would only enroll their children in government schools. Only the families of top economic group, say about 20% may prefer to enroll their children to private schools. If government schools are provided with sufficient qualified teachers and necessary infrastructure, they can certainly deliver quality education. At such a stage, private schools can not excel government schools even they spend more money because education suits as a public service better than as private service. In a word, provision of needful conditions in government schools to deliver quality education leads to comparable standards across all managements in course of time. There are many examples, in Andhra Pradesh state, where government schools excel private schools in every aspect. The point here is that the government schools can be strengthened to provide quality education comparable to best private schools. Even after such a stage of development, private schools may remain in existence as status symbols and luxurious centers of richer sections of the society until radical transformation of the society.

Public-Private Participation: Bihar commission on Common School System proposed that the government should extend aid to all recognized private schools and bring them under common school system of public education based on neighborhood school practice and where those schools will have to stop collecting fee from the students up to class VIII. The report suggested that the schools which collect fee from the students be derecognized. I do not know whether such a suggestion can be implemented within the scope of our constitution as it stands now and whether can we make necessary amendments to the constitution, given its’ general frame work, to bring a suitable legislation to implement the suggestion of the commission. On the other hand there is every possibility that the private managements collect both the aid from government and fees from the majority students. This proposed aid to private schools may become a scheme of 100% reimbursement against the 30% reimbursement proposed by RTE-2009 bill recently introduced in the Rajya Sabha. Everybody knows that the World Bank formulated the Policies of Public Private Participation and is promoting in different countries with an aim of siphoning of public funds to private operators. At this stage, every person who are on the side of the people require to be careful against the designs of different governments trying to push PPP schemes in different forms. I propose that this seminar should suggest in clear terms that public funds are to be spent entirely in public institutions only and private institutions can not be supported by public funds. In the present situation of corporate globalization guided by World Bank and where state overtly is supporting forces of market, there is every danger that the public funds are siphoned to private agencies in one or other form if not taken care of.

Understanding of Common School System: From the above discussion, we understand the limitations of the constitution of India, even after possible amendments within its frame work, in evolving a common school system. We may be able to take the following measures within the broad framework of the constitution.

1) There shall be an amendment to the constitution effecting that no individual or association is allowed to establish educational institutions on any basis other than charity basis. There can be only two exemptions that are provided by article 30 and right to profession in conjuncture with right to association as elaborated above.

2) There shall be an all India legislation allowing professional associations to establish schools and administer them on the basis of self financing. They can collect fees from the students for running the school including fixed costs. The membership of the professional association shall be restricted to only those who work in the school and none of those who work in the school shall be denied membership in the association.

3) School education shall be in the state list and union government shall render financial and academic support to the states to achieve the national goal of universal child education up to age 18.

4) And all state governments/UTs are required to establish sufficient number of schools, provide qualified teachers and necessary infrastructure and enable the staff there to provide quality education to the students in government schools.

5) The government shall universally provide to all children i) 2 years pre-primary education, ii) 10 years middle school education, iii) 2 years senior school education free of cost

6) Parents/guardians are required to enroll their children/wards in one of the available schools (government, charitable and self financed) in their neighborhood. They shall not be allowed to send their wards outside their neighborhood as delimited by appropriate authority.

ENABLING THE CHILD TO EXERCISE ITS RIGHT TO EDUCATION:

Of course, the provision of quality government school in the vicinity of every habitation is very important, no less important is the provision of necessary conditions for the child to participate in school education on regular basis. Many children are not able to go to school, even education is provided free of cost, due to their family conditions. In Andhra Pradesh alone 20 lakh children of age group 6-15 are out side school. They are expected to be in the middle school. They make more than 13% of the relevant age group. In Andhra Pradesh 27% children drop out before they complete class V, 43% of children drop out of school before they complete Class VII and only 25 out of 100 who enroll in class one graduate middle school that is class X. There are different reasons for this drop out of children from schools. But, all reasons are emanating from poverty of the family. This paper is not intended to elaborate on the question. What is attempted here is to suggest some measures to enable the child to exercise her right to participate in school education.

Bihar Commission on CSS took a historical stand when it suggested that no child shall be an orphan in our country. It suggested that if the child does not have her own guardians, state itself should become the guardian of her. It should also be understood that the responsibility of the state extends to the children who have guardians but whose guardians are poor and not able to give her nutritious food, decent cloths and who are not able to meet non-fee educational expenditure. The state shall provide every child what ever it requires to continue its education. Some children may require food, shelter, clothing education material and health services, they shall be provided all their needs. It means they require government residential schools. Majority children do not require residence, they can well stay with the parents, but, they require other things including nutritious food for three times a day. They shall be provided those needs through school. That is the only way to arrest drop out and achieve high rate retention of the children in schools. Mid day meal programme in Andhra Pradesh helped an increase in retention of children in schools. This shows very clearly how such support programmes can increase retention. Bihar commission on CSS recommended certain measures in support of the children from poor families. What this paper proposes is that the state shall support every child according to its needs to enable it to continue its education. This paper further proposes that the state support to child to continue her education shall be guaranteed by constitution with suitable amendment to article 21A.

Conclusion: Ban on trade in education, ban on different forms of Public Private Participation, ban on establishment of private schools on non-charitable basis only with exemption of article 30 and right to profession as elaborate earlier, extension of universal education up to age 18, strengthening of government schools and taking measures to enable every child to continue her education on regular basis seems to be the issues of paramount importance to achieve the goal of universalization of child education and for establishment of common school system of public education on the basis of neighborhood concept. The seminar may also find time to discuss issue of shifting of school education subject to state list.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Biofuels or Food?: Can Crops Feed Our Cars--And the Hungry?

2008-10-24T11:45:00.000+05:30

To improve policies on crop use, invest in better science

Humanity has enjoyed an unusual streak of food surplus since the green revolution began in the mid-1960s. These trends sustained economic development and a significant reduction in global hunger and poverty. A sharp reversal is now possible, however, given strong economic growth in the world’s most populous countries and loss of suitable cropland.

People with rising incomes consume more meat and livestock products, which in turn requires more grain per unit of food produced. The rapid expansion of biofuel production only complicates the competition between food and fuel.

Moreover, yields of rice and wheat are running up against the genetic ceiling allowed by current varieties, and rates of yield increase are not sufficient to meet the demand for livestock feed, food and biofuels for the world’s 6.5 billion people. Without significant improvements, massive deforestation and environmental degradation will be inevitable in trying to feed the nine billion individuals who will be alive in 2050.

Debate is now raging over whether climate change will further reduce the world’s ability to feed itself. Estimating the long-term effects is critical to setting effective policies that ensure food security. Unfortunately, the answers differ. Much of this inconsistency arises because yield research conducted in greenhouses and on small plots, the current experimental methods, does not predict performance on commercial-scale fields; the conditions are just not comparable to production-scale farming. Without direct measurements under realistic growth conditions, we must resort to computer models or evaluations of historical data—and they show disparate results, too.

There is an urgent need to better quantify the impact of projected climate change on major crop yields. Funding for real-world experiments has been crashing, however. And linkages between models for climate change and crop production are relatively crude.
Policymakers depend on that work, but the models are only as good as the science behind them. The models’ predictions must be validated with real-world measures of how climate affects crops grown in actual agricultural ecosystems, over time and across regions. Without rigorous validation, models can mislead, as small errors expand into large ones.

Carbon sequestration in soil is a case in point. Models predict that soils will hold on to more carbon under so-called no-till farming practices, in which plant stalks and roots remaining after harvest are left to decompose. Yet recent studies based on direct measurement of soil have not confirmed any net improvement.

We cannot wait for perfect simulations; policy decisions must be made with imperfect knowledge. The danger, of course, is that poor policies built on erroneous models can waste billions of dollars. We must spend more on real-world research to improve the models so we can predict the impact of climate change. Only then can we decide whether the world can tolerate more crops for biofuels.

Note: This article was originally printed with the title, "Biofuels or Food?"

OR Read in the link
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=biofuels-or-food&sc=DD_20081023

Moving the Earth: a planetary survival guide

2008-10-21T22:24:00.000+05:30

22:10 20 October 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Jeff Hecht

For related Pictures please copy and paste the following URL
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn14984

Read the Article below

The clock is ticking inexorably toward doomsday even if we don't kill ourselves by poisoning the environment oroverheating the planet. You see, there's a little problem with the Sun.

The Sun is slowly getting warmer as it burns the hydrogen in its core. In about 5 billion years, the Sun will begin evolving into a bloated red giant. Its outer gas shell will swell up,engulfing the Earth by the time it reaches its peak size and brightness 7 billion years from now.

But long before that, in 1.1 billion years, the Sun will grow 11% brighter, raising average terrestrial temperatures to around 50 °C (120 °F). That will warm the oceans so much that they evaporate without boiling, like a pan of water left on a sunny kitchen counter.

Plants and animals will have a very tough time adapting to that hothouse, although some single-celled organisms called Archaea might survive. But only for a while. Once the water vapour is in the atmosphere, ultraviolet light from the Sun will split the water molecules, and the hydrogen needed to build living cells will slowly leak into space. If our descendants – or other intelligent life-forms that follow us – want to survive, they'll have to migrate elsewhere. But where and how?

One approach would be to fire up rockets and move to another planet. Back in 1930, British science-fiction author Olaf Stapledon wrote about a future where our descendants fled toVenus, and later Neptune, when the Earth became uninhabitable. Eminent scientists such as Stephen Hawking have endorsed the idea of establishing colonies on the Moon or other planets so humanity would survive any disaster that wiped out life on Earth.

Yet evacuating all 6.7 billion Earthlings would take the equivalent of a billion space shuttle launches. Even if we could launch 1000 shuttles a day, it would still take 2700 years to move the whole planet's population.

Then there's the matter of taking care of people once they reached their new home. Moving to any other planet would require "terraforming" it to provide food, water and oxygen to support colonists. Why not bring our own planet along with the resources we would need?

Tiny change

Elementary physics tells us that we actually can move the planets. Launching a rocket into space pushes the Earth a bit in the opposite direction, like the recoil from a gun.

Science-fiction author and trained physicist Stanley Schmidtexploited this fact in his novel The Sins of the Fathers, in which aliens built giant rocket engines at the South Pole to move the Earth. (Read about other sci-fi novels and films that have tackled the problem of moving worlds.)

In real life, however, the Earth is so massive that a rocket would have little effect on its motion. Launching a billion 10-tonne rockets in exactly the same direction would change the Earth's velocity by just 20 nanometres per second – peanuts compared to the planet's current speed of 30 kilometres per second.

A few astronomers have tackled the problem of moving planets, but not for dealing with emergencies on human time scales. They're actually devising thought experiments to understand the dynamics of planetary systems, says Greg Laughlin of the University of California, Santa Cruz. So processes that occur on geologic time scales work perfectly well.

Moving out

Planetary dynamics seemed simple and orderly when we knew only our own solar system, but that changed with thediscovery of "hot Jupiters" on tight orbits around other stars. The planets couldn't have formed in the scorching regions where they orbit – there was not enough gas and dust there to amass such giant worlds. Instead, they must have migrated there from more distant birthplaces.

To understand how planetary systems might rearrange themselves, Laughlin, his Santa Cruz colleague Don Korycansky, and University of Michigan astronomer Fred Adams posed themselves the problem of how to move the Earth so the warming Sun didn't cook the planet.

For the purposes of their calculation, the three chose the Earth's final destination as an orbit 1.5 times its present distance from the Sun, at what is now the orbit of Mars. In 6.3 billion years, when the Sun is in its red-giant stage and is 2.2 times brighter than today, a planet at that distance will receive about as much sunlight as the Earth receives today.

Moving the Earth to a circular orbit at that distance requires increasing its orbital energy by about 30%. That would be possible, they say, by changing the orbits of icy bodies in the distant solar system so they would pass close to the Earth, transferring some of their orbital energy to the planet.

Once an object was nudged out of the Kuiper belt, its orbit could be fine-tuned in the inner solar system using jets of ice vaporised from its surface (Illustration: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Enlarge image
The impact of a space rock more than 100 km across would kill most – if not all – life on Earth (Illustration: Don Davis/NASA)

A solar sail about 19 times as wide as the Earth would be needed to move the planet out of harm's way when the Sun becomes a red giant (Illustration: NASA/MSFC)

A 20-metre solar sail system is fully deployed during testing at a NASA centre (Image: NASA)

The objects lie in a ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune called the Kuiper belt and in an even more distant shell of comets called the Oort cloud. Because they are far from the Sun, the objects have relatively low orbital energy, so they could be nudged using methods being developed to deflect asteroids away from the Earth.

These range from the gentle pull of gravity tugs – spacecraft that fly near the object and gravitationally pull them off course – to the stronger push of mass drivers, which dig into and spew out pieces of the icy body, pushing it in the opposite direction.

Their orbits could then be fine-tuned in the inner solar system using jets of ices vaporised from their surfaces by equipment sent there. Nobody's thinking about deploying a future Bruce Willis with a rocket-load of nukes to do the job. "You need very fine-grained control, which a nuclear weapon certainly would not produce!" says Laughlin.

Sterilised biosphere

About a million such close passes would do the trick. If we spaced them evenly, that would mean about one close pass every 1000 to 6000 years, depending on whether we wanted to reach the orbit of Mars by the time the Sun started to vaporise the ocean, or when it hit its red-giant phase. Luckily, the objects could be re-used if they looped around both Jupiter and the Earth, taking energy from the giant planet and transferring it to Earth.

It would be a big job, and would take plenty of patience to move the Earth consistently outwards as the Sun grew warmer. It also carries a significant risk because the objects would have to pass just 10,000 kilometres above the Earth's surface.

The objects would be much more massive than the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, so one little "oops" could be devastating. Laughlin and colleagues take that very seriously, concluding their paper with the warning: "The collision of a 100-km diameter object with the Earth at cosmic velocity would sterilise the biosphere most effectively, at least to the level of bacteria. This danger cannot be overemphasised."

Push from the Sun

That danger could be avoided by using a giant solar sail, says Colin McInnes, a mechanical engineer at the University of Strathclyde.

Solar sails are thin, mirror-like films that are propelled by the weak pressure of the sunlight that falls on them. McInnes's idea is to put a free-floating solar sail at a point near the Earth where the pressure of solar radiation essentially balances the Earth's gravitational pull.

His analysis shows that the reflection of sunlight from the sail will pull the Earth outwards along with the sail – in physical terms, increasing the Earth's orbital energy and accelerating the centre of mass of the system outwards, away from the Sun.

McInnes calculates that moving the Earth outwards to keep pace with the Sun's warming would require a disc-shaped sail 19.2 times the Earth's diameter. It would have to be tilted at an angle of 35° to the line towards the Sun, and stationed at about five times the Moon's distance from the Earth.

He envisions building it in space by refining the raw materials in a 9-km-wide metal-rich asteroid. Nickel and iron from the asteroid would be made into an 8-micron-thick film for the sail.

Thrown into chaos

The sail would be complex as well as large; it would need active control to maintain the sail's proper shape, particularly in the face of perturbations by the Moon's gravity. But McInnes says it would require moving 10,000 times less mass than slinging objects from the Kuiper belt past Earth.

Geoffrey Landis, a science fiction author and NASA scientist, says the concept is sound. "It looks like the physics is right, but of course there's no technology in existence or currently proposed to make a solar sail 20 times the diameter of the Earth ¡V at the moment, that's science fiction."

McInnes admits that even he doesn't take the idea too seriously: "It's a Friday afternoon problem."

But despite the practical difficulties of these scenarios, computer simulations by Laughlin also point out a real danger of playing with planetary orbits.

Planetary orbits are shaped by the gravitational pulls of their neighbours, so moving the Earth would change the orbits of the other inner planets in unpredictable and potentially dangerous ways.

If the move destabilised Mercury, the entire inner solar system might be thrown into a chaotic mode "that is vastly harder and possibly impossible to control", Laughlin says. That may be the best argument for leaving the planets alone unless we have no alternatives.

Sacking govt easier than removing judges in India

2008-10-21T19:13:00.000+05:30

The Article contains the truth of the day. Citizens will have to focus on this issue of huge corruption in the Judiciary.

Dr.V.N.Sharma

*Sacking govt easier than removing judges in India*

The letter written by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in initiating impeachment proceedings against a sitting judge of Calcutta High Court, has triggered a debate again regarding corruption in higher judiciary and its impunity.

We have seen removal of governments and Prime Ministers so many times, but removal of High Court and Supreme Court judges has not been so far heard after the Constitution of India came into force in 1950.

Independent India has, however, witnessed one impeachment, when Justice Shiv Prasad Sinha of Allahabad High Court was removed by the then Governor General of India, C Rajagopalachari in 1949 on the recommendation of the Federal Court.

The Chief Justice has given detailed information about Justice Sen's misconduct when he was appointed receiver by Justice AN Roy in Steel Authority of India versus Shipping Corporation of India case in 1993.

The three-Judge panel comprising Madras High Court Chief Justice AP Shah, MP High Court Chief Justice AK Patnaik and Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice RM Lodha inquired into the charges leveled against Justice Sen and found them true.

The panel submitted its report in February, 2008. On March 16, the Collegiums of the apex court comprising of Chief Justice BN Agarwal and Justice Asok Bhan asked Justice Sen either to resign or to opt for voluntary retirement.

However, with Justice Sen deciding not to comply with either of the two options, the Chief Justice was forced to resort to this unprecedented move.

The move is unprecedented, because neither there is any provision in the constitution about such recommendation nor before this, any Chief Justice has taken such 'extreme step'.

In fact Article 124(4) of Indian Constitution provides for removal of High Court and Supreme Court Judges.

The Article says: "A judge of Supreme Court shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total number of membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity."

There is no separate provision for removal of High Court judges and Article 217(1)(b) provides for this and says, "A judge may be removed from his office by the President in the manner provided in clause(4) of Article 124 for the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court."

The processes of removal of High Court and Supreme Court judges are the same. The above Article of the Constitution provides for impeachment,whereas; Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 determines the process of impeachment.

According to this Act, the impeachment of a judge can be done only by Parliament and impeachment can be initiated after a motion addressed to the President of India is signed by at least 100 members of the Lok sabha or 50 members of Rajya Sabha.

Such is the process and such is the impunity. Such Judicial impunity has been conferred on Judiciary for the sake of its independence.

The above provision is similar to the rule prevailing in England, since the Act of Settlement, 1701, to the effect that though judges of the superior courts are appointed by the Crown, they do not hold office during his pleasure, but hold their office on good behaviour and the Crown may remove them based on a joint address from both the Houses of Parliament.

Any way the credit must be given to Chief Justice, who could take such extra-ordinary step, because after all, extra-ordinary situation demands extra-ordinary steps.

But unfortunately, the government was sitting over it as it was written two months ago and could only be known to public through media.

Before any debate on this issue, it should be clearly borne in mind that
above cumbersome procedure of impeachment and other judicial impunities have
been enshrined in the Constitution for making Judiciary independent.

*Independence of Judiciary
*The independence is guaranteed in our Constitution and the concept has been borrowed from the US Constitution. Article III of US Constitution guarantees Independence and Supremacy of Judiciary in the US.

Independence of Judiciary is the tenet of democracy and therefore, even Russian Constitution of 1993 (Chapter-7 Section 120-122) also guarantees independence of Judiciary in the country.

In fact section 124 of the Russian Constitution says, "Judges shall posses immunity and criminal proceedings may not be brought against a Judge except as provided for by federal law."

In India, this independence and limited Judicial Supremacy are enshrined in the Constitution and are expressed in the methods of appointment of judges; the process of impeachment; and the power of judicial review.

Now, if all these provisions of the Constitution are analysed, inference can easily be drawn that the problems lay here themselves and so do solutions.

*The Appointment Rules*
Articles 124 and 217 provide for appointment of Judges of Supreme Court and High Court respectively. They clearly stipulate that the appointments have to be made by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice.

The word 'consultation' has been always a matter of dissent and controversy. In fact, when AN Ray was appointed as Chief Justice after superseding three senior Judges namely Hegde, Grover and Shelat, there was uproar in Judicial community including the Bar council of the apex court.

They argued that judges have been superseded owing to their judgement in Keshavanand case (AIR 1973 Supreme Court) which went against the government.

Gradually the direction of Executive in matters of appointment of judges started diminishing. In 1993, a land mark judgment came from Supreme Court in 'Advocates on record versus Union of India' case.

The apex court ruled that the recommendations for appointment of Judges in High Court and Supreme Court will be made by collegiums of three Judges and shall be in a way binding on the government.

After a 'presidential reference', the number in the collegiums was increased from three to five.

This judgment was a landmark because it took virtually all discretionary powers of the Executive in matters of appointment of judges in higher judiciary. Thus, the word 'consultation' became 'concurrence'.

Some people in legal domain argue that it was a dangerous development and was against the principles of the Constitution itself. How can a person or a group of persons appoint themselves which goes against the ideas enshrined in Article 311?

They opine that there must be a transparent and justifiable procedure for such appointments. There are instances where persons from one family are becoming Judges for two to three generations.

The judicial community of higher Judiciary is becoming an elite club of few
'privileged families'. Candidly, it is not what 'independence' meant for.

*The Impeachment*
The process of impeachment as discussed in the article above, clearly indicates that it is a cumbersome process. No wonder then, not a single judge could be removed in India since 1949.

It may be recalled that in 1991, the impeachment proceedings for removal of Justice V Ramaswami fell flat on its face after members of the Congress party decided to abstain from voting.

The process of impeachment is laid down in Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 which says that even if the motion is accepted, the presiding officer of the House has to constitute a three judge committee to further inquire into the matter.

The process suggests that the motion will be put to voting once again after the submission of the report by the Judges' Committee. However, unlike in the case of a no confidence motion against a government, which requires a simple majority to survive, the impeachment motion against a judge requires a two-third majority.

That is why, it is truly said that it is easier to decide the fate of 100 billion people by way of forming and toppling Governments in India than removing a Judge in the country.

It is also but strange that the country which has seen many a ministers and bureaucrats being convicted on charges of corruption does not have a single incidence of a judge being impeached.

The 'Transparency International' in its report of 2007 has counted judiciary as the third most corrupt institutions in India, an inference totally in contrary to the common perception that instances of corruption in higher judiciary are not unheard of.

The former CJI Y K Sabarwal himself is in the eyes of storm for his judgement pronounced in the 'Delhi Sealing Case', which allegedly benefited his son. When a report in this regard appeared in one Newspaper, a suo motto contempt proceeding was initiated and the concerned reporter was sought to be punished.

The Contempt of Court Act, 1971, which itself is not yet codified, is another tool which sometimes is used to gauge the voice of dissent.

In another infamous case, the vigilance department of UP Police exposed misappropriation of funds worth Rs 23 crore from the GPF account of Class III and IV employees of Ghaziabad Civil Court.

One of the accused arrested in this connection, made startling revelation that he has parted the money both in cash and kind, with one sitting Judge of SC, ten Judges of HC and 23 Judges of lower courts.

The investigation is not proceeding as Police cannot interrogate judges without the consent of SC, though such protections are not given in Judges (Inquiry) Act. The matter is still pending with the apex court and the CJI has to convince the nation, whether there is equality before the law or not.

Not to forget the matter of the two Haryana High Court Judges whose names have figured in a case in which a law officer from Haryana has alleged to have sent Rs 15 lakh to them. The Matter has been referred to CBI by the apex court.

The list is long and result is dismally naught. And while one may agree that it is easy preaching than done, the question being asked by common citizen is that who will judge the judges?

*The Remedies
*. The provisions of RTI should be made applicable to all components of functioning of Judiciary. Accordingly, suitable amendments in RTI Act, 2005 can be made.

. The procedure of selection of Judges should be made more transparent and justifiable. Panel of judges can be made well in advance before recommendation and be known to public by way of websites or media.

. Idea of setting up of a National Judicial Commission can also be made into reality, after all if you are required to go for a test for becoming a clerk, why does selection of judges not require any test. An all India test might also be conducted to select judges of higher judiciary.

. The Government is sitting over the Judges (inquiry) bill, 2006 for more than two years, therefore it should be passed, but before that necessary amendments are required, because the concept of 'brother judges' doing inquiry has proved ineffective if not futile.

. The contempt of Court Act, 1971 should be suitably amended, because healthy criticism of any institution is generally beneficial for the system itself in the long run. The Judiciary should prepare itself for listening to its criticism and bring about change by itself, a change though painful but helpful.

*-The opinion expressed in this article are of the writer and not those of iGovernment*

Click to get the
daily dose of news on good governance at iGovernment.

Subsidies, tax breaks got Tata to Singur

2008-10-21T18:59:00.000+05:30

This is how the Corporate India is grabbing the land and snatching
the livelihood of the poor and downtrodden. The shameless is the role played
by the State Govt. in making underhand deals. The issue is whether the Govt
is authorised to transfer land and property by an underhand deal.
Pl read the following message.

Dr.V.N.Sharma

The Singur controversy is being debated nationally. The agreement of West
Bengal Govt. with Tata has been kept secret all these years. Recently the
RTI commissioner ordered it to be made pubic. Even then the WB Govt. did not
make the entire agreement public. A portion of it is still being kept secret
and the Tatas have gone to the High Court, so that the secret portion is
not published . The deal is very strange and possibly the first of its kind
in independent India. Attached herewith are the salient features of the
deal.

*Barundeb Mukherjee*

*Subsidies, tax breaks got Tata to Singur*
*Bs Reporter / Kolkata **September 09, 2008**, 0:08 IST*

The agreement between Tata Motors and the government of West Bengal to
manufacture the world's cheapest car in the state involved much more than
subsidies on land and interest paid on bank loans.

The government worked out a package â€” which included tax paybacks and
concessional power â€” to match the benefits the plant would have enjoyed in
Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, both designated backward areas that
attracted central tax concessions.

The documents, which the West Bengal government released today, show that
the state government will provide to Tata Motors a loan of Rs 200 crore at 1
per cent interest per year repayable in five equal annual installments
starting from the 21st year of the date of disbursement of loan.

If the state had put the sum in a fixed deposit scheme, its principal would
be worth Rs 3,000 crore in 20 years. This loan was disbursed within 60 days of signing of the agreement in May 2006.

The West Bengal government will also provide electricity for the project at
Rs 3 per KwH, against the going rate of Rs 4.15 per KwH.

In the case of a more than 25 paise per KwH increase in tariff in every
block of five years, the government will provide relief through additional
compensation to neutralise the additional increase.

The state government also promised to revisit the computation of the
comparison of benefits offered by Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

The incentive package in these states comprised excise exemption for 10
years and 100 per cent income tax exemption for the first five years and 30
per cent for the next five years.

The state government also subsidised the cost of land required for the
factory and the interest paid by Tata Motors on loans taken to build the
project.

Thus, the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) is to
provide Industrial Promotion Assistance in the form of a loan to Tata Motors
at 0.1 per cent interest a year for amounts equal to gross VAT and CST
received by the government of West Bengal in each of the previous year ended
March 31 on the sale of each Nano from the date of commencement of sales.

In other words, the state government would repay Tata Motors the VAT and CST
collected on each Nano sale and as a result not earn anything as tax.

This benefit will continue till the balance amount of the benefit offered by
Uttarakhand was reached on a net present value basis, after which it is to
be discontinued. The loan with interest will be repayable in annual
installments starting from the 31st year of sales from the plant.

WBIDC will ensure that the loan under this head is paid within 60 days of
the close of the previous year (March 31), failing which WBIDC will be
liable to compensate Tata Motors for the financial inconvenience at the rate
of 1.5 times the bank rate prevailing at the time on the amount due for the
period of the delay.

The agreement also said Tata Motors and the government of West Bengal will
make joint efforts to maximise sales of the car in West Bengal.

Under the agreement, WBIDC would provides 645.67 acres to Tata Motors Ltd on
a 90-year lease, on an annual lease rental of Rs 1 crore per year for the
first five years with an increase at the rate of 25 per cent after every
five years till 30 years.

The effective lease rental for Tata Motors would be Rs 1291 per acre per
month annually, rising in keeping with an escalation clause.

After 30 years, the lease rental will be fixed at Rs 5 crore per year, with
an increase at the rate of 30 per cent after every 10 years till the 60th
year. After 60 years, the lease rental will be fixed at Rs 20 crore per year
for 645 acres which will be unchanged till the 90th year.

After 90 years the lease terms will be fixed on mutually agreed terms.

The benefit on account of land would be calculated as the total land area
leased out to Tata Motors multiplied by the cost of acquisition less the net
present value (NPV) of rent payable during 60 years.

Over and above all this, the agreement says WBIDC will lease 290 acres to
vendors selected and approved by Tata Motors on payment of a premium equal
to the actual cost of acquisition plus incidentals, to be calculated on the
basis of the total acquisition cost and other incidental expenses expended
by WBIDC or any of its subsidiaries (duly certified by its auditor) averaged
over the total land acquired.

The lease rental payable per year per acre by the vendors will be Rs 8,000
per acre for the first 45 years and Rs 16,000 per acre for the next 45
years.

The going rate for commercial space in the area was around Rs 25,000 per
acre per year for high land, with low-lying or waterlogging-prone areas
fetching Rs 12,500 per month.

The initial lease tenure will be 90 years, after which the lease terms will
be fixed on mutually agreed terms at that point of time.

The agreement says Tata Motors will manufacture 250,000 cars a year on a
two-shift basis which could be expanded to 350,000 on three-shift basis.

In addition, the Singur unit would act as a mother plant for many aggregates
to tune of 500,000 cars.

Tata Motors told the West Bengal government it would be investing over Rs
1500 crore and vendors were likely to make further investment of over Rs 500
crore.

INDIAN CORPORATES

2008-10-21T18:31:00.000+05:30

The Article by Sripad Dharmadhikary in India Together (in the the link and text below) beautifully explains how the Corporate groups are trying to grab everything under the sun with the support of the elites of the society. Deals are now made in Hotels so that the people are prevented from participation. Dam building is becoming very attractive because it makes land grabbing easy and provides opportunity for pocketing public money. Just think of it. If we in India allow to continue with dam building we will only be taking Army and the Police to gun down the land owner population. Therefore, while discussing Kosi or other development/Rehabilitation issues solution must be found "without Dams".

Dr.V.N.Sharma

Read on in the link
http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/sep/env-nepaldam.htm

Dam forays in other countries
As Indian companies look to resources in other countries, some of the issues that have become familiar at home are surfacing elsewhere too. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports.
Indian Corporates
07 September 2008 - Stories of Indian corporate acquisitions and investments abroad become one more indicator of a globally emerging power. Dams and hydropower are now being added to the list of sectors like auto, telcom and steel in which Indian companies are venturing abroad.

The Indian government and some of the public sector companies have been involved for many years in surveying, investigating, designing and building dams in other countries. But this activity has mostly been in the nature of bilateral assistance to neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bhutan, rather than aggressive corporate expansion. This is changing now. Indian companies, both public and private, are foraying into dam and hydropower in other countries, not just as equipment suppliers or construction contractors, but project developers and owners.

The Tata Group has entered into a 50-50 joint venture between Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation and Tata Africa Holdings Ltd for developing a 120 MW hydro project at Itezhi-Tezhi. Closer home, Tata Power took a 26 per cent shareholding in the 114 MW Dagachu power project in Bhutan in January 2008. The GMR group has signed an MoU to build the 300 MW Upper Karnali hydropower project in Nepal. Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) is an equity partner in the 750 MW West Seti project in Nepal, while the state owned Sutluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) has been awarded the right to develop the Arun III project in Nepal on a BOOT basis. (The company Builds, Owns, Operates the project for certain years and Transfers it back to the Government after that).

This could just be the beginning, as both Nepal and Bhutan are planning to build a large number of hydropower projects running into many thousands of megawatts and are seeking private finances to develop these projects.

New lands, old questions

As Indian companies export know-how and finance to these countries to build hydropower projects, the important question is whether they will they also export the same attitude and approach towards the social, environmental and other impacts of these projects. People in Nepal are already questioning the record of Indian companies coming in to build these projects. SJVNL, in its earlier avatar as the Nathpa Jhakri Hydropower Corporation, built one of the messiest hydro projects in the country with faulty design and planning, huge time and cost overruns, displacement without resettlement and gross violations of environmental laws.

There are other questions raised by the locals as well - whether the resources of their country should be allowed to be used for the profits of a foreign company. These concerns raise serious doubts about how this expansion of corporate India into dam building in other countries will roll out.

Additionally, there are serious issues about the ethics and responsibilities of these companies. Consider the Upper Karnali project in the Mid-Western area of Nepal. The Karnali river, known as the Ghaghra in India rises in the Himalayas near Tibet and drains an area of about 43,000 sq km before it enters India. In its upper reaches the Karnali flows through a beautiful and deep gorge. In an amazing wonder of nature, the Karnali river makes a sharp hairpin bend and loops back in a path about 60 kms long. This brings the channel within 2 kms of its upstream. At this location, the upstream and downstream parts of the river are separated by a mountain ridge about 2 kms wide, but the height difference between the two points is 150 m.

The Upper Karnali project plans to utilise this bend to build a power generation station. The project involves the construction of a dam across the river at the higher point that diverts water through a tunnel to the lower point, generating 300 MW in the process utilising the head of 150 m. The advantage claimed for this location is the very short tunnelling that would be required.

Nepal has agreed to transform itself into a federally organised political entity. Under this structure, water resources would come under the control of the States that are to be formed. There is a demand that these projects be put on hold till the States come into being.

• High growth: In deep waters

On 24 January 2008 the government of Nepal signed an MoU with GMR-ITD, a consortium comprising of GMR Energy Limited (GEL), GMR Infrastructure Limited (GIL) and Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited (ITD) whereby the consortium would undertake to build the Upper Karnali project on a BOOT basis. Both parties note that the project is export-oriented, with the power to be sold to India. The consortium will give 12 percent of the power and 27 percent of the equity free of cost to Nepal.

Like most such large dam projects, the decision on this project also seems to have been taken completely bypassing the local people who will be directly affected. Not only have the local people not been consulted, but they have not been informed properly about the project, and its impacts on their lives and livelihood.

Needless to say, the project is likely to have serious impacts. The lands and fields of several villages are going to be affected by submergence. Equally important, the project is likely to lead to a drying up of the whole loop of the river. The dam, and the diversion of water through the tunnel will completely alter the ecology of about 60 to 70 km of the river. One of the most severe impacts would be on fish and on the livelihoods of those who depend on it. The issue of greatest concern however is that none of these impacts have been properly studied or assessed while it has already been decided to go ahead with the project. The MoU requires the GMR consortium to conduct the EIA study and prepare the environmental management plan. This is putting the cart before the horse, a characteristic feature of most large dam hydropower projects.

In July 2008, I visited the dam site and the villages that are likely to be affected by the project. In a meeting held in Ramaghat, where the dam will be built, the villagers reiterated their strong dependence on the river and their close relationship with it. They talked about how the river provided them with drinking water, water for cattle and fish even in the areas where the gorge is deep. In other areas the river also provides water for irrigation. In particular, they emphasised that all communities fish in the river, but one of the economically most backward communities - the bhadi (landless, homeless and so-called untouchable) community - is fully dependent on fishing. They described several special occasions and festivals that are celebrated on the banks of the river including Shivaratri, when there is a big fair where people from the neighbouring districts gather on its banks. The people were emphatic in saying that they cannot survive without the river.

The people were particularly angry about the way they were being treated. In the meeting, a number of people expressed this, saying that nobody from the company or from the government had come and spoken with them or informed them about the project. They strongly protested how such deals are stuck in hotels in Kathmandu without the directly affected people being anywhere in the picture.

The village of Ramaghat will be affected by the dam submergence.

The project developer company had visited one of the affected villages sometime back, but did not hold any substantive discussions with all the people, but instead just met a few of them randomly and informally. In these informal chats, the company officials seem to have promised the people schools and hospitals. However it is unlikely that people are going to be satisfied with these crumbs that are traditionally thrown at the affected populations.

People are raising very fundamental questions about how the government of Nepal allow a foreign company to take away 88 percent of the electricity generated by the project while Nepal itself is reeling under a severe power crises. They are asking why a company should be allowed to make huge profits from a river that belongs to the people.

One important issue that is being raised is the power of the central government to sign away the rights to the river in view of the proposed political restructuring in Nepal. In principle Nepal has agreed to transform itself into a federally organised political entity. Under this structure, water resources would come under the control of the States that are to be formed. There is a demand that these projects be put on hold till the States come into being so that their control and decisions about their own natural resources are not compromised.

At the root of this is a process of increasing demands that the benefits from resource development must be shared with the people at the lowest tiers. It remains to be seen how a company that is building the project primarily for making profits addresses these demands.

These demands are now turning into an aggressive stand challenging the project itself. The Himalayan Times of 10 August 2008 reported that the Maoist-affiliated Autonomous Council of Karnali (ACK) warned all concerned not to visit the Karnali Region with the aim of commissioning major hydropower projects. It quoted ACK chairman Gorakh Bhahadur BC as saying that "the people who visit the far-western region to garner support for major hydropower projects may face people's action ...". He also warned the government and developers to stop their activities and wait till the country is restructured and States' rights over natural resources are established.

In an interaction organised in Kathmandu recently by the Water and Energy Users' Federation (WAFED) Nepal of people from the Upper Karnali area with some members of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal and other experts, the speakers voiced a similar demand asking the government to scrap the MoU with GMR.

Such a stance is not restricted to the Upper Karnali project but is seen in all large scale infrastructure development that is taking place. As Indian corporates - and through them the Indian elite - look to resources in other countries to make profits and also satisfy their rising demands for consumption of energy, these are issues that are going to become sharper.

Indeed, if these issues are seen in greater relief where an Indian company is operating in a foreign land, they are present in equal strength here in India as corporates look to the remote areas of our own country for the same objectives of satisfying the consumption demands of the elite and their own profits. ⊕

Shripad Dharmadhikary
07 Sep 2008

Shripad Dharmadhikary coordinates the Manthan Adhyanan Kendra, a centre set up to research, analyse and monitor water and energy issues.

A financial tidal wave is underway in America today.

2008-10-21T18:22:00.000+05:30

From NaturalNews

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A Balancd Approach To Kosi

2008-10-21T18:19:00.000+05:30

Most of the solution to Kosi does not take into account that Kosi area lies in the worst seismic zones of the world. With this in mind a dam will be dangerous like a
sword ever hanging over the head. The deluge and the loss of humans and
properties is expected to be much more than what the world has seen in Kosi
this year if dams breakdown due to Earthquake.

You have assumed ever flourishing corruption in India but your proposals do
not take them into account. There is no culture of routine or planned
Maintenance in our working except in central PSUs or Private industries - we
wait for the break downs even for our domestic gadgets. Govts are champions
of this Breakdown- Maintenance culture. All the time silt gets deposited
but no silt removal programme is ever on.

Our Engg thinking is intentionally backward. For North-South flowing flood
we have East- West Rail-Roads on almost the same ground level. What can be
expected except anarchy and chaos during such a calamity as Kosi Floods 2008
when there was complete break down of Rail Road communication.

World without dams cannot be thought of in today's world because once a
Technology or Engg marvels are created they do not go back as they provide
both money and comforts to the elites of the society. But this cannot be a
prescription for all the time and all the places. Loss of Human lives and
properties cannot be allowed to be put to experimentation for ever.

I must confess that I dont claim to be a Flood control expert.So it is
a result of common sense approach in which no satellite pictures of American
and European rivers have been taken into account. And anyway the richest and
most efficient country equipped with all the resources and Advanced planning
is not coping up with 100% success with the natural disaster. So they cannot
be cited as examples for every place and every occasion.

In view of this and many other aspects I request you to think in terms of
Kosi without dams.

Dr.V.N.Sharma

An approach to Flood Mgt in Kosi/ Bihar

2008-10-21T18:17:00.000+05:30

The two approaches have been discussed in brief in the following paragraphs.

*Run of the Mill approach*
This has been repeatedly happening for last 50-60 years in India. Govts in
Bihar and Centre and their Agencies will come out with a plan for another
dam/ barrage, make a lot of money through contractors and have an annual
programme of Aerial Surveys of Flood affected areas, organise relief camps
directly and through NGOs and earn lots of money through them and keep the
NGOs under control and in good humour. Very soon you will hear the proposals
from the Govt and their Engineers, contractors. Congress Party has mastered
this technique of Dam/ barrage building and "the Bandar baant" which is a
part of the programme since the beginning. All other parties have just
learnt and exceeded the Congress limits. Therefore, it is futile to talk
about the goodness or badness of this party or that. Organised local action
groups need to take care of the monitoring part during the
operationalisation and execution of the programme.

If anything more than this is desired like intervention in the planning
stage itself the initiative will have to be taken in the same way as Medha
Patkar or Dr. B.D. Sharma do and get disliked by the vested interest groups
incl. the Govts. Nothing less.

*Fresh Down To Earth Approach*
Kosi does not bring only flood but it also brings highly fertile soil in the
area year after year. According to an informal estimate the soil there is
capable of feeding 1/3 rd of the World population. Somebody should
examine/study this fact.

The new approach should be based on "No Dam/ No Barrage" (or only few of
them if at all required) and an assumption that Floods will be coming every
year on time. The Research on Materials development like Boat for every
house and Jacket for floating humans & New Building Materials and the
networks of fly over with sufficient strength and stability for Rail-Road
and wireless communications which remain intact even during the severe
flood need to be initiated in IITs and the Cement, Steel, Electronic and
Power industries etc.

One point, never to be forgotten, is that we are culturally different from
the developed countries in our culture and attitude towards Maintenance &
Repair and Public Property. The second point is that I have imagined that
corruption will be there in equal measure because it will be the same people
handling the ffairs either way but loss of life and Hanging sword on the
people's Head may be less.

The above suggestions do not provide details but they are examples of some
aspects. The invitees can be any retired Engineer of the Central and State
Govts. and Central Water Commission for the Dam/ Barrage category.

For the second category you can invite Prof. Jayant Bandopadhyaya of IIM
Kolkatta (He has studied Rivers in Nepal and Kosi belt, Prof G.D. Agrawal
(formerly of IITK and CPCB, Sri Dinesh Mishra, Medha Patkar, Dr. B.D. Sharma
and the Water Man Sri Rajendra Singh. More people can be included in future
provided we fix the provisional Agenda.

I also suggest that the Workshop/ Consultation should be exclusive and not
mixed with other activities/ meeting etc. I expect the members to give very
definite opinion on the issues involved and suggest names and e-mail ids of
such experts who can be invited.

With thanx

A Fresh Look at Kosi in Distress - Past, Present and Future

2008-09-14T13:23:00.000+05:30

by

Dr.V.N.Sharma

The Run of the Mill approach has been repeatedly experimented in Kosi for last 50-60 years. Governments in Bihar and Centre and their Agencies go for a repeat cycle of a plan for another dam/ barrage or major maintenance work, make a lot of money through contractors and continue with an annual programme of Aerial Surveys of Flood affected areas by VIPs, inauguration and operation of relief camps directly and through NGOs and pocketing lots of money. This also provides an opportunity of keeping the men in power in good humour and the NGOs under control. This will soon be put into the loop for Kosi. Congress Party mastered this technique of Dam /barrage building and "the Bandar baant"(बन्दर बांट) long ago which is a part of the programme since the beginning. All other parties have learnt and exceeded the Congress limits now. Therefore, it is futile to talk about the difference between this party or that.

It looks like that planners and designers have never taken the fact into account that Kosi area lies in the worst seismic zones of the world. With this in mind a dam will always be looking like a sword ever hanging over the head. The deluge and the loss of humans and properties are expected to be much more than what the world has seen in Kosi this year if dams breakdown due to Earthquake. Ever flourishing corruption in India should always be taken into account in all aspects of planning. There is no culture of routine or planned Maintenance in our working except in central PSUs, Railways or Private industries. Break downs are awaited even for our domestic gadgets. Governments are champions of this Breakdown- Maintenance culture because that is where a lot of money is. All the time silt gets deposited but no silt removal programme is ever on. Our Engg thinking is intentionally backward. For North-South flowing flood we have East- West Rail-Roads on almost the same ground level. What can be expected except anarchy and chaos during such a calamity as Kosi Floods 2008 when there is an expected almost complete break down of Rail-Road communication?

World without dams cannot be thought of in today's world because once a Technology or Engg marvels are created they do not go back as they provide both money and comforts to the elites of the society. But this cannot be a prescription for all the time and all the places. Loss of Human lives and properties cannot be allowed to be put to experimentation for ever. I must confess that I do not claim to be a Flood control expert. So it is a result of common sense approach in which not many satellite pictures of American, European or Chinese rivers have been reviewed. But I would prefer to limit their marvels as examples for every place and every occasion. Life, culture, and ecology etc. of the Kosi region is different and should be accounted for in the same way.

Kosi does not bring only flood but it also brings highly fertile soil in the area year after year. According to an informal estimate the soil there is capable of feeding 1/3 rd of the World population. Even if this claim is a bit on a higher side the fact should be weighed in the potemtial of the soil and Human power. The new approach should be based on "No Dam/ No Barrage" (or only few of them if at all required), making land and water available for farming as much as possible, and an assumption that Floods will be coming every year on time. This assumption should prompt us to resettle and rehabilitate life with their vocation and communication with minimum pain and discomfort. Annual desilting and planned routine maintenance programme is a must and should be the first consideration. Use of silt from the river for creating island like structure for safe rehabilitation of Humans should result from this. The Research on new Building Materials and Materials development like light weight Boat with sufficient strength for every house and Jacket for floating humans need to be initiated in IITs and the Cement, Steel, Electronic and Power industries etc. Networks of fly over with sufficient strength and stability for Rail-Road and wireless communications which remain intact even during the severe flood need to be created in the region.

One point, never to be forgotten, is that we are culturally different from the developed countries in our attitude towards Maintenance & Repair and Public Property. The second point is that the level of corruption is assumed to be there in equal measure because it will be the same people handling the affairs either way. This will require a parallel battle against corruption to avail maximum benefits of the Schemes and lowering the loss of life and property and ever hanging threats of getting deluged. Due to various reasons, even organised local action groups fail to take care of the monitoring part during the operationalisation and execution of the programmes and in controlling the corrupt practices. The involvement of the masses from the beginning to end at all stages should be made legally enforceable.

The above suggestions are neither exhaustive nor provide details but they are examples of some aspects. Constructive criticism will help improve and is always welcome.

Indian Economy - merely a Bill Collection Agency of Foreign Powers

2008-09-12T13:44:00.000+05:30

By
Ashok Sharma
lama1126in@yahoo.co.in

We need to read between the gory lines in the newspapers of any day to discover what is being conspired and made ready to be served to us by the Powers That Be-? Let us try to see here carefully-as to what is actually going on with the new state of affairs in India......

During British rule most of India’s gold was rounded up by the Victorian agents and East India Company and shipped out of India in England and in other parts of Europe। Mission to fool Indians by purposely keeping all ignorant and unaware of our constitutional details has since then been carried out carefully by successive cover-ups

In the name of Globalization and Privatization, heartless systems of the laws of commerce and trade are religiously applied by the unregistered foreign agents through allocated awarded contracts where people of India are not asked. The bill collecting agents of Indian corporate sector are working in league or partnership with their foreign counterparts and the multinationals being governed by the owners of large International Banks.

Some friends here may think that it is unpatriotic not to support present ruling government and parliament. Yet others may ask if it is not unpatriotic to defend the truth and the constitution of this Once upon a time, a great Nation!

I love my India and its all people because I was told that our constitution is democratic and for the people of India. I was made to believe that our Constitution is based on the principles of Honor and Truth and protects my Rights and Freedom!.

But the facts tell another story. The 'Acts' are passed to weaken the already financially depleted population of India. There have been series of strategic moves by Business Corporate, foreign interests (intl bankers) intent upon gaining a stranglehold on the neck of poor Indians.

Our Government cuts a deal with the Corporate Lords nd International Bankers to incur a DEBT to bankers. Bankers all over the world do not lend money to a floundering nation without serious stipulations. True to their sly system, they have devised a way to get their foot in the door of India. How strange that Our constitution is operating today purely in an Economic Capacity and being used to fool People into thinking that it governs the Republic of India! Because of the oversight or greed of our Leaders to make necessary amendment in time, time and again, people have remained by and large ignorant of the dangerous game that policy makers have been playing with the fate of Indian people. Illiteracy, poverty, malnutrition and silence of print and visual media in not informing Indian population the dangers hovering around have remained one of the major reason that a naked dance of Corruption all around is prevailing to govern Indian masses.

I am purposely omitting the use of word "Hon'ble" before writing the word 'Supreme Court' because no longer now SC commands that level of Respect and Awe from majority of our population who through generations have been subjected to live a condemned life of deprivation, poverty, ill-health, discriminate opportunities of fair justice, trampling of our sovereign Rights under Constitution.

Supreme Court, including the people of this country is all aware of rampant corruption and no rule of the law in India. No one denies the fact that India is rated one of the most corrupt country in the world today. Poor population is paying through their robes and gowns, through their blood and sweat without any noticeable improvement coming into their lives in matters of education, good healthcare, shelter, security, justice and or financial security. What have successive governments done in this regard? Nothing, because corruption has made them insensitive to the needs of people while a huge population have been made to suffer and live through generations after generations, a miserable life beyond description.

Corruption prevailing in all walks of life has become today an accepted norm!! Justice is denied and delayed for majority of my suffering population who find difficult to match their steps with depleted value system of our times. In such conditions who could keep the wits intact and still honor our Parliament, Constitution and the Supreme Court! that has failed to protect the interests of our people..

Indians are subject of ongoing gross manipulations for last several decades. The Constitution of India did not protect the life, liberty and rights of our poor people who have no voice or have no means to remove the label of common ‘herd’. Constitution of India also has failed to provide equal opportunity of growth to all sections of society. Hence there is an immediate need to revise this Constitution in a comprehensive manner to bring smiles, social security, Right Education, Healthcare Services, Security, Justice, Growth and abundance to every common man, women and children in streets of India.

All amendment added to our constitution during past few decades have brought major impact on everything related to business, trade and commerce but have left a big void to positively impact the life of an average man or woman in the street.

All subsequent generations of our common people have adversely suffered because constitutional amendments were not meant to bring benefit to poor people and largely made better the lives of only a selected few who prompted such moves by buying out their pet legislators in Parliament who supported and planned such moves of amendment to benefit their masters and handlers.

Instead of absolute and unalienable original rights guaranteed for our people in our Constitution, the people now are being handed over some vague and unclear "relative" rights or privileges created to suit the interests of corporate sector or the handlers who operate most of our policy makers and leaders from behind the curtains.

Corruption, deceit and cheating has penetrated to such alarming levels in our society that the puppets of Big looters are in process of creating a second government, designed to Manage what the common herd believes ‘a democracy ‘, which in fact is an Incorporated System. Together this two-headed monster that governs in a shadow manner has disallowed the common men and women of India all rights of sovereignty. Singnur and Nandigram are merely the beginning sparks.

Government, with no authority to do so, has done this all slowly and systematically and acted like servants of the select group of people in a greedy manner who take care of their comforts, position, money and power. Our Policy Makers, custodians of Law & Order in our society, Our elected Representatives- Parliamentarians, are not serving the people of India but their paid masters.

Through our elected representatives, the people of India have literally been subjected to massive manipulations by the strategic maneuvers of foreign interests including those of Global Corporate and international bankers who only intend on gaining a stranglehold on the neck of all Indians. Government after Governments have tried to correct the financial imbalance and in the process added corruption and loot to the fate of a billion people every time people put them to the seats of power, trusting that they shall govern in responsible manner. Under the guise of correcting financial position of India they have been cutting the deals with the vested interest only to benefit themselves and the financial institutions and banks who want to dip their fingers into everyone's share.

Sovereign means "Chief or highest, supreme power, superior in position to all others; independent of and unlimited by others; possessing or entitled to; original and independent authority or jurisdiction." (Webster). Government, which was created by and for people as sovereigns -- free citizens deemed to have the highest authority in the land –is stolen from them, along with their rights. According to our Constitution, only We the People of India are sovereign. Government is not sovereign. “Government is subject to the consent of the governed." That clearly means “the people” as sovereigns. I do not remember any time when I felt myself a sovereign citizen and so is the case with millions of people of
this country।

People do not need a scientist or a constitutional expert to figure out that our Government has NOT been subject to the consent of the governed since long before current generation was born। Rather, the governed are subject to the whim and greed of the corporations and Corrupt thugs managing the affairs of this land। Their greed has gradually crossed all permissible limits of tolerance and has adversely affected the life of tens hundreds of million people in this country.

Our Constitution has no provision for anyone to use such powers that one is able to erode the basic fabric of truth, honesty, and freedom and trample the rights of other citizen year after year in such corrupt, sly and discrete manner that one is not able to dream a day of financial and social security in India.

It is perhaps the last time we can urge the Supreme Court to intervene in this matter and ask government to change the entire constitution in a limited time frame after forming several review committees comprising also out of ordinary people of this country or to order present Government that after meeting all liabilities, all the bills every family will have a provision to maintain a minimum credit balance of ten thousand at any point of time.

"We the People of India are taught NOTHING about the law in our school days. We memorize obscure facts and phrases here and there, like the Preamble, which says, 'We the People establish this Constitution for India.' But our books only make a passing reference and gloss over the Bill of Rights. Why our schools do not delve into the Constitution at depth?

After all, the corporate mindset prevailing with our leaders is established to indoctrinate and 'dumb-down' the masses, not to teach anything of value or importance. Certainly, no one mentions that India is being sold-out to vested interests, that we were beneficiaries of the debt incurred by all corrupt Governments, or that we are in debt to the international bankers. Yet, for generations, Indians could have the bulk of their earnings that one had to pay in form of enormous, levies, duties and taxes that government paid from the public money. This is the debt every Indian has paid that did accrue on them. I want refund of all that money that would I be having today had I not been a part of this Government conspiracy to rob me out from my socially respectable position and enough of savings that I have paid in clearing the Government debt from the public money. I have been paying for inflation, taxes, levies and duties to set off government loans during past more than 4 decades since I attained adulthood. I have not contributed anything to merit such a miserable end to all my money and there is no wonder that my money is robbed by the Governments without my asking. My estimated loss as on date is not less than ten million rupees. There's an endless stream of things we are never told. Why should I be the party to the debt without my knowledge and consent?

All acts are passed without my consent and with a series of subtle and overt deceptions into motion, deceptions in the form of decisions that were meant to sell me down the river. I refuse to become a party of this fraud being committed by the government. I have been technically knocked down year after year and suffered a financial loss of several millions just by being loyal to my constitution and not adopting corrupt practices.

"Our corporate form of governance is based on Roman Civil Law and Admiralty, or Maritime, Law, which is also known as the 'Divine Right of Kings' and the 'Law of the Seas' -- another fact of history not taught in our schools. Actually, Roman Civil Law was fully established in the colonies before our India attained independence, and then became managed by private international law. In other words, the government -- the government created for the People of India slowly drifted their stand and started operating solely under Private International Law, by suppressing, manipulating and through subverting moves that sealed the fate of Indian poor masses.

"This fact has impacted all Indians in concrete ways. We do not like to be ruled by the corporations. Our Government is selling out all of us governed to corporate who are not elected members. Our Government is aware of this situation because it is our Government that is making all the deals with the Corporate sector, taming the masses and robbing their assets by various forced regulation like the SEZ rules, Nandigram, Singnur, WTO Regime etc.. This means is that the members of Parliament do NOT work for us. They work for the Corporation. We can not get them to do anything on our behalf, or meet or demands, or answer our questions.

"Technically, legally, or any other way we look at the matter, the corporate government being made for us has no jurisdiction or authority in ANY part of India. Could this have happened without full knowledge and complicity of the ruling governments and highest Court of India? There are no accidents or coincidences. This is the facts and we have to confront the truth. We are presumed to know the law. They know that we do not know the law or, for that matter, real facts that brought the legislations, rules and motives of all the games played with the people. Because no concerted effort was ever made to teach or otherwise inform us, and as such, being a citizen of India and governed under our Constitution, I am entitled to full disclosure of all facts. As a slave, I am entitled to nothing other than what is decided without my consent and snapped for me to bear. Every rule passed, every decision made behind the closed doors had been taken by the Government without my consent and I suffered badly all my life on account of me not being asked, told or consented.

Argument that 'Ignorance of the law is no excuse.' And it is my responsibility and obligation to learn the law and know how it applies to me is unacceptable here. No wonder that the Governments and the groups that have been operators knew this fact and counted on the fact that most people are too indifferent, unconcerned, distracted, or lazy to learn what they need to know to survive within the system. We have been conditioned to let the government do our thinking for us. Now I understand that I have remained and made to suffer and now I turn around and intend to help save our Republic and ourselves -- before it is too late.

"As an instrument of the vested interests, Government of India owns every human being in India from birth to death. It also holds ownership of all assets, of my property, even of my children. I have sleepless nights thinking long and hard about all the bills taxes, fines, and licenses we Indians have paid for or purchased. Yes, they had us by the pockets. Ignorance of the facts led to my silence. Silence is construed as consent; consent to be beneficiaries of a debt I did not incur. As a Sovereign national I have been deceived for decades; we think we are free, but in truth we are servants!

How long will we remain silent? How long will we believe the MYTH that we are free? When will we stand together as One Free and Sovereign People?

When will we take back what has been as stolen from us? I claim all the losses now and announce that I shall not co-operate nor be a
party to the Government debts that are full of corruption deals and
the debts have not improved my life in any manner. People of India have full right to know to what extent their trust is betrayed. How
long would it take for real revolution to occur? What we need now is
a revolution in our THINKING. We need to change our thinking, and then we can change our conditions. Our children deserve their rightful legacy.

I know the understanding of truth and reality is very subjective, and what is the clearest truth to me, may not be so to someone else. We can agree to disagree, and still understand that we are ONE, and even in disagreement we can love each other, as we allow each one to awake to the Truth they can comprehend at each step of the way.
In such spirit of oneness and diversity....In the sincere intention of awakening, let us share our thoughts and unite our hearts.

Ashok
lama1126in@yahoo.co.in
galaxicindian@yahoo.com